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Thursday, July 29, 2010

Chocolate Squash Muffins


I had a yellow squash that I needed to use up, and I wanted to find a new recipe to use it in. I found this recipe on the Taste of Home website. It looked like an easy recipe, and I had all of the ingredients on hand so I decided to go for it. However, as I was mixing the ingredients I decided I wanted chocolate muffins. So I added about 2 tbsp of dark chocolate cocoa and a handful of chocolate chips. Then into the oven they went. When they came out I had these.

They smelled so good, and of course I had to try one right away. The verdict, good. They are not overly sweet and very moist due to the squash. The only thing I would change would be to add more chocolate chips, one handful was just not enough for my liking. I will definitely make these muffins again.

Another new recipe I made was a banana scramble sandwich. I found the recipe here and followed it exactly. Here is how it turned out.
It was an interesting combo, but I think I would like to eat the banana scramble as a pancake instead of as a sandwich filling. So next time I make them instead of putting them on an english muffin I'm going to put them on a plate and top with some maple syrup. I'll let you know how they turn out like that.

Other than that my meals haven't been too exciting. I'm been trying to eat up the food I have in my fridge since I am going to the beach soon. So I have been eating simple things like oatmeal, scramble eggs, and frozen veggies. All good, but not too exciting to photograph or talk about.

Anyways, hope everyone is enjoying their day before the day before the weekend!

Friday, July 23, 2010

White Eggplant Parmesan


So the other day when I was at the local farmer's market I came across this...

a white eggplant! I have never seen one of these before but I was curious how it would taste. I asked the farmer and she said she thought it tasted better than a purple eggplant. Therefore I knew I had to buy it. That night I came home and made White Eggplant Parmesan. I followed the recipe here, expect white eggplants don't need to sweat as long. In fact the farmer told me they didn't need to sweat at all, but I still salted mine and let them set on a plate for about 20 min. A little bit of water was removed but not as much as with a purple eggplant. The final product was delicious!

I will definitely make this again!

Today for breakfast I tried a new twist on my oatmeal. S'More oatmeal.

The mix contained: 1/2 c. oats, 1 tbsp peanut butter, 1 tbsp marshmellow fluff, 2 tbsp vanilla yogurt, 2 tbsp chocolate chips, and 1 crumbled graham cracker. It was good, but it didn't really remind me of campfire s'mores like I thought it would.

Now it's time to hopefully be productive! TGIF :)

Monday, July 19, 2010

So is it the weekend yet?


Today was one of the longest days ever.
Long because it went by soooo slow.
Probably because I didn't have a whole lot on the agenda today besides some little assignments and was too lazy to really attempt to do anything besides working out. Oh well I guess I can't really complain about that huh? The day started off on a good note though, overnight oats. These were the same as yesterdays so I won't bore you with the details. The rest of the morning was spent doing some light cleaning and hw. For lunch I made a Toasted Pesto and Cheese Sandwich. These are one of my favorites, even though they are definitely not the healthiest for you. I just used a rosemary roll from Wegmans' and then topped it with pesto and Monterey Jack cheese. Then I toasted in the toaster oven for like 4 min.

Mmm warm and toasty. With the carb-fest I also had a salad with mixed greens, carrots, cucumbers, and spinach artichoke hummus.

The rest of the afternoon I was a slug. However, I did take the dog I'm watching for a walk and then I did some workouts on the Fit channel. Has anyone else every done those? They were good for today because it was too hot and humid out to run outside. Then around 5 I made dinner. Just leftover whole wheat organic pasta from last night topped with vodka sauce, some veggies, and turkey meatballs. On the side I had a breadstick.

Now I'm enjoying the weather outside because it rained so the humidity has died down a lot so its nice and comfortable outside. I love blogging from the patio :)

But now I'm just waiting around for the highlight of my Monday, the Bachelorette! Is anyone else as obsessed as I am? Maybe I'm just crazy but oh well. Anyways have a good night y'all :)

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Sunny Sunday


Today was a beautiful day.
Hot, yes, but there was a slight breeze that allowed me to relax in the sun for quite a while this afternoon. Oh it was another joyous lazy day.

The day started off with some overnight oats. The concoction contained 1/2 c. rolled oats, 1/2 c. light and fit yogurt, dash of cinnamon. Then this morning I topped it with blackberries and some warm blackberry jam that I heated up in the microwave. The jam was a nice finishing touch. I find I like to put a warm topping on my cold oats.

The morning was spent outside being lazy and getting some stuff done around the house. Why does laundry never end? Around 10:30 my stomach was growling for some reason so had a snack. And since I am obsessed with banana softserve I had that topped with the few strawberries I had left.

