Toast Cake

This past weekend I decided to make the Kiddo French toast. I can’t remember the last time I made it, I know it’s been years (probably at least four) so he had no idea what it was I was going to make him eat. He watched me mix the eggs and dump in the milk, he saw me add a bit of sugar and his smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. He watched me add the vanilla and the nutmeg and it grew a bit more (he thinks of those as ‘cake’ ingredients).

I turned on the skillet and he asked if I was making it like toasted cake, I told him yes that when it came off the skillet it would be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I then pulled out the powdered sugar and the butter and the syrup.

The Kiddo loved it! He ate three pieces before he was full, he saved a few for his dad (for when he got home from work). The next morning I started to get out the cereal and the Kiddo demanded the “special cake toast” again. I decided it sounded okay so I made another batch. He gobbled it up as quickly as he had the day before.

He told me that he thinks we need to have the special toast every day for breakfast. I told him we’d get fat and that we better save it for a once a week thing instead. Breads good for you and all but covering it in powdered sugar and dipping it in syrup doesn’t help the healthy factor any.

Coffee on the rocks

I love this idea, in fact I really can only see a couple potential problems with it. How on earth do you drink the second half of your cup without chipping your teeth? And if you don't use a cup... if you use a thermal mug would the sound of metal rocks rattling around drive you bonkers?
Ultimately it comes down to this though, I would love something that would keep my coffee hot in a cup so I could use my funky fun coffee cups in the morning. As it is if I don't finish the cup within 15 minutes it's already missed the happy hot but drinkable window ... If I had $40 extra I'd go ahead and pre-order a set. I wonder how it would work with tea? :-)

self serving

The Kiddo was up late this morning. It was just shy of 9 when he came shuffling out of his room. That meant his meds were late and so by the time he was able to eat breakfast he was (according to him) starving:

Him: Mom can I have breakfast? I need food!

Me: sure bud what do you want?

Him: (opening the fridge) I dunno let me see….

Him: (mumbling to himself) oh HEY maybe this, do you think she’ll let me eat it? Maybe if I ask…

(he took the leftover pizza out of the fridge and turned bright hopeful eyes to me)

Him: Mom, can I have pizza for breakfast?

Me: sure, why not…

…

I didn’t realize he’d eat all three pieces. He did. In between bites he told me “I’m a hungry, hungry, kid mom, you should feed me more often”

Theologically* speaking

Is chocolate, chocolate? Does all chocolate taste the same?


I don't mean the obvious, the percent of cocoa to sugar, or the flavorings. If you take two chocolate bars from two different countries with the same cocoa ratio would they taste similar (both use the cocoa bean right?).

What if it was made from a "new" cocoa bean... what then? Would the chocolate taste different?

If I had a little more money I think I'd need to buy some and try it just to see. That and I've never actually tried a chocolate covered cocoa bean before, I wonder if it's anything like a chocolate covered coffee bean?


*Can I even use a religious word to reference a debate on chocolate? I say yes, so I did... but that doesn't help me shake the tiny bit of guilt I have that you word'y people will be shaking your heads at yet another instance of me butchering the language.

Holiday Cookies

I know I've mentioned in some of my previous posts that The Kiddo is really excited about Christmas this year. Over the past few years he sort of knew it was coming but he didn't really seem to remember what had happened the last year so wasn't anticipating what was going to happen. This year he's five, very nearly six, and he remembers last year so he's really wound up.

He has only three days of school this week, and Wednesday is a short day for him. I think that's when we're going to start our Christmas cookie baking. Usually I make about four different kinds of cookies, BUT because he's going to be helping this year I think I'll stick to actually making only two... We're going to make oatmeal cookies with red and green m&m's. We're also going to make snickers fudge. Then I'm going to buy (yeah I know, awful lazy me) some ginger bread boys from the bakery next door and let him ice them any way he wants. I'm tossing around the idea of snicker doodles too but I'm not sure how hard the fudge is going to be (I don't have a candy thermometer so at the very least it'll be a little tricky). If the fudge and everything else goes smoothly enough I might take my butt back to the store and buy the ingredients for Oreo cookie balls, I think they sound really yummy and they are fun looking (plus the recipe makes them sound extremely easy to make)













Anyway that's my plan for the next few days. Try not to let The Kiddo's bouncing off the walls drive me so nuts that I permanently lock him in his room. And hopefully get some cookies made.

