Black Friday Turkey Recipe-busters!

This is only for folks that actually have leftovers after their traditional, immense, and plentiful Thanksgiving feast.

My favorite turkey leftover recipes:

1. Turkey breast, cornbread stuffing, jellied (yes canned cranberry sauce) cranberries, spicy brown mustard, and two slices of rye.

2. If you’re lucky enough to have the turkey carcass (sorry for the gruesome terminology) like I always do, you can make some yummy full-flavored turkey broth. Take that turkey carcass, roughly chopped carrots, celery, and onions along with a few bay leaves, peppercorns, and dried thyme, plunge it in a stock pot with cold water. Bring it up to a boil and then reduce it to a simmer. Simmer for at least 1 1/2 hours, strain and store. You can refrigerate it for up to two weeks or freeze for a couple of months. It’s great medicine for that cold or flu I really hope you don’t catch!

3. Flo’s Turkey Waldorf Salad: Diced turkey breast, diced celery, diced onions, diced apples, chopped walnuts, dijon mustard, mayo, apple cider vinegar, and tobasco sauce.

Here are a few of what my friends from Whole Foods Market like to do with their turkey leftovers:

Turkey Tetrazzini

Turkey Enchiladas

Turkey Picadillo

Whole Foods Market Recipe

Turkey Pot Pie

Whole Foods Market Recipe

So now when you come back from all your Black Friday shopping adventures (like I just did) or when you wake up from that tryptophanic coma, you’ll be all set with how to feed the family some extravagant turkey dishes…makeover style.  Good luck, god speed, and Happy Holidays!!

-Chef Flo

New Year, New You?!

The new year is upon us once again and every single year it’s usually the same routine.
First 3 months: eat healthier, work out more, and have a positive attitude.
Next 3 months: indulge in one less healthy meal, reduce working out by a day or so, and start thinking, “Hey, I did well for the first three months of the year, what would it hurt if I faltered a little?”
Then the following 3 months: “Life is too short to not enjoy and just ‘LIVE LIFE’! The summer is a time to enjoy and the winter/holidays are coming, I’m going to have to eat all the great, fatty, I mean ‘comforting’ foods anyway! I can start again the new year.”
The final 3 months: Regret, disappointment, and “Oh, well, it’s the holidays” mentality. “Let’s make a new resolution (repeat resolution is what it really is) for January 1st, I can’t wait to change my life (again)!”

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As much as I sit here at Starbucks, drinking my Venti Soy Pumpkin Spiced Latte after just reading the first two parts of Rip Esselstyn’s “The Engine 2 Diet,” trying to convince you all to start anew, trust me, I just described my year of resolution and regret in the above description. But is it not what this time is all about? The end of the year is to reflect on your past year’s joys, regrets, disappointments, triumphs, and ‘shoulda, coulda, wouldas.’ However skeptical, I think I’m ready to do this. Even if it is a part of a program for work, I’m going to say it…

My 2012 Resolution: I’m going to begin to follow Rip Esselstyn’s Engine 2 Diet, 28-Day challenge! I’m going on a strong plant-based diet! Ahhhhhhh!!!

I’m going to fill you all in with more information. Check Rip’s website on his diet! I’ll tell you all about Rip’s book and diet and, with the help of Rip, debunk all your myths about a strong plant-based diet. But for now, I have to pick up my daughter from school, figure out how to have a healthy after-school snack opposed to my snack idea prior to reading this book, and go home and toss all my crap out of the cupboards. Stay tuned and wish me luck.

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T-minus 35 days until my WFM Engine 2 28-Day Challenge

Leave me comments if you tried this challenge yourself, are a vegan, hate vegetables and love your meat, have faltered on new year’s resolutions and other fun facts about the end of the year traditions of regret. Until next time! Happy eating!

GIVE THANKS FOR EVERYTHING BUT CALORIES

It’s Thanksgiving once again, my favorite holiday! The start of the season is always welcoming to cheer, friends and family, shopping, giving thanks, and CALORIES

Every year we all know that when the holidays come, never too far behind is the gathering of friends and family. Whenever there are friends and family during these cold wintry days, what better than warm, comforting, and hearty foods to bring us all together. We always talk about either getting ready for those few pounds we knowingly and willingly gain for the holidays or create a plan to avoid them altogether. 

Well this holiday season, you don’t need to shy away from those nostalgic recipes and comforting dishes that we all love. I’ll be providing a countdown to Thanksgiving along with healthy recipes for side dishes, appetizers, turkey tips, and desserts for the next ten days.

I’m going to take those classic and traditional Thanksgiving dishes and provide a healthy alternative for you to serve next Thursday. I promise to WOW your friends and family with how similar your dishes will be to its classic cousin and how tasty HEALTHY really can be. The recipes that I’ll be posting will be ones that I have adapted into my own holiday repertoire. They will be from various celebrity chefs, food magazines, Whole Foods Market (of course ;-p) and from my own recipe collection. 

Let’s enjoy this Thanksgiving by being surrounded by our loved ones and not by worrying how many pounds we are going to gain. The day after Thanksgiving is not BLACK FRIDAY because the color is slimming! Let’s get through this holiday the healthy way. 

If you have any requests for a healthy alternative recipe or for a dish you want me to highlight that you were too afraid to tackle, just ask! Leave a comment for me here on my blog or email me at servemenowcatering@yahoo.com. You can also LIKE me on Facebook under Facebook.com/servemenow. Follow me on twitter at @servemenow! Happy holidays! 

Want to know what the world is SERVING?

I would love to welcome everyone to Serve M.E. Now’s blog!

I am a Personal Chef specializing in Healthy Eating, Mediterranean Cuisine, Vegetarian/Vegan Diets, Gluten-Free Diets, and Kid/Family Friendly Cooking.

I’ll be blogging about different foods & cuisines I experience every single day! I figure that since cooking, eating, and dining is what I love to do, why not share it with the world! Foodies and non-foodies alike are always interested in what other people have to say about a restaurant or cuisine that they haven’t tried before. At the same time, it’s great to hear about a restaurant or cuisine that you have tried but felt questionable about it.

I also be doing reviews of different city’s various restaurants and favorite tourist spots to highlight what the city is all about.

If you have any requests for reviews, please feel free to contact me at servemenowcatering@yahoo.com or leave a comment/feedback here in my blog!

I hope you all enjoy!