Healthy Butterfinger Shake!

I am in week 10 now of the Revolt Now Fitness program. After a down month in June - I still blame Tababtas - I am feeling totally re-energized this month! There was one big bright spot in the June plan, however, the Butterfinger Shake. 

It is beyond yummy. I think I am going to drink it every day of my life. It's also exceptionally easy to make.

Ingredients

1 frozen Banana
1 cup unsweetened almond-coconut milk
1 tbsp. natural peanut butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 scoop chocolate peanut butter (or chocolate) protein powder
1 tbsp. fat free/sugar free butterscotch jello pudding
dash of salt
stevia to taste

But them in a blender and blend away!

So go, try this shake, seriously.

Meanwhile, I am taking it up a level this week. Doing the hardest level of exercises, even doing two work-outs a day a couple of times. I am aiming for three solid runs (two down...), and going to try to find some reasonable priced dumb-bells so I can move up to 12 lbs.

I'm pushing myself this week, are you?

Coconut Curry Slow Cooker Chicken

Disclaimer: I was given free access to this program in return for blog posts. All opinions are my own.

Last week I wrote about how much I loved the Coconut Curry Slow Cooker Chicken as part of the Revolt Fitness plan. I promised to give you the recipe, so here it is! It is simple, healthy and yummy!

Ingredients:

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 tablespoon curry powder

Salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 cup thinly sliced white onion

1/2 cup thinly slice red bell pepper

1/2 cup organic chicken broth

1 14 oz. can lite cocnut milk

capers

Put in slow cooker on high for 3 hours.

Serve over 1/2 cup basmati rice, garnish with capers. 

Serve!

I'm amazed that every week there are great recipes to keep things interesting! This week I'm eating BBQ chicken with sweet potato fries and lava cakes ~ while still losing weight and building muscle.

My Panamanian Meal #pcweek2013

When I heard that I was going to Latin America for the Peace Corps - I got really excited. Palm trees, warm weather, salsa dancing, and great food. I had visions of tasty food, filled with exotic spices, black beans, mangoes, tomatoes, cilantro...ah, the dreams. The reality? much different! Panamanian food - at least in my fishing village was pretty much as bland as bland could be!

Now, don't get me wrong. I LOVE the warm culture of the Panamanian people! I love the palm trees, the coconuts, the ocean breezes. I love the laughter and the yelling. I don't love the food :) But I decided, for nostalgia's sake to recreate the meal that I ate EVERY day (yes, really). At least every day that I was in my village.

My Panamanian meal!  Tomatoes, Cabbage (with mayo), Patacones (double-fried plantains), Avocado (or whatever was in season), rice and fried fish. It was actually pretty easy to recreate!




Ingredients: Oil (lots!), Rice, Garlic, Onions, Water, Chicken Bouillon, cabbage, mayo, salt, pepper, tomato, plantain, fish!

1) Rice - In a pan, add oil, saute garlic and onions (I forgot the onions!) - once browned, add in 1 cup of rice and mix until covered with oil. Add 1.5 cups of water and a little bouillon, once boiling put heat on low, cover and cook until water is gone!

2) Cabbage salad (oh my god, every day!) - Chop up cabbage, mix liberally with mayo, add salt and pepper. Top with sliced tomato! I couldn't believe that "salad" always meant cabbage and mayo!

3) Patacones (the healthiest part :P). Get a green plantain - peel with a knife (wash your hands, they stain!). Cut into evenly thick pieces. Drop into enough hot oil to cover the pieces. Once slightly cooked, remove from oil. Use something (we always used a can - I'm sure there are more sophisticated options!) to flatten the plantain slices. Put back into oil for 1-2 minutes. Remove from oil add salt!

4) Fish - re-use patacones oil - add fish, fry! I bought de-boned fish without the skin. Normally I would eat an entire fish fried whole. Fun to pick out the bones, oh yes! And to eat the eyes - yuck!

5) Cut an avocado in half and add it to the plate! Tada! - now you have the meal I ate for two years (more or less)! And don't forget a whole glass of water, but not until you eat all your dinner, you wouldn't want to ruin your appetite :)

Now, some things changed depending on the season - lobster, avocado, crab, shrimp, papaya - but the core of the meal was always, always the same. Rice, rice, rice, fish, cabbage, plantains and a big glass of water. It was actually fun to re-create it, and I enjoyed it! Biggest surprise? The tastiest part was the mayo and cabbage :) It's not so bad when you don't have to eat it every day!

