Tag Archives: recipes

Beautiful Blogger Award

Woo hoo! I loved reading your comments on yesterday’s flashback WIAW about your childhood eating habits and hope to reply to them all today. A couple of you mentioned doing your own posts about that topic – PLEASE DO! I’d LOVE to see what you munched on as a munchkin 😉

My HLS roomie Alex of Wholesome Living nominated me for the Beautiful Blogger Award! I really enjoy filling out these little surveys especially because lately I’ve just been enjoying writing more about moi and my musings, thoughts, what have you. In fact I’m going to cheat a bit and use this survey to share some more current words running through my mind, not just general “about me” stuff.

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WIAW: Sensational Salads Tutorial

Just wanted to throw out a quick reminder to you guys that discount codes for both Sprigs products I’ve reviewed, Earbags and Banjees, are still valid! Check out my reviews if you’re still on the fence – these would make great holiday gifts for a fit friend/family member OR you 😉

Thanks for your fabulous feedback on my wonderful weekend (I don’t think it’s possible to OD on alliteration right?). I did experience some challenges in relation to these good times – a lot of anxiety and guilt over dining out several days in a row. But blogging my experiences focuses my attention on the reasons I’m too blessed to be stressed, and your comments only add to my ability to focus on the passion and peace I feel when I am enjoying myself with my friends.

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WIAW: Thanksgiving!

Remember to enter my giveaway for a Sprigs Banjees AKA a running wallet! Entries close tomorrow night!

I have never partaken in a traditional What-I-Ate-In-A-Day WIAW. The only ones I’ve done are wordless and/or photo-dumps. Lazy Susan up in here. Well, no longer! I still need to recap Thanksgiving and Jenn made the nifty graphic below that fits my needs perfectly. How can I not partake in this week’s What I Ate on Thanksgiving Wednesday?!

For those who have struggled/are struggling with disordered eating, Thanksgiving can be a nightmare. And last year, while I had fun at the beginning of the day, it did not end too well and I spent the following days hating on and being really mean to myself. But I know with 100% certainty that I am in a better place this year, and so I went into Thanksgiving 2012 with a positive attitude. I completed part of a spin class and some strength training when I woke up, then proceeded to spend the morning doing what I traditionally do on Turkey Day – sitting on my butt, drinking coffee, watching the parade, and scouting out Black Friday deals.

Circulars and plain Chobani with strawberries…sunshine streamin’ in!

So G coffee in a snowman mug!

My delightfully lazy morning flew by and before I knew it, it was time to get ready and head over to the home of our family friends the Gerbers; that’s where we spent the holiday last year too!

My sister did my hair!

In exchange, I let her borrow one of my ideeli tops 😉

Parents and I before we left – you may recognize the dress from Fashion Friday!

I was totally ready to chow down when we arrived! And there were SO many different wines. I definitely switched it up throughout the afternoon/evening. I started with a Chilean Cabernet. Later, Chianti and Chardonnay were consumed (not together…)

Before and after dinner, I also sipped on some Disaronno, a new-to-me Italian liqueur  It’s flavored with herbs and fruits, and soaked in apricot kernel oil. SO FREAKING GOOD. I give props to my ex, Joe, for contributing this stuff to the meal.

Proud new fan.

Yes, I invited my ex-boyfriend to Thanksgiving. Again. He typically pops up at these family gatherings (and hence on the blog). I’m gonna ask you not to ask. At least we’re friends!

Where were we? Oh yeah. Libations!

Someone take the Disaronno away from this girl!

Playing around with my friend’s hipster glasses! I like them actually…

And I DID mention apps, right?

Holy incredible! My dietitian-to-be friend Meg made this spinach & artichoke heaven.

CHEESE. And veggies of course! But I was more interested in mixing the cheese with those nuts.

We “kids” did the chatting while the parents did the work. I never really cook at all so what will happen on the day I have to do my entire Thanksgiving dinner?! I know what will happen, no one will show up.

Mom and Mrs. Gerber in the kitchen!

Mr. Gerber AKA Uncle Steve carving that bird!

Do not ask me how we cooked our turkey, because I have no clue! Last year we had one from the oven and one deep-fried, but this year it was just in the oven. That is all I know.

I did both white and dark meat – you know me, always variety!

Turkey is good and all but on Thanksgiving, I prefer sides. I know many of you are on the same team as me.

Meg prepared this INCREDIBLE kale salad with walnuts and Bosc pears. Trust the RD-to-be to get the kale in!

Salad after being dressed with maple vinaigrette, along with my mom’s amazing cranberry orange relish.

