Rubber Ducky, You're the One!

So I'll give you the quick version of these super cute little ducky cupcakes. Recently my Utah cousins were up and I wanted to play in the kitchen (like always).

The cousin, the fiance, and I baked and decorated to our hearts desire. This decor idea belongs to What's New, Cupcake?

Start with a basic vanilla cupcake, lightly frosted with vanilla frosting. Cut a large marshmallow in half diagonally, and place on the cupcake. Stick on a donut hole for the head. Secure with extra frosting. Freeze ~10 minutes. Melt about 1.5 containers of vanilla frosting and tint rubber ducky yellow. Dip duck-cakes up to the wrapper, and make sure all the cake is covered. Let the extra frosting run off.

Roll out and shape Starburst for the beak (think oval folded in half) and using extra solid frosting to glue on mini M&M's or mini chocolate chips for eyes.

Perfect for Ducky loving birthday kids, or vegetarians I suppose :D

Cream Cheese Frosting. ooooOOOOH YEeeeaaahhhh

Not much to say before this recipe. Except that it's delicious.

Cream Cheese Frosting
What you see below is a half recipe. I've made this twice with the full recipe, and it's way more than you need for the previous cinnamon roll recipe. So I cut it in half... it -should- be enough. Sorry if it's not.


1 oz. Butter
3 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
6 oz. Powdered Sugar (sifted please?)
3-4 oz. Heavy Cream, depends on how thick or thin you want it
a drop or 3 of Vanilla Extract

Cream butter with a little bit of powdered sugar until smooth. Add cream cheese and gradually mix in remaining sugar. Again, mix until smooth. If you have lumps now, there is no way under the heavens that they will come out once you start adding the cream. Speaking of cream, slowly add it until you reach your desired consistency. Add some vanilla to taste. Refrigerate extras.

Spread on delicious, warm, gooey cinnamon rolls and Do. Not. devour them all in one day. Possible side effect of eating these: death by happiness.

YUM.

That's Just the Way I (cinnamon) Roll!

Who doesn't love a nice sticky, cinnamony, warm, gooey pile of goodness smothered in cream cheese frosting? Ok, I'm sure there's a few out there. Move on. This post is for the lovers <3.

These are actually a classmates. I have managed to forget to take pictures. of. everything.

Soft Roll Dough
makes 12 cinnamon rolls


12.5 oz. Water
.25 oz. Instant Yeast
1# 5 oz. Bread Flour or AP (that's 21 oz.)
2 tsp Salt
2 oz. Sugar
1 oz. Non-Fat Milk Solids (I ran to Safeway and just got NF Dry milk. A powder works best, but if all you can find is flakes, it'll still work)
1 oz. Shortening
1 oz. Butter

Mix the same way as the rolls below. Need refreshing?

On table (be DARING!) dump dry ingredients & (form a well)(a hole) in the middle. Put the egg (cracked, out of shell, just to be specific) in the middle and some of the milk. Start mixing in circles with. Your. HAND! Wash them first. Please? Once it's not just straight liquid sitting on flour add more of the milk, and start mixing in the butter. When all the liquid, and butter (possible still little chunks here and there) is mixed in, push your dough to the side and Flour Your Counter. Also, the dough is sticky. (no way!). Yes. Way. If you wash your hands at this point, and get all the extra goop off of your fingers, kneading the dough will be so much easier.

Need the dough for 10 is minutes until it is nicely developed, smooth, and you can pull a window. WAIT! Baker's lingo! What the heck does a window have to do with kneading dough? Watch this video.

Also let it rise the same as the rolls.

90 degree oven with pan of water OR 175 degree oven, shut off, water and dough in oven, door open OR on counter. Until Doubled.

Press down and roll into rectangle/square about 12x12 - not smaller. It should be around 1 inch thick but a little thinner is fine.

Sprinkle filling (below) all the way to the edge, except one inch on one side. 

Cinnamon Roll Filling

you'll probably have a little extra

4.5 oz sugar

4.5 oz. Brown sugar

2.25 oz Butter, softened

1.5 T Cinnamon, ground

Mix all with fork (or in mixer with paddle attachment if you're a lazy bum) until combined with no visible butter chunks.

Sprinkle GENEROUSLY on dough.

Roll dough up, starting on the side OppositE the naked 1 inch stretch. Wet the filling free strip (water works) and press into roll, >pinching< to seal. 

Using dental floss (gotta use it for something, right?) cut roll into 12 pieces. I mark the dough in quarters so it's easier to space them the same. Place in 10 inch cake pan, or some other baking pan. Space .5 inches apart for pull apart rolls, or about 2-3 inches for individual rolls.

Let ~double again, about 30 minutes. Bake @350 for about 20 minutes. Like the rolls (actually all Breads) poke a hole in a bready part (not the molten sugar filling part) and a thermometer should read 190-200 degrees when finished. 

