Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork & More!

Last evening, we had some wonderful friends over for dinner and a couple rounds of "Apples to Apples."  The main dish was Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork, recipe courtesy of The Pioneer Woman.  I love, love, love this dish.  The meat is super tender, and the balance between the Dr. Pepper and chipotle peppers is perfect.  It can either be slow roasted in the oven or cooked in the crock-pot.  Totally delicious!  On the side, we had mashed butternut squash, broccoli salad, and honey quinoa rolls/muffins.  I just have an obsession with butternut squash...okay, not really "obsession," but I love to eat it.  If you cook it (cut in half or quarters with the peel on) in the microwave, it makes it easy to scoop out and mash.  I seasoned it with thyme, rosemary, sage, salt, pepper, and a hint of brown sugar.  Also delicious.  The honey quinoa rolls were a play off of the honey quinoa bread I made a while back. 

The broccoli salad is based on a recipe I found in an old church cookbook, however, I "remade" it.  Remade?  What?  Let's just say, I replaced regular mayo with fat-free mayo, bacon for reduced-sodium turkey bacon, and sugar for Splenda.  The result = 1592 fewer calories and 148 fewer grams of fat! (For the entire salad, NOT per serving.)  It was superb!  No one even guessed that I had messed with it.

Remade Broccoli Salad:

2 bunches of broccoli, cut into small florets

1/2 cup red onion, finely chopped

12 slices of reduced-sodium turkey bacon, cooked and crumbled

1/2 cup sunflower kernels

1 cup raisins

For the dressing:

1 cup fat-free mayo

1/2 cup Splenda

2 tablespoons cider vinegar 

I'm a big fan of dessert, so of course I made that too!  It was a "light" Caramel cake (about 320 calories per slice).  The recipe basically came from Paula Deen (Bobby's Lighter Caramel Cake).  However, if you look at her recipe, you would notice that it only involves one 9" cake, cut in half with filling and frosting.... Um, that is NOT much cake...not much at all.  So, I doubled the cake recipe, but because I use applesauce and not oil, the calories didn't really change.  I also used fat-free cream cheese instead of reduced-fat.  It was very moist and tasty!  Granted, Bobby's Caramel Cake (not the lighter one) is probably better, but it also has FIVE STICKS OF BUTTER!!! That is a lot of butter.  I think this is a much better alternative:

 I am very thankful for the good food and time spent with amazing friends last night!  Truly a blessing! 

HG's Caribbean Shrimp Surprise (kind of)

Tonight I made Hungry Girl's "Caribbean Shrimp Surprise" from her new "300 Under 300" cookbook.  As luck would have it, I was at the store this afternoon and neglected to get everything I was suppose to... Hence the "kind of" part in my title.  Examples: I ended up using matchstick carrots instead of red bell pepper, orange juice instead of mango nectar, and I through in actual chunks of mango.  It's a pretty basic skillet dish, and it turned out pretty tasty.  Next time, I might make it a little spicier, but it was still good.  Also, the mango was PERFECT.  The greatest part is that 2 cups is less than 300 calories!  Hungry Girl is fantastic at making low-cal, tasty, and simple eats.  

For my Scentsy friends, I have the list of warmers and fragrances to be discontinued after August.  With the exception of the "Piece by Piece" cause warmer, these products and most of the catalog will be 10% off next month.  This is a great time to stock up, especially if one of your favorites is disappearing! www.catchic.scentsy.us

Fragrances: Beach, Berry Blush, Berry Tart, Cherry Limeade, Citrus Sun Tea, Cranberry Mango, Cranberry Muffin, Faerie Blossom, Forever Pink, Go-Go-Goji, Groovy Grapefruit, Honey, Do!, Inner Peace, Lilacs & Violets, Lush Gardenia, Mulberry Bush, Mums & Marigolds, Pomanti, Radiance, Red Candy Apple, Reggae Sunset, Silhouette, Sugar, Surfer Chick, Tea Party, and You Go, Girl

 

 

 

 

"It's Almost Over...Makes Me Sad"

Well, this is my official last week of the classic P90X program (as opposed to lean or doubles).  I would say that it definitely makes a difference.  I am stronger, more flexible, and have better balance than before I started the program.  Definitely maybe in the best shape of my 20 years of life.  Not the skinniest, but the fittest...yeah, there's a difference from being "thin" and "in shape."  I have really come to enjoy the workouts...at least most of them.  Even Tony annoys me less now.  (If you don't know, he talks...a lot...like, excessively.)  I find myself wishing I had P90X+ and excited about P90X 2, which comes out this fall.  I am probably insane.  Thanks to my youth minister for getting me hooked.   

