Stuffed Shells, Tina's Bars, Vegan Cornbread

The party last night was a lot of fun! The desserts went over really well! Josh (who is not really that into sweets) really loved the cupcakes! The grunt was fabulous! The topping makes it almost shortcake like and it was the perfect amount of sweetness for me!

Onto today :). I slept in reallllly late. I pushed myself to stay in bed (I usually get up early because I feel like I need to get all my daily chores done ASAP) and I slept until 12! I got my stuff packed up for my trip including some snacks for the room (waters, apples, a few bars):
The training I am going to starts off with a breakfast, but I fear it will be all pastries so the bars are there as a just in case!! I ran to Starbucks and got Josh and I a few skim misto's again today (I love these so much)!! The coffee kept me powered through a bunch more baking/cooking!!
My first kitchen project today was stuffed shells. Since I am going away all week, I wanted Josh to have a quick go to dinner. I followed this recipe that I found at cooks.com:

Ingredients:
1 package shell pasta, cooked according to package
1 large container pasta sauce
2 lbs. ricotta (part skim) cheese
1/2 lb. part skim Mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 eggs
1/2 c. Parmesan, grated
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. parsley

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put a thin layer of pasta sauce in the bottom of pan. Mix ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, eggs, Parmesan, pepper, and parsley and stuff shells. Place in pan and top with additional sauce. Cook for 45 minutes. Enjoy! A few pics, shells after cooking up:

After stuffing:
Topped with sauce:

After baking:
Next, I made some more of Tina's bars. I used whole wheat flour and put walnuts and chocolate chips in instead of raisins. I cut these up and stuffed them in individual baggies for snacks this week:


Lastly, I made cornbread from my vegan cookbook. I am going to serve this with a corn chowder tonight!
While I baked/cooked today, I watched the Eagles kick some butt! It was a great game. The Eagle's are Josh's team, so I love them by association :). I am a pats fan and am glad they won despite losing Brady! I have to finish cleaning the house up and prepping for our Turbo Kick launch tomorrow! What are you guys up to tonight?

Nice Saturday, Carrot Bread, Skinny Tina Bars

Hello! First off, I wanted to thank you all for your understanding/sweet comments on my last post. Second, I hope you're having a lovely weekend. It has been a very pleasant one around here so far!

Friday: Taught Body attack, made some Skinny Tina bars (with chocolate chips since Josh isn't a huge raisin fan), relaxed


Saturday: Taught Body Step, ran to Costco for some shopping, ate lunch from Pita Pit outside in Charleston


Made some carrot bread to bring to my mom tomorrow (note: if you use this recipe, the loaf took about an hour and 5 minutes cooking time for me):

Tonight, we had a lovely dinner out with our friends Jill and Chip. I will post a restaurant review tomorrow! Good night and Happy Early Mother's Day to all those awesome Mamas out there!

Adjusted Tina Bars & Acorn Squash and Bean Chili

Hi guys! How are you? I am doing well and have been having a fun week in the kitchen so far! Given this, I wanted to share two recipes with you.

First off, we have the Body Attack launch tonight, so I wanted to make up a granola-ish, cookie-ish type of bar to give out to all of the instructors. I decided to tweak Tina's original recipe for her Oatmeal Raisin bars. Every time I make these, they get rave reviews. I made a few adjustments to the ingredients but otherwise followed her directions:

Ingredients:
2 cups dry oats
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
½ cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup oil (you could also use applesauce)
2 eggs or ½ cup egg substitute (or equivalent- check your egg substitute container)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
¼ cup sunflower seeds
¼ cup pumpkin seeds
½ cup chocolate chips



Second, a wonderful Itzy's Kitchen reader (hi Pam!!) sent me a delicious recipe from the PCC Natural Foods Market News Letter (from Seattle) for Butternut Squash and Black Bean Chili. I tweaked the recipe a bit and made a half batch. This resulted in 3 good sized servings. Here is the full recipe (~6 servings):

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 cups butternut or acorn squash in a 1-inch dice
• 1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes (I used tomato sauce as Josh isn’t a fan of tomato chunks)
• 2 25-ounce cans black beans (about 5 cups) (I used a combination of black and pinto beans)
• 1-4 cups vegetable stock (I used less because I used tomato sauce vs. diced tomatoes)
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
• 2 to 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• ¾ cup frozen corn
• Salt to taste

Directions:

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions, garlic and squash cubes. Sauté until onions are translucent, 7 to 10 minutes.

