Best. Snack. Ever.

Wow. I am currently eating an amazing snack.

For the past week and a half I have embarked on a fitness/weightloss plan in preparation for my wedding in September (what bride-to-be doesn't do this?!).  Rather than spend $1800 on a personal trainer at the gym, I spent $130 or so on Jillian Michaels videos. They are HARD, and I am someone who works out on a regular basis!  I'm currently on the "Ripped in 30" videos which will be followed by "Jillian Michaels Body Revolution," a 3-month workout plan with accompanying meal plan

I started the meal plan last week. I follow it as best I can but not 100% because that's next to impossible. It's not like I can cook a frittata at work for lunch! There's a whole cookbook that comes with Body Revolution, which includes snack ideas. Today's snack: orange with a yogurt mix.  Sounds pretty boring right? Wrong. It tastes like an orange creamsicle!

Take plain low-fat greek yogurt (a few tablespoons worth), add a splash of lemon, a small spoon of honey and a dash of vanilla extract. Dip in orange segments. AMAZING!  You should all try it!

Smash-ed it out of the park!

There's been a lot of talk about "Smash," the mid-season freshman musical offering from NBC. I'm hooked, are you? When we were all given the opportunity to watch the pilot online before the premiere, I took advantage. I know a lot of people were saying that Katherine McPhee didn't have that "spark" she's supposed to have as Karen, but I saw it--in an understated way.  She's getting more believable each episode I see.

Let's talk about the hateful characters, and get that out of the way. Ugh, Ivy. We are set up to hate her from her very first scene, am I right? She just gets worse and worse.  She's annoying and typical sleep-with-the-director buxom-y blond bombshell. Perfect for Marilyn! Well, minus the annoying part, I suppose. To be completely honest with you, I don't think I've seen a single Marilyn film, including "My Week with Marilyn." Am I the only one enjoying watching Ivy struggle in the last episode? Serves her right!

Then we have little assistant boy, Ellis. I actually really liked him the first episode but he's such a little twerp. So gross! Something is going down with him and it ain't gonna be good. 

I originally watched the show because of Debra Messing. "Will & Grace" was one of my favorites and I was a fan of "The Starter Wife." But giving her character, Julia, a gay best friend? Maybe a little TOO "Will & Grace" for some people. Not for me! Debra's timing has always been spot on and this show is no exception. I thoroughly enjoy watching her in this role.

One of the strengths of "Smash" is that in addition to delving into the lives of just the top billed characters, the show gives us a full view into the lives of basically ALL the characters (even Ellis). I think it's only going to get better!

Anjelica Huston plays Eileen, the producer with no money except for her soon-to-be ex-husband's money.  Problem, much? I'm sometimes torn on her scenes. The throwing a drink in her husband's face is going to get old soon, but it certainly provides a fun little moment for Eileen, doesn't it?

The only thing I don't love about this show is the random break-into-song moments. They don't always work. I get that Karen wants to be sexy but singing "It's a Man's World" to herself in the mirror didn't come off as all that natural. That's part of what irks me about "Glee." Too many unnecessary songs. I'm hoping "Smash" will keep the random singing to a minimum while playing up the music numbers that really matter!

I think this show has found it's place though I can't speak to the accuracy of any of it (which apparently is pretty horrid according to this blog). Though I do wonder what they'll do next season. Will "Marilyn The Musical" be the show they work on throughout the whole series? How would that work? Or will they focus on a new show? I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

The Show With The Bad Name Lives!!

A couple months ago, I was watching Private Practice, and noticed something strange: walking through Oceanside Wellness with new addition Dr. Jake Reilly (Benjamin Bratt), was what I assumed to be a lesbian couple (he's a fertility doctor), made up of...Courtney Cox and her Cougar Town co-star Christa Miller! I watched it again, to be sure. And yes, it was the former Friends star with her new TV friend.  Odd, right? Did anyone else notice? Here is the shot:

I didn't do a ton of research, but the regular TV / entertainment blogs I read didn't say a thing about this! I thought it was pretty funny. At the time, I could only guess that maybe the shows film on the same lot and the producers at PP offered the ladies a walk on. It was only today, when I googled the incident, that I found this article.

First off, it's news to me that CT is even coming back! I thought it had been cancelled! It's one of those shows I was never in the mood to watch, but once I did, I always found myself smiling, if not laughing. 

Incredible marketing on their part, no? Why other shows haven't done this as much before, I don't know. But to stick your actors into random shows to keep their own show in viewers' minds? Genius.

I did, in fact, see Ian Gomez on Grey's Anatomy but didn't think anything of it (except maybe "well, I guess he needed work"), because GA tends to have lots of guest stars. I suppose I though his "role" (if you could call it that) wasn't much of anything. But, again, didn't really think on it much. Although, now that I know what's going on, it turns out that this cameo and the PP cameo with the ladies were on the same night! Guess I missed that. Although I do tend to watch PP a couple days later on my DVR.

