A Day of Firsts

It's my day off!  So of course I want to make the best of it.  After sleeping in a little, I rolled out of bed and started in on some baking and cooking. 

First up: Tonight's dinner prep for Homemade Chicken Alfredo Roll Ups so I simmered up some homemade alfredo sauce & sauted some chicken.  This is what it will look like in just a couple hours...mmm.

Now onto my "firsts"...

I got to try out a new Pinterest recipe called Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies.  I've never tried to make any kind of pumpkin cookie before.  Pretty easy and healthy as far as cookies go.  Bonus: They are delicious! 

Combine:
1 c. canned pumpkin
1. c. sugar
1/2 c. applesauce
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

In seperate bowl, mix:
2 c. flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

**Dissolve 1 tsp. baking soda in 1 tsp. milk and stir into wet mix. 

Add dry mixture to wet and mix well.

Add 1.5 c. chocolate chips.  Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 365 for 10-11 min.
Note:  These are cakelike cookies and will be soft inside.

My second "first" of the day was making my own bread from scratch.  

My co-worker friend gave me a super easy recipe for crock pot bread.  I was really excited to try it out and today was the perfect day.  Plus, now I get to cross off another item from my 30 before 30 list.  YAY!

My third "first" of the day was what I ate for lunch. 

Ironically, with all my baking and cooking I didn't make myself lunch.  My partner teacher gave me a coupon for a free chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-a and since I had yet to go today was a perfect day to try it out.  I'm happy to say it was a success and I would definitely go back.

Pulled Pork, Spaghetti Aglio & Banana Bread

The other day I threw a pork roast in the fridge to thaw that had been in the freezer for a couple of months.  I was so pumped to make my first crockpot pulled pork.  I got a great recipe at my wedding shower for it, so I couldn't quite remember what the recipe called for.  Well, I definitely should have taken a peek at the recipe BEFORE I defrosted it.  It calls for a can of beer, onion soup mix and worchestershire sauce.  The latter two ingredients contain sugar and alcohol is an inflammatory food too.  Bummer.  Well, needless to say, my house smells fantastic and Tom can eat it so it's not a total loss.  It's not sugar free, but for those of you who don't care about that here's the recipe...

Pulled Pork by The Rupes

6 lb. boneless pork roast
1 can beer
1 pkg Lipton onion soup mix
2 tsp worchestershire sauce
1/2 tsp season salt
1 tsp garlic salt
dash pepper

Cook 6 hours in crock pot on high. Shred and return to juice in crockpot.

Here's what I made for myself for dinner tonight...

a fancy-shmancy sounding Italian dish that is super EASY! 

Boil the noodles...dash on the spices...toss and voila!

Spaghetti Aglio

Ingredients

7 ounces of spaghetti
2 large or 3 small garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons of chili pepper flakes
1/4 to 1/3 cup of extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1.     Cook spaghetti according to the directions on the package, until it is al dente.

2.     Strain spaghetti and place in a large serving dish.

3.     Add minced garlic, chili pepper flakes, olive oil, salt, and pepper, and toss.

       Serves 2 to 4.

       Tonight I also baked some banana bread with no sugar...I snagged a little piece when I pulled it out of the oven and it was really moist and yummy.

Coziest Banana Bread
Ingredients:
¼ cup milk of your choice (I used almond)
6 Tbsp. olive oil
6 Tbsp. maple syrup (I used about 4 Tbsp)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups mashed ripe bananas (approximately 5 medium bananas)
2 cups flour (I used whole wheat flour)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 cup chopped nuts or seeds ( I didn't use this)
¾ cup chopped dark chocolate (1 standard 100 g bar) – optional  ( I didn't use this)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Line an 8” x 8” cake pan or loaf pan with baking paper, or lightly oil and dust with flour, shaking out excess.
3. Put the milk, oil, maple syrup, vanilla, and bananas in a blender and blend until smooth.
4. In a large bowl combine dry ingredients. Add banana mixture and combine using as few stroked as possible. Fold in nuts and chocolate.
5. Pour into a cake pan and smooth the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (I baked mine 55 minutes) 

Oh and here's the update on the Great Migraine Battle:

Year to date:

Laura : 42  Migraines : 7

As an added bonus I've lost 12 1/2 inches and 11 1/2 pounds since starting this "no sugar so I don't get a migraine lifestyle" at the beginning of the year and these results definitely help me out when I'm craving chocolate. 

No migraines and more health!  Woot!

Lemon Pepper Salmon Time and Go, Go, Go, Away Vertigo!

I see the light!  The dizziness is succumbing to my meds. 

YES!!! 

Praise the Lord for modern medicine!  Now we just need to get past this tiredness and we'll be all set.

Lemon Pepper Salmon has been on my "to make" list for a couple of weeks now and I finally got to make it.  Super easy.  I just got those little individual salmon fillets, threw on some olive oil, a sprinkle of lemon pepper and popped them in the oven.  Match with a side of brown rice, spinach saladnaan and steamed edamame.  Yum...I love edamame.  I found some salted edamame in a steamable bag, which equals happy Laura.

  There was so much food on my plate I couldn't even finish my naan....yeah I know.  I couldn't finish my naan...my favorite part.  It's true.  I tried a new kind of naan and it was super yummy...not as flavorful as the garlic naan but delicious none the less. 

Here it is...

Here's my meal:

Just looking at it is making me hungry again.  I might have to go pop some popcorn now. 

