Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween!

Aren't they cute?
 
The girls had a blast tonite!  Mo was an Olympic gymnast, Kay was Abbey Bominable (from the show Monster High) and Baye was a pirate.  They ended up with bunches and bunches of candy.  

Trick or Treating really tests your willpower doesn't it?  I didn't have a very hard time due to the fact that I didn't want to end up in crippling pain from dipping into the girls stash.  If you can't resist then either bring a healthy snack with you that you can munch on or, go for the hard or gummy candies.  They take longer to eat and normally are a LITTLE healthier less bad for you.

Isn't the cake cute?  There's nothing healthy about it.  It's a box mix and canned frosting.  They girls were bugging me for a halloween cake from Publix so I did the next best thing, homemade.  

I'm going to do a workout (both mental and physical) based on halloween candy.  It'll be up in a few days.

What were your kids (or you) for halloween?  Are you tempted by halloween candy?

Souper Sandy Supper

 I think coincidences are very odd things.  Don't you?  Occasionally I'll get in a soup type of mood. 

I find Florida is not a soup friendly state.  I can't justify eating a bowl of soup in 90 degree heat most of the time.  But occasionally I'll think "Hmmm, soup sounds good!" 

But, (there's always a "but" isn't there?) every time I make soup it rains.  EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.  Without fail.  Well, I didn't know that this time I decided on soup we wouldn't get rain, we'd get the effects of Hurricane Sandy. 
 
Vegetable Stew

2 medium onion, minced
5 medium carrot, chopped
1 medium stalk celery, minced
16 ounces white mushrooms, quartered
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
3 cups vegetable stock
1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup canned diced tomatoes
1 bay leaf
4 medium red potatoes, quartered
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon cold water
1 cup frozen peas, thawed

Instructions
1.  Heat a large pot or dutch oven sprayed with pan spray over medium-high
2. Sautee onions, carrots and celery until they become soft (10-15 minutes) add a bit of water if they begin to stick
3. Add the mushrooms, sautee until the liquid they release has cooked off
5. Add garlic, rosemary and thyme
6. Add 1/2 cup of stock to deglaze pan (scrape the bottom to get anything that has stuck on, off)
7. Cook about 3 minutes until stock is about 1/2 of what it was
8. Add the rest of your stock, salt, tomatoes, bay leaf, and potatoes, bring to a boil.
9. Reduced heat, simmer, partially covered about 30 minutes until the potatoes are soft
10. Stir together cornstarch and water, add to pot and cook until the stew starts to thicken.
11. Add the peas and simmer for 2-3 minutes. 

The whole family loved it.  Even my mom who typical doesn't like stew (which I didn't know until last nite.)  I hope everyone stays safe from the storm.

November Goals

 November is 9 days away!  It's crazy how fast the year has seemed to fly by.  I've decided to make some goals for November. Most of them are very simple.  I don't like hard to accomplish goals.  Why set a goal that you think you're going to fail?

• Go for atleast 2 30+ minute bike rides a week
• Make atleast 1 new ice cream flavor a week
• Do a kettlebell workout 3+ times a week
• Thanksgiving dinner is under 500 calories
• 50 burpees a day (50 for 50 challenge, I'll explain in a minute)
• Finish 90% of my Christmas shopping by the end of the month
• Clean the house top to bottom once a week
• Get my blood work done and "fix" any "problems"  

So what is the 50 For 50 Challenge?  50 Burpees a day for 50 days.  I started a couple days ago and so far so good.  I don't do 50 at once, I do them throughout the day.  10 here, 15 there, until I get to 50.  My arms, legs and abs are honestly burning but, it's a good burn.

Okay, onto the food for tonite.  It was vegan sausage etouffe.  I love Light Life Ground Sausage.  It tastes like real sausage.  It's the fake meat that I've found that comes closest to the real thing.  


Vegan Sausage Etoufee
adapted from Fat Free Vegan

• 1/3 cup white flour
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 rib celery, finely chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
• 8 ounces mushrooms, stemmed and halved
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 14-16 ounces vegan sausage (I used Light Life ground sausage), ripped into chunks
• 4 green onions (scallions), sliced

Instructions

1. Put flour into a pan and heat it on medium high.  Stir the flour constantly until it turns a golden brown color.  (I think it took me about 10 - 15 minutes)
2. Whisk it in with the broth in a separate bowl and set aside 
3. In a separate pan cook the onions, when they start to wilt add the celery and peppers and cook until all the vegetables are brown.  Add the mushrooms, garlic and a tiny bit of water and put a lid on your pan.  Cook for about 3 minutes until the mushrooms give off water.
4. Add the broth mixed with flour to the vegetables.  
5. Add soy sauce and spices then cook until the sauce has thickened.  
6. Put the sausage in, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.
7. Mix in green onions when done  

Mr. Amazing loved it over rice.  I put mine over a sweet potato.  I think next time I'm going to use shrimp in it and use the seafood stock I made instead of vegetable.  Do you have any goals for next month?

Pumpkin French Toast

'Tis the season to break out the pumpkin recipes.  My Pumpkin Frozen Dessert (here) is one of my most popular posts since fall began.  I decided I wanted to try a Pumpkin French Toast recipe I found at the Post Punk Kitchen.

