Early Bird Breakfast

First off, I don't wake up early if I don't have to.  Second, I usually make my kids breakfast before I even think about mine.  That is a purely selfish act on my part.  I need peace to sit and enjoy my morning tea and breakfast of choice.  Today that breakfast was Greek yogurt with fresh raspberries, sage honey and granola.

Fage is my Greek yogurt of choice.  I usually have 2% on hand at all times, but all I had today was the Total, which is the full fat version.  No worries, I have to finish the contents of my fridge, which is another story in itself, so heavier breakfast it is!

I dumped a few large spoonfuls of the yogurt into the bowl, sprinkled raspberries on top and drizzled sage honey on top.  I topped all of this mess off with a generous helping of Early Bird Granola from Foods & Co.

This is where my story really starts.  This granola is unlike any I've ever had - and I've had a lot!  It is sweet and salty and has pieces of pecans, toasted giant flakes of coconut and pumpkin seeds, among other goodness.  I found this super granola at Stonehouse California Olive Oil in the Ferry Building, San Francisco.  Anyone who knows me, knows this is one of my favorite places in the world.  It is sold at Stonehouse because it is made with Extra-Virgin Olive Oil.  This stuff is good enough to eat out of the bag and just as good on yogurt.  When I went to see where the granola comes from, I was floored to see it is made and packaged in Brooklyn, NY of all places!  Seems I am always getting back to my roots.

Now that I know my friends from New York to California can get this stuff, I'd say, you should try it.  Dean and Deluca is just one of the places you can get it across the country.  There is even a place in Paris you can get Early Bird if you happen to be hankering for some granola while jet-setting.  Cheers to you and your breakfast.

Everything Trader Joe's

Yes, I am back from my long blogging siesta.  I'm a little more rested and slightly browner in color, spending the summer months in the sun with my California girls. 

I'm back because I wanted to share my Trader Joe's favorites.  I started compiling this list a while ago for a dear friend who would compare family shopping notes with me.  The reason for me sharing this list with all of you now is with ulterior motive.  I am secretly hoping that with everyone running out to buy my favorite Trader Joe's items, corporate will see this spike in sales and keep them in stock knowing that they are good sellers.  This may, however, backfire on me, as it has done in the past.  Often, Trader Joe's gets things before they are widely known.  Once word gets out on these things, they routinely get sold to bigger companies for a much higher asking price.  That very thing happened with my favorite brandy infused figs covered in chocolate.  Williams Sonoma got a hold of them and sold them for three times the price I paid for them at Trader Joe's!  Never were they seen again on the shelves at Trader Joe's.  

Here is my list:

Organic Tea and Lemonade - Sweet and tart

Organic Pink Lemonade

Sparkling Blueberry Juice (and cranberry and pomegranate) - not sodas, but the kids think they are.  They are 100% juice.

Trader Joe's version of Pirates booty - snacks for the kids

Trader Joe's Honey Wheat pretzel sticks

Reduced guilt potato chips - snacks for me!  These have become my favorite potato chip.  Really crunchy, lots of potato taste and less fat than regular potato chips without even knowing it.

Baked Onion rings - Gluten free and better than Funyuns
Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups - Much better than Reese's
Sea Salt & Turbinado Sugar Dark Chocolate Almonds - So addicting
Jasmine Rice - comes out perfect in the rice cooker and makes the house smell wonderful.

English Breakfast Tea - my tea of choice 

Fage Greek Yogurt (0% and 2%) - great with fresh fruit, honey and granola

Trader Joes Gluten Free Cranberry/Maple granola - the best granola ever!

Freeze dried strawberries (crunchy) for their hot and cold cereals.  (I sprinkle them on oatmeal, Malt-O-Meal and cold cereal for the kids)

Frozen Section:

Arancini (Italian rice balls filled with cheese)

Mochi ice cream - kids love these for dessert

Maitre Pierre (Trader Joe's) Tarte d'Alsace - In the pizza section, one of my favorite dinners by myself.  It is this ham and cheese thing on puff pastry. 

