a chocoholic's diet

I can't say I've been perfect not eating "bad" carbs or sugar for the past three weeks, but I've been pretty close. I'm pretty sure I've used more {chocolate} will power in the past two weeks that in my entire life. I think it's good for me to learn this month that I CAN do it. Most people who are like me (like eat sweets for breakfast and lunch) have been telling me "I could NEVER do that!" and I smile at them, but I know it's not true- they don't WANT to do it. Of course they could do it, if I can do it anyone could do it- it has been incredibly hard. It's not like I don't want to eat sweets and yummy baked goods everyday- but I wanted a jump start to getting back to my pre-pregnancy weight, and the family biggest loser has been good motivation. I figure if I can survive the extreme this month it won't be so hard in the future to make and eat all the sweets I'm used to, but to issue a little more self control in the amounts and how often I binge on my beloved chocolate.
I've come up with a few healthy versions of sweet treats that have really helped me get through this so I thought I'd share a few of them here.

After some trial and error this is my favorite {yummy!} cookie dough that has no butter, sugar, or flour. I haven't tried a baked version yet, but  I will soon! I doubled this for my Sunday treat this week and it completely satisfied my sweet tooth.
measurements are estimates-adjust to taste

PERFECT FAUX COOKIE DOUGH
1 spoonful peanut butter (can also use "better n' peanut butter"- low cal, low fat)
2 spoonfuls sugar-free fat-free instant vanilla pudding mix
2-3 spoonfuls skim milk
2-3 spoonfuls oats
1 small spoonful cocoa (optional, omit for a more traditional cookie dough)
a few chocolate chips (optional if you add cocoa- I bought some sugar free ones that I add)
Just add all the ingredients in a little cup, stir with a spoon and eat up!
{It holds up well in the fridge, and remember because of the pudding and especially if you use instant oats it thickens up a lot so don't skimp on the milk. You can also add a little splenda in place of some of the pudding if you want}

HEALTHY CHOCOLATE SHAKE
skim milk- fill blender 1/2 way
1/2 pkg sugar free fat free chocolate pudding
1 tsp vanilla
1 spoonful splenda
1 spoonful cocoa
Add ingredients to the blender and blend for a minute or so till it's nice and frothy. Taste and add more ingredients to taste if you'd like it more chocolatey/sweet etc. The key is to blend it good- it increases in volume, gives it a lovely texture and makes it taste yummy. I keep a blender of this in the fridge at all times so that when I need a treat I can just re-blend and pour a glass of yummy chocolate milk. This has been my breakfast most mornings and sometimes in the afternoon or evening a little swig of this helps me get through the day.





This chocolate mousse pudding is what I've always used when I make trifle, regardless of health and I've discovered it is very versatile- this week I made a non-chocolate version to top some healthy-ish cupcakes I made for a shower, I've also used it to fill mock eclairs etc.  This weekend I made this sort of chocolate mousse pie to take to a lunch with friends-

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE PUDDING
1 large pkg sugar free fat free chocolate pudding mix
1 1/2 C milk
1 container sugar free cool whip, thawed
Whisk together pudding and milk, stir in cool whip. Store in the fridge.  It is yummy on it's own or it can make a great topping/filling etc- the options are endless and you can do it with any of the pudding flavors- white chocolate and vanilla both work great!

Noticing a trend yet? Lol, I guess my saving grace for this diet is sugar free fat free pudding mixes. There's so much you can do with them- they are so easy to use and add very little calories for the flavor and sweetness that they add. Although they contain corn starch, there are only a few Tbs of pudding mix in each box so when you make a little snack with a portion of it I think it's fairly insignificant compared to all the high-calorie alternatives that I'm replacing it with (think butter, flour, sugar, chocolate etc).

