May 2010

Red Velvet Pancakes.

Earlier this weekend, Caitlin tweeted that she was eating red velvet pancakes. What? I had never heard of these. I was in shock. I didn’t know there was such a thing. I am naive, sheltered, and live in a bubble. All I knew was that I needed them now. I stopped whatever incredibly important thing I was doing at the time and googled these things – these red velvet pancake things. What I found is life changing. Cake isn’t really my thing. Unless said cake is double chocolate with chocolate fudge filling and chocolate fudge icing, I usually pass it up. The only other exception is red velvet, which actually is chocolate – I learned that when I crawled out from under my rock a few years ago. Not sure what I thought it was before. I can often pass up frosting, too. However, there is just something about red velvet cake and cream cheese frosting. You can imagine my delight when the pancakes turned out perfectly. Even better – the giant glob of frosting on top. The pancakes are actually vegan, but I destroyed that as soon as I added the cream cheese frosting. I always have some leftover [...]

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Sweet and Sour Chicken.

A few weeks ago, Christina told me about a delicious sweet and sour chicken recipe on Tasty Kitchen that everyone was raving about. Turns out the recipe is from My Kitchen Cafe, and Melanie has a plethora of incredible chicken recipes that I can’t wait to try.   Mr. How Sweet is always asking for homemade chinese food, and I always drop the ball. Mine just never tastes as good as take-out. Trust me when I say that this is the best sweet and sour chicken I have ever had in my life. Better than take-out. Better than Trader Joe’s. Better than everything. Mr. How Sweet agrees – a week doesn’t go by where he isn’t begging me to make it again. I don’t mind making it, because we use skinless, boneless chicken – it is healthier than any take-out we would get. I also don’t like to hear Mr. How Sweet whine. It makes my ears bleed.   Sweet and Sour Chicken from My Kitchen Cafe 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 2 eggs, beaten 1 cup cornstarch salt & pepper 1/4 cup canola oil (I used olive oil) Preheat oven to 325. Cut boneless chicken breasts into chunks. Season with [...]

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Mr. How Sweet’s Man Purse.

No, he doesn’t technically have one. However, I often joke insist that he needs one. For now, this beautiful cooler is his man purse. Unfortunately, I have to thank my mom for this. She bought Mr. How Sweet a Nascar-themed basket which included this cooler at a charity auction a few years ago. Just what we needed – more dyecast cars. Anytime he leaves the house, you can guarantee that Mr. How Sweet has these incredibly important items with him. I’m giving you a sneak peek inside. Water: he usually has 4-5 bottles with him. I guess he is preparing in case a Y2K-like emergency springs up. Or he has to eat 3 chicken breasts on the road before he spontaneously combusts. That chicken is dry, you know. I just always hope there is a restroom where ever we are going. Phone. Even though his cell phone is from the stone age, dies within the hour after being charged, doesn’t get service unless he is standing on his head, and is never answered no matter how many times it rings, this is a must. Because, you just never know when you might stumble upon a tic-tac-toe-playing-chicken and need to take a picture [...]

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Menu: It’s the 3rd Date!

According to my best bud, Heather, if you really want to impress your newest flavor of the month, cooking dinner on the 3rd date is an excellent idea. I didn’t do this, because Mr. How Sweet’s love cave gave me the heebie jeebies. And I was still busy living at home with my parents since he was robbing the cradle. Starters: Firecracker Shrimp Side Salad: Chopped Salad (minus the chicken) Main Course: Chicken, Bacon and Spinach Flatbread Pizza Dessert: Ice Cream Crepes You need 1/2lb shrimp fresh lettuce + veggies for salad + spinach for pizza 1-2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts bacon ice cream flavor of choice fresh fruit for crepes cheeses: cream cheese, parmesan, shredded mozzarella Game Plan The day before: Make crepes. Fill with ice cream and freeze. Prepare fruit or fudge sauce for crepes and refrigerate. Grill chicken for pizza. Partially fry bacon for pizza. Refrigerate chicken and bacon. Set table. The day of: 2 hours before date arrives, prepare dough and let rise. Chop veggies for salad and keep them in separate bowls. 1 hour before date arrives, prep pizza ingredients for quick assembly. 25 minutes before date arrives, make shrimp and assemble pizza. When date [...]

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Goat Cheese and Honey Stuffed Fig Muffins.

Once upon a time, I had peaceful, enjoyable, sunny, cheer-filled mornings.     Then I got married.     I have always been an early riser. I crave routine. I enjoy easing into my mornings.   It’s not that Mr. How Sweet is the opposite, it’s just that he is . . . a trainwreck.     You will see shortly why muffins, especially these specific ones, are needed in the mornings.     Mr. How Sweet rises and shines, which technically means he throws himself out of bed and attempts to make his way into the bathroom without hitting the wall. Literally.   What takes place in the next hour or so, I cannot be sure of since I am usually at the gym at this time. However, I can tell you that it includes, but is not limited to him curled up on the couch watching country music videos or horse racing, him banging and clanging dishes so loudly that it wakes the neighbors, or frying 6-7 eggs while thinking that he still is not getting enough protein. Or, he may be vacuuming his car. Because, you know, that needs to be done at 5:30 in the morning. [...]