Shrimp gyoza

Reduced guilt Mac & Cheese - lower fat, but just as good as regular.

Shepherd's Pie - lots of meat and a good amount of mashed potatoes on top.  

Raspberry Macaron Cake - wonderful French type dessert with raspberries, light cream and almond "biscuit." It says three servings, but I'm lucky if I get two out of it. 

Cold section:

Fresh Leeks in cellophane package of 2.  Great for potato leek soup and pre-trimmed and cleaned.  If you've ever bought fresh leeks, you know what a pain they are to trim and get really clean.

Tofu Spring Rolls - Cold rice paper wrapped tofu with cellophane noodles, cilantro and veggies.  Oh, and a really good peanut sauce to dip them into.

Reduced fat Chinese chicken salad - great tasting salad, you won't miss the fat.

BBQ Chicken salad - for when you want more fat.  

For the winos:

Tres Pinos Cuvee - easy, cheap red table wine that is very drinkable

Simple Times Lager - the Two Buck Chuck of canned beer, but better and goes down easy.

I'm sure I will hit "Post" and realize other items, but this is a pretty good starting point.

Now go run out and get some of these that catch your eye.  Tell me what you think and ask your Trader Joe's to NEVER get rid of them!

Ugly Grumbly Pie

I’ve been stewing a lot lately and I decided that I needed to get back to cooking.  

Today I will be mixing up some Ugly Grumbly Pie.  This might sound daunting to you, but it’s really quite easy.  All you have to do is mash up some hate.  Then cut in a fair amount of prejudice.  Cram in all the negativity you can find.  Sprinkle on equal amounts of fear, jealousy, ignorance and intolerance.  Finally dash in a bit of fanaticism and self righteousness and bake until slightly charred on the ends.  I caution you, this is a really tough pie to swallow, but if you chew on it enough, it will become part of you and take over your soul.  

If you want to try a sweeter recipe that goes down much smoother, you might want to give this recipe for Lovely Peace Compote with Humble Bits a whirl.  This one takes a little more time and effort on your part.  You might have to go back several times to get it just right.  First, you have to put your ego off to the side, so it doesn’t contaminate the mix.  Next, find all the love, sweetness, compassion and broadmindedness that you have.  Make sure you pat it in all together nice and solid.  Pick out all the bitter pieces and toss them in the garbage.  Then throw in some understanding, but don’t let any judgment get in or it will become cloudy.  Cover it with a blanket of harmony.  Bake until it is all warm inside.  Take out and only let cool ever so slightly.  Eat a little everyday until it becomes part of your regular diet and it will make you a much stronger, healthier person.  Feed your mind, body and spirit with goodness and you will get health in return in more ways than one.  

Please let me know how your attempts come out and if you have any suggestions to make them better.  I welcome all feedback.  

Slow Roast Bourbon Pork

I love when I can set up a dinner early enough that I can sit back and leave it alone and watch it take care of itself.  Today, I sat back for 8 hours!  I have a slow cooker that has only been used once before and I really need to use it more.  I had a pork tenderloin and although the recipe calls for shoulder or butt, it still worked.

Put the oven on broil and make the sauce.

For the sauce:
2 Tablespoons Kosher Salt
1 Tablespoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2-3 Tablespoons Mustard Powder
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar (firmly packed)
2 Dashes Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 Cup of your favorite BBQ Sauce (I used a Smooth&Smokin Chipotle BBQ sauce from Tahoe House Bakery in Tahoe, but since it is pretty obscure, use your fave)
1/4 - 1/2 cup Bourbon Whiskey

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Meanwhile, place the pork in a lightly oiled shallow pan, turn pork over a few times to coat in the oil and then broil on both sides until lightly brown.