Mrs. Gerber’s legendary/epic/famous/etc sausage stuffing. It’s so good.

Store-bought rolls. Meh, I skipped ’em.

Meg’s cousin (also named Meg) was joining us from NYC since her family lives all the way in Michigan. She is vegan so we had an arrangement of butter-free sides for her. I enjoyed them too!

Butternut squash – that’s it! No butter, no nothin’, and I didn’t even want mashed potatoes after having this!

Butter-free green beans!

Butter-free mashed taters were also available, but we all know what those look like and I didn’t want any, so not photo.

You can’t even see them here…they’re covered by a green oven mitt!

My (first) plate!

We went around the table and said what we were thankful for, and this is the first year I can remember being actually moved by that “routine” and putting real thought into it when it was my turn. I blame Heather for turning me into a sap.

Oh, thanks Joe.

I chose to share that I am thankful to have parents and siblings I can truly call my best friends, and I am thankful to have the opportunity to live out my passions every day. Ain’t it the truth! Dinner was relaxing and everyone went back for seconds. I was quite full upon finishing my meal and wasn’t alone, so some of us settled in to watch “Magic Mike” (or half-watch, I was already getting exhausted and it was 6PM) while our stomachs made room for dessert (and Disaronno).

DESSERT.

Yup, fantastic dessert spread. My tooth leans more toward savory than sweet but I had seconds of dessert. Total food baby afterward but I was not having too hard of a time focusing on the family and friends surrounding me, the memories we were making with each passing second, and the growth and strength I was exhibiting by not being TOO food-focused on Thanksgiving. Yes I thought a lot about how much I ate and how full I felt, but I also was able to effectively talk back to myself and try to respond to each negative thought with a kind one.

Jessica‘s pumpkin chocolate chip cookies made an appearance as they did last year. so did some pumpkin dark chocolate chip oat cranberry cookies (mouthful of words and delicousness).

The cake/pie/piece of delight on the left was brought by cousin Meg from NYC, from a famous bakery that I unfortunately cannot recall the name of. My mom made the pumpkin muffins on the right, with cinnamon icing.

What’s Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie (right) and how about throwing in PB chocolate pie for good measure (left)?

I had at least one taste of each dessert! And have been enjoying the leftovers of both sweet and savory Thanksgiving food ever since. It makes the holiday feel like it isn’t going to end!

Zesty Carrots

I saved my favorite veggie side for last…my mom’s Zesty Carrots! I wanted to end this post with the recipe because this is such a unique, not necessarily Thanksgiving-like side that can be made any time of year!

Zesty Carrots!

Ingredients:

  • If using baby carrots (as my mom did above): 1.5 lbs (about 1.5 bags) chopped baby carrots
  • If using regular carrots: 7 medium-sized carrots scraped and cut into strips, approx 2.5 x .25 inches
  • 1/2 cup of light mayo
  • 2 heaping tablespoons of horseradish sauce
  • 2 heaping tablespoons of grated or finely chopped onion
  • Salt and pepper to taste (recommended about 1/4 teaspoon each)
  • 1/4 cup of very fine breadcrumbs (optional if you want a topping)
  • 1 tablespoon of light butter (optional if you want a topping)
  • Paprika to taste

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F)
  2. Cook carrots in boiling water about 5 minutes, or until tender. Drain and place in large bowl.
  3. Combine mayo, horseradish sauce, onion, salt, and pepper in bowl with carrots. Mix until well-coated.
  4. Arrange coated carrots in casserole dish.
  5. If using breadcrumb/butter topping, melt butter and stir in bread crumbs. Spread mixture over top of casserole and sprinkle with some paprika.
  6. Bake in 375 degree oven for 15 minutes…and enjoy! (Can be served cold or hot)

Which part of my Thanksgiving would you have picked first for your plate?

Did you try any non-traditional Thanksgiving food this year?

What’d you do on Thursday, 11/22/12 if you do not celebrate Turkey Day?

Devours by Devan Victoria – Recipe Guest Post!

One of my friends from college, Devan, is a fellow foodie with a flair for cooking. She is an incredible chef and recipe creator. I am so excited to have this fabulous girl guest blogging for me today! Without further ado, I’d like to introduce you to Diva Dev and her wonderful eats.

Me with bunny ears and Devan hanging out at the bar during college – my state here is questionable.