Keep calm & eat {sugar free} chocolate! :)

Pizza Night

mmmmm....pizza. Brad and I love pizza night, and I'm not gonna lie, I make a mean pizza. It's the perfect vehicle for my culinary creativity and it also helps accomplish my "perfect bite" theory. Everything is bite size and spread out meaning it's easier to get all the yummy flavors in your mouth at once. I started doing pizza night every week and was having so much fun creating different pizzas each time. So, even though the sugar thing has been much harder than the carb thing on the diet, I've missed the pizza night tradition.
Then I realized pinterest could probably solve all my problems. I searched for carb-free pizzas and the yummiest sounding one was with a cauliflower crust- there are several versions out there and I changed it up a bit to use less cheese, more cauliflower, and make a bigger pizza.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but honestly I didn't miss the bread- it was hard to believe it wasn't there and the texture and flavor were great!

CAULIFLOWER CRUST PIZZA
1 head cauliflower
1 1/2 C shredded mozzarella cheese
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp crushed garlic
desired sauce and toppings (precooked)
Pull leaves off of cauliflower leaving the stem. Holding the stem, grate the cauliflower into a microwavable bowl (you'll probably end up with around 2 1/2 C of riced cauliflower). Microwave uncovered for 7 minutes. Let cool slightly then add remaining ingredients and pat out and shape onto a pizza stone. Lightly brush with olive oil if desired. Bake at 450 for 15 minutes then remove, add desired toppings then return to broil for a few minutes till toppings are nice and hot. Because of the cheese the crust will stick a little to the pan, use a metal spatula to scrape it off and everything will be okay. You could use parchment paper if you're really scared. Enjoy!
{in case you were wondering, this particular pizza has BBQ sauce, chicken, bacon, onions, peppers, parmesan, and a tiny bit of mozzarella}

tamale bites!

Let's talk food again, it's been a while. (my posts as of late mostly just gush over my babykins and complain about pregnancy symptoms)
So how fun are these to make for a holiday appetizer? I used to make tamales at new years with my mom, but the tradition has been fading. These are definitely easy to make more frequently as they require no washing of corn husks, borrowing lard from the neighbors and such.  I used my own pork recipe for the meat, but the masa was great and I'm sold on the idea of tamale bites!
I made them for a relief society Christmas party tonight- they were yummy and Brad requested that I make them again. Better yet, I learned Wal-mart sells mini muffin tins for $4, since I have a double oven I decided I needed 2... I don't care what you may have against Wal-mart, you just can't beat that.

Salmon Tacos

It's all about salmon ever since the trip. I can be picky with fish since I grew up on fresh alaskan salmon and halibut, you could say I'm a fish snob.
I've been thinking about making salmon tacos for the past 3 days, except I come home so exhausted from school/clinical that I collapse on the couch and ask Brad to get us pizza. Yesterday I couldn't make them because I worked 7-7 and would've had to make a grocery store run for cabbage and lime. Today I worked 5-5. Off early enough to make dinner so my stomach would take no more excuses, time for a good homemade meal. Yesterday I had another nursing school breakdown, I needed this today.

SALMON TACOS
1 fillet salmon, sliced in thin strips
equal amounts lemon pepper seasoning/taco seasoning
olive oil
avacado
thin sliced cabbage
sour cream, mixed with a little lemon pepper/taco seasoning (I also grate in chipotle pepper that I freeze)
cojita cheese (optional)
corn tortillas (I make the easiest homemade ones Brad's Guatemalan grandma, Mami Oli, taught me. I can't share until I post the video of her doing it...in the meantime await anxiously.)
Toss salmon with lemon pepper and taco seasoning (you can add a little flour if it's too moist) Heat oil in a frying pan and cook salmon a few minutes until cooked through. Serve in warm tortillas and top with sour cream, cabbage, avacado, and cheese.

After Brad and I got engaged in NYC we ate at this fabulous little place called cafe havana. They are famous for their amazing grilled corn. I tried to copy it, after looking at this picure I'm realizing they must mix the cheese with some sour cream or butter so that it sticks to the corn. hmm...maybe next time.

CAFE HAVANA CORN
corn on the cob
a couple tsp olive oil
chili powder
lime juice
cojita cheese
Spread oil onto the corn, grill until tender. In the last couple minutes sprinkle with chili powder and salt. Sprinkle with lime juice and cheese before serving.

