five weekend details

one. My globetrotting parents finally have returned to American soil! Which means we can have text conversations like these again:

We will also be spending NEXT weekend with them, a little detail for which I am uncontrollably excited. YEE!

two. The What to Expect When You're Expecting movie? As great as I thought it would be. Plus we saw it with a great group of people, which made it that much more fantastic.

three. I sort-of-kind-of "invented" an appetizer? So I feel like I should throw a party now. Nom nom nom. 

four. Lunching at the Bacara Hotel with good friends. Cocktails poolside all day = bliss. (This photo pretty much sums up our day. That, plus lots and lots of sunshine. Perfection).

five. Husband and I followed up one poolside day with another! We went to the on-campus pool (which faculty & spouses can use without a membership, whoo hoo!) and swam laps for an hour or so. OUUUCH I'm all kinds of sore right now. Slightly embarrassing, but oh so worth it.

What'd you guys do this weekend? Do tell!

   

Pinspired: {Low-Cal} Mini Spinach & Artichoke Breadbowls

A few weeks ago, I came across this picture on Pinterest:

Picky Palate via Pinterest

It got me thinking. What is the first thing that pops into your mind when you think of spinach dip? Sour creeeeeeeeeeeeeeam. Artichoke dip? Mayooooooooooooooooooo.

Pretty gross, right?

Well, I LOVE dip, and don't think that calories and fat should keep us apart.

...

Clearly I need to find a way to lighten up some of my faves.

I absolutely LOVED the idea of putting the dip in mini-breadbowls, so I used refrigerated pie crusts.  The husband loved them with the pie crust, but I think next time I'll try using tortillas pressed into the muffin cups. They'd crisp up like chips and let the dip stand out.

Here's my recipe (very loosely inspired by the Picky Palate one): 

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2c frozen spinach, thawed, OR ~2c fresh spinach
• 1 can (or about 8 oz) Artichoke hearts, drained, VERY finely chopped. 
• 1/2c light Mayo
• 1/3c Plain Greek Yogurt
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped.
• 1/3c Parmesan Cheese * 
• Refrigerated Pie Crust, Bread Dough, Tortillas, etc. (whatever you want to be your "bowl")

You'll also need:

• Mini-Muffin Tin
• Cooking Spray

*I didn't have this but would DEFINITELY use it next time!

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 
• Mix together all the ingredients in a bowl. Complicated, I know. Savor the fact that your tummy and your waistline will thank you for being so kind to them. (if you use fresh spinach, you'll need to steam it first; stick it in the microwave for like 30s with a 1/2 tsp of water. )

• Spray the muffin tins with cooking spray. Press the bread bowl material (pie crust, bread dough, tortillas, etc) into each muffin tin, making sure to make it thin. I love my carbs but you want the dip to be the shining ingredient here!

• Scoop the dip (a little more than 1Tbsp) into each cup, making sure to fill it a teensy bit extra-full (it will compact a little when baked). 

• Reduce the heat to 350 degrees, bake for 15 minutes or until the tops are lightly browned.

Perfection! I had some leftover dip, so I tossed it in a ramekin to bake sans-breadbowl. Delicious both ways! 

I may or may not have had this for dinner. It's a vegetable, right?

YUM!

Pin It


Linking up here!