Mmmmm Co....ffee?

Throughout adulthood I’ve been a participant in more then a few “coffee tastes like crap” conversations. I will give it as far as the fact burnt coffee smells and tastes horrible, and that while I can drink black coffee I much prefer it with cream and sugar. If I could live on starbucks mocha cappuccinos I would. But then I’d be the size of a whale and a little less happy with life…

Anyway… what if there was a universe in which we could get our caffeine jump start some other way? What if that way was as easy to do as coffee and as warm and comforting on a half asleep headache filled colder then dirt cranky morning…

What if there was a such thing as Caffeinated Coco!! Oh wait, there is… and it’s probably a really good thing that I can’t find it within myself to spend the money on it. I don’t think I’d stop at just one cup…

Icecream bread?

To of my favorite things combined into one? And it couldn't be easier!!

Get off your butt and go buy some self-rising flour - and a pint of ice cream - because those are the only ingredients for this recipe. (yes, really.)

You can experiment with flavors, I'm thinking I might try a peanut butter cup flavor next...


Ice Cream Bread

1 pint of melted ice cream
1.5 cups of sifted self-rising flour

Butter and flour a standard size loaf pan. Heat your oven to 350ºF. Mix your ingredients until smooth. Pour the batter into the pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes.

That's it. (yes, really!!)

Enjoy! And report back what you think.

Vitamix givaway...

Elana's Pantry is giving away a Vitamix 5200 Blender this month. I've seen one of these in action, tasted what it can do, and daydreamed about owning one. Needless to say I left a comment and entered. If you want a new kick butt blender that makes amazing sherbit (among a gazillion other things) swing by her blog and leave a comment. Then while you're there take a bit and look around, she's got some really good glutton free recipies!!

Just a few things

It's fall. I mentioned this I think... pumpkin pie spice flavored stuff is starting to come out. I stopped at Target yesterday to pick up some toilet paper. While there I checked their flavored coffee's (nope no luck), as I walked out I passed their in store starbucks. Wouldn't you know the pumpkin spice latte is back... ummmm I walked past, then I walked back, then I started to walk away again, then I walked back and ordered myself the smallest size they sell.
Mine of course was in a little paper cup, but this picture gives you the 'yum' factor a lot better then a picture of a paper cup would. It was good, but, believe it or not, a little too sweet! What the heck happened to me ... used to be I would gulp down the largest one they had and be happy as a clam. Now I drink half a small and have to stop because of the sweet factor? Not to mention that the entire time I was drinking it I was thinking... this tiny cup is supposed to be 12 oz but it feels closer to 8 and it's 240 calories!!

I ended up finishing it though, the cup kept the second half of it warm until two hours later when I sipped it again and thought, hmm still good - and finished it.

And speaking of pumpkin flavored things. How about this?
Lady D made me do it. She told me they have a Sam Adams pumpkin beer down in AZ and that it's really good. I'm not much of a beer drinker but I thought it might be fun to try something new so I went to the grocery store to look. No Sam Adams, but they did have this stuff. It's locally brewed, and tastes pretty good. Thanks D.

Summer Baking

Lately I've been on a baking kick. It's the Man's fault, or more correctly speaking it's his coworker's fault. Several weeks ago he sent the Man home with a giant zucchini. I spent a bit of time trying to figure out what to do with the thing and finally ended up grating it into four 3c containers for bread. I froze three of them, and used the last to bake a couple loaves of honey sweetened, 60% coco chocolate chip, bread.
The good news is that it was really good, and I still have half a loaf left! The bad news is that it started me on a baking kick.

I've had a jar of Almond Butter sitting around that I'd purchased a few months ago on a "health" whim (see almonds are "good nuts" and the fats in them actually tell your body to burn fat, but peanuts aren't so almond butter is healthier for you). Anyway I've had a jar sitting around, it's just not as good as peanut butter on a sandwich, it's great on apples but I don't eat apples all that often so it's just been sitting there not being used. And I thought, as I debated what to bake next, that I really would love some sort of peanut butter brownie...
So I pulled out the brownie pan and made some perfectly amazing brownies, made with Almond butter, whole wheat flour, and coconut.

