Holy Game Changer!

As usual, I was skimming through Pinterest and I found the idea to broil a grapefruit. I saw it again as I was stuck on a plane for what seemed like an eternity last night. I knew I had to try it and it was amazing! I try and eat a grapefruit every day, usually for breakfast and decided since I was staying home today and it's finally gotten cold in Chicago that I deserved something warm and sweet for breakfast. I did one half with the sugar and cinnamon and one plain and they were BOTH delicious but I will say...go ahead and indulge on the sugar one. You can even use sugar in the raw and I bet that would be fantastic. I think I'll make this for Steve for a snack one night since he recently had his first grapefruit and ENJOYED it!



Here are the instructions (I've only included the instructions for the not as healthy grapefruit):

Wash and rinse grapefruit
Cut in half, not through the holes but opposite way
Segment out the grapefruits 
Mix 2 teaspoons of sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
Sprinkle evenly over each halve
Broil until bubbly

The flesh is warm and soft, the juices caramelize the top of the grapefruit. Its such a great snack! 

CABLT - Carb Free Lettuce Wraps

CABLT - the chicken, avocado, bacon, lettuce, tomato...wrap.  I did no carb or primarily no carb for quite some time and still do 80% of the time. I found this to be one of my favorite dishes to make and even got Steve to add this to a list of favorites!

Nothing is better than crisp bacon (turkey or regular) combine with the refreshing tastes of avocado, tomato and lettuce and the satisfying protein of chicken.  These are quick and easy to make and any sauce can be substituted for ranch!

CABLT Wraps

1 lb chicken breast, cubed

1 TBSP Olive Oil

2 tsp Garlic 

2 tsp Montreal Chicken Seasoning

1 TBSP Freshly Grated Parmesan

Salt and pepper to taste

6 Slices Bacon - cooked and crumbled

1 Medium Tomato - diced

1 medium avocado, diced

6 outer Romaine lettuce leaves

1/4 C Ranch Dressing

Heat pan with olive oil - add chicken, garlic, montreal seasoning and saute until cooked through and slightly browned. Add fresh parmesan and saute until melted, season with salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble, cut off stiff part of the romaine, add chicken, bacon, tomatoes and avocado. Drizzle with ranch  and enjoy! 

Broccoli Stuffed Chicken - Childhood Memories Updated

As a kid, my mom always made dinner.  And as kids who always had home-cooked meals, we reveled when our dad was out of town and we could have things like Kids Cuisine frozen dinners, or "treat night" where we got to pick a fast food place to eat and get a late night snack.  As we got older and schedules got more hectic, my mom always wanted to make sure we were fed, and properly fed, even if we had to head to work or practice or whatever else before dinner was done.  One of our quick and inexpensive favorites (especially for my older brother) became those individually packed, breaded, broccoli and cheese stuffed chicken breasts.  They were power packed with everything you could need in one neat little pouch that could be thrown in the oven while getting ready and quickly scarfed down before our events.  

I love cheese.  I love broccoli. I love breading. And best of all, so does Steve. Chaaaaching - bonus round! 

So I decided, why not recreate this simple, delicious meal and make it a staple for my family?

And so it happened, Broccoli and Cheese Stuffed Chicken. Sluuurp! 

Start with olive oil, and as usual, saute one medium onion, then add chopped broccoli and seasonings.  Lower heat and add cheese - stir to combine. 

Pound chicken so that it is just under 1/2 in thick. Dip in egg mixture and coat with Panko breading.

Add broccoli and cheese mixture. Fold chicken over careful to keep all the filling in the middle.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until juices run clear

Yum?

YUM! 

Breaded Broccoli Stuffed Chicken

1 LB Chicken Breast, pounded 1/2 thin

1 1/2 C Frozen Broccoli, thawed and chopped

1 medium onion chopped

2 tsp Garlic 

1/4 c italian seasoned breadcrumbs

1 Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded

Salt and pepper to taste

1 1/2 c Panko Breading

1 Large egg, slightly beaten

Heat olive oil on medium heat. Saute broccoli, onions, 1 tsp of garlic and salt and pepper until broccoli is slightly browned and cooked. Lower heat and add cheddar cheese and breadcrumbs. Remove from heat and set aside. Dip chicken in egg mixture and then panko breading, place in prepared dish breading side down.  Add broccoli and cheese mixture evenly to each chicken breast. Bake on 375 for 30 minutes or until juices run clear.

