I made this

amazing cast iron skillet apple pie this afternoon! It is insanely good! I don't seem to ever be able to post links correctly, but it is from Southern Living and worth looking up! I also have 2 more apple recipes from the current issue I am looking forward to making, hopefully sooner rather than later :)

Dinner tonight

Was Cobb Pasta Toss

This was a RR recipe, definately not the best but not the worst one either. Of course I am not a big fan of blue cheese or avacodo,so if you like those then you may enjoy this more than I did.

And for dessert, Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate chip pie!! This is crazy good and I will be making it on a regular basis I am sure! So no pic of the pie...

Freezer Meals

Several weeks ago I read a blog, A Turtle's Life for Me, about pre-making and freezing the main part of or even entire meals for her family. So, I was inspired! I didn't do anywhere near the volume that she did, because I didn't get the crazy good prices on meat that she did in her post but I did start. And I plan to make a full batch of stuffed shells this week to freeze into 2 containers for separate dinners. And I think I will definitely try to keep this up and slowly stock my freezer up w/ lots of ready meals.

I roasted 2 whole chickens and 7 potatoes


Once the potatoes were cool enough to handle I scraped them out loaded the insides w/ sour cream, butter, s&p, cheese, and a little milk, smashed it all up and made twice baked potatoes. These came out really good, we have eaten them twice since I frozen them and they were perfect. It is a great side and this way there is no mess to clean up!


I ended up w/ 5 bags of chicken to use in recipes and 14 twice baked potato halves

2 more RR recipes

Ancho chicken tortilla soup
This one came out spicier than I expected it to, but we both really liked it!

The second one was Super Scampi, this one was just ok. We both prefer my usual method of making scampi, but we tired it. It wasn't bad, but the sauce came out much thinner than mine usually does and didn't really stick as well.

Todays eats

Breakfast:
None

Lunch:
WAY too much pizza, bread sticks, and salad at Pizza Hut's lunch buffet

Dinner:
1 Chicken enchilada, yellow rice, about 2 handfuls of tortilla chips

Snacks:
about half a carton of Minute Maid lite lemonade, I was crazy trusty this afternoon and water just wasn't getting it.
Lots of strawberries, we picked almost 8lbs this morning at the farm :)

Exercise:
20-25 min walk in my mom's hilly neighorhood, pushing Hailey in the stroller

Today's eats

Breakfast:
banana
fiber one bar

Lunch:
Chinese chick salad wrap(in flour tortilla w/ Swiss)
Doritos

Dinner:
Brandy Apple Fondue w/ dippers
2 glasses sweet tea

Exercise
I took the kids to a friends house today and we hiked in the woods for about 40 mins. The kids had a great time, and we will definitely have to start doing it more often!

Working through my list

This month I have taken on 2 of the longer items on my 101 things list(http://www.dayzeroproject.com/user/hway). #1 no fast food for a month, so far so good. We are on day 13, almost 14 and no fast food, I am pretty sure I can stick with it for another 16 days! #2 is to cook 30 different meals in 30 nights. I didn't actually start this on the first of the month so it will run into the begining of May, but I am on day 10 of this. This month I am again making several new recipes out of Rachael Ray's look and cook cookbook, which is the book I have decided to make every recipe out of(also on my list). I think I have 7 recipes from the book on the menu for this 30 period so hopefully most will be successful :)

I was really looking forward to this dinner...

Fondue w/ Apple Brandy

The dippers
baguette
asparagus
cherry tomatoes
homemade potato chips
pretzel rods
bacon wrapped chicken w/ spinach

It looks very yummy and delicious right!?!? It was a big disappointment :( The cheese and alcohol didn't blend together well and it separated as soon as I took it off the stove. I was pretty bummed. The cheese was expensive(Gruyere $16/lb) and I couldn't find the second cheese Emmentaler so I subbed Swiss for it. Next time I will do my usual cheddar/Colby and beer, it always comes out great! The cheese was also VERY salty, I could feel my feet swelling by the time I got up from the table, not a good thing. The bacon wrapped chicken was a new to us dipper, but we both really liked it and will definitely be adding it to our usual dipper list.

