Dinner Party Prepping

The hubs and I did something very grown up this weekend. We hosted my parents for a nice, sit-down dinner party. Homemade pie, coffee and tea and all. Totally acted my 30 years of age ;)

When we got married, I knew that wedding china was definitely going on our registry list. I love to entertain, and have dreams of throwing big, lavish sit-down dinners for friends and family. Some day. 

For now, our tiny, non-expandable, condo-sized table for four will have to do. Two to three guests at a time, check. Once, we tried the awkward "add a bigger table next to the circle table" thing. But that wasn't so successful. No one wants to sit on the curve of the table!

I haven't had many opportunities to use the wedding china since the big day. If I had my act together more, I'd do what my friend Lisa does and use it on the 13th of the month, every month. That is such a nice thought. I think we have managed to use the china a handful of times so far, probably more like once every three months :)

So a dinner party was in high order! And hooray, sure enough, the china definitely upgraded the experience, from first course to coffee service. 

I did what I always do, a trick that I learned from my mom - set the table first thing that morning. It not only gets the atmosphere right, but it's usually something you will want to take time with, so why not get it done first? I ironed the tablecloth and napkins, spent time pulling out the right plates and utensils, and then put it all together. The weather was gorgeous, the door was open -- it was pretty much a perfect start to the day.

This dinner party was a lot of fun. We enjoyed a few different cheeses with crackers and beverages before the main meal. We decided on the following recipes --

* Mahi Mahi with Braised Tomatoes - Based on a Bacchanalia recipe from a cookbook we received, filled with famous dishes from tons of great restaurants around the country. The fish was light, and finished in the oven, making it easy to prep.

* Gratin of Belgium Endive - A Cooking Light recipe I tore out in 2009. Made it for the first time, and would definitely enjoy this one again! It paired well with the lighter fish and tomatoes, but as a Cooking Light recipe, it wasn't too heavy, like a true gratin might be.

* Malted Chocolate Pecan Pie with homemade whipped cream - Recipe from the Four and Twenty Blackbirds cookbook that I received at Christmas (thanks, Adrienne and Tim!). Oh my. The filling was amazing. The crust, I need to try again, now that I have made it once, but I could tell it will be stellar when I get it just right. 

It was all so good together! We chose the recipes partially by what would be seasonally appealing -- no need to make a stew when it is going to be 70 degrees outside! -- and also easy for us to prep while still spending time with our guests. The pie was the most time consuming, but I could make it in advance, along with the tomatoes. The endive, we also prepped in advance and just threw in the oven to brown when guests were due to arrive. That way, it was done around the time we were ready to eat. The fish was the one item that needed a little last minute attention, but it was a quick task, and one that the hubs could do while talking about beer with my dad.

All in all, it was a great night. And now, I can't wait to have another party and use that china again soon :)

Have you thrown any dinner parties recently? What did you choose to make? How did it go?!

Cooking with Empty Cabinets

The deep freeze finally left us, y'all. A week of frozen streets has warmed up into a beautiful late winter with hints of early spring. One can only hope that a true spring is right around the corner at this point. That, or gosh, let us enjoy the winter weather instead of being stranded indoors for days by it!

While we were fully prepared for the first snow-week here in Atlanta, we unfortunately were not for the second. In fact, the second week came as a surprise to me. I really didn't pay attention to the weather reports, and, as a result, we were a bit low on our pantry supplies just one day into the ice-down. Nothing like a short-stocked pantry to get the creative cooking juices flowing!

After a few days of buffalo chicken sandwiches born out of freezer supplies, we were itching for a dessert. Something sweet to go with what was soon going to be freezer meal #5. Something that we could pretend was an early Valentine's Day treat. And something that didn't require any box mixes,  baking soda or anything more than just half a stick of butter.

Thankfully, a quick web search came to the rescue! These red wine truffles were SO easy. Seriously. I am almost regretting giving this one up to you all, because then I won't be able to as easily "impress" when I show up with them at a party to come. But in the true spirit of stranded cooks everywhere, everyone should have a "gimme" recipe like this in their back pocket when the pantry goings get tough.

Enjoy, everyone!

"Atlanta Ice Storm" Red Wine Chocolate Truffles 
Adapted from Two Twenty One

Note: the real version of this recipe on the Two Twenty One blog sounds lovely, if you can make it to the grocery store for the actual ingredients :) But chocolate chips did wonderfully in a pinch!

8 oz. of chocolate chips
6 oz. of light cream or half and half
2 Tbsp. of whatever red wine you have on hand
1/2 c. of cocoa

Bring cream to a simmer over low heat, and pour over chocolate chips and red wine mixture in a medium mixing bowl. Mix together until chocolate chips melt. Place bowl in the freezer for one hour, or the fridge overnight. Using a small spoon, scrape out enough chocolate to roll small 1/2 inch sized balls in the palm of your hand. Roll ball in cocoa before placing on serving plate. Store truffles in fridge, as they soften quickly at room temperature.

