Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

As mentioned previously, I have a strange addiction to Pinterest. I am always pinning recipes to try.  I have tried a number, but occasionally, I will pin one, then go to look at the ingredients and think they are insane.  Such was the case with this sandwich recipe I pinned.  I got to thinking about it and decided I could easily make my very own recipe.  So this was inspired by Pinterest, but really has very few of the ingredients, if any, that were in the recipe I saw. Here is my very own recipe for 2 servings of Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwiches:

1-5oz. Can of Chicken
1 Tbsp. Light Mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. Vinegar
2 Tbsp. Frank's Red Hot Sauce
5 Sprays of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter
2 Deli Thin Slices of Cheddar Cheese
2 Tbsp. Reduced Fat Blue Cheese Dressing, I used Wish Bone.
4 Slices Sara Lee Delightful Bread

Preheat George Foreman grill or a lightly greased pan or a griddle. Toast bread on medium setting in toaster.  In small bowl mix canned chicken, mayonnaise, vinegar, hot sauce, butter spray until well mixed.  Spread mixture on toasted bread.  Spread 1 Tbsp. of blue cheese dressing on top of each partially made sandwich. Top with a slice of cheddar cheese. Top each sandwich with remaining piece of bread.  Place sandwich in grill or onto pan or griddle.  Cook for just a minute or so and flip to continue cooking until cheese is starting to melt. Slice each sandwich in half and enjoy!

We served ours with no sugar added applesauce, which was delicious!  The sweet apple sauce made up for the kind of spicy sandwich.  If you keep track of your Weight Watchers Points, this sandwich is 6 points.  You could even get creative and add some chopped up celery, which would be delicious! Also, the hubby doesn't love blue cheese, so we left that out on his sandwich. He just had some ranch on the side. We both enjoyed the sandwich so much, hope you do too!

Tupperware Bonanza

I had a Tupperware party before we went to Hawaii.  It was by far the easiest party I have ever toasted, I only provided a few ingredients, and the rewards were amazing!  If you want Tupperware, you should really consider hosting a party to get it.  Products with a lifetime guarantee aren't always inexpensive, but my party made everything super affordable.  I was able to get lots of credit, half off items, free items, etc.  I paid very little and now my pantry is ready to go. It was just like Christmas morning opening up my giant box of hostess items.  Here is what I got...which doesn't include the gift I got for booking a party or the hostess rewards I didn't take like another half price item or another item that was offered...still this is so much fabulous Tupperware:

A couple of these items have some really cool features...

This is the spaghetti keeper.  I am terrible, really, at measuring out spaghetti.  So, I was so happy with the little measuring feature. Woohoo!

This is the microwaveable lunch dish I bought.  It has a special lid that you can vent when you microwave.  What I also loved was the cold cup! It slips inside the left divided area and can come out before you microwave, how cool is that? I got one as a thank you gift with my party and ordered a second one, because I loved it!

This little container actually holds 2 oz.  I'm so excited to use it for taking dressing, mayo, cream cheese, etc. to work.  Also a perfect size for a small serving of peanuts. 

This is a 4 oz. container which came with the freezer set I bought (see the cute snowflake?), but I got some extras for snacks...like making my own lunchables! I'm happy I can save money on using plastic baggies and stop losing money buying cheap stuff at the store that doesn't last.

This is the lid to one of my microwave n serve containers.  I like the instructions on the back...and the valve.  You don't do anything, other than put the container in the microwave and it does all the venting!

So, with my new kitchen additions, I had to use them.  I decided to make a recipe.  I vaguely recalled that you could take a cake mix and mix it with a can of pumpkin.  I was guessing I could bake the cake in the microwave just the same.  At my party, we made a chocolate cake in the microwave, so I had a general idea of how long to bake it.  I mixed one yellow cake mix with one 15 oz. can of pumpkin.  Then I added 1/4 cup of mini chocolate morsels.  I sprayed the inside of my 6 1/2 cup microwave n serve with cooking spray. Then spooned in my batter.  I microwaved for 9 minutes (in our ancient microwave) and voila...cake!

I had some caramel topping in the fridge, so I decided to pour 3 tsps on top, kind of like a glaze.

I sliced our cake into 14 pieces and served up a piece with a little dollop of whipped cream.  Delicious!!

Gluten what?

Since my doctor told me to cut down my refined carbs to one meal and focus on gluten free, I have been slow to change.  I didn't want to rush right out and buy a bunch of gluten free products that I was only going to eat at one meal a day.  Instead, I decided to cut down to carbs at one meal a day and use up some of what we have in the house.  I had also planned on being part of a pie and cake competition on Saturday.  They of course had a tasting after the judges had tried their pieces.  I wanted to taste the "competition".  Then proceeded to taste a couple of other treats.  My pie took second place...out of two pies.  The winning pie was apple and mine was peanut butter.  I don't think mine won because I work for the organization having the contest.  The pie that won was not as good as the ones my family has made.  Plus, everyone kept going back to my pie for seconds, thirds, and fourths.  That didn't happen with the winning pie.  Anyway, I brought a cake home from the cake & pie auction which we shared with our brother & sister-in-law.  I had a headache that evening and went to bed early.  I woke up with a terrible headache and upset stomach.  I blame it on the myriad of gluten products I ate the day before.  Sigh...anyway, it prompted me to change the dessert I had planned to make for our dinner party.  I was going to bake an angel food cake with strawberries.  Instead, I made a flourless chocolate cake and will garnish with whipped cream and strawberries.  Here is the recipe.  It tastes wonderful, but it stuck to the pan a little, so mine is a little funny shaped, like a pancake.  It was surprisingly easy to make. 

