The Nifty Foodie

Amy

Less than a week?!?

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I can’t believe Thanksgiving is less than a week away! The hubs and I are so very excited to have our families spend their holiday in our little house. We’re having 11 people over! It’s unbelievable.

At first, I was really trying to plan how to make all of the food, but over the past week, our parents have really insisted on bringing more and more food. It’s to the point to where we are only making about 1/2 of the food that we originally planned on making. To me, that’s fabulous, because I have more time to make the house pretty!

This weekend, I plan on putting up our tree. I know it’s early, but really, my family never has seen our house in full-on holiday glory, so I’m giving that to them (and me…I love Christmas!).

I’m excited about all of the little last minute preparations that we’ll be doing, including:

  1. washing/ironing cloth napkins (which we’ve never used before!)
  2. setting table up with the cute decorations I have planned
  3. buying cheap dollar store food containers so we can push tons of food away to family
  4. the grocery shopping
  5. making a plan for how the food will be laid out
  6. decorating the inside of the house for Christmas (don’t judge)

Are you excited about Thanksgiving?

Skinny Holiday Baking: Pumpkin Scones

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I do enjoy baking from scratch, but sometimes, I’m up for trying shortcuts. I found this recipe by perusing the Weight Watchers boards, because I wanted to try something a little different than pumpkin bread for breakfast.

This was a pretty good scone, but I think the recipe needs a little work. I think next time, I’m going to try brown sugar, more white sugar and more spices. I also didn’t have Splenda, which was recommended for the recipe, so I subbed sugar.

This was also a fairly wet batter, so I couldn’t really shape these like traditional scones. I ended up using a large cookie scoop to scoop individual scones out, and it worked out fine.

Pumpkin Scones
Source: adapted from a Weight Watchers forum

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups Bisquick Heart smart mix
  • 1/3 cup mini choc chips (omitted to save calories)
  • 6 packets of Splenda (used 4 tbsp. sugar)
  • 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin
  • 1 egg
  • 3 tbsp. skim milk

Directions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl with a whisk.
  3. Mix pumpkin, egg and milk in a separate bowl and add to dry ingredients. Mix until just combined.
  4. Using a large cookie scoop, place scones about 2″ apart on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until the scones start to brown on top.

The Skinny: per serving, serves 8

Calories: 124.4
Fat: 2.6 g
Fiber: 1.5 g

I Cheat Sometimes!

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Everytime I vow to lose this weight, there is a temptation coming. Sometimes, I do it before my birthday, when there are ever-flowing frozen margaritas and delicious cakes to attack. Sometimes, I do it before Mardi Gras (which happens to be around new years)…hello, KING CAKE?

Right now, I’m doing it before the holidays. God forbid I start a diet before the holidays! I mean there’s sweet potato pie, eggnog, potatoes with gravy…ooo, GRAVY!

I feel like I’m a disservice to everyone else around me when I start my diet.

Two things typically happen in social events. I’m sure I’m not alone here!

  1. You go for that one tiny sliver of pizza and your friend sees you. They say, “That’s all you’re having?” You say, “Yes, I just wanted to TRY this…” They say, “Well, you already cheated today, might as well eat some more.” Ugh…
  2. You’re at a nice dinner with family and you fill your plate halfway. Still considered a normal portion by dieticians (and is still cheating because of the 4 sticks of butter they put in the dish). However, this half plate isn’t good enough..you were known to eat two plates FULL of this stuff before.  So, you’re asked if there is something wrong with the dish or if you didn’t like it. GREAT…now the host’s feelings are hurt. Seriously…ugh!

Yes, I cheat. It happens, but don’t force me to blow my day or my week, because your food is some sort of amazing. I can have two bites of the amazingness and it’s still FINE! Erg…portion control all the way!

It just peeves me so hard when I do slip that people surrounding me do not support my efforts. It’s impossible to be perfect, and if I try to be perfect, I’m just going to fall off that wagon even harder when I finally do.

This holiday season, I will be the picky one barely eating at my plate until I’m satisfied. No more unbuttoning pants, unable to move after eating. This time, it will be different…and I hope I don’t hurt anyone’s feelings.

Here’s some portion control tips I will be keeping in mind for the upcoming holidays…I will not gain this holiday season!

