Hot Diggity Dog

I’ve been meaning to go to HD1 (Richard Blaiss’s gourmet hot dog joint) for a while but always forget about it because who realllllyy wants a hot dog for dinner? So thanks to Scoutmob we decided to make a night of it and walk around the Highlands for, well, ten minutes after before we went home. So before I get into the food, my one rant about this place is that it’s at a great spot (old San Fran Coffee location on N. Highland and Ponce) and there’s maybe 3 outdoor seats.  It was a perfect night to sit outside but we didn’t – who wants to look at a parking lot?

Ok, so the food.  It’s tough to order healthy when all you want is a gooey chili cheese hot dog and fries but alas, it’s doable. 

My Order:

• Garden Chili Dog: Veggie dog with veggie chili (hold on the walnut mayo and fried shallots). The chili was good but a little spicy. They don’t give you a choice of a bun so you get it on this huge piece of white bread toast which is truly delicious but not so healthy. Clearly I ate the whole thing.
• Spinach Salad: Spinach (obvi), raspberries and gorgonzola. They went a little overboard with the cheese but it was good, you can't really mess this salad up.
• Optional Drink: Bluegrass sunset – bourbon, ginger ale, basil and orange.  This drink was gross but I liked the idea of basil and orange. Can't win 'em all I guess.  Instead of this opt for a light beer or glass of vino.

They also have an option of a carrot dog.  I figured it was just another version of a veggie frank but no, it’s literally a big sauteed carrot for six bucks.  No thanks. I can make that at home.  Stick with the veggie or even turkey dog.

All-in-all, am I dying to go back? eh. But it was a nice experience, our waitress was adorable and super attentive and the food was good.

XO,

zo

Ring My Bell

Get it? Ring my bell el el, ring my bell! Anyone? Ok I tried.  Disco may be over but how full I am from this amazing stuffed pepper recipe is not.  Before I go into any detail, let me just say, when buying the peppers for this recipe, buy small peppers, for the love buy small peppers. I obviously went for the biggest most dramatic peppers in the store and I could barely freakin' eat one (although the BF had no problem demolishing the entire thing, I'm not sure if that's a salute to my tremendous cooking or that he was just famished. I'll take it either way).

So here's the deal. I'm trying to make less trips to Whole Foods so I can pay off some of my credit card (my organic, free range, cage free, grass fed, local food issue has gotten quite out of hand). I can get ALMOST as good produce at a regular grocery store even if I don't feel as cool.  That being said, I'm trying to make healthy recipes on a budget and found a cheap, very delicious Stuffed Bell Pepper recipe. I clearly made some skinny modifications but I think it came out pretty damn awesome. Here's the Betty Crocker original recipe.

SP Stuffed Bell Peppers:
- 4 Green Bell Peppers
- 1 lb of the most lean ground beef you can get (prolly could use turkey too)
- 1 cup Homemade Brown Spanish Rice (See this first step in this recipe for the recipe - ha)
- 2 finely grated carrots
- 1 onion
- 1 can of tomato sauce (NOT pasta sauce)
- some sprinkles of your favorite cheese

Directions:

- Pre-heat oven to 350.
- Cut the tops off of each bell pepper (a thin cut) and gut and rinse them.

What's up Action Shot!?!?!?

- boil water in a big ass pot and make sure the water is JUST above the peppers. boil those bad boys for two minutes. (make sure the water is boiled first before you put the pepps in).

- Brown beef with onions. Once cooked add all the other ingredients and 1/2 the can of tomato sauce.

- Stuff peppers with the goodies. Pour the rest of the tomato sauce on them. Cover with some foil and cook for 8 minutes. Take the foil off, sprinkle some cheese then cook for another 15-18.

These bitches are hot so be careful taking them out and eating them.

xo,
zo

Date Night In

It's summer. It's hot. I take 2 hours to get ready for a date and the second I walk outside my hair frizzes up, my makeup starts to melt, it's not pretty and it's not even June! WTF! So I had an idea (get pumped), what if I created a date night dinner in.  Sounds genius right? We could cook a healthy and delicious meal together, no rush, no one has to drive home so you can drink as much as you want and you don't have to tip (unless the cook is really good, ahem). Get your mind out of the gutter, I meant tip with a yummy desert!

