Current Obsessions Wednesday {#1}

Posted in Current Obsessions by Cavities & Cravings

Happy Wednesday, friends! I haven’t posted in a couple of weeks; since returning from Orlando time has whizzed by me. I can’t believe Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK! I still haven’t finalized my menu, but I am looking forward to a low-key thanksgiving day with Husband. He has to work on Friday so we are staying in Cincinnati for the holiday. I plan on eating and lounging all day long.

I decided to take this opportunity to share some of my current favorite things with you. Some of the things I will share will be food related and others will just be life related. I think it’s so easy to get in to a food rut so whenever I go to the grocery store, I make an effort to branch out and try something new, sometimes these become obsessions and other times not so much. Hopefully this post will inspire you to branch out and try something new!

POM POMS

One of my favorite fall/winter fruits is pomegranate. There’s only one problem with this fruit… peeling out all of those tiny little seeds! They fly everywhere and leave me frustrated with red fingertips. This is genius, why didn’t I think of this? These little Pom Poms are the perfect serving size.

Sargento Balanced Breaks

I found these Sargento Balanced Breaks in the cheese section at the grocery store a few weesk ago. They have these in different cheese-nut combinations, but so far my favorite has been the pepper jack cheese with honey roasted peanuts and raisins. When you open this package for the first time, expect a little sadness. Holy portion control! I will admit, I am always left satisfied; it’s just alarming initially when I see how little I get to snack on.

Happy Feat

The name says it all… Happy Feet – “The original big sneaker slipper.” Husband and I treated ourselves to some new house slipper and they are AMAZING! I’m not going to lie, it took me awhile to commit to one, there are so many great options. Mine are Ohio State polka-dot ones and husbands are black bears. I tried to make husband walk around making bear-like growling noises, but it didn’t work. These slippers are so soft and squishy and make my feet so happy. I think these would be a great gift for loved ones for Christmas!

Sweet Kale Chopped Salad

I take salads to work most days for lunch and usually top the salads with protein left overs from the night before. I am loving this sweet kale mix, it has broccoli, kale, brussel sprouts, cabbage, and radicchio. This mix is a nice change from a traditional spring mix.

Fresh Flowers

Fresh flowers are seriously my favorite thing right now. Having fresh flowers on the kitchen table just brings a smile to my face. Our local grocery store sells small boquets for about $6.00 and they last about two weeks. Six bucks for two weeks worth of happiness, sold!

What are some of your current obsessions?

22Mar2012

Eggplant Rolls

Posted in Entrees by Cavities & Cravings

Hello friends!

I’m sorry it’s been awhile since I last posted. Things have been a little hectic around here. We had a rough final exams week last week, thank God that’s over. I’m pretty sure I loose at least 5 years off my life during each finals week because of stress alone. This week I’ve been on spring break and it has been wonderful. I went to Chicago for a few day, I love Chicago. My mom had a work conference there so I met her there and snuck in some much needed quality mommy time. ❤

Now, on to more important things – like Eggplant Rolls. Yummy! I served these next to some pasta, green beans, and a salad and they turned out delicious.

Enjoy.

Ingredients:

2 Medium Eggplants
¼ cup Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 cups Skim ricotta cheese
1 whole Egg, beaten
2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese, divided
½ cups grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
2 cloves Garlic, minced
¼ cups Basil
2 cups Italian Seasoning
2 cups of your favorite Pasta Sauce

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Cut off stem of each eggplant and slice lengthwise into 6 slices. Put the slices on backing sheets, brush both sides with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Roast eggplant for 8 – 10 minutes per side, remove from the oven, making sure they are tender. Cover with foil and allow to steam for another 10 minutes.

3. Combine ricotta, egg, 1 cup of shredded mozzarella, ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, garlic, fresh basil, bread crumbs, and salt and pepper to taste.

4. Spread half of the pasta sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish. Evenly divide the ricotta filling over the eggplant slices and spread to cover completely. Starting with the narrower end, roll up each eggplant slice tightly.

5. Place eggplant seam side down in dish and top with remaining pasta sauce. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup of Mozzarella and ¼ cup of Parmesan cheese. Bake until golden, about 20 minutes.

2Oct2011

Football Sunday Chili

Posted in Entrees by Cavities & Cravings

Very early on in our relationship, Mina made it pretty clear to me that football Sunday’s and Superbowl’s were no joke. Although I’m not an avid football watcher, I knew what I was getting myself in to and I accepted it.

Soon after we got married I started experimenting with different chili recipes and I eventually came up with a recipe that we both love. It’s now become a tradition that once football season starts, so does chili-making season! What’s better than chili, beer, and football all at the same time?