Does anyone else feel this way around the holidays with your diet plan?

Remembering Some Goals

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I always tend to forget something in life. Today, fellow blogger, e. louise, blogged about her newly written 101 in 1001 days list. Guess who has a list that’s over a year old? Yep, me.

Have I kept up with it? Not much since the wedding…shameful!

It’s time to revisit my list. Talk about overwhelming!

Bolded tasks are finished, italicized are in progress and normal has not been attempted.

1. send Christmas cards to all family and friends for 2009 and 2010
2. help my sister rearrange her room before I move (won’t ever be done…moved)
3. take my mom to a travelling broadway show
4. have my parents meet my fiance’s parents
5. take sisters out to dinner and a movie
6. buy handmade or make all Christmas gifts for family and friends one year
7. practice clarinet again to get back into the hobby (played for 11 years)
8. write Thank You notes to everyone who sends me a gift this Christmas and next birthday (wedding is a given)
9. donate blood 4 times (0/4)
10. eat RAW sushi
11. live like a college kid and stay up until 4am! (Thank you Men’s Basketball in the Summer Olympics!)
12. take a shower in two minutes (Navy shower) – Thank you Hurricane Gustav..I hate COLD showers!
13. write a whole novel during NaNoWriMo (National November Writing Month)
14. floss everyday for a month
15. take boudoir pictures
16. try 5 things that I’ve hated since I was a child (2/5)
       * tried red beans & rice on Saturday, August 23rd. It was OK…
       * tried squash on Saturday October 18th…eww!
17. take the GRE
18. change my last name
19. start an etsy business
20. use nothing but reusable grocery bags for 50 grocery trips (0/50)
21. use a whitening system on my teeth
22. no internet for 5 weekends (0/5)
23. drive the speed limit for 5 days (0/5)
24. play 5 video games with him (3/5)
    * played Buzz with him..fun quiz game!
    * played Jeopardy
    * played Wheel of Fortune
25. beat him in Scrabble (kicked his booty on 9/27/09)
26. do it (duh!)
27. serve him breakfast in bed on his birthday
28. surprise him 10 times (1/10)
29. be adventurous and go brunette (after the wedding)
30. join the YMCA with him
31. start a workout regime together
32. make him his favorite dinner and dessert by request
33. mow the grass for him
34. make scrapbook of senior year at LSU
35. cross stitch baby sampler for pregnant friend
36. knit a pair of socks
37. learn how to use a sewing machine
38. sew a pair of PJ pants
39. make T-Shirt quilt from old college shirts
40. make a necklace and set of earrings (September 2008)
41. successfully use a GOCCO machine
42. cross stitch the Christmas bear wreath I started last year
43. reach 240s
44. reach 230s
45. reach 220s
46. reach 210s
47. reach 200s
48. reach 190s
49. reach 180s
50. reach 170s
51. be able to lift 50 lb. weights in a shoulder press
52. take vitamins everyday for 20 weeks (0/20)
53. exercise at least 4 times a week for 20 weeks in a row (0/20)
54. give up caffeine for a full month
55. complete the couch to 5K program
56. do Jillian’s 30 day shred for 30 days STRAIGHT
57. not weigh myself for 30 days (rely on measurements)
58. do a whole spinning class
59. drink nothing but water for a month
60. give up refined sugar for a week
61. start a weight loss blog (newlywed blog w/ weight loss in it – theniftynewlywed.wordpress.com)
62. make a tiered cake
63. cook 4 times/week for 20 weeks (0/20)
64. make a good pot of Gumbo
65. make caramel candies
66. make dog treats for Dixie
67. successfully make my own homemade vanilla extract
68. successfully bake a loaf of crawfish bread
69. learn to make Memaw’s spaghetti and meatballs
70. make a full-on holiday meal for the family
71. not watch Food Network for a whole week!!
72. make fresh pasta
73. make homemade ice cream
74. take a knife skill class (I cut myself too often)
75. update food blog 20 times in one month
76. make fruit roll-ups
77. make beef jerky
78. go to a Pampered Chef party
79. make an original recipe 🙂
80. make a cookie bouquet
81. smoke and BBQ a piece of meat
82. start saving for a baby fund!
83. reach 5k invested in 401K/Roth
84. reach 10k invested in 401K/Roth
85. reach 15k invested in 401K/Roth
86. save up an e-fund of AT LEAST $2,000
87. pay off current car
88. own a share in stock
89. make a budget and stick to it for 12 months (4/12)
90. save enough for wedding to where there is no debt after May 23, 2009
91. start an herb garden
92. recycle diligently for 4 weeks (0/4)
93. clean out attic
94. put up curtains throughout the house
95. finish personal craft room
96. make a patio into more than a concrete block
97. make a flower garden in the front
98. attend church every Sunday for 30 weeks consecutively to develop a habit (0/30)
99. receive the sacrament of Holy Matrimony
100. go to reconciliation 5 times (0/5)
101. pray everyday for a month (0/30 or 31)

