Sushi Town for Tiff's Birthday Dinner

We got together on Wednesday this week to have dinner with Tiff on her actual birthday. Sushi Town is our favorite sushi place and Tiff pretty much introduced it to all of us one by one by one. Therefore it was only fitting that we gather for her birthday dinner there. Trapper is the owner and has opened 2 more locations "Trappers Sushi" in Covington & Puyallup, so it's obviously a big hit as all 3 locations are swamped with people at all times. Luckily they are always able to accomodate our group of 10! We finalized a few last min Halloween Party plans after as we ventured to the Spirit store. The girls are heading over a little early on Saturday to put the finishing touches on the food and decorations and to get the party started. We'll be sure to post some pictures of the party next week :) ~Amanda

Mexico or Bust!

Last Thursday's menu was planned for two specific reasons. Number one, my husband and older son were enjoying the sun and sandy beaches in Mazatlan while I was sulking at home and 2, I wanted to show off my Margaritaville margarita maker. We snacked on chips and guac and for dinner enjoyed Chicken Enchiladas (recipe follows) and spanish rice (your good old Rice a Roni kind). For dessert we had Pumpkin Spiced and Iced cookies (recipe follows). I know, these don't fit into the theme for the night, but I had to pay an ode to Fall somehow.

So I have to start by raving about the Margaritaville Margarita Maker. If you are a margarita drinker then you know that a plain old blender just does not work when it comes to making margaritas. I have realized that the key to a restaurant quality margarita is having shaved ice, which a blender does not do. I have the Fiji model and it does it all for you. All you have to do is put in the ingredients. The Fiji model makes more than just margaritas. It has settings for daiquiris, mudslides, and smoothies as well. While I haven't ventured out on making anything else yet (except for pina coladas), I'm sure whatever you make with it will be awesome. Check out the website and the different machines you can get,  Margaritaville Margarita Maker website

We spent the evening around the dining room table sharing stories from the week, discussing the upcoming Halloween party at Amanda's (aka Tiff's Birthday bash), and planning out the next 3 months of girl's night. Yes... 3 months! I never really realized how long it takes to go through the rotation. I guess I have until the end of January to decide what I will be making next time. The main decision of the evening was that all pertinent information must be divulged to the group within the first 30 seconds of arriving at Girl's Night. No more mid-evening surprises. (Lisa-we are very excited about your new relationship!)

Our menu for the evening:

Chicken Enchiladas
This recipe comes from the Eating for Life cookbook by Bill Phillips. If you are looking for a healthy, but good cookbook I highly recommend this one. The first part of the book discusses "The Big Fat Problem" and basically how to eat right. It contains breakfasts, lunches, dinners, desserts, and nutrition shakes. A two week menu is also included. My favorite part of this cookbook is that every single recipe has a picture. I love pictures!

4 portions chicken breast (about 1 lb)
4 green onions, sliced
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
3 cans (10 oz each) green enchilada sauce (I use both red and green)
8 corn tortillas
1 cup reduced fat cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 cup light sour cream
1 tomato, diced
1 can (2 oz) sliced olives

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat a 9" x 13" baking dish with cooking oil.

2. Place chicken breasts in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce hear to medium and simmer until no longer pink in the center. Drain and let cool slightly. Shred cooked chicken by pulling apart with 2 forks; set aside.

3. Lightly coat a large skillet with cooking spray and place over medium-high heat. Add green onion, cilantro and jalapeno; saute for 2 minutes. Add shredded chicken and 1 can of enchilada sauce. Cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 5 minutes.

4. Pour the remaining cans of enchilada sauce in a medium bowl and microwave until warm, about 2 minutes. dip each tortilla in the heated sauce and fill with about 1/8 of the chicken mixture. Roll up and place, seamside down, in the prepared baking dish.

5. Pour remaining heated sauce over enchiladas and sprinkle with cheese. Back until enchiladas are heated through and cheese is melted, about 15 minutes.

6. Top enchilada with a spoonful of salsa, a dollop of sour cream, tomatoes, and olives.

Pumpkin Spiced and Iced cookies
These cookies come from The Cookie Bible

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 t pumpkin pie spice
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 can (15 oz) LIBBY'S 100% Pure Pumpkin
2 large eggs
1 t vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts
Vanilla Glaze (1 cup powdered sugar, 1 to 1 1/2 T milk and 1/2 t vanilla extract)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease baking sheets

Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Beat butter and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla extract. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto baking sheets.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire rack to cool completely. Spread or drizzle with Vanilla Glaze.

Enjoy!
Lauren

"I kept the weight off until it came back!"- Jessica H.

