Best of CEIMB - August 20, 2009

Grilled Thai Beef Salad:
A satisfying and healthy salad topped with grilled flank steak marinated in a mixture of lime juice, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and red curry paste. Not only is this salad delicious, but it is also super simple and will be on your dinner table in no time.

Get the recipe here or on page 107 of The Food You Crave by Ellie Krieger.

BEST PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

This week best photo goes to Amy of Playing House. Don't you just love that bowl?



And second runner up goes to Leslie of Lethally Delicious for her Thai Mushroom Salad.




BEST POST OF THE WEEK

This week best post goes to Joanne of Apple Crumbles for writing about her husband's revelation while eating this salad:

Ted thought it was fantastic. We discovered he does not like cilantro. Another member of the CEimB “Rid the World of Cilantro Club“.

Haha. Welcome to the club Ted!

Great job to all this week. I am happy to see that pretty much everyone who made this salad really enjoyed it.

Best of CEIMB - August 6, 2009

Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Lemony Cream Cheese Frosting:
Did you think that carrot cake could only be satisfying when made with tons of butter and cream cheese? Well, you thought wrong. This recipe produces a moist and flavorful mini carrot cake with a light and tangy lemon cream cheese frosting. These are practically guilt free, so indulge away!

Get the recipe here!

Well we had people battling tornadoes and utility companies to make these cupcakes, but the consensus is that they are worth it.

BEST PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

This week best photo goes to Joanne of Apple Crumbles. If you read her blog regularly than you know that she is highly talented at cake decorating and blogs about many of her fabulous cakes. She made her cupcakes super cute this week with tiny frosted carrots.



Second runner up goes to Tessa of Handle the Heat. You can always count on Tessa for a gorgeous photo, and she did not disappoint this week.




BEST POSTS OF THE WEEK

Kudos to Pam at Lobsters and Fishsticks for reworking this recipe into a cookie. What a great idea, reminiscent of the breakfast cookies we made a few weeks ago.

As usual, Duff at Lonely Sidecar treated us to her humorous thoughts on these cupcakes.

Will my friends actually eat a cake whose batter is the color and consistency of baby poop?

Will my husband still speak to me if I tell him that the fiber content of our dessert is my way of telling his colon that I love it?

And Jilla of My Next Life pointed out that these cupcakes really couldn't have been bad.

Now on to this weeks Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Lemony Cream Cheese Frosting. Can you say "YUM"? Of course, cream cheese frosting will make feet taste delicious, so this was a no brainer.

Best of CEIMB - July 30, 2009

Hi All,

I had every intention of finally doing a best of this week. And then Nick and I traveled to New York for the weekend to see my family and we were too busy getting a raping by Southwest airlines and mother nature. Seriously, it was terrible. So here it is, a little late, but posted nonetheless. And I will try to get back on a regular posting schedule soon. Thanks!

Cobb Salad:
Is it possible to have a light and healthy Cobb salad? Indeed it is. This wonderful take on cobb salad is filled with the traditional flavors without all that fat.

BEST PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

There were quite a few good ones this week, but winner goes to Pamela of Cookies with Boys. I love this one because it just reminds me of a quintessential Cobb salad.



Second runner up goes to Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet





BEST POSTS OF THE WEEK

This week a shout out goes to our Bella Baker Lauryn, who wins the award for most creative way to serve this salad. If you haven't already, check out her post to see her Cobb salad tower.

I also had a good chuckle when Maria at Half Meatball Half Matzoh Ball Children said

Oh this recipe was so much fun. Not to mention the organizing of the food lines.......Cobb Salad is an OCD girl's dream!

Haha, I suppose I can relate.

Awesome job to all as always. It seems that this salad was a big hit. I know I will be making it again.

Best of CEiMB - July 9, 2009

Lobster Roll:
This guilt free creamy lobster or shrimp roll is a great way to healthily indulge in shellfish on those lazy day summertime picnic's. The Greek yogurt and mayo sauce is a great canvas to adapt for your own tastes.