Working out is a really good outlet though, even if you aren't P90X ready.  Don't get me wrong, I recommend it, but I don't recommend starting there.  I didn't start there.  Start simple.  There are many good programs out there to get you going!  Personally, I have to do something with a number, like P"90"X or Ripped in "30".  I am slightly CDO (like OCD, but all the letters are in alphabetical order)... Thus, I HAVE to do it everyday for that period of time...or else I have to start over.  Does that make sense?  It's also great to have someone doing it with you!  It helps keep you going and makes you want to push harder to "beat" the other person.  I wouldn't have wanted to do P90X without the brother, for sure.

*Note: I didn't follow the meal plan.  I will workout in sickness and in health, but I don't do "diets"...just generally try to stick with lean meats, whole grains, vegetables, and fruits.

By the way, I am cooking dinner Thursday and Saturday this week.  Saturday will be especially legit because we are having company over.  Stay tuned.    

The Diva Does Electrical Work!

 I know it has been a few days... In my defense, VBS was this week and now the brother is on a mission trip.  In other words, why bother cooking?  I may get some stuff together over the next week, but don't hold your breath!  In lieu of cooking, I have started on a major to-do list of things to finish around the house before school starts.  Today, I have been redoing light fixtures in the brother's bedroom, the laundry room, the hallway, and master closet.  While the lights weren't necessarily affected by the flood last summer, they look kind of silly amongst all the other updates.  Plus, the ceiling fans--particularly the brother's--are very loud and wobbly. 

I started today with the ceiling fan in my brother's room.  He has no idea I've done this...theoretically, it's a surprise for him when he gets back from CO (unless, of course, he reads this while he's there or one of you tell him).  His old fan was making some horrific noise (kind of like finger nails scratching a chalkboard).  Seriously, I should have taken a before and after video so you could hear the difference!  The only trouble I ran into was that Hampton Bay's directions are wrong, very wrong.  Once I decided to forgo those, it was easy breezy!

Before

After

Next, I tackled the hall light.  Technically before, there was some kind of globe thing over the bulb, but that has been gone for quite some time.  Same kind of deal in the laundry room and master closet (which I still have to do).  The installation of these lights was super quick and easy!

Before

After

 

 

 

Before

After

From Leftover Chicken To Pot Pie...

What was left of the chicken from Sunday became a pot pie tonight.  We were pressed for time, so Mom actually made a light gravy (using some of the "juice" I had saved from Sunday) while I made the crust (flour, Splenda, Olive Oil, skim milk, and salt).  I added in a bag of frozen mixed vegetables... I thought I grabbed the bag with green beans, corn, and diced carrots, but it turns out to have been the one with asparagus, corn, and baby carrots... Oh well.  As I said, we were short of time, so I'm pretty sure the crust could have used a little more time in the oven, but the liquid was bubbling around the edges so at least that part was done.  It was good...way better than the kind from the freezer section at the store. 

Oh, and the muffins from last night?  Incredible.  Mom and the brother would have never have known there was no sugar or oil, had I not told them.  Of course, recipes are more like guidelines most of the time.  So you could use real sugar and oil.  Blueberries instead of strawberries.  No berries at all.  Totally up to you. 

Strawberry Banana Muffins

Alright, so Monday was Sunday leftovers, and this evening some wonderful friends from church brought food over!  Incredible.  I haven't had to make dinner for two nights in a row.  In place of dinner, I decided to make breakfast for tomorrow tonight.  I mean, let's be real, I'm not waking up early to make muffins in the morning.  I decided on strawberry banana because we still have strawberries (yes, even after the jam and strawberry pretzel salad) and there's a stock pile of ripe bananas in the freezer.  Since they are for breakfast, I have not actually tasted one.  Based on the taste of the batter and the heavenly smell filling the kitchen, I'm guessing they're pretty tasty...but I'll have to let you know for sure after breakfast tomorrow!

