Sloppy Taco Joes

This week has been a crazier week than usual. I find that when my schedule is packed, eating well is the first thing that goes out the window. I was determined to keep it simple, yet make sure I was following my Weight Watchers Simple Start plan. I feel better and more in control of myself, my emotions, and my hunger if I just take an extra five minutes to plan out my meals.

Here's something I whipped up before I went into work. Who doesn't like a 3-ingredient recipe? That's all it takes to make these Sloppy Taco Joes. It took all of about 15 minutes to cook and divide into containers. It made 4 meals, and instead of the bread, I served it with a 1/2 cup of quinoa and a piece of fruit. It was a quick and easy lunch.

If you're doing Weight Watchers, this is a Simple Start meal or 4 PointsPlus for just the Sloppy Taco Joe mixture.

Asian Peanut Penne

Branching out this morning and deciding to try something different for lunch!

I picked up a box of gluten free brown rice pasta. I haven't had too much success with gluten free pastas. It seems like the noodles turn to mush fast. I discovered cooking them one minute below the instructions on the box seems to be curing that issue.


Asian Peanut Penne

...Mix...
2 cups cooked, cooled penne (4oz dry)
2 cups broccoli slaw mix (with red cabbage and shredded carrots)
4 scallions sliced diagonal

...In a separate bowl whisk...
1 1/2 Tbls natural peanut butter
1 1/2 Tbls Tamari (soy sauce)
1 1/2 Tbls sesame oil
1 1/2 Tbls lime juice
2 Tbls water
1 tsp agave
1 small clove garlic, minced

Stir all together and enjoy! Makes four 1-cup servings - 5 Weight Watchers Points Plus per serving.

Easy Slow Cooker Beef & Tomato Macaroni Soup

I have been in a total food rut lately. Looking back over my grocery bills, I can see that at least one meal each day has consisted of a pre-packaged frozen meal. While they've been organic, healthy meals like Amy's Kitchen and Evol, to do them every single day really puts a dent in the budget. So, I've been kicking myself in the rear and trying to get myself back in the habit of making actual meals again. Cooking for one is hard, but I'm making sure I have plenty of containers on hand so I can take the leftovers and create my own frozen meals. This recipe saved me massive dollars in the pre-packaged food department - even using all organic ingredients.

BTW - I made this and took it in for my coworkers to try. It got total rave reviews. It's one of the finest soups I've ever made!

Beef and Tomato Macaroni Soup
5 Weight Watchers Points+ for a 1 cup serving

8 cups beef broth, divided
1lb ground beef (I used 85/15)
28oz diced tomatoes in tomato juice
6oz tomato paste
1 cup frozen chopped onions (or one large onion, chopped)
10oz sliced mushrooms
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
1 cup uncooked macaroni noodles

Directions
Place all ingredients in large slow cooker, except for 1 cup of beef broth and the uncooked macaroni noodles. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. Thirty minutes before serving, stir in uncooked macaroni noodles and reserved beef broth. Stir, cover, and cook for an additional 30 minutes.

* No need to cook the beef ahead of time - it cooks in the soup

* Make it gluten free by using gluten free beef broth and gluten free macaroni noodles, like Ancient Harvest Quinoa Pasta. 

* Fresh is always better, but you can use 2 Tbls dried basil in place of fresh basil.

Easy Peasy Granola Bars

Today I began the "Great Magazine Purge."

Please tell me that I'm not the only one who has stacks of magazines. Like, stackkkkkks.

This is one stack. Ignore that Women's Health Magazine. Apparently reading the article on how to get sexy abs and butt is not the same as doing the work.

Whatever.

I hate to part with them though. You never know when you're going to need a recipe and it's waiting for you, expectantly, in one of the magazines. And when you go to get that magazine, you discover that you've given that magazine away and now you are stuck. Sure, the recipe is somewhere online, but there's something about having the printed, original in front of you.

