do's/don'ts

quote of the day

for sure

yes I sure do

humor of the day with Maxine

humor of the day

berry-licous

Avocado Coconut Ice Pops

Yield: 4

ingredients:

1 large Hass avocado
1/2 cup coconut milk
3-4 tbsp condensed milk (depending on how sweet you want it)

directions:

Scoop out flesh of ripe avocado and place into blender. Add in coconut milk and condensed milk. Blend until batter is smooth. Pour into ice pop molds and follow manufacturer instructions for freezing and removing.

quote of the day

Mini Zucchini Cheese Bites

Ingredients
◾2 cups grated zucchini ( about 1 medium)
◾1 egg
◾1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
◾optional: 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, salt & pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a mini muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a bowl mix the zucchini, egg, cheese and cilantro. You do not have to add any salt or pepper since the Parmesan is salty enough . Evenly divide the mixture into the mini muffin pan filling to the top, packed down in each cup. Bake for 15- 18 minutes until golden brown around the edges.

Nutrition Info

Servings: 12* Calories for one: 27* Fat: 2g* Fiber: 0g* Carbs: 1g* Protein: 2g

The zucchini is grated so only some of the green skin is noticeable. You can opt to leave out the cilantro .These are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Super quick and easy to make. Using a food processor to grate the zucchini, then squeeze out the excess water in a paper towel or clean cloth. Add the rest of the ingredients and pack them into a little mini quiche tin. You can certainly double the recipe if you have more or even make them larger then mini.

Brazilian Grilled Bananas

Ingredients

Serves 2

2 bananas

Cinnamon (optional)

Coconut oil

Ice cream (optional)

Directions

1. Peel your bananas.
2. Slice them into 4 wedges lengthways.
3. Brush with coconut oil, and cinnamon if you like.
4. Place directly on a med-hot grill, and grill on each side for 2-3 minutes.
5. Serve hot with ice cream or yogurt.

Thank you BBQ Man for this recipe. http://thebbqman.org/recipes/brazilian-grilled-bananas.html#.UfQfXo3igXg

Oven-Baked Zucchini Fries

makes approximately 8 servings
Ingredients
3 zucchini (1 lb.)
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 packet Shake & Bake Coating Mix
1 small egg

Method:

Heat oven to 450ºF.

Trim the zucchini -cut crosswise in half, then cut each piece into 1/4-inch sticks. Add cheese to coating mix in shaker bag; shake gently to combine.
Whisk egg in medium bowl. Add zucchini; toss to coat. Use tongs to place 1/4 of the zucchini in shaker bag; close bag and shake to evenly coat. Spread onto baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Repeat with remaining zucchini.
Bake for 12 to 13 min. or until golden brown, turning the baking tray 180 degrees after 7 min to facilitate even baking.

Watermelon-Coconut Water Smoothie

workout of the day

It's mean and green...

S’mores Ice Cream Pie

• Prep Time 35 min
 
• Total Time 1 hr 35 min
 
• Servings 9

Ingredients

12 

reduced-fat graham cracker squares, crushed (3/4 cup)

1 

tablespoon butter or margarine, melted

2 

cups chocolate fat-free ice cream or frozen yogurt, softened

1 

very ripe banana, mashed

2 

egg whites

2 

tablespoons sugar

Dash salt

1/2 

cup marshmallow creme

Directions

• Step1Line 8-inch square (2-quart) glass baking dish with cooking parchment paper or foil so paper or foil extend over 2 sides of dish. In small bowl, stir together cracker crumbs and butter. Press in bottom of dish.
• Step2In medium bowl, stir together ice cream and mashed banana. Spoon onto crust; spread evenly.
• Step3In another medium bowl, beat egg whites with electric mixer until foamy. Gradually add sugar and salt, beating on high speed 8 to 10 minutes or until stiff, glossy peaks form. Beat in marshmallow creme. Spread over ice cream mixture, swirling to create ridges and peaks. Freeze at least 1 hour.
• Step4At serving time, heat oven to 450°F. Using paper or foil, lift pie from dish; place on cookie sheet. Bake 2 to 3 minutes or until lightly browned. If desired, use kitchen torch to further toast top of meringue. Cut into squares to serve.

  Nutrition Facts

  Serving Size: 1 Serving

  Calories

  120

  Calories from Fat

  15

  Total Fat

  1 1/2g

  Saturated Fat

  1g

  Trans Fat

  0g

  Cholesterol

  0mg

  Sodium

  105mg

  Total Carbohydrate

  25g

  Dietary Fiber

  1g

    Sugars

  17g

  Protein

  2g

  Vitamin A

  4%

  Vitamin C

  0%

  Calcium

  6%

  Iron

  0%

  *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.http://www.livebetteramerica.com/recipes/smores-ice-cream-pie/e32320dc-4042-4d63-80e8-7b1c5091a103/?nicam4=SocialMedia&nichn4=Facebook&niseg4=LBA&nicreatID4=Post&sf530737=1

Baked Egg Avocados

• Avocado, cut in half and pit removed
• 1 egg per avocado half
• kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• herbs for garnish (optional): basil, chives, dill

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Scoop enough avocado out to make room for one egg. I just ate that right away. I also made my first hole too small and had a little egg-white overflow. This made me realize that lining the baking pan with foil is a good idea! One large egg is about 1/4 cup, by the way.
3. Crack the egg into the avocado and place on a baking sheet or pan (that you have lined with foil or greased for easy cleanup if you spill).
4. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the egg is cooked to the degree of your liking. Check a bit early and watch carefully the last few minutes.
5. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and herbs of choice.

how egg-citing

LOL of the day

IT TAKES...