So, if you can get your boyfriend/friend/husband/wife/partner/lover to actually cook with you, it makes the night less stressful and not like every other night of cooking.  If they're not going to participate you'll end up busy and stressed out and it kinda defeats the purpose of a relaxing night in and interferes with you getting bizzay (if you know what I mean - I'm cracking myself up over here).

Besides from the company, my favorite part about this is that I get to control what I eat (plus we sat outside which was nice minus the killer ninja Atlanta mosquitos that were attacking my legs and ankles - little fuckers).

The menu:
- Fish Taco's with ColeSlaw on Whole Wheat Tortillas
- Super Healthy Brown Spanish Rice
- Sauteed Green Beans
- Zoe's "Homemade" Guacamole
- Skinny Peaches!

RICE:
- Start with the rice cause it takes the longest.
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup long grain brown rice (the kinda you actually have to cook for a while)
1 chopped onion
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 cup tomato paste
1 tbs diced garlic
- chop up online and pepper and saute until soft in olive oil add the garlic for a second.  Then add the rice and brown it for a little (4 -5 minutes).  Add everything else - cover and simmer for 40 - 50 minutes. If after 40 minutes it's still a little watery, simmer without the cover on.

FISH TACOS:
- Salt, Pepper, Dash of Low-Sodium Taco Seasoning and olive oil on fish - grill.
- For the coleslaw I boiled some corn. Cut it off into a bowl of cabbage mix. Added a little 0% fat Fage Yogurt and a splash of lime juice and called it a day.

ZOE'S "HOMEMADE" GUACAMOLE
- SOME people may laugh at this "recipe" (you know who you are) :) but really it's just delicious. Mash up some ripe avocado and mix in some Jack's Special Mild Salsa and TA DA!

And that's it! Happy date night! P.s. No kissing on the first date...unless the food is REALLY good.

XO,
zo

I Heart Nike

It started at a young age, when my parents made me sign up for summer soccer camp at William & Mary college.  Defying all current 1989 fashion trends I went with Nike soccer shorts vs umbros (always an individual).  A true fan was born.  I have been a Nike supporter ever since.  The thing was, up until recently, I only was buying clothes & shoes (p.s. they have the best workout pants I know of, take a look!) and so I was hesitant to try out their Nike Training Club workout mobile App.  Needless to say, they succeeded again (gawd they’re good)!  I figured I’d test it out and see if it could combat my gym boredom - the answer: YES!  This is the best workout app on the market right now if I do say so myself, and it's FREE!  You pay zero dollars to be sore for at least 2 days (if you do the advanced workouts for 45 minutes). That’s at least $50 bucks in savings that you WONT have to use on a trainer. You are welcome, that means more money into your Whole Foods budget :)

Check it out…download the app, select your workout and then select the music you want to hear from your VERY OWN ipod! Plus, you get healthy recipe and celebrity workout rewards the more minutes you log…GENUIS!

I’m a big fan of the “Get Toned” option for Advanced called: True Condition.  I also take a look at all of the workout sections before so I know what I’m doing, oh yeah, they have VIDEO to help you along with this really nice lady that tells you when to switch workouts and that you should, “Keep up the good work!”

Here are a few screenshots of the workout and the reward!

Xo,

zo

Chicken Parm, Chicken Shmarm

A new take on a old fatty fave.  I wont lie, I love a good cheesy, carby Chicken Parmesan dish (otherwise known as cutlets and gravy to all of my Italian friends) but alas, the recipe is not so health conscious.  So, I've created a new much more healthy spin on this old world favorite.  I found that you can re-create the Italian flavors by using some standard seasonings and a little marinara.  Welcome to the world, healthy Chicken Parmesan Stir-Fry!

Also - a few of you had commented on my horrible photography skills so I've hired a professional photographer to help me with my food shots moving forward (ok so maybe I just asked nicely). But check out how good these new pics are!

Chicken Parmesan Stir-Fry
- 1lb Chicken Breast - cubed
- 1 Green Pepper
- 1 Red Pepper
- 1 Crown of Broccoli
- 1/2 an Onion
- 5 Kale Leaves
- 1/2 Jar of Light Ragu
- 1 Cup of Trader Joe's Almond Meal (this stuff is the shit.  It's the same thing as breadcrumbs but AWESOMELY healthy and not bread - obviously, but you knew that).