I was also happy to try some new gluten free crackers today.  I slept in really late this morning, woke up to breakfast in bed, and wasn't quite ready for a big lunch.  I decided to have some soup with crackers and cheese.  My Progresso Clam Chowder was gluten free and already in my cupboard.  I had purchased some sesame crackers that are really tasty!  My dear husband who is a carb lover, even likes my sesame crackers.  They were super crispy, salty, and delicious. I think everyone should try them!

Cookielicious

I blame it on the lack of snow.  The need to make cookies that look like snow balls that is.  This will be my first Christmas ever without snow on the ground.  That is if the weather man is correct and our weather stays in the 40's-60's for the next week with little to no precipitation.  Anyway, we went to a Christmas party last night and were invited to bring a snack to share.  I also knew I'd be a part of a cookie exchange tonight and we are hosting a Christmas party tomorrow.  Making a big batch of cookies seemed like the thing to do! So I doubled the recipe below and made two double batches.  I came out with about 150 cookies.  They were traditional Mexican Wedding Cake Cookies from my Taste of Home cookbook.  They turned out delicious!

1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar, plus extra for dusting

1 Cup Butter, softened

1/2 tsp vanilla or almond extract

1/2 Cup finely chopped pecans

2 Cups flour

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Whip sugar, butter, and extract until light and fluffy.  Slowly add flour.  Stir in pecans.  Create 1 1/2 inch balls of dough and set on a greased cookie sheet.  Bake 12-15 minutes.  Let cool on wire cooling rack for 4-5 minutes.  Roll in powdered sugar.  Let cool completely.  If powdered sugar soaks into the cookie, they were too warm.  Redust the cookies in that case.  Enjoy!

Crazy Cuisine...Cincinnati Chili

In the evenings the hubby and I watch Food Network.  On several different shows they have talked about Cincinnati Chili.  The recipe always seemed so peculiar to me, that I was nervous to try it, but intrigued all at the same time! The chili is unique because it is served on top of spaghetti.  You can order it "one way, two way, three way, or four way" depending on the toppings you want.  I believe one way is topped with spaghetti. Two way is cheddar, three way is cheddar and onion, and four way adds in oyster crackers. This recipe has chocolate, cinnamon, and negates the usual chili ingredient of beans.  I finally worked up the guts to try interesting concoction.  I was amazed.  It did not taste like chili or spaghetti.  It was a spicy dish, not hot spice, but cinnamon, clove, allspice type spicy.  It reminds me of Indian food or even African food in a way.  The flavor is just so different from anything I have ever tasted.  While I was incredibly hesitant to try this recipe, I am happy to say I will continue to make it in the future! Supposedly, it tastes like a recipe from a famous restaurant called Skyline.  This chili has a cult following and I can see why!  So don't be nervous, go ahead and give it a shot!  Since this was a new to me experience, I did something I rarely do. I actually followed the recipe as best I could.  You can click here to find the recipe!  I didn't have allspice in my cupboard, but oddly enough I had pickling spice which had very similar seasonings to what was called for in this recipe.  I only used one pound of ground beef.  I also cheated slightly. After simmering my ground beef, I just rinsed it and added water again to simmer.  I didn't use the whole technique of putting it in the refrigerator overnight and skimming the fat off.  I also used a lot of water.  We have heavy duty pots that retain heat REALLY well, I found myself adding 1 cup of water every half hour to keep everything simmering nicely.  This says ten servings, but my pot made more like 5 servings.  Let me know if you try it, hope you find it to be just as wonderful as we did!

Pumpkin Perfection.

Today we got around to preparing our baking pumpkins.  I had eleven in my pumpkin patch.  Earlier we had used a couple to make pumpkin bars and bread.  Today, we made puree and measured 1 cup servings into freezer bags.  I am hoping I get to make the pie for Thanksgiving!  Here is how we prepared our pumpkins...we washed them, cut the stem off, sliced them in half, scooped out the guts, and put them cut side down in about a half inch of water on a baking sheet.  We baked them for an hour at 400 degrees.  We let let them cool and scooped out the flesh.  We finished by using the food process to puree it.  I plan to have a baking pumpkin patch again, it has been a very rewarding plant!  In fact, I tried a new recipe today and we both LOVE it!

Pumpkin Cranberry Chocolate Chip Bars

I originally got this recipe from the Weight Watchers website which claims it to be just a couple points a slice.  Mine is slightly higher and I did change the recipe from what was on the Weight Watchers site.  I think mine is higher because of the cranberries I used...the nutrition on the packages seem to be twice as high as what most websites site it should be.  In fact my chocolate chips were lower in calories than the cranberries were!  The Weight Watchers website did not use chocolate chips.  They used buttermilk and I used regular milk.  The final product is a cake like bar that has sweet chocolate accenting sour cranberries in a soft pumpkin confection.  It really is delicious!

