Food Shout-Out Day

Ok, so I realized that I have been taking pictures of a lot of food that I make, but failing to actually follow up and blog about it. And, as all good bloggers must talk about what they eat and take pictures of it, it makes sense that I am a terrible blogger. But I am trying ever so hard to repent and get back on track.

Maybe my thoughts have been turned to food today because lately Dave and I have gotten into watching the past season of The Biggest Loser. It was (obviously) my idea, but not surprisingly Dave is now always the one who suggests turning it on...and he gets way into the strategies that the people are employing. I just like watching Jillian yell at people.

Anyway, first off, my peanut butter cupcakes that I mentioned last week turned out wonderfully! I got them from Livin the Dream in Beantown USA's blog, and they were delish. All it contains is a doctored-up cake mix, but every time I have tried to make cupcakes completely from scratch, they turn out too dry. I didn't make the ganache, but just used a simple chocolate frosting recipe from I can't remember (it was your basic cocoa powder, milk, powdered sugar combo).

• Peanut Butter Cupcakes
• 18.25-oz. package yellow cake mix
• ⅓ cup peanut butter
• ⅓ cup vegetable oil
• 1 ⅓ cups water
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• Chocolate Ganache
• 12-oz. bag semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Method

For cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350*F. Line muffin tins with paper liners. (Between 20-24.) In large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, peanut butter, oil, water, eggs, and vanilla. Beat on low speed 30 seconds. Scrape down side of bowl and beat 2 minutes more on medium. Spoon cake batter into prepared tins and bake in preheated oven 18-20 minutes, until cupcakes spring back lightly upon being touched.

Let cupcakes cool about 1 minute; then, using a spoon, make a small indentation in each cupcake. When ganache is spreadable, spoon a small amount into each indentation, and spread to edges. Garnish with chopped Reese's cups. Store in refrigerator.

I didn't take a picture because mine turned out really ugly...let's just say that someone always forgets to spray her muffin tins. 'Nuff said.

Tonight for dinner I tried a really easy recipe for tortilla soup that I found on Munch and Crunch's blog. It was soooo easy and quick, and way healthy! I of course ruined the health by garnishing with cheese, a little fat-free sour cream, and a few crumbled tortilla chips, but you CANT have tortilla soup without those things!

Let's all pretend we don't see the apple drips on my table, ok? I eat sans plate often.

It contained:

1 can of low-fat refried beans (the jalepeno flavored one is the best)
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 cans of chicken broth
She did a can of corn but I did black beans instead. Both would be good.

Let those things come to a boil, and then add some shredded chicken. I did like four of those tenderloins, but I could have handled more chicken. I also added a little taco seasoning too.

SO easy, right? And all things that I had around anyway.

I also made one of my favorite healthy muffin recipes ever. I found them back in, what I lovingly call "the Weight Watchers days." I can still tell you the Points in anything, just challenge me.

These muffins have some weird ingredients, but don't worry, they don't taste diety at all. I usually hate weird diet foods but these are really good, even boys love them and they usually hate things containing Bran and Banana in place of oil.

Triple B Muffins

1 medium ripe banana -- mashed
2 cups All Bran Extra Fiber
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups skim milk
1/4 cup eggbeaters
1 1/4 cups Reduced Fat Bisquick
1 teaspoon cinnamon -- or Apple Pie Spice
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup blueberries -- fresh or frozen

Instructions:

Pre heat oven to 400

In a medium bowl mash the banana and add the All Bran, the milk, the vanilla and the egg beaters.

In a small bowl mix the Bisquick, the spice and the brown sugar; add to the wet mixture, stir until just combined, do not over mix.

Fold in blueberries.

Spray muffin tin with Pam and fill muffin cups.

Makes 12 muffins.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Remove cooked muffins from the pan and cool before eating.

The muffins are soft when they come out of the oven, but they firm up as they cool.

I will say that I did three things differently: I use an egg instead of Eggbeaters (because eggbeaters are sick and I am not going to buy them just for this), I had no Bisquick so I used Krusteaz pancake mix and it was exactly the same, and I used mixed berries instead of just blueberries because that was what I had. You just have to make exceptions when you are a poor student and can't be buying a million new things for every recipe.

They may not look like much, but they are fiber-licious, moist, and only 1.5 WW Points! (If you care)

I also need to give a shout-out to my wonderful mother-in-law for making us the most delicious Chex Mix of all time. I usually don't like Chex Mix (the classic savory kind. Muddy Buddies however...) but when we were down in St. George after our wedding one of Dave's nieces had some of this sweet kind in a little plastic cup. She was trying to feed it to me like a dog, and in the process I realized that it was the most delicious Chex Mix I had ever tasted. Dave got mad at me for manipulating her into giving me all of hers and then going and getting a refill. If being an aunt has no perks at all, I am backing out now.

Anyway, Dave's mom came up to Provo just for the day yesterday, so we met her for dinner. I had mentioned before how much I love her coconut Chex Mix, and she even gave me the recipe, but probably knowing I hadn't gotten around to making it (again, obscure ingredients=I never make it) she brought us some! Luckily for me Dave had a stomach ache after dinner so I ate a ton by myself (I am a terrible wife, I know. I did buy him some Tums for times like this, however). Someday I will post the recipe, but I want to try it myself first so I can tell you if I made any modifications.

Here is just one of the little baggies she brought us. It has this yummy sticky coconut syrup, pecans, and Golden Grahams. Snack heaven.

Ok, sorry this post is a million years long, but just one more recipe. So Dave and I have learned that if you want to eat well, you have to figure out what meals you like that will also last you a while. Casseroles and soups are good for this. Dave even dubbed me "The Soup Mistress", later shortened to "The Soupstress" because I make them so much...what can I say, they are easy, cheap, and easily imbued with flavor. Anyway, this was a recipe for baked ziti from allrecipes.com (Dave's favorite website :))that we tried a couple of weeks ago and totally loved! It probably could be wayyy healthier because it has sour cream and cheese in it...whoops...but we had salad with it? Does that make it ok? I also cut down the cheese an sour cream by at least a third (the sour cream by half, and use fat-free!). It was nice to have a little creamy kick but that way it wasn't like gross and laden with cheese. We also only used one and like a fourth jars of sauce and it was totally fine.

Ingredients

• 1 pound dry ziti pasta
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 2 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce
• 6 ounces provolone cheese, sliced
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes; drain.
2. In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer as follows: 1/2 of the ziti, Provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted.

That was after one night...so yeah, we definitely got our money's worth on that dish!

Whew! Ok, that's all for tonight...I think I am going to try Twix cookies this weekend. It's General Conference, so you have to have yummy treats, right? We are trying to think of good Conference traditions...do you guys have any that you always do? We were thinking cinnamon rolls but everyone does that...