Then this week I decided that I wanted to use up the last bit of the almond butter. What to do, what to do...
How about some almond butter cookies with a coco chip set into them. The Kiddo helped me with the chips part, and these cookies are SO good. I really hope the Man takes a bunch to work tomorrow or I'm going to end up eating them all!

Breakfast oats

I know that there are a few of you out there that eat oatmeal every now and then (I think my mom does at least once a week if not more often). I've been eating it quite a bit because it's so cheap and easy, and keeps me full till lunch. I eat regular Quaker oats, the non packet kind, because who needs the extra sodium and sugar those little handy packets carry.

Anyway lately I've been reading quite a bit about how steel cut oats are so much better then rolled. I finally went and bought some (because, hey, they are about the same price so why not give them a try). I read the boxes nutrition label and found they are almost identical in nutrient value etc... so why then are they better?











Pretty obviously the picture on the right side is rolled oats. The picture on the left is steel cut.

Old Fashioned Rolled Oats - These are made by steaming the groats and flattening them with a roller. The Quaker Old Fashioned Rolled Oats are very thinly rolled, as are the store varieties by the same title. If you look hard, however, you can often find rolled oats that are twice as thick as the Quaker variety, and these make a lovely, less creamy version of oatmeal than the Quaker ones do. Quaker sets the industry standard, so theirs is considered REGULAR Old Fashioned Rolled Oats. If they are thicker, they are called THICK Old Fashioned Rolled Oats.

Quick-cooking rolled oats -- These are made by flattening pre-cut groats. They cook in about 5 minutes.

Steel Cut Oats or Scottish Oats or Irish Oats- These are groats which have been cut into two or three pieces. Cooking time is considerably longer than for rolled oats.

So here's basically what I figured out. The actual nutrition value of each type of oat is pretty much the same but it's the glycemic index of the oats that's the important part and what makes the steel cut oats the better choice for breakfast.

See here's the thing... the important part with food is how much is done to it to break down the cell structure before you get it and eat it. One way this can be done is by cooking the food item. The longer the cooking time, the greater the breakdown of the cell walls, and the faster that food can enter your blood stream and the faster your body will react to it by producing insulin to break down the carbohydrates (sugars) into simple, readily usable forms.

We want the happy medium, ... breaking down the starches just enough to make them tasty and easy to digest, but not so long that they become unfavorable, i.e. high on the glycemic index. The less you break down your foods, the less the glycemic reaction will be, the more stable your blood sugar will remain, the longer you'll stay "full" and the fewer cravings you will have.

So, when they steam and toast rolled oats they are actually raising the glycemic index and so that type of oat raises your blood sugar faster then steel cut.

And there you go, the long story of why I am going to eat steel cut for a few weeks. It's my own personal experiment on breakfast food. I mixed in a handful of raisins, and a tablespoon of peanut butter. It was the yummiest thing I've had for breakfast in awhile and here it is several hours later and I'm still comfortably full. Things are looking good :)


*They take forever to cook BUT if you soak them overnight they cook as quickly as rolled oats do:

Soak 1/2 cup oats and 2 cups milk (or water) overnight, covered, in med-sized bowl. Transfer to medium saucepan, add 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp cinnamon and cook on stovetop over med-high heat to bring to a boil. Lower heat and maintain a gentle simmer and cook, uncovered, stirring frequently until oats are softened and most of liquid is absorbed and becomes thick, about 10 minutes. Either serve right away or...the leftovers can be transferred to a resealable container, cooled and covered and stored in the fridge for up to a week reheated as needed. Superduper yummy!!

Yet another Kitchen Gadget

I have a pasta cooker that's a tall cylinder, you pour boiling water into it and then close it up and wait, I like it well enough but it doesn't work for anything but spaghetti. This one looks like it would work for all the pasta types I cook, elbow macaroni, spaghetti, and lasagna noodles. With my pasta pot having a bad tendency to boil over I usually end up standing at the stove for the entire 10 minutes cooking time fanning the pot with a plate to keep things under control. This Fasta Pasta cooker seems like it would be a life saver, and it's got quite a few positive reviews. I want!

