Cast your ballot…

Okay everyone, it’s that time again! Time to vote on your favorite recipes of the week, and hopefully you have picked the winner! Please only one vote per person, and voting will end at midnight on Wednesday, so you have plenty of time! Since the beginning of this blog I have cooked 91 recipes, and for this week there are 10 Stephanie original or re-vamped recipes and 4 already lightened recipes…almost a third of the way to the end!! If you have yet to sign up for my first tasting and discussion for this Saturday please e-mail me and let me know that you would like to come at stephanielessmueller@yahoo.com or become a fan on Facebook and RSVP in the event, thanks so much and happy voting!

Delish Banana Bread with Cinnamon Streusel Topping

Moist Banana Muffins

Poached Salmon with Lemon-Mint Tzatzki

Yummy Mediterranean style couscous

Chocolate Chocolate Brownie Cups

Tasty & Easy Berry Sauce

Dan’s Famous Italian Style Porkchops

The Absolute Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Better than a regular Breakfast Burrito

French Toast Sticks I – Tastes like super good French toast

French Toast Sticks II – Similar to Cinnamon rolls in flavor

Bomb Breakfast Quesadilla

Simple Penne & Meatballs

Sarah’s Parmesan & Garlic Roasted Zucchini

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Just one of those weeks…

This week, although started out with my wonderful banana fest, has been a roller coaster of emotions type of week. One of those weeks where one day you feel totally up, and the next day you feel totally down. Not my type of week…

Monday was a typical Monday, back to the doctor, than to work. I was lucky enough to be able to spend a little time with the number 1 man in my life, which made Monday a pretty good day all around, and was probably the least stressful and least emotional of all the days of the week so far. Because it feels like summer is hitting Southern California early, I decided that I wanted to do something light again. The random meat of the day for Monday was ground beef, and normally ground beef sits a little heavy in my opinion, but I was determined to make something nice and light. My sister gave me the suggestion of taco salad, and I thought that was a pretty nifty idea. I threw a taco salad together in a similar way that I had the week before when I was housesitting, but this time I just made a ton. It was a huge hit, and the perfect thing to do for a warm day at only 383 calories and 10.7 calories, you really can’t go wrong! Our taco salad night wouldn’t be complete without a sweet treat at the end. I decided to try my hand at chocolate chip cookies. I say try my hand at this, because almost every time I try to make cookies, there is something wrong. Something is missing. I can’t ever figure out a good way to keep a cookie, a cookie, and to make it healthy. It has been my Achilles’ tendon in a way, and I was really tired of it. I found on allrecipes.com, this amazing looking cookie recipe, they also toted themselves as the “Absolutely the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies”, and I’m not gonna lie, I bought into it. I printed of the recipe, and went to work madly. I first subbed all the butter for a half and half mix of light butter and applesauce, swapped the sugar for Splenda and used brown sugar Splenda for the brown sugar.  For the flour I did a mix of white, wheat and oat and kept the same amount of chocolate chips that were in the original recipe, because what is the point of chocolate chip cookies with limited chocolate chips?? Anyways after all the modifications, cookies went in the oven, and after about 15 minutes they made the house smell delish for one thing and they looked ready to eat, at only 148 calories, 6.5 grams of fat, 20.7 grams of carbohydrates, 1.4 grams of fiber and 2.3 grams of protein I figured I was doing much better than the originals which rank in at 241 calories, 13.7 grams of fat, 28.1 grams of carbohydrates, 0.3 grams of fiber and 2.7 grams of protein! Not a bad swap at all, and according to my soon-to-be-brother John, these are probably the best cookies that I have ever made!

After dinner and scrumptious dessert it was time for bed. Tuesday was a little bit of an emotional day for me. Do you ever have one of those days when it seems like your world is being turned upside down. That’s how Tuesday felt, except for it felt much worse. It was a day that I just wanted to cry, not even for a reason really, but I just needed to sit and cry. Which is when I normally feel like cooking, when I am feeling emotional, but not Tuesday. Tuesday I was glad to be engaged to a man who knows how to cook maybe even better than me. My fiancee has taught me a lot about cooking, and I love that when I don’t feel like putting in the work, that he gladly steps up to the plate. The random meat of the day was pork chops, which Dan fixed Italian style. Dan is excellent when it comes to making Italian food, and his Italian stewed pork chops are one of the first dishes that he ever made for me, so they are a new comfort food favorite of mine. With Dan’s pork chops we also enjoyed some garlic bread and sauteed zucchini. Everything was super yummy, and it was kind of nice to have someone else do some of the cooking for a change. Dan’s pork chops came out only 386 calories and 5.8 grams of fat per serving! The perfect dinner before the dessert of a Skinny Cow ! Tuesday nights are always accompanied by Biggest Loser with our friends and family, and it was the perfect escape that I needed at that moment. Sometimes you just need a little break from the day to day, and Tuesday night was great for that.

Wednesday is normally a day that I have no time to cook, but I decided to make breakfast for myself before my long day of school. For breakfast I was feeling a little indecisive. I wanted something sweet, but I wanted something savory, so I decided, “What the heck!” and did both! For my sweet breakfast, I made a side of french toast sticks from  a recipe that I found in a Clean Eating magazine, I had tried them before, and loved the fact that they were easy and super tasty so I decided to do it again. For my savory breakfast, I made a breakfast burrito with a La Tortilla factory tortilla, some canadian bacon, Eggbeaters and sauteed onion. Before I started losing weight, I never ate breakfast, I was convinced that it was just going to make me larger! I was sure that if I ate breakfast, I wouldn’t be doing myself any favors, but I was surprised to know how wrong I really was. I know that I tend to harp about breakfast a lot, but I guess it’s because it’s so IMPORTANT! It is amazing to see the link between breakfast and obesity, and don’t tell lunch or dinner but I think it is my new favorite meal ! My whole breakfast added up to only 425 calories and 9 grams of fat! Not bad and it totally matched all of my cravings! For lunch and dinner I had to live the  California way by eating out, which isn’t a bad thing, but the more and more I cook, the less and less I prefer to eat out! I like my food better most of the time and it is normally just as fast. After a long day of learning to be a dietitian, one more day closer, it was time for bed.

Thursday was the beginning of my weekend this week, which is a little earlier than normal, but it was due to special circumstances. My good friend Jackie, who also writes blogs check her out at http://www.scrapsoflife.dreamhosters.com/ and http://navywifelife.dreamhosters.com/, asked Sarah and I to photograph her  hubby’s homecoming from the Navy. Jackie’s hubby had been gone for 8 months and had contacted me about photographing Derek’s homecoming, Sarah and I were more than excited and after a morning of school it was off to San Diego for a couple of days. Thursday night was fun in San Diego, being big time “partiers” Sarah and I meandered around San Diego and got lost in Target for a little while window shopping, as you can see we are BIG party animals ! After hanging out for a while, it was time to head back to the motel and get some sleep. Friday morning was a big day because it was Derek’s homecoming and it was also my little sister’s 21st birthday! We meet up with Jackie on Coronado Island at the Navy base, and just before noon her hubby came home! It was so sweet to see the two of them together and see how their love for each other was just spilling out, needless to say one of my favorite things so far that I have been able to experience and to photograph, so sweet! After the big arrival, Sarah and I began heading back towards home, only to stop by Irvine and do some real shopping at the Irvine spectrum, before meeting up with my family at Disneyland in celebration of Amanda’s birthday. We got there a little later than we had originally hoped but in only a couple of hours were able to jump on a few rides and celebrate in style, all the while staying away from the churros. 

