Watch my Weight Wednesdays!

Looking for recipes, tips, and your weight loss stories!    If you read My Story you will see my before and after pic of my weight loss journey.  Unfortunately I have not met my spring goal or even got close to it(gained 5lbs instead).  I now have a clothes issue, as all mine have "shrunk".  Hoping to find some inspiration and helpful tips from you all! Lets help each other!

My Goal this week - go to the gym 3 times...(I have been averaging 2) small steps!

Here is my recipe!  I love nacho's but those salty tortilla chips are not good for a weight loss diet(or anybodies for that matter!).  To get my snack fix I make this recipe! 

Nacho's

1/2 Whole Wheat Pita - cut into triangles and toast in oven till crisp.  (if you can find...fresh corn tortilla's will work too!)
Veggies - optional, I like green onion, peppers, corn, mushrooms, etc.
Protein - optional, If you have any leftover chicken or beef.
Shredded Cheese - small handful sprinkle on toasted pita, bake till melted.

Serve with homemade salsa, and guacamole(Avocado and lime juice mixed together)
Remember potion control!  For a snack use half a pita, if you are going to make it a meal with all those optional yummy extra's use whole pita.
Enjoy!

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Carrot Salad

This is an old family favorite recipe!  So easy to make and tasty too!  I usually make a big batch for a dinner side dish, and the leftovers are perfect for kids school lunches! 

 Ingredients

• 2 or 3 grated carrots
• chopped pineapple, about a cup
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• lemon juice
• handful of raisins

Directions

Mix all the ingredients together and refrigerate!  Enjoy! 

 

Black Bean Brownies With Avacado Superlicious Fudge Spread!

Have you tried a black bean brownie?  I have and they are so good!  My friend introduced me to these yummy brownies from Heidi Swanson's 101 Cookbooks .   Then recently I ran into the Greener Eating  blog with this different Brownie recipe that looks so good!  I tried it today!  Also through my searches I went here, and from there, I went to here, then I found Superlicious Fudge Spread to "frost" my brownies!  Also found a recipe for ABC pudding which I am defiantly going to make!  The brownies are very moist and have almost a fudgy look to them.  

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 Cups soft cooked black beans
• 2 ripe bananas
• 1/3 Cup agave nectar
• 1/4 Cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 Cup instant oats
• 1 Tbsp walnut pieces

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8x8" pan and set aside. 
Combine all ingredients, except oats, in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth, scrapping sides as needed. 
Stir in the oats and pour batter into the pan. 
Bake approx 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 
Allow to cool before icing.  

Superlicious Fudge Spread

Ingredients: 

2 Avocado's

1/4 agave nectar

3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Pour all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth.  

Tastes like chocolate pudding the kids raved!

Black Bean

Chipotle Cheesesteak Subs!

The other night my hubby and I were out for a walk and passed a subway advertisement, advertising Chipotle Cheesesteak Subs. The first thing that came to mind was "Hey I can make that!".  
So last night we had a lovely roast beef dinner...and tonight I used the beef leftovers and made chipotle cheese steak subs!  I did the math and with all the ingredients I made 4 full size subs for just over $7!  Wow!  Not sure how much a sub is at Subway?  

1.  I sliced the roast beef as thin as I could and heated it in the oven with a bit of watered down gravy to keep it moist.
2.  Sliced green peeper and onion and sauted till just tender in frypan.


Chipotle Sauce

• 3/4 Cup mayo
• 1tsp Dijon Mustard
• 1/4 Lime squeezed
• 1-3 tsp chipotle sauce (or you can mince 1 chipotle pepper)
• A little garlic powder to taste

Combine all ingredients add more or less to your own liking.

 3.  I purchased grocery store made parmesan herb sub buns and toasted them in the oven with cheese on them!
4.  And top with your favorite sub toppings!


These subs were so good!  The kids loved them and requested I make them every time we have leftover roast beef!   Mmmmm they were good!  Should of only had half though :(

Carrot Bread

I am still on my quest to make a yummy carrot bread!  So I just bought a fresh bag of carrots,  I figure out if I have all the ingredients, when I realize my son has cooked up all my eggs!  But surely you can substitute eggs with something else?  So I google and find that yes you can!  There were so many to choose from...so I chose the easiest one, milk :)

So while I wait for the bread to bake I will tell you what I did.

