St Patty's Treat!

I know that I've been super MIA...school and work are just taking up all of my time!  But I had to share this wonderful treat for the St. Patty's Holiday!

I love when St Patrick’s day rolls around each year because that means that McDonald’s brings back the shamrock shake!  Delish—of course!  But also packed with calories!  Total in the small?  Over 400!

So Wednesday I decided while craving one of these tasty treats that I could re-make it!  After all it only contains the ice cream, green coloring, and high fructose corn syrup that is spearmint flavored, plus the whipped cream and cherry on top.

So Rene and I made a trip to the grocery store….on the list?

Almond Milk (we already had this but I’ll add it here anyhow)

Sugar Free Vanilla Ice Cream

Spearmint Extract

Green Food coloring

1 cup almond milk (sugar free vanilla) (45 calories)

½ cup of sugar free vanilla ice cream (100 calories)

1t spearmint extract

3 drops of green food coloring

Blend—Pour into a glass and enjoy!  Total calories in one of our healthy Shamrock Shakes?  145  and perfectly delicious! 

Cake for the boss

This weekend in the midst of school work I whipped up this....

I was pretty impressed!  Yellow cake "bun", edible Easter grass "lettuce", brownie "hamburger patty", sugar sheet "cheese" and sprinkle "sesame seeds".

Here's hoping the "boss" is as impressed by my baking abilities as Rene and I were when he gets to the office to find this waiting on his desk for his birthday!

APY60 Day 3

I'll admit this morning it was really hard to get out of bed.  I'm not sure why, even my Fitbit said that I slept better last night than the night before (98% efficiency only woke up 5 times).  So this morning I have to admit that I didn't do the full morning blend of stretches.  I know day 3 and already slacking!  I did about half of the stretches from memory to get the blood pumping...a small setback!

Breakfast this morning I had a healthy porridge from the little recipe book that came along with the DVDs...Yum!

The "porridge" is actually a whole apple and 4 strawberries just quickly blended to a porridge like consistency with a little almond milk (unsweetened) and a dash of cinnamon.  I threw it in the microwave for about 45 seconds (could have heated it up a little more) and then topped with raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, pecans and a little chia seeds for some protein.

It was quick and simple and got me moving and heading out the door for work.

Tonight more power yoga and a tasty smoothie since Rene is working late before I hit the gym for some cardio....Happy Tuesday!

Carb Loading

Don't get me wrong I know that eating healthy is a big part of staying healthy, and processed sugars and starches typically don't do much for my waistline but what can I say I have a weakness over carbs!  In particular pizza or anything pizza-like and pasta (hence Rene's purchase of the past maker for me).

As I go into Day 4 of my detox I figured it was time to reminise about my tasty treats from last weekend.  Mainly the carb loaded delights that we aren't eating right now...First up! Fresh pasta and homemade marinara.  Don't get me wrong I am no  Italian so I make the sauce the way Rene and I like it!

The necessary ingredients, oregano, basil, garlic, onion, red pepper flakes, onion powder, garlic powder, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and tomato sauce...

 And then cook low all afternoon.

 Then the pasta dough-2 cups of flour 3 eggs-pretty simple!

 Refrigerate and then roll and cut and allow to dry!

I will say the first batch was pretty good but next time I will have to make the pasta bit thinner.  For those of you who have never worked with fresh pasta when cooked it expands to about 3 times it's natural thickness...so while it wasn't quite right I'll be working on it for the future.

Then we made pizza pull apart bread - Rene even helped out!

 It only takes 5 ingredients! 

Premade pizza crust

Mozzarella cheese cut into little cubes

Garlic (we bought the pre-minced)

Pepperoni 

*optional marinara or ranch for dipping

Roll out small balls of the crust and flatten into a disk

 Next place a pepperoni in the center (folded works best)

 Add cheese

 Roll and secure

 Repeat and then place in a bunt pan and brush with melted garlic butter.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.  

We learned a couple of lessons from our first try.  As you can see this isn't the ideal turn out.  First we need to press the little pizza bites together more so that they hold a firm shape when removed from the pan.  Second my pan was new and therefore super non-stick and the shape kind of flopped onto the plate and didn't look too pretty and third our oven here at the apartment is awful and it got a little extra crispy.