Home made pizza

Not exactly the lowest calorie pizza out there but just for kicks I tried a no carb cauliflower crust. We tried this a couple months ago and the 'bread' turned out rather soggy, usually I'll try something twice before tossing the recipe though so yesterday I gave it another shot. This time I strained the riced cauliflower through a coffee filter (so I could squeeze out the water). The crust turned out a lot more break like and was very good. It made a fantastic alfredo spinach mushroom chicken pizza.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

1c cooked riced cauliflower
1 egg
1c Mozzarella cheese shredded
1/2 tsp fennel
1tsp oregano
2tsp parsley

To get the riced cauliflower I buy the frozen package, cook it, drain it on paper towel, rice it with a cheese grater, and then squeeze out the excess water through a paper coffee filter.

Preheat Oven to 450.

Combine cauliflower, egg and cheese. Press evenly onto pam'd pan*. Sprinkle with seasoning. Bake 12-15 minutes.

Add toppings and broil until cheese is melted.

*This can be done in smaller pizza sizes (as you can see from my photo I make two pizza's about 8x7), and the 'dough' can be saved in the fridge if you only want to use half at a time.

Pasta and Whole Grain

As you all know my project this summer was to lose a little weight (done) and learn to eat healthier. I did not think I was eating so poorly before, but I've learned a LOT lately about how our bodies process foods - why we store fat vs break it down etc. What foods prevent us from burning fat, and what foods help us do it. Which is good to know, for me it's not so much for the weight LOSS part but for the keeping weight OFF part.

So there's the obvious, that most of us know. Sugar is bad, the regular sugar type sugar (chocolate brownie style) and the 'you don't think about it' sugar (foods that turns to sugar; orange juice, bread, pasta)... so eating that stuff makes you have a blood sugar spike (sugar rush WOOO) which then causes your body to release insulin, which tells our bodies to store fat!! AND causes a crash (not so woohoo) and the crash makes us tired and hungry and gives us cravings. All bad cuz then I run to the kitchen for a snack... which usually ends up being a piece of bread with pb and we start it all again.

So that leads us to the fact that there are good Carbs and bad ones. Bad ones are simple carbs like white flour. But many articles I've read include whole wheat bread in the list, and whole grain cereal, whole grain pasta, and granola.. the list goes on. I was surprised to read that products can say they are whole grain w/out actually being whole grain, as long as there's a little in there then can label it that way. Which means you're eating grains thinking it's the good stuff... but it is still processed grains and will still cause that insulin spike/fat storing mode situation... *grumpy sigh*

Obviously we gotta have carbs, they give us energy. And obviously fruits and vegetables are good carbs. Then there's the sprouted grain breads (which ARE good for you). But I want my spaghetti and my mac and cheese so I'm not sure WHAT to do about that. Maybe I'll just make sure I do a 30 minute work out video before dinner on the days I want to eat pasta, I'll use the whole grain (for what it's worth) and my body will be in extra calorie burn mode so it wont store as much fat as it otherwise would.

Confusion really is my primary reaction to this great grain debate. To eat or not to eat, I like carbs way to much to cut them out of my diet... (a couple article links for you)

Good Carbs vs. Bad Carbs: How To Pick The Best Carbs For Your Diet

Carbohydrates: Are All Grains Bad For You?

At least the good fats and bad fats part of things is easier to understand. I mean everybody pretty much agrees that if you eat the bad fats it causes your body to store fat. But eat the good fats it tells your body to burn more fats (increases your metabolic fat burning something or other). And, even better, they all seem to agree on what the good fats are!! Easy then, try to avoid hydrogenated oils (which seems impossible when you look at food labels, yikes), use either real butter or the tubs of heart-healthy margarine made with omega-3 not fake stuff that have trans fats in them, use olive oil (or, even better, coconut oil), eat eggs and avacados and nuts (though apparently peanuts** and cashews are both "bad" nuts, which is upsetting because they are my two favorites *big sigh*).

