Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese

I have to thank the lovely Kristina for this genius idea of her's!

Johnny and I love jalapeno poppers, stuffed jalapenos, or whatever you choose to call them. They go by many names, but the premise is the same: a seeded jalapeno, stuffed with ooey gooey cheese. This is them- but in sandwich form.

Begin by spreading a couple Tablespoons of cream cheese on bread. Add shredded cheese to the other side.

I seeded and roasted our jalapenos in the toaster oven for a few minutes, to give them a charred flavor. 

Sandwich the jalapenos in between the 2 slices of bread and grill (or use a panini press) to cook your sandwich and melt the cheese.

Slice and enjoy! Feel free to swap out your favorite cheese flavors, or even vegan cheeses, as Kristina did!

Homemade Crunchwrap Supreme

I pinned these a few weeks ago, and they finally made it into my meal plan this week!

I was thinking these would be so much healthier than their Taco Bell counterpart, but honestly, they aren't. There isn't that much you can do to improve the recipe when you're using a lot of tortillas - they're just really caloric.

I used:
1 pound lean ground beef, drained
1 package taco seasoning
6 burrito sized flour tortillas
3 taco sized flour tortillas
6 corn tortillas
1 cup shredded cheese of choice
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup diced tomatoes
1 cup shredded lettuce

Brown your beef, drain the fat, and prepare according to the taco seasoning label. While the meat is cooking, you can wash and chop your tomato and lettuce, and shred your cheese. It helps to have a little assembly line of ingredients set up for easy preparation.

To assemble, toast your corn tortillas until crispy and lightly browned in your oven or toaster oven. Warm the flour tortillas in the microwave to make them more pliable. Spoon a small amount of the meat into the center of your burrito sized flour tortilla. Add some shredded cheese. Top with the crispy corn tortilla. Spread some sour cream, then top with some tomatoes and shredded lettuce. My large tortilla was not large enough to cover the entire packet, so I had to use part of a smaller tortilla in the center.

Fold the edges, as pictured, until you have a neat little packet. Place seam side down on a hot skillet, or in my case I used my Cuisinart Griddler, so there was no need for flipping. If you need to flip, do so carefully after a few minutes once your seam is toasted and sealed closed.

 Serve immediately, but be careful- they will be very hot!

These were really delicious! A lot less greasy than the Taco Bell ones, but just as flavorful and satisfying. They were very filling, too. I just had 1 for dinner and was completely full.

Taco Bell Crunchwrap supreme stats: 540 calories, 21 grams of fat.
Homemade Crunchwrap supreme stats: 503 calories, 15 grams of fat.

Oh! And Beth, I keep forgetting to post this. I put out those oranges for the orioles, that you recommended back in May! Mine didn't attract anything :( They sat out there a couple of weeks, until they got dried out and black, so I threw them into the woods. 

Egg Roll Stir Fry

I love egg rolls. Love them. 
When we get Chinese I not only eat mine, I also I eat Johnny's.  
Sometimes I can't even wait until we get home to enjoy them with my meal, I just devour them in the car, over the take out container, like some savage beast that hasn't eaten in 4 days. 

However, they aren't incredibly healthy. A quick calorie look up and they range from 150-200 calories each. And I just treat them like a little appetizer before I dig into the real meal. Not a good habit.

That's why I was really, really excited when I saw Debbi's healthy and low calorie take on egg rolls - in a stir fry. Sans wonton wrapper, and without the trip into the deep fryer. I pinned them for future reference, and immediately had 10 repins!

With my new work schedule, I've been trying to cook a larger meal at 1 or 2pm, that way I can pack some up to take to work, and leave some for Johnny to eat for his dinner when he gets hungry. It takes more planning than usual, but this was really simple and came together in less than 30 minutes. 

I used: 
~1 pound ground beef
1/2 head green cabbage, sliced thin
3 carrots, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 onion, sliced thin
4 cloves garlic, minced
1" hunk of ginger, minced
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup soy sauce (I used reduced sodium)
onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, to taste

 

Begin by browning your beef in a high sided skillet. Once browned, drain the grease. Add the vegetable oil and all of the veggies. Pour the soy sauce over, put a lid on, and let cook for about 10 minutes, stirring a few times, until the vegetables are cooked to your preference. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary. Serves 4.


This was really very tasty. Like Debbi said, it wasn't exactly like eating an egg roll, but it definitely hit a lot of the same notes, enough to satisfy a greasy take out craving for awhile.

Plugged into My Fitness Pal, each serving is 276 calories and 13 grams of fat.

