Bananas Fosters Topped Overnight French Toast

Maybe I'm way off, but eating healthier doesn't seem to be as hard as it once was. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that as a society, we've become much more aware of what we are putting in our bodies. Grocery stores offer a large variety of fresh produce, whole grain foods, and low-fat products. Restaurants are now required to put the amount of calories next to every dish they serve. Even fast-food restaurants are helping us out by offering healthier sandwiches and sides and making portions smaller.

But another change I've noticed since the first time I did Weight Watchers over ten years ago (TEN!) is that we're learning how to cook really good food without compromising on taste. Gone are the days of a dry piece of chicken with steamed veggies (I literally dry-heaved having to type that) and in are beautiful dishes packed with colors and flavors, as well as nutrition. Less weird ingredients, and way more delicious meals on our plates. I have rarely felt deprived since starting Weight Watchers again in January, something of which I am very grateful of, and has consequently helped me to lose twenty pounds.

One website that I have fallen head-over-heels in love with has been Gina's Skinnytaste blog. All of her recipes have the old and new points value, and every single thing she posts looks crazy delicious, you don't need to be dieting to appreciate her recipes. My husband made this awesome french toast for me for Mother's Day, and as a non-breakfaster, I couldn't have been more excited to gobble this up. It.Was.Amazing. So sweet, so rich, so filling, you must give this a try, the whole family loved it. Check it out here and enjoy!

Caprese Panini

Spring is here! And Spring means spring cleaning, which doesn't just happen in my closets, it happens in my fridge too. And as much as I love the rich comforts of soups, chilis and casseroles, I am ready for clean, light, colorful food, just like the season.



One of my very favorite warm weather dishes is the Caprese salad. Sweet tomatoes, creamy mozzarella, and aromatic basil, it's to die for! I'll eat it in any form, including in a melty panini, which is exactly what I did. Recently Foodbuzz sent me a sample loaf of Natures Pride Whole Wheat Bread with Flax. The bread is wonderful, nutty and wholesome, which was exactly what was needed for a good sandwich. It's such a bright, and fresh sandwich with nothing but clean beautiful ingredients. I could eat this every day, especially when the weather is nice, the Diet Coke is cold, and there is a good book waiting for me!



Caprese Panini

Ingredients for one sandwich

2 slices Natures Pride Whole Wheat Bread with Flax (or preferred bread)
1-2 tomatoes sliced
4 large basil leaves
3-4 slices fresh mozzarella (be sure it's fresh, it's just better)
salt and pepper

Directions

Assemble sandwich with cheese in center to hold it all together, season to taste. Press in panini press, or on skillet with a weight to hold it down. Enjoy!

Glazed Apple Fritters

I'm usually not very good at posting food items for specific holidays, simply because by the time I make it, the holiday is over and we've all moved on. However, I do have a lovely little treat for you for Valentine's Day. But I don't get the credit for this one.

A few Sundays ago we had friends over for a game night and desserts. Our friends brought the stuff for apple fritters and fried them up in our kitchen so we got them hot and fresh. Now, I'm really not a huge dessert girl. I'd much rather spend my calories on the savory foods like pizza, burgers and nachos, but OH. MY. GOSH. I could not stop eating these. They were sweet, perfectly oily, tender, but chunky...yeah, sorry I have to stop before the drool hits my keyboard. It took me a whole week to work these babies off, but it was worth every step on the treadmill, they were to die for!

Glazed Apple Fritters
By Cooks Country, made by Deborah, muah!

Ingredients

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut in 1/4-inch pieces
2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup apple cider
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 cups peanut or vegetable oil

Glaze:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup apple cider
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions

1. Spread prepared apples in single layer on paper towel-lined baking sheet and pat thoroughly dry with paper towels. Combine flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in large bowl. Whisk cider, eggs and melted butter in medium bowl until combined. Stir apples into flour mixture. Stir in cider mixture until incorporated.

2. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat to 350 degrees. Following step 1, use 1/3-cup measure to transfer 5 heaping portions of batter to oil. Press batter lightly with back of spoon to flatten. Fry, adjusting burner as necessary to maintain oil temperature between 325 and 350 degrees, until deep golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer fritters to wire rack set inside rimmed baking sheet. Bring oil back to 350 degrees and repeat with remaining batter. Let fritters cool 5 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, whisk confectioners' sugar, cider, cinnamon and nutmeg in medium bowl until smooth. Top each fritter with 1 heaping tablespoon glaze. Let glaze set 10 minutes. Serve.

