The Talent Given Us

If you love the movie/documentary - The Talent Given Us - as much as I do, please feel free to join the Facebook Group I've created!  Thanks!

Here's the link:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/78736706890/?fref=ts

Sushi

Just a Beautiful photo of Sushi!  Wow!

Pink Floyd Birthday Cake?

Hi Everyone!

Last year, for my son's 25th birthday (May 27), I made him a "Snowboarder Cake"...It came out really nice and my son enjoyed it!

My son, Angelo is a huge Pink Floyd fan, so I was thinking of making this Pink Floyd album cover-cake for him...using sugar "cubes", which I noticed are available as rectangles, then using dark chocolate icing to make the lettering!  (the sugar cubes would be removed before cutting the cake?)

I know May 27th is a month away, but I like to plan these things in my head in advance!  Any suggestions are definitely welcome!
Besides snowboarding and Pink Floyd, he also likes "Game of Thrones", "Dexter", and "Sushi"...LOL

Ciao for now,
Gina D.

P.S.!

Sorry for the update delay, but here is a photo of the finished product!  Thankfully, I used regular white frosting to make the "bricks", and not sugar cubes!  LOL

Ciao for now,

Gina D.

R.I.P. Martin William Richard, Krystle Marie Campbell, Lingzi Lu

My heart goes out to the Families of the Boston Marathon Bombing victims who passed away, and also to all those still struggling and suffering through their injuries.  

R.I.P. Martin William Richard, age 8

In Memory of Martin

Please read about Martin here.

R.I.P.  Krystle Marie Campbell, age 29

In Memory of Krystle

Please read about Krystle here.

R.I.P.  Lingzi Lu, age 23

In Memory of Lingzi

Please read about Lingzi here.

Greek-Inspired Chicken, Stuffed with Spinach and Feta Cheese

Yet another one of my "Greek-Inspired" recipes...lol.  Similar to a previous recipe I posted, in that this one also has spinach and feta cheese...

http://positivelygina.blogspot.com/2012/10/greek-inspired-chicken-cutlets.html

The first step is to lightly saute baby spinach in olive oil and a bit of minced garlic, then  set aside and let it cool down.

Next,
Below:  Thinly sliced chicken breast cutlets, seasoned with black pepper.  I don't add salt to the chicken because Feta cheese is already salty.

Next,
Below:  Place a bit of the spinach/garlic mixture, and a cube of Feta cheese on the cutlets as shown...

Next,
Below:  Carefully roll up the cutlets and place in a baking pan, making sure the open section is facing down...I then added some melted "Smart Balance" on top, to which I also added just a dash of hot-sauce.

Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 25 minutes.  

Don't slice them as soon as they come out of the oven.  Let them sit for 5 to 10 minutes so that they set-up a bit, and the stuffing won't come tumbling out!

Next,
Below:
Enjoy!
A nice and delicious stuffed chicken cutlet with spinach and Feta cheese...served with roasted potatoes.  Yum!

Ciao for now,
Gina D.

Happy Easter!

TO ALL WHO CELEBRATE EASTER, HAVE A HAPPY, HEALTHY AND BLESSED ONE!

By Gina D.

I'm Having Breakfast for Dinner - and Why You Should Too!

One thing I learned a few years ago was never to eat dinner past 7:00 P.M.  This helped me both maintain my weight, and avoid any bad Acid Reflux episodes from occurring when I'm in bed and trying to sleep.

This doesn't, however, mean that I can eat whatever I want up until 6:59!  LOL...on the contrary.  I like to eat dinner well before 7:00 P.M., and recently, I've found that eating some items of Breakfast for Dinner- makes sense!  

Please read:
http://lecom.edu/healthynews.php/the-benefits-of-eating-breakfast-at-dinner/76/0/2818/16625

These are some of the "traditionally breakfast" foods, that I've had for dinner..

Oatmeal with banana,
Cheerios with strawberries and soy milk,
Cottage cheese with fresh fruit,
Soft-boiled egg on whole wheat toast, or
Yogurt with granola.

