Let’s start out by finding out who won the Rocco DiSpirito’s Now Eat This Diet Books! I had to throw in the “Winning” Charlie Sheen reference – that guy is anything but a winner.
First winner:
I’m all about mushrooms so this recipe is a must try for me!
What’s my motivation to lose weight?
I would have to say my motivation to lose weight is hands down to be there for my family. I started a blog myself a couple of months ago to record my progress & failures. My first post briefly explains how I became an orphan – aka no Mom, Dad or even Brother at the age of 32. I see myself following in my Dad’s footsteps – he passed away due to complications of his weight – which included heart failure, high blood pressure & type 2 diabetes. Most, if not all could have been preventable if he took control, but it seemed like he never tried. I was 20 weeks pregnant with my Son when my Dad died. It was the day before we found out he was a boy. At the time I was pregnant I had gestational diabetes, so I knew I was at an even higher risk for type 2. Now that my Son is here…all I can think about is making sure he & my husband have me in their lives for a long time. I would hate for my son to watch his Mommy sit on the sidelines instead of running & playing alongside of him. So with this I joined WW and started running. Hoping to be a better example and be around for a long, long time to come.
Second winner:
I want to lose weight cause I am tired of being overweight. I started 2 years ago and have lost 54 pounds and kept it off through portion control and changing my habits a little. I have recently incorporated chair yoga (I have knee problems) and walking.
I saw your book but could not afford it. I found the website and have been using the receipes there for about a week. My husband is diabetic so the receipes are friendly to his diet too. Some I adapted a little to accomodate our family but everyone has been raving! I intend to keep cooking, losing and walking until I reach my goal. I have about 120 ponds to go but I am sure that I can do it!
Third Winner:
As a I motivation to lose weight I want to stay healthy and look good. The older you get the harder it is to lose weight, especially for women. Also I don’t want to get diabetes. We cook too good and our food taste so wonderful, so it’s hard to stop eating. Perhaps if we didn’t cook so good………
Fun question and great give-away.
Sam
And the final winner:
This sounds like a great giveaway.
My motivation for losing weight is primarily that I’m diabetic and need to be more health consious. I also have joint issues that losing a few(many) pounds would help take some of the pressure off of.
Congratulations! Please send me your mailing address to mybizzykitchen@gmail.com and I will forward it to the publisher so you’ll get your books. 
So remember how Tony sent me an email with a suggestion for dinner Friday night? Um, pretty sure he had an ulterior motive – i.e., if he suggested a different dinner . . . he wouldn’t have to have party pizza Friday. I am sure Helen’s husband is saying “WTF?” as he would enjoy party pizza Friday every day of the week!
But don’t worry! I still got my pizza on. Saturday Tony and I went to lunch and a movie! We saw Win Win, which was excellent – if you have a chance to see it, we highly recommend it. So there was no grocery shopping on Saturday. What do I always have on hand? Flour, yeast, salt . . . i.e. PIZZA DOUGH!
But I made it a bit differently. I made another batch of Schiacciata and decided to use the 00 flour in my pizza dough. I thought it was delicious!!
- 2 cups 00 flour
- 1 package yeast
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 cup warm tap water
- Mix well and knead for a few minutes – this was enough dough to make three individual pizzas
My pizza: kind of “leftover” pizza – I had two meatballs, jalapeno, yellow peppers and a blend of colby jack and cheddar cheese on top. My pizza comes in at 18 points – totally worth it – thanks flex points!
So I’ve decided that I am going to do an Italian themed Easter this year. I am going to be doing a wedge salad with brushetta and balsamic dressing, a soup course, homemade bread and pasta and braciole. I wanted to do a test run of the braciole beforehand though.
First I started out with a simple tomato sauce:
- 1 tsp. olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 2 (28) oz. cans of Italian plum tomatoes
- 4 basil leaves
- salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons butter (you add this at the very end to even out the sauce)
I pureed it after the vegetables cooked down after 30 minutes
The filling:
- 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1 tsp. minced garlic
- 1 ounce shaved Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
Mix the bread crumbs through olive oil and spread across your 1.5 pound round steak.
Then layer the chopped eggs:
Then roll up and tie to hold it together. Heat a tsp. of olive oil and Pam over medium-high heat. Sear the meat on all sides.
Preheat the oven to 350. Add the seared meat to the tomato sauce, and cook for 90 minutes, turning the meat every 30 minutes.
The meat is so tender, and the sauce thickened up while it cooked down. The only thing I would do differently is season the meat more liberally with salt and pepper.
My dinner comes in at 12 points
That meat dish looks really interesting – your Italian themed Easter should be fun!
Congrats to all the winners. I’ve never even heard of braciole! It looks fun!
Congrats to all the winners!!!! Have a great Monday Biz!
