Salsa Verde Chicken

Have I told you lately how much I love my Crock Pot?  It takes such little effort to throw together a delicious home cooked meal.  Also, I can't tell you how nice it is walking into an amazing smelling house after a long day at work, and having dinner already taken care of.  I wasn't sure how this recipe would turn out, but Brian and I really loved it.  Two ingredients....are you ready for this? 

A jar Salsa Verde and Chicken.  That's it!  Just put the frozen or raw chicken breasts in the Crock Pot and pour Salsa Verde on top.  You can also add any seasonings you like, or some onion or garlic.  Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.  Shred with two forks.

 

 

 This chicken goes great with rice, beans, and cheese, or in burritos, quesadillas, nachos, etc.  I can already tell this is going to be a staple in our household!

Dinner is served!

Jello Shots

When I saw this Pink Lemonade Jello shot recipe on Pinterest, I knew I would have to try it out for myself.   It's so easy, just five or six lemons, one box of Strawberry Jello, one cup vodka, and one cup boiling water.

First, cut the lemons in half and hollow them out.  Its easier if you use a small, sharp knife to carve the insides out.  If you were feeling really ambitious, you could make lemonade with the juice, but I was not that ambitious.  After scooping all the lemon guts out, I was tired.

Then, prepare the Jello as directed on the box, but substitute one cup cup water with the vodka.

Gathering the ingredients

Lemon halves all scooped out

Pour the Jello liquid into the lemon halves and refrigerate overnight.

 

Once the Jello has set overnight, cut the lemon in half to get these cute wedges.  Then invite all your friends over and enjoy!

Party Time!

I'm going to try Raspberry Jello in limes next!

Toasted Ravioli

My breading assembly line

This past weekend I was inspired to try making “Toasted Ravioli” (also known as “Fried Ravioli”, but toasted just sounds healthier so I’m going with that).  You only need FIVE ingredients to make this delicious appetizer or meal: 

• Frozen Ravioli – any kind
• Vegetable or Olive Oil
• Egg
• Italian Breadcrumbs
• Marinara Sauce (for dipping)

I got this huge bag of spinach and cheese ravioli from Giant for less than $3

Heat up some vegetable or olive oil in a pan over medium heat.  Bread the raviolis by dipping them into the egg and then coating with Italian breadcrumbs.  

Coating the ravioli with breadcrumbs

All breaded and ready to fry

Fry four or five raviolis at a time, about one minute per side.  Drain on paper towels.  Serve with a side of your favorite marinara sauce.

Frying on one side

Frying on the other side

The ravioli will be crunchy on the outside and warm and creamy on the inside.  These are so quick and easy to make and perfect to bring to a party or serve as an appetizer.  Hope you try it!

The finished product - toasty goodness

Graffiato

The simple menu

Brian and I recently ate at Graffiato for an early Valentine’s Day dinner.  Graffiato is Mike Isabella’s restaurant located in the Chinatown area of DC.  You may recognize his name from Top Chef.  Whether you are a fan of him from Top Chef or not – this place is definitely worth checking out.  We thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of our meal.

We were seated in the upstairs dining room, but as we walked up the stairs I noticed a large bar area downstairs which would be a great place to stop for a bite to eat or a few drinks before a concert or caps game.  *Mental Note*

When we were seated at our table, I noticed that the room was small, yet comfortable.  I also noticed that it was a lot more casual than I expected, which was nice too.  Some people were a little bit dressed up, but a lot of people wore jeans and were dressed pretty casually.

Our server promptly brought water and a small dish of spiced pistachios to our table. It was a nice little treat to snack on while we looked over the menu.

Our yummy glasses of Prosecco

She started out by telling us about the Prosecco they have on draft and the flatbread and pepperoni sauce, which was only $5.  She said, “You HAVE to get it”.  She then explained that most of the dishes were small plates and that she recommends we each get three to four different dishes, and that the pizza counts as 2 dishes.  

