My Go-To Wines

There are a few wines we keep in our house at all-times which can please almost any palette...ok, and because I just really like them a lot.

Chateau St. Jean Chardonnay is a buttery, Chardonnay that you can find in about any store for about $12-14. We buy it by the case since it tastes so great in the summertime and seems to please about any crowd (even those Sauvignon Blanc lovers who think they hate Chardonnay.) Everyone who has this at our house has to write down the name so they don't forget!

The Miner Family Vineyards Merlot is one of my absolute favorite reds. This one is a bit harder to find in stores, but easily ships right from the winery in Napa (where we first found it in their tasting room.) It's smooth, "jammy", and good with just about anything. Just because Miles in the movie "Sideways" hated Merlot, doesn't mean you have to!

Pride Mountain Vineyard's Cab Franc is another great wine. Californians love their Cabernet (as do we), but when I see a Cab Franc on the menu, I definitely get it! It just seems a little more approachable than some of the big Cabs and a good item to keep in the wine refrigerator for special evenings. Delicious!

Sauternes

Sauternes [pronounced "saw-turn"] is a French dessert wine from the Bordeaux region that I call "Liquid Gold". This stuff is just heaven to drink. If you haven't tried it, I highly recommend getting a glass if you ever see it on the dessert menu in a restaurant. We always keep a small stock in our house for entertaining friends - it's a great way to end a wonderful meal.

I first had Sauternes with some sauteed Foie Gras - a classic match (this was the first time I had foie gras as well) at a restaurant called Chapeau in San Francisco many years ago. It has a smooth honey flavor with some peach and apricot notes. I think it's also great with some intense cheeses (like blue or roquefort) as well for dessert.

It can be pretty pricy, but since you serve just small portions of this, a half-bottle is enough for a table of 4-6. But, don't cheap-out. Good Sauternes is totally worth the investment (I don't recommend buying the half-bottles under $48-50, and look for ones that have a nice deep golden color). Be sure to serve it chilled. Cheers!

Endive, Dried Cherry and Goat Cheese Appetizer

As an alternate to cheese and crackers, I think putting fun toppings on endive is a a quick and easy one-bite appetizer to put out with wine. While I didn't put much effort into the presentation shown here, you can add balsamic glaze or some other dressing to make it a bit fancier.

This last time, I just put slices of pepper-crusted goat cheese on top of the endive leaves, added a dried cherry and some walnut pieces, and voila!

The Search for Good Yogurt

I'm always on the search for good yogurt that's not filled with bad things for you. I picked up a new one last night at Whole Foods called "siggi's" and it was pretty good with a great thick texture similar to Greek yogurt!

It has only 5 ingredients including all natural milk from grass fed cows. No asparatame, no sucralose, no gelatin, no artificial coloings, no preservatives, no high fructose corn syrup, and produced without the use of recombinant bovine growth hormone. It's sweetened just lightly with natural agave nectar - a natural low glycemic sweetener. Winner!

Skinny Greek Chicken

This is a fast, easy and super healthy dinner for two - great for a work-night after a stop at the gym. I call it "Skinny Greek Chicken" but, it's really Chicken Souvlaki with Tzatziki Sauce to be accurate.

Ingredients for skewers:
3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh or 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. olive oil (I have skipped this before to be extra-lean)
Dash of salt
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
1-2 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
Cooking spray
4-6 wooden skewers - I usually let them soak in water while I'm prepping the food

Ingredients for Tzatziki Sauce:
1/2 cup, peeled, seeded and shredded cucumber (I don't bother to seed to save time)
1/2 cup plain low-fat or non-fat yogurt
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Dash of salt
1 garlic clove, minced

Directions:
1. For skewers, combined the first 5 ingredients in a Ziplock plastic bag; seal and shake to combine.
2. Add chicken pieces to the bag; seal and shake to coat.
3. Marinate chicken in refrigerator for 30 minutes, turning once (or just put in the 'fridge long enough to chop the zucchini and make the sauce).
4. Make the Tzatziki Sauce and refrigerate while you cook the chicken and zucchini.
5. Remove chicken from bag and discard the marinade.
6. Thread the chicken and zucchini, alternately, onto each of the 4-6 skewers.
7. Heat a grill pan coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add skewers and cook them 8 minutes, or until the chicken is done, turning once.
8. Remove sauce from refrigerator and place on plate with skewers for presentation. Enjoy!