BEST PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

This week Tessa from Handle the Heat took top billing:




And runner up goes to Liz of The Not So Skinny Kitchen:



There were quite a few really great pictures this week. It was hard to choose only two. Keep it up everyone!!!

BEST POST OF THE WEEK

Best post goes to our lovely hostess this week, MacDuff of Lonely Sidecar. If you read Duff's blog on a regular basis then you know that she always has some interesting and hysterical commentary on whatever is going on in her life at the time. And she has a wonderful way of always tying it into food.

Duff explains in her post the reason she picked this recipe was because she had plans to spend a long weekend up in Maine at The Lawyer from Southie's (TLFS) family beach house. However, just getting there was a bit of a scary ordeal.

The Lawyer from Southie took me up for a weekend at his family's home on the coast of Maine. In order to get there, we had to drive, then take a ferry, then drive again. I mentioned the rain, right? The rain was torrential. We snaked up the coast of Maine going about 30mph in the dark, with a rainstorm that was sure to wash the outlets at Freeport away. TLFS started referring to our camera as "The Black Box," only because if we were found dead, the video of us driving in the thunder and lightning, rocking out to Def Leppard and dodging huge bolts of THE LORD'S WRATH would be the only thing to let our family know that we loved them.

I think I speak for everyone when I say I am happy to know that they made it there and back alive. Check out the rest of her post to be regaled about tales of croquet and couples in coordinated argyle sweaters (and I am not hating on the argyle sweater, I love a nice argyle).

Great job to all this week. Can't wait for next week's noodles - I already made them and they are super delicious.

Best of CEiMB - July 2, 2009

Breakfast Cookies:
A delicious and healthy breakfast (or anytime) treat, made tender with whole wheat pastry flour, these tasty morsels are like a cross between a cookie and a muffin.

The recipe can be found on the Food Network website.

BEST PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

There breakfast cookies were a popular pick and there were quite a good few pictures this week so it was hard to chose the best.

This week best photo goes to the lovely Pamela of Cookie with Boys:



Runner up goes to Joanne of Apple Crumbles:



BEST POST OF THE WEEK

This week best post goes to Cathy of The Tortefeasor. As we all know, this recipe called for a jar of baby food, and I think this gave her husband a quick scare when he saw it sitting on the counter:

My poor hubs almost had a heart attack when he came home and saw that sitting on the kitchen counter. He said "What's THIS for??" and I saw the color drain from his face. I don't know if he felt any better when I told him it was just for the cookies I was making. Yeah, he probably did.

Haha. That it classic!

Great job to everyone this week, I am always glad to see a recipe that so many enjoyed.

Happy 4th of July!

Best of CEiMB - June 11, 2009

Double Chocolate Pudding Pie:
A creamy chocolaty pudding in a crisp graham cracker crust, with half the fat and calories. A wonderfully cool dessert for a warm Summer night.

This recipe can be found on page 280 of The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life by Ellie Krieger or it can be found here.

BEST PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

This week it was hard to pick the best pictures, there were so many to choose from. Apparently chocolate pudding pie loves the camera.

Best picture this week goes to one of our new members, Blair of Deliciously Golden. This really looks like a pie I want to dig into.

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Runner up goes to our hostess for this recipe, Tessa of Handle the Heat. Her pie slice looks so creamy and delicious.





BEST POSTS OF THE WEEK

I had a few good laughs this week reading your posts.

Alyssa from Talley Family joked that

The filling is a little jigglie though and reminded me of an old woman waving her arms yelling "Bingo!!"...

Haha. That made me laugh out loud at my desk at work.

Andrea of You Eat Now relayed a story about her pudding photo shoot that many of us can probably relate to:

I was having so much fun that I lost track of time and my hubby stumbled into the kitchen around midnight to find me in a very intense pudding photo shoot. I don't know if he was fully conscious, but he mumbled something about the dang bloggetyblogblog and turned around and went back to sleep. I did notice this morning that one of the glasses chilling in the fridge is now empty. Breakfast pudding? I like it!

