Sunday, February 21, 2010

Please enjoy the ride

Hello my lovelies. This is you blogger speaking. Please buckle up and get ready for a food filled ride through Babushka Land. We'll be cruising at the sweet speed of a slow simmer while we marinate over decadent recipes and scrumptious eats. I thank you for reading my blog today. Please enjoy the ride.

I woke up at 7:00 sharp and stumbled downstairs to warm up with a nice espresso. The house was frigid! The heat doesn't turn on until 8:00 on weekends because we're usually in bed until about 8:30-9:00. I need to reset the thermostat STAT! My body just doesn't seem to want to sleep past 8 anymore.

Mocha Java flavored espresso with fat free whip, sugar free cream and cinnamon. Mmmm!


I tossed in a load of laundry and spent the next solid hour reading blogs. I was in visual food porn heaven. You guys make everything look SO GOOD! It made me hungry. Oatmeal time!

BREAKFAST (meal #1) at 8:30am.
  • 1/2 cup oats
  • 1/4 wheat bran
  • 1 cup unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 3/4 banana, sliced
  • tons of cinnamon
  • dash pumpkin pie spice
I simmered the above on low heat for maybe 10 minutes and topped it with the rest of the banana, 1 tbs flax, 1 tbs sugar free apricot preserves and a sprinkle of cinnamon and coconut flakes. I enjoyed it while wrapped in my furry brown blanket with a whore of a cat smothering me and magazines courtesy of Ann (the magazine addict). I love mornings like this.


It's my Papa's Birthday today and I was due at their house to celebrate by 2:00. I decided to make some good old fashioned Hungarian comfort food to take with me for lunch today. The healthy Babushkafied version of course! It's called Lecso. The original version calls for sauteing mild yellow peppers, onions, tomatoes and spicy Hungarian smoked sausage in oil until tender. Then you stir in beaten eggs on low heat until the eggs are cooked through. Basically it's like a glorified egg scramble. The recipe for my healthier version is below.
  • 1/2 green bell pepper, sliced thin
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, sliced thin
  • 1/2 orange bell pepper, sliced thin
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
  • 2 small white onnios, cut into thin rings
  • 1 1/2 cups white mushrooms, cut into thin slices
  • S+P to taste
  • dash cayenne
  • Spray Butter (instead of oil) drizzled on


I covered and cooked this on low heat for maybe 15-20 minutes. Just long enough for the peppers to get tender.

I added 5 egg whites and 1 whole egg. (beaten first and seasoned with S+P)


Roughly 5 minutes later the eggs were cooked through and lunch was done. SO EASY!


I also decided to prep an easy dessert for the Babushka Ladies to enjoy later. Ann was baking Papa a pile of decadent birthday brownies so he was covered. To resist chocolaty temptation I decided to make something for the girls. I cooked up a batch of vanilla pudding with a packet of sugar free, cook & serve Jell-O pudding mix, 2 cups vanilla Almond breeze and cinnamon. The plan was to make little bowls of heaven with lady fingers, pudding and fat free coolwhip. Nice and simple.


I arrived at the Birthday boys house right on time. The man LOVES opening presents. He was all wild eyed with anticipation. We made him wait though. Everyone was hungry so we decided to eat first.

LUNCH (meal #2) at 2:15pm.

Healthified Lecso with a toasted English muffin. I'll be making this again, and again, and again. It brought back so many memories. I've always loved this dish. Of course it didn't taste like Mama's original version but I thought it turned out damn good.


After lunch we let Papa open his goodies. We found him the most brilliant card this year. I loved it!


He seemed to like all of his goodies. Especially the treats. (meaning chocolates and rum) ;)


He couldn't even stop eating his brownie long enough to pose with me. HA!


SNACK (meal #3) at 3:30pm.

Papa's ridiculous brownies look SO FREAKIN GOOD! Nice job Ann!


All the ladies mastered resistance though. I think the pretty little bowls I made helped distract us from a fudgy chocolate attack!


After our snack session, we played a new to us board game. Parcheesi. Somehow we always end up playing games that are meant for ages 6+. I find this to be highly amusing.


We battled for a few hours and then I made my way home. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGAIN PAPA! ;)

When I got home Nick was changing his oil and was having a hard time with the removal of his oil filter. Several fun trips to AutoZone and numerous bitch sessions later, it was finally done. YAY! Time to eat!

DINNER (meal #4) at 8:30pm.

The parsnip fries were SO good last night that I decided to experiment again. If parsnips work, why wouldn't carrots. I seasoned them the same way with spray butter, salt and pepper and also added a dash of cinnamon. I baked them for 40 minutes on 400 and only had to flip them once. They didn't get crunchy but they were SUPER delish. I guess we can call these carrot fries? I enjoyed them with a mix of ketchup and Sriracha. It added a nice spicy kick.


Since it was NO starchy carbs allowed night, instead of a burger I had a small side salad with sweet butter lettuce, cherry tomatoes and an Asian Morning Star Burger. So basically I had a burger without a bun.


Dinner was freakin fantastic! I love these mock fries I've been making lately. I'm sure you'll be seeing them on the blog ALL the time from this point on.

SNACK (meal #5 at 10:00pm.

I was craving a pear like crazy. I ate it so fast that I forgot to snap a picture. :-O

Time to go cuddle with the Mr. and the remote now. It's back to reality tomorrow and I want to enjoy as much of my evening as possible before calling it a night. It's been such a great weekend. I DON'T WANT THE RIDE TO END!

HUGS!!!
Ildie

4 comments:

Janetha @ meals + moves said...

aweee happy bday to your pops! you guys are so cute! nice job resisting those chocolatey treats ;)

Karin said...

Ugh, I'm so mega behind with your amazing posts!!
Happy belated birthday to your dad ;).
Your meals look so good (as usual ;)) and kuddos to your great willpower - I couldn't have resisted those brownies! ;)

Anonymous said...

Fun ride! :) What a fun day you had. Times spent with the family are always my favorite! I'm not so sure I would have been so good, to pass up those brownies though..good job! Carrot fies are tasy for sure!

bonnie said...

What a great day- Happy Bday to your dad!! No willpower here I would eaten all those brownies!!

sweetlife

 

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