I am not sure how much she actually ate, but Hailey really enjoyed this dinner. We gave her a plate with a few of all the dippers and a small bowl of cheese, so she wouldn't dump over the pot and she just went to town. She really liked the pretzels and the tomatoes, towards the end she started eating the chips. She put as much in her bowl as she could and was "cooking", it was hilarious! Christopher of course wouldn't even try it, so he had a hot dog.

200 under 200

So, way back when, I was all excited when I got the Hungry Girl 200 under 200 cookbook, however I haven't actually made anything from it til this week. Heres the first 2 recipes:

Scoopable Chinese chicken salad

Obviosously I ate this as a sandwich, which I am sure blew the under 200 cal out of the water, but it was good. I also don't think I got a full serving on the sandwich, so maybe it evens out?? I altered the recipe slightly, but I was happy with the out come. Robert hasn't tried it yet, so not sure what he is going to say yet, it does have a lot of veggies for him.

Bacon-bundled bbq shrimp

This one I have made twice in less than a week! Does that tell you something :) I made it for Bunco Friday night and then again for a appietizer theme lunch party Monday. Both times it was a hit and my hubby complained that I wasn't feed them all to him :)

Another cooking creme

We tried out the second Philly Cooking creme I got a couple weeks ago tonight and it was excellent too! I think I actually liked this one better. Robert wasn't home to try it, and I let my mom take the leftovers home to my bro, so he will have to try it another time. Tonight was the Italian cheese and herb, and I made Chicken pasta primavera. Also, just to toot my own horn, I would just like to mention that this is the third meal I have made in the last 2 weeks that was made from 1 chicken that I got on sale for 69cents a lb. So my chicken that cost just under $3 made chicken and gnocchi soup, chicken and dumplings, and the pasta tonight...if that's not stretching a buck I don't know what is! And there really was plenty of chicken in each meal! I have found that if I roast a chicken and then pull every little bit of chicken off the bones and separate it into even piles it really is a great deal, especially for us, because none of us really likes the dark meat by itself so this is great for making pastas, soups, casseroles, enchiladas. Anywho, I am proud of myself :)

Legos and a new twist on an old fave

At the end of February, like literally the 28th, I found out that Lego stores do a free mini model build the first Tues of the month, the 1st of March was a Tues! So, being that we have never been to the Lego store, since we still only have Duplos I thought it would be a fun thing to do with the kids. We got there 10 mins after it started and the line was crazy long. Apparently just because I am slow on picking it up lots of others in the area were not! The line seemed to be mostly parents with reading books, playing on phones, ect, while their kids were spread out on every bench and seat within sight doing homework. I was not expecting this, but since we did drive the 40 mins to get there we waited in line. It took 1hr 15min, but we got our free mini models, it was a little bird, I think maybe it is supposed to be a woodpecker? The kids did extremely well waiting, especially since it was right at dinner time. I don't think we will be going back to this event anytime soon. Between the drive, the time of day, and the wait it just isn't worth it to me. I think we will just stick with our Sat morning builds at Home Depot and Lowe's!
Waiting...



The final product


One night last week I had steak and shrimp on the menu, and was trying to decide what kind of shrimp to make. I ended up making basically a scampi sauce and sauteing the shrimp in it and then to add some extra color to the plate served it on top of a pile of fresh baby spinach, it was sooo yummy! I don't know why I have never thought to do it before but I will definitely do it again. The warm shrimp and their sauce slightly wilted the spinach and it was like a wonderful light little warm shrimp and spinach salad.

Have you tried these yet?....

