A Toast to Me!

About 3 months ago, I moved.  That’s a mouthful, I know.  Moving can be so stressful.  Couple that with limited funds and the stress triples.  But here we are, thank God that everything seems to be working out just fine.  (Thank you God).

Things have been coming around slowly and of course the To Do list has been growing.  Yesterday my parents came over to help me check some of those items off my list — my Daddy-Do list that is.  That’s the list of all the things I needed my Dad to help me with — like hanging curtains on one of the two tallest windows in the condo, mounting the television, and laying outdoor carpet on the balcony to cover up the hideous wood floor slats.  Don’t worry about my mom — she had her own list to accomplish — consisting of the most important item on the list – making Biscotti (Don’t worry, I’ll give you the recipe below… so keep reading)

The first task tackled was the balcony.  I really would never have thought of this on my own — truth be told, I was spying over at my neighbors balcony and noticed that their floor was green.  I wasn’t sure what it was because our balconies aren’t exactly touching — they’re actually an entirely separate building separated by a rather wide walk-way.  Anyways, I set my dad out on a mission to find an outdoor type of carpet and he was able to find a solution at a really inexpensive price — Score!  He brought with him a green outdoor carpeting that was a breeze to lay down.  Enter staple gun and scissors and viola!   It completely transformed the balcony from something drab to something beautiful.  And, I think the biggest reward was this morning when Corky went out there and fell asleep laying on the floor soaking up sun.  Thanks Dad!

I love the new floor!  Once this was done, we hung the curtains and then the television.  I love that the Sun won’t be heating up the rooms this summer (no disrespect Mr. Sun, but you tend to make the electricity bill go up in the summer time),  and that my wines have a dark place to live.  And the television mount rocks because I literally can watch TV from anywhere!

My mom kept herself busy with Corky and with making one of my favorites — Biscotti.  It is so easy to make and I’m so happy that I had all of the ingredients – including the most important one — my Mom!  I’m not sure where she got this recipe, so I’m just going to say that it’s hers because she’s been making Biscottis for as long as I can remember.

My Mom’s Biscotti Recipe:

3 eggs

¾ cup oil

1 cup sugar

3 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla flavor, and/or anise and/or almond

Mix liquid first with sugar and flavor in a mixer, gradually add flour and baking powder.  Once dough is made, Shape into two long strips of dough on a  cookie sheet.  Bake 375 for 20-25 minutes.

Cut logs into strips (short wise) to get the biscotti shape, lay the cookies down on their sides and place back in oven to dry out for another few minutes.  Take out and enjoy!

Once you’ve made them and tried them — you’ll see why they’re my fave!  And they freeze really well too, so you can make a bunch at one time!  Enjoy and a HUGE thank you to my AWESOME parents — Love you Mom & Dad!

General, Recipes balcony, biscotti, Recipe, To-Do

Smoked salmon, avocado and mango sandwich — probably one of my favorite sandwiches ever construed!  Thanks Chef Tom Colicchio for this little gem, it’s delicious!

1 small unripe mango, peeled and julienned
juice from 1/2 lime
kosher salt
bread – he recommends Pulman white bread, I used country flat bread
1 ripe avocado
drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil — I used meyer lemon olive oil
fresh ground black pepper
8 oz smoked salmon, thinly sliced
12-15 basil leaves

Toss mango in lime juice and season with salt, lightly toast the bread.

Place avocado on 4 slices of bread and gently mash and spread.  Drizzle avocado with olive oil and season with pepper.  Top with mango, smoked salmon an basil.  Add the top slices, cut and serve.

ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!

for more recipes like this one, check out Chef Colicchio’s cookbook, ‘wichcraft.  It’s full of delicious sandwiches that you would never have thought of on your own!  (or at least I wouldn’t have!).  Because of this recipe, mangos have a whole new purpose in the kitchen!

Recipes avocado, foodie, mango, Recipe, salmon, sandwich, smoked salmon

Nope.

Points, Recipes, Weight Watchers Points, Pumpkin, Recipe, Scones, Weight Watchers

So if you know me, you’ll know that I am definitely a Starbucks addict!  My poison?  A Venti Chai Tea Latte with Soy, no water, no foam.  My recent vices?  Scones!  They are delicious!  BUT, they are so high in calories, thus high in points… aarg!  So I scoured the Internet in search of a pumpkin scone recipe that would be just as good as the ones found at Starbucks, but without all those points.  I did find one that looked promising and when I placed the recipe into WW’s Recipe Builder, it came out to be 4 points per serving.  I will definitely be making these in the next couple of days (if not tonight) to see if they are worthy of even being compared to the ones at Starbucks.  The following is the recipe:

Pumpkin Scones

1/4 cup Granulated sugar
1 teaspoon Pumpkin pie spice
2 1/2 cups All-purpose flour
3 teaspoons Baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking soda
1/4 teaspoon Salt
3 tablespoons Smart Balance Omega-3 Light Spread
1 cup Pumpkin — canned
1/4 cup Buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees; coat a cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the sugar and pumpkin pie spice until well mixed; reserve 1 1/2 teaspoons. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the remaining sugar-spice mixture; mix well. Using a pastry blender or fork, cut in the margarine until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a small bowl with a wire whisk, beat the pumpkin and buttermilk until well combined. Add to the flour mixture; toss with a fork just until the dry ingredients are moistened.

On a floured surface, gently knead the dough until smooth and no longer sticky. Shape into a ball. Place on the cookie sheet and press into a 9-inch circle. Sprinkle with the reserved sugar-spice mixture. Cut into 8 wedges; separate slightly. Bake for 18 to 24 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm.

4 Points per serving

Points, Recipes, Weight Watchers Points, Pumpkin, Recipe, Scones, Weight Watchers