Nice job by everyone this week. Have a nice and relaxing weekend :)

Best of CEiMB - June 4, 2009

White Gazpacho with Grapes and Toasted Almonds:
A healthy and refreshing summer soup with cucumbers, garlic, scallions, and almonds. Surprisingly creamy with a wonderfully crunchy trio of garnishes.

This recipe can be found on page 83 of The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life by Ellie Krieger or it can be found here.


BEST PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

This week best photo goes to Joanne of Apple Crumbles. I think this week's recipe was right up Joanne's alley. A nice light dish with no vegetarian substitutions needed!




Runner up photo goes to Jessica of A Singleton in the Kitchen. I love this photo, it is so bountiful with all the delicious garnishes. Many people commented that the garnishes really made the soup, and I think this is the ultimate illustration of that.



BEST POSTS OF THE WEEK

Here are some of my favorite lines from this week's posts:

Leslie of Lethally Delicious was a little suspicious of the wet bread. I tend to agree, normally we are trying to avoid soggy bread, not make it.

I was very skeptical about this week's selection, chosen by Lauren and Paul at I'll Eat You. Wet bread and I have a hate-hate relationship. I seriously had a hard time understanding how anything containing wet white bread would be something I wouldn't throw out, not to mention love.

Cathy of The Tortefeasor has no problem with the soggy bread, but was a little perturbed at the price of grapes:

Sidenote: I paid $8.14 for a smallish bag of green grapes for this recipe, a fact so shocking to me that I deemed it worthy of a Facebook status update ("Cathy just paid $8.14 for a smallish bag of green grapes.") For those of you not versed in social media, a Facebook status update is a far more serious and solemn affair than a Twitter status update (at least for me, as I will tweet anything).

Great job this week to all, especially to those who stepped out of their comfort zone for this one. I think most everything is worth a try at least once.

Have a wonderful weekend. Make a chocolate pudding pie :)

Best of CEiMB - May 21, 2009

Thai Style Halibut with Coconut Curry Broth:
Meaty halibut poached in a flavorful Thai red curry and coconut milk broth served over a bed of brown rice and spinach.

This recipe can be found on page 232 of The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life by Ellie Krieger or it can be found here.


BEST PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

This week best photo goes to Liz of The Not So Skinny Kitchen. Liz was also our host this week and picked this fabulous recipe for us to try.



Runner up photo goes to Andrea of You Eat Now. Andrea made her curry with chicken and she added peanuts and mushrooms.



BEST POST OF THE WEEK

This week best post goes to Natalie of What's for Supper?

Natalie's husband Ben does not like cilantro (clearly Ben is a very intelligent man with proper taste buds), but Natalie still thought she could sneak it into the dish without him knowing. Silly silly Natalie.

Apparently Ben came home and commented that the kitchen was smelling of deliciousness.

Ben took a shower and Natalie covertly added cilantro to the pot.

Ben came back into the kitchen and informed Natalie that the kitchen now smelled like a urinal (Amen Ben!)

Furthermore, he said he liked the dish but thought that something in the sauce on top of the fish was not quite right.

Ben was a trooper though and ate his supper. If it were me, I would not have been able to finish this if it had cilantro. I think it is so offensive and totally ruins otherwise tasty things for me. I know so many people love it, but I just don't get it. It's just one of those things I guess.

So thanks to Natalie for making me smile by retelling her semi successful attempt to trick her husband into eating the evil herb.

Great job to everyone and enjoy your Memorial Day weekend!

Best of CEiMB - May 14, 2009

Jerk Chicken with Cool Pineapple Salsa

Sorry this post is a bit late this week. One of our friends got married on Saturday so I didn't have much time to put this together.

BEST PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

This week best photo goes to MacDuff at Lonely Sidecar for her vegan jerk tofu.



Runner up goes to Farah at Confessions of a Novice Baker.




