Baking, cooking day

I spent today baking in my kitchen. I decided that I needed to make some baked goods that I would like for my weight watchers diet. I found some yummy recipes and made them mine by changing some ingredients. They are so good! 

I started out making the Red Kidney Bean Brownies. Wow they are delicious. Rich, moist and delicious! I am very surprised at this recipe. Super easy and super good. Thanks Jenn!!! 

1 can Red kidney beans, rinsed

1 cup water

1 box of brownie mix, your choice

Puree kidney beans and water well. Mix with brownie mix. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Makes 20 brownies- 2 points a piece.

I found a blog with recipes called For the Love of Cooking on a friends blog. She is always posting delicious recipes. I found a recipe for Banana, Blueberry, Coconut and Toasted Walnut bread. Well I can't resist anything that has Coconut in it! I decided that I didn't want to toast walnuts so I omitted them. Blueberry's are not in season right now and super expensive. Get rid of the blueberries and add in fresh pineapple I already had. I switched up a lot of the ingredients to make it healthier. I wanted to make muffins....they are already portion controlled. This recipe is delicious although my muffins didn't rise like normal muffins. I still like them...a lot! 

Next up was tomato basil soup! Mmmmmm.....fresh tomatoes from my garden, fresh basil and garlic were the main ingredients. It smells so good! 

4-5 fresh tomatoes, quartered

4 cloves garlic peeled

1/4 cup fresh basil

1 quart low sodium chicken broth

I stuck them all in my slow cooker so I could focus on all the other recipes I was making. After 4 hours on high, I used my submersible blender. This made 8 1-cup portions which are 0 points each. 

The soup to the right is called Zero Point Italian Vegetable soup. Pretty good. Spicy!

Weight Watchers has hundreds of recipes and one night I sat on the computer and went through the ones labeled 0-3 points per serving. I found 2 recipes that use butternut squash. First was Butternut Squash Fries and Garlic Mashed Root Vegetables. Butternut squash is not easy to chop and peel. It is so hard to get a knife through and I am already notorious for slicing my fingers that this made me nervous I would take a finger off! 

Butternut Squash Fries 

Butternut squash cut into fry strips 

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp chile powder

olive oil spray

Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray, line squash up, sprinkle salt and chile powder over squash, spray with olive oil spray. Bake at 450 degrees for 14-19 minutes turning half way through. 4 servings per recipe, 1 point per serving.

These were delicious! I would definitely make them again! Even Steve thought these were good. 

The Garlic Mashed Root Vegetables were not such a hit. I think it was due to the turnip. It's the only thing I can think of that I don't like the smell of. Maybe next time I will omit the turnip and reduce the garlic amount. 

All in all, today was a busy day for me with cooking and prepping food for dinner. I love baking and cooking. Some days I wish I had more time for it and the money involved in making recipes. It's hard when you end up not liking what you make and you spent lots of money on ingredients. 

Give Thanks Day 7 & 8

Day 7

I am thankful for my family. That includes my in-laws! My family isn't perfect and we all have our flaws but that's what makes us....us. My dad is the most Type A personality person I know but he would drop everything for his family. My mom is the happy go lucky type in our family and I think I take after each of my parents pretty evenly. My in-laws include the disorganized on the go mother in-law and the fun but crazy sister in-laws. I love them all!!!

Day 8

I am thankful for photos! Without these remembering the good times I have had would be pretty hard. Placing dates on memories would be impossible for me. I already feel like I have a terrible memory that if I didn't have something to take a picture and store the date/time in it I would be lost. Photos are very cherished by me. I love having photo albums and making photo books for special events. There is nothing quite like sitting on the couch with albums and flipping through the pages to remember your past. 

Steve likes to give me a hard time about printing all the pictures because "we have them on the computer". But sitting at the computer staring at a screen with photos in an unknown order. Each folder may contain years ago or days ago but never in chronological order.

6 Years Ago Today

I can't believe it's been 6 years! Every time I think back to it, I feel like it was yesterday. I remember the panic when we forgot the wedding license and Aaron having to go back to our hotel to get it. The trouble he had to get it, convincing the hotel staff that he really needed to get into our room! I remember the constant smile that I could not turn off! How could I? I was marrying my best friend! The warmth in your eyes as you gazed towards me....gives me goosebumps! That week in Hawaii was amazing and our lives have been an amazing roller coaster of fun. The ups and the downs, I am still in love with you. 

