Oh My Yummy!!! (and tarter sauce)

I went to my parent’s house on Saturday. I was awake early and since I had been away so long I just decided to go. It was a fun surprise for my Mom and Dad. After hanging out for a bit we went out to lunch. Dad and I got a great fish and chips. (My chips were sweet potato) We both ate half of our lunch and brought the rest home to save for dinner. This is where the trouble began. They had no tartar sauce.

Heather and her family had left to go to a Birthday party at a friends and we were watching the first Harry Potter movie on Disney Channel (they were so tiny) Toward the end of the movie was when I began having a terrible craving for something cakey. I happened to mention this aloud so my Mom (being a bad influence) suggested we go to La Cupcake. We didn’t want my dad to feel bad that we were going without him so we used the need for tartar sauce as our excuse to go out.

At La Cupcake we tried their signature cheesecake brownie cupcake and the pumpkin cupcake with cream cheese frosting. By getting one of each we were able to cut them in half and then we each got to taste both. The cheese cake one was ok but really didn’t fulfill the cakey craving. The Pumpkin one however was exactly what I was after. It tasted great and the whole time I was eating it I kept thinking “I have got to find a way to make this legal.”

That was my mission for today. Well, that and laundry. I spent most of my day on the internet. I knew there had to be a good pumpkin cupcake that was low sugar, low fat and lactose free. I also needed a cream cheese frosting that met the same requirements.

By altering a couple of recipes I came up with something that in my opinion was way better than the one I had on Saturday.

Sugar-Free Pumpkin cupcakes

• 4 eggs
• 1 ¼ cups Splenda
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a medium bowl, mix the eggs, Splenda, oil, apple sauce and pumpkin with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir into the pumpkin mixture until thoroughly combined.
• Spray cupcake pan with non-stick cooking spray or use paper cup liners. Fill the cups a little more that ¾ full. Bake for 15-20 min.

Healthy Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

1 (8oz) package Tofutti milk free better than cream cheese
1 (8oz) tub Cool Whip Free Whipped Topping
1/2 cup Splenda
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

In a medium mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until soft. Add Cool Whip, Splenda, and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. Makes 12 servings

In order to keep it lactose free I went with the Cool Whip. Unfortunately that meant some corn syrup. Considering the amount of protein in the recipe vs. sugar I decided the little bit of corn syrup was probably ok. This way my Dad can eat it too.

With the major success on creating such a wonderful tasting cupcake. (I could hardly keep the kids out of them long enough to take pictures.) I will definitely be making them for Thanksgiving.

And to think it all started with tartar sauce.

A Sweet Success

Blueberries with Lemon Cream

 

Serves: 4

Total Time: 10 min

 

 

 

Ingredients

· 4 ounce(s) reduced-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel)

· 3/4 cup(s) low-fat vanilla yogurt

· 1 teaspoon(s) honey

· 2 teaspoon(s) freshly grated lemon zest

· 2 cup(s) fresh blueberries

Directions

1. Using a fork, break up cream cheese in a medium bowl. Drain off any liquid from the yogurt; add yogurt to the bowl along with honey. Using an electric mixer, beat at high speed until light and creamy. Stir in lemon zest.

2. Layer the lemon cream and blueberries in dessert dishes or wineglasses. If not serving immediately, cover and refrigerate for up to 8 hours.

 

http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/blueberries-lemon-cream-recipe-5726

Round Table at the not so round table

We had a family meeting and decided that “round table at the not so round table” was the perfect name for it. Just crazy enough to fit our crazy family. We discussed our new plan for eating healthy and how and where to look for recipes. We will be putting together a family cook book with the recipes that we like. Chicken feta salad will be our first entry.

Melaina thought this should be called “OMG! Mom can prepare food!” It is a variation on the recipe that I posted in my last entry.

Chicken Feta Salad

• Organics spring mix
• Del Monte no sugar added Mandarin oranges (snack pack. one was just the right amount)
• half can pitted black olives (I cut the olives in half because I hate when my food rolls away from my fork)
• crumbled feta cheese (I think i used about a cup of this)
• dry roasted pistachio kernels with sea salt (I used about a cup)
• canned chicken (one can)
• red wine and olive oil vinaigrette dressing

Obviously I didn’t use any measuring cups so amounts are just a guess. It tasted amazing and Jeremy was happy to find that salad actually filled him.

The kids are now in on the other computers looking for recipes for their nights to cook. Melaina gets to find some fish recipes because Jeremy has requested fish Fridays. They all seem pretty excited about the idea of eating better. Well except Ashton but at least he won’t be standing in the kitchen saying he can’t think of anything to cook because I am now making them plan ahead so we can make sure we have the proper ingredients.

Eating Healthy

Melaina has been complaining she wants healthy food. Jeremy has already begun to cut carbs. My Mom and Dad have been doing great on changing the way they eat. I think it is time I do the same.

I have started with the most difficult and the most regularly consumed item in my daily routine. I quit the Dr. Pepper. That meant giving up caffeine as well cause I don’t do coffee. I’m not stressing on the caffeine thing really. If I have a cup of tea fine. I just really needed to eliminate the high fructose corn syrup that is a main ingredient in soda. I can’t switch to diet because aspartame and I have never gotten along.

