Skinny Sesame Peanut Noodles

Here is another delicious recipe from Cook Yourself Thin, my go-to low calorie cookbook. These Asian inspired noodles are cool and refreshing with layers of flavor from some peanut butter, fresh ginger and sesame oil. It also has a great balance of textures: you get the silkiness of the dressing and soft noodles plus a kicky crunch from the peppers, apple and jicama.

I debated reporting about this recipe on the blog. These noodles were super tasty and received rave reviews from my friends who ate it, but it was a little time consuming and I felt like it dirtied a LOT of dishes. Another gripe I had was the fact that you just need a little bit of each ingredient. You end up with a half used jicama, part of an apple, half a head of cabbage, half of a bell pepper. You get the idea, but I like recipes that use up the whole ingredient. This would be even worse if you were to half the recipe. Next time I will just use up the pepper, apple and jicama making it a little more bulky with produce instead of mainly noodles.

This is a great summer meal... even though it's October, it's still feeling like summer here in California.

The recipe:

8 oz whole wheat spaghetti (or Soba noodles if you want to go gluten free and nix the soy sauce)

for the dressing:
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1/4 c. low soduim soy sauce
1/4 c. natural peanut butter
2 tbsp grated ginger
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp dark brown sugar
the juice of 1 lime
1/2 c. hot water

assembly:
1/2 bag of store-bought coleslaw mix (or just 2 cups shredded cabbage)
1/2 c. red bell pepper, sliced thinly
1/2 c. cilantro, chopped
1/2 c. apple, sliced thinly
1/2 c. jicama, sliced or cubed
1/2 a lime, squeezed
1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
2 scallions, sliced

garnish:
dry roasted peanuts
more cilantro
Sriracha if desired

Directions:
Boil the pasta according to the package instructions. Drain and run under cold water. Set aside.

For the dressing, combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until blended. Add to the drained and cooled pasta and toss.

Toss in all remaining ingredients and squeeze the lime juice over the top. Refrigerate for at least an hour. Serve cold. Garnish with peanuts and more cilantro if desired.I had some "5 Alarm" spicy peanuts which were perfect here. I also added a little Sriracha to give it more of a kick.

Serves 6 with 308 calories per serving.

Easy Peasy Baby Blankets

If you ever need a superquick baby shower gift, or simply want to make something handmade that will be well used and well loved, make a couple of these blankets.

You need 2 yards of coordinating fabric, 1 in each print. I like to use flannel or fleece so they are nice and soft against baby's skin.

Press the fabric and then pin them together right sides facing each other. Sew with 1/4 inch seam allowance on all 4 sides, leaving a 6 inch gap on the last side. Turn right side out through the gap you left, then turn the open edges in (you can press the fold in to help it to stay) and then top stitch to close with a coordinating thread, continuing the stitch all the way around. Done and done.

I like to use a zigzag stitch to make it a little more visually interesting. This top stitch also helps the layers to not shift around when washed.

These blankets are great for swaddling since they are so big but not too bulky, and they can be used as baby grows..

They can be rolled up and thrown in a diaper bag as a just-in-case-it-gets-cold blanket, spread out on the grass as a play mat and maybe even turn out to be the famed balankey that the child still favors when they are an adult five or six years old.

Easy Peasy, right?

These are all examples of blankets I've made in the past few months- the monkeys were for my cousin Annette and her baby boy, Alex. The orange medallions with the tan backing was for my sister-in-law, Paige and her baby girl, Hadley. The birdies with the yellow backing were for my friend Karen and her baby girl who is due on 11/11/11.

Makeover (x2)

 My amazing husband and I are coming up on our two year wedding anniversary! It's pretty hard to believe... It feels like it has only been a few months since we took our vows and celebrated the night away with our friends and family. A few months after the getting married, we read one of Dave Ramsey's books and decided to make a few changes in the way we were going to approach our finances.... well, at this point it was a matter of deciding how to handle our finances now that we were no longer two people living our separate lives, but one family working toward our future together. One of these changes entailed us moving out of my beloved condo and moving into his.

We weren't sure how long we were going to be living here, so for the first year or so I just left things as they were decor-wise. We did do a few basic upgrades like new carpet and new flooring in the kitchen, but as far as the little things, I just wasn't too concerned with changing them.

We've been here for a year and a half now, and as we plug away on our Total Money Makeover, following the motto "If you will live like no one else, later you get to live like no one else" we're doing our best to stick through these years of living in a condo when we'd rather be in a house. Doing coin-op laundry when we'd rather have a laundry room and planting our garden in a raised bed on the patio when we'd like to have a huge amazing garden in a backyard.

“The cause of most of man's unhappiness is sacrificing what he wants most for what he wants now.”