Ingredients:

3 whole overly ripe bananas

I don't know how many strawberries, chopped

2 whole eggs

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup fat-free plain yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup Ideal No Calorie Sweetener 

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350.  Combine bananas, eggs, applesauce, yogurt, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.  Mix until well blended, but don't expect it to be totally smooth and uniform.  Add all the dry ingredients in with the wet ingredients.  Mix until combined.  Stir in strawberries.  Pour into a greased muffin pan and bake for 20-ish minutes.  They won't turn golden brown because there is no real sugar.  Check by inserting a toothpick into the middle of a muffin or two; the toothpick will come out clean when the muffins are done.

Orange Rosemary Chicken

For lunch today, we enjoyed orange rosemary chicken, baby red potatoes with parsley, and honey balsamic green beans.  The recipes for the chicken and green beans are on Paula Deen's website.  I have never cooked a whole chicken before...mostly because I don't like to handle things that look like they may have been animals.  It's weird, really.  I don't mind dissecting them, but turning them into food bothers me.  BUT, I needed something that I could put in the crock-pot Saturday night (or very early Sunday morning, as it turned out) and be ready after worship.  The chicken turned out very moist, tender, and flavorful!  It was actually so tender, I could not get the whole thing out of the crock-pot in one piece.  The potatoes and green beans were good too!

For the record, this is a serving platter...NOT my plate.

I made dessert too, and since we have an abundance of strawberries, I went with Strawberry Pretzel Salad.  I kind of used Bobby Deen's Lighter Strawberry Pretzel Salad recipe.  I did change a couple things, nothing major.  Unfortunately, it didn't really stay in three layers...but it still tasted good, and that's what really matters!

Strawberry Freezer Jam

I got a bunch of fresh strawberries at the grocery store the other day because (1) I love strawberries and (2) it was a good deal.  I decided to use some of them to make strawberry freezer jam, sugar-free of course.  This is a quick and easy way to make delicious and healthy jam... 

All you need to make 4 half-pint jars is:

3 1/3 cups crushed strawberries

1 1/3 cups Splenda

2 packets of Ball instant pectin (4 tablespoons)

Mix the pectin and Splenda together, then add in the crushed strawberries.  Mix everything together and ladle it into 4 Ball freezer jars.  The jam will last 3 weeks in the fridge or 1 year in the freezer!

I know you are dying to know what I though about the final Harry Potter movie.  As one of my friends put it, it was "mind blowing, earth shattering, heart poundingly amazing."  It was super intense and very cool in RealD 3-D, also.  The only downside is that I now have this empty feeling, this void, because it's all over.  It's like, "Well, what do we do now?"  If you are not a Harry Potter person, I realize you don't understand any of this.  However, you might appreciate that I forgot to switch out my 3-D glasses for my sunglasses when the movie was over.  I probably would have gotten all the way home wearing them, wondering why they weren't keeping the sun out of my eyes, except the brother's friend was like, "You're still wearing your 3-D glasses?"  Brilliant.   

Sweet & Sassy Turkey Burgers

I made some amazing turkey burgers tonight, recipe courtesy of a Taste of Home magazine I found.  The patty is made of ground turkey, a link of Italian turkey sausage, crumbled turkey bacon, sage, dried cranberries, sage, and a hint of maple syrup.  The sauce is a mixture of reduced-fat mayo and jellied cranberry sauce.  I served them on onion rolls with some lettuce.  Sweet potato fries and apple slices on the side.  Delicious!

Watching "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1" tonight... Got tickets for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" this afternoon.  We will be seeing it in 3-D.  Since I'm having to wait until Saturday to see it, I wanted to get the 3-D experience.  It's very weird for me to be watching all these movies.  I'm not one to just sit down and watch t.v. or movies, but I guess there's always an exception.  

Honey Quinoa Bread

We may have had leftovers for dinner tonight, but we just had warm honey quinoa bread, fresh from the oven!  This is the first time I have made this kind of bread, and it was quite the process.  It is not a "quick bread" by any means.  However, it is quite scrumptious AND pretty stinking healthy.  I guess you might call it a "mixed" grain bread...maybe.  There's a 1:1 ratio of all-purpose to whole wheat flour, some oats, and some quinoa.  Skim milk, but no oil or eggs.  It is only sweetened by the natural honey.  It's very moist and dense.  Love it.

I do wish I had a rectangle plate....

A little bit of melting Move Over Butter....

