Anyway I used Vitalicious’s Deep Chocolate Vita Muffin Mix. I’m a fan of these mixes. Their ingredient lists aren’t perfect but they are one of the few whole wheat mixes I can find.

Instead of making muffins, the little guy and I made a loaf. Like a chocolate bread. But of course we couldn’t leave it alone. We added some simple ingredients to jazz it up a bit.

Both the little guy and I LOVED it. Actually you should see it now. He’s been picking at it all day. I had to yell at him to stop stealing bites. The husband tried it. Said he liked it and will never have another bite again. If it doesn’t come out of a box he’s simply uninterested. Don’t get me started. lol

Anyway, here’s what we did.

• 1/4 cup raw almonds (30g)
• 1/4 cup dried cherries (40g)
• 3 egg whites
• 1 and 1/4 cups of water
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1 package of Vitalicious Deep Chocolate VitaMuffin mix
• non-stick spray and a bit of flour

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

Spray a loaf pan with non stick spray and coat with a thin layer of flour. We want to avoid sticking.

Weigh out the almonds and cherries

Chop them to make smaller pieces so everyone gets a bite.

In a large bowl whisk the water, egg whites and extract until bubbles form.

Add the bag of mix and combine well.

Pour the batter in the loaf pan and enjoy a few licks off the spoon. :)

Bake for about 60 minutes until the center is solid to the touch.

Let it cool in the pan for a few minutes and then run a knife along the sides before popping out.

Here’s close up. I was a little picture happy. Can you tell? :)

oh heck. Here’s a few more. :)

If you are interested you can order VitaMixes online by clicking here. Be sure to use the Code RonisWeigh for 10%. Vitalicious sponsors Roni’s Weigh and sends me products to review now and then.

Oh! and if you are a VitaTop fan they are having a contest. Enter to win a year supply!

I have no memories of mom buying it. I never ate it growing up. I rarely see it on a restaurant menu. Yet I read about it all the time. The health benefits are countless. According to NutritionData.com Kale is a good source of Dietary Fiber, Protein, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Folate, Iron, Magnesium and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Calcium, Potassium, Copper and Manganese. 1 cup chopped (67g) has only 33 calories, 1 g of fiber and 2 g of protein.

That’s a power packed food if I ever saw one! Low calories and high in nutrition. It would make a great recipe "bulker". Only one problem… how in the WORLD will I get my family on the Kale bandwagon?!?

Well, I have some ideas and I’ve been experimenting all weekend. I’ll be reporting back over the next few weeks with some of these ideas and how they reacted but first I thought I’d ask you about you experience with kale.

Am I the only kale newbie? Where’s all our kale veterans? Any ideas on how to prepare this wonderful leafy green without turning off the picky husband or 4 year old? That’s the key. :)

Can’t wait for my ideas? Check out some these Kale recipes from around the blog-o-sphere…

• Kale and Roasted Vegetable Soup
• Cannellini Bean and Kale Soup with Ham and Sherry Vinegar
• Kale and Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes Recipe
• There’s even a whole blog devoted to kale!

Thanks to quinn.anya for the photo!

As I say in the video I’ve posted about Almond Milk before…

• Homemade Almond Milk Take 1
• Honey Almond Bites (Almond Milk Take II)
• My Favorite Shake (Homemade Almond Milk Take III)

Today we tried to make some chocolate chip cookies following this basic Flourless Chocolate Chip Almond Cookies Recipe. The results were ok but I’d like to take my hand at them before posting. They were missing something. And don’t say flour. ;~P

Well, come home early from work and cook, of course. :)

I decided to fill the crock pot and not worry about dinner. While it was cooking we played trouble, soccer, watched The Incredibles and had fun. Seriously… is the crock pot NOT one of the best inventions of the century?!

Anyway, I decided to use Top Sirloin for this because it is one of the leanest cuts of beef AND it was on sale. I got a big cut (like this) for 9 bucks and simply cut it in half for this recipe.

I’m glad I have the other half as the husband actually liked this meal. He’s not a stew fan so having a crock pot semi-stewish type of dinner handy that the family actually likes is a bonus for a mid week dinner.