Ingredients:

1 Cup Brown Sugar (I used dark)

4 Tbsp. Margarine (Mine was 60% vegetable oil)

1 Cup Pumpkin Puree (You can certainly use canned, that's what the original recipe calls for)

1 Large Egg

1 Egg White

1/3 Cup Fat Free Milk

1 1/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour

1 1/2 Cups Uncooked Old Fashioned Oats

1 Tbsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice (I used Apple Pie Spice, because that's what I had on hand)

1/2 tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 tsp. Table Salt

2 oz. Craisins or other Dried Cranberries (I used 2-100 calorie packs of Craisins)

1 oz. Miniature Chocolate Chips

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour dust a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.  In a large bowl cream brown sugar and margarine.  Beat in egg and egg white, pumpkin, and milk.  Mine looked very granular or almost slightly separated at this step, which concerned my slightly, but by the time it gets to the pan it will be mixed nicely.  In a separate medium-sized bowl combine flour, oats, pie spice, baking soda, and table salt. Stir in pumpkin mixture just until moistened.  Fold in cranberries and chocolate chips.  Spread evenly in baking pan.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Cool completely and cut into 18 rectangles.  Enjoy with a tall glass of milk or hot cup of tea or coffee.

Each bar has around 174 calories, 3 grams of fat, 1 gram of fiber, 10 grams of carbohydrates, 8 grams of protein, 154 mg of sodium, and 384 mg of calcium.  This calculated out to 4 Weight Watchers Points per bar.  This is a great snack or could be a nice breakfast bar!

Souptastic

For two years or maybe even longer I have wanted to try a specific soup recipe.  I had heard there was a recipe for Olive Gardens Zuppa Toscana floating around the Internet.  I looked at several versions of it and considered it about three million times.  For some reason I decided to put it on our menu this week.  I have been trying a lot of new recipes lately.  Some have been pretty good and others have not made it in to my recipe collection! In fact, I take pictures of a lot of them, but there is no sense in posting a recipe that is just so-so.  Today is a different story. This soup recipe is just like eating at Olive Garden and I even changed it slightly!

Zuppa Toscana

Ingredients:
2 medium potatoes, washed and chopped

6 slices bacon (I used thick cut and chose a meaty bacon)

Jennie-O Lean Italian Seasoned Ground Turkey (Cooked and crumbled)

1 small onion

1/3 Cup Heavy Cream

1 Quart Water

2 Tablespoons Chicken Bouillon

1 1/2 tsp. chopped garlic

2 Cups Chopped Kale (washed and dried with paper towels before chopping)

Crushed Red Pepper to taste

Parmesan Cheese to taste

In a sauce pan, fry bacon with chopped onion.  When bacon is crispy, remove and crumble.  Set bacon aside for later use.  Add garlic to onion and saute for one minute.  Add water, chicken bouillon, and potatoes.  Let simmer for 15 minutes or less if potatoes seem to be cooked thoroughly. Add crumbled bacon, crumbled sausage, chopped kale, and heavy cream.  Let simmer an additional 4 minutes.  Garnish with a dash of red pepper and Parmesan cheese (not included in nutritional information).

Yield: 10 servings as a cup of soup or 5 servings as a bowl

Nutritional information: 6 WW points for a cup or 11 points for a bowl.

A bowl is around 523 calories, 33 carbohydrates, 27.9 grams of protein, 31.4 grams of fat, 3.2 grams of fiber. A cup is about 261 calories, 16.5 carbohydrates, 13.9 grams of protein, 15.7 grams of fat, 1.6 grams of fiber.  When I figured this out I included the bacon drippings that do not get drained off and add a lot of flavor!

A million wonderful distractions...

I spent all last week in trainings at work.  On top of that, there was a brief moment where we found out that a co-worker had bed bugs and may have brought them in to our office. Fortunately, we were all in the clear.  On Thursday night was the softball game and my last post detailed the result of that game. 

On Friday, my friend T came to town with her mom.  We had fondue for dinner! I used the Melting Pot cookbook and a recipe for Luau Cooking Style to make dinner.  I love all things fondue and we had fun chatting and eating.  After dinner, T talked her mom and me into trying Zumba! I had a dvd from the library. We did Zumba for about an hour and it burned almost 600 calories according to my BodyBugg! Now, that's a workout! The best part was it didn't feel like a crazy workout. You move through the motions quick enough that even if something is difficult, it's only for like 30 seconds or less.  We had a lot of fun.

Saturday morning we had breakfast at Perkins. I had been avoiding our local Perkins because of a falling out with a volunteer almost 2 years ago.  I found out she no longer works there and we happily ate breakfast! The real fun began when we took a short road trip to some bridal boutiques! T tried on 20 wedding dresses. She looked so radiant! I am sure her family was tired of me saying, "I really like that".  I said it on just about every dress it seemed like.  She just looked fantastic! Finally, at the end of the day, she tried on two dresses that were just amazing.  After much thought, she narrowed it down and chose an absolutely gorgeous gown.  I am so excited for the wedding.  We also changed our minds on the bridesmaid dresses.  The dress we all liked the best is a style that is very flattering on all body sizes.  I will hopefully order my dress very soon!  In addition to wedding dress bliss, we had ice cream, she figured out the tuxedos, went to Archivers to check out scrapbooking goods, and hit up Party City.  It was such a lovely day! 