The Last Frontier

Yay! I'm so excited because I'm about to take off to visit here:

My dad is a die-hard fisherman and I've been going to Alaska since I was this big:

Brad and his parents have never even been fishing, so I'm excited to share an Alaska fishing adventure with them, I hope they enjoy it! (most of my family is going up and several in-laws as well)

Brad just buzzed his hair into a mullet because he thinks that's what fishermen do, disgusting.

He also told me he was going to call me Grace during this trip because of my suitcase. (I always get cheapy monogrammed potterybarn things from Downeast Home. Brad thinks its weird, but I tell him it's not everyday you get a nice $80 towel for 3 bucks or a $120 suitcase for $15!)

Last night instead of packing I made this for dinner: (I had a pineapple I didn't want to waste and a 1/2 full can of coconut milk) It's weird, but I keep all of these ingredients on hand.  I'll have to post some of my seafood recipes after we get home with 200 lbs of salmon! haha... Anyone got a spare freezer we could borrow?

you can get my recipe here. Hands down to Brad for being such a king of the grill last night, the chicken was so moist and juicy.  I'll forgive him for giving himself a mullet...when he gets rid of it.

Enchilada Soup & Cornbread

 image

I normally don't post recipes when I forget to take a picture, but I brought this to Heather's bachelorette party this week and the recipe was requested, so here it is! There are some copycat Chili's enchilada soup recipes floating around out there and this is my own take on creamy chicken enchilada soup. Honestly, I've never had Chili's soup because its not my favorite restaurant. If their soup is really this good I may have to reconsider. :)

ENCHILADA SOUP

2-3 Tbs olive oil
3 chicken breasts- (I marinated mine for a few hours in achiote paste blended with vinegar, garlic, white pepper and a little water)
1/2 onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 C chicken broth
1 C masa harina*
1 C Rosarita enchilada sauce
1/2 C sherry cooking wine (I just had this so I put it in, you could get creative w/ apple juice etc)
16 oz pkg velveeta cheese
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
chicken boullion- pollo seasoning, to taste
1/2 chipotle pepper, minced (i freeze mine then use a zester, you could finely dice it)
1/2 Tbs lime juice, to taste
sauteed mushrooms (optional)
garnish w/ desired toppings: tortilla strips/crumbled chips, dollop of sour cream, pico de gallo, avacado etc
Add oil to a pan and brown chicken on both sides until cooked through. slice into bite-size pieces and set aside. In a pot add olive oil and saute onions until transluscent. Add garlic then chicken broth. Whisk masa harina with 1 C water and add to the pot. Add enchilada sauce, cheese, spices, chipotle pepper, lime, and sherry.  Add additional liquid as needed, pollo boullion seasoning is good to add if you add a lot more water.  Add chicken and mushrooms, you could add black beans and corn too.  Simmer for a bit and serve, its easy to make the day before and makes good leftovers too!
*You can get masa harina from the latin section of most grocery stores, pollo seasoning too
If you make the achiote chicken the outside of it turns this amazing color: (and stays much prettier if you grill it)

I've really been enjoying a simple, authentic cornbread recipe for the past while. Whenever I try mexican cornbread recipes they aren't as good, so I changed up my favorite cornbread and I was happy with the results. 

MEXICAN CORNBREAD
1/2 C butter
2/3 C sugar
4 eggs
1 can creamed corn
1 small container buttermilk (almost a cup I think)
1/2 can chopped green chilis or 1 jalapeno pepper seeded and finely diced
2-3 Tbs grated red bell pepper
1/2 C pepperjack cheese (I just had sliced so I tore it into little squares)
3/4 C sharp cheddar cheese
1 C flour
1 C cornmeal
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
Heat oven to 350 and melt butter in a casserole dish in the oven. Whisk all other ingredients together in a bowl and pour in melted butter leaving about 1 Tbs in the bottom of the pan. Stir together and pour into the pan. Bake 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Loosly cover with foil after the top browns slightly.

