Monday, December 21, 2009 at 07:16 AM
If you are in need of some last minute ideas for party recipes and decorations, then today’s Blog Post is for you!
One of my favorite parties of the holiday season is the one hosted by my neighbors, CJ and Bob. It’s a wonderful opportunity for everyone on the 2 “Lanes” which make up our little ‘hood to take a few hours during the busy time of year and share a cocktail or two. And for some neighbors, it’s three or four – or five! But I digress.
CJ is one of those amazing Moms who does it all – she raises three great kids, teaches sports classes to children, volunteers, decorates beautifully, keeps fit – oh, and throws a super-fun party.
When you get to CJ & Bob’s party, the first thing they do is make you a Festive Martini.
CJ recommends using Champagne Flutes or Martini Glasses for this cocktail.
Dip the rim of the glass in Grenadine Syrup then dip it into white sugar, this gives the rim a beautiful red crystal look. Fill the glass 3/4 of the way full with a sweet Champagne. Add a 1/2 shot of Razberi (that’s how they spell Raspberry on the bottle) Stoli. Last drop a little Grenadine into the glass with a fresh or frozen raspberry for decoration! They are delicious.
Martini in hand, it’s time to chat with all the neighbors. It’s amazing how much less we see each other now that it’s cold and dark in New England.
Everyone brings one of their favorite appetizer or dessert.
I loved this vegetable platter. This was no run-of-the-mill, store-bought veggie tray.
Typically, I’m known as the Guest Most Likely to Bring A Salad (or something else that’s “Healthy”). This time, however, I opted for a true crowd-pleaser: Pepperoni Pizza Dip. This is a time-honored recipe from my friend Karen who makes it for all her friends in New Jersey. My husband (the Saint) actually made this while I was at the ballet with the kids.
1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream
1 package cream cheese
garlic powder and oregano to taste
1/2 cup pizza sauce
1/2 cup green pepper
1/2 cup onion
1/2 cup red pepper
1/2 cup chopped stick pepperoni
1/2 cup grated mozzarella
Cream together sour cream, cream cheese and spices. Spread in the bottom of a pie plate. Layer pizza sauce, green pepper, onion, red pepper and pepperoni. Sprinkle mozzarella on top. Bake for abour 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve with tortilla chips. I used Garden of Eatin’ No Salt Blue Corn Chips (NuVal score os 52) for less guilt.
This is one recipe that I need to take a bite of and then step away from the plate. Addictive! You could substitute the sour cream (NuVal score of 29) with non-fat Greek yogurt (NuVal score of 94). Substituting the cream cheese has a much less dramatic change in score. Regular Philadelphia Cream Cheese scores a 20. 1/3 less fat cream cheese scores a 22. Fat-free cream cheese (of which I’m not a fan) scores a 28.
Another favorite at this now annual cocktail party are Eileen’s Spinach Balls. They are green and Christmas-y. Just be sure to hit CJ’s powder room to check your teeth after eating one of these!
20 oz frozen spinach (boxed or bagged)– cooked according to package
1 stick butter–melted
3/4 quarters bag stuffing
1 cup parmesan cheese
5 eggs
1 medium bunch scallions chopped — use the green stems
Cook spinach. While the spinach is still warm, add melted butter and follow with the remaining ingredients. Mix well. Shape into small balls. Bake about 20 min at 350. You can freeze before baking, or underbake and bring to party and reheat. You can also spice them up with a little red pepper.
I always get some great decorating ideas from CJ’s Cocktail Party. I love what she does with cranberries!
Alas, I headed home by the time the clock struck eleven. The next day was packed with holiday activities, as always this time of year. But before I did, I was sure to check out CJ and Bob’s Christmas tree.
It looks pretty good considering it suffered a crash a la Clark Griswald only three days prior. It is now secured to the wall with fishing line! Happy Holidays!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Martini, appetizers
Tags: Cocktails, Holiday Party
Friday, December 18, 2009 at 07:32 AM
Meet Tyler, one of my talented colleagues at NuVal. Tyler, now a Business Analyst for NuVal, played rugby for Boston College. While he no longer has time for rugby, he still works out daily, before work, following the Navy Seal Cross-Fit Regimen. Tyler is a healthy, well-balanced eater, packing in lots of fruits and veggies. In fact, at NuVal, we call him the Salad Shaker. You know it’s time for lunch when you hear Tyler shaking his big salad in his oversized plastic container.
Recently, I bumped into Tyler in the NuVal kitchen, where we were both hunting for a mid-morning snack. Tyler was so excited. “Guess what, Melissa!” he said. “Check out the orange juice I bought. I read about Trop 50 on your blog and now I’m buying it all the time. It’s so awesome! I can’t believe it gets a NuVal score of 81!” He was so gleeful. And then, I burst his bubble. I do that to people. Just ask Josie over at YumYucky. You see, Tyler had made a very common mistake. He had grabbed the wrong Trop 50. Horrors! The Amazing Trop 50 of A Better Bag of Groceries Fame with a score of 81 has added Calcium and Vitamin D. The one that Tyler purchased only gets a score of 49.
That is why we need NuVal on our supermarket shelves.
