Butternut squash-a Fall Season staple!

Here's how to peel and cut one-from here

Keep squash pieces as stable as possible while cutting. A rubber mallet can help, if you have one, to gently push the knife through difficult thick spots.

Ingredients

• One butternut squash, 1 1/2 to 3 pounds
• A sharp, heavy, chef's knife

Method

1 Using a heavy, sharpened chef's knife, cut off about 1/4-inch from the bottom of the squash in an even slice. Then cut off 1/4-inch from the stem end.

2 Holding the squash in one hand, use a sharp vegetable peeler in the other hand to peel off the outer layer of the squash. You can also secure the squash standing upright and peel it in downward strokes with the peeler. Stand the peeled squash upright on a cutting board. It shouldn't wobble, you want the squash to be stable. (If it is wobbly, make another cut at the bottom to even it out.) Make one long cut, down the middle from the top to bottom, with a heavy chef's knife. Some squashes can be pretty hard; to help with the cutting you can use a rubber mallet to gently tap on the ends of the knife to help push the knife down through the squash.

3 Use a metal spoon to scrape out the seeds and the stringy pulp from the squash cavity. (If you want, you can prepare the seeds like toasted pumpkin seeds.)

4 Lay the squash halves, cut side down on the cutting board for stability. Working section at a time, cut the squash into slices, lengthwise, the desired width of your squash pieces. Some recipes call for 1/2-inch slices or cubes, some for 1-inch or greater.

5 If you are cubing the squash, lay the slices down (you can stack a few at a time) and make another set of lengthwise cuts. Then make crosswise cuts to make cubes.

One 1 1/2 pound butternut squash will yield approximately 4 cups of 1/2-inch cubed squash.

Fall fruit salad

I made this salad last night for a dinner party I went to. I wanted it to be kind of festive, and I have to admit I wasn't sure if I would like it... but it's actually pretty good, and since you don't put the vinegar all over the salad (just everything but the greens) it keeps pretty well in the fridge and doesn't wilt.

Fall Fruit Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 Large Apple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2 inch cubes (I didn't peel it-I used Granny Smith)
  
• 1 Ripe Pear, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1/4 Cup Dried Cranberries (I used about a half cup)
  
• 1/4 Cup Walnuts
• 4 Ounces Firm Blue Cheese, crumbled (I used feta)
  
• 1/2 Red Onion, sliced thin (I used a little less)
  
• 2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
• Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper, to taste
• Mixed greens-optional (I used baby spinach + red leaf lettuce)
  

Preparation:

Place the walnuts on a cookie sheet and toast in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove, let cool, and roughly chop. In a large bowl, toss together all the ingredients. Serve plain or on a bed of mixed greens.

Food Tag

Let's face it.. who wouldn't want to know more about me?!

1. Jam, jelly, preserves, marmalade, fruit butter or butter. What’s on your toast or bread? Jam and/or butter.
2. What’s your favorite Kellogg’s product? Definitely pop-tarts-I used to eat them for breakfast all the time during high school and college since I would never wake up early enough to sit down and eat.
   
3. Egg salad or deviled eggs. How do you prepare? I like both, but only once in a while--like at Easter.
   
4. French fries. Do you make homemade or frozen? Neither - I only get them when I eat out.
5. Gravy. What do you use - homemade, jar, can or from a package? The only times I have ever made gravy have been from a package, which aren't bad...but I'm not a huge gravy person anyway.
   
6. Artichokes. Love em or leave em? Eh, they're ok.
   
7. What’s your favorite kind of bean? Green beans, black beans, pinto beans, refried beans. And I guess I like hummus, so garbanzo beans.
   
8. Potato Chips. What kind of chips are your favorite? I love Doritos! The ranch or cheese flavor.
   
9. What’s your favorite thing to dip chips in? Salsa or queso dip, but the tortilla chips, not above mentioned.
   
10. How do you make mashed potatoes? Usually from scratch, but occasionally use the good ol' food storage potato pearls in a pinch.
    
11. What do you drink to rehydrate in the heat or after working out? Water usually unless I'm going on a hike or on an extended outside trip and then I like gatorade too...
    
12. What’s the healthiest snack you eat? Fresh veggies and fruit from the garden--tomatoes, cucumbers, corn--and all fruit!
    