Driving home I had a moment straight off The Office.  There is an episode where Michael Scott listens to his GPS even when it tells him to drive in a lake.  Well, fortunately I didn't drive into a lake, but the GPS did send me through the airport to get home.  It literally instructed me to drive into the 45 minute parking. For real.  At this point I decided to use my brain and ignore the GPS. We laughed so hard. I am lucky I was with such understanding people! When we got home we looked at pictures from the day of all the dresses and laughed until the wee hours of morning.

This morning we went to breakfast at Qdoba before saying farewell.  I felt super ambitious and with help from the husband processed some pumpkin! That's right, I picked two of my eleven pie pumpkins.  J sliced off the top and cut them in half.  I removed the seeds while he removed the guts.  We put them in the oven and baked them.  When they came out we pureed our mash and got baking.  We made pumpkin bars and pumpkin muffins.  For lunch we went over to my brother & sister-in-law's place.  We had burgers and played a fun game called Cowpoker.  Best of all, I got to play peek-a-boo and be silly with my niece.  She has such a joyous little squeal right now.  There is something about her that fills my heart with so much joy, she puts a huge smile on my face!

I am thankful I had all of this to think about this week.  Tomorrow is my HSG procedure.  In case you don't know, an HSG is basically an outpatient procedure that involves a catheter and pushing dye through the uterus and fallopian tubes.  While the dye is moving through your body, there are a series of x-ray images being taken.  In the end they will be able to tell me if I might have a blocked fallopian tube or other abnormality.  Some women say this is painless.  Other women say it is worse than delivering a baby.  I wasn't nervous until about an hour ago.  I'm nervous it might hurt, anxious for the results, and am just so curious about the whole process.  I am tired, but at the same time, wide awake.  There really isn't any more I can do to prepare.  I understand the procedure, the risks, the benefits, the cost, etc. I just want it to be over, to have gone smoothly, to be pain free, and to have found there is nothing blocking my fallopian tubes or uterus. I am just very blessed to have so many things to have kept me distracted for the past week. 

Pampered Chef bliss

I had my Pampered Chef party on Wednesday.  We did a salad bar and demonstrated the stoneware deep covered baker.   We baked a chicken in 30 minutes in the microwave in this amazing dish.  The chicken was perfectly moist and wonderfully delicious. I was so impressed by the fact the chicken cost me 97 cents and that something so inexpensive could taste so delicious! I usually buy the chicken breasts in the freezer section, but really believe I would be more open to buying a whole chicken if it were always so easy to cook.  My only hesitation was that the deep covered baker was like $69.  Pampered Chef has had such an overwhelming response that they have now made the baker available to only those who host a party.  However, I did a search on Ebay and found several listings.  Since I hosted a party, I was eligible to order one item at 50% off.  Can you guess what I chose? The deep covered baker. I am so excited for it to come!

In addition to this piece of stoneware, I already owned an oval baker that I got as a wedding shower gift. I have only used it once...that is until breakfast today. Since the stoneware seemed so solid, it was sort of intimidating. I didn't know how to clean it or what I was even suppose to cook in it.  Come to find out, all you need to do is use a scraper and hot water! The surface is virtually non-porous and needs to become seasoned.  When stoneware is well seasoned, it has a nice, even browning.  Most people keep their stoneware baking sheets or pizza stones in the oven at all times! One of the things I learned at my Pampered Chef party was that a quick way to start the seasoning process was by cooking bacon.  All you do is put the bacon in a single layer in the stoneware and bake it for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees in the oven! The bacon comes out wonderfully crunchy and you don't have to deal with any splattering! Even though we own an oval baker, I ordered a bar pan to keep in the oven. I can't wait to bake a pizza on it.  Supposedly, it is nearly impossible to burn food when using stoneware. Anyway, I am very excited!

I also purchased some smaller gadgets.  There was an egg slicer which I will be the first to admit, who really needs a gadget that slices eggs?  I call that a knife.  What I did not realize was that this egg slicer cut a variety of other soft foods like strawberries, olives, kiwi, mushrooms, etc. I realize a knife does the same thing, but this is very quick and efficient, not to mention safe! I love mushrooms and olives but don't like trying to cut such little items even smaller.  I also like that a can of whole olives is much less expensive than sliced ones.  The gadget cost $10 and I think it will be well worth it's weight in gold.  They also have a warranty on all of their tools, which leaves my confident.  I have owned the micro-cooker for quite 6 years and it has been incredibly durable and useful. 