Take out of the oven and place in a slow cooker on the 6 - 8 hour setting depending on how much time you have to wait.  Pour sauce over the meat after putting it in the cooker.  Once every hour or so, baste the meat.  When there is about one hour left to cook, add several teaspoons of the herb or mix of herbs of your choice.  I sprinkled on Bouquet Garni, which contains Savory, Rosemary, Thyme, Oregano, Basil, Dill, Marjoram, Sage and Tarragon.  Any of these herbs would work.  After the allotted cooking time, place under the broiler again for a few minutes to crisp up the skin.  Save the sauce left in the cooker as gravy, you will want to pour it on!

I served with herb roasted potatoes and some sauteed Swiss chard.  I still have the taste in my mouth and I'm loving it.

Here's to hoping my Everyday Girls love this as much as I did.

I have young skin!

I have young skin.  At least I like to think that is why I need to use something that is usually reserved for the teen set.  Proactiv acne treatment system.  I have been using it for about a year now and I truly see a new smoothness to my skin and very few breakouts, if any.   My preteen daughter is also using it, though not as consistently as I do.  I can tell you for sure, on the days that she uses it, her skin is visibly clearer.  When she forgets to use it or gets too “busy” the breakouts come back.  

Here’s where it gets tricky.  Where should you purchase it, what products should you get and how do you use it?  I will tackle the first item, where.  DON’T buy it from Proactiv’s website or from them directly, unless you want to be locked in to a contract and constant shipments that you might not want.  I made that mistake and I was very unhappy.  Took me several tries to have them cease and desist my plan and subsequent shipments.  Even now, I get a constant barrage of emails and letters begging me to “come back!”  My best experience after that first disaster was ordering from Amazon and QVC respectively.  QVC is a wonderful place to start because they have complete sets to order on a one time basis at reasonable prices.  I would recommend getting a comprehensive set initially so you can see how it works with your skin and which of the products you like best for your skin.  If you love everything, just keep ordering from QVC.  If you find that all you need are the cleanser and toner, Amazon is great for individual items.  

For me, the Renewing Cleanser and the Revitalizing Toner are my go to items.  I use them once nightly and that’s it.  I use a clear bar soap in the morning from DHC, but that is another blog post.  Also, once a week, I use the Refining Mask and it truly seems to do wonders to the smoothness of my skin and my pore size.  There is a Repairing treatment that most kits come with that I don’t use.  However, my daughter uses it in her routine and seems to work well for her, which is why I recommend trying the set of products and tweaking to your routine and what works best for you.  

Us Everyday Girls need all the help we can get and I’m not above sharing my favorite secrets.  

And Now for Something Completely Different...

I was stuck for dinner the other night and I didn't want to "cook." I had smoked salmon in the fridge that I needed to use up, along with some flour tortillas.  I didn't want to make quesadillas, so I wondered if a smoked salmon pizza would work.  From the freezer, I got some frozen peas and heated until they were just warm.  I then pureed them with the stick blender.  This was getting interesting.  I took 1/2 a tub of mascarpone cheese and mixed it with several sprinkles of dried dill, a pinch of dried lemon grass, Sunny Paris seasoning from Penzeys and a few pinches of salt.

Meanwhile, I lightly oiled a pan for heating the tortillas.  The rest reads like a recipe:  Heat tortillas until they are browned and crispy.  Spread with a small amount of the mascarpone mixture.  I wanted more spread, but I wanted it less melted, so I stuck the tortilla in the freezer for a few seconds to cool.  Then spread more herb mixture on tortilla and top with strips of smoked salmon.  Smooth some ribbons of pea puree down the tortilla three times.  Garnish with chopped scallions.  Slice in quarters for a mini meal or appetizer.

If you have fresh dill, even better.  I would have used it if I had it.  The elder kid liked it until she got to the pea puree.  Anything peas gives her the shivers.  The youngest ate it up, no problem and the husband followed suit.  Not bad for a throw together from an Everyday Girl.

Beautifully Simple

I know it has been forever since my last post.  My time has been limited lately.  Got kids in the school play, too much homework to crack the whip on, a producer's job in said play, my own home and work to deal with and life in general.  I have been shut in with various sick kids and their high fevers.  I'm two steps away from chucking the lot.

