Video Review - Margarita Mix-Off

Well, I'm trying something a little different today... A video! I probably should have thought a bit about what I was going to say before recording this, but obviously I did not :)

Well, that's it! For any Margarita Mix-Off loyalists, don't take my critique too seriously :D

A Few Things that Made Me Smile this Week...

This work-week was a very slow one for me. I was pretty excited and very ready to leave work on Friday.

In the midst of all of the hustle and bustle, I found some pretty cool things this week that made me a happy gal:

1. Communities coming together

My Aunt Robin was diagnosed with Stage 4 Metastatic Melanoma, which of course is incredibly saddening, but she has been amazingly positive and optimistic even on the days when she feels completely drained and has every reason to be mad at the world.

Family and friends came together to plan a dinner & auction event, which was held last night to raise money for Aunt Robin's medical and traveling expenses. The turnout was amazing! I was very impressed by the high bids on all of the silent auction items, especially $115 for Mom's Cinnamon Rolls! Then again, they are pretty much the best baked good ever made. I know that a lot of money was raised, and it was a true testament for how much people will offer support when someone is going through a tough time.

Next weekend, there is another benefit in the area for Angie Salado who is the sister of my dear friend Andrea. Angie was diagnosed with an inoperable Brain Tumor and is also making frequent trips for treatments and check-ups. The event will be held at the Paskenta Hall (West of Corning) on Saturday May 21, and I'm sure the turnout will be just as amazing to show love and support for Angie (details for the event are listed on the picture below).

2. Tasty Food Finds!

This is one really, really good Lean Cuisine! I was surprised at how crispy the fish was even though I just cooked the dish in the microwave. I even threw some fat free sour cream and a scoop of salsa for some extra flavor and it was delish!

These little bars are great! Usually, I find that I get a little cheated on the chocolate and caramel with these types of bars, but there's actually quite a bit of caramel and dark chocolate coating. These are a great dessert for anyone with a sweet tooth at night time (me!)

I really like Chobani Greek Yogurt, and I especially like these new small containers that they came out with (intended for kids, but I am okay with that). This is a great snack because each container is 100 calories and has 8g of Protein! 

3. Great Deals!

Forever 21 Dark Skinny Jeans, $9.50! I just purchased these little beauties today, and I really liked the look & fit of them on top of the CHEAP price. 

So bananas are tasty food finds as well, but that's nothing new. Their price at .68 per POUND is so cheap. I just bought two bunches of them today and I plan on freezing whatever I haven't eaten once they are ripe to make smoothies! I bought a very cheap (and not impressive) mini blender that will never be able to blend ice, but it blends bananas just fine and produces tasty smoothies! I usually add 1/4-1/2 cup of unsweetened almond milk and either protein powder or PB2 Powder. So good.

4. Happy Hour

I re-discovered how much I love Happy Hour in the Summer-time after meeting up with a couple of dear friends this week over some cocktails. Almost every restaurant has some kind of Happy Hour. I especially like Christian Michaels and Crush's Happy Hours, but we were pretty satisfied with The Gooney Bird this Thursday. The small plate food options were especially affordable.

5. Fun Events

For a smaller town, Chico has quite a few fun events throughout the year. The Margarita Mix-Off is being held tonight from 5-10, and the tickets are $50 for unlimited beer, margaritas & food. This will be my first time attending this event, so I'll have to give a follow-up report as to whether it was worth my money. I'm excited for the prospect of the fun that could be had, so I really hope it's a great time! I can't see how an event centered around margaritas could be bad in any way.

So, those are the things that made me smile this week. Hopefully you have had plenty to smile about as well. Feel free to share if you have any fun events, deals, meals, or Happy Hour specials you would like to mention! 

Blueberry Lemonade Goodness

With how warm it has been, I've been finding that wine has been frequently sounding a bit too heavy for my preference. Don't get me wrong, I haven't stopped drinking my red wine or anything, but I have been needing something more light and refreshing to change things up.

I've been a devotee to the Blueberry Vodka/Soda Water (Blueberry Press) for quite some time, but usually only when I'm out for dinner or drinks. I have used the drink as my go-to for a long while, and I'm a little sick of it, so I wanted to make something similar but with a little twist. I decided to create the Blueberry Vodka Lemonade last weekend.