Of course, I avoid items such as bacon, sausage, corned beef hash, etc. because that would defeat the whole purpose of eating Breakfast for Dinner!

So tonight, I made a small Egg-white Omelette with potatoes, red bell pepper and some thinly sliced Cabot's 50% Reduced Fat Cheddar Cheese...It was yummy!

I hope YOU give eating Breakfast for Dinner a try too!

Ciao and Happy Eating!

Gina D.

What's For Din Din

Shake -n- Bake Chicken Thighs (with my own twist), and Orzo Pasta with Baby Spinach, Cherry Tomatoes, and Feta Cheese!

The Orzo Pasta came out really yummy!  While the Orzo was cooking, I sauteed some minced garlic in olive oil and then added the baby spinach and cherry tomatoes.  I sauteed these ingredients along with a dash of red pepper flakes, freshly ground black pepper, and some oregano.  I didn't want to over-cook these ingredients...only until the spinach was slightly wilted and the tomatoes began to soften! 

Then I drained the Orzo and added it to the cooked ingredients.  After all the ingredients were in the serving bowl, that's when I added the cubed-up feta cheese and stirred the feta into the hot Orzo...the feta cheese melted slightly.  Yum!

I can imagine serving this dish in the summer-time also!  Maybe slightly chilled, alone, or with some grilled chicken or fish.

My Shake -n- Bake Chicken Thighs also turned out quite delicious...and juicy!

I used skinless chicken thighs (and a couple of drum sticks), and breaded them with regular Shake -n- Bake (for chicken).  Towards the end of the cooking process, I added my own twist by pouring over the thighs, my own mixture of:  lemon juice, lemon zest, minced garlic, and melted Smart Balance "butter".  I let the chicken finish cooking. 

The chicken turned out really yummy!  Lemony and Juicy!  To quote my son, Angelo, the chicken was "Bangin" and "Nice and Lemony".  LOL!

Hope you enjoyed this post!  

Ciao for now, and happy eating!

Gina D.

Baked Ziti with Zucchini

This is a great dish to make for "Meatless Monday", or any day of the week!

Yummy, cheesy Ziti with Zucchini!

This was fairly easy to make.  To make the sauce, I first sauteed finely chopped garlic in olive oil, until  very lightly browned, then added my favorite organic tomato sauce and the sliced Zucchini pieces.  I let the sauce and Zucchini simmer until the Zucchini was almost all the way cooked.  (During this time, the Ziti was boiling away in a different pot).

I then added the cooked Ziti to the sauce and let everything simmer together for another 5 or so minutes. 

I poured the Ziti and Zucchini with sauce mixture into an aluminum pan, and mixed in diced mozzarella cheese (part-skim), some fresh-cut basil, and then sprinkled some grated mozzarella cheese over the top.

Everything combined, right before it went

into the oven

To meld all the flavors together and get the cheese gooey and melted, I put it into a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes.

It came out really delicious!  

I hope you give this no-meat-dish a try...for Meatless Monday, or any day of the week!

Enjoy,

Ciao,

Gina D.

Happy Birthday Big Brother!

JOSEPH ANTHONY DELORENZO

In Heaven for 22 Years

MARCH 2, 1958  -  OCTOBER 12, 1991

GONE, BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN...HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOEY!

Happy Joey riding the S.I. Ferry with our Dad

Joey in front of our Dad's record collection

I came along in 1962

We had a lot of fun growing up together,

but a lot of heartache, also

Happier times with our Dad, after my

First Communion Ceremony

You were an Oakland Raiders fan,

for some reason...lol

Dear Joe,

Thanks for the fun and happy times we shared and everything you taught me about life!  So much has happened since you've been gone.  At least you had a chance to meet my son, your Nephew, Angelo, when he was 3 years old.

I guess I got the "survivor" gene, and you were chosen to go up to look upon me.  Are you taking care of me from up there?  I think you, Daddy, and Gran must have turned into my Guardian Angels, because I've been through so much and have come through things still in one piece!

Until we meet again, dear brother, 

Please continue to watch over me... and Angelo too.

Love you always,

Your Lil Sis,

Gina