That meat looks INSANE! And of course your pizza has jalapenos on it.
Congrats to the winners – what great stories and reasons to be fit and healthy. Broke my heart about her becoming an orphan at 32.
I hope you have a wonderful Monday!
Nothing says Easter better than Italian food!
That meat looks interesting with the egg in it
Did you taste the egg?
Your Pizza always looks good, Tony should be loving it!!
You do taste the egg – it’s just kind of creamy in the middle
I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around the eggs in there too! Does it taste strange? I’m guessing not since you are making it for Easter! Shoot, I don’t even know when Easter is…
Congrats to the winners!
I made braciole years ago when I first heard of it on Everybody Loves Raymond. I wasn’t too impressed, but it could be my recipe, expectations and I was still figuring out my way around the kitchen.
Pizza’s on the menu this week! With your super fast crust of course!
Congrats to the winners!!! Glad you were still able to get your pizza on. It looks perfect. Josh loves jalapenos on top of pizza. I’m sort of a jalapeno wuss ! I can only handle a few
i read an article this weekend about mario batali discussing his favorite pizza methods and apparently he swears by 00 flour! i’m not even sure what that is?! look at you, cooking like a celeb chef
Kate, its just a super fine flour – we had no problem finding it in our ethnic grocery store, but not sure if you can find it in a regular store
That pizza looks awesome!!
And a themed Easter sounds so fun. Maybe I can convince my mom to do something similar!
Hey Biz! Thanks for dropping by my blog and commenting
Nice to “meet” you too! Your recipes look delicious! You can have me over for pizza anytime!
Well, guess what we had for dinner on Friday? Pizza! Friend invited us to go to an ‘upscale’ pizza place with them. Usually on Friday when he has to be up and at his special black belt class for 7 am on Saturday, Mr. Helen would have said no, but he never says no to pizza! He was a meat pizza eating happy fool.
We’re doing the twin thing again Biz – I made braciole yesterday for us to have for dinner tonight! Your filling is interesting. When I make mine, I make individual size braciole and they have the breadcrumb filling (but no eggs) and each one is wrapped around a stick of sharp provolone. Yum.
That’s so crazy Helen! It’s like we are twins!!
Everything looks delicious! I need to start thinking about Easter meals. I know for sure quiche will be involved
Jeff wants to go see Win Win – it’s not in our theater yet, but glad to know it’s worth the wait. Between you and Helen, now I want to try braciole! Of course, you KNOW it will have to be in a restaurant as I’m too lazy to actually make it myself! Still, it looks really good.
I’m watching the mailbox for our Easter invite! Just 3 of us – so surely you can squeeze us in:) That looks great and so does your pizza. I do a sort of similar filling and rolling with pork tenderloin.
I’ll set up an extra table for you!
Hot dog. I can’t believe I’ve won. That’s great news and that is one fine looking pizza. My address is in your email. Thanks again for the book.
Sam
An Italian themed Easter sounds awesome, I have no idea what I’m making for Easter. I’m guessing my husband will be working a 12 hour shift that day, so I can cook all day
I’ve never even heard of that last dish you made with eggs in the middle!
Tony – glad you were able to get out and enjoy lunch and a movie – I want to see that movie too!
My husband is with Helen’s husband! He would want pizza party every Friday. And pretty much gets it :\
I have a different recipe for braciole if you want it, Biz. Mine is without the egg, too.
Love to have it – I am going to send you an email because I am still looking for an Italian soup for one of our Easter courses –
The meat dish looks so freaking good, my mouth is watering!!!
Congrats to the winners! When are you going to open a restaurant? Seriously I think your calling is to be a chef!
ooh, an italian-themed easter, how fun!! that dish looks amazing
congrats to the winners!
congrats to the winners!
Italian themed Easter sounds amazing. I am doing a plain old brunch menu.
congrats to the winners!
pizza night sounds so great, i love the way you made yours. we might have to do the same thing tonight, but with as lazy as i’m feeling, it might be a take out pizza!
Oh, goodness! That pizza looks amazing! And the meat in the sauce is something that I need to try soon!
wow, these stories are so inspiring -congrats to the winners!
I haven’t made braciole in years, and this brought back memories. My hubby is always telling me I’m depriving him of his heritage because I don’t make spaghetti often enough. Guess I’ll make him happy this week.
You are a meat-cooking genius. I wish I had half of your skill with meats….they intimidate me!
Congrats to all of the winners! Their motivation is so inspiring! Hope weigh-in goes alright tonight…just hoping to not have a big gain after my weekend in Vegas! A maintain would be awesome
LOVE the hard boiled eggs in the meat stuffing!!!!!!!!!!!! Why don’t I ever think of things like this!????
Thank you for visiting my blog the other day, Biz.
You must have chosen your pizza’s toppings on the basis of color! I love the green/orange combination.