A little of this, a little of that!

This is a bit of a long one, so get comfy!

Recently, I've seen several blogs about Trader Joe's egg white salad. Wow, that sounds great! Let me drive over to the nearest Trader Joe's to pick that up-- oh wait. There isn't one near me. :'(

So I struck out on my own to google such a recipe. This One was my main inspiration. I read through the ingredient lists of some and then examined what was available in my fridge. I combined finely chopped celery, cucumber, chives, egg whites from 12 boiled eggs, squirt of Miracle Whip, two heaping spoonfuls of Greek yogurt, salt, freshly ground pepper, onion powder and after much hesitation, a small dollop of dijon mustard (not pictured).

Then I took a potato masher and mixed/mashed the eggs and everything. Then I thought to myself: something is missing still. Then it hit me what my friend Sara says: "Everything is better with Laughing Cow" Why yes, Sara, everything IS better with Laughing Cow! I mashed in two wedges of the garlic and herb flavor.

Not going to lie here, when I mixed it all together, I looked at and thought, what have I done? I was NOT sure about how this would taste. You can't learn unless you try though, right?

So I gathered up what was left of my pride, toasted a piece of bread, added some spinach and put together the sandwich.

It was GOOD! I credit the onion powder, slight hint of dijon and of course Laughing Cow.

Breakfast the next morning was pretty red and white waffles:

Whole wheat waffles with a smear of Brummel and Brown butter, tons of sliced strawberries and a little bit of Tru Whip. I am more of a savory breakfast person, so I also had some scrambled egg whites.

I'm so classy, I wiped my strawberry hands on my t-shirt...

That night, I had a dear friend of mine over for dinner. I went for simple but delicious!

Oven Roasted Yukon Golds

Green Salad

Romaine, spinach, shredded carrot, cucumber, orange bell pepper, tomato, romano, parmesan and asiago cheese blend and freshly ground pepper.

Broiled Chicken Thighs

They're better on the BBQ, but ours isn't set up yet, and the broiler is SO underrated!

This is the simplest, most delicious marinade I know of. When my brother and I were little we were allergic to citrus fruit, peanuts, chocolate and tomatoes. We were lucky to outgrow them, but since we were allergic to tomatoes, most BBQ sauce was out of the picture. So this is how we ate "BBQ" chicken.

Soy Marinade

1/4 c. lower sodium soy sauce

2 tbs canola oil

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

I usually just mix them right in the mixing cup with a whisk or fork and then pour them over my chicken in a dish. Marinate for 15 to 30 min then cook up! I can't stress how good this is and it's so simple you MUST try it!

Afterwards, we went to see Battle of the Titans. I loved it! We stopped by the Cheesecake factory on the way home for dessert.

Red velvet and cheesecake, rich but delicious. Here's what they boxed up, I made though maybe a third of it. It took me three sittings to finish it. I could have gobbled up the left overs the next day, but I really wanted to savor and enjoy it.

I had leftovers for lunch the next day only I added some kalamata olives and artichoke hearts to my salad.

That night Sara came over and we watched Twilight. Can you believe she hadn't seen it? We both had been wanting to try banana soft serve that we'd read about on so many blogs, but our bananas weren't quite frozen enough. It still turned out to be a tasty treat.

I added fresh strawberries, Tru Whip and Caramel syrup to mine.

In case you haven't noticed I LOVE strawberries. They are my very favorite fruit. I buy huge flats at a time from CostCo and devour them by themselves, with Tru Whip, a little white chocolate syrup, in smoothies, or on waffles. Mmmm...

Tomorrow I'm off to browse the farmer's market, shop at the Co-op and do some yardwork!

What is your favorite summer fruit?

What combination do you like in smoothies? I stick to strawberry banana. Sometimes if I'm feeling adventurous, I also add a splash of OJ.

What are your weekend plans?

Lovely Lemons

I am so, so excited about today's post. Little lemon kick? Yep. Better than boring lemonade? Absolutely.

