The Monday Project: Incorporating Healthiness

Well, we've done a lot of things different this past week in our house. And it all started with this:

I made a "birthday cake" for my son out of Jell-O Jigglers.

And it was a hit!

I just put some foil down on a platter, used cookie cutters for the Jell-O, sprayed light whipped cream around the edges, and voila! Perfect for family of four! Now, if it's a party situation, you might have to spell out a narrative or something, but what we did was perfect for our intimate little gathering of just us. And just so you know, a candle does sit in a pile of whipped cream ok, but you gotta be quick about it!
I did this because we had a birthday cake for him at his bigboy party the day before and honestly, we did not need any more cake in our lives. And might I say, I could actually get used to the Jell-O Jiggler substitution, they loved it (almost) more than they loved the birthday cake!

After Monday's Jell-O celebration, we moved on to lots of veggies on the side, zero fast-food and healthy snacks, more water and milk, less juice. We are also moving toward a more zenful house entirely, less Star Wars (a whole 'nother post entirely!), less tv in general, more games, reading, projects and together time and a little more unplugging on behalf of Mommy.

What did you do?? Link up over at the Sisterhood with last week's Monday Project! And ps. I shared one of the healthy recipes I made last week, Confetti Couscous, it's delish! Go check it out!

* * *

Please help me fight cancer by donating HERE. I'll even give you a present! Check it out and read about who I'm running for HERE!

Follow me on Twitter.
Subscribe to my blog.

The Monday Project: Incorporating Healthiness

https://babytealeaves.blogspot.com/2010/04/monday-project-incorporating.html

Fall Favorites: Easy Pumpkin Chip Pancakes & Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie

Yay! It's Halloween! Happy Halloween everyone! Here are a couple of recipes I made this week. Seriously, some pumpkin love don't get much easier than this!

My whole family loves everything pumpkin. Thank goodness, because I heart pumpkin. So I'm gonna share some of my favorite pumpkin recipes over the next few weekends.

These first two are to.die.for. and I just made them this week (not in the same meal though) so they're fresh in my pumpkin repertoire.

Pumpkin chip pancakes

Ingredients:

Pancake mix (use directions for the 12-18 servings and yes, pancake mix, I'm that creative)

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 tsp pumpkin spice

1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Make pancake mix according to directions, then add pumpkin, pumpkin spice and chocolate chips. I used metal cookie cutters and cut out tombstone, skull and cat shapes. But these were deelish! And supereasy.

Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie

(This recipe was from my best friend, Clairanne, who discovered it on National Geographic Kids here. We just made a couple changes.

Ingredients:

1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp salt

dash nutmeg

dash cloves

12 miniature graham cracker shells

whipped cream (optional)

Directions:

Allow ice cream to soften in fridge or on counter for about 20 minutes. Mix pumpkin, sugar and spices in a bowl. Add softened ice cream and stir. Spoon ice cream into each little pie crust, each one takes about 1 1/2 large spoonfuls. Put finished pies on a cookie sheet and put in freezer. Allow about 3-4 hours for ice cream to freeze. Serve with dollop of whipped cream.

My kids LOVED this and I served it at a Halloween party this week. I'm also making this tonight for my parents and probably again at Thanksgiving. The ice cream tastes AMAZING! This is the awesomest.

Happy Halloweenie everyone!! Who's dressing up??

Fall Favorites: Easy Pumpkin Chip Pancakes & Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie

https://babytealeaves.blogspot.com/2009/10/fall-favorites-easy-pumpkin-chip.html

Kitchen Experiments #2: Mango Chicken

This is my new favorite thing EVER. This is another recipe I found from SparkPeople because I had mangos and I had chicken but I didn't have half of the other things in the recipe so I tweaked it in Christie fashion. And now I want to make it every day. Except that no one else but me can eat the same thing for days in a row and be perfectly happy. So I won't make it every day. Except that I want to.


So, I give you, the Mango Chicken.

Ingredients:
2 mangoes, diced
1 cup mild salsa
1 cup onion, chopped
1 tbsp. dried cilantro
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I use Purdue pretty much all the time because I like that they're all individually packed and I can freeze or thaw one at a time or a million if I choose)

Directions:
Brown the chicken in the pan until fully cooked. Add onions. Cook onions until they're soft or clear. Remove chicken briefly but leave the onions (you will add the chicken back later). Add the mangoes, salsa, cilantro, and cayenne pepper to the onions. Cook on medium for about 10 minutes or until all ingredients are hot, not boiling. Add chicken to pan. Serve chicken with mango-salsa dollopped on the top.

