Author: Canapes and Chocolate

Whole30 – first week

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  Today completes my first week on the Whole30 program and I am in love with vegetables.  Here is a summary of my first week. PROS: Sleep:  Sleeping better than prior to Whole30 eating.  Slept very well the first 3 days, and then found myself exhausted upon waking on the 5th day.  Went to bed early that night and slept for 10 hours (very unusual for me!) Energy Level: Pretty good.  I usually have low energy so can’t say that I am zipping around or feeling especially “high”on energy this week, but then again I am not dragging at all – so feeling positive about this. Hunger:  Am used to eating 3 meals and 2 snacks daily.  Or on weekends, I just tend to “graze” a lot of the day.  Since I am eating only 3 meals and no snacks, I found I was usually ready to eat my lunch at Noon, and by 6:30 or 7pm when I got home, I was ravenous for dinner.  Since I made some dinners on the weekend, and then had …

Going Whole30 for the next 30 days

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Time to get really healthy as we move towards the end of the year, and shedding a few pounds while at it wouldn’t disappoint! I started the Whole30 Program last Friday, which in a nutshell means following a gluten-free, sugar-free, alcohol-free diet.  The good news is that you eat beef, fish, chicken, vegetables, fruits, and nuts.  So after the first two days I can say I am already starting to feel the “fog” disappear, the bloat begin to subside, and lost 5.4 pounds – yes that is correct!  Actually you are told “you are not allowed to weigh yourself for 30 days,” but I needed to weigh this morning to ensure the needle was going down and not up in pounds.  No more peeking till Day 30 for me.  You don’t count calories, carbs, or points; you don’t have to measure your food and you just choose really wise choices. This program was created by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig in 2009, who also founded their business Whole9 the same year.  According to their website they have nearly 1 million visitors …

Green Vegetable Medley

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  Fresh zucchini and snap peas become a quick vegetable medley when added with a dozen grape tomatoes.  I had leftover uncooked vegetables, that each alone would not be enough as a side dish for 4 people, but when combined it was just right.   The flavor combo worked well too – it had a slight Italian flair by adding the basil while cooking, and then removing from the dish – it was similar to adding basil oil, only subtler.  This is a great dish to serve during the week as it takes less than 15 minutes from start to finish.

Sunday Chicken with Mushroom Vermouth Sauce

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  This chicken dish is great to serve company or just for the family on a beautiful Sunday evening in September, like today. You can serve dinner in under an hour with only 20 minutes of prep and about 35 minutes to finish cooking in the oven.  I happened to only have two pieces of chicken, so this particular recipe is Dinner For Two – just double or triple the recipe based on number of people you are serving.  The chicken cooks up moist and juicy – a simple and comforting dinner that is delish! 

Roasted Rack of Lamb for Two with Potato Cakes

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I don’t think of myself as a particularly predictable person, but when I am out to dinner with family or friends and there is Rack of Lamb on the menu, it is a safe assumption, that is what I will order – actually you can bet on it, and I believe some people have done so!  There are all kinds of ways to serve rack of lamb from glazed with a Cabernet sauce, covered with a Dijon mustard mask, to heavily encrusted in a shallot and mushroom tapenade.  But I am a purist when is comes to lamb and I want to taste the full-bodied, distinctive flavor of lamb and not have it covered with sauces and stuff that masks the gamey flavor – knowing full well lamb is often considered an acquired taste.  That said, my recipe is a modification from Rack of Lamb Persille by Narsai David.  Narsai David was a leading Bay Area restaurateur (owner of Narsai’s and Narsai’s Market, both of which closed in the mid-1980’s.) I adapted his recipe with some slight changes – hope you like it …

Grilled stone peaches over mache greens with creamy lime dressing

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I moved from Northern California to the Northwest about 25 years ago, and took with me an established peach tree that had sentimental value.  My gardener dug up the tree for me, but said it wouldn’t live by the time the movers set it on their truck……but it did.  The movers swore up and down that it would not survive the long cold trip to Seattle in late October……but it did.  The tree had to be planted at our rental house and then dug up again the following July and replanted by the landscaper at our new home who said the tree had suffered enough and it was practically dead – and why couldn’t we see that?  I asked him to humor me and plant it anyways, which he did all the while grumbling under his breath “this won’t survive” ……but it did.   That little peach tree did nothing the first two years – not a single peach (barely had leaves much less fruit.)   But in the spring of the third year, it blossomed.  And in the fourth year it actually produced a few …

Fresh Gnocchi and Maitake Mushrooms

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Today I made my 2nd Blue Apron dinner (see here for the first Blue Apron dinner).   Fresh Gnocchi and Maitake Mushrooms.  I have eaten Gnocchi all my life and always had it with a marinara sauce being the nice Italian girl that I am.  So Blue Apron’s recipe was missing the red sauce  – what?  If you are not familiar with Gnocchi, they are little potato dumplings that end up looking and somewhat tasting like pasta – only they are potatoes and not pasta.  I have only once in my life seen a movie showing people preparing Gnocchi and that was in the movie Godfather III.

Retro Herb Chicken Revisited

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  Growing up we always got to choose the dinner menu for our birthday.  My Dad’s favorite birthday dinner was Herbed Chicken, served over white rice with a side of creamed spinach.  While we didn’t count calories much then, I looked it all up and found this meal was 1215 calories – the chicken with sauce was 715 calories on its own and we hadn’t added in bread/butter and the birthday cake!   Now I am eating around 1200 calories in a day, so I changed-out the chicken as this was the biggest offender in terms of fat and calories – made it lighter but still tasty!  The cream of chicken soup had to go, as did the sour cream, and the heavy cream that were all used to create the gravy.    I substituted Greek Yogurt instead so the gravy still stayed creamy.  I still serve cream of spinach with the chicken, but eliminated the white rice totally from this menu.  This chicken dish is still delicious but now it’s also much healthier. Original Herb Chicken is 715 …

Exploring Blue Apron dinner service – Delectable!!

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  I am focused on streamlining grocery shopping, prepping, and cooking dinner during the week, so I decided to try Blue Apron, a food delivery service that offers you tasty and healthy dinner options.  Here is how it works: you join Blue Apron and view the menus; they send all the food and instructions to you on a day that you have designated; arrives in a well-packed refrigerated box; you unpack, follow instructions, and prepare dinner – couldn’t be simpler and the meal tastes like you were eating in a top-notch restaurant.   And it only costs $9.99 per meal (if I order dinner-to-go at a local chain restaurant it usually runs around $25 and just tastes okay.) Last night the menu was: Pan-Seared Chicken Thighs with Roasted Baby Zebra Eggplants & Fennel Salad.  This recipe was created by Chef Michael Anthony, owner and executive chef of Gramercy Tavern in NYC (a restaurant I just happened to have dined at around 5 years ago while on a trip to Manhattan).  Dinner consisted of chicken thighs (my favorite part of the chicken) placed on top of 

Mex-Itali Prosciutto and Guacamole Crostini

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Here’s a quick and flavorful canape perfect for a cocktail party, or something savory for when it’s Girls Night Out at your house.  Try this little gem. Serve it alongside a platter of Kalamata olives with cheese and crackers – it completes the flavor cycle. ♥♥♥ HERE’S WHY I LIKE IT: crunch from both the baguette and water chestnut; creaminess of the cheese; rich, and tangy guacamole, and of course the satiny texture of the thinly cut prosciutto.    Three different flavors, and three different textures, all in one bite-sized appetizer!