Farewell Post - Secret Recipe Club

I have made the decision that this is to be my last Secret Recipe Club post.  I've realized that while I like going through other people's blogs, and occasionally trying new recipes, I've lost the desire to keep my own blog updated and full of new ideas.  More and more these days I find myself cooking the foods I'm comfortable with - the ones that are family recipes, or my husband's favorites, or my go-to recipes when I need something "good."  I seldom update the blog these days since I rarely cook anything new.  I've also realized that my desire to have top-quality photographs is no longer there. I see other people's fabulous photos, and then look at my dull, yellow pictures, and understand that while I could do better, I really don't want to. My passion now is for quilting. I have a quilting blog, and even that isn't updated as much as it should be since I'd rather be in my sewing room than at my computer.

Okay, enough of that. For my last Secret Recipe Club post, I was assigned Nora of Natural Noshing. Nora is a twenty-something foodie and fitness lover, who cooks gluten-free and (mostly) refined-sugar free.  How fitting that at this time of year I'm assigned a blog that will teach me how I SHOULD be cooking and eating. At first, Nora's recipes seemed foreign and "different" to me, but the more I read the more I found myself saying to myself, "That sounds yummy!" and "I want to try that!"  Already I've found 6 recipes to try after this one - all of which are going to be tasty and healthy at the same time. I've added some ingredients to my shopping list that I've never used before, and today, when I made my Java Smoothie for lunch, I found myself using dates for a sweetener instead of sugar. (Note to Nora:  I don't know if they were medjool dates or not - I had some Dole chopped dates in my cabinet that were going to be used in some very sugary candy, and decided that they will now be the "sugar" in my smoothies until that bag is gone. Then I'll get whole fresh dates from the grocery store.  The Dole ones have added dextrose, which I know is sugar. Oh well.)  I already purchased a container of protein powder, which I hope to put to good use.

On to the recipe for this post.  Nora has a good number of smoothie recipes on her blog, and at first, I wasn't interested in them.  I cook breakfast most mornings because I'm also feeding Don, and I hate to eat cold cereal since I know it's not good for me (I have to watch my blood sugar).  Then lunch time rolls around, and since I don't like sandwiches, I'm always looking for ideas for healthy lunches. Too often it's been cold cereal, since Don likes the leftovers from dinner.  As I was looking at Nora's smoothie recipes, it hit me - LUNCH!  I don't like a lot of food at lunch time - and if I make my smoothies with protein powder, and cut back on the sugar, I can drink my lunch while I'm sewing and be satisfied until dinner.  Believe me, it worked.  Today's lunch was the Java Chip Smoothie without the chips, and just a tweak of an added 1/2 banana. I was pleasantly full and didn't get hungry until dinner time.   I'll be trying more and more variations and flavors as the weeks go by - I'm looking forward to trying fresh mango - and perhaps will share those variations here on my blog. I won't be using the exact same ingredients Nora uses, but will tweak her recipes to go with what I have here in my kitchen.

Today's lunch was WONDERFUL!

Java Smoothie
adapted from a recipe by Nora of Natural Noshing

1 cup lowfat milk
1 cup protein powder (I used vanilla)
1-2 medjool dates (I used about 2 tablespoons of Dole chopped dates, since that's what I had on hand - but they have added dextrose)
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
1/2 banana (I keep a bag of frozen banana halves in my freezer for smoothies)
4-5 ice cubes

Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.

Since this was sweetened by the dates and the banana, it wasn't as sweet as I thought it would be. After the first couple of sips, my taste buds adjusted, and it was sweet enough.  The cocoa powder made it dark, and the coffee granules brought out the rich chocolate taste.  I thoroughly enjoyed this smoothie, and like I said above, I was full and didn't get hungry until dinnertime. The protein powder has 26 grams of protein in one scoop - so that was the reason why.

To all my friends in the Secret Recipe Club, it's been fun.  I will continue to read all your posts and perhaps even try a recipe or two.

So Far, So Good

Day 2 was yesterday, and I started off the morning with 2 of the egg and bacon "muffins" I'd made the day before. I had a quilt guild meeting, so I stopped off at Starbuck's for a coffee with some sugar-free caramel syrup in it. Then at the meeting, I had nuts, tangerine slices, one small pretzel, one small piece of sugar-free cheesecake, and one cookie.  Lunch was more of Kalyn's power salad with walnuts and pickled kidney beans. Dinner was chile colorado and spanish rice. For dessert, I was inspired by the sugar-free cheesecake I'd had at the guild meeting, so I threw some little ones together. The only sugar is in the graham crackers.

(Almost) Sugar-Free Cheesecake Cups

Base:
3 graham crackers, crushed finely
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons Splenda granular
Filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1 egg
1/4 cup Splenda Granular
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Topping:
1 1/2 cups frozen mixed berries
2 tablespoons Splenda granular 
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350˚.  Put 12 silicone muffin cups in muffin tins, or use paper baking cups. In a small bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, butter and Splenda. Distribute mixture evenly among cups, and press down with the back of a spoon. In a small mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, sour cream, egg, Splenda, lemon juice and baking powder. Beat with electric mixer until smooth. Spoon evenly into muffin cups.  Bake approximately 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Tops will crack. Let cool about an hour. For topping, heat the berries with the Splenda in a small saucepan until boiling. Add cornstarch/lemon juice mixture and remove from heat. Let it cool about 10 minutes, then spoon on top of the cheesecakes. Place in refrigerator to cool.

