Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Cattiatore, Vitamin D, and Massive Carrot Cake

We're half way through the week!
Here are some updates since last time:

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I was asked to do another segment for NBC4 on Monday. This time I got to answer some questions about the Taco Bell Drive Thru diet. I actually went through and re-looked at many of your comments on my blog from this post, and got some great insight for creative answers. Of course the interview was about 30 minutes, but with the lack of time I only got about a 30 second sound-bite. Lovely.

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Nick and I celebrated his birthday on Monday, even though his birthday was really yesterday. Yeah, he played poker on Tuesday like he always does, so we celebrated a day early (recap below!).

NEW DINNER

Dinner #3; Chicken Cattiatore

The other night my mom and I decided to make chicken cattiatore, our own way.

Ingredients
(Serves 4)

3 boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 9 ounces total)
2 T EVOO
1 cup green and red pepper
1 cup mushroom
1 can diced tomato
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
Salt, pepper, garlic, and dried basil
** Use as little or as much spice as you want. We went heavy on the garlic and basil**



Instructions
Get the oil hot on a skillet, then add the chicken and cook until not longer pink inside (about 4 minutes on each side). Take the chicken off the skillet and add the full cans of tomatoes and tomato paste. Add about 2/3 cup of water. Add all the spices. Last, add the chicken and cover the chicken with all the yummy sauce. Let simmer, uncovered, for about 15 minutes.




Nutrition

(this is if the entire recipe is divided into 4 servings, and therefore this is for 1 serving)

We had sweet potatoes that needed consumed, therefore on this particular night we filled our plates half way full with the chicken cattiatore, and then the other half was filled with our sweet potato (starchy vegetable) and Nick had some broccoli (he has a healthy obsession with it).



Possible Modifications
  • Serve over brown rice or whole wheat pasta.
  • Use a regular potato and dress it up with the chicken cattiatore (put the cattiatore on top)
  • Use any other non-starchy vegetable in the chicken cattiatore recipe, other than the ones we used.
  • Instead of water, use rice vinegar!
  • Use low sodium varieties of the canned tomatoes (oops, I didn't!)
  • Add other spices, such as cinnamon. Sound strange? I did this once and it was delicious.
Other Uses
This recipe will make at least 4 large servings. Use the leftovers for next day's lunch or dinner!

Supplement Update

I recently realized that I was forcing myself to take my Viactiv supplement everyday, whereas I used to look forward to taking it. I decided I have become sick of their taste, so I found some new Vitamin D supplements at Trader Joes!

These have 1000 IU vitaminD, compared to the Viactiv, which have 500 IU. The Viactiv also have calcium, which is missing from the TJ supplements, but I get plenty of calcium so I'm not worried. These were cheap, considering you get 6 months worth. I would even argue that you could take these every other day (The Daily Value is 400 IU, but the upper limit is 2000 IU, although I've read that even up to 20,000 is probably ok!)

Click here for more information on Vitamin D and supplements.



Monday Night's Celebration Dinner

Buffalo Style Pizza!
(notice the crust stuck to the pan, oops, forgot to put down flour first! This was whole wheat pizza crust. It was delicious, and even Nick loved it.)


Carrot Cake :)


This cake was HUGE, in case you can't tell. I'd be willing to bet this one piece had about 1000 calories, if not more. We ate it all, except for most of the icing on this side (below), as there was plenty of icing embedded in between the layers!

Yes, I did eat tons of wheat on Monday, clearly. We also each had a beer :) I woke up with a stomachache, and I know it wasn't because I ate too much, as I did not go too overboard. I really think my body was reacting to all the wheat, which is not surprising.

Coming Up
Stay tuned for my next post, which will include some new soy eats, and my Biggest Loser review! Thanks for reading, and have a great day.


48 comments :

  1. Every time I take my Vitamin D I think of you. ;-)

    p.s. That carrot cake looks insane! One of my favorite things!

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  2. That carrot cake looks amazing- and so does that chicken you made with your mom!
    I am going to have to look at the Vitamin D at Trader Joes. Right now I am using Rainbow Light i think it's called and it's pretty expensive, but it does have Calcium, which I need!

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  3. That chicken recipe looks great and simple. I'm all about easy, healthy recipes!

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  4. I love my viactiv! It's my chocolate fix in the middle of the day! But TJ's does have some great supplements. I get their fish oil.

