Posted in March 2012 …

Mar 31 2012
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Dessert, Recipes

Fluffy White Chocolate Cheesecake

Doesn’t that name just sound mouth watering? A very good friend, and co-worker, shared this recipe with me and I had to try it out. Remember how I said I hate having something in the fridge without a game plan? Well I had this left over Cool Whip from my Super Moist White Cupcake Frosting so I knew it was meant to be when she showed me this recipe calling for half a container of Cool Whip. I believe she said her mom purchased one already made at a fundraiser of some sort and it had the recipe taped to the top. Lucky me! I knew I could make it a little healthier. Here is the original recipe:

Fluffy White Chocolate Cheesecake

Servings: 8 Calories: 300 per slice

Ingredients:

  • 10 Honey graham crackers
  • 3 Tbs plain Greek yogurt
  • 2 Tbs brown sugar
  • 1 pkg (8 oz.) 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
  • 1 1/4 c. skim milk, divided
  • 1 pkg (3.3 oz.) Sugar-Free Fat-Free White Chocolate flavor instant pudding
  • 1 1/2 c. (1/2 8 oz tub) thawed Cool Whip whipped topping

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a blender, process the graham crackers until crumbs. In a bowl, mix crackers with brown sugar and yogurt until crumbly. Press the mixture into a 9-inch pie pan. Bake for 5 minutes. Now if you are counting calories, my homemade one has more than a premade – but mine had way less trans fats than the premade. I think the premade one I looked at had 3 grams of trans-fat PER SERVING! That is ridiculous. So I can handle consuming a few more calories for less trans-fats.

Beat cream cheese and 1/4 c. milk in large bowl with whisk or fork until blended. Add remaining milk and dry pudding mix. Beat 1 minute. Fold in Cool Whip; spoon into crust. Refrigerate for 4 hours or until set.

I wish I would have had a block of chocolate to shave some pieces on top for decoration. Instead I sprinkled on some mini chocolate chips for a little crunch. This was tasty and super quick to come together. Imagine all the other flavors you could make: lemon, cheesecake, any flavor of instant pudding really. And you could even add some whole chunks of fruit or a layer of sugar free jelly on the bottom of the crust. The ideas are endless. Thanks for sharing Sandy!

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Mar 31 2012
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Breakfast, Recipes

Make-Ahead Steel Cut Oats

I love Oats, but you already knew that. So when I first learned about Steel Cut Oats (or Irish Oats) a few months ago I had to try them out.

For work on Friday I had to bring a crock pot full of cooked oats. I thought I would bring Steel Cut and introduce something new to my coworkers. It went over well! My crock pot was all gone before the other one. I think that spells success.

I didn’t get to eat very much at work because I wanted to leave it all for everyone else, so last night I decided to make some so I could have it for breakfast today. It takes about 30 minutes to make, which is too long to wait for breakfast in the morning.

I started with a recipe I found through Pinterest.com at ohsheglows.com.

Make-ahead Steel Cut Oats, adapted from ohsheglows.com.

Serves: 4 (heaping 1 cup) Calories: 260 per bowl

Yield: 4 servings or 3.5-4 cups

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups water
  • 2 cups skim milk
  • 1 cup uncooked steel-cut oats
  • 2 large bananas, mashed (1 cup mashed)
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 tbsp ground flax + 1 tbsp wheat germ
  • 2-3 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • dash nutmeg
  • dash allspice

1. In a medium-sized pot, bring the water and almond milk to a boil. Add in steel-cut oats and a pinch of salt and reduce heat to low.

2. Stir in the mashed banana (mashing it helps disperse the sweetness throughout), ground flax, and chia seeds. Simmer on low, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes, stirring every 5 mins or so.

3. When the oats are creamy and tender, remove from heat and stir in cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and pure vanilla extract. Serve immediately or allow to cool before transferring into air tight containers in the fridge. In the morning, add a splash of milk and reheat in the micro or on the stove-top.

You can see in my bowl: chopped walnuts, fresh blueberries, a sprinkle of brown sugar, and a few chocolate chips. I just couldn’t decide what to add I was too excited.

Yum these were good! I am so glad I have 3 more bowls in the fridge.

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Mar 30 2012
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Dinner, Recipes

Pasta with Italian Turkey Sausage, Peppers, and Kale

Buster had a play date tonight with Chloe. I can’t decide if he wore her out or if she wore him out. But he needed a nap after the excitement of a friend over. So he chilled in the kitchen as I cooked dinner.

