The Picky Plate

On a recent visit to Austin, my friend Dee Dee recommended we meet at a local tea room.  I was so excited, I love these kinds of places! The Steeping Room is a very cute and quaint little place with more tea options than you could imagine. We decided to stick with what we know, and ordered my favorite–Green Tea. 

Truth be told, this place had the BEST scone I’ve ever tasted. I had the “Mixed Berry” scone that was made with spelt rather than regular flour. WOW! I will not rest until I figure out how to replicate this recipe

The menu offers everything from brunch, lunch and dinner to specialty options such as vegetarian, vegan and meat dishes–along with desserts and exquisite teas. Yum!

If you are ever in the Austin area and looking for a little place to chat with friends or enjoy some hot tea, check out The Steeping Room.

I love pancakes. Period. But sometimes they are just a bit too “heavy” for my liking. Luckily, a friend recently  introduced me to a fabulous recipe for lower calorie pancakes. But before I pass it along, let’s just get one thing straight and out on the table, the main ingredient is… COTTAGE CHEESE (gasp!!). I understand this may scare some of you, I know it scared me at first. Mainly, because I HATE cottage cheese….and the fact that it’s used in a pancake mix seems ridiculous, am I right? Well, let me tell you—It was amazing. Even my husband loved them. They are so much lighter and fluffier than regualr pancakes because less flour is used. I definitely recommend this recipe! So, let’s take a look…

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1/3 cup sifted all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

• Separate 1 egg. Combine 3 whole eggs, plus one yolk and mix with all ingredients in blender. Beat egg white until fluffy, mix with other ingredients by hand. Pour and heat on skillet. Serve.

Thats it! So easy. (Thanks Ramie!!) She served ours with Greek yogurt mixed with strawberries and blackberries. Enjoy!!

One thing I absolutely love is trying new foods and restaurants. With each new destination there is a unique enviroment and taste waiting to be explored. Whether it’s casual or upscale, one thing is certain–there’s no better enjoyment than good food and fine wine (at least in my opinion). For that reason, I decided to create a “Restaurant Reviews” section of my blog– Exploring the delicious places in my home state of Texas, along with many other wonderful places around the country. So, with that being said, let’s get started…

Several weeks ago, a small group of us “Dallas Foodies” met for happy hour. First, I would just like to say–chatting about food, wine, recipes and traveling for 3 hours is like Heaven to me! We met at Trece in Uptown and it was my very first visit. Upon my arrival, I was impressed with the  neighborhood in which it was located. The interior was very chic and modern. I noticed right away how attentive and friendly the staff was– starting with the host, then the wait staff. The menu had many appetizer options, which was perfect for our occassion–appetizers and wine only ;)

The wine list was about a mile long. We decided to go with a Cabernet Sauvignon–delicious!

Here are a few photos of the girls. Natalie and I.

Heather with Natalie & Emily.

We decided to order several appetizer’s and share. We started with the guacamole, which was fantastic!!

Then, we had the Nachos Amador con Langosta, which contained lobster, blackbean, avacado, roasted tomoato salsa, jack cheese and jalapeno jelly. Wow!! Good and very rich. The jelly was a nice touch.

Next up, the Cuna Mexicana con Tepache Glazed Tuna– iceberg wedge with Ahi tuna, cucumber pico de gallo, apple cider blue cheese vinegarette and walnuts. Very yummy!

Natalie and I were still feeling snacky, so we both ordered a side of sweet potatoes, made with Agave butter.

I would say my over all experience at Trece was pleasant. The atmosphere was enjoyable and so was the wine. Please take note, I did not try any of the entrees but from what I did have, I bet the rest is pretty tasty! Enjoy!

Good evening! I hope everyone had a happy Monday. On days like this I just want something easy for dinner, yet healthy too. Veggie stir fry is the answer! My mom got us a really nice Wok for Christmas and it has come in very handy

I don’t have an actual recipe for my stir fry, I just throw a bunch of stuff together depending on whats in my kitchen. Some things I like to use are:

• White Rice
• Asparagus
• Spinach (as it gets warm it shrinks down, so you can add boat loads!)
• Pineapple Chunks
• Water Chestnuts
• Yellow Squash
• Snap Peas
• Cubed Tofu (marinated in soy sauce & toasted sesame oil)

Just throw in anything you like! Tonight I only had a handful of those ingredients.

I put my cubed tofu in a bowl to marinate for about 10 or 15 minutes, and cook my rice in the meantime.  Then, fry the tofu on a skillet pan until its browned.

Add everything together in the Wok and drizzle additional soy sauce into the mixture (or whatever sauce you want) and stir.

So easy and so good. Enjoy!

Hello! I hope you all had a special day. I’m pretty sure I have the best husband in the world. This morning he made me breakfast…HEART SHAPED ”eggs in a basket”. I was so excited to see the hearts he cut out, it definitely made breakfast special

Then, he presented me with a homemade gift (those are the best kind!). He hand painted a small jar and put special notes inside. He said if ever I feel sad or upset to pull a note out and it will brighten my day. He is so thoughtful…I am one lucky girl

Last night, he took me to  Cappuchino Italian Bistro for dinner.  Such great food with several meatless dishes and our waiter was so helpful. If you are in the Dallas area I recommend you check this place out. We started out with a nice glass of Cabernet.

The bread was amazing! So soft and light with a tomato basil dipping sauce.

For dinner I ordered the Penne Rustica which contained penne pasta, grilled eggplant, squash, zucchini, bell peppers, tomatoes, garlic & onions. Wow!! It was so good. And I had the left overs for lunch today.

Kevin had the Eggplant Parmegiana with a side of angel hair pasta.

Afterwards, we enjoyed a cup of coffee (in the cutest little mug!) and Spumoni for dessert.

Dating my husband is the best

On another note, I would like to mention the weather here in Dallas. Wow–we had SO much snow this weekend. We had 12-18 inches, which was record breaking for our area! This is what we woke up to Friday morning…

Mardy LOVED the snow!

Hope you all had a very special Valentine’s day!