Okay, so I just had to take a second to write about Extreme Couponing. Have you seen this or heard of it? It's a new series on TLC that first aired back in December. A whopping 2.1 million viewers tuned in to see the show's premiere (It's no wonder with everyone struggling in today's economy. We all want to save money)! I just now saw my first episode. I'm not sure if I'm appalled or addicted.
Here's my take: I'm intrigued. We started to really watch our budget once I started my maternity leave back in November. So, I started to shop at places like Target and Trader Joe's more regularly than my local grocery store. Before I go on a shopping trip, I usually try take a look at that week's ad, see what's on sale (that I need), and form my weekly menus based on what's fresh and available. Add a few coupons on top of that, and I'm feeling like I'm being pretty smart about how we shop. We usually save around 30% off the retail prices.
Extreme Couponers put my 30% to shame!! This new reality show documents women who spend HOURS preparing for their store runs in order to BIG money. Oh, but it comes at a price. Dumpster diving to get more coupons (seriously?), knocking on neighbor's doors to ask for their coupons, endless hours of research, printing out internet coupons. The list goes on and on. The result of all this hard work? They basically get their groceries FREE.
There's a catch though (as if dumpster diving wasn't bad enough): you have to "stockpile." This is where they lose me. These women have year's worth of supplies and take pride in it. Things that they could NEVER go through are piled and stored high all over their house....closets, garages, under the kid's beds! I mean, how can one go through 50 CASES of toothpaste? Why on earth would I want that--even if it's free?
I would love nothing more than to save money on my grocery bill. Fresh produce and dairy are outrageously expensive right now. But is it worth ALL this?
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Kinda like a lighter version of Chicken Scallopine
I needed to use up my mushrooms from the fridge, so I started checking out my favorite sites to see if I could find a good dinner recipe that included mushrooms. Of course, I came across the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond. This woman cooks like I WANNA eat. I mean seriously, with real butter and real cream. But, since I'm still trying to lose my baby weight, I sought out to make a healthier version, inspired by her Chicken Scallopine Recipe. I served my version alongside a side salad and called it good. Hubby really enjoyed this one...I hope you will too!
Ingredients:
Instructions:
Flatten chicken breasts to uniform thickness. If your chicken gets to be too large after being pounded, go ahead and cut it down to a more manageable portion. This means leftovers anyway, right?
Salt and pepper both sides of chicken and dredge in flour, shaking off any excess flour. Heat a non-stick pan and coat it generously with Cooking Spray. Fry chicken breasts until they are golden brown and cooked through. Remove them from the pan to a plate and set aside. You'll probably need to do this in a couple of batches.
Throw butter and sliced mushrooms into a hot pan and stir. Immediately pour in wine, chicken broth, and the juice of the lemon. Stir to deglaze the pan, getting any good bits of flavor into that mixture. Cook at a rapid simmer for 1-2 minutes.
Add in your splash of cream and stir. Lastly, add capers and thyme and stir. Turn off heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. At this point, you could even squeeze in a bit more lemon juice if that tickles your fancy. The key is to not under salt!
To serve, plate this by putting your pasta down first and topping with both the chicken and the mushroom mixture. Top with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
Husband has requested that we put this meal into the rotation. I'd say my work here is done...for tonight at least! This is husband, by the way. I like him...a lot! =)
- 2 large whole boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin, fat trimmed
- 1/4-1/2 cup flour for dredging
- 1 Tablespoons Butter
- 1 package of Baby Bella Mushrooms, sliced (you can use white mushrooms also)
- 1/3 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1/4-1/2 of the juice of 1 lemon, depending on how lemony you like
- A splash of Heavy Cream or Half and Half
- 1 teaspoon Capers
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped (You can also use Italian parsley. I used Thyme because it's what I had on hand)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Cooking Spray
Instructions:
Flatten chicken breasts to uniform thickness. If your chicken gets to be too large after being pounded, go ahead and cut it down to a more manageable portion. This means leftovers anyway, right?
Salt and pepper both sides of chicken and dredge in flour, shaking off any excess flour. Heat a non-stick pan and coat it generously with Cooking Spray. Fry chicken breasts until they are golden brown and cooked through. Remove them from the pan to a plate and set aside. You'll probably need to do this in a couple of batches.
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| Tip: Use wax to cover your chicken breast. It prevents pieces of breasts ending up on your cupboards and walls. |
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| Don't forget to shake off the excess flour! |
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| Not too shabby looking considering there's no oil! |
Add in your splash of cream and stir. Lastly, add capers and thyme and stir. Turn off heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. At this point, you could even squeeze in a bit more lemon juice if that tickles your fancy. The key is to not under salt!