Here’s how I made it. . . Oh! and I should warn you, there isn’t a lot of liquid in this. you may want to increase for your family. I kept it on the dryer side for the stew hating husband. :)

• 1lb Top Sirloin with visible fat removed
• 1/2 sweet onion chopped
• About 1/2 lb baby cut carrots
• 1 large russet potato cut into large chunks
• 1 large sweet potato cut into large chunks
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp fennel seeds
• fresh ground black pepper

Put the onion, carrots, and potatoes in the slow cooker. Lay the meat on top.

In a small bowl whisk the remaining ingredients and pour over the meat and vegetables.

Cover and cook on high about 3 hours.

Here’s a little before and after shot. . .

When it’s done cut it thin and serve with the potatoes, carrots and a drizzle of the liquid.

This makes 4 servings, but I didn’t measure anything post cooking. I simply seperated it into 4 equal servings. Bogus, I know. :)

It.was.WONDERFUL!

No dirty looks. No questions. No arguing. No dealing. I simply cooked what I wanted and enjoy a pretty, healthy, vegetable filled meal.

Is it sad that I like to cook for myself? I mean, I’d love a family that was more adventurous but since they aren’t I look for opportunities like tonight to experiment. It makes me happy. :)

• 1/2 sweet onion diced
• 2 carrots diced
• 2 celery stalks (with leaves) diced
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric (You can skip if you don’t have it)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa (84g)
• About 2 cups baby spinach loosely chopped
• 2 bell peppers (I used yellow)
• kosher salt

Preheat oven to 425 Degrees

Heat a pot medium pot over medium-high heat. Spray with non-stick cooking spray and saute the onion, carrots and celery with a pinch or two of salt. Continue cooking and stirring for a few minutes until the onion softens and look a little transparent.

Add the curry and turmeric. Stir to coat everything. Then add the water and quinoa. Bring to a boil then cover and lower to a simmer. Simmer for 10-15 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed.

Meanwhile. Half the peppers longways and remove the seeds. Place in a casserole dish and sprinkle with a bit of salt.

When the quinoa is done, mix in the spinach. It should start to wilt immediately. Then stuff the peppers sprinkle with a little more salt and pop in the oven for about 10 minutes.

Here’s a few more pics because they are so darn pretty!

And even though the little guy didn’t eat them he was fascinated by the photo taking. :)

We took some crushed pineapple and combined it with a boxed angel food cake mix. The result was a super sweet low calorie cupcake-ish treat. Making 24, each is only about 85 calories and no fat. Mostly sugar though, so don’t go too overboard. But if you are looking for something fun to do with the kids on a snowy saturday morning this could work. :)

My other cake mix ideas…

• Simple Pumpkin Spice Mini-Loaves
• Big Simple Chocolate Cupcakes
• Quick & Light Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cheesecake Frosting

Instead, I took an old time favorite, tomato soup and made it into a satisfying meal by adding a few additional ingredients and spices.

Speaking of… Did you see my A Super Seven Spice Giveaway! :)

• 1 10 3/4 oz condensed tomato soup (preferably low sodium or healthy request)
• 1 tomato soup can of water
• 1 15oz can of diced tomatoes (with green chillies would be tasty!)
• 1 15oz can of pinto beans drained and rinsed
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp dried cilantro
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• About 2 cups baby spinach loosely chopped

Mix all ingredients except the spinach in a pot over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil then lower the heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes allowing all the flavors to mix.

Turn off the heat. Add the baby spinach and remove from heat. Stir in the spinach and it should wilt in a few seconds.

Serve!

Anyway, I wanted to make a quick brunch and I happened to have a can of refried beans opened from some quesadillas I made on Thursday with the little guy. You guys know me and my pizza addiction so it shouldn’t be that much so this idea shouldn’t be that much of a surprise.

I only made one today and the toddler asked for a bite. He said he didn’t like yet he kept asking for more. You be the judge. lol

• 1 whole wheat/low carb tortilla (I made a list of 1 point tortillas here)
• 1/4 cup fat free re-fried beans (60g)
• 2 tbsp of our favorite salsa (30g)
• pinch of kosher salt
• about 1/4 cup diced peppers (I used a mix of red and green)
• 1 oz mozzarella cheese (or Mexican cheese blend– I just didn’t have any :)
• Sprinkle chili powder and dried cilantro

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Pierce the tortilla with a knife a few times and bake for about 2 minutes until crispier.

Mix the beans, salsa and salt together. Smear it on the tortilla. top with the peppers and cheese. Bake for about 5 minutes.