Gordon B. Hinckley

 

We are sucking it up now, though I like to think of it as being content in all circumstances, so that we can have what we truly want later. It's about not over extending ourselves now, even if we reeeeeeally want something, so we will be able to live comfortably without money worries later in life. It's not really a concept I was taught growing up since I pretty much always had what I wanted, and it is definitely counter to the instant gratification society we live in today. It is not easy. I am constantly battling the feeling that I "deserve" the things I want because I work hard. The mentality of entitlement is everywhere, and it's difficult to loosen it's grip. I highly reccomend the Total Money Makeover to anyone and everyone. Seriously.

All of that to say that after 18 months of looking at the black and white framed print of "guy on motorcycle" that hung on the wall in our little dining nook, I was beginning to not even notice him. He's pretty cool, maybe just not really fitting for that area anymore. We needed some photos of family and friends and a little warmth in the lighting department.

Enter the DIY twine lamp shade. I saw something similar whilst blog-cruising and thought it would be perfect. Off I went to buy supplies and craft away. This is the site I used to get an idea of how to make the twine ball. And then I just had a few photos printed up that I wanted to frame... some from our engagement session with Ashley Maxwell, some from the wedding, and a few of our family and friends. I hunted for cheap frames at thrift stores/Michael's/theDollarTree. I picked varying textures and styles ignoring the color since I was going to spray paint them white anyway.

Above is what it looks like on the dimmer when the rest of the room is dark. And below is what it looked like before. If you can look past my husband and cat (sorry! I didn't take a "before" picture) you can see there was a sort of retro semi-flush mount S shaped track lighting thing going on and then the print I mentioned up before of the motorcycle guy. My sweet awesome husband used to race dirt bikes and has a true love for motorcycles, so this was here when our place used to be just his place.

So with one makeover came another. And I have to say I am very happy with both!

Five Spice Turkey Lettuce Wraps

It's hard to get out of the weeknight dinner rut. I find myself making the same favorites over and over. I am pretty much always checking websites and blogs for new recipes, but sometimes it's just easier and safer to stick with what you know how to make and you know will be good ... because we all hate being dissapointed. But every once in a while I find a recipe online that just screams easy and safe but still exciting. This lettuce wrap recipes comes from Cooking Well so it is not only easy, but healthy and low cal. Extra bonus!

You'll need:

1/2 cup brown rice
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 pound 93%-lean ground turkey
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large red bell pepper, finely diced
1 8-ounce can water chestnuts, rinsed and chopped
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon five-spice powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 heads Iceberg lettuce, leaves separated
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro. You can also use basil, mint and/or chives
1 large carrot, shredded
Sriracha if desired

Cook the rice according to package. Set aside once cooked.

Meanwhile, heat the sesame oil in a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add turkey, garlic and ginger; cook, crumbling with a wooden spoon until the turkey is cooked through. Stir in the cooked rice, bell pepper, water chestnuts, chicken broth, hoisin, five-spice powder, soy sauce and salt; cook until heated through and sauce begins to thicken.
Divide lettuce leaves among plates, spoon some of the turkey mixture into each leaf, top with herbs and carrot and a squeeze of sriracha if you like it spicy.

Serves 4 with about 1 1/4 cups of filling each.
285 calories per serving.

This is the kind of dinner that leaves you feeling satisfied but not stuffed. It's also a good idea for low carbers out there- you can just omit the rice.

#winning!

Last night I met up with my book club in San Francisco. We use the term "book club" loosely as it usually involves about 5-7 minutes of discussing the book and about 3 hours of drinking champagne, eating and talking about any or all of the following: how our days went, plans for the weekend, Real Housewives, celebrities, Hunger Games, our husbands/fiancés/boyfriends, current events, other books we should read, and how much or how little of the color white a dress needs to have to be appropriate attire for a wedding. Everyone (usually) reads the book, but there are often way more interesting things to talk about, obviously.

Kelsey hosted, and in usual Kelsey fashion she decided to throw a wrench in the plan by turning dinner into an Iron Chef style competition, complete with a surprise ingredient. She provided all of the elements needed for making pizza. Mar, Christina, Serene and Lyndi volunteered to be judges, vowing to be unbiased. Names were drawn from a hat to determine the two-person teams. Names were drawn again to determine which team got which type of crust: wheat, white or herb, and once more for who would have the advantage of using the pizza stone. Plans were whispered, wine was poured and NewVillager was put on the stereo...

 the judges

My name was drawn to be teamed up with Carol and we were initially told that it was an unfair pairing. Words like “power couple” were used. I think I heard someone murmur something about Martha Stewart and Julia Child. Exaggerating? Maybe. But the results speak for themselves… We won. Unanimously. So after a few minutes of basking in the glory of our triumph, we shamelessly asked what it was about our pizza that set it apart? Three words: Fresh Arugula Drizzle. Mid-competition when the surprise ingredient was introduced… Arugula!! … Carol opined that we should lightly dress the peppery leaves with balsamic and olive oil, then pile it atop the pizza after it was baked. I agreed. Then I pitched the idea of a light drizzle of garlic and basil infused olive oil on top of the plated slices after they had been served to the judges (I had just read this post from Smitten Kitchen earlier that day). Said combo of Arugula and oil drizzle scored big in the categories of presentation, drama and taste.