Breakfast Pizza

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day...no matter when you eat it.  My husband's Auntie Barb used to make this for the family for Christmas morning every year and it has become a classic in our house.  I usually make a batch and we'll have it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks throughout the day...snacks throughout the night.  It's a simple recipe that combines all the best flavors of breakfast into a quick, grab and go square.

It's simple - start with breakfast sausage. Cut up one small onion and saute the onion with the sausage until well cooked and no longer pink



Place on paper towel to drain - I love sausage grease as much as the next person, BUT, you don't want your casserole to be all greasy.

Add thawed breakfast potatoes to leftover sausage grease and cook until lightly browned



Take crescent rolls out of the refrigerator and press into a full rectangle to fit a 9 x 13 in baking pan ensuring all the seams are closed. This might require you to flatten and stretch each individual roll to make one dough.  You can also use a jelly roll pan.
Scramble your eggs with milk, salt, pepper and half of the parmesan.




Layer first the sausage, careful to fill to the edges, then the potatoes.

Add cheddar cheese, then pour egg mixture over the entire casserole. 

Top with remainder of parmesan and bake on 350 Degrees for 25-30 minutes or until eggs are cooked all the way through.

Mmmm now doesn't that look delicious? Cheesey, carby, meaty goodness!




Aunt Barb's Breakfast Pizza

1 Lb Ground Breakfast Sausage
1 Small onion diced
1 8 Oz Package of Crescent Rolls (hint - the reduced fat just do not do the job right)
1 C Diced Potato Hash browns - O'brien Style preferred
1 1/2 C Sharp Shredded Cheddar Cheese
6 Eggs
1/4 C Milk
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/4 C Grated Parmesan (divided in half)

Brown breakfast sausage with diced onion. Put aside to drain. Add potatoes to remaining grease in fry pan, cook until lightly browned. Spread crescent rolls to form a crust (you can use a 9 x 13 pan, a pizza pan or a jelly roll all of the same size). Add cooked sausage, careful to fill to the ends.  Then top with potatoes and cheddar cheese. Combine eggs, milk, salt, pepper and half the parmesan cheese. Pour carefully over entire casserole careful not to have too much piled towards the ends.  Top with remainder of parmesan and bake 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees or until eggs are cooked all the way through and crust is slightly browned. 

**This can be cut into squares and stored in an air tight container for up to a week! 

Hey You on the Treadmill!

I'm a gym junkie, we've already established this and in being a gym junkie, I believe I now qualify to be able to critically judge everyone else who goes to the gym for various reasons. I was running the other day and suddenly the strongest waft of old man cologne entered my nostrils. It got me thinking - "Hey you, on the treadmill..."

-Putting on an excessive amount of cologne is not going to hinder the fact that you are sweating at the gym and quite frankly, it's not helping your cause at all. You're suffocating me, I'm literally choking as I painfully try and completely several mile run. Please stop. 

-Those jeans are not made for running, walking maybe...possibly a casual stroll outside on a nice spring day, but not for the gym. Leave your jeans at home.

-I do not want to be talked to while I'm running. I don't care if the whole stinking place is burning down, leave me be.  These headphones are in for a reason, and it's so I can peacefully enjoy my run to the shrill sounds of Britney Spears so back off.

-The fact I don't have headphones in today is not an invitation.  It doesn't mean I want to chat with you and hear all the things that you must have been saving up for a rainy day, I'm not here to  make friends.  If I was, you can be sure that I would not be wearing lime green shoes with my bright blue shorts and my hot pink t-shirt advertising the sorority I belonged to five years ago. Top it all off with my sumo bun smack dab on top of my head - I'm not interested, thanks.

-Walking at a speed of 1.0 mph is not doing anything for you. Get off and share the treadmill with people who actually want to be at the gym.

-The excessive amount of hair gel in your hair mixed with your trendy pumas, too tight t-shirt and chainz are not a good look for you - not here or anywhere. I suggest you save that for when you're home...alone and not planning on seeing anyone.

