Family Day Crockpot Pork

Happy Family Day (or Prez Day) to my fellow bloggers! We had a nice, low key one. I didn't even leave the house- good day! ;)



I did try a new recipe- the cover one from my forementioned special edition BH&G Ultimate Slow Cooker 2010. Barbecued Country-Style Ribs was the recipe- actually I followed in into the second suggested recipe Shredded Pork Sandwiches with Vinegar Slaw.

The recipe wasn't low fat, but it was quick and tasty. I couldn't find the boneless ribs required in the recipe, the butcher didn't know what they were and directed me to a boneless rib roast which I cut in chunks and used in its place.

I really liked it and my family all seemed to like it, too. Only dh and I had it on the kaiser rolls and only I added the coleslaw and sauce on top. (dh and his lack of sauce love) I'm going to look for lower fat crockpot alternatives next- maybe a chili? We've got the chill in the air for it!

Hot buns for Valentine's

Happy Valentine's, everyone! Checking in from chocolate bonbon eating (and Olympic watching) central. We also went to a movie today (Valentine's Day: the movie on the day) and had movie popcorn with butter. (which always tastes good until you feel terrible after.)

In good healthier eating news, one of the treats that I made for my family today was from my Cooking Light recipe binder: Triple Play Cinnamon Rolls. (4pts) I will look for a link on my laptop after.

Anyway, I used the bday Kitchenaid mixer for the kneading part again, so they were pretty easy- though not a recipe for a week night with all the pauses between steps. I skipped the raisins because I didn't have any, plus my children aren't fans. I would like to add raisins next time (for at least half the roll anyway).

The rolls were liked by everyone in my family. Maybe we'll share with people other than the 4 of us tomorrow. The recipe makes 20 afterall. ( Though my end piece was a mini- as seen in the pic. Guess that one is a single pointer. Unlike my Laura Secord bonbons. ;))

-- Post From My iPhone

Using the tools...

After missing last week's check-in post, thought I'd try to be better this week. We'll see how it goes.

Anyway, I have a few new tools, including my new iPhone- which I love, love, love! I took the food pics on my phone for easy upload. yee haw!

I also used a new attachment on my November-new KitchenAid stand mixer: the dough hook for the pictured Pumpkin-Cinnamon Streusel Buns from my Cooking Light recipe binder. (5pts)
The buns are really good! I've made them the last 2 weekends. Only dd12 wouldn't try them- turned off by the idea of the pumpkin. You really don't taste pumpkin, btw- not that I don't enjoy pumpkin. (says the pumpkin crazy lady!) They are fluffy and cinnamon-y- delicious. Well worth the points, I think.

The other two dishes pictured are from a Better Homes and Garden's special edition magazine I found on Slow Cooker recipes. The one I tried was Indian-spiced Chicken Thighs. It leads to left-overs and another recipe: Coconut Chicken and Couscous. I made it with pasta for the second night instead of the rice. (Trying to please my family since we'd had rice the night before and if the chicken wasn't enjoyed, they will always eat pasta without complaint.)

I really liked the slow cooker recipes; my family, not as much. Dh likes his chicken dry-argh! (sauce is not his favourite) and he complained about the curry flavour the second night. (We don't have curry very often.) dd9 doesn't like dark meat chicken since we usually have boneless chicken breasts.

Anyway, I enjoyed the Indian flavours and the coconut milk (I used light) mixed into the pasta and chicken bits, so I might do it again (after some time passes) with white meat instead- and halve the amount, so I'm not eating chicken thighs for lunch AND dinner.

-- Post From My iPhone

Tuesday Check In

Ok. Missed a week somewhere. Oops!

I've had an okay last couple of weeks. I still need to work on my snacking- and get back to tracking my food.

I HAVE done pretty well with the exercising- boot camp, the gym and yoga starting back on Wednesdays. I'd like to get back to more consistent running, but I was feeling under the weather this weekend and yesterday and seem to have pulled my back again. It felt ok during boot camp tonight, so hopefully it recovers quickly. Our trainer has been pulling out the stops at Boot Camp- increasing the intensity to get results. He wants us to follow an eating plan also

I tried a few recipes over the last couple of weekends (as pictured above). From the new Cooking Light (Jan/Feb 2010) I made the Leek and Potato Soup (in the Jamie Oliver article) and Coconut Shrimp with Fiery Mango Sauce.

My husband and I enjoyed the shrimp though some of them were a little crispy! The suggested cooking time (2 1/2 mins on each side at medium high) was just too long on my stove top anyway. I cut the time down, turned down the temp, but they still cooked super fast. The sauce was tasty, too, though I couldn't find mango nectar and substituted with peach which they had. Also, I forgot to add the hot pepper, so it wasn't fiery! This recipe deserves a redo at some point though, so I'll try it a little spicier.

The chicken pictured was a Kung Pao Chicken recipe from the new issue of Shape magazine. It was enjoyable also. I really enjoy anything with sesame oil.

