And the Holidays are upon us.

It has been way too long since I have updated! I was super busy this fall with school and working 2 nights a week with a local marching band..I had no time to myself! Things are calming down a bit now and I can hopefully get back to my love for blogging!! Even though I haven't had much time for updating, I have been experimenting lots in the kitchen. I'm finding that I'm a much better cook than I ever anticipated!!!

Last Saturday I was in a real Suzy-homemaker type of mood and after my morning routing of the gym, I decided that I would spend the afternoon cleaning the whole house (while listening to Christmas music on Pandora!) and cooking/baking! I made my famous chicken chili and cornbread for J.J and I to have Saturday night (with enough left overs for him and I to eat for days), and then Sunday I made my first ever Pumpkin roll for a luncheon at school. The teachers that I eat with always have a luncheon once a month, and everyone brings in something delicious and we have a feast, usually with enough leftovers for the next day (or even more after that!). It is always one of the best days of each month!!! We usually have a theme, but theme or no theme, we always eat like royalty. Last year I stuck to bringing easy items like paper plates and soda, but since I have more confidence in the kitchen now, I've started branching out to some harder stuff! Anyway, here's the pics from Saturday's feast:

Chicken Chili and Picture Perfect Cornbread

The chef!

 Cornbread Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1/4 cup white sugar (I didn't put the whole cup in)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plain nonfat yogurt
• 2 eggs, beaten

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8x8 inch baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix flour, cornmeal, sugar, soda and salt. Stir in yogurt and eggs. Do not over mix, stir only until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until center of the bread springs back when gently pressed.

The chicken chili recipe is on my recipe tab (I think). I double the recipe so J.J could take some home with him and have it for lunch! I ate the leftovers for 3 days and now I think I've had my fill of chicken chili for awhile!!!

 

I'm relaxing for a bit right now, but there will be lots of Thanksgiving updates later!! 

And the time is flyin'!

Finally, a minute to blog about just a few of the things I have created/eaten/thought about over the last few weeks! I need to get back on the ball with blogging on a semi-regular basis! At my last appointment with my nutritionist, she recommended that I try reading Eating Well magazine. I checked it out at Borders one friday night, and I decided to purchase not only that issue but the current issue of Clean Eating magazine as well. Needless to say, I feel like I will never have the time to try all of these recipes! These magazines are really, really excellent. Both focus around the idea of "clean eating"- or consuming foods with the least amount of ingredients as possible. Each issue comes jam packed with so many recipes, which all look delicious. They also have some great articles on a variety of different topics, which are all pretty interesting. I am considering getting a subscription to Eating Well, because they have this deal where you buy a year's subscription for $14.97 and then you can give one to someone for FREE!!! Here's the link to the website:
Eating Well Magazine
Clean Eating Magazine
Check' em out! Naturally I decided to make something delicious for the boyfriend for our date night two weeks ago. I sent him a text with 3 options from the magazine, and then I made his first choice- Buffalo Chicken Casserole.  Here's some photos:

The chicken, celery, carrots and other stuff...

All ready to go in the oven...with blue cheese sprinkled on top.

After 45 minutes in the oven...bubbling and ready to eat!!

BF stamp of approval...great success! Isn't he cute?

 

 

 

I made the dish title a link in case anyone wants to try it- it was really, really good. Only 2 mistakes I made were using ziti noodles (I couldn't find a whole wheat elbow noodle that I deemed acceptable), and I didn't use enough hot sauce. But it was still good and I had lots of leftovers to last me for the rest of the week!!!!

I love, love, love these recipes. I have been messing around with bread recipes lately, hopefully I will have some pictures up soon. I'm already starting to brainstorm for Thanksgiving. Yesterday I bought a Pillsbury Thanksgiving recipe magazine, and I'm trying to make over some of the recipes, because most of them look delicious, but I would like to still fit in my pants after the Holidays are over!

Until next time!

