28 September 2008

26 September 2008

31 for 21

Get It Down; 31 for 21One of the blogs I read is written by a mother of a child with Down Syndrome (aka Trisomy 21). Since October is Down Syndrome awareness month, I am participating in a blog challenge in honor of the month - a post a day. I'm going to try to post every day for the month of October.

25 September 2008

Thursday Recipe

This is a modification on a weight watchers recipe for pizza. Being a fussy eater, I tend to play fast and loose with some of the ingredients. That's one of the things I love about weight watchers, I can plug a recipe into the recipe builder and change ingredients. The system will then recalculate the points for me. So here it is - Pizza Quattro Stagioni:

Ingredients
10 oz Boboli Thin Pizza Crust, or similar product
2 cup canned tomatoes, chopped, in juice

1 Tbsp basil, fresh, chopped, or 2 tsp dried basil

1 Tbsp parsley, flat-leaf, fresh, chopped, or 2 tsp dried parsley

1 1/2 tsp fresh oregano, chopped or 1 tsp dried oregano

1 small garlic clove(s), minced

1/8 tsp black pepper, freshly ground, or to taste

1 cup Kraft Low-Moisture, Part-Skim Shredded Mozzarella, or other brand

10 oz frozen artichokes, thawed and squeezed dry

2 oz Boar's Head Prosciutto Panino Ham, or other brand, sliced 1 sprays olive oil cooking spray


Instructions

1. Preheat the oven according to package directions for pizza crust

2. To prepare the sauce, combine the tomatoes, basil, parsley, oregano, garlic, and pepper in a large nonstick skillet
3. Cook, stirring frequently, until reduced to 1/2 cup

4. Leaving a 1 1/2-inch edge spread the tomato sauce evenly over the crust.
5. Spread the artichoke hearts, mushrooms, olives, and prosciutto evenly over the cheese and tomato sauce
6. Sprinkle with the cheese
7. Spray lightly with olive oil nonstick spray; sprinkle with another grating of the pepper
8. Bake until the crust is golden, and the cheese is bubbling, about 15 minutes

Note** I can never find frozen artichokes so I use canned. I just drain them and dry them off. It's even better if I can find canned ones that are already quartered, then I don't have to cut them up myself.

Enjoy! This is another staple recipe in my house. You get 4 servings out of this, so its another great "cook once, eat for a week" type recipe.

11 September 2008

Remembering

The morning of September 11, 2001 was gorgeous. It was sunny, warm, and not a cloud in the sky. I even remember what I was wearing - black dress pants, a red summer sweater, and black sandals. My hair was shorter then, cut chin length. I was a complex director at St. John's University in Queens, NY. I had a standing Tuesday morning meeting with my Assistant Complex Director. We were chatting and going over some things for our next building meeting when my office phone rang. It was another Assistant Director, Emily. "Nichole, turn on the Today Show, you aren't going to believe it." I remember I replied, "What, is NSYNC on or something?" Emily said, "Just turn it on." Sharlene and I hurried into my living room and I turned on the TV. The first plane had just hit the tower and smoke was billowing out of the ugly, gaping hole. We stood there speechless for a few minutes until we saw the second plane hit.

My stomach turned to ice. "We need to get to the main office. NOW," I said to Sharlene and we quickly made our way to the main housing office. By the time Sharlene and I got there, they had just broken in with news about the Pentagon. Something was horribly wrong. St. John's had a campus downtown and we were just getting word that they were evacuating. The Hall Directors and the rest of the housing staff were huddled around a little tv in the main office, staring at the images on the screen. Then the first tower crumbled. I watched as the floors slid gracefully, almost as if it were slow motion until there was nothing there but smoking debris and ash. It was only a matter of time before the second tower collapsed.

My instincts kicked in then. I had to go back to my office. They had shut down the tunnels and the subways. No one was driving anywhere. We had students making their way to campus in their pajamas an students who were in Manhattan for internships. My residents had family and friends who worked in the Towers. I needed to make sure they were all accounted for. As people were still trying to figure out what was going on I had the presence of mind to call my mom. My timing could not have been better. No less than 10 minutes after I called Mom and told her to spread the word to my family that I was okay, did the lines become jammed. Our servers were in Manhattan - we had no telecommunications, no e-mail, and the cell phone lines were down.

The rest of the day seems kind of hazy. I had tasks to do - I found all my residents, I made arrangements for some of the Manhattan residents to bunk with residents in my building, and I ran all over campus. The thought never occurred to me change into more comfortable shoes. I was just working on auto pilot. There are some images from that afternoon. I remember standing in the student lounge on the sixth floor of my building. I could look out over the bridge to Lower Manhattan. I could see the smoke rising from where the towers once stood. I remember carrying pillows and extra blankets to the gym for our commuting students who couldn't leave campus because the trains and buses weren't running. I didn't sleep that night. I stayed in my office, in my pajamas, with my office door open. I could keep an eye on my residents that way. If this was incomprehensible to me, I could only imagine what was going through the minds of the 18 and 19 year olds.

It's been seven years, but it feels like yesterday. I only stayed in New York for a few months after that. I had been in Ohio for two years and New York for three months and after 9/11, even New York seemed too far away from my family, even though they were only three hours away in Providence. Sometimes I still can't wrap my head around it - that whole day and the aftermath - but I know that I was able to provide support for my students
and I was where I needed to be that day.

Thursday Recipe

This week's recipe is one of the staples in my house - Turkey Taco Roll-Ups. They are so yummy and are better for you than Taco Bell.

Ingredients
1 pound lean ground turkey
soft tortillas - I prefer Target's whole grain tortillas, but go with what you prefer
1 packet taco seasoning - I use Old El Paso Low Sodium

Optional ingredients:
salsa, cheese, sour cream

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Brown the turkey in a skillet, once cooked through, take off of heat and add taco seasoning
3. Spray a 13x9 baking pan with cooking spray
4. Spoon some of the turkey onto tortilla and roll up, folding ends in as you go
5. Lay rolled tortillas in baking sheet and spray the tops with cooking spray
6. Cook for 15 minutes

This makes anywhere from 6-8 roll-ups depending on how much turkey you put in each tortilla. I usually get about 7. I eat them plain, but you can serve them with salsa, sour cream, or shredded cheese. I usually make corn or a salad to go with the roll-ups. They reheat really well, so if you're single like me you can get a few days worth of dinners out of this recipe.

04 September 2008

Thursday Recipe

This week's recipe is another Barefoot Contessa recipe. My mom absolutely loves these. Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars. They go great with a cold glass of milk:

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars
Copyright 2005, Ina Garten, All Rights Reserved

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups (18 ounces) creamy peanut butter (recommended: Skippy)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 cups (18 ounces) raspberry jam or other jam
2/3 cups salted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch cake pan. Line it with parchment paper, then grease and flour the pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light yellow, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter and mix until all ingredients are combined.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture. Mix just until combined.

Spread 2/3 of the dough into the prepared cake pan and spread over the bottom with a knife or offset spatula. Spread the jam evenly over the dough. Drop small globs of the remaining dough evenly over the jam. Don't worry if all the jam isn't covered; it will spread in the oven. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and cut into squares.


**Notes** Any kind of jam will do, I've done grape, strawberry, and raspberry. Raspberry is my personal favorite. Just remember to use jam and not jelly. The water content in the jelly is higher and you end up with mushy bars.
Blog design by Get Polished | Copyright 2016