Happy Easter-- French Toast Casserole Recipe!

Happy Easter! This is the first time in 3 years that I've been home for the entire Easter break, and it has never felt so good to lounge in my yoga pants. The weather has been absolutely beautiful but given me a bad case of summer fever. I'm counting the days!

I enjoyed the day with my family in which we were blessed with love and grub. We usually cook a dinner feast but this year we chose to dabble in the traditional Easter brunch. Needless to say, I was game. We called up our good friend, Betty Crocker, and borrowed some of her award-winning recipes (what a lady). We tackled a french toast casserole and an garden egg bake (<-- click to check them out). The french toast was a holiday treat and the egg bake was healthy and delicious!

 French Toast Casserole

Garden Egg Bake

Though I'm 22, I am never too old for an Easter basket. Since I was little, every Easter morning my parents would hide my basket somewhere in the house: the bathtub, behind the couch and I think it was once in the oven. To keep the tradition alive, I ran around the house like a giddy child to find my surprise... I must say it took me a while to find it (touche, parents). As I've grown, the contents have changed. Chocolate bunnies have turned to Green & Black chocolate bars, malt balls to Stacy's pita chips, glittery head bands to K-cups and sticker books to a jar of pickles (yes, pickles). The Easter egg hunts are over and coloring eggs has become an activity of the past but I will always look forward to my Easter basket. I am lucky to have such wonderful parents and will pass on the same tradition until my children have children. Happy Easter everyone!

some ramble, nails & food porn

Good news! I am now the proud owner of my domain! IT'S MINE! No longer must you slave over the .blogspot when typing in the URL (I know it gives my fingers a break). I am officially eatsimplylivehealthy.com. Boom. 

More good news (what a great day)! No longer do I have to divide my time between Eat Simply. Live Healthy. and my school work! Perplexed? How come, you ask? My new graduate class focuses on social media and self-branding... aka I have to blog for homework! Shucks, this may be the best class ever. Now that I'm assigned to write, I have gotten a bad case of blogger's block. I'm at a loss at what to ramble about...

Well, I got my nails done. The color was called Go Green, but I'm pretty sure that's blue. I thought it was very Easter-ish

In other news, I had a fantastic lunch at my dining hall today! A lot of students knock the cafeteria but I kind of like it....  I also may be biased because I'm a fan of the vegetarian station. I'm aware not everyone is a lover of tofu (or toad food as my friend called it). Below is BBQ marinated tofu over rice and sprinkled with scallions. Come on people, look at that presentation!

And I made pizza for dinner. I quickly realized that my veggie cheese is not an exceptional melter, but I give it 2 thumbs up for taste. I think the spinach gives it a nice touch, dontcha think?

That's all I got, but I think I going to start dabbling in short cooking videos. Thoughts? 

New Year's Healthy Chocolate Souffles

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

After countless "I can't believe I won't leave the house until next year" or "I'm not going to eat until next year" jokes, I can't believe it's finally 2011 2012; it will probably take another year for me to correctly write the date. 2012 is the year I graduate with my bachelor's degree, a year I never thought would come for another 100 years. I'm growing up and it's hard to believe. New Years is also a time when the gym is more packed than Black Friday; though this will only go on for a week or so, it makes finding an good treadmill (good is defined by having a working television and elapsed time tracker.... my gym is flashback from the 70's) more difficult. However, it is nice to see people bettering themselves and their health.

I want to make my resolutions for the new year not resolutions but lifelong habits. I am still composing a draft in my head, but this is what I have come up with so far:

1. Eat more slowly by cutting my food up into smaller pieces (I sometimes eat like I haven't seen food in 10 years rather than 10 minutes)
2. Stay more connected to friends and family especially when I am away at school.
3. Live and let live by letting others conduct their lives (as long as they're not hurting themselves or others) without letting their actions affect mine
4. Never go to bed mad
5. Read a book a month
6. Worry less about things that are out of my control.
7. Limit myself to one soda a day (this one is tough, but I'm willing to try)
8. Listen more closely to what people are saying (I forget names within the first 5 seconds when meeting someone new)
9. Find time to go to church at least twice a month
10. Appreciating everyone and everything I love by counting my blessings

That's what I have so far and I'm excited to incorporate these into years to come!

For New Year's Eve, my boyfriend and I decided to stay this year and have a relaxing holiday at home. Christmas tuckered us out and we wanted a night to break out the champagne (great combo: champagne + cranberry juice = lovely) without the worry of driving... plus all the restaurants were booked and we wanted to cook my family dinner.

I also have been watching a lot of the show, "Chopped",  lately. It's my favorite show and I have an unhealthy obsession with The Food Network. I was watching it late last week and during an episode, if you have seen the show, the final two contestants made souffles in the final dessert round. Then it clicked. I have never had a souffle, and I was feeling French, so I decided to make chocolate souffles for New Year's Eve dinner. 

I found a great recipe on Shape Magazine's Web site, plus you can have a couple without the guilt!

        What you'll need:

1 cup        powdered sugar

1⁄2 cup      unsweetened cocoa powder

2 T           flour

1⁄2 c         2% milk (I used almond milk and they came out fine)

1⁄2 c         cold water

4              egg whites

1⁄8 t          cream of Tartar (what is this stuff anyways?)