It brought back great memories! What meals do you eat that are inspired from other countries?

Ode to Oatmeal

When A was a baby, I ate oatmeal every.single.day. I got to be very, very tired of oatmeal. But I am ready to have it back as part of my diet. I've been experimenting with different kinds of oatmeal - instant, steel-cut, coconut, fruity - it's been kind of fun.

My favorite instant - great to grab and eat at work!

Quaker Real Medleys Oatmeal: Apple Walnut, Peach Almond, Summer Pistachio & Summer Berry

I tried Apple Walnut Oatmeal - which had real dried apples, cranberries and walnuts. All you had to do was add water and microwave. It was incredibly tasty, and didn't have that sickeningly sweet taste of most flavored instant oatmeal.

It's a great source of fiber (one of the reasons I eat oatmeal in the first place) and though it might be a tad high in sodium, some of the other flavors are significantly lower. By far my favorite of the instant oatmeal that I have tried!



My favorite if you have a little more time...

"Almond Joy" - Easy, yummy and good for you - even the dark chocolate, I swear!

1. Take 1/2 cup regular oats and let it soak in 1 cup of coconut milk over night.
2. Prepare the oatmeal as you normally would in the morning, adding a bit more liquid if you need. 
3. Add shredded coconut, almond slices and a few dark chocolate chips on top. 

Oatmeal really is a great way to start the day - let me know if you have any other great recipes to try!

Easy Weeknight Appetizer

I'm just going to point out that my husband is awesome!

He has been full of creative ideas for what to do with holiday leftovers. We generally make lots of cranberry, brie and turkey sandwiches. Yum. Yum. So now that we are getting down to the end of the leftovers, we decided to see what else we could do creatively!

What do you do when you get home at 6 pm, the little guy needs to eat, get a bath, and you are starving? Make this easy recipe :)



1. Buy some fresh bread - or make it!
2. Toasted Pecans - 350 for 2-4 minutes.
2. Cover bread with Brie Cheese in thin slices.
3. Toast pecans. Spread over the Brie.
4. Bake at 325 for 4-5 minutes.
5. Spread Cranberry on top!

Enjoy - Even the little guy enjoyed it!

Sweet Butternut Squash

I can't believe how quickly Thanksgiving is approaching this year! I also can't believe the exciting vegetable coming out of my garden :) So i decided to try out a side dish recipe for Thanksgiving - using  the vegetables from my own yard!

My Latest Harvest

Ingredients:

• 1 large butternut squash, quartered lengthwise
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preparation:

Scoop seeds out of butternut squash. Arrange butternut squash pieces, cut-side down, in a large baking dish. Pour hot water in the baking dish to a depth of about 1/4-inch. Bake butternut squash at 350° for 50 to 60 minutes, or until tender. Cool squash; peel.

Cut squash into 1/2-inch slices and place in a 9x13x2-inch baking dish. Pour butter and honey over squash, then sprinkle with pecans and cinnamon. Return to oven and bake for 15 to 25 minutes, until butternut squash is glazed and hot.

Oh, and make some bread to go along! I found this awesome bread recipe that I will have to share with you soon!

Fourth Anniversary - Flower Dessert!

Every year, when my anniversary rolls around, I do my duty and look up what I’m supposed to get for my husband. The first years were just a bit odd – paper, leather, cotton – but I quickly came up with some creative ideas. This fourth year, however, had me stumped. Flowers. I couldn’t just go with the obvious, so it took me quite some time to figure out a solution.

My husband does not like “stuff,” therefore I couldn’t get him anything permanent that would just sit around the house. However, he does like dessert (definitely doesn’t stay around the house for a long time). So lo and behold, I decided to find a recipe for a dessert that had flowers involved J I can’t wait to share the “Anniversary Flower Dessert” with you!

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients:

4 pieces of Pound cake

½ gallon ice cream

½ package of oreo cookies

1 package of gummy worms

Other Things you’ll need:

Small flower pots, coffee mugs or

4 Straws

Fresh cut flowers

1. Cut the pound cake into rounds to fit in the bottom of your container. Make the pound cake the bottom layer in the container. Lightly press to make sure it is all the way down.

