Guilt Free...cheese fries??

So apparently Wednesday is the day that I promise you some sort of recipe...and then somehow run out of time to blog about itJ hahahahhaahhaha...sorry about that!  But at least this one will be worth the wait!

Remember when I promised you decadent & delicious???

But also relatively GUILT FREE???? 

Witness Texas Chili Cheese Fries:

I know what you're saying...."wait a minute, wait a minute...how can chili cheese fries FOR DINNER be guilt free???"  Well, my friends, with a few simple swaps to the most decadent ingredients, you can change this normally fat & calorie laden dish into one that could fit into your healthier lifestyle.  Ready to see how??

Step one:  The fries....

Instead of deep fried calories bombs, these fries were made out of diced white potatoes, drizzled with heart healthy extra virgin olive oil (and a little Montreal Steak Seasoning) and baked at 450 for 40 minutes... 

The result?  Crispy fries straight from the oven...NOT the deep fryer! 

Next up:  The Chili....

Made from lean turkey meat and all of the flavors coming from a combo of chili powder, onions, cumin & Worcestershire...NOT excess fat.  YUM! 

Have I mentioned how much I love Worcestershire??  Any recipe that calls for it just instantly makes me happyJ

And finally:  The cheese sauce...

YES, that ooey gooey cheese sauce can be made on the 'healthier' end of the spectrum by using a combo of 1% milk, fat free chicken broth & low fat cheese!  This sauce was also flavored with some yellow mustard & smoked sea salt.  Again:  tons of flavor without a whole lot of calories & fat!  WIN! 

Oooooooooo Yeahhhhhhh.... 

And how "guilt free" did this taste??  I don't think either of us even had time to think about it, as we inhaled this dish and dreamed of seconds the moment we were done eating.  This one was a definite winner in our house and me thinks you will be a fan too!! 

"Guilt Free" Chili Cheese Fries

Adapted from Rachael Ray

• 2 large Idaho potatoes
• 1 tablespoon of Montreal Steak Seasoning
• 3/4 pounds lean ground turkey breast
• 1 large onion
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 tablespoon chili powder (more or less...use to taste)
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 3 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire
• 1 1/2 cups of beef broth
• 3 tablespoons of butter
• 3 tablespoons of flour
• 1 cup of 1% milk
• 1 cup of chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons of yellow mustard
• 2 cups of low fat cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. Dice up the potatoes into long "fry-like" strands and layer of foil-lined cookie sheet.  Drizzle potatoes with extra virgin olive oil & the steak seasoning.  Mix around and top in the oven for 40 minutes, or until crispy, flipping halfway through.
3. While the potatoes are cooking, add the ground turkey to a olive oil drizzled pan.  Break up the meat with the back of a spoon and cook until it's no longer pink. 
4. Add the onion, garlic, cumin & chili powder and let cook for about 5 or 6 minutes or until the onions are soft.
5. Add the tomato pasta, Worcestershire & beef broth.  Bring to a boil and let simmer for 10 minutes.
6. In another small saucepan, melt the butter and then add the flour to cook for 1 minutes.
7. Whisk in the mustard, chicken broth & milk.  Allow the mixture to come to a boil & then let in simmer until thickened, whisking frequently.
8. Once the sauce is thickened, add your shredded cheese & stir until melted.
9. Plate your crispy fries, smother with chili & drizzle with ooey gooey cheese.
10. Enjoy!

So, we got a nice little surprise in Jersey yesterday that we have BARELY seen this winter: SNOW!!!  Not a lot, but enough for me to break out a SUPER cozy dinner recipe last night.  I'll post it tomorrow, as it may come in handy this weekend.  The temperature is suppose to dip into the low 30's this weekend...which has been a rarity in nearly a MONTH!  And we just may see a few more of those pretty, white flakes...fingers crossedJ

Have a good Thursday everyone...and go make those cheese fries!

Back to a typical day...

Morning everyone!  Hope you guys are feeling good todayJ 

So after our variety of fried foods from "Chicken Holiday" on Sunday night during the big game, I was suuuuuuuuupppppppperrrrrrrr ready to get "back on track" yesterday and tried to eat as 'cleanly' as possible.  Along with chugging down LOTS of water, I started my day with a bowl of steel cut oats mixed with pumpkin, chia seeds, maple syrup, nutmeg, cinnamon & a sprinkle of sliced almonds...

I had been having spinach smoothies, flaxseed pancakes and pineapple chobani yogurts for the past few weeks, so it had been a hot minute since oatmeal had been made in my house (after having it nearly DAILY through December!)  It was a nice reunionJ hahahahhahahaha

For lunch, I had went through a variety of leftovers from my fridge...but the only thing I REALLLLLLLLLLLLY wanted was SALAD: 

In the mix:

• Spring blend lettuce drizzled with TJ's Pear Gorgonzola Dressing
• Sliced strawberries
• handful of chopped & toasted walnuts
• sprinkle of crumbled goat cheese

Soooo refreshing & good.  Strawberries are OUT OF THIS WORLD right now!  I couldn't believe how sweet they were when I picked em up on sale at the grocery store this week.  I thought they were going to be 'winter waxy,' but NO...so good! 

For snack, in my attempt to quell my DAILY afternoon CHOCOLATE CRAVING I've had lately, I had picked these up at the store last week...