That recipe name is a bit long, ain’t it? This recipe is a favorite of mine. Garrett isn’t as big of a pasta fan as I am, but I’m the cook so we eat what I want to make.

The original recipe comes from a favorite blog of mine, skinnytaste.com. The original recipe is titled Pasta with Italian Chicken Sausage, Peppers, and Escarole. I have made this with ground chicken before, but I had some already cooked ground turkey in the freezer so I pulled that out and presto – one step already done. It had cooked onions in it too which was a bonus for me since I was out of raw onions.

This has basic flavors, but if you love onions, garlic, peppers, and pasta, oh and cheese, you will like this. Trust me.

I can also never find escarole at any grocery store? Has anyone every seen this before in North Dakota? Not me. So I use kale, which has been named a super food by Men’s Fitness.

So here is how I do this:

Pasta with Italian Turkey Sausage, Peppers, and Kale, adapted from Pasta with Italian Chicken Sausage, Peppers, and Escarole.  at www.skinnytaste.com.

Servings: 6 Calories: 300 (stats taken from skinnytaste.com recipe)

Ingredients:

  • 12 oz. Barilla Plus penne
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper, chopped
  • 5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 lb. ground turkey or chicken, I add in Italian seasoning mix or you can add in your own. See below for recipe.
  • 1 bunch of kale, chopped
  • 1/4 c. grated Parmesan
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

Rinse kale and chop the leafy part off the stem. Throw stems away. Chop in to bite size pieces.

Cook pasta according to box. Reserve 1 c. of water before draining.

While pasta boils, heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onions, peppers, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook until soft, about 5-8 minutes.

Add ground chicken or turkey and break up with spoon until golden, about 6-10 minutes. Add kale, cover and cook for 2 minutes to allow kale to wilt. Stir and add pasta, red pepper flakes, reserved water, and Parmesan, toss well and serve immediately. I grate cheese on top of my own bowl. If you like some spice/kick add a little sprinkle of red pepper flakes to your bowl. Enjoy!

Italian Seasoning Recipe

(for 1 lb. ground turkey/chicken)

  • 1 Tbs Italian Seasoning
  • 1 Tbs paprika
  • 1 Tbs oregano
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes

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Mar 30 2012
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Breakfast, Recipes

Lime Ricotta Pancakes

I hate when I have something sitting in the fridge and don’t have a plan for it. So last night I was surfing the world wide web looking for something to do with the left over ricotta from my Chicken Rollatini with Spinach alla Parmigiana.

I didn’t want to make a lasagna or cannoli, and I came across a recipe for Lemon Ricotta Pancakes over at www.smittenkitchen.com. I was in the mood to whip something up so I figured Garrett and I could warm them up for breakfast in the morning. Only I didn’t have lemon and I did have limes that Garrett’s mom gave us. So I figured “what the heck.”

Lime Ricotta Pancakes, adapted from the original recipe at www.smittenkitchen.com.

Serves: 14 mini pancakes, 66 calories each

Ingredients:

  • 4 large eggs, separated
  • 1 1/3 cups ricotta
  • 1 1/2 Tbs sugar
  • 1 1/2 Tbs freshly grated lime zest
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • Cooking spray

Low-calorie pancake syrup or powdered sugar, as an accompaniment


In a bowl whisk together the egg yolks, the ricotta, the sugar, and the zest, add the flour, and stir the mixture until it is just combined. In a bowl with an electric mixer beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they hold stiff peaks, whisk about one fourth of them into the ricotta mixture, and fold in the remaining whites gently but thoroughly. Heat a griddle over medium high heat. Spray with cooking spray. Working in batches, pour the batter onto the griddle by 1/4-cup measures and cook the pancakes for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until they are golden, spraying the pan after each batch. I let them cool on a paper towel then stored them in a plastic bag until the morning. Well, OK, I ate two with some syrup first. They were so good. That hint of lime in there was fantastic and the egg whites are the key in this recipe. Make sure to whip them until you get the peaks. These were the lightest, fluffiest pancakes ever and had very little flour and no baking powder.

I enjoyed these so much I ate them for lunch as well. At 66 calories apiece you can easily eat 3-4 in a sitting without feeling guilty about it.

