BeantownBelly | Beantown Belly

Man. I know for a fact that if I don’t enjoy my food while I’m eating healthy, I will drag race to the nearest Stop & Shop to grab a tub of Helluva Good Onion Dip and a bag of Cape Cod chips. It’s like being surrounded by fire and you’re panicking trying to find the fire alarm! Dramatic, yes. Same feeling of relief? Oh, fo’ sho’.

This recipe saves me every time I feel like pulling that fire alarm when I crave cold, creamy, slowly churned ice cream. So Ben & Jerry, I sincerely apologize for leaving you guys, but I’m sure we’ll meet again in the future. Your calories are just too expensive and my expenses are quickly piling up! I’m sticking to my faux ice cream because it costs me only 200 calories with 0.6 grams of fat.

So what’s the secret? Frozen Fat Free Cool Whip. It’s cheap, convenient, and all you need to do is freeze it to get an ice-cream-like texture. It’s ridiculously easy, I promise! Just look:

Ingredients:
~1/4 Fat Free Cool Whip of container, frozen
1 cup strawberries, halved
2 Truvia packets (or another sweetener like Stevia)
1/2 cup red wine
1 cup water

Directions:
1) Take cool whip out of freezer
2) In a sauce pan, combine strawberries, sweetener, red wine and water on medium heat. When sauce is boiling, immediately reduce to low heat and cook until reduced to desired thickness (~5 minutes)
3) Scoop out a quarter of cool whip from the container into a bowl and pour sauce on top
*If sauce is too thick: add water and simmer until satisfied with consistency.

Enjoy!

What are some of your favorite life-saver recipes?

Woohoo! Zagat launched a brand new blog filled with Boston goodies and fun contests! I was one of the 15 lucky folks to win an invite to a private cocktail party at Catalyst by submitting quality reviews on Google Places. This is an up and coming way to spread the word about places you love, feel indifferent about, or hate because the waitress was arguing on the phone while serving your table. I still don’t believe that happened. We also won a free 60-day subscription to Zagat.com, so I’ll be sure to check things out like the street-style eats in Boston or the huge discounts they offer with Savor at pricey restaurants. Seriously, times are rough man.

Here’s a recap of the wonderful event that took place last night, all the fabulous people I met and, of course, the food.

Adri Cowan - Google Boston's Community Manager. Thank you for such a great time!

Photographers, ballet dancers, foodies with neuroscience degrees... you name a skill, they have it!

Cocktail party held inside of the fireside room of Catalyst

House made charcuterie

Seared scallops with bacon relish

Butterscotch pudding

Meet Joe! The most patient waiter with the steadiest hands all photographers love.

My favorite discussion topic! Sushi.

And what a wonderful night it was. Thank you Google Places and Zagat! I had a blast.

Also, a very special thank you to Catalyst and the great service you provided to ensure we all had a fun, carefree time. Your establishment is absolutely beautiful! I’m so happy to hear that you are thinking of hosting wedding receptions. Readers, the open spaced rooms are gorgeous, the ceilings are high, and the walls can be folded to make one grand venue. I think this is a great idea and hope they make it official! (Engaged Lily, are you reading this?)