After arriving home just before two it was time to get some sleep. Saturday was a little bit of a lazier day for everyone, except for all the cooking that took place. I prepared breakfast quesadillas and a different recipe for french toast sticks for both Sarah and  I in the morning. Our breakfast came to 586 calories and 17 grams of fat, but a normal breakfast with both of these items would add up to quite a bit more at just over 1000 calories and 45.5 grams of fat! I think that we probably ended up making the smarter choice, thanks to Devin Alexander’s two books, Fast Food Fix and The Most Decadent Diet Ever, they were great tools for us to be able to cook a pretty great breakfast! After breakfast, we hung out around the house for a little bit, and began to come up with some basic ideas for Amanda’s birthday party next week. After we had come up with a few general ideas we went out shopping, but not before lunch. Burgers and fries were sounding tasty and with a little help from  Sarah, in less than 30 minutes we were enjoying a very fast food type of lunch, on 471 calories and 11.5 grams of fat! Not a bad swap from the regular option which would have cost us just under 900 calories and 45 grams of fat! Not worth it in my opinion. To put in perspective that old fast food burger and fry combo would take me more than 4 hours to walk off!! I don’t know about you, but I find it hard to get in thirty minutes of exercise, 4 hours seems a little ridiculous! After our quick lunch of burgers and fries, we were off to begin our shopping for the party. It was nice to get out of the house and get quite a few things accomplished for the party, which I am sure is going to be awesome next weekend! After getting some of the errands done it was back to the house. I was determined to use up the rest of the ground beef that was leftover from burgers earlier that day, so I decided with Sarah’s help to make penne and meatballs. I took a recipe that one of my teacher’s loves and gave out to us in class and remade it a little, for an even better version. My version of her meatballs, came to only 211 calories and 9 grams of fat, her original meatball recipe was not so fortunate at 371.5 calories and 25 grams of fat per serving! The ground beef really makes a difference, at only 4% fat you can’t really beat it, and you still have that great beef flavor! For dessert, everyone was okay with finishing off the last of the brownie bites along with some no sugar added icecream and berry sauce, super yummy and a very decadent way to close out a very emotional week at 202 calories and 5 grams of fat.

Well, until I’m in the kitchen again…

P.S. My very first tasting and debut are happening next weekend the 3rd at the clubhouse where I live! Interested in coming? Please sign up on my Facebook fan page or e-mail me at stephanielessmueller@yahoo.com! Thanks!

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Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Okay everyone, you voted and the choice was overwhelmingly Chicken Enchilada Casserole, so here it is!!

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Serves 12

6 chicken breasts, shredded

1 can green enchilada sauce

1/2 cup reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 cup fat free sharp cheddar cheese

14 corn tortillas, cut into 6 pieces each

1 packet Chicken Taco Seasoning or Enchilada Seasoning

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix the pre-shredded chicken breast ( I put my chicken breast in a crock pot with an additional can of the enchilada sauce for about 6 hours, and then just shred when I get home from work) and the taco seasoning together in a bowl, add in any additional seasonings. I added cumin, ground up jalapeno, pepper, salt, chili powder, red pepper flake and a bunch of other things, we like things pretty spicy around here! After the shredded chicken is seasoned to your liking, it’s time to begin layering. Start by placing one layer of the tortillas on the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Top the tortillas with half the shredded chicken mixture, top with half the reduced fat cheese, top with more tortilla triangles. Top the tortilla triangles with the rest of the shredded chicken and half of the fat free cheese. Cover this layer with the final tortilla triangles and pour the can of enchilada sauce over the top. Sprinkle the top of the casserole with the remaining cheeses and pop in the oven to bake for about an hour, or until the top in golden brown and the sauce is bubbling! Then serve to your closest friend, and skip on the margarita !

Okay everyone, keep your eyes peeled for more blogs and be ready to vote in a couple of days!!

Until I’m in the kitchen again…

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Going bananas…

I love my weekends, I don’t know anyone that doesn’t, but for me they are a break from the routine of the week. They are when I take the time to spend a little extra time with my friends, and a little extra time in my kitchen !

Saturday morning I woke up, and all week long I had been eyeing a pile of bananas that were really ripe. They were going to be perfect to cook with, and I knew just what to make. Through my Cooking for your Heart and Health class I come away every week with a pile of recipes, and last week we tried an amazingly tasty bread. It was a banana oat bread with a streusel topping, and it was super tasty. I was determined to make the recipe even better, you know how I am, but the bread wasn’t going to use up all the bananas so I printed out a recipe from allrecipes.com for banana muffins. Both recipes sounded so good, and neither of them seemed like they would take to long to make. I started with the banana bread recipe because I knew it would take a little bit longer, and I wasn’t in the mood to wait . My teacher had come across the recipe in Cooking Light magazine, and with totals like 170 calories per slice along with 5.2 grams of fat, 28.4 grams of carbohydrates, 1.4 grams of fiber and 3.3 grams of protein, I knew that there had to be a way to make this tasty banana bread even better. I subbed part of the white flour for oat flour, used Splenda brown sugar instead of the regular stuff, used fat-free buttermilk and  cut down the oil by using part applesauce. For the streusel topping, I used light butter instead of the regular stuff and Splenda brown sugar was my recipe saver once again. After a long hour of waiting for my delicious bread it was finally ready. Light and fluffy on the inside with a crunchy topping, it was perfection! At only 146.8 calories per slice, 2.9 grams of fat, 28.2 grams of carbohydrates, 2.3 grams of fiber and 3.4 grams of protein, my changes worked out pretty way, and it was sweet way to start the day. After I popped in my banana bread, I began on my banana muffins, obviously we are banana people around my house and I knew that too much banana is an impossible scenario. The banana muffins seemed pretty basic, I didn’t have to modify too much, I used a blend of whole wheat flour, oat flour and white flour instead of just the plain white, I also changed out 3/4 of the sugar for Splenda and used Eggbeaters in place of my egg. For the 1/3 cup of melted butter I used a combination of light butter and unsweetened applesauce. I was a little nervous about these muffins when I was making them at first. I was sure that they were going to be too dense from the addition of the wheat flour and not very flavorful from the lack of sugar, but they actually turned out quite wonderful. My favorite muffin so far, and a favorite among a lot of my friends as well. The were super moist, a result from all those bananas and they had a great amount of banana flavor, yummy!! For each muffin with the original recipe they would have cost me 187 calories, 5.8 grams of fat, 32.3 grams of carbohydrates, 1.3 grams of fiber and 2.6 grams of protein. For my version of these flavorful muffins I’m looking at a price of only 114.8 calories per muffin along with 1.8 grams of fat, 23.2 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber and 2.5 grams of protein, another sweet alternative to a sugary breakfast. The rest of the day  I spent out of my kitchen and with my friends.

We decided to head out to downtown Pasadena, really just to look around the pretty city and spend time just having fun. We all had a great time together and it was fun to go somewhere new. For dinner we stopped by Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill, and I know that sometimes it can be really difficult to eat out, but a lot of places provide healthier options. I say healthier, because I don’t encourage you to eat out if you feel like you don’t have to, but sometimes it’s inevitable and it’s nice to know that some places provide food that is on the better side. Rubio’s has these awesome HealthMex Veggie, Chicken and Mahi-Mahi Burritos and Tacos and they are all super tasty! The Veggie burrito is the lowest option when it comes to the burritos and rings in at only 460 calories, 10 grams of fat, 78 grams of carbohydrates, 8 grams of fiber and 13 grams of protein, because I’m a meat fan I go with the Mahi-Mahi which is the highest burrito at 510 calories, 15 grams of fat, 68 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of fiber and 29 grams of protein. What makes these burritos a better option, first they ditch the chips and come with rice instead, I substituted my rice for black beans which costs an extra dollar but you gain 2 more grams of fiber in the process. The burritos also come with a whole wheat tortilla and they are free of any fatty insides like sour cream of white creamy sauce. They are  a great option when you are out and about and need something quick and all those mono and poly unsaturated fats in my Mahi-Mahi burrito and the fiber kept me full for the rest of the night. After coming home from Pasadena we were all exhausted, and it was definitely time for bed.

