Just Jodi Style

Hump Day Treat – Cauliflower Mash

 Happy Wednesday from chilly New York City! One of my favorite things during the fall / winter is finding new recipes that keep me feeling all warm and fuzzy without having to make soup. I have recently in the past year fallen in love with cauliflower. If you ask my Mom she will tell you that I would not even take a bite of cauliflower as a child. I only started to have interest in cauliflower after one night at home in Miami my brother roasted some cauliflower in the oven with some olive oil and paprika and it smelled so good that I had to taste it. Needless to say I am now on the hunt to find recipes that incorporate cauliflower.
Personally I love mashed potatoes and have always loved them since I was a little kid. What I didn’t know was there was a way to make this same delicious tasty side dish with cauliflower. I overheard someone talking about this at Whole Foods one day and I immediately started googling recipes on my phone in the store. I am all about the easy recipes as I like to come home from work at the end of the day to my puppy Stella and an easy to cook meal. Thanks to steamy kitchen I have found the perfect recipe for cauliflower mash.
Ingredients:
  • 1 head cauliflower
  • 3 tablespoons milk
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 2 tablespoons light sour cream
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • snipped chives
Directions
1. First separate the cauliflower into florets and get rid of the core.
2. In a pot bring 2 cups of water to a simmer. Once you have done this then add the cauliflower. Cover and turn the heat down on the stove. Cook the cauliflower for 12 – 15 minutes or until very tender. I checked it with a fork just like I would with asparagus.
3. Drain and discard all of the water. The drier the cauliflower is the better. The reason for this is when adding the rest of the ingredients there won’t be any excess water in the mix. Add the milk, butter, sour cream, salt and pepper.
4. Mash all the ingredients until it looks like “mashed potatoes” and if you like top the dish with chives.
I cooked this last night with some pesto shrimp and I have to say I wish I got a little more of the water out from the cauliflower, but it still tasted very good to me! If there is a recipe you all are looking for or want t me to try and do on Just Jodi Style comment below on this post and let me know!

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Fitness Tuesday: No Sugar No Dairy = NO PROBLEM! ….NOT!

With Thanksgiving just around the corner I am already preparing my stomach for the endless amounts of turkey and stuffing I will be consuming. Recently I have been trying all different kinds of diets / lifestyle changes to see what works best for me. Since I started working out more frequently I have noticed a drastic change in my skin. The tricks that used to work before to clear up a break out aren’t working for me anymore so I have no choice, but to change how I eat.

There have been numerous articles that state by cutting out certain things from your diet will change how your skin looks and also your energy level. The first thing I tried trying to eat gluten free for an entire week. Needless to say I discovered how much gluten I truly eat and can’t see myself giving that up completely. This week I am cutting out dairy and sugar from my diet. Now I know what you are thinking how can you do that so easily? I am here to tell you it is not as easy as it sounds.

There are so many items that I use that I never realized contained dairy and also sugar. There are good sugars that you can eat and should have in your diet, but I am trying to get rid of the processed sugar like candy and sweets. I have already started having headaches from the withdrawal from sugar and dairy that my brother warned me would happen, but I am going to power through it. I personally can’t see myself completely getting rid of dairy and or sugar in my diet as of now, but maybe toning down how much sugar and dairy I eat. Check back with me in a week and see how I feel. Has anyone else tried this and seen great results? Comment on this post!

Until then I am going to dream about the picture above of the amazing oreo cheesecake my brother made the last time I was in Miami <3

 


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Bachelorette Finale

Happy Monday! Well let’s be real the thing I am most excited about is the Bachelorette Finale tonight on ABC. Now I have been watching all season long like every year participating in Bachelor / Bachelorette leagues, but little did I know that this year I was going to know one of the contestants. Something that I learned from one of my friends who also knows someone that was on the show is that the roses that they hand out are 100% real! I know there has been a ton of discussion about this on all of the gossip sites, but they are real! If you love flowers and want ones that will last more than one week check out The Million Roses from LA. They do a similar process like Venus Et Fleur, but have a larger selection at all price points. Some of my favorite things that I try to have for Bachelor / Bachelorette nights at my home include Babe Rose. Babe Rose is rose in a can! Who knew? I also love the classic White Girl Rose also created by The Fat Jew. I can’t wait to see what happens on tonight’s episode especially the After The Final Rose special. So who do you all want to win? The better question is who do you all want as the next Bachelor? I guess we will all have to wait until tonight to find out for ourselves.