To serve, plate this by putting your pasta down first and topping with both the chicken and the mushroom mixture. Top with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
Husband has requested that we put this meal into the rotation. I'd say my work here is done...for tonight at least! This is husband, by the way. I like him...a lot! =)
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| Baby Hudson decided to spit up all down Daddy's sleeve. We don't even bother changing anymore. |
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Low Fat Banana Oat Bread
Hmm...baby sleeping. Out of laundry detergent. Over-ripe bananas on the counter. You see where I'm going with this.
Oh yeah baby. It's banana bread, with a healthier twist, of course. Low Fat Banana Oat Bread. I came across this Weight Watchers recipe on one of my favorite food blogs, Joy The Baker. She made a tiny adjustment to the original recipe, and I've made my own changes by substituting some of the all-purpose flour for whole wheat to give it some extra nutrition. I think next time I may throw in some fresh blueberries.
This bread tastes even better and more moist the next day. At just 4 points per serving, you can slice this and freeze it in individual portions and have yourself a nice little breakfast or as an afternoon snack.
Recipe Adapted from:
Joy The Baker
Makes 1 loaf, 10 slices per loaf, 4 WW points per slice (Old Points system)
Ingredients:
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a loaf pan and set aside.
In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients and set aside.
In a smaller bowl, mash bananas. Add oil and whole egg and mix thoroughly.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well. Don't freak out at this point. Your batter will be pretty thick.
In a medium sized bowl, with an electric hand mixer, beat the egg whites until medium stiff peaks form. I love my kitchen aid, but the hand mixer is really best for this. Fold the egg whites into the batter in three additions.
Pour batter into the pan and bake until the top of the loaf is firm to touch, approximately 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool for 5 minutes. Flip out onto a wire rack and continue to cool for at least another 10 minutes.
Serve with a little light margarine or even a touch of honey. Honey would be amazing with this. You've got breakfast on the go!
Oh yeah baby. It's banana bread, with a healthier twist, of course. Low Fat Banana Oat Bread. I came across this Weight Watchers recipe on one of my favorite food blogs, Joy The Baker. She made a tiny adjustment to the original recipe, and I've made my own changes by substituting some of the all-purpose flour for whole wheat to give it some extra nutrition. I think next time I may throw in some fresh blueberries.
This bread tastes even better and more moist the next day. At just 4 points per serving, you can slice this and freeze it in individual portions and have yourself a nice little breakfast or as an afternoon snack.
Recipe Adapted from:
Joy The Baker
Makes 1 loaf, 10 slices per loaf, 4 WW points per slice (Old Points system)
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 3 tsp canola oil
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 2 medium egg whites, beaten
- 3 large ripe bananas
- 1 cup uncooked old fashioned oats
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a loaf pan and set aside.
In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients and set aside.
In a smaller bowl, mash bananas. Add oil and whole egg and mix thoroughly.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well. Don't freak out at this point. Your batter will be pretty thick.
In a medium sized bowl, with an electric hand mixer, beat the egg whites until medium stiff peaks form. I love my kitchen aid, but the hand mixer is really best for this. Fold the egg whites into the batter in three additions.
Pour batter into the pan and bake until the top of the loaf is firm to touch, approximately 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool for 5 minutes. Flip out onto a wire rack and continue to cool for at least another 10 minutes.
Serve with a little light margarine or even a touch of honey. Honey would be amazing with this. You've got breakfast on the go!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Mami Emma's Macaroni (Lightened up)
Two Cuban Grandmothers. Decades of competition. Who wins the cooking contest? Mama Fina's food or Mami Emma's food? I'll never tell!
So here is a little dish that we just call "Macaroni" in my family. This is my Abuela Emma's recipe. Well, almost. I've lightened it up a little by adding more tomato sauce and much less butter. Seriously, this is one your family will LOVE.
Ingredients:
(Serves 6)
1 ham steak, diced (the single 1/2 inch slice pre-packaged kind works just fine)
1 link of chorizo sausage, diced (you can also substitute with pepperoni)
1/2 onion, chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
15 oz. can of tomato sauce
16 oz. box of penne pasta
8 oz. low moisture, skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 tbsp. of butter
1 bay leaf
(Nutrition facts: 457 cal., 17.4 g fat, 49g carbs, 26g protein, 1.6g fiber)
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium sized pot, boil water and cook penne according to the package directions. You will want your pasta al dente as it will continue to cook a little in the oven later. When it is done, drain your pasta and set it aside.
