A cool new book...! Especially for foodies! :-)

The other day I had to take my truck to get an oil change.  Luckily for me and my complete lack of patience, the place I take my truck is smack dab in the front of a shopping center parking lot!  So, kinda needless to say, I always wonder over to the stores and browse while I wait. 

This time I went into the Dollar Tree.  Yes, I love my dollar stores...again, I am cheap!  

Anyway, as I was mosey-ing around the store I happened to notice that there were a ton of old ladies with their walkers in there shopping.  That has nothing to do with this post, but it was odd to see so many of them in one place at the same time and I just had to say that, random, I know!!  They were all too cute!  But anyway, back to the point...

Like I was saying...as I was mosey-ing around the store, I found myself in the book aisle and spotted this....

SCORE!  It caught my attention immediately!  One, because it says foodie and two because it's so cute! 

I couldn't pass it up!  Not only because I'd like to think of myself as a foodie... or at least a hopeful-wanna-be-foodie and because it was only a buck!  The inside cover shows cost of the book originally is $17.95!!!  Scooooooore!!  Woot-Woot!  Now, do you see why I love the dollar stores!!!  :-)

So, anyway the books seems to have a lot of tips, tricks, and information that will be fun to read, great to know, and even better to try out!  My goal is to post about the book as I make my way thru it.  Hopefully, I can keep up on that!  :-)

The book has an introduction and eight chapters and its over 300 pages long!  So, there has to be some good stuff in there, huh??!?!  The introduction includes a test to determine "what kind of foodie are you"?  I will be doing that tonight and sharing it with you all soon!

I will do my best to keep you posted on each chapter of this great little how to be a better foodie book!

Lots of love,

Autumn



Peanut Butter Protein Puddin' Pops!

Hi, my name is Autumn and I am addicted to sweets, especially chocolate.  Badly.  And at a little over two years out, I can eat them.  Lots of them.  I still have some dumping symptoms, but not enough to stop me... So, the other day when I was browsing over at http://bariatricfoodie.blogspot.com/ I stumbled across Nik's genius creation of protein puddin pops!  I, of course, immediately wanted to try them!  I am also addicted to peanut butter and I have been on a banana flavor kick lately, so here's what I did with Nik's idea...

Ingredients:
1 cup milk
2 ripe bananas
1 box sugar free jello brand banana cream pudding
2 heaping tbsps of peanut flour (I got mine at Trader Joe's)
2tbsps sugar free davinci banana flavored syrup
7 packets no calorie sweetener
1 scoop of vanilla (or unflavored) protein powder

You will also need your blender and a pop-sickle maker-thingy-ma-jigy....I got mine at Family Dollar for a buck!

Add all of the ingredients, in whatever order your heart desires, into the blender and mix it up well...

 

Pretty nifty little pop-sickle maker-thingy-ma-jigy, eh?

Pour the mixture into the molds, filling to just a teeny tiny bit below the top...

The mixture is THICK...very very THICK!

Once full, add the tops (or should I say bottoms?)...or how about sticks into each mold....!  LOL

All ready to go into the freezer....

If your freezer is organized (or lack there of) anything like mine is,

it may take a second to find a spot to put such a tricky little gadget...

I left mine in the freezer for a few hours before I went back to get one.  I was a bit disappointed b/c it turns out the "sticks" in my pop-sickle maker-thingy-ma-jigy don't really stick that well...guess that's what I get for buying it at the dollar store!  I'm cheap...I digress....!! 

So, I left them in the freezer a little while longer, probably another hour or so and when I went back....the sticks still weren't stuck!

Whats up with the lack of cooperation, you stinkin stick?!?! 

So, I had to take measures into my own hands!  I wasn't sure if it would work or not, but it did.  I just pulled out a handy-dandy butter knife and worked it around the edge of the puddin pop and wha-la, the peanut butter banana protein puddin pop popped right out!

Then, I stuck the stick in it and enjoyed!  They are so very creamy and sweet and peanut buttery and banana-y!  Def help curve my sweet tooth and got me some extra protein in!  WIN! 

Y'all gotta try this one.  The great thing about these...there are SO versatile!  You can literally use any combo of ingredients and flavors you want!!

Shout out to Nik for being a genius!!  Thanks, girl~!

Take THAT!  You non-sticking stick, you! 

Till next time...

Lots of Love,

Autumn



Double meat and veggie egg fritatta---SO GOOD!

I thought of making this dish when I read Barbie's recipe on her blog at http://plusizedbarbie.blogspot.com/.  I follow her blog and she often shares some great stuff!  When I saw this one, I knew I wanted to make something like it because, I too had a gabillion and one eggs in my fridge.  I thought about making egg salad, but then I decided to go this route.  I've been thinking it up in my head for a while, everyday thinking of something else I could add to make it yummy...and finally, I came up with this.  It was sort of an experiment....and it was a success, lemme tell ya!  Oh, and I got kinda picture happy on this one...so there are LOTS of them! 