I figured I'd try ANYTHING to get a chocolate fix that was under 100 calories a serving.  They work pretty well.  *Emphasis on the 'pretty'...hahahahahhahahaha...sometimes you just need the REAL STUFFJ 

And dinner was a simple one.  Scott had some leftovers to take care of and since he does NOT like seafood, it was finally my chance to have something I had been craving for A WHILE: 

Less the 10 minutes + craving conquered = happy! J hahahaha

So I told you yesterday how, along with chocolate, CHEESE is my other favorite food group at the momentJ  I have a fun little recipe in store for tonight that takes a particularly guilty dish and makes it a litttle bit on the more healthy side.  I think you guys will like itJ  Stay tuned & have a good Tuesday!

Quick check in...

So after quite a few days of take out OR not really even being in the mood to eat dinner, this blog has been pretty quiet.  SORRY!!!!  I'd be lying if I said cooking has been my favorite activity lately, as not too much sounds appealing these days.  I have to say the two things that do:  chocolate + cheese...hahahahahahhahaha  And how many dinners can you REALLY make with that??J (hey, I'm 9 months pregnant, can you blame me???)

So in an effort to kick start the blog for the week, I thought I'd just give you my workout run down from last week.  Hopefully it'll help you get motivated for the week ahead...especially after the "National Eating Day" yesterday.  Oh, I mean the SuperbowlJ  Jump right back to your healthy eating habits today and you don't even need to worry about 1 day of joy...I mean, overindulgenceJ hahahahhahahaha

Tuesday:  Weight Loss Yoga-Level 1+ 1 round of 8 pound weights

Thursday:  1+ hour Gentle Yoga class

Friday:  30 minutes Prenatal yoga + 1 round of 8 pound weights

Sunday:  45 minute walk in the park

It was around Tuesday at the 7 minute mark of the difficult yoga where I realized I needed to hang up the 'power yoga' for a bit.  I realized I was doing more modifications than exercises....and that, my friends, is what is called A SIGNJ  Definitely want to keep up the gentle yoga & weights for the stretch, strength and 'mental clarity,' but beyond that, I think my body is ready to take it easy for the next couple weeks.  Ya gotta listen to it, always!

Alright...that's all I got for you today.  Hopefully tomorrows post will be more exciting, but no promises!  My 'what I want for dinner' plans tend to change within minutes...hahahahahahahhahahaa

Have a good Monday!  And don't forget to drink lots of water!  It'll help detox your body from all those glorious eats yesterday!

The third best thing...

Hey everyone!  So I promised you a recipe with a boatload of memories, and here is what I have for you todayJ

Rewind three years ago this month and you would find Scott & I on one of our favorite trips EVER:  Our honeymoon to Costa Rica (a place, we both agreed, we think we could visit YEARLY!)  And among the zip lining...

...beautiful (SPECTACULAR) sunsets...

...monkeys climbing on our heads...

...getting acquainted with the locals...

...and the world's most breathtaking place I've ever had breakfast...

...we also had some unexpected AMAZING eats (mostly had in a row of open air restaurants that overlooked the ocean.  I mean, can you even??)  And one of my absolute FAVORITE things I tried while we were there were the pulled pork AREPAS...

Arepas are little corn cakes that are popular in Central & South America.  It was seriously love at first bite, as I've been trying to find these ANYWHERE ever since!!

The only place I've seen them so far????  At the ITALIAN MECCA FESTIVAL: San Gennaro in NYC!!!!  You KNOW they must be good if I passed up a meatball sandwich for one of these mozzarella stuffed wondersJ

Sooooo since Arepas are lacking on menus in NEW JERSEY, I had to take the next best option.

OK...let's be honest, the next best option would be booking a trip back to Costa Rica.

So we went with the THIRD best option:  Making them at homeJ

I combined about 1/3 parts cornbread mix, 1/3 part masa flour & 1/3 parts water to form a dough...

Once the dough was able to be gathered (add more water if the dough is too dry), I flattened the dough into little round cakes and cooked them on an olive oil coated flat skillet...

(ps-the THINNER you make the cakes, the better!)



Cook on each side until browned.  The whole process from mixing to finished arepas is about 10 minutes flat.  Not too bad, right?? 

Next, it was time for the toppings.  You can mix and match any flavors that you want, but we went with our favorites:

1.- Cumin-coated seared pulled pork chops....

2.-Mashed black beans  (just drain, rinse, heat & mash...no muss, no fuss & No hydrogenated oils of most canned refried beans!)

3.-  GUACAMOLE!!!!!!!  (made SUPER quick by just mashing 2 avocados with a 1 small diced onion, a bit of lime juice, salt & pepper...super easy!)

And then it's time to layer...

...like... 

...so! J

And my last little addition:  my favorite 'convienece food'...

That's right, folks.  I have a secret LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEE of bagged 'preshredded lettuce.'  It's one item I don't mind paying extra for the convenience of it already shredded.  It brings me joy.  Just as it did when we had it on tacos last nightJ

Anyway...the arepas were lovely and all came together in about 20 minutes!  I almost could have saved MORE time and ditched the pork & just had the black beans & guacamole, since that was the best part!  They were good...but still no Costa Rica arepas.  (Scott, how can we fix that????J)

And as some of you may have saw from my Facebook post, I spent yesterday morning dragging my Mom to Cracker Barrel as I had been DYINGGGGGGGGGGG for more of their exceptional pancakes.  And we were even MORE excited when the 'winter special' of the day was: 

photo source

Oh. My. Heavens.  Just tooooo die for, with their sweet potato filling and CRISP pancake-y edges.  And the best part????  The BROWN SUGAR BUTTER!  Oh yes.  Go try these now!

Alright, we'll that's all I got for you today!  Have a good Thursday, everyone!!