Ok, I'm back with a huge bowl of popcorn so now I'm better :)

Anyway, tomorrow is going to be my first venture out to a Steak House on this anti-inflammatory diet.  It's a work party for Tom's workplace.  I don't know what they are serving so it might be a rough meal but I know I can have veggies, fruits, baked potatoes, cheese, fish, chicken, and more. 

I can do this. 

I've done this thing for 26 days so I can do another day, right?

And plus it's COMPLETELY worth it because......

The Great Migraine Battle continues...

Laura : 24  Migraines: 2

Awwwww...yeah.

Homemade Goldfish Crackers & Homemade Garlic Naan

Tonight I embarked on a journey I never thought I would...

I baked my own Goldfish Crackers from scratch...and the craziest part of it all is I actually enjoyed it!  It's a sugar free recipe.  It calls for all-purpose flour, but I substituted whole wheat flour.  They just came out of the oven and boy are they yummy!  They don't have the same consistancy as a real one, but they have the same taste. 

Word to the wise...you DO need a food processor...a real one...you know the kind you plug in.  Not the kind you hand pump from Pampered Chef.  Not a Magic Bullet.  Not just a wooden spoon and some anger.  A real food processor.  Lesson learned.  Buy a food processor. 

Anyway, totally worth it so here's where I got the recipe.  She even teaches you how to make your own goldfish cookie cutter out of a soda can!  I did it so you can too.

 Here's what the dough looked like all rolled out.

Here's the homemade cookie cutter.

http://www.missanthropistskitchen.com/2011/06/22/homemade-goldfish-crackers-with-a-homemade-goldfish-cookie-cutter/

I also baked my own garlic naan because I really couldn't handle paying $4 for 3 pieces of bread.  So I found a recipe in a Pampered Chef cookbook...you know the little thin ones they give you for bringing a friend to a party. 

It turned out pretty tasty...a little dry, but if you brush some butter on it I bet it is yummy.  I just tasted a corner because I kind of filled up on Goldfish...hehe.

Here's the recipe for the naan:

1/2 c. grated fresh parmesan cheese ( I used the Kraft stuff you get in the plastic container in the "fancy cheese" section)

1 c. flour plus additional for dusting ( I used whole wheat flour...they recommend cake flour)

2 tbsp parsley

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 c. milk

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp. minced garlic (of course this was not in the original recipe, but I added it cause garlic rocks my world)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Combine flour, parsley, salt, baking powder in mixing bowl and mix well.  Add milk and oil; mix thoroughly to form a soft dough.  Place dough on lightly floured cutting board.  Knead just until dough is smooth and no longer sticky, adding additional flour as needed. Roll dough into rectangle baking stone dish.  Brush on minced garlic.  Bake 23-26 minutes until deep golden brown.  Remove from oven to cool completely.  Yields 12 servings.

Just out of the oven.

Adventures in Tostadas, Stir-fry & Painting

Still no sugar...and I'm feeling GOOD!

Day #4 of The Great Migraine Battle...Laura 4 : Migraines 0

Go anti-inflammatory foods go!!!  Woot woot!

Okay so here's the low down on my eats lately...last night was Black Bean Turkey Tostadas, which I was SO excited to make.  I browned the turkey, warmed the black beans, chopped the tomatoes, and was about to warm the tostadas when I looked at the ingredient label....DUN DUN DUNNNNNN...big fat no. 

So....I roll with it and magically, Black Bean Turkey Tostadas turned into Black Bean Turkey Salad!

Ingredients for one serving:

1/2 c. long grain brown rice
1/4 lb. browned turkey
1 c. spinach
1/2 c. black beans
1/2 c. corn
1/2 c. tomatoes
1 tbsp. sour cream
1 tbsp. shredded cheese
Squirt 1/4 lime on top...this is the best part...gives it a lil' Mexican flair ;)

**Assemble in any order you choose.

I am on a bit of an international kick this week so we went Asian tonight with Shrimp Stir-Fry.

Once again, pretty dang excited about fixing stir-fry...Tom and I bought all the fixings earlier this week and we got some fresh sprouts, pinnapple, water chestnuts, corn, pea pods...oh yeah it was gonna be good.

Well, I started to saute all the veggies and whip the soy sauce out of the fridge and...internal groan.  Nooooooooo!!!! There's dextrose in the ingredients.  Dextrose=sugar.  Well, I guess really yummy veggies and shrimp over brown rice it is. 

But I totally made up for the no soy sauce by throwing some garlic naan in the oven. 

Heaven. 

Oh my gosh.  Best bread I have ever tasted.  ( I will say this very quietly so I don't hurt the feelings of one of my favorite restaurants...but it was better than Flat Top bread).  Crazy.  I know.  Here's a pic.

It's $4 for 3 pieces so SUPER expensive but oh so tasty!

Here's my stir-fry minus the soy sauce.  The pineapple really gave it some zing!

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 c. long grain brown rice

1 can chunk pineapple

1 can corn

1 can water chestnuts

1 pkg pea pods

1 pkg bean sprouts

24 medium shrimp

Saute veggies for 2-3 min. Add shrimp and pineapple and steam 5 more min. Serve over bed of long grain brown rice.  Enjoy!!!

Yesterday I made a painting for a friend.  I tried out some birds and darker background colors.  Not the best, but I tried my best so that's what counts right?  That's what I tell my students! :)

Tomorrow's dinner is Tilapia Tacos!  This weekend I am going to roast my very first turkey!!!!