I still have a long way to go, but I have until 5/6/2011 to finish this list.

Have you revisited your goals lately?

It’s fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A!!

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Back in June, after losing 20 lbs. for the wedding, I thought I was in control enough to quit the YMCA and do it on my own at home. Boy, was I wrong. 5 months later, I hate to admit that not only did I stop working out, but I gained all the weight back.

Enough was enough. As you can tell, I’ve been on Weight Watchers for a while, but I still wasn’t working out, so weight loss has been slow. So, my husband and I rejoined the YMCA yesterday.

Back before the wedding, circuits weren’t too bad. It was hard to do the push-ups and weights, but it wasn’t anything unbearable. However, yesterday, I found myself unable to complete half of most of the exercises. It was really saddening to see my fitness go back down to what it originally was back in January, but it was encouraging to get back to the level that I was back in May.

This morning, I felt all of my muscles slowly waking up (i.e. getting sore) to tell me that they still exist. It was the best feeling ever. I’m so happy to be back!

If you are striving for fitness, when did it hit you that you needed to change your life in a more healthy way? What inspires you?

Kung Fu Chicken

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Kung Fu Chicken…. sounds like an extreme dish to me. Well, when rapper Coolio writes a cookbook, you should expect it to be extreme. That’s right children of the 90s, Coolio wrote a cookbook. I didn’t see it coming, but apparently he’s been a foodie for quite sometime now.

When I saw that a fellow foodie received an email for food bloggers to review this cookbook, I’ll admit, at first I wasn’t very interested. I’d like to remember Coolio as a “Gangsta’s Paradise” type of guy. However, when I mentioned it to my husband, he seemed anxious to get his hand on this book and try a recipe. So, I emailed the publisher and requested to review the book.

Upon receiving it, my husband and I skimmed through the book, laughing at how he wrote the book. It’s almost like he’s talking to you, without censors, and spices are measured in “dime bags” and “nickel bags” vs. teaspoons and tablespoons. There are recipes like Backyard Grass Salad, Bro-ghetti, Pimp my Shrimp and Jarez Make-It-Rain Peanut Butter Cookies.

So, how did we choose Kung Fu Chicken? Easy…we were looking for a simple, weeknight meal that was healthy and well, this fit the bill.

Upon tasting it, it really wasn’t anything Asian as we expected. This dish, however, had a striking similarity to a Louisiana dish called Sauce Piquant. We had no problem with that though, since this dish was rather tasty!

Kung Fu Chicken
Source: Cookin’ with Coolio

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 1/2 medium white onion
  • 1 tsp. minced garlic
  • 2-3 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 “dime bag” (or tbsp.) salt
  • 1 “dime bag” (or tbsp.) pepper
  • 15 oz. can tomato sauce
  • 14 oz. crushed tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp. asian sweet chili sauce
  • 3-4 tbsp. soy sauce

Directions (straight from the book, to get an idea of how he wrote it):

  1. Take your chicken and chop suey it up into quarter-size pieces.
  2. Kung Fu grip your knife and chop up your half of a white onion.
  3. Get out your garlic. If you already got it minced, you’re ready to go.
  4. Warm up a large skillet over medium heat and toss in your olive oil, onion and garlic. Sneak it into that pan like a ninja with a plan. Saute that up for 4-5 minutes.
  5. Throw in your chopped chicken, along with salt and pepper to taste, and let that cook for 8-10 more minutes.
  6. Crack your cans of tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes and pour them into your large skillet, covering up all that chickeny-garlicky onion-ness.
  7. Add in the red chili sauce and the soy sauce, and stir occasionally with a wooden spoon. Cover the skillet between stirs.
  8. Let all that cook up and coagulate together for 10-15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  9. Take it all out and serve it up with some brown or white rice.