Today I added peanut butter in with the bananas and it really tasted like peanut butter ice cream! Oh I love recreating food to a more healthy version :) A while later it was time for lunch. I'd been wanting to try the Front Burner's Black Bean burger recipe so I made one for lunch today. I pretty much followed the recipe and baked them in the oven for about 40 min at 300F. I topped it with a slice of american cheese, ketchup, and spicy mustard. It was pretty good.

Along with my burger I had a small salad with greens, carrots, cucumbers, dried cranberries, feta, pepitas, and balsalmic vinaigrette.

Then it was time to do a little shopping. I am always in the mood to shop :) After being out and about for a couple hours I worked up an appetite for dinner. Dinner was just some whole wheat pasta topped with some vodka sauce and mozzarella cheese.

Simple, yet satisfying. Now the only plans on my agenda for the rest of the night are to relax, and probably eat another piece of birthday cake, because honestly who can resist funfetti cake that is sitting on your counter??

Night!

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Waffle Sundae


Today's breakfast was incredible. It started out with 2 blueberry frozen waffles from Wegman's. Then I decided to turn the waffles into french toast so I dipped them into a 1 egg, milk, pinch of vanilla, cinnamon combo and threw them on a griddle. While they browned I washed some blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries for on top. I also whipped up some banana soft serve to accompany my berries and waffles. I piled this all together with some blueberry syrup on top.

Wow. Definitely the best meal of the day and lunch and dinner didn't even happen yet. That's a good way to start off the weekend I presume :)

The rest of the afternoon was spent being lazy and enjoying the summer sun.

I mean this is what summers are for right?

Hope everyone else is enjoying there day!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Funfetti Cake


So my friends made me delicious funfetti cake with pink icing. I just inhaled a huge piece and it was awesome. Inhaled means no time for pictures. haha I think I might go into a sugar coma :) Homemade birthday cakes are the best, thanks guys :)

The rest of the day wasn't eventful. This morning I had a yogurt mix for breakfast. It contained a Oikos blueberry yogurt, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, some sliced almonds, and a drizzle of hot honey (I love warming up honey in the microwave and putting it on yogurt).

Love all of the fresh berries! They not only make my breakfast taste good, but it looks good too. After breakfast I did some lounging and magazine reading. You know really exciting stuff that people do when they are relaxing on a rainy morning. By 11 am I was starving so I knew it was time to think up something for lunch. I had 2 little yellow squash my dad grew in his garden and I wanted to find a recipe for them. I used this recipe from Healthy Cooking. I pretty much followed it to a tee but subbed in saltines for the cornflakes. Overall I was pleased with how it turned out. On the side I had some carrot chips and spinach and artichoke hummus.

I was also craving cornbread for some odd reason so I whipped up a batch for lunch. I just followed the recipe on the back of the Quaker Corn Meal container. I topped this with some honey butter. Hmmm tasted just as good as I remembered it and made a perfect meal ender.

For a snack later I had some "ants on a log" aka celery with peanut butter and craisins. This is one of my favorite childhood snacks. I mean who doesn't love peanut butter (well unless your allergic I guess)

For dinner I had some banana soft serve. All this involved was 2 frozen bananas and a food processor, and it created an ice cream like deliciousness that I topped with fresh strawberries and a little chocolate sauce and called it dinner. I mean it might not be dinner quality, but sometimes you just need "ice cream" for dinner :)

SO GOOOOOOOD!! Definitely try this if you have not yet, you will NOT regret it.

Well those are the highlights of my Thursday. Tomorrow should be a busy day but then it's the weekend! Hope everyone has a happy Friday tomorrow :)




Wednesday, July 14, 2010

I'm getting old...


This past weekend was my birthday, I'm a 7/11 convenience store baby. haha. I didn't do anything too exciting, just hung out with Josh and went out to eat with my family. We went out to Panera and I got the you mix 2 with the new Tomato, Mozzarella, and Basil salad (which is definitely my new favorite) with the Turkey Artichoke Panini (which I saved for lunch the next day). After Panera we got ice cream at a local dairy and it was delicious! I got a mix of german chocolate and pistachio.
I also went to the Casino with Josh to try and win some money, but we were unsuccessful :( However there was a really good sushi place at the casino where we had dinner. We split 2 rolls, the crunchy california roll and the philadelphia roll. Both were awesome. Notice how I have no pictures from this weekend. Someone forgot her camera, oops!
After my fun and relaxing weekend, the rest of the week has been kind of blah so far. I'm dog sitting so I'm keeping myself busy with a chocolate lab and a black lab puppy. The puppy is cute but I have to keep a constant eye on her because she wants to chew on everything! Plus, she is still not completely potty trained so I have to make sure she doesn't go inside. Needless to say it's keeping me busy.
Although I did come up with one delicious idea for breakfast. I call it the Banana Mcgriddle. To make I followed these directions:
1) Whisk together 1 egg (or 1/4c. EggBeaters), pinch of vanilla extract, dash of apple pie spice, and some ff milk.
2) Dunk a whole wheat english muffin in the mix and place on a hot griddle (~450 F)
3) While this is cooking, mash 1 banana with a tbsp of brown sugar and microwave for ~30sec
4) Remove the English muffin halves from the griddle after they have both browned
5) Place the banana mixture over one english muffin half and top with the other to make a sandwich.
6) Top with natural maple syrup.