I picked up 2 of these new Philly Cooking Cremes a couple weeks ago(for free!) at HT. We tried the Savory Garlic the other day, I made the recipe that was on the package, Chicken Florentine. I topped it with some roasted tomatoes, fresh shredded basil, and shredded parm. I was very happy with the way it came out and would recommended it. Plus it made WAY more than the bag meals in the freezer section, which chicken Florentine is one of the few that I actually buy. There was enough left overs for me to eat it the next 2 days for lunch.

New recipes!

So, as I said before, I got RR's new cookbook and I LOVE it! I have already made several recipes out of it and they have all been very good. So far only one Robert didn't really care for. I took pics of several of the recipes, but not all, here is what we have tried so far:

Spinach & Artichoke mac'n'cheeseThis is the one thing I have made that Robert wasn't fond of, but he doesn't like artichokes. I thought it was good, but I didn't chop the artichokes because I was in a rush and I think that would have made a difference. I just did a simple panko coated chicken breast to go with the mac'n'cheese, which was supper yummy :)


Sirloin burgers w/ garlic-black pepper-Parmesan sauce & roasted tomatoes w/ basil & balsamic glaze served with seasoned fries.
This one was SOOOO EXCELLENT!! It will definitely be made again and again and as you can see literally came out picture perfect :) And on a side note, my Dad got me a meat grinder attachment for my Kitchen Aide, so I actually ground the sirloin to make these burgers :) Which made them more affordable, because I found the steaks marked down.


Lemon Risotto and Orange balsamic glazed chicken. These are actually 2 different recipes in the book that I did together and they were perfect for each other. We both really enjoyed it and it was 2 first for us, we had never had risotto or arugula.


Pancetta-wrapped shrimp all'amatriciana. This one again was very yummy, we had fresh baked french bread with it. The only thing about this one was that it was a little salty for me. I am not big on salt most of the time, and pancetta is VERY salty I discovered. I think I may try regular bacon next time, but it is on the make again list.


Chinese Orange-barbecue cashew chicken served over yellow rice. This one was excellent as well! My mom was here the night I made this one and we all loved it, it came out perfect.


Here are a few more that I have made, but didn't get pictures of:

Steakhouse chili pot. We really enjoyed this one. I usually make chili using beans, and this is bean free, so it was a nice change from what we usually have.

Bocconcini stuffed meatballs w/ tomato-pesto sauce. So,I didn't exactly follow the recipe on this one, for lack of ingredients, but they still came out really good. Instead of a combo of beef, pork, and veal, I just used beef and turkey. And for whatever reason I didn't buy pesto or the basil to make pesto so I just made the tomato sauce which was fine with us.

Well, I think that is all for now, stay tuned I have several more recipes on the next 2 weeks menu that come from this book as well:)

Just another Tues

About a month or so ago I came across a promotion called amazonmom by Amazon.com. The promotion was you sign up for this free club for caregivers and you get Amazon Prime-FREE 2 day shipping for 3 months free!! Well, needless to say the free shipping has been burning a hole in my pocket so I finally used it and am very excited about what I got today!

I can't wait to try some of the recipes in this book, it may even be "the" book I have been looking for to make every recipe out of the book :)

However I did NOT eat like I care about calories today! Christopher had his last ice skating class today in Wake Forrest. So we stopped at Chick-fil-a for lunch and then there is a lovely new Krispy Kreme right across the street so of course we NEEDED doughnuts-yeah right! But I of course still went and bought a dozen doughnuts and I must say there current feature doughnut the Pumpkin Spice is most excellent! I have eatin 2.

Back on the wagon...

the diet wagon that is. So my hubby has decided to seriously try to lose some weight, and I am so happy and proud of him. It also makes things easier on me because he is now eating what I am and I am not buying as much snack stuff, so there is less temptations. So far this week we have both done very well. I have been packing his lunch and snacks, for him right now he actually needs to eat more than usual since he is really bad about eating one or two huge meals and eating late at night. I am using the Biggest Loser 30-day jump start as a guide. Mainly because I just can't bring myself to eat about half of their menus, but I am being very careful about our calorie intake and greatly upping our fruit and veggies everyday! I have tried several new recipes this week and all but the pineapple pork(there is no picture of it because I couldn't get a got one), but here are pics of some of the stuff we have tried this week.

