Weekend in Instagram

It's beginning to look a lot like summer!  The weather was gorgeous this weekend and we had a very summery weekend, with a lot of time spent outside.

Lately we've been trying to eat healthier/diet.  It's usually pretty easy going during the week, but weekends can be a bit of a struggle, but then we just try to compensate with some outdoor activities like long walks with Cheese or yard work.  Friday night started out right with a little grilling out...

We made homemade "burrito bowls" though they were more like fajita bowls.  Cilantro-lime quinoa with sauteed and seasoned onions and peppers, and seasoned and grilled chicken breast.  It was pretty easy and very tasty, I mean, I didn't even really miss the cheese, black beans, or salsa I usually get on my Chipotle burrito bowls.  I marinaded the onions and peppers overnight in lime juice and fajita seasoning and they turned out really well, even though I overcooked them a bit.

Cheese thought Antoine's burrito bowl looked/smelled so delicious that he need to try it.  He failed! 

Saturday morning started with me trapped under this guy on the couch while Antoine whipped us up a killer breakfast!  He really is the king of breakfast!

Voila, a delicious hash; home fried potatoes and onions with garlic, thick cut bacon, eggs overhard (because that's how I like 'em), a little Parmesan cheese and some ketchup.  Yum!  So good and so filling!  It held us over until about 4pm!  Afterwards we took Cheese for a 5-mile walk and the weather was so beautiful!  Then we ran to Crafty Supermarket (where we picked up this kick-ass pillow) and ran some errands!

Ahh, and here's where the weekends turn bad...ice cream!  I love ice cream so much and it really is just the epitome of summer to me!  This happened to be our first trip to Hold the Nuts, our favorite soft serve spot, of the season.  I got a twist cone dipped in peanut butter and Antoine got vanilla with krunch kote!  

Sunday was an equally beautiful day, I couldn't resist taking another photo of the insanely pretty dogwood across the street.  We started the day off by sleeping in and then ran some errands and did a bunch of yard work, although it feels like we didn't even make a dent since we've got so much to do.

Cheese was our yard work supervisor.  The job duties include eating cat poop, whining, chewing on sticks, rolling around like a crazy dog, and playing with a tennis ball.  It's a pretty exhausting job though.

That was our weekend!  Today I'm extremely sore and very tired, I'm so ready for a vacation.  The end of May can't come soon enough!

A Trifle Excited

Antoine and I are heading to Amish Country (aka Holmes county Ohio) for the weekend to celebrate his birthday, and I'm just a tad excited about it.  I grew up about an hour from "Amish Country", so we went there often while I was growing up.  But this will be Antoine's first time going (and yes, I did make a Pinterest board just for this little weekend excursion, because I'm crazy)!  Amish Country in general is a bit of a novelty, especially when you grew up on a farm surrounded by humble Amish farmers and played with Amish kids in the summertime like I did.  For me Amish Country is all about memories.  Eating at certain restaurants, going to certain stores...it makes me think of my childhood.  Plus, the food is rad!  No, seriously, I've been daydreaming about peanut butter cream pie from Amish Door nonstop, all week!  I can't get it out of my head.  My diet is so going down the drain tomorrow because I am going to shove so much peanut butter pie in my face.  Mmm, pie!  It will be glorious!

Speaking of sweet things...I made a trifle (my very first) this week to take over to my sis' house and I knew I had to share it.  Antoine, Cheese and I headed over to my sis and bro-in-law's house for a cookout/furry creature playdate, so I thought I'd make a trifle and use up the rest of the blueberry filling I had leftover, stored safely in the freezer, from the cake I made two weeks ago. 

Not the prettiest thing in the world, but damn did it taste good!  I used angel food cake, to make it a bit lighter, and whipped up this awesome microwave lemon curd (so easy and SO good, especially if you throw some lime juice into the mix) and this tasty coconut whipped cream.  I started with cubes of angel food cake, then a layer of curd with strawberries on top, followed by coconut whipped cream, then more cake, blueberry filling, coconut whipped cream and repeated the bottom layer one more time. 

I topped it with more whipped cream, blueberries and the last of the lemon curd (minus a spoonful that went straight into my mouth).