Even when you are familiar with the scores. Even when you work with them every day. Even when you read about them on my blog or on TradingUpDowntown. Because most of us are in a hurry, it is so, so easy to grab the wrong juice.
So many people have written to me asking when NuVal will be in their grocery stores. We are currently in Price Chopper, Meijer and Hy-Vee grocery stores. Soon, we will be in United Texas stores. We are working hard to get more retailers to partner with us. You can help by going to the NuVal website and completing a store suggestion form.
In the meantime, if you are a Trop 50 fan, be sure to grab the one with the blue top when you are at the grocery store!
Question of the Day:
In which grocery stores would you like to see NuVal scores?
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Top Ten (Mommy), Trop 50
Tags: NuVal Staff
Thursday, December 17, 2009 at 07:25 AM
Oh, Brussels Sprouts, how I adore thee!
Sounds like the lyrics to some kind of vegetarian Christmas Carol, doesn’t it? Or some kind of Elizabethan sonnet. I really do love, love, love Brussels Sprouts, especially when they are roasted in the oven with a little olive oil & Kosher salt.
So how did we fall in love? I always had a little crush on these little round vegetables. But it was the time we spent together in London (circa 1996) that moved me from mild infatuation to deep, irresistable passion. The Brussels Sprouts that I ate in a small theater-district restaurant while on a two-week assignment for Big Consulting Company, were not the usual big, over-cooked, water-logged variety that we sometimes see stateside. They were tiny and tender and succulent. Parting from Heathrow was such sweet sorrow.
Back in the US, I soon found that I could replicate some of the ardor that I had experienced in that London eatery, right there in my own kitchen. The key was to find Brussels Sprouts on a stalk.
Aren’t they magnificent?
Check around your produce section to find this gem. They tend to show up in fall and winter. I bought this one for $3.99 at Stop & Shop. It’s a far better deal than Brussels Sprouts packaged in a cup. My husband always knows when I’ve found The Stalk because he hears me shriek in excitement from across the Produce Department.
The Fooducate Blog recently featured a post on Brussels Sprouts and gave a very good explanation of why most people don’t like them. Fooducate explains, “An overcooked Brussels sprout is mushy, bitter, and smells bad. This is because too much heat releases glucosinolate sinigrin, responsible for a stinky sulfurous odor and flavor.” Who knew?
My favorite recipe for Brussels Sprouts comes from Cooking Light.
Brussels Sprouts with Browned Garlic
6 cups trimmed Brussels sprouts, halved (about 2 pounds)
1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Cooking spray
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine the Brussels sprouts, 1 1/2 teaspoons oil, salt, and pepper. Place sprouts mixture in a 13 X 9 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
Bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes or until sprouts are crisp-tender. Keep warm.
Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Add garlic, and cook for 3 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in juice. Add to sprouts mixture; toss well.
The best part about my love affair with Brussels Sprouts is that there is no guilt: they score a 94 on the NuVal scale.
My children will not touch these suckers. More for Mommy!!! My husband is not a huge fan either, although he will munch on a few, just to see if the ecstasy is contagious.
One word of caution: Brussels Sprouts do leave a certain, traceable aroma in your kitchen after roasting. Last night, while my husband was working late, I roasted up a big batch for today’s blog post. When my husband came home, he knew. “Honey, tell the truth. Have you been cooking Brussels Sprouts again?” I was caught in the act.
Question of the Day
What fruits or vegetables are you passionate about?
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Brussels Sprouts, Incredible Vegetables
Tags: Incredible Vegetables
Wednesday, December 16, 2009 at 07:32 AM
It’s officially Crunch Time. I can tell. I took my favorite Kettle Bell class at the gym this morning. It is usually packed – at 5:45 a.m., mind you – because Gail, the instructor, is incredible. But this morning, there were less people than usual. Christmas Eve is only 1 week from tomorrow and the heat is on. That means that people are staying up late, trying to finish up the shopping and wrapping. It is so hard to get up early when you’ve been up late.
Now that my kids are getting older and more aware, I’m feeling the crunch too. It used to be that I could wrap gifts from Santa almost under their nose and they wouldn’t really notice. Now, however, we have everything very well-hidden, we have to stealthily buy different wrapping paper that is not like the paper used to wrap Grandma’s gifts, and we can’t wrap the kids’ gifts until well after bedtime. That means that bedtime needs to be early. And that means that dinner needs to be quick.
So, it’s time to bring out the Big Gun. That’s right – Pepper Steak! You can make it in 10 minutes, cook it in the Crockpot all day, and it takes just a few minutes to finish it up prior to mealtime. Pepper Steak has been in my family for years. My grandmother (a working mom) taught it to my mother (a working mom) who taught it to me (a working mom). It’s what I make when I have late meetings or if I have to travel for the day. I cook it ahead so that my husband can just put it on the slow cooker when I go out of town. It is truly a lifesaver. It is also cheap! You can use a very inexpensive steak (like London Broil), but the meat will come out so tender, almost falling apart.