Well, I only have to watch "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1" before I go to see the final movie.  I know, I should be at the midnight premiere...I wish.  I will just pretend like it doesn't come out until like Saturday.  I have really enjoyed watching them all back to back.  Things make much more sense.  Probably more so if I would actually read the books.  I did read the first chapter of the first one and the epilogue and last chapter of the last one (yes, in that order)...but, as you can imagine, there is a lot that goes on between there that I rely on the movies for.  Well, I'm running on 4ish hours of sleep, so I'm going to check-out for the night!

Tortellini Salad

Tonight's meal was a scrumptious summer pasta dish: tortellini salad.  I used a three-cheese tortellini from the refrigerator section (no, I don't make my own), a green bell pepper (chopped), cherry tomatoes (sliced in half), black olives (chopped, but sliced would probably be best...I may have overlooked that on the can), and Italian vinaigrette (balsamic would be good too).  The recipe I used suggests adding in some smoked turkey breast, but I didn't have time to mess with that.  It's Wednesday, after all.  The important part is that it was quick and tasted great!

We just started watching "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets."  I believe it's going to be a late night...maybe we should just stay up, watch them all, and be done with it?  I have to be up at a forsaken hour of the morning anyway...Mom is have surgery #3 on the shoulder.  Third time's a charm, right?  I sure hope so.  Well, I think that's all I have for tonight!

Hamburger Corn Bread Casserole

Tonight I made Hamburger Corn Bread Casserole.  It was yummy and decently healthy as far as this kind of meal goes.  I cooked lean (93/7) hamburger with a small onion (chopped), then added a can of diced tomatoes, a can of ranch-style beans, and chili powder and worcestershire sauce for spunk.  I made the cornbread topping with corn meal, all-purpose flour, splenda (instead of sugar), tad of salt, baking powder, unsweetened applesauce (instead of oil), an egg, and a bit of 1% milk.  It all goes in the oven at 425 for about 14 minutes.  Just some steam-fresh sweet baby peas on the side! 

 
Tonight we begin our Harry Potter movie marathon.  Late start considering the final one comes out this Friday.  Hopefully we will get them all watched before then, though.  I'm optimistic.  It is crazy looking back at how much has changed between The Sorcerer's Stone (2001) and The Deathly Hallows Pt. 1 (2010).  Obviously, the cast has changed with age, but the special effects have improved immensely.  It's amusing.  While I'm super excited about seeing the last movie, the fact that it's the last movie is bittersweet.  I mean, I was like 10 when the first movie came out...I guess that puts me in 5th grade.  So where were you when the first Harry Potter came out?  

Crispy Flounder & Veggies

Alright, I'm back!  I made crispy flounder and veggies tonight... Granted, it was suppose to be crispy cod and veggies, but Crest and Target apparently do not carry cod.  I initially felt kind of bad for cooking flounder because, after all, Flounder was the Little Mermaid's best friend.  It was really tasty though, so I got over my remorse.  The brother thought it was good too, which is good since he seems to be picky about fish.  The "crispy" part is made of melted butter (although I used a healthier substitute), seasoned bread crumbs, potato sticks or french-fried onions, and parmesan.  The veggies include a bag of cole slaw, Roma tomatoes, green onions, and garlic.  To cook, I put the veggies in the bottom of a baking dish, put the fish on top, and sprinkled the "crispy" over the fish.  Bake at 450 for 20ish minutes...just make sure the fish gets to 145 degrees.  

Late Night Creme Brulee

Well, today was pretty uneventful as far as food goes.  Cereal for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, and leftovers for dinner.  Woo-hoo.  I did decide to make some creme brulee for a late-night, post-workout snack (not that it's at all appropriate post-workout).  I did use like a box/kit thing, but it was warm, smooth, and yummy...

On the productive side of things, I got a few boxes unpacked today and did some organizing in the garage.  Maybe someday we will actually be able to put a car or two in there.  I also made some Scentsy samples.  Nothing really super exciting though!  


I am, however, excited about this: P90X 2 trailer.  Yeah, that's insane.  I've just got three weeks left of P90X (1).  Let me say, not stretching last Sunday was a very bad idea.  Doesn't seem like much, but skipping it totally messed up my week.  Lesson learned: don't neglect the stretching.  