I thought it was really tasty, light yet very flavorful.  The coconut whipped cream and fresh fruit made it very refreshing.  It would make a great picnic item, though the coconut whipped cream might get a little melty on you if it's not kept cold...but it'll still taste great!

So how about you, any fun weekend plans in the works?  Whatever you do, stay cool...it's been hot enough outside to melt your face off!  Okay, not really.  But kind of!  Anyway, happy Friday/almost the weekend!

Okay, now I'm going to go think about peanut butter pie...

Weekend in Instagram

What a great weekend!  The weather was gorgeous, if a little sizzling; so much better than last weekend.  My weekend began with a little detour to Lunken Airport (my first time there).  My sis and I had plans to go blueberry picking, but she had a work thing come up at Lunken so I sat in the car while she did her thing.  Unfortunately it wasn't open yet, so I couldn't see the inside...maybe some other time.

My sister and I headed to Rouster's to pick some blueberries.  Yes, it was my second time going this summer, but I couldn't help myself!  And boy oh boy, was it the perfect day for it.  Since picking got canceled last weekend because of the rain, there were tons of enormous, sweet berries on the bushes.  We picked until they closed and I walked away with another 9lbs of blueberries! 

When I got home from blueberry picking Antoine's nephew, Kayeson, was over.  Kayeson adores Guillermo and Cheese so he begged to come over to our house so he could play with them.  Cheesy love Kayeson (well, any human really), but Gui isn't too fond of how loud he is and hid behind the washer and dryer most of the time. 

 Kayeson had fun throwing the ball and making Cheese fetch it...though Cheese was exhausted after a couple hours of this!

After we took Kayeson home (with a brief stop at Hold the Nuts for some soft serve), we ran to the mall where I purchased a couple pairs of new jeans in a size smaller than I had been wearing!!  Yay!!  Despite cake-making and pie-making, Antoine and I have been doing really good lately with our calorie counting and last week we started getting up very early and going to the gym before work, two to three times a week.  It's been really great for us!  Anyway, I was in a ridiculously good mood after finding out I went down a pant size, so Antoine and I decided to celebrate with Fusian!

 I got my usual tuna roll (which is only 383 calories!) and tried their seasonal special strawberries...so good!  Also, a little heads up to you central/east siders, Fusian will be opening a second Cincinnati store in Hyde Park Plaza!  They are expected to open their doors in October and I can't wait!

Sunday was a bit of a lazy day...or should I say, I homebody kind of day. 

 This guy took his ball with him everywhere.

 I washed, dried and froze about 3/4 of the blueberries I had picked with my sister.

 This might have been the biggest one I picked!  It was so ridiculously sweet and delicious!

I spent a good part of the day in the kitchen washing berries, making tasty strawberry balsamic vinaigrette, and lemon curd (for something later this week).  Then Antoine grilled up some ribs and corn for dinner...seriously so good!  I couldn't even pick up the ribs because the meat just fell right off the bone.

Then Antoine and I watched Star Wars (the real ones...not the newer ones) and I whipped up some baked blueberry oatmeal for Antoine to take to work for breakfast this week.  He said it turned out great, but I didn't try any because I was too stuffed from dinner!

So, how was your weekend? 

[Guilt-free] Ginger Mint Slush

Last year when I saw The Soho's recipe for a mint ginger slush I immediately thought, "Ooo, I need to try that!"  And I had every intention to, but then, as you all know, there was a drought and my mint refused to grow.  But this year is a different story and my mint (both kinds) are thriving!  So I decided to adapt Natalie's recipe a bit to make my ginger mint slush a little zingier and guilt-free.

Ingredients:

• 12oz of Canada Dry Ten (or any diet ginger ale)
• juice of 1/2 a lime
• 10 to 14 mint leaves (I used sweet mint and my leaves were pretty small, so I used about 14)
• a small piece of ginger (the size of about 4 nickels stacked together)
• 2 to 3 cups of ice (depending on the consistency you want)

Combine all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Serves 1 to 2 people.

