Strawberry and Mint Angel Food Cake

In order to use some of my extra mojito mint, I made a Strawberry & Mint Angel Food Cake from a slight variation from a recipe on Semi-homemade.

First, remove the top of an Angel Food Cake with a serated knife. Then hollow out the inside of the cake as shown:



Keep the hollowed out portion of the cake, cut into cubes, in a medium bowl. Add to the bowl: 16 ounces fresh strawberry slices, 15 finely torn mint leaves, and 1/2 cup fat free cool whip. Stir mixture togther and use to fill the cake.



Reattach the cake top to the cake.



Top cake with the remainder of the thawed cool whip (I bought the largest size.) Allow the cool whip frosting to set in the fridge for at least an hour. Serve!

My Heavenly Cheese Platter

Recently, I visited Point Reyes, California. On the way home from the National Seashore, we stopped at the Cowgirl Creamery to buy some cheese. We were able to sample around 10 different kinds of cow, goat and sheep cheeses. We ended up buying the San Andreas Bellwether sheep cheese and a St. Pat Nettle Cheese. Delicious! At home, I put together this cheese platter with locally grown organic strawberries, grapes, a sliced baguette, and a dried apricot and almond bread. We drank a Pinot Noir with this. I was in heaven!

This platter was way too much food for the two of us. A little bit of good quality cheese went along way.

A close-up of the Cheese (The St. Pat's is on the right. The green is Nettles.):



Cowgirl's description of their St. Pat Cheese: ST PAT is our seasonal springtime cheese. These rounds are made with whole organic milk and are wrapped with stinging nettle leaves. Do not fear the nettles, since they are washed and then frozen to remove the sting before they are wrapped around the cheese. ST PAT, with its distinctive, green wrapping, commemorates the arrival of spring in Marin County. After three weeks of aging, ST PAT is mellow, soft, and full of flavor. The nettle leaves impart a smoky, artichoke flavor.

Mmm Mmm Good

Easy Lemon Chicken
From: Campbell's Kitchen
Prep/Cook Time: 25 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
1 lb. boneless chicken breasts
1 can Campbell's® Healthy Request® Condensed Cream of Broccoli Soup
1/2 cup skim milk
1 tbsp. lemon juice
lemon slices

Directions:
SPRAY skillet with vegetable cooking spray and heat 1 min. Add chicken and cook until browned, stirring often.
ADD soup, milk, and lemon juice. Top chicken breasts with lemon slices. Heat to a boil. Heat through.

Serve over rice, pasta, or couscous, with a side of steamed broccoli.

Ok, so it isn't perfect nutrition

I made my first ever mojito.

Meld together 15 mint leaves with 2-4 tsps of sugar and the juice of 1/2 lime. Fill a tall, skinny glass with ice. Stir in 1.5 ounces rum and 7 ounces of club soda.

Enjoy!

The mojito was good, but next time I will try to make a simple sugar mixture instead of using straight sugar. Hmmm....I wonder how well splenda would work?

I'm Back.....And Have a New Lunch Box!

I'm Back!

My lunch is something that I have done before, but I would like to show off my new lunchbox that I purchased in San Francisco's Japantown for only $7.00.

This lunch features my tuna pasta salad. I also packed halved pickles (5 calories per pickle, but lots of sodium), grapes, and apple slices. If you look closely, under the apple slices there is a baggie of 2 fat-free fig newtons, tucked below.

Tomorrow, is my first day at my new job! I am used to packing meals to last me 12 hours. This lunch box would have been perfect for those long days with the two levels. I would have (and still may) packed the second level with a breakfast. Or a snack of air-popped popcorn.