While the pasta is cooking, over medium heat, cook the chorizo in a small skillet (about 3-4 minutes). Line a few paper towels over a plate and pour the chorizo over it. You want to remove as much of the fat as possible. Abuela doesn't do this, but again I've lightened this up a little, so I added this step.
In a large saute pan add butter, onions and garlic over medium heat and cook until the onions are a little soft and translucent in color. Then add 3/4 of the can of tomato sauce and the bay leaf. Let these flavors combine for a few minutes.
Add diced ham and drained chorizo sausage and cook for about 7 minutes on medium low heat.
While you're waiting for the ham to cook and for all those flavors to combine, this is a good time to shred your mozzarella. Plus, I just wanted to show off this cool picture of inside my cheese grater.
Once your sauce has simmered, go ahead and mix in your pasta.
Add to a greased 9x13 in. greased casserole dish (I use PAM). If you find that your pasta is sticking together from sitting out, run a little warm water over it. It will magically un-stick! Sprinkle the cheese over the top and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
Mmmm...now doesn't this look yummy? Like I wanna go into the fridge and eat some of it right now. Without even heating it up. Sigh. Good thing Stephen took the left-overs for lunch today. Dang!
So here is a little dish that we just call "Macaroni" in my family. This is my Abuela Emma's recipe. Well, almost. I've lightened it up a little by adding more tomato sauce and much less butter. Seriously, this is one your family will LOVE.
Ingredients:
(Serves 6)
1 ham steak, diced (the single 1/2 inch slice pre-packaged kind works just fine)
1 link of chorizo sausage, diced (you can also substitute with pepperoni)
1/2 onion, chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
15 oz. can of tomato sauce
16 oz. box of penne pasta
8 oz. low moisture, skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 tbsp. of butter
1 bay leaf
(Nutrition facts: 457 cal., 17.4 g fat, 49g carbs, 26g protein, 1.6g fiber)
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium sized pot, boil water and cook penne according to the package directions. You will want your pasta al dente as it will continue to cook a little in the oven later. When it is done, drain your pasta and set it aside.
While the pasta is cooking, over medium heat, cook the chorizo in a small skillet (about 3-4 minutes). Line a few paper towels over a plate and pour the chorizo over it. You want to remove as much of the fat as possible. Abuela doesn't do this, but again I've lightened this up a little, so I added this step.
In a large saute pan add butter, onions and garlic over medium heat and cook until the onions are a little soft and translucent in color. Then add 3/4 of the can of tomato sauce and the bay leaf. Let these flavors combine for a few minutes.
Add diced ham and drained chorizo sausage and cook for about 7 minutes on medium low heat.
While you're waiting for the ham to cook and for all those flavors to combine, this is a good time to shred your mozzarella. Plus, I just wanted to show off this cool picture of inside my cheese grater.
Once your sauce has simmered, go ahead and mix in your pasta.
Add to a greased 9x13 in. greased casserole dish (I use PAM). If you find that your pasta is sticking together from sitting out, run a little warm water over it. It will magically un-stick! Sprinkle the cheese over the top and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
Mmmm...now doesn't this look yummy? Like I wanna go into the fridge and eat some of it right now. Without even heating it up. Sigh. Good thing Stephen took the left-overs for lunch today. Dang!
Buffalo-Cheesy Popcorn
Popcorn has become my snack friend. Especially being on a low-cal diet.
Crazy popcorn flavors are usually not my thing (unless it appeals to my sweet tooth--that's almost always the exception). BUT, I've had a savory popcorn revelation or maybe it's more of a realization. I'm not sure. I'm too tired to tell. What I DO know is that my mom made this over the weekend. One taste, and I was hooked.
This is all you need. Seriously. 3 ingredients to snackity-snack heaven:
Instructions:
Pop your favorite low calorie popcorn as directed on the package instructions. Open the bag and add a few shakes of the Red Hot sauce. It all depends on how spicy you like it, so do this to your taste. Did I mention there's no calories in this stuff? If you like it hot, shake away!
Then add about 2 Tbsp. of Reduced-Fat Parmesan cheese (mine has about 20 calories per 2 Tbsp). Fold the top of the bag over to seal and shake.
The result? The perfect snack to sit down in front of the TV with and catch up on the latest episode of GLEE or American Idol. Now go make this. It's that good. I promise.