Ingredients
1 1/2 Cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 cup Walnuts
1/2 cup Raisins

I mixed all of the above together in a big mixing bowl, and in a big measuring cup I mixed the below ingredients.
 
1 cup of carrots shredded - I shredded 2 carrots and it was a bit more over a cup...oh well :)
1/2 cup of apple sauce
150 ml milk
3/4 cup Agave Syrup (or you can use 1cup of sugar)

Pour in to dry ingredient and mix well.  I decided at this point to throw in some unsweetened shredded coconut...let say 1/4 cup just for fun...
As you know I do not have a loaf pan so I poured the batter into a greased casserole dish...threw it in a 350 preheated oven...and now I am waiting  :)

So checked it about 20min in, and realized that I forgot to sprinkle the sunflower seeds on!  So sprinkled them on.  But it didn't work they all are just loose on top :(  oh well.  I baked it for 40-45 mins.

It turned out a bit heavy, but it is so very yummy!  I think next time I may try using yeast to make it more like bread. I would describe this recipe as a not very sweet carrot cake.  But all in all....the kids love it so I would say it was successful!

Chicken Broth

I decided last week to add soup to our weeknight dinners...at least once a week.  Last week we had soup for dinner 3 times!  Minestrone, Egg drop surprise, and chicken soup!  I had lots of bones in the freezer that needed to be cooked up for soup broth.  Making your own broth  is time consuming...but if you want to save some money and have the time you should really make your own!  If you are going to buy broth please read the ingredients to make sure that it doesn't include monosodium glutamate (MSG).

Chicken Broth

After you have a nice dinner of chicken(turkey), remove meat from carcass.  If you have time you can make your broth now...but who has the time?  Wrap the carcasses up and throw them into the freezer to be used when you do have time!

1. Put the carcass into a large pot and fill with water.  Simmer for 3-4 hours(sometimes I cut it shorter).  You can throw in any veggies in to flavor the broth...celery, onion, carrot, etc.

2. Strain broth and pull any meat off the bones to put in your soup and discard soggy veggies. 

3. Put broth in the fridge overnight,  in the morning you can skim off the fat.

4. Now it is ready to use in your soup recipe!

Sunscreen

After spending a lovely day outside yesterday.  I noticed Andrew had a bit of a sunburn on his neck.  We all know that sunscreen causes cancer way more than it prevents it.  So I did some research on my fave website naturalnews.  The Health Ranger suggests using Badger sunscreen so I found a place to buy it at  well.ca  And found they sell some other natural sunscreens too!
I also researched  for some recipes to make your own:
http://www.beauty-soap-and-bubbles.com/natural-sunscreen-recipe.html
http://www.a1-natural-beauty.com/Sunscreen_Lotion.html
http://ozarkscents.blogspot.com/2009/05/natural-sunscreen-recipe.html

Partial List of Harmful Chemicals to avoid when purchasing a sunscreen from naturalnews:

* Oxybenzone and Dixoybenzone
* PABA (Para Amino Benzoic Acid) and PABA esters - p-aminobenzoic acid, glyceryl PABA, 4-aminobenzoic acidpadimate-O, or octyl dimethyl PABA
* Parabens
* Cinnamates - octyl methoxycinnamate and cinoxate
* Digalloyl trioleate
* Menthyl anthranilate
* Salicylates - homomenthyl salicylate, octyl salicylate, and triethanolamine salicylate, ethylhexyl salicylate
* Avobenzone

Our first outdoor picnic!

Well our park had 2 new picnic tables installed this year and the kids have been waiting for a nice day to try them out!  So today is about 15 out and sunny so perfect time to go!  Looked in the fridge and cupboards and didn't have anything "fun" to bring....So our first stop was the grocery store.  We found some yummy pink triangle treats!  Chicken Caesar salad, fresh rolls, Baba ganoush(will not buy again to salty and to much mayonnaise, homemade is so much better!)and fruit!  Yummy!

Ice Cream Cake

My daughter requested an IceCream cake for her birthday this year!  I made it in a casserole dish with a cookie crumble crust and a pure strawberry middle!  It was a big hit with all her friends!