-Grunting. Why? If it's so heavy that your body all the sudden has to exert a sound that even mating dogs wouldn't make, stop and remind yourself, you are not an olympic weight trainer - this isn't crossfit where you're actually working hard and lifting hard - this is Fitness 19. The heaviest weight here is 50lbs. 

-Why are you wearing that cut off t-shirt that reveals your whole side, stomach and back? Not to mention, why are you wearing that when everyone can see every roll you're working with? Ok so maybe I'm not confident enough to - but I'd feel NAKED wearing that especially if I packed on an extra 30 lbs.Your hair extensions only add to my staring - wearing that doesn't make you look more BA when you lift. Sorry.

Plyometrics - The Reason Behind My Starvation

I've been working with my trainer now for several weeks - and I can say that I have DEFINITELY lost inches, and while I've only lost 5lbs to date, that's not bad for someone my frame. What's the secret you ask of someone who despite her blog posts eats relatively healthy and is a gym fanatic? Plyometrics. I look like an absolute idiot doing them, but I can honestly say that this was the kick (no pun intended) that I needed.  Plyometrics are a type of training that involves quick, powerful movements which in turn improves the way the nervous system works as well as improves overall performance.  The whole premise is that one can achieve the the strongest muscle contraction in the shortest amount of time - this will increase the amount of calories burned and train the muscles differently than regular workouts. It creates more power, stamina and quickness in any athlete.  It helps to strengthen, lengthen and tone and that's exactly what I've found it to do! Overall it's increased my metabolic rate so I find myself more hungry but that's a GOOD thing, it means that the calories I burn day to day are more than I used to. I've got a few more weeks of this - hoping for that last few LBs to "jump" off 

"California" Tacos and Mexican Rice - Combining Two Families and Favorites

I had a sad epiphany the other day. I realized that my neighbors might think that I'm either a professional chef, a fat ass or a professional food taster because I am undoubtedly ALWAYS in the kitchen.  See, our block is a one circle cul-de-sac and everyone, and I mean everyone, has a dog.  Our kitchen window looks out onto the street, and since I'm far from being a hermit, I like to keep our blinds open at least until its creepily dark at night.  Conveniently, everyone is always walking their dog when I'm at the stove or in the fridge. #lovesfood? 

It really hit me when I decided to start cooking before I met up with Steve for boxing later that evening. I left the house in a whirlwind after sauteing onions and garlic, browning ground beef, frying up some rice and tomato sauce. I walked into boxing and waited while one of the instructors wrapped my wrists and knuckles.  "Mmm something smells like food," he said, nonchalantly "like onions and garlic or something".  My face flashed red with embarrassment - "Oh that's me," I replied, (was he trying at a sad attempt to pick me up? I wondered as I shot a smile towards Steve) "...I'm making california fried tacos and my husband's grandfather's Mexican rice. I'm so embarrassed!".  At least the smell of sweat would cover it up, right? Or would the aromas from my kitchen seep out from my pores as I sweat and follow me with its lingering scent? 

Maybe Pizza Hut is on to something? 



I recalled a story my mom told me.  She had been having the worst day for whatever reason and decided to pick me up from school.  I got in, hugged her and exclaimed "ohhh mom, you smell so good today," my mom smiled inside a bit, regaining all that she had lost from the day, until I finished my statement "is that pot roast?! ". I felt that for the first time, I was so embarrassed that I had walked in smelling like a kitchen. I live in mine though, so why wouldn't I?

Dinner that night was a success - the Shirahama Family California Styled Tacos and the Zuniga Family Mexican Rice.  Unfortunately, both of these recipes are stuck in the "classified" vault of family secrets. But what I CAN tell you is this - make your ground beef and season it however you'd like - ditch the store bought "taco bell" style taco shells and stuff a corn tortilla with your ground beef instead and fry it up.  You will NOT be disappointed.  They'll go like hot cakes and the taste of the beef fried up in the shell makes such a pleasant change in pace. 

THE INFAMOUS BUT NOT YET FAMOUS FRIED RICE

I feel like since the beginning of time, literally the beginning of time, I've been helping my Dad make fried rice with leftovers on a Saturday morning.  I have such great memories of helping cut all the ingredients and then waiting in awe as my dad turned all our leftovers from the week into amazing fried rice.  I find myself doing the same thing now that I'm married and living on my own.  Any time I need a filler and have leftover rice, the best option seems to be to saute up some onions and veggies and add in any meat I can find to make "animal" style fried rice! While this recipe seems as though it can be ever changing, I have added below my standard fried rice recipe with some suggestions of what else to add. The one above has ground beef (leftover from tacos) and bacon. 