Crazy popcorn flavors are usually not my thing (unless it appeals to my sweet tooth--that's almost always the exception). BUT, I've had a savory popcorn revelation or maybe it's more of a realization. I'm not sure. I'm too tired to tell. What I DO know is that my mom made this over the weekend. One taste, and I was hooked.
This is all you need. Seriously. 3 ingredients to snackity-snack heaven:
Instructions:
Pop your favorite low calorie popcorn as directed on the package instructions. Open the bag and add a few shakes of the Red Hot sauce. It all depends on how spicy you like it, so do this to your taste. Did I mention there's no calories in this stuff? If you like it hot, shake away!
Then add about 2 Tbsp. of Reduced-Fat Parmesan cheese (mine has about 20 calories per 2 Tbsp). Fold the top of the bag over to seal and shake.
The result? The perfect snack to sit down in front of the TV with and catch up on the latest episode of GLEE or American Idol. Now go make this. It's that good. I promise.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Loaded Low-Fat Blueberry Oat Muffins
I posted this recipe on facebook a couple of weeks ago, and finally have had the chance to add it to the blog with pictures.
My muffin kick continues these days, and I just finished another batch of these yesterday afternoon. For some reason, if I have something a little sweet in the morning, I tend to not crave sweets the rest of the day (okay, okay except maybe around 8 or 9 pm--but that's a whole other post). I found this recipe online and made a couple of modifications to make it my own.
Ingredients:
(Serves 12)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In one bowl, combine the flour, oats, salt, baking powder, baking soda and sugar.
In another bowl, beat egg whites, milk and oil. Whisk for 5-7 mins. You want to get plenty of air into the egg mixture.
Stir into the flour mixture and mix together. Do not overmix, just until everything is combined (the batter will be lumpy).
Fold in the blueberries gently. If you're using frozen, coat these in a little bit of flour to help prevent them from bleeding.
Grease the muffin tins with cooking spray. Fill each cup up to the 3/4 level.
By the way, I'm absolutely in love with my vintage muffin tins. They were Stephen's grandmother's, and I use them all the time. Now, I just need to get some of her recipes!
Okay, so bake these at 400 degrees F for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Once done allow to cool completely, then gently remove from the cups and enjoy!
Don't these look yummy? They are best served warm with a little bit of light margarine or spray butter and perfect with the morning coffee. I freeze mine after they've cooled so that I can enjoy them whenever. Just pop them in the microwave for 20-30 seconds and they are good to go. Hope you like them!
My muffin kick continues these days, and I just finished another batch of these yesterday afternoon. For some reason, if I have something a little sweet in the morning, I tend to not crave sweets the rest of the day (okay, okay except maybe around 8 or 9 pm--but that's a whole other post). I found this recipe online and made a couple of modifications to make it my own.
Ingredients:
(Serves 12)
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 cup of oats
- 1/2 cup of sugar (I used Splenda for Baking)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp of salt
- 2 egg whites
- 1/2 cup of low-fat milk
- 1/3 cup of vegetable oil (you can also substitute with applesauce or a mashed banana in order to eliminate the oil)
- 3/4 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries (I used frozen)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In one bowl, combine the flour, oats, salt, baking powder, baking soda and sugar.
In another bowl, beat egg whites, milk and oil. Whisk for 5-7 mins. You want to get plenty of air into the egg mixture.
Stir into the flour mixture and mix together. Do not overmix, just until everything is combined (the batter will be lumpy).
Fold in the blueberries gently. If you're using frozen, coat these in a little bit of flour to help prevent them from bleeding.
Grease the muffin tins with cooking spray. Fill each cup up to the 3/4 level.
By the way, I'm absolutely in love with my vintage muffin tins. They were Stephen's grandmother's, and I use them all the time. Now, I just need to get some of her recipes!
Okay, so bake these at 400 degrees F for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Once done allow to cool completely, then gently remove from the cups and enjoy!
Don't these look yummy? They are best served warm with a little bit of light margarine or spray butter and perfect with the morning coffee. I freeze mine after they've cooled so that I can enjoy them whenever. Just pop them in the microwave for 20-30 seconds and they are good to go. Hope you like them!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
A little diddy about me and Lose It!
Okay, so I have ZERO intention of publicly sharing my current weight. That ranks right up there with having a route canal for me. But, I have made some huge changes in my post-baby diet, so it's hard not to share a part that I get excited about.