BEST POST OF THE WEEK

This week best post goes to Joanne of Apple Crumbles. I think we all got a good laugh when Joanne had to do some improvising while making this recipe in her mother's kitchen because

Mum apparently doesn’t beat her meat…hmmm, should I change the wording on that last sentence?…ANYWAY…she just doesn’t have the “gadgets” I have so we made do…

Can you guess which kitchen tool her mother was missing?

Great job to everyone this week!

Best of CEiMB - May 7, 2009

Garden Risotto

Well, the pool for choosing best of's this week was small. There were only 12 posts (including myself) this week out of our blogroll of 29. What's up everyone? Do I smell? Is it my breath?

Anyway, I am sure that everyone is busy doing this or that. I hope nobody is dealing with anything too serious that is keeping them from our blogiverse. That said, I hope to see many of you back soon. It is much more fun when everyone participates.

Mini guilt trip over. Now onto the accolades.

BEST PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

This week best photo goes to Andrea of You Eat Now for her spoonful of risotto.



Runner up photo goes to Mary Ann of Meet Me In The Kitchen. If you read Mare's blog then you know that her photography is always top notch.



BEST POST OF THE WEEK

This week, best post goes to 2 ladies, Liz of The Not So Skinny Kitchen and Peggy of Pantry Revisited.

I know that there are two schools of thought when it comes to making risotto - some people find it enjoyable and relaxing and some people find it enraging and stressful. Jen and Peggy really illustrated those differences in their posts and I found it quite entertaining.

Peggy had this to say:

I love to eat risotto. I always hesitate to make it though. It is just the “time” thing. You cook, you stir, you cook, you stir, you cook some more...Having said that, with a glass of wine in hand, there is something incredibly relaxing about making risotto. Add a little broth, drink a little wine, stir. Add a little more broth, drink more wine, stir. Add wine, drink broth, stir. Taste risotto, slide down on floor where wine spilled, stir. Stir, drink wine, broth add. Yeah, you can tell I had fun with this one!

And on the flip side, Liz shared her frustrations:

I tried to enjoy the process of making it. I tried, but I’m now convinced that risotto and I are not compatible in any way. I do not find joy or peace in the process nor am I able to appreciate the steam facial I receive while standing over a pot of rice that simply refuses to absorb all the broth I’ve poured into its pan... Try as I might to convince the rice to be more absorbent, try as I might to convince it that it was taking too long, I just could not get this done in 18 minutes. I decided not to time myself, but I felt like I was in the kitchen for days, and I’m pretty sure I got carpal tunnel from all the stirring. The thing I hate most about making risotto is that I feel chained to it, like I can’t stop stirring for even a moment or it starts to bubble at me in anger.

Awesome job everyone! Have a wonderful weekend :)

Best of CEiMB - April 30, 2009

Turkey Meatballs with Quick & Spicy Tomato Sauce and Whole Wheat Spaghetti

BEST PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

This week best photo goes to Liz of The Not So Skinny Kitchen. This photo is exactly what I picture when I think spaghetti & meatballs.



Second runner up goes to Jessica of Johnstone's Vin Blanc. Another perfect bowl of pasta!



Great job ladies :)

BEST POST OF THE WEEK

This week best post goes to Joanne of Apple Crumbles. Joanne seems to be our resident vegetarian, and every week she shows us how to make our favorite (and sometimes not so favorite) Ellie recipes vegetarian friendly. As if that wasn't enough, she almost always also cooks the original recipes for her meat eating husband Ted.

This week, Joanne made turkey meatballs for Ted and "turkey" meatballs for herself using Quorn. I can't vouch for how they tasted, but I can say that you really could not tell the difference in the picture. Impressive! Check out Joanne's post to see if you can pick out the real meatball.

Best of CEiMB - April 23, 2009

Balsamic Chicken with Baby Spinach and Whole Wheat Couscous

BEST PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

I am happy to announce this week's best photo goes to Pamela of Cookies with Boys:




And second runner up goes to Joanne of Apple Crumbles:



Both of these ladies give us quality posts week after week, so a big congrats to them!


