Heavenly Caesar Salad

We went out for dinner last night, and one of the courses I ordered was a Caesar salad. I was trying to keep my menu lighter than usual, and honestly a caesar didn't sound terribly interesting, but I trust the restaurant to make everything fabulous. I was not disappointed. In fact this was an amazing dish:


http://www.rosemarysrestaurant.com/recipes/Caesar_Salad.htm

Split Pea and Leek Soup

Dh made this a few days ago. It was so yummy! The leeks are a nice addition. He used frozen peas instead of fresh. He also didn't use the vitamin c, and the soup stayed nice and green without it. http://www.napastyle.com/recipe/reci...productId=2673

My Green Smoothie Recipe

We all know we should eat more raw veggies, and greens are supposed to be especially healthy. Here's an easy way to add more to your diet!

A green smoothie is simply a smoothie with greens in it, which sounds terrible but is actually quite nice. My basic recipe is
1 cup kefir (or yogurt),
1 fruit (usually half of two different fruits like half an apple, half a banana),
a few frozen berries or a spoon of jam,
greens: (i use half a head of romaine or 2 stalks of celery or some dark leaf lettuce or spinach...),
and sometimes the juice of half a lime.
Liquefy in blender. Drink.

mmmm a wonderful way to get more greens in your diet, and it can be adapted if you like more or less "green" taste. With the fruits I get very little green taste. If you wanted even less green taste, you could use half a cup of kefir and half a cup of fruit juice.

Christmas Day Menu

Christmas Breakfast
Cardamom Coffee Cake (we were going to have eggs but we forgot!)
Coffee

Christmas Lunch
Barbecue Pork Tenderloin with Black Beans and Rustic Bread

Christmas Dinner
Herb and Rosemary-Crusted Prime Rib
Pan Roasted Brussel Sprouts
Yorkshire Pudding
French Apple Tart

Seafood Chowder

My husband asked me what I wanted for Christmas Eve lunch and I said that what I wanted more than anything was Seafood Chowder like we had in Ireland. He found this recipe from the Ireland Sea Fisheries Board:
http://www.bim.ie/templates/recipes.asp?action=detail&recipe_id=221&node_id=346

It was heavenly!

French Women Don't Get Fat......RESULTS!

The author of French Women Don't Get Fat recommends using a "zipper test" to gauge success on an eating plan. When I began trying to follow the FWDGT lifestyle in early November, I chose a pair of jeans that I've had for months and hadn't been able to wear. I could barely zip them, and only for an instant -- way too tight. After the first week, I could zip them easier and I thought I could perhaps wear the pants for an hour or so -- but not too long. Over the next weeks, there didn't seem to be much change in how the jeans fit (I try them on once a week), and some weeks they seemed as tight as ever.

Today I tried them on --- and I'm still wearing them 6 hours later! I am ecstatic! So, only five pounds lost, but my shape is changing and I have an incentive to keep the portions small this Christmas season.

Books by the foot

This cracked me up. And then it made me sad.You can pay this bookstore to fill the shelves of your library with nice looking books. What a strange and sad way to fill a personal library. All about appearance rather than filling your shelves with books that have become your friends and favorites. (I can understand hiring someone to fill the bookshelves for the set of a play...but for your home???)
http://www.strandbooks.com/app/www/p/bbtfoot/