Paris cafe

Bistro salad.

I was so excited when I woke up this morning and discovered my post Ranch Salad Dressing - A Continuing Obsession was selected for the Foodbuzz Top 9!!!

Elation would be too mild a word to describe how I am feeling right now:-)

Thanks to everyone who has ever buzzed me, taken a look at my posts or was kind enough to leave a comment!


I was watching Forget Paris this morning and it made me wish I was sitting in a Paris cafe and enjoying a simple salad.


The salad I decided I would order would have to include crispy steamed asparagus, hard boiled eggs and tender red potatoes.

Since the making of most of the ingredients is simple - steam up some asparagus tips and one red potato, boil an egg and wash and dry some butter lettuce - I won't go into detail about that.


But I will give you the recipe for the mustard vinaigrette that I drizzled on top. This dressing made the salad. I even broke out a couple of pieces of the baguette I made yesterday just so I could sop up every last drop of the dressing.

 

I had been debating about making a salad nicoise but I decided against it - but I had already opened a can of tuna so I decided to make the dogs a snack.

Tuna with Udo's oil and plain yogurt.

I wrapped the tuna fish in butter lettuce and ta da! Doggie Lettuce Cups!

And before I give you the vinaigrette recipe here are a couple more beauty shots of my salad.

Dijon mustard vinaigrette
Serves 3


Ingredients:

1 Tbsp of Champagne vinegar

2 Tbsp of olive oil

1 Tbsp of Udo's oil

1 tsp of Dijon mustard

1/4 tsp of sugar

salt and cracked black pepper to taste

Instructions:

Combine all the ingredients and whisk until combined. Drizzle over your favorite salad.

Enjoy!

Chicken breakfast taco and 6 month anniversary

Chicken breakfast taco.

I wanted a big brunch style breakfast this morning. Chicken tacos sounded just right.

I pulled two Rosie's chicken breasts out of the freezer and put them in a pot to boil for 30 minutes.

Then it was time to shred:

Most of this shredded chicken I put in the fridge for use later in the week.

Then the assembly begins:

Shredded chicken.

A light sprinkle of shredded cheese and a spoonful of guacamole.

A sprinkle of Tabasco.

A big handful of shredded lettuce.

And I also made a big fruit salad.

 
With a dollop of Bulgarian yogurt and a drizzle of Udo's oil.

I didn't eat this all at once. It was a lot of food! I ate the chicken tacos first and then about 2 hours later I enjoyed the fruit salad.

This morning I realized that I am coming up on the 6 month anniversary of my blog. 

The time has gone by so fast! And the photos were so awful in my first posts - it is fun to look back at them :-)

Happy Sunday everyone!

Fruit soup

The workers told me yesterday they will be cutting down the tree in my patio.

I love this tree. It is one of the reasons I rented this apartment. But, apparently, there is a new policy in the complex that forbids trees in the patios. Sigh.

I am hoping that the tree guys:

1. Are unable to work in the torrential down pours that are happening today.

2. Are too busy chopping down everyone else's trees and don't get to mine so that I get to enjoy my tree for another weekend.


The next item up on the soy front? Soft tofu.

I combined a good size chunk of the tofu with an apple, an orange, some blueberries, Kyo-Green and some Udo's oil. 

 

It turned out to have the consistency of a thick, fruit soup.

Topped with almond slivers.

The combination of fruit was spot-on and the tofu added a nice creaminess to the smoothie without interferring with the taste of the fruit.

And coffee.

A healthy serving of protein plus tons of fruit? I think I will be making more of these!


The dogs enjoyed this:

Apple slices with a large dollop of peanut butter.

A good start to the day for all of us :-)

Smoothies and toothaches

A certain fuzzy girl was up all night with a toothache (((

Poor Abby. 

Recently, at her yearly checkup, the vet noticed that one of her canines was chipped and part of the root may be exposed. It hadn't been bothering her - until last night.

And this is Abby after finding out I will have to make a dental appointment for her.

So, suffering from exhaustion, I assembled the ingredients for a smoothie.

I blended up a handful of blueberries, some red leaf lettuce, 1/2 a banana, a scoop of Amazing Grass - Green Super Food, 1 Tablespoon of Udo's oil and 2 Tablespoons of apple sauce.

Nope, it is not pretty - but it tasted great.

The dogs treat:

This is one of my favorite mixes to give the dogs: Kyo-green + yogurt + Udo's oil. The yogurt aids in digestion (if given in small quantities), the healthy greens in the Kyo-Green makes the pigments in the dogs coats really pop and the EFA's in the Udo's oil helps give them a glossy coat. 

That is nutritional info - but as anyone can tell you - presentation is everything...

I am not looking forward to a day filled with errands - or making the call for Abby's dental appointment...

What's for breakfast?

Not getting caffeine into my body as soon as possible after getting up early leads to -> doing outside activities and returning to the house and waking up sometime later - laid out on the couch with the dogs draped over me - (yup, the dogs were clearly not on board with the 'acquiring caffeine so I can stay awake' goal...)

So after some much needed caffeine.

 

I had a breakfast of greek yogurt, muesli, chopped up apple and a drizzle of Udo's oil .

 The dogs got a dollop of yogurt (note that this small dish of food was mixed and then split between them) some Kyo-Green, chunks of apple and a drizzle of Udo's oil.  

Now, to get some work done!