I know I am not perfect and neither are you but somehow we match perfectly. You are a free spirit and I am a serious person. We even each other out. We have grown tremendously in these 6 years and continue to grow. Our lifestyles have changed from going out partying to being at home more. 

*I love you so much*

*Your eyes*

*Your zest for life*

*Your crazy eating habits*

*Your odd sleeping habits....up in the middle of the night*

*Pickles*

*Computers*

*Chewie*

You make me a better person! I want to be the best I can when I am with you. 

I love you, Steve!!!!

I am so thankful to have my wonderful husband!

No Pudge!

It's been a week since starting the challenge with friends. I am down a little over 3 pounds! Success so far! I have been creating recipes that are low on fat, high in vegetables and enjoying them thoroughly! Fresh vegetable pizza, tomato basil soup, to name some. My friend Jenn gave me a recipe for brownies that have red kidney beans in them. I was at Target today getting the ingredients for the brownies, looking at all the brownie mixes trying to decide which one I wanted to get. Well, I looked up and there was a pink box labeled No Pudge Fudge Brownies. I HAD to try them. It's the mix and nonfat vanilla yogurt. That's it! No oil, butter or eggs! Easy enough for me! I bought the ingredients for that mix and my friends brownie recipe. 

I decided I would make the No Pudge one first since it required less work. Let me tell you...they are fabulous! RICH, MOIST and DELICIOUS!!!

Giving Thanks Day 4 & 5

Day 4

I am so thankful for my animals. I am in love with my animals. I am not sure what I would do without them. They bring such joy to my life. They have endless love for you and never judge you! If I could adopt more animals I would. It surprises me to hear that some people don't like animals at all. I think they are crazy! My sister in law, Rinda, hates animals. It's so sad because she grew up with dogs and can't stand them. I wish that we would proscecute people to the fullest for animal cruelty. IF you can harm an animal, you can harm a human. My beautiful dogs, cat and fish are very important in my life. It saddens me that if there were ever a fire in my home, I wouldn't be able to save my fish. 

Day 5

I am thankful for having a secure job in the economy we have now. It's hard to find a job in nursing. The hospitals were trying to cut down hiring nurses and try to only use the resources they already had. Steve and I have survived the downturn of our economy by both being in fields that have demand. The University Hospital did everything they could to cut back costs without letting employees go. In the end, I believe they did end up letting some people go but nothing like some companies were. 

Give Thanks Day 3

I am thankful for my healthy heart and solid mind. Being a nurse on a cardiac unit, I tend to see plenty of people with bad hearts. These people are so weak and some unable to even feed themselves more than a few bites before they are pooped. It's funny how bad a lot of the people that work on the cardiac unit eat. I am definitely one of them....apple fritters, lattes, candy (although that has changed in the last week...WW). You would think after being surrounded by people with heart disease and diabetes it would make us all want to avoid it. I always think I will never let myself get to that point....but I let myself gain an unnecessary 25 pounds so would I really??? Here's to getting back in shape...cheers!

Give Thanks Month

I am already a day late in posting this. I want to try to post daily what I am thankful for in my life. 

Let's go back a day.....

1st. Having my best friend back at work! I am so thankful that Shirley is back and healthy. I have missed working with  her. I know I see her outside of work but she sure makes a definite difference in being there. She is always smiling, willing to work hard, go on coffee breaks, and be the bestest friend. Her ear is always there to hear life's problems or celebrations. Advice from Shirley is very thoughtful and constructive! I am very thankful to have found a friend like Shirley! She truly is an incredible friend to all.  Love you girl!

(this pic was over 4 years ago! Can't believe it's been that long!)

2nd- Okay today's thanks has to go to being able to vote! What an amazing right we have in the US! To the people that complain about what our government is doing but don't exercise their right to vote people into office, vote on constitutional changes or things that will impact them, get on it! I wouldn't say I am super political. And being a woman and being able to vote is a great victory in history!