13. What is your favorite appetizer? Nachos, or fresh baked bread, or chips & salsa.
    
14. If you could travel anywhere to have a meal, where would you want to go and what would you want to eat.
    
15. What is your favorite candy? junior mints, butterfinger, swedish fish.
    
16. Cake. Buttercream, whipped cream or ice cream? Buttercream
17. Favorite kind of pizza. chicken alfredo or canadian bacon and pineapple
    
18. Weirdest food you've ever eaten. I tried escargot on a cruise i went on, and it was disgusting.
    
19. What food do you hate the most? mushrooms-any kind.
    
20. What meal do you prepare most often for guests? Big pot of soup and bread/rolls.

I tag: anyone who reads this!

Fresh Salsa

This is my absolute favorite salsa recipe, and even better that you don't have to cook it! All of the ingredients in it are somewhat mild so they don't completely overpower when you take a bite.

4 large tomatoes and
1 serrano pepper (add another if you want more heat)
together blended VERY WELL in the blender--no one wants a huge bite of one of these peppers, they are HOT!

4 large tomatoes, chopped
2 bunches green onions, finely chopped
1 small can diced green chili's
juice of 1 lemon
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
garlic salt, salt, and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients; chill.

This recipe is also very versatile--sometimes I like to add black beans and corn, and sometimes I add some chopped mango for a little sweetness. You can play with the amounts if you want as well-I don't always add the whole amount of onion and cilantro. If you want to be extra-fancy you can use orange and yellow tomatoes along with red....makes it very pretty!

Do make sure that you use garlic salt and not fresh minced garlic-the raw garlic taste would be too much! And last but not least, don't worry if when you first taste it that it doesn't seem hot enough because the longer it sits, the hotter it gets!

Rosemary chicken skewers with berry sauce

It seems I like food on sticks. I also like mixing sweet with savory....so when I saw this recipe it definitely got my attention. And like my other skewer recipe I have on here; it could be used as either an appetizer or paired with something else for a main dish.

A while ago I was making something using fresh rosemary and got a little carried away; which resulted in the whole dish tasting like a sprig of rosemary. So when using this herb fresh I am a little careful and did not use the full 2 tablespoons. It still tasted great so I will probably do the same when I make this in the future.

For the chicken:

• 4-6 boneless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 2 tablespoons of chopped, fresh rosemary
• 1/4 cup of dry white wine or vermouth
• 1 teaspoon of pepper
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil

For the sauce:

• 1 3/4 cup of fresh or frozen blackberries or boysenberries
• 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons of red currant jelly (or berry jam or jelly)
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

Method

1 Cut the chicken into 1 1/2 inch pieces and place in a bowl. Mix with the wine, oil, rosemary, and pepper. Cover and set aside to marinate in the refrigerator for one hour.

2 Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade, reserving the marinade. Thread the chicken onto skewers and season generously with salt.

3a Grilling Preheat the grill for direct high heat. Brush the grill grates with olive oil. Place chicken skewers on grill and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Place on a platter and cover with foil to allow the chicken to rest.

3b Broiling Preheat the broiler. Place skewers on an oiled broiling pan, 5 to 6 inches away from the burner. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Place on a platter and cover with foil to allow the chicken to rest.

4To make the sauce, place the marinade and the berries in a sauce pan and simmer gently until the berries are soft. Press through a strainer and discard the pulp.

5 Return the juice and marinade mixture to the pan. Add the vinegar, jelly, and nutmeg and bring to a boil. Simmer, uncovered until it has reduced by about 1/3 to a light syrup-like consistency.

Plate the skewers and spoon the sauce over the chicken. Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Announcement

So it's been a really long time since I have posted! I will try to be better in the future. In the meantime, the lack of posts probably have lost all my readers. However, if you do still read this, then you will be the first to know that I am pregnant! ...and sick :( So this post is dedicated to all those who suffer from morning sickness and I am giving you the foods that make me less sick and ones to stay away from and hopefully keep your head out of the toilet!

#1 Blueberry eggo waffles (unless you drink to much milk with them). I have eaten them about 4-5 days a week for breakfast for the last month and a half..

#2 Grilled cheese sandwiches. I'd say I eat one of these for lunch about 4-5 days a week.

#3. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I usually end up eating these after I have thrown up because they seem to settle my stomach. Maybe I should try eating them before.