Hi, and Happy New Year!

Hello Friends, and Happy New Year! 

It's been, let's say, a wee bit longer than planned since the last time I blogged. I am so sorry! Apparently, my mind needed a bit of a blogging break, so I gave it one. And while I stayed on social networks, I didn’t take too many photos or post too many updates. A bit of an unplugged season, I guess. All in all, the mental rest did a body good! In the meantime, it was a busy fall and holiday season, and life sped on. 

Football games were lost … and won! [War Eagle!]

Trees were lit … and taken down … last night. Ha! We held out until the Epiphany. That's my excuse :)

We saw pretty lights …

And city lights …

I may have turned 30. [How's that for the downplay of the year?!]

And we just capped it all off with a weekend in the mountains with good friends to celebrate other good friends. 

What have you been up to these past few months? I hope you all had a safe and happy holiday season. 

As always, the New Year is bringing some New Starts in the Lehmann household, including early mornings at the gym (2 for 3 so far. Today, it was 20 degrees outside, so the bed won in the end) and reconnecting with our home cooking skills. It will be time to start thinking about bathing suits again before we know it, so I am trying to get a head start on fitness now, while mid-winter social plans are quiet. 

Yesterday, in efforts to banish the cold already seeping into town, we cooked up a batch of Italian Wedding Soup. Extremely fitting as we had just returned home from said wedding in the mountains, this soup was the perfect cozy soup for a chilly winter day. Since it's homemade, you can keep things low-sodium and low-fat depending on the type of meat and amount of pasta you throw in. Plus, it tastes amazing. Hard to beat that. Below is our recipe – we loosely adapted things from a recipe we found online, enough that it is now "ours" :) 

Happy New Year, everyone! Looking forward to a fun 2014 ahead! 

Lehmann Italian Wedding Soup

Serves 4-6

1 small onion, finely diced

2-3 cloves garlic, finely diced

1 lb. ground beef (80-20 blend or your choice)

1 c. Italian breadcrumbs

2 eggs

3/4 c. chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley

1-2 tsp. each salt and pepper, to taste

3 boxes low-sodium chicken broth

1 c. pastina

1 c. baby spinach 

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until tender and translucent. Set aside to cool slightly as you prep the other meatball ingredients. Combine beef, breadcrumbs, eggs, parsley and salt and pepper in a large bowl; add in cooled onions and peppers and mix with hands. Form small meatballs (half inch in diameter) and place on wax paper on a baking tray. Place meatballs in freezer for 15-20 minutes.

While meatballs cool, heat up broth on the stove in a large pot. Bring to a boil and carefully add in the meatballs, a few at a time. Simmer over reduced heat, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Add pastina and cook an additional 5 minutes, folding in spinach towards the end. Enjoy!

Fallish Feelings

Great football, cool air and cold beers. Yesterday, we had two of the three, at least, down on the Plains for the Auburn - Ole Miss game. The air might have been a bit warmer than expected for early October, but we made the most of the day with our family trip to cheer on the Tigers as they faced the Rebels!

What a fun day! This was my dad and brother's first Auburn game, and the hubs had fun showing them around the campus and reliving his glory days as an undergrad. We grabbed a spot in the shade to tailgate for the afternoon, right near the Auburn Hotel. Brad's dad, one of his friends and my brother's girlfriend joined us for the fun. I took advantage of the tailgating occasion to try out a few new desserts. The Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars had fantastic flavor, but the crust was troublesome to cut -- I am going to try these again with a graham cracker or gingersnap crust. Recipe to come once I perfect it :)

Then I also made Tiger Tails -- white chocolate-covered marshmallow sticks, with a chocolate drizzle on top. Hello, sugar rush! These were fun to look at AND eat!

We saw an exciting, big win before a late night caravan home to Atlanta, and so today, we are all a bit slow moving. The cloudy sky-outskirts of Tropical Storm Karen are setting the perfect weather mood for a snuggly afternoon on the couch. I made a pot of Bacon Cheeseburger Soup to top off the weekend as we settle in for some pro football hangout time tonight. This one of my own recipes that is just too good not to share. Enjoy, friends, and have a great week ahead! War Eagle! 

Bacon Cheeseburger Soup
Serves 5-7

1-1.5 lbs. lean ground beef
6-8 slices turkey bacon, diced in large pieces
1 jalapeno, seeds removed and diced
15.25 can corn, undrained
14.5 can diced tomatoes, undrained
15 oz. can red kidney beans, undrained
1 lb. 2% milk Velveeta Cheese, cubed
1 Tbsp. steak seasoning or seasoning of choice
Corn chips, such as Fritos

Cook ground beef and bacon over high heat in a Dutch oven until cooked through, about 5-10 minutes. Add jalapenos halfway through cooking time, stirring with meat to soften the pepper. Add remaining ingredients, bringing to a boil before reducing heat. Cook over low heat for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the cheese from sticking on the bottom. Serve with corn chips on top.