Busy Busy bee

Holy cow, it's been almost a month since the last time I posted anything! The beginning of this school year has been really, really busy. A lot busier than last year, for sure! Between school, working with the drama group, and working with a nearby marching band 2 nights a week, I have been exhausted! But nonetheless, I have a few things to write about:

I am still constantly exploring for new recipes and ways to make them "healthy eater- friendly" (I hate the word diet). Last week, I was making a chicken salad, and while I was getting the craisins out to throw on top, I noticed a recipe on the back that I absolutely had to try just then and there...after all, how else was I going to pass the 25 minutes needed to cook the chicken? ;)
Chocolate Chunk Craisin Oatmeal Cookies!

The Batter:
2/3 Cup of butter or margarine, softened (I chose smart balance)

2/3 cup of brown sugar

2 large eggs

1-1/2 cups Old Fashioned Oats

1 1/2 cups of flour (I used whole wheat flour for extra fiber)

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 1/4 cups of Craisins

2/3 cups of Chocolate chips (white or semi sweet, whatever your tastes may be)

What to do with it?

Preheat oven to 375. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together in a medium bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, mixing well. Combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt in a separate mixing bowl. Add butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each. Stir in dried crainberries and chocolate chunks.  Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack. Makes approx. 2 1/2 dozen.

The after...yummy! Delicious both right out of the oven, and even a few days later! Kinda tasted like a granola bar. You could also add flaxseeds to this for extra fiber. Thumbs up! I even got the boyfriend stamp of approval...wasn't sure how he would feel about the craisins. 

Speaking of flaxseed...

Last week I had an appointment with my outstanding nutritionist, and we were talking about fiber. Pretty much everyone who walks down the street these days knows that you are supposed to eat fiber, what it can get tricky when you are trying to figure out the right amount and the right ways to get it. Nowadays, they make so many high fiber bars, cereals, drink packets..you name it. There's nothing wrong with those products, I do eat them, but I am trying harder to get my fiber from more natural sources, such as vegetables. I think I eat a pretty balanced diet, but I always seem to come up short in the vegetable category. Anyway, my nutritionist recommended that I strive for 25g of fiber a day, and she also mentioned flaxseed. Now, I've heard of flaxseed before and I knew it was good for the body, but I had to do some homework on my own to see what it was really all about. And this is what I got:

Reasons to Eat Flaxseed:

1. High in B vitamins, magesium and maganase

2. Omega 3 Fatty Acids...good for your heart- this is what Smart Balance boasts about.

3. Fiber. This seed is full of cholesterol lowering and blood sugar stabilizing fiber. 

The neat thing is, it's so, so easy to add to pretty much any food. I read online that the best way to get it's full nutrients is when you grind them, so I went to wal mart and bought a $15 coffee grinder to grind me up some Flax! I add a spoonful to oatmeal, I put it in my pancake mix this morning, you can put it in smoothies, cookie and bread dough, the possibilities are endless! 

 This morning's breakfast: Fiber One Apple Cinnamon Flax Pancakes. A Sunday favorite.

 1/2 cup of Pancake Mix, a spoonful of flax, cut up some apple pieces and shook in some cinnamon. Added just a little Smart Balance and a tiny bit of Lite syrup to taste.

I bought the seeds at Wegmans. They are super cheap. I think I paid $1.43 for a half pound, my new coffee grinder, and then my little container for the ground seeds. You're not supposed to let them sit out too long after being ground up, so I only do a little bit at a time to last me 2 days or so. 

Fiber Eater Public Service Announcement: I kinda chuckled when I read this, but it's so true. When increasing your fiber intake, do so slowly, and be sure to drink enough water. Or no one will want to be around you. 'Nuff said. 

Well, folks, I think this might be it. I feel a cold coming on, so I'm going to spend this Sunday chillaxin' to try to ward it off. Can't miss any days of school! 

Until next time! :)

First Friday and Eatin' Good In the Neighborhood!