Let's start with the dessert I made the night before, shall we?

This, I am in love with. LOVE.

(Disclaimer: This dessert is in no way low fat, low sugar or low guilt! It is excellent for sharing with company, because you could easily devour it alone!)

Lemon Ripple Cheesecake Bars

For the crust:

1 c. all purpose flour

1/4 c. sugar

1 tsp finely grated lemon zest

1/16 tsp salt

1 stick (1/2 c.) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces, chilled

For the lemon part:

1 tbs. plus 2 tsp. cornstarch

1/2 c. cold water

2 large egg yolks

3/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. fresh lemon juice, about the juice from one ripe lemon

(I added a little extra for a more tangy flavor)

1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest

For the cream cheese part:

20 oz. (2 and a half bricks) 1/3 fat (or fat free) cream cheese

1 c. sugar

2 tbs. all purpose flour

3 large eggs at room temperature

1/4 c. sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Step 1: Prep

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and position a rack in the center. Butter a 9-inch-square nonstick baking pan. I used an 8 x 11 and that turned out fine too.

Step 2: Make the Crust

In a food processor, or with a pastry cutter mix the flour, sugar, lemon zest, salt and butter until a soft, crumbly dough forms. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and a scant 1/2 inch up the side of the pan. Bake the crust for 20 minutes, or until golden and firm.

Step 3: Make the Lemon Part

In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in the water. In a medium sauce-pan, whisk the egg yolks with 3/4 cup of the sugar and the lemon juice. Whisk in the cornstarch mixture and cook over moderate heat, whisking gently, until the sugar is dissolved and the lemon mixture is hot, about 4 minutes. Boil over moderately high heat for 1 minute, whisking constantly, until the mixture is thick and glossy. Strain the lemon mixture into a heatproof bowl. Stir in the lemon zest and let cool.

Step 4: Make the Cream Cheese Part

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese with the remaining 1 cup of sugar until smooth. Beat in the flour until blended. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well between additions. Add the sour cream and the vanilla and beat until the batter is smooth. Pour the cream cheese batter over the crust and smooth the surface with a spatula.

Step 5: Put it all Together!

Dollop the lemon mixture on the cheesecake batter and carefully swirl it into the batter; take care not to cut into the crust. (Here it is, just going into the oven!) Bake the cheesecake for about 40 minutes, or until golden around the edge and just set. Run the tip of a knife around the edge to loosen the cheesecake from the side of the pan. Let cool on a wire rack for 1 hour, then refrigerate the cheesecake until thoroughly chilled. Cut into 16 bars and serve.

There was a little bit of spatula licking here and there... so I knew this was going to be fantastic!

Rewind to the meal.

I don't eat much pork, but this recipe for Southwest Pork Cutlets from Women's Health Magazine piqued my interest.

I seasoned the pork with this seasoning called Dillo Dust (randomly sent to us with an order from LaRue tactical in TX) which is basically celery salt, sugar, paprika, chili powder and garlic powder. I browned both sides, and then added the carrots and some minced garlic on highish heat so they slightly caramelized. I put the lid on and cooked on low to finish cooking the pork Served this with some rice pilaf on the side.

We also had a colorful green salad made from Romain lettuce, spinach, halved grape tomatoes, diced avocado, sliced mushrooms, clamata olives and cucumber topped with a sprinkle of fresh Parmesan cheese and fresh ground pepper. Served with Galeo's miso sesame dressing or a homemade lemon salad dressing.

Lemon Salad Dressing

3/4 c. olive oil

Juice from two ripe lemons

4 tbs grated Parmesan cheese (I just used the stuff from the bottle for this)

1/4 tsp salt (I skipped this)

freshly ground black pepper

1/4 tsp sugar

dash or two of paprika

1 garlic clove, peeled (I halved mine for more garlic flavor)

Place all ingredients in a jar. Shake it up and store in the fridge for about 24 hours before serving.

I was a little unsure about how this would be, but it was citrusy and light. Lovely!