Note: can also be made in the slow cooker. Prepare beef and bacon on stovetop first. Add all ingredients other than corn chips to a greased slow cooker. Cook on High for 3 hours, or on Low 5-6 hours. Top with chips. 

Lazy Meets Challenge

Fall 2012 football. Yay cooler temps!

It's so easy to fall right into food traps. For me, when I am trying to be on good eating behavior, I have a few solid standbys. Slim-fast chocolate shakes make for a great, fast snack, as do bananas with some peanut butter or a yogurt. I stick with healthy cereal and fruit for breakfast, and I do my best if I have soup in the freezer to pull out on that day where we are short on leftovers to bring for lunch. 

One week into our Challenge, and I am already getting antsy, though. And this, my friends, is why we were in such a bad spot this summer. It gets all too easy to call the local pizza place on a lazy Monday like today. 

That's the key word – lazy. We went grocery shopping this week already. We have a fridge stocked with dinners for all the nights of the week. And yet, here I am, hungry in the late afternoon (my own fault for not packing a snack) and I am already thinking, "oh man, pizza would be sooo good tonight."

NO! I am not letting myself succumb quite yet. We have too many things coming up this Fall where I can let loose a bit if I want. Football games, weddings and trips take precedence over laziness if I want to splurge. So today, on this lazy random Monday, I am trying to focus on our pre-planned, healthy meal we have ready to make tonight. I am pretty excited for this, too -- Tilapia packets with carrots, peppers, onions, potatoes, lemon and herbs. Julia Child easy yet chic French cooking style.

From one healthy-wannabe to another :) Let's keep up the good food mojo! Here are some of the other healthy, WW and budget-friendly recipes on my radar.

Pork tenderloin in the crock-pot – I grabbed apples from the store to use in this Fall-inspired dish this week. I am a crock-pot lover. This is going to be clutch for both dinner and lunch leftovers, since tenderloins come in packs of two. Plus, how good will this smell as it cooks?!

Image Source: Martha Stewart

Homemade enchilada sauce – We made this last week and it was. SO. GOOD. I honestly probably won't buy the canned stuff again, unless I am strapped for time. This took about 20 minutes to make, and you can flavor it to your liking. I am going to cut the cumin in half, since it was a bit much for me, and we might add some more heat. This topped shredded chicken, spinach and mushroom enchiladas. We threw the onions from the sauce into the filling, too.

Sandwiches – these are one of my favorite standbys for lazy nights. Plus, they are super cheap to make. Tuna salad BLTs top my list - add a sliced egg for an indulgent feel! These other options from Martha sound delicious, too. Ham, brie and apple, yum!

Flank steak steakhouse salad – This cut of meat was on sale this week, so I am making the most of it with a "fancy" salad, restaurant-style with minimal effort. I love salads because I can "wing" it and usually end up with a satisfying mix with whatever ingredients we have on hand.

What have you made recently that helped keep you on track with healthy eating?

Falling into Routines

Oh thank goodness, Fall is nearly here again!

My fellow Atlantans know that we have been plagued with a seriously wet summer. Usually by this time of the year, we are all desperate for cooler temperatures. This year, though, we are all just ready for some sunshine! It has rained here more already this year than our usual entire yearly average. I am pretty sure the entire city is Vitamin D deprived right now. We aren't even totally sick of the heat yet either, since the rain has kept things here pretty low-temp (knock on wood). While I am definitely ready for the cooler weather ahead, I will take some sunshine alone for a bit right now.

But of course, I hope that cooler temps are still right around the corner! There's nothing worse than hot, humid days in October!

Source: Pinterest

I can thank the season change for us starting back with serious meal planning this past weekend. Fall means back to school for the hubs, so evenings will be quiet at the homestead a few nights per week. If I don't have a menu planned for myself to cook solo, that can mean takeout orders and frequent grocery store stops. Now that we are back in regular, post-wedding, school season life mode, we are hoping to cut back on our food spending. A quick synopsis of the budgets revealed that we have been buying double the amount we normally would at the store … but somehow also eating out double as well. It doesn't take a genius (thankfully, since I am no math whiz) to realize some seriously wasted funds. Even just a few small changes can help us out here.

Polenta with Roasted Vegetables and Fontina; Source: Pinterest / Williams Sonoma

So we set a weekly budget for food at the store, as well as a weekly budget for eating out. Our "eating out" budget includes expensive lunches, too – another common side effect of not meal planning. My lunch in-town, for example, can easily be $12 if I opt for my fav Pad Thai. Ridiculous!

We are  … three (ha) days into our budget, and so far, so good. I haven't bought anything outside the budget yet, and we have a TON of food at home ready to take to work, with supplies for more meals this week. We made already BBQ in the slow cooker, and WW soup on the stove. It feels good knowing I can go home tonight and already have a dinner there waiting for me.

