As you all know, I recently came back from vacation. I had a wonderful time and was priviledged to be able to see and visit with all the people I love. I am very blessed to be able to do that!!
Now comes the down side of that wonderful vacation...I gained 14 pounds! Yes I gained about 2 pounds a week and that is no joke. I guess when you eat like a pig and drink like a fish you pay the consequences!
So since coming home, I have been calorie counting. I bought this wonderful book from Calorie King called "calorie, fat, and carbohydrate" counter. I am impressed with this book because of the amazingly huge amount of information in it, including fast foods, restaurants, packaged foods, and alcohol. This is all in addition to the normal meat, cheese, fruits, and vegetables. What a wonderful little guide! There is also a web site: http://www.calorieking.com/ that you can get more assistance from. Cool!
So I am keeping my daily intake to 1200 to 1400 calories a day, and after the first week I am proud to be down 2.6 pounds!! As the days go buy I plan to share pictures and recipes of some of my "low calorie" meals.
Wish me luck!!
Friday, October 24, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Back Again !
Well, I am back from vacation and ready to get back to work on my food blog.....yup I was really gone for almost 7 weeks!! If you have any interest as to what we did during those 7 weeks you can find out by reading this blog: www.rexandmary.blogspot.com.
Our wonderful neighbors brought us some great chicken and pineapple skewers the other night that he made on the grill. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of these wonderful creations because we had some camera malfunction but I will tell you all about them.
I really dislike most BBQ sauces because number 1, I don't care for the liquid smoke flavor and number 2, I don't like the taste of vinegar.
Getting back to the neighbors chicken and pineapple skewers, they had a marvelous BBQ sauce that was neither smokey or vinegary. Anyway I begged him for the recipe and here it is.
The sauce which consisted of 1 cup of ketchup, 1/4 cup of soy sauce, 1/4 cup of honey, 1 tablespoon yellow mustard, 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 2 whole garlic cloves, and the juice of one lemon. Combine those 7 ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat, bring to a simmer, cook about 10 minutes until thickened. Set the sauce aside to cool.
Now you cut 8 boneless chicken thighs into 2 pieces and thread alternatively on skewers with pineapple chucks. When you have all of the skewers threaded with the chicken and pineapple chunks, brush them with olive oil and season them with salt and pepper.
Now discard the garlic cloves from the sauce and brush the skewers with the sauce. Reserve 1/2 of the sauce to use for dipping after the skewers are done. Cook the skewers on a grill about 10 to 15 minutes until done.
This is a really tasty recipe and the combo of the sauce and pineapple is truly wonderful and I don't even like pineapple all that much.
I sure regret not having pictures of this recipe, but I will be making this one soon and put some up then!!
Our wonderful neighbors brought us some great chicken and pineapple skewers the other night that he made on the grill. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of these wonderful creations because we had some camera malfunction but I will tell you all about them.
I really dislike most BBQ sauces because number 1, I don't care for the liquid smoke flavor and number 2, I don't like the taste of vinegar.
Getting back to the neighbors chicken and pineapple skewers, they had a marvelous BBQ sauce that was neither smokey or vinegary. Anyway I begged him for the recipe and here it is.
The sauce which consisted of 1 cup of ketchup, 1/4 cup of soy sauce, 1/4 cup of honey, 1 tablespoon yellow mustard, 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 2 whole garlic cloves, and the juice of one lemon. Combine those 7 ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat, bring to a simmer, cook about 10 minutes until thickened. Set the sauce aside to cool.
Now you cut 8 boneless chicken thighs into 2 pieces and thread alternatively on skewers with pineapple chucks. When you have all of the skewers threaded with the chicken and pineapple chunks, brush them with olive oil and season them with salt and pepper.
Now discard the garlic cloves from the sauce and brush the skewers with the sauce. Reserve 1/2 of the sauce to use for dipping after the skewers are done. Cook the skewers on a grill about 10 to 15 minutes until done.
This is a really tasty recipe and the combo of the sauce and pineapple is truly wonderful and I don't even like pineapple all that much.
I sure regret not having pictures of this recipe, but I will be making this one soon and put some up then!!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
On Vacation
This poor blog is going to be neglected for the next 6 to 8 weeks. We have to make a trip home to Wisconsin to spend so time with my 87 year old Mother who was recently in an auto accident. I will blog when I can but probably won't be much.....but will be back strong the end of October!!!
Also does anyone have any idea how to get rid of the spammers that leave numerous comments that have to be deleted daily??? They are driving me wild. And what they write in unintelligible. All they do is leave a list of web address-at least that is what I think they are.
None of it in English. Does anyone know how to get rid of them???
Would appreciate any and all help with that!!
Mary
Also does anyone have any idea how to get rid of the spammers that leave numerous comments that have to be deleted daily??? They are driving me wild. And what they write in unintelligible. All they do is leave a list of web address-at least that is what I think they are.
None of it in English. Does anyone know how to get rid of them???
Would appreciate any and all help with that!!
Mary
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Pork Roast
The other day we grilled a pork roast. I have several rubs in the cupboard but am interested in experimenting with different seasonings. So I decided to come up with my own rub.
This is the "naked" roast.
Here I am applying my rub.......
Here is the roast and if I do say so myself, it tasted pretty good!!
