Tasty

When we were little, my sisters and I would each get a “date” with one of our parents – we would spend the day painting pottery, go bowling, or grab a bite to eat.  It was nice to have one-on-one time and in a family of 5, the undivided attention didn’t hurt either.

As I’ve gotten older, I really have grown to appreciate the time with my parents, so when Jeremy had a business dinner, I thought it the perfect night to have my parents over for dinner.

My mom is gluten-intolerant, so I put together a gluten-free meal that (hopefully) even my dad would like.

Lemongrass Beef

*I didn’t have skewers on hand, so I just made thinly sliced pieces 1-2 inches long and cooked them in a pan for 2 minutes on each side. 

Rice Noodles with Scallions and Herbs

Asian Cucumber Salad 

Cucumber Mint Cocktail – Our Fun Drink Friday cocktail from last week!

I bought a few too many strawberries at the farmers market and needed something to do with them, so I found this recipe, made a few tweaks and voila!

Strawberry Smoothie

adapted from: Everyday Food

• 1 cup Strawberries
• 1 banana
• 1/4 cup raw almonds
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
• 3/4 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup
• 1/3 ice cups

Blend the oats and almonds first to make a powder (this is critical or you have a really crunchy smoothie).  Then toss everything else in and blend! Add more or less ice according to your taste (if you add less I’d pop your smoothie in the freezer a few minutes before you enjoy it).  A great start to your morning (and will definitely keep you tied over until lunch).

Looking for a relaxed brunch option? Raid your kitchen and throw together this little beauty – a breakfast tostada.

1. Saute chopped sweet potatoes with olive oil and salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. Saute chopped onions until caramalized.
3. Add sweet potatoes and 1 can of black beans (rinsed and drained) to the onions and stir until warmed through.
4. Grate cheese (we used white cheddar) onto corn tortillas and broil for a minute or so to melt the cheese.
5. Fry an egg in butter and season with salt and pepper.
6. How to plate:
   1. Cover plate in a bed of baby spinach
   2. Place corn tortilla on spinach
   3. Cover tortilla with sweet potato hash
   4. Top with fried egg
   5. Garnish with avocado, salsa, sour cream and hot sauce of your choice

Spring/Summer brings my favorite produce and I am so excited to start busting out the warm weather meals! Here is what we ate this last week:

Primavera Penne

The perfect “I’m too tired to cook” meal.  It takes 20 minutes to make and you’d have no idea it was a quick dish once you take the first bite!

Enchiladas Suizas

This was such a tasty recipe… the sauce is insane and aside from the chopping/shredding it isn’t super time consuming.  MAKE IT.

Vietnamese Noodle Bowl with Glazed Pork

You can make the dressing and marinade the night before/morning of, and can also prep the veggies before if you’d like.  Then there is no need to worry if it’s another late night at work, because all you will need to do is throw the rice noodles in a pot of hot water for 5 minutes, grill the pork chops, and plate the veggies! Voila!

PS I was seriously proud of every one of these meals.  This is my favorite weekly menu so far… you can’t go wrong with any of these… seriously.

One of my favorite Hawaiian treats is a snow cone, and at Tobi’s Shaved Ice they take it to the next level with a scoop of Macadamia Nut ice cream.  I’ve been dreaming about that ice cream since I got back home and due to the fact I posted workout tips yesterday, I figured it best to find a “low fat” ice cream alternative.

Thanks to Cooking Light I found a great recipe for Rum-Macadamia Ice Cream  using low fat ingredients… so grab your ice cream machine and whip up this fun treat!

Rum-Macadamia Ice Cream 

Source: Cooking Light

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 cups 2% Milk
• 1 cup half & half
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 (14 oz) can fat free sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts
• 3 1/2 tablespoons dark rum

Combine first 4 ingredients and stir with a whisk. Pour milk mixture into frozen ice cream maker and follow directions according to the maker. Stir in nuts and rum during the last 5 minutes.  Transfer ice cream to a Tupperware and freeze at least 4 hours.  Spoon into a serving bowl and be transported to a sandy beach!

Note: This treat doesn’t have the “standard” rich and creamy ice cream texture, but is more like a frozen Pina Colada-ice cream hybrid.  It is so amazingly refreshing and the perfect poolside snack… and for 234 calories for a 1/2 cup serving you can’t go wrong!