Top with frosting of your choice. Cream Cheese Frosting up NEXT!

Pass the rolls, please?

I love rolls. I love eating them, tearing them apart and watching them steam, dipping them, nibbling on them, pretending I'm a ferocious beast and eating half at a time...(you know you've done it). Thankfully, I also love making them, because my fiance may possibly love them even more than I do.

Side note: I'M ENGAGED!!!!! He asked me (officially) February 5, 2012 and I said yes -OBVIOUSLY. It was after the Superbowl (sports for him) and while we were watching Tangled (we both love Disney). He sang along to the song "Now That I See You" then pulled the ring box out from behind a pillow.

I. Cried. My. Eyes. Out.

So when the man of your dreams, who is known for serenading at any given moment and making you cry like you just won the lottery AND found out you don't owe taxes on it, walks out of his kitchen holding, not one, but 4 of his mom's rolls to go with his dinner, you file the -loves rolls- thought into the -how to keep winning him over- folder in your brain. File > SAVE.

It's a good thing one of the YuMmY recipes the school gave us was for rolls.  

Not gonna lie, I haven't taken a pic of my rolls, but this GOOGLE search image looks just like them.

Milk Bread

makes ~18 2oz. Rolls

18 oz. Bread flour (or AP all purpose)

9 oz. Milk

2 tsp Salt

.5 oz. Instant Yeast (pick me! pick me!) 

             OR 1.5 oz. Fresh Yeast OR .7 oz. Active Dry Yeast

1 Egg

1.8 oz. Sugar

2.7 oz. Butter cut in small chunks

If you use Fresh/Cake yeast or active dry, you must hydrate it first. Warm up some of the milk to body temp and add yeast till dissolved. Instant is my favorite. Just add it to your other dry ingredients, but not in direct contact with your salt. I like to put my yeast on the bottom of the pile and the salt on top. If the salt comes in direct contact immediately after you add the liquid if will Kill the yeast. If you have them spaced out, the salt and yeast mix with the flour and sugar first, and LIVE!

On table (be DARING!) dump dry ingredients & (form a well) (a hole) in the middle. Put the egg (cracked, out of shell, just to be specific) in the middle and some of the milk. Start mixing in circles with. Your. HAND! Wash them first. Please? Once it's not just straight liquid sitting on flour add more of the milk, and start mixing in the butter. When all the liquid, and butter (possible still little chunks here and there) is mixed in, push your dough to the side and Flour Your Counter. Also, the dough is sticky. (no way!). Yes. Way. If you wash your hands at this point, and get all the extra goop off of your fingers, kneading the dough will be so much easier.

Need the dough for 10 is minutes until it is nicely developed, smooth, and you can pull a window. WAIT! Baker's lingo! What the heck does a window have to do with kneading dough? Watch this video.

Once you've pulled your window, place your dough in a lightly greased bowl, or straight onto the pan you will used later (less dishes!). Cover it with a towel and rest until doubled. If you are one lucky dog and have an over with a proof setting and can be turned down to 90 degrees F, let it rise in the oven at 90 degrees with a small pan of water on the bottom rack to keep the air moist. I turned my oven on to 175 with the water pan, turned the oven off and let the dough rise in the oven with the door open. This takes about an hour to double, but check at half an hour, especially if you are doing the 175 degree way.

Once your heap of dough has doubled, push it down (or punch if you have anger management issues... Cut your dough into 2 oz. pieces (buy me!) and roll into rounds, keeping any seams on the bottom. Place on pan however you like. 

Pull apart rolls - Place on parchment papered pan ~.5 inche apart

Round rolls - Place on Parchment papered pan 2-3 inches apart

Let rise again, the same as before. 90 degrees with water, 175 turned off with door open and water, or counter. Until doubled. Brush rolls with 2 egg yolk/1/2 c. water wash. 

Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes. If you can't tell if they are done, a thermometer stuck in (the bottom of) a roll should read 190 to 200 degrees F.

TaDAa!

If you want the fancy points on top, like in the picture, snip an X in the top with scissors AFTER you brush on the egg wash.

Pastry Creme

Creamy, smooth, silky... Pastry creme is good for quite a few things. Today we'll mix it up and fold in some whipped cream to fill our cream puffs.

Creme Patisserie
1 qt. Milk
8 oz. Sugar
2 Eggs
4 Egg Yolks
2.5 oz. Cornstarch
2 oz. Butter

Heat the milk and about half the sugar until it's ~steamy~. Combine the remaining sugar and cornstarch in a small cup to make sure there are no lumps. In separate bowl, whisk whole eggs and egg yolks and add the sugar/cornstarch mix about 1/3 at a time. Whisk for a few minutes (one teacher says just get it good and mixed, one says mix till it holds some air and when it drops off the whisk and keeps it's shape, like a ribbon, it's ready). Both work, why whisk your arm off?