Even though pizza sounds divine tonight, too. That's just my hunger talking, I guess ;)

What is your Fall routine or ritual? My next step is to inch back into regular work-outs before any "winter weight" has a chance to start hanging around. With these low-humidity late summer days we are having, evening walks are my new fav!

Here There and Everywhere

Breathe in, breathe out, and woosh, it's Wednesday. We are hitting the mid-point of the week already!

It's been a rough few days for me over here. I was all pumped up on Sunday after getting in my early morning run and then spending the day with family ... and then the same stomach virus that I had in early December made a reappearance. One horrible sick day and one slow recovery day later, and I am feeling almost back to normal today. Except now I have a sore throat and a cough. Is my immune system taking a late holiday break?! It's like my body knows I was hitting a groove with exercise and eating right and decided to mess with me a little bit.

As I drink down vats of tea today, I am incredibly glad that we spent some time on Sunday making a huge vat of chicken noodle soup. That soup, while intended for freezer restock, has been a miracle food for me the last few days as I battled upset stomachs and congested lungs. The great thing about chicken soup is that it is really versatile. We took advantage of leftover chicken and roasted potatoes for ours, but you could easily drop in pre-packaged cooked chicken breast strips and more pasta instead. Adding butter replicates the richness of the drippings that get from leftovers, too.

If you aren't currently sick, I highly recommend making a batch of something like this now, so that if/when you get the plague, you can just pop out one of these frozen containers into a saucepan for 10-15 minutes, no effort required. When you can barely get off the couch from the sickness, this is a clutch thing to have on hand.

Chicken soup for the soul? This week for me, you better believe it! Hope you all stay well and warm!

Chicken Noodle Chowder
Serves 6-8

One medium onion, diced
One poblano pepper, seeded and diced
One shallot, diced
Three cloves of garlic, diced
Two cups of mushrooms, mixed variety, roughly chopped
Two cups of cooked chicken
One cup red potatoes, diced into half-inch cubes
2 Tbsp. butter
Two containers of reduced sodium chicken broth
One large bunch of asparagus, diced into one-inch pieces
One package Ramen noodles, spice packet discarded
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. pepper
2/3 cup flour + 2 Tbsp. tap water

Saute onion, pepper, shallot and garlic in olive oil until tender. Add mushrooms and saute for additional 3-4 minutes. Add chicken, potatoes and butter, stirring to melt butter. Add chicken broth, and bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer on low for 10-15 minutes. Increase heat and add asparagus, Ramen noodles, salt and pepper, cooking for 5-10 minutes or until the asparagus is tender and the noodles are cooked.

Mix flour and water in a separate bowl until it is a smooth, thick liquid, adding more water/flour as needed. Stir mixture into chicken soup, and cook soup for 5 more minutes or until soup thickens. Serve with crackers, bread or your choice of Gatorade!

Note from Katherine: We utilized leftover roasted chicken, roasted potatoes and 2-3 Tbsp of the drippings from that dish in lieu of butter for our soup, which added a great, slow-cooked richness.

Stuff It: Mexican Stuffed Peppers

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Mine was super productive while also super relaxing all at once. The condo finally is Christmas-free, the gifts are put away and I am caught up on the to-do list that had been nagging me since our return from NJ.

On Friday night, some of the gals and I got into talks about eating, drinking, losing weight and weddings. You know, things that are never on my mind these days ;) (14 weeks until the wedding and counting!!) Weight Watchers came up, and our conversations reminded me how much I really do like this program. While counting points isn't for everyone, it's the knowledge of food and portion control that you gain that is really a wonderful thing. Even on days when I am slacking on officially tracking, I can estimate a portion of meat or a serving of chips.

This is the time of year for comfort foods, though. Lasagna. Cream-based soups. Carb-loading. Thankfully, though, this is also the easiest time of year for me to refocus on WW. I am naturally craving healthier foods after the holiday binge, and vegetables and fruits can help brighten up dreary days and nights. Last week, craving something "stuffed" but also healthy, I tried out my own version of these stuffed avocados:

Source: fabulousfoodblog.com via Katherine on Pinterest

I stuffed my avocado halves with a mixture of seasoned bread crumbs, diced tomatoes, basil, lemon juice and parmesan cheese. They were quite tasty, and if you are an avocado lover like I am, you would enjoy them, too. Like bruschetta, but with more healthy fats and less carbs! I cooked mine at 450 for about 10 minutes to warm them through. 

As part of my (annual) New Year, New Me resolution, the grocery store is back in regular rotation. Except for this week, because I didn't go to the grocery store yesterday as planned. Fail. Now I am dipping through the (very last) of the pantry and freezer stocks for a day or two. Good thing I made a big meal on Saturday night that has since been featured in multiple leftover renditions!

While I really wanted pizza (that craving never seems to die, no matter how "healthy" I am being) as Saturday afternoon came to a close, I knew that caving to that craving so early in the year would be no good. My mind was also still on the whole "stuffed" thing, and these Mexican stuffed shells have been burning a whole in my head for the last few weeks:

Source: daydreamkitchen.com via Katherine on Pinterest

Determined to lighten things up again and make a WW-worthy meal, I decided we would have Mexican Stuffed Peppers, instead! Here is how I did it.