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Humpday Treat – Everything But The Bagel

Happy Wednesday! So for the past few months I have season at least a dozen of my friends post, tweet, instagram, snapchat and tell me about this amazing seasoning I need to try. Now I am an avid Trader Joe’s shopper and I am very lucky that there is one conveniently located only two blocks away from my apartment in New York City. Today I finally said I was going to see what all the hype was about and try out this seasoning on my chicken I was planning on cooking for lunch. From everyone that I spoke to and everything that I read online it said that you could basically put this seasoning on anything. I tried it today on a plain piece of chicken breast that I cooked with some coconut oil in a frying pan. I barely put any on the chicken out of fear of over seasoning and I am glad I did. With just a little seasoning on my chicken it was full of flavor and was so delicious that I wanted more after I was all done. Trader Joe’s you really hit this one out of the park! If you haven’t already tried this seasoning you need to right away. It can literally be used on just about anything to add a little something to your meal. Hope everyone is having a great day and for those of us in New York City stay dry! This rain always makes me want to stay in and cuddle up on the couch. <3


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Hump Day Treat – Green Chef

 

Happy Wednesday everyone! I hope that we are all recovering from the long holiday weekend. I know that I am especially since my sweet puppy Stella was really afraid of yesterday’s fireworks. We al have heard of these meal prep programs where they send you everything you need already portioned out for the perfect meal. I have tried blue apron before and I just never loved it. I personally never liked their menu options that they had. There was always something I didn’t like in the recipe or when I actually made the recipe of that day it just didn’t turn out right. My good friend Lauren texted me one day if I have ever heard of this company called Green Chef and I said no. She then sent me a coupon for a free box of meals! First off so sweet of her to do that and second off Green Chef is AMAZING! Everything that they offered on their site was just so well explained and well done that I couldn’t say no. Everything that they send you in the box comes with the recipe with step by step instructions. Since they send you three different meals in one box sometimes it can be confusing if you use the same ingredients for the same recipes. Green Chef fixed that problem by color coordinating the recipe with the labels of the ingredients you will need for that specific dish. Unlike other meal prep programs you can cancel and re activate your account at any time. You also can skip weeks if you are going out of town and even add more to your order if you are having people over. If you are looking for a healthy meal prep program that is not only filling, but different than all the other companies out there go and try Green Chef. I have attached images of their Buddha’s Delight recipe that I made for lunch today. Hope you all have a great day! <3

 

Click Here to be connected to the Green Chef website 


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Hump Day Treat – 4th of July Themed

Happy Wednesday! With the holiday weekend coming up I thought I would make today’s treat themed for this upcoming 4th of July. One of my favorite treats of all time are funfetti cupcakes. In middle school I used to make these for all of my friends birthdays. You can easily make them your own by just a few drops of food coloring into the cupcake mix. I have in the past used the red food coloring for cupcakes, but it always seemed to turn out more pink than red. This time I added about half a dozen drops of red food coloring and it seemed to have done the trick. Now I know that everyone thinks that vanilla frosting is all the same, but the funfetti frosting is something way different. I don’t what it is about it that makes it taste so good. If you can’t find it in your grocery store check your local CVS. Thats where I found it when Fairway didn’t have it. To make my treat fully patriotic I added some blue sprinkles on top to give it that final touch.  If you are looking for some other fun July 4th treat ideas here are some fun ideas for you to try out.

  • Red white and blue cookies – take sugar cookie dough and add food coloring and roll it all together then back
  • Red and blue jello cups with whip cream on top – make red jello in a cup and put in fridge then make the blue jello and pour on top of the red jello then put it in fridge until firm
  • patriotic pretzels – pretzels sticks drizzled with white chocolate and red and blue sprinkles

Hope everyone who is going out of town for the 4th has a safe and fun holiday! For those of staying in Manhattan make sure to find a rooftop or a balcony to see the fireworks this year. I saw them practicing them last night on my way home from Brooklyn. I just hope my sweet puppy Stella doesn’t get scared by them this year <3


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Fitness Tuesday – SOULPUP

Happy Fitness Tuesday! Today I want to talk about fitness with your furry friends. If you follow me on social media you know that I am a SoulCycle junkie or if not by my matching shirt with my sweet puppy Stella. I try and go at least 4 times a week if not more, but I am not like Venessa Hudgens who says if she can goes twice a day. That is a little crazy to me! When I got Stella she was only 3.5 lbs of pure fluff and now she is 22 lbs. Some people think she is bigger than that because of all of her fur. All of my old dogs were large golden retrievers so once they were about 6 months they were too big to pick up on my own, but this isn’t the case with Stella. Since starting my workout journey I have tried every type of exercise in the book…except hot yoga out of fear I will pass out in the room. I never realized that by picking Stella up all the time and carrying her I was really building up my muscle strength. So I decided to do something that involved me working out and Stella. I now try and do lunges while I am holding her across my living room floor. She sometimes gets a little squirmy, but eventually she lets me hold her. The other exercise that I love to do with Stella is running. I love running outside with her for many reasons. First because of her size she runs really really fast! You can ask my family in Miami whenever she is there she runs around my house in circles and is so fast. She is so fast that my brother Ira who to this day says he is the fastest in our family can barely keep up with her. Sorry to break it to you Ira, but Stella is the fastest Marcus now. If you are going to take your dog out for a jog please take a collapsable bowl that can be attached to your leash for water. I know too many people that didn’t do that and thankfully none of their dogs got hurt, but they were severely dehydrated. If you have a furry friend like my sweet Stella do these two exercises with them and see what I am talking about. Sadly my SoulCycle t-shirt is no longer available, but a similar shirt to the one Stella is wearing is up on their website. Click here to purchase it for your sweet furry friend. <3


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Hump Day Treat – Oreo Cheeseake

Happy Wednesday Everyone! Sorry that I have been MIA here on Just Jodi Style. I have been in Miami up until this past Sunday and then my sweet Stella got sick. Did you all know that sugar free gum is just as dangerous as a dog eating chocolate? Stella somehow found gum in a Taxi cab after our flight thankfully she is okay and doing well! While I was home my brother Ira decided he was going to finally make his famous Oreo cheesecake for the entire family! His first stop was going to Whole Foods. Obviously Whole Foods is the place to go when you are looking for healthier alternatives to the not so healthy ones. He found there the “healthy” Oreo alternative and all I have to say is WOW! These faux Oreos were unbelievable so creamy and delicious that I hate to say it gives the original Oreo’s a run for their money.