This was a super quick recipe and would definitely make these again.

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Mar 29 2012
2 Comments
Dinner, Recipes

Garrett’s Turkey Dogs

I got a text message today from Garrett offering to make dinner, heck yes I will take him up on that.

So when I got home from my 5 mile run he had the beginnings of dinner already in the works: a bag of coleslaw marinating in the fridge with Kraft Honey Mustard dressing on it.

We heated up the Oscar Meyer 98% Fat Free hot dogs (mostly turkey) in the Nuwave and cracked open the bag of Sara Lee 80 calorie wheat buns.

We topped the dogs with a spoonful or two of the coleslaw and dug in. The coleslaw made these so good. The dressing almost had a horseradish bite to it.  I ate mine with a sliced apple, sliced carrots, and finished the meal off with a cupcake left over from Tuesday’s Super Moist White Cupcakes. We figure that each dog with the fixins’ was probably around 200 calories apiece.

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Mar 28 2012
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Random, Snacks, Tips

Healthy Snack of the Month Club

I read few blogs religiously, and browse hundreds of different blogs through my surfing of the web and Pinterest. Garrett has even asked me what happens when you finish reading the Internet, ha ha ha Garrett.

But a few days ago I came across a blog review of NatureBox. Ever heard of it? I’m sure you have heard of “cheese of the month” clubs or “wine of the month” clubs but what about a “healthy snack food of the month club?” Well that is exactly what NatureBox is.

For $20 a month you can get 4-5 different snacks (12 to 15 servings) shipped directly to your house. According to their website the food they ship is wholesome and minimally processed.

After perusing through the website and checking out the past boxes, I signed up for a six month subscription. Who wouldn’t love to get 4-5 surprise snacks in the mail once a month? Worry-free healthy snacks delivered to my door, can it get any easier? They have a 100% satisfaction guarantee so if I don’t like the first couple boxes I can cancel the remaining months.

I love to try new things so why not? If you are interested in trying these out, the lovely folks over at NatureBox are offering you a discount!  The cost of a membership is just $19.95/month, but use the promo code HEALTHY and get 6 months and receive 1 month free (or a 12- month subscription gets 3 months free).

Oh and kudos to Nature Box, they donate one meal for every NatureBox sent out to feed the over 14 million children in America who go hungry.

I also found GoBites.com which is very similar to NatureBox. The biggest difference is that you get 14 individual boxed servings per month and you get to choose which off their menu you would prefer. The food is advertised on the website as 100% natural and almost all organic foods.

Chocolate Monkey: 100% organic raw cashews, cavendish bananas and rich dark chocolate chips

The menu looks awesome by the way. And you can get a one-month, four-serving trial for free (plus $4 shipping) so I signed up for that too — why not? If this one is good maybe I’ll do both or cancel the other one and go with this one. We will just have to wait and see but I am looking forward to “testing” out all sorts of new foods.

Follow-up (4/1/2012) : My gobites.com package arrived yesterday and I proceeded to open each one and try them all.The photo below show what the sample package looks like. 4 individual snack packs of their choice. If I decide to order more I get to choose which ones I receive.

Here are the four different snack packs I got:

This was Tropical Fruit Granola (above photo). I liked it. It was a little sweet for me but I love granola. 100% organic gluten-free granola made with cashews, coconut, mango and bananas

This was Antioxidant Mix (above photo). 100% organic pineapple, raw cashews, pomegranate and goji berries

This was Incan Treasure and probably my second favorite of the bunch. 100% organic lightly dry roasted almonds, mango, dark chocolate covered cacao nibs and golden raisins.

And I think Garrett would agree this was both of our favorites. Forbidden Rice Mix with organic fiery cashews and black rice sesame rounds. All in all we liked them. I am going to hold off until our first NatureBox comes and then compare which we like the most.

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Mar 27 2012
8 Comments
Dessert, Recipes

Super Moist White Cupcakes

I’ve got a craving for something sweet right now. It’s a good thing my new Hungry Girl Supermarket Survival book had just the answer I needed: healthy cupcakes! I have a feeling this book is going to come to the rescue over and over again.

If you haven’t checked out www.hungry-girl.com I definitely encourage you to go check her blog out and be sure to sign up for her free e-mail subscription on healthy recipes and food substitutions. And if you have difficulty finding healthy items to purchase in the grocery store she has compiled a handy dandy free grocery shopping list that covers all healthy foods aisle by aisle.