Those are the three things I am MOST excited to start using. I also bought a large cutting board (it even has a trench all the way around it to collect juices when you are carving meat or juicy produce), a digital thermometer (my regular meat thermometer kicked the bucket the other day), and a can strainer.  The can strainer is under $5 and will be convenient because our electric can opener lifts the lid off the can with a heavy magnet. I always hate putting the lid back on and then fishing it back out of the can, trying not to cut myself in the process, and hoping my quick rinse under the sink got all of the contaminates off the lid.

Anyway, if you are looking for some fun, new tools to add to your kitchen there are a few ideas.  I especially appreciate how most of the tools have more than one use.  The deep covered baker had several recipes  that can be made in the microwave (like brownies!), in addition to the obvious use as a casserole dish! Oh, I also picked up some a new meausring spoon set and measuring cup that will greatly reduce both the amount of space I need in a cupboard and the number of dishes I have to do!  I really am a pampered chef! Come visit me and I will cook for you and use all my new toys!

Love is...baking a bazillion cupcakes

One of my best friends is an amazing baker.  That doesn't even do her justice, beyond baking she is an artist who designs beautiful cakes!  Unfortunately for me she lives like five hours away.  So when I needed a cake for my birthday, it was going to be pretty tricky for her to get here...especially for a Friday party.  With all of her support and her encouraging words, we decided we might be able to make a cake. 

Now, I was not about to make my own cake, but Jason being so inspired by the show Ace of Cakes thought he could. We set out for Michael's.  Have you priced cake baking supplies lately? Like for a tiered cake with fondant? If you have ever wondered why cakes are sometimes expensive like I have, you suddenly become very appreciative when you see the cost of the supplies. When I say supplies I mean everything from the cake pans to fondant.  It is certainly an investment.  If you are just planning on making one fancy cake, you are probably much better off to hire a qualified baker or investing time in figuring out how to make your own fondant.  I imagine making your own fondant is quite difficult though.  Anyway, as we looked over the supplies and pondered how much to spend or what to do, I saw some cute cupcakes. 

In a neighboring town there is a cupcake bakery that is pretty good. They have fabulous flavors like peach cobbler and vanilla bean.  I also realized that at work we had tons of cupcake stands I could borrow.  We decided to do a few different flavors of cupcakes with different toppings.  I didn't want a plain cake with icing...if I did, I would've just had King Soopers make me one.  Besides, picking a few flavors of cupcakes and toppers would be fun! Immediately, I found some guitars and stars that reminded me of 80's rock. Remember, I said that my birthday party was going to be an 80's theme.  We also found some Transformer icing toppers that looked like they were the original logos. I knew I wanted a third topping so each flavor could have a different top.  We went all over town, but found nothing.  It struck me to make my own topper! We decided to purchase sugar cookie dough (really, there are only so many hours in a day) and cut it to look like Pac Man.   We also bought neon food coloring for our frosting and some black icing.  We planned to make cupcakes on Thursday night for my Friday birthday.  I had my Pampered Chef party on Wednesday night.  I looked at my planner and realized I had to travel out of town on Thursday night! This meant I either needed to order a cake or my dear, sweet, loving husband had to do a majority of the work on his own.

Since he was so inspired by Ace of Cakes to take on a cake, he thought he'd be able to bake the cupcakes.  I picked out the flavors, printed the recipes, and made a long list of ingredients.  He checked the pantry to see what we had in stock and what he needed to purchase.  While I was out of town on Thursday he baked chocolate mint cupcakes with a mint butter cream frosting, a banana cupcake with peanut butter butter cream frosting, and peach cobbler cupcakes with a brown sugar cream cheese frosting.  I came home to a lovely smelling house and an exhausted husband!   I helped him ice some of the cupcakes and made a fourth flavor on Friday afternoon.  I used the extra brown sugar cream cheese frosting to frost my red velvet cup cakes.  These were from a box mix, all the other cup cakes were made from scratch.

I think they turned out pretty good. Especially, since this was really the husbands first baking adventure. He did excellent!! See for yourself below...

From the farmers market to our table...

I would love to watch a cooking show that shopped only at farmer's markets! I guess it'd be pretty seasonal in some areas on what they could make, but they could include tips for shopping at markets.  For example, our market had tons of produce this week.  I saw blueberries for a dollar, which was an outstanding deal.  I walked over and noticed they looked like someone had purchased them from the store and was reselling them.  I believe Alton Brown had pointed out on one of his shows that people would do this and to watch for it. Sure enough, I asked the lady about them and she didn't even know where they were from! The guy helping her started to read the container to me to figure it out! I tried to politely bow out from their booth. As I was moving away the lady said, "they are organic!" I'm not sure how she knew that, because organic was not anywhere on the container.  The best part was that she didn't say the word like most people I know, instead she said, "organ-ick". She was a cute old lady. Do you have any tips for farmer's markets? Do you go to any?

As soon as we got there the aroma of green chili being roasted filled our car.  We walked past, did our normal loop through the small market, and started our final loop to make purchases.  We found these cool fishing lures made out of bottle caps.  We bought one, then I saw a cute gift for a friend at the same booth.  I love buying off the beaten path treasures! Finally, we purchased our mild green chili peppers. They roasted them for us right there.  We plopped them in the fridge over night and went fishing the rest of the day. (I caught my biggest fish of the year, a great, big sucker!)