INFAMOUS  BUT NOT YET FAMOUS FRIED RICE

4 cups of cooked white rice (leftover works great for this)

1/2 lb bacon chopped

1 medium onion chopped

1 small green pepper chopped

4 TBSP Butter divided

1 TBSP Garlic 

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 tsp Soy Sauce

1 - 2 Eggs Scrambled

Use one TBSP of butter and melt in fry pan. Add onions, bacon and green pepper. Cook until bacon is cooked all the way through and onions start to brown.  Add garlic, salt and pepper.  Once cooked, add rice,  remainder of butter and soy sauce.  Cook until all flavors have combined together.  In a separate pan, cook scrambled egg, add to rice and serve.  

JAPANESE STEAKHOUSE STYLE

4 cups of cooked white rice

1 medium onion chopped

1 cooked chicken breast (or pork), chopped

1 medium orange pepper diced

1 TBSP Sugar

1 + 3 TBSP Soy Sauce

1 TBSP Garlic

Salt and pepper to taste (keep in mind that soy sauce is salty!)

1/4 c mixed veggies (corn, peas, carrots)

1 egg scrambled

Saute onion, chicken and pepper in butter, olive oil or vegetable oil until slightly browned.  Add 1 TBSP sugar and 1 TBSP soy sauce, continue to stir and saute. Add in garlic, salt and pepper.  Slowly add in mixed vegetables and saute. Add in rice, remainder of soy sauce and scrambled egg.  Add more sugar to taste if need be.

I personally don't care for the soy sauce taste too much and only add just enough to add some saltiness and a bit of flavor.  Some variations are as follows: 

Pineapple, chicken, tomato and onion - saute these ingredients, then add rice and several tablespoons of sugar for a sweet "flat top-esq" fried rice

Add cooked and seasoned chicken, ground beef or pork

Add extra veggies - corn, peas, red/yellow peppers, hot peppers

Buffalo Chicken Wraps

A few years back a co-worker of mine made buffalo chicken dip. Enter my husband's new obsession - soon it seemed that anything that had some buffalo sauce in it was the best thing to hit his lips. I'll even so much as venture to say that one point, a friend of his considered dipping his retainer in the mixture to just always have the taste. Gross, I know, I didn't marry the friend, ok? I've had a million buffalo chicken wraps in my life (ok, I'll tell the truth now, I've had probably five) and they're all the same.  But what if...just what if, we added a bit of jazz to them?  I have two versions of this, the healthy, and the "I love bacon fat" not-so-healthy.  Both versions are great and ingredients/steps can be substituted from one version to the next. 

A great buffalo chicken wrap should be chalked full of chicken (obviously), lettuce, and plenty of spicy buffalo sauce and just as my tangy ranch. Bacon? Why not some bacon?! 

Bacon Buffalo Chicken Wrap

1/2 lb chicken breast, cubed 
1 TBSP Weber Montreal Chicken Seasoning
1 TSP Garlic, more to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
5 pieces of bacon (omit to save some calories and if you're watching your fat intake)
Lettuce, chopped
2 - 4 TBSP Franks Red Hot Sauce (depending on level of spice, should be enough to give it an orange color and some flavor)
1TBSP Butter
4 TBSP Ranch Dressing 
2 C Lettuce shredded
2 Large Flour Tortillas (can also use El Milagro Low Carb to save some carbs and calories)
1/2 C Shredded Cheddar Cheese

In small fry pan, fry up bacon until crisp.  Set aside to cool. Here is where the fat or lower fat part comes in, you can either saute your chicken right in the bacon fat, or heat olive oil on high and quick saute the chicken that way.  Either way you chose, add chicken to preferred heated "oil" and then add montreal chicken seasoning, garlic, salt and pepper and mix. Cook chicken until juices run dry and meat is white (approximately 15 minutes). 



In small bowl, melt tbsp of butter with the desired amount of hot sauce. Add to chicken in pan and continue to saute until all the chicken is coated.  In separate bowl, add lettuce and ranch, divide among each tortilla.Divide chicken mix between two tortillas. Add cheese divided among each tortilla, crumble bacon for each wrap. Wrap like a burrito and serve (I always like a little extra ranch on the side for mine).