On a lot of these days, I need to eat stuff that is thrown together, but still satisfying.  At least that went my way today.  I eat a lot of high fat, heavy cream foods, so on other days, all my body craves are plain grains and cereal and lots of greens.  I've been known to eat handfuls of plain greens and veggies on those days.  This is not punishment - I love them!  Some days, however, I want to dress it up a bit.

It was this beautifully simple salad that got me through the day.

1/4 cup mirin
2 Tbs rice wine vinegar
Fat squirt of wasabi or 1/4 tsp wasabi powder
1 tsp coarse salt
Squirt of fresh lemon or lime
Several drops of sesame oil
Hot Chili flakes
Arugula/Rocket
Avocado

Whisk the first 6 ingredients with a fork.  Pour a few tablespoons over the arugula/rocket or whatever greens you would like to use.  Use dressing sparingly, with just enough to coat the greens lightly.  Reserve the rest for salads to get you through the next couple of days.  Sprinkle on chili flakes to your desired amount of heat.  Slice in avocado over the greens and enjoy.

Cranberry Comfort

I'm finally coming off my convalescence and I really need to get cracking.  Sorry it has taken me so long to write anything, but this particular ick hit me hard and took a while to get over.  I still have some recovering to do, but I've been fever free since Friday and I'm feeling much better.

I promised to blog my cranberry recipe so here it is.  It would be great warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  If you can't find fresh cranberries now, Whole Foods has fresh frozen cranberries you can use.  Just rinse them and use in the recipe, no need to thaw.

Cranberry Treats

Top Layer                                                                            Bottom Layer


1 stick butter (room temp)                                     1 package fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup sugar                                                                  1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp. vanilla                                                                1/4 cup sugar
1 cup flour                                                                      
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 325°


Cream butter with 1 cup sugar and vanilla.  In a separate bowl, sift flour and add baking powder.  Beat well both eggs and combine with sugar/butter mixture.  Add the flour mixture.


Meanwhile, in a well buttered 10 in. or so deep pie pan, or rectangular brownie pan, which I prefer, pour in package of cranberries (rinsed and stems removed).  Add walnuts and sprinkle in 1/4 cup sugar.  Spread the top layer mixture over the bottom layer like frosting.  Bake one hour.  Can be served warm or at room temperature.  


This is my comfort fall and winter dessert.  Hope all my fellow Everyday Girls and Guys like it.  Happy eating.

Spicy Devils

Deviled eggs are a good way to get some extra protein and satisfy your salty, spicy craving. 

I’ve always thought of them as a very American kind of food, relegated to the potluck table at a get together.  I didn’t really see them anywhere other than that and I didn’t grow up eating that kind of food otherwise.  Especially since I grew up with a Puerto Rican mom who didn’t know what these “American custom” foods were all about.     

I love deviled eggs and sometimes make them in small batches just for me to snack on over a couple of days.  The Tobasco here gives it a little kick, but the Sriracha is the real star of the spicy heat.  Here is my recipe for Spicy Devils:

4 eggs hard boiled, cooled and peeled

2 tsp  2% Fage Greek yogurt

2 tsp  Mayonnaise 

3 - 5 shakes  Tobasco sauce

1/4 tsp  Mustard Powder

1 tsp  Dijon mustard

1 tsp  Sriracha sauce (found in Asian food section of most grocery stores)

Sriracha, Paprika and chopped scallions for garnish

After your eggs are hard boiled, cooled and peeled, cut them in half lengthwise and put yolks in a small bowl.  I take a fork and mash up the yolks, but whatever way you like best can get the job done.  After mashing, add the yogurt, mayo, Tobasco, mustard, powder and the Sriracha.  Mix all up to smooth.  

I don’t get too fancy with getting the filling in, since I usually eat them myself, so I just use a spoon to dollop them into the halves of the eggs.  If you want them to look prettier, you can use a pastry bag to pipe them in.  After they are all filled, sprinkle paprika on top, then put two to three dots of Sriracha around the top of each egg and place a few chopped scallions on each.  

