Put in my 2 Weeks Notice

Where can you a find:

-People who cannot fit into booth tables
- Bottles of wine E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E
- 90 minute wait for a table every Friday and Saturday
- Toxic levels of sodium in almost every dish
- Meals that have more calories than what I am supposed to eat in a day
- Unlimited soup, salad, and bread sticks.

You can find them in Tuscany! Oh wait...I mean the Olive Garden.  As someone who prides myself on loving real food that is authentic, gourmet, hand crafted...I am sorry to say I spent the last little while of my life working as an Olive Garden slave/server/bartender.  (HEY! I also had my "real" job as a residential counselor in a psych home so dont make fun yet...)

The OG is far from Italian food (in my onion ladies and gents), but some of their dishes are based on some real stuff found in Italia.  One of the favorite soups that customers love to eat multiple bowls of just because they're unlimited is the Zuppa Toscana.  When they eat 2 or 3 bowls before their meal, they have already eaten about 500- 600 calories not including all the bread sticks that get dunked in the soup amongst the process.  I have always been intrigued by this soup, but since I refuse to eat most of the food that comes out of the restaurant, I made a "copy cat" recipe of this soup with a much healthier mindset.

Claire's Zuppe Toscana

1 pound Spicy Italian Chicken Sausage
1 Qt. water
4 Cups chicken broth (Reduced Sodium!!)
1 - 2 large russet potatoes, sliced in thin circles
3 garlic cloves, sliced
1 large white onion
2 C chopped Kale
3/4 C half and half
bacon bits

1.Brown the sausage in the skillet, and set aside.
2. Simmer the water, broth, potatoes, garlic, and onion until all tender
3. Add sausage to pot and simmer on low for 10 minutes
4. Add Kale and half and half
5. Top with bacon bits and serve.  Top with crushed red pepper if you like.

YUM. The more Kale the better!  Look what I chose to have with my soup instead of bread sticks and 1500 calories of creamy pasta fried chicken dish:

So here is a healthier version of a dish at the Olive Garden.  I will be working there for 10 more days. I cannot wait.

Louisiana Creole-Sicilian Shrimp

More blog posts coming soon.  sorry for not writing. if i even have any followers ;-)
Just going to post some pictures from tonight's dinner, with the recipe.


This dish is a "barbeque shrimp" recipe without actually BBQing the shrimp or using BBQ sauce.  It came out quite delicious, but next time I would eat it as an appetizer since eating JUST shrimp seems a little off for some reason.

Instead of having the French Bread that the recipe calls for, I made some garlic broccoli for a side to make it a little healthier.  Please notice the steam coming off the shrimp.  Right off the stove!

1/2 C fat free Ceaser Dressing (I'm a sucker for Ceaser Dressing, so I used Brianna's - yes it's full fat)

1/3 C Worcestershire sauce

2 TBL butter (I used Smart Balance Light)

1 TBL dried Oregano

1 TBL Paprika

1 TBL dried rosemary

1 TBL dried thyme

1 1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp hot sauce (I used Sriracha, of course)
5 bay leaves
3 - 4 garlic cloves, minced NOT crushed.  Its nice to have some chunkers of garlic mixed in with the shrimp.
2 pounds large shrimp (I actuality used 31-40 count, shelled, deveined, keep the tails on)
1/3 C dry white wine
10 chunky slices of crusty baguette (I didn't use this - watching my carb intake a little)
10 lemon wedges


Combine first 11 ingredients in a large non-stick skillet, bring to a boil.  Add shrimp, cook for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add wine, and cook 1 minute until shrimp are done.
Serve with baguette and lemon slices.


Enjoy!