And the random bit of information I came across that actually makes a ton of sense and was pretty interesting to me (being that I'm a lazy person and love processed foods)...

Here it is, see our liver has a whole bunch of jobs, but the two important ones for weight are the breakdown of fats and filtering harmful toxins from the blood. So when we eat processed foods the liver stops breaking down fats in order to focus on filtering the chemicals and has no time or energy for fat breakdown. So the fewer processed foods we eat, (foods with artificial sweeteners, fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, processed soy products)... the more time it has to break down the fat vs store it. And then thinking about THAT you realize that almost all the pre-made store bought foods (trail mix, health snack bars, flavored yogurt, frozen lasagna etc) have those things in them.

Anyway, take it all for what it's worth. It's overwhelming to say the least. I think I will make an effort here and there. Like I said, I'll work out on pasta dinner days, I'll replace my oils with coconut oil (already done) stop getting the fake butter and start using the real stuff.

I'm not going to become a crazy health nut, but sometimes even one or two steps can help enough to keep things on the right track. And the older I get the more important it is to take the small steps to keep things from getting out of control.

**I refuse to give up my peanut butter!! I may possibly be persuaded to spend the couple extra bucks to get the sugar free organic just peanuts kind (rather then skippy)... we'll see how it tastes before I commit to it.

Fried Tilapia

I don't like fish. Unless it's breaded and in the form of a little stick I very rarely am okay with eating it. But, as I mentioned in other blog posts, I have been eating healthy so have had a lot of it lately. Specifically Tilapia, because it's not a strong flavored fish and it's easy to get in individually packaged frozen fillets.

Usually I attempt to season it and then grill it on the forman. It's not bad, but it's not good either.

Lately, however, I have been using coconut oil a lot. I have it on hand for when the Kiddo's exzema gets bad (it's a great moisturizer) and hadn't really used it much for cooking. But since my little health kick recently I have read a few very interesting things about how good it is for you and thought I'd give it a shot.

Tilapia fillet, salt pepper and some cajun seasonings. Let it sit for a few minutes while the oil heats up in the frying pan. Fry till done flipping halfway. Absolutely the best fish I've ever cooked at home!! And super healthy! If any of you fry anything (eggs, pancakes, sauteed veggies etc) I highly HIGHLY suggest you go pick yourself up some organic coconut oil and give it a shot. I think you'll like it.

Beer ...

I've been craving breads, yummy home made warm bread strait out of the oven (or bread machine depending on the type of bread it is). This one is for Lady D. She's just about ready to head out on her annual vacation trip to CO. Last year she went on and on about the beer tasting at a local pub. I thought, for the woman who likes beer why not some beer bread?

Guinness Bread

3 cups sifted SELF RISING flour
1/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed dried Rosemary
1 and 1/2 cups Guinness (12 ounces) - at room temperature. If it develops a head on it as you pour it let it settle to make sure you get the full 1 and a half cups.

Mix ingredients in bowl and place in standard sized bread pan sprayed with PAM (or non stick coating of your choice).

Melt 3 Tablespoons of unsalted butter(NOT margarine) and pour over the top of the dough.

Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 45-50 minutes (45 works in my oven).

drink more coffee

Awhile back I did a post on coffee.. it was a long while back and I am to lazy to find the post. Needless to say it had something to do with a daily cup of coffee helping with weight loss. To that end lately I have been drinking my coffee black, which I don't think I like so much. It's palatable, but it's so much more enjoyable with a little bit of creamer. And how much can that extra 30 calories or so really hurt? At least I'm not a creamer AND sugar person...

Today I find yet another article on how drinking Coffee has good health benefits. Works for me!! The more excuses I can find to continue with my morning 10oz cup the better. Though if you read carefully the article tells you to have four cups, I'm not sure if I can drink four cups a day... not black anyway. Add back in the creamer though and I could do morning coffee and afternoon coffee with no heartache what-so-ever.