Happy Weekend! The first two weeks of school have wiped me out! The weekend was definitely welcomed come 3pm yesterday! In Scranton, every first friday of the month there is a series of art galleries in the city (or the town as I call it, because after growing up in Philly, I refuse to call Scranton a city) that displays local art. It's a fun thing to do when the weather is nice, and we always go out for dinner afterwards. Last night I was soooo hungry before we even left so I had some pizza (I eat lunch at 11:15 at school, so there was no way that even a snack could tide me over until 9pm for dinner, no way at all).

J.J and I across the street from the Scranton Radisson, which used to be a train station. It's my favorite building in the city.

After we walked around and "ohhh la laaa'ed" at all of the cool artwork, we were kinda twiddling our thumbs about where to go, since I wasn't super hungry, so J.J decided on Applebee's. Now, this popular spot used to be on my "do not enter" list, because they didn't serve anything that was remotely healthy, but lately they have featured these "under 550 calories" entrees that are DELICIOUS. I ended up getting an Asian chicken salad and picking at it since my appetite wasn't huge, and J.J got a shrimp fra diavolo dish...Take a look see:

This was J.J's...I definitely had one of those "I wish I would have ordered that" moments. Whole wheat pasta, shrimp, and some spicy stuff. MMMMM...

This was my asian chicken salad. It had a pretty tangy balsamic dressing. I think I would have liked this better for a lunch, but I really did like it a lot.
So, now I feel safe going to Applebee's again (we used to call it Crapplebee's in college). Tonight we're going to the Wyoming County fair, and tomorrow is La Festa in Scranton. More to come before the weekend is out! Happy Eating!
-Kat

If it's free, it's for me!

So, I just found this on Kashi's website!
FREE SNACKS!   If you go to the site and click on the little tab that says "Free Snack" you can pick either a cereal or granola bar, or crackers. Type in your address and they will mail you a free sample. I like free food!

I had to stay at work late tonight for a parent meeting, so I grabbed a Lean Cuisine to have for dinner. I had stayed away from frozen stuff for awhile for fear of sodium, but these were not too bad, and even though I prefer to eat fresh food, I can definitely eat one of these more often! It was delicious. I had the sesame stir fry with chicken. Yum. With an Activia, and I bit into a peach which had no juice, which was a bummer :( Oh well. Hope everyone is having a great week!

Hot Diggity Dog!

Happy Sunday!
So, school started last week, which means "So long, sweet summer" and back to the grind. Luckily, I love my job and was totally pumped to get back into my classroom and start up year two! Last week was crazy though, because I wasn't as completely prepared for the craziness to start up again, so I had some late nights trying to get stuff done. I don't think I went grocery shopping at all, and I ended up "picking" at most of my meals- "Picking" is defined as making meals out of snack foods, that calorie wise total what a regular meal would, but the combination of smaller foods is not very satiating and is not considered smart eating. I had gotten into a bad habit of doing this for awhile, and I am much better about it, but I need to start planning better to make sure that I am eating better lunches at school! BTW, a lunch for me that consists of "picking" might have a Chobani yogurt, some goldfish, a piece of fruit and maybe a string cheese. You know I'm stressed when I pick. So, this week I will plan my lunches ahead of time.

That being said, Saturday night's dinner was fabulous! J.J had requested "Healthy Chili Dogs", so we walked around the Price Chopper in Dunmore at 11pm on Friday looking for the right ingredients. Here's what we got:

Chili Dogs:

• Hormel Turkey 98% fat free chili (this was higher in sodium than I care for, but considering I was only putting about 1.5 tablespoons on the hot dogs instead of a whole serving, it wasn't too bad

• Ball Park Fat Free Franks- 50 calories. No fat. Awesome.
• Sara Lee Soft and Smooth Whole Grain White Hot Dog Buns- this was the best kind I could find, Hot Dog Bun wise.

The SIDES!!!

• Corn on the Cob- The Senior Class at my school sells Corn as a fundraiser every fall. Summer is the only season I like to eat corn...I usually try to eat leafy green stuff, but who can resist some Corn on the Cob with Old Bay during the summer?

