New Year: New ME
PIN IT!
It’s a big year for me friends, and I don’t have ANY time to feel sorry for myself or loaf around. I have places to go, people to see and big things to accomplish! Honestly, though, I always start off each year with this same level of enthusiasm, then without fail, it starts to fizzle out by around the third week of January. Come March and I’ve completely gone off track and forgotten what my resolutions were. So instead of vowing the same resolutions over and taking the same approach to a new year, I’ve decided to do something a little different. Instead of a resolution, I’m going to set up three solid goals that are realistic and attainable. This is one year I can’t afford to get lazy or apathetic!
Claire
Tags:2011, accomplish, advocacy project, goals, happiness, setting goals, specific goals
A look back…2010 was good to me!
Pop open a bottle of bubbly and bid ado to 2010! [Photo via]
First off, HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE! I had no intention of writing a ‘year in review’ post until I saw my friend Kelly’s, aka kjpugs. She wrapped up her year via photographs and funny one-liners, which to me, is how posts like these should be written and showcased! So thank you Kelly, for inspiring me to post my 2010 adventures via photos! I’ve had an amazing, exciting, emotionally trying, upsetting, hilarious, glorious and beautiful year and I know 2011 will be EVEN better. [I mean, I’m getting married and I got promoted, two awesome things right there!] Happy New Years everyone and I wish you all a healthy, happy and delicious year!
Claire
Tags:2010 in review, 2010 photos, a realistic wedding, Italy, photos, weddings
Eat Skinny Be Skinny Dinner: Stove Top Pasta
Since the last 12 days of my blog have been dedicated to dessert, I thought I’d take today’s post to focus on what comes before…DINNER! As you know, I’m all about easy, healthy and delicious. My three must haves, if you will. I just don’t have the time, patience or cooking skill to spend 5 hours in the kitchen. Something would either catch fire, a bottle of wine drunk or pizza on it’s way. Also, cooking doesn’t have to take forever. Sure, there are recipes that take 2-6 hours, but that’s not the norm. Back in the day when I was “allergic” to being domestic, I veered away from cooking on the false knowledge that it would 1. take forever, 2. be extremely expensive, 3. be difficult. None of these could be further from the truth! Cook what you like to eat, not what a recipe deems is good. If you hate a certain food, don’t make it! Stick to what you know and love, and cooking will be a breeze!
This pasta recipe is one of my new favorites. See, I’m a HUGE fan of lasagna, but it can be a pain to make and assemble. And since I work 8:30-6, I’m usually starving by the time I get home. So the last thing I want to do is wait hungrily by the oven for an hour. [Actually, let’s be real. I eat snacks and by the time it’s ready, I’m full!] So to avoid these mishaps and get a little creative in the kitchen, I took all of the standard ingredients found in lasagna and made them on a stove top instead! Easy, yummy and healthy. Plus, made great leftovers for lunch!
Stove top Sausage and Spinach Pasta
What You’ll Need:
- 8 ounces whole-wheat spaghetti noodles
- 1 pound lean Italian turkey sausage
- 4 cups sliced mushrooms
- 1 pound frozen spinach, thawed
- 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 1 cup light or fat free ricotta cheese
- 1 cup low fat, part skim mozzarella cheese
How to Make It:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and place noodles in. Cook until al-dente, or just a little hard.
- While pasta is boiling, coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat.Add garlic and onions and cook until soft.
- Add sausage. Crumble and cook until browned, about 4 minutes.
- While sausage is browning, heat up a small skillet with cooking spray. Add mushrooms. Cook until mushrooms are soft.
- Add mushrooms, tomatoes and drained spinach to the sausage mixture. Reduce heat.
- While mixture is cooking, mix ricotta cheese and mozzarella cheese into a small bowl.
- Add cheese mixture to the sausage/veggie mix. Stir well and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Pour over the noodles.
- Garnish with a tablespoon of mozzarella cheese and enjoy!