Hope everyone had a healthy last couple of weeks! with no back strain! :)

A New Year to be healthier!

Long time no post, again. Hope everyone had a nice Christmas! I did. It was a family affair- pretty action packed and not very low fat, to say the least. During the 2 weeks of holidays, I did manage two gym workouts (one at which I fell off the treadmill- ouch! but that's another story), one book camp session with our trainer (at the gym we worked out this summer) and one skating session.

I didn't get everything I hope to do done over the holidays- like making our gingerbread cookie winter scene that I plan to do every year, but I did manage to use my Nigella Christmas cookbook for a number of recipes. I won't link them here- they aren't light recipes- but I will list the ones I did make- for my own amusement. lol. They are as follows: Party Parma Ham Bundles, Chocolate Peanut-Butter Cups, Ginger-Glazed Ham, Macaroni Cheese De Luxe, Spiced and Superjuicy Roast Turkey with Allspice Gravy, Redder than Red Cranberry Sauce, Gingerbread Stuffing, Christmas Sprouts, Sticky Gingerbread, Pumpkin Pancakes with Sticky Maple Pecans and lots of cocktails and mocktails. :)

I liked everything from her cookbook- probably my least favourite was the Pumpkin pancakes, though it might have just been the 'unusual' flavour, because I started to enjoy them more after the first taste. We'd also never brined a turkey before, and I really enjoyed the juicy result of the brining. My husband didn't love dragging a huge tub of turkey in brine to the basement fridge, but I think I'd get him to do it again next turkey. ;)

I also made the Pumpkin Ice cream Torte from Cooking Light again. We had it New Year's Day and it held it's own, even surrounded by more decadent options. I really like that recipe. Now the holidays are over, I also tried a couple of CL recipes for dinners. Last night I made Pan- Fried Chicken (6pts) from the Best of 2009 online article (originally from June's issue- a recipe that I'd meant to get to, but never did.) It was pretty time consuming in terms of time waiting for the chicken in coating to chill and then, later, to come to room temperature, but otherwise, it was really easy to put together. I really liked the flavour of the coating. It was even good cold for lunch the next day at work. The cinnamon flavour is especially tasty.

Being good and kinda bad at the same time. ;)

Just a quick post for an HYC check in. I've been both good and bad this week! My weight isn't going down much (to say the least) what with all the holiday snacking I've been doing. We threw a Christmas party last Saturday. I made a number of items from the Nigella Christmas book I found at Winners (and love!) including 3 martini recipes and a chocolate peanut butter cup recipe. I also tried a couple of her non-alcoholic ones for our designated drivers.

I did make one healthy recipe at the party- a Cooking Light Pumpkin Ice cream Torte from the November issue, that I'd been wanting to try, but never got to- partially due to the fact that, though pretty easy, it's pretty lengthy in waiting (to freeze) parts. Anyway, I really liked the torte, as did the rest of my family and party guests.

I didn't have any allspice left, so that was omitted in my rendition and I used butterscotch sauce instead of caramel. I didn't take ANY pictures of food at my party being too busy making martinis and stuff. ;)

In terms of being "good," I have still been enjoying my boot camp at school and my new gym membership. Pictured above is my group post workout and stretching. Today we did a pretty cardio heavy workout: 7 laps of the fifth floor and then relay running under the clock around the circuit muscle work.

Hope everyone is enjoying these busy weeks prepping for the holidays (if you do that kind of thing!) I feel somewhat under pressure with a lengthy To-Do list. It's good to have a few good exercise sessions to distress, right? That's the "good" Janet talking, the bad one is thinking of Nigella's "Santa's Little Helper" cocktail that she didn't get to make at the party, that would probably make a very nice nightcap. ;)

Monday, Monday! with a side of banana apple crisp.

Hey all! had a pretty good weekend, except for my knee bugging me: so no running! I feel like I over stretched it or something. My one-time running partner cancelled on me at the gym today and only one person showed up for step at lunch, so more rest for my over worked body again today. yeah! Hopefully, this week it feels better- especially, if I'm going to get some mileage down this coming month in preparation for our races to come.

I did try a new recipe tonight- using up more of my organic fruit backlog in the fridge: Banana-Coconut Apple Crisp from the Cooking Light site. (4pts per serving) I really liked it and had it with some leftover banana gelato- mmmmm..banana-y! I had to force myself to stop eating it. eep! It was an interesting, tangy and sweet mixture. I liked the chewy little bits of coconut in it and the surprising warm bites of banana flavour. Different from your usual apple crisp.

I incredibly had all the ingredients on hand without a separate trip to the grocery store and though I didn't have any OJ left, I did have a couple of huge organic oranges that I could juice. Woo hoo! love not sending stuff to the green bin untried.

Final side note: love my bday gift- the lovely red casserole dish pictured above- from one of my girlfriends. Love kitchen gifts that make me want to empty my crisper and make stuff. :)