Sunday mornings always seem to come really early, I don’t know what it is, considering I honestly don’t party or anything on my weekends . I guess I’m just used to waking up early on the weekdays and not on my weekends. After waking up and getting ready for the day Sarah and I decided to grab breakfast. We stopped at Subway/Starbucks, Sarah went to Starbucks for breakfast and I went to Subway, which happened to work great since they were right next to each other. After our tasty breakfast sandwiches, we headed out towards adventure in Irvine. I took Sarah to Irvine a few weeks ago to the Whole Foods Market and we both really enjoyed being down there so we hit the road and made the 30 minute drive. We grabbed lunch at the Whole Foods, which if you haven’t been to one yet, see if there is one nearby they are awesome!! Our closest one is in Irvine, and honestly it is worth the drive in someways. We both decided to do sandwiches at the sandwich bar there and we both also got some sides from their hot bar. I grabbed some Mediterranean  style couscous and fresh fruit, while Sarah gravitated towards Italian sauteed squash and fresh fruit as well. Everything was super tasty, and it was great to be able to relax and get away for a little bit. After lunch we headed back towards home, enjoying a lazy Sunday after a little bit of a hectic week. After Sarah left for work I began helping my sister plan her wedding. I am so honored to be able to share this part of my sister’s life, considering that she was my first best friend I am ecstatic to see her so happy ! After a little wedding planning it was time for dinner, I call Sunday my last big night of cooking before the crazy week, almost like a last supper . My mom had come up with a new plan this week to make the cooking a little less stressful. Instead of waking up not knowing what to cook, or knowing what to even use as a main ingredient my mom has started scheduling “Random meats for Random Days”. Every day of the week has a meat assigned to it for this week, next week the meats will change for the day, but for me this helps a ton, it gives me something to plan off of. Well for Sunday the random meat of the day was Salmon.

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with this favorite fish, but I wanted to do something a little different. I had yet to use one of my new cookbooks, “The Food You Crave” by Ellie Krieger, and decided to pop it open and give it a look. I looked through the index for Salmon recipes and all of them sounded so good, I went to my family for the final vote. My sister, who always votes the loudest, decided that Poached Salmon with Lemon-Mint Tzatziki sounded good, and it sounded good to me too.  I began on the recipe soon after and was amazed by how easy it was, and how informative the book was. If you haven’t checked out this book yet, I highly recommend it, some of the recipes are a little too “fancy” for everyday recipes, but the ideas and the knowledge that Ellie shares is really valuable. I didn’t modify anything to this already light recipe and the result was fantastic, again my very vocal sister made it well known that this might be her favorite Salmon recipe now. For every serving this Omega3 fatty acid rich fish and flavorful topping the counts come to 310 calories, 17 grams of fat (12 are mono- and poly- unsaturated, YAY!!), 4 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber and 32 grams of protein. For a side I decided to try my own version of that Mediterranean style couscous that I had tried early and some sauteed green beans. For the Mediterranean style couscous, I used the Harvest Grain blend from Trader Joes, it’s a mix of Isreali couscous, mini garbanzo beans, quinoa and orzo pasta, it’s a really good hearty mix, and it was fun to add a lot of flavor to this “plain grain” mix. For every serving of this hearty mix it came to 231.7 calories, 9.8 grams of fat, 28.0 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber and 8.1 grams of protein. My mom commented on how much she loved this couscous blend and I have to agree it was super tasty! My family loves the taste of grains on their own, but I think this recipe would be a great way to introduce someone who is a little “anti-grain” to a really flavorful option! For dessert, I was in a chocolate mood and Devin Alexander seems like she is always in a chocolate mood as well. I grabbed my copy of “The Most Decadent Diet Ever” and flipped to the recipe for Chocolate Chocolate Brownie Cups, they sounded super yummy, so I started on them while my salmon was poaching. As I have said before, many of Devin’s recipes I don’t modify too much and the same was true here, I only modified the amount of sugar in the recipe and substituted half with Splenda, which makes my Papa very happy. For each serving of Devin’s brownies, you get 2 of these tasty morsels they come to 109 calories, 1 gram of fat, 23 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber and 2 grams of protein, which is great! I decided to make mine full sized, meaning you only get one, and substituted half the sugar with Splenda. For each of my brownie bites the caloric cost comes to 79.7 calories, 1.8 grams of fat, 16.5 grams of carbohydrates, 1.5 grams of fiber and 1.4 grams of protein, not a bad swap, and great for many diabetics! The brownies were super rich and decadent, but I decided to take it to the next level by using Slow Churned Rich and Creamy Light Vanilla Ice Cream and a berry topping, made with frozen berries, Splenda and a little cornstarch. With my additives it made our little dessert only 152.4 calories, 3.6 grams of fat, 29.2 grams of carbohydrates, 2.5 grams of fiber and 2.9 grams of protein, a perfect way to end a great weekend.

Here’s hoping the rest of the week will be sweet!!

Until I’m in the kitchen again…

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Time to Vote Episode 6

Okay everyone, thanks for reading and getting caught up a little, but now it is time to vote! Please cast your vote no later than Midnight on Tuesday. You may vote for more than one recipe, but only one recipe at this point will be revealed!

Hope you are ready to get to cooking!!

Terrific Taco Salad

Stephanie’s Smores

Quick Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Lightened-Up Banana Lemon Pudding Cake

Stylin’ Steak Fries

Convenient Cake Mix Cookies

KFC Twister Sandwich

St. Patty’s Day Pesto Pasta

Hallsted Soda Bread

Eat Me I’m An Irish Cupcake

Extra Creamy Vanilla Pudding

For everyone counting 77 recipes down! For this last week, 9 re-vamped and original recipes and 2 from regular light cookbooks!

Happy Voting

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Another week gone by…

Okay everyone, I know I said that I was going to try to update more often like I used to, but school right now is just crazy! You will have to forgive me for the semi infrequent posts, but just in case you haven’t done it yet, become a fan on Facebook and get a daily tip on how to eat healthy!

The beginning of last week, Monday and Tuesday started out the week with no cooking. I realized last week just how much I love cooking, and how I really do miss it when I am not doing it constantly. I was housesitting with Sarah all last week, and sometimes even though the family has extended to you everything you need, sometimes it is just more comfortable to cook in your own kitchen. Since I wasn’t in my own kitchen, I had some difficulty trying to cook at first, but by the end of the week I began to feel a little more comfortable. 