I have a confession, I’m obsessed with food: knee deep, head over heels, so very in love with the smell, taste, texture and “mmm” sensations of the countless meals placed on plates before me. But I’m not obsessed with just any food. Yes, lover of all things chocolate, cheese and a tapas fiend  nonetheless, I am excited about the food I create. My creative juices go crazy in the kitchen. Kitchen wiz kid on an appetite high. Unleash my brain overloaded with ideas and eager hands in a stocked kitchen with a full fridge, plentiful pantry and succulent spices galore and watch out for magic. Today, on a sunny lazy Sunday, the magic came out to play.

I DARE YOU TO MAKE THIS, but only if you aren’t embarrassed to experience a food-gasm. A food-gasm is a great thing, but I’m sure you knew that. I bet you’ve experienced a lot of them. Who isn’t ashamed of bulging eyes and the OHMYGODDD that tries to escape your mouth full of the food that just consumed every feeling in your body? It’s a magical thing that comes from magical food and magical tastes. This dish is vibrant, a full on dining experience and an original recipe I want to share with you.

With fall in full swing, farmers markets exploding with fresh produce and seasonal flavors taking over menus, I got inspired. Seasonal ingredientsare the best ingredients to get. Not only are they in season, but they’re DELICIOUS! FRESH! IN SEASON! USE THEM! Cabbage, root vegetables, cranberries, kiwi, pears, broccoli! Fall fruits and vegetables are just waiting at the grocery stores and farmers markets for you to snatch them up and make something sexy with them ;).

Cranberry Gremolata Pork Chops

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup fresh cranberries, finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely diced
  • 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
  • 2 tablespoons fresh orange zest
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 pound boneless pork chops
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon butter + 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

  1. Combine fresh cranberries, rosemary, orange juice/zest, and honey in a small mixing bowl and stir to make the Gremolata. Set aside.
  2. Season both sides of pork chops with salt and pepper.
  3. Heat a skillet with butter and olive oil on medium heat. Add pork chops.
  4. Cook pork chops 4 minutes each side or until cooked through (note: a little pink is safe for pork!).
  5. Remove from heat. Top pork chops with heaping spoonful of Gremolata and serve!

Dressed-Up Cabbage Slaw

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound of bacon ( maple or smoked)
  • 1 tablespoon butter + 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 4 cloves fresh garlic, diced
  • 1 ½ teaspoons ground sage
  • 1 small yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 small head purple cabbage, shredded
  • 2 cups Brussels sprouts, sliced/shredded
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Cook bacon in a skillet. Drain and let cool before crumbling.
  2. In a medium skillet over medium heat, add butter, olive oil, garlic, sage and onions. Stir and cook 3 minutes.
  3. Add cabbage and Brussels sprouts to pan. Stir together and let wilt 5 minutes.
  4. Add butter and mix in 1 minute.
  5. Add balsamic, red wine vinegar, and dash of salt and pepper. Mix. Continue cooking 2 minutes.
  6. Season to taste, remove from heat and serve with crumbled bacon on top.

Thank you so much to the talented Devan for dreaming up these inspired fall dishes! I know some of you (myself included) have snow outside your window right now, but winter is not yet here and fall dishes must be taken advantage of and enjoyed for as long as possible! If you make either/both of Devan’s recipes, be sure to share them with me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or in an email!

Which of the two recipes do you think you’d enjoy most?

What’s your favorite fall meal?

What else do you think the cranberry Gremolata would be good on?

Country Crock Broccoli Casserole and Giveaway!

Thank you to Country Crock for sponsoring this post. Visit and tell us your favorite Thanksgiving veggie for extra entries into this giveaway. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective.


My grandma sent my mom a recipe for a broccoli cheddar casserole side almost ten years ago, and as soon as fall hits, this warm, comforting dish starts appearing in our kitchen. It’s even man-approved – my dad LOVES it and usually requests that it make an appearance on Thanksgiving. The perfect delicious, healthy side dish!

I was invited, as a member of the Clever Girls Collective, to make a healthy Thanksgiving side dish using Country Crock as a substitute for butter. I’m already a big fan of their products, so the answer was a resounding, “YES!” Especially since it meant getting to eat this cheesy broccoli goodness several nights in a row (it makes great leftovers, as you can probably imagine). Country Crock has NO harmful trans fats (other types of fats are good for you in moderation, but let’s face it, trans fats are just a no-no!) and even this raw veggie lover can’t lie…veggies taste darn good with Country Crock added in!

I selected my classic favorite – Original – but they even have a Pumpkin flavor!