First, let me just tell you that I ate anything and everything I wanted when I was pregnant. I mean, I super-sized AND added a chocolate shake WITH whipped cream! I'd like to blame it on the fact that I worked 60 hour weeks well into my third trimester and all we did was eat take-out. I give serious kuddos to all the women who come home and cook every night after working a 10-12 hour day because I happily gave into whatever was convenient. Anyway, I WILL reveal that I gained a whopping 45 lbs. Oh ya baby. And outside of what I saw when I stepped on the scale at each doctor's appointment, I had fun putting it on!
After having Hudson, I was on a "gotta lose the baby weight IMMEDIATELY" kick. I'm pretty sure I uttered the words "empty carbs" within hours of giving birth. I was soooo depressed at the state of my body. I'm not exactly sure what I was thinking, but somehow I just sort of thought that it would fall off between breastfeeding and taking care of a newborn (sad news was that my journey with breastfeeding ended abruptly after 6 weeks...there went that automatic 500 calorie-a-day burn). I lost 20lbs during those first 6 weeks. Then I was then left to deal with the saddle-bagged rest of it.
After about a month of "watching what I ate" (more like watch me drink this 300 calorie latte), I finally decided that my plan would be to go on a low-calorie diet. I am LOVING it!! I keep myself to around 1200 calories a day, and I'm only 10lbs from my pre-baby weight! (Mind you, I was trying to lose 15 BEFORE I found out I was pregnant, so I'm still far from my goal, but I feel like there's light at the end of the tunnel)
I've been using this fabulous little website called Lose It. It's user-friendly and there is even an iphone app that you can use (I'm actually a Blackberry user, but my friends love their iphone app for this). Best of all, it's FREE. Here's the link if you'd like to check it out. http://loseit.com/ It allows me to keep track of my progress while also logging in my food choices every day. Food logs used to make me want to pull my hair out, but this site makes it kinda fun. And the results just keep me coming back for more.
I know the recipes I post on here are not exactly low-cal (I still have yet to figure out how our grandmothers made such amazing food and weighed all of 95lbs). BUT, I have managed to still lose weight while eating Mama Fina's Cuban food (who knew it was even possible). I'll try to post nutritional information on all my recipes to help all you fellow calorie counters and weight-watchers followers too.
Happy Counting!
First, let me just tell you that I ate anything and everything I wanted when I was pregnant. I mean, I super-sized AND added a chocolate shake WITH whipped cream! I'd like to blame it on the fact that I worked 60 hour weeks well into my third trimester and all we did was eat take-out. I give serious kuddos to all the women who come home and cook every night after working a 10-12 hour day because I happily gave into whatever was convenient. Anyway, I WILL reveal that I gained a whopping 45 lbs. Oh ya baby. And outside of what I saw when I stepped on the scale at each doctor's appointment, I had fun putting it on!
After having Hudson, I was on a "gotta lose the baby weight IMMEDIATELY" kick. I'm pretty sure I uttered the words "empty carbs" within hours of giving birth. I was soooo depressed at the state of my body. I'm not exactly sure what I was thinking, but somehow I just sort of thought that it would fall off between breastfeeding and taking care of a newborn (sad news was that my journey with breastfeeding ended abruptly after 6 weeks...there went that automatic 500 calorie-a-day burn). I lost 20lbs during those first 6 weeks. Then I was then left to deal with the saddle-bagged rest of it.
After about a month of "watching what I ate" (more like watch me drink this 300 calorie latte), I finally decided that my plan would be to go on a low-calorie diet. I am LOVING it!! I keep myself to around 1200 calories a day, and I'm only 10lbs from my pre-baby weight! (Mind you, I was trying to lose 15 BEFORE I found out I was pregnant, so I'm still far from my goal, but I feel like there's light at the end of the tunnel)
I've been using this fabulous little website called Lose It. It's user-friendly and there is even an iphone app that you can use (I'm actually a Blackberry user, but my friends love their iphone app for this). Best of all, it's FREE. Here's the link if you'd like to check it out. http://loseit.com/ It allows me to keep track of my progress while also logging in my food choices every day. Food logs used to make me want to pull my hair out, but this site makes it kinda fun. And the results just keep me coming back for more.
I know the recipes I post on here are not exactly low-cal (I still have yet to figure out how our grandmothers made such amazing food and weighed all of 95lbs). BUT, I have managed to still lose weight while eating Mama Fina's Cuban food (who knew it was even possible). I'll try to post nutritional information on all my recipes to help all you fellow calorie counters and weight-watchers followers too.
Happy Counting!
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