My Thoughts on Eating Healthy

While we love to indulge in fabulous food and wine on the weekends, in order to stay in shape, we have to workout and eat healthy and light during the week.

To that end, I get so frustrated by the amount of food out there loaded with sodium and sugar. I work really hard to find organic ingredients, eat "close to the source", buy local where possible, avoid anything in a jar or a can, and don't buy anything with corn syrup in it. Ick. The biggest offenders in my opinion? Salsa (loaded with salt), yogurt (there are only 2-3 brands I will buy - the rest all have corn syrup), juice (though, I indulge in a small glass of Simply Orange Juice from time to time), and most pre-made sauces (have you ever looked at the sodium level of hot sauce?? Sheesh!).

I'm currently reading a book about about how toxins in our environment and our food (think, plastic packaging and storage containers, as well as pop, and other fillers in our foods) have affected our hormone levels, which in-turn, make it harder to keep thin and fit despite how much we workout, or think we're eating fat-free and sugar-free. While, I'm not a total "Granola" (from these recipes, you can see that I do make some occassional exceptions), I do think keeping these guidelines in mind and making changes where possible can make a huge difference in our health and happiness. Thrive!

Avoiding carbs? Quick Dinner Idea.

I tried the Atkins Diet once and didn't even make it to lunch. I cannot survive without carbs...period. But, my husband doesn't seem to share that craving: he's a meat and veggies kinda guy - especially after 6pm. So, I just thought I'd share a quick meal I whipped up for him, just 'cause it was so pretty I decided to take a picture.

I seared a ribeye steak on a grill pan (we don't own a real grill, unfortunately), and broiled it the rest of the way in the oven. Then, topped it with some sauteed yellow onions that I carmelized with just some olive oil, salt and pepper. Add a side of heirloom tomatoes with some olive oil, salt/pepper, fresh basil and shaved parmesan cheese, and voila! Low-carb dinner is served. Add a glass of Miner Merlot, and it's truly bliss.

Triple Berry Cobbler

My favorite thing to bake is pie. But, I also love a good apple-crisp style dessert. So, I merged a couple recipes together to make this "Triple Berry Cobbler". Substitute whatever berries you like. If I owned a cherry-pitter, I would have used fresh cherries for sure!

Ingredients:
1 pint (2 small containers) of fresh blackberries
1 pint (2 small containers) of fresh raspberries
1 pint (2 small containers) of fresh blueberries
2-3 tbsp. white sugar
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cup rolled oats
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 cup butter

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
2. In a large bowl (or, I suppose a large Ziplock bag would work too), gently toss all the berries with the white sugar and set aside.
3. In a separate large bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cut in butter slices until crumbly (I just smoosh the mix around with my hands to break up the butter pieces.)
4. Press half the mixture in the bottom of a 9-inch pie pan (you may want to spray it with cooking spray - but, I didn't), cover the base with the sugared berries, then sprinkle the remaining crumble mixture evenly over the berries.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until fruit is bubbling through the crumble mixture, and the top is slightly browned.
6. If baking ahead of time, serve slightly warmed with a good vanilla bean ice-cream or Cool Whip. Mmmmm…

Blue Cheese-topped Balsamic Figs

These are little bites of heaven, and especially great when figs are in season in California (just hitting now!) The perfect balance between savory and sweet, they are a great pairing with wine and cheese.

Ingredients:
Fresh figs
An aged Balsamic vinegar (10-15+ years) or better yet, Balsamic glaze (can get it in a bottle at Whole Foods)
A nice wedge of blue cheese (not crumbles)

Directions:
1. Slice figs in half, from stem to base and place on a pretty serving platter.
2. Top each fig half with slices of the blue cheese
3. Drizzle cheese-topped fig halves with the Balsamic glaze or aged vinegar.

Fruit Dip

Despite my husband's suggestion to call this "That Dip Sh*t", no one could get enough of this yummy, light, sweet fruit dip. So much so that they started putting it on all sorts of other items on their brunch plate! So good.

Ingredients:
1 (8 oz.) block Philadelphia cream cheese (I also use 1/3-less-fat version)
1 (7 oz.) jar marshmallow cream
3 Tbsp. Cool Whip (again, I use light)

Directions:
1. Mix all together in a bowl with a mixer.
2. Put in refrigerator and let it set for 3 hours (I've taken it out sooner). Then, ready to serve!