Saturday, November 1, 2008

BSI Pear Submission

by Meghann on November 1, 2008

Tonight I finally was able to test out my BSI recipe for the week and let me tell you this one tasted like a winner. The recipe has a short ingredient list and was super easy put together, yet the end result was amazing. I am so happy to submit the fallowing recipe to Erica at Itzy’s Kitchen for her selection of Pear as this week’s Blogger Secret Ingredient contest. :)

Chicken with Balsamic Pear Sauce

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Ingredients:

  • chicken breast
  • 1 small pear, sliced
  • 1/4 of a small onion, chopped
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth
  • 1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon whole wheat flour
  • handful of crushed pecans
  1. Cook the chicken breast on the stove top until the chicken is cooked through
  2. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside
  3. Add the onions to the hot pan until soft then add the sliced pear
  4. In a separate bowl mix together the broth, balsamic vinegar, sugar and whole wheat four until well blended
  5. Pour the sauce mix into the pan and bring to a boil
  6. Once boiling reduce temp and return the chicken to the pan
  7. Cover the pan and let simmer until the sauce thickens to your liking, between 5 and 10 minutes
  8. Once plated top with the crushed pecans

The sweetness of the sauce really added a wonderful element to overall flavor of the chicken. The pear and the balsamic flavors blend together perfectly. I highly suggest you try this one at home!

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For my side I microwaved a small sweet potato.

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For dessert tonight, I knew I wanted frozen yogurt, but I could not decide between fruit or crunchy as my topping, so I decided to have both!

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On the bottom I had a small handful of Puffed Brown Rice, then the Peanut Butter Cup Frozen Yogurt and finally 3 fresh Strawberries chopped on top.

Several of you have been requesting the brand of Peanut Butter Cup Frozen Yogurt I eat so I snapped a picture so you could get a visual.

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It’s Publix Brand Premium Frozen Yogurt. Unfortunately it is only available at Publix which are only located in the south. But it is really yummy and I highly recommend it to everyone who had a Publix near by. :)

While I was blogging away this afternoon (and completely ignoring the overflowing pile of dirty clothes in my closet) I snacked on a serving size of Pumpkin Spice Trail Mix.

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Gina is making am appearance in good ole O-Town tomorrow and I have a date to meet her for Latin Cardio in the morning and then for a day of leisurely shopping (or should I just say window shopping?). I have never taken a latin cardio class so it should be interesting, especially considering I have no business shaking my hips back and forth. I will let you know how it all turns out!

Don’t forget to set your clocks back tonight! We get a whole extra hour of sleep. Woo hoo!!

{ 20 comments }

Play Date with Abbie

by Meghann on November 1, 2008

I had been promising Abbie a ‘Mommy and Me’ day for a while. I decided what better time to have one then on a gorgeous free Saturday? So, I dressed Abbie up in her finest collar and took her for a day out on the town.

We went to Blue Jacket Park and walked about a mile through the park to the heart of Baldwin Park. I have written about Baldwin Park before and I have to say each time I visit there I love it more and more. It is such a cute little neighborhood on the outskirts of Orlando.

Abbie and I stopped at a cute little restaurant in the downtown area.

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The majority of the restaurants in this area had tables set up on patios that were very pet friendly. As always, the servers swooned over Abbie and brought her a water bowl and a couple of treats to eat while we waited on the food.

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As the name might suggest this place had a great menu of delicious seafood entrees. For my lunch I chose the lunch portion of their Ahi Tuna.

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The Ahi Tuna was covered in Mandarin Oranges & Pineapple. The fruity flavors added a great depth to the tuna that was amazing.

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The Tuna came with steamed veggies. The veggies were good, but I could taste the butter on them. If I ever came back I would have to remember to ask them to skip the butter.

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After our meal Abbie and I did a little window shopping. This area is very pet friendly and a lot of the stores had dog bowls set out front with puppy treats and refreshments.

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We did step inside to the cutest little pet store. The store not only had treats for the puppies, but for the owners as well. I snagged a mini Hersheys Bar.

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The Hershey Bar was good, but I much prefer Dark Chocolate over Milk Chocolate any day of the week.

I was surprised that the neighborhood had already started putting Christmas decorations up.

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I mean wasn’t Halloween yesterday?

If our nice afternoon stroll was not enough I had another surprise for Abbie up my sleeves. I drove her to the nearby dog park. And this wasn’t any dog park, this is the ultimate lake dog park. Abbie was literally shaking with excitement as we pulled up.

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Abbie had so much fun running around, playing with other dogs and swimming in the lake.

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Abbie’s ultimate goal is to always get as filthy as possible when she’s at the dog park. Luckily they do have a bathing station where I was able to clean her off before the ride home.

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All in all it was a perfect day with my little Abbie. Now she is happily passed out on my lap, isn’t she the cutest?

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Before our adventure, I had a little packaged delivered to my door.

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My Quaker Oatmeal winnings had finally arrived! I was out of oatmeal, so this came at the perfect time! Unfortunately I can’t eat the Banana Bread :( This will have to go in my pantry in the reserved for guests section. I did, however, dig into the Oatmeal Squares as my midmorning snack. I just had a small handful to taste test it.

Thanks again to Kath for setting up the contest!

I have a ton of shows to catch up on the DVR. I still haven’t had a chance to watch the new Office.. gasp! I will be back tonight with my BSI entry so stay tuned!

{ 17 comments }

Halloween Recap

November 1, 2008

Happy first day of November! Halloween is now over and it’s time to start thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas. Can you believe it? Before you know it will be 2009! Before I start reaching too far in the future, let’s roll it back and bring it back to  last night’s Halloween adventures. I had so more »

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