Gettin' Skinny with It!

Seriously, if you haven't heard of skinnytaste.com you really need to head over there (after browsing here, of course!)  Gina, at skinnytaste.com, makes tons of amazingly delicious AND healthy recipes!  Her meals make portion control a breeze and she even calculates the Weight Watchers points, old and new, for everything she posts.  Lately, all of my meals have been coming from skinnytaste.com, and I have loved them all (Greg too)!  Even if I am not making an exact recipe, I am using skills and techniques that I have learned from the site.    Here are just a few of the things that I have made either from Gina's recipes, or that have been inspired by her cooking  (yup, I am one of those people who takes pics of their food).

... I can't wait for the day Greg and I have our own place so I can cook in our very own kitchen! Anyone want to trade a house for a delicious bowl of mac & cheese?

Haha, do you have any favorite cooking blogs?

Farmer's Market Finds...

It's getting dark earlier, school has started, and there are Halloween decorations at the stores... fall is coming!  Fall is my favorite season, but there are some things I am going to miss about summer... beach days, no class, eating outside, and farmers' markets.  This was my first year actually going to farmer's markets, and I fell in love!  There's just something about shopping for fresh fruits and veggies outside.

After our cooking class back in July, Greg and I looked for somethings to do before we went home.  Our hotel was in Windsor and we were able to find the Rosedale Farm and Winery near by in Simsbury.  We went for a wine tasting, but when we got there we realized they had a great farmer's market as well.

The colors of the fruits and vegetables were so beautiful, I just had to take pictures.  At the Rosedale farmer's market we got corn, peppers, onions, mushrooms, plums, cucumbers, zucchini, a yellow watermelon, and the best balsamic vinegar that I have ever tasted... and of course wine! We used the fruits and veggies as part of our lunches and dinners.

We had heard that our home town had a farmer's market too, and a few weekends ago we went to our local farmer's market in Shelton.  This time we got fresh mozzarella, cider donuts, basil, banana peppers, corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, peaches, nectarines, pears, and kale.  

This time I got creative and used the basil to make pesto to top a caprese salad made with the fresh mozzarella and tomatoes and kale chips with the kale (they are as yummy as everyone says)!

I made 3 different kinds of kale chips (as noted in the picture above).  The truffle oil was delicious, but I think the garlic salt would have been my favorite if I hadn't added the salt to the Ziploc bag I mixed everything in.  Instead, I should have sprinkled the salt on the kale when it was laid out on the parchment paper so to avoid GIANT clumps of salt.  I am sad to say the Bayou Blast, although amazing on practically everything... (not kidding), did not taste that great on the kale chips.

Hopefully I will make a few more farmer's market trips before they are done (good news, some last until November).. and don't worry friends, I have one more recipe that I used vegetables from the farmer's market and my July "fruit of the month" shipment to make.  What is the fruit of the month shipment, you ask? Well, you'll just have to wait until my next post to find out! ;)

Check out this website for Connecticut farmers' markets information.


What do you think about farmers' markets?

Do it for...

Here I go again... I am trying really hard to be healthy!  Today I ate right and I went to my personal trainer... I am proud of myself.  I wish everyday could be that easy, but I won't say I am not going to keep trying.  Instead of eating out of boredom I decided to make a "do it for..." word collage with buzz words on why being healthy is so important to me.  Of course, cute clip art had to be included!

Do it for...

I am going to look to this when I doubt myself and need that extra motivation.  Feel free to use this to motivate you too!

So... what are you going to do it for?

Veggie What?

Veggie cheese and pepperoni? I know, sounds strange... but oddly enough, not that bad... actually, pretty yummy!  For lunch today I made a simple salad and a flatbread pizza.  I used Flatout Foldit Flatbread in rosemary and olive oil for the pizza crust, Veggie Shreds "mozzarella cheese", Yves Meatless Pepperoni, sauce, onions, and cherry tomatoes.  Here's the step-by-step:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. While oven heats,  dice a small amount of red onion, cut 2 cherry tomatoes in thirds and cut 3 slices of meatless pepperoni (I made 2 slices vertically and then 2 slices horizontally... or did I do horizontally first... haha).   
3. Cut the flat bread in half and lightly spray with cooking spray on both sides.
4. Put the flatbread in the oven and allow the flatbread to crisp/warm just a little.
5. Remove flat bread halves and top with 1/2- 1 tablespoon of sauce (per flatbread), 1/4 cup veggie cheese divided, and the "pepperoni", onions, and tomatoes.
6. Return the pizzas to the oven and cook until cheese is somewhat melted (this cheese does not fully melt like real cheese as you can see in my pictures) and the flatbread is crisped to your liking.  The "pepperoni" does crisp a bit, just like real pepperoni, which was good. 
7. Enjoy your flatbread pizzas.  I had mine with a small salad (part of a romaine heart, some red pepper, extra virgin olive oil, and red wine vinegar). 

PointsPlus® value 5

You can really put anything on top of these pizzas for a yummy lunch, I bet olives would be delish...   I have also made a pizza with Flatout's Original Flatbread, which is a larger oval-ish shape, but they are a bit thinner and they do not crisp up as well as the Flatout Foldits. 

What would you put on your pizza?

Cheers!

Water... (insert water haiku here).  What can I say about water?  Water is quite boring, but it's SO SO good for you.  I've been trying to drink more water on my quest to be healthier, but I always end up chugging way too much way too fast and then I have to, ah-hem, run to the ladies room.  This wouldn't be a problem for most people, maybe just a little annoying, BUT I work at daycare and have to page for bathroom breaks.  I HAVE TO ASK PERMISSION TO PEE... ugh... and sometimes most of the time no one even comes. 

BUT ALAS!! I have found a solution that has been working really well for me (and it involves a bit of bedazzling!)

I bought three bottles for $5 each and some stick on gems from Target (the bottles just so happened to match my lunch containers that I got at Home Goods... pure bliss).  I divided the water bottles by hours in the day so that I drink a certain amount of water by a certain time.  I have to finish the green bottle by 11 a.m. , the pink bottle by 3 p.m. , and the blue bottle by 7 p.m.  With the water bottles I am drinking at least 96 ounces of water a day (sometimes more)!! I have found that by spacing out my water consumption I do not have to go to the bathroom as often as I did when I was chugging Poland Springs. These bottles are so quick and easy to make!! Cheers, to more water!

Anyone else have any tricks for making water more fun?

The original idea I found pinned on Pinterest (follow me) from: http://undressedskeleton.tumblr.com/