Tasty Treats - Grilled Summer Squash & Peach Salad

With summer in full swing, I'm craving summer fruits (peaches, cherries and plums) all day long.  When I found this grilled summer squash and peach salad with manchego cheese and white truffle from Roost, I new I found the perfect salad for summer.  I know what I'm going to be making this weekend! What is your one of your favorite summer tasty treats?

image and recipe via Roost

Cheers,

Tasty Treats - Chickpea Radicchio Wraps

image via Love & Lemons

I've been on my Project Lose Baby Weight since December and as part of that plan I've been eating a lot less carbs than normal (most of my carbs are coming from fruits and vegetables).  So, I'm always on the hunt for good recipes that would give me that feeling of having a sandwich or a wrap without the carbs that go along with it.  When I saw Love & Lemons recipe for Chickpea Radicchio Wraps, I knew I had to put it on the menu to make this week!  It looks so like it will be a crisp, tasty and refreshing snack.  I highly recommend adding Love & Lemons to your must read blogs if you are searching for healthy, tasty and mostly vegetarian recipe inspiration.  

What are some of your favorite low carb meals or snacks?  I can use all of the inspiration I can get! 

Cheers,

Tasty Treats - Valentine’s Day Red Velvet Trifle

image via Super Sweet Life

How cute are these Red Velvet Trifle desserts in Mason jars from Super Sweet Life?  Red velvet cake, chocolate mousse and chocolate pudding all layered together - yes, please!  You can find the recipe here! 

Cheers,

Tasty Treats: Hot Chocolate Mousse Cups

How amazing do these Chocolate Mousse Cups look by Jane at A Taste of Koko?  Not only do they look delicious, but I think that these would be so fun to make with the bambinos.  They would love to dip the balloon (make sure to use water balloons - not filled with water) into the melted chocolate.  Plus so much fun for them to eat.  Might need to serve them at our next dinner party!

images via

Tasty Treats: S'mores Cookie Bars

I hope all of you are having a lovely week!  I thought I would share a tasty treat with you today.  This past weekend, my friend CC (who is an amazing baker), brought over some delicious S'mores Cookie Bars to our Superbowl party!  They were outrageously decadent!  The only change that she said she would change is that she would use regular size Hershey bars instead of king size Hershey bars (like the recipe calls for).  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 king-sized milk chocolate bars (e.g. Hershey’s)
• 1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.
3. Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. 2 king-sized Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single layer no more than 1/4 inch thick. Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme or fluff. Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff (most easily achieved by flattening the dough into small shingles and laying them together).
4. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Makes 16 cookie bars.

Now I am off to go make some more kale chips to balance out the naughtiness of the s'mores bar bars I ate this weekend. This has been part of my "homework" for my New Year, New You session tomorrow that I am taking from the lovely Lacy & Lisa of Group Health Coaching (more posts to come on this).  

recipe and image via Lovin' from the Oven

Santa Claus Sugar Cookies {Repost}

This is one of my favorite cookies to make a Christmas time with the bambinos that I thought I would share this post with all of you again! Have fun! 

Use any sugar cookie mix (Trader Joes makes an amazing one that is all natural) or recipe or buy a pre-made rolled dough. 

 Make sure you have a great assistant to help with the taste testing!

If you make your own recipe, roll the sugar cookie dough into a long roll, so that you can slice the cookies. Then place it in the refrigerator or freezer to make it firmer for easy slicing.

Two slices for each Santa cookie. 

Leave one circle whole and cut a triangle out of the second one for the hat and the extra two half circles become Santa's mustache. 

I normally buy Nestle Toll House chocolate chips, but decided to buy Ghiradelli chocolate chips not realizing how BIG they were. So, this Santa is a little bug eyed! You need candy red hots for the nose. 

You can either use red sprinkles for the hat or you can ice it in red icing after you have baked them.

