My new challenge!

It is challenge time! I have decided it is not worth losing all the weight I have lost (currently up to 161 lbs lost) if I don't challenege myself every once in awhile. So the other day my instructor in my early morning aerobics class asked for people to join her team to raise money for the American Lung Association. I immediately started listening (which is difficult for me at 5:15am) and once she said what the event was I knew I had to do it........ and this is the challenege:

Master the Met! http://www.mrsnv.com/evt/home.jsp?id=2141

Basically it is a vertical race up 42 flights of stairs.....YEAH!! Hopefully I don't die of a heart attack half way up. I started training a few weeks ago and so far so good. It is a fund raiser so if you'd like to donate that would be great!! Just click under sponser a climber and type in my name:Nicole Salvi

If I make it I'll post pics and a description of the day. If I don't....my husband will post what funeral home to send flowers to.

Dogs and Rainbows

I've had quite a bit of time off lately, so I've had some time with the dogs and gotten to snap some cute photos of them and the wonderful rainbow we had a few weeks ago.

Vinny looking into the house:The boys playing in the backyard:

Nap time for Connor

Vinny chilling on his fave spot

And the rainbow

Christmas Dinner

So my family never has a traditional Christmas Dinner ...we always have something different. This year everyone wanted lasagna, and since I have no go to recipe I had to do some searching, and I came across this recipe on allrecipes.com.
The World's Best Lasagna
SUBMITTED BY: John Chandler
1 pound sweet Italian sausage
3/4 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon salt -i only used 1/4 of salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley -i used about 6 tablespoons
12 lasagna noodles
16 ounces ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
DIRECTIONS
In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.


Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Was very good, hubby had two helpings so it must have been decent....if he only has one serving it is not that great. It is probably one of the best lasagna recipes I've tried.

We also had a Pasta House salad which my husband loves...and I hate making because of the onion that have to be cut.
PASTA HOUSE SALAD

1 head red lettuce

1 jar pimentos

1/2 jar artichoke hearts, or more if desired

1/4 c. Parmesan cheese

However much Pasta House salad dressing you'd like (I bought the fat free Pasta House salad dressing)

Few slices red onion
Clean lettuce and tear apart as for regular salad. Drain pimentos and artichoke hearts, chop up. Add onion slices. Add dressing and cheese a small amount at a time, tossing well. Can be made ahead and chilled but tends to wilt down. This does not affect flavor though. Tastes just like the Pasta House Restaurant Salad.

Catching up

Well I haven't posted anything in awhile. Things got kind of busy around here. I started my master's program and we had some house stuff to work on. But I'm going to try to be better. I even had some really good things that I made but didn't take any pictures or take notes about changes. But I will try to be better and update more often.

Ummmm........doughnuts

I was sitting around the other day watching TV....and I flipped it over to Food Network. And there was Everyday Italian. Giada was making Italian Doughnuts! I love all things made with dough. But I am not very good or patient at baking bread, or anything else made with yeast. But when I saw her making these I smiled...because I could do these. So here you go......

Italian Doughnut
from Everyday Italian
I made a few minor changes

1 container/can rolled pizza dough crust(I used Pillsbury Pizza crust dough)
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Olive oil for frying (I used all Olive oil)
Vegetable oil for frying
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/2-inch thickness. Using a floured 2-inch cookie cutter, cut out doughnut rounds. Using a floured 1-inch cookie cutter, cut out a hole in the center of each doughnut. Gather the dough scraps and re roll. Cut out more doughnuts.
Whisk the sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl to blend. Set the cinnamon-sugar aside.
Pour equal parts of vegetable oil and olive oil into a large frying pan to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 375 degrees F. Working in batches, fry the doughnuts until they puff but are still pale, about 45 seconds per side. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the doughnuts to paper towels to drain. Cool slightly. While the doughnuts are still warm, generously coat each 2 times with the cinnamon-sugar. Serve warm.
Alternately, cool the fried doughnuts to room temperature

I also made a glaze which was just powered sugar and some milk made to the consistency you would like.
Please ignore the Santa platter the doughnuts are on.....it was all I had lying around to put them on.

A pound here, a pound there.......and poof.....

almost half of me is gone! So, two years ago I went to my gyn and she told me that she didn't want me on birth control anymore because I was morbidly obese, my blood pressure was too high, and she was worried about me stroking out on her. Well, I knew I as fat, I knew I needed to lose weight.....but I just had not previously wanted to. So driving home I really started thinking about what she said..and I realized how unhappy I was. I couldn't get the seat belt to buckle around me in my friends' cars, the last time I was on a plane I barely fit in the seat (well to be honest...I didn't fit...I was spilling over into the poor woman sitting next to me seat), and if I went up one more pant size I would not know where to shop for them (Lane Bryant doesn't make over a size 28 as far as I know). I had always been very athletic in school....but I just let myself go once I got into college. I don't really want to say that I saw the light that day driving home....I just decided I didn't want to be fat anymore. So, I changed my diet and started exercising. I waited until I lost the first 30lbs and then I joined the YMCA. I started out taking a beginner step class and wanted to DIE during that first class. But I came back the next night, and the night after that, and so forth and so on. And now two years later I have lost..............................................................


