5 Things You Need to Try

Sorry its been so long since i've posted - I've been super busy! I thought I would give a few tips today of some things I've been cooking. I'm OBSESSED with finding tasty and healthy meals, while also making sure I use EVERYTHING in my fridge. I've made it my personal mission NOT to let things spoil.

So, here are a few things I've recently started doing:

1. Condiment - mix mayo (low or no fat), mustard (any type) and horseradish (plain prepared, not in mayo) together. Add salt & pepper (and even garlic salt!). This makes a great addition to a turkey burger, or a sandwich! My husband was literally wiping the bowl clean with his sandwich to get it all!

2. Salad Dressing: White Vinegar, Salt, Pepper, Lemon Juice, and herbs (oregano, basil are what I usually choose). NO OIL. You'll see that you really dont need it! NO guilt in having all the dressing you want!

3. Fish Seasoning: Horseradish & Low Sodium Soy Sauce. Mix 3 parts soy sauce to 1 part horseradish and baste your salmon with it while grilling. Don't marinate it, the soy sauce is too strong. BUT feel free to slather on as much as you want onto the fish! (And use the left over horse- radish for your condiment!) I got this from my in-laws (no idea where they learned it) but its my favorite way to prepare salmon now!

4. Veggies: Cut your carrots into sticks and toss them in Olive Oil, salt, pepper, and pumpkin pie seasoning. It is TO DIE FOR. I love it!

5. Breakfast: I got this from Giada (whom I adore)...Take plain oatmeal, and cook it. Add Olive Oil and Salt. I'm not kidding - its amazing. Just try it before you judge! I've even started eating it for dinner!! ITs like healthier grits (to all of you southerners out there..)

Just some quick tricks to jazz up your everyday foods! Enjoy!

Roasted chicken and veggie rice gratin

I've spent the last few days trying new recipes out, and added a few dishes to my repetoire.  Tonight I took a recipe from pinterest and doctored it up for my husband (here is the original recipe http://smittenkitchen.com/2012/07/31/zucchini-rice-gratin/ ). It was the perfect dish in that it was hearty, healthy, and relatively easy! I had baked a chicken a few weeks ago (see older posts) and I froze left over meat we didnt eat.  So, tonight, I defrosted it and added it in! Here is a look at the finished product: (sorry I'm not great at presentation...)

Here are the ingredients:

2 Cups brown rice
1 3/4 chicken broth
Fresh basil
Thyme
Olive oil
Salt/Pepper
2-3 Zuccini
4+ roma tomatoes (or smaller tomatoes)
Roasted Chicken breast (as much meat as you like)
2 stalks Celery
Garlic
3 small Shallots
Parmesan Cheese
Mozzarella Cheese
2 lightly beaten eggs

I am not big into giving amounts for salt, pepper, olive oil, cheese etc -- I feel like those are all based on personal taste!

First, I used chicken broth (instead of water) to make the brown rice. I followed the rice recipe - so depending on the amount of people you are cooking for you may want more/less. I chopped up a stalk of celery and threw it in with the rice as well for flavor.  While the rice was cooking, I chopped up zuccini and tomato. I took 3 cookie sheets and coated them in olive oil, and salted/peppered them. I placed all the sliced vegtables on the sheets. I added a little garlic to the zuccini sheets and added salt/pepper on top of all veggies. I put all threee sheets in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes or until browned. I turned the zuccini half way through to prevent burning. While they were roasting in the oven, I put some olive oil, shallots and a stalk of celery in a saute pan and cooked until the shallots were clear.  Next, I took a bowl, dumped the rice into a bowl and added chopped fresh basil. I dumped the celery and shallots in next. Pour the beated eggs in, 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese (give or take) a little mozzarella, add some salt, pepper, thyme, olive oil (just a dash) and pulled chicken meat.  Mix the mixture together. Grease the bottom of a baking pan (one suitable to the amount of food you've prepared). Put about half of the rice mixture down in the pan, and then layer zuccini on top. Sprinkle cheese on top. Add more rice, and then more cheese and zuccini. Layer tomatoes next, then any remaining vegtables and cheese. Put in the oven at 450 for about 20-30 minutes or until its bubbling and browning on the edge.

This was the perfect dinner, and my husband ate half of the pan!

