Jessica

New York City & Butter

By Jessica

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Recently I had a birthday, and the sweet guy that chuck is took me all
the way to New York City to eat at Butter; a fabulous restaurant where Alex Guarnaschelli
is the executive chef. The experience was amazing, the architecture in the restaurant
was beautiful, the food phenomenal. We were treated to an individual serving of
pickled hummus each, and then we ordered Seared Diver Scallops, with black
rice, mustard and bacon. For our entree’s I had homemade ravioli, with roasted
oyster mushrooms, pecorino cheese, and fresh herbs, while chuck had Duck with
turnips, cabbage and blood orange in a scrumptious sauce. I can say that I actually
enjoyed the mushrooms in my meal. I was a little nervous about ordering it and
not liking it, but homemade ravioli sounded too good, so I decided to be brave,
it was so worth it; it might have even made me a convert.

The rest of the trip was just fun, exploring and filling our bellies; we
got gyros, and kebabs from carts, along with hot dogs, pretzels, sandwiches and
of course pizza. My favorite part about the city, is the culture, and the
architecture. Oh and take a look at the food markets in Chinatown.

I apologize for not taking any food pictures, but to be honest I would
really rather just eat, and enjoy. I like to be a part of the experience, not just
see it from behind a lens, maybe next time I’ll get some good ones.

D4One: Sausage & Bean Stew

By Jessica

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This is my cleaned up take on a Spanish classic. Typically in Spain
chorizo would be used, but I chose to go with garlic and spinach chicken
sausage, you could also use Italian sausage if you wanted as well, giving you
lots of choices. It can also very easily be multiplied for a large family, and
because it is so easy my bet is that you will be making it a lot. I even had it leftover cold and it was delicious, so this is a good one to have for the summer months as well. Please give it a shot.

Sausage & Bean Stew

1 tbs olive oil

½ lb turkey sausage links

1 small onion, sliced thin

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp thyme

1 can cannellini beans, rinsed

1 cup low sodium chicken broth

2 cups fresh baby spinach

Add half the oil to a large skillet over medium heat, and add sausage.
Cook sausage, turning occasionally until cooked through, roughly 10-15 minutes,
then set aside. Reduce heat to medium, and sauté onion, garlic and thyme until
softened, roughly 5 minutes. Add the beans and broth and cook for about 10
minutes. Add spinach and cook until it just begins to wilt. Slice sausage into
bite size pieces, and stir into stew. Remove stew from heat and serve in bowls,
warm.

In My Head: Messy Mess

By Jessica

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The last few weeks have been a doosey.
I blame february. It’s always been ba weird month for me.

The first week of the month I had a stomach bug so I couldn’t eat a thing for days! It was miserable.

The following week after snowboarding I got a pinched nerve or a kink or something in my back that made turning my head or moving my left arm complete agony. That put a huge crap in boot camp, but I still went.

Until the final week.

I am so mad about this.

Work took over my whole life for a few weeks.

I’m talking at work by 6 leaving around 9 and weekends. Not to mention the sleeplessness, and wierd work dreams.

I actually dreamed that I was using a software and got all this work done only to get to the office in the morning and realize it was a dream.

I know some people work like this all the time, and that’s fine if it works for them, but it doesn’t work for me.

I was an emotional wreck, easily frustrated, wicked grumpy, and over tired.

I completly failed at the FabAB challange. I mean I tried really hard to keep up, even doing it on my lunch break at work, until there was no break to be had. I just did whatever workout was on that date, even if I missed the others. Honestly, though I think I missed more than I completed. I will probably try to do this again next month.

And I missed the last week of boot camp. I AM SO MAD.

I paid for the whole darn class!

I learned a lot from it, and I can do a lot of it at home, but I really enjoyed the way that our coach pushed us. I had a blast at that class.

What else happened this month?

Oh yeah Chuck and I decided to get a dog.

Then I was offered a new job.

Then we decided we are moving.

I turned 25.

My head is a complete mess right now.

There is so much going on. I haven’t been able to do laundry in forever, or dishes, or cook a real meal.

Though I have come up with about a million new crock pot recipes, and chuck has been a huge help.

He has learned to cook so much lately; it’s very impressive, especially since he’s been feeling under the weather for a few weeks as well.

I don’t think things will settle down for a while, but here’s to hoping!

I promise to try my hardest to keep up on the blogosphere, though there are no guarantees.

I will be posting some guest posts for the next week or two until we are moved and settled and what not.

I do have some changes planned so hold tight.

Much love!

