Chicken Caesar Salad

Over the weekend I went to NY for my sister's Bachelorette Party.  When I arrived at my sister's in the afternoon, she had lunch all ready - and it was SO good.  I decided to make it for dinner last night - and it was a hit!  Definitely on the list of things to make again!!


So hear goes:


Chicken Caesar Salad (adapted from Cooking Light)
For the Salad
-1 2-lb whole roasted chicken, skinned (I'm using 1 lb of chicken tenders, grilled and cut up)
-11 cups torn Romaine Lettuce, about 1 1/4 lb
-1 cup red bell pepper cut into strips
-halved grape tomatoes


For the Vinaigrette
-3 Tbsp Olive Oil
-1 1/2 Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
-2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
-2 tsp Dijon Mustard (I didn't have Dijon mustard, so I used a combination of regular mustard and mayo - and it worked great)
-1/4 tsp sugar
-1/4 tsp salt
-1/4 tsp black pepper
-1 garlic clove, crushed
-1 1/2 cups Italian croutons (I'm not sure if I have any...)
-1/2 cup (2 oz) freshly grated Parmesan Cheese


The Preparation
-For the salad, combine the lettuce, pepper and tomato in a large bowl
-For the vinaigrette, combine the oil, lemon juice, worcestershire sauce, mustard, sugar, salt, pepper, garlic, and Parmesan cheese in a bowl and stir well with a whisk.
-Pour the Vinaigrette over the salad and mix well.
-Top off with the cut chicken and croutons


Serves 6:  Nutritional Information (per Cooking Light)  Cal: 306, Cal from fat: 47%, Fat: 16g, Sat Fat: 4.3g, Mono Fat: 8.2g, Poly Fat: 2.2g, Protein: 29.4g, Carbs: 10.3g, Fiber: 2.4g, Cholesterol: 78mg, Iron: 2.8mg, Sodium: 445mg, Calcium: 171mg


Enjoy!!!

Anniversary dinner and a movie

Last night, Scott and I went out to celebrate our anniversary.  It's hard to believe that two years have gone by already.  To be cliche and corny, time flies when you're having fun!


We've been wanting to go to the movies for a while, so that's what we did last night.  The Avengers came out on Friday, and we decided to see that.  We decided to go to Not Your Average Joe's beforehand.  They just put one in Seekonk (where the old Bugaboo Creek used to be) and it's right around the corner from the theater.


First off:  The bread at NYAJ's should be illegal.  It's too good for it's own good.  Really, it's the oil and cheese and seasonings that you dip it in that's really good.  Too good.  We had the calamari as an appetizer, and it was pleasantly delicious.  Nice and light and it was all sitting on top of a slice of Italian bread which was delicious as well.  For dinner, Scott got haddock and I got steak tips (I was only able to eat less than half, but have an exciting lunch for today!!).


So after dinner, we went over to the theater, and getting there 25 minutes early for the movie was definitely a good idea:  The theater ended up being almost completely full!  In any case, it was fantastic!  They did a great job with story development, left it open (but not with a major cliff hanger) for an Avengers 2, and, by far, had the best looking Hulk I've seen since Lou Ferrigno.  I read beforehand that they actually had Mark Ruffalo wear a suit and they animated the Hulk based on his movements.  They really did a fantastic job.  And by the by, Mark Ruffalo is (in my opinion), the best person to portray Bruce Banner in a LONG time.  They did a great job with the comedic timing and the one-liners (like when Captain America was doling out orders and told Hulk to pretty much smash everything in his way) were great....All around, I was not disappointed!


I may have to go again.  I recommend you see it!

For the love of baking soda

I've talked in the past of my love of baking soda.  I've used it in a couple of different applications (I was able to clean a brand new stainless pan that I decided to fry eggplant in).  In going through Pinterest (my favorite obsession), I found a another method for using baking soda - this time to clean a glass-top stove.  I have a glass top stove, and personally, I can't stand it.  Everyone raves about how easy it is to clean, blah blah blah, but I find it more annoying than anything else.  I feel like it always looks dirty and I can never seem to get it clean.

Well not any more!!!

Stuff Needed

-Big bowl full of hot soapy water

-Baking Soda

-Dish Towel

How to clean your glass-top stove with baking soda!!!

My disgustingly dirty cook top

Sprinkle baking soda liberally over the soiled cook top

I cleaned my cook top one half at a time based on the side of the dish towel

Submerge the dish towel into the hot soapy water.  Wring it out but make sure it is sufficiently soggy.  Place the wet towel over the baking soda.

 

On the first half, I wrang out too much of the water.  I ended up having to do it twice in order to get it cleaned the way I wanted.  

Set the timer!!  10-15 minutes, depending on how dirty the cook-top is!

When the timer goes off, swirl the dish towel around and make a paste out of the water and scrub scrub scrub.  Make sure you rise out the towel multiple times to wash the baking soda off the cook-top (if not, you'll have a clean but streaky glass cook-top).

And voilà!

My beautifully CLEAN cook-top!

An easy and delicious (and filling!) snack

I've recently switched over from Weight Watchers to Calorie Counting.  In essence, it's the same thing....I mean, the last version of Weight Watchers was based on calories.  I've just found myself "cheating" a lot with Weight Watchers - They make it so easy to follow, you get your daily points, and your weekly points, but I always found myself underestimating on how many points I was actually eating.  I also was always dipping into my weekly quota, and then going way over how many points I should be having in one week.


My friend Kate and I decided that we both needed a break from WW, but we needed to try something else - Kate found out about www.myfitnesspal.com, and I decided to jump on the bandwagon.  You put in your current weight, what you would like your eventual weight to be, and how much you would like to lose (realistically) per week.  It then calculates how many calories you should be eating per day.  



I've been trying to search around for low-calorie snacks that are filling.  The stores are full of 100-calorie snack packs that are not filling (although they may be delicious little knock-offs of the delicious original versions).  And honestly, if I want Chips Ahoy Cookies, I'd rather have the real thing then the "healthy version" - but one cookie is probably 100 calories.  But I digress. 


My friend at work suggested a snack that I have been eating since Saturday - and it really is great!  It's a combination of Greek yogurt, honey, and granola.


3/4 cup (6 oz) Fage 2% Plain Greek Yogurt (My friend actually said she likes the 0% better, but when I tried a few different kinds at the market to see which I liked best, they didn't have the 0% available, and I liked the 2% when I tried it, so I stuck with that)
1 1/2 teaspoons of Honey (I estimate it as 1 1/2 teaspoons - I used the small spoon that I use to scoop out the yogurt)
1/2 cup Kashi Go Lean Crunch Cereal (My friend suggested granola, but I didn't have any at home.  I supplemented with Kashi, and it's delicious!!!)


And that's it.  Mix it all together and enjoy!!!  I honestly and NOT a fan of Greek Yogurt.  It's very tart, and the kind with the fruit at the bottom has TONS of sugar.  So with this, you get to control how much sugar you put into it!  The total snack is 256 calories.  4 Chips Ahoy Cookies are 220 calories, 1 mini bag of Lays Potato Chips is 240 calories - but the yogurt snack goes MUCH further.  It's something you can have for a snack, or even lunch!  The Greek yogurt has a lot of protein in it, so it's definitely filling!!  And moderately low calorie!!

 

Enjoy!!