Chick Lit Goddess

...because every author wants to feel like a goddess!

Food

It’s Fun Friday

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I’m a baseball fan and I’m so excited that baseball season is finally here!

It’s Opening Day at The Ballpark in Arlington!  To begin the 2012 season, the Texas Rangers play against the Chicago White Sox.  I look forward to going to the game tomorrow night to cheer on my team, who for the past two years have been in the World Series.  As the saying goes, the third time’s the charm, so I’m hoping that this is our year – it just has to be, (because “12” is my lucky number).

Below, I’ve added some of my favorite links:

That’s The Way Baseball Go

Lean about the Texas Rangers

Chicks Dig Diamonds

Read about my favorite Ranger

A Nolan Ryan (Ranger)/Robin Ventura (Chicago White Sox) highlight

Look at all the new stuff

It’s Fun Friday

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Not only do I love to write, I love to cook.  As a writer I think it’s important to cook healthy, so I’d like to share my favorite healthy recipe website that a friend told me about a few months ago.  It’s Skinnytaste.com, and since then I’ve cooked several dinners and desserts, which I loved.

Here are the recipes I’ve made from the Skinnytaste.com site:

In no particular order, the above recipes are all delicious!  If you’re like my husband and I, we add spices to these recipes to “kick it up a notch,” like celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse.

I encourage you to subscribe to Skinnytaste.com because not only will you receive great tasting recipes, you will not only feel guilt-fee making them, but eating them too!

Happy Friday!

It’s Savory Saturday

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I love pizza so much that I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner, all in the same day!  Most of the time my lunches consist of Lean Cuisines, Smart Ones, or something healthy.  Pizza isn’t really healthy so when I found the 200 Calorie DiGiorno pizza, I was thrilled, but had my doubts.  How can pizza that’s only 200 calories be good?  I was so wrong!  This pizza is delicious, and there are four tasty selections (Chicken with Peppers & Onions, Cheese and Tomato, Pepperoni, and Supreme).  I struggle with finding healthy meals to eat for one which is why the freezer is filled with frozen meals.  The meals range from Lean Cuisines, Smart Ones and DiGiorno pizzas!

DiGiorno Supreme Pizza
Set your oven to 400
Place it on the rack and cook 13 minutes

I highly recommend these pizzas for anyone who is trying to watch what they eat, because most of the time pizza is a splurge.  While the size of the pizza is small, I would add a salad,  (THESE Caesar salads are SO good!).

Sprinkle with crushed red pepper and enjoy!

It’s Savory Saturday

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Green Tea. My favorite!

 Since yesterday was the first day of my favorite season, I anticipate that I will be upping my intake of the savory drink, tea, green tea specifically!

I first started drinking green tea when I would have sushi, and I couldn’t get enough of it.  When my husband and I received our wonderful Keurig machine as a wedding present, green tea was at the top of my list!  HERE is the link to the Keurig machine and Keurig cups.

(**Note: Some of you might have seen that earlier this week my Keurig machine died.  I will hopefully be getting a new one tomorrow).

If you do not have a Keurig cup, that is okay.  As long as you have green tea bags, you can still have and enjoy the drink.

There is no other kind of tea that is better than Green Tea!  While some might think that this Chinese tea is bland, I disagree.  When served hot this soothing tea it has a woodsy flavor and a hint of tang, but when served cold its natural flavors mixed with a lemon exude a refreshing summery taste.

As a writer I think it’s important to have a warming or refreshing drink, green tea is my choice.  On a good day (meaning without having writer’s block), I can drink up to seven or eight cups.  I also must tell you something that every writer needs if drinking a hot drink, a Mr. Coffee mug warmer.  This can help keep your tea nice and warm while you write.  I also bought another one and placed a glass candle (Yankee Candles, for an example) on top of it and let it melt, for a nice aroma while you write.

Below is a recipe for creating my perfect cup of tea.

Pick your favorite coffee mug
Put the tea in the Keurig maker!
Patiently wait for it to brew
Drink up!

One note about drinking green tea is that it’s good for you.  Without going into too many details, green tea can help fight cancer and heart disease.  It can assist in lowering cholesterol, burning fat, preventing diabetes and strokes and can also help wart off dementia, says the following link.  (Please see THIS site if you would like more information on the benefits of green tea).

Now that this blog has been written, I’m off to make yet another cup of green tea!  You should too!  Happy Sipping!

It’s Savory Saturday

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Oh, my gosh!  I just had a great dinner that was made by my amazing husband.

Tuna & Goat Cheese Empanadillas

These amazing little empanadillas were quite tasty!  Inside the puff pastry was canned tuna, green olives and pine nuts, amongst other ingredients.  They had a creamy richness to them, which the pine nuts complimented very well.  The green olives and tuna had a very distinct flavor, and each bite I took, a flavor seemed to come out.  When we make these again, we’ve decided to do canned chicken instead, as we both thought the olives and tuna needed to complement one another, which these didn’t.  I give these a 6 out of 10 stars.

Duck Foie with Jamon Iberico

These were my favorite appetizer!  Oh, my gosh, they were so heavenly, that I had three of them (and we even had guests over)!  On the toasted pan rustico bread slices, were onions that simmered for two hours — the first hour in olive oil and sugar  and for the second, he added dry white wine.  The next layer was jamon iberico and then on that, was the duck foie!  I have never had anything like this!  The sweetness soft onions mixed with the salty jamon iberico, melted in my mouth and the crispy bread was toasted just enough for a nice texture throughout each bite.  I give this 12 out of 10 stars!

Spanish Style Chicken with Saffron Rice

This dinner was so very good.  The rice was very flavorful, with the canned tomatoes and yellow bell pepper, which gave off a nice and comforting flavor.  While the chicken was juicy, I prefer my chicken not as cooked as most people do.  I would definitely have this dish again, only with a little less cooking time for my piece of chicken.  I give this meal a 7 out of 10 stars.

If you would like these recipes, please let me know!

Savory Saturday

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This this my 100th blog, and in honor of that, I want to announce that I’ll be doing something new every Saturday.  It’s called “Savory Saturday” (my husband came up with the title), and I’ll be writing about food!  As an ex-culinary student, it’s easy to see that writing and cooking are very similar — writing and editing to create a wonderful book vs. using the perfect amount of ingredients, which creates an amazing meal.

My first blog about will be posted later tonight!  I’ll be writing about what my husband is currently making, two Tapas (one is tuna and goat cheese empanadillas and the other is duck foie with jamon iberico) and for the main course, we’re having Spanish Style Chicken with Saffron Rice.

Stay tuned for the first “Savory Saturday” post!