Turkey "Joes"

The other day I got a hankering for some sloppy joes. I decided against buying the pre-made sauce in a can, especially since my husband has to notify me EVERY time he sees a commercial about how much he hates the stuff from a can. So I opted to make them from scratch instead. That way I could make them a little better for you.

Here is the result:

*Next time I'll get a less-blurry picture. My camera + no flash + dog jumping on me = blurry picture

The outcome was delicious!!! My husband LOVED it and we ate leftovers for the next 2 meals...it makes a big batch. He loves cheese so he added a slice to his sandwiches (yes that was plural as in two) while I enjoyed mine open-faced style with a little mustard on toasted bread and topped it with the sloppy goodness. I bet you want to know how to make them don't you? Okay okay. Stop pulling my arm. I'll tell you:

Ingredients
16 oz. lean ground turkey meat (told you it's a big batch)
1 sweet onion
1 jar roasted red bell pepper
2 cups chopped mushrooms (preferably fresh)
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup chili sauce
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
Few dashes of hot sauce

Directions
Peel and chop your onion into quarters. Drain red bell peppers and add that with your onions to a food processor. Pulse until onion and pepper are finely diced. Place in a bowl with chopped mushrooms and set aside.

In a small bowl, add ketchup, chili sauce, apple cider vinegar, and hot sauce and stir until well blended. Set aside.

Find a really big skillet. And I mean BIG. Spray the skillet with non-stick cooking spray and heat over medium high heat. Add ground turkey and cook for about 2 minutes while breaking meat into crumbles with your spoon. Add the onion-pepper-mushroom mix and saute with the meat until it is cooked through and mushrooms are soft (about 8 minutes).

Add the sauce mixture to the yummy goodness in your skillet and simmer over medium heat for about 8 minutes or until the sauce thickens. *By the way...this will be good in the freezer for up to a month

Yummy Sunrise Smoothie

So I was at work yesterday and started to get the 3:00 munchies. Rather than grab the normal box of low-calorie speical crackers that leave you empty and longing for more I decided to try something a little more refreshing. I brought some frozen strawberries and some yogurt on a whim that morning and had left an orange the day before and this was the result:

Yummy Sunrise Smoothie

Ingredients
1 orange (peeled and broken into slices)
about 5 whole, frozen strawberries
1 (6oz.) container low-fat yogurt (I used Dannon Light'n'Fit Key Lime flavor)

Put all the ingredients in a blender and add a little water, juice, or milk and blend until smooth. If you want a thicker shake you can add a few ice cubes as well.

The result is yummy deliciousness that is WAY better than empty calorie pre-packaged snacks!

Update on Day 5

By the way . . . I quit the Purification.

More blogs to come soon

Day 3 & My Ultimatum

Last night was AWFUL. I had the worst headache and the nausea was like every 10 minutes. I wanted so bad to quit. I gave my body an ultimatum. If I was not down at least a pound in the morning I was going to put the program on hold. I've never wanted to not lose weight so bad in my life!

I know what you're thinking..."Come on Amanda. It's only been 2 days." Yes...the hardest 2 days in a long time! To make matters even more intolerable after I finished eating my dinner of brown rice, broccoli, and mushrooms my husband decides he's finally hungry and nothing in the house is good enough to suit him. 20 minutes later he comes back and sits down with a huge drink and a big brown bag that smelled of french fries and deliciousness.

Now I must be honest. The smell of those greasy fries actually made me feel sick. I was pretty shocked they had that effect on me. However, he then pulls out this thick, round construction wrapped in the prettiest silver package. As he comes closer to show me the beautifully constructed sandwich I see the steam billowing out of the shiny wrapper and then I see it. . . a double cheeseburger from Five Guys. Granted, I have never eaten a cheeseburger from Five Guys but I've heard so much about it and man that thing smelled good! To answer your question, no, I did not cheat. . . I left the room.