By the time Wednesday rolled around, I was having a rough day, and I thought that cooking might help. It was one of those days where I felt my inner chubby child coming out – where I knew that above everything that a warm cookie or a big bowl of ice cream should make me feel better. At this point in this journey you would think that I would be over those feelings and all those emotions, but honestly I don’t think that they will ever fully go away. One thing I knew for certain is that no matter how fogged that my mind felt, having a much needed conversation with a friend, and a shoulder to cry on would do me a lot greater good than indulging in a cookie and really messing me all up. After a long talk and that much needed hug, it was time to start cooking. I wanted to make something super easy, since I was still trying to  get a hold of the new kitchen and I wanted the cooking process to more relax me than stress me out. I went to the store and picked up a few items, 4% fat ground beef patties, taco seasoning, baked chips, salsa, an avocado and everything I needed for dessert. I decided to use the 4% fat ground beef patties, because they were already pre-portioned, and without a scale that can be a sticky situation to make sure that you have the right amount, and they were a little cheaper than the chub of ground beef. I mixed the ground beef patties and taco seasoning together and begun browning my meat. In the process I sauteed onions, garlic and bell pepper as a nice veggie add on to the salad. After the meat was cooked, it was time to assemble, plenty of romaine lettuce, 4 oz ground beef, onions and bell peppers, a little home-made guacamole, a dollop of light sour cream and plenty of salsa. The dish hit the spot! It was so tasty, and the perfect dinner to a stressful day. My version of taco salad, comes in at a mere 370 calories, 16.5 grams of fat, 22.5 grams of carbohydrates, 11 grams of fiber and 35.5 grams of protein, not too bad for a crazy days work, and great in comparison to the original which comes in at 514 calories and 36 grams of fat! P.S. If you want to eliminate a little more fat, say “bye-bye” to either the sour cream or guacamole, you will cut out more fat by saying by to the guac but you will lose all your good fats! For dessert, I don’t think any emotional girl (or guy) can resist chocolate, and I was in desperate need of some. While I was at the store, I began thinking of one of my favorite desserts as a child, the smore. The smore is a quintessential food of my childhood, one of those foods that helps you remember the good times, and forget about the bad. A food that speaks volumes to me, in between those two graham crackers. This food has more emotion involved in it, then possibly any other food, and I was dying for that emotional connection. As I have said before, it’s all about limitation, I didn’t gorge myself on smores, and I decided to be smart about how I was doing them. I started with a low-fat graham cracker base, a big fluffy marshmallow and perfect pre-portioned chocolate. I used one full graham cracker for each smore that I had, I only had two, and believe me that is good! I also only used one marshmallow for each, and that chocolate was made by Dove. I think this must be one of my new favorites, perfect for indulging a cravings, but resists the urge to eat more. Every portion is individually wrapped, so the temptation is decreased, not gone, but definitely decreased. I used one little bar for both smores. In the end, I got two perfect smores for only 336 calories, 12.6 grams of fat, 56.7 grams of carbohydrates, 4.1 grams of fiber and 4.3 grams of protein. Not too bad, and I honestly can say, it is has been my favorite dessert so far. A regular smore, won’t be so nice to you at 554 calories, 28 grams of fat, 75.6 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber and 5 grams of protein – this is one to stay away from, if you are in the mood to indulge at least make a wise choice along the way!

At the end of Wednesday, I was glad to move on to Thursday, and hopefully avoid another stressful day. Thursday is full of class, but is also full of one of my favorite things, Thursday Night Bible Study. It is common to find me on Thursday rapidly moving around my kitchen scrambling to get together everything for an entree, a side dish and dessert. For last Thursday I wanted something that would go together quickly and would be something that everyone would love. One of my favorite dishes to throw together is Chicken Enchilada Casserole, which I have discussed multiple times before, but honestly it is one of my favorites and everyone loves it. Make your own with just a few simple ingredients, chicken breast, canned enchilada sauce, taco seasoning, corn tortillas (only about one per person) and a blend of fat free and reduced fat mexican blend or cheddar cheese, 375 degrees for about 45 minutes or until the top is browned and the sauce is bubbling. People will rave about it! Just use common sense, and your own palate to determine exactly what works for you. Besides my chicken enchilada casserole, I normally always serve it alongside fat-free refried beans or mexican-style quinoa, which always go over well as perfect side dishes. For dessert though, I did do something different, I made one of Rachel Ray’s tasty looking recipes out of her March 2010 magazine. I had seen the recipe in the magazine for her Banana-Lemon Pudding Cake, which is made in a crock-pot, which is just what I need on crazy Thursday nights. I decided to try out the recipe, and with a couple of modifications I was ready to go, at the end of it all each slice of my cake came to 169 calories, 1.6 grams of fat, 34 grams of carbohydrates, 2.5 grams of fiber and 5.5 grams of protein, Rachel’s version didn’t fare as well coming in at 256.6 calories, 4 grams of fat, 50.9 grams of carbohydrates, 2.3 grams of fiber and 6.4 grams of protein. For a large slice of this cake, I’ll take the substitutions any day! Thursday was also the premiere of my first video blog, which I am totally excited to share with everyone, and hopefully I will have more in the future!

Friday was a busy day full of work and then preparing for a yard sale that Dan and I have been putting off for a very long time. I’m so grateful to have Sarah as my best friend, cause honestly without her I don’t know how everything would have come together as well as it did. She helped me price things, make signs and just do a lot of managing. In between pricing though, we got hungry and were ready to eat. We decided to put the leftover burger patties to good use, and I was going to try my first recipe out of Devin Alexander’s newest book, “I can’t believe it’s not Fattening”. The book is full of a ton of recipes that really are designed to help any busy person prepare something that they love to munch on, and that doesn’t take too much time. Honestly, how can you not love it?? I grabbed my book, and found the recipe for Stylin’ Steak Fries. If I haven’t told you yet, just a little FYI, I love french fries. They are what Lisa Lillen AKA HungryGirl calls a trigger food, and they are mine. I have to be very careful if I chose to make myself baked versions of these starchy comfort foods, if I don’t watch myself I would go crazy. Anyways, like most of Devin’s recipes I followed the plan and popped them in. I don’t normally modify her recipes,unless I feel like there is something that really needs to be changed, most of the time that is sugar, based on the fact that my papa is a diabetic. Anyways, when the fries came out, I could have sworn that I went to my own version of food heaven, it was glorious, and at only 196 calories, 3 grams of fat, 40 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of fiber and 5 grams of protein, I knew that I didn’t go wrong in that choice, when I consider that fries would normally cost me 490 calories, 20 grams of fat, 65 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of fiber and 7.5 grams of protein!! That is a crazy amount of calories to spend on a side!! For dessert, I wanted something super fast that wouldn’t require a lot of time, I picked up a box of Trader Joe’s Reduced Guilt Brownie Mix added applesauce instead of yogurt this time, and in less than 5 minutes they were in the oven. If you haven’t tried this brownie mix yet, try it for your next party or potluck, noone will know that they are fat-free and they taste super yummy, the only bummer is that they aren’t diabetic friendly, so check out the label before you buy if you are diabetic. After a long night of pricing and eating it was time for bed, just a couple of hours before the yard sale.

Saturday started WAY too early, at 5:30 the alarm began to go off, and when you go to bed at midnight, that might be one of the worst sounds. The yard sale though went really well, we had a lot of customers, and everyone came away making a little bit of extra pocket money. It was nice to also feel like we were finally getting rid of some definite clutter. After the yard sale it was time to clean and time for lunch. Dan and I love going to this little restaurant not too far from his house, that serves a variety of Americanized Middle Eastern cuisine. Even though it isn’t super authentic, it is super tasty, and making the right choices about what we eat and being confident in those choices helps us to be able to have the freedom to eat practically anything. When I first began to lose weight, I was afraid to eat anything that wasn’t directly listed in my book, or online, but after the first 50 pounds I began to ease up. After I lost 100 pounds I began to really feel confident in my food choices, needless to say, I still prefer to go to places that I know the totals of, but it is nice to feel like I have the freedom to eat wherever I choose. After lunch, we met up with some close friends for a game night. For dinner, I had brought over some of the leftover Chicken Enchilada Casserole from earlier in the week, which made a great quick dinner, but we needed dessert. I had prepared a cake mix the day before, and was going to make brownies using the cake mix and canned pumpkin, but alas and alack pumpkin was nowhere to be found, so I had to resort to a different option. My Grammie had told me that a popular thing she had heard of was using cake mix to make cookies, I looked up  a recipe on allrecipes.com, and figured that I would give it a shot. I used the cake mix that I made for my video, just double the recipe for a full bag of cake mix, I then added a touch of canola oil, fat-free vanilla yogurt, a little water and a few egg whites. The mixture was very gooey, and was a little difficult to mix, but after a couple of minutes it worked out okay. I was a little nervous about the cookies at first, but after the first batch came out, I knew I had nothing to be nervous about. They were awesome, very cake-y and rich tasting, the perfect dunking cookie in my opinion. After the first batch came out, Sarah had asked if we could try to do a few with coffee added in – I thought it sounded good – so we added in an instant VIA coffee packet from Starbucks and a little more water, and we were ready to go. I decided to make this batch into a  cookie pizza and spread the dough really thin – I’m glad that I did because they were awesome. Not a very rich coffee flavor, but instead an even deeper coffee flavor and perfectly crispy. For each variation of these cookies, the amounts were practically the same at 82.7 calories, 1.8 grams of fat, 15.4 grams of carbohydrates, 1.5 grams of fiber, 2.2 grams of protein, I say to those other cookies that come in at a whopping, 137 calories, 7.3 grams of fat (probably includes some trans fat from that cake mix ), 16.7 grams of carbohydrates, 0.2 grams of fiber and 1.5 grams of protein, see ya later! After a fun night of games and food it was time to call it a night.