Mongolian Style

Last night I threw this together before heading to the gym, it was such a yummy meal to reward myself with afterward a good workout and it was so easy too! Measurements are guessy, but close. :)

MONGOLIAN BEEF
2 sirloin steaks, sliced thin (or flank steak etc)
1/4 C cornstarch
3 Tbs sesame oil
1/2 tsp minced ginger (or 3 pieces candied ginger)
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1/2 C soy sauce
1/2 C brown sugar
2 Tbs rice vinegar
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (I also added chiles del arbol for some extra heat)
1/2 yellow or red onion, sliced
1-2 C green beans
For the sauce I heated about 1/2 Tbs sesame oil in a sauce pan then added garlic and ginger. After sauteeing for a minute add soy sauce and vinegar, dilute with a Tbs or 2 of water. Add brown sugar and red pepper, bring to a boil for a few minutes then remove from heat. Heat about 1 Tbs sesame oil in a wok or skillet and saute green beans and onion, remove to a plate. Toss meat with cornstarch and let sit a few minutes. Add 2-3 Tbs additional oil to the skillet, add meat and season with salt and pepper. After a couple minutes return veggies and pour sauce over everything. Let it come to a simmer, reduce heat to low and cover until ready to serve. Serve over white rice, who needs chinese take out? :)

Paella y España

My brother Aaron is touring around southern Spain right now with his wife, I'm sooo jealous. I guess he deserves it since he served a mission there for 2 years. I just lived there for 2 months doing a geneology internship with my fav cousin Ann, but I still like to pretend like I have some claim to Spain. I wouldn't root for them in the world cup when playing USA or Chile, but against anyone else I'd definitely be on Spain's side. :) Man, I know way too much about sports these days...
I actually spent a couple of layover days in Spain last August when we were on our honeymoon, but it doesn't really count since we barely got outside of Madrid. (Still gotta go back, right?) I really wish I could recreate all of my favorite trips so that I could do them with Brad, and visa-versa, he's probably travelled more than me!
Anyways, I was telling my brother about all of the fabulous things I recommended for them to do (sure, he lived there forever, but you don't really get to play much on a mission-we got to travel all over Spain and Portugal) and it made me think about how much I love Spain. The flamenco dancing, romantic scenery and music, awesome history, fusion of cultures, great food- its a pretty magical place. People always like Italy more, but Spain seemed so much less commercialized to me. I like that, it's raw.  And the food- chocolate y churros, paella, tortillas españoles, magnum doble, and tapas for dinner each night. How luckly I was back then to have such a crazy metabolism.
I'm a scrapbooker, if I'm bored sometimes I'll go upstairs and pull out an old scrapbook to remenisce. I decided to take a pic of a page, then I got carried away. No worries, it's only like 5% of the Spain book...

What I'm actually getting at is that I got a Williams & Sonoma paella pan, made in Spain, for $3 at DownEast Home! The combo of that and having my brother in Spain right now inspired me to make paella for our weekend date w/ my old roomie Eun-Jin and her husband. They got married 2 days after us! We had fun complaining about sports and how our husbands shouldn't try to multi-task with their phones so much while they drive. There's always something comforting when other people can relate to you.

PAELLA
1/2 C olive oil or so
2 chicken breasts, cut in chunks
3 chorizo or hot italian sausages, browned on the outside and sliced
12 large shrimp, (peeled and deveined)
(lobster/crab/scallops/clams or any desired seafood, I just did big shrimp)
3 cloves minced garlic
1 small onion, chopped fine
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips
1 C green beans
1/2 C artichoke hearts, sprinkled with lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp cumin
2 C med grain rice (valencia/bomba)- I actually just used jasmine cause I had it, but I'm gonna try sushi rice next time.
3-5 C chicken stock (I always save my homemade stock and freeze it)
1 large pinch or 1/4 tsp saffron (I got it cheapy in Morocco, I love saffron. You could just use turmeric though)
1/2 C peas
Lemon wedges, to garnish
Heat 1/4 C olive oil in paellera (you could prob just use a large saute pan, you just wouldn't be able to put it in the oven)  add chicken- season with salt, pepper, paprika, rosemary, thyme and cumin. Brown on all sides (no need to cook through). Set chicken aside. Add more oil, then add onion to the oil and saute a few minutes, then add tomato, peppers, green beans, artichokes, and garlic. Add rice and saute a couple minutes, add garlic salt and pepper. Pour in simmering broth and stir in saffron. Arrange chicken mixture, chorizo and shrimp on top. (I pushed the shrimp down so that they would cook good) Let boil 2 min, then reduce heat to a simmer. Move pan around to cook evenly, but don't stir rice, add more liquid if needed. It should take about 20 min to cook the rice through. After 10 min add the peas. My motto was do what you gotta do to cook the rice- I put it in a 350 oven for a few minutes, and turned the heat up on the burner for a couple minutes at the end to get the desired socorrat, golden brown crust on the bottom. I kept checking w/ a spoon to make sure it didn't burn. (if it starts burning just add more stock) Cover with foil and let rest 10 min. Sprinkle lightly with lemon and garnish with the wedges.

