Spaghetti And Turkey Vegetable Sauce

Is anyone getting sick of my turkey dishes? Somehow I'm not. Turkey is so fun to experiment with. It all started with a little extra virgin olive oil, garlic, onions, and fresh basil.

That will get your kitchen smelling real good.

Looking at this picture just reminds me of that yummy smell.

Add a little ground turkey, some spices, and a can of tomatoes.

I probably should have cut these a bit more before putting the can in, but it wasn't too much trouble crushing them down with my wooden spoon.

But, it's not over yet, time for the mushrooms and eggplant!

My pot was a bit small, but I somehow crammed all the veggies in.

Once they settled in, the veggies started to shrink down anyway.

Can you tell I love mushrooms?

I probably could have eaten the sauce on it's own.

Empty little bowls awaiting their meal.

First, a little whole wheat pasta.

And I bet you can guess how we topped it off?

More turkey dishes to come soon!

Tag! You're It!

It's Friday! Time for another super busy, action packed weekend. Last weekend included pancakes, twice! These are some whole wheat pancakes. They were... wheaty.

Not my favorite pancake this time, but they sure were super healthy!

As mentioned in my last post, I have been tagged! The lovely Caren presented me with this, the "Premio Meme Award", so I must reveal 10 fun facts about myself and tag other bloggers to do the same! So here it goes...

1. Just recently, I signed up to run the 2010 Los Angeles Marathon, with Project AIDS Los Angeles! I have never done anything like this before, so I'm super nervous, but extremely committed. It's for such a great cause and I've been lucky to get lots of support from my friends and family. My goal is to raise $1600.00 and I still have a long way to go, please click here to help!

2. Quite possibly the silliest fun-fact about me is that I am allergic to allergy medication. It's true! They give me hives and makes my blood pressure so low, that I often pass out! Odd, isn't it?

3. I naturally have brown, curly hair. It's pretty out of control and often kept a secret. I don't even think Brian has seen my hair as curly as it can be - or brunette for that matter. I've been blonde for about 7 years now and I don't see myself ever going back.

4. I used to play in lots of bands. When I was 19, I took my guitar, and toured Hong Kong (by myself), then came back and toured the US and Canada for a month with a group of friends. I've played guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, and a slew of other toy-like instruments. Brian just got me a trumpet for my graduation present and I plan on taking lessons soon and joining his band too!

5. I only wear dresses. A few years ago, I made the decision to stop wearing pant or shorts and only sticking to dresses. Earlier this year, Brian and I went to Portland, where it was snowing... and even then, I wore a dress.

6. I'm only 5'2", I have small hands, small fingers (5.5 ring size), but for some reason, I ended up with some long feet. I don't know how that happened, but I wear a size 9.5 in ladies shoes! It's strange, because they don't look that big when you look at them... but somehow, I got these long, skinny, big ol' feet. Strange.

7. I have a very extreme fear of spiders, and most other rodents for that matter. It's pretty bad. I won't even go bed at night, if there's a spider in my apartment and I can't get rid of it. It's true.

8. I really like eating spaghetti sandwiches. So good.

9. I'm a fainter. I have the rare problem where my blood pressure is often way too low. The last time I fainted, I was presenting a power point in my classroom! Embarrassing...

10. English is not my first language, I actually grew up speaking Armenian first. And even though I mostly speak English now, when I get nervous, I start to forget my English and think all of my thoughts in Armenian.

The other part of this process is to tag a few fellow bloggers! In an effort to get to know all the wonderful bloggers, who follow my blog, I decided to scroll into my followers list - and wow, you are all so talented! I picked 10 of you, so if you see this... start typing, friends... you've been tagged!

1. Tell Your Sister
2. Messy Jesse Crafts
3. Skull Mod Kitten
4. 1167 Little Bird
5. Bansheemoni
6. Good-Posture
7. From My Motor Home To Yours
8. Bag Lady Design
9. Magpie Sparkle
10. This Mom's Life

Pita Pizza

One of the hardest things about dieting is sacrificing pizza. Real pizza. More specifically, pizza from Foliero's. Oh how I miss thee. So, I came up with my own low-calorie take on pizza, and it actually hit the spot just right! I started with a 130 calorie pita, some low calorie tomato sauce, and lots of mushrooms.

Then added some fresh basil. Lots of low calorie toppings!

To top it all off, I added some low-fat Mozzarella and a quarter ounce of feta cheese.

In the oven for a few minutes, and not too shabby!

The whole thing came out to approximately 195 calories.

It was no Foliero's, but it really took care of that craving.

Next craving problem to solve? Ice cream! I think I might be experimenting with this pretty soon. Also coming soon? I've been tagged....

Taking It To The Street

Last May, I received the prettiest Orchid from Brian's sister. I had noticed recently the blossoms started to look a bit sad, one by one, they were dropping. On Friday, it finally happened. They last bit of blossoms were frowning.