Today I decided to make my own Colorado green chili! Here is the recipe and the results...

2.5 pounds roasted green chili peppers
20 oz. chicken stock
1 Walla Walla sweet onion, diced
2 tsp. garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 C. flour
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1 1/3 pound chopped pork
2 limes
1 10 oz. jar tomatillo salsa
2 large tomatoes, diced
1 C. V8 or vegetable blend tomato juice

Pour the olive oil in to the bottom of a large pot. Add diced onion and salt, stir.  Let the onion sweat a little, then add garlic, stir.  When onion is starting to soften, add pork.  Add pepper.  Pork will turn white on all sides, add flour and stir.  Let pork brown a little more.  Add chicken stock and stir.  Add jar of salsa, green chili, tomatoes, and vegetable juice. Stir and add in juice from the two limes.  Bring entire mixture to a simmer.  Turn heat off and use a ladle to take out about half of the mixture, omitting any pork.  Carefully, put chunky mixture into the food processor to puree.  Pour pureed mixture back into pot and stir all together.  Makes 8 generous portions.

Now, when we tasted our green chili it was very spicy! Even though we bought mild peppers, it turned out very hot.  We steamed some white rice and made a base in our bowl to pour the green chili over. We scooped our chili on and added some finely shredded colby jack cheese and a dollop of sour cream.  It was delicious!!

It's like Christmas in July

One of the most wonderful things in the whole wide world is walking out to the garden and discovering fresh produce! I get so excited when I know I planted seeds and all of a sudden I go out one day and find the fruits of my labor.  Today, I found three ripe cherry tomatoes and lots of basil.  I also have some zucchini, summer squash, and green beans that are almost ready or ready to be picked! Since the produce is right in the backyard, I like to pick it right before using it. 

J has been outside working this morning and I've been cleaning up some inside. We had a person coming to pick up an old washing machine, so couldn't really leave the house. None the less, I was getting hungry. I walked out to the garden and grabbed my tomatoes and basil. I decided a small salad would be a perfect snack to tide me over until the hubby is done mowing the jungle, I mean yard. Now, I have two recipes that I use faithfully and both call for tomato and basil. Unfortunately, I didn't have all the ingredients for either recipe, so I combined them. The first recipe is bruschetta. I get rave reviews and have never served it without someone asking for the recipe! It has tomatoes, feta, olive oil, black olives, green onions, etc. The other recipe is a simple salad of tomatoes, basil, oil, vinegar, mozzarella, and Mrs. Dash. Today, I used my 2 leaves of basil, my three cherry tomatoes, a dash of olive oil, dash of salt, dash of pepper sauce, dash of dried garlic, black olives, and mozzarella. I chopped up the necessary goods and mixed it all together. I wanted a baguette to put my salad on, but settled for some whole wheat sandwich bread instead. I toasted it and spread some light Laughing Cow Garlic and Herb cheese on before topping with my salad. It was divine. Naturally, I prefer the original bruschetta recipe, because I think feta is amazing, but this was pretty good. Just like Christmas in July!

Italian Style Pork Tenderloin with Faux Tato Salad and Green Beans

We had a wonderful 300 calorie dinner tonight. The green beans are easy- you can just steam them! We had ours pickled. A cousin gave me a jar of her pickled green beans and they were REALLY good. I can't wait until summer, I think I am going to grow and pickle green beans! Anyway, we also had faux tato salad. Here is the recipe:

Faux Tato Salad

12 oz. Frozen Cauliflower

1/2 Cup Cottage Cheese

1 tsp. mustard

1 tsp. vinegar

8 dill pickle rounds

Salt and pepper to taste

Steam cauliflower. Make sure the cauliflower doesn't get over cooked. You still want it to be a little firm. As soon as it has been steamed, rinse with cold water to chill the cauliflower and stop it from cooking any more.

While the cauliflower is being steamed, put your cottage cheese in the food processor or blender. Mix until creamy (this may require a few minutes of mixing/blending, but don't rush it...you want a creamy texture). After you have creamed your cottage cheese, use a spatula to move it to a medium to large bowl. Add the mustard and vinegar. Using kitchen shears or a knife cut up the dill pickles into small pieces. Add pickles to mixture. After the cauliflower has been rinsed, add it to the bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste!

Serves 4, each serving is 49 calories.

Italian Style Pork Tenderloin

1 Pork Tenderloin

1/2 Cup of Ragu Light Tomato and Basil Sauce

Basil (I used the type in the tube)

Spray a small glass pan with cooking spray. Brush basil on top of tenderloin. Brush marinara on top of tenderloin. Bake at 375 degrees for 45-55 minutes. Let sit for 2-5 minutes and slice. One 3 oz. serving has 190 calories.

Green Beans (16 string beans): 27 calories

Faux Tato Salad: 49 calories

Italian Style Pork Tenderloin: 190 calories

Total: 266 calories

Go Bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S

I had the best snack today! It was amazing! While I didn't balance it with a protein, it was incredible! Are you ready for this?