Add tomatoes(or tomato sauce), beans, corn, and vegetable stock. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Add cumin, chili powder, oregano, cayenne pepper and tomato paste. Let simmer for at least 25 to 30 minutes, until squash can be pierced easily with a fork.

Taste and add more cayenne pepper and/ or salt, if desired.

Serve with a squeeze of lime and garnish with cilantro and a dollop of whole-milk yogurt.

Recipe by Alicia Guy, PCC Cooks instructor (ingredients slightly adjusted)
Source: Sound Consumer, January 2010

I made a side of ground turkey with chili powder and mixed it into Josh's chili:

Do you have a favorite chili recipe (Links welcome!!)?? I'm off to teach Body Attack! Have a good night :)

Boring (?) Salads and my review on Tina's Bars

Tonight I taught Turbo and it was hot hot hot in the group fitness room! Afterwards, I was taking my time going through some things at home (learning a new release of Turbo, painting my toes in prep for a wedding we're going to this weekend, etc)....I thought I had lots of time because Josh had a softball game and had plans to go to dinner with the guys. Then, Josh called and said he was coming home because he had to help carry one of their players who got hurt up to his apartment! It didn't make much sense for him to go back out after that (the guy lives just down the road) to go to dinner with the other guys and he was on his way home! I threw together some quick salads with lettuce (romaine for me, spinach for Josh), edamame and corn (boiled up on the stovetop..mmmm mmm), tomatoes, walnuts, and homemade croutons (and Josh had hard boiled egg whites and chicken on his). It turned out to be a great/quick dinner. My salad:


Lots of people have been asking me about the Tina bar recipe so I figure I'd just post up here and say they are chewy and delicious! Like I noted, I used walnuts instead of rasins and I love love them! I had one as a snack when I came home from work and it carried me beyond my work out! Yayy to Tina for this great recipe- try your own variations too!

What is your favorite baked good? Any good recipes to pass along?

Bread, Granola, Bars, Reminder

It has been a WONDERFUL weekend! I hope you have had a good one too! Quick recap:

Friday: Taught Body attack, made Egg roll ups with potatoes and fruit for din din, watched movies with Josh

Saturday: Got my hair done (hooray), went food shopping, went out to dinner with my Aunt/Uncle and Parents at King Street Grill, went crazy baking:

Last night I made the EASIEST yeast bread ever using this recipe:

I had a slice of it this am with PB before Body Pump (YUM!).

I also made some Tina bars with chocolate chips (I subbed egg whites for the eggs):

I also made some Suite Apple Pie granola.

For the rest of today, I plan to RELAX, give the Frankster a bath, and make some homemade gnocchi. What are you doing?

Don't forget, you have until midnight tonight to enter for a chance to win some Cinnamon Sweet Bread

Light Pasta and Tina's Oatmeal bars

I'm sooo glad tomorrow is already Wednesday-yayyy! Work today was alright. Afterwards, I did a ton of errands and then Jill and I team taught Body Step. After B-step, I ran to BJs and picked up a bundle of exciting items! First off, BJs has the best and largest bag of mixed frozen fruit ever! I was so excited to find it! Frozen fruit is my new obessision! Once I was back, I made a fresh pasta mix based on this recipe from Cookie Baker Lynn's blog. It turned out awesome! I used whole wheat spiral pasta because I couldn't find any whole wheat bowtie. The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:

8 cups broccoli florets (4 heads)
1/2 lb farfalle (bow tie) pasta (or whatever you have on hand)
1 whole chicken breast, or 1 large 1/2 breast (I only cooked up 1 chicken breast and gave it all to Josh...I wasn't in a chicken mood :))
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. good olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup toasted pignoli (pine) nuts
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, optional

Directions:

To toast the pignollis, place them in a dry saute pan over meium-low heat and cook, tossing often, for about 5 minutes, until light brown.

Cut the chicken into strips on the diagonal. Place the chicken in a skillet and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, cover, turn down the heat, and let simmer till chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Don't overcook, or your chicken will be rubbbery.

Cook the broccoli for 3 minuts in a large pot of boiling salted water. Remove the broccoli from the water with a slotted spoon or sieve. Place in a large bowl and set aside.

In the same water, cook the bow-tie pasta according to the package directions, about 12 minutes. Drain well and add to the broccoli.