Ingredients:

4-5 Fresh Blueberries
1/2 Tablespoon Sugar Free Strawberry Preserves
1 Packet Crystal Light Lemonade
1 Shot Blueberry Vodka
8 oz. Diet Tonic Water
1 Wedge of Lemon

I first added the blueberries, strawberry preserves & packet of lemonade to my glass along with a decent splash of water. I mulled the ingredients together to form a base:

Next, I added the shot of Blueberry Vodka and filled the glass about 3/4 full with the Diet Tonic Water. Lastly, I squeezed my wedge of Lemon into the glass and added ice until full.

This was pretty tasty. Next time, I think I'll do without the Strawberry preserves, but they did add some additional flavor.

This drink had 105 Calories. If you wanted to make it a double, the drink would be 195 Calories and you could nurse it for quite a while.

During the work-week, I found myself generally wanting the same flavor minus the alcohol, so I used my newly purchased Ocean Spray Blueberry Lemonade Packets mixed with Diet Tonic Water.

I decided to add a lemon wedge again (squeezing the juice into the glass) and I came out with this beauty:

Uh, Yum. Seriously, I think this is probably my favorite drink in the world right now. 

This only has 10 Calories and is super refreshing on a hot day.

I am planning to try adding a shot of the Blueberry Vodka to this drink next. Hopefully it won't be too Blueberry-y. I'm not worried about it :) That particular cocktail would come out to an even 100 calories.

Mixing Diet Tonic Water with any Crystal Light type of packet is very delicious and tart. I like some extra fizz to my drinks, so I personally enjoy it very much!

I am also hoping to try some Crystal Light Lemonade with Lime Juice and Tequila sometime soon. I'll let you know how it goes! If you have any recipes for tasty lower-calorie cocktails, please feel free to share. I love getting tips from others.

Cheers!

The Best Salad Ever

I am proud to say I'm sharing my first original recipe! I hadn't intended to use any creative skills this weekend, but I had purchased some Quinoa and none of the recipes I found were speaking to my soul :)

I took some ideas from about 8 different recipes and added some other ingredients that I thought would be tasty to create The Quinoa & Lentil Vegetable-Loaded Tahini Garlic Dressed Extravaganza (or The Best Salad Ever).

This was my first time working with both Quinoa (Keen-Wah) and Lentils, so that was a journey in and of itself. The package of Quinoa included cooking instructions in bulk (essentially) since it was asking to cook a full cup (dry) of the stuff (would amount to 680 calories worth of Quinoa!). Whoa, whoa... I went for just 1/4 cup, which is a serving. I brought 3/4 cup of Fat Free Chicken broth to a boil and added the Quinoa (after rinsing) and cooked covered for about 10 minutes. For the Lentils, I brought a cup of water to a boil and added 1/4 cup dry, cooking covered (lid tilted) for about 20 minutes (I didn't time it honestly, so I'm not sure how long it was, but I tasted them to make sure they were at the right texture point).

While my grains/legumes were cooking, I prepared a dressing that was inspired by a recipe from The Coup Cookbook (modified greatly).

To my food-processor, I added:

2 Tablespoons Tahini
2 Cloves Garlic
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
The Juice of 1 Large Lemon
A Dash of Salt
A Dash of Pepper

I processed until all ingredients were incorporated and placed in the fridge to cool.

This dressing isn't quite as healthy as most dressings I consume/prepare because of the Tahini (which is calorically & nutritionally similar to Peanut Butter). The next time I make this, I will likely make it more of a Tahini Vinaigrette using more vinegar and less Tahini, but it was really yummy! As a side-note, you could easily replace this dressing with Trader Joe's Goddess Dressing and get the same creamy effect.

Once my dressing was ready to go, I began to chop all of my veggies. I used the following raw ingredients:

4 Cosmopolitan Lettuce Leaves

8 Grape Tomaotes

1 Large Slice Red Onion

1 Tablespoon Chopped Black Olives

2 Whole Artichoke Hearts

1 Small Bunch Cilantro

In a sauce-pan I sauteed 1/2 Cup Chopped Bell Pepper (Red, Yellow, Green) and 1/2 Cup Celery for about 5 minutes

Lastly, I added the Tahini Garlic Dressing

And mixed until the salad was evenly dressed...

Here's the finished product with the delicious Filet (thank you Boyfriend) and Artichoke dinner that I had last night!

The salad makes 4 servings. Here are the nutritional facts per serving:

Calories 164

Fat 10.98g

Sodium 66mg

Carbs 13.13g

Fiber 2.75g

Sugar 1.38g

Protein 3g

I had it again today for lunch with some Red Pepper soup and it was just as good, if not better! I will definitely be making this often with some tweaks to the dressing.