Time to catch up on all of my cooking...

Ok, so I have a lot to post, and I've done a terrible job of updating. BUT... here is my defense:

Boyfriend was in town for a week, my aunt passed away, business trip, and lastly, the boyfriend came back into town for my birthday: an event that was the culmination of a series of bad eating habits that left me uninspired for "healthie" posts. Including a friend's birthday, which FORCED me to be a not-so-healthie-foodie by making three different kinds of cupcakes with 5 different kinds of buttercream frosting. Alright, well no one really twisted my arm, but they were delicious. Let's all take a moment to reflect on those:

Yellow cake with chocolate frosting, chocolate cake with coconut cream, yellow cake with mint chocolate frosting.... yum. And not Weight Watchers friendly in the least! (I got these buttercream recipes out of the March 2009 Southern Living: start with the vanilla buttercream and add variations from there!)

Anyway, I can honestly say I've done a lot of cooking lately and I can't wait to ell everyone about some great recipes. I think I've actually been doing so much cooking in fact, that I hadn' been taking the time to actually crank out the posts.. So, bare with me while I catch up and post about these individually, but here are a few posts you can look forward too:

1. Rachel Ray's Honey Lime Salmon with Warm Corn and Black Bean Salad
2. How I used the left over corn and black bean mixture as a filler for some yummy veggie quesadillas with corn tortillas and goat cheese (4 or 5 weight watchers points, but sooo delish)
   
3. Butterschotch bars out of Cooking Light - 140 calories a piece, but I'll tell you why they're not worth it to me.
4. A potato and greens torta that was delicious. If you love quiche, you'll want this all the time. (from Cooking Light, naturally.)
   
5. Variations on a tangy strawberry salad with farmer's cheese from Southern Living.
6. Prosciutto and melon salad with canteloupe vinaigrette (I actually busted out the food processor at 10:30 one night to make this. I don't know.)
7. Some not particularly healthy pasta courtesy of Giada de Laurentis that I made for the boyfriend. It did have spinach in it though, so maybe I get some points for nutrients?
8. My new favorite fruit salad and snack: pears, strawberries and blackberries - and it's so pretty too!
9. Totally satisfying strawberry shortcake that's only 3 Weight Watchers points per serving. Screw the butterschotch bars...
   
10. Italian Tomato Tart from Cooking Light (I read a lot of Southern Living and Cooking Light while on the road last month...) but again - this rocks if you love quiche or a good tortilla espanola.
    
11. How I recreated a delicious Hoppin John that I had at Restaurant 3 last weekend in Clarendon.
    
12. Some general thoughts and tips on snacking; a few pitfalls I'm learning to avoid.
    
13. Oh and speaking of pitfalls, some thoughts on the day to end all diets: a terrifying confrontation with so many birthday treats in a short period of time, that I was positive I would go into a diabetic coma. Turns out I was fine, I just gained a pound or two...

So that's it - lots of good recipes to come, guys! Sorry it's taken so long to get back on the bandwagon....