I took one box of Betty Crocker Super Moist white cake mix and mixed in one 6 oz. container of Chobani vanilla Greek yogurt and a cup of water. Mix together and divide in to 23 cupcakes filled 2/3 full. Mine made 23 instead of 24; must have been the spoonful I ate out of the bottom of the mixing bowl. Bake them for 15-18 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Let them cool completely before frosting. Don’t mind the holiday themed cake mix, it’s been in the pantry for a few months now.

23 cupcakes makes them out to be 75 calories a piece (with no frosting). You can’t beat that. With no eggs or oil added to the mix; and the creamy yogurt makes these cupcakes dense and ooey gooey good.

For frosting I went back to my Hungry Girl Supermarket Survival book. What could I possibly put on these without breaking the (calorie) bank? Her suggestions: sugar-free pudding mixed with a little real frosting, fat-free cool whip, fat-free or reduced-fat cream cheese, light or fat-free caramel dip, or jet-puffed marshmallow crème mixed with cool whip. I chose the jet-puffed marshmallow crème mixed with fat-free whipped cream only because I didn’t think the pudding or caramel toppings would be good on top of my white cup cakes.

I know from previous cupcakes that if you want to frost them with cool whip frosting you should wait until you are ready to serve them. So I made enough for just my one cupcake. I took 2 Tbsp of fat-free cool whip and mixed it with 1 Tbsp marshmallow crème and topped that with some coconut flakes tossed in green food coloring to look like grass. I added some mini M & M’s from the freezer to look like eggs. Happy early Easter! (Frosting was probably 50 calories with the whipped cream, marshmallow crème, and coconut combined).

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Mar 26 2012
2 Comments
Breakfast, Recipes

Overnight Oats

Let me count the ways that I love oats. I love them in:

  1. Cookies
  2. Breakfast bars
  3. Bite sized energy snacks
  4. Dessert oatmeal
  5. Oatmeal
  6. Muffins
  7. Granola

Oats are high-fiber whole grains with a heart healthy reputation. There are four different types of oats:

  • Instant – Precooked oats can be prepped in as little as one minute either in the microwave or by adding hot water. They are the thinnest of the bunch, with less natural flavor and texture than the others kinds (and also stripped of less nutrients).
  • Quick-Cooking – Oats that have been rolled thin and cut into smaller pieces yielding a cook time of just a couple minutes.
  • Old-Fashioned – Oat flakes that have been steamed, pressed, and toasted. Minimally processed for maximum health benefits.
  • Steel-Cut Oats – Coarse, chopped up oats. These take about 30 minutes to cook but yield the most flavor and texture.

But today I want to talk to you about overnight oats. You are probably thinking, “What the heck are overnight oats Brianna?” Overnight oats are just oats soaked overnight that absorb the liquid you put them in – any kind of liquid you like! What?! No cooking involved? YUP, no cooking involved. So of course I had to try them being the oat lover that I am.

Here is where my research started, over at Peanut Butter Fingers where she gave a good resource list on overnight oats.

Here are some recipes Julie (PB Fingers) found that seem to get good reviews:

I ended up using Julie’s recipe to get started. I used one container of blueberry Greek yogurt, 2/3 c. old-fashioned oats, 1/2 c. milk, and instead of Chia seeds like she used, I put in ground flax seed. I had to deviate a teeny tiny bit. So I mixed the ingredients together and popped it in the fridge overnight. I was excited about the that would be waiting for me in the morning.

So before work I threw in a 1/4 c. or so of homemade granola, a few whole almonds, and a drizzle of 100% maple syrup. From my readings, you can really add whatever you want to in to the mix:  fruit, agave syrup, nuts, honey, pumpkin spice, whatever your pretty little heart craves.

So I tried my first bowl of overnight oats last week; I can’t say it was love at first sight taste.

I enjoyed the crunch of the nuts and granola, and the taste wasn’t terrible, I think it was the temperature and the thickness I couldn’t get used to. I do want to try again; I am not completely done with overnight oats. Next time I will be adding fresh fruit, maybe adding some brown sugar and warming it up just a tad so it isn’t so cold.

Have you ever had overnight oats? What would you add to make it your own?