Mini-Bagels

I am still on a bagels kick. Last week, I found the bagels to be really filling. This week I have switched to mini-bagels. I couldn't find any bagels at the store with less than 290 calories a bagel. (Last week the bagels were 180 calories each) Two mini-bagels have 200 calories. I am hoping that these will be equally filling. Additionally, I am using only one wedge of laughing cow cheese on both bagels. Last week, I was using reduced fat cream cheese. My veggie is a sweet bell pepper and my fruit is ultra expensive cherries. I could not resist the cherries. For dessert, there is Snackwell's Chocolate-Mint Cake Cookies. Although these cookies are low in fat, they contain an average amount of calories. One cookie has 50 calories. I think that is the same, if not more than the other cookies that I looked at of the same size. I also packed a Crystal Light On The Go Fruit Punch mix.

*Clicking on the picture, will enlarge it and therefore the descriptions will be more readable.

Curried Lentils Over Rice

My friend shared her recipe for Curried Lentils and I finally made it for dinner. It was super easy, filling, and delicious. Best of all it is healthy - not to mention - cheap! I was able to find all the ingredients (besides the onion and garlic) in the bulk aisle of our natural foods market.

Mix together in a small bowl:

• 2 TBSP Curry Powder
• 1 TPSP Ground Cumin
• 1/4-1/2 TBSP of Red Pepper
• 1/4-1/2 TBSP Ground coriander
• 1 Cinnamon Stick

Set aside.

Chop one onion and press a few cloves of garlic. Saute onion and garlic in a saucepan with olive oil until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the spices and stir together until everything is coated and hot (less than a minute). Add two cups of water and one cup of red lentils. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer. Simmer covered until the lentils are soft and ready. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking and burning. If necessary, add more water to the lentils. Serve over rice. Enjoy!

New Food Find

Only three Weight Watchers points (150 calories) and very delicious. I like these better than their Skinny Cow Ice Cream sandwiches. Unfortunatly, they are about the same price and these come with only four to a box.

New Food Find

Crystal Light Fruit Punch On The Go's are my new favorite food find!

French Bread Pizza

With the ingredients I had on hand, I created these French Bread Pizzas. I spread the bread with pizza sauce, however, when using tomatoes, I do not think the sauce is necessary. On top of the sauce, are layers of tomato and torn basil leaves. The finale is a sprinkling of a good quality feta cheese. Bake the pizzas at 450 degrees for approximately ten minutes. The cheese should be melted and the bread crispy. Enjoy!

Bagel Topped With Tomato Slices

This simple lunch is comprised of a bagel lightly smeared with reduced-fat cream cheese. To enjoy this lunch to the fullest, pull apart the bagel slices and top with the slices of tomato. Cinnamon Almonds are back for a sweet and filling finish.

Pineapple Love

I spent part of my day sitting in the sun, drinking lemonade and flipping through my cookbooks. In my Hawai'i's Favorite Pineapple Recipes cookbook, which I purchased in Hawaii, I found a recipe for Pineapple Slaw with Feta Cheese. Unfortunately, I forgot to purchase a bell pepper at the market, but the salad is good none-the-less. (The smallest container is holding the Feta Cheese.) Additionally, I mixed low-fat cream cheese with fresh pineapple and spread it on my toasted bagel. My lunch also features Trader Joe's Cinnamon Almonds.

Pineapple Slaw With Feta Cheese

1. In a large bowl, mix together 1 cup minced fresh or canned pineapple, 2 cups shredded carrot, and 1 julienned green pepper.
2. In a small bowl, whisk 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar, 3 tablespoons pineapple juice, 1 tablespoon honey, and 1 teaspoon canola oil to make a dressing.
3. Pour dressing over the carrots/pineapple/bell pepper and toss. Chill covered for 1 hour. Top with either feta cheese or a mix of half feta and blue cheese.

VitaTops

When I heard that Vitalicious, was offering free shipping with the Hungry Girl Explosion, I quickly entered my credit card information and purchased this deal. I have been reading numerous good things about Vitatops on the Weight Watchers message boards and was anxiously awaiting their arrival. When they came, I quickly tried one and was dissappointed. I thought that the Vitatops were dry. Although, my boyfriend who can afford to eat actual fat laced desserts thought that they were "not bad".