Sunday morning came earlier than expected due to the time change and before we all knew it, church had come and went. Sunday was a non-cooking day, Dan and I spent time with Sarah just hanging out and enjoying not being crazy busy for once. After Sarah left for work, Dan and I relaxed for just a little longer before it was time to pick up my soon to be Mother-in-law from the airport. She was hungry after getting off the plane, and we were hungry from not eating since lunch at 12, so we headed over to Olive Garden. I love that Olive Garden now provides very specific nutritional information, not like some places that try to skate by with just saturated fat listed. It makes it much easier to order something that you will feel totally confident with and that will be super tasty. After our little bit of time together, it was time for bed. I had to get up early for work the next day, and I was more than exhausted.

Monday was a very special day for me, it was mine and Dan’s 3 year anniversary. We had made plans the day before to do something, although we weren’t really sure of what that something might be. We don’t really have a “special”  place, or somewhere that really means a lot to us, we just love to spend time together. After a little debate, we decided on going to a new favorite restaurant of ours called Papachino’s near Dan’s house, they have super tasty fish, chicken and steak dishes, and one of their main goals is to provide a healthier alternative to most fast-food and restaurants. Dan and I always get some type of their grilled chicken, and neither of us have ever regretted the decision. It was a beautiful night so we decided to sit on the patio, enjoy our food and conversation. Dan and I have been through a lot together, if you don’t know us personally we have faced some trials in our relationship, but honestly our faith is what really anchors us down. Through all the trials, we have become stronger as a couple and  more compatible, and I honestly am thankful for the hard times because they can never outweigh all the wonderful times that we have had together. Anyways, I will stop being sappy and move on . After dinner and a nice time out and about it was time to call it  a night. The perfect ending was making lunch for the next day together. Dan knows that I am a diehard about taking my lunch to work and school and he appreciates it because I don’t end up spending all of our money eating out. I was in the mood for something a little bit different than normal so I popped open my “Fast Food Fix” cookbook by Devin Alexander and found the recipe for KFC:Twister Sandwiches. Fast Food Confession #1: I LOVE the KFC Twister sandwich, it was my favorite thing ever to get there. I thought it was pretty much the best thing that you could get at any fast food joint, and it was one of the hardest things for me to give up. I knew that my giving up the Twister was for the greater good, but honestly at the moment, it stunk. I was ecstatic when I saw the recipe in Devin’s cookbook and have been anxious to try it, I thought that it would be the perfect thing for a packed lunch, and something very different. I switched the tomato in the recipe for bell pepper and the low-fat flour tortilla for a high-fiber, low-cal one from La Tortilla Factory, and the result was glorious. It was just as I remember, crunchy chicken with rich sauce, it was divine, and took just a little longer than a boring sandwich to make for lunch. The KFC version of this wrap comes to an astonishing 670 calories, 38 grams of fat, 55 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, and 27 grams of protein, my little re-vamp of Devin’s version comes to 399 calories, 9.9 grams of fat, 51.5 grams of carbohydrates, 16.9 grams of fiber and 38.8 grams of protein! After making dinner it was time for bed, and time to say goodnight to my sweetie .

Tuesday was a pretty easy day, started out with work and my awesome lunch, then it was off to school. On Tuesday nights I am taking a class called cooking for your heart and health and it has been really inspiring and while I was in class I couldn’t help but to think about what to make for dinner when I got home. I decided that I needed to do some type of celebration for St. Patty’s Day which would be taking place on Wednesday, but the food would have to come Tuesday night because Wednesday I am at class all day long. I decided that I would make mostly green food and have a little Irish spirit thrown in as well. My good friend Cami taught me the importance of St. Patty’s Day, being part Irish it was one of her favorite holidays to celebrate, and when she lived close by it was one of my favorite holidays to spend with friends and good food. Cami always made the traditional St. Patty’s Day meal, corned beef, cabbage, a potato soup and plenty of soda bread. Soda bread was always my favorite part, and in honor of her and her family it was something that needed to be made. For dinner I decided to do Spinach pasta with chicken and homemade pesto. I prefer to make my own pesto as opposed to buying it because you can really control what goes inside your body. I used my blender and in just a few seconds it was ready to go! My whole family enjoyed this pasta variation on St. Patty’s Day food for only 329.7 calories, 18 grams of fat, 19 grams of carbohydrates, 2.1 grams of fiber and 19 grams of protein, for each serving. A regular pesto pasta from a restaurant could cost you up to 1040 calories, 56 grams of fat, 83 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of fiber and 50 grams of protein (and that doesn’t include the chicken!) I also decided to make a variation on Irish Soda Bread, I replaced half the white flour with oat flour, used Splenda instead of sugar, dumped the butter for light butter and Eggbeaters for whole eggs. The result was a comforting rendition on an old favorite totaling 107.4 calories, 3.0 grams of fat, 17.2 grams of carbohydrates, 1.25 grams of fiber and 3.2 grams of protein, the alternative equals 172 calories, 7.5 grams of fat, 22.5 grams of carbohydrates, 0.7 grams of fiber and 3.5 grams of protein, not a bad swap. Caution to everyone reading: THIS BREAD IS VERY ADDICTIVE. You would probably only want to make a half loaf, or else you could easily eat the whole loaf ! For dessert, St. Patty struck again with inspiration and I decided to make Marble Cupcakes, but instead of just plain vanilla and chocolate, I made fanciful St. Patty’s Day green vanilla and chocolate marble cupcakes. I used oat flour for white, a mixture of Splenda and sugar, a mixture of applesauce and light butter and subbed Eggbeaters for eggs, and they turned out so cute! Each of the little cupcakes were marbled in a perfect way, and they were super tasty! I think that it would be fun to also make the green part of the cupcakes mint flavored, but I say experiment how you would like! We all enjoyed our little cupcakes, and enjoyed celebrating St. Patty’s day,  a day early! It was fun to  be together, although we did miss Cami’s family and all the fun that always had surrounded St. Patty’s Day before.

Wednesday was another no cooking day. Wednesday’s for me start pretty early, around 7 and end around 1 in the morning! They are crazy, and I can never seem to squeeze in extra cooking, but I think that Thursdays are now becoming one of my favorite days to cook. For this last Thursday night, I wanted to do something really easy, I decided to be a “Make your own Grilled Chicken Sandwich Night”! The result was success, paired with tabbouleh salad and baked beans, the meal was perfect and super easy! Everyone loved the grilled chicken which I attributed to my George Foreman, and there were plenty of sauces to top the sandwiches – low fat of course, but with plenty of flavor. It was fun for everyone to make their sandwiches exactly how they wanted them, and for me the cook it was perfect for a quick and simple dinner. For dessert I have recently decided that it is really easy and tasty to make homemade pudding, so I looked up a recipe on allrecipes.com for vanilla pudding, and found one that sounded super tasty! The pudding was super easy, just through a few things in a saucepan and in a couple of minutes, pudding was ready! All I did was switch the whole milk for fat free, did a blend of sugar and Splenda, used light butter and 1 egg yolk and a little Eggbeaters, instead of 2 whole egg yolks. The result was a super tasty bowl of pudding, coming to only 170.5 calories, 2.8 grams of fat, 28.5 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber and 6.9 grams of protein, the alternative would have been 256 calories, 8.2 grams of fat, 40.4 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber and 6.4 grams of protein…not a bad swap if I do say so myself. Other than the amazing food, it was nice to have a time of fellowship and the Word with our close friends and family.