In the end you're left with a really refreshing, cool treat that's perfect for a warm day.  I was experimenting and had all these ingredients on hand, but you could really tweak it to your liking.  I originally thought of adding the ginger because diet/low cal ginger ale tends to have less of a ginger taste to it (though I'm crazy about the Ten right now).  I was a little worried that the fresh ginger would be too overpowering, but it wasn't at all.  The flavor was definitely there, but it didn't smack you in the face or anything.  It would also be really tasty (if a little less guilt-free) with any of the Joia sodas or the Fresh Ginger ginger ales (though you wouldn't need the additional fresh ginger with these), but I've been having trouble finding both brands in Cincinnati lately.  Hopefully they turn up soon!

Unrelated to the ginger mint slush, I just found out some sad Cincinnati news...Mayberry, our favorite brunch spot in the city, will be closing after their brunch service on July 7th.  Such sad news!  It's such a great establishment with wonderfully delicious food and I will definitely miss it!  Antoine and I are hoping to go for brunch two more times before they close and I urge you to try it out if you've never been!  In case you missed it or have forgotten, I've blogged about Mayberry several times in the past: here, here and here.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Weekend in Instagram

Judging from the photos it might look like all I did this weekend was hangout with Cheese and drink.  That's only partly true.  Saturday morning I helped my sister out with another yard sale she was having.  

Before I left for my sister's Antoine was sweet enough to make me a breakfast sandwich.

After the yard sale Cheese scared the crap out of me when he started hacking and acting like he was choking...turns out it was only kennel cough. 

Poor sick Cheesy!

Saturday evening, Antoine and I went to Fusian for some sushi and then headed to Party Source for some drink fixings. 

 I picked up a couple of hard ciders, including this blackberry pear cider.  Not only was it tasty, but it was also only 130 calories per bottle...making it easy for me to stay under my calories on Saturday!

We stopped by Yagoot for some frozen yogurt.  I got the caramelized pineapple yogurt, which is now one of my favorites, along with the strawberry and the Italian cocoa.

On Sunday we had brunch with my sister and brother-in-law, but more on that later.  Then, we decided to be bad and not go to the gym.  Instead we lounged around the house, drinking mojitos and watching some movies.  We finally watched The Amazing Spider-Man (so much better than the 2002 Maguire/Dunst version!) and The Place Beyond the Pines (I was expecting another version of Drive, which I liked, but it wasn't...but it was still good).

Some mojito goodness in my new mojito glass! That's right, I now have a glass designated for mojitos!  It was all Antoine's idea, because he knows I'm obsessed!

Cheese wasn't interested in watching the movies, he just wanted to look out the window and dream of being outside. 

How was your weekend?!

Whispers of Spring

Saturday was a gorgeous day, you know, the kind we should be having since it is now April.  Instead, the high today is supposed to be 45 degrees.  Really?!  That's the best you could do April?  Anyway, back to Saturday.  It was a beautiful day so Antoine and I decided to head over to Spring Grove Cemetery and see if anything was blooming yet.  Not much was, but all over the grounds there were little hints of Spring.  And at this point, I'll take what I can get!

After our walk around Spring Grove, we treated ourselves to a little Melt goodness (while still staying under calories)!  I spent the rest of the weekend reading.  I finally finished the second book in the Millennium trilogy, which I found a little slow in the beginning but it picked up about half way through.  I decided to take a little break before I start the third/final book, so I started the Divergent series.  Yesterday we spent most of the day working on my edible book!  I'm pretty proud of how it turned out this year, but more on that later!

How was your weekend?  Did you get outside on Saturday and do something fun? 

Buffalo Turkey Burgers

Coming off the winter season carb-binge, Antoine and I are trying to make an effort to watch what we eat and make more of our meals at home.  Eating out and getting things to go is just so easy, but now that we get to spend our evenings together (because he's not consulting), we need to get back into the swing of things.  I enjoy cooking (though I enjoy baking more) and lucky for me Pinterest makes finding and organizing recipes so easy.  So, when I stumbled upon Can You Stay For Dinner? via Pinterest I was immediately intrigued by Andie's story and interested in trying out her recipes.  I've been craving a burger lately so I ultimately opted to try out her recipe for Buffalo Turkey burgers first.