I'm working my way through ABC.com's slew of clips of where the cast has been popping up and I can't believe I missed this one!! Here's Josh Hopkins on Castle!

If you watch The Middle, Body of Proof or Happy Endings, then you will have seen Brian Van Holt, Ian Gomez, Dan Byrd and Busy Phillips. If I wasn't making myself clear, this is AMAZING! I love this idea and I can't wait to see if there are more cameos in my regular shows!

According to TVGuide.com, Cougar Town has been renewed for a shorter (15 episode) season to premiere sometime in March. So if you're missing your penny-can playing, wine swigging buddies from the FL cul-de-sac, look for them then. (And by the way, if you're like me, and want a "Big Joe" or "Big Carl" wine glass, you can find a whole Facebook page dedicated to BIG wine glasses here.)

Cincinnati Chili

I've got some history with Cincinnati. My mother grew up there and my fiancé went to school for a year there. My first visit was when I was in the vicinity of 8 years old and my mother took me to her high school reunion (because a lady never reveals another lady's age, I won't mention how many years out she was!).  I did not return to Cincinnati until close to 20 years later when my rabbi-to-be was studying there. This is when I was introduced to the chili that is native to that region. You may have heard of it: Skyline Chili. 

It's unlike the chili you find anywhere else. This chili is sweeter, thinner and it's all about the add-ons. You can have a 3-way (spagetti, chili, cheese), 4-way (spagetti, chili, cheese, beans OR onions) or 5-way (spagetti, chili, cheese, beans AND onions). Any way you get it, it's delicious! I made sure that Skyline was one of our stops each time I visited Cincinnati that year.


On my way home from one of my Cincinnati trips, I discovered that cans of the stuff are sold in the airport! CANS! That was amazing! Anytime I wanted I could just open up a can of Skyline Chili! I then discovered you can order all kinds of products online as well! You can buy your own Skyline Chili here.


My rabbi-to-be and I experimented a few times with different products--the cans, spice powder that you can add to ground beef, different cheeses, etc. It was not until recently that we decided to actually make our own Cincinnati Chili! We wanted to make it a bit more healthy, so we substitute ground turkey for ground beef and we sometimes use whole wheat pasta (which I never used to be a fan of but they've done some great things with ww pastas now and I am beginning to love it!). Our version is pretty spot on! The flavor is rich with that hint of sweetness (wait til you see what's on the ingredient list!), the texture is a bit different and may take getting used to if you haven't had it before, and we can control exactly how much cheese we add to it. It's becoming a regular go-to for us! We started with a couple recipes we found online and mixed and matched until the flavor was to our liking. I use the measurements as a guideline, not a rule. I added more or less according to my taste.


Cincinnati Chili Recipe


1 lb. ground turkey (or beef if you like-but keep it lean people!)
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 bay leaf
1 Tsp ground cinnamon (I think I end up adding more as the chili simmers)
1 Tsp ground cumin
1 Tsp Allspice (I don't think I use Allspice because it's not in my cabinet but many recipes call for it, same with clove, but I'm not a huge clove fan)
1/4 Tsp cayenne pepper (if you like spice, add more. I had too much one time and ended up having to dilute my chili with water and let it simmer FOREVER to thicken up again!)
1/2 Tsp salt
1 1/2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa OR 1/2 oz. grated unsweetened chocolate (I used the grated version once and it was SO much better than using cocoa!)
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained


Spaghetti (your favorite brand)
Shredded Cheddar Cheese (pre-shredded or shred your own--whatever you like!)
However much red onion you might like to top off the chili


Heat some oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
Add the chopped onion and minced garlic and saute until tender.
Add the ground meat and cook until just browned, breaking up the meat.
Add the chili powder and mix until it's coating the meat. 
Add the bay leaf, cinnamon, cumin, allspice (if using), clove (if using), cayenne, salt, cocoa or chocolate, tomato sauce, water, vinegar, Worcestershire.
Bring the whole thing to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered. Most recipes say simmer for an hour and a half.  During that time, keep tasting it and adding more of whatever flavor you feel it needs. Or, if you did it perfect on the first try, just let it roll!

A trick that we have started using to get a good texture is to break out the immersion blender to really break up the meat-especially if we're using turkey because that doesn't seem to break up into teeny tiny pieces as well. Yes, it will look soupy, but that's good! Also, if you decide to go this route, TAKE OUT THE BAY LEAF BEFORE BLENDING! Then you can add the bay leaf back in!


About 15-20 minutes before you want to serve the chili, add in the beans. I like them incorporated into the chili, rather than as a topping. 


Also 15-20 minutes before serving, prepare your spaghetti and toppings. Chop the red onion if using and shred the cheese. I don't really see the cheese as an option, more of a requirement! 


Put pasta on a plate or in a bowl, ladle out the chili on top and then add your toppings! Cheese last! 


Enjoy!