Nutrition Facts and New Meaning to the word “Bottle”

I’ve been a little MIA from the blog world lately, and for good reason, which you will see in a moment.  Since their has not been a lot of cooking going on in the Paws and Pours household, I’ll share a little nutrition information.

Being a RD, I’ve done a lot of teaching on reading nutrition labels.  So, I feel compelled to share the latest change in the nutrition label.  Please take a look…

Nutrition Facts
Item Size 5 lb 11 oz
Items Per Container 1
Amount in Each
Calories 25,000?			Calories from Fat 30%
% Recommended
Eyes 2				100%
Button Nose 1				100%
Beating Heart 1				100%
Hands 2				100%
Little Piggies 10				100%
Cuteness	100%	•        Miracle			100%
Adorable	100%	•        Treasure			100%
These values are based on an average baby, so ours may be even better! Ava Shea, born 7/13/09

We have been blessed with a precious little girl through adoption.  (For those of you who are wondering how I drank all this wine the last 9 months.)  Both Scott and I were there in the delivery room and I was lucky enough to cut her umbilical cord.  It has been an amazing week and we are getting the hang of bathing, diaper changing and late night feeds.  We’ve even done a little cooking and wine drinking, but nothing noteworthy. 

So, our current “Pour” is Enfamil Premium.  Look for a review and rating from Ava coming soon!

Ava Shea – 1 day old

We may need to change the name of the blog to Paws, Pours and Pacifiers!  What do you think?

Scallops – Part 2

In my previous post about scallops, I mentioned we made them twice in the same weekend.  Since I posted Friday nights preparation, here is Sunday night’s with a slightly different take. 

These jumbo hunka hunkas scallops were once again, simply seared, but this time we served over  fettucine “pasta” and butternut squash in a white cheese sauce.  By pasta, I’m referring to the Pasta Slim, that I received last month to try.  (Please feel free to substitute regular fettucine noodles or other pasta of your choice.)  The results were simply amazing, and this meal was ready in under 15 minutes!  Accompanied by a chilled glass of Stella Pinot Grigio, and it was the perfect end to a pretty perfect weekend. 

For the “pasta:”  (serves 2)

2 bags Pasta Slim fettucine noodles (or about 2 cups, cooked, regular fettucine)

1/2 cup cubed, cooked, butternut squash

2 wedges Laughing Cow Swiss flavor cheese wedges

1 Tbsp dry white wine

1 tsp. butter

2 Tbsp shredded parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

mushrooms to garnish, optional

Drain fettucine, and while hot add the cheeses, wine, butter, salt and pepper and squash.  Toss around until cheeses melt and well blended.  Portion out on 2 plates and top with seared scallops. 

 

By the way, the Stella Pinot Grigio is an excellent pinot for the price.  I got this bottle for around $8, and it is just as good as some of the $15-$20 Pinot Grigios I’ve had. 

Lastly, a picture of Chase being his happy self.

Pesto and “Pink” Wine

Summer is in full bloom here in Arizona. While the rest of the country is thankful for the sunshine and warm weather (and the abundant produce that comes with it), here in the desert southwest we are lamenting yet another 100+ degree day. Our garden is withering from the heat, however it seems that our basil continues to love the sunshine.

With all that basil, what to do? After all, there are only so many caprese salads that we can do. Why fresh pesto of course! We whipped up a batch of pesto:

Pesto Sauce

3 Tbsp pine nuts or walnuts

2 cups tightly packed basil leaves

4 cloves garlic

4 Tbsp grated parmesan

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp black pepper

3/4 tsp salt

3 ounces reduced sodium chicken broth

Combine first seven ingredients in food processer. Pulse until chopped. Add in broth until desired consistency.

 

We served it over mushroom ravioli.

Now of course we couldn’t do a meal without adding wine. We were in the mood for a red, but with the heat we were looking for a cold white. Naturally, that led us to our “pink” wine: a nice dry rose from Napa. We went with the Silverado Vineyards 2008 Sangiovese Rosato. The wine has a good balance of fruitiness and dryness that was perfect for our evening.

Jumbo Scallops!

I think my favorite seafood of all times is scallops.  I think if they weren’t so expensive out of our price range, I’d eat them at least once a week.  This past week I had them twice.  One of my local stores had the U-10 scallops on sale, and so we indulged – planning to have a nice Friday night meal at home.  They were so fabulous that by Sunday we were craving them again.  A-hem, another trip to the store for more fresh scallops. 

While I’ve tried a few different preparations and recipes, I still come back to simply searing them in a small amount of butter as my “go-to.”  I prefer to let the subtle flavor of the scallops come through.  Sunday night I seared them, then topped with a sprinkling of capers, raisins, and tarragon. 

Hello lover!

These scallops we so large, (3 oz each,) that we each enjoyed two and were perfectly satisfied.

What, you may ask, is that light green “stuff” under the scallops?  Broccoli-cauliflower puree, that’s what!  We occasionally enjoy a the “mashed cauliflower” or cauliflower puree, if you will.  This time we experimented and did 2/3 cauliflower to 1/3 broccoli.  We live on the wild side right?  Although not terribly attractive, it tasted fantastic!  Steamed cauliflower and broccoli, pureed with sour cream or Greek yogurt, a bit of butter, chives, salt and pepper. 

Finally, a Chase photo of the day:

Finding a puddle to cool off in after a long, hot hike! 

What’s your favorite fish or seafood?