Food, Food, Food

46. Try 10 new interesting foods

One of the ingredients in the Roasted Garlic and Lentil Soup that I made this weekend from Candice Kumai's latest cookbook Cook Yourself Sexy, is parsnip. I had never tasted a parsnip before this recipe. I actually didn't even entirely know what a parsnip looked like... The guy at the checkout made me feel a bit better about that because he didn't know what it was either.

My parsnips and carrots cookin' up with the onions

A parsnip is just like a carrot but lighter in color. It cooks up nice and sweet just like carrots do (although they might be a bit sweeter than carrots). Now if you asked me to go pick out a parsnip at the grocery store I would know exactly what it is without looking for the label and I can tell you how it tastes.

These are parsnips!

I believe I have already promoted my chef crush Candice Kumai enough, but again I will recommend her recipes. This one was very good hot off the stove and even better as left overs.

By the way, a big heaping bowl of this soup is less than 200 calories and full of healthy, tasty, goodness.

61. Dinner date with friends once a month

We are having a Why Wait? Let's Celebrate Pull Ups House Party this weekend and C's friend and his parents aren't able to come. Its been a while since we have seen them so we invited them over for dinner and a play date on Sunday. C and B got along pretty well with minimal beating each other up and toy sharing. Plus they both slept like babies that night.

For dinner I made some homemade pizzas. I used this recipe for the thin crust pizza dough and made three varieties of pizza: Margherita, Italian Sausage and Pepperoni, and Grilled White Pizza with Mushrooms, Artichokes, and Parm. Margherita pizza is a favorite of mine and very simple and low cal, made with pizza sauce (I made mine from tomatoes and garlic), slices of fresh mozzarella, and basil. It was also a big hit with B. C tried it the first time I made it, but wasn't being especially cooperative or well behaved at dinner on Sunday so he wouldn't eat any. I picked up the Italian Sausage and Pepperoni at the little Italian shop down the street so we could have some real non-processed toppings and threw some freshly shredded mozzarella on top.

Yeah, I totally didn't think of taking a pic until after dinner... Sorry! :)

The Grilled White Pizza with Mushrooms and Artichokes is, you guessed it, from a Candice Kumai cookbook. This one is from her first book (and probably my favorite), Pretty Delicious. Since I was making the other pizzas in the oven, I actually just baked this one on a pizza stone as opposed to grilling it. It is, as almost all of her recipes are, low calorie plus it is non-processed, and absolutely delicious. This was definitely my favorite of the night. Another huge bonus: the only milk product is the Parmesan that you throw on top after it's cooked, so I can easily modify it for E to eat!

You are in luck!! The Grilled White Pizza with Mushrooms and Artichokes recipe can be found here on the Dr. Oz: Eat More, Weigh Less article. The title of the artichoke is absolutely true too. So many of her recipes are huge servings that are still super low calorie. While you are there check out Candice's Skinny Jeans Sliders with Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms. We had these for dinner for the second time in a few weeks tonight. It's an excellent way to sneak in veggies if you aren't a huge veggie fan!

I'm starting to think maybe Candice needs to pay me for promoting her recipes.... But seriously, try them. You won't regret it. :)

94. Buy flowers  once a month for the house

I believe it was less than 10 degrees outside when I picked these up. They brought some much needed color and spring time feel to my house.