Nutritional Information per cup: 294 calories, 14 grams of fat, 26 grams of protein and 7 grams of fiber.
Claire
Tags:easy dinner, healthy dinner, pasta, ricotta cheese, sausage lasagna, sausage pasta, stove top pasta
1 Sweet for Santa: Dark Cherry Whole Wheat Bars
As I write this post, I’m eating a forkful of these amazing bars. Of all the cookies, bars, brownies and cakes I made this season, these are definitely the best. I love the flavor, the texture, the lemon zest and especially the big chunks of dark cherries. These bars are absolutely to die for and can be enjoyed anytime of the day. I brought them with me to Ohio for Christmas and since there are barely any left for me to devour, that shows me they were a big hit with my family too! If you’re not a cherry person, you can add blueberries, raspberries or even lemon! Original recipe from Eating Well.
Dark Cherry Whole Wheat Bars
What You’ll Need:
Crust
- 1 1/3 cups plus about 3 tablespoons whole-wheat flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cherry Filling
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
- 2 cups frozen cherries
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
How To Make Them:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a baking dish with cooking spray.
- Whisk together 1 1/3 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
- Mix butter, egg, vanilla, oil and brown sugar in another bowl and stir until creamy. Add flour mixture and stir until well mixed.
- Transfer two-thirds of the dough to the prepared baking dish and use it to press the dough into the bottom of the dish in an even layer. Bake for about 15 minutes.
- While the crust is baking, prepare the filling. Stir sugar, remaining flour and lemon zest into a small bowl.
- Combine the cherries and lemon juice in a medium sauce pan and cook until berries are soft and juicy. Add sugar mixture and stir until thick.
- While filling is thickening, prepare the topping. Work remaining 3 tablespoons of whole wheat flour into the remaining mixed dough mixture.
- Once filling is done, pour into the crust. Top with remaining dough and bake for 15-18 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar once finished.
Nutritional information per bar: 170 calories, 5 grams of fat, 3 grams of protein and 2 grams of fiber.
Big Changes for 2011…
I’ll be ringing in the new year with a whole new site! [Photo via]
It’s almost the New Year and boy am I ready!! 2011 is going to bring amazing things for me regarding my personal and professional life. A new position at work, my wedding & honeymoon, starting to take prerequisite classes for my graduate program. It’s going to be one fabulously big year! 2011 is not only going to be big for me, but big for this website too! I started this site as a blog over a year ago and it’s transformed into the fully functioning website it is today! I’m so grateful for all of my readers and followers, the comments and kind words are what keep me going! So what are the big changes you can expect to see here at The Realistic Nutritionist?
- A new name & content! As you know, I have a wedding website where I chronicle all of my inspiration and wedding ideas. Well, I’m going to merge that blog into this website and transform it into a fully functioning lifestyle website. Don’t worry, you’ll still see the Eat Skinny Be Skinny recipes and Focus, Fix and Flaunt exercises, plus tons of wedding updates, fashion advice, exciting exercise tips, nutrition advice, photography, nutrition in the news, giveaways and my daily musings.
- New features! I’m implementing restaurant and food product reviews, exercise gear and shoe reviews, new recipes and more contests, giveaways and guest posts!
- New travel features and photography! We are finally getting a fancy DSLR so you can expect to see tons of new photos, both good and bad, as we start chronicling our new life through photography! We are also going to be traveling a lot so expect to see our experiences in new cultures.
- More in depth and “real” posts. I’m going to start posting about what happens in my life. I believe a blog should reflect who you are, and no ones life is always perfect. So along with my daily features, I’ll be posting the good, bad and the ugly experiences I go through as a newlywed.
- A brand new look! I’m currently talking to a few web developers who are going to work with me to develop a brand new look and feel for this new site!
I’m so excited for all of these changes and I know you will all LOVE the end result. So happy new year everyone, let’s make 2011 the best yet!
Claire
Tags:2011, a brand new site, a realistic wedding, new website, website upgrade