    Carrot cake is my favorite non-chocolate dessert. In fact, it's the only non-chocolate dessert I would get!

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  5. My dad used to make a chicken recipe like that, I kind of forgot about it. I'll have to try it some day. I think my picky family would actually like that.

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  6. oh my gosh i am drooling over the buffalo style pizza!!! DANG. and the carrot cake! seriously-2 of my FAVS! i hope nick had a great bday!

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  7. Thank you for the reminder that I must get a vitamin D supplement ASAP!

    It's really great that you keep getting asked to do the NBC4 segments! Are people starting to recognize you in public yet?

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  8. Love the chicken cattiatore recipe!

    The carrot cake looks amazing! Sorry about the stomach ache, but I'm glad that you have figured out that wheat is one of the things to really watch out for...

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  9. I have a carrot cake recipe I'm waiting to adapt. I just need 4 round cake pans!
    I add cinnamon to almost everything. It's an awesome spice and one of my favorites!

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  10. Ahh I've been slacking big time on my vitamins lately!

    Cinnamon and tomatoes is a surprisingly good combo- I always add it to my chili!

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  11. Mmmmm...everything here looks amazing, ESPECIALLY the carrot cake! That is definitely one of my favorites!

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  12. My husband would be all over the Buffalo Style Pizza! I think I could put wing sauce on anything and he'd be happy!

    I've gotten tired of taking Viactiv too....

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  13. congrats on the segment- that is awesome! & wow that cake looks amazing and so does hte pizza :) you and your husband must have loved that!

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  14. mmm i better go watch tbl..

    okay so i have a good question for you! i definitely don't think i get enough iron in my diet and i'm looking to increase my iron intake but i will not never ever eat red meat haha. what are some other good ways to increase my iron? i cut myself last night when i was making my salad and it wouldn't stop bleeding FOREVER tmi? well anyways maybe i have an iron deficiency?

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  15. I love the new dinner! looks great! so does that giant piece of carrot cake... my favorite dessert!

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  16. Mmm, share that big piece of cake with me? haha. Glad you provided a good bday dinner! I finally saw that Taco Bell commercial for myself last night...ridiculous.

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  17. Happy Belated Birthday to Nick! I am glad you didn't review BL yet - I still have to watch it - I stuck with American Idol last night.

    And in all the party pizza Friday's I've had, I have NEVER made myself a buffalo pizza - its now on the list!

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  18. great minds think alike gina! my cacciatore recipe is pretty much identical - so quick to make and always tastes great- thanks for the nutritional info on this! i never knew where the recipe was calorie wise!

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  19. How exciting that you get to share your nutrition knowledge on tv!

    Buffalo style pizza sounds delish. I love the taste of buffalo sauce.

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  20. Your chicken looks great! I can't find EVOO anywhere! Love the pizza and carrot cake too. Definitely worth the indulgence!

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  21. OMG that pizza looks so good!

    Thanks for looking out for me =) I appreciate it

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  22. Wow! Great looking bday meal. The pizza and cake look fantastic! I just love all these amazing recipes that you are coming up with too. They are delicious looking and quite healthy! Thanks! I might have to check out the Vit. D. Currently at the moment Im not taking any vitamins or supplements but sometimes Im thinking maybe I should start. Have a great day!

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  23. Nice work on the dinner. I love sweet potato and that one looked so good. I love how you can talk to the reporter forever and then there is just a few seconds of air time. It is better than nothing. You keep doing it and they will keep asking you back and you will get more and mroe time. Oh, and your pizza looks good too.

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  24. OMG that carroti cake looks SO good!!! I cant wait for your biggest loser update. I really didnt like when Jillian said that snacking inhibits weightloss. I mean I understand taht mindless snacking can, but snacks in between meals (healthy snacks) is crucial for keeping the metablism up and blood sugar levels stable. She said "eat 3 meals and 1 SMALL snack in btwn lunch and dinner' pshhh i wanted to throw something at the Tv!

    anyways, the bday meal looks awesome! i love homeamde pizza, totally authentic and different from store bought!

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  25. Carrot cake was (ansd still is.. just a diff version.lol) my most favorite flavor of cake!!! YUM!

