The Month in Review: January 2013

Wow, it seemed to me like we were just celebrating the new year and here we are at the end of the first month already!  January is a time of realizations, I think.  All those things you put off during the holidays and said you'd get to in the new year, now have to be gotten to.  All the resolutions you made, either publicly or privately, now have to be acted on or reordered.  It's a time to realize that nothing's really changed except the last digit on the date but that it's up to you to make those changes happen.

It's probably also a time to realize you indulged in a few too many holiday treats and a little light eating is in order.  And that's exactly what we've been doing this month.  No deprivation (well, we are missing those cookies) but just good, healthy food and maybe slightly less of it.  Now we just have to keep it up the rest of the year. :)  Enjoy!

Deep Dish Cheeseburger Pie

There is something so comforting about food wrapped up in dough. Sure, we usually think of these as sweet but I love savory doughs almost as much. And even though it's a rich, buttery dough, for me it takes the place of bread and other starchy side dishes. I just serve this with a salad and/or some other veggies and it's a full meal.

Keeping My Resolutions with Lean Cuisine

As you all know, I've been trying to lose a little holiday weight gain lately. I'm not exactly sure how much I gained because I threw out that evil, lying scale! But let's just say that I'm thinking stretchy pants shouldn't feel that tight. So, we're eating lighter these days and choosing more salads and less desserts.

Crispy Curried Potatoes

Sometimes you just want potatoes! Quinoa is great. Pasta, even better. But potatoes are our first love. French fries, creamy mash, baked, roasted...we love them all. When I was growing up my mother frequently peeled those little baby new potatoes and roasted them with butter and seasoning until they were crispy and amazing. Such a treat.

Spinach Salad with Beets, Bacon, Walnuts and Goat Cheese

We're big salad eaters in our house but an ordinary plate of lettuce and tomatoes won't do.  We like our salads complex and, as Brian is fond of saying, with a lot of "stuff" in them.  To own the truth, Brian has made me a much better salad maker over the years with his insistence that salads mustn't be simple.  Many times during the first year we dated, I'd serve him a salad and he'd say it was good but wonder what else can we put in it.  And in my attempts to please him, I realized how much better salads could be.

Light Curried Chicken Salad

The other day I was picking up a few things for my mother, including a stop in her local supermarket. It was nearing lunchtime and I was suddenly struck with an overwhelming urge for chicken salad. I'm not usually felled by random cravings but, for some reason, I just had to have some chicken salad! Because Brian is not a big fan of it, I decided to just go to the deli counter and have them fix me a sandwich but, just my luck, they were out of chicken salad. Well, this craving wouldn't quit so, if I couldn't have it for lunch, I would have it for dinner!

Zesty Lemon Bundt Cake

This past autumn I became the proud owner of my very first bundt pan and began searching around for a great recipe to break it in. As it turned out, I didn't have to go much further than one of my favorite bloggers, Anuradha from Baker Street. I've long been a fan of her tasty looking baked creations and have even tried a few of the recipes. And so, I made her fabulous chocolate pumpkin bundt and it kick-started my bundt baking adventures.

Baked Cinnamon Sugar Mini Doughnuts

Sure, we're focusing on lighter, healthier eating this month but that doesn't mean there's nothing sweet. I need something sweet. No, really. Even the most delicious dinner will disappoint me if there's no dessert. Fortunately, Santa ticked a couple of items off my holiday kitchen wish list and one of them was a mini doughnut pan. Actually, I got both the regular and mini pans so there will be all kinds of doughnuts in our future.

Skinny Chocolate Loaf

Although I never turn down a box of Godiva truffles, I'm not much of a chocoholic when the weather is warm. For some reason, I lose my taste for chocolate cakes and treats when spring rolls around and, instead, I start craving lighter fruit based desserts. But somewhere around the time I'm trying to work off some holiday pounds, the chocolate monster returns. Sigh...

Baked Corn Fritters

Around here, keeping our resolutions to cut calories and eat healthier does not mean munching on celery and rice cakes. OK, I actually do like rice cakes. But the point is that it does not mean the end of delicious foods. A few tweaks here and there, some baking instead of frying and we're still eating well.

Smoked Gouda Macaroni and Cheese

I avoid making macaroni and cheese because Brian and I both really love it and we have a tendency to be a little challenged in the will-power department. That only applies to certain foods, though. We're tough as nails around, oh, say, lettuce. So what happens is that I make a baking dish full of something yummy and we tell each other that it's a treat that needs to be eaten sparingly and we'll save the rest for the next day. Please tell me if any of you have ever been successful at that particular plan because we're clearly still working out the bugs. So the result of being will-power challenged is that we tend to stay mac & cheese deprived.

Broccoli and Slaw Salad (aka Resolution Salad)

Welcome to 2013 which is going to be very good year filled with all kinds of wonderful things that you will make happen by keeping all your resolutions. What do you mean you've already broken your resolutions? I personally, give myself all of January to begin working on my resolutions so there's still plenty of time. But unless you're one of these naturally thin people who never gain any weight no matter what they eat (please go away), I'm assuming that one of your resolutions is to lose some weight...or at least lose the weight you gained over the holidays...or maybe just not gain any more weight. Whatever works for you.

Orange Cranberry Scones

Today is the first day back to "reality" after the long holiday break but it's OK (mostly) and I'm excited to get a fresh start (sort of)...  At least I can say that we relaxed and enjoyed ourselves over the break.  We had that fun Christmas weekend out at Montauk, we visited family and we ate and drank well.  Yesterday was spent vegging out in our jammies and watching movies.  We ate the leftover New Year's Eve brisket, we ate creamy potato soup, we finished off the holiday cheesecake and we ate these scones.