I used the natural sugar frosting that came with the Trader Joe's sugar cookie kit for the mustache and hat trim. I grew up using the Cake Mate frosting tubes, which tastes OH SO GOOD, but when I read the ingredients this year and realized that partially hydrogenated oil was part of the ingredients, I decided to pass on the trans fats. I have to admit the Cake Mate frosting tubes with the fun tips create much cuter Santa mustaches and hat trim, but this will do!

Happy Baking!

Beauty-Full Girls Giveaway - $50 to Fleming's Steakhouse

UPDATE: Congratulations to Helia who said, "Flemings has an amazing Happy Hour!!! And their carpaccio is so delicious! I'm definitely going to try the Farmer's Daughter cocktail (basil AND strawberries!!!)" for winning the $50 gift certificate to Fleming's Steakhouse & Wine Bar! Enjoy your tasty girls night out! 

Fleming's Steakhouse and Wine Bar asked me to come in to see how a Beauty-Full girl could navigate their way through the more figure friendly options at a steakhouse.  It couldn't have been at a better time since I am ABOUT to get serious about losing this baby weight.  Let's just say that there has been a lot of indulging on my part these last 11 weeks! I was definitely up for the challenge of seeing how Fleming's could be a little more figure friendly for a girls night out.

I asked my BFF, Linsey, to join me for an afternoon of shopping in Walnut Creek and then a girls night out dinner at Fleming's.  After a couple hours of shopping, we were definitely ready to try out their 99 calorie cocktails!  I had the Farmer's Daughter (picture above) that consisted of muddled strawberries and basil. It was delicious and in no way seemed like it was only 99 calories. Another please! I will include the recipe below.  Another one of their 99 calorie cocktails is the Russian Prom Queen (recipe above).

What I liked about Fleming's menu is the amount of options that are available to you if you want to eat on the lighter side. If you are good enough to do your research beforehand, Fleming's has a great healthy weight loss section on their website that recommends what you should order and how to order (dressing on side, ask them to grill in light oil, steamed instead of sauteed, order your petit filet mignon without butter, etc).  They also advise you on the Gluten-Free options and other special diets.  They also have a nice selection of seafood options as well that can be prepared on the lighter side if you are not in the mood for a steak.  I was most impressed at how accommodating they are to any diet or allergy restrictions. They will take items off of an appetizer or entree and can put any sauce or dressing on the side.  After choosing some lighter choices, you feel better about indulging in some of their delicious desserts.  I am still dreaming about their Frozen Lemon Gingersnap Pie.

Fleming's is providing me with a $50 gift certificate to giveaway to one of my lucky readers!  All you need to do is leave a comment below and share with me how you would make your experience Beauty-full at Fleming's.  The deadline for the giveaway will be September 2nd, 2011 at 6pm PST.  You must be a follower of Savvy in San Francisco via Google Friend Connect (on the right side of the blog), Twitter or Facebook to qualify.

Farmer's Daughter 99 Calorie Cocktail 1 each basil leaf 3 each Fresh Strawberries (hulled and sliced) Muddle above ingredients 1.25 oz Ketel One Vodka 1.5 oz Diet Cranberry Juice .25 tsp Purevia Add ice and shake; strain into Martini Glass

**All images Savvy in San Francisco except recipe photo via.

Birthday Cocktail: Peach Collins

Enjoying my new favorite cocktail - Peach Collins.  It is from Sunset Magazine and is a play on the Tom Collins except they use muddled peaches and peach-flavored vodka.  We didn't have peach vodka and used mandarin flavored vodka instead. Check out the recipe here.  It is delicious!

Spruce Burger Recipe

image via

As you all know, I have been on a huge burger kick since I got pregnant (after being a vegan and then a pescatarian for eight months). Well, everyone who has ever had the burger from Spruce, has always raved about it. We have eaten at Spruce plenty of times, but always ordered off the regular menu in the dining room. The burger is available on their bar menu, where you can sit at the gorgeous bar and enjoy a good burger (adding pate is optional) and order a delicious cocktail or a yummy glass of red wine to go with it. 7x7 just sent out an email today with the Spruce burger recipe (bun and all)!! I still think I need to waddle my pregnant self up to the bar and order one of these bad boys to satisfy my craving!