Banana Chip Muffins

I really think those bears have the right idea.

Every winter, after eating a few fantastic Thanksgiving feasts, they hunker down in their cozy caves, wrapped in their plush fur coats, and dream away the winter.


I want in on that. Especially early in the morning when there aren't enough layers in the world to combat that freezing cold wind while dropping my daughter off at school. And then there are days like today, where, barring high-tech warming devices, it might actually be impossible to warm up. Even my fuzzy socks are failing me today. And to think, I used to constantly fight with mom to even wear a coat in the winter!

Well, since I don't get to hibernate like a bear, baked goods like these will definitely help me get through the cold cold days of winter. I grew up on these muffins, and after losing the recipe my mom gave me, I was convinced that any old banana chocolate chip recipe would suffice. WRONG. I actually tried quite a few different recipes, but soon realized that I wasn't going to be satisfied until I had the ones that reminded me of home.

These are everything a good banana muffin should be, moist, flavorful, and rich, but not too sweet. They are also a total snap to whip together, no mixer needed, just a good wooden spoon. Next time you have a few bananas ready to turn, give these a try. And stay warm out there friends!


Banana Chip Muffins
Provided Sweetly by My Mom

Ingredients

1 3/4 c flour
1/2 c sugar
3 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 c choc chips
1 egg
1/4 c oil
1/4 c milk
3 mashed bananas

Directions

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and chocolate chips in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center.

Beat egg until frothy. Mix in oil, milk and bananas. Pour into the flour mixture. Stir to moisten.

Bake @ 400* for 20-25 minutes.
Yummy!

Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins

Call me crazy, but among all of the star dishes of thanksgiving, I honestly think my very favorite is homemade cranberry sauce. I'll never go back to the canned version again, there's no comparison! But I don't just love to eat homemade cranberry sauce, it's fun to make. My favorite part is listening to the POP POP POP of the cranberries, I'm not going to lie, it makes me giggle like a five year old. But then after it's been made, it chills into a thickened tart treat that goes well with just about every meat and side of the meal.

Unfortunately I'm one of the only ones in my family that feels that way, which consequently leaves me with about a gallon of the stuff left when the holiday is over (you'd think halving the recipe would have dawned on me by now, but it hasn't). So you can imagine how thrilled I was when I saw these beauties on Maria's blog at Two Peas and Their Pod. This is not the first time I've made something from her blog, and it certainly won't be the last. She consistently posts the most delicious dishes and gorgeous pictures.

These muffins were a real family pleaser, I've already made two batches and will most likely be going for a third! My first batch are what you see in the pictures. My second batch I got a bit lazy and just threw the cranberry sauce right in the batter. It turned the them a delightful shade of pink and infused cranberry flavor in the whole muffin. Both were just delicious. If you have extra cranberry sauce on your hands, I highly recommend these. Thanks Maria!


Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins
By Two Peas and Their Pod

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon orange zest
1/4 cup canola oil
1 large egg
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup fresh cranberry orange sauce (about 2 tablespoons per muffin)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or grease well. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon. Rub in sugar and orange zest together. Whisk into dry ingredients.

3. In a separate medium bowl, whisk canola oil, egg, milk, and vanilla together.

5. Incorporate the wet ingredients into flour mixture. Add slowly and gently stir together. The batter will be thick.

6. Place half the batter at the bottom of six muffin cups. Spoon about two tablespoons of fresh cranberry sauce on top of the muffin batter. Top muffins evenly with remaining muffin batter. Sprinkle each muffin generously with turbinado sugar.

7. Bake muffins for 15-17 minutes, or until muffins are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the pan and let cool on a cooling rack.

Makes 6 large muffins

Corn Fritters with Roasted Tomatoes and Lime Aioli

Can you believe that Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away?! It's so hard to believe how fast this month has been going. I am starting to look forward to my turkey and mashed potatoes!

I made this a few months ago as a summer dish, but I also think it would serve as a pretty great appetizer for you Thanksgiving spread. The corn fritters are savory with a hint of sweetness, and paired with the roasted tomatoes, prosciutto and aioli, it's a dynamite combo. And if you're not up for adding another dish to Thanksgiving, it can stand pretty well on it's own, we actually enjoyed these for dinner. Enjoy and happy Wednesday!