***Keep in mind that this can be made with more or less hot sauce, lettuce or dressing but these are the desired amounts to get the perfect blend of flavors!

Red Velvet Bundt with Cream Cheese Frosting

I realized yesterday that I'm a junkie - a full on, can't wait for the next fix, feel awful if I don't get my fix...junkie.  Sounds horrible right? Well it's not that bad - I'm a fitness junkie and this recipe will explain exactly why.

Here I am with my trainer do intense agility training and all I can think about is my next fix - boxing the next day.  Not the frilly, girly, cheerleader type "boxing" that are found in aerobics studios all across the country - I'm talking full on, want to drop to the ground, smelly gloves - boxing.  Sweat is literally FLYING off me to the point where I was like a broken fire hydrant (attractive huh?) and I'm thinking about what I'm going to go home and bake.  Something is wrong here. And then it hit me, I'm a fitness junkie because I'm a food junkie.

Must. Eat.

Must.Run/yoga/box/workout.




I can't get enough of either it seems, but they balance each other out.

The gym is full of meatheads. Those guys with their cut off t-shirts, super gelled hair, and grunts that would scare away an angry boar.  Then you have your sorority girls.  I also realized yesterday, that any time you see a young, thin, TAN girl with the look of promise in her eyes - she must be a sorority girl. Sigh - oh the days.  Nothing to worry about but who's dress I was going to borrow - all the time in the world to workout to counterbalance all the drinking that would go on for the next 3 days (ok four). The life.

Flash-forward 5  years later - and looking at a recipe adds a LB to my hips. Ok I'm slightly exaggerating, but you get the point.  So I sprinted a little faster, and I high kneed my way to those extra calories in anticipation for what I'd be making when I got home.

So here it is - a red velvet bundt cake.  Let me start by saying - the frosting is a stick of butter and a stick of cream cheese.  Do I have your attention? Do you see why I run?

My sister in law described red velvet cake perfectly. Is it chocolate? Is it just chocolate with red food coloring? What's the appeal, what's the difference between a chocolate cake and red velvet? "I just doesn't do much for me" - she's so right - what's its deal anyways?  Until you've had a good one, you'd never really know. And after my due diligence, I figured it out - its slightly chocolate, but mostly red - but the caveat is that MOST recipes only call for a few tablespoons of coco powder and I've seen ones that barely call for that.  I decided to add a little extra to a recipe I found to give it some more chocolate flavor.

Red Velvet Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting - adapted from Bird on a Cake

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 c. milk + 1 T. vinegar
• 1 oz. red food coloring

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease Bundt pan really well with spray, ensuring all sides and middle cone are well greased.  Grease ONE cupcake section, this will be used to decorate the top of the cake. In a medium bowl, mix eggs with a wire whisk. Add oil, vinegar, vanilla, buttermilk and food coloring. Whisk together and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients. Gradually add the wet ingredients and mix on medium high until combined, batter will be fairly thick. Fill cupcake tin 3/4 full with batter, then pour the rest of the batter into your Bundt pan. Bake the cupcake for 20-25 minutes, bake the cake for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. 

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine cream cheese and butter until blended.  Add vanilla. Gradually add confectioners sugar.  If the frosting seems too stiff, add 1 TBSP of half and half. Frost evenly on cooled cake. 

Presenting - Anticipation....

Its always so hard to find the time to organize my thoughts and actually write all the things I'm. Constantly wishing to share. Well new year, new attitude right? Time to dedicate to the things I've said are important to. E. So here's a peak of what's to come! Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Sweet and Salty Chocolate Chip Cookies Sweet Potato and Potato Pancakes Swedish Meatballs with Cream Sauce Au Grating Veggie Casserole Hot Buffalo Crab Dip Egg Rolls Ashlee's "Everything but The..." Fried Rice Taco Stuffed Shells And many more! I know right now you're probably thinking "well what the heck Ash, we don't need the suspense, get to it already!". Two implications, I'm sitting at Regan International on a Kindle taking three times as long to type this up and I'm very much so a "this and that" cook which means I have actually make these to compile my recipes! Stay tuned to deliciousness :) Ash