What One Eats When They Can’t Chew.

Part 1 of many, I am sure…

A question on so many people’s minds, right?  Right.  And I make a promise to you that it’s more than just smoothies and ice cream.  I can hardly get a spoon in my mouth – plus ice cream with chunks would also prove to be difficult since I’d want to munch them up!

I found an insert in one of my old Real Simple magazines (dated Feb. 2011).  It was 10 Ideas for Smoothies.  How appropriate!

Banana-Cashew Smoothie
from Real Simple


Recipe:
1/2 cup water and 1/4 cup raw unsalted cashews in a blender.  Cover & refrigerate until cashews have softened, at least 6 hours (we did overnight)
Add 1 cup ice, 1/2 banana, 1 tbsp maple syrup.  Blend until smooth.

Nutrition: 301 calories, 16g fat, 6g protein, 38g carbs, 21g sugar, 3g fiber

This one was good.  Very good, in fact.  It does take some forethought though since you have to soak the cashews for 6 hours (or overnight).  It would be a little high on calories, sugar and fat for someone who were to be dieting.  Since I’m interested in higher calorie and high protein items – this fit the bill for me.  Maybe I’ll get a photo next time it gets blended up – but for now, this is the one off of the Real Simple webpage.  Accurate depiction.

Raspberry and Nut Smoothie

from Real Simple
 

Recipe:
3/4 cup low-fat milk, 3/4 cup frozen raspberries, 1/2 banana, 1 tbsp almond or peanut butter, 1 tbsp agave nectar or honey
Blend until smooth!

Nutrition: 355 calories, 14g fat, 10g protein, 53g carbs, 40g sugar, 7g fiber

This recipe was also great.  It says it serves one person – but we also use a whole banana (instead of a half, in both) so for us it really makes like 1.5 servings.  Neither the raspberry or the peanut butter really jump out and claim the stage – it’s a nice blend of them both. 

This recipe and the previous recipe are so high in calories and fat because of the fresh nuts that are added in. Again, maybe not the best for someone on a strict calorie count – but great for someone who is trying to maintain their weight with a strong workout routine or gain weight even. 

Avocado Smoothie

from All Recipes

 

Recipe: (2 servings)

1 ripe avocado, halved and pitted,

1 cup milk,

1/2 cup vanilla yogurt,

3 tbsp honey,

8 ice cubes.  Blend until smooth.

Nutrition: 370 calories, 18g fat, 9g protein, 7g fiber

I know what you’re thinking…avocado smoothie?  Gross!  But it’s so NOT gross – it was very good!  The texture was very light – reminds me of key lime pie or instant pistachio pudding. Yum!  I’ll definitely make this one again. 

I don’t think my calories were as high as what are posted on All Recipes.  I used fat free milk and Greek yogurt…so it may have been more like 300 calories instead of 370 – but neither here nor there.

More to come…I am having some fun keeping my diet interesting.

Read more...

Meal Planning & my girl, Ellie

Hi.
I know, I know.  I've been busy.  Work has been crazy.  And frankly there hasn't been anything that exciting to talk about.  I have a few things up my sleeve now though - let's just hope I actually sit down and put the proverbial pen to paper if you will.

The Mr. has suggested several times that I talk about our meal plans, what we liked, didn't like, what we'd change, etc.  We've made it one of our goals to essentially cook our way through the Ellie Krieger cookbooks.  To date, we haven't found a recipe of hers that we did not like...which is a pretty exciting accomplishment really. 

I'll document our journey as best as I can and link you up to the recipes that she has available online through Food Network.  The ones that aren't available - I'll give you a general idea of what's in them but I feel bad about sharing the entire recipe... it is her livelihood and all (even though I'm sure she's filthy rich).  I'd be mad if someone was just freely handing out my recipes on the internetz - so I'll respect that fact.  I'll also mention things that we're going to try or would change just a hair.