Corn Fritters with Roasted Tomatoes and Lime Aioli
By Cooking Light

Ingredients

4 ripe tomatoes, halved (about 1 pound)
2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided
2.25 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup fat-free milk
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels (3 ears)
1/3 cup finely chopped green onions
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon cold water
4 cups loosely packed arugula
4 (1/4-ounce) slices prosciutto

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. Arrange tomato halves, cut side up, on a baking sheet. Drizzle tomatoes with 1 teaspoon oil; sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Bake at 375° for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until tomatoes are soft and have lost a lot of their moisture.

3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and baking powder in a medium bowl. Add milk and egg; stir until smooth. Stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper, corn, green onions, and salt.

4. Heat 1/2 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Drop batter by level tablespoonfuls into pan to make 6 fritters; cook 2 minutes or until tops are covered with bubbles and edges are golden. Carefully turn fritters over; cook 2 minutes or until golden. Repeat procedure with remaining 1/2 teaspoon oil and remaining batter.

5. Combine mayonnaise, juice, garlic, and water. Place 1 fritter on each of 4 plates. Top each with 1 tomato half and 1/2 cup arugula. Repeat layers with remaining fritters, tomato halves, and arugula, ending with fritters. Top each serving with 1 prosciutto slice; drizzle with 4 teaspoons aioli.

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Sometimes cold and rainy days are great. You put on your comfies, a sit down to a nice movie or book and enjoy the warmth of your home. Buuuuut then you have days where the weather couldn't have picked a worse day to be cold and rainy. The kids are climbing the walls, trashing the house with every second and driving me absolutely insane. That's when recipes like this are huge life savers. I found this on Recipe Shoebox, a fabulous blog that you should go check out asap. As soon as I found it, I ordered the kids into the kitchen and got to baking. Muffins are so fun to make with kids, they're not complicated, but there are enough steps involved to keep them busy for a while.

The best part is not only are these a snap to make, they are INSANELY delicious. And this is coming from a person that doesn't usually go running to the muffin table. So soft and moist with the best flavor. Lemons and blueberries really were meant for each other. Two days and these bad boys were gone. I can't wait to make them again. Thanks Lara, you saved us on a rainy day!


Lemon-Blueberry Muffins
From the Recipe Shoebox.

Ingredients

2 cups flour (I used King Arthur's white whole wheat flour)
1 cup sugar
1 Tbs. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
6 Tbs. cold butter, cut into 6-pieces
1 egg
2/3 cup milk
1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. grated lemon rind
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (do not thaw)

TOPPING I never did the topping, just covered the top in raw sugar. I imagine the topping is wonderful though!

2 Tbs. flour
2 Tbs. sugar
2 Tbs. melted butter
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. With a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs (you want to be able to see small pea-sized clumps of butter still). In a separate smaller bowl, lightly beat together egg, milk, lemon juice, lemon rind and vanilla until blended. Stir egg mixture into flour mixture until just blended (do NOT overmix). NOTE: Batter will be somewhat thick.

Fold blueberries into batter. Spoon batter evenly into well-greased muffin pan.

For topping, in a small bowl, combine flour, sugar, melted butter, and cinnamon until well blended. Spread mixture evenly over tops of muffin batter.

Bake for 15-20 minutes at 400°. Muffins should be golden brown. Serve warm. Makes 12 standard size muffins. Enjoy!

Panzanella with Balsamico Di Modena

About a month ago I took a trip to Peddler's Village PA. My sister and I had so much fun shopping their cute boutiques, enjoying the beautifully manicured grounds, and eating at their great local pub. I especially loved the several book stores and specialty food and cooking shops that they had there. I spent hours wondering, looking like a glazed over kid in a candy shop. One of the last shops I went to was a fantastic Italian shop called the Casa Casale, with an enthusiastic owner who quickly became my best friend. She let me sample all sorts of stuff, every one as delicious as the last. But then she let me sample this, and I was hooked.

There is a very long and interesting process in making the Balsamic Di Modena, which is a lovely balsamic vinegar. Long story short, it takes at least five years to age, switching from barrel to barrel all made of different woods. It's also incorporated with grapes, figs, juniper berries, cherries, mulberries and a bunch of other good stuff. The finished product is thick like a syrup, and delightfully sweet, along with the rich tanginess of vinegar. I sampled it, giggled like a little girl and immediately bought it. This is one of those products that does not need much at all to compliment it. In fact, you are practically looking for any vehicle you find to prevent yourself from simply drinking it straight from the bottle. It's so delicious on strawberries and melon, it does something completely different to the fruit. If using it on salads, it's recommended to not even mix in oil, or any other ingredient for that matter.