Cheesy Broccoli Goodness Casserole 

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 to 1/3 cup of Country Crock Original
  • 2 packages of frozen chopped broccoli
  • 1 medium chopped onion
  • 1 cup of cooked brown rice
  • 1 can of cream of mushroom soup
  • 1/2 a soup can of skim milk
  • 1 cup of reduced fat cheddar cheese
  • 1 cup of chopped mushrooms

Directions:

  1. Cook broccoli and drain.
  2. Cook brown rice (I used a boxed minute-cook version).
  3. Saute chopped onion and mushrooms in Country Crock on stovetop.
  4. Combine broccoli, onion, mushrooms, rice, coup, and milk with salt/pepper to taste.
  5. Pour into a casserole dish and top with cheese.
  6. Bake at 350 degrees (F) for approximately 20-25 minutes.

Could that be any easier? That’s why casseroles make excellent side dishes. You could even make this a meal by adding a protein like grilled chicken!

Sauteed mushrooms…they weren’t in my grandma’s original recipe but made an EXCELLENT addition and added that #plantPOWER!

For more ideas for healthy Thanksgiving side dishes that can be made with Country Crock, check out their Chronicle in the Kitchen!

The crispy cheesy top is the BEST part.

Country Crock Thanksgiving Kit Giveaway

One lucky Cait Plus Ate reader (continental US only, sorry!) will win a Country Crock Thanksgiving Kit with the following:

The giveaway will run until this Friday (11/9) at 11:59PM EST and the winner will be announced early next week. To enter, you can do the following (and leave a comment for each or additional entries don’t count):

  1. Comment here and tell me your favorite food to eat on Thanksgiving. (mandatory)
  2. Visit the Crock Country Chronicle and comment on an article. Comment with the link to the article.
  3. Follow @CountryCrock on Twitter and comment here saying you did.
  4. Follow @CaitPlusAte on Twitter and comment here saying you did.
  5. Tweet “I entered to win a @CountryCrock Thanksgiving kit from @CaitPlusAte! #HolidayVeggies http://wp.me/p1SfTW-1DP” and comment here with the link to the tweet.

General Giveaway Rules: No Purchase Necessary. This giveaway is only open to residents of the continental United States. The email addresses that are collected for this giveaway will only be used for the purpose of contacting the winner and will never be given out to anyone nor sold. The winner will be randomly chosen and contacted via email. The winner will have 72 hours to respond. Please make sure you check your junk mail folder. Good luck to all who enter!

Thank you to Country Crock for being a sponsor. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Whole Foods 1-Day Shrimp Sale Means…Recipe!

I’m glad you guys enjoyed my posts from earlier this week on Manchester’s Market Grille and my town’s Apple Fest. I also can’t thank you enough for your support and feedback as I update you all on my stomach stuff. Latest news – I went yesterday for blood tests for parasites, bacterial intestinal infections, and a whole slew of other stuff. I’m currently awaiting the results. And if the results are “nothing is wrong”, I’ll be pretty upset. But I’m trying not to think that way because stress only exacerbates the discomfort. I WILL find an answer!

Now, let’s get to the meat of today’s post. Or shall I say the seafood, if we are bring protein-type-specific.

I love me some Whole Foods – I have loved these grocery stores even before they put me in their North Atlantic region’s holiday magazine 😉 #brag #sorrynotsorry And my local Whole Foods are especially kind to me. Case in point: Whole Foods West Hartford (in Blueback Square) gave me the gift of four pounds of shrimp to sample in a dinner recipe in honor of tomorrow’s one-day sale!

Guess what’s inside?!

The above bag contained four pounds of farm-cooked white shrimp, raised in Thailand under responsible farming techniques and strict environmental condition standards. They contained no preservatives and were noticeably fresh. And they came already peeled and de-veined, so the only prep needed was to de-tail.

An inside-bag view.

Usually these little guys are $14.99/pound, but for tomorrow’s one-day sale (Friday 10/19 only!) you can get them for $6.99/pound! If I were you I’d make it a point to get over to Whole Foods West Hartford (Blueback or Bishop’s Corner) or Glastonbury tomorrow so you can start your weekend on a seafood frenzy.

Probably what Meg‘s fridge looks like.

My mom and I decided to use the shrimp in a Shrimp Creole recipe my mom got from one of her oldest friends. It was even written on a slip of paper from a Palm City Elementary notepad. As in, my elementary school. Holy 12-year-old notepad!

This recipe is satisfying, healthy, and packs quite the protein-punch!

