Jan 15, 2012 Posted by Jennifer on Jan 15, 2012 in breakfast, cookies, dessert, dieting, kid friendly, oatmeal, recipe make over | 3 comments

Chocolate chip scone bites – 110 calories each!

I have a HUGE pile of cooking magazines in my house. Some are mine, but the majority I got from another Mom in my hometown, and I have at least 50 cooking magazines! Vegetarian times, Food & Wine, Cooking Light, Rachel Ray, Food TV, etc…

So, when I am looking for inspiration – I just grab a few and see what there is that I can make. This recipe is based off of a 2005 Vegetarian Times recipe. I used that as a guide, but added what I had on hand. Their recipe called for currants, and I was going to use fresh cranberries, but then I also wanted my kids to eat these, so I subbed in 1/4 cup chocolate chips instead.

You don’t even need to get your mixer out, you can mix everything in a bowl with a rubber spatula.

This made 19 mini scones

1.5 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tsp. sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup (the recipe asked for Maple syrup – but I didn’t have any…)
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup skim milk
1/4 cup chocolate chips
5 tablespoons of butter
*Melted chocolate for drizzle if desired

In a big mixing bowl add all the dry ingredients and stir. I sliced the butter into small pieces and using your hands, just start incorporating the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles course crumbs.

Add the milk and corn syrup and stir until the dough comes together. On a floured surface, remove the dough and knead a few times until it’s all combined. I made it into a log, then sliced it with a pizza cutter.

Bake on cookie sheet coated with cooking spray for 15-17 minutes at 425 degrees – they will be golden brown on top.

These were great – not too sweet, but just the right thing to hit the spot if you want a little special treat after dinner, or make an afternoon hot chocolate/tea/coffee to go with these.

I will definitely make these again!

EACH SCONE IS:

110 CALORIES
4.3 GRAMS FAT
15 GRAMS CARBS
2 GRAMS PROTEIN
.9 FIBER

Nov 8, 2011 Posted by Jennifer on Nov 8, 2011 in BSI, chicken, dieting, general ideas, lunch, stir fry | 0 comments

Stir fry with peanut sauce for 1

So my plan this week is to make great food so I’m not tempted by all the treats at work. I love making food that is filling and a good serving size but still watching calories and I always go to a stir fry for that.

I normally buy House of Tsang brand peanut sauce because I love it so much – but it’s almost never on sale and at $3.99 for a bottle and then my kids like other flavors that can get pretty pricey for stir fry sauce. So I decided to make my own just for 1 serving. Most of this stuff I always have on hand too.

Spicy peanut sauce for 1

1.5 teaspoons creamy peanut butter
1 tsp. chili garlic sauce
drizzle of honey
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons soy sauce

For my stir fry I had cauliflower, garlic, carrot and celery. Saute that in a skillet for 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove from pan and set aside. Next I cooked 4 0z. of boneless skinless chicken breast. Once it has cooked for 2 minutes on each side, I’ll cut it into strips so it cooks faster and I can see that it’s done all the way through.

I had some leftover rice – so that went in next. Add the veggies back and the peanut sauce and cook for another minute until it’s all incorporated. It was so good! And probably just pennies to make

For the chili garlic sauce, this is the kind I get which is so flavorful and tasty. You can find it next to all the other stir fry sauces at major grocery stores

When I got to my office my friend had given me some oranges and almonds – so I added the almonds to my stir fry.

I just realized my camera lens has a smudge on it, so sorry for the blurry part of this picture!

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Also, I am hosting BSI this week, check out the link here for details. You have until Sunday the 13th to submit a recipe with cranberries!

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Also, check out my brother Charlie’s latest post – 1 month in to hopefully his last diet ever – how is he doing? CLICK HERE TO CHECK HIS PROGRESS.

Have a great day everyone!

Nov 5, 2011 Posted by Jennifer on Nov 5, 2011 in a day in the life of me!, dieting | 4 comments

end of the week wrap up

How was everyone’s week? I’ve been reading a lot of people’s blogs about getting more exercise in and eating better for the rest of the year and I’m going to try to jump on that band wagon!

It’s not going to be without temptation. I’m sure a lot of you were faced with leftover Halloween candy from your kids – or worse – your co-workers bringing in bags of it for everyone to enjoy! Here was what I was faced with yesterday at my office – and this isn’t an unusual thing – there are treats almost every day at my office

Chocolate mocha cake

fancy pastry

And, coffee cake! I am proud to say I avoided it all day and didn’t have any! I hope to do that for the rest of the year – just eat the food I bring to work and nothing else – we’ll see how that goes!

My twin sister is trying a new eating plan next week – working with a trainer and eating a Paleo Diet for 6 weeks. I can’t wait to see what she is going to make.

And if any of you are not familiar with Andrea Beaman. She was on season 1 of Top Chef and she is an all around great person and healthy food advocate. I saw something that she posted on Facebook that sounded great. She said – don’t go on a diet – change the letters around and edit what you eat instead. That makes sense – just make more of an effort to get good things in and that can help anyone.

Here are a few books I’m reading right now.

I’m reading The Gabriel Method. Jon Gabriel lost 220 pounds and shares his story in this book. It’s a fast read and basically he said at 420 pounds his body was starving even though he was eating 5,000+ calories a day because the food that he was eating had ZERO nutritional value and his body made him more hungry because he needed to nourish his body instead of filling it with junk. He says as long as he focuses on nourishing his body first, he’ll still splurge once in a while but he isn’t as hungry now that he eats better so he eats less. He has lots of video and audio on his website you can check it out.

And I just picked up this from the library:

Here is the site about the book. I’ve finished 2 marathons but its been several years since I’ve done any running and I’m going to start again! This book is geared for anyone – even if you’ve never run one step before in your life.

And lastly – I’m super excited – someone is coming to my town for a book tour:

Yep – Christopher Kimball from Americas Test Kitchen will be less than a mile from my home in Oak Park, IL. If you live in the Chicago area – here are the details:

Join Christopher when he visits your area!
Join him to celebrate 20 years of Cook’s Illustrated magazine and the publication of
The Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook.

DATE: November 17, 2011
TIME: 7:00 pm
PLACE: Unity Temple at Oak Park
875 Lake Street
Oak Park, IL
PHONE: 708-386-9800
Hosted by The Book Table

Tickets are $10, and can be redeemed for $10 off the price of the Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook on the night of the event. You can order the tickets online here.

Have you met any celebrity chefs??

I’ve met Cat Cora at Gourmet Chicago last year and I’ve met Stephanie Izard, winner of Top Chef a few years ago. She was a bridesmaid at my niece Jessie’s wedding. Both of them couldn’t have been nicer in person!

Have a great weekend everyone!!