So here’s my “secret” chili recipe. It’s super quick to throw together, enjoy! 🙂

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 lb lean ground beef
1 8 oz can of tomato sauce
1 16 oz can of diced tomatoes
2 16 oz cans chili beans in a spicy chili sauce
1 cup of corn
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons ground red pepper (* optional, we like ours spicy)

Instructions:

1. Heat olive oil in pan. Add garlic and onion. Once golden colored, add ground beef.

2. Once ground beef is cooked, drain excess fat. Now add ALL other ingredients. Bring to boil.

3. Lower heat and allow to simmer for 2 hours for best flavors.

4Sep2011

Stir Fry Overload

Posted in Entrees, Recipes by Cavities & Cravings

Yesterday for dinner my friend Mary and I made some chicken and vegetable stir fry. I think we made enough to feed a small country. It’s an Egyptian thing…Egyptian mothers only know how to cook for armys of people and I think I have inherited this gene. I rarely can get the portions right. I guess the theory is, I’d rather everyone be stuffed and have tons of left overs then for someone to walk away from the table a little hungry. Crazy, I know.

Anyways, I think I went a little (by a little, I really mean a lot) overboard on the fresh veggies I bought to put in it: broccoli, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, mushrooms, carrots, onions, zucchini, eggplant, sugar snap peans…I couldn’t help myself but pick up every vegetable I love. This combination worked out perfectly! It couldn’t have been better.

I’m not going to make an ingredient list for this recipe, because everyone likes different vegetables. So I’ll just walk you through the steps of how I put this all together!

1 Get some rice cooking. Rice typically takes awhile to cook so I started that first.

2. Chop 1 pound of chicken breast into cubes. Season with 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp ground red pepper (for spice)

3. Brown 1/2 cup of chopped onions and cubed chicken in pan.

4. While chicken is browning, chop vegetables in to cubes. Add about tsp of olive oil to lightly coat vegetables, along with 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp of ginger, and 1/2 tsp red pepper (same spices that were on the chicken!).

5. Put vegetables in separate pot on medium-high heat. Allow vegetables to cook through, mixing regularly.

Mary while mixing the vegetables, "I feel like a real housewife of Columbus."

6. Add 1/2 cup of soy sauce. (I had a lot of veggies, so this might be too much soy sauce for you!) I used a light, low sodium soy sauce from the grocery store. It was perfect. Some soy sauces are too salty. So taste yours before adding a ton to your veggies.

7. Once veggies are cooked down and tender. Add chicken.

8. Serve on rice. Dig in and enjoy!

After dinner a group of us went and saw a comedy show at the funny bone. Mina got to see the third love of his life (#1. Me, #2. Diesel) Tommy Johngin. He says I’m jealous of his love that he has for Tommy…but that’s not true. I know I’ll always be number one. Overall it was a successful dinner followed by a successful evening of friends and laughter. What more could I ask for?

Tommy's the one in plaid!

15Aug2011

Helloo world!

Posted in Entrees, Recipes by Cavities & Cravings

A few years ago I decided to start a blog, but then I lost touch with it and I wasn’t truly invested in it. This time, it’s different! Not only have I made a commitment to a friend, Sarahlicious (check out her blog!), but I also have a focus. What’s the focus, you ask? Duh, cavities and cravings.

I am currently a second year dental student. Dental school has pretty much taken over life. While I know I’m in the right place, doing the right thing, it’s definitely not easy. I am sure you’ll hear me whine a lot more about it. Just tell me to suck it up and get over it.

Aside from teeth, I love love love baking. It’s become a passion of mine over the years. I bake when I’m happy, sad, stressed, bored…. you get the point. More recently, however, I have decided to branch out and make it my mission to find yummy, healthy recipes (sometimes they’re not completely healthy …but they’re always yummy!) I hope that I can share my new cooking experiences and recipes with you. I also hope that my hubby (Mina, checkout his website, he’s a tv junkie!), will enjoy being the guinea pig for these new recipes 🙂

The recipe I want to share today is Baked Lemon Chicken and it was a huge hit! I got the recipe from allrecipes.com, but I tweaked it a bit. I hope it turns out as delicious for you as it did for me! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons of olive oil
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1cup seasoned bread crumbs
4 (4 ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

Instructions:

In a shallow dish, combine the butter, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Place bread crumbs in another dish. Dip chicken in butter mixture, then coat with crumbs.
Place in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish. Drizzle with remaining butter mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until juices run clear. Put on broil for 5-8 minutes, just to let the top get a little brown and crunch