Jackson is 10 months old, he just started walking before his 10 month anniversary. We keep trying work work with him, but more and more he wants to drop down and crawl...unless there's a soccer ball in front of him.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Jackson at 8 months
Jackson is growing so quickly and learning something new almost every day! He loves to roll, clap his hands, talk up a storm, and loves to stand holding onto the coutch and walk back and forth. He can sit and pull himself into sitting position too! We are glad it's summer, he loves to splash in his tub, pop bubbles, look at books, and listen to music. We are so proud of him!
We finally had new photo's taken of Jackson! Our dear friend Addie took these 8 month shots, she does a fabulous job!
We finally had new photo's taken of Jackson! Our dear friend Addie took these 8 month shots, she does a fabulous job!
Friday, April 9, 2010
Sorry, I know it's been a while but here is another recipe. I really liked this, it was a lot richer than most Alfredo sauces. Add salt in the last step to changed the flavor and make it sweet. Delicious!
Cuts the fat in half. Before it's 75 g fat, after 10.4 g fat.
Cuts the calories drastically too: 1,220 down to 336
Try it!
Rocco DiSpirito's Lightened Fettuccine Alfredo
Makes 4 servings
Forget the cream: DiSpirito makes a rich but nutritious Alfredo sauce with Greek yogurt.
Ingredients
8 oz. whole wheat fettuccine
1 tbs. butter
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. cornstarch
Pinch ground nutmeg
3/4 cup low-fat, low-sodium chicken broth
3/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
3/4 cup 5% Greek yogurt
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
1. Bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Add fettuccine and cook according to package directions, 9 to 11 minutes; drain.
2. While pasta is cooking, melt butter in large sauté pan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, combine cornstarch and nutmeg in small bowl. Whisk in chicken broth until smooth. Pour mixture into sauté pan, raise heat, and bring sauce to simmer, whisking occasionally. Whisk in ½ cup cheese until melted. Remove sauté pan from heat and whisk in yogurt until sauce is smooth.
4. In large bowl, toss fettuccine with Alfredo sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste if desired. Top pasta with remaining ¼ cup cheese and serve.
Monday, March 29, 2010
What better time to start a change than now?
My parents got us a fruit and vegetable basket for Easter, with it I'm going to experiment with different recipes for dinner in order to become healthier. My goal is to post one meal a week and share with you my journey through cooking healthier more nutritious meals. Let me know if you try it and how it went over with your family.
My parents got us a fruit and vegetable basket for Easter, with it I'm going to experiment with different recipes for dinner in order to become healthier. My goal is to post one meal a week and share with you my journey through cooking healthier more nutritious meals. Let me know if you try it and how it went over with your family.
Day 1
Dinner:For those of you who don't know me, I have a major sweet tooth; if it wasn't for that I would most likely eat really healthy. So when I caught a glimpse of the show "The Doctors" showcasing Chef Rocco Dispirito's new cookbook "Now Eat This" and his famous low calorie FRIED CHICKEN, flourless healthy BROWNIES, AND 147 OTHER FAVORITE RECIPES UNDER 350 CALORIES each. I just had to experiment and try it. So I've decided that tonight's dinner would start with 3 of his recipes.
Why I choose these recipes: 1) I haven't had fried chicken in forever, it's "fattening" so finally an excuse to eat it and it's not all that bad for me either! 2) I needed a recipe with cauliflower as it was one of the many items in the basket we recieved, plus who doesn't love mashed potatoes - I had to try it! 3) A brownie that's actually good for you....it's self explanitory. Bon Appetit
Ingredients:
• 3 cups low-fat, low-sodium chicken broth
• Salt
• 4 skinless, bone-in chicken thighs
• 2 quarts grapeseed oil
• 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
• 1 ½ teaspoons celery salt
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 cups low-fat buttermilk
Directions:
1. Heat the chicken broth in a medium saucepot over high heat, seasoning it generously with salt. Add the chicken thighs to the pan and bring the broth to a simmer. Cover, and reduce the heat to low. Simmer gently until the chicken is tender, about 40 minutes. Remove the thighs from the liquid, pat them dry, and set them aside on a platter; cover with foil to keep them warm.
3. Combine the warm chicken thighs with the buttermilk in a large bowl, coating them completely. Dredge the thighs in the seasoned flour. Then dip the thighs in the buttermilk and dredge them in the seasoned flour once more, to double-coat the chicken. Shake off any excess flour.