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Afternoon Delight: Quick Chicken Taco

Lunches and snacks must be quick and balanced for me to keep my sanity and stay satisfied. I also must change them up frequently because I get bored very easily. In fact, I’m already bored just writing this. In my La Tortilla Factory tortilla (my favorite brand) goes chicken, low-fat cheese, salsa, homemade guacamole, a dollop of greek yogurt, and salsa. I also have this odd obsession with baked beans right now, so if I’m feeling frisky, a few of them go in there as well. Whatever floats your boat.

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Crispy BBQ Chicken Fingers.

I’ve said it before, but Mr. How Sweet could eat the exact same thing everyday for the rest of his life. This was the case before I entered his life and led him into the light. I still have visions of plain ground turkey and stinky egg whites dancing in my head. I love getting feedback from my recipes. Whenever I make something new, I grill Mr. How Sweet for about 10 minutes. I won’t lie – it drives me crazy that he is a man of few words. Except when I want to talk about myself. Which is all the time. The honey ginger chicken nuggets and buffalo chicken fingers have been such a hit in our house, that I couldn’t wait to try a new combination. Many evenings, conversations in our house go as follows: Mr. How Sweet takes a bite, and before he has chewed 4 times I am asking, ‘is it good?’ ‘Uh huh,’ he says with a mouthful of food, eyes glued to the TV. ‘Uh huh? Well is it really good? Do you love it?’ ‘Yes, it’s really good,‘ still staring at some terrible show on horse racing. ‘Is it better than the last [...]

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Fitness Kick Start: My Ultimate Playlist.

I will warn you – I am a slave to pop music. If it makes your ears bleed, you may as well leave here and go enjoy a smoothie. Mr. How Sweet and I each have 10 years of downloaded music, plus hundreds of CD’s. That’s a lot of music. If you haven’t already figured it out, I get bored quite easily. I always am in need of new music to complete my cardio workouts. Lifting is a different animal. I can put my entire iPod on shuffle, and listen to whatever comes on, be it Sinatra, Kenny Loggins, or any other old-granny-music that I normally listen to. And yes, I am that person that puts my iPod on ‘shuffle,’ then forwards through 20 songs until I come to one that I really want to listen to. I then repeat that for the next 30 minutes. Here is the playlist that is getting me through my early workouts these days: Rock This Party (Everybody Dance Now) by Western Dream Billie Jean by Michael Jackson Don’t Trust Me by 3OH!3 Dancefloor by Kylie Minogue Greenlight Remix by Beyonce (from my Bodyjam CD) Get Me Bodied by Beyonce Turnin’ Me On by [...]

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Vanilla Lime Smoothie.

I was always the kid that left all of the grape popsicles in the freezer. I ate around all of the lemon Starburst’s, jelly beans, and Jolly Ranchers. I stole all of the Snickers bars out of my brothers’ Halloween candy, and the Cadbury Creme Eggs from their Easter baskets. You could say I have a few favorites. I have a thing for sweet, fruity flavors like strawberry-kiwi and mango-peach. I own way too many body lotions and lip glosses, all because of these flavors. I don’t like plain ice cream. I can handle a vanilla cone with rainbow sprinkles, but I need triple the spinkles since I enjoy overdosing on them. My ice cream must have chunks and swirls. That has nothing to do with my thighs. I swear. I am not plain vanilla. I am not plain chocolate unless it is mixed with any of the following, including but not limited to peanut butter, sea salt, or bacon. Or all 3 at once. Like most things in my life, I need some drama with my flavors. I guess you could say I am partial to all things that smell fruity, sweet, and good enough to eat. Grape does [...]

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Fitness Kick Start: What I Love About Mondays.

What do I love about Mondays? Not much. But I do love that no matter what, I always have the sense of a new beginning, a fresh start, and a whole week ahead of myself to make good (or bad) decisions. I love that I am in control of my own destiny. I don’t believe in ‘waiting until Monday’ to begin a new fitness or nutrition regimen, but I do believe in starting the week off right. There are many times that come Sunday, we feel like we overindulged way too much and need to ‘detox.’ I don’t believe in detoxes (diet ones, that is), nor have I ever done one. In my opinion, diet-detoxing is just setting one’s self up for massive failure – at least until the dessert cart comes around next weekend. However, I’ve had my share of I-ate-so-much-this-weekend-that-I-can-feel-my-booty-growing-underneathe-me-as-we-speak Sunday evenings. My cure? An intense workout Monday morning along with the same balance of healthy foods + the occasional treat so I don’t feel deprived. The I’m-Not-Even-Thinking-About-A-Monday-Detox-Workout. 15 minutes of cardio 20 alternating lunges 15 pushups 12 stiff-legged deadlifts 12 prone, inclined dumbbell rows 10 (each side) lean lunges 10 overhead shoulder presses 15 plie’ squats 15 [...]

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