Pumpkin has many healthy benefits:

• 1 cup has 200% of your daily RDA of Vitamin A.  Vitamin A helps with your vision.
• 1 cup has 3 grams of fiber
• 1 cup has 564 milligrams of potassium (that's 142 milligrams more than a banana)
• 1 cup has 20% of women's daily Vitamin C needs
• They are loaded with beta-carotene which can help prevent cancer and keep your skin wrinkle-free
• Pumpkin seeds can reduced your LDL (bad cholesterol)
• Seeds have tryptophan which helps boost seratonin (a feel good chemical in your brain)

Pumpkin French Toast
adapted from The Post Punk Kitchen

1 cup pureed pumpkin
1 1/2 cup reduced fat soy milk
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 slices of reduced calorie whole wheat bread

1. Whisk together everything except bread
2. Pour mixture into a shallow container and soak bread while your sprayed pan is heating up over medium heat
3. Flip bread over and let the other side soak for a minute
4. Place 2-4 slices of bread in the skillet and cook on first side until brown, flip then cook the other side until golden brown also.
5. Serve with maple syrup

As you see in the picture I started out using my electric griddle.  It honestly didn't work well.  It took forever for the toast to cook.  I switched them to a skillet and it browned up really quick.  I don't know if my griddle was just turned down too low or if this recipe is just meant for a skillet.  If you use an electric griddle and get the toast to work, please let me know how you did it!


I think next time I'll try to make some pumpkin waffles or pancakes. Do you have any good recipes for pumpkin waffles or pancakes?

Plum Nectarine Cobbler

Obviously it didn't last very long

Isn't that pretty?  I'm trying to make some interesting fruit based desserts.  I'm tired of my sauteed fruit with cinnamon, Marshmallow Fluff and chocolate chips.  Today I made cobbler.  I'm going to try every fruit combination that I can think up (or at least like.) 

I had some plums and nectarines that I needed to use up so, in they went!  But like I said before, you can use whatever fruit you'd like. 

Plums and Nectarines have some amazing health benefits.  Plums are filled with Vitamins A,C and K;  loaded with antioxidants, they help absorb iron, and help your eyesight.  Nectarines have Vitamins A and C; they contain natural antioxidants, they support healthy eyes and skin; and are packed with beta-carotene.  

So you can justify eating this by knowing you're benefiting your health at the same time.   



Plum Nectarine Cobbler
adapted from The Pioneer Woman

6 plums and nectarines (I used 3 of each)
1/4 - 3/4 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you'd like it)
1 cup light soy milk (any dairy-free milk will do)
1 cup flour

1. Cut up your fruit into small chunks. 
2. In a separate bowl mix together flour, sugar and soy milk.
3. Spray an 8 or 9 inch square or round pan with cooking spray.
4. Pour in wet mixture.  Place fruit on top
5. Bake at 350 for 60 minutes until set and golden brown.

I've already got 5 or 6 other cobbler combinations in my head.  Next time I think I will try the crumbly topping instead of the cake-y topping.  

 What's your favorite cobbler?  Do you prefer the cake topping or the crumble topping?

Ending

I've decided to end my diet challenge.  There were a couple factors that led me to this decision.   The first one is that Gramma and Sirr (my mom and dad) are coming into town next week and the menu I have planned will not go over well with them.  The more important reason is that I have realized that I've already found my perfect diet.  It's honestly a combination of the first 3 weeks that I've done.  

What is my perfect diet?

• Lots of fruits and veggies
• No white potatoes, white rice or white flour
• Very little processed food
• Fish and seafood only 
• No milk

 But I'm sticking to my planned menu until they get here.  This week is still a vegan week.  Tonite was chili.  I love this recipe.    I hope you do too!  

3 Bean Chili
adapted from Cook This, Not That!


1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 cup chili powder
2 bay leaves
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 piece (1 oz) dark chocolate or 1 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 bottle or can (12 oz) dark beer
1 can (28 oz) whole peeled tomatoes
1 can (14 oz) white beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 oz) pinto beans, rinsed and drained 
1 can (14 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained

1. Sautee the onions and garlic in a dutch oven or large pot until soft
2. Mix in spices and tomato paste
3. Crush the tomatoes between you fingers, add them to the pot along with the other liquids and heat until boiling
4. Put in the beans and simmer for 15 minutes.

If you want you can top this with some fat free cheese and diced onions.  (That's how I eat mine)  

How do you feel about chili?

Sweet Sweet Mistake

When I say soy what is the first thing that pops into your head?

Soy sauce?  Soy milk?  Soy beans?

Tonite Mr. Amazing made a tasty mistake.  I wrote the recipe for him in shorthand.  I just wrote down as much of the ingredient's name as I thought was necessary.  I stupidly thought that he would understand it.  Guess not.  Instead of soy MILK he used soy SAUCE.  We had a conversation earlier today about soy milk going into the stroganoff.  I assumed that he would understand I was calling for soy milk.  

1 cup Plain Soy = Soy Milk!

Well, it actually came out amazing.  So I've edited the recipe to reflect the mistake.

 See all those pieces of mushrooms and yummy noodles?  I actually made egg noodles to go with the sauce.  The rest of the family ate the noodles, I put my stroganoff over a sweet potato.  'Mmmmmmm!

Mushroom Stroganoff 
adapted from Engine 2 Diet 

1 large yellow onion, chopped
16 ounces white mushrooms, sliced
2 T minced garlic
4 T flour
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 T soy sauce
½ c Soy milk
16 ounces cooked whole wheat noodles

1. Cook the onions until semi-soft
2. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook until soft
3. Whisk the flour in and stir until it's evenly distributed
4. Pour in the vinegar, soy sauce and soy milk.  
5. Stir until the sauce thickens.
6. Serve over noodles

I've been giving him a bit of a hard time about it but I make sure that he knows that it was really amazing at the same time.  
 
Have you ever made a mistake like that?  Used the wrong ingredient?  How did it come out?