I made this with 5 eggs today and I just upped the yogurt, mayo, Dijon and Sriracha to a  tablespoon measurement instead of the teaspoon.  Everything else can stay the same.  If you want to make more eggs, up the ingredients slightly and judge by taste and consistency to see how much you need.  You may have extra filling left over.  Don’t overfill your egg halves.  If you have leftover, spread the filling on toast with the garnishes on top for a quick, easy breakfast or snack.  

Happy snacking Everyday Girls and Guys.  

What's for dinner?

What to make for dinner?  That’s the question I ask myself daily, usually around 4:30 pm.  I know most people already know what they are making for dinner that morning, or even a day or week ahead.  I even have a friend (you know who you are!) who plans out her meals for the month!  Not me!  While this friend is the Martha Stewart type, I am a cross between Amy Sedaris and a hobo who forages the remnants of my cupboards to find something palatable to eat.  Whether it is due to laziness, being tired, or just plain bored with drudgery, I can’t get my crap together enough to plan my meals out far in advance.  I’ve gotten pretty good at throwing things together to make a decent dinner, although sometimes it is more like the throw together meals a la Cher in Mermaids.  At the end of the day, we all get fed and no one goes to bed hungry, so I guess it’s not that bad.  

So, what did I throw together last night?  Gemelli pasta with cream sauce and asparagus.  I think it took me a 1/2 hour to make.  Mind you, this wasn’t one of those stellar throw togethers where everyone at the table is impressed.  Although, they seemed to eat it no problem and I got a compliment from the husband and the oldest - I will take what I can get.  

Let me give you an aside here:  I am a terrible recipe follower.  I eyeball amounts and make up dishes off the top of my head.  The problem is, if it came out tasting good, I have no memory to replicate it.  (note to self: write stuff down)

Here’s what I did last night in a nutshell, you can ramp the ingredients up or down accordingly.  Don’t forget to taste along the way and if something looks too thick, add more liquid to thin it out.  

3/4 Cup Mascarpone

1/2 cup half & half

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. dried cilantro

3 Tbsp. vodka (I like the graininess it gives the sauce.)

Bunch of thin asparagus, chopped into approx. 1 inch pieces

Gemelli pasta (twisted tube shapes) or any other type of pasta you want

Add mascarpone to sauce pot on medium high heat, while it is heating up, add the half&half and heavy cream.  Stir.  When small bubbles start to surface, turn down heat to medium and add the vodka.  Add the other spices and turn down to low if it is starting to bubble again.  Add more of the half and half or heavy cream if it seems too thick.  Add more salt to taste.  

On another burner, boil water for the pasta and cook until al dente as you occasionally stir the sauce.  When there are 5 minutes left for the pasta, add the asparagus to the sauce and turn up the heat so it cooks lightly.  You want bright green veggies with a crunch still left in them.  Drain the pasta when it is done and put back in the pot.  Add the sauce and toss.   I added fresh flat leaf parsley to the plates, but no biggie if you don’t have any.  Finally, serve with fresh grated Parmesan cheese.  Quick and edible when you have little time to spare.  

Also, I make no apologies for the the amount of butter, cream, full fat ingredients I use.  I have been known to “out-butter” Paula Deen and use more cream than Julia Child!

Cheers my Everyday Girls (and Guys), happy eating!

The Kids are back to school ... get me that drink!

Did you get to go all the places you thought you would over Christmas break?  
Were you able to play all the fun games and activities you promised your kids when 
they were off school?  No?  Well, join the club!  Since it's too late to do 
anything about it and they have gone back to school today, I say fix yourself a 
drink.  You will no doubt need it after you see how much homework they (you) 
will be encumbered with in the coming days.  Then there are the projects, sports, 
music lessons and the endless play rehearsals that you are probably dreading if 
you are anything like me.  So, grab those extra bubbly bottles that didn't make 
it into your glass on New Year's Eve and get concocting! 