Directions

Oatmeal cookies  (my daughters favorite) use any you like!
A little melted butter

Crumble cookies in your food processor or bash them with a rolling pin.  Mix them with a little melted butter and press into dish.  Refrigerate.

Softened Ice Cream (I used butterscotch for this layer.)

Press into dish. And put in freezer for a bit.

Strawberries (I used frozen but fresh will work better!)

Process in food processor.  Poor into dish to make another layer.  Freeze for a bit.

Softened Ice Cream (I used vanilla for this layer.)

Press into dish. And put in freezer until ready to serve.

Decorate with fresh strawberries or any fruit you love!

Enjoy!

I submitted this recipe to 
Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
For Jen's Easter Food Traditions 
yummy Tasty Tuesday Party!
Check out all the recipes! 

Egg Drop Surprise Soup

When visiting a very good friend of mine she made this most delicious soup!  I asked her for the recipe to try!  She makes it look so easy!  And it is so yummy! 

For 6 servings:

1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups rice of choice (or barley or quinoa, millet)
8 cups broth of choice
about 2 cups of vegetables of your choice coarsely chopped (snow peas, asparagus, peas, edamame, broccoli, celery, carrots, spinach?)
6 eggs
about 2 sprigs of cilantro
toasted sesame oil and green onions to garnish

Fry the rice in oil at med heat until translucent (a couple of minutes).  Pour in broth and cook grains at med low heat for directed amount of time minus about 5 minutes (white rice for 10, brown rice for 35, etc). 

Increase heat to med and crack eggs directly into broth as long as there is enough room for all the eggs without being too crowded.  Otherwise bring 8 cups of water with 1 tbsp vinegar to a boil and poach eggs separately.

Once the eggs have been cooking for about 3 minutes, add your veggies.  Just cook them long enough to bring out the colour.  Celery and carrots will take longer, you can add them at the same time or before the eggs.

Turn off the heat and add your cilantro.

Put the egg into the bowl first and nestle it under rice and veggies and broth to make a "surprise!"

Drizzle sesame oil overtop.  Garnish with green onions if desired.

Cheese & Onion Biscuit Bread

I have been wanting to make this recipe since I saw it on  Kayotic Kitchen a blog I follow.  It was so easy and quick to make!  It went very nice with the minestrone soup I made for dinner tonight!  Click on Kayotic Kitchen  for full recipe!

Cilantro Slaw

Cilantro - Coriandrum Sativum (Umbelliferae)
Cilantro contains several antioxidants including camphor, carvone, elemol, geraniol and limonene. A natural deodorizer, Cilantro relieves nausea, indigestion and bloating along with urinary tract infections. Consuming cilantro (whose seeds are called Coriander) helps reduce cholesterol and blood sugar levels. Cilantro kills Salmonella and removes heavy metals such as Mercury from the body. Cilantro has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties.

To read more about Heavy Metal Detoxification click!

Here is a yummy recipe for Cilantro Slaw!

3 cups green cabbage, finely shredded

3 cups red cabbage, finely shredded

1 cup firmly packed cilantro leaves, minced

1/4 cup lime juice

1 tablespoon water

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

Salt and pepper

In a large bowl, mix cabbages, cilantro, lime juice, water, honey and cumin seeds. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate.  Enjoy!

Salsa

I made this yummy salsa for the enchilada's.  I prefer my salsa fresh like the first pic...But you can cook it up so it is more like the kind you buy at the store.  Jay likes it that way...So I do both  :)


diced tomatoes you can use your frozen ones or fresh
thinly sliced green onion
chopped cilantro leaves
lemon or lime juice
garlic clove crushed
green chili pepper
Diced Peppers
other add ins corn and black beans  Yum


Mix all together and refrigerate!

Curried Sprouted Mung Beans

This is one of my absolute favorite dishes to make!   You just got to try this!

Curried Sprouted Mung Beans!  Yummy!  I put a dollop of yogurt on mine and had a garden salad on the side with lemon and yogurt dressing.  I wasn't sure of the measurements for some of the ingredients...so I just threw in about a teaspoon or 2 and lots of sesame seeds!

If you like this go check out www.lifeasMOM.com To find more yummy recipes with herbs and spices!