Blueberry bran muffins(Biggest Loser)












Tomato and Mozz pizza burger(Morning star veggie burger) w/ broiled asparagus














Keys style chicken,broiled asparagus w/ mozz, and baked spiced oranges













Garlic Steak w/ broiled asparagus and mixed roasted potatoes(w/ evoo and Cajun seasoning)




As you can see I have been on an asparagus kick this week, the burger was actually my lunch today though, so I only served it twice for dinner. I didn't weigh myself at the beginning of the week but I am pretty sure I have gained most if not all the weight I lost back in the last 2 months I will weigh tomorrow and see how ugly it is 8]

Chicken and Gnocchi soup

So, I have had this recipe for awhile and finally made it last night. It was very good! My husband said it was excellent and is definitely a do again recipe :) Of course I altered it a little because like usual I thought I had everything and didn't check until it was time to start cooking. I am posting the recipe as I got it and then at the bottom what I changed.

3-4 chicken breast cooked and diced
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups half and half
1 stalk of diced celery
1 garlic clove chopped
1/2 carrot shredded
1/2 onion diced
1 cup fresh spinach
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon thyme
salt and pepper
16 ounces of potato gnocchi

1. saute the onion, celery, carrot, garlic, in oil over med heat until onion is translucent
2. add chicken, chicken stock, half and half, salt and pepper, thyme. Heat to boiling, then add gnocchi Gently boil for 5 minutes, then turn down to a simmer for 10 minutes
3. Add spinach and cook for another 2 minutes until spinach is wilted


Towards the end, I did add just a few additional seasonings (randomly whatever was in my cabinet) and I also sprinkled a little Bisquick into the soup to thicken it up a little.

**CHANGES I MADE**
~I had skin on bone in chicken breast so they still had the tenders and rib meat, so after taking the meat off of 2 I had plenty of chicken. I think it I was using bl/sl chicken breast it would probably need 3-4.
~before cooking the chicken I diced it up and tossed it with a little bit of poultry seasoning
~Of course I did not have half and half so instead of using that and adding the bisquick I made a quick bechamel sauce w/ butter, flour, and whole milk to help the soup thicken and it was the perfect thickness for us.
~Instead of fresh spinach I used a whole box of frozen chopped spinach, which is way more than the recipe calls for but it really helps boost the fiber and iron content and probably made it a little more filling.

French Toast Casserole

Ingredients:

1 C firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 C(1 stick) butter
2 tbls light corn syrup
10 slices French Bread, about 1 inch thick
2 C milk
4 lg eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
1 quart fresh strawberries, cleaned, sliced
1 tblsp honey
1 tblsp lemon juice
confectioners' sugar

-place brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup in a med saucepan. Cook over low heat until mixture come to a boil; boil 1 minute. Pour into 13x9 inch baking dish. Arrange bread in single layer over sauce.
-combine milk, eggs, vanilla, and salt in a med bowl. Whisk until smooth. Pour over bread in dish. Cover; chill overnight.
-combine strawberries, honey, and lemon juice in a med bowl. Chill until ready to serve.
-Preheat oven to 350. Cook casserole until knife inserted in center comes out clean and bread is browned, 45-55 minutes. Sprinkle lightly with confectioners' sugar. Serve warm w/ strawberry mixture.

*I did this for dinner, so I put it together in the morning and let it sit all day and it was great. I didn't have a whole thing of strawberries so I did a mixed fruit on the side. Hope you enjoy if you try it!

Date night 1 of 2!