Here's what we're looking at for this week:
Saturday:  Oven-Fried Chicken (tenders) & Garlic Fries
Sunday: Baked Shrimp with Tomatoes & Feta (over rice)
Monday: Chicken-Mushroom Quesadilla
Tuesday: leftovers/cereal/ fend for yourself
Wednesday: Steak Sandwiches**
Thursday: The Mr. has class... so leftovers. And wine (for me). :)

If you're curious about Ellie Krieger's books - Saturday & Sunday recipes are from her book "The Food You Crave".  Monday's recipes is from "So Easy"

**This is a recipe straight from The Mr.'s head.  We couldn't help ourselves...Bi-Lo had a great deal on their "Buy 5 for $20".  You could get NY Strips, Pork Sirloins, ground turkey breast.  ZOMG.  We stocked up because those are all things we eat often...

Happy Eating!!  I'll review these recipes soon (I hope)!
 

Read more...

Tasty Tuesday

Etta over at Adventures in Holy Matrimony sponsers "Tasty Tuesday" to find new recipes to try out (and of course share them all with her blogger friends!)

I chose a Slow Cooker recipe that my husband and I have tried a couple of times now. It's oh-so-good!

Pepper Crusted Short Ribs from Crock-Pot.com

Ingredients

3 to 4 pounds beef short ribs

1/4 cup cracked black pepper

10 cloves garlic, chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 onion, sliced

3 cups beef broth

Directions

1. Rub pepper and garlic onto all sides of ribs.
2. Sprinkle with salt.
3. Place on broiler pan and broil until browned.
4. Place onion in stoneware.
5. Add ribs and pour beef broth over ribs.
6. Cover. Cook on Low 8-10 hours or on High 4-5 hours.

If you try out this recipe - let me know what you think!

Read more...

Random Musings

I've been a slacking blogger (it's been a full 7 days since my last post!)

The weather on Saturday was overcast and "blah" so we didn't do much of anything. On Sunday, the weather was perfect so we headed to North Carolina to pick some apples!

And pick apples we did! A TON of apples. So I've been going all Betty Crocker in the kitchen the past few nights.

What I've made so far:
1. 4 apple pies (All Recipes has this with 5 stars and almost 2500 reviews. How can I go wrong?)
2. Apple-Blueberry crisps (in ramekins for the individual serving)
3. Applesauce (found on Heather's blog)
4. Apple Spice Bars (also from Heather)
5. Chocolate Chip Apple Oatmeal Cookies (from Good Things Catered)
6. Carrot Apple Raisin Walnut Bread (also from Good Things Catered)

Most of this has been put into the freezer and will be baked at some other time when we are scrambling for a yummy dessert. The only things that have been baked and eaten are the Apple Spice Bars (for The Mr's office and coworkers. Those guys are pretty cool.) and the Chocolate Chip Apple Oatmeal Cookies (for one of my coworkers big 4-0 birthday). Both of those recipes got RAVE reviews.

What's left to make? (Oh yeah, there is more!)
1. 2 Apple Crisps (again, All Recipes with 4.5 stars and 1700 reviews? No question)
2. Another batch of the Apple Spice Bars (these are for my freezer!!)
3. More applesauce (yum!)
4. Chicken & Apple Couscous (tonight for dinner!)

What are your favorite apple recipes?? I'd love to see them and maybe even try them out!

Read more...

Couscous Stuffed Tomatoes

nom nom nom!

This recipe is delicious! I'm so glad that I happened to have the ingredient on hand (and I needed to get rid of them) so I could whip this up for our side dish for dinner on Saturday night.

I found the recipe at Joelen's Culinary Adventures and modified it slightly based on what I had in the pantry. I didn't snap any pictures of it because we were in a rush to get food on the table for our guests - plus they got eaten so fast, I didn't have time to snap any pictures! So here is one courtesy of Joelen.