For each serving you need:

1 Frozen small (6-7 inches)Banana

1 TBSP. half and half (optional)

1 tsp. vanilla



Optional Topping:

1/2 Tbsp. Milk Chocolate Morsels

1/2 Tbsp. White Chocolate Morsels

1 drop or two half and half



Chop the frozen banana up and process in your heavy duty food processor for a few minutes. It will suddenly start to look like soft serve ice cream! Add in the optional half and half and vanilla. Scrape into your bowl. You could eat it just like this...amazing soft serve banana ice cream.



If you feel adventurous- the "ice cream" is so good on its own you probably won't want to feel adventurous, but if you do...simply microwave your chocolate and half and half for just a few seconds to melt. Pour on top.



It's amazing, in my opinion! I was skeptical at first, but yummy! Oh, and guess what...definitely under 300 calories! Here is the break down:



Banana Soft Serve "Ice Cream" with vanilla and no half and half: 100 calories

Banana Soft Serve "Ice Cream" with vanilla and half and half: 119 calories

Chocolate Topping: 72 calories



Enjoy!

Wrapped up in Rubens

I love Rubens! Unfortunately, the average Reuben is loaded with calories. I recently saw a Ruben dip recipe in my new Hungry Girl cookbook. I didn't follow the recipe, but I did note two distinct differences between their dip and a traditional Reuben. One change was to use turkey and the other was fat free French dressing. At the grocery store I bought one pound of deli turkey, a can of sauerkraut, some Kraft Free French Dressing, Swiss cheese, and some LaTortilla Factory Rye Wraps.


The original recipe probably called for veggies to dip, but part of the Reuben for me is the rye bread. Thinking I would prepare meals for the week, I got out four small Ziploc containers. I think they are 6 oz. containers. I sliced my deli turkey into inch long and 1/4 inch wide slices. I usually prefer everything to be fairly chopped up to make dipping or biting easier, especially with braces! I dropped 3 oz. of turkey into each container. You will have just a little extra, perfect for salad or a mid afternoon snack. Next I added two ounces of drained sauerkraut. I noticed that there is a slight caloric difference between mild sauerkraut and Bavarian sauerkraut. I used mild sauerkraut which had 10 calories per serving as opposed to Bavarian that has 20 calories. Next I stirred in one tablespoon of French dressing. Finally, I added 3/4 of an ounce of Swiss cheese. I chopped my Swiss cheese into butter pad sizes to make melting a little easier. That's it...I put in the refrigerator until I need them (by the way, nothing stays in my fridge for more than 6 or 7 days...I'm kind of weird about leftovers and such, so I would also suggest eating this recipe in 7 days...anything longer is at your own risk.).


When I grab one out of the fridge, I just heat my tortilla for 20 seconds and my Ruben filling for 1-2 minutes. I spread the filling on the tortilla, wrap, and enjoy! It's instant Ruben pleasure for just 295 calories! One serving of a regular Reuben has around 800 calories. So, enjoy this toned down and delicious swap.

Muffin Madness

Okay, here is the deal...I am tired of drinking protein supplements. I don't like the taste anymore and can't stand the idea of drinking them. I still want to lose weight, but just realize I need to make some changes in my diet plan. Whatever I do, it has to be something that I can see myself doing for the rest of my life. I know this isn't a brief moment in time where I watch what I eat, it's going to be a lifestyle change. With that said...I am trying to stick to 1200 calories and eating foods that are higher in protein, more natural, and filling. Now, I realize when I follow my Metabolic Research Center plan I lost about 2.5 pounds a week. The catch is, I haven't been following it. I find every reason possible not to drink protein supplements. So, I need to adjust. I know I can do this new hybrid plan and monitor my results. If I quit losing weight, I can always go right back to where I left off.

For accountability, that's the thing I struggle the most with, I am posting my food on sparkpeople.com. I love the website so much! I can track my fitness, food, and join groups. I have been using the site for almost two years! Anyway, my sister is going to check in on my food diaries and knowing that at any point in time a person can look, helps me feel more accountable. Also, don't be afraid to ever ask me how I'm doing. That helps a lot too. With all that being said, I tried a new recipe and figured the calories out after I made my adjustments! (If you are on or join sparkpeople, add me- it's my first name underscore 2004 aka my e-mail address without the @hotmail.com, you can also put this information in when you create an account to tell them who referred you.)

The recipe I am highlighting today is from the Hungry Girl 200 Under 200 cookbook. I made the Big Fat Blueberry Muffins with some modifications. First of all, the recipe claims to make 6 muffins. I am pretty sure I am using an antique muffin tin to bake in. I do not know if the tin makes smaller muffins or if I just had extra batter? Either way I ended up making 8 muffins, which means each muffin is just a few less calories than what is suggested in the cookbook. The recipe also called for sugar free maple syrup. Without thinking, I used Walden Farms Maple Syrup. This product is sugar free, calorie free, just about anything you can think of free. When I accidentally doubled the amount, it didn't matter. However, most sugar free syrups have 35 calories in a 1/4 Cup serving and those calories were cut out. I know this seems small, but it was enough to make my muffins come in at 99 calories. So forget all those cutsie 100 calorie pack muffins you see at the store, just make your own!