So I am posting pre-dinner because we are going out and won't be home til late. We are going to see Mama Mia at the DPAC :) And to make it even better we have tickets again tomorrow night!! Me and the kids got up and went to the museum today and had planned to walk the trail even though it was chilly, but because of a fire alarm we weren't able to go out on the trail :( We did spend an hr walking around the museum, but still not real excerise. I have been feeling kinda crappy today and hoping it is going to pass quickly w/o anyone else in my house getting it, my sinuses are messed up and my throat is bothering me some too. Food wise I have done well today, but we are going out to dinner before the show, I think Japanesse-which I am sooo excited about I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Japanesse :)

Breakfast:
Mini cinnamon rasin bagel w/ honey walnet spread
water
Lunch:
left over turkey burger on white bun w/ k, m, & p
orange
1 slice amish bread (I just couldn't resist it!)
water
Dinner:
I think will be Japanesse, most likely Chicken and steak w/ rice and mixed veggies
*I put the last handful of Raspberry Almond M&Ms in my purse to have as a snack at the show to both save me money and keep me from eating something even worse from the snack stand at the show.
Have a great night!

Happy Monday!

So, first things first, today was weigh day...I lost another 3.5 lbs!! I have to say I was very happy to find this this morning. I really thought I hadn't lost anything this week as I was great about my eating and I didn't excerise as much as I had hoped. It was a beautiful day today, but was also extremely wet from all the rain we got yesterday/last night. So unfortunately we did not get out and walk, because rather than being a nice relaxing walk I felt like it would be a stressful walk of Christopher jumping in every puddle we passes and it was a very bad night tonight so I didn't do a workout video after the kids were in bed. Just a quick cap of the night...Christopher locked me out of the house and Hailey had a blow out diaper during dinner that I didn't realize until I picked her up, which meant I had to give her another bath even though it was already 45 min past her bedtime.
Breakfast:
mini cinnamon rasin bagel w/ honey nut spread
water
Snack:
Oatmeal cranberry cookie
Lunch:
100 cal bag popcorn
1 slice amish bread
Snack:
3 mini muffins (made from the amish bread)
palm full of raspberry almond m&ms(these are most wonderful!!)
Dinner:
Grilled turkey burger, no cheese on a white bun, w/ K & M, pickle
chips and dip
*I made the burgers and they had 1 grated apple, 1 crated carrot, and 1 finely chopped onion, so I did get a little bit of veggie in :)

Much better day 5

So, first let me start by adding exercise time for last night. After I posted I was really wanting to snack, so instead I walked/jogged in place for 30 min while watching tv and drank 2 cups of water and I am happy to say...NO Snacking-yay me :)

Any who, back to today. First off, thankfully both me and the kids seemed to be out of the funk we had yesterday. It was such a beautiful day so I took the kids to some friends neighborhood and parked at their house and we walked to the park. So I got in a good 30 min walk this morning plus we spent 2.5 hrs on top of the walking time at the park. I again tonight after the kids went to bed spent 30 min walking/jogging in place while watching a show. So lots of moving today. I am hoping to take a long walk tomorrow morning with the kids if the weather is nice, hopefully it will hold out.
I did pretty good food wise today also. I made something different tonight, Taco Soup, it was soo yummy! Thanks Connie :) We ate pretty early tonight and the kids went to bed a little early to, and I was wanting a snack, so I went back and had another cup of the soup it was so good.
I am finding myself really wanting to step on the scale, but am waiting til Mon to weigh, since that will be a week. I know that they recommend only weighing once a week, but I really want to know if I have lost anything! At the same time, if I haven't, which I don't think I have yet, I don't want to discourage myself and take comfort in some wonderful chocolaty goodness :)
Breakfast:
1/2 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt w/ 1 tblsp cinnamon applesauce mixed in
water
Lunch:
100 cal popcorn
water
Snack:
1 orange w/ 1 tblsp chocolate syrup(only 50 cal) and I got my chocolate fix :)
Dinner:
Taco soup(made w/ ground turkey)
torilla chips
cheese
sour cream
water
Snack:
Coffee mug worth of taco soup w/ cheese and sour cream