Nonetheless, it was amazing and we will be making this again for a non-healthy day for sure!

Are you hungry now?

Detox Day 1

Today starts the first day of my little detox into the New Year.  So here goes.  There was a lot of liquid to be consumed first thing this morning.  First up a spicy lemonade.

This gained attention a couple of years ago when you had starlets doing a lemonade detox where this is all they would drink to slim down for a big red carpet event.  But in all actuality it does have some good reasoning behind it and any of the juice detox/diets out there (Blueprint Diet and Fresh Juice Delivery) all have a lemonade in them as a piece of their detox.

The reasoning behind it according to The Washington Post is that lemons are rich in bioflavonoids (pigments that act as excellent detoxifying catalysts); cayenne pepper is an anti-inflammatory which work to help detox and purify your body.  Which is why each day I am starting off with a cup of this lemonade before anything else.

Spicy Lemonade
1 cup hot water
juice of one lemon
1/16 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons maple syrup (high grade orangic is best)

*I may have added a bit too much of the cayenne (didn't measure just threw some in) but it wasn't completely awful.

Next up my "breakfast" consisted of what I am calling Red Juice #1 (green apple, 2 carrots, beet, small piece of ginger)

Keep in mind the ginger is something you can add as much or as little as you like, a little goes a very long way!

Beets are one of the best things to put in your juicer!  And they add a bit of a sweet kick to the juice.  Here are just a few of the benefits of beet juice:

• Lower cholesterol
• Improved brain health
• Lowers blood pressure
• Helps eliminate toxins from the body (small side effect is that you may feed dizzy because of this)
• Increased endurance for exercise (always a plus!)
• Anticancer vegetable-as with any dark red vegetable/fruit it is packed with antioxidents!

Carrots also add some sweetness and their own benefits:

• High levels of beta-carotene and vitamin A in carrots promote eye health by lubricating the eyes and preserving visual acuity.
• Healthy urinary and digestive tracts are linked to carrot consumption.
• The high mineral content in carrots aids in nourishing the hair, nails and skin. 
• Carrot juice cleanses the liver by ridding it of bile and fat. 
• Potassium content in carrots regulates blood pressure levels.

Green Apple benefits:

• Protect against diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer
• Only 47 calories per serving
• Drinking 100% green apple juice from a juicer allows you to still get all of the benefits of eating the apple.

Ginger benefits:

• Reduces inflamation
• Boosts immune system

To Dos for the Weekend

 I know it's New Years weekend-but lets be honest....between working and school Rene and I really just look forward to lazy weekends and this is just like the rest!  Though we did grab 2 bottles of bubbles to celebrate the new year.  Fun fact--enough New Years Eve back at UCF was really the start of our relationship when we rang in the new year together in 2006! So this marks the 6 year mark of our relationship too!

Anyhow...I've created a bit of a crafty to do list of things that I want to make/try this weekend.

First and foremost if you remember a previous post Pinteresting Thursday on a Friday I had 2 items that I wanted to make. 1. the cape and 2. the little Christmas trees made from holiday cards--both of these will be made this weekend (hopefully)...

Next up is a little treat for New Years eve....Pizza Monkey Bread...yes another Pinterest find!

Doesn't it look tasty?

I'll also be trying my hand at homemade pasta tonight compliments of my new pasta maker from Rene!

Get ready for some follow up posts this weekend about all these great little creations!

Happy Friday!

Macarons!

As promised I figured I would post some of the many cookies I've baked in the past couple of weeks...I will have to say though that not one of these remains the office and Rene and I gobbled them up!

I am a big fan of macarons and these were perfect!! A basic butter cream and chocolate butter cream filled delight!

I would highly suggest trying the recipe listed on FoodNetwork's website...our first batch was wonderful and produced the above, however I tried again last weekend and Rene used a little bigger item to trace for the cookie and they didn't turn out nearly as good...so maybe I'll try again this weekend.

The trick is whipping the egg whites enough but not too much....quite tricky!