After Thursday comes Friday, which is where I leave off. Friday was another no cooking day, it has been super hot in Southern California lately, and the heat has made me tired and given me a lack of motivation to cook, but don’t worry, I am still a cooking queen! Speaking of which, I wonder what is on the menu for Saturday??? 

Until I’m in the kitchen again…

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Your favorite recipes…

Alright everyone, I was hoping to do a new blog today, but today is mine and Dan’s anniversary – but I know that I owe you all your favorite recipes. I will hopefully be updating tomorrow – but be checking back because with my busy schedule, you never know!

This week had the most votes out of all the weeks, which makes me super excited, and it seems like practically everything got a vote. The biggest winner was the fried rice quinoa, followed by a few others like the Combination Pizza, Chicken & Artichoke Bake, Scalloped Potatoes and Mississippi Mud Cupcakes, but the final winners ended up being the Fried Rice Quinoa, Chicken & Artichoke Bake and Dan’s Combination Pizza.

Fried Rice Quinoa

1 tablespoon seasame seed oil

1/2 cup Eggbeaters

1 1/4 cups pre-cooked quinoa, according to the package directions

1 cup frozen carrots and peas

2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce, or more to taste

2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce, or more to taste

In a large skillet, heat sesame seed oil and coat the bottom of the pan, add Eggbeaters and scramble till they begin to set up. After Eggbeaters have set up add pre-cooked quinoa to the skillet and scramble together. Add the frozen carrots and peas and wok together until thoroughly combined. Add in soy sauce and teriyaki sauce and coat quinoa mixture well. Enjoy with your favorite chinese-style food and give yourself a high-five for trying something new and tasty!

Serves 8

Cheesy Chicken & Artichoke Bake

1 (14 oz) can fat free chicken broth

1/4 cup onions, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

 3/4 cup evaporated skim milk

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons dry white wine

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper

1 (14 oz) can artichoke hearts (with juices, not oil)

2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms (optional)

Bring the broth to a simmer in a large skillet. Carefully add the chicken. Cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink. Reserve 3/4 cup chicken broth. Shred or cut the chicken into bite-size pieces and set aside. Lightly spray an unheated medium saucepan with non stick cooking spray. Add the onions and garlic. Cook and stir over medium heat until the onions are tender and translucent. Stir in the reserved broth and milk. Stir together the cornstarch and wine until smooth. Using a wire whisk, slowly stir the cornstarch mixture into the broth mixture. Cook and stir over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil. Reduce the heat, cook and stir for 1 minute more. Stir in the Parmesan cheese, rosemary, salt and pepper. Cook and stir until the cheese is melted. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 2 quart casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. Place the chicken in the dish. Drain the artichokes and reserve the juices. Cut the artichokes in half and arrange them around the chicken. Pour the cheese sauce over the chicken and artichokes. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until heated through. Meanwhile, add 2 tablespoons of reserved artichoke liquid to a medium skillet. Add the mushrooms. Cook and stir until tender. Before serving the casserole, top with the mushrooms. Enjoy with your friends and family, pears great with a fresh garden salad!

Serves 4

Dan’s Combination Pizza

1 thin store bought pizza crust

1/2 cup Classico Tomato and Basil Pasta Sauce

1/2 cup fat free mozzarella cheese, divided

1/4 cup reduced fat mozzarella cheese

18 turkey pepperoni

1 cup bell pepper, sliced

1 cup onion, chopped

1 recipe Italian Style Pork Sausage (recipe to follow), pre-cooked

Preheat oven according to pizza package directions, our pizza called for 450 degrees. Place onions and bell pepper in small skillet coated with non-stick cooking spray. Saute until onions turn translucent and bell peppers become tender. Place pizza crust on pizza pan or pizza stone. Top pizza with pasta sauce, half of both cheeses, bell peppers and onions, turkey pepperoni, and pork sausage. Top with remaining fat-free cheese. Pop your pizza in the oven for 10 minutes on until the crust is crisp and the cheese is melted. Enjoy, and indulge with your meat-loving side!

Italian Style Pork Sausage

8 oz extra-lean ground pork or pork tenderloin ground

3 tablespoons Eggbeaters

3 tablespoons plain bread crumbs

1 tablespoon ground fennel or fennel seeds

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon onion powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl until well combined. Place a large skillet over medium-high heat and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Add sausage to the pan by crumbling it into small pieces. Cook until no longer pink in the middle, add to your favorite pasta or to your favorite pizza!

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Video Blog…

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcake Recipe

For Cupcakes:

1 cup Oat Flour

1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 cup Splenda

1/2 cup granulated Sugar

4 tablespoons Cocoa Powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/8 teaspoon salt

1 60 calorie packet diet hot cocoa mix

1 1/2 cups Raspberries

1/4 cup Eggbeaters

1 tablespoon mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 small Splenda sweetener packet

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Frosting Options:

1 tablespoon Jell-o sugar free double chocolate pudding snack

1 teaspoon powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk first 7 ingredients together (through salt) to make cake mix. Mix thoroughly. Place contents of cocoa and small Splenda packet in a tall glass, add mini chocolate chips. Cover with 1/2 cup boiling water, and stir until ingredients have been completely dissolved. Add 1/4 cup cold water and stir once again. Add cocoa mixture, raspberries, and Eggbeaters. Puree until well blended. Combine blender mixture with the cake mix that you made earlier, stir until well blended and smooth. Prepare a 12-cup muffin pan by lining it with  foil baking cups. Evenly divide the cake mixture among the cups, and pop into a preheated oven. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow cupcakes to cool completely then frost with whichever method you prefer. I like the chocolate frosting, but some people prefer a more subtle taste, which the powdered sugar does well at. Enjoy, but don’t let anyone take yours

Each cupcake adds up to 112 calories and 2 grams of fat, before frosting.

Recipe is inspired by the Chocolate Raspberry Cupcake recipe from Lisa Lillen’s cookbook “200 under 200″

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Time to Vote…once again

Hey everyone! I know that you were just recently infiltrated by a ton of recipes, but don’t worry it’s time to vote! Because there are so many recipes that I have made since the last time we voted, I would like everyone to vote for at least TWO recipes, because I will be revealing two this week. Recipes should be up by Saturday, so make sure to do your voting by then, and be checking in for my first video blog, which will hopefully be up by the end of this week.

Happy Voting!!

Tasty Breakfast Sausage

Cheesy Chicken & Artichoke Bake

Sweet & Salty Mediterranean-style Pork Chops

“Fried Rice” Quinoa

Double Chocolate Homemade Pudding

Light French Crepes

Easy Pasta with Veggies & Turkey Sausage

Baked Tortilla Chips

“Mexican Rice” Quinoa

Fiberful Chocolately Chrispy Cookies

Spicy & Smokey Chipotle Chili with Blue Cheese Crumbles

Crock-Pot Beef Strogonaff

Lean Philly Cheesesteaks

Lean & Mean Meatball Subs

Creamy & Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes

Mississippi Mud Cupcakes

Spicy White Chicken Chili

Tasty Herb & Onion Wheat Biscuits

Dan’s Combination Pizza

For everyone that is counting, we have officially reached 66 Recipes! Out of those recipes, 45 are my modified versions and 21 are the original versions found in all my favorite light cookbooks! Less than 300 more to go!!

Until I’m in the kitchen again…

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In fear of never catching up…

Okay everyone so in fear of never catching back up, this blog is going to be a little more concise. If you do have any questions about any of these recipes feel free to ask, and I will let you know anything that you would like!

Wednesday I wasn’t able to cook much due to school, but in the morning I did take some of that extra-lean pork sausage from the night before, and used it to make breakfast sausage from Devin Alexander’s book, “Fast Food Fix”. Instead of a regular pork sausage sandwich that would add up to just about 450 calories, 27 grams of fat, 30 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber and 21 grams of protein, my new breakfast sandwich addition comes in at only  357 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, 28.5 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of fiber and 30 grams of protein, not a bad way to start the day.