Brad took this picture of leftovers to make fun of how I always make too much food:

I made these yummy molten lava cakes for dessert: (unrelated to Spain)

Adios for now España!

Bachelorette Food :)

I wish I could have gone to my friend Heather's bachelorette party this week. Oh, not hers, it's the TV show. I've never gotten into the bachelor/bachelorette series, but I couldn't resist giving it a try since Heather has been making a girls night for the show each week. It's kinda a silly show, but its been fun having a girl's night every week. (too bad for 2 weeks I'm doing 12 hr psych rotations instead of eating and watching TV w/ friends)
Heather made this yummy, easy pulled pork which she calls "Christy's", but I call it "Heather's" since shes the one who introduced me to it. You can't beat something yummy with only 3 ingredients, so I had to make it myself and share.
Now I didn't have a pork roast on hand and didn't decide I wanted this until an hour before dinner tonight... so I just boiled 2 chicken breasts for 10 min, shredded them, and added them to 1 C of the mango salsa with 1/2 C of brown sugar. (I brought the salsa/sugar to a boil in a sauce pan first) I let it all simmer for a bit, I also added a little chicken boullion. I thought this would taste great w/ chicken and I was right!

Heather's Mango Peach pulled pork (or chicken!)
1 pork tenderloin (or 4 chicken breasts)
2 C mango peach salsa (Costco)
1 C brown sugar
Put it in a crockpot on low all day (or boil chicken), shred meat and serve with nachos, tacos, quesadillas etc.

yum!

the next day I made the meat into cafe rio-esque salads:

Breakfast Burrito

Brad challenged me to make dinner for 2 people and I almost did it yesterday! I don't know exactly why that's so hard for me. Maybe because its easier to cook for 4 and then we can have the leftovers the next day for our lunches. Problem is lunch portions should really be smaller, and Brad tends to eat a bit more than 1 portion at dinner so I never know quite how much to make.  I think of that when I pull out some giant hunk of meat from the freezer and somehow decide it makes sense to just cook it all...

Anyways, I love making breakfast burritos! They make a great weeknight dinner or special breakfast. I assume my version is a bit healthier than Beto's... (they use deep fried french fries and are a bit greasier)

BREAKFAST BURRITOS
1 C hashbrowns (or 1 potato cut into julienne strips with this amazing tool)
4 beaten eggs, + 2 Tbs milk
1/3 16 oz pkg chorizo
5 strips bacon
1/4 onion, chopped (or 1 tsp onion powder)
1/2 C sharp cheddar cheese
salt/pepper to taste
tortillas, salsa, sour cream
Cut bacon into small pieces and fry in a pan. Once cooked, set bacon aside onto a paper towel and drain some of the oil from the pan. Add chorizo to the same pan and fry until slightly browned.  Add onion and hashbrowns and only turn around periodically so they have a chace to brown, add salt/pepper and a little olive oil if needed. (I've also cooked the potatoes in the oven just like I do for oven fries only cut ito juliene strips.  Once the potatoes are cooked add eggs to the pan and stir, when the eggs are almost done return bacon to the pan and add cheese unil just melted. Spoon into warm tortillas and top with salsa and sour cream, or ketchup.

I folded mine into a cute little burrito, Brad's was too overstuffed for that!