I took the extra pieces and put them in the bottom of the mug for me :) *If you use a flower pot, you can line it with aluminum foil if you wish!

2. Insert straw into the middle of the pound cake and cut off 1/2 inch from the top

3. Now grab your favorite ice cream, let it soften on the counter or put it in the microwave for 20 seconds, and spoon it into the container. Work around the straw until it almost reaches the top of the straw. Make sure to hide a worm or 2 in the ice cream with it's head peaking out!

5. Put the oreo cookies in the food processor until the look like dirt! You can also crush them in a ziploc bag for a low tech solution. Spoon the dirt (lots of it!) over the ice cream making sure not to plug up the straw hole. Now put it back in the freezer to re-harden the ice cream!

6. When you are ready to serve - place the flower in the straw and then cover the top of the straw with dirt so it isn't visible. Ready to serve :)

Enjoy! I know we did ~ Love you honey!

Crockpot and Molten Lava Chocolate!

I'm not sure if anyone else has a significant other addicted to chocolate, but I do. I am always keeping my eye out for creative ways to use chocolate :) Or new easy recipes for chocolate desserts. So this week, I came across a crockpot lava cake recipe. At first, this puzzled me. Dessert in a crockpot? That seems many ways of wrong. However, I know my husband likes lava cake, and his birthday may be coming up, so I decided to try it!

Here is the recipe and my results :)

Cake Ingredients:
2 C. Brown Sugar

2 C. All-purpose Flour
6 Tbsp. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
4 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Salt
1 C. Milk
4 Tbsp. Butter, melted
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 C. Semisweet chocolate chips.

Molten Lava Sauce Ingredients:
1 1/2 C. Brown Sugar
1/2 C. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
3 C. Boiling Water

Step 1: Make the cake!
- Mix the dry ingredients (brown sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt) in the crockpot
- Stir in milk, butter, vanilla and chocolate chips until smooth
- Spread evenly

Step 2: Make the Lava Sauce :)
- Mix together Brown Sugar and Cocoa and sprinkle over mixture in crockpot
- Pour Boiling Water over the mixture. Do Not Stir!

Step 3: Cook in Crockpot
- Cover and cook on high for 2-2.5 hours (this is a very long time to wait!)

Step 4: Serve
- Uncover and turn off heat. Let sit for 20 minutes
- ENJOY!

Yum, yum, yum!

Tasty Thursday - Pesto!

So Sunday was a day of cooking! First, I made some awesome guacamole...but forgot to take pics and before I even blinked, it was gone...

So, this post will be about the awesome pesto I made next. 

I went out to my garden and picked 2 cups of loosely packed basil!

(Isn't it pretty?)

Combine the basil with:

Salt to taste

1/2 to 2 cloves of crushed garlic

1/4 cup virgin olive oil

and....

2 tablespoons lightly toasted pine nuts (in a dry skillet)

Blend...oh yes, and if you have a sleeping baby, or a baby afraid of blenders...you plug the blender in outside, in your yard, and blend, stopping to scrape down the sides adding another 1/4 cup of oil gradually.

Stir in 1/2 cup parmesan cheese right before serving

...and toss with favorite pasta...I ate it too fast to take a picture, but it is very very yummy. :)

Speaking of Making Lemonade...

Our front courtyard is the best part of the yard (I'll save the saga of the backyard for another day). It is sunny, has strawberries, lavender, succulents - a perfect place to enjoy the California sun. One of the best things about this part of the yard is the mature Meyer lemon tree. While not as tart as regular lemons, they are excellent for lemonade. We planted other citrus trees but I doubt they'll be producing before we move. My husband now makes a mean lemonade. And this year the tree has decided to produce a second crop, so I see more lemonade in our future!

The perfect winter lemonade (yes, that is when our tree produces fruit):
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
10 oz. lemon juice
3.5 cups cold water to dilute

- Make simple syrup by heating the sugar and water in a small saucepan until completely dissolved.
- Extract juice from 4-6 lemons.
- Add juice from lemons and simple sugar to a pitcher. Then add the cold water. Refrigerate 30-40 minutes.

Enjoy!