For Thursday I was trying to find a crowd pleasing dish for all of our friends for bible study that night, so I decided to make some pretty easy and good for us food. I grabbed my “Healthy Homestyle Cooking” by Evelyn Tribole, a gift from my friend Sarah and began looking for tasty chicken recipes. I found a recipe for Cheesy Chicken and Artichoke Bake, it turned out pretty tasty, and for me that says a lot, I’m not normally a fan of creamy style chicken, but this was really good. The traditional version of this chicken bake, would add up to 616 calories and 30 grams of fat per serving, the new improved version found in this cookbook adds up to only 351 calories and 5 grams of fat, a great trade off, and a tasty easy bake, that everyone really enjoyed. For dessert, I went the super easy way, I had heard of a non-fat brownie mix and I was dying to try it, so I picked up the Trader Joe’s version called “Trader Joe’s Reduced Guilt Brownies” and asked my friend Shelly to mix them up. They were super easy, only two ingredients the mix and non-fat vanilla yogurt, I decided to use Dannon Light & Fit Vanilla Yogurt, for a reduced sugar amount as well. Our brownies turned out perfect if you like cake-y style brownies and were super easy, for one brownie the totals come to only, 110 calories, 0 grams of fat, 28 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber and 2 grams of protein, for a typical brownie the tables are slightly turned. A typical brownie adds up to about 145 calories, 9 grams of fat, 15 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber and 2 grams of protein. I think that I could make from scratch a better for you brownie, but these are the best out of the box brownies that I have been able to find so far, and they are really really good!

Friday of last week was also a busy day, doctor’s appointment, work and then home, but dinner was something that I was looking forward to cooking that night. I had been thinking of ideas all day, and I decided to try to find a recipe for Mediterranean-style pork chops. My mom found this to be very humorous and a kind-of oxymoron, considering that many people in the middle east don’t consume pork, but we were able to find a recipe for them online. For every serving of these savory, sweet, sour creations that calories only came to 278 calories, 10 grams of fat, 22 gram of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber and 25.7 grams of protein, for dessert, the all-reliable Skinny Cow came in, the perfect little dessert when you are way too tired to make something. These “ice cream” cones are super tasty, no-one I have met hasn’t liked them, they come in a variety of flavors and most are only about 150 calories and 2 grams of fat, most regular kinds of ice cream sandwiches will cost about 170 calories and 7 grams of fat a piece! Check out Skinny Cows at any grocery store, they will be worth it!

Saturday, was the day that I had been waiting for all week, it was my chance to cook a little. Breakfast, I had to get on the road, Sarah and I had an appointment that we woke up a little late for making our Starbuck’s run, not only a necessary one, but a convenient one. After our appointment, we popped back home to relax for a while, and I decided that for lunch, although I felt like cooking, I really wanted to do something pretty quick. I had pre-frozen already breaded chicken strips earlier that week, and stuck them away in the freezer for a time like Saturday. In less then 20 minutes we had fresh chicken strips, that were so tasty! If you feel like freezing yours, just make the chicken strip recipe that I included a few blogs done, and just after breading before baking, put them in a freezer safe bag and freeze them up to 2 months! Our quick lunch, had a caloric count of only 322 calories, 5 grams of fat, 28 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber and 40 grams of protein, regular chicken strips aren’t going to be nearly as friendly, the originals would add up to 430 calories, 20 grams of fat, 21 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber and 43 grams of protein. For dinner, my family had come up with a fairly elaborate idea. We love Mongolian BBQ, but only know one place that does it, well now we know too. We decided to grill up a bunch of chicken as our main protein, but then arrange a make-your-own-Mongolian BBQ-bar at my house. It was crazy and so much fun! We had a ton of toppings, from carrots to tofu to freshly minced garlic, almost everything was present to be able to make your own feast! We also had different sauces to use for a main sauce over the BBQ to help it cook. I worked as the wok-ing master, and cooked everyone’s food, although half-way through I ended up with a burn on my finger, which left me in pain for a couple of days…ouch. Everyone’s Mongolian BBQ was different but with a variety of fresh veggies and chicken breast we weren’t too worried. I also made my own version of fried “rice”. My fried rice was made with quinoa, which I’m not sure if I have talked about on here. Pretty much one of my new best friends. It works extremely well as a substitute for rice, but is a whole grain. It has a ton more protein and fiber then rice and not nearly as many calories so it was the perfect substitution. After preparing the quinoa as directed on the box, I woked it in a skillet with Eggbeaters, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, some frozen peas, carrots and corn and a tablespoon of sesame seed oil. For my version, of my favorite asian side, the totals only come to: 149 calories, 3.3 grams of fat, 22.7 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, and 6.8 grams of protein, for a typical version this stuff will cost you much, much more, 450 calories, 14 grams of fat, 67 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of fiber and 13 grams of protein. After our feast of veggies and whole grains it was time for dessert. I had just received one of my new cookbooks earlier in the week, More Healthy Homestyle Cooking by Evelyn Tribole and had been looking through it. I found a recipe for homemade pudding and decided to give it a shot, after about 7 minutes I was proudly possessing my first batch of homemade pudding, and with calorie counts as low as 85 calories and 2.8 grams of fat for the rich and chocolately flavor you couldn’t really beat it…unless it was in a Julia Child inspired crepe; then possibly. Well, if you couldn’t guess, I thought crepes and chocolate, there aren’t many combos that beat that. So I whipped out my Mastering the Art of French cooking cookbook and begun hard at work to change Julia’s Light Batter for Crepes Suzette around. I used fat-free milk, 1 egg yolk and 1/4 cup Eggbeaters, Splenda, oat flour, applesauce for part of the butter, and was intensely nervous through the whole process. I was sure that the applesauce or the Eggbeaters were going to fail me, but low and behold, perfection. My perfect Julia inspired crepes only add up to 61.3 calories, 2.3 grams of fat, 7.3 grams of carbohydrates, 0.8 grams of fiber and 2.3 grams of protein, as opposed to Julia’s version weighing in at 112.8 calories, 6.5 grams of fat, 9.9 grams of carbohydrates, 0.2 grams of fiber and 2.2 grams of protein. Our whole dessert was a mere, 146.3 calories and 5.1 grams of fat, a great way to end a fun night with family and friends.

Sunday was a typical day for me, church, fellowship with loved ones at breakfast, a quiet and relaxed afternoon, all to follow with dinner. For dinner, I was really not in the mood to make something. I wanted to throw something together and just be done with it. I grabbed a box of whole wheat pasta, a jar of Classico pasta sauce, bell pepper, zucchini, onion, garlic and a package of sweet Italian turkey sausage. I sautéed the veggies, grilled the sausage, boiled the pasta and in less than 30 minutes it was time for dinner. All my pasta only added up to 431 calories, 13.3 grams of fat, 61.1 grams of carbohydrates, 9.9 grams of fiber and 27.5 grams of protein. A traditional sausage pasta would add up to much higher numbers like 900 calories and 50 grams of fat for example. After a lazy day, I decided to be much lazier and head to bed a little early.

Monday was a typical day, full of work and meetings, but met with my relief of cooking at the end of the day. After work, I went home knowing what I wanted to cook. I had been thinking about mexican food all day, but not just any kind, a super-loaded chicken fajita burrito sounded amazing. So I decided to make my own. I grilled the chicken with no oil for the soup and burritos. For the burritos I sauteed bell peppers and onions using no oil again, and added them to the chicken. I added a packaged fajita mix to that the chicken and peppers and let them marinade for a while together. After getting the chicken and peppers ready to go, it was time to work on my sides. I made my own tortilla chips and mexican style “rice” using quinoa. For my rice this time, I still prepared the quinoa like the package directions say, and after it was finished cooking added in some diced tomatoes with chiles, and taco seasoning, quick, low-fat and very tasty. My whole family enjoyed making their own loaded burritos, complete with fat-free refried beans, fat-free sour cream and guacamole. Everything was so great and just what we all needed. It’s hard to say what everything came out to be calorie wise, but the chips were baked using the recipe from “200 under 200″ by Lisa Lillen, making each serving just under 130 calories and 2 grams of fat. For the quinoa, it comes to a mere 158 calories, 3.5 grams of fat, 25.8 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber and 5.6 gram of protein, not bad when you consider the alternative of 260 calories, 7 grams of fat, 44 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber and 6 grams of protein. Overall, it satisfied my craving and was a lot of fun!