Back to my ultimatum . . . I've been weighing everyday just to track my progress. On Wednesday I was 139 and Thursday morning I was 138. I felt so awful that if I was still 138 or heaven help if I was MORE than that I was going to throw in the towel. Well I got up later this morning after trying to sleep off my massive headache and I weighed.

The verdict: 136 . . . TWO pounds. God really has a way of getting the message across. So I'm going to stick it out. I can do it, with God's help I know I can and I will feel so much better afterwards. I'm just ready for this "natural energy" to kick in that I've read about.

Day 2 . . .

This is horrible. I've never felt worse in my life. My dinner consisted of 1/2 cup brown rice, a bag of steamed broccoli, and some sauteed mushrooms with lemon juice and a little balsamic vinegar. My body is definitely letting me know how loaded down with toxins it is. I had to leave work about 15 minutes early.

Physically I am drained. I have nausea about every 2 hours, a non-stop headache, and I cringe at the thought of having to take those stupid cleanse pills. YUCK!! I've had to talk myself into not quitting about every 10 minutes today. Honestly if I hadn't have spent so much money I probably would give up.

It's not so much the sweets and sodas and caffeine I miss as much as my daily yogurt and whole grain toast. If 2/3 of your body is made of yogurt then 1/3 of mine is made of yogurt...I eat that stuff like the world is coming to an end. I'll see how things go tonight but more than likely I'll feel worse in the morning...and I'll probably call in sick.

This has really opened my eyes to how much bad stuff I was actually putting in my body. My Dad once said that "if food is fuel then be only put the best in your tank." A friend of mine at work (the one whole told me about this) said that it has to break you down before it can build you back up. Immediately I thought about how the same is true in your walk with the Lord. Sometimes we fill ourselves with pride and things of the world and we're so full of ourselves that the only way God can do anything with us is to break us.

There is beauty in brokenness. When we're broken and vulnerable that's when we really and truly give all of ourselves to God and totally put everything in His hands. It's when were in that state that our "blinders" are taken off and we can see things more clearly. Most importantly God can mold us back into the men and women He's called us to be.

When I was sitting in church last night, listening to the pastor and fighting the side effects of this purification I thought about sacrifice. I know how much of a struggle it is for me to remain faithful to this process and it's only certain foods I have to abstain from. It puts a new meaning to "denying the flesh." My thoughts then moved to Jesus. If I'm struggling this much with this one little thing and it's only been 2 days...how much more did my Savior struggle. It puts some things into perspective...yet I still can't even begin to imagine all the things He went through and how perfect He was.

God, You are awesome. My prayer is that we all will receive the strength to fight and the patience to endure.

Day 1: Mixed Emotions

Today was Day 1 of my 21 day journey to purification. I must say, other than feeling nauseous a couple of times during the day it isn't too bad. I started reducing my caffeine intake beforehand because I knew it would be rough. The no meat, no sweets part is okay . . . however . . . I would KILL for some dairy or a granola bar! I ate my only allowable carb (1/2 cup brown rice) for dinner along with some veggies.

I've started to get a muted headache but it's nothing unbearable. I don't know whether to be thankful or brace myself for the worst. More than likely it's the calm before the storm.

One thing I can say about this purification process is that is requires some thought and effort. I have to get creative. I'd go crazy munching on baby carrots and apples. Raw or not I'm gonna find a way to make it taste good!

Well it's off to church for me. My niece still wants to give me my Valentine's present . . . (please don't be chocolate, please don't be chocolate!)

Purification: My 21 Day Semi-Raw Food Adventure

On Wednesday, February 17th I am going to start my 21 day purification process. One of the girls at work introduced me to Standard Process's Purification Program. It's supposed to eliminate all the toxins from your body. It's like the master of all cleansing programs.