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Mar 25 2012
10 Comments
Dinner, Recipes

Baked Egg Rolls

Well I took a two-day break from training this weekend and today I hit my 5 mile run with zero enthusiasm. Boy Mother Nature had it out for me with the wind and cold. I remember yelling at her between miles 3-4. “Darn you Mother Nature, darn you!” I was looking forward to making a hot supper for Garrett after my cold run. I should have used the treadmill instead.

I have made this recipe at least five times in the past year. I stumbled upon it on my favorite recipe website, www.allrecipes.com.

Now I have altered it a bit to fit our tastes and it also does not make 16 egg rolls with 1/4 c. filling like the original recipe states, or maybe I just use a heaping 1/4 cup when I do it. But I wanted to tell you that in advance in case you decide to follow their recipe.

Baked Egg Rolls

Servings: 5 (2 egg rolls/person) Calories: 260 calories for two egg rolls

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups grated carrots, I used my Ninja to chop quickly
  • 1/2 c. chopped water chestnuts
  • 1/4 c. chopped green pepper
  • 1-2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 c. chopped cooked chicken breast
  • 1 Tbsp water
  • 1 Tbsp light soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 10 egg roll wrappers (come in a package of 16 – what should I do with the other 6?)

Cook the chicken, let it cool, and dice it up. I cook mine on the stovetop with a little water in the bottom of the pan to keep it moist.

Coat a large non-stick skillet with cooking spray. Add in the carrots, chestnuts, green pepper, green onions, and garlic. Cook until vegetables are crisp-tender. Add chicken; heat through.

In a small bowl, combine water, soy sauce, oil, brown sugar, and cayenne until smooth; stir in to chicken mixture to combine. Spoon 1/4 c. mixture on the bottom third of one egg roll wrapper; fold sides toward center and roll tightly. Here is a Youtube.com video to demonstrate. I fill mine up a lot more than the recipe being featured in the video, but you’ll get the idea.

Now here is where I may differ from you. I cooked mine in our NuWave.  The NuWave is wonderful and I will get in to it more in another post; but the NuWave left these crunchy and good. Spray the egg rolls on both sides. I cooked them for 7 minutes on one side and 4 on the other.

For those of you who want to bake these in the oven, bake at 425 degrees for 7 minutes then flip for another 5-7 until golden brown on a greased baking sheet. Make sure to spray the tops and bottoms of the egg rolls so they can crisp up.

You probably won’t need a dipping sauce because you will love these so much but I used a Tastefully Simple Honey Teryaki Sauce in case you were interested.

Enjoy and Happy Sunday! I am off to make some homemade granola.

Don’t miss another post! Follow my blog by entering your e-mail address at the bottom of the homepage. Yes, it’s that easy! Questions? Contact me, Brianna Strahm.

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Mar 24 2012
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Fitness, Tips

Should I Workout Today?

Pinned Image

(Source)

Over the past six months I have heard things like “you are so motivated,” or “I wish I had your motivation,” and “how do you get motivated?”

How I stay motivated is, believe it or not, Pinterest.com. Pinterest became my motivational board, a.k.a my dream board. Ever heard of one of those? Just ask Oprah! It’s something you post photos on of what you want your future to look like. You hang this board somewhere you will see it every day. And when the human mind see’s something everyday, over and over, things on your board can come true. For me, it was my fitness board on Pinterest that became my motivational board to change. It keeps me motivated when I look at it.

Now I am on Pinterest a lot. Too much to admit how much time I spend on Pinterest, you can ask Garrett. So this constant visual reminder with quotes and images that pump me up and tell me I can do this kept me motivated on days I wanted to give in. Pinterest can really be that coach cheering you on. It sounds weird to read it, but it can work.

There are some people who just post pictures of skinny girls, and that isn’t me. Skinny isn’t the goal, fit and healthy is the goal. How did that skinny girl get that way? I was just having a conversation with my blogger friend Tinyfitster about strong vs skinny. You can easily pick out the Pinterest followers who just want to be ridiculously skinny and the ones who want to be fit and healthy. There is a difference. You can be skinny and run two blocks and be out of breath; skinny doesn’t mean a whole lot. For me, I strive for strength and muscle toning.

If you aren’t on Pinterest.com yet I encourage you to check it out. You can even view my fitness board appropriately titled “Eat clean, train mean, get lean.” So go get pinning and start creating your own motivational board.

Some of my favorite quotes that keep me motivated:

What are some of your favorite quotes that keep you motivated?

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