Palm Plate Review

Happy Memorial Day weekend everybody!

Marx Foods sent me these cool palm plates to try out and review. I was instantly intrigued because they just sound really unique and fun.

The plates are made from the leaves of the Adaka palm tree. As they grow, they discard their old leaves, and these are what are gathered and used to make the plates. There is no harvesting or cutting down of trees, just collecting discarded leaves. Then, they are cleaned and molded with a heat press. They are disposable and eco-friendly.

When I got them, the first thing I did was take one out to the palm tree in our yard so they felt "at home." 

They are really quite pretty. The bottoms were darker and you could tell they were made of a leaf. The serving side was a lot lighter, without as many ridges.

They're really thick and sturdy. The folks at Marx Foods did a weight test on them and the plate held 13 pounds before it snapped and broke. You definitely can't do that with your usual paper or plastic disposable plate!

I took one of the hexagon plates to work with me. I started my usual summer job at the ice cream shop and thought it'd be the perfect place to test a disposable plate. I love that all of the plates had high lips, so you could actually use it almost like a bowl. This held a serving of rainbow sherbet like a champ with no leaking. The bottom didn't even feel that cold! When I was done, I washed the plate under warm water with a soapy scrub brush and let it air dry to be used again. They are disposable, but they're such good quality that you can get multiple uses out of them.

We have some company visiting for the holiday weekend, so the small rectangle plates took a trip with us to our housing development's beach area for a picnic lunch.

Again, the high lip on the plate came in handy, because it kept sand away from our food. The rigid plates held their own on damp sand and weren't overturned by light breezes.

When we were done with our lunch, we sent this little toy out for a float.

We joked he had a "burial at sea." But, in all seriousness, the plates even held the weight of multiple beach and sand toys and stayed afloat and sturdy. The girls had such a blast using them as boats. Who would think that you could take your disposable plates from eating lunch and then turn them into a fun beach toy?

We played at the beach for about 3 hours and the plates held up the whole time. After being in the water they did start to warp a bit, but we just packed them up with their beach toys and as they dried they became rigid and sturdy again. We won't reuse these to eat on, but it's crazy to think that they have the ability for continued use after such a full afternoon!

The pros:
Ridiculously sturdy - you feel confident using these for any type of food, hot or cold.
Great looking - a nice, natural beauty.
Eco-friendly - no trees harmed in the making!
Disposable - you don't have to worry about breaking them, losing them, or giving them away.

The cons:
They came loose in a box, without packaging, which I was kind of skeeved about.
A slight ammonia/woodsy smell when first received, but that dissipated as aired out.
Price - these are not cheap! They come in a variety of sizes and shapes and all are over $1 per plate.

Personally, I would not use these for everyday, casual eating because of the price.

I think they would work well for a beach wedding, a family reunion, themed parties, or for giving baked goods in. Something I'm definitely going to keep them in mind for is camping- where you could rinse and reuse them the whole camping trip, discarding them at the end.

They're a really pretty product that I'm glad to have had the chance to learn about and review first hand. They're a step above paper and plastic plates, but without all the negative, disposable factors. These can even be composted when done, instead of ending up in a landfill.

Disclaimer: I received a few, assorted plate sizes complimentary from Marx Foods to use and review. The opinions are my own, honest thoughts about the product.

POM deceptive marketing

I was scrolling through articles on my news app last night, while Johnny snored happily beside me when this headline caught my attention:

"Judge rules: POM deceptively marketed pomegranate juice"

Hmmm.. I had a moment of hesitation, because this is a company that has sent ME products. Products that I received with packets of information to pass along to my readers.

Curious, I clicked on the article and realized that I had unknowingly used Dinner at Christina's to spread these false health claims.

Here are a few news articles for further reading:

Judge: POM deceptively marketed pomegranate juice

POM Wonderful's Deception Is The Tip Of The Iceberg

Judge Says Pom Wonderful’s Advertising Is Misleading

FTC Calls POM Wonderful Claims Deceptive

So, what does this mean? Well, personally, I think it means that they got carried away in advertising unsupported benefits they think pomegranate juice has. 

It's still a fruit. It's still whole food. It's still 100% juice, with no added sugars or artificial crap. It can't be bad, but it's just not as good as they've advertised. 

Truthfully, I haven't had anything pomegranate related in about two years. I opted out of receiving further complimentary products, and I no longer purchase or order anything that lists pomegranate as a main ingredient. 

Why?

Well, pomegranate (along with some other foods, such as maca and Brazil nuts) have been known to affect moods. Having experienced a life time of anxiety and depression issues, I found that drinking pomegranate juice, or eating foods with it as a main ingredient make me.. hmm, how shall I put this? 