First, I made the filling, a mixture of ground turkey breast prepared with taco seasonings, cooked whole wheat orzo, diced tomatoes, Mexican shredded cheese.

Once I mixed that all together, I prepared and lined up the peppers in a greased dish, slicing off the bottoms as needed so that they would stand up straight.

Then, I stuffed the peppers full!

 
We received a jar of red chile pepper sauce for Christmas from family that I chose to use all over the top of the peppers. I drenched the peppers with the entire jar of sauce and topped them with a sprinkling of shredded cheese. Then, into the oven they went for an hour. I basted the peppers once during the cook time, which helped keep the peppers moist and prevent any sauce from over-cooking.

Our peppers, thanks to the sauce, were extra spicy (yum!), so a dollop of sour cream at the end was a MUST. You can skip this on yours, if you want, but we loved the creamy and cool texture it adds.

Since it was just the two of us for dinner, we had four peppers left over. Two were used, along with the extra filling I had on hand, cut up on top of tortilla chips last night for a quickie nacho dinner. Then today, I enjoyed another one reheated for lunch!

Mexican Stuffed Shells
Serves 4-6

1 lb. ground turkey breast
1 packet taco seasoning
1/2 cup of water
2/3 cup of uncooked whole wheat orzo
1 cup + 1 Tbsp. of shredded Mexican cheese
1 cup of diced tomatoes
1 jar of taco or enchilada sauce (approximately one cup)
6 bell peppers, cored and tops removed

Cook turkey breast over medium heat until done; add taco seasoning packet and water, stir to combine and let simmer for five minutes. While turkey breast is cooking, prepare orzo as directed, draining when done.

To prepare stuffing, combine cooked and seasoned turkey breast, cooked orzo, 1 cup of cheese and tomatoes in a bowl. Line peppers in a greased baking dish, cut sides facing up. Fill each pepper with stuffing, mounding up on top. Pour sauce over all peppers, and sprinkle with remaining 1 Tbsp. of cheese. Bake uncovered in a 350 degree oven for one hour, basting peppers with sauce halfway through. Serve with side salad, black beans and/or tortilla chips.

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I hope that you enjoy this recipe, too. It's fun to think about "other containers" for food, especially if they can add just as much flavor or texture as pasta or other carbs might. From peppers to lettuce wraps, there are lots of ideas. Here is another stuffed pepper option that sounded great - Orzo Stuffed Peppers.

What food swaps do you make in your life? Please share in the comments -- I need some other ideas to keep this momentum going!

Now ... how to low-carb/WW these ... ha!

Source: doughmesstic.com via Katherine on Pinterest

Happy Cooking!

Holiday Food Flashback

As I am sure is the case with many of you, I have just started in on the prerequisite New Year cleanse. Coming up for us over the next week or two are a lot of healthy soups, water and salads. But that doesn’t mean I can’t look back at and reminisce about some of the amazing meals we had over the holiday season, right :) Just consider this preparation for your next big get-together! Bookmark this one for later if you can’t risk the temptation.

Beyond the to-die-for local Italian cuisine we had after Christmas while up north, we also had a boatload of tasty dishes before we even left Atlanta, and they were all made at home from scratch. My uncle and his girlfriend, visiting us from New Mexico for the Christmas holiday before we went up north, granted my birthday dinner wish of enchiladas and whipped up chicken enchiladas with a homemade green chile sauce with ingredients they brought with them from their home. I was in heaven. I don't have the recipe but this one from Tyler Florence is similar and sounds good. Thank you, Tim and Adrienne! 

We also tried out the famed Burgundy Mushrooms and Creamy Rosemary Potatoes from Mrs. Ree Drummond herself for our big Christmas Eve dinner. Y’all. Make these dishes at your next formal meal. They are so worth it. I dreamt that night not of sugarplums, but of mushrooms dancing over my head. Bonus: both are also really good as leftovers, so the huge portions will pay off.

For my birthday dessert, my mom surprised us all with an ice cream cake with big wow factor that couldn’t be easier to put together. Our family doesn’t really do the whole “birthday cake” thing, preferring alternate treats to finish out our special days. Pies, tortes, flan and even banana enchiladas have been on the menu in the past for us. This ice cream cake, just like those, doesn’t disappoint.

Tip: This recipe would make a great kid’s birthday party treat since it makes a lot of small servings without the prep, mess and cost of traditional ice cream and birthday cake. 

Thanks to my mom and family for all of the wonderful meals! And now, I will fast. Ha! Happy cooking, everyone.