I hope your Saturday was more eventful than mine :)

Chef's Salad

Alright, so last night was "Peak Wednesday" which is a thing the youth group at Edmond does one Wednesday a month.  In other words, the youth and their families ate dinner in the youth wing so I got the night off!  Tonight, however, was a different story.  It was just chef's salad.  Easy.  Simple.  Chef's salad...except apparently I cannot boil eggs.  I had everything ready to roll, but when I cracked the egg to peel it, it was totally raw.  And I'm not about to eat a raw egg on a salad.  In cookie dough, yes.  On a salad, no.  We finally got them cooked, as you can see, and the salad was good!

If you are in the OKC metro and need something to do tomorrow evening, I encourage you to come out to Millie's Table at Danforth & Santa Fe in Edmond.  There is FREE admission and yummy food!  Also, I've heard about some DOOR PRIZES...  The vendors at the event include: Scentsy, Cuppie Cakes of Edmond, Vintage Couture, Tupperware, Premiere Jewelry, Private Quarters, Shaklee, Photo Card Cafe, Mary Kay, and Beauti-Control.  Proceeds will benefit THE KID'S PLACE OF EDMOND--this is a great cause! Learn more about the event on Facebook--Mom Mall.

Sassy Thai Skillet

Last night we had what I'm now calling "Sassy Thai Skillet."  The dish was inspired by a recipe I found, although I modified it by leaving a couple things out and not following the cooking instructions.  I left out the corn starch (seemed rather unnecessary) and bacon.  The cooking instructions had you cooking the chicken, taking it out, cooking the onions, taking them out, cooking the vegetables and beans, and then adding everything back into the skillet.  Who wants to do that?  So I cooked the chicken, added the onions, then added the vegetables and beans.  I did "cook" the brown rice in the microwave before adding it in.  Basically, the dish includes: chicken, broccoli florets, red bell pepper, pinto beans (interesting...I never thought them to be Asian), white onion, brown rice, peanuts, and reduced-sodium soy sauce and seasoning for sass.  It was totally delicious! 

Apologies for the posting delay.  Right after dinner we headed out to the movies to see Transformers 3.  I guess it was pretty decent.  I mean Josh Duhamel and McDreamy were in the same movie, so that's a bonus, right?  It was very action-y and long, but there were some amusing parts.  It also seems that Louis Vuitton pumps make great running shoes.  Maybe I should have invested in those instead of Asics last time I got new shoes.  Just kidding.  Although, it is easier to do squats in heels... Alright, enough rambling for now.  Have a fabulous day!

What can I find in the freezer for dinner?

Seeing as how I haven't been to the grocery store since we got back yesterday afternoon, tonight's meal was totally thrown together.  I found chicken bites from the brother's FFA fundraiser and some kind of Pictsweet frozen veggie mix.  A nice addition was some Hudson Cream Country Gravy that we brought back from Kansas.  Seriously, Hudson Cream knows its gravy mix.  I also really like the flour for baking.  And, yes, I can tell the difference in a blind taste test. 

Family Reunion @ The Flying M Ranch

Where in the world have I been?  The middle of nowhere West Kansas, that's where.  More specifically, I was at the Flying M Ranch in Sylvia, KS.  So what is a diva doing on a ranch?  She is attending a family reunion, that's what.  It was very nice though--hot showers, comfy beds, air conditioning, internet, sometimes cell service, and (best of all) excellent food that I did not have to cook!  (It was nice to have a break!).  Of course, it was good to be with all the family.  It is crazy how much has changed since the last reunion! On with the pictures---

The backside of the lodge.  There is a pond and fire pit.

I made a "biscuit-on-a-stick" using the fire pit.

We went on a tour of the Carey Salt Mines.  Apparently, I'm somehow related to the Carey's.  For the record, that particular chunk of salt did NOT have a sign that said, "Do Not Climb."  Obviously, if there's no sign, I'm going to climb it!

The family that was able to make it to the reunion.

This is a very interesting house (understatement) that is located on the property.  It was built way back when by an engineer, a short engineer, possibly insane.  There are all kinds of nooks and crannies, hide-y holes, and even secret doors and passageways.  It would be great for playing hide-and-go-seek!

This is me, headed down a secret passage way.

The Flying M Ranch does not have horses or cows, but alpacas.  They are pretty funny animals.

This little baby was born while we were there!

The wonderful owners of the ranch and hosts of the reunion! (Yes, they are a part of the family too.) They are set up for reunions, get-aways, and have evening had a wedding on the property.  Seriously, for West Kansas, this place is lovely!