Wedding Thank You Notes

I just wanted to quickly share what the Mr. and I did for our wedding thank you notes to our bridal party.

We put together a collage of professional photos taken from the beach, and made it into a 5x7 card.

I'm really happy how they came out!!

- Caroline

Prosciutto and Apple Salad

The other day I spent my entire lunch break in Whole Foods.  I literally could spend all day in that store, I love it there.  I wasn't sure what I'd end up buying but I knew I needed something for dinner.  I decided to check out the cheese counter and try a few samples.  After sampling a couple different cheeses, I ended up with Piave Vecchio, which had the consistency of parmesan but with a nuttier taste.

I also ended up with a few pieces of prosciutto from the deli.  I was thinking of doing something with the cheese and prosciutto in a salad.  

After work, I started looking through what we had in the fridge and decided on a Prosciutto and Apple Salad.  I had some black cherry preserves in the fridge so thought that maybe I could make a vinaigrette with it. Here's how I did it.

Ingredient List

3 cups mesculin greens

3/4 cups Piave Cheese, chopped into shards

1/8 lb. prosciutto, sliced into ribbons

1 granny smith apple

1/2 cup black cherry preserves

3 tbls. olive oil

1 tbsp. lemon juice

Salt and Pepper

Slice the apple into thin pieces.  

Mix together the black cherry preserves, lemon juice and olive oil with a little salt and pepper.  Add the apples to the dressing and stir together, making sure each slice of apple has some dressing on it.

Put about 1 1/2 cups of mesculin onto a plate and top with the apple mixture.  Then top with the prosciutto, followed by the cheese.

It was delicious!  Perfect with a glass of white wine.  

~ Jeannette

Whole Wheat Dark Chocolate and Strawberry Pancakes... what a mouthful!

Last night Mike and I decided we were in the mood for what we like to call "Breakfast for Dinner".  I decided to try a new recipe for pancakes that I originally found on wearenotmartha.com.  I've been trying to eat healthier over the past couple weeks but I suddenly had a craving for something a little sweet.  I had some strawberries on hand as well as a bar of dark chocolate, so I decided to try some Dark Chocolate and Strawberry Pancakes and they were so easy to put together.  Here's how I did it.

Ingredient List:

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup vanilla soy milk

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 ripe banana, mashed

1 cup strawberries, sliced

1/2 cup dark chocolate, cut into chunks

Maple Syrup, optional

Mix together the wheat flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl.  In a separate bowl, mix together mashed banana, soy milk, and egg.  Then add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until it comes together.

Heat up a griddle and spray with nonstick cooking spray.  Pour about a 1/3-1/2 cup of batter for each pancake.  Then add a few slices of strawberries to half the pancakes and the dark chocolate pieces to the other half of the batch.

You can keep the pancakes warm on a sheet tray in a 250 degree oven.  Once all the pancakes are done, pile them up on a plate and serve with extra strawberries and maple syrup.  

Enjoy!

~Jeannette

I'm in love!

The one thing I hate to do more than anything in the entire world is shop for jeans - ok, wait, I lied - jeans anndd bathing suits.

In order to take part in such torturous activities preparations usually need to be made

1) starve yourself
2) rationalize to yourself that buying a size 5x bigger then what you are is OK, b/c these are special clothing items, so really the number doesn't matter!
3) wear baggie sweatpants, so that when you peel the jeans off your legs the pants you put back on feel loose and..
4) leave your skinny friends that fit into everything and your significant other that you take your bad moods out on, at home!

But - I think those days of dread my be behind me, because today, on my lunch break, I walked into ONE store - picked up ONE pair of jeans ( not my usually 10) tried them on and bought them! all within 15 minutes.


Seriously- where have you been my whole life- BOYFRIEND JEANS!!

I had heard the name around the office and among friends but I never really paid attention or investigated this fit/style for myself. But, wow I'm in love. They are perfect for someone like me who is still struggling with some excess post holiday/post wedding weight and needs something with a looser fit - ( not like those damm trendy skinny jeans)

I found these little gems at Madewell on Newbury in Boston. The store is right behind my office and I constantly pop in to check out the sales ( which are usually very good). I bought my new boyfriend jeans for only $22 originally $95.50.

