2010 Year in Review

All of my favorite bloggers are recapping 2010 with some of their favorite photos.  


Here is my 2010 in review:


ringing in 2010 in San Fran with my OT friends

serbian christmas in las vegas

Sarah and the OTs visit las vegas

spring training in AZ

kendall comes to las vegas

took the saebo course and started trying it out on all my patients!

milos graduated with his mba

"graduated" from NCEP

left my car and my apartment in search of big adventures

Italy

Serbia

Paris

fun in CA with my family

surprising marko for his 30th birthday

moving to NYC

apple picking in NY

macys thanksgiving day parade

marko and sarah were married

christmas in the city

meeting the barefoot contessa

scout joins the family

can't wait to see what 2011 brings!

love,  Allison 

Southern Comfort Balls

Alcohol and chocolate - what more do you need? :)

I'm back with a recipe that my mom makes for Christmas but would be perfect for a New Year's Eve party.  These are an EXPECTATION every Christmas and it wouldn't be the holidays without my mom staying up late to "dip her balls".  Yes, making these ensures a lot of "balls" jokes.  


Southern Comfort Balls
(this recipe was given to my mom by my Aunt Cindy, but its original origins are unknown)


3 1/2  cups Nilla Wafers
2 T cocoa
1/2 cup powdered sugar 
1/4 cup light corn syrup 
1/3 cup Southern Comfort (or your favorite liquor of choice)
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 cups chocolate chips
1 T vegetable shortening 

Crush the Nilla Wafers with a rolling pin into fine crumbs.  Place the cookies in a large ziplock bag to ease cleanup - 

Combine crushed cookies with cocoa, powdered sugar, corn syrup, alcohol, and nuts.  

Chill the mixture in the fridge for a few hours to make them easier to roll into balls 

After rolling them into your desired size, chill the balls in the fridge to help them preserve their shape during the dipping process.  (I'm sorry for the lack of photos in this area - but this step took place at 1 am - haha).  Melt your chocolate in a double boiler with the shortening and dip the balls - setting them on waxed paper when finished.  Store in the fridge.  

Love, Allison 

Where Did Christmas Go?

I have really enjoyed this Holiday Season!  Sometimes in the past, I am too busy/forget to take the time to do all of the things that make me love this time of year.  This time around - I made sure to savor each day from Thanksgiving till Christmas!  And I am so sad it is over!  Here are some pictures from my Christmas in California!  I'll be back with a recipe that will be perfect for your New Year's Eve celebrations.  

Santa came!

Stocking were MIA this Christmas - we got creative and used boots and paper bags! Haha!

Double Chocolate and Cherry Cookies from Mama Pea and my Mom's signature fruitcake!

Don't let the electric knife fool you! This fruitcake is not the brick that most people joke about - my mom's fruitcake is the best you'll ever have and soooooo delicious!

Christmas Dinner was a Vegan Wellington Loaf from Native Foods - Native Foods is a inventive vegan cafe with a few locations around southern CA.  All of their dishes are unique and they offer this yummy take on a beef wellington for the holidays!  

Look at this massive log!  You really could have killed someone with this thing!  It was heavy and frozen solid!  The directions were to place it FROZEN in a 425 degree oven for 50 min.  Well....... after an hour in the oven - the center of the wellington was still 34 DEGREES!  Dinner was FINALLY served after TWO AND A HALF HOURS  of baking!!!!  

Here is what it looked inside - seitan, mushrooms, kale, yams, stuffing, carmaelized onions, all wrapped in pastry.  It was delicious, different, and came with mushroom gravy!  However, if you buy one - remember to bake it WELL in advance of your dinner party!

Our Christmas dinner consisted of the Native Foods Wellington with mushroom gravy, double potato mash, and maple glazed brussel sprouts.  

Scouty Paws was STUFFED!

I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Christmas with their families!  I am lucky to be here in CA till Friday and get to bypass the crazy NYC snow for another week!

Love, Allison 

Healthy Takeout Delivered

Hey Everyone!  


