another day, more recipes

Oh shucks - I just realized I did not take pictures - I will have to work on making sure I take pictures of the made recipes...

Today I tried - cheesed-up pepperoni pizza scramble.... scrambled eggs with turkey pepperoni and diced tomatoes... how can you go wrong? yum yum! and only 173 calories. This is one that I would definitely make again!

turkey reuben quesadillas....pretty good.... and easy. which is always a plus! The son tried it... ate about half and then said he didn't like the dressing (Thousand Island) which really wasn't a surprise - he doesn't do creamy dressings... he is the only kid in the United States that doesn't like Ranch dressing. Surprisingly enough - absolutely no complaints about the sauerkraut....the daughter on the other hand.... took one bite and asked why there was lettuce in the quesadilla. The hubbie really liked them. I did use a little more cheese than the recipe called for which probably brought mine up to about 230 calories each instead of the 186. But as a dinner... 230 calories isn't bad at all!

One of the fun things about this cookbook are the little interesting "facts" she includes.... so I am going to plagiarize and share some....Today's fact: the Arby's Roast Turkey Reuben Sandwich has 594 calories! Yikes....

Have a great day! Tomorrow - I will make an effort to remember to pull out the camera!

Blueberry Muffins and Pizza

First comment - no I didn't eat these together... had the blueberry muffin for breakfast and the pizza for lunch.

big fat blueberry muffins. if you made the recipe as listed 137 calories each.... I didn't have any applesauce (already added to my grocery list) and I can't do Splenda (gives me headaches). So I used good ole oil for the applesauce and part sugar part sweetnlow for the splenda. I calculated that mine came out at 177 calories each. Did you know the Starbuck's blueberry muffin has around 500 calories and 19 grams of fat!

Easy to make... only makes six though....but since my husband informed me that he doesn't like blueberries (who knew?) and the kids each tasted them and said - "eww... too many blueberries" six was probably fine for us. Personally, I like blueberries.... and don't they give you brain power or something??? Overall the muffin was good.... since it is made with whole wheat flour - it definitely has the whole grainy taste. Kept me full for the morning!

superb-y herby sauce-exposed pizzas. Followed the recipe to the t. SUPER EASY! I don't know what kind of english muffins she uses... but she indicated that the recipe has 6 grams of fiber... and my english muffins (Thomas BetterStart Light) have 8 grams. So my calories may be a little higher than what they have listed also. But I am guessing by only 10 or 15.

Most tasty! Next time, I might even consider adding some turkey pepperoni... I am not usually a english muffin fan... but these tasted just like a pizza crust. My son tasted one and said it was pretty good. Daughter did not try one. Took the hubbie a turkey wrap for lunch... but I think if I added some veggies and the turkey pepperoni - he would like these!

We had several families over from church last night so we have left-overs that we will finish up for dinner tonight....

so tomorrow I am looking at trying the turkey reuben quesadilla and maybe an egg dish for breakfast!

Have a great Monday!

I am back....

So I took off from blogging for quite a while. Frankly, I felt I had said all the witty things I had to say.... life has been a typical mom's life... so not a lot to tell....

Then I read the book - "Julie and Julia"....you have heard of it - because it is coming out as a movie here soon. About a gal named Julie who decides to spend a year trying to cook everything in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" and blogs while she cooks. I found the book quite entertaining....

and it got me to thinking.... well, there is no way that I am going to even attempt Julia's French cooking.... but I did recently buy a new cookbook....




I am also not willing to try to cook the whole book in a year.... but I am definitely willing to try recipes from this book.... blog and let you all know what is good... what is yucky... and what you need to try...and what you can skip.

So - the book has 200 recipes that are all under 200 calories a serving... it covers all of your majoring cooking groups - breakfast, desserts, main dishes, snacks/dips, wraps, etc.

Looking forward to sharing my thoughts on the Hungry Girl cookbook!

really, a week?

How did it happen? How did this past week come and go? I pulled up the blogspot and was simply amazed that it had been a week since I had been on....
I just don't understand where the time goes.....and the saddest part..... the week passed... and I have NOTHING interesting to even blog about....didn't find any super bargains this week. Went to the final cheer competition... but we got 2nd.... (although Ginger did 4, yes count them, 1,2,3,4 back handsprings in a row!) but that's it... went to the ENT (ear, nose and throat doctor) and had a tube put in my ear. But I am 42.... tubes in your ear at 42 aren't as a big a deal as when you are a kid....so, here's to a more exciting week... hopefully something blog worthy will happen...

cooking

Well, for 3 days now I have had two gentlemen putting tile in my bath and around the kids' vanitites. It looks good... very pleased with their work. But this means that I have been home most of the day for 3 days. I am rarely home for long stretches like that.... so I have been cooking. I like cooking... don't LOVE it.... don't HATE it... I probably prefer to bake (cakes - imagine that) more than actual cooking.

I ordered some books off of Barnes and Noble.com.... if you order over $25 - it is free shipping which is usually about the price of a book so it is worth it to spend $25...anyways.... I got the cookbook...
It's a good cookbook. I would give it my recommendation! I have looked at various cookbooks in which you cook a months worth of meals in one day and freeze them.... but a lot of them are casseroles and such. Just not the type of foods that my kids like. This definitely has recipes that I think my kids would at least be willing to try. Last night I made the chimichangas and BOTH kids liked them! It's a miracle....

So, I cooked all day... I have about 14 different beef dinners in the freezer just waiting to be eaten.... yum yum.... next week I might try to set aside a day that I cook a bunch of chicken dinners....or then again, my burst of cooking energy might be done.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! Okay - I just don't get the whole bunny rabbit delivering eggs on the day that Jesus rose from the dead.... I can kind of justify giving gifts on Jesus' birthday.... although I have some issues with a man dressed in red velvet coming down chimneys... but totally don't get the rabbit egg thing...

Of course, I had to celebrate the day by baking a cake....

a mind is a good thing to lose

Many years ago - there was an e-mail going around - I wish I still had it... it went something like this...A woman starts to look for her keys so she can go run errands... well, while she is looking for the keys - she finds her checkbook - well, she really should stop and balance her checkbook so she knows how much money she has before she goes and runs errands. So she starts to balance the checkbook, then she realizes that there are some receipts in her purse that should be added to the checkbook also. Well, she had been meaning to clean out the purse and maybe even switch purses so she cleans it out - finds some batteries that should be put in the battery drawer.... oh the battery drawer is a mess... starts to clean that out... anyways - you get the picture - all of a sudden it is time to go get the kids - not only has she not run her errands, she really hasn't completed any task.

That would describe my life to a T. a capital T. This morning, I started catching up on e-mail, realized bills needed to paid, but in order to pay the bills, I had to sort through "the pile" (see "the pile" last month), etc. etc. etc. and it only took me 3 1/2 hours....

But I do feel a sense of accomplishment - the bills are paid, the pile is down to 3 items and I do have a couple of hours to run errands before I pick up kids... now hopefully, I just won't get distracted while running the errands....

By the way - 100 calorie Keebler snack packs - the cookie version $1.66 at Target