Gobble It Up: Southern-style Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake

For as long as I can remember I've had this undying need to create some sort of showstopper dessert for each holiday. There is nothing, I repeat no-thing, that gets me more fired up than seeing some ridiculous themed dessert on the cover of a magazine that requires far more skill than I actually have, and deciding that will be my holiday, baking "Everest" for the season.

Like I said, this goes back as long as I can remember, starting with the Fourth of July, triple tier, Jell-O jigglers, cake. I must've been somewhere between ten and 12 years old when I spotted this beauty on the cover of some ladies mag. I made the thing two or three times before I was finally able to get the tiers to stand majestic like our Lady of Liberty (as opposed to the previous Leaning Tower of Pisa versions) and to get the scratch made icing thick enough to keep those Jell-O stars from sliding down the sides. FYI - I just googled hard for about twenty minutes trying to an image of the cake from whatever magazine it was on and/or some replica that was close, but no dice. Don't worry, I'll keep looking.

Pork and Peanut Stir Fry Shelley-style

I don't particularly mind eating the same thing day in and day out for breakfast, or even lunch. But dinner, that's a whole other story. Maybe it's because it's the time of day I enjoy eating most, maybe it's because I consider it the food grand finale of the day, I don't know. Fact is, I am always trying to find something tasty and creative and I admit, it is often challenging.

Adding to this challenge is having a "picky eater" as your most frequent dining partner. That my friends is the situation I find myself in. Now, me... I'm what you would call an "adventurous" eater. I've been known to chase mozzarella sticks down Jeff Hill (that's in O.U. for those of you who haven't been there) brush 'em off and devour them in seconds flat and eat a hoagie off a questionable (at best) apartment floor. However, my usual dinner guest is nowhere near this comfortable with food. He's frightened of chicken, consistently questions the number of times I've washed my hands while prepping dinner, and won't touch anything that isn't cooked to a crisp. This makes my cooking life all the more challenging.

Everything but the Kitchen Sink Italian Salad

For better or worse, I am one of those people who can't bring herself to eat leftovers and never just tosses something together with what's hanging around in her fridge. If I'm going to cook it's definitely a premeditated process including a recipe and I'm focused on making something great. Not just something to get by. Today was an exception. There was some produce laying around the BF's apartment that was about to go to waste and there was chicken in my fridge that needed to get cooked or perish. That said, I broke my own rule and flew by the seat of my pants with this "everything but the kitchen sink" salad. 

Now the very spirit of this salad is counter-intuitive to giving a list of ingredients - as it was just a "use what you've got hanging around" experiment. However, it was good enough that I'll likely replicate it. So here's what I came up with: 

Eat Your Heart Out Chipotle - Mexican Salad Done Right

Up until a few months ago I had never understood what the big deal with Chipotle was. I'd tried a burrito once or twice a couple of years ago and found it gut busting - and not in my favorite "oh my lord, this is so delicious I can't stop" way, but more like "ugh... now I feel like I'm having a food baby and I'm not sure I even enjoyed the foreplay" way. I finally understood what it was all about when I ordered a steak salad. Damn. That thing didn't stand a chance. That vinaigrette dressing... the softball-sized dollop of guac... really, it was heavenly. I ate every last bite and could barely pull myself off the ledge of licking the cardboard bowl.

Then, in my fuzzy post-meal glory, I remembered all the hoopla awhile back about Chipotle posing as heath food when really, it was packed with calories. I did a little nutritional info surfing. Holy delicious guacamole... that delightful vinaigrette was 260 cals for a meager 2 oz. (?!) I love you Chipotle, but we are through. I can do better on my own. And I can prove it. Oh and did I mention, I'll look better for it?

Bitchin' Baked Apple & Cinnamon Oatmeal

By far my most favorite experiment in the kitchen thus far: baked oatmeal. Sounds unsexy, right? Oatmeal is a snooze-fest, health food that you put up with to keep your heart healthy and your waistline small, I know. Until today I was in that camp. Let's just say, I've been converted. Baked oatmeal is the new granola or if you really want to know what it tastes like, it's like apple cobbler and a gooey oatmeal cookie made love in your mouth. I can't sell it enough. Just try it, who doesn't want apple cobbler and oatmeal cookies making love in their mouth? No one I can think of.

Guilty Pleasures Made Healthy

I love junk food. I love salads that pack more calories than the daily allowance. Similarly, I love chicken tenders. There were points in my younger years (okay, it wasn't that long ago) where I ate chicken tenders every single time I dined out. I also did not find it at all trashy that Britney Spears served chicken tenders at her wedding. I get it. I'll probably do the same but I'll one up her by having a dipping sauce bar.

That said, here are my "faux" fried chicken tenders accompanied with a mock cobb salad. Oh yea, and homemade healthy ranch dressing for dipping sauce.

Cobb Salad
(adapted from "Oxygen" magazine a.k.a my bible)
Ingredients:
- 4 cups preshredded cabbage and carrot slaw
- 2 slices applewood smoked bacon (sub turkey bacon)
- 1 diced avocado
- 2/3 cup diced tomato
- 2 tbsp crumbled blue cheese
- Sliced green onion (as much as you like)
- Handful or two of roasted sunflower seeds

Asian Steak and Spinach Salad & Sweet Potato Hash

Q: If I could be one meal what would I be?
A: D'uh. Meat and potatoes.

Tonight's menu was a healthy take on my all time favorite food genre, meat & taters. This steak and spinach salad recipe I pulled from the archives and remembered why it had been a staple in my recipe arsenal awhile back. As for the sweet potato hash I was really excited to try this one out. And let me tell ya, I was not disappointed. The hash was super simple, super tasty and with a minor modification on the bacon (subbing in turkey bacon) it was a healthy and pretty (color galore!) side. So here's the scoop on the recipes, you'll see my notes on any need to know info. and/or alterations.