Day 268

I love smoothies. Growing up, my mom would make smoothies for my sister and I sometimes before we would go to school. There was also the best smoothies shop in the world in Greensboro called The Juice Shop. Cash only and they had about ten smoothies on their menu that haven't changed since the first time I ever went there.

You don't need a recipe for smoothies, although sometimes it's nice to have one if your doing something special. You can just throw in a plethora of fresh and frozen fruit, ice, yogurt, and fruit juice and you've got yourself a healthy meal.

John and I had both been craving smoothies lately so today I took the bull by the horns and went to Bed Bath and Beyond with my 20% off coupon and bought a blender.

I considered buying a KitchenAid because it was on sale for about $70 and had probably ten different settings until I saw the Oster one that I ended up purchasing. My parents to this day have their Oster blender which they received as a wedding present nearly thirty years ago and John's parents also have an Oster blender that is twenty some odd years old. Plus, who really needs ten different settings for a blender?

Day 264

I love chocolate.  I love cherries.  And I love hazelnut.  So when I saw this recipe in the Cooking Light cookbook that you have become so familiar with from all of my recipes of late, I was ecstatic. Unfortunately, I nearly caught the apartment on fire and wasn't able to snap a picture of the hilarity.

But a word to the wise: when something says to place an ingredient on parchment paper and bake in the over at whatever degrees for however long, you won't get the same result if you use wax paper!  Instead, when you open the oven door to check and see how the hazelnuts are toasting, you will get blasted in the face with a plume of smoke and see that your hazelnuts are burnt.

I will be making this again in the future and will definitely follow up with you guys on how to properly make this low cal chocolate snack!

Day 262

Today was a beautiful, warm, almost summer-like day.  And what screams summer more than burgers?

 Burgers and crinkly fries!

What do you put on your burger?  I like mustard, ketchup, lettuce, onion, and dill pickles (we only had sweet relish but it's close enough for me!)

John is a very good burger cook and these were delicious, but I can only imagine how delicious these will be once we get a grill!

What other foods make you think of summer?

Corn?

Fresh tomatoes?

What does it for ya?  I want to know.

Day 260

Tonight's dinner: Cooking Light Spicy Honey-Brushed chicken Thighs with roasted potato wedges.

This recipe was so easy, as I'm noticing the majority of them are in this cook book.

Preheat the broiler.  Combine 2 tsp garlic powder, 2 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp paprika, and 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes.  Add 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs to a bowl and add spices.  Toss to coat.  Place chicken on a cookie sheet coated with cooking spray.  Broil chicken 5 minutes on each side.

Quarter a handful of red potatoes and spread evenly across a cookie sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and dill.  Place on bottom rack in oven.

Combine 6 Tbs honey and 2 tsp cider vinegar, stirring well.  Remove chicken thighs from over and brush with honey mixture (on one side only).  Broil 1 minute.  Remove from oven and turn pieces over.  Brush with honey mixture and broil for another minute.

Remove potatoes from oven.  Makes 4 servings: one serving is 2 chicken thighs and 3/4 cup roasted potatoes.

Super easy and really yummy.  We'll be making this one again.

Day 259

The next few days are going to be gross and cold and rainy/snowing.  While it is already May and summer is about a month away, Colorado doesn't seem to know that.

In preparation for the weather, I made a Cooking Light Butternut Squash Soup.  It was super easy and pretty cheap and oh-so-yummy.  So here we go.

 Cast of Characters.

 Peel the butternut squash and cube 3-1/2 cups.  Chop 3/4 cup carrots and 1/2 cup sweet onion.

 Melt 1 Tbs butter in pot over medium-high heat.

 Add squash, carrot, and onion.  Saute 12 minutes, stirring occasionally.

 This is what it looks like after 12 minutes.

 Add 2-1/2 cups fat-free, lower sodium chicken broth and bring to a boil.

 Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes.

Remove from heat, stir in 1/4 cup half and half (I used skim milk), 1/8 tsp salt, and pepper to taste.

With an immersion blender (you can also use a regular blender), blend soup until no chunks remain.

One serving is 1 cup of soup and 1-1 ounce slice of crusty bread.  I added a little fresh Parm cheese to mine.  This comes in at 338 calories, even less actually because I used skim milk!

This is so delicious, so easy, and I will definitely be making this again.

Day 256

I am a big fan of stir fry.  Big fan doesn't even do it.  I could eat stir fry every day.  You can change it up with different veggies, spices, meats, and side dishes.  And it's a healthy dish!

So here's what we had for dinner tonight: Pork and Vegetable Sit-Fry with Cashew Rice.

 Cast of Characters.

 Combine 2/3 cup fat-free, low sodium chicken broth, 1 Tbs cornstarch, 2 Tbs reduced-sodium soy sauce, and honey in a small bowl.

 Set aside.

 The recipe calls for 1-lb. of pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch cubes.  I bought 1-lb. of boneless pork chops instead.  They were cheaper and are a leaner cut.

 Combine 1 Tbs cornstarch and 1 Tbs reduced sodium soy sauce.

 Mix well.

 Add to pork and toss well to coat.

 Heat 2 tsp oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add pork and saute 4 minutes or until browned.  Remove from pan.

 Here's an up-close of the pork.  It was so tasty!

 Add 1 tsp oil to the pan.  Add 2 cups sliced mushrooms (I didn't use these because neither of us like mushrooms) and 1 cup chopped onion to the pan.  Saute 2 minutes.

 Stir in 1 Tbs grated peeled fresh ginger (I used dried ginger because that's what I had) and 2 minced garlic cloves.  Saute 30 seconds.

