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