Healthy Tex-Mex Stuffed Peppers

I've had a lot going on lately and the rest of this month is not going to be slowing down. I'm going to Orlando for work this Saturday-Wednesday (I know, poor me, right?), my roommate/best friend is moving out next weekend, Tom is moving in the weekend after, my semester is coming to an end soon, and I have another conference in Connecticut toward the end of the month. Lots of good things in the works, but it all makes me a little anxious. I used to jam pack my schedule as much as possible in high school and college, but these days, I really enjoy (and need) my down-time.

Things I Love Thursday and Meatless Monday All Rolled Into One

Last week was my First Day of Spring Edition of Things I Love Thursday. Since last week New England seems to have done a complete 180 and headed back toward winter. Poor Cape Cod got pounded with hurricane force winds and over 6 inches of snow! My neck of the woods luckily only had a lot of wind, causing my office to lose power (yay for work-from-home days!) and the railing on my rickety front porch to blow clean off (yay for having a landlord to fix things!). 

Anywho, here are a few things that make me really happy these days.

• Spring Blackberries
• Impending summer movie trailers

Recipe Reviews: Lemon Chicken and Cauliflower Rice

Ratings

Shutterbean's Lemon Chicken: A+
Nom Nom Paleo's Cauliflower Rice: A+

Do you ever have those meals where everything just seems to go together perfectly? A beautiful symphony of mingling flavors and textures that make your taste-buds shout for joy? That happened for me last night, and the whole meal was very healthy! Healthy food that tastes good? What?

As soon as I saw Shutterbean put out this recipe for Lemon Chicken I couldn't wait to try it. Lemon is one of my favorite things to add to cooking and we're all familiar with my obsession with Lemon Squares. And the fact that she used chicken thighs intrigued me. I don't use chicken thighs often but they're on sale frequently, so when my local store had boneless, skinless chicken thighs on sale, it was like it was meant to be. 

In my continuing effort to be healthy I was looking into paleo recipes. The concept has always been interesting to me, and since I'm trying to be careful about blood sugar, cauliflower rice seemed like the perfect solution. I found Nom Nom Paleo's version by doing a search in Pinterest. Her Cauliflower Rice recipe was simple, and used coconut oil (another ingredient I've always been interested in trying out but was always intimidated.

Both recipes came out absolutely amazing. I wish I hadn't been so hungry that I didn't stop and take the time to take pictures with my real camera (sorry about the Instagram pic). The only change I made to either recipe was the addition of parsley to the rice instead of Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute. I didn't have any on hand, and since parsley tends to go with lemon flavors and also the thyme and oregano used in the chicken, I gave it a go and I was not disappointed. I roasted a little asparagus in olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and it was a perfect meal. Tom had most of his plate cleared before I even sat down. 

I can't wait to try variations of both of these recipes in the future. I'm already thinking cooking Cod or another type of white fish would be perfect in place of the chicken. And I can't wait to add different spices to the basic cauliflower rice recipe depending on what it's going with. Maybe a little saffron with a Mexican recipe? Mmmm. Look like I'll be buying cauliflower regularly now!

Frugal Foodie Makeover: Tex-Mex Breakfast Scramble

I've known it for a while. How could I have missed it? Buying bigger clothes to fit my expanding ass and out-of-control boobs. And those stretch marks? No, I didn't give birth recently, those are from cupcakes and brownies. Last week my doctor talked to me about weight loss. It's the first time I've had this talk with a medical professional but it was only a matter of time. She wants me to come back in 6 months to check in and see how I'm doing. Opportunity presents itself in weird ways sometimes, right? 

Cheap and Fast: Red Beans and Rice

This is an extra special post. Wanna know why? 2 reasons:

1. This is one of my favorite pantry meals to make.
2. I cooked this meal while wearing heels, so it's extra fancy.

It's been one of those paycheck cycles where certain...surprises came up. For instance, my car insurance jumped an extra $50/month without them telling me because of an accident I was in back in December (12/12/12 to be exact). Liberty Mutual apparently doesn't increase rates mid-contract cycle. Would have been nice to know! I also had to buy some new shoes for my trip to Vegas next week for work, so naturally I had to break them in--hence the cooking in heels bit. In general though, this meal is about anything but fancy.

Portobello Burger with Smoked Gouda and the Mexican Brownie Saga Continues

It's that time of year again when the weather gets warmer and I start to realize that summer is right around the corner and that I need to get out of hibernation mode and eat healthy! I absolutely love this Portobello Mushroom Burger Recipe, complete with lots of garlic, a bit of mayo and smoked Gouda. What more could one ask for from something that is a very healthy dinner? I did make a few tweaks of my own to the recipe: I doubled the marinade and used powdered garlic instead of fresh in the mayo, but other than that, it's a fantastic recipe and I love it every time I make it.

Now for my Mexican Brownie saga. I've always been the person who told people that if you're going to eat a brownie, eat a real brownie and only have one. Then I realized that my brownie recipe has something like 250 calories per brownie! I did some research and was able to get the calorie count down to around 160 per brownie by using avocado in place of the butter and black beans to up the protein (hence the name Mexican Brownies); however, after two attempts at tweaking the recipe, I still feel like they're not quite finished. It's a little like an artist not wanting to reveal his masterpiece until it is complete. 

They came out a little cake-y for my liking, but they also came out like bricks. As in I could hurl these at an intruder and probably stop him dead in his tracks. I'll continue to play with the measurements and promise I will post the recipe when it no longer tastes like diet food, or has a texture like diet food. For now, enjoy the portobello mushroom burger recipe!