If anyone remembers, I started my New Year's Eve off with a Pomegranate Ginger Champagne Cocktail.  It was so good and easy to make.  You can add any sweet, fruity liqueur and it would probably be great.  Plus, get creative with garnish if you don't have what's listed here.

You can use any sparkling wine or champagne.  However, unless you don't have a care about throwing money around and you want to use that bottle of Veuve or Dom or, Yikes - Cristal, you might want to use an inexpensive sparkling wine like Prosecco or Barefoot Bubbly instead.  

Grab a Champagne flute
Fill 1/4 of the glass with pomegranate liqueur
Fill the rest with champagne
Add a small squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Drop in a twist of lemon peel
Add a few tiny pieces crystallized ginger - add more if you like it gingery like 
me.  I crush a few to let the ginger infuse better. 

If you have some pomegranate arils, add 3 - 6 of them for garnish

There you have it - coping cocktail for the first week back to school or work!  Cheers!

New Year, New Blog

New Year, new undertakings.  I've decided to try my hand at blogging.  Don't 
really know where I'm going, but I've decided to take whoever wants to join me 
along for the ride.  Lots of my friends suggested a food blog.  I love to cook 
and try new things, but I don't know if I have enough in my repertoire to keep 
it interesting.  I figured, gear it towards the everyday girl, like me, just 
trying to make it through the day.  I'll throw in the occasional bit for the 
everyday guys whom I love so much, but need a little inspiration.  

Most of my close friends know I'm a touch obsessed with makeup and "products." 
You name it, I've probably tried it.  

I'm not the type to keep things to myself.  If I find something that performs 
great, I want to share it.  And it most likely won't be La Mer or some other 
ridiculously priced item.  I usually stick to middle of the road priced items 
that you can do with a bit of penny pinching in other areas.  Although, if I 
find a fab product on the cheap, I'm not scared to sing it's praises.  

Today I am sharing Clinque's Even Better Clinical Dark Spot Corrector.  I spent too 
many days baking in the sun with tanning accelerator or plain baby oil.  Now I 
am downright speckled with sun spots (read damage).  Add grown up break outs 
that couldn't be left alone and you have uneven, spotty skin.  This is probably 
why I'm so makeup obsessed, but we will save that for another day.  I was truly 
skeptical trying this product because nothing has worked before.  Finally, this 
stuff worked for me.  About a week into it, I noticed a very slight fade.  That 
was enough to keep me going.  It says you need six weeks to see the best 
results.  By the third week, I was shocked to realize my skin surface was 
smoother and more even.  Breakouts are even kept to a minimal now.  I'm six 
months into it now and I'm finding I'm wearing less makeup and coverup.  I even 
walk around with no make up at home!  Don't get me wrong, you still won't catch 
me bare faced in public, but now I feel more confident about my appearance and I 
don't worry if my spots are showing through my makeup any more.  

A one ounce bottle will set you back $49.50 and they have a new 1.7 oz bottle for $73.  Search around, sometimes you can find deals.  However, both Sephora and the Clinique website are good places to start. If you don't want to commit to the purchase just yet, head on over to Sephora and ask them to make up a deluxe sample for you.  That's what I did to start with and they gave me enough for about two weeks worth.  One pump from the bottle is enough for your entire face each time.  And once you've achieved good results, you can use it as a maintenance once a day or every other day.  

I'd welcome any feedback, comments, suggestions, since I am very new to this and probably pretty clueless to how this all works in the real world.  If you have experience with anything I am writing about, I would love to read your take on it!


Cheers my friends!
Oh and Happy New Year from one Everyday Girl to all the other Everyday Girls and Boys out there.

Clinique:

http://www.clinique.com/product/CATEGORY21368/PROD15706/Skin_Care/Uneven_Skin_Tone/index.tmpl

Sephora:

http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml;jsessionid=QBH0ESU0V3EP4CV0KSKAIGQ?id=P257535&categoryId=C7010