After pulling it out of the oven sprinkle with chili powder and cilantro.

Nutritional information will depend on the tortilla you use. Approximate nutritional information based on the brand I used.

As I say in the video, we researched a bit and watched this video about how to peel one. We may not have done it perfectly but it was all we needed to get started!

Any pummelo fans out there? How do you peel it? Do you eat it straight up or use it in recipes? Any uses for all that rind??

http://greenlitebites.com/2010/01/17/pudding-oranges-pomegranates/ http://greenlitebites.com/2010/01/17/pudding-oranges-pomegranates/#comments Sun, 17 Jan 2010 18:38:20 +0000 roni http://greenlitebites.com/?p=1799 ]]> The little guy and I had some fun at breakfast with an old box sugar free pudding, a can of Mandarin oranges and an aging pomegranate we had in the fridge. Can you tell we need to hit the grocery store? ;~)

Regardless, I LOVED this. The flavor combo was tasty and they were so much fun to make together. However, even though the little guy loves pomegranates plain after awhile he got sick of them in the pudding. When I asked him what he wanted to call our little creation he said. . . "Vanilla Pudding cups with Oranges and Pomegranates but I don’t really like the Pomegranates."

He cracks me up! Here’s what we did. . .

• 1 1oz package of sugar free vanilla pudding
• 1 11oz can of mandarin oranges packed in their own juice
• 1/2 cup pomegranate arials
• 1 1/2 cups of skim milk

Drain the mandarin oranges reserving the juice. It should be about 1/2 cup. Adjust the milk amount to total 2 cups of liquid when added to the juice.

Whisk the juice, milk and pudding for two minutes. Add in the oranges and pomegranates reserving some to use as a garnish on top. (we made faces SO much fun!)

Let set in the fridge for at least 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

Here’s a few more pics. I think I may be creating a little food blogger. What do you think? :)

So after returning from the gym this morning I looked in the fridge, saw the bulgur. Looked in the freezer, saw the bag of frozen veggies and tadaaaa Asian Inspired Tabouli Salad was born!

It is tasty! A wonderful chilled salad and very filling. You can totally put this out for a party, use it as a side dish or separate the recipe into two servings for lunch!

• 1/2 cup dry bulgur (80g)
• 1 cup of water
• 1 16oz (1lb) bag of frozen Asian vegetables (or stir-fry mix)
• 1/2 tbsp honey (10g)
• 1 tbsp olive oil (14g)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp dried cilantro
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• Kosher salt & fresh ground black pepper

In a small saucepan bring the bulgur and water to a boil. Cover and let sit for 15 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed. (note: I did this ahead so mine was chilled when preparing although I don’t think it will make much of a difference) (double note: DO NOT lift the lid. That’s always my downfall.)

Place the bag of frozen veggies in a microwave safe dish and cook until defrosted but not hot. I did 2 minutes stirred and then 2 more minutes.

In a large bowl add the honey, olive oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, cilantro, ginger, 2 pinched of salt, and some cracked black pepper.

Whisk.

Add the veggies and bulgur.

Stir to coat everything in the dressing.

Chill in the fridge until ready to eat.

As you can see the little guy was unwilling to try. :( He said it looked "yucky." *sigh* he’s turning into your typical 4 year old picky eater.

I’m giving the nutritional information for 2 servings but split it up anyway that makes sense for you. The picture above is 1/2 the recipe.

I was wondering if you knew of any other good web sites besides yours that includes WWP with their recipes. I never really stray from your site, but I decided that I want to loose weight but I can’t afford to join Weight Watchers so I thought I would just go by a 28 point value system each day and see how that goes for me.

-Kelly

Hi Kelly!

You totally need to stray! There are tons of resources out there! Here are just a few I know of. . .

• http://www.laaloosh.com/
• http://www.recipegirl.com/category/recipes/weight-watchers/
• http://kitchen-parade-veggieventure.blogspot.com/
• http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/
• http://weight-watchers-points-recipes.blogspot.com/
• http://www.thatsmyhome.com/healthy/weight-watchers/Index.htm
• http://dwlz.com/ <–The mecca of all things Weight Watchers!

Please feel free to add links to your favorite weight watcher friendly sites below!

Oh! and when I get some time I’m going to add link to recipes by point values. I can’t believe I haven’t done that yet!

Hope that helps Kelley. Happy recipe hunting! ;)