When the milk is steaming, temper it into the egg mixture. If you don't know what that means,

no problem. 

Add about half of the milk into the egg, and whisk really well, until it's combined. Add the hot, milky, egg mixture back into the pot. Stir ccoonnssttaannttllyy on med-high heat for 1-3 minutes. The mixture gets very thick, very fast. Keep stirring. It will boil. Keep stirring. This cooks the eggs, and kicks out the starchy flavor.

After a minute or so, remove from heat and place in a clean container. Now stir in the butter, and a drop or three of vanilla if you want. Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the creme, and cool until use.

Cream Puff filling -
Once cooled, it will be thick. Whisk by hand or machine until loose. Fold in 14-16 oz whipped cream. Keep refrigerated until needed.

If you like, you can dip your eclairs or puff in ganache. I would recommend dark chocolate. 2 parts chocolate to 1 part heavy cream.

Cream Puffs, Eclairs, and Swans, Oh My!

This is one of my favorite things to make (which is good because we made it about a million times in class).

Pate a choux

ganache dipped cream puff and swan

*all my school recipes are by weight. Buy a small food scale. They rock and are much more accurate that cups and stuff. Think about brown sugar (no that it's in this recipe). Do you pack it? How packed is packed enough or too packed? 4 oz is 4 oz packed or not. Just buy a scale.

16 oz. Water (2 cups)

8 oz. Butter ( um.. one stick? check the label)

1 tsp Salt

12 oz Bread Flour or All-purpose (1 1/2 cups ish, but weight is better)

20 oz eggs (could be about... 10 eggs... ish)

Preheat oven to 375.

Bring water, butter, and salt to a rolling boil. Sift flour and dump into pot all at once. Stir like your life depends on it for 1 minute on the heat. This will form a dense paste and a skin will form on the bottom of your pot.

Put the dough in a mixer (5 quart) and paddle one speed 1 or 2 for a few minutes until it cools down a little. Slowly add the eggs one at a time, and scrape the sides often. You are looking for a smooth shiny paste. sometimes you need less or more eggs than called for. The Pate a choux is ready when you can pull the paddle out and the dough fall in a nice V shape off the paddle or a wooden spoon.

Scoop the Pate a choux into a piping bag and pipe immediately onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Using a large star tip, pipe large, individual shells (GOOGLE search the image if you don't know what it is), or rosettes (filled in circles). For swans you also pipe the heads using a round tip. For the head and neck it's just piped in almost a question mark shape, creating a small round for the head and pulling it out for the beak. :D just look at the picture and see if you can figure it out.

Once they are piped, brush and egg yolk/water wash on them. 2 yolks/half cup of water should do it. Bake immediately.

Bake at 375 until golden brown and dried through. I must admit, I can't remember how long it takes...Beaks bake very quickly, while shells and rosettes bake longer.


Cream Puffs - Simple poke the bottom with the tip in a pastry bag and fill. or cut in half, fill, and replace top.
Swans - cut shell if half, creating a top and a bottom. Fill the bottom half with Pastry cream. Cut the top in half creating a left and a right wing. Poke the "wings" into the pastry filling to hold. Place the head/neck in the filling in front of the wings.

I don't have pictures of eclairs, but simple pipe a log shape, bake, cut in half, fill, and replace top.

A Pastry Creme recipe will come out next and you can fill them up!

I swear I cook.

I cook. Don't worry, I'm better at cooking than I am at blogging. Let's see what I can get out to you while I'm home in bed sick today.

I am almost through with the Pattiserie and Baking Program at Le Cordon Bleu Seattle, and I must say Dad, you were right! (shock! lol). It's a great school, but in a nine month program everything is so fast. You know that whole tip-of-the-iceburg analogy? Spot. On. 9 months of too-much, too-fast, somewhat out of date baking education for $18,000, or your local community college for a 2 year degree.

Dear Dad, 
I really just wanted the brand name. Apparently brand name education doesn't automatically upload everything I'll ever need to know right into my brain. You were right, I was ...misled (I'm a woman, and therefore never -actually- wrong). Dwell on this moment. 

Don't get me wrong. Le Cordon Bleu is a great school. Most of my chef instructors have been great. They are very knowledgeable and will work you hard, but sometimes if feels like initiation into a gang or something. My first instructor made us do everything by hand. I mean we were standing at our stainless steel tables whisking egg whites and sugar by hand for our meringues and whipping up our own heavy cream. We spend probably a whole week on meringues. It was torture. Then my very next class our chef just laughed and said pull out the mixers! All teachers teach differently, that is true in any school.