BEST POST OF THE WEEK

This week best post goes to a great blogger, Leslie of Lethally Delicious. This week Leslie regaled us with her tale of aliens who forced her to alter the recipe against her will.

Last week, I got carried away with modifying the recipe, including leaving out the star ingredient. It worked out well, but I felt a little guilty. This week was going to be different. I was going to make this dish (chosen by Marthe of Culinary Delights) without substitutions or omissions. I was excited about the recipe and couldn't imagine wanting to do anything different with it. Then, I was taken hostage by aliens. They liked their chicken breasts thick and juicy. They liked doubling some things, but not others. They were saucy, garlic loving aliens. They said they wouldn't hurt me if I followed their orders. This is what they made me cook.

Check out Leslie's post to see what those saucy aliens made her do!

Best of CEiMB - April 16, 2009

Lamb Stew with Orange


BEST PHOTOS OF THE WEEK:

This week best photo goes to Liz of the Not So Skinny Kitchen. This marks Liz's first post ever for Craving Ellie in my Belly, so a big congrats to her!




Best photo also goes to Jessica of A Singleton in the Kitchen for her creatively styled photo.




BEST POST OF THE WEEK

Hands down, this week's best post goes to Jessica of A Singleton in the Kitchen for her description of an encounter she had with a little boy at Whole Foods while procuring her lamb for this dish. The story is ridiculous to begin with, but the Billy Madison dodge ball reference gave me a good chuckle.

I went and procured the lamb and I was standing in line, waiting to check out, pondering my brother's assertion that Whole Foods "is a bunch of hippies saving the world one organic carrot at a time" (mind you, he shops there all of the time so there's no animosity in that statement), and generally minding my own business. I was literally knocked out of my reverie by the very loud slam of my cart into my abdomen. You see, this punk-a** little kid in front of me decided to mess with me. He took his empty cart, turned it around, and gave it a mighty shove into my cart. I like kids a lot, and they generally like me a lot too, but it took all of my "grown up" sensibilities not to rudely shove my cart back into his! And the look I got from him was just daring me to do it, too. We could have had a Billy Madison dodge ball moment: "Now you're all in big, BIG trouble." But his poor mother was embarrassed enough as she was whispering to him not to do such things and I thought it was probably best to go back to musing about the organic carrots.

Everything looked great this week and I loved all the different variations of this recipe :)

The Best of CEiMB - April 9, 2009

This is our first installment of the Best of CEiMB. It was hard to chose from all the great pictures this week. The salmon proved to be very photogenic.

Salmon with Sweet & Spicy Rub

BEST PHOTOS OF THE WEEK:

Best photo of the week goes to Aggie of Aggie's Kitchen:




And second runner up goes to Mary Ann of Meet me in the Kitchen:




Both of these wonderful women feature delicious and healthy recipes on their blogs every week, you should read them regularly if you are not already!

BEST POST OF THE WEEK

Best post of the week goes to Cathy of The Tortefeasor who consistently makes me laugh out loud every week. This week she combined her posts for Barefoot Bloggers and CEiMB. Even though the below excerpt was not about the CEiMB recipe, it gave me a good laugh:

Of course, it's the dressing that makes this a "Chinese chicken salad." Ina's recipes often specify to use not just olive oil, vinegar, etc., but "good" olive oil or "good" vinegar. I am never 100% sure what she means by "good," but I have a feeling that she means "not the stuff they sell you in Publix." In this recipe, the dressing calls for "good apple cider vinegar." I did have apple cider vinegar in my pantry, but I'm afraid Ina would probably think of my vinegar as: Heinz: The Apple Cider Vinegar of the Unwashed Masses. I am pretty sure that Ina would not consider this to be "good" apple cider vinegar. If you read the label closely, however, it says that it is "ideal for food." I figured I could build on that.

Congrats to this week's champs!