In general, I am not a fan of spicy foods!  In fact, I'm an utter wimp when it comes to spicy things.  But, strangely enough, over the last year or so I've developed a deep infatuation for "Buffalo" items...namely, Dewey's Ryan Inferno pizza.  It, my friends, is pure heaven in a pizza box!  Seriously, my mouth immediately starts watering the second I think about it!! Mmmm.  Anyway, back to buffalo turkey burgers.  I altered Andie's recipe just a tad and I was pretty pleased with the results.

The only thing I had resembling poultry seasoning was herb chicken seasoning, so I used about 1/2 tsp of that and 1/2 tsp of Spike.  Instead of Frank's original red hot sauce, I picked up some of Frank's Buffalo sauce.  And, being the wimp I am, I used about 1/8 cup of sauce instead of 1/4 cup, as the recipe called for.  Though, I probably could have handled 1/4 cup, and those of you who like hot sauce should probably add more.

Instead of making a bleu cheese spread as the recipe suggested, I opted to add gorgonzola directly to the turkey mix.  I personally like the way bleu cheese/gorgonzola caramelized and burns up a little when it hits the frying pan.

Once the gorgonzola was mixed in, I formed the turkey mixture into four relatively even sized patties.  This was kind of a messy job since the mixture was very moist and sticky.  I ended up placing the patties on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat and stuck them in the freezer until Antoine got home from work.  This really helped firm them up and made pan-grilling them so much easier.  I think this step would be essential if you were thinking about grilling them, otherwise I think they'd just fall apart on you before they had time to cook up.

The finished product, complete with low-cal slim bun and some spinach.  Oh, and yummy roasted garlic red potatoes on the side!  I know they aren't technically "healthy", but I had the calories for them that day so I went for it!  Plus, I've been craving roasted potatoes like nobody's business.

For roasting, I like to cover my potatoes in a little olive oil, salt, pepper and a couple cloves of garlic.  Then I toss in some springs of rosemary (which I remove later), if I have it on hand, because the aroma is fantastic.  I bake them at 450 degrees for about 35 to 45 minutes, giving them a stir at the half way point.  In the last 5 or 10 minutes I like to drizzle a little balsamic on them, it helps caramelize them a bit and, really, you can't go wrong with balsamic!

I left the cooking of the turkey burgers up to Antoine, because he's the expert when it comes to cooking meats properly!  The finished result was pretty flippin' tasty.  The burger had great flavor, with little pockets of gorgonzola, and was really moist. Lucky for us, we've got the other two burgers hanging out in the freezer for another dinner, later in the week.

Buffalo Turkey Burgers (adapted from Can You Stay For Dinner?'s recipe)
recipe makes 4 decent-sized burgers

1 tsp olive oil

1lb ground turkey (93% lean, white meat)

1/8 to 1/4 cup Frank's red hot wings buffalo sauce (or more if you like things spicy)

1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper

1/4 cup sweet onion

1/2 tsp Spike seasoning

1/2 tsp poultry seasoning of your choosing

1/4 cup Gorgonzola or bleu cheese 

salt & pepper to taste

In a small saucepan over medium heat, add olive oil.  Then add diced peppers and onions and saute for about 2 minutes until the onions become translucent and the red pepper lose some of their bright red color.  Transfer onions and peppers to a small bowl and set aside.  

In  medium mixing bowl, add turkey, hot sauce, cooled onions and peppers, seasonings and salt & pepper to taste.  Mix with your hands (or a spoon, if you're a sissy!) until everything is well incorporated.  Then add cheese and gently incorporate it into the the turkey mixture.

Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.  Form turkey mixture into 4 even patties, placing them on the lined baking sheet. (I like to make my burgers and turkey burgers slightly concave, so that when they cook they don't turn into a burger ball!)  Place the baking sheet in the freezer for at least 30 minutes, this will firm up the turkey for easier cooking.

Grill or pan fry (over medium high heat) the turkey burgers until center starts to firm up or the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.  

*All photos taken with my iPhone 4

**This recipe was not sponsored Pinterest, I'm just a Pinterest fiend.