Wordless Wednesday: Happy Birthday to my 4 Year Old Joshua!!

Steal of the Week: Mexican Coleslaw for Meatless Monday

Labor Day weekend is coming up and you may be thinking about a side you can bring to your upcoming cookout. Try this recipe from Jillian Michaels that was made for me by a friend one of my last pot-luck parties. It is a delicious low-fat and low-calorie coleslaw that beats the old mayo version in terms of freshness and taste! I'll be making it this weekend for my church's Labor Day cook-out!

Mexican Coleslaw

Recipe by Jillian Michaels

Ingredients

• 6 cups cabbage very thinly sliced
  
• 1 1/2 cups carrots peeled and grated
  
• 1/3 cup cilantro chopped
  
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
  
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
  

Cooking Directions

1. Rinse cabbage and carrots thoroughly with cold water in colander and let drain 5 minutes (or use a salad spinner like I do!). 
2. Whisk cilantro, vinegar, oil and salt in a large bowl. 
3. Add cabbage and carrots. 
4. Toss well to coat. 
5. Once prepared, serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day. Toss again to refresh just before serving.

Happy Meatless Monday!

Hurricane...and unfortunately not the drink!

So here in Hampton Roads we have been preparing for Hurricane Irene which we are feeling the effects from now but as this blog shows, as of now we have power! But since we are riding out the storm in a hotel (our neighborhood floods and hubby has to stay in town for his job) I am not doing any cooking! What I found fun was a local blogger's recent post about Recipes for Disaster and I started thinking about what we would do should we lose power. To the hotel I brought Nutella because well, I think we always have Nutella and of course peanut butter, crackers, bread, muffins...quite the carb party up in here folks! I did also bring in single serve containers of fruit, cereal and Kashi bars as well as some yogurt for as long as we have power. I am now craving a Nutella and peanut butter English muffin! But as far as recipes, canned chicken combined with mayo packets and relish packets from the hotel kitchen make yummy chicken salad, maybe even add to it some of my son's beloved Craisins to really class it up! I am allergic to canned tuna so that's out but I love deviled ham sandwiches. I am reminded of a few Top Chef challenges in which the chefs didn't have anything but fire, or a gas camping stove or no power at all. And I suppose if you need to get rid of some shrimp and/or scallops you have in your fridge...ceviche is always a show stopper! (Can you imagine, yeah, the power went out but we had ceviche and wine and peanut butter and Nutella for dessert!) Whatever you whip up, pay close attention to food safety guidelines and don't light an outdoor grill inside your house! See you on the other side of Irene!

Quick Meal: Bacon Wrapped Filet and Balsamic Green Beans

I don't think people believe me when I say an elegant and delicious meal can take only a few minutes to prepare and just a few ingredients.

This dish was two slices of thick cut bacon, one thick cut prime filet crushed black peppercorns, salt, olive oil, fresh green beans and Balsamic vinegar. It was all cooked using one pan on my stove top....and just as delicious as it looks. 

Using a mortar and pestle I ground the pepper corns and kosher salt together and coated both sides of the meat, pressing the peppercorns in like I would for steak au poivre. The steak was then wrapped in the bacon and secured with toothpicks. I heated a small amount of olive oil in my non-stick grill pan on medium-high heat and seared the steak on both sides. Then I turned down the heat and covered the pan, and continued cooking the steak 2-3 minutes on each side (I like mine medium rare to medium). I removed steak from pan to let rest and added the green beans into the pan. I sauteed them a few minutes and then added about 2 tablespoons of the Balsamic vinegar, tossing the green beans to ensure they were coated. I cooked them another few minutes and served them along side the steak.

Served with wine and crusty bread....better than a steakhouse I say!