Cooking is my passion, but after attending this school I wonder how passionate I really am. If I didn't have the military paying for 70% of it (thanks to my AwEsOmE step dad) I am +positive+ I wouldn't have signed my life away in student loans for this. Maybe for the local community college though. I'm just saying, before you decide on a school because it'll rock your resume, make sure it's really what you want. Make sure you are getting what you are paying both time and money for.

If you like to cook, then cook. You don't have to attend a high end culinary school to do that. Learning in your own kitchen is the most fun way to go (and no one knows when your cream puffs don't puff, or you over-whip your heavy cream). If you have the means, go to school for it. Just think about what you really want out of your education; the name, or the knowledge.

So out of all the recipes I've gotten in school, I have a few that were tasty. Here we go!

Turkey Burgers

What's so fabulous about this Turkey Burger? It's delicious, under 200 calories, and is great served with sauteed peppers and onions! You can even play with it and make it what ever flavor you want. I have recently rediscovered Mrs. Dash seasoning, so I made my turkey burgers with a kick! This picture isn't very good, but the patty sure was : )

Southwest Chipotle Turkey Burgers
Makes 4 4-oz. patties

Adapted from AllRecipes.com "Actually Delicious Turkey Burgers". The following Nutritional Information is for my version (and it's better!)


1.25 lb Jennie-O Lean Ground Turkey 93/7
1 T. + 1 t. Plain Bread Crumbs
1 T. + 1 t. Onion, minced
1/8 c. Egg substitute (yeah, that's half an egg white lightly beaten..)
1 T. + 1 t. Fresh Parsley, finely chopped
1/2 Clove of Garlic, peeled and minced (1/4 t. of the jarred stuff)

Now here's your time to decide. I added 4 t. of Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle seasoning. You can pick another salt-free flavor and get the same nutrition info. This was great, but if spicy isn't your thing, try another flavor.

Mix all ingredients in large bowl and form into 4 patties. Cook patties over medium heat, turning once. Suggested internal temp is 180.

Serve with delicious veggies, brown rice and maybe some salsa. I crumbled my last patty and made a taco salad with it. This Sunday I am making it with ground chicken breast, and I will BBQ them.

Nutritional Info:
Cal 182
Fat 8g
Carb 3g
Sod 108mg
Pro 22g


What flavor will you use?

Ground Turkey- لحم الديك الرومي المفروم

Mini Berry Cakes

Dieting or not, everybody wants dessert. So why not take a bite and make this cute little cake-like creation? This mini dessert will satisfy the sweet tooth craving without pushing your calorie intake to the limit. It may be quite small but it's jam packed with fruity flavors! YUM!

Also, it gives me a chance to show off some of my new dishes! I got 4 white square snack plates, 4 Mini Trifle dishes, and the Tasting Party Ramekins set, both from Pier1. Mommy loves me.

A few notes about the recipe before I jump in. 

This recipe is courtesy of Diabetic Living  magazine and the BHG Test Kitchen.

The original recipe calls for:

6 6-ounce ramekins or quiche dishes - I used 6 2.75 oz ramekins and halved the recipe. Nutritional info altered.

Fresh berries - I used frozen, then thawed. Fresh would work better and the top would bake more completely.

Eggs - I used Egg Substitute. Nutritional info not altered.

Fat Free Milk - I used 1%. Nutritional info not altered.

Here is the halved recipe. You can obviously double it for the bigger pans.

Mini Berry Cakes

serves 6

Non Stick Cooking Spray

1/4 c. Egg Substitute

1/8 c. Sugar

1/2 t. Vanilla

Dash of Salt

1/2 c. 1% Milk

1/4 c. Flour

1/4 t. Baking Powder

1 1/2 c. Assorted Berries (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, etc.)

Preheat over (toaster oven!) to 400 degrees.

Place ramekins on baking sheet and spray with non-stick spray.

In small bowl whisk egg and sugar until combined. Add and blend in the vanilla and salt. Whisk in milk until combined and smooth.

Divide berries between dishes and pour batter over the berries. The batter will not completely cover the berries. 

Bake 20 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown. 

Mine didn't turn golden brown. As you can see in the picture above, they turned grey. I had to thaw my berries in warm water, and obviously didn't drain them well enough. Too much juice was in the bottom of the ramekins so it blended with the batter and didn't turn out as pretty as planned. But! That's ok. It was yummy.

Nutritional Info (not altered to reflect 1% milk or Egg Substitute):

Cal 70.5

Fat 1

Carb 13

Prot 2.5

All-Purpose Flour

5 Minute Mousse!

: ) So I know I said I'd post Healthy recipes for the next 90 days or so but I've been wanting to put this one up for a while now.
I first had this mousse dessert at a Fancy Nancy Tea Party with my two cousins, ages 7 and 4 at the time. We planned a great party with pocket pizzas and fancy cups, frilly dresses, and grandma's jewelry. My aunt Toni made this mousse for dessert. It was delicious.