#4 Popsicle twin pops. I can't seem to get enough of these-I eat at least 1 a day, if not 2 or 3 a day. Cold things make my tummy feel better.

#5 Superpretzel frozen pretzels. These are good-they are like the big fat fluffy pretzels that you get at like fairs or whatever. They even come with their own salt packets. Just enough blandness to keep your stomach calm, but still taste good.

#6 Fresh fruit. Nectarines, grapes, raspberries, blueberries, and cherries are the best in my opinion.

#7 Plain toast with butter. On the days I don't eat waffles, this is what I have...pretty boring huh.

Things NOT to eat:

#1 Anything fried

#2 Ranch dressing

#3 Mexican food

#4 Tomato sauce, v-8, or anything tomato-too acidic

#5 Milk or ice cream. I know, sad, but milk products don't work well in my tummy right now.

#6 Chocolate..even sadder

#7 Diet coke or any diet drink. The fake sugar after taste seems to be heightened and makes me sick.

So, there ya go, hope it helps!

Know your fats

You hear people say that you should be eating "good fats" and staying away from "bad fats" ...but do you actually know why or what...or how?

All fats have the same amount of calories, but they vary in their chemical compositions and effects on health.

The good:
Polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, omega 3 fatty acids.
These fats help to lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) while increasing HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol). These fats are found mainly in fish, nuts, seeds and oils from plants. Examples of foods that contain these good fats: salmon, trout, herring, avocados, olives, walnuts, peanuts, pistachios, almonds and liquid vegetables oils like soybean, corn, safflower, canola, olive, and sunflower.

The bad:
Saturated fats.
Saturated fat is the main dietary cause of high blood cholesterol; they raise the levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol. Saturated fat is found mostly in foods from animals and some plants. Foods from animals include beef, beef fat, veal, lamb, pork, butter, cream, milk, cheeses and other dairy products made from whole and 2 percent milk. All of these foods also contain dietary cholesterol. Foods from plants that contain saturated fat include coconut, coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil (often called tropical oils), and cocoa butter.

The ugly:
Trans-fats and hydrogenated fats.
Trans fats are invented as scientists began to "hydrogenate" liquid oils so that they can withstand better in food production process and provide a better shelf life. As a result of hydrogenation, trans fatty acids are formed. Trans fatty acids are found in many commercially packaged foods, commercially fried food such as french fries from some fast food chains, other packaged snacks such as microwaved popcorn, crackers, chips and as well as in vegetable shortening and hard stick margarine.

So the moral of the story is: eat all fat in moderation, but eat more of poly/mono unsaturated fats, eat less of saturated fats, try to stay away from trans/hydrogenated fats, and we'll all be ok. :)

Whole wheat pizza crust dough

I use this recipe in my bread maker, and it makes the BEST (and easiest) pizza crust ever! And as a plus it does not need to spend all day and night rising!

1 thick or 2 thin 12-inch crusts

1 cup lukewarm water
2 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose or bread flour
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

If using your bread maker; use the pizza dough selection.

If you are not using a bread maker then do the following:
Combine all ingredients in your mixer until it forms a ball-if it's too sticky add a little flour, to dry-at a little water. Knead dough for about 15-20 minutes (or let your mixer do it), and let it rise (covered) for about a half hour, then punch it down.

For both methods:
Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Divide in half (if making 2 crusts) and press into a 12-inch pizza pan. Generously prick dough with a fork.
Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until edges begin to turn light brown. Remove, add desired toppings and return to oven to bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Use any topping your heart desires! My favorites are ham and fresh pineapple, or tomatoes and fresh basil. Brandon's favorite: pepperoni.

*image via flickr: user gym

St. Patrick's Day Key Lime Pie

Now I know this is not a reduced fat/calorie recipe, but I figured since it was a holiday it would be ok!

I got this recipe from a cookbook I have called "The Great American Cookbook" featuring recipes from all over the U.S. such as: southern fried chicken, oysters rockefeller, boston beans, mississippi mud pie, and my feature for today, key lime pie!

The other day when I was at the store I saw what I thought was Key Limes (they come in a bag of green netting) which was what inspired me to make this dessert today.....but when I went back I found they were not Key Limes, but organic limes instead. So I just used the ones I found, and it tastes great anyways!