This was phenomenal! So good. Definitely a great twist on traditional french toast. I liked it so much I made it two days in a room. I probably would have made it again today but I ran out of bananas :(

For breakfast today I just had some oatmeal mixed with chia seeds, blueberries, almond slices, almond extract, and ff milk. Then I topped it with a little Barenaked granola. On the side I had some fresh berries that I got on sale yesterday. I love that it is finally raspberry season! I stocked up on both black and red ones. I froze a bunch and I think I'm gonna go back to the grocery store again this week to stock up on more. They are only about $1 for a container which is a great deal.
Well now it's time for me to study a bit for my mid-term. Boy do I dislike summer classes. My brain just does not like having to memorize countless facts during this time of the year. Maybe a cup of coffee will help give it a boost :)

Happy day!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Summer Squash Lovin'



Tonight I had a fabulous dinner containing my one of my favorite vegetables, squash. The star of the show was this little guy that my dad grew in his garden.

I sauteed the squash along with 1 zucchini and about 1/2 c. of vidalia onion in some olive oil. They probably cooked about 15 min (until tender), and then I topped with them with a shredded cheddar cheese blend and covered them with a lid to let the cheese melt.
While the veggies were cooking I roasted some red potatoes. First I chopped them into eighths and mixed them with olive oil, dried rosemary, garlic powder, and a pinch of sea salt. Then I put them on a foil lined baking sheet in the oven at 425 for ~30 min. Both of these dishes turned out delicious!

I also included a sundried tomato chicken sausage in my dinner for some protein. (Sadly my pictures decided to disappear in the transition from my camera to my computer)
For dessert I had some more of my leftover fruit, juan canary melon, strawberries, and blueberries. Cold fruit on a hot day is always a good choice.

The rest of my day wasn't really that eventful. Breakfast was the same overnight oats that I had yesterday, 1/2c. plain yogurt, 1/2 c. rolled oats, 1/4 c. skim milk, dash of cinnamon and pinch of vanilla with blueberries and Wegman's granola mixed in this morning. (I am loving this breakfast right now)

After breakfast I worked for a while. While working I had a deli turkey sandwich on an Arnold's sandwich thin with a slice of red. fat provalone, romaine, shredded carrots, and topped off with spinach artichoke hummus (this hummus made the sanwhich). I don't have a picture though because I forgot to take my camera to work.

After work I went to the gym and came home and made my lovely dinner. Then I did a little work for my summer class. Right now I'm working on my first project which is a newsletter on a nutrition/fitness/health topic. Definitely love being able to use my creativity, but still not liking that I have to do school work in the summer. Oh well, you can't win them all.
On note I'm off to finish my strawberry shortcake (shortcakes made out of Bisquick) topped with ff fro-yo. Yum.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Heat Wave~


This past weekend I had a great time celebrating the 4th of July. I went to a flea market, a party, a drive-in movie (featuring Eclipse and Toy Story 3 and I loved both), went kayaking, and just enjoyed the weather. Now the Holiday is over, and what better way to start the week than with a heat wave. I mean its like in the upper 90s today. I am staying nice and cool in my air conditioning, which luckily I finally put in last weekend. Otherwise I would be toast today!

I had a lot of random eats this week being a holiday and all, but last night me and Josh whipped up a delicious dinner. We cooked some chicken breasts (I dipped mine in bbq sauce), some cole slaw (just light mayo and some sugar mixed in with cabbage and carrots)

and a delicious fruit salad (including juan canary melon, strawberries, blueberries, and kiwi...boy do I love fruit salad in hot weather). This meal hit the spot after a busy weekend.

Then there was a late night run for some dairy fresh ice cream. I got the Almond Joye and it was filled with coconut, almond bits, and chocolate chunks. Cool treats are my favorite way to beat the heat. (Lots of rhyming words haha).

This morning I enjoyed a bowl of overnight oats. I'm so glad I discovered this breakfast because it is the perfect way to enjoy my daily oatmeal in the summer. This last night I combined 1/2 c. oats, 1/3 c. plain yogurt, 1/4 c. skim milk, pinch of vanilla extract, and dash of cinnamon, with blueberries and Wegmans granola added in this morning. (I'm also seriously addicted to this granola, and that may not be a good thing.)

This morning was filled with work and some errands. Then lunch was just leftover slaw and fruit with a turkey dog. Nothing too exciting so no picture. The rest of the day is going to include the gym (because it's way too hot for any physical activity outside) and catching up on the Bachelorette. So it should be a good day, hope yours is a great one too!