I have made this quite a few times, and with experience comes stories. You were warned in my very first post that you would get a whipped creamed wall story - I needed to make a quadruple (or something) batch of this for a dessert one day, and thus needed to whip up A LOT of Heavy Whipping Cream in my dad's Kitchen Aid mixer. 8 cups of whipping cream is a lot for my little mixer and my bowl of cream became a corner of cream. I was whipping it up the cups and it got a little out of hand - out of mixer. Before I could turn the mixer down I managed to spray quite a few drops on the fridge, cupboards, walls, counter...
Well, I figured since there was already a mess I was beyond the point of no return. So I held my hands up around the top of the bowl and turned up the speed.

-Note: Everyone in the world needs a splatter guard for their stand mixer. Or a good cleaning product-

It turned out great. Messy things taste better; like tacos, Red Robin's Teriyaki Chicken Burger, ice cream cones.

Without further ado, 

5 Minute Mousse

2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream

7 oz. Hershey's Symphony Bar (Plain, Creamy Milk Chocolate)

Whip the cream into stiff peaks. Melt candy bar until it stirs smooth. Fold melted chocolate into whipped cream. Serve. 

That's it. You can top it with chocolate covered pretzels or chocolate curls if you like.

Oh, and for some reason every time I've made it the chocolate cools to fast in the whipped cream so it's not a smooth texture. But I love eating the mousse and getting little chunks of chocolate. I did hear that you can whip the chocolate into the whipped cream in the mixer, but you have to be careful not to turn it into chocolate butter. (Though that would be delicious on pancakes...)

Heavy Whipping Cream

Aloha Pork Chops

Everybody Hula! Straight from the 1001 Slow Cooker Recipes cookbook here's a good dish for you. Pork can be a good lean meat, and the pepper, onion, pineapple, and papaya give you some great fruits and veggies in one meal.

 I'm not sure of the nutritional breakdown of this meal, but I looked at sparkpeople.com and entered it in. For a serving with a 4 oz piece of meat with it guesstimates about 300 calories (before rice and carrots).

Aloha Pork Chops
Serves 6-8


1 Green Bell Pepper, seeded and julienned
1 Red Bell Pepper, seeded and julienned
1 Onion, sliced
6-8 (1/2 inch thick) boneless Pork Chops
1 can (15 oz.) Pineapple Chunks with juice
1 T. Mustard
2 T. White Wine Vinegar
1 T. Brown Sugar
1 Papaya, peeled, seeded, and sliced
Macadamia nuts, chopped, optional

Place bell peppers and onions in sprayed slow cooker and place pork chops on top.

Combine juice from pineapple, mustard, vinegar, brown sugar and 1/2 t. salt in bowl. Mix and pour over chops. Cover and cook on low 5-6 hours.

Place pork chops on serving plate and keep warm. Increase heat to high and stir in pineapple chunks and papaya. Cook additional 10 minutes. Pour over pork chops and sprinkle with macadamia nuts.

Serves great over rice!

This one has a great flavor with the papaya and pineapple and peppers. The fruit and veggie blend gives it a unique taste. Try it out!

Papaya

Confetti Rice

Brown rice. Are you as unsure about that as I am? Earlier this year when I first started "watching my weight" (not that it wanted to go anywhere) I discovered that Brown rice is NOT as bad as I had believed. I had some preconceived notion that it was a disgusting wannabe. 


If we're gonna be honest here, which we always are, brown rice does take some getting use to. It is not just white rice of a different color. It's a little bit chewy and takes a while longer to cook. BUT it's versatile and good for you. 

The original recipe is in the Taste of Home Everyday Light Meals cookbook and the Light and Tasty book. Also, the original recipe calls for white rice, but I used brown rice.

Confetti Rice
serves 6 


1 can (14.5 oz.) reduced sodium Chicken Broth
1 c. uncooked Brown Rice
1/4 c. water
1/4 t. Salt
1/4 t. Oregano
1/8 t. Pepper
1/2 c. Diced Red Bell Pepper
1/2 c. Diced Green Pepper
1/2 c. frozen Green Peas, thawed
1 T. minced, fresh Parsley

In a large saucepan combine broth, water, rice, salt, oregano and pepper. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to low - still visibly simmering! Cover and cook rice for ~about~ 30 minutes, then stir in peppers. Cook for about another 45-50 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed..

-My rice wasn't simmering the whole time, we turned it ALL the way down and it took over an hour to cook-

Remove from heat, add peas and cover again for about 5 minutes. Stir in parsley and serve with a yummy, healthy protein packed main dish, like the Herbed Lime Chicken!