Thursday October 7th Jessica provided us with limitless entertainment while describing how she will be going back on the Adkins diet. Today's blog post title was a quote from Jessica explaining to us how well the diet had worked for her in the past.  We also heard from Tiff about her Homecoming week from Hell (how long until summer break Tiff?).  Teresa, Lauren, Danielle, Megan and Lisa shared pictures and stories from their trip to Leavenworth for Oktoberfest. What a bunch of busy girls we are!


 We went back to our early days of "girl's night" for one of our favorite recipes-Vodka Penne! Here's the recipe:


Vodka Penne

• 1 quart Simple Tomato Sauce, recipe follows, or store-bought marinara sauce, blended until smooth
• 1 cup vodka
• 1/2 cup heavy cream, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 1 pound penne

Directions

Simmer the tomato sauce and vodka in a heavy large skillet over low heat until the mixture reduces by 1/4, stirring often, about 20 minutes. Stir the cream into the tomato and vodka sauce. Simmer over low heat until the sauce is heated through. Stir in the Parmesan cheese until melted and well blended.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Drain the pasta and transfer it to the pan with the sauce, and toss to coat.

I also attempted a new dessert, Truffle Tarts with Raspberries.  Here is the recipe...not too difficult and super tasty!!!


Truffle Tarts with Raspberries

• 1 1/2 cups fine chocolate wafer crumbs (from Oreo cookies or chocolate wafers)
• 6 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 recipe Dark Chocolate Truffles, recipe follows, whipped but not shaped into balls
• 6 fresh raspberries, plus extra for serving

Directions

Use a fork to mix together the chocolate wafer crumbs and butter. Spray the cups of a 6-muffin tin with a vegetable spray. Line the cups with strips of parchment or waxed paper, cut so that they are as wide as the diameter of each cup and long enough to overhang the sides (you'll need this overhang to remove the tarts). Use the bottom of a small glass to press the crumbs over the bottom and sides of the muffin cups, building the sides up to only about 1 1/2 inches. Place a raspberry in the center of each crust and with apastry bag or small plastic bag with the corner snipped off, fill the tarts with the truffle mixture. Smooth the tops and refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.

Dark Chocolate Truffles:

1/2 cup heavy cream

8 ounces good-quality (70 percent) bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup cocoa powder, for dusting

In a saucepan, bring the cream just to a simmer over low heat. Pour the cream over the chocolate in a bowl and let stand about 10 minutes to melt the chocolate. Add the vanilla and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool for 1 hour at room temperature. Then beat the chocolate at medium speed until it gets thick and light colored. Spread over the bottom of a baking dish and smooth the top. Refrigerate about 2 hours, until firm.

Pour the cocoa powder onto a deep plate or shallow bowl. Use amelon baller or small ice cream scoop to scoop out balls of chocolate; place them on the plate with the cocoa powder and roll between 2 forks to completely coat with the cocoa powder. Then use the forks to carefully transfer them to a parchment or waxed lined baking sheet.




~Em

Good Bye Summer & Hello Fall....

Last Thursday 9/30 we said good-bye to summer and hello to fall with pumpkin-ginger-lime soup. This is a recipe from Kathy’s Cappers cooking class. The soup has a little kick to it, which might be due to my poor measuring skills with the cayenne pepper. Try it with some yummy bread on a crisp fall evening!

Pumpkin-Ginger-Lime Soup

1 cans pumpkin puree

3 cans vegetable broth

1 can per nectar (I used apple juice instead- much cheaper!)

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 TBSP grated ginger root

2 TBSP finely chopped green onion

1 TBSP line juice

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Toasted pumpkin seeds (sorry girls this was missing- it was too early for me to have pumpkin seeds!)

Chopped chives

In a sauce pan combine pumpkin puree, broth, and pear nectar. Bring to boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 10 minutes. In a blender or food processor, process 1 cup pumpkin mixture (from sauce pan) with peanut butter until smooth. Return to sauce pan with remaining pumpkin mixture. Add garlic, ginger root, green onion, lime juice, salt and cayenne pepper; cook 10 minutes over medium heat. Divide soup among bowls and garnish with pumpkin seeds and chives. Serve immediately.

Of course no girls’ night would be complete without dessert. While we chatted about everyone’s upcoming weekend and previous vacations (we are pretty busy ladies) we enjoyed a second bottle of wine and some good old fashion Betty Crocker Brownies. No need to post the recipe, just buy the $2 red box at any grocery store! I must say the highlight of the night might have been my 15 minute fight with a wax closure wine bottle. Amanda told us all about her plans for Tiff’s upcoming Birthday / Halloween party while I physically fought this wine bottle with the small knife of a wine opener (meant for the thin foil closure- not crazy red wax cover)!

Already I am craving Emily’s vodka pasta we will be enjoying this week. Can’t wait for our large group will be together again!

One last thought… I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I am nervous for Tiff to ready this and find all the grammatical errors.

Until next time...

~Nelle