Pepper Steak
1 Tbsp. canola oil
1 tsp. Gravy Master (you find it in the spice section of your supermarket and it helps to brown the meat)
1 1/2 lbs. London Broil (or Top Round) steak, sliced thin against the grain
1 envelop onion soup mix
3 cups of water
2 Peppers, red or green, or one of each to make it Christmasy, sliced into long strips
1 Tbsp. corn starch
1/2 cup water
Heat the oil and Gravy master in a large frying pan. Add beef and saute until brown.
Add water and onion soup mix. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer on low. At this point, you can transfer the mixture to a slow cooker if you are using that option. Simmer anywhere from 3 hours (in pan) to 8 hours (in slow cooker). Just before serving, add peppers and cook until they are crisp-tender.
Mix corn starch and water in a measuring cup or small bowl until corn starch is dissolved. Add the corn starch mixture to the pepper steak to thicken. Sometimes, I do this last step twice in order to achieve the desired consistency. Serve over rice.
So how does this recipe score on the NuVal scale?
The family recipe calls for “London Broil”. When I was researching beef and NuVal scores, I had to check what type of beef London Broil is because the scores vary by cut of beef. I found a helpful site, www.askthemeatman.com, which states that London Broil is technically a cooking method, not a cut of beef. Supermarkets usually sell Top Round, Bottom Round or Chuck as “London Broil.” Top Round and Bottom Round are the more nutritional choices, both coming in with NuVal scores of 34. Chuck only gets a score of 26. This time I used Top Round, and believe me, it was super-tender and falling apart. The peppers are NuVal superstars: Red Peppers, score of 96 and Green Peppers, score of 94.
Historically, this recipe was served over white rice. My grandmother (who also drank instant coffee) served it over Minute Rice (not my favorite). My husband and I own a rice cooker and for years we’ve made Jasmine Rice to accompany Pepper Steak. That is until we learned that Jasmine Rice only scores a 48 on the NuVal scale. That’s much lower than other rices:
- White Enriched Rice: 57
- White Parboiled Rice: 82
- Brown Rice: 82
When I visited Price Chopper last week with my new colleague, Tina, she suggested that I try Success Brown Rice.
It takes only 10 minutes to cook and it scores the same as regular brown rice: 82! I tried it out and there were no complaints from my Peanut Gallery.
We haven’t scored the Lipton Onion Soup Mix or the Corn Starch yet. Truth be told, I never think of Pepper Steak as a super-healthy meal. It’s comfort food to me. However, you can make it with the leaner cut of beef and the peppers are great. What makes it healthy is that it’s quick, which leads to earlier bed-time for the kids, which means that you can finish up your night-time Christmas to-do list earlier, which means that you will be able to roll out of bed early to make that 5:45 am Kettle Bell Class. That is what makes it a Healthy Dinner!
Congratulations to the Winner of yesterday’s Oatmeal GiveAway!
Commenter #11, Maria of TwoPeasandTheirPod.com. She will be getting some Oatmeal in the mail to keep her warm!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Beef, Peppers
Tags: Dinner Recipes
Tuesday, December 15, 2009 at 06:50 AM
Welcome to Trade-Up Tuesday! It’s my weekly feature where I share a Trade-Up I’ve made since learning about NuVal. I mean “share” in the literal sense, because one lucky commenter will receive a Giveaway.
The forecast here in New England is for single digit temperatures by the end of the week. That means it is officially Oatmeal Season! So, today I share with you my Oatmeal Story.
Back in the day BC (Before Children), I was an instant oatmeal girl. My mom was (and still is) a nurse. That meant that when I was growing up, she had to go to work at the crack of dawn. We went to our neighbor’s house early with our little packets of instant oatmeal in hand and our fabulous neighbor made us our breakfast and got us off to school. As an adult, when I traveled for Big Consulting company, instant oatmeal was one strategy I had for keeping on track. When you’re at a conference and you’re faced with a hotel breakfast buffet filled with ginorous bagels and danish, you can always make your oatmeal in a mug with the hot water intended for tea. Instant Oatmeal, however, while handy at times, pales in comparison nutritionally to cooked varieties. Quaker Instant Oatmeal with Maple & Brown Sugar scores a 25 and the High Fiber version only brings the score up to a 27.
Fast forward to my life as a Mom and you find me making Quaker Old Fashioned Oats. They cook in 5 minutes and I’m lucky that my schedule allows me to do this for my daughter. They score a 57 on the NuVal scale. Sometimes I make a big batch ahead and reheat during the week.
Quaker’s Steel Cut Oats score even higher. They get a 60. They do take quite a long time to cook – 30 minutes. Alas, my daughter does not like them. Not even the purple container could win her over. These oats are for Mommy only. And Daddy too.
Today’s GiveAway
Leave me a comment telling me about a Trade Up you’ve made since learning about NuVal. If you haven’t made one yet, check out the NuVal site at www.nuval.com and you will find a trade-up you’d like to make. I’ll choose one commenter at random to win 1 box of Quaker Old Fashioned Oats and 1 box of Quaker Steel Cut Oats. The contest ends at 11:59 EST tonight. Good luck!
Posted by: Melissa
Posted in: Quaker Oats, steel cut oats
Tags: Breakfast, Oatmeal