My personal favorite part of the article:

Your brain on coffee

Coffee may be good for the brain, too. A study earlier this year by neuroscientists at the University of Lisbon showed that drinking coffee can help to prevent the neural degeneration associated with brain disorders and aging. The scientists found that drinking up to four cups of coffee a day over a long period of time actually prevented the deterioration of memory.

Follow the link within the quote to see a fancy little slideshow with tips to keep your brain sharp.

sugah...

I made a cheese cake on Friday. I'm really the only one who eats cheesecake around here so I hardly ever make it... I just can't seem to justify eating an entire cake all by myself. I made this one with the intention of throwing away half of it, that way I only have half to eat and don't gain ten pounds. When it came time to chuck that half though I balked... how can I throw away perfectly good food??!!

Anyway when I got to the part of the recipe where you mix the sugar into the cream cheese I realized I didn't have enough sugar. Very silly on my part, I'd checked all the other ingredients but sugar is a staple (if a rarely used one) so I assumed I had enough. Fortunately for me there is a grocery store two minutes down the road. When I hit the baking isle I found all the regular sugars and, oddly, one in a carton. I looked closer; did you guys know they make a fine grain sugar? I had NO idea.
It was about the same price as the medium bag of sugar so I went ahead and purchased it. I didn't think I'd actually notice a difference in taste but I was curious if it would mix quicker and easier then normal sugar. I looked at the sugars and the "fine" was noticeably finer then the regular grain, about 1/3 of the size. In fact it puffed sugar smoke into the air when I poured it somewhat like powdered sugar does. I tried taking a picture for you of the two sugars next to each other. If you click the picture it will make it bigger and hopefully you can see the difference.
It did seem to mix in more quickly and smoothly then regular sugar does. But to really test it I'd have to make a recipe where you mix the sugar into the butter till smooth (chocolate chip perhaps?) or possibly better forgotten cookies, where you mix sugar into egg whites.

And btw, the cheese cake was very good!

Breakfast..

Nearly every morning the Kiddo has a bowl of cereal for breakfast. Usually it's cheerios, or frosted mini wheats, this week it's trix (I felt nice so let HIM pick). And on the rare occasion he will ask if he can have a "mommie" breakfast, and get some cottage cheese with fruit.

I have always had a slightly glowly happy feeling that at least for breakfast I was feeding him something healthy and good for him.

Then the other day I was browsing a forum and came across a thread of people ranting against cereal as a good thing to eat for breakfast. How in the commercials you MUST notice it says "as part of a complete breakfast" NOT "eat it by itself and be healthy". They were very adamant about how you'd be better off eating toast and ham and eggs and orange juice.

I thought what? I mean obviously cereal doesn't give you all the nutrients you need in a day but jeez people get a grip! If you google it there really are quite a few articles that say cereal is GOOD for breakfast, of course probably not if you eat coco pebbles every day...

I eat either cheerios with milk, or cottage cheese (sometimes with pineapple, or a banana, or apple).

It's not like I'm throwing a handful of cookies down with a big glass of sugary chocolate milk and some icecream yeesh
Speaking of cookies... did you know they make Heath Toffee chocolate chips??!! I did NOT know that until my last grocery store trip when my eyes tripped over them in the baking isle. I may just have to buy a bag and see how they do in a chocolate chip cookie recipe *drool*

Shirts and Gadgets

For my birthday my sis sent me a Kohls gift card, she did it that way so I couldn't use the money to help buy food or pay bills (sneaky sis that she is). So I got to have a shopping trip whether I wanted one or not... I'll admit it, I really did want one (even if it did take me a few minutes to get past wishing she was here before I could enjoy it).

I bought myself a few new shirts (my favorite being a dark gray one with wings on the back)
The wings are almost identical to the ones on my wrist. Which I think is fantastic. I absolutely love the shirt... to the point where I am almost scared to wear it because then I'd have to wash it and the wings might come off.
I also bought myself a pizza wheel. I've been wanting one for EVER! This one has the plastic "non stick pan safe" blade. I used it yesterday and it was so much easier then a knife. I showed it off to the Kiddo (who laughed) and the Man (who finally had to admit that it really is so much better then a knife that it was worth the money).

And speaking of gadgets for the kitchen. I have decided that my next gadget related "want" is a cherry chomper: