The video is a bit funky as I put my new camera to the test. I’m thinking about switching so you’ll have to let me know what you think.

No time to do nutritional information tonight, I’ll post a complete recipe for the rice in a future post with pictures and all. Until then I hope this gives you some ideas.

Anyway, last year I perfected the mashed potatoes and invented my crock pot sweet potatoes. Which my mom really fell in love with and they are now part of our Thanksgiving dinner tradition. Which is fabulous as they are such a “set it and forget it” type of dish on such a crazy day.

A few years ago we started including asparagus on Thanksgiving. We’ve never been a big green bean casserole type of family. Honestly, I never understood the green bean casserole obsession in this country. It looks totally gross to me. If I’m gonna eat green beans I much rather them straight up anyway. Just my preference.

So instead of the green beans we go asparagus and I normally just roast them with some garlic. But this year I wanted to try something new. Why? I don’t know… it’s fun! :)

Here’s how I made them last night. You can of course double, triple or even use different proportions of onion to asparagus.

• 5oz pearl onions peeled (this technique works well)
• 1 bundle of asparagus
• 1 tsp olive oil (4g)
• 2 tbsp real bacon bits (14g)
• Kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Toss the onion with the olive oil and a bit of salt in a bowl.

Spread the onions on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil. Roast for at least 20 minutes shaking and tossing a few times.

Meanwhile clean and cut the asparagus. Snap off the ends and discard. Then cut them in chunks about 2 inches long. I sliced mine diagonally for a pretty effect.

Put the clean asparagus in the same bowl you tossed the onions with the olive oil. Add the bacon bits and cooked onions. Toss again and return everything to the same cookie sheet and sprinkle with a bit more salt. Roast for another 10 minutes until asparagus softens a bit.

My plan for next week is two 10oz package of onions. and 3 bundles of asparagus.. I may have 14 coming. Yikes!

Small bay scallops are great because they cook up literally in 3 minutes and absorb a lot of flavor very quickly. Oh! and the boy likes them. Always a bonus in my book. :)

So I decided to whip up this idea I had. It’s simple, fun and liked all around. No complaints from husband or child. That’s a winner in my book!

• 2oz pomegranate-blueberry juice (just POM would work too but this is what I had on hand)
• 1/4 blueberries (I used the small frozen ones)
• 1lb (16oz) bay scallop defrosted
• 1 tsp olive oil (4g)
• 3 gloves of garlic minced
• 1/4 cup pomegranate arils
• Pinch of Tarragon
• Kosher Salt & Pepper

Whisk the POM juice and blueberries with a pinch of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add the oil and garlic.

Clean the scallop and dry in a kitchen towel.

Once garlic starts to brown, add the scallops to the pan and cook for 1 minute before tossing. Add the POM juice mixture, bring to a boil then turn off the heat.

Scoop the scallops and blueberries out of the skillet, leaving the liquid, and put into a bowl. Top with the pomegranate arils and tarragon. Serve.

Now you could get 4 servings but they would be kind of small. So I’m going with 2. Simply cut the recipe in half and serve with a big ole salad or even over a bunch of spinach leaves!

I also remember asking her why in the world they were called egg creams when we didn’t use any eggs or cream to make them. I’m not quite sure she knew and after a little research I’m not sure anyone really does.

Tonight I just had a craving for one and while making it I realized… what a fun lite treat! Especially with a few simple substitutions.

• 1 tbsp lite chocolate syrup (35g)
• 4 oz Skim milk
• 6 oz of unflavored seltzer (although cherry would be good!) :)

Put all ingredients in a glass and mix well until you get a frothy top.

Unfortunately my seltzer wasn’t to fresh so I didn’t get many bubbles but it tasted just like I remembered and it’s been at least 20 years since I had one.

By the way I have gotten a new camera, Canon EOS Rebel T1i. I’m still learning how to use it so bear with my as my pictures may not be up to snuff for a few weeks. :)

Oh! and I have to say… the kid was NOT a fan. I think he was expecting regular chocolate milk so the “fuzziness” through him off. lol

I’m a little late with this. partly because I was in a state of shock to be on the front page of CNN.com and partly because it didn’t occur to me until know to say hello. See I do most of my chatty blog posts over on Roni’s Weigh and I try to stick with only food idea posts over here. But since 10,000 of you stopped by yesterday I thought it might be a good idea to break my own rule. :)

While you’re here feel free to poke around, I have over 2 years of food ideas and you can visually search the archives by clicking here.

I should reemphasis, I am not a chef. I am not a dietician. I am simply a working mom trying to feed her family healthy food.

Thanks for stopping by! I also have a few other sites it’s you’re interested…

• Roni’s Weigh
• BlogToLose
• SkinnyMinnyMedia
• FitBloggin’

However, I WILL be making it again as the husband LOVED It even though he grumbled when I told him what I was making. The child, on the other hand, ate all the pasta and peppers but found the sausage too spicy. Next time I’ll use the sweet. :)

The kid is a HUGE fan. He likes to dip them in a maple/pumpkin sauce I make. I like them straight up and the people at work preferred them with good old fashion maple syrup. I made about 3 dozen to bring for a charity event. A few people went for seconds so I’m assuming they liked them. I realize not everyone is a whole grain nut like me so if they were expecting traditional white fluffy pancakes they were disappointed. These are a bit denser, real moist and tad bit sweet. Just the way I like them! :)

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (60g)
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (120g)
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp Agave Nectar or Honey (20g)
• 1/2 cup Skim Milk or Almond or Soy

Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon.

In another bowl add the pumpkin, egg, agave and milk. Whisk until frothy.

Combine the flour mixture and pumpkin mixture, mix until just blended.

Pour batter in a non-stick skillet or griddle over medium heat sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Cook about 1-2 minutes a side, small bubbles will form but not as many as traditional pancakes. Peak underneath for a light brown color, then flip.

Let’s start with the Moroccan Spices. Earlier today I saw a tweet from Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes and she mentioned Moroccan style seasoning. Not knowing exactly what that meant I asked her and she was nice enough to share her recipe.

• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp chile powd
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/8 tsp cayenne

I actually had all of those spices in my pantry so I decided I would whip it up and try it on some chicken I was defrosting for dinner.

Later in the day Ryan and I hit a farm stand and became mesmerized by this…

… a beautiful head of purple cauliflower. I never saw such a thing! We had to buy it. I’m glad we did! Besides tasting good apparently there’s some benefits to purple veggies.

So I roasted the purple cauliflower and sprinkled my new Moroccan Seasoning on some boneless chicken tenders. To round out the plate I simply wilted some spinach leaves in a skillet with a teeny bit of olive oil, salt and bit of the Moroccan spice blend.

It was a quick easy meal once my oven heated up. I loved the spices and chicken served over the spinach but both husband and child could have done without. They stuck with simple chicken legs. However both gobbled up the cauliflower that I simply roasted with some kosher salt.

I hope this gives you some idea for dinner this week. Try the Moroccan spice blend. It really is delicious! I’m gonna try it on popcorn and squash seeds as Andrea recommended. :)

So tonight while watching TV and craving something, anything. I decided to pass up the husband’s chocolate chip cookies and the kid’s Devil Dogs to make my own snack. I find that when I take the few extra minutes to actually make something and consciously include fruits or veggies, I am ultimately more satisfied then if I would have just grabbed a bag of chips or break open a box of cookies.

Tonight this is what I did but remember the options are really endless. You can fill these things with all your fav veggies, beans, chicken, anything! So yummy!

• 1 oz/28g of Baked Scoops (I got 13 when I weighed them out)
• 3 pepper stripes (I used 1 yellow and 2 green)
• About 1/2 cup baby spinach leaves chopped
• 1 tbsp ready made salsa
• 1/2 oz fancy shredded mexican cheese blend.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees

Fill the scoops with the veggies, dab with a bit of salsa and top with cheese.

Bake for 5-6 minutes.

Here’s how I built mine…

Click here to see my original party punch idea. Adding a bit if Pomegranate juice and melon balls can be a fun take for halloween. Think eyeballs floating in a bowl of blood, or something. :)

Oh! and here’s that pomegranate trip I was talking about.

So I whipped this up when I got home from work today and I just enjoyed the frozen treat. It was delicious, refreshing and fun! Unfortunately the little guy’s in bed or I’d have him taste test. I’ll let you know in an update whether or not he likes it. Regardless, he had fun helping me make it. :)

• 4 kiwis with skin removed
• 1/2 cup 100% apple juice (4oz)
• 1/2 cup pomegranate arils (87g)

Puree the kiwi and apple juice in a blender until smooth.

Pour into small tupperware dish. Like the quart side Gladware Soup and Salad containers.

Stir in Pomegranate,

Place in freezer for 3-4 hours.

Update: It’s the next day and the ice froze overnight. I pulled it out and let it sit on the counter for 20 minutes before scooping out for the little guy. His reaction? Well this series of pictures says it all..

It is a little tart. lol I like it but you may want to add some of your favorite sweetener when you blend the kiwis.

Update 2: Right out of the freezer and 30 seconds in the microwave.. perfect ! :)