Meanwhile, in a small saute pan, heat the butter and oil and cook the garlic and lemon zest over medium-low heat for 1 minute. Remove from heat and add 2 tsp. salt (I didn't add the salt), the pepper, and lemon juice and pour this over the broccoli and pasta. Toss Well. Season to taste, sprinkle with the pignolis and cheese and serve.

I have been using this pasta lately and I think it is just the best! I found it in the organic aisle as my grocery store.


I have also been seeing rice pasta, has anyone ever used this? Is it any good?

After dinner, I decided to bake up Tina's amazing looking oatmeal bars. Instead of raisins, I used walnuts (Josh doesn't like raisins :( ). You can find the recipe here. They turned out delicious! I can't wait to eat one for breakfast tomorrow! Thanks Tina!!

Dinner Rerun and Baking

How we doing today? Was your Monday ok? Mine went pretty well. Work was alright. I came home to take care of Josh who stayed home from work today. His fever broke and hes eaten a little bit. For dinner tonight, he had some old school Campbell's Chicken and Stars. We thought the sodium would help him perk up a bit! Once I had gotten a little food in him, I went to the gym and ran and then took Body Pump. For dinner, I had a rerun of last night with some green beans (which were fresh and fabulous):


My plan for the rest of the night is to relax and bake! I am making some Tina bars with chocolate chips and will make some Suite Apple Pie Granola later. Here are the bars before they went into the oven:

Has anyone been watching the Hills? I have missed a bundle of episodes but home to watch tonight's episode!!

Shrimp, Granolas, Tina's PB Bars

Phew! I am so glad this is a short week- I don't think I could make it through a full length week! Did you have a good Monday/Tuesday? Quick review of mine:

Monday: Work, ran errands, taught Body Step, made a shrimpy dinner (boiled up some shrimp, peas, corn, broccoli and mixed it all with lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper and brown rice).

I also made up two batches of granola to bring with us to Hilton Head. The first variety contained 2 cups oats, 1 cup coconut, 1 cup mixed nuts (walnuts, almonds, pine nuts, sesame seeds), 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons honey, bake at 250 for 1 hour.

The second batch contained 2 cups oats, 1 cup coconut, 1 cup almonds/walnuts, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons honey, baked at 250 for 1 hour. Once it came out of the oven, I added another 2 teaspoons cinnamon and about 1/2 cup raisins.

Tuesday: Work, more errands, made Tina's PB bars (I used honey instead of agave, deliciousness), taught Body Attack (air conditioning was BROKEN in the group fitness room blehhhh), had a huge salad for din din.

Josh's parents and brother arrived tonight!! Tomorrow I am taking Body Pump and then working from home. We are all going out to din din to celebrate Josh finishing up his MBA!! More to come. What are you looking forward to this week?

Baked Potato and Broccoli Soup/Farmers Market

Happy Saturday! Hope you had a good day! It was a little rainy today, but Josh and I headed into Charleston for the farmers market anyways. The market runs from April to December and has wonderful produce, jewelery, paintings, baked goods, and lunch items. Here is a picture I took as we drove over the bridge into Charleston:

At the farmers market, I picked up potatoes, squash, and an onion...

After the market, we ran to whole foods. I picked up some Chobani yogurts, a little lunch (salads), and some sunflower seed butter (thank you again Sammie)...
After the whole food trips, I ran to Publix to do my regular food shopping. Thank you for all your comments on my posting yesterday, I will start posting up my weekly food lists! After, I came home and made some Tina Bars, watched Penn State kick butt, and then started up on a dinner Chandra had posted on her blog, Baked Potato and Broccoli soup. I only altered the recipe slightly, using 1% milk and I did not top it with bacon and more cheese. Instead, I served it with a fresh roll I purchased at the food store. Here is the recipe and some photos:

Baked Potato and Broccoli Soup

Ingredients:

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 (14 1/4-ounce) cans low-sodium fat-free chicken broth, divided
3 cups peeled, cubed potato (about 1 1/4 pounds)
2 cups broccoli florets, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 1/4 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
1 (8-ounce) block 2% reduced-fat sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:

Whisk together flour and 1/3 cup chicken broth until smooth.
Combine remaining chicken broth and next 3 ingredients in a Dutch oven. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 8 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Gradually stir in flour mixture. Cook, stirring often, 5 minutes.
Stir in milk and 8 ounces shredded cheese. Cook mixture over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until cheese melts.





