Posts Tagged ‘spinach’

So I’m on day three of my diet and I think I might be starving to death.  This morning when I walked into work there were about 4 dozen chick fil a chicken mini’s in the kitchen and the amazing smell of butter and fried chicken almost knocked me to the floor.  I held strong though.  With my smoothie in hand I walked right out of that evil kitchen. 

Not two hours later another 4 dozen chicken mini’s were dropped off at my office.  I headed to the kitchen to get some water thinking “I’m so glad those little suckers are gone” only to be accosted by the warm aroma of a new batch.  I seriously stopped dead in my tracks and started to contemplate how bad one little mini could possibly be??  I mean, what if I picked all the breading off of the chicken and ate only that?  I’m allowed to have butter on this diet so I could technically lick the butter off of the roll and then throw the roll away right??

But deep down inside I knew that if I even so much as opened the lid that all chicken mini chaos would break loose.  My coworkers would find me hiding in an empty cube on the abandoned side of the office gorging myself on all 4 dozen mini’s.                                                  

It is only day three out of 21 days and I’m not sure I’m gonna make it.  Who knew I was such a weakling??

To make matters worse I have dinner plans tonight with some friends at the best pizza place ever.  I just looked up the menu and I’m going to have to order a salad with all the good stuff taken off and dressing on the side, while they eat a cheesy yummy pizza with fresh tomatoes and fresh basil….  I mean, I normally make fun of girls who order dressing on the side.  

Maybe skinny knees are over rated?

Here is my answer to greasy Italian food.  An easy Spinach and Shrimp saute that is uber healthy and just as tasty.  I ate mine without the pasta and I was actually very satisfied.  I served Michael’s spinach over whole wheat pasta.  He thought it was amazing too!

 

Spinach and Shrimp Saute:

1 lb of shrimp cleaned and peeled (1/4 lb per person)

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tbls  + 1 tsp of Garlic

2 tbls of olive oil total

about 1 tsp of chili powder

1 pint of cherry tomatoes

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

10 oz baby Spinach

Marinate the shrimp in the lemon juice for about 30 minutes.

Heat a large skillet to medium with the olive oil until the oil is hot in the pan.  Add in the garlic.  (the garlic should crackle but not burn and pop out of the pan)  If you burn the garlic throw it out and start over.  Burnt garlic is bitter – yuck!

Stir everything around and then add in the tomatoes, vinegar, sea salt and pepper.  Allow the tomatoes to cook until they pop open and you have a nice thin sauce.  This should only take about 5-8 minutes.

While the tomatoes are cooking heat a smaller skillet with the other tbls of olive oil.  Add in 1 tsp of garlic. 

Drop in the shrimp so that the shrimp is not too crowded.  Dust each shrimp with a little bit of the chili powder.  Sear each shrimp and then flip them all over to sear the other side.  Dust the opposite side of the shrimp with the chili powder.  Don’t over cook the shrimp!  You want them just seared, not tough.

Add the shrimp back into the tomato mixture and then add the spinach on top.  The heat will start to wilt the spinach.  Slowly, stir the spinach to incorporate it.  Let the spinach wilt just slightly so that it darkens in color.

Serve and enjoy! 

 

 

 

 

 

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I used to hate mushrooms.  My poor mom had to listen to me gripe and whine at dinner about not wanting to eat mushrooms.  Why are you torturing me with mushrooms?  I thought you loved me.  Why would you make me eat something so gross??  Yeah, then I grew up and actually like tried mushrooms.  Huh…not so bad.  Actually, these things are pretty damn good. 

So, I guess I have an apology to make.  Mom, if you’re reading this…SORRY!  You were like totally right about mushrooms.  They are not gross and they really enhance the meal just like you always said.  Again, sorry for the tears and the picking mushrooms out of every meal I ate, and oh, the whining.  Yeah, the whining was probably pretty annoying.  Ummmm, sorry about that.

But, don’t get too excited because I still won’t try eggs.  Nope.  No way.  No how.  Ain’t gonna do it.  I’m a stubborn little brat and proud of it!     

Spinach & Mushroom Quesadilla

8 ounces sliced baby bella mushrooms
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
16 ounces chopped frozen spinach
2 ounces goat cheese or feta
3 large tortillas (10-12 inches)

In a large skillet heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil over medium heat.  Add the mushrooms and saute until they shrink up a bit and take on a nice dark color.

While the mushrooms are sauteing, defrost the spinach in the microwave and squeeze out any excess water. 

Add the balsamic vinegar to the mushrooms, stir, and then add the spinach.  Remove from heat and stir in the cheese.

Heat a flat griddle or grill pan over medium heat.  Place a tortilla on the pan and spoon about 1/3 of the mushroom mixture onto one half of the tortilla.  Fold over the other half forming a pocket.  Grill on both sides until golden.  Remove quesadilla from the pan and slice into two wedges.  Serves 3-4.

I had so much fun running around and getting everything ready for this party.  It is always a lot of work but breaking it up into several days really does help.  I love that everyone really dressed up and it was funny to hear everyone talking about their sparkly shoes and their fun scarves.  Some of our friends brought extra scarves just in case they needed to pose for pictures!  I love my friends, they are so dramatic and really get into all of the silly things we make them do.  This was the perfect excuse to get the girls together, dress up, eat, and catch up.  I love it when people get inspired to get a little crazy or do something out of the norm.  Everyone gobbled up our slightly weird food and really had a good time!  I hope all of this has inspired you.  Of course you don’t have to be as elaborate just to celebrate good friends.  Feel free to comment on what you like to do when you get a group of good girl friends together.

Roasted Potatoes:

These potatoes turned out even better than I imagined.  I make roasted potatoes all the time for breakfast but these were even better.  I kept dipping them in Natalie’s Tzatziki sauce and they were just perfect.  I made these the night before and then just tossed them back in the oven at 400 for a few minutes to get them all crispy and hot in time for our guests.

Spinach Turnovers:

These were super yummy but the crust was not as flaky as I had envisioned it would be.  It was more on the crispy side so keep that in mind.  These are not empanadas or French spinach pastries.  There is almost no butter used in most Middle Eastern dishes and most of the recipes we found were pretty simplistic when it came to the ingredients.

Spinach, Feta Hummus and Garlic Hummus:

I made two different types of hummus for this party because I had never made hummus and I got a little overly excited about getting to make it.  (I’m a total food dork and I was visibly giddy while searching for recipes) I made a ton of hummus and have begun to spread it on everything.  I ate it today on my turkey sandwich!  So freakin yummy!

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