Batshit crazy. 

No, really. Johnny was the one that noticed it and pointed it out (brave man). Every time when we looked back, I had had pomegranate juice, or a pomegranate related food within the past 24 hours.

So, basically what I'm saying is: 

Dinner at Christina's featured a product and repeated information about that product that has now been shown to be unsupported. I apologize for that and will edit the original post to make sure and include this updated information.

Disclaimer: I'm posting this on my own. Nobody told me to. I want to keep all my product reviews and opinions of products up to date and honest!

Tofu UnStirred Fry

This was one of those dinners that gets thrown together because you haven't gone to the grocery store in forever. Our new house is halfway between grocery stores. 9 miles in one direction, 10 miles in the other. It isn't the most convenient, so I tend to put off going to the store until the last possible minute when the only thing left in the house is a tablespoon of milk and a can of soup. (Not really. But, you get the point.)

I tried to resist all urges to get take out from the delicious pizza place that is < 1 mile from our new home, in favor of a healthier option, so I worked with what I had. It turned out pretty good, definitely healthy, and I'm glad I didn't cave and get take out.

This could be made as a stir fry, but mine is an unstirred fry. Johnny and I got some new "waterless/greaseless" cookware before the wedding (post forthcoming) and I'm learning how to cook with them. Please feel free to cook this however you like- the end results will be the same! 

1 cup, uncooked rice - prepared as desired
1 bunch broccoli, steamed
4 stalks celery, steamed
1 onion, steamed
1 container extra firm tofu, drained and pressed
1/4 cup Newman's Own Low Fat Sesame Ginger
1/4 cup chopped peanuts

To start, I drained and pressed my tofu between two heavy plates in the sink. I sliced it in 1/4" slices and marinated it in the dressing.
I cooked our rice separately. Then, I steamed the vegetables separately. I used our Cuisinart griddler on high to cook the tofu and give it some nice color and grill marks.
I combined the rice, vegetables, peanuts, and remaining dressing in a large bowl and tossed until everything was combined. We served giant spoonfuls, then placed the tofu on top.
Serve with additional soy sauce or hot sauce, as desired.

 

This made a lot - we had huge helpings that night and a big container for leftover lunches. 

 

Entered into My Fitness Pal as 4 servings, each serving is 316 calories, 9g fat before adding additional sauces. Not too shabby for a throw together dinner, while trying to behave!!

Bouquets, Boutonnieres, Corsages

In keeping with the "cheap-as-possible-free-is-even-better-budget," I decided to make all of the bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages, the cake topper, and the centerpieces for our wedding. We didn't have a florist, so it just made sense for it to be DIY.

My god daughter's mom and I went to Carolina Pottery in Cary, NC and spent around $60 on supplies for everything listed above. I used maybe half of what we got, but I wanted to play it safe so I got extras.

I browsed Etsy and Pinterest for ideas, borrowed my mom's hot glue gun, and got to work!

My bouquet was unique, in that it really wasn't a bouquet at all. I carried my Grammy's prayer book down the aisle (the same one she carried down the aisle at her December wedding in 1952). The handkerchief wrapped around the flowers was my great-grandmother's, and the lace edging was done by my great-great-grandmother. A bride couldn't get more love and support than carrying 3 generations of Italian grandmas with her on her big day!

The flowers were a faux calla lily, glittery faux sprigs of leaves, some evergreen, and some sparkly strands. 

My cousin, Anne-Marie was my Maid of Honor. Her bouquet was made with shatterproof ornaments with some faux greenery and pinecones. The lace and ribbons were remnants from my mom's sewing box.

I made five men's boutonnieres for: Johnny, his brother (the Best Man), both of our fathers, and my grandfather. I used faux rose buds, faux evergreen sprigs, and faux twigs with little "ice crystals" on them. The bottom was wrapped with florist's tape.

I made two women's corsages for: my mom and my grandmother. I used faux white roses, faux evergreen sprigs, little fake red berries, and the glittery sprigs. My mom ended up wearing hers in her hair.

I would estimate the cost for all the above bouquets, boutonnieres, and corsages at less than $20. It took some pre-planning and a few hours on my part, but it was definitely worth it. We saved a couple hundred dollars on these few things, alone.

I like that we got to keep them as "souvenirs," they didn't wither and die in a few days. (I have a great shadow box idea in mind for Johnny's boutonniere.) Also, they had a more personal vibe because I made them.

All professional photos taken by Alex Kaplan.