Reviews: Based on a 5 star rating system.
REVIEW: ***** Absolutely delicious! I loved the chicken, it was very moist and crispy. I had a few pieces that were darker than the golden pieces which ended up with a different texture but it was just as good! We even did fried shrimp with the same batter, it too was wonderful! I put in 1/2 of the paprika it called for because it said "sweet" paprika and I had just the regular spice. We also didn't find grape seed oil at a regular grocery store, so we used carnola oil instead. My only issue with it was that it was a little spicy, I believe the culprit was the cayenne pepper, next time I think I'll put in 1/2 of what the recipe calls for. Over all it was fast and easy not to mension a new favorite of mine!
*** Drew's Review - The chicken was awsome. Cooking it in broth makes the meat incredibly tender and juicy. One of the reasons that fried chick is so great is because of how juicy it is, but this method doesn't loose any of that. Now I need to find a way to make healthy gravy and waffles so I can have fried chicken and waffles...a dish I haven't had often, but it is delicious. In fact I'm writing this review 2 days after we had this and we made it again tonight.
Better Than Mashed "Potatoes"
Ingredients:
• Nonstick cooking spray• 2 ½ cups roughly chopped cauliflower
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• ½ cup Greek yogurt
3. Roast the cauliflower for 20 minutes. Remove the top foil, being careful of the steam, and continue roasting the cauliflower until it is tender, another 15 to 20 minutes.
4. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the cauliflower with the yogurt. Puree until the mixture is smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste, if desired, and serve.
REVIEW: ***** w/out step 4, after step 4 **I sampled this early (after step 3) and loved the way it tasted roasted! It too was super simple! At the time we weren't sure we even had a food processor so I manually mashed them with the yogurt and wasn't too impressed with the outcome, I wonder if it would have been a lot better if it was creamed together? Or just mashed the cauliflower without the yogurt. However, I will make the roasted cauliflower again as it too was a favorite, so next time, I'll just skip step 4 as it's worth making.
***Drew's Review - I'm not a huge cauliflower fan to begin with, so I was a skeptic. I tried one of the roasted bunches after it came out of the oven and I agree with Amy that it was really good. Once it was mashed it just lost somthing. If we try this again I hope it will be better if we use the food processor that we found.
Brownies
Ingredients:
• Nonstick cooking spray• 1 ½ cups canned black beans, rinsed and drained
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder• 1 tablespoon espresso powder
• ¾ cup egg substitute• 2 tablespoons low-calorie sugar-free chocolate syrup, such as Walden Farms
• 2 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream, such as Breakstone's• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
• 24 packets Truvia (84 g) or 8 tablespoons granulated Splenda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
2. Combine the beans, cocoa powder, espresso powder, and egg substitute in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the mixture is smooth, about 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl halfway through.
3. Add the chocolate syrup, sour cream, butter, Truvia, and vanilla. Process until all of the ingredients are combined, about 1 minute.
4. Pout the batter into the prepared baking dish, and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake for 28 to 30 minutes, turning the dish halfway through the baking time. A toothpick inserted in the center will come out with soft batter clinging to it.
5. Let the brownies cool completely in the baking dish on a wire rack. Then cut into 12 squares and serve. Refrigerate any leftovers.
REVIEW: * (will re-do) I followed this recipe to a "T". We did substitute egg substitute for real eggs (3) and didn't use the expresso powder. I wondered what I did wrong because they didn't really have any flavor and the doctors on the show went for 2nds. This morning we discovered that we bought a certain kind of splenda that was equivilant to sugar so that messed up the conversion posted as we should have doubled the amount we used. All in all though, I was impressed that the bean flavor wasn't really noticable unless you knew a head of time. The reason I wanted to try this was because of all the health benifits and fiber that legumes have masked by the taste of chocolate, sounded too good to be true. By the way...don't eat these warm, cool them in the fridge first, they're better this way. I'll have to make them again, next time with the correct amount of sweetner as I'm sure they are much better than they turned out.
***Drew's Review - These brownies tasted an awfully lot like what I imagine a chocolate sponge with no sugar would taste like. They were dry and and not sweet. Not my favorite. However, like Amy said, we did try to substitute some ingredients. We will have to try this again because we are both in love with the idea of healthy brownies, even if we are not in love with how they taste...yet.
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