• Kat's Healthy Nachos!!!! We found a new cheese (J.J wasn't crazy about the wiz stuff that I got him, too Jalapeno-ey). We got Kraft fat Free Cheddar. 45 calories per serving. Dig it.

Yum, Yum. I got the boyfriend stamp of approval, so I guess we can add this to my greatest hits list.

  Today, when I woke up, I really, really wanted some French toast. Haven't had it in awhile. Decided to put a fun spin on my french toast today...


Chocolate-Peanut Butter French Toast Breakfast Sandwich

• 2 slices of high fiber bread (I used my Lite R loaf)
• Beat 2 eggs, with a little bit of skim milk, add cinnamon for taste
• Dark Chocolate Dreams PB

  Slap some PB between the two french toast slices, and you're good to go! Good source of carbs and protein before my running/walk cardio session this morning. I ran 1.5 miles and walked about 1.5. Thinking about doing some Abs later.

Until next time!
Kat

Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay

Hello!

'Twas a wonderful weekend in Baltimore...Haven't been down there in a long time. We were actually in Essex, which is about 30 minutes outside of the city. J.J's Uncle lives in probably the most beautiful house I have ever seen, right on the bay.  These wonderful people provided a feast that could have fed a third world county, including some delicious appetizers, a ton of clams, a few bushels of crabs, and some delicious, delicious desserts. I think this may have been my first time eating crabs (I know I've eaten king crab legs before, but not the whole she-bang). They are a LOT of work. I think I ate three before I gave up and threw in the towel in lieu of eating more baked beans. Here are some pics!

Throwing those crabs in!

I kinda picked at stuff while I waited for the main seafood event...a greenbean type salad, THE MOST DELICIOUS BAKED BEANS I HAVE EVER HAD (don't worry, I'm getting the recipe), and some type of couscous grain...very yummy. 

Crabs are delicious but a little bit too much work for my taste! Maybe if I had a personal assistant to do it for me!

Sadly, I did not get any pictures of the desserts, but there was a lot of really awesome stuff...That awesome willpower that I was talking about (yeah, right) got the best of me and I may have overindulged on the sweets just a tad. It's not everyday I see a no-bake cookie, so I accept my moment of weakness and move on with my life.

Sunday was kind of an eat on the run day, we went to the Baltimore Zoo before making the 4 hour trek home. J.J and I were both ready for a snack by the time we got back to Scranton, soooo I made my famous nachos (the recipe will go under the Recipe tab). We like to call these my "healthy" nachos. I got a new cheese sauce for J.J's birthday food basket, and for looking like legit terrible-for-you cheeze wiz, this stuff only had 30 calories per serving and was nice and zesty. Oh yeah, and fat free. Can be found at Super Walmarts. Highly recommended.

All ya need is Baked Tostitos, Some type of healthy cheese, and some salsa....Other add ons as you see fit!

Alrighty, school is back in session this week and I am BEAT already! Until next time!
-Kat

Happy Birthday to ME!

Hello! Yesterday was my 23rd birthday, and it was a wonderful day at that. My 22nd birthday absolutely STUNK, because I had just moved up to NEPA and I didn't know a soul, so I ended up going to teacher orientation and then sitting in my apartment alone all day. Needless to say, this year was much better!!!

On Wednesday night, J.J and I went to the Harford Fair (which is a big deal up here, BTW), and I slept at his house, so I would be closer to the mall and the other shopping centers I wanted to hit on my way home. J.J had to go to work around 9, so we parted ways, and I was en route to Wegmans to get some breakfast. Now, I thought maybe I'd be a little bad since it was my birthday and get a donut, because, hey, it's my birthday, why not? Well, wouldn't you know, I stood in front of that donut counter for a few minutes and finally just said to myself "I don't want this. Don't even have a taste for it. Where's the yogurt?" So off I walked to the dairy aisle, picked out an Oikos Greek Yogurt, grabbed a raisin bran muffin, and out to the car I went.