More cookies to come in the next few days!!

Re-Invent Thanksgiving Leftovers

Lets be honest you can only have so many turkey sandwiches after turkey day...so I always try to come up with some easy ideas to re-invent and re-use those turkey leftovers!

This year we did a whole lot of reinventing! I must apologize though I forgot to snap pictures of a couple of the items.

First off here was our Thanksgiving Dinner--lots of food = lots of leftovers!Re-invention #1 - Sausage Egg and Cheese "muffins"
First take a muffin pan and put a little of the stuffing in the bottom (we used our apple and sausage stuffing) next pour a little egg white or whole egg onto the top and bake approx. 12 minutes at 350 degrees-top with a little cheese and melt. Quick and easy breakfast/brunch!

Next up? #2 - Turkey and Noodles (no picture sorry)
Take turkey bones, sage, and thyme and create a delish stock-simmer at least 2 hours!
Add in some veggies we used carrots, onion, peas, and corn
Next add in your shredded turkey (light and dark meat)
Simmer and then add in your noodles. The longer you cook the noodles the thicker everything becomes rather than a soup it's like a little turkey and "dumplings"

Re-invention #3- Turkey Nachos!
For anyone who has ever been to an Ale House this is a play on their Chicken Nachos

Super simple! Layer tortilla chips, then cheese, turkey, more cheese, jaleponos (optional) and bake!
Serve with sour cream, salsa, and guacamole!

#4 --Cranberry Almond and White Chocolate Chip Pancakes!
(sorry no picture)
Make a basic pancake mix, add in cranberry almond sauce and some white chocolate chips! Delish!

#5-Spicy Pumpkin Soup
See the pumpkins in the mail photo? We baked our stuffing inside the little pie pumpkins then used them in our soup!
First start with a little chicken stock (about 3 cups) add in onion, and pumpkin flesh. Allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes.
Next add in cayenne pepper, salt, curry, and red pepper flakes to your own taste--continue to simmer another 10 minutes until the pumpkin has started to fall apart.
Next in small batches or large depending on size of your food processor, blend until nice and smooth
Return to stove and add 1 cup of heavy cream, and 3 tablespoons of brown sugar, stir until combined.
Our soup is in the freezer for a nice cold day this winter!

And last but certainly not least! #6 - Turkey and Winter Greens Eggrolls!
We used what remained our our winter greens and mixed them with some shredded light meat turkey and reheated it in a saute pan. Next we then took egg rolls and wrapped the mixture up and brushed with a little melted butter and baked at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes!
Served with a little gravy it was a nice crunchy treat to end out the weekend!


And thankfully we used up almost all of the left overs!

Countdown to Thanksgiving!

The past couple of months have been a whirlwind to say the very least and now it's T-minus 4 days until Thanksgiving! Yes it will just be Rene and I again this year for turkey day but that doesn't mean that I won't be cooking a meal fit to feed at least 6-8!

What can I say I enjoy cooking #1--this is the 3rd year that I am cooking a full turkey.... and #2 it gets us away from the "chicken and veggies" routine at least for a couple of days. We decided this year that we wanted to make everything pretty light and simple with lots of veggies rather than starchy stuff (minus the stuffing). So what's on the menu this year? A whole lot of delish! Check back tomorrow for the full breakdown of the menu (mainly all ideas from the Food Network Magazine). And believe it or not we didn't completely break the bank either!

We went shopping for Thanksgiving, as well as our typical weekly groceries and only spent around $200 which is pretty dang good if you look at the fact that 95% of the items we buy are organic, we came and home with a 14 pound turkey (I told you I cook like we have a house full of people!).

What are you cooking this year?

No Bake Goodness!

As promised I wanted to share my tasty no-bake dessert that I made this past weekend!

I can't completely take all the credit though, I found it on Pinterest

Ingredients:

1 bag of mini marshmallows
1 bag of Oreos (or you could use golden oreos too)
3 Tablespoons of butter
8x8 pan

Waxed paper

Start by placing the entire package or Oreos in a food processor or bowl and crush into a uniform "crushedness"Next, place your butter in a small bowl and microwave to melt.