Shrimp Creole

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of turkey bacon (chopped)
  • 1 cup of celery (chopped)
  • 1 cup of onion (chopped)
  • 1 cup of garlic (I used a jar of minced garlic)
  • 1 cup of bell pepper (chopped)
  • 1 can of tomato paste
  • 1 jar of tomatoes
  • 1 can of mushroom soup
  • 2 tablespoons of chili powder
  • 4 pounds of shrimp

Directions:

  1. Saute bacon, celery, onion, and bell pepper until tender.
  2. Add tomato paste and tomatoes. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
  3. Add chili powder and garlic.
  4. Add shrimp and cream of mushroom soup. Simmer for 20 minutes.
  5. Serve alone or over rice!

Before addition of shrimp and mushroom soup.

Beautiful shrimpies ready to go.

Final combo simmering away.

Ridiculously easy, right? Just get past that that ingredient prep (chopping) and it’s a matter of mixing ingredients together and hands-free simmering. Something that did require work, however, was our choice of side. My mom attempted to fix us some spaghetti squash. The problem is, she did so while drinking wine. When you mix this with cooking…

Waltzing with wine.

…sometimes you get burnt spaghetti squash.

Uhhh…

Hey, you guys know I love carcinogen-filled food. It tasted pretty good…well, what was salvageable (aka the bowl above).

Wasting time showering between workouts and meals? Child’s play.

I can’t lie, my mom did most of the cooking. But I stirred! And I provided the wine. I got it from the Trader Joe’s at Patriot Place in Foxboro, MA when I went to visit Heather this past weekend. This Cabernet Sauvignon was $2.99. And you know what? It was quite good!

This does NOT taste like it cost $2.99!

My mom totally agreed. I was thankful to be having a good stomach day and enjoyed my wine, Shrimp Creole, and burnt spaghetti squash alongside half a baked potato with more Creole sauce. Oh, and the fireplace and REVENGE!

Cozy fireplace meal 🙂 And I spy my Big Bird plate…

The recipe was a total success and my lucky father got to enjoy the leftovers last night. They tasted just as good as night one!

So remember, if this recipe tempted you and you are a Hartford, CT area local, I highly recommend hightailing it to Whole Foods West Hartford (Blueback or Bishop’s Corner) or Glastonbury to take advantage of the one-day sale (Friday 10/19 only) and pay only $6.99/pound for this delish shrimp, instead of $14.99/pound!

And if you aren’t a local, you can pick up some shrimp and make this yourself. Be sure to share with me on Twitter, Instagram, and/or Facebook if you do!

Thanks to Whole Foods West Hartford for providing me with the shrimp for this recipe! I received this shrimp free of charge, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Have you ever gotten to take advantage of a crazy-good Whole Foods (or any other grocery store) sale? What’d you buy?

Do you enjoy cooking with and/or eating shrimp? What’s your favorite recipe? (Meg, no need to answer the first question).

Gorton’s Seafood Pesto Salmon Broccoli Pizza!

Don’t miss my giveaway for a free visit to Blo West Hartford, in honor of the last Think Pink Thursday at Cuvee. Giveaway ends tomorrow afternoon and the event takes place tomorrow night!

More quick yet tasty dinners have been taking place in the Croswell house thanks to the year’s supply of Gorton’s Seafood that I won! From the moment I found out I was the winner of this fabulous prize from BlogHer ’12, I have been dreaming of making the meal in this post. Pizza is my favorite food, and I especially love it with unique toppings! Clam and shrimp pizzas are pretty common on restaurant menus nowadays, but it’s not too often that I see a pie offered with a healthy helping of SALMON!

These two boxes were on sale at the grocery store – just $9 for both!

Gorton’s Seafood Pesto Salmon Broccoli Pizza

Ingredients/Cooking Tools:

  1. 1 box of Gorton’s Seafood Lemon Butter Grilled Salmon
  2. 1 box of Gorton’s Seafood Classic Grilled Salmon
  3. 1 Boboli 100% Whole Wheat Pizza Crust
  4. 2 cups of chopped broccoli
  5. Garlic salt for broccoli (to taste)
  6. EVOO for broccoli (to taste)
  7. 1 cup of diced tomato
  8. 1/4 cup of Buitoni Reduced-Fat Pesto with Basil
  9. Cedar’s Tzatziki Sauce (optional)
  10. 1 ceramic pizza stone (optional, but it’ll make your crust more crispy!)

Directions:

  1. Add desired amounts of garlic salt and EVOO to chopped broccoli on foil-lined pan. Roast at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.
  2. Place pizza stone in oven on a different rack – getting it hot before putting it in the oven with the pizza will aid in a crispy crust!
  3. Prepare salmon per package instructions. Dice up and place in a bowl.
  4. Mix diced tomato into bowl of salmon, add salt/pepper to taste.
  5. Remove stone from oven, place pizza on top, spread pesto onto pizza.
  6. Spread salmon and roasted broccoli atop pesto (I ended up with some leftover salmon and broc on the side to avoid too-heavy slices since it was a thin crust).
  7. Place stone with pizza back in the oven and cook at 350 degrees for 25 minutes (time can vary depending on your oven and how “done” you like your pizza!)
  8. After removing pizza and letting it cool, drizzle tzatziki sauce on top if you wish!