Fruity Baked Oatmeal

This morning I realized I had several types of fruit that were on the verge of going bad. So I came up with this variation on a crisp/baked oatmeal. Its low in sugar, healthy, and super easy to make! Here is a picture of the finished product:

First I pulled out all of my fruit - you can use any berries, apples, peaches - whatever you have! I used blueberries, strawberries and 1 peach.I sliced all the fruit up and put in in the bottom of a greased pie plate. The amount depends completely one how much fruit you have , how large your baking dish is, and how you want the fruit to oatmeal ratio to be! Next, I cut about 1/4 of a stick of butter up in small pieces and put it in a bowl with about 11/2 cups of flour (started with 1 c but realized later I needed some more) I added cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice into the oatmeal mix. You could use any spices you like - nutmeg, cinnamon, etc. Pumpkin pie spice is nutmeg, allspice, and ginger mixed together. Next, I took about 1 tbsp of organic brown sugar (or you could do Agave Nectar or Honey) and I tossed the fruit in it (in the pie dish) Once it looked to be covered LIGHTLY, I added the oatmeal on top. Since the oatmeal is on top, its important you add enough liquid to make it cook.  So I poured milk over the top. Just pour enough to cover the fruit up, but I'd say a little less than half of the depth of the pan. Again - the amount of milk really just depends on the amount of oatmeal. When I originally poured my cup of oats on top, it wasnt enough to cover. So I sprinkled a little more on top (which makes me think I used 1 1/4-1 1/2) Lastly, I sprayed a little cooking spray on top to help the top layer cook/brown. You could also use a spray butter - or nothing at all. I cooked it on 350 for about 15-20 minutes or until the oatmeal was cooked. At some places it appeared uncooked or dry, so I periodically opened the oven and turned those spots under to cook.

This was SO good, and not too sweet and I did it in about 10 minutes (not including cooking). I'll be eating this all week!

Meal Planning

Since I am only cooking for two these days - and on a budget - I have really gotten into doing meal planning. So last week whole chickens were on sale for $.99 a lb. Of course, I bought one. I took the chicken and stuffed it with potatoes, carrots, onion, parsley, salt and pepper. (I would have used an apple if I had one!). I brushed a little olive oil on top and sprinkled salt, pepper, paprika, and parsley on top. Next, I added about a cup or two of water (you could use chicken broth). I put it in the oven for about 30 minutes covered. Next, I added chopped potatoes, onions and carrots around the chicken, basted it some, then added a few pads of olive oil spread (or butter).  I then left it uncovered, to allow the skin to get crispy but lock the juices in.  I continued to baste it until it was cooked. When it was done, I ladled the juice out for gravy and took out the vegtables (DO NOT eat the ones from inside the bird!) Next I took the chicken out of the roasting pan and put the pan back in the oven to brown on the edges. When the edges have browned, take it out and strain the pieces of skin/meat etc.  Reserve the juice for gravy.  Pull the meat off of the bones, and put the cleaned carcus in a large pot of water. Cover, bring to a boil, and cook for awhile. This will flavor the water as a base for a chicken soup. After about 20 minutes of boiling, strain and throw out the carcus (reserving the broth).

Here is what a I had left over after a few days. So, I decided to make a soup! I had a ton of other vegtables in the fridge, so I decided to use them to make a chicken soup. You can use any vegtables, but here are a few "staples" I keep on hand for soups.

I keep a few canned things on hand - tomatoes, broth, and different types of beans.  They don't go bad, and are great additions to any soup!

First I took some garlic, onion, celery, and olive oil and sauteed it in the bottom of a soup pot.  I slowly began adding vegtables, and the "broth" I made from boiling the carcus.  In the picture below I show what I added: carrots, zuccini, corn, broccoli, green beans.

I added fresh herbs - basil and parsley - and salt & pepper.  Add herbs, and garlic according to how strong you like your broth! I slowly added chicken, and water, and 1 can of broth until I had a large enough pot of soup. You can use all canned broth, or water whatever you have. I thought it needed more flavor, so  I added a little bit of the juice I'd preserved as well. I added alot of broth so that I could add noodles or rice. I brought the soup to a rolling boil and then added 1/2 cup of brown rice. You can use as much as you like, but start slow so that you make sure you dont have too much rice and not enough broth! Once you add the rice, cover and remove from heat.

Let it simmer awhile, and its done! I put it in 5 small containers to put in the freezer to eat later!

Healthy Italian Sausage Sandwich

Color mixing

Color mixing by mattisonave featuring high heel shoes

Milly vintage style dress / Milly vintage style dress / Kate Spade high heel shoes / Kate Spade orange sandals / Kate Spade handbag / Kate Spade coin bag / Kate Spade necklace / Kate Spade beaded jewelry / Kate Spade jewelry / Kate Spade brass jewelry / Kate Spade jewelry / kate spade new york

TEXTILE Elizabeth and James jeans

So, I just found these jeans, and perhaps its my inner 90s child coming out but I. AM. OBSESSED. I hate that I'm going to have to buy them, but alas, I am. They are so stinking cute, and fun, and would be great with a white tshirt. I love an easy but trendy outfit

TEXTILE Elizabeth and James jeans

Social Media & the 2012 Election

I was inspired by the 2008 election to research and study the affect that social media, and digital technology had on political activity. For the first time in my life, I actually noticed my facebook friends posting comments, statuses or articles about the campaigns.  Regardless of political viewpoints, it invigorated me to see that people actually had started to care more about politics -- something that has a major impact on all our lives.  As it turns out, the 2008 election was marked as one of the most "digital" elections ever.  The Obama campaign, in particular, utilized social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook to reach an audience that had typically been written off in the past. My graduate thesis used a study conducted by the Pew organization and essentially I found the following: As age increases above 21, young adults are significantly more likely to vote.  Between 18-21 young adults are almost a misnomer and are very difficult to chart or predict.  That is what makes this age group so valuable. This age group can be a "game changer".  Most voting figures or predictions are based on those demographics that are most likely to vote - however if those "unpredictable" groups are large enough, they can change the outcome of an election. I believe this is what we saw in 2008.  Young adults, mobilized by social media, came out in force to vote/support/donate to Obama.  He was young charismatic, different, and most importantly he seemed to know how to reach  them. John McCain was none of that.