Nutritional Info (altered slightly-brown rice is lower cal and carb):
Cal 120g
trace fat!
Carb 27g
Fib 3g
Prot 4g

This turned out really good for me -EXCEPT- I didn't mince my parsley fine enough... get a good knife.

This was a fun day of cooking because in the early afternoon I met up with my friend Katrina. She just returned home from serving a mission in Thailand and in Texas. We talked mostly about food - what else is there? The different street vendors and shops all sound so interesting! I would love to go to foreign places as a tourist and venture out to try all this awesome cuisine.

Who wants to fund my adventure?

Medium-Grain Brown Rice

Herbed Lime Chicken

The first post after the weight loss proclamation... will it be good, or just -blech- healthy?


I'm sure you all are worried that I will post 90 days 81 days of different ways to plate a garden salad. Have No FEAR!! Taste of Home Everyday Light is here!

Trainer Meal Plan Approved. :D Friend and Family dinner table appreciated.

Herbed Lime Chicken
Serves 4


(I'm a terrible person and forgot to take a picture... here's the one from the interwebz...)

1 16-oz. bottle Fat-Free Italian Salad Dressing
1/2 c. Lime Juice
1 Lime, halved and sliced
3 Garlic Cloves
1 t. dried Thyme
4 boneless, skinless Chicken Breast halves (about 4 oz. each)