Couldn’t get in fast enough to take a pic!

The pizza was seriously out of this world delicious and the leftover salmon even stayed fresh in the fridge long enough for me to polish it off as a snack five days later! My mom and I finished almost the entire pie between the two of us and the tzatziki was the perfect compliment to the salmon – reminded me of a lox and cream cheese combo! I only wish I’d had some capers to add…next time! And the best part of pizzas is their easy customization. You could add or take away any of the ingredients on this recipe and simply use it as inspiration for future topping combos!

I also liked using one box of plain salmon and one box of lemon-butter, like I did last time my mom and I cooked with Gorton’s products. I’m all about trying as many different varieties of a food as possible! I don’t think I could really taste a difference between the two kinds, though. I am glad the lemon-butter salmon wasn’t too buttery or lemony, because I wouldn’t want anything to take away from the fishy flavor that I adore so much!

You can try Gorton’s products too, and you know that as Coupon Caitlin, I’m always looking to save money and help others do so. That’s why I’m directing you to this coupon on the Gorton’s Seafood website for $1 off any two items!

Has anyone tried any Gorton’s Seafood products since I last posted about them?

What’s your favorite pizza topping combo?

Have you ever tried a seafood pizza?

P.S. Total fail on my part…I didn’t even realized that this past Friday 9/21 was my one year blogiversary! I want to do a more reflective post to celebrate so I will be doing so when I actually have time to sit down and write something more thought-provoking this week…hopefully that’ll be soon. This has been one crazy work week!

Gorton’s Seafood Grilled Fish Tacos

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway for the two newest Element fitness DVDs from Anchor Bay Entertainment! Entries close this Saturday 9/8 at 11:59PM EST.

So remember when I went to the Evening at the Expo party at BlogHer ’12, and took this silly photo at the Gorton’s Seafood booth?

If you like it then you shoulda #PutAWheelOnIt!

Well I tweeted it with the #PutAWheelOnIt hashtag. You know, just doin’ my usual blogger thang. And then I find out…

Yup, that’s me in the Gorton’s e-newsletter!

…I was the lucky winner of a YEAR’S SUPPLY OF GORTON’S SEAFOOD!!!!

THANK YOU GORTON’S!

Could a prize be ANY more up my alley?! I am a mondo seafood lover! And my mom is always hesitant to cook it at home because she feels like restaurants can always “do it so much better”. Thanks to Gorton’s, we’re armed with plenty of tools to dispel that feeling! And with use of my first Gorton’s purchase, I’d so far call that mission a great success.

Does that look like it came from a box to you?!

Gorton’s Seafood Grilled Fish Tacos:

Ingredients: (NOTE: you can use other varieties of Gorton’s grilled fish products or even other brands, but the below Gorton’s products are specifically what I used!)

  1. Gorton’s Garlic Butter Grilled Fillets
  2. Gorton’s Signature Grilled Tilapia
  3. 1 cup of pico de gallo
  4. 1 tsp of cumin
  5. Ortega Whole Grain Corn Taco Shells

Directions:

  1. Prepare fillets according to microwave instructions on boxes.
  2. Put whole fillets into pot (like one pictured below) and use whatever utensils preferred to cut fish into tiny pieces (see below photo).
  3. Add pico de gallo and cumin, stir together until well blended.
  4. Turn burner on low heat to keep taco filling warm.
  5. Spoon into taco shells and serve!

Mix and match!

How easy is that?! And it’s not a meal in the Croswell home without black beans, so my mom opened up a can of those and put them together in another stove-top pot with extra garlic and more pico de gallo.

What’s a Mexican meal without beans?!

She also had steamed up some broccoli with MORE garlic, because if there’s one thing in the Croswell house more commonplace than greens, it’s garlic. I fixed myself a marvelous plate.

A fitfluential meal indeed!

And then I fixed myself ANOTHER marvelous plate. Because that’s the way you do it after an evening gym session! I know that many folks say breakfast “should” be the biggest meal of the day, but my biggest meal is always, without fail, dinner. Probably because it’s my FAVORITE meal of the day!