Crumb Crust:
6 oz. graham crackers or gingersnap cookies
2 tbsp. super fine sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
6 tbsp. butter, melted

Filling:
1 3/4 cups canned sweetened condensed milk (about a can and a half)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
finely grated rind of 3 limes
4 large egg yolks

freshly whipped cream to serve

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-inch pie plate.

For crumb crust: put the graham crackers, sugar, and cinnamon into a food processor and process until fine crumbs form-do not overprocess to a powder. Add the melted butter and process again until moistened.

Tip the crumb mixture into the pie plate and press over the bottom and up the sides. Place the pie plate on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, beat the condensed milk, lime juice, lime rind, and egg yolks together until well blended.

Remove crumb crust from the oven, pour in the filling, and spread to the edges. Return to the oven for and additional 15 minutes or until the filling is set around the edges but still wobbly in the center. Let cool completely on a cooling rack, then cover and let chill for at least 2 hours. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

We're back!

Well we had a great time, and are back home now!
I have to confess that I DID NOT do a very good job on my diet over the weekend. Me: "man, my stomach hurts bad, and I didn't have any candy today...well except for the m&m's in my trail mix, oh and the 4 chocolate chip cookies I ate after lunch." Oops.
However, I did do lots of exercise consisting of:

1. The wheeler push; my brother got stuck in the sand, so I got off my 4 wheeler to push his out..very tiring.
2. The vending machine dash; the coke machine near our campsite had a little problem...each can of soda was supposed to be a dollar, but if you put a dollar in and pushed as many buttons as you could while it was "thinking" then you got all of those drinks from the buttons you pushed...spent lots of time running back and forth from there, because sometimes pushing a button randomly would result in a free drink as well..
3. The 2-year-old scramble; included running after said child (children if you include my 2 year old niece as well as my 2 year old daughter) saving them from the fire, from oncoming 4 wheeler traffic, from eating sand, eating too many marshmallows, from trying to drive the scooter by themselves (that's you olivia), etc. etc. etc.

It was a great trip!

see ya next week!

I will be out of town until next week, don't miss me too much!

South Seas Kebabs

I got this recipe from a cookbook that was printed in England- the ingredients have funny names (like aubergines for eggplant and courgette for zucchini) and the amounts are measured metrically. So being the nice and helpful person I am, converted everything into a language that us here a'mercan folks can read.

1 pound rump steak, cut in 3/4 inch pieces (or any lean cut of beef)
1 ripe papaya, seeded and cut into 1 inch cubes (use mango or pineapple if you want)
1 red or green pepper, cubed

Honey ginger glaze:
6 ounces chicken stock
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 Tbs finely chopped fresh ginger
1 Tbs honey
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1 Tbs cornstarch mixed with
1 Tbs water

Puree one third of the papaya in a blender. Set the remaining cubes aside. Mix the beef and papaya puree in a shallow dish. Cover the dish and marinate the beef in the fridge for 1-2 hours.

For the glaze, combine the stock, onion, garlic, ginger, honey, salt, and pepper in a small pan over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for 3-4 minutes. Stir in the cornstarch/water mixture and continue cooking and stirring until it thickens- 1-2 minutes. Remove the glaze from heat and set it aside.

To assemble kebabs thread cubes of beef, papaya, and pepper onto four 12 inch skewers.

On a pre-heated grill, cook the kebabs for 3 minutes. Turn them and cook for 3 minutes more. Brush with glaze and cook them for 1 minute. Turn the kebabs once more, brush them with glaze and cook for another minute. Transfer the kebabs to a platter and brush with remaining glaze. Serve immediately.

Serve on it's own for an appetizer, or with {brown}rice and green salad for a yummy dinner.

Burrito, healthy style!

There are ways to eat your favorite foods, they just need a little tweaking!

Whole wheat flour tortillas
ground turkey
taco seasoning
cheese of your choice (use mozzarella for a less-fat option-tastes surprisingly good!)
green cabbage, cut thinly
diced tomatoes, salsa, or pico de gallo
Reduced fat or fat-free sour cream
*Favorite hot sauce

Cook the ground turkey like you would ground beef, and add the taco season as directed on the package, then assemble like you would any burrito!
Use a little less meat and a little less cheese, and pile on the veggies! Using cabbage gives it the crunch like lettuce does, but has a lot more fiber and fills you up better than lettuce would.
If you want to omit the meat altogether and make a veggie burrito, add in some black beans-they contain the protein you'd be missing from meat, and also have extra fiber...yeah for fiber!