2bl oil
mustard seeds
2 cloves
cinnamon
cumin
sesame seeds
(cook to flavor)

1 med onion (cook 2-3 min)
garlic (I used 2 cloves)
ginger
1 green chili

6oz dry mung beans make into sprouted beans  (medium heat cook till tender)

To learn how to sprout beans go here!

1/2 tsp turmeric
1tsp cayenne
1tsp salt(I didn't use salt)
2tsp cumin
2tsp coriander(cilantro)
1oz coconut
1oz raisins
1oz peanuts

lemon(I didn't put it on mine)
Fresh chopped coriander(cilantro)

I also use this recipe for potlucks too!...It tastes so yummy served cold as a salad dish!

Watch the video for step by step instructions!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l56MiZqSLhU#
And if you do watch the video...It really does smell so good!  

 Mung Bean Sprouts contain pure forms of vitamins A, B, C, and E, in addition to an assortment of minerals including Calcium, Iron, and Potassium. Mung bean sprouts are free of cholesterol, and are ideal for anyone counting calories. One cup of mung bean sprouts contains only approximately 30 calories, 3 grams of protein, only 6 carbohydrates, and only .2 grams of fat. Sprouts also contain a high source of fiber, are easily digestible and contain a high concentration of enzymes facilitating the digestive process.

Chickpea Enchilada's

Today I am participating in the Ultimate Recipe Challenge.  This weeks challenge is Beans and Lentils!  As a flexitarian family we eat a lot of beans and lentils so this is no challenge to me!  The hard part was to choose a favorite recipe.  Today I chose My Chickpea Enchilada's!  This recipe is so easy make and kids love it!  So here is the original post.


My family loves this recipe!  It is so easy!  And of course I just use what I have on hand.  I used my homemade tortilla's, and homemade salsa.

2 cups                chickpeas(soaked and cooked as recommended)or you can use cooked chicken or beef leftovers!
1 cup                  salsa
1/2 cup               cottage cheese
Optional add ins  onion, peppers, mushrooms, corn, black beans, garlic, spices. what ever you have on hand or like!
1 1/2 cups           salsa
3/4 cup              shredded cheese
6                         tortilla's

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a bowl mash chickpeas, mix with salsa, cheese, and any add ins.
3. Roll even amounts of the mixture in the tortillas. Arrange in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Cover with salsa sauce and 3/4 cup shredded cheese.
4. Bake uncovered in the preheated oven 30 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before serving. Best served with sour cream, guacamole, and a nice garden salad.

If you are looking for more beans and lentils recipes here are a few of my other ones!
Black Bean and Corn Quesadillas
Curried Sprouted Mung Beans
Curry
Lentil Lasagna
Healthy Nacho's
Dilly Chick Wraps
Black Bean Brownie with Superlicious Fudge Spread

And remember to go to the Ultimate Recipe Challenge today for more great recipes!

If you like what your reading please subscribe!  click here!  I love followers!
Angie

Yummy Curry

This may not be the healthiest curry dish and it is in no way good for your waist line!  But it is our favourite meal!  I alter this dish to the ingredients I have on hand.  It's all good, and my kids love it!  The coconut milk makes it a little sweet to accompany the spicy!

Ingredients

Onion, green onion, or not at all.
1 fresh green chili, or chili spice.
Vegetables any, all or none what ever you have.
Tomatoes I throw in one or two of my frozen roma toms chopped or purred.(no skin) or not at all!
ginger fresh or powder

Protein - Chicken, sprouted chickpeas, both or 1 as much as you need to feed your family!...let me know if you try something different that works!
fresh cilantro (go out buy this it is so good for you!) chop leaves I dont use the stems.
1 tbls curry paste or use curry powder.
1 can of coconut milk (yes I said can...but it is so good!  Still looking for a replacement)
Almonds if you got them!  So yummy!
unsweetened shredded coconut - handful
Dried fruit raisins, apricots, figs...or none
a little freshly ground pepper

Cook first group of ingredients for about 10 min on medium heat.  You may use a little oil if wanted.
Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 20-30 mins.  Add a little water if needed.

Serve with a dollop of natural yogurt, top with almonds, fresh cilantro, and a little squeezed lemon if you like. Beside rice, couscous, homemade naan, and/or chopped green salad!