My mom could not get over a) how affordable Gorton’s products are (even if you’re spending money on them and didn’t just win a year’s supply of seafood :-P) or b) how simple it was to make the fish. Those are both fabulous qualities for a product to possess, but my number one was the fact that the fish tasted so darn fresh. Not at all bland, not at all “fake”. Just tasted like white fish should taste! It almost seems like it shouldn’t have tasted so good since it was so easy to put this meal together, but hey, we’ll take it.

Thank you to Gorton’s Seafood for my free seafood! I can’t wait to share more recipes on the blog throughout the year!

Do you have any recipe suggestions that I could use Gorton’s products in?

Have you ever made your own fish tacos?

Do you prefer your fished tacos grilled or fried? I won’t judge if you say fried 😉 it is indeed yummy!

Blogger Recipe Pairing

Tina of Carrots N Cake (a healthy living blog I’ve been reading for several years, since I first discovered them) posted a recipe at the end of last month in a post titled The Best Thing I Ever Ate. Obviously I was immediately intrigued. You would be too, right? Well, I’m pleased to report that Tina is a truthful blogger.

The recipe was for sweet potato quesadillas. YUP. If the post’s title had grabbed me before, I had now been…snatched?…by the recipe’s title. Tina’s version used black beans, sweet potato, and a whole wheat tortilla – all of which my mom used when she made these for her and I two Sundays ago. But Tina also used Babybel cheese and chopped kale, which my mom and I replaced with goat cheese and edamame for extra protein! Mashing the sweet potato was easy thanks to Ore Ida’s frozen sweet potato steak fries. The edamame was also a frozen variety that we simply heated up in the microwave. For the tortilla, we used Flat Out Healthy Grain Harvest Wheat wraps.

How amazing does that look? I have to tell you that it tasted even better. My mom and I did a lot of moaning and groaning – foodgasm-ing, if you will. We paired our quesadillas with Columbia Crest Two Vines Merlot-Cabernet blend. I really loved it – and it’s such a cheap wine! Definitely recommended if you’re on a wine budget.

The beginnings of a great side.

Because that one quesadilla each is NOT enough food for us, my mom also whipped up a second blog-based recipe: Jenny’s refried black beans from Tofu Swag. My mom was doubtful that she’d pull this one off, but it came out AMAZING. The only change my madre made was adding the onions in the beginning (see photo above).

Fabulous AND healthy. This entire meal was protein-packed AND vegetarian! I may eat meat but there’s no denying that it’s totally possible to get enough protein from plants. The refried beans were drool-worthy and we can’t wait to whip them up again.

Thanks for sharing the recipes, Tina and Jenny! Thanks to you two, my mom and I dined like queens on a Sunday evening.

I also just have to say that I had the most kickass workout yesterday. I went to my favorite class at my gym, a Step class with awesome choreography broken up by HIIT drills. The combos were filled with kicks, knees, and “basketball shooters” (for da glutes). I worked most of the moves to perfection and even had the energy after class to rock a 4 minute #plankaday!

#PROOF

Also, check out what I hung up in my work cubicle today…a recap of my Color Me Rad experience is coming to the Fitfluential blog soon! I’ll let you all know when it’s up!

Have you ever tried making your own refried beans?

What’s the best recipe you’ve ever gotten off of a blog?

What’s the most innovative way you’ve ever used sweet potato?

Not-So-Tea-Infused Veggie Burgers

Don’t forget to enter the Mohegan Sun giveaway for an autographed copy of Real Housewives of New Jersey’s Teresa Giudice’s newest cookbook! If you live near the casino, you can even meet her to get your autograph. You have until tomorrow (Friday) night at 11:59PM EST.

I have a ridiculously packed, planned-in-advance calendar. I’ve actually been making a conscious effort to make LESS plans. But for now, the next couple months’ worth of weekends are chock-full of summer class, trips, and local events and outings that I’ve already scheduled, some as far back as February or March. This past Saturday evening’s girls night with Kim, for example, has been on my calendar for almost two months. Not a joke – that’s how long it took to find a Saturday night that worked for both of us! But we planned, we waited, and we (finally) cooked. It was time for another tea-infused cooking adventure with the Alice’s Tea Cup cookbook.

Oh…and vino.

This time, Kim and I decided to make the tea-infused Alice’s Veggie Burgers. The book has a recipe for both beef and veggie burgers, but the veggie variety sounded way more interesting! The tea to be used was supposed to be a variety called pu-erh, but we both had no idea what that was and Wikipedia didn’t offer any ideas for a comparative type, so we just used an earthy loose-leaf tea from Daybreak. Kim handled boiling the water in her cute tea pot and steeping the tea.

Kim probably has one of my favorite kitchens ever. I adore cooking there. And you guys know I don’t really cook.