*my favorite is the hot sauce pictured.

the science of shedding a pound

The *average person needs approximately 2000 calories a day to sustain body weight--this is why you see on most food labels that all the health information says "based on a 2000 calorie per day diet". (Meaning, if you were to sit and rest for 1 day, your body would burn 2000 calories on it's own, so therefore, eating 2000 calories a day would even it out and maintain your weight)....in theory of course.

The average pound of body fat equates to approximately 3500 calories.
So if you deficit your daily calories by 500 to 1500 calories a day, and burn 500 calories through exercise you would be losing a total of 7,000 calories per week, which equals a loss of 2 pounds per week. (Maybe this will help you understand why losing more than 2 pounds per week is said to be unhealthy. Anymore then 2 would cause you to eat to little and/or exercise too much.)

Losing weight slowly is the key. You always hear that you want to implement a "lifestyle change" instead of just a plain old diet. Well, it's true! Everyone knows--especially us moms, that there are days where you have to do what you have to do, whether it be skipping the gym one day, or stopping at McDonald's another day (for the sake of the kids, of course). Implementing a healthier diet and smaller portions day-to-day will keep the weight off (or lose it), and then when the time comes to go out to a restaurant, go to a party, or PMS... it will not matter as much in the scheme of things.

*2000 calories is just an estimation, everybody's bodies burn calories at a different rate.

Cran-Raz Smoothie

12 ounces cranberry juice (choose the no sugar added, or 'light' kind)
1 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 large scoop light raspberry sherbet (use non-fat frozen yogurt if you want)
1/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1/2 cup crushed ice

Throw all ingredients into the blender...and blend until smooth (or your desired consistency). You can interchange ingredients as long as the liquid/solid ratios are mostly the same. For example: use orange juice instead of cranberry juice, toss in half a banana, and use frozen peaches instead of blueberries.
These types of smoothies are low-fat and good for you, but keep in mind drinking Jamba-sized portions can make the calories add up (although drinking a huge portion is definitely better then a big mac and fries). I recommend drinking a 12 ounce portion of this and maybe a handful of almonds, or half a bagel with light cream cheese for easy breakfast on-the-go.

good to know!

I was browsing some fitness information and came across this place that calculates the average amount of calories burned during certain activities...here some that I thought might be beneficial for you to know!

housework-60 minutes = 180 calories
sex- 60 minutes = 270 calories
shopping- 60 minutes = 150 calories
stroll in the park (walking 2mph) 60 minutes = 168 calories
chasing after 2 year old (walking 5mph) 60 minutes = 498 calories
gardening (it's that time of year!) 60 minutes = 345 calories
brushing teeth- 10 minutes = 28 calories
laundry/folding clothes- 60 minutes= 144 calories
making dinner (as long as you don't eat it while you cook it) 60 minutes= 147 calories
playing cards- 60 minutes = 117 calories

kristen's cacciatore

I believe I got this recipe from my mom (I don't know where she got it from), but I've changed it so much I think I can officially call it my own!

1 large can diced tomato (you can use italian style if you want)
1 large can pureed tomato
1 small can tomato paste
2 cooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
1 large onion, cut in thin rings
1 green pepper, cut in thin strips
1 red pepper, cut in thin strips
1-2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
dash red pepper flakes (optional)
salt & pepper to taste

Put skillet on medium-high heat and spray good with pam then add the onion and peppers; cook until tender-make sure you are stirring often so they don't burn (I know this by experience). Add all of the tomatoes, garlic, parsley, oregano, salt and pepper; stir until combined and the tomato paste has mixed in well, then add chicken. Simmer on low heat for at least 10 minutes. Serve over [brown] rice.

the chef's (that's me) notes:
This is one of those recipes that you can't really mess up-You can add more (or leave it out) chicken or more onion, etc. if you want to. I like to use fresh garlic and parsley, but tastes great if you don't have it on hand. It's a great recipe for grilled chicken leftovers as well! Most chicken cacciatore recipes call for mushrooms, but since I despise them I don't put any in, but if you like them-add a few!

Serves 4