Once butter is melted take your mini-mallows and place them in a bowl and microwave for 1-1.5 minutes until they start to melt.

Pour your butter into the marshmallows and then pour your mixture into the crushed cookies and mix!
*it helps to use a buttered or non-stick strayed spoon when mixing*

Pour mixture into a greased or wax-paper lined 8x8 pan and smooth out so that it is evenOnce cool cut into small squares and enjoy!

It's two favorites mixed into one! Rice krispie treats meets Oreos -- Rene enjoyed his with a tall glass of milk!

Time Saving Meal

Since I knew that Rene would be home late tonight I planned on using this afternoon to whip up a quick and easy make ahead meal for later this week. I knew that I would need a break between working on homework and I could kill 2 birds with 1 stone! 1. Get a break from homework and 2. Make dinner for Wednesday (the night I have my live lecture) so that I didn’t eat dinner at 10 at night! Win-win situation there!

So what’s on the menu?

Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos! Yum! I saw a similar recipe online for a cilantro pesto chicken with Asiago cheese but I decided cheese didn’t sound appealing to me so I added in some lime and make tacos instead!

Ingredients:

**Please note: this one is a big eyeball and taste type of recipe!**

1 lb chicken tenders (boneless and skinless) chopped up

1/4 cup chopped onion

2-3 cups of chopped fresh cilantro

2 Tablespoons of diced garlic

2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

3 Tablespoons of lime juice (I used a little more to make it more limey)

1/4 cup chicken broth

Kosher salt

Prepare:

Combine all (except chicken and onion) in blender and blend into a saucy liquid

Taste and decide if you need more cilanto, lime or salt for your personal taste!

Pour sauce over the chicken* and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes

*use your judgment on this I had some extra and didn't want too much extra sauce on the chicken

While chicken in marinating add the chopped onion to a hot pan until semi-soft

Add in the chicken mixture and allow to simmer

As the chicken cooks and simmers the sauce will thicken.

To make ahead:

Once cooked transfer to a tupperwear container, or ziplock freezer bag. Allow to cool then toss in the freezer. When you are ready to make it allow to thaw and re-heat on the stove.

Or…eat it right away with flour tortillas, lettuce, and tomatoes and all the other taco toppings!

I’ll be having mine later this week, but I must say I snagged a “sample” piece of chicken and it’s pretty tasty!

Do you know what is even better? I have about a 1/3 cup of the sauce left over so I figure why not make cilantro lime rice for my dinner tonight – perfect!

Pinterest Problem?

I must admit that as we get into the fall months I have started thinking about decorating the apartment for Halloween and Christmas-I know they are months away but I like to think about these things early to make sure I am ready!

Well due to the fact that I spend about 10 hours of my day in front of a computer at work, I read blogs and also of course as mentioned yesterday check out Pinterest to see what others are "pinning"....these are just some of the favorites that I have found...aren't they cute?

Weekend Cravings

Typically Rene and I are very healthy eaters. Low carb, organic, lots of fruits and veggies and lean proteins make up them majority of out diet...but don't get me wrong we do our fair share of unhealthy eating too--this weekend we gave into temptation!

This weekend we decided to had a little mix. Friday night we went for a semi healthy vegetarian pizza to get that cheese delicious pizza fix and then also an overly decadent buffalo chicken mac & cheese!
Friday night Mexican pizza!
Ingredients:
Pizza crust
1 can black beans
crushed garlic
Red pepper
green onions
cherry tomatoes
hatch peppers (or jalapenos if you can't get hatch)
Jack cheese
lettuce

1. Combine black beans, garlic and red pepper in food processor and pulse to a smooth spread
2. Chop up your veggies!
3. Spread black bean sauce on the pizza and then add your desired veggies (all except lettuce)
4. Cover with cheese (as much or as little as you like)
5. Back until cheese is melted...approx 10-14 minutes at 350 degrees
6. Sprinkle with shredded lettuce and enjoy

*the beans add protein and fiber, we used a wheat crust so healthy grain, low fat cheese and lots of veggies makes a much healthier option of pizza on Friday night!

Now Saturday was a different non-healthy meal all together!
Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese!

Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 pound macaroni (we used quinoa pasta as a bit of a healthy change)
1 cup hot sauce
1 cup half and half or heavy cream
2 Cups mozzarella cheese
3 Cups cheddar cheese
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1-2 hot peppers (optional)

1. First grill the chicken and shred!
2. Chop the peppers if you are using them
3. Combine the peppers and chicken in a saute pan and continue to cook/warm
4. Add 1/4 cup of hot sauce to the chicken mixture
5. Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a separate saute pan
6. add in 2 tablespoons of flour to the butter
7. Wisk in the cream
8. add 3/4 cup hot sauce to the cream mixture
8. Slowly add the cheese to the cream and flour mixture until smooth
9. At this time also bring your water to a boil and cook pasta to al dente

Now time to build the final product!
First start with a layer of pasta, then add your chicken mixture and then add the second half of the pasta
Then it's time to pour your cheese/hot sauce mixture over top

Add some bread crumbs if desired to add a little crunch.
Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees (allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving).

I would love to share a picture of the final look, however I didn't get to the stove fast enough as the 10 minute timer went off...Rene had already dug in!

It's always a bit hit and plenty of left overs for lunch, and in Rene's case breakfast on Sunday!

Sunday Breakfast

Sundays tend to be a bit of a more relaxed day of the week for Rene and I. As the weekend ends and it's time to get things ready for the next week it's nice to start the day with a nice morning walk with Stitch and end enjoy a delicious breakfast. This morning we made a quick and easy vegetable and egg dish that I made some changes to that I found in my Food Network Magazine.

"Eggs in a Squash Nest"

Ingredients:
4 eggs
1 Zucchini Squash
1 Yellow Summer Squash
1/2 Large Onion (optional)
4 Cremini Mushroom (optional)
Thyme and Nutmeg

1. First use a grater to grade up the 2 squash and place in a bowl set aside, finley slice the onion and dice the mushrooms.2. Heat a pan that you can place in the oven and spray with Pam non-fat cooking spray

3. Add onions and allow to soften4. Add in the mushrooms and book approx 2-3 minutes

5. Add in the squash

6. Fold all ingredients together add thyme and nutmeg and allow to cook 5-7 minutes over a medium heat. (also turn on over to 350 degrees)

Once all of the vegetables are cooked place skillet into the over for about 5 minutes to help bake and remove excess moisture from the squash.

Remove skillet from the over and create small indentations and crack 4 eggs into the areas indented in the squash.

Place the skillet back into the oven from 5-9 minutes depending on how done you want the eggs.
And here's the finished product! Rene and I split this in half each having about a cup and a half of squash "nests" and 2 eggs each for around 200 calories and 11 grams of protein a great way to start the day!

Yonana!

A few weeks ago Rene and I were at Target when I remembered the YoNana frozen fruit/fro-yo maker that I had mentioned previously!
I decided to check it out and make the purchase!


So a few nights ago we had our first YoNana -- bananas and strawberries!


It was delish!! and the reviews that I read were completely right! Same consistency as soft serve and way healthier!

Past my book goal!

I just realized today that it's only half way through the year and I have already read 13 books (and I am currently reading #14 and #15)....I guess I'll up my goal this year to reading at least 24 books rather than the 12 I wanted to read last year!

Though I might have to take some pointers from my ZTA little sister who picks a reading list of 52!

So what have I read so far this year??



Any suggestions on what my next read should be??

What's for Lunch?

Today I decided it was time to try out one of the fun summer salads that I posted about last week. Boring lettuce and veggies just wasn't cutting it! So I decided to go with a chickpea and herb salad.

This was so easy to make!

Ingredients:
Canned or dry chickpeas (soaked overnight and cooked)
Parsley (chopped)
Mint (chopped)
Onion (diced)
EVOO (about 1 Tbls)
Lemon juice from one half of a lemon
Salt and Pepper

You mash up the chickpeas just a bit then add in all the other ingredients to your liking.

I let mine sit for about a day so the mint didn't look as bright green but still delish
!

It was super quick and easy and a nice healthy change from everyday garden salads!