Since these are small, and low sugar, I ate two. I was in heaven.

Today was also a good day.  Breakfast was an egg-bacon-cheese quesadilla, and lunch was a bowl of frosted mini-wheat cereal. Now I know that the cereal was not a great option, but I'd been on the phone for 3 hours, mostly on hold, working on my change in prescription coverage.  At 1 pm I was starving and that was quick and easy.  Dinner is in the oven: chicken tidbits with raspberry-chipotle sauce.  I'll serve these with a side of canned corn.  I'd prefer a baked potato or some French fries, but those cravings are just going to have to fade. I think a couple of raw carrots will taste good, too.

So all is not perfect, but I've definitely toned down the sugar consumption compared to what I'd been eating last week. 

Baby Steps

Yesterday, while I was in the middle of cutting some fabric for sewing, I had this overwhelming need to go to sleep. I haven't felt that way in several months, and after my nap (I slept soundly for 1 1/2 hours), I started to think about the possible reasons. I then joined a couple girlfriends at Red Robin, where I unwisely had a big burger and some fries.  While chatting with my friends after dinner, it hit me. I've been careless about my eating habits - I've been eating WAY too much sugar.  I've made lots of sweets - from cookies to candy to cakes - and even had half of a Texas Sheet Cake still sitting at home. I haven't checked my blood sugar for a while - and I bet if I did it would be extremely high.

So, I made a mental list of some things I needed to start to change my habits, and stopped at the grocery store on the way home for some fresh produce. I used to eat lots and lots of fresh vegetables, and we had only a head of romaine sitting in the refrigerator.

When I walked in the house with my bag of groceries, I was met by my husband, who informed me it was time for a change. Nice coincidence!  He'd stepped on the scales, and was heavier than he'd been in quite some time. We agreed to do this together - and the first thing we needed to do was get rid of that darn cake.  A quick phone call to Cindy and John across the street did the job - they were happy to take it off our hands.

Don doesn't have a blood sugar issue, and likes to eat something in the 45 minutes or so he's up before me, so I bought him some bagels.  When I got up, I made Kalyn's Cottage Cheese and Egg "Muffins" with Bacon and Green Onion - one of her early recipes on her blog. Kalyn focuses on South Beach Diet-friendly recipes, so I know I'll be using her as a resource as much as I can. Not only does she have her own recipes for her readers to use, she does monthly roundups of other bloggers' recipes.

Cottage Cheese and Egg "Muffins" with Bacon and Green Onion
from Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen

⅔ cup cottage cheese (I used low-fat)
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup white whole wheat flour
⅔ cup almond meal
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons water
4 eggs, beaten
3 strips bacon, cooked until crisp, fat blotted with paper towel, then crumbled
3 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion (scallions)

 Preheat oven to 400 F.  In mixing bowl, combine cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, white whole wheat flour, almond meal, salt, water, and beaten egg. Mix well. Gently mix in crumbled bacon and green onion, until well distributed in batter.  Spray muffin tins or silicone muffin cups with nonstick spray, or use foil muffin liners Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake 25 -30 minutes, until muffins are firm and lightly browned. Serve hot or room temperature.

Note from Cyndi:  Somehow this made enough for 12 muffins, not six, and I'm assuming my oven burns hot, because after 25 minutes these were almost overcooked.

Kalyn says:
Muffins can be refrigerated and reheated in the microwave. (I cut in half crosswise before heating. Be very careful not to microwave more than about a minute, or they will become tough.) I haven't tried freezing them, but I would imagine they will freeze well.

These are great with a little salsa.


Lunch was a variation of Kalyn's Power Salad.  I didn't have any kale, but I did have some romaine and a head of white cabbage, and I had some walnuts to add a bit of protein.  I really like kidney beans on my salads, so I made some pickled kidney beans to go on top of my salad. They add some protein and fiber to an already fiber-rich salad.

Pickled Kidney Beans

1/3 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons Splenda granular
dash salt
dash pepper
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

In a small bowl, combine the vinegar, water, Splenda, salt, and pepper.  Add kidney beans.  Let sit for at least 30 minutes before eating.  The flavor deepens with time.   Use about 1/4 cup beans on a salad.

My dressing, recommended by Kalyn, comes from Kelley of Mountain Mama Cooks. I had the correct ingredients on hand, and used my new salad dressing bottle to mix it up.

Lemon-Parmesan Vinaigrette 
from Kelley of Mountain Mama Cooks

1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup good grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Put all the ingredients in a glass mason jar or other container with a tight fitting lid. Cover tightly and shake all ingredients to combine. Store unused dressing in the refrigerator. Use within a few weeks. If it even lasts that long.

 Baby steps.  I can only do things one meal, one day at a time.  Getting rid of that cake was the first step. I've got to work on my sweet tooth - any tips will be appreciated.