Here is the ingredients list::


1lb honeysuckle turkey breakfast sausage

3-4 oz turkey peperoni, chopped

14 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup cup milk

3-4 tablespoons of yellow mustard

1 tbsp dried mustard

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1tbsp chopped garlic (heaping)

5 fresh mushrooms, stems removed, chopped

3 roma tomatoes, chopped

2 cups shredded cheese

cooking spray

S & P

 

Hefty list, eh?  But...this is very simple to make!


First, brown the sausage in a non-stick pan...(yes, I still spray cooking spray in non-sticks)...

SN:  That is NOT grease in the skillet...turkey breakfast sausage puts

off ZERO grease.  That is b/c I used this pan to brown some 

BBQ pork loin prior to this & b/c I used a crap ton of cooking spray!

While that is browning up, chop and prep all of the fresh veggies and have them on standby...

Before you chop the mushrooms, wipe them down with a dry paper towel...

The tomatoes didn't make the picture...but that's okay...you will see why in a second....

Once the sausage is browned, add in the chopped onion and bell pepper. Cook the dish until they are almost soft, about five minutes. 

Also, in this step add the tbsp of dried mustard and mix into the dish.



Meanwhile, chop the 3-4 oz of turkey pepperoni...

Then, add in the mushrooms, garlic, and chopped turkey pepperoni and cook just a couple of more minutes...

That would be the HEAPING tbsp of chopped garlic!  LOL...

Pour the meats and veggies mixture into a large baking dish. 



Then, top with the fresh cut roma tomatoes...

The tomatoes do not get cooked prior to this step....

Then, using one cup of shredded cheese, spread a layer of it on top of the meat and veggies....

Now, crack all of your eggs open into a bowl and add the milk and yellow mustard, salt and pepper, too...

See that...in the upper left corner?  That's the yellow mustard!  It give this dish a nice KICK in flavor!!

Side note:  I started off with 10 eggs, thinking that would be plenty....it wasn't!  So, I added four more and it worked well.  Pour the egg mixture over the dish, spreading it evenly around...



Pop the dish in the oven at 350 for about 40 minutes.  It'll look a little something like this....doesn't it look so good....???!!!???!!!  :-)



BUT, it gets BETTER!!  Remember that remaining cup of shredded cheese...?  Yup, it goes here...!  Sprinkle it on top of the baked dish like so....

Place the dish under the broiler on HI for about five minutes.  I did five minutes and mine was fine, but stay close and keep a close eye, you don't want to ruin this dish after all of this by burning it!!!

Oh, my Heavens, doesn't it look scrum-did-ily-ump-tious?!?!?!

Let is sit a while so it can cool and then cut into it!  This here was my first piece and I was very pleased!  It is SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO good, y'all~!  Protein packed and low carb~!  Cannot beat that!

This piece looks GIGANTANORMOUS in this pic, but it really wasn't all that big...LOL!

I've been eating on it all week...breakfast, lunch, and dinner...I've got the dish about half way gone now.  I will continue to work on this one.  I can'tlet any of it go to waste...it's FAR to good for that!

I really hope y'all try this one...and even more I sure hope you like it! 

Till next time...

Lots of Love,

Autumn



BBQ Porkloin w/ oven roasted sweet onions!

So, ya...I would love to tell ya that I made this one all by myself from scratch, but I'd be lying if I did!  This one was simple, but oh so good!  When I went grocery shopping last week I was looking for things that are low carb, high protein.  I need to shed a few pounds that I have gained recently and then continue losing until I hit goal so I am trying to go more low carb than usual.  So, naturally I was in the meats section and I stumbled upon the pork loins.  I've tried a few of em in my time and I've even gotten plain ones and flavored them myself at home.  This time though, I went with the Mesquite BBQ.

All I had to do was open it and pop it into a roaster pan.  I also cut up a sweet onion and placed them around the pork loin to roast them.  Gave the dish a little extra flavor.  :-)

Bake in the oven per the package directions.  I made this almost a week ago so at this point I don't remember exactly what that was!  LOL.  Once it was done, I put it under the broiler on HI for about 5-7 minutes to give it a nice brown char and to help the onions along a little more....

You KNOW it looks good! 

Like I said, simple yet oh so good!  A few days later I still had it sitting in my fridge (the part I hadn't ate yet, anyway) so I cut it up into chunks and browned it with some cooking spray.  Gave it a new layer of flavor, YUM! 

Till next time...

Lots of Love,
Autumn



If smells could talk....

...they would say, Crock Pot Roasted Chicken is the BOMB! 


I came home today and walked in the front door to a yummy aroma of roasted chicken!  It smells goooooooood!  I went straight into the kitchen to find this....

Doesn't it look perty ya'll?

I took the lid to the crock pot off and tried to get me a little bite of the chicken....and THE WHOLE CHICKEN FELL APART!!!  It is SO TENDER! 

Allow me to back up and share how this CROCK POT ROASTED CHICKEN came to be.