P.S. For your build your own burrito night, pick up a package of La Tortilla factory tortillas, at only 80 calories, 3 grams of fat, 19 grams of carbohydrates, 14 grams of fiber and 8 grams of protein — it’s the only way to enjoy a burrito.

Tuesday was an interesting day, I was having an off-day. You know those days when everything is discouraging you, and you feel like you are all alone? That was me on Tuesday, not the best day, but my Dan helped pull me out of my bad mood. After my long day of work and school, he came over to make me dinner, yummy BBQ and give me the hug that I had been needing. While he was making dinner, instead of eating my feelings, like I have always done, I baked them instead. I was in the mood for something chocolately and I love cookies, so I decided to whip up a batch of Chocolate Crispy Cookies. I swapped out part of the butter for applesauce, the flour for oat flour, a blend of Splenda and sugar, Eggbeaters for eggs, and Fiber One cereal for crisp rice cereal. These babies turned out to be one of my favorite cookies so far. They were the perfect amount of crunch and chew and had the right amount of chocolate. Each one adds up to only 107.6 calories, 4 grams of fat, 18.8 grams of carbohydrates, 3.5 grams of fiber and 1.9 grams of protein, and all I have to say is take that original cookie which would have set me back by 155 calories, 7.1 grams of fat, 22.6 grams of carbohydrates, 0.7 grams of fiber and 1.6 grams of protein. Not a bad way at all to banish bad feelings and spend a little time with the people I love.

Wednesday was a much better day, but because I had school all day was SUPER busy. I started out with my Food Principles class where we make some pretty amazing things, none of which are healthy though sadly, and then it is on to Child Development. These two classes keep me busy for 10 hours at school, which leaves no time for cooking on Wednesdays.

Thursday is a much lighter school day, only one class; Cultural & Ethnic Foods and it only lasts about 2 hours. After class I met up with Sarah,  Amanda and my mom for lunch at Chick-fil-a. It was nice to be able to visit with all of them for a few hours considering how crazy and hectic my days prior had been. Since I hadn’t been able to cook the day before I was more than ready to get back in the kitchen. It seemed like the perfect day for chili to me, so I popped open my “The Most Decadent Diet Ever” to try Devin’s Chipotle Chili with Blue Cheese Crumbles. It was super easy, but a tad on the spicy side for some of our Bible study guests. The only bummer about the recipe is that it didn’t seem to stretch as far as I originally thought it would, that in consideration I would definitely make it again. For the servings that we all had, it was 325 calories, 5 grams of fat, 35 grams of carbohydrates, 10 grams of fiber  and 38 grams of protein. For a side, I put together my first ever blog recipe of cornbread. This time, I was out of plain yogurt, so I decided to use Vanilla no-sugar added, fat-free yogurt, they are SOO good, and it just gave the bread a slightly sweet taste. For dessert, I served leftover Chocolate Crispy Cookies, and I tried to make cinnamon crescents. I say tried, because although they did go through the baking process, they didn’t turn out how I would have liked them to be, those will have to be re-tried before I am able to share the recipe, sorry everyone .

Who doesn’t love Friday, it’s the first day of the weekend, and last day of the work week, it’s pretty much a great day. After work I headed home, I was ready to cook, and had gone over some ideas with my mom for a tasty dinner. We decided together that Beef Stroganoff would be good. I found a recipe for beef stroganoff in an old Cooking Light magazine and decided that would be the one to use. For the original recipe we didn’t change much, just the sour cream to fat-free instead of reduced fat, we also used whole wheat flour to thicken and whole wheat egg noodles instead of the white kind. The result — a comfort food classic, hearty and tasty at only 412 calories, 7.8 grams of fat, 43.4 grams of carbohydrates, 4.9 grams of fiber and 41.3 grams of protein. The original recipe isn’t too different calorie wise, but my version still ended up saving us 30 calories, 8 grams of fat, and gave us a little more protein and fiber, overall a fairly easy and good swap.

Saturday was the craziest day by far. I had already decided with the help of my good friends to shoot my first video blog. I did the blog on Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes, which are similar to the version found in Lisa Lillen’s cookbook, “200 under 200″. Her recipe was one of my favorites, but by swapping out the pre-boxed cake mix for my own recipe, I save a little bit more and have an overall better product. Stay tuned for the video, hopefully it will be up by the end of this weekend. After our long day of shooting, Dan once again made us dinner. Using some of the left over beef from the day before, he made Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches, which turned out awesome. At only 428 calories a piece and 12 grams of fat, Dan was able to enjoy one of his favorite all time meals, and I got a chance to relax. When I think now that my man was enjoying the regular versions of these sandwiches it makes me think about all the damage that I did to my body in a somewhat oblivious fashion. For a regular Philly Cheesesteak they can run you up to 685 calories, and 40 grams of fat! That’s insane for a sandwich, after relaxing with my friends for a bit it was time to go to bed.

Sunday was a typical day in our home, church and breakfast, followed by a lazy afternoon. I was busy working on projects for school and for some friends that my mom made dinner instead of me, which was nice to have a break for a little bit. She made turkey breast tenderloin served with cous cous and multigrain bread. It was delicious, and was a huge blessing so that I could finish my projects.  Not too long after dinner, it was time for me to go to bed, I needed to be up the next day at 4 in the morning.

Now, we are officially caught up to today!

Today was a fairly ordinary day, full of work and the day-to-day rituals, but on my lunch, things changed a little. I normally bring a cookbook or a magazine to work to read on my lunch break, but today I forgot. I decided while I was on lunch to go pick up a magazine at the local store so that I wouldn’t be bored out of my mind for an hour. After rummaging through several books and magazines, I decided to pick up the latest Rachel Ray magazine. I vividly remember watching Rachel Ray when I was younger thinking that when I grew up, I wanted to be just like her. I think a little part of that younger me still exists. I love that she has aimed to help the busy mom and family have a quick, easy, affordable dinner every night to enjoy together. I am here to help her a little with nutrition. Like I said before, I have total respect for her, and her main goal is not healthy food, so I figured I would help on that aspect. In her magazine, I found an amazing looking sandwich called Meatball Melties, and from that point early this afternoon I started craving meatball subs. When I got off of work, I knew exactly what I wanted to make for dinner, went to the store and picked up the stuff and headed on home to begin re-vamping the classic. I used 7% ground beef, Eggbeaters, fat-free milk, no oil, reduced-fat provolone cheese, and kaiser rolls, instead of ciabatta. Rachel’s original recipe came to an astonishing 1056 calories, 58.8 grams of fat, 62.1 grams of carbohydrates, 3.8 grams of fiber and 67.5 grams of protein. My version of this sandwich only came to a caloric count of 613 calories, 21 grams of fat, 60.7 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of fiber and 45.5 grams of protein. This sandwich is a little higher calorie wise then what we normally have, but for every once in a while it is the perfect alternative, and take it from my sister these are tasty! After the first bite, Manda couldn’t stop raving about how much she loved the sandwich and she wasn’t alone. I’m not sure if it was because I hadn’t had a meatball sub in a long time or if it was really that good, but I was shocked. Anyways, now I am off to bed, ready to face another day of work and school. In the future, remember to always eat well!

Until I’m in the kitchen again…

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