Ice Cream Sandwich Layer Cake 
Recipe courtesy of my Mom :)

Two boxes of mini ice cream sandwiches
One 8 oz. container of whipped topping (such as Cool-Whip)
One cup of finely chopped candy bar of your choice (Heath Bars would be excellent!)
Chocolate sauce

Arrange one box of the ice cream sandwiches in the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan. Top with half of the container of whipped topping, spreading to cover the sandwiches. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of chopped candy bars over the top. Repeat with second box of sandwiches, remaining whipped topping and candy bars, and drizzle with chocolate sauce to finish. Place dish in freezer for at least 2-3 hours or until firm. Slice into squares and serve. Serves 12-15, or more with smaller slices.

Holiday Ideas for the Masses

At some point during every holiday season, it's inevitable that you are stumped on what to give to a group of people. A child's multiple school teachers, the staff at the doggie day care, neighbors on your block or coworkers. For me, it's always our building staff. We live in an amazing high rise that is what it is because of the people who staff it. The team does so many things for us throughout the year, and while I wish that I could financially thank each and every person on the team, from the multiple doormen to the concierge personnel, we aren't at that point in our lives to be able to do that. That doesn't mean we can't give back, though, and show a little holiday love.

For the past few years, we have put together a big gift basket for the staff to enjoy, no matter what hour or shift they might be on duty. Store-bought pretzels, popcorn, crackers and chips rounded out a basket of homemade sweets, packaged all up with a pretty bow on top. We heard from the team multiple times how much they always enjoy the snacks (especially the overnight guys!).

This year, I was pulling together group gift ideas for both the building and my new team at work, and decided that in lieu of the snack attack, I would make a big meal for everyone in both groups to enjoy. I chose a casserole favorite of mine that I first posted about here way back in '09. Since then, I have tweaked the recipe and have learned that it is a super easy recipe to double, triple or more. The team at work could have theirs with an easy Mexi-salad, while we delivered the other one to the condo staff with a few bags of tortilla chips and salsa. Whether they snack on it for brunch, lunch, dinner or "fourth meal," I hope that they enjoy it :)

Here is my amended recipe. After making it again for this holiday round, I have amended it one last time, adding in some additional enchilada sauce to the top to help keep things moist -- this is especially clutch if you are making the recipe in bulk, since each dish will need to be reheated.

I think and hope that you will agree, this is a great weeknight comfort (light!) food that doesn't take long to make! Nom Nom Nom and Ho Ho Ho!!

Chicken Tamale Casserole
Amended from Cooking Light, November 2008

• 1 1/2 cups shredded 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese, divided 
• 1/3 cup skim milk 
• 1/4 cup egg substitute
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn 
• 1 (8.5-ounce) box corn muffin mix (such as Martha White)
• 1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
• Cooking spray
• 2 (10-ounce) cans red enchilada sauce (such as Old El Paso), your choice of spice level (Medium is great)
• 2 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast 
• 1/2 cup fat-free sour cream 
• Taco sauce (optional)

Preheat oven to 400°.

Combine 1/2 cup cheese and next 7 ingredients (through chiles) in a large bowl, stirring just until moist. Pour mixture into a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 15-20 minutes or until set.

Pierce entire surface liberally with a fork; pour one can of enchilada sauce over top. Mix chicken with second can of sauce, and pour mixture over cornbread layer. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese. Bake at 400° for 15-20 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces; top each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream and taco sauce, if desired.

Tips from Katherine: If making in large scale, it's easiest to shred the chicken in a food processor. Also, if you are making this to take over for a new mom, you may want to drop down the spice factor by reducing the chiles and red pepper and choosing Mild flavor sauce. Or do what I did and accidentally make it with Medium sauce, and cause slight nursing trauma for that mom's new baby. Whoops ;)

Let There Be Cake

As my gal pals know, I am a sweets gal. I can ignore a bag of chips all. day. long. but when it comes to brownies, cookies or pies, I am snatching up the goodies in a hot second.

Except cake. I don't know what it is about cake, but I really just don't love it. So much so that honestly, we are thinking about alternative wedding sweets ... hopefully no one gets too upset if we choose to not include cake on OUR big day ;)

Thankfully, no one in my immediate family likes cake either, and so birthdays growing up were full of alternative desserts topped with flaming candles. We're talking creme brulee, flan, berry cobblers, root beer floats and even the amazing cheesecake enchiladas from the now defunct Nava (for which we have a paper recipe but I can't find it online. Access Atlanta does has a few other Nava recipes for your own making at home, though!).

Early last year, I pulled a recipe out of Weight Watchers magazine for a savory cake that managed to catch my eye despite my cake-hating ways, all thanks to its main ingredient -- rosemary! I love rosemary and could use rosemary on everything and be happy. I finally made this cake for a recent girls evening and it got rave reviews, so I wanted to share it with all of you here, too. Be warned -- proper cake making takes some time. This cake calls for separating seven eggs and folding things together. This isn't your momma's box mix that you whip up with the hand blender and just two eggs and some oil ;)


Rosemary and Olive Oil Chiffon Cake
Adapted from Weight Watchers Magazine, March 2011

1 1/2 c cake flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 c granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. minced fresh rosemary
7 large eggs, separated, at room tempurature
1/2 c tepid water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 c extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 1/2 Tbsp confectioners' sugar

Place oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 325 degrees.

Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl. Whisk granulated sugar and rosemary in large bowl until fragrant, about 1 minute. Whisk in water and vanilla until blended. Slowly add oil in thin steady stream, whisking constantly, until well blended. Add flour mixture, folding it in with rubber spatula until blended.

With electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until frothy. Increase speed to high. Add remaining 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form, 1-1 1/2 minutes. Add beaten whites to yolk mixture, gently folding it in with rubber spatula until blended.

Scrape batter into ungreased bundt cake or tube pan; spread evenly. Bake until golden brown and cake springs back when lightly pressed, about 55 minutes, rotating pan front to back halfway through baking time. To serve once cooled completely, run thin knife around edge of cake and loosen it from side and center of pan. Remove cake from pan and put on serving plate; dust with confectioners' sugar. Cut into 16 slices.

Per serving (1 slice): 174 cal, 6 g total fat, 1 g sat fat, 0 g trans fat, 93 mg chol, 147 mg sod, 27 g total carb, 17 g total sugar, 0 g fiber, 4 g protein, 39 mg calcium. PointsPlus value: 5

Tip from the magazine: Because extra-virgin olive oil is the primary ingredient that gives this cake it's subtle, rich flavor, they recommend using the best-quality oil you can find. However, I used Publix brand and it worked out great, too ;)

Collegiate Sweetness

Looking for a little inspiration for Game Day food this weekend for your tailgate? Southern Living has you set if you are an SEC fan!!

Photo courtesy of Southern Living

Usually I would be kind of irritated that my good old Yellow Jackets are left out of a round-up like this, but I am letting this one slide because it's an SEC Cookbook, after all! The ACC version would be oh so cute. Imagine Demon Decon Halloween cupcakes, Boston Creme Pie cupcakes, and, of course, a Georgia Tech-inspired creation, too :)

Southern Living, hit me up if you want some brainstorming ideas! ;)

Get all the recipes for the above cupcakes here: Southern Living College Football Cupcakes

Pinterest Love-Hate Relationship

While I would love to be Buckhead Betty Crocker all the time, sometimes life happens, and I just can't get it together in time to make an amazing homemade dish for a dinner party or a tailgate or a neighborly gift. Most times, I am more like Semi-Homemade Sandra Lee (your guess on whether I incorporate as many cocktails as she does, ha!), throwing things together at the last minute, ideally with whatever I have on hand. There's a benefit to a fully stocked pantry, after all. The cocktails help with creativity. Trust.

Pinterest has made all of this both easier and more intimidating at the same time. Late to an event and need to bring something along? I am loving Pinterest for a quick idea. I also have pinned countless recipes of "pretty" things that I can't wait to make ... someday. Like these beehive cupcakes. How adorable are these for a Georgia Tech home game?

Source: sweetopia.net via Katherine on Pinterest

Honestly, though, while I usually HEART Pinterest, I don't want everyone around me to be like "Oh I saw those on Pinterest!!" when I make something. Ugh. It just takes away from the creativity, the research and the time spent on making it. For me, it almost discredits that whole process -- if it is on Pinterest, "anyone" can find that recipe and make it themselves. I want people to be like "OoOoO this is so fun, how did you think of this?!" and THEN I can reference Pinterest ... or, more likely, I would reference the actual blog or other source that I found it on ... via Pinterest. I am all about giving some props!

If I had to be really honest, I really wish that I had the creativity enough to have been the creator/source of some of those pins that I have pinned. Because then I could respond, "Oh that's great! That was actually my recipe you saw on there!" and it would be awesome.

But I will likely not ever be that person. Sigh. I'd need to be a lot more creative in the kitchen that I am!

In the meantime, I have my recipe binder, and read countless blogs full of inspiring ideas, but Pinterest really keeps it easy when it comes to last-minute ideas. And so I am going to keep doing quick-searches of Pinterest when I am in a bind for an idea, and hoping people can just appreciate the end results for what they are.

Recently, I have made four last-minute dips for events. Two of the recipes are Pinterest finds, one was a no-brainer veggie dip mix (hello, Hidden Valley!) and one was a long-time WW recipe I already had on hand. My favorite so far? The WW recipe. This recipe is one I have had on hand for probably ten years -- and somehow had never tried before now. Success!

I hope that you find these three recipes helpful -- and if you are truly stuck, do like me and grab a spice packet from Hidden Valley for an easy solution. Either way, I will dream that my blog can be one of your last-second recipe destinations along with Pinterest :)

Beer Dip from Beauty and Bedlam -- Via Inspired by Charm on Pinterest (LOVE MICHAEL!)
Notes from Katherine: this was a huge hit. Definitely make at least three hours prior, but ideally the day before. No toppings are really needed because the flavors are awesome as-is. We used Sam Adams Octoberfest beer. 