Now, I don't really know why, but I was proud of myself. I'm not saying that I never eat junk food. J.J and I go out for ice cream usually once a week. In general, I have just lost my taste for a lot of junk food. I was telling one of the guys at my gym about it, and he said I had amazing willpower. I feel like a different person than I was a year ago...make that even 6 months ago.


Soooo, anyway about the yogurt.

I hate to say it, but I didn't really enjoy the Oikos. Birthday bummer. I love greek yogurt because of it's thick texture, and this was kind of runny, and there wasn't a lot of flavor. I just crumbled a few pieces of the bran muffin into it to help me get the yogurt down (I have issues with yogurt sometimes, but it is a very important part of a balanced diet, so I do eat it everyday- putting something solid or crunchy in it definitely helps). Wegmans doesn't sell Chobani yogurt for some reason. Oh well. Better than a donut!

Scranton is home to Cooper's Seafood, which has this great deal where they give you a free entree on your birthday. I rounded up my boyfriend, my roommate and a handful of friends and off we went. I decided to have lobster because it was FREE and I don't really get to have it very often. J.J and I split a cup of alligator soup to start (delicious) and we each had a nice side salad.

The lobster was pretty good. I love seafood, but lobster definitely is not my favorite of the ocean variety, but it was delicious nonetheless. It came with the LARGEST baked potato I have ever seen in my life, which I think I ate less than half of. I tried to rip off the skin and eat some of that, because that's where the fiber is. I used the butter dip sparingly and I was pretty full when all was said and done!

The guys!!!

And that was my birthday! I am very thankful for all of the blessings and wonderful people that have been brought into my life over the past year. Special shout out to my boyfriend, J.J- today is his 24th birthday!

J.J and I celebrating our back to back birthdays with his family last weekend!

Becky Home-ecky I am!

So, when I was in college, I used to be a disaster in the kitchen. Everytime I would try to cook, I would make a mess, skip an important step or ingredient, and just get flustered. Plus, I lived by the "eat on the run" mantra, so most of my groceries consisted of things that could easily be shoved into my purse, most of which were devoid of any nutrition whatsoever.

But guess what? College is over, and I am growing to LOVE being in the kitchen! I am a way better cook than I thought! Yesterday I was in a baking/cooking type of mood, so I decided to make a whole grain banana nut bread to surprise my roommate, and I also bought stuff to make a vegetable lasagna for dinner tonight...needless to say, I impressed my roommate, and myself!

Recipes for both items were found on KERF, my favorite food blog site!

Choco-Walnut Banana Bread 

 All the ingredients in the bowl...

 Ready to go in the oven...

 Voila!

 We had it with a little bit of my Turkey Hill no sugar added ice cream for dessert....yummm.

 And then I had some leftovers for breakfast. Nice, healthy twist on a old favorite! Practically guilt free @ 150 calories per slice, with added fiber from the whole grain flour!!

Vegetable Lasagna!!! A first (and very successful) attempt!

The cheese blend...16 oz low fat cottage cheese and a 1/2 cup of grated parmesean.

 The veggies....zucchini, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, and spinach. Yumm!

 Ready to go in the over! 60 minutes at 400 degrees.

 The mess in the sink...good thing we have a dishwasher.

 The finished product. Very delicious!!!!

I guess the moral of the story is that I can cook! One of my new favorite pastimes is taking some of my favorite recipes and finding ways to make them healthier.

Until next post!

-Kat

Hola!

How's it going?

Welcome to my blog! After a few months of deliberation, I have decided to create my own blog dedicated to being healthy and happy! If you click the "Kat" tab at the top of this page, you will read my life story...err, I mean my weight loss story that began in September 2008. I have followed a few food and fitness blogs over the past few months, and I decided to create my own to share with my family and friends. On my page, you will read my musings about food, fitness, and the like, as well as a few of my favorite things (links, recipes, etc...) My goal is to create a support system and a place to share comments and ideas dedicated to living a healthy and happy life!

Please excuse the appearance of this page for a while as I am still learning how to start and manage a blog...And please leave comments and let me know what you think!

Happy Reading!
Kat