A couple of months ago I was blog browsing, which I do frequently.  I have a few favorites that I often lurk upon

:-).  Some of the blogs have GREAT recipes, ideas, stories, etc and they are all full of motivation and courage.  One day I stumbled across a new blog and found a recipe for crock pot roasted chicken.  Of course, being the scatter brain that I am, I cant remember which blog I found it on and I didn't write it down.  Regardless, I've had this crock pot roasted chicken on my brain every since.  So, finally while at the grocery store on Sunday, I bought a 5lb whole chicken (got it on sale for $.98/lb!!) and today, I roasted it, well technically, the crock pot roasted it!  LOL. 

Since I couldn't remember and/or find the recipe I had originally saw on whichever blog, I just did a search for Crock Pot Roasted Chicken and a bunch of different versions came up.  They all have the same basic idea and ingredients.  This one is another versatile recipe that can be altered to fit whatever tastes you and/or your family likes!!

Here's what I used (very, very, very simple)

5lb whole chicken

Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Seasoned Salt

Foil

Olive Oil Cooking Spray

Chopped onion (see notes below)

Chopped garlic (see notes below)

Yep, that's it!

First, roll several medium sized foil balls and put them in the bottom of the crock pot.  It'll look a little something like this...

Next, rinse the chicken well and pat dry with paper towels.  Spray one side of it, liberally, with olive oil spray...

Sprinkle seasonings (whichever kind you like) all over oiled side.  Rub into chicken very well, even under the skin of the chicken onto the actual meat.  Place the seasoned side down into the crock pot and do the same thing to the other side.  It'll look a little something like this....

I prepped my chicken last night.  When I took it out of the fridge this morning, I sprayed an extra layer of cooking spray on it, just to help the skin brown a little better.  I set the crock pot to low at 9am this morning and when I got home at 8pm, I turned it off and like I said before, the chicken fell apart!  The recipe I found said to put it on low for 10 hours.  Mine was on low for about 11, but that's okay.  I've eaten a little bit of it and it is good!  Just in case you've forgotten, allow me to show you what it looked like...

Close up view! :-)

The chicken produced a lot of liquid in the bottom of the crock pot and I spooned it onto the chicken once I took it out of the crock pot and placed it on the serving platter.  That helped with the moisture level.  The chicken is moist, but could be more moist.  I'll have to figure out some trick for that (or if you know of one, fill me in). 

As you can see from the ingredient list and pic, the recipe I found last night also called for some chopped onion and garlic to be put into the cavity of the chicken. I only had one onion, but it was rotted so I omitted this part on this chicken.  I did add a tablespoon of chopped garlic into the cavity of the chicken, but I can not tell...I cant taste it or smell it.  So, I don't think it made a bit of difference.  Perhaps more than a tablespoon would be good for a 5lb chicken?  I dunno...? 

Either way this is good and now I have a bunch of yummy chicken that I can use for other recipes or eat just by itself!  Ya'll play with this recipe and method and let me know how it works for you!

Hope you try it (or some version of it---play with your food---make it your own!) and I hope you like it (of course you will)!!!

Till next time...

Lots of Love,

Autumn

Ground Chicken Taco Lettuce Wraps

I stumbled across the idea for this on http://plusizedbarbie.blogspot.com/ when I was blog browsing the other day.  As much as I'd like to say I've been doing well and that I've gotten back on track, I can't...b/c I haven't.  I have still been struggling very badly to eat right.  On top of that, over the past couple of weeks I've been struggling to maintain my exercise routines.  So, tonight I was driving home from a Zumba planning meeting and I was SO tempted to just go to taco bell.  But, in the end, I resisted.  I HAVE to get back on track.  I HAVE to gain back control, get a grip, and stop this vicious cycle.  I know that that means taking things one day, one step, one choice at a time.  So, instead of driving thru, I came home and made this for dinner....

Ingredients:
1lb ground chicken
1/4 cup chopped onion
taco seasoning to taste
lettuce
salsa
shredded cheese
sour cream

Easy as can be:  cook chicken with chopped onion; add taco seasoning and cook through...

Assemble wraps:

 Eat and enjoy!  I am very pleased that I chose to have this instead of crappy calorie and fat loaded taco bell.  MUCH better choice.  :-)

So, here's to taking it one step, one day, one choice at a time and remembering to BREATHE.  As I am doing this blog, I am reminded that I have SO many incredible resources, supports, and abilities to eat GOOD and HEALTHY every single day. I have a gazzilion and one weight loss friendly recipes...so why haven't I been using them?  UGH! IDK why, but I am going to get back to cooking at home and using ALL of the tools and resources that are available to me.  I am super scared of failing and my confidence is low right now, but I know that I MUST get it together...NOW!  I will be making a roasted chicken in the crock pot this week and I also want to make a frittata soon.  I will try to blog more often as well.  Anything I can do to keep myself on track and focused.Prayers are going up and positive self-talk is in full force....GET IT TOGETHER, AUTUMN!


Till next time...

Lots of love,
Autumn