Here's the hard part. It's a diet based on raw fruits and vegetables with the only allowable carbs being 1/2 cup of brown rice or 1 cup of lentils. I can steam or saute vegetables for 4 minutes but at least half must be consumed raw and I have to eat twice as many vegetables as fruit. This in addition to the 10 supplements 3 times a day as well as 2-3 shakes that pretty much smell like grass.

Part of the process is journaling your progress. Therefore, beginning Wednesday I will be blogging about my process to purification. Feel free to live vicariously through me and decide for yourself if this is something you may want to do.

My Funny Valentine

I love Valentine's Day. I love cooking for my husband, setting the table, and dressing up. Just call me Suzy Homemaker. I even cooked dinner in heels & pearls with my apron . . . totally 1950s. I spent most of the day cleaning the house and when it got closer for my sweetie to get home I began assembling the table setting. We only have a table that seats 6 so I tried to re-arrange things to make it a little more intimate.



I made Buffalo Chicken Salad with Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake. Two favorites. The salad was really simple. I had some leftover lettuce that I chopped and added with some bagged lettuce and threw the mix in my pretty serving bowl. I used chicken tenderloins and diced them into bite-sized pieces, sauteed them in 2 tablespoons of margarine and added some hot sauce right at the end. Those little soldiers were thrown into another serving dish and placed on the table. I took a picture with the cake on the table and then put it back in the fridge since it was made with whipped cream. Didn't want the peanut-buttery goodness to melt!!

I took out as much fat from this meal as possible. I worked hard especially on the cake since I love to devour desserts. Here is my version of the recipe:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake









Ingredients
1 box devils food cake mix
3/4 cup liquid egg whites
1/2 cup applesauce
1 & 1/2 cups water
1 (3 oz.) package Vanilla flavored sugar free, fat free pudding
1 cup skim milk
1/2 cup reduced fat peanut butter
1 & 1/2 cups fat free whipped topping (from the tub, not the can)

Directions
In a medium bowl, add cake mix, egg whites, applesauce and water. Mix until well blended. If batter seems too thick you may add another 1/4 cup water. Divide batter evenly between two 8 or 9 inch round pans that have been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack until completely cooled. (You know the drill.)

For the Filling:
In a separate bowl, combine the milk and pudding mixture and stir with a whisk for 2 minutes until it has thickened. Add peanut butter and blend well. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Place one layer on your serving plate with the bottom facing up. (This will give you a flat surface.) Spread 1 cup of the peanut butter mixture and place the other layer on top facing right-side up. Gently fold the whipped cream into the rest of the peanut butter filling until it's blended well. Frost the cake with the whipped cream mixture and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Black Bean Brownies

I know what you're thinking. "Black Bean Brownies? Seriously?" Yes folks, seriously. I saw them on Dr. Oz and so I began my google search to find a recipe. I found one that used wholesome ingredients and sounded decent and here is the result:


What do you think? They look good...yes?

Well they are the prime example that looks can be deceiving. I was sssoooo hoping they would be oh-so-delicioso with their promise of 83 calories of wholesome goodness. There are few things edible in this world that I do not like and these are definitely at the top of the list. I guess I will just have to find a recipe of my own to reduce the calories.

Valentines & Snow!!!

It's snowing outside and that makes me SUPER excited!! I left work and went to the gym for hip-hop step class and when I walked outside the ground was covered in snow. Now considering I was born and raised right here in Florence, SC and the last big snow we had was in 1989 (I was 3), this is a big deal!!

When I got home my husband was snapping pictures and playing catch with our dog in the backyard. He's so precious . . . like a kid in a candy store. I'm going to try and get some good pictures tomorrow morning so I can post them.

I am also making our Valentine's dinner tomorrow night. On the menu is his favorite buffalo chicken salad with blue cheese dressing and the oh-so-yummy chocolate peanut butter cake. I love cooking for my husband...and just about anyone else that will let me entertain them!

For now, it's hot chocolate and snuggle on the couch time. Until tomorrow friends . . .