Very yummy!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Hi! Hope your Monday was ok (whether you were working or not!). I wanted to thank you all for your protein powder suggestions! Since a few people were also looking for this info, this is a summary of the responses:

Jenn uses Biochem Vanilla and Jay Robb

Chickpea uses rice protein by Nutribiotic (chocolate)

Mizfit uses all kinds including pea, hemp, whey, soy

VeggieGirl uses Living Harvest Hemp Protein Powder

B_Hlthy recommends whey Pure Protein Brand and Designer Whey Brand

Lauren uses whey protein in her shakes

Heather uses Jay Robb's whey protein powders (she said Chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry are all very good, the pina colada or tropical dreamsicle flavors are yucky).

Mark uses LTF protein powder

Fitness Surfer uses Elite by Dymatize nutrition

I am planning to try a few varieties and will let you know my thoughts!!

As for my day, I did have to work today and it was busyyyy. After work, Josh and I had to do some house stuff. I know I have been very vague about all of our house junk going on right now and promise to give more info at a later time. Right now is just super stressful!

Any who, after the house stuff, I came home and did some baking (Tina bars) and made up a dinner of bbq chicken pizza. It turned out sort of eh...I am going to use a different sauce next time:

Still quite a bit of house stuff to do tonight! 2 days until the LOST premier! What are you looking forward to this week?

Sunday Footbal BBQ

If Sunday wasn't the day before Monday...I would love it more ;) I got up this morning and caught up on some things around the house. I also prepared for a Sunday Football BBQ. My Aunt and Uncle were in town signing some paperwork on their future house (which is RIGHT down the street from ours- hoooray!), so we decided to do up some good food. I made Tina Bars with chocolate chips for dessert.

My Aunt brought this amazing bowl of fruit from Costco:

Josh made up some burgers and I toasted up some buns:

And I made up some oven baked fries. I had some sweet potato "fries" and lots of fruit (maybe 4 times this amount haha):

I also made up some traditional white potato fries for everyone else (they were still cooking in this picture ;)):

All in all, a great bbq! We watched a bundle of football and then I decided it was time to get my legs moving! I felt a little sore after the quarterly and knew I'd be doubly sore tomorrow if I didn't do anything today. I ended up doing 6 miles (5 running and 1 mile walking because I ran into my friend Jennifer who was walking her dog in the middle of my run):

Felt good to get a little sweaty :) I am currently making up some bbq chicken nachos and more steak fries for Josh and his friend Jeremy :). On tonight's agenda, switching up my Body Attack choreography and more football. What are you up to?

First time

Saturday was a busssssssssssssssy day. We were pretty much working extremely hard all day. We did find a little bit of time to go to the food store to get some food for the apartment! As soon as the food was in the pantry, I started cooking! First I baked up some of Tina's bars with chocolate chips:


Next, I made a stuffed potatoes for dinner. Josh picked out the potatoes at the store and found two of the biggest potatoes I have ever seen. We could both only make it through about half of our potatoes:

Today has been great so far! We slept in and then I went to the little gym in our apartment complex. It was my first time working out in literally a week! This is probably the longest I have ever gone without a workout! It felt great to sweat! I did 20 minutes on the treadmill, 40 minutes on the elliptical and then did abs.

I also have some good news! I am meeting with the head group fitness instructor at the gym I want to work at on Wednesday. Apparently their only Turbo Kick instructor is pregnant and needs a replacement! They also are in need of a Body Step sub! I am thrilled...hopefully things will work out and I will have an opportunity to teach again soon!

Traveling Tuesday

Hello!

How was your day? Mine went pretty well. I got up and did a bit of work before I headed out for my two hour trip to my meeting! The meeting was actually really valuable, so I'm glad I attended. After, my team and I had lunch at Panera. I had a Greek salad with no olives. I drove home and continued working for a few more hours. I then got the house all clean and gave the Frankster a bath. Josh came home from work with a terrible headache. He went out to lunch today, so he still had his lunch I packed for him this am in tow. He was starving and didn't want to waste his lunch, so he decided it would be his dinner :)(Part 1 anyways, I will probably make him some eggs or oatmeal later hehe). Given this, I decided to skip the big dinner I had planned and save it for tomorrow night. Instead, I make myself some soup! I had Amy's organic (and vegan I believe) pasta and three bean soup.
Topped with a few of these bad boys.

Dinner was filling and yummy. I had one of Tina's bars afterwards too. I am off to practice some Body Step (I still haven't gotten to it and only have a day and a half to learn it-yikes!). Hope you all have a nice night :)