Valentines Day

So this Valentines Day was on a Tuesday and we never attempt to go out on the day...way too crowded. I like to make a nice meal at home for Sweety. Usually I feed the kids and then we have a quiet dinner together. This year we all ate together. It was so nice. I enjoyed the dinner together so much.

Here is what I made. Some healthy, some not so much.

Antipasto platter with olives, cheese, and salami...yum. Homemade oat/wheat Italian bread, cauliflower bisque, shrimp scampi with thin spaghetti, and for dessert red velvet whoopie pies and chocolate covered strawberries.

Here are some photos. I forgot to take one of the finished product of my bisque, but you get the idea of how it got started.




After this cooks, just blend it up!




Ok, these were not as good as cousin Elizabeth's, but They still are gone, so they must have liked them.




Ok these were delicious!

Yes, I are a little too much, but it was a special day and I knew everything I ate because I cooked it myself.

Today's tip: if you cook, you know exactly what you are eating. So, try a gourmet recipe for a special occasion. Just let the kids do the dishes. LOL

Blessings,

Trish

Am I nuts?

Ok....I know after this post most of you will think I have lost my mind, but that's ok, I am used to it. I was reading some health blogs this week and came across this idea....this recipe that to even me seemed insane. How could it work? How could it even taste edible? It couldn't...could it?

Well first off here is the picture before I tell you the recipe and you tell me whether it looks edible or not...





Ok. That's it...so what do you think? Oh you need to see the inside? Ok, I can do that...




-So now what do you think?

It is chocolate chip cookie pie. Now I have made this before and it has TONS of butter and other yummy bad for you stuff in it so when I came across this blog (I forget which one...could be on pinterest too, not sure) I had to try it. So I did.

Guess what is the star healthy ingredient in this baby???????

White northern beans. Yep I said it. beans.

Yes I was skeptical as well. That is why I had to make it. When I tell you this is delicious...This is delicious. Don't believe me? Try it. Now it does have chocolate chips and sugar, but gosh beans and oatmeal! Can you say fiber.....

Ok, so here is what I did, since I get ideas and then adapt them to what I like.

2 cans northern beans
1 Cup quick cooking oatmeal
1/4 Cup applesauce
2 tbsp Canola oil
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
Pinch salt
1 1/4 C brown sugar. (I will try this again with less or add honey)
1 C chocolate chips

Mix everything but the chocolate chips in a food processor until smooth.
Fold in chocolate chips

Bake 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.

Enjoy! You will not taste the beans!

Today's tip: Do something totally crazy like this! Lol

Blessings

Trish

(of course the 15 year old with bionic taste buds said this is healthy..I can tell...but he did not mention beans!)

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Indian feast

Our Pastor is on a trip to India for 3 weeks. Last night we had a pot luck dinner at our church and the theme was India. So we were encouraged to make Indian foods in honor of our pastor being in India. Know that is one ethnic food that I rarely eat and never cook. I was a little nervous. So I got online and started looking up recipes. I'm not a curry fan, so that is a problem because every recipe has curry in it. So, I decided on basmati rice and Indian spiced potatoes.

Here are my Spiced Potatoes, they were yummy:




I also made naan bread. I figured with all the bread I make I could tackle it. So, I did.

Here's the dough:


And here is the finished product:




Oh my we're they tasty! They came out great. I think they were a success because they were gone by the end of the night.

Here is the recipe. It is a little time consuming, so I had Elijah help me with the rolling. He did great!

Preheat oven to 500. Put a pan in the oven to preheat as well.

In a kitchen aid mixer or by hand mix
2/3 C very warm milk
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp yeast
4 cups unbleached flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp oil or butter (the Indians use ghee which is a clarified butter, I just used butter melted)
2/3 C plain yogurt
1 egg

Knead this and let raise for at least an hour. I let mine rise overnight in the fridge.

Break off small pieces and shape into a ball and then roll out. You will need a good amount of flour to prevent sticking.

As you roll out place the flat dough on the preheated cookie sheet in the oven. Be careful...it is very hot.

Bake for about 3 minutes.

Enjoy! They are so good.

Today's tip: Try a recipe that you never made before! It may be Italian, Asian, Mexican...or American, but go ahead....give it a try.

Blessings,

Trish

Test post

Having trouble again with the Blog app so this is a test post.

Blessings

Trish

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Skating...

Had a really good weekend.  Friday got chores done and started on organizing paperwork and tax stuff.  The older boys had plans to go to the high school basketball game at night.  This includes Sweety.  I am not interested in basketball at all and Elijah didn't want to go either so the 2 of us went out for dinner.  While we were eating a good friend texted me saying she was taking her little guy skating and asked if we wanted to go.  I kinda got a little excited. I used to rollerskate all the time when I was young and it has been a long time since I have rollerskated.   So we decided to check it out.  I never took Elijah to a skating rink before so we went.  Well we had a fabulous time!!  Elijah did great and I got to skate for 2 hours.  Now first let me tell you that I started off pretty slow but I think I did ok and got a lot more confident after only a short time.   Secondly, I was the hands down oldest person out there skating.  When did I get so old? Ugh...oh well, I did it anyway and boy did it get my heart rate up. I'm not used to incorporating fun into my exercise.  I do my scheduled exercise and that is about it, but instead of watching tv or a movie, I was skating off calories andhaving fun.   A huge thanks to my friend for asking me.  I wold have never thought of skating. The next 2 days, I had sore muscles I didn't know I had.  Lol.  All in all a great weekend. Today's tip:  Try something totally different that you may not even think of. You will burn extra calories and have a blast!   Blessings, Trish

Healthy brownies

Ok, so I was having a chocolate craving, which I rarely do. My problem food is bread and pizza, but today it was chocolate. So, I make homemade brownies...healthy brownies. These are made with whole wheat flour, honey, and applesauce...minimal olive oil...so very low fat and pretty healthy. Well they would be if I didn't eat almost half the tray. I seriously ate 3 brownies...big ones.

So this is why I really can't bake too often. I make stuff healthy, but I eat too much of it. Oh well, I have to just see it for what it is and move on and not let it sabotage my whole day. It happens.



- Jonah had one large one....they were really good.

Today's tip: don't beat yourself up if you eat too much, just don't let it carry on into the next meal...the next day...the next week.

Blessings,

Trish

I Almost Caved

Yes, last night I almost caved. I was busy most of the day trying to get organized. I really really want to be organized, but I fall so short. So, I decided I really am going to try. So I went through all my bills, receipts, paperwork for the household and business. It felt really good to get most of it done.

I took out pork tenderloin for supper and planned to make it with rice and a veggie. Well something came over me around 230pm. Call it a dip in blood sugar, over tiredness, or whatever but I just didn't want to cook. I just didn't. I thought, I am going to call Sweety to just bring home Chinese. That's it...done. Then I remembered a blog post I read 2 days ago about a mom who felt the same way and she almost ordered a pizza...until she went online and reached out for some motivation...and she got it and made her meal. That really affected me and I said, no Chinese on a Tuesday. I will feel much better eating a healthy dinner and my family will get a healthier meal.

So, I pushed through and made a teriyaki pork tenderloin, whole wheat noodles and jasmine rice, sautéed cabbage, and a broccoli and cheese bread.

The verdict...everyone loved the meal and I felt good about not caving. We had a nice family meal for at least 1/2 the calories we would have consumed.

Think about the cash saved also!

So I am glad I didn't cave last night. Some days I do and get some takeout, but as along as it is occasionally and not regularly, I can live with that.

Today's tip: If you don't feel like it, reach out to someone...a parent, friend, sibling or even a blog to give you some inspiration!

Blessings,

Trish


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