A beautiful product like this calls for beautiful fresh ingredients. I thought panzanella would be perfect, and another first for me. Panzanella is a really simple salad that is usually made of stale bread and tomatoes. I also added chopped red onions, cucumbers, fresh basil and halved bocconcini (small fresh mozzarella balls). Tossed it with a small amount of the vinegar and kosher salt, and you have sheer loveliness on a plate. I love the sweetness of the Balsamic Di Modena, but it would also be very delicious with any viniagrette. It's a light and healthy salad with a ton of flavor.

BLT Salad

Happy Wednesday! I told myself that I would give ourselves a week to recover from our month of travel, but this week is just going by too fast! We've definitely been enjoying laying around watching cartoons. I finally watched Anastasia with my five year old daughter. Do you guys remember that cartoon from the 90's? I may had been in HS when it came out, but I still loved it! It's fun to enjoy those kinds of things with your kids.


This isn't exactly the most groundbreaking salad in the world, most of you have probably had some sort of variation of this before. I still had to post it because my sister and I probably ate this salad about ten times while she stayed the month with me. It's a wonderful summer salad, healthy, but still so flavorful. I got the idea from Cooking Light, which comes with a recipe for a vinaigrette, but in all honesty I just preferred a bottled balsamic or red wine vinaigrette. It's quicker and just as good. My favorite part about the salad was the crusty bread that soaked up all that dressing. It's like biting into little flavor nuggets!

BLT Salad
Adapted from Cooking Light
(Makes 1 salad)

Ingredients

1 serving size of spring lettuce mix
2 slices center cut bacon, cooked crispy and chopped
1/2 cup diced tomatoes
1/4 cup Gorgonzola or feta cheese
1/2 cup ciabatta bread, diced and broiled in oven until crispy and lightly brown
2 tablespoons of preferred vinaigrette
1/4 cup diced avocado (optional)

Directions

Toss all ingredients together, let sit for about five minutes for flavors to combine. Crack open cold beverage of choice and enjoy!

French Onion Soup

I have a new love in my life, and he's simply delicious. He's French, very hot and beefy. He also at his best when you keep him full of bread, wine and cheese. I'm totally hooked, and even though I'd rather keep him all to myself, I suppose I'll introduce you...


A few weeks ago I became obsessed with owning a set of French Onion Soup bowls. I'm not really sure why, especially because up until that point I had never actually made French Onion Soup before, and yet, I needed these bowls! Well after a few weeks of online shopping and yearning, I finally got a lucky break at William Sonoma and am a proud owner of French Onion Soup bowls. It's the simple things that keep us happy, right?

Since then I've already lost count how many times I've made myself this luscious soup. It's the best lunch in the world and I really can't get enough. I think what I love about it is that it's so unique. Beefy broth nestling a bed of croutons and a gooey layer of cheese, mmm. What else could you ask for.

I told myself that I was going to try a bunch of different recipes, but truth be told, I can't deviate from Tyler Florence's recipe. It's so easy and delicious, I'm hooked!

French Onion Soup
Tyler Florence

Ingredients

•1/2 cup unsalted butter
•4 onions, sliced
•2 garlic cloves, chopped
•2 bay leaves
•2 fresh thyme sprigs
•Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
•1 cup red wine, about 1/2 bottle
•3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour (I quit doing the flour, it only seemed to make the soup unnecessarily lumpy)
•2 quarts beef broth
•1 baguette, sliced
•1/2 pound grated Gruyere

Directions

Melt the stick of butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and salt and pepper and cook until the onions are very soft and caramelized, about 25 minutes. Add the wine, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the wine has evaporated and the onions are dry, about 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Dust the onions with the flour and give them a stir. Turn the heat down to medium low so the flour doesn't burn, and cook for 10 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste. Now add the beef broth, bring the soup back to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Ladle the soup into bowls, top each with 2 slices of bread and top with cheese. Put the bowls into the oven to toast the bread and melt the cheese.

HBi5: Southwestern Pizza with Olive Oil Bread

Do you know what I'm loving right now? Costco's Shrimp Wonton Soup. I know, I'm a cheater and should really be making stuff like this myself, but it sure comes in handy after being body slammed by the stomach flu. Ugh, and I thought I'd escaped it this year. My little girl has it too, and while it's no fun being sick alongside your kids, at least you all get nice long healing naps together, which is what I plan to do right after I'm done posting this! But seriously, try this soup if you need quick meals on the run. The best part is that it's only 2 or three points for the entire bowl, now that's good eatin!