Homemade Ravioli with Spinach & Tomato Cream Sauce

By Jessica

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The entre for our Valentine’s Day dinner this year was homemade 3 cheese ravioli with a spinach and tomato cream sauce. I was really excited to try this recipe mainly because it was my our first foray into homemade ravioli (yes our, chuck helped!), but I didn’t want it to be just that simple, so I decided to whip up a “fancy” sauce to top it off. I wanted to incorporate some of the other flavors of the night’s dinner without them being overwhelming so I used a tomato based cream sauce to start off.

The result was shear perfection. I was so thrilled with how it all came out, and I couldn’t be more excited to share it with you.

Basic 3 Cheese Ravioli (serves 4)

2 cups flour (plus more for the work surface)
3 eggs
1-4 tbsp cold water
1 cup ricotta cheese
¼ cup mozzarella cheese
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt

In a medium bowl add flour and eggs. Mix well using an electric mixer. The dough should begin to form a ball. If the dough is too dry it will remain crumbly, so add a few tablespoons of water until the ball forms. Use a pasta machine, roller, or rolling pin to roll out the dough into 3 inch wide, foot long sheets. In a bowl mix together the ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan cheese and salt. Place 4 dollops about the size of a half dollar in the middle of a pasta sheet evenly spaced. Using your finger dip it into water and trace the outside of the dollop. Place another sheet on top and press it down around the dollop, using water to cement the dough together. Slice the dough to create separate ravioli. Continue to do this for until the pasta is gone. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and drop in the ravioli, they should only take a few minutes to cook, rising to the top as they finish. Strain the ravioli and set aside.

Tomato, Spinach & Pancetta Cream Sauce

¼ lb pancetta, diced
2 tbs olive oil
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 tsp thyme
¼ cup heavy cream
½ cup chicken broth
2 cups spinach
Salt & Pepper to taste
Fresh grated parmesan cheese
Heat olive oil in a large skillet and sauté pancetta on medium high heat, until it begins to crisp. Stir in tomatoes with liquid, add thyme and cook for 2-3 minutes. Stir in cream, and chicken broth and allow the sauce to thicken, another 2-3 minutes. Add Spinach and lightly mix in, allowing it to wilt slightly. Adjust the seasonings to taste, and serve warm over ravioli, and garnished with fresh grated parmesan.

The Reasons I Cheat on my Diet

By Jessica

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Source

I would say 75% of the time I eat clean. Why 75%? Because regular pasta, white rice, even a tablespoon of butter, bottled barbeque sauce, and most salad dressings are not considered clean. I firmly believe a steak as well as a pork chop should be seared in butter. White pasta has a different mouth feel, and starchiness when compared to its whole wheat counterpart, the same goes for rice. Sometimes I just want blue cheese dressing and barbeque, and super lean meats tend to be expensive.

Food is always one of the first things to pop into our head when we think of holidays and traditions; it sparks conversation and brings people together. Food is a driving force for not only our bodies but our soul. These are the reasons that I cheat.

I ate completely clean for a while, do you know what happened? Any time I stepped out of the realm of clean, I got sick. It was not fun. Something as simple as steak, or fish pan fried in butter would send me straight to bed trying not to vomit for the next few hours. I came to the realization that unless I plan to compete in fitness competitions there was no need to live like this. That’s when I implemented a weekly cheat meal. Usually homemade calzones, chicken parmesan, mac & cheese, seafood with butter these are my favorite comfort foods. Do you know what changed? My attitude, I was happier, and my body actually seemed in better shape, I had a lot more energy, and my measurements, including body fat percent barely wavered. I honestly think that having more energy could be contributed to the better mood. Also having a carb heavy meal once in a while will help your metabolism stay up so you can continue to burn more calories overall.

I don’t want to give anyone the wrong idea in thinking a cheat meal consists of a trip to McDonalds followed by a stop by pizza hut, and rounded out with a gallon of ice cream, because it’s not any of those things. A cheat meal for me is a lean sirloin steak topped with a little mason butter, a salad with blue cheese dressing, and a side of garlic parmesan pasta or mashed potatoes. It could also be a night out, with linguini & clam sauce, or Buffalo wings and a beer. One single average sized meal, where I don’t over eat, and I usually try to stick to something lighter during the rest of the day.

It’s about balance. I cheat to keep everything in balance.

I eat to satisfy, not only what my body needs but my soul. I am capable of cheating now and then to enjoy my food because most of the times I eat clean, and I am active. I do keep track of my measurements, including my body fat percent, so I know when I need to tone it back (the month of December for example) and eat a few more veggies.

Jessica

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