One of the magazines that I have stacks of is Eating Well. It's one of my favorite cooking magazines. God bless my aunt who gives me a subscription every Christmas. I {HEART} it. As I was slowly going the January/February 2010 Eating Well magazine, these granola bars stood out to me. I had just picked up a bag of gluten free rolled oats so that I could make my brother some granola bars. This recipe just happens to use old fashioned oats. I looked at the clock to see if I had enough time to make them, I looked at the mess I had made, and I suddenly decided it would be more fun to make these granola bars. And so I trotted downstairs to the kitchen to make a batch.

They were easy to make. Ridiculously easy. Like, so easy that it's crazy to buy pre-made granola bars any more. Plus, these taste so much better, I know exactly what's in them, and they can easily be adapted to gluten free diets. I lightly adjusted the recipe in the magazine. Change up the liquid sugar, the nuts, the dried fruit, and the extract if you want. I bet maple and pecans would be great. Or macadamia, agave, and coconut would be delicious too.

For the record, my coworker ate one of the bars that I had made and then ate the one he packed for a snack, and he said (with a very full mouth), "Yourth are tho muh bettuh." Translation: these granola bars are awesomelicious.






Easy Peasy Granola Bars
recipe adapted from Eating Well

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (or gluten free oats)
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup unsweetened puffed cereal (rice, wheat, millet, kamut, etc.)
1 cup dried fruit (I did 1/3 currants, golden raisins, and cranberries)
1/4 cup creamy almond butter
1/4 cup organic raw cane sugar (or brown sugar, white sugar, etc)
1/4 cup agave (or honey, brown rice syrup, maple, etc.)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt


Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8-inch-square pan with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Spread oats, almonds, and sunflower seeds on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Bake until the oats are lightly toasted and the nuts are fragrant, shaking the pan halfway through, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Add cereal, currants, cranberries, and raisins; toss to combine.

Combine almond butter, sugar, agave, vanilla and salt in a small saucepan. Heat over medium-low, stirring frequently, until the mixture bubbles lightly, 2 to 5 minutes.

Immediately pour the almond butter mixture over the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon or spatula until no dry spots remain. Transfer to the prepared pan. Lightly coat a small square of foil with cooking spray and use it to press the mixture down firmly to make an even layer. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes; cut into 12 bars.


Cut into 12 bars: 4 Weight Watchers Points Plus
Cut into 16 bars: 3 Weight Watchers Points Plus

Homemade Cinnamon Almond Butter

Seriously? I don't know why I've waited so long to do this.

Maybe because it means hauling out the food processor. Maybe it means that it could somehow turn out potentially disastrous, and I don't want to waste an expensive ingredient.

Whatever my fears, I was proven wrong.

And now I'm fearless.

Homemade almond butter is beyond easy and it tastes better than what you can buy in a jar. For reals.

Easiest Pumpkin Spice Latte Ever

You are about to be introduced to one of the greatest things ever. A friend told me about this, and SHE got it from the lady who works at Trader Joe's, who probably was told about this by her cousin Louisa, thrice removed, on her mother's side of the family.

Or probably not.

Moving on.

We're talking about the world's easiest way to make a pumpkin spice latte: coffee plus pumpkin ice cream. I've tried countless versions of homemade pumpkin spice lattes and they either tasted goopy from the pumpkin or chalky from the spices. This is the winner to me. And it's a no brainer to make.

But let's be real for a moment.

Nothing can compare to a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte. It's awesome. How do they do it? Starbucks puts magic in their lattes. Plain and simple. And then they stir it with the horn of a unicorn that's been dipped in sugar while we're busy checking our iPhones. That's how. And that's why one grande pumpkin spice latte costs almost $5. Never mind the fact that a half gallon of ice cream is somewhere around $3.50, and we could get two 1/2 gallons of ice cream for the cost of two Starbucks grande lattes.

So my disclaimer: nothing will taste as awesome as a Starbucks pumpkin spice latte. But here's how to make the world's easiest pumpkin spice latte that's pretty stinking enjoyable.