We started out with a couple glasses of the Prosecco and an order of the flatbread.  The flatbread was grilled and warn and the pepperoni sauce was served in a small cup right next to it.  The sauce was smooth, thick, and warn, and tasted just like pepperoni.  Since the cup of sauce was pretty small, we finished it quickly.  We were thinking how good it must be to have some to put on top of pizza!  

Next we ordered the lobster risotto with mascarpone.  O. M. G… It was to die for.  There were large chunks of juicy lobster mixed into the perfectly cooked risotto.  The flavor of the risotto was just so perfect and lobster-ey (yes I just made that word up).  Seriously though, it was good.  Like close your eyes while chewing good.  I wish I had taken a photo of it, but that still wouldn’t do it justice.  You just have to try it.

"Papa Smurf" pizza on top, "White House" on bottom

Then we each ordered a pizza.  Brian got the “Papa Smurf” which had speck (a meat that looked and tasted like prosciutto), gorgonzola, caramelized onion, and potato.  I got the “White House” which had mozzarella, ricotta, prosciutto, and black pepper honey.  I wasn’t so sure how I would like the “Papa Smurf” pie because it had potato on it and that seemed like a lot of starch, but they were very tiny pieces, and the pizza dough was very thin.  The caramelized onions were really sweet and a perfect contrast to the salty meat and cheese.  There was just so much flavor in that pizza, I really enjoyed it.  The “White House” was very good too, but was a little milder in flavor.  I enjoyed it too, but not as much as I did with “Papa Smurf”. 

Photo of Pooh's Lost Honey Pot. Source.

I don’t usually order desert, but since this was our valentine’s celebration and all, I decided to throw my diet out the window and order something off the desert menu.  If you know me, you know I absolutely LOVE honey.  There was a special desert called Pooh's Lost Honey Pot, in honor of Disney on Ice.  Girl Meets Food blogged about it here.  It is a small honey walnut cake with mascarpone cream in the middle, with honey mascarpone gelato on the side.  We pretty much inhaled that along with two more glasses of Prosecco.  I have to say this was one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time.  Everything was perfect and I had some nice company too :-)

I can’t wait until the next time I get to go to Graffiato!  It will definitely have to be before next Valentine’s day.

Five for Friday

This Friday I am most thankful for

My new desk

1.  Getting a promotion!  A couple weeks back I applied for an open manager position in the department I work in (Finance) at the American Diabetes Association.  Well, two weeks and three interviews later I found out that I got the job!  It is a lot more work and responsibility but I am up for the challenge.  I even get to move to a window cubicle! 

 

2.  Having supportive family and friends who were truly happy for me when I got the promotion.  I’m also thankful for such a supportive boyfriend, who took me out to dinner this week to celebrate!

3.  Going to see The Vow tonight with some girlfriends.  Rachel McAdams? Check.  Channing Tatum? Check.  What more do you need?  Oh yea…wine.  :-P  This should be a tearjerker!  Looking forward to it!

 

4.  Going to Graffiato this Sunday for an early Valentine’s day dinner.  We’ve wanted to try out Mike Isabella’s new restaurant in Chinatown for a while now, and we finally found an occasion to go!  I can’t wait to try that famous pepperoni sauce!

5.  A new furnace!  I know this may sound not that important, but the one in our house before was very old and loud and the landlord replaced it with a newer, quieter furnace.  Winter – bring it on!

Book Club - The Paris Wife

Some friends and I started a Book Club in January, and our first book was The Paris Wife by Paula McLain.  We all gave suggestions for possible books and took a poll online to pick the winning book.  I voted for this book because someone had recommended it to me, and it seemed to be a very popular book since I keep seeing it everywhere.  Some of the members of the book club met this past Monday to have dinner, drink wine, and discuss the book.  We went to Busboys & Poets in DC and I had a lot of fun.  Busboys & Poets is a perfect place to have a book club meeting because it's a laid back, casual restaurant/lounge.  It was interesting that only one person at book club actually had the physical book, the rest of us read it on our Kindles!  I'm so glad we started a book club because it's a great way to meet new friends and stay current with reading.  It's also nice to have people to discuss books with, especially when you just finish and have a lot to talk about!