12 Pasta Dishes Under 500 Calories

Check out some of these recipes Shape magazine posted.
http://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/meal-ideas/12-pasta-dishes-under-500-calories#072113

DID YOU KNOW?

Ugly apple?

Zucchini Lasagna - Low Carb

2 1/2 cups zucchini, sliced 1/4 inch thick (about 2 medium)

1/2 lb lean ground beef (I use 1 lb.)

1/4 cup onion, chopped

2 small tomatoes, cut up

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 cup water

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 egg

3/4 cup low fat cottage cheese (or low fat or fat free ricotta)

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded (I use 8 oz. divided)

1 teaspoon flour

Directions:

1 Cook zucchini until tender, drain and set aside. Fry meat and onions until meat is brown and onions are tender; drain fat. Add next 8 ingredients and bring to a boil.

2 Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered 10 minutes or until reduced to 2 cups.

3 In small bowl slightly beat egg.

4 Add cottage cheese, half of shredded cheese and flour.

5 In (1 1/2-qt.) baking-roasting pan arrange half of the meat mixture. Top with half of the zucchini and all the cottage cheese mixture. Top with remaining meat and zucchini.

6 Bake uncovered at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes.

7 Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 10 minutes longer.

8 Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

stronger bones

it works for me

LOL of the day

Smores Bars

Prep Time: 15 mins Cooking Time: 30 to 35 mins

Ingredients:
1 stick of butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 king-sized milk chocolate bars
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (~7 full-sized graham cracker sheets, processed til fine)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan. Use an electric mixer to cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Set aside. Meanwhile,whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Slowly add flour mixture to the creamed butter mixture until combined. Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan.
Place chocolate bars over dough. 2 king-sized Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side.
Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme or fluff. Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff (most easily achieved by flattening the dough into small shingles and laying them together). Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Be sure to cool completely before cutting into bars. Makes 16 squares.
Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Servings:16  | Calories:184 | Total Fat:7g  | Chol:27mg  | More

Nutritional facts are per serving and accuracy is not certain.

Total Fat 7g

11 %

Sat Fat 4g

20 %

Total Carb 28g

9 %

Fiber 0g

0 %

Sugars 17g

---

Cholesterol 27mg

9 %

Sodium 157mg

7 %

Protein 2g

4 %

text of the day

update

Sorry I haven't been posting lately. While on vacation to visit family, Chloe and I lost our uncle. We're back home now. I got a less expensive internet provider, but there are problems. They're sending someone out tomorrow to fix it. My next MBA class starts Monday. I will be posting again soon, just please bear with me.

humor of the day

well, dog gone it

Three-Bean Salad

Ingredients:
1 15 oz can kidney beans
1 15 oz can garbanzo beans
1 15 oz can cannellini beans
2 celery stalks, chopped finely
1/2 red onion, chopped finely
1 handful fresh parsley, finely cut
1 Tbsp. fresh finely cut rosemary
1/4 cup/60 ml apple cider vinegar, unfiltered
1/4 cup/60 ml pure maple syrup (or agave or any other natural sweetener of your choice)
1/4 cup/60 ml olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:
1.) Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.

2.) Cover and refrigerate for at least 20-30 minutes to let flavors meld.

3.) Taste and serve.

tip of the day

4th of July

Leaving tomorrow to spend time with family and won't be online for about a week. Hope everyone has a safe and blessed 4th of July.

make no beans about it

yeppers

Spa Pop

Lemonade Cucumber Spa Popsicles
From FamilyFreshCooking.com

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours
Total Time: 3 hours, 5 minutes

Yield: 3 cups of mix (6 1/2 cup pops)

Ingredients
1 cup julienned seedless Cucumber
1 fresh squeezed Lemon, remove any seeds
2 cups cold Water
Natural Sweetener added to taste: use your favorite, Maple Syrup, Honey or Agave 

Method
Slice lemon in half and squeeze it over a strainer into 2 cups of cold water. Sweeten lemon water to taste with your favorite sweetener. Fill popsicle molds 2/3 with lemonade. Freeze uncovered for about 1 hour. 

Take pops out of freezer. Scrape and stir any ice crystals that have formed. Add a spoonful of the julienned cucumber to the pop molds. Be sure to leave a tiny bit of room at the top of your popsicle mold so they don't overflow when you add the stick. With a popsicle stick or a butter knife, press the cucumber into the mixture so it is evenly distributed. Add your popsicle sticks, freeze pops for another 3-4 hours until solid.

Notes

These spa pops are a healthier & more cost efficient alternative to store bought pops. More environmentally friendly too, no packaging to toss!

As always, use your own taste buds to determine how sweet you want your ice pops.

Instead of lemon, try some lime!