Kitchen cuteness.

Kim finely diced some of the above garlic, along with five or six small mushrooms, and sauteed them in EVOO. I handled cracking two eggs to separate the whites (used in the burgers) from the yolks, microwaving and mashing the frozen cauliflower (awkwardly packaged in a bag that asked me to “massage” before heating and to not “penetrate” the bag in any way), and rinsing and draining the black eyed peas. I combined all of that in a bowl with sea salt and ground black pepper, instant oatmeal, the tea, and the sauteed mushrooms and garlic.

The recipe called for us to mix the above with our bare hands, but it seemed to us that this method would not produce a sticky-enough product. So, I took to the bowl’s contents with the “masher”. After a few minutes, I had a nice mushy combo that was ready for patty-forming.

Making the patties with our hands was way-fun, just like when we mixed our tea-infused berry scones with our hands!

We struggled at first to fit four patties onto the pan, but man we were getting hungry, so we managed to do it!

We had a bit of a fail when we realized the reason the patties weren’t searing on each side after six minutes, like the recipe said they would, was because we had the burner set on the lowest heat setting. We were finally cookin’ (ha) once we fixed that.

Each side got nice and crispy (burnt in some cases, but I dibsed those, I love carcinogens). We also melted some smoked cheddar on top, and Kim fixed some Alexia frozen sweet potato fries in the oven. I decided last-minute to chop up some veggies after spying some olive hummus in her fridge! I also threw arbitrary amounts of garlic powder and ground black pepper on the rest of the cauliflower so that I could mash it all together and add extra bulk to my burger.

When the burgers and fries were almost ready, we poured some Noble Vines 337 Cabernet Sauvignon that Kim’s dad picked out for us. It was a really good Cab Sauv! I often don’t prefer them because they are sometimes too light for my tastes and are more similar to Pinot Noirs. But this Cab had a Chianti-like dryness to it. Plus, a lighter red like a Cab definitely was OK for a meal with no meat involved. As soon as the wine was poured, we had to take domestic housewife pictures.

Do housewives often cook in workout gear?

Finallyyyyy everything was ready. Kim and I were chomping at the bit (didn’t even let the cheese melt on the burgers) but somehow managed to be patient enough to take a “proud table display” photo before diving in.

After taking this, we decided it was awkward to sit across from each other, and she moved next to me.

So how’d the burgers turn out? I’m not going to bother telling you the sweet potato fries were awesome – well OK, I guess I just did. Love Alexia’s frozen fries, especially with both Grey Poupon and French’s yellow mustard! Our veggie burgers didn’t taste tea-infused at ALL. We may as well have just saved the tea for drinking. I feel like the Alice’s cookbook recipe creators just threw tea in there to say the burgers were tea-infused. I’m not sure why it was included because I’m sure they tasted the burgers before selecting them for the cookbook. Maybe if we’d used the actual Pu-erh tea?

Multiply this plate by two. And the wine by three. 😉

However, the veggie burgers were amazing. They tasted so hearty and were extremely satisfying. This was my first time having black-eyed peas and I loved them! I’d definitely like to cook more with them in the future. The smoked cheddar was of a really high quality and was fun to pair with the wine (along with everything else).

Despite the presence of the aforementioned food and wine, the best part of the evening was hanging out with Kim. We shared the girliest of girl talk and watched “I Love the 90’s”. We learned new things about each other and deepened our friendship, cheesy (smoked cheddar cheesy) as it sounds. And it all happened over preparing and enjoying a meal together. It was truly an evening of enjoyment.

Have you ever cooked with black eyed peas? Any recipes to share?

What was the last girl’s night you had? Or boy’s night for my male readers 😉

Have you ever heard of and/or had pu-erh tea?

Meet Caitlin

I’m a 28 year old full-time working girl living in Boston (previously lived in Connecticut). I’m passionate about food/drink, restaurants, self-love, fitness, and the ever-present search for balance. I write about that journey on this blog – I hope you enjoy!

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My header was originally designed by Mai Le and later tweaked by Chris Roggi to match this theme, which he helped me customize. He also moved me over to self-hosting! Both can be contacted through their sites for design & development work!

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I am not an RD and do not have any official training, certifications, or degrees in nutrition or fitness. This blog is a way to write about my life. Any views I express are mine alone, based on what works for me, and should never be taken as medical advice. Always talk to your doctor or a trained professional before starting a new diet or fitness plan. In addition, this blog and its content are in no way affiliated with Kate Gosselin, “Kate Plus 8”, TLC, or any related affiliates.

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