Monday, October 15, 2012

100 Healthy Snacks

After my first baby I had to lose 45 lbs. One of the ways that I decided to help drop the weight was by keeping a food diary at mynetdiary.com . It's been a great way so far to lose the last 30 lbs. For some reason the first 15 came off in the first two months, but after that it seemed to halt. Ironically, I this brought me down to my pre-pregnancy weight!

One of the things that I discovered from using mynetdiary was how fattening some of my snacks were! So, I decided to try and post some healthy snacks that are better for me and my baby that range between 50-250 calories.

1. Grapes
2. Pistachios
3. Pepperjack cheese, cheddar cheese, or string cheese
4. hummus and baked carrot or sweet potato chips
5. Strawberries
6. cashews and peanuts
7. peach and yogurt smoothie
8. carrots
9. deviled eggs
10. spinach artichoke dip
11. applesauce
12. apple chips
13. olives
14. cherry tomatoes
15. pesto and sweet potato fries
16. a banana
17.  snap peas
18. popcorn with parmesan, chili powder, and cayenne pepper
19. bell peppers and sour cream dill dip
20. baked brie and tomatoes
21. an orange
22. jello
23. grilled asparagus
24.

Zucchini


After having moved into a new house and having a baby this spring, I somehow also managed to plant a garden. My peas didn't come up, and I got one green bell pepper, but my lettuce, zucchini, carrots, onions, and green beans were more than plentiful. While I am currently trying to use all of those wonderful veggies, my focus is on my zucchini because it takes up the most space and will be the first to spoil.

After I had given away some of my zucchini , I still had a ton of it. Using up several large zucchini with a family of three and one who is barely old enough to eat solid food is going to be a challange! However, it's a challenge that I am up for!

(The picture to the left is of maybe 1/3 of my zucchini, my under-ripe pumpkin, tomatos, squash, and cucumbers. I had to pick it all at the end of September because we got an early frost. :( The fridge is also packed full of rest.)

 The first thing that I did was borrowed my mother's zucchini cookbook. However, aside from her amazing zucchini bread recipe, most of them were nothing special. I also had trouble finding anything worth eating online. So, I decided that I am just going to have to be creative and make some stuff up. I will definitely be posting my recipes as I go. I'm thinking that dinner for tomorrow night will consist of my soon to be sister-in-law's grandma's zucchini brownies, zucchini/potato au gratin, and zucchini meatloaf.
I also made zucchini fritters the other day which I will post pics of next time I make them. I ate the last ones for lunch today. (oops).

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Homemade Latte





Step 1. Grind up some coffee beans and make coffee! You can use the coffee in a can, but this tastes so much better!



Step 2. Fill one of the taller bullet blender cups halfway with milk. I use 2% milk, but you can probably use whole, skim, 1% or soy if you wish. It's important that you only fill it halfway because the steam pressure is what will make the milk frothy later.

Step 3. Microwave the milk until it is very hot and nearly boiling. You will need to experiment with this to determine how long to cook it because every microwave is different. Keep on eye on it though, or you will have a mess in your microwave to clean up! It's important that you get it very hot though, otherwise, it won't get as frothy.

Step 4. Add your flavorings to the milk. Some of my favorites are white chocolate chips, peppermint candies, butterscotch candies, vanilla, sugar, and caramel. Be creative! I recently discovered that a teaspoon of peanut butter mixed with carmel is really amazing!

Step 5. Mix up the milk mixture in the bullet blender.




Step 6. Fill a mug or coffee cup halfway with the freshly brewed coffee.







Step 7. Pour the milk mixture on top of your coffee. Enjoy!