In a bowl, combine everything but chicken. Remove 1/2 c. for basting, cover and refrigerate. Pour remaining marinade into gallon ziplock bag and add the chicken. Seal the bag and turn over to coat. Refrigerate for 8 to 10 hours.

~~~jeopardy theme music~~~


Drain and discard marinade. Grill Chicken on the BBQ for about 5 minutes. Turn over and baste with remaining marinade. Grill for another 5-7 minutes, or until cooked through.

Serve immediately with a delicious and healthy side like Confetti Rice - coming up next!

Nutritional Info:
Cal 62 - (That's what the book says, I'd guess more like 160-180. Thanks Stacy for pointing that out!)
Fat 2g
Carb 8g
Fib 1g
Prot 27

Lime

Cook's Comments

I am a loser. I am going to be a big loser. I'm actually hoping to be the Biggest Loser there is. Now let me explain.

Before I go off into I-Heart-My-Gym land, let me comfort you with the fact that I am NOT going to stop blogging or cooking. Ever.

With that said, I do love my gym. I go to VisionQuest Sport and Fitness at the Auburn Supermall. Twice a year (I think) they hold a Biggest Loser 90 Day Weight Loss competition (judged by percent % total weight lost).

I'm not going to be on TV or anything, it's just a 5-Gym competition.

 My wonderful boss/friend/workout partner is offering full support and I am competing. The kick-off day was Thursday, June 2nd, and today is Day 9. The Finale is Thursday, September 1st with a prize of $500 and Grand Prize of $5000. Please mark it on your calendars and plan on coming and supporting me. The louder my supporters are, the higher chance I have at winning the Best Before-and-After and the Best Testimonial competitions. You have full permission to scream your head right off.

***All Finale Night supporters will get a homemade breakfast/lunch/dinner/dessert of their choice cooked for them.***

I'm down about 9 lbs or 3.61% so far (not sure how much of that was the water I guzzled that day). Since I started at the gym I'm down 19 lbs.

My first 10 days are pretty tough because my trainer's given me a meal plan, and sugary sweets are NOT welcome : ( . It's a week and a half of meal replacement shakes (which -thankfully- aren't that bad) and one real-food dinner a night. My many boxes of whole wheat spaghetti and I are becoming good "after 5" friends.

No worries, I am better than just eating a bowl of healthified Sketti every night for the next 90 days. I have my trusty "healthy" cookbooks - and I'll probably eat a lot of taco salad, minus the sour cream.

Being the change I want to see in the world, I will post healthy and TASTY recipes. With these healthy recipes you have no excuse not to eat healthy.

Be awesome. Like me!

(and support me please)

 All healthy recipe ideas, advice, articles, etc. are welcome. If there is a recipe you love that you want to see "Healthified" tell me and I will see what I can do!

South Beach Oregano Grilled Chicken

Turns out some "diet books" actually have some good recipes in them. The South Beach Diet cookbook has some good ideas in it (along with some pretty gross ones, but it's worth a good look)!

So, as I am now watching my weight (since it has overstayed it's welcome), I am checking for more good recipes in my diet/light cookbooks. If I don't feel like making a full-on meal, I look for yummy things to put on salads.

So today, courtesy of SBD cookbooks, I bring you Oregano Grilled Chicken.

Oregano Grilled Chicken
serves 4


1 oz. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
2 t. Lemon Juice
1 t. Dried Oregano
1/4 t. Salt
1 t. Black Pepper
4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast halves, (about 4 oz. each)

In shallow dish (like a 9x13 inch glass baking dish) combine oil, lemon juice, oregano, salt, and pepper. Add chicken.
Refrigerate 2-3 hours. Drain and discard marinade.
Grill or BBQ chicken until juice runs clear and center is no longer pink (160 degrees).

I have had this on a green salad with the chicken warm, and with it cold. It is great either way.

Note: If, the next day, you are looking for a little protein to add to your spaghetti lunch -- DO NOT use this chicken. The oregano/pepper kick does not mesh well with cheese/garlic tomato sauce. It's gross. Consider yourself warned!

This is a great chicken recipe for salads. The kick from the oregano and pepper is a great flavor additive to a green salad with ranch dressing. I hope you like it!

Oregano

Terrific Turkey Enchiladas!

One word: Yum!

One more word: Scrumptious.

And another: Terrific!

There are many fantastic words to describe these tasty enchiladas. I thought Mommy's enchiladas were the best, never to be topped... but these are so good! Though, they are completely different. Try them. The fresh cilantro is a delicious kick in the face.

Now, when I made these, I grabbed a tube of ground chicken from the freezer because we are out of turkey. I've got to tell you though, I think it was a mystery meat. I cooked the chicken up and it looked like cooked ground beef, not cooked ground chicken. Believe me, they look different. 

...but it worked...

Terrific Turkey Enchiladas

serves 6-8

1/4 c. frozen Corn, thawed

4 oz. can Green Chilies

1 c. fresh Cilantro Leaves

1/2 c. Heavy Whipping Cream

1/4 t. Salt

1/4 t. Pepper

1 lb. Ground Turkey

1/3 c. chopped Onion

1 clove Garlic, minced

1 T. Olive Oil

1 c. Salsa

1 T. Cornmeal

2 t. Chili Powder

1 1/2 t. Ground Cumin

1 t. Dried Oregano

1/8 t. Salt

1/8 t. Pepper

6-8 10" Flour Tortillas (depends on how many you have mixture for)

1 1/4 c. shredded Mexican Blend Cheese

1/4 c. sliced Black Olives

Preheat oven to 350 and spray 11"x7" baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. 

Place first 6 ingredients in blender and pulse until blended. Set aside.

In a large skillet, cooker turkey, onion and garlic in oil over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Remove from heat and stir in salsa, cornmeal, and seasonings.

Spoon 1/3 c. turkey mixture down the center of each tortilla; top with 2 T. cheese. Roll up and place seem side down in dish. Pour/Spoon blended corn mixture over the top and sprinkle with remaining cheese and olives. ~The sauce will not cover the entire pan.

Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 5-10 minutes longer, until heated through.

These were really flavorful and great served with a scoop of Spanish Rice and drop of Sour Cream.

"They tasted fresh - not your everyday enchilada, but in a good way. A very good way" -Boo

Tortilla