Source: beautyandbedlam.com via Emily on Pinterest

Loaded Baked Potato Dip from Brown Eyed Baker -- via Inspired by Charm
Notes from Katherine: loved this one, too, though I used green onions and the flavor was almost too powerful. Chives would probably work better. Serve with Ruffles or a similarly strong chip to dip in.  

Source: inspiredbycharm.com via Katherine on Pinterest

Peanut Butter Java Dip -- adapted from WW 
Notes from Katherine: So tasty! I served this with graham crackers, and it was a big hit. Nothing like a WW recipe to wow the crowd.

Yield: 12 servings (Serving size: 2 tablespoons)

1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
2 teaspoons water
1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
1 container frozen fat-free whipped topping, thawed
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Combine coffee granules and water in a small bowl, stirring until granules dissolve. Place peanut butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl; microwave at high 30 seconds or until peanut butter begins to melt. Fold in whipped topping. Add coffee mixture, brown sugar, and cinnamon, and stir gently to combine. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

Eggs Abound

Maybe it was my body prepping for all of these workouts coming my way (first run today - 3 miles of success!), or maybe I was in some serious need of protein, but over the last few months, I have found myself working eggs into more and more meals.

Eggs have long been a stand-by of mine for a quickie lunch for work when the pantry is running low (today...) and of course we enjoy eggs for breakfast and brunch whenever possible. Eggs are such an awesome power food and oh so budget-friendly. I never tire of coming up with new combinations for them, either. Recent favorites of mine included omelets stuffed with shredded cheese, canned tomatoes and sauteed shallots, cheesy scrambled eggs a la Waffle House (the secret: two slices of low-fat Kraft Singles, ha!) and then of course, the Mexi-breakfast I shared here last week.

Eggs for dinner happen less often in our house. But when they do, it's an awesome thing.

When trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle, every once in a while, you have to splurge to keep your sanity. For us, pizza is that splurge. Making pizza at home, though, can help control the crazy calories, so we have been doing that more and more. We make pizza once every few weeks, and try a new combination every time. Pizza of the week last week? Pizza with eggs!

 

My favorite part about putting eggs on a pizza is when the yolk breaks as you take a bite. Just when you thought pizza couldn't get any more decadent, there it up and did! 

 

Here's how we made this gorgeous pie: We started with dough from Publix (tip: let it sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes, and then sit again once you stretch it out to help it best keep it's shape once in the oven) and added canned tomatoes as a "sauce." Then we added an entire bunch of diced green onions, shredded Mexican cheese and a few of our favorite spices. While that alone would have made for an awesome Mexi-style pizza, the eggs really bring it home. We cracked five right on top, taking care to keep them away from the edges so that the whites wouldn't inadvertently run over. A sprinkling of salt and pepper later, and the pie was ready to bake.

 

Fifteen to twenty minutes later on top of a pre-heated pizza stone in a 450 degree oven, and the crust was browned and the eggs were set. 

This pizza really hit the spot for us that night, and I can't wait to make it again. If this particular combo doesn't do it for you, though, check out some of my other favorites on this post, or go rouge with a cauliflower crust with these tips.

Mangia! 

Mexi Breakfast

There just aren't enough words to describe how enjoyable relaxing weekends are.

This weekend, other than my trip up to Roswell, I have spent the entirety of my time in and around Buckhead, with no major plans. These types of weekends, especially when sandwiched in between busy holidays and other weekends to come, are such a blessing in disguise. If we can restrain the desire to fill up the free time with activities, what results are hours and hours of quiet recharging.

After a quiet night like that spent at home on a Saturday, the other benefit of weekends like this is that I wake up ready to go early the next morning. Today, we got in a run at Chastain before picking up supplies to make a healthy brunch.

While I love going out to eat on the weekends, heading out in workout clothes is not my idea of Buckhead Betty living. Instead, we grabbed supplies and I recreated a family favorite from local brunch spot J. Christopher's - Huevos Avocados.

With hearty high-fiber English muffins as the base, and some Mexican cheese, salsa and sour cream to top it off, this over-easy egg + avocado dish makes me so happy. It fills you up without being heavy, and it's full of healthy fats. 

My favorite part? When you cut into it and the yoke oozes out :)

Here's my "recipe" - if you could even call it that! I hope you enjoy it!

Huevos Avocados 
Amended from J.Christopher's; serves 2

2 high-fiber or other English muffins
4 eggs
1 ripe avocado
Low-fat sour cream
Salsa
Shredded Mexican cheese

1. Toast English muffins while you warm a nonstick pan for the eggs
2. Cut avocado in half and use a knife to slice, arrange one half of slices on one English muffin, the other half for the second person's.
3. Crack two eggs into your greased pan and make over-easy eggs.
4. Arrange first two finished eggs onto the halves of the first English muffin and avocado.
5. Top eggs with shredded Mexican cheese, a spoonful of low-fat sour cream and a spoonful of salsa.
6. Repeat with two more eggs for the second serving.

Enjoy!