I'm not going to lie, this round of HBi5 was a bit depressing for me. It wasn't the dough, the bread, or even this pizza, but one little ingredient that I just can't seem to conquer, GOAT CHEESE! I've always held a bit of pride in the fact that there is hardly anything out there that I actively don't like, and it's true. Sure, I prefer some foods over others, but to practically gag at the very idea of a certain food is very rare to me, except when it comes to goat cheese. And I really WANT to like goat cheese, but I think I'm about ready to throw in the towel. I tried. I really did. Everything else about the pizza was great. Spicy southwestern flavors, sweet corn, juicy pieces of chicken thigh. But I wish instead of forcing myself to like goat cheese, I had just used mozzerella, or Monterey Jack. Unfortunately every bite that I took (with a forced smile on my face), was accompanied with the need to gag and a sinking feeling of dispair. It just wasn't meant to be Goat Cheese. I hope we can still be friends, or perhaps penpals.

Since I haven't been feeling up to snuff, I have yet to use the rest of the bread. Tonight I'll be making rolls for dinner, assuming anyone wants to eat. And I may just make some buttery cinnamon sugar sticks for my kids. Hey, it's whole-wheat bread, which means it will still be very healthy, right? Check out the rest of the HBi5 gang here and HAPPY MARCH!

HBi5: Red Beet Cheese Buns and Chocolate Cinnamon Bread

Happy Valentine's weekend! I really love Valentines Day. I love the aisles at the store that are full of pink and red. And I think it's great that we have a day to celebrate love, which according to John Lennon, is all we need!


The breads for this week were chosen wisely as they both reflect the holiday in different ways. The red beet buns were an obvious for their red color. I'll be honest, I wasn't that excited about this particular bread, but my curiosity kept me from skipping it. As it turns out, this has been my favorite so far! Of course the fact that I stuffed the buns full of cheese probably helped, but seriously, I loved the red "beety-onion-y" flavor of this bread. And the best part...my veggie/fruit hating son ate about three of these! (evil laughter...you're eating beets little boy!)

I made the dough per the instructions, and when it came time to bake them, I rolled the dough out to about an inch thickness, and spread garlic powder, Parmesan, mozzarella and sharp provolone. I rolled it up jelly style, sliced and baked. Pretty much like a savory cinnamon roll. The only downside is that the dough made my fridge smell pretty funky, but it was worth it. I'll be making this again!


The second bread was supposed to be a chocolate-espresso combination, but neither of us are coffee drinkers, and my husband finds the flavor of coffee abominable. So, instead I added a good helping of ground cinnamon for a nice subtle bite to the bread. Before baking the bread I worked in some extra chocolate chunks, the zest of an orange and some dried cherries and cranberries. It came out a very fun and pretty loaf of bread, but I wasn't too crazy about the taste. Since it's still a yeast bread, it never got too sweet and lacked a bit in flavor. It's basically something that you have to turn INTO a dessert. So I did what any sensible chocolate lover would do, smothered it in Nutella and strawberries. Now we're talking.

I think this bread has a lot of possibilities for a lot of fun desserts, however, I don't see myself making it again. I just think if I'm going to spend my calories making and eating a dessert, it's going to be something a little less...uh healthy!

Be sure to check out the other wonderful HBi5 entries here.

Have a wonderful Valentine's weekend my friends!

Blogtastic Eats

I've said it once and I'll say it again, the best things I've made have come from other people's food blogs. I mean, you guys really know your food! The tragedy is that there are SO many great bloggy dishes, and only three meals in a day, I never feel like I'll be able to try them all. But even if I don't, rest assured, your pictures and descriptions always leave me drooling, and hungry! Here are two great finds that I recently tried, and must be shared.

I found these fantastic meatballs over at Gina's Weight Watchers blog. And while I'm not quite as strict on the diet as I should be (ahem), I still really try to eat delicious but healthy foods like this. Have you ever tried the potstickers from Costco. No, not the ones in the freezer, the fresh one, made with chicken, yeah, those! Aren't they awesome? These meatballs taste A LOT like them. They even come with a similar tasting sauce. They are juicy and full of flavor and were a hit with the whole family. You can find the recipe here.

Thanks Gina!


The second thing we made was Coleen's Pineapple Banana Bread. This was a bread that I just couldn't get out of my head, and I'm so glad I didn't! It's like summer in bread form. With the combination of banana, pineapple and coconut, it's the closest you'll come to eating a Pina Colada. Definitely try this, especially if you are buried in three feet of snow and need some sunshine in your house! The recipe can be found here. Thanks Coleen! And here's a picture of my daughter when I told her we were going to make banana bread.