Valentine's Cake

As I said in the last blog, I'm on the Outreach Team for my church's Women's Ministry and we're trying to do at least one project per quarter (4 per year). Since we just met in January we decided to do something for the local girls home. There are about 5 girls, ages 14-18 so we chose to do a cake and Valentine cards.



I got the idea from cakecentral.com. I had seen the cakes that used kit-kats and M&Ms but since I did a butter cake with strawberry filling I thought it would be neat to use graham crackers and strawberry milkshake flavored whoppers. I was super excited about how it turned out and it was SO easy to make. I'll definitely be making many versions of this in the future!!

Past Creations . . .

This is a little concotion I made out of cracked wheat, black beans, asparagus, and sauteed onions. I thought it was quite yummy!



Here's a baby shower cake I made for one of the girls at work. Chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream.



Thanksgiving 2009 at Grandma's. Made-from-scratch Cranberry Cheesecake with Gingernap Crust. Absolutely nothing low-fat about this.



I get the urge to bake at random times and mix different thing together. This was the result of Martha White Honey Bran muffin mix, chopped dates, shredded carrots, and cinnamon.



I make a cake for my niece and nephew every year for their birthdays. Below is the most recent one for Allyson. This was a last minute cake. She wanted Hanna Montana so I had to improvise:

My Big Fat Sweatshirt

I have this sweatshirt that I borrowed from my sister's house one day. It was actually her husband's sweatshirt and he's a 6+ foot-tall logger. Needless to say the thing is gigantic and SSSOOO comfortable. However, my husband thinks it's ridiculous and picks on me but I have a very justifiable reason for wearing it.

Let me explain: I'm a newly-wed and am blessed with a job that I started as an intern in my senior year of college in January 2009. My husband just graduated in December so he's still on the job hunt (anyone looking for a Health Physicist?? . . .Anyone?) We're currently renting a house that uses gas to heat the house, oven, and my stove. Long story short . . .our gas bill is through the roof so we keep the thermostat on 62. Winter 2010 + Florence, SC = COLDEST WINTER we've had in a long time.

Below is a picture of me and my beloved sweatshirt. I cook in it. I bake in it. I clean the house in it.



Criticize all you want hunny, I'm not freezing my bazooka just to look cutsie in the kitchen! lol

Cake Mania

It's been a week since my last post and what a week it was. I had 5 cake orders to fill. Between working everyday until after 5:00 and baking every night I haven't gotten much sleep!





Thomas the Train. I semi-redeemed the horrible mess. When I tried to make the 3-D train I did a number of things wrong: 1)Used self-rising flour instead of all purpose, 2)Left out the baking powder, 3)Failed to securly tie down the top of the pan. No, I didn't take a picture of the huge mess in my oven but I did take a picture of the finished products.

I got up early the next morning and made a 2-D version of Thomas because I felt so awful about messing up the train.

Next up was the emergeny baby shower cake. It was for a girl in our office and she was put on modified bed rest so we had to bump up the office shower to Tuesday. I made a giant baby rattle and two little bassinets with fondant babies. My husband did the babies...he's so great. I'll post pictures of that later.

After the baby shower cake on Tuesday was a lingerie shower cake on Friday. I thought it turned out SUPER cute. However, due to my delierium from lake of sleep I failed to take a picture. Hopefully one of the girls got an image for me.

Lastly was a celebration cake for a company here in town. They needed enough for about 350 people. I did a 3-tier butter recipe with strawberry filling and two (2 layer) chocolate sheet cakes with cookies & cream filling. I heard everyone enoyed the cakes so that was a relief.




I have one more cake to do for this Wednesday. I'm part of the Outreach Team on our Women's Ministry at church and we are doing a Valentine's cake with cards for the local girls home. There are about 5 girls that are ages 14-18 so I'm thinking I'll do something a little more sophistacted and cute. I'm excited about this one!

Now it's time for laundry. More blogging to come later.