This is what I used in my rub:
1/4 teaspoon Mrs. Dash table blend, 1/8 t paprika, 1/4 t tumeric, 1/8 t ground mustard, a spinkle of tarragon, and a sprinkle of dried basil leaves.
My winter project will be to learn more about herbs and spices and how to use them to enhance dishes. Ought to be interesting!
This is the "naked" roast.
Here I am applying my rub.......
Here is the roast and if I do say so myself, it tasted pretty good!!
This is what I used in my rub:
1/4 teaspoon Mrs. Dash table blend, 1/8 t paprika, 1/4 t tumeric, 1/8 t ground mustard, a spinkle of tarragon, and a sprinkle of dried basil leaves.
My winter project will be to learn more about herbs and spices and how to use them to enhance dishes. Ought to be interesting!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Pickle Pak
What's new in the world of pickles???
Yup, pickles have gone the way of pudding, jello, and fruit.....little indivual pickle paks!! I had a coupon for Mt. Olive pickles so decided to get the paks. Mostly because they amused me. Don't ask me why....just one of those days I guess!
Aren't they cute?? You can eat the whole container for 10 calories. Now that is what I call "figure friendly"!
Yup, pickles have gone the way of pudding, jello, and fruit.....little indivual pickle paks!! I had a coupon for Mt. Olive pickles so decided to get the paks. Mostly because they amused me. Don't ask me why....just one of those days I guess!
Aren't they cute?? You can eat the whole container for 10 calories. Now that is what I call "figure friendly"!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Thai Shrimp Gyoza
At Trader Joe's the other day I was looking through the frozen food section and found Thai Shrimp Gyoza. It sounded good so I decided to try them.
You can pan fry, steam, or microwave these. I chose to steam them.
Here they are in the steamer. They taste like egg rolls, which I really like.
These are the entree I made the other day to go with the Thai Shrimp Gyoza. Have you ever seen those bacon wrapped small fillets at the the store? That is what is in these puff pastry bundles. Sort of my take on Beef Wellington.
To avoid the pastry becoming soggy on the bottom, I just cut the bottom out. It was the best solution I could think of to avoid "soggy bottom".
Here is the "Beef Wellington" and steamed Thai Shrimp Gyoza. It was all pretty good...I will try this again!!
You can pan fry, steam, or microwave these. I chose to steam them.
Here they are in the steamer. They taste like egg rolls, which I really like.
These are the entree I made the other day to go with the Thai Shrimp Gyoza. Have you ever seen those bacon wrapped small fillets at the the store? That is what is in these puff pastry bundles. Sort of my take on Beef Wellington.
To avoid the pastry becoming soggy on the bottom, I just cut the bottom out. It was the best solution I could think of to avoid "soggy bottom".
Here is the "Beef Wellington" and steamed Thai Shrimp Gyoza. It was all pretty good...I will try this again!!
Friday, August 22, 2008
Trader Joe's
A day off and a trip to Trader Joe's!!!!! What could be better than that?? I am feeling a little sad because we will soon be heading South for the winter and there isn't a Trader Joe's in Bullhead City. Sure wish they would correct that oversight!
Trader Joe's puts out a flyer every other month. This is the current issue. As you can see, it is emphasizing "dinner-in-a-hurry" options. The flyer is 15 pages and showcases several products they sell. Trader Joe's does not have "sale" items, instead they charge "reasonable" prices each and every day. And to be perfectly honest, I have found that they do have very reasonable prices. At least I surely haven't found anything outrageously expensive.
Like a lot of other retailers these days, Trader Joe's is on the "eco-friendly" bandwagon. They have reusable shopping bag options. Not only are they reusable, they are cool looking and fun. The shopping bag in the middle is priced at 99 cents and just plain fun looking. The two bags on the sides are both insulated. The black and red one has a five quart capacity and keeps cold foods fresh for up to 5 hours, more if you put ice packs in it. Is is the first insulated bag they offered, as far as I know and was 5.99 when I bought it. That one is no longer available. The blue and black one is their new style and has an 8 quart capacity. I like the squared corners, it not only holds more but it is easier to pack. I just bought this one today for 6.99 which I think is a good price for it.
This is my very long commercial for Trader Joe's today!!
Trader Joe's puts out a flyer every other month. This is the current issue. As you can see, it is emphasizing "dinner-in-a-hurry" options. The flyer is 15 pages and showcases several products they sell. Trader Joe's does not have "sale" items, instead they charge "reasonable" prices each and every day. And to be perfectly honest, I have found that they do have very reasonable prices. At least I surely haven't found anything outrageously expensive.
Like a lot of other retailers these days, Trader Joe's is on the "eco-friendly" bandwagon. They have reusable shopping bag options. Not only are they reusable, they are cool looking and fun. The shopping bag in the middle is priced at 99 cents and just plain fun looking. The two bags on the sides are both insulated. The black and red one has a five quart capacity and keeps cold foods fresh for up to 5 hours, more if you put ice packs in it. Is is the first insulated bag they offered, as far as I know and was 5.99 when I bought it. That one is no longer available. The blue and black one is their new style and has an 8 quart capacity. I like the squared corners, it not only holds more but it is easier to pack. I just bought this one today for 6.99 which I think is a good price for it.
This is my very long commercial for Trader Joe's today!!
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