T89P025HIt’s no secret that Maria Menounos is my girl crush. She is currently the Managing Editor for E! News and in the past has reported for Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood.

I first started watching her when she was a reporter at Channel One News, a 30 minute news segment for students in selected elementary, middle and high schools across the country. We’re also both journalists and have the same drive and passion to be successful and leave an impact.

When she came out with her “EveryGirl’s Guide to Cooking” book, I immediately went and bought a copy. Maria is also Greek and I absolutely adore Greek food. I really haven’t experimented much with cooking in the past, I am more of a baker. Cooking is just not my thing. I think the only thing I’ve really ever cooked from scratch in my life was Baked Potato Soup and Kabobs. The main reason why I started cooking was because I think like a man all day long with business decisions and I just needed something to balance out my feminine qualities at the end of the day.

Surprisingly, the recipes in Maria’s book have been very simple, quick, healthy and nutritious. I thank her for her inspiring me to cook and for making grocery shopping more fun! I would love to meet her one day and tell her this.

I will be posting different recipes that I make from her cookbook along the way, a personal rating and the number of times I swore since I am brand new to this cooking thing, ha ha!

Cinnamon Swirl Oatmeal

Serves 1

oatmeal

Ingredients:

1/2 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats

1/4 cup raisins

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 Tablespoon chopped almonds or walnuts

1 Tablespoon whipped cream cheese, at room temperature

2 teaspoons milk (any kind)

Instructions:

1. Cook the oats according to the package directions. Transfer to a serving bowl and stir in the raisins. Sprinkle with cinnamon and the almonds.

2. In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese and the milk to reach a glaze consistency. Spoon over the hot oatmeal.

Comments: It’s really the cream cheese, almonds and raisins that I love in this oatmeal! It tastes creamy and delicious for a warm breakfast. I don’t add any milk because milk in oatmeal is not really my thing, I just mix it into the oatmeal.

Rating: 10/10

Total times I swore: 0

Litsa’s Potato Salad

Serves 4

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Ingredients:

3 large russet (or Red Bliss) potatoes

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 Tablespoon Oregano

1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

Salt and black pepper

Instructions:

1. Bake the potatoes for 12 minutes in the microwave. Peel and cut into chunks while they are hot and place in a large bowl.

2. Mix in the red onion, oregano, olive oil, vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste.

Comments: FYI: Litsa is Maria’s mother and is so spot on with this potato salad! I really like it because it’s not a creamy version and much healthier. I’ve made this a few times for lunch and I actually like using less vinegar and Oregano, it really depends on your taste buds. I always burn my hands while peeling the potatoes, but it’s expected since they’re hot. This would also make a great potluck dish!

Rating: 9/10

Total times I swore: 4

Spicy Shrimp with Spaghetti

Serves 4

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Ingredients:

1/2 pound spaghetti (regular, whole-grain or gluten-free)

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 large tomatoes, diced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or as desired

1 pound frozen medium shrimp, thawed, peeled and deveined

1 Tablespoon dried basil

1/4 cup dried parsley

Salt and black pepper

Instructions:

1. Cook the pasta according to the package directions; drain.

2. Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the tomatoes, garlic and pepper flakes, mashing the tomatoes against the side of the skillet. Increase the heat to medium-high and simmer for 5 minutes or until the mixture has thickened.

3. Add the shrimp, cook for 4 minutes, stirring and turning the shrimp to coat with the sauce.

4. Remove from the heat; stir in the drained pasta, the basil and the parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Comments: I made this for dinner for a guest. At first bite I thought it tasted too bland, but once I added some parmesan cheese and some extra canned sauce, it worked for me. My guest liked it so much that he had a couple servings!

I thawed the shrimp that afternoon by running cold water over it, then had to peel the tails since the grocery store I visited only had unpeeled ones. I am also not the best at chopping vegetables but slowly learning. Making the sauce was interesting as I have never “thickened” tomatoes in a pan to make it into sauce. I went through almost a full spice jar of dried parsley to garnish the top of the dish.

Overall, I was actually pretty proud of myself for how it turned out! I would definitely make this again.

Rating: 8/10

Total times I swore: 10

Lamb and Rice

Serves 6

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Ingredients:

Salt and black pepper

1 medium onion, diced

8 ounces ground lamb

1 cup tomato sauce

1/2 cup cooked rice

1/2 cup minced fresh parsley or basil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Warm 1 Tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Cook the onion for 5 minutes or until softened, stirring. Stir in the lamb, tomato sauce, cooked rice, parsley, garlic, cumin, cinnamon, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring to break up the meat.

Comments: This recipe is actually suppose to be in eggplant boats, but because I can’t stand eggplant I just made the filling instead. It still makes a great meal!

I love this recipe but I actually liked eating it the next day! Maybe it was because of the lamb? I don’t know if lamb is the best meat, I might try ground beef next time. The cumin and cinnamon really bring out the flavor. Overall, it is a very easy meal to whip up!

Rating: 8/10

Total times I swore: 5

Cucumber-Tomato-Red Pepper-Feta Salad

Serves 4

cucumber

Ingredients:

1/2 small cucumber, split and cut into medium slices

6 cherry tomatoes, cut in halves

3 ounces feta cheese, crumbled into bite size

1/2 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 Tablespoons lemon juice (if you prefer vinegar, use that)

Oregano

Instructions:

1. Using toothpicks, slide slices of cucumber and tomatoes, the feta and red pepper in alternating patterns onto the toothpicks.

2. Drizzle the veggies with the oil and lemon juice and sprinkle with oregano.

Comments: According to the book, this is actually suppose to be an appetizer that is assembled on toothpicks, but I made this as a full salad instead for a large potluck (I ran out of patience placing each individual veggie on the toothpick). The whole entire bowl was gone and I got so many comments on how the feta cheese and lemon juice really added flavor to the salad!

Rating: 9/10

Total times I swore: 0

Banana Almond Butter Cracker

Serves 1

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Instructions:

Spread some almond butter and sliced banana on a spelt-flaxseed cracker. Make it as a sandwich or leave as is.

Comments: This is one of Maria’s protein snacks and I love it as well. I usually have this after a workout. I don’t use a flaxseed cracker though, more like a multi-grain one.

Rating: 10/10

Total times I swore: 0

Photo Credit: Amazon, Wikipedia