Martha Stewart's Super Fudgy Brownies

It's my fault we don't have any brownie mixes in the house.

I made two batches a week ago for gifts, and I haven't been to the store yet to replace them.

Oops.

It's no biggie, except my family was craving brownies right then. I volunteered to make some, totally forgetting that I hadn't replaced the mixes.

Double oops.

So, I figured I'd try to make some on my own. Like, from scratch. Yeah. Did you know you could do that? I've always thought that, like, if they make a mix for something, that says whatever you're trying to make is difficult; therefore, you need a mix to make it easy because there's no way on earth you want to try do it on your own much less do the clean up unless you have a truckload of elves waiting in the wings to wash the the pots and pans.

I discovered I've been lied to by myself all these years. Just because they make a mix, doesn't mean it's going to be difficult to do on your own. I had the batter for these made all in about 7 minutes. Easy peasy, and they're SUPER chocolatey, delightful goodness. I used a recipe from Martha Stewart and made some tweaks, like adding in some whole wheat flour, brown sugar, and vanilla. My mom, who usually prefers the box mix, loved 'em.

Warning...you may never go back to a box mix after making these...!






. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Super Fudgy Brownies
Inspired by Martha Stewart, tweaked by moi


Ingredients:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (spooned and leveled)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 Tbls vanilla extract
3/4 cup chocolate chips, optional


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Coat a 9x9, 9x11, or 9x13 square baking pan with non stick cooking spray. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a large microwave safe bowl, place butter and chocolate chips. Microwave butter and chocolate chips on high for one minute. Stir. Place back in microwave at 30 second intervals until butter and chocolate chips are melted.

Add sugar; mix to combine.

Add eggs and vanilla extract; mix to combine.

Add flour mixture; mix just until moistened (do not overmix).

Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top.

Optional: Sprinkle chocolate chips on top.

A 9x9 pan will take approximately 45-50 minutes to bake, a 9x11 will take around 35-40 minutes, and 9x13 will take around 30-35 minutes. Remember, these times are approximate and depend on your oven. It's a good idea to set your timer 5 minutes before the approximate time so you don't overbake the brownies. You'll know they're done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached.

Enjoy and don't devour the whole pan!

Happy "National Freedom From Campaign Ads Day"!

Happy National Freedom From Campaign Ads Day!!

It's a little holiday I've made up on my own. You're welcome to join in!

I decided last week, no matter the political outcome, I was celebrating our freedom from crazy, slanderous, negative, dirty, sniping, whiny, uncivil, annoying - did I mention negative? - campaign ads.

I've never understood them. Why spend your time putting the other guy down with ancient info and half truths when you could be building yourself up and telling my why I should vote for you? It's a mystery to me. And I feel icky when they come on the TV. All of us deal with enough negativity in one day that we don't need them adding to it.

So today, I'm happily restoring balance to my world. In the spirit of celebration, I've started the day off with cake.

For reals.

Because nothing says, "Today is going to be a celebration day!" than eating cake for breakfast. And cake with sprinkles? It says, "Try to stop my celebration!" By the way, I've proven in my own independent research that cake with sprinkles tastes 7.5X better than cake without sprinkles.

I've eaten a lot of cake in my life.

Happy National Freedom From Campaign Ads Day!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Super Easy National Freedom From Campaign Ads Day Snack Cake with Sprinkles
1/4 boxed cake mix
3 Tbls water
sprinkles

In a microwave safe mug, small bowl, or ramekin, mix the cake mix and water. Microwave on high for 50-60 seconds. Sprinkle with sprinkles, eat, and celebrate your freedom from campaign ads! Wheeeee!


Calorie counts vary from cake mix to cake mix. I maintain that cakes eaten in celebration contain no calories and don't count...but if you're obsessive compulsive about calories, expect around 200 calories | 4 grams of fat or around 4 Weight Watchers POINTS. But...who's counting??