These are going to be great for the rest of New England winter with boots, or rolled up with cute flats and wonderful in the summer with flip flops! I'm so excited to wear them!!!

- Caroline

PS The jeans are currently 25% so if your interested, Go Go Go!!

Easy Entertaining

Well, here it is- our first round of posts! Is it weird I'm nervous? I'll try to include my fair share of recipes and kitchen tips- but, truth be told Jeanette is the "chef" I'm more the apprentice. Therefore when I do pull off a fairly decent meal- I tend to savor those moments, so this first post will be about my home cooked goodness from last night.

Jeanette and her hubby came over to hang out, dine and kick off this "AWESOME BLOG" so I decided to keep the food casual but semi healthy.

The Menu

Tzatziki Sauce with Whole Wheat Pitas

Greek Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

and Whole Wheat Grilled Pizzas

I apologize in advance for my lack of photos- but in my defense, the food was consumed before this blog was completely launched. In the future- I'll include illustrations.

The Tzatziki Sauce was super easy-

2 containers of plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1 grated and peeled cucumber
pitch salt and pepper
dash of lemon zest - "to taste"
1/8 cup'ish of minced red onion

Mix it all together and refrigerate before serving.

The Pitas-

All I did was toast these pitas in the oven for a couple of minutes till crispy and chopped into eighths. 8 pita chips- only 60 calories!!

My Delish Greek Salad

* I don't measure for salads, sorry!*

• Chopped romaine hearts
• Chopped tomatoes
• Feta
• Sliced olives
• and Diced red onion

The Lemon Vinaigrette

• Juice from 1/2 a lemon
• Small squirt of mustard
• Pitch of minced garlic - "to taste"
• Olive oil
• salt/pepper to taste

Mix it all up and pour over the salad right before serving.

Grilled Pizza

This was the first time I made grilled pizza indoors- and let me tell you, it was amazing!! and super easy.

• Whole wheat pizza dough- ( i bought mine from the deli section of stop and shop)
• Marinara sauce - ( also store bought- credit to Ragu)
• Block of mozzarella- grated
• salt/pepper/Italian seasoning
• olive oil

Step one- pre heat griddler/ or stove top grill- also the oven to 425 degrees

Step two- break dough into fours and roll out on a floured surface and brush with olive oil

Step three- place rolled out dough on grill- cook about 4 min. on each side- till they have grill marks

Step four- pull pizza off the grill and spread with sauce, cheese and sprinkle with seasoning- bake in pre heated oven till cheese is bubbly

Step five- EAT!

I intend to remake the pizzas again with different toppings- maybe more veggies and fresh mozzarella next time.

But till then I shall enjoy the left overs while being snowed in :)

- Caroline

Poached Chicken... for Numerous Things

Here is my recipe for poached chicken. Yes, it's a pretty simple thing that's not all that exciting, but poached chicken can be used for numerous dishes. It's great on top of salads, reheated for chicken tacos, or added to a casserole. One of my favorites is Chicken Salad, which I'll post tomorrow. Anyways, are your ready for this? OK, here we go!

1-1/2 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast
1 lemon
3 sprigs fresh thyme*
1 sprig fresh rosemary*
1 sprig fresh sage*
6 whole black peppercorns

Fill a saucepan with 2-3 inches of water. Add the juice of the lemon, the thyme, rosemary, sage, and peppercorns. Cover with a lid and bring to a boil.

Once the poaching liquid has boiled, add the chicken breasts, turn the heat down to medium and recover. Cook for 15 minutes or until chicken is firm and no longer pink. Allow chicken to cool and dice into one inch pieces.

And that's it, you just poached yourself up some chicken, enjoy!

Jeannette

*For the fresh herbs, instead of spending money on bunches of herbs that will potentially go to waste, I like to buy the package with the thyme, rosemary and sage all in one, usually called Poultry Blend.