I always thought my brothers famous cheesecake was super complicated to make, but its really super simple! Here is what you will need:

Ingredients:

-36 Oreo cookies, divided

-1/4 cup butter, melted

-4 pkg. (8 ox. each) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened

-1 cup sugar

-1 tsp. vanilla

-1 cup breakstone’s or knudsen sour cream

-4 eggs

-springform pan for cheesecakes (very important otherwise it will be difficult to get it out of the pan

Directions:

1. Heat Oven to 325 F

2. Take 28 cookies in a plastic bag. Flatten bag to get rid of the excess air then seal the bag. Finely crush cookies by rolling a rolling pin across the bag. Place crumbs in bowl. Add butter and mix well. Press onto bottom of 9 inch springform pan.

3. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl with a mixer. Add sour cream and mix well. Add eggs 1 at a time and beating after each until it is fully blended.

4. Chop or crush remaining cookies and gently stir the chopped cookies in the batter. The chopped cookies should be 1 – 1/2 cups.

5. Pour the batter over crust and sprinkle the remaining chopped cookies.

6. Bake 1 hour and 10 minutes or until center is almost set. Run knife around the rim of the pan to loosen the cake and make it easier to remove. Let the cake cool before removing from the springform pan.

7. Refrigerate for 4 hours.

8. Take out of the refrigerator and enjoy!

 

Hope everyone is enjoying the first official day of SUMMER!!!

Recipe was taken from Kraft Recipes Online Click here for the full recipe 


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Hump Day Treat – Negroni Week

Happy Wednesday everyone! I have been feeling under the weather the past few days with a nasty cold, but I am starting to finally feel better just in time to head to Miami this weekend  to spend some quality family time. Now when it comes to cocktails I am the girl that loves a sweet drink. I also love anything that involves my favorite fruit in the entire world….Strawberries. You could put any kind of alcohol in any alcohol as long as it involves strawberries there is a 99% chance I will drink it. I quickly found out via Instagram this week that it was #NegroniWeek and I wanted to make my own cocktail to celebrate it. Even though it may not feel like summer in NYC right now I thought why not prepare with a frozen drink. I made this frozen strawberry Negroni in my NutriBullet and it is honestly AMAZING!!! Here is what you will need:

Ingredients

-1 ounce Campari

-1 ounce Bulldog Gin (or really any kind of gin)

-1 ounce Cinzano 1757 Sweet Vermouth

-.75 ounce Orange Juice (No pulp)

-.5 ounce simple syrup

-1 strawberry

Directions:

-Blend all the ingredients together with some ice and garnish it with some strawberries or like me cut up some and put it inside the drink for a delicious frozen treat at the end of your cocktail.

Hope everyone is having a great week and enjoys today’s cocktail recipe <3


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Hump Day Treat: Bar Pitti – Rigatoni Pitti

Happy Wednesday everyone! Since moving to New York City there are a few restaurants that I have come to love more than most. Ask any of my friends and if I could I would eat at Bar Pitti every week. The only flaw is that it is cash only and like most people I know no one rarely has cash on them. One of my best friends Rachael was determined to find a recipe for my go to dish the rigatoni pitti and I am here to tell you that she found it! I have personally made this recipe a handful of times and it is almost spot on to the classic rigatoni pitti at Bar Pitti. Here is what you will need:

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. rigatoni pasta
  • 4 ounces fresh peas
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 8 ounces fresh turkey sausage, cut into 1/2″ pieces
  • 1 14.5 ounce can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. In a large pot cook the rigatoni pasta ( al dente) while you are cooking the sauce so they are ready at the same time

2. In a pan that is large enough to fit the cooked pasta in it to heat up the 2 tablespoons of olive oil on a medium heat

3. Add the turkey sausage and fry until lightly browned on both sides

4. Remove the sausage from the pan and put aside (I usually put it on a a small plate). Remember do not remove any of the oil or anything from the pan after removing the sausage. You will want these juices for the next step.

5. In the pan with the olive oil and removed turkey sausage add the crushed tomatoes and salt. Simer for a few minutes then lower the heat to low.

6. Add cream and stir allowing sauce to heat up for a few minutes. Make sure the sauce does not boil.

7. Add the sausage back to the pan and then add the peas. Mix it all around

8. Then add the cooked rigatoni and toss and mix everything around so that the sauce covers all the pasta.

9. Top each plate with parmesan cheese and serve immediately!

 

Hope you all enjoy today’s Hump Day Treat recipe <3


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