    Your dinner looks fabulous.. nothing beats a sweet potato on the side!! :)

    Happy Wednesday, Gina :)

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  26. Your dinner looks delicious!
    I might pick up that supplement next time I go to Trader Joes. I know I don't get enough Vitamin D through my diet and lately, I don't think from the sun.
    Gotta love the sweet potatoes!

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  27. I've wanted to make chicken cacciatore for awhile but we don't like mushrooms. I should just use broccoli or something instead, huh? And in regards to your comment on my blog, that's interesting about the soy milk. They had a cereal that mysteriously jumped up in calorie count as well for the same serving size. That's so frustrating for people who calorie-count...and another reason why I don't...I feel like it's too inaccurate to be worth it (did you see that article today about companies and restaurants underestimating their stats by 15% or something? Hate that!)

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  28. wow that chicken cacciatore looks great! how do you usually cook your sweet potatoes?

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  29. I wish we had a TJ here in TX... I go crazy shopping while visiting my family in MA.

    I LOVE CARROT CAKE.

    Thanks for the tip on the new Vitamin D.

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  30. yummy carrot cake!

    how do you like the vitamin d supplements? i started taking some a week ago.. just wondering how much time i have before i feel a difference..!

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  31. LOVE carrot cake! We had it at work earlier this week and I wanted 2,000 calories worth! I think it was around 200, though :) Glad you and Nick had a great bday celebration!

    Congrats on getting another news showing! So impressive, girl! You're a rock star!

    Looking forward to your BL review! I'm finishing up last night's episode now!

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  32. Carrot cake is quite possibly my favorite cake flavor ever and that looks a.m.a.z.i.n.g.

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  33. Gosh, I can't wait to see you segment on the Taco Bell Drive-Thru diet. I live right across a Taco Bell, and each time I pass by and see that "Drive-Thru Diet" sign, I can't help laughing.

    Ohmigosh. Pizza looks amazing!

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  34. ooh man carrot cake is my favorite cake I think. SO good!

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  35. Happy Birthday to Nick!! Such a gorgeous feast - your buffalo pizza looks AMAZING!

    I'm so excited about your chicken cattiatore recipe - it sounds scrumptious!! I love mushrooms and peppers together!

    Congratulations on your continuing career as a TV celebrity! SO awesome! You are playing such a powerful educational role - YAY GINA!!!

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  36. oh God! It's soooo good to get back to read your post! I really miss it!
    that chicken dish looks fabulous.. but replace water by vinegar.. really?
    1000 kcal of cake worth every bites I bet... happy belated birthday to Nick! :)

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  37. I like that chicken recipe. Plus I like meals that make enough so I can have lunch at work the next day. :o)

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  38. That's very similar to how I make my chicken cacciatore - though I use red pepper flakes and oregano instead of basil, skip the mushrooms (can't stand 'em) and add onions. Which just goes to show how versatile a recipe like that can be, and it's pretty quick to throw together too.

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  39. Your husband is 4?!?! Haha, kidding--as big as that carrot cake slice is, I doubt you could fit all his "actual" candles on it no matter how hard you tried. :) Carrot cake would be my birthday treat of choice too! It definitely was in 2009 and I think it will repeat in 2010.

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  40. I wonder if taking vitamin d supplements would be good for me. I'll ask my doctor. Thanks for putting the bug in my ear. :)

    I love Carrot cake. It is always worth it on special occasions!

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  41. looks like a great recipe!
    i just participated in a debate about vit d, and i think the upper limit and recommendation will probably increase when the new dietary guidelines come out. i should probably start taking a supplement!

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  42. Oh my - you just won my heart with both the pizza and carrot cake ! Two of my ALL TIME favorites...it's ridiculous :) Happy B-day to your beloved! And congrats on getting these NBC segments girl - no matter how short or long it's all good stuff !! :)

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  43. Your Chicken Cattiatore recipe looks awesome! And, so does the cake! YUM! Nominated you for the Beautiful Blogger award! Check out my blog! Talk-- or blog soon:)

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  44. Yummo Gina, the Cacciatore looks fantastic!!

    I'm sure you were fabulous in the interview...but, I know what you mean, I've done 30 minute interviews for a 30-sec. video clip or a one sentence quote and I'm thinking...."that is not really the main point of what I was saying".

    But, I'm sure you were fabulous!

    Carrot cake looks amazing. Have a great weekend, Gina!

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  45. That chicken looks amazing. I have been wanting to try to make some caccitorie for years - what a great recipe!

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