I was so confused, because I followed all the instructions on how to care for Orchids! At closer inspection, I came to a realization.
It was so clear!

All of the roots were above the soil! Some were even out of the pot! How could I be so oblivious?

I had to make a last attempt to save the Orchids! So, I trimmed the roots and decided to re-pot. Though, I didn't really have a handy pot around, one with holes to let water drain through. So, I improvised!

This cup just happened to be sitting on my counter, a water cup from a fast food restaurant. I figured, why not recycle it? I got my handy awl and poked a few holes.

All ready for some dirt!

What next? Taking it to the street! That's right, taking it to the street! Time to get the hands a little dirty. Now, I'm not really sure if this regular dirt will cut it, but it's all I had.

I didn't really have any potting soil at home, so I just went around the corner and found a spot with some dirt. I needed to work quickly, if I wanted to save the plant! I put a little dirt on the bottom.

Then, removed the Orchid from it's previous pot....

...placed her in her new home...

... and made sure to top her roots off with some more dirt.

It was fun taking my little craft out for a walk. I had a mini exploration session and found this cutie!

It was pretty fun! Eventually, I brought little Orchid back home, to her new spot and sprinkled the top with a little bit of water.

I'm not sure if she'll make it, but here's hoping! She had a good run... either way!

Old Fashioned Lemonade

It's hot in Los Angeles. Really hot. Whenever it gets this hot, I always crave lemonade.

Just your basic lemonade here....

I left it to refrigerate overnight, and woke up with a surprise treat!

That's some frozen lemonade! Well, it appeared that way, until I smashed up the top and got a slightly frozen, super cold, amazing tasting lemonade.

Super refreshing!

Spaghetti & Turkey Meatballs

We've been kinda-sorta dieting around here. So, to make every calorie count, I've been spending lots of time planning our meals so that we get the best meal we can for the calories we're eating. Extra lean ground turkey is a good meat option, it's super low in calories and easy to flavor. Last night, I used 4 ounces of ground turkey to make all of these lovely Italian meatballs.

I then used 2.5 ounces of whole wheat pasta for 260 calories and half a cup of low calorie pasta sauce for only 45 calories. The entire meal was only 425 calories, not too bad!

Brian is requesting an encore for the same meal tonight... better get cooking!

Hanky Pancaky

Mondays are hard. Especially when you have a great weekend and you don't want it to end. This weekend was filled with lots of cooking, giggling, and hugs. Some of my favorite things! And of course, pancakes. Can you tell I like pancakes? It seems that I blog about pancakes very often.

These are a little different than the pancakes I've made before. These flapjacks are actually healthy! They were fluffy, airy, and really hit the spot.

More healthy food on the way....

Banana Muffins

Why is it so easy to turn something as healthy as a banana into something so bad for you, like these yummy banana muffins. Every time bananas go bad, I just have to turn them into muffins. Maybe I should stop buying bananas? The older the bananas, the better they are for the muffins.

I've been using this recipe for a while now and I think it's stuck. I love the cinnamon, sugar, buttery crumb on top.

And it's pretty fluffy in the middle!

But for now, no more bananas! It's too risky!

You Say It's Your Birthday

This post is a little overdue. Brian and I both had our birthdays last May (4 days apart from each other) and we decided to have a big gathering with our friends, over at The Griffin. For the occasion, I decided to make a cake.

Personally, I'm more of a white/vanilla cake type person, but Mr. B loves the chocolate.

Since he got to choose the cake, I got to choose the filling.

My favorite way to eat chocolate cake is when it's filled with bananas and cream.

Uhhh, huhhh. Then another layer of chocolate cake. Did I mention this is triple chocolate cake? Chocolate cake, with chocolate pudding, and chocolate chips...

... oh yea, and tons of chocolate frosting.

What's this you ask?

Well, it's chocolate frosting with lots of food dye. I spread a thin, even layer of the frosting on some parchment and let it freeze for a bit. In the meantime, I also
melted some white chocolate with red food dye, placed it in this yogurt lid, and let it refrigerate until hard.

What's the point of all of this? Well... after the black frosting was good and stiff,
I peeled away the top layer of parchment and cut it into a nice circle.

I did the same with the red chocolate, making a smaller circle within the big red circle.

And what does this all make?

A cake for two record nerds like Brian and myself. I couldn't find my piping bag anywhere, so I made one out of a ziplock bag and messily piped a Happy Birthday.

The record portion of the cake was a bit frozen and stiff at first, but once it was out for a while, it started to just fit perfectly onto the cake.

Of course, when we got to the bar, I totally forgot to take utensils or plates... but that didn't stop anyone from eating the cake! Bar napkins, hands and mouths were all covered in birthday cake goodness. It was a very memorable night!