Cheese Stuffed Manicotti

Ciao!

 Hello my pasta loving friends, today's dish of the day is straight from the WeightWatchers cookbook. I love this diet cookbook because it actually has recipes that taste. good.

But don't take my word for it, test this recipe out!

You'll see in the ingredient list that it calls for plain tomato sauce; don't worry, it won't taste plain. All the spices added to it give it such a kick. Once it all starts simmering, your kitchen your entire house will smell amazing!

Let's go to Italy!

Cheese Stuffed Manicotti

serves 6

1t. Olive Oil

3 Garlic Cloves, minced

15 oz. can Tomato Puree/Sauce

2t. dried Oregano

1/2t. dried Basil

1/4t. ground Pepper

15oz.-20oz. Part Skim Ricotta Cheese (whatever size you can find)

1 1/4c. Part Skim shredded Mozzarella Cheese

3/4c. grated Parmesan Cheese

1 large Egg, lightly beaten

2T milk

1/4c. chopped Fresh Flat-Leaf Parsley

12 Manicotti Shells (tubes), cooked almost completely

In a large nonstick skillet over medium, heat the oil. Saute' garlic about 2 minutes. Stir in tomato sauce, oregano, basil, and pepper. Bring to boil, then reduce head and simmer for 15 minutes. Enjoy the aroma!

Preheat oven to 350 and spray 9x13 inch baking dish.

In bowl combine ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, egg, parsley and milk. 

To fill pasta shells, spoon cheese mixture into a gallon sized zip-lock bag. snip the corner of the bag about 3/4 to one inch. Hold the pasta tube gently, in the middle, and squeeze/pipe cheese filling into each pasta shell. Squeeze slowly or the tube might break. If the pasta tube is already broken/ripped down the side, just pipe a line down the center of the tube, and place seam side down in the dish.

Place all stuffed manicotti shells in baking dish, pour sauce over top. The sauce doesn't completely cover the pasta, it's ok!! 

Bake about 30-40 mins or until brown and bubbly. 

Nutritional Info (2 shells):

Cal 368

Fat 15g

Carb 36g

Fib 3g

Prot 25g

This was a huge hit, and I was excited that it turned out so well the first time around. Everyone loved the sauce, but 1.5 out of 4 people thought it could have used more sauce (obviously someone was undecided). You could probably use more tomato sauce, but the amount here is just so jam-packed with flavor that you really don't need it, and wouldn't want to tone it down. 

~But try it out and see for your self. Let me know what you do!~

Boo helped me with stuffing the shells, that was quite a process. Quite a few will split down the side while boiling, so you just have to hold them right. Manicotti shells come in a plastic tray in a box so that they don't smash each other. I kept the trays so that post boiling, I could keep the noodles separated. Let me tell you, these noodles stick like there's no tomorrow! This worked really well. Make sure you pipe the filling in slowly, or you may bust the middle of a noodle clean open.

"It was like heaven in a tube!" -Boo.

Parsley

Mandarin Orange Cake with Pineapple Frosting

Well I went to the gym this morning, and worked hard, too! So I felt making a cake would be a good way to pat myself on the back... I now understand the problem. It has fruit, therefore it is healthy, right?
So here is my family pleasing Mandarin Orange Cake, found via Betty Crocker online.

Mandarin Orange Cake with Pineapple Frosting

Serves 20

1 box Betty Crocker SuperMoist Yellow Cake mix

1/2 c. Canola or Vegetable Oil

11 oz. can Mandarin Oranges, NOT drained

4 eggs

1/2 c. chopped Walnuts, optional

20 oz. can Crushed Pineapple, NOT drained

3.4 oz. pkg Instant Vanilla Pudding, Sugar Free

1 1/2 c. Light Whipped Topping

1 t. Orange Zest (shredded orange peel)

Pre-heat oven to 350 for a glass dish and 325 for a dark dish.

On low speed mix cake mix, oil, mandarin oranges (including juice), eggs (and walnuts if you must...) for 30 seconds. Mix on med speed for 2 minutes. 

Grease or spray 9x13 pan. Pour cake mixture into pan and bake 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick in center comes out clean. Cool completely.

In med bowl, stir together pineapple (including juice), pudding mix and orange zest. Fold in whipped topping. Spread on cake. Store in refrigerator. 

As you can see I used some extra oranges as a cute decoration to the cake. This cake is really good and very moist. I personally think the cake itself could use an extra kick or orange, but it is great the way it is! Let me know how you like it!

Mandarin

Tartlets!

A few weeks ago I needed an "appetizer" to take to a Relief Society Lunch Bunch. I interpreted that as "finger food in general". I had some puff pastry in the freezer so I came up with these little tartlets.

Fruit Dip Tartlets
makes 24-48 


1-2 sheets puff pastry, thawed (depends on how many you want to make)
1-2 Kiwi, sliced 1/4" thick, then cut into 8 wedges each
11 oz can Mandarin Oranges (I peeled an orange and broke the segments out of the ... membrane? because I didn't have a can of oranges. Do this the easy way if you can.)
1/2 - 1 c. Fluffy Fruit Dip (from previous post)
Powdered Sugar, optional

Pre-heat oven to 400. On a floured surface, roll puff pastry out to get rid of creases. With a knife or pizza cutter cut pastry 4x3, and cut each square diagonally making 24 triangles. If you are making a bunch (48), work with one sheet of puff pastry at a time, and place the second sheet in the fridge until you are ready to cut it.

Spray mini-muffin pan with cooking spray. Press each triangle into the pan and Bake at 400 degrees for 7-8 minutes.

Leave Puffed Pastries in pan to make assembly and transportation easy. To create the 'bowl' press down the center of each puff with the small end of a melon baller or a medium sized fondant ball tool. Let these cool while you prep the fruit.

Drop about 1/4 t.+ fluffy fruit dip in the center of each pastry and top with fruit. If desired, dust very lightly with powdered sugar.
Feel free to change the fruit : )

Also...

Caramel Apple Tartlets
makes 24-48


1-2 sheets Puff Pastry, thawed
1 Granny Smith Apple, finely diced/minced
1/2 - 1 T. Butter
1/2 t. Cinnamon or Apple Pie Spice
1/2 t. Brown Sugar
1 t.+ Caramel Topping

Pre-heat oven to 400. Cut, bake, and press pastries as above.

In frying pan, saute minced apple in butter. Mix in cinnamon, brown sugar and caramel.

Put about 1/4 - 1/2 t. saute'ed apple mixture in each pastry.

Serve with extra drip of caramel on top if desired.

These were a big hit. If you had one, or make a variation, let me know!

Tarts