What could be in this bag? 

Since Christmas is coming FAST and I had sooo much end of the month paperwork to do for work - I decided it would be fun to order dinner in.  I have never had any food delivered to our apartment so I was dying to try it out!  For some reason food delivery is a symbol of New York to me... I'm not sure why, maybe it has something to do with Seinfeld?!


Anyway - I decided to order something from Lite Delights since delivery was free for orders over $10.  It is literally one block away - but I get excited about food delivery! Hahaha!  So, I ordered it anyway.  


Lite Delights is an amazing small neighborhood cafe that serves fresh and healthy wraps, salads, juices, smoothies, frozen yogurt, and snacks.  I had tried it a few times in the past but kept forgetting about it!  I ordered from the Colombus/85th st location in NYC and it came super fast!


Tonight I ordered the Vegetarian Delight: whole wheat wrap, tahini, sunflower seeds, raisins, sprouts, romaine, tomato, jarslburg cheese!    I LOVED IT!  I was worried there would be a lot of seeds and raisins which are not diet friendly, but there was just the right amount!  

To make the order $10, I ordered a green juice since I have been neglecting my vegetables this week as I clean out my fridge (plus I have been majorly overdosing on nut butters this week!).  I can't wait to go back - I want to try their granola/fruit/yogurt wrap for breakfast one morning! 


Paperwork is now complete - can't wait to get through all my work and errands tomorrow so I can go HOME!  Yay!


Love, Allison 

Clean Fridge Challenge!

Are you seeing things?  Did I really post twice in one day?  I have been really getting into blogging lately and have a lot of new recipes planned for when I get back from Christmas break! Just wanted to leave a few pics of my dinner tonight - the mission this week: don't waste food/money by throwing it out before leaving!  

So... tonight's dinner consisted of 

1) One tomato sliced with Eatwell Heirloom Tomato Salt (from the San Fran Farmer's Market), pepper, and some parmesan cheese

2)  4 egg whites scrambled with some parmesan cheese and ketchup (I have been OBSESSED with ketchup on my eggs lately!)

3)  Sauteed mini bell peppers with wilted spinach - this is my first time trying the mini bell peppers from Trader Joe's and they were delicious and the perfect size!  I had one of each color!

  

 

For anyone on the WW PointsPlus Program - this was very low in points - 

1.5 pts for the egg whites

2 pts for the chesse

3.5 POINTSPLUS

(dinner was low in PointsPlus today due to my eggnog scone obsession!)

I used cooking spray to cook the eggs/bell peppers - therefore I did not need to add any oil!

I felt so good after this meal - I went to the gym and used the treadmill for the first time since I developed plantar fasciitis.... let's hope the new shoes helped!

Love, Allison 

Countdown to Christmas

I hope everyone is enjoying the last bit of the weekend!  This weekend was marked by a few exciting happenings:


1)Kendall (my sister) made Mama Pea's Vegan Eggnog Scones -- these should be illegal.  This is the first year I have tried drinking eggnog and now we are putting it in everything!  I keep nibbling on them so I do not know how many I have actually eaten... ignorance is bliss!  This was my breakfast this morning:

2)  I have NEW glasses!!!  I have had my old pair for FOUR years and while I love them dearly, it was time for a change!  And, boy was it a change!  I am still getting used to them but I think they are fun.. in a nerdy sort of way!  Scout, on the other hand, could care less about my glasses.....

With my new glasses and new ring (can you see it in the pic above?)  (And, no it is not an engagement ring.....) I took Scout for a winter walk through central park to check out all the frozen ponds!

Last night my sister and I stayed in... many pictures of the dog were taken....

3)  I finally got the awesome RAW yogurt parfait from One Lucky Duck.  It comes with raw granola, coconut "yogurt", and fruit.  This time, the fruit was sweetened cranberries - a great festive and tangy choice!  it was delish - it was also $11 :(

Only four more days till California!!!  I plan on wearing flip flops EVERY SINGLE DAY I am there! 

Love, Allison