This makes four servings. The nutritional info is my favorite part. If you scoop 1/2 cup of the mixture onto a chicken breast it is:

300 Calories!
2.8 Grams of Fat!

If you pair it with yellow rice like me, the meal is 490 calories. Brown rice even less. I got nothing but rave reviews over this one (the 18month old SHOVELED into his mouth!) so let me know if you try it!! Ps. it's not spicy -- the pepper adds a little flavor but that's it.

* * *

Feel free to e-mail me your favorites and if I try it I'll feature it here! (christieo_7 at msn dot com).

Kitchen Experiments #2: Mango Chicken

https://babytealeaves.blogspot.com/2009/06/kitchen-experiments-2-mango-chicken.html

Vodka and Sangria

I found two of the most wonderful delicious recipes and they've become a part of my repertoire and I must share them.

Once upon a time, I was craving Penne a la Vodka. When I have a race that's a big deal to me, (I call it a race but it's a race to real runners, not me, the backpacker) I do the whole ceremonious pasta dinner thing the night before because I'm a sucker for tradition. (Then I wake up, have a cup of coffee, water and a Body for Life bar and that's my breakfast). Anyway, back to wanting vodka sauce. Oh yum. When I lived in New York, it was a New York italian restaurant specialty and I ordered it takeout all the time (no wonder I've kept a little padding on myself throughout my life). Anyway, as you probably know, vodka sauce is so darned fattening and since I save my cream sauce indulgence for my annual Fettucine Alfredo splurge I didn't wanna blow it on the night before the race. But I wanted vodka sauce!! (me whining). I don't know why, I think I had just been thinking about New York a lot and missing it a little.

So a bunch of google and Cooks.com and Recipezaar later, I found it. Ta-da!!!

Low-fat penne a la vodka. Amen. So here's the recipe and I've made a few changes to it but nothing unusual. I added a ton of garlic because this recipe has no garlic in it. (Are they crazy???) And I minused the mushrooms because I am an anti-mushroomite. (By the way, I'm one of the commenters with a generic nickname on the reviews on the recipe because I couldn't help myself.)

So here's the breakdown of fat and calories:
Fat: 7 1/2 grams
Calories: 466 calories.
That's pretty good to me!! What do you think? Do try it!

Then, on New Years Eve, I was searching for another recipe for Mexican Fiesta night at my parents' house (because we were really exciting and ate a bunch of really good Mexican food, drank Sangria and played scrabble on New Years in our pajamas). The recipe was for sangria and that, too, I have not matched since living in New York where my favorite sangria was at a place called Cafe Wha? in the village (I still have -- and use-- a wooden spoon I stuck in my purse as a souveneir because I was moving. I know, I know. But I very rarely ever steal anything... )

Anyway, back to the recipe. I found this one and it is AMAZING. I also brought it to a party at my cousin's house and it was gone in 60 seconds. I've since made it three times and (I'm not really this big of a wino, really...) it really is delicious and very, very simple.That's not my picture -- but that is what it looks like, even when I make it! I may or may not be sipping this as we speak...

I don't know the calorie count on this one so don't look at me after you finish the pitcher.

Vodka and Sangria

https://babytealeaves.blogspot.com/2009/02/vodka-and-sangria.html

Yama Hama Recipe Roundup

I couldn't help myself. Last week's Show and Tell made for such a fun Fat Ticker Friday with everyone sharing their recipes and tips, like balance ball workouts, and the Leslie Sansone Walking DVD and all sorts of other goodies, and if you hadn't gotten a chance to pop around and take a lookie, the linky is still up on last week's FTF post, so click away! But mostly for my benefit for everyone's benefit I figured I'd put all the recipes in one place because there really are a lot of great ones. So if you get a chance, check them out, print away, whathaveyou, and have yourself a very Happy Halloween-eve! Don't forget this week we're sharing dress-up photos, so dress something up -- you, Fido, the kiddo, or venture off the beaten path like I am (I think it's time for a Peep Photo Shoot if you know what I mean and if you don't that's ok too, it's kinda my thing so you'll have to stay tuned...)