The Skinny – per serving, serves 4 (not including rice)

Calories: 212.5
Fat: 11.0 g
Fiber: 5.0 g

GHG: More cow!

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I haven’t been diligent with posting about my goals with the Good Health Guidelines. For that, I apologize! However, I have some great news! I’ve been having 4-5 servings of fruits/veggies everyday!

How am I accomplishing this? Well, the produce stand near our house is a huge help! I diligently pack 1 satsuma and 1 banana in my lunch bag at work. Every week, I also buy a pineapple and when it’s ripe enough, I bring some of that to work as well. That right there is a potential for 3 servings of fruits in one day! With dinner, I usually cook two sides, both with vegetables being involved. I haven’t brought salads into my diet yet, but I’m slowly getting there. Baby steps, right?

Now that the fruits/veggies goal is almost fully incorporated, it’s time to make a goal for a new one: incorporating dairy into my diet!

I can say that this one will be pretty hard for me. I’m very picky with yogurts, hate the taste of plain milk yet have a love for ice cream and cheeses, which aren’t the healthiest options. 🙁

The guideline says to incorporate 2 servings of low fat or fat free servings of dairy each day. A serving is considered as one milk serving include 1 cup of milk or yogurt or 1 1/2 ounces of many cheeses. The reason/importance of dairy? Check out this article from Weight Watchers.

Some ideas I have to get my dairy servings in include:

  • A cube of low-fat cheese. I’ll eat 1.5 oz. of cheese easily. 🙂
  • Putting yogurt in a fruit smoothie…win/win…get fruit serving and dairy serving!
  • Making a milkshake with low-fat ice cream and low-fat milk for a treat!
  • Trying cottage cheese…I’m scared of it, but I’ve heard it’s pretty good. So, I need to find a good recipe for it, or just mix it with a LOT of fruit. 🙂

Do you have any ideas for me to make my daily dairy servings a habit?

 

Surviving the Holidays: Edible Gifts

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Last week in the Surviving the Holidays series, I posted about making a budget for gifts.

Well, buying gifts for others can add up quickly. You have family, sometimes including family outside of the immediate family, coworkers, friends, neighbors and more! It’s crazy how long the list gets! You find that decent gifts cost about $10-$20 each, so yeah…talk about tightening the wallet!

However, there is a great way to spread the holiday cheer without spending that much on the gifts: edible gifts! It may take some effort in the kitchen, but really, it isn’t too bad and the savings will be worth it!

There are many ways to go about this.

Homemade Spice Mixes

You can buy some basic spices in bulk at Sam’s Club for cheap and make your own mixes, place them in cute jars or tins and give as gifts. A cheap idea for packaging? Wedding favor tins, like these. (Use 40% off coupons at places like Michael’s to get them even cheaper!) Just customize the labels with the spice mix name.

You can also make your own vanilla extract very easily, and that makes for a very impressive gift as well. I purchased bottles from this site when I made them for gifts last year, because the price was great and shipping wasn’t too crazy expensive, either.

Jam/Jelly gifts

If you have a canning kit, this is really simple. Just go to Sam’s for cheap produce in bulk or a local farmer’s market. There are some great recipes here. Just make sure that you follow a recipe that is meant for canning, because those recipes are specifically made for canning and those that aren’t could grow toxic bacteria, which, I’m sure no one wants to eat as a gift!

If you want to make something really interesting, be sure to make some jalapeno jelly. It really is tasty on crackers!

Baked Goods

This is the most common edible gift, but who doesn’t like homemade cookies and treats? I made these last year for coworkers, along with a mix of other goodies and they were well received. Some ideas?

Royal Icing Decorated Sugar Cookies
Fortune Cookies (dye them red or green and add in fun holiday messages!)
Cuccidati (Italian cookies that kick Fig Newton’s booty!)
Biscotti (cranberries/pistachio/white chocolate seem to be a fun/tasty Christmas colored ingredient combo in my family!)

Candy gifts

Candy gifts vary in how complicated they can be to make. Whenever I plan on doing candy, I typically buy some large chocolate bars at Sam’s Club, which are available around the holiday season. Some ideas?

Oreo Truffles
Cupcake Pops
Peppermint Bark
Chocolate Covered Pretzels with M&M’s
Vanilla Bean Caramels
Marshmallows

Baking Mixes

If you don’t have much time to bake, this is a great solution. Just buy some mason jars and make layered baked goods mixes so those you gift these to can bake at their convenience!

Cowboy Cookies (wouldn’t this be cute with Christmas M&M’s?)
More cookie ideas

So, as you can see, the possibilities are endless here. And of course, edible gifts won’t be considered junk, so they will most likely be appreciated and gobbled up! 🙂

What Can I Buy for $1?

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Today, I found myself at the mall waiting in line for 45 minutes. What was I waiting for? A $10 gift card. It might not be worth it to some, but for a penny pincher like me, completely worth it.

I find myself shopping for some basics at Dollar Tree repeatedly, because they are great deals that I want to share. I totally remind myself of that McDonald’s commercial, challenging myself to find great deals for a dollar!

Be aware though, there are some things in Dollar stores that really aren’t good deals as well, however, in my experience, these things are great deals!

  • Greeting cards: at 2/$1, it completely beats the pants off of cards that are $2-$5 each!
  • Gift Bags: $1 each for all sizes vs. $3 and up for bags at other retailers and they are just as cute/nice!
  • Tissue Paper: it can be about $3 for a package of tissue paper, vs. $1 for a pack of 30 sheets in either white or different colors. A deal indeed!
  • Mylar Balloons: they come inflated for every occasion and are $1 vs. $3 plus!
  • Posterboard: you can buy 3 sheets for a dollar. We bought a bunch of this for the garage sale. They also have foamboard for $1. This is a great deal, since it’s a little less than $1 for one sheet of posterboard and $3 for foamboard.
  • Scrapbooking supplies: $1 each for cute stickers, rub-on transfers, markers, etc.? Deal!
  • Pregnancy/Ovulation tests: when the time comes for us to TTC, you better believe that I’ll be raiding the store for these!
  • Photo Frames: they have a great selection available in many sizes!
  • Disposable pans/containers for food: I like to buy some of these for occasions when I know I’m going to share cooked food with family. I hate nagging people for my Rubbermaid containers back, so this makes it a no-brainer.

Do you like shopping at Dollar stores? What are your favorite finds there?

Cleaning for Guests

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A little over a month ago, I made a vow to our house. I’d spend 15 minutes a day cleaning and tidying things up. Turns out, after a month, it’s become a great habit! Most of my tasks have been boring to share, but I can say that the house is getting cleaner and it’s ALMOST ready for our guests to come on Thanksgiving.

Since I never really did Spring Cleaning, though, I will be doing some tasks other than the usual wipe-downs and decluttering to get the house in tip-top shape!

Here we go, room by room:

Kitchen

  • wipe down cabinet fronts with a wood friendly cleanser
  • steam clean floors
  • dust/clean area above cabinet and where wall meets ceiling
  • organize the cabinets to where the serving plates are easier to access

Bathrooms

  • steam clean floors
  • deep clean bathtub
  • wipe down cabinet fronts
  • organize whatever is in the cabinets
  • make them guest friendly
  • dust area where wall and ceiling meet

Living Room

  • dust area where wall and ceiling meet as well as wall meets molding
  • dust/clean ceiling fan (A tip for this? Buy a cheap pillowcase at Goodwill, put the pillowcase around the fan blade and pull dust off…no mess!)
  • vacuum rug and steam clean floors
  • dust furniture

Bedrooms

  • dust areas where wall and ceiling meet as well as where wall meets molding
  • wash comforters
  • steam clean floors
  • dust furniture
  • dust/clean ceiling fans

If you aren’t in the mood to deep clean, Real Simple has a list to help you out. Here’s how to make your house LOOK clean! A timesaver, for sure!

If you are hosting a holiday get-together, have you put together a cleaning list? Also, if you channeling your inner Danny Tanner like me, is there a task I’m leaving out?