 Add 2 cups (6 ounces) sugar snap peas and 1 cup chopped red bell pepper (1) and saute 1 minute.

 Stir in pork and cook 1 minute.  Add reserved broth mixture to pan.  Bring to a boil and cook 1 minute or until thick, stirring constantly.

While all of this is going on, have 3/4 cup long-grained rice cooking according to package directions, leaving out the salt and fat.  When it's done, stir in 1/3 cup chopped green onions, 1/4 dry-roasted cashews, salted and coarsely chopped, and 1/2 tsp salt.

Serve 1-1/2 cups pork and veggie mixture over 1/2 cup cashew rice.  This very filling and very delicious meal comes in at 460 calories.

We did make one little change though.  We added however much we wanted to of that delciously super hot "Rooster Sauce" (Chinese red chili sauce that has the rooster on the label) to our personal plates.  This made this recipe absolutely perfect.

This makes 4 servings and is great for leftovers.

I really really hope you make this.  It's so good.  If you do, let me know what you're thoughts are and if you make any alterations!

Day 255

I love cookies.  Homemade or store bought, like Oreo's or Chip's Ahoy.  What're your favorite kinds of cookies?  I have too many homemade cookies that I love to even start.

I know that cookies aren't the healthiest things to eat, but I can feel a little better with these Cooking Light Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies.  One cookie is 83 calories.

 The Cast of Characters.

 Preheat the oven to 350.  Combine 1-1/2 cups flour, 1-1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp salt in a bowl.

 Stir to combine.

 In another bowl, combine 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 3/4 cup packed brown sugar, and 6 Tbs unsalted butter (softened).

 Beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.

 Add 2 tsp vanilla extract and one large egg.

 Beat well.

 Gradually add flour mixture, beating at low speed until just combined.

 Resist eating spoonfuls of this.  It is so delicious.  This would be so good on some vanilla bean ice cream.  Ohhh yum.

  Add 3/4 cup finely chopped dried apple slices and 3/4 cup caramel bits, chopped.  I forgot to chop mine up so they're pretty large.

And this is where my pictures end.  From here you fold the apple and caramel into the mix then drop the dough by 2 teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets lined with evil parchment paper (I obviously don't have parchment paper so I just sprayed the pan with cooking spray).  Flatten balls slightly and bake for 9 minutes.  Cool on pans for 3 minutes; remove and cool completely on wire racks.  Beware: this makes 4 dozen cookies!!!  Who in the world needs that many cookies!  If I had made the entire batch, I would definitely have thrown some into the freezer.

However, I don't think I softened my butter enough so my dough was pretty dry.  I had to smash the dough into balls and it was a total pain.

While they tasted delicious, they weren't how they were supposed to be so I didn't take any incriminating photos of my poorly executed cookies.

I'll definitely be retrying this recipe and will let you know how it goes the second time around.

Day 254

After last night's frustrating event in the kitchen I was in need of a self-esteem booster.  So today's post is for a delicious Cooking Light Zucchini-Pineapple Quick Bread.

 The Cast of Characters.

 You'll need 2 cups grated zucchini, which is about 1-1/2 medium zucchini.  I didn't want to waste 1/2 of a zucchini so I just used the whole 2 zucchinis.

 Combine 3 cups (13.5 oz) sifted all-purpose flour, 1-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp baking powder.  Stir and set aside.

 Beat 3 large eggs at medium speed until foamy.

 Add 2 cups sugar (I only used 1-1/2 cups), grated zucchini, 2/3 cup canola oil, and 2 tsp vanilla extract and beat until well blended.

 Add zucchini mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moistened.

 Fold in 2-8 ounce canse of crushed pineapple in juice that have been drained.

You can make two 9x5 loaves of bread or just muffins, or both.  Bake bread at 325 for 1 hour of until a knife comes out of the center clean.  I baked the muffins at 325 for about half an hour.

This was really delicious, especially warm.  I threw the muffins in the freezer for an easy on the go snack.  Just pop one in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds and you're good to go.

Now for the calories.  Cut the bread into 16 slices and one slice has 146 calories.  Actually, mine would have less because I reduced the sugar and it was still plenty sweet.

My mom makes amazing zucchini bread so when I saw this recipe in the cookbook I knew I was going to have to make it and I'm so glad I did!

I hope you make this and enjoy!

Day 253

Tonight I made a Cooking Light snack: Indian-Spiced Roasted Nuts.

Here's how it went.

 You'll need 1-1/2 tsp brown sugar, 1-1/2 tsp honey, 1 tsp oil, 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/8 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp ground cardamom (which I didn't have and it's expensive), 1/8 tsp ground cloves, dash of freshly ground black pepper (in the tupperware), 1/4 cup blanched almonds, cashews, and hazelnuts (I used Planters mixed nuts because it was easier and cheaper).

 

 Preheat the oven to 350.  Combine the first 8 ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl.

 Mix it together.

 Microwave on high for 30 seconds and stir.

 Add nuts and "toss" to coat.  I found this to be a joke.  This mixture is so thick that there is no "tossing" going on.

Spread the mixture on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Back at 350 for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

A few minutes into baking I opened the oven door to take a peek.  This is when I learned that parchment paper isn't synonymous with wax paper.  Wax paper will smoke like crazy in the oven.

So I quickly took them out of the oven and proceeded to attempt to get this gunk off the paper.

I didn't try the end result, but unless John was crazy over this, I'm not making it again.  Way too frustrating for me.

Feel free to give it a try though and let me know how it goes for you.