148 lbs.


My weight when I started was 334lbs. I am still losing weight, and I'd like to drop another 30 or 40lbs. I don't want to say that I love being smaller....because to me that's not what it is all about. I will say that I LOVE being active again. I take just about any class at the Y I can go to....but I love step. My beginner step instructor Beth Ann told me recently that I scared the crap out of her when I walked into class that first time. She honestly thought I was going to faint and die right there in class because I looked so bad....and was so fat.


I also love that I will try anything now....I'm not embarrassed to fall on my butt, get hurt, or humiliated. I look for new challenges every day....and I never had that drive or sense of adventure when I was bigger.


So since I figured this blog was not just about cooking, but my life and things I enjoy I knew I had to include this little fact about myself because it plays such a large role in my life now. So, I will open this little post up to any questions that anyone may have for me about my weight loss, what I have done (no I did not have surgery), or basically anything you'd like to comment on. Below you will see my husband and I at our heaviest (for his weight loss see post below).

Ding! Ding! And in this corner.........

Alright, so when my husband was volunteering as an axillary deputy at a local police department he started going to this charity event called Guns N' Hoses. It is a bunch of boxing matches that pit police officers against fire fighters. He started talking after awhile about maybe learning how to box himself. He has always wanted to try boxing, and so now after losing weight he has hit a plateau on his weight loss adventure. He has lost about 80lbs but all he does is run (usually just 2 to 3 miles a few times a week), lift weights, and the cross trainer every once in awhile. I thought he might need a different workout...but he hates going to any of the classes at the Y with me. So I spoke to my favorite aerobic instructor, Shawnta, because she had mentioned something about where she boxes at before. So we have joined The Boxing Gym. And let me tell you what......IT IS SOO MUCH FUN!!! We have been taking boxing classes with Reggie who is a former Army boxer and it is the best workout ever. I take a wide range of classes at the Y(step aerobics, kickboxing, cycling, weight classes, and some water aerobics) and this boxing really energizes me. And talk about de-stressing.....hitting that bag and then doing some combo sparing with Reggie really helps me to unwind and take out my aggression about the day. Brian LOVES IT! He will talk about it for hours after class. Although on the first day after class he couldn't lift his arms!! Will keep you updated on how things go....and who knows, maybe after enough classes we will get to spare with other people in the ring.....scares me a little.....but would be interesting!

What's This? Tomatoes? You know I hate tomatoes!

A little bit of updating:

My husband hates tomatoes. He will literally gag when I ask him to eat just a bite of one. However, I LOVE tomatoes. So I was really surprised when he loved this dish. So to make fun of my husband I have instituted a tomato gag rating for any tomato dish I make that he tries. The rating is as follows:

1=picking 2 to 4 small pieces of tomato out of the dish and pushing them aside

5=coughing/mild gagging throughout the meal, and several rude comments about the amount of tomatoes in the dish

10=flat out retching

Tomato gag rating : 1

Bruschetta Chicken Bake

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 pkg (6oz) Stove Top stuffing (I used the whole wheat kind)

1/2 c water

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 +1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces

1 tsp. dried basil leaves

1 c shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat oven to 4oo degrees F. Mix tomatoes, stuffing mix, water and garlic just until stuffing mix is moistened.

Layer chicken, basil, cheese and stuffing in 13x9 inch or 3 quart baking dish.

Bake 30 min or until chicken is cooked through.

I am so glad to be back to cooking. We have been very busy lately with work and then going out of town for the Labor Day holiday. We went to my parents house in TN for a small family reunion and had a wonderful time. We even got to spend a little time in Chattanooga and had a wonderful dinner after walking around the art district and over the bridge. We went to The Back Inn where I had a fierce Key Lime martini. Here we are posing with these cute sculptures in front of the art museum right by the river.

But now that we are back it is time to go back to cooking. Husband has been asking for cookies for awhile so I decided to give in and make some. I had been eyeing this recipe for awhile now ...so it was time to get Betty out (my Kitchen Aid mixer) and get to baking!!! I don't know if this dessert is all over, or if it is more of a regional dish in the Midwest. I had never heard of the cake until we came to St.Louis. But it is a spin off of the ever popular Gooey Butter Cake.

Gooey Butter Cookies

1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese (i used fat free)

1/2c butter, softened

1 pkg (1 layer size) yellow cake mix

1 egg

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degree F. In a large mixing bowl cream together cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add cake mix, egg, and vanilla. Stir together. Cover and chill for 20 to 30 minutes.