#winning!


Sadly, we did not get a picture of our finished product, it was eaten up so fast. But here's the beautiful runner up!

Skinny Spaghetti Carbonara

I am not a traditionalist when it comes to food. You’d think because I lived and basically started my cooking life France, I would be… but I’m not. Unless I'm making something specific, for a special event, I do not take any recipe too seriously. I like to change them up, make them my own. Usually out of a sense of frugality, I like to use what I have on hand. And out of a childhood watching my mom throw this and that into a pot without ever really referencing a recipe, I find myself doing the same.

I know that many people might be offended when I call this Spaghetti Carbonara, when it has a few non-traditional ingredients. But what else can you call it? Carbonara-ish? I just call it “Skinny Carbonara” because it comes from one of my low-calorie cookbooks called Cook Yourself Thin: Skinny meals you can make in minutes.

I was introduced to Carbonara when I was living in France, and ever since then it has been one of those foods that sort of transports me back. It is warm and salty, creamy and comforting. This recipe is just as much of all of these things, but manages to do it in under 450 calories per serving. This is definitely on the dinner rotation at our house. Especially since we're T minus 19 days until our Lake Tulloch trip where we basically live in bathing suits 18 hours a day.

The recipe actually calls for 3 slices of bacon, but since it makes 4 servings, I usually do 4 slices. With one slice of bacon coming in at 70-100 calories adding one more only bumps the calorie count by 25 calories per serving. The 425 count includes the 4th slice.

Spaghetti Carbonara, adapted from Cook Yourself Thin
Serves 4
Calories per serving: 425

Ingredients:
4 slices of bacon
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1/3 cup 1% milk
1 large egg
8 ounces of spaghetti
1 cup frozen peas
1.5 ounces parmesan cheese, finely grated
4 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley
salt & pepper to taste

1. Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until brown and crisp. I like to slice it into lardons before cooking. Move to a paper towel and drain the bacon grease. Add the olive oil to the pan and then add the onion, stirring occasionally until soft and translucent. Remove from the heat.

2. In a large serving bowl, whisk together the milk and egg, then stir in the onion. Add a few grinds of black pepper and stir.

3. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti according to the package instructions. Two minutes before the spaghetti is done, add the peas. Drain the spaghetti and peas, reserving a half cup of the pasta water. Add the pasta/peas to the egg mixture, tossing until the pasta is well coated. I like to add in about a quarter cup of pasta water to give it a little body. Add the cheese, half of the parsley, salt and more pepper to taste.

4. Plate up the pasta, top with crumbles of bacon and garnish with parsley. Serve immediately.

Remember not to put the pot back on a burner once the egg mixture is in there. You dont want scrambled egg spaghetti. Also, something to be aware of: this recipe is best with regular pasta since whole wheat competes with the taste of the sauce.

Buon Appetito!

BBQ Chicken and.... Cucumbers

Just another simple summer dinner here: BBQ drumsticks alongside some perfectly ripe cherry tomatoes and Asian inspired cucumbers. Fun, fresh and delicious. The chicken was finger lickin' thanks to my husband and his BBQ skills, but what I really want to talk about here is the cucumbers.

Now let me to fill you in on the story behind these cucumbers... It has been a summer tradition with my group of friends from college to do a camping canoe trip on the Russian River up in Northern California. We camp for the weekend and on Saturday we pack up coolers, rent canoes and spend the day lazily floating. And drinking. And eating. And generally just soaking up the sun.

We make quite a few stops along the way... swimming holes, rope swings, beaches where we pull over and drink Coors Light until the rest of the group catches up. Even though we only go about 2 miles an hour, it's somehow really easy for our 8 canoes to get split up.

One of the very last stops we make is at the little private beach where my friend Conor's parents have a house. Now Conor's mom is so sweet. She always makes about thirty PB&J sandwiches and packs them up to bring down to us. I think it takes about 2 minutes for our group to devour all of them. Anyway, a few years back she had so many cucumbers from her garden, she brought us some of those too. She marinated them 3 different ways... and I can clearly remember only one of them. It was amazing. It entailed some rice wine vinegar and sesame oil. She let them soak it up and put them in little ziplocks for us. I remember laying on the hot rocky beach, eating one after another just blown away by the flavors.

So this is my little rendition of those cucumbers. 

I don't think any I make will ever be as good as Ceci's, though.... 

I slice them lengthwise as thinly as possible. Sometimes I use a vegetable peeler. You can use a mandolin if you have one. Let them hang out with about a 2:1 ratio of rice wine vinegar to sesame oil. Sprinkle on some sea salt and some whole sesame seeds and you've got a refreshing summer snack. Paired with Scott's BBQ chicken and I was in heaven. I love Summer.