Now obviously this is going a long way toward controlling my hypoglycemia and will help put off the inevitable diabetes. I am however aware that there has got to be more to do. For instance I need to get rid of the simple carbohydrates and replace them with complex carbohydrates.  No more processed foods and I should eat more fish and chicken. At least salt is not a huge issue for me. quite frankly I don’t really like it and never add it to my foods. I actually prefer the natural taste of things.

So, here is the stumbling block I have just come too in starting this new food adventure. I have to learn to plan meals and shop accordingly. I need to find good healthy recipes that are not too overwhelming for someone who has always hated to cook. I may find after awhile that some recipes that scare me now will be no big deal in the future.

Basically I have all these great ideas and a bit of knowledge about what I can and can’t have but no clue on how to put them together or how to start.

Focus on the positive! Water doesn’t taste so bad after all. An apple makes a great desert. White cheese is better than yellow and I LOVE feta cheese.

Oh think I found something good: Butter Lettuce Salad With Feta, Mandarin Oranges and Kalamata Olives Recipe by Jennifer Meier

Butter Lettuce Salad With Feta, Mandarin Oranges and Kalamata Olives

Photo by Jennifer Meier

This salad is light and refreshing. The salty but mild Feta pairs well with the Kalamata olives and is a tasty contrast to the oranges.

Butter Lettuce Salad With Feta, Mandarin Oranges and Kalamata Olives serves 2-3

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 head butter lettuce, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces
• 2/3 cups shelled, unsalted pistachios (either raw or roasted)
• 1/4 lb. Feta, crumbled
• 1 cup pitted Kalamata olives
• 2 Mandarin oranges, peeled and separated into wedges
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar

Preparation:

In a bowl, whisk the olive oil, vinegar, salt and cumin together until well mixed

In a large salad bowl, toss the lettuce with pistachios, Feta, olives and orange wedges. Drizzle the dressing on top. Toss again and serve.

SNAP-Ed Connection: Recipes Finder

My cousin Carrina wrote about this website in her blog and I thought I would pass it on to all of you:

My cheap and oh-so-good noodle bowl got me thinking. A couple of years ago, I discovered the USDA's online recipe-finder tool (http://recipefinder.nal.usda.gov/). It features a sizeable database of easy, generally healthy, and very economical recipes. Each recipe has been analyzed for cost and nutritional content. Many of the recipes are submitted by nutritionists who are trying to get people to eat healthily while using food stamps. This makes it a great place to go to find basic, bare-bones recipes that cost between 30 and 90 cents a person (some more). Then, if you decide that you want to splurge on kale or use leftover green onions, you can do that - but in most cases, you don't have to go out and buy something crazy just because it holds the recipe together. And, the database is incredibly searchable, since it's partly intended for social workers to use to get their nutrition messages across.

Here are just a few of the many ways you can search:

-Nutrition Education Topic (Calcium-Rich Food; Whole Grains; Less Saturated Fat, Trans Fat and Cholesterol)

-Theme (Ready in 30 Minutes Or Less, Food Resource Management)

-Menu Items (self-explanatory)

-Ingredients

-Ratings

-Audience (Parents of young children, Middle Eastern, Southern, Vegetarian)

-Cooking Equipment (Microwave, Wok, No Cooking Required, Stovetop/Hot Plate)

-And: recipe cost! Yes, you can actually specify that your search results cost less than a certain amount per serving and/or recipe.

There are even official-looking Nutrition Facts with each recipe, as well as a shopping list feature (you can browse through recipes, click "Add to shopping list" when one looks good, and then view your list to see what you'll need).

In honor of our crappy economy, I've decided to start using this website a lot more. It's such a great tool! In fact, I may try to cook things from it every day this week. I'll let you know how they turn out.
So, tonight we're having Spaghetti With Lentils, which is kind of cheating because it's the first recipe I ever used off of this site when I first discovered it.

Posted by Carrina

Thank you Carrina for letting me repost part of your blog in my own.

SNAP-Ed Connection: Recipes Finder

shh...don't tell

So Jeremy and I were feeling a bit hungry and were looking for something quick and easy. We found that there were two muffins left so he took the apple cinnamon one and gave me the chocolate one. Well I realized that if I didn't have something with protein to go with it then my blood sugar would give me grief later. So I headed into the kitchen and peaked into the rice cooker. The rice was on its last day. (Tomorrow it would be dried out.)  I decided to make something out of the rice for lunch. After looking around I saw that we had a couple cans of tuna and some cream cheese. I put some rice and a can of tuna into a bowl with a dollop of cream cheese and mixed it all together. It tasted great! I ate about half of it and then was too full to finish it so I offered the rest to Jeremy. He wasn't too sure about it but after one bite he was sold. He ate the rest while telling me with a surprised tone how good it tasted. See this happens every time. I almost have everyone convinced that I can't cook. Then I go and do something creative with food and it is such a success that they will expect me to do it again. Sigh. I think I just need to admit that I CAN cook I just HATE to. (Except sometimes.)

P.S. I know that rice, fish and cream cheese is what goes inside a California roll. Really I made sushi without the seaweed wrap. Jeremy and Julian think I created something great though. So....shh....don't tell.