Roll 1 tablespoon of the dough into a ball or use a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop to portion dough. Roll balls in powered sugar to coat. Place on greased cookie sheets

Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from cookie sheet, cool on wire rack.

The dough is sticky, and a little difficult to work with, but overall VERY good. Husband's comments: "This is my new favorite cookie! It has replaced Snicker doodles"!

Why does it smell like onions in here?

Sunday is the biggest cooking day in our house. We are so busy during the week that I try to prep and cook a few meals on Sunday so that during the week I'm not spending most of my evening cooking. There was even more work going on in the kitchen because my parents were coming over for dinner and my husband's birthday is tomorrow so I needed to get his birthday meal done too. Dinner with the folks was Vidalia Onion Pie. I had made this a few weeks ago and it was a huge hit with my hubby. I had a few Vidalias left from the 2 bags I bought when they first came into season. I had also promised my folks I'd make it for them. It was a hit with them also. I knew they loved it when they polished it off, and my father went back for seconds.
Vidalia Onion Pie
this makes two pies, I only used half for one pie.
6 Vidalia onions, thinly sliced
4 eggs, beaten (I used egg beaters)
1 cup sour cream ( I used light sour cream)
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 pinch paprika
2 tablespoons hot sauce
2 (9 inch) pie shells, baked
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese for topping
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
In medium skillet, cook onion in butter for about 10 minutes, or until clear and soft; stir often. Reserve juices.
In a large bowl, mix onions with eggs and sour cream. Stir in onion juices, butter and cheese. Add salt and pepper and hot sauce to taste. Make sure all ingredients are well blended and then pour into the 2 pie shells.
Sprinkle grated cheese and paprika on top of pies. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Lower the temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for an additional 30 to 40 minutes, or until lightly browned on top. Let cool for a few minutes to settle before slicing.
And this is the result..........

Then it was on to hubby's birthday meal. He loves chicken enchiladas, so that is what he requested. Great......more onions. My eyes well up and water like the dickens whenever I have to cut onions. I have even considered buying those onion cutting goggles....but I have discovered a solution. Let the husband cut them!!! He'd already cut the onions for the pie. So he was off to grate onions for his enchiladas! I know that these will be wonderful, because they are his favorite.

Chicken Enchiladas

12 to 16 flour or corn tortillas

1 rotisserie chicken (found at any grocery store deli...mine came from Sam's), cut into small pieces

2 cans cream of chicken soup

8oz can green chilies diced

1 pint sour cream (used fat free)

2 cups Monterey Jack cheese grated

1 small onion, grated

8 green onion tops chopped

Combine soup, onion, green onion tops, sour cream, and chilies. Add most of the cheese, saving some for the top. Set aside 1 cup of the mix without the chicken. Add the cut up chicken to the remaining mix

In a 9x13 inch greased shallow baking dish, fill each tortilla with some of the chicken mix and roll up, folding ends if you desire. Pour remaining sauce over the top of the filled tortillas and sprinkle with remaining cheese

Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes

Can't wait for tomorrow night!!!

First post

So I had a break down in the kitchen tonight. I was trying a new recipe that I had read quite a bit about on some other cooking blogs. It's called Crashed Hot Potatoes. Here is the recipe:

Crashed Hot Potatoes
16 small, round potatoes
salt
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon thyme or rosemary sprigs – you can use any combo of herbs that you please

Heat oven to 230 or 250ºC/445 or 480ºF - yes, hot. Don't peel the potatoes. Just dump them into a pot of salted water, bring to the boil, and simmer for around 15 minutes until they'll take a skewer without too much resistance. They should be just about cooked, without being soft.Drain, and arrange on a lightly oiled baking tray or sheet. Use a potato masher to squash each potato flat, until it is twice its original diameter.Brush the tops with olive oil, and scatter with sea salt, pepper and thyme.Bake on the top shelf of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes until terminally crisp and golden. Serve hot.Serves 4

Looks simple right? Well, I'm sure it is if you have a potato masher. Well, I don't. So my brilliant self used the bottom of a sauce pan. Not a good idea. The first potato I attempted to mash turned out good. The rest of them went flying in all directions. The dogs did not enjoy the cooking adventure at all! Vinny got whacked in the head by the largest potato as it flew off the counter at sound barrier breaking speed. Then poor little Connor got scared off as a fairly large piece of potato whizzed past his head. I think the final straw for the dogs came when I let forth at the top of my lungs a barrage of curse words that sent them running under the desk in the hubby's office. They then glued themselves to my husband and wouldn't come near me.
The final verdict on the potatoes; not as pretty as some of the pictures I have seen, but overall great! Although they should have been a little crispier on top they were very tasty!
This is my first post, and I'm hoping to learn how to post pictures and get started in this blog thing. It will be a mix of cooking, decorating, and just my life in general. Hope you enjoy!