Directions:
1) Season the almond meal with pepper, oregano and basil.
2) Salt and Pepper the chicken and then shake it around in the Almond meal
3) Put a little olive oil in a pan and saute the chicken until it's done. Put it in a bowl and then set aside.
4) Spray a pan with a little cooking spray and saute all veggies for about 5 minutes, then pour in marinara sauce and let it simma' for a litta' (ha). Ok like 3 minutes.
5) Plate and serve! Bravo! Ole?! Ummm, Vino! Yes, that sounds right.  Serve with wine.


I added a few shaves of parm on top.

Xo,

zo

Summertime (almost) and the Grillin' is Easy

Truth: I'm not the one actually doing the grilling BUT I am definitely preparing everything.  Ok, that's a lie too - my skinny grilling efforts have been shared but I think that makes it less stressful for all parties and you both can relax a little and spend some QT together.  Awwwww.

Grilling is the perfect way to get great tasting and very healthy dishes.  Plus, sitting outside with a cocktail is pretty spectacular this time of year.  Here’s a recipe that is SUPER simple, low-calorie and pretty damn tasty.  For a side, just grab one of those bagged salads from the store, I added some nuts, avocado and light feta and it was the perfect side to a spring(ish) night. I also got a new Braggs ACV Ginger-Sesame salad dressing and it was AWESOME. Oh, and if you have extra shrimp you can eat it for lunch on a salad the next day! Look at that - healthy recipes AND saving you some dough. 

Grilled Shrimp Skewers:

- ½ teaspoon of cinnamon

- ¼ teaspoon of paprika

- teaspoon of chopped cilantro

- 2 tablespoons lemon and lime juice (each)

- 2 tablespoons of tequila

- 3 tablespoons of EVOO

- 1 red and 1 green bell pepper

- 1 yellow and 1 green zucchini

- ½ Red Onion

- 1 LB of peeled shrimp

Basically, mix all of this together (minus the shrimp and veggies).  Cut the veggies into big slices.  Chuck all the goodies (veggies and shrimp) into a big ass bowl and mix together.  Put your stuff onto skewers, salt and pepper and throw those bad boys onto the grill (3 minutes-ish on each side).

Photo Credit: JG Photography :)

Pair with a nice glass of wine or prosecco. Or even a Skinny Peach!

Xo,

zo

Crabby Pants!

It happens to the best of us.  Some call it waking up on the wrong side of the bed, but I like to call it crabby pants (it's much less subtle). I had one of those days this past week and decided to make a delicious "theme based" dinner.  I love seafood, especially crab cakes, but I always feel like they are LOADed with mayo and stuffing and just not so healthy things. So, I found a wonderful recipe on SkinnyTaste.com.  Add any type of summer/spring (cause there's no use in denying that this 80 degree weather isn't actually the start of summer in the south) bean salad and you have yourself a meal! Yum!


too easy.

 I changed the recipe around a tad bit to add more veggies and less filler. Also - you could probably add a PINCH of Old Bay for flavor, cause who doesn't love that stuff (please note I refrained from saying shit. I'm trying to start using less curse words, this should be interesting).  :)

Baked Lump Crab Cakes:

9 ounces lump crab meat

10 reduced fat Ritz crackers, crushed

1 whole egg plus 1 egg white, beaten

2 tbsp finely chopped red onions

1/2 a chopped red bell pepper

1 tbsp low fat mayonnaise

2 tbsp fresh cilantro (or parsley)

1/2 lime, juiced

salt and pepper to taste

Pre-head oven to 400. Mix all ingredients BUT the crab meat in a bowl, then fold in crab meat. Don't get aggressive or you wont have those big chunks of crab that are so good.  Form the mixture into 4 medium size cakes and put in the fridge for at least 15 minutes.

Spray a cooking sheet with spray (Spray with spray, wow, I'm waxing poetic in this post). Bake about 10 minutes on each side and serve with your salad! Booya!  I made the salad below...

Black Bean & Avocado Salad

• 1 can black beans, rinsed
• 1 avocado, in chunks
• 9 can of corn
• 1/4 cup of lime juice 
• 1/4 cup red onion, chopped
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• cilantro to taste (leftover from the crab recipe).

ENJOY - Happy Pollinated Spring ATL!

XO,
zo