The other day I was hungry for something different....so I decided to try this recipe I found in Health Magazine for zucchini fries. Why I didn't take pictures I'll never know but...next time.

Here is the ingredient list:

2 zucchini-cut into 3 inch sticks

1 egg white

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup shredded paresan cheese

1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Whisk and egg white in a small bowl and add the milk. In another bowl, mix the cheese and bread crumbs. Dip the zucchini sticks into the egg mixture then roll in the breadcrumbs. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray, place the zucchini sticks on the sheet. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown. Makes about 32 fries.

These are really good and healthful too. There's always more room for veggies!!

Dangerous Coffee Mug Cake

A few days ago I did a blog on www.rexandmary.blogspot.com about this coffee mug cake.

This is a fun recipe to have and it is pretty scary to have cake available anytime of the day or night when that sweet tooth urge hits. Anyway I am going to repeat the recipe here.....even if you have read it on Rex and Mary.....keep reading....there is a surprise (a nice one) at the end of this blog.

The recipe:

4 T flour (not self rising)

4 T sugar

2 T baking cocoa

1 Egg

3 T milk

3 T oil

3 T chocolate chips (optional)---(ya, right)

Small splash of vanilla

Mix the flour, sugar, and cocoa in you coffee mug. Add the egg and mix well. Pour in the milk and oil mixing thoroughly. Add the chocolate chips and vanilla.

Cook in a 1000 watt microwave for 3 minutes---the time might need to be adjusted slightly for your specific oven. The batter might rise over the top of your mug but don't be alarmed, it won't spill over and make a mess. Allow to cool slightly and tip our on to a plate. EAT!!

Now for the surprise I promised. I have been playing with this recipe. As it is written this VERY DANGEROUS cake is 1045 calories!! Yikes!! I have been playing with this recipe and have gotten it down to 630 calories, still a lot but if you split it with someone it is not actually that bad. So what did I do....in place of 4 T of sugar used 2 T of Splenda Sugar Blend which cut the calorie count by 80 calories and in place of the oil I used 3 T of Unsweetened Applesauce which made 340 calorie difference!!

I must admit that the texture of the cake is changed somewhat, but it is still recognizable as cake and tastes just as good!! Another variation I have tried is using the powder from instant fat free butterscotch pudding instead of cocoa and butterscotch chips in place of the chocolate.....that is also pretty tasty.

Please give it a try and let me know how it works for you!!

Calorie King

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!!

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!!

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

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!

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"!