4 t            sugar

3              egg yolks

1⁄2 t          almond extract

1              cupcake tin

Then I topped it off with cherries and whipped cream but any fruit topping would be superb. 

       What to do:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. 
2. Sift powdered sugar, cocoa, and flour into a double boiler. Add milk and water and whisk until creamy over medium heat. Continue to gently whisk mixture, without stopping, for about 8 to 10 minutes or until it begins to thicken. Remove pan from heat and set aside. In a mixer, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until peaks begin to form. Slowly add sugar and continue to beat until still peaks form. Set aside.
3. Blend egg yolks and almond extract into chocolate mixture. Fold in half the egg white mixture, then fold in the remaining half. Spoon batter into a cupcake tin that is spritzed with cooking spray, leaving a ½-inch space at the top. (You can refrigerate uncooked soufflé at this point for up to 24 hours before baking.)
4. Place cupcake tin on a baking sheet and bake for 17 minutes or until soufflés are puffy but still jiggle a little in the center. 
5. Meanwhile, make a sauce by blend cherries in a food processor. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice. Spoon sauce over each soufflé and serve warm! 

I found this recipe to be easy and the souffles came out really moist and delicious! Pictures below :)

                        

David enjoyed his! He and I also wanted to cook my mom and dad a full surf and turf dinner! Not to pat ourselves on the back, but we cooked a darn stinking, great meal. Organic grass fed steaks and lobster tails. I love animals, but I don't think I could ever be a vegetarian.

 

I got to ring in the New Year with everyone I love dearly. I am excited for the new year!

What are some of your New Year's resolutions habits?

The Great Pumpkin Gnocchi Recipe

Random Thought: 

What if ...we ate through our bellybuttons. I have been pondering this all day.

In other news, it's my parents' 24th anniversary. Yay!, I am so honored to be a a product of their love. Congrats Mom and Dad! In celebration and as a "thank-you" for life, I am making them dinner: pumpkin gnocchi. Gnocchi is a funny word, it sounds like it's spelled Y-o-n-k-y. Thank god, it was never given to me during a spelling bee.


Pumpkin is so underrated and the poor thing is only really utilized during Halloween and Thanksgiving, when in reality it's deserved year-round recognition. Team Pumpkin! It's my first-time attempting to make this veggie pasta, but the recipe looks easy enough so lets go!

What you'll need:

• 1 (15 oz.) Can Pumpkin 
• Nutmeg & All-spice (to taste)
• Cinnamon (1/2 teaspoon or to taste)
• 2 3/4 Cups All-Purpose Whole Wheat Flour
• Minced Garlic
• Salt and Pepper 
• Sauce of choice

Directions:

1.) Mix flour, canned pumpkin and seasonings together to form a pumpkin-y dough.  You may need to keep adding flour until it becomes a doughy consistency.

                                         

2.) You may need to add additional flour if the dough is sticky or falls apart; keep adding small amounts until it's no longer a sticky mess. FYI... taking pictures + rolling dough = a phone covered in flour

3.) Create a lightly floured surface, and divide dough into 6 parts. Pretend you work as an Auntie Annies' pretzel maker and roll each piece into a rope about 1 inch in diameter. This recipe made me realized that Annie would have fired me.

4.) Begin boiling a pot of water...add salt to the water, too!

5.) Take the first rope and cut into 1 inch pieces, roll each in the floured surface so it has a light, floured layer. When cutting, I found that small pieces worked best but do you. Place each rolled "gnocchi" on a floured baking sheet. 

6.) Repeat until all of the ropes have been cut and rolled into lovely gnocchi shapes.

7.) Once the water is boiled, add salt and drop in the gnocchi a handful at a time. Gnocchi are finished when they float to the top (like little buoys). Retrieve each veggie noodle with a slotted spoon as they come afloat.

8.) Gently rinse the gnocchi off with warm water, then plate and top off with hot, tomato sauce!

I was pleasantly surprised that the pumpkin gnocchi had the same consistency as regular, pasta gnocchi; so good! Another success were the green beans (above) which were mixed and marinated in pesto sauce.

 Bon Appetite! 

Menu Decoder

I love going out to eat especially somewhere new. My favorite moment is when I first get the menu; I get way too excited while the wheels in my head start turning as I contemplate my foodie attack plan. And, if the menu is online, I'll check it out the night before. Yes, I have an extreme love affair with food. Sick, isn't it?

It's hard to not pack on additional calories at any restaurant. Between pre-dinner bread (ah!, especially with the yummy dipping oils) and portion sizes, a huge amount of your daily calorie intake can be disguised as a supposedly "healthy" and innocent dish.

Well, fear not! There is a way to dismantle menu calorie bombs! I found this Menu Decoder (<---- link!), provided by Eat This Not That, that offers a ton of tips on how to select healthier options on all genres of menus. I love dessert, so this decoder helped me eat more strategically so I could have my cake and eat it, too!...and who doesn't want cake?

My motto to live by: Eat Responsibly. Save Room for Dessert.


You're welcome.