I will continue to eat them for breakfast and snacks, but I don't think that I will be reordering them. If they were cheaper then maybe I would continue to satisfy my chocolate cravings with Vitalicious products. I am hoping that this purchase will encourage and motivate me to bake my own reduced fat muffins and freeze them. I also have to note that my Double Chocolate DreamVitaTops do not have that many white chocolate chips.

If you are looking for something chocolatey for only 100 calories, 5-6 grams of fiber and under 2 grams of fat, but not moist, please try the VitaTops!

Salad Caprese Lunch

I am looking forward to my Salad Caprese Lunch with tiny mozzarella pearls. I love this salad so much that I am using two compartments for it. I am also having 1 cup of grapes and 1.5 servings of trail mix (from Trader Joe's). The trail mix is made of peanuts, dehydrated pineapple and cranberries, and white chocolate chips. The mix satisfies my sweet tooth and is quite filling.

(This lunch looks better in person. See the Salad Caprese Post for a better picture of the salad.)

Salad Caprese

Salad Caprese is my favorite salad. Fresh mozzarella, basil and balsamic vinegar is the perfect combination of flavor. Today, at Trader Joe's I discovered Perlini, which are tiny balls of fresh mozzarella. One serving is 28 "cheese pearls" and has only 60 calories and 4.5 grams of fat. Not bad for cheese. I made my Caprese Salad with two tomatoes, sprinkled with salt and pepper, fresh basil and balsamic vinegar. I never use olive oil in salad dressing anymore.

Tuna Fish

For lunch, I packed a tuna fish salad, cut into fourths. Mango slices, Yum! The GoLean bar was also delish. The bar tasted like a candy bar. However, it was the same about of calories and almost the same amount of fat as a candy bar too. It was 6 points. Next time, I will not be buying that.

Snacks vs. Treats

Recently, I read a small article on the difference between snacks and treats. The author stated that snacks are mini-meals and will provide nourishment. Treats will not meet those conditions and will therefore be less healthy, i.e. contain more sugar, etc.

I realized that I am definately giving myself more treats than snacks. Eventhough I pick my treats to be low-calorie and high in fiber, I still can do much better.

Take this lunch for instance:

Breakfast/Early Snack: 1/2 low-fat apple/cherry bran muffin (with coffee with sugar and creamer)
Lunch: Small turkey wrap sandwich with baked chips and kiwi
Late Afternoon Snack: Luna Bar

My goal is to replace my current treats with healthier snacks and move towards more nourishing foods.

Crystal Light + Fruit = Genius

Blending one half cup of frozen fruit with one serving of Crystal Light Lemonade is just short of divine. I experimented with cherries this weekend. Overall, lemonade blended with cherries is good, but needed a little sweetener (splenda or sugar). I prefer strawberries, but will keep branching out with other fruits. I can't wait to try mango!

Mexican Lasagna

I lightened up this vegetarian Mexican Lasagna for dinner. This casserole is full of fresh spinach, pinto beans, and salsa. I used low-fat corn tortillas and part-skim cheese. I reduced the amount cheese from two cups to one and half cups. This lightened "Lasagna" serves four at 350 calories each and 11 grams of fat. (I also omitted the cilantro, because I am not a fan of cilantro.)

If you are a fan of fat-free tortillas I would use those. Next time I make this, I am going to omit the cheese in the bottom layer.

This dish was satisfying and tasty. However, it was no substitute for my favorite spinach and cheese enchiladas.

Fruit Kabob's Steal the Show

I am ga-ga over Kettle's new baked chips, "Bakes". These are their aged white cheddar, which have 120 calories per serving and only 3 grams of fat. They are 100 times better than Baked Lays. These chips accompany a Plain Jane turkey sandwich. The pineapple and strawberry fruit kabob's steal the show.

*The Luna bar is for my afternoon snack.