Anyway, here we go, healthy or at the very least, healthyish recipes for all:

-Me with: Pumpkin Muffins and Spanish Chicken in the crock pot
-Tameka at 105 Goals in 1005 Days mentioned a crock pot oatmeal that rocks -- she normally googles the recipe when she needs it and so I did that and found one on RecipeZaar so check this one out (I'll be trying it myself!)
-Dena at SunEGrl Loves to Shop tipped us off about a chicken breast enchilada-sauce extravaganza in which I totally had a "Duh!" moment because it's so simple I should've thought of it, but I'm glad she did!
-Jessi at Table for 4 has recipes for Bourbon Chicken, and Pumpkin Spice Muffins
-Lisa at Stop Eating all the Chocolates has an entire category dedicated to healthy recipes, like pumpkin bread, easy Chicken Tetrazzini, Parmesan Chicken and Rice, etc. etc.
-Danielle at Alberts Family shared a yummy ground turkey and rice concoction of hers and I am totally into concoctions so yes, I'll be trying that too...
-And Maggie at Maggie's Mind and her Quinoa Mexi-6 Layer that yes, I have tried, and yes, it is YUM!

Have I missed one? Do share the link in the comments and I'll stick it right up here with the others!

Yama Hama Recipe Roundup

https://babytealeaves.blogspot.com/2008/10/yama-hama-recipe-roundup.html

Low-fat Pumpkinness

Have I mentioned how much I love fall?

The leaves, the scarecrows, the colors, the pumpkinness, the overall deliciousness of the whole season...

I've had pumpkin on the brain lately. I've been smelling it when there was no pumpkin around. Tasting it, even. So I went online to find me a pumpkin recipe that wouldn't add any spice to my thighs.

AND I FOUND IT! And you must try it. You must you must you must! You simply must! (Unless you're a pumpkin hater -- I can't imagine a world with no pumpkin but I know there are quite a few people who'd rather..)

So here it is:
The Low-fat Oatmeal Pumpkin Muffin:

I got the recipe off RecipeZaar but before you head over there, I made some modifications to it that some of the comments suggested and they were right! Each muffin in the recipe as it stands is 184 calories and 6 grams of fat, but I'm pretty sure that I shaved off some calories and fat with the following changes: Instead of oil, I used applesauce. Instead of eggs, I used eggbeaters. Instead of regular milk, I used skim. Also, I added a 1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin spice which really gave it some zing.

My husband LOVED these and so did I! They're moist and flavorful and yummy! Do you have any lowfat fallish and/or pumpkiney recipes? Please do share! And if you try this, let me know if you like it!

Low-fat Pumpkinness

https://babytealeaves.blogspot.com/2008/10/low-fat-pumpkinness.html

Oh. Migod.

I saw a recipe over at Wilson Six that's to die for. Actually, the picture was to die for. Then, when I was making it, what I saw in the bowl about halfway through making it was to die for. Then, when I ate it, it was totally to. die. for.

This is the type of meal that's my bag, baby.

It's called Summer Pasta with Tomatoes, Basil and Brie. Check out the recipe here, but the gist of it is this: angel hair pasta, garlic, basil, tomatoes, olive oil and yummy yummy brie. Basically you throw all the ingredients together and let them sit for a couple hours so their delicious flavors party together and marinate into heaven together, and then you dump your cooked pasta into the mix and voila! A meal made in heaven. I wish I could explain just how delicious this simple little pasta was. And it's actually a pretty healthy dish with all very healthy and fresh ingredients (although some would argue the brie ruins it calorie-wise, but I thoroughly believe a person needs some cheese in their diet, personally, and I have done just fine losing weight and keeping the cheese, so there.)

Anyway, yum. Thanks Jen!

And by the way, I'm totally detoxing and wagon again and reinstituting Fat Ticker Fridays, even before the next challenge because you guys are so right! I have no accountability right now and it's ruining me! Isn't it funny how weighing in each week keeps you on your p's and q's? I almost overdosed on fudge last week. I agree that death by fudge is probably the only appealing way to go, but I got kids who need me.

Oh. Migod.

https://babytealeaves.blogspot.com/2008/08/oh-migod.html