Couscous Stuffed Tomatoes

1/2 cup water
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup whole wheat couscous
{I used NearEast Wild Mushroom & Herb couscous from the box. It was BOGOF at the grocery. So I followed the directions for cooking it on the box)

6 (7 oz) beefsteak tomatoes
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 small zucchini, diced {I substituted squash for this, since it's what I had on hand}
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 small red bell pepper, diced {I omitted this because I didn't have one}
1 teaspoon dried basil {I used fresh - right out of my garden!}
1 (15.5 oz) can great northern beans, rinsed & drained
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce {I omitted because I didn't have any on hand}
1/3 cup crumbled fat free feta {I used a mix of mozzarella and pepper jack - its just what I had}

Bring the water, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/8 teaspoon of the pepper to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the couscous, cover, and remove from the heat. Let stand 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

Meanwhile, cut a thin slice from the top of each tomato and reserve. With a spoon, carefully scoop out the seeds and pulp, leaving a tomato shell. Reserve the pulp for a soup or sauce.

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add the zucchini, onion, bell pepper, and basil; cook, stirring frequently, until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Add the beans and tomato sauce; cook until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the couscous, cheese, and remaining salt & pepper. Spoon about 3/4 cup of the filling into each tomato shell and cover with the reserved tomato tops.

* I baked these stuffed tomatoes in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes to roast them as well. This can be made in advance and frozen too!

Serves 6
Serving size: 1 stuffed tomato
WW Points value: 3 Points

I had extra stuffing left over because I only made 4 tomatoes. I mixed some chicken in with that for lunch the next day and it was still delicious! This recipe is a keeper!

Read more...

"Goodie" Day

Today was "goodie" day at work. Whew. It was a heck of a day! Our large conference table was overtaken by sweet treats. I'd say we had twice as many sweets as we did salty. And I think only a couple of drinks. Overall, I did well. I didn't gorge myself AND I skipped lunch (since I had snacked all morning) and Dauge and I had cereal for dinner tonight. I don't think that today will set me too far back on my goals.

I made Cupcake Bites, which I heard about from Heather. She directed her reader's to Bakerella's blog. I highley recommend checking out both blogs. I enjoy reading about Heather's day to day things: recipes, creative projects, etc. Bakerella shows you all her yummy, yummy treats! She has a moist yellow cake recipe on her website that I may try one day. Her blog just makes me hungry! :)

The Cupcake Bites were easier than I expected them to be. Slightly time consuming, but overall they were easy. I was quite peeved when my brand new, straight out of the package squeeze bottom broke within my first 20 minutes of using it. How annoying. I know it was only $2 - but still. I expect a little more. I'm going to believe it was a fluke and get another one to try again. We'll see next time...

Now, the taste? I thought they were really, really sweet. I think next time I won't add the cream cheese to the cake before rolling it. My cake was really moist already so I think I could have done without it.

I didn't get any pictures (sorry!). But Bakerella and Heather's cupcake bites turned out better than mine! Mine were slightly sloppy which was mainly due to the time constraint of making them after working all day and going to the gym. Perhaps next time when they look cuter.

Read more...

Pear, Apple and Blueberry Crisp

Several weeks ago Dauge and I went apple picking at one of his co-workers house. We got SO many apples and pears too! I wasn't sure how we were even going to use all of them - we ended up giving them away to our neighbors and to some of my co-workers.

One of the recipes I made were these Pear, Apple and Blueberry Crisps. I wanted to make these so I could make individual sizes because Dauge and I can pull out one for each of us and cook that instead of having an entire pie we have to eat. It worked out well. Food Network (where the recipe came from) uses cranberries, but I used blueberries because we had fresh berries in the freezer and we like blueberries more than cranberries. You should try this recipe - it's going to be fantastic!

Pear, Apple and Cranberry Crisp
(Sub Blueberries for Cranberries in mine)
Source: Food Network

Ingredients

• 2 pounds ripe Bosc pears (4 pears)
• 2 pounds firm Macoun apples (6 apples)
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the topping:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Peel and core the pears and apples and cut them into large chunks. Place the fruit in a large bowl and toss with the cranberries, zests, juices, granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour into a 9 by 12 by 2-inch baking dish.

For the topping:

Combine the flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal, and cold butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the mixture is in large crumbles. Sprinkle evenly over the fruit, covering the fruit completely.

Place the baking dish on a parchment-lined sheet pan and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until the top is brown and the fruit is bubbly. Serve warm.

Read more...