She gets excited.

Is anyone else out there having a snow day? Not only is my girl home from school, but my husband is as well! I have to tell you, waking up to a lazy weekday morning, and having aebelskivers with my husband is not a bad way to start the day, although I'm not quite sure about having the deal with the snow everytime. Stay warm my friends, and keep cooking up those wonderful dishes!

CEiMB and HBi5

Normally I'm supposed to post Craving Ellie in My Belly on Thursdays, but yesterday my brain was only functioning at 50%. The night before I thought I'd act like a college student and stay out half the night with some girlfriends, great times, but I'm left braindead the next day! So, it wasn't until noon today that it hit me "I never posted CEiMB!" My apologies to the folks in the group, but hopefully my "two-in-one" post will make up for it.


This week for CEiMB we made Emerald Stir Fry with Beef, hosted by Alyssa's Two Bites. Now, I enjoy a good stir fry, but I do have to be careful not to make them too often because my husband tends to think that they all taste the same, and he's just not that crazy about them.

I made quite a few changes with this stir fry. I used green beans and a frozen veggie mix in place of the sugar snap peas and asparagus. I also added a little sugar to the sauce to sweeten it a bit. It was good, everyone was pleased, but I do think I have to side with Glenn and agree that it did taste about the same as every other stir fry I make. A delicious dish, just not that exciting. Maybe we'll do shrimp or scallops next time? That might mix it up a bit. You can find the recipe here.

And now for HBi5. The starter this week was a bit different, calling for more things like honey and eggs and I liked it! I made the loaf of bread, which got eaten very fast. It was sweet, soft and great with sandwiches, especially my all time favorite one.



And I made the hamburger buns. The tops were brushed with a bit of butter and sprinkled with a bit of garlic salt, my favorite condiment! To fill them we made our favorite burgers ever. The recipe comes from one of my Weight Watcher cookbooks and they are fantastic. Ground beef mixed with a whole variety of veggies and seasonings, then we just grill them on our Foreman. They have a ton of flavor and would satisfy anyone, whether they're dieting or not!



Mushroom BurgersWeight Watchers New Complete Cookbook

Ingredients

2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons minced carrot
2 tablespoons minced celery
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups finely chopped mushrooms
3/4 pound lean ground beef
1 tablespoon steak sauce
salt and pepper

Directions

1. In a medium nonstick skillet, heat the oil. Saute the bell pepper, onion, carrot, celery and garlic until the onion is translucent, 8-10 minutes. Add the mushrooms; saute until the mushrooms brown and the liquid evaporates, about 8 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

2. Spray the broiler racl with nonstick cooking spray; preheat the broiler. In a medium bowl, combine the mushroom mixture, beef, steak sauce, salt and pepper. Form into 4 hamburgers. Broil the burgers 3-4 inches from heat, 5-7 minutes each side, or grill in Foreman Grill.

Serves 4

Per Serving: 153 cal, 8g fat, 3g sat fat, 44mg sod, 1g fiber

Points per Serving: 4

Unfortunately I waited too long to do my apple strudel bread, and the starter wasn't good anymore, drat! I will definitely try it another time though! I'm excited to see how the rest of you clubbers did and have a fantastic weekend ya'll!

HBi5: Loaf of Bread, Epi, and Crackers

My first HBi5 post, and I think I'm sold with their concept. The whole way it works is you make a big batch of starter dough, which stays good in your fridge for up to two weeks. As the week goes by, you can cut pieces off of the starter as you please and make a large variety of fun breads. Plus, it's healthy!

This round was pretty simple. I started out with making a simple loaf of bread.

The bread was rich and delicious and had a wonderful nutty softness to it. We used it to make these paninis (what else!)


Inspired by Cooking Light, it is loaded with spinach, bacon, caramelized red onions and garlic, and a low-fat white cheddar. Talk about a rich and hearty sandwich, I was full for the rest of the night!

Later in the week I made an Epi shaped loaf of bread. It was fun and amazingly easier to make. It was also fun to tear off the individual "grains" and eat them as rolls. Again, wonderful wheaty flavor.



Coming in last, and probably my favorite were these great crackers. Rolled very thin and dusted with kosher salt and chili powder, they were crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside and great with lowfat cheddar cheese or cottage cheese. My kids also loved them!


So far, I'm very excited about this book!
Be sure to come back Monday, I have a long overdue giveaway that I'm absolutely giddy about!