So, here we are in 2012, and the tech battle is on again. Except this time, Mitt Romney is fighting back in a way that John McCain never did. While Obama still dominates with 27 million fans on Facebook to Romney's 2 million, the Romney camp is not giving up.  The Washington Post reported that last week Romney had ove 323,000 mentions on twitter, while Obama barely broke 200,000.  Not that this means much - as the Post also reports that only 5% of those followers are considered 'engaged' (by commenting, liking, or reposting things) to Romney's 32%.  The question at hand is not whether or not Obama still has the young adult poppulation's support, but whether he will be able to actually mobilize them to the polls. In that case, Obama's 5% seems rather weak. 

One aspect of the Romney campaign that is very fascinating is that he has outsourced to tech companies to assist in making his campaign as successful as possible.  Tapping into the market to leverage resources is a very "Romney" idea -- using the private sector to improve the public sector. We will see how it works out, and I hope it does. :)

Check out the article: "Romney advisers, aiming to pop Obama’s digital balloon, pump up online campaign" on www.washingtonpost.com for more information on this topic!

xo
M

Mix and Match

Mix and Match by mattisonave featuring neon skirts

Victoria's Secret racerback tank / Vince long top / Glamorous neon skirt, $37 / Alice + Olivia highwaisted pants / Tia contrast frill front cami, $81 / Rachel Zoe platform sandals / Alejandro Ingelmo wedge heels / MICHAEL Michael Kors michael kors tote / Michael Kors boho handbag / Juicy Couture chunky jewelry / Anchor jewelry / Marni bracelet / Oasis wrap jewelry, $46 / Kirra teardrop earrings / K. Amato stone jewelry / Reiss stackable ring / Yochi Design beaded jewelry

color blocking

color blocking by mattisonave featuring kate spade bags

Milly short sleeve shirt
stylebop.com

Trina Turk cropped pants
piperlime.gap.com

Vionnet stiletto heels
stylebop.com

Kate spade bag
couture.zappos.com

Kate spade earrings
lordandtaylor.com

Pattern and Color mixing

I just bought these leopard print shorts from JCrew, and I LOVE them. They are the perfect "base" for any outfit and I love that you can mix so many colors with them. I would put a bright top with the shorts and wear a flat (Rachel Zoe's Laura flat w/ Chain detail) for a day look. To glam it up, add a black blazer, pumps and one other bright color! Make sure never to do more than 2 colors when color blocking, and be sure to keep everything else neutral (see black shoes/blazer) so that you do look like a hot mess! :)

Pattern and Color mixing by mallory-beckett-daniel featuring quilted handbags

Rebecca Taylor tied t shirt, $185 / Daniel Rainn silk top / Rachel Zoe velvet jacket / J.Crew linen shorts, $93 / Vionnet stiletto high heels / Kate Spade quilted handbag / J.Crew plastic sunglasses

Fall Ankle Boots

Fall Ankle Boots by mallory-beckett-daniel featuring wedge booties

Tory Burch leather boots / belle by Sigerson Morrison wedge booties / Giorgio Armani peep toe shoes / Dolce Vita western booties




So above you'll see some of my favorite boots for this fall. I own the black wedge Tory Burch boots and I am OBSESSED with them.  So one of my pet peeves about the winter/fall is finding that shoe that is comfortable, warm, and an "everyday" kind of shoe. In the summer i can LIVE in my flat comfy sandals, but in the winter, not so much. And lets face it, a pump is fine for a night out, but not for an afternoon. So, I have a couple options here for shoes that go from day to night (exception being hte top left, unless you work in a casual place). The wedge makes these boots much more 'wearable' and the lace up feature is fantastic at creating hte perfect fit. I didn't have a lot of friends jump on the lace up trend with me last winter, but let me tell you -- its amazing. Seriously, think about all those shoes you have that rub you the wrong way because they are a little too wide? Or maybe just a little off in the fit? The lace up allows you to have a perfect fit and adds a measure of stability. My favorite pair of Sigerson Morrison lace up boots are no longer online so I couldn't put them on here, but the above ones are rather close. They have more laces, but I think that may make them even more comfy.  I'm trying hard to get into the comfy work boot look (top left) and this year, I'm going to make the purchase. Now that I'm living in a climate that actually gets snow, I figure they will probably be worth their weight in gold.