The muffins tasted great. At first they were a little tricky to get out of the liner, but after they cooled, they came out a lot nicer. I was happy with the end product and LOVE having a piece of breakfast I can eat on the go! Speaking of breakfast, I paired my muffin with Kellogg's 19 cereal. Has anyone tried this? I thought it tasted good and LOVED that it had almost as many vitamins and minerals as my vitamin! Oh and speaking of 100 calories, 1 full cup is only 100 calories! I couldn't find many other cereals that were the same calorie and nutrition wise.

If you would like the recipe for the muffin straight from Hungry Girl, click here: http://www.hungry-girl.com/chew/chewdetails.php?isid=1552

Keep in mind the two modifications I made if you want a muffin under 100 calories. Even just following the Hungry Girl Recipe, the muffin is 137 calories.

P.S. in the background is a sneak peek of a newly painted wall in our house!

Crab Cakes

I am enjoying my day off. I slept in, took a long shower, and made lunch. I have lots of food in the fridge that I need to make this week. I also have some random items on hand like a butternut squash and spaghetti squash. I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon and may go hang out with my niece and sister-in-law for a little bit. Such a wonderful day so far. Since I am home for lunch and had time to be in the kitchen before the hubby came home for lunch, I decided to actually whip something up.

Growing up my parents would periodically make us tuna patties or trout patties or salmon patties. I always loved the texture and I really enjoy fish. Last week at the store I was checking out the fresh fish and saw a package of crab. That's right, crab with a "c" not krab with a "k". The price was right, so I decided to give the foil package a shot. I was a little thrown off when I looked at the package and it said, "virtually no shell". Hmmm, virtually? I am happy to report we didn't find any shells.

I broke apart 3 pieces of melba toast and made some chunky crumbs. Next I dropped in one large egg. I whipped this with a fork and broke the melba toast up a little more. I added about 2 tsp. of Caribbean jerk seasoning and the same amount of cajun seasoning. I really wanted to use Old Bay, but could not find it anywhere! My Cajun seasoning is a little salty, so I didn't add in any extra salt. Next I added the crab and stirred it around until everything looked equally covered. The mixture was actually fairly dry and I considered adding another egg, but was afraid of adding too much and covering up the taste of the crab. After all, we are talking crab with a "c", not a "k"!

I sprayed my small frying pan with cooking spray and formed three patties. I let cook until I could see the egg firming up. I carefully flipped the patty over and turned off the heat. We use All Clad pots and pans, so they retain a lot of heat! We also never turn our stove top on above medium heat. You may need to adjust accordingly if making this recipe at home. Anyway, while I was letting my patties finish cooking, I split a bag of romaine lettuce on to two plates. I also chopped some cantaloupe. When the patties weren't sizzling anymore, I checked the bottoms and they were nicely browned. I plopped one on each bed of lettuce. I wasn't sure what kind of dressing to put on top. I wanted a vinaigrette or something light. I settled on Ken's Steakhouse Lite Asian Sesame Ginger dressing.

I was really happy with how everything turned out. The husband also liked it and he normally doesn't eat crab. In fact, I let him think it was tuna for a few bites until I knew he would eat it without caring that it was actually crab. There was one crab cake left over. I went ahead and ate it. I was pleasantly surprised when I calculated the calories. For two crab cakes, the lettuce, dressing, and cantaloupe the calories ended up being 294! Each crab cake comes in at 82 calories. The photo shown is actually only 212 calories and was delicious!

Something that I have learned is really important is to always have a carbohydrate and protein together. Carbohydrates and proteins work together to break down into nutrients. A carbohydrate on it's own won't break down the same and a protein on its own breaks down very slowly. The melba and crab alone are a really good balance in this recipe, but the fruit just seemed like a nice addition!

If you wanted to change the recipe some you could probably use just about any fish. You could also use flavored melba! Delicious, simple, and well under 300 calories-enjoy!

Preparing for the Spaghetti Squash Trilogy

I am in love with spaghetti squash! I was a little intimidated by this vegetable in the beginning, but now it's nearly a staple on our menu. I always choose a bright yellow squash without scuff marks if possible. Our grocery store only carries a small number at a time, so if they are in stock I often buy two. Once prepared, this squash can be used in various recipes or frozen. I usually start by washing the squash and removing any stickers or adhesive residue from stickers. I then cut the squash in half lengthwise. This can be the most difficult part of the process. I have read that this process can be made easier by putting the squash in the microwave for a couple of minutes. I usually just use my brute strength or ask the husband for help.

Once I get the squash cut, I use a large serving spoon to scoop out the seeds and guts. Originally, I was worried that I was scooping out the noodles, so I left the slimy guts inside. I quickly learned this was not accurate. Grab those guts and seeds!

Next I pour about a half inch of water into a baking dish. I then set my spaghetti squash cut side down. I preheat the oven to 375 degrees and bake my squash for 40 minutes. Once the squash comes out, I take a fork and pull out the "spaghetti". You might be pleasantly surprised with how much comes out of the squash. When I am done, there is just a thin shell left. From here the possibilities are endless! I will post three easy recipes very soon! This squash is wonderful with just about any seasoning or in place of spaghetti noodles. Oh and a serving is definitely under 300 calories!