I don't know what I was expecting from The Paris Wife exactly, but I didn't love it.  It was OK.  It took me about three weeks to get through it, which is a long time for me.  I guess I couldn't really get into it.  I did enjoy the story and felt as if the author took me along to Paris with Earnest and Hadley. However, I just felt that there were too many unnecessary details. I felt like the author was more concerned about all the little details here and there rather than the big picture. Also, everything was all about Earnest, which I expected.  But I was looking forward to hearing Hadley’s opinion and voice, which I felt she was lacking until the very end of the book. Maybe that’s how things were in the 1920s but I was looking for a stronger female character out of Hadley. 

I wish the story could have flowed better, as opposed to skipping weeks here and there based on what Earnest was doing or accomplishing. Earnest was just young and in love and they definitely rushed into the marriage, so I wasn’t surprised when it ended. They never built that foundation that is so important for a lasting relationship. I felt like the italicized chapters in Earnest’s point of view were important for me to see things from his perspective, but I felt that it was disproportionate to Hadley’s chapters, and seemed more like an afterthought. 

Overall, I enjoyed the book and learned a lot about Earnest Hemingway and that time period. But, I did get very frustrated with Hadley’s weak personality and couldn’t understand her most of the time

Next month's book is The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, which I have already read and loved.  I'll consider this a month off from book club but I will skim the book to refresh my memory.  It is such a sweet book and I absolutely LOVE Enzo the dog and this was one of a few books that have actually made me cry.  It's going to make for a great discussion!

Greek Yogurt

Passion Fruit Flavored Greek Yogurt

I tried Greek yogurt once when it first became popular and thought it was gross!  It left my tongue feeling all weird and dry and the yogurt was not sweet at all.  Well today I caved and decided to try it again…but this time I tried Chobani Passion Fruit flavored Greek yogurt.  

I love the taste of passion fruit – it reminds me of mango and pineapple.  And it really does sweeten the yogurt a lot.  I actually enjoyed it!  The Passion Fruit mixture is on the bottom of the cup and the plain white yogurt is on top.  After mixing it all together, the yogurt wasn’t so thick.  The only thing I didn’t like were the little seeds from the passion fruit, they had a bit of a nutty taste which I wasn’t expecting.  Overall, I would definitely try Greek yogurt again and try out all the other flavors (like apple cinnamon - YUM!).  It does have a bit more calories than regular low fat yogurt but there is a ton of protein, so I think it's worth those extra calories.

Apple Cinnamon Flavored Greek Yogurt - You're next!

Spicy Tuna Salad

I love spicy food.  I love tuna salad.  Therefore, I love spicy tuna salad!  My mom always used to put a little hot sauce in tuna salad when I was growing up.  But Sriracha is not just your average hot sauce…it’s wonderful and I don’t know how I’ve lived without it for so many years.  Sriracha is a spicy chili sauce that you can put on just about anything.  It’s very spicy but has a really good chili flavor too. 

I got the idea to put Sriracha in tuna salad from my co-worker.  He used leftover spicy mayo from a sushi restaurant to make tuna salad.  Spicy mayo is basically just mayo and Sriracha mixed together, so I thought I would give it a try. 

Since I've been trying to eat healthy, I mixed the tuna with half regular mayo and half light mayo (about 1 tablespoon of each per can).  I love the flavor of regular mayo but don’t want all the calories, so this is a good compromise and you can’t really tell the difference taste wise.

I like to add some chopped onion or celery into the tuna salad to give it some extra flavor and crunch.  Add a little salt, pepper, and celery salt and you’re good to go!  I like to mix up 2 or 3 cans worth of tuna salad over the weekend so I can make sandwiches quickly in the morning during the work week.  Spread it on a sandwich thin or bagel thin and you’ve got a delicious, healthy, and cheap lunch! 

If you are inspired to make some of this tuna salad – I recommend picking up some cans at CVS where they are only $0.88 each this week, which is a very good price (sale goes through this Saturday 02/11).