Peppermint Candy Cane Ice Cream

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 It's cold outside, I know.  But ice cream still rocks!  So I say embrace the cold and make some candy cane ice cream! Oh - and add some chocolate chips; they make the ice cream even prettier.        We've made this ice cream 3 times this year. It is the most requested ice cream from my kids. No matter what time of year it is. Although, I'm not sure what they love most - eating the ice cream or smashing the candy canes! 


Peppermint Candy Cane Ice Cream Recipe

3/4 cup sugar
2 cups half and half
8 oz. heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. peppermint extract
12 - 15 mini candy canes, crushed (a baggie and a hammer on the driveway works well)
Chocolate Chips (optional)

Combine everything together and stir well to dissolve the sugar.  Pour into ice cream maker and churn as directed.  We ate half of it right out of the ice cream maker but it's much firmer if you freeze for several hours before serving.

We tried it a second time by adding the candy canes during the last 5 minutes to see if it wouldn't turn pink. Well, it turned pink anyways. Still good.  :-)



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Ham, Bean & Vegetable Soup in the Slow Cooker

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 It's ham season! You know, it's the time of the year where every grocery store has super duper cheap hams.  Well, we stock up and end up eating a LOT of ham.  That isn't unusual as my family eats a lot of ham.  All year long.  It's pretty much a staple in our refrigerator.  So you can see why ham season excites me so much.  We all know about my love for beans so I was excited when I found this 15 bean soup mix.  I didn't even think to snap a picture while the beans were still inside. I did not use the ham flavor packet though, for some reason, it seemed kinda creepy.  Plus, I had plenty of ham flavor with my ham broth.   
 I started out throwing 2 small ham hocks into the crockpot before bed. I let it soak all night and woke up to a delicious pot of ham broth and some super tender ham that fell right off the bone.   The next morning I chopped it all up and saved the ham broth.  I put in about 2 quarts of the ham broths back in the crockpot and started the soup.   
 I posted a ham and bean soup before that was mainly just ham and beans. Nothing wrong with that, it was good.  Very good actually.  This time, I wanted more veggies.  I wanted it to be thick and hearty.  So I added a bunch of veggies and it turned out fantastic.  Some of the small beans disappeared into the broth and the sweet potato basically disappeared as well. I loved this though because it made the broth super thick and it tasted amazing!   
 There still were plenty of chunks and it was amazingly filling.  One bowl fills you right up.  I have many hams left in the freezer so there will be many soups to be made this winter.  I plan to make this one again and again.  I don't think I would change a thing. What will you be doing with your leftover ham bones?     



Ham, Bean & Vegetable Soup in the Slow Cooker

Ham Hock (I had 2 small ones actually)
Water

3 cups leftover ham
2 quarts of ham broth (I used a bit less than 2 quarts)
2 onions, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large potatoes, cubed
1 sweet potato, cubed
1 bag of dried beans - I used 15 bean mix
2 - 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes, with juice
Salt and lots of pepper, to taste

Enjoy your ham dinner.  While cleaning up after, take your leftover ham hock and throw it into your large slow cooker and fill with water.  Leave it in there overnight on low.  The next morning, strain the solids from the liquid.  KEEP THE HAM BROTH.  DO NOT DISCARD.  Pull any good meat off the ham bones and just toss the fat and the bones. 

Rinse your beans in a strainer and throw into the now empty crockpot. Add just shy of 2 quarts of ham broth. You can add more later if you want (or if there is room).  Turn crockpot on high and let beans cook a bit. 

Chop up all your onions, carrots, celery and garlic.  I cooked my veggies briefly on the stove but I don't think I needed to do that, I think they would have cooked just fine if I had just thrown them into the crockpot.  Add about 3 cups of leftover ham to the crockpot as well.

Wait a few hours before adding the potatoes or they just might turn to mush. Here is what I did. I had my beans and first veggies in the crockpot at about 10 am.  I left it on high until 1 and then added my potatoes.  I then turned it to low and cooked it until about 5 pm.  Everything was soft, mushy and delicious!!! 

**Keep your ham broth so you can use it in future meals. You can put some in rice. I made some baked beans and used some ham broth. You can also use it in replacement for chicken broth in casseroles for a different flavor. 






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Pork Loin w/ Sundried Tomatoes & Spinach - 17 Day Diet

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 Anybody have any weight they want to lose? 
I started Debbi Does Dinner Healthy more than 3 years ago.  My goal was to challenge myself to make and create healthy meals for me and my family.  I had weight to lose so continually finding healthy, low calorie meals was essential for me.  I did very well, I lost a lot of weight.  I still had a lot of weight to lose but I grew complacent and I maintained for awhile. Then I lost it. Bad. I gained almost all the weight back that I had lost.  I vowed I wouldn't be one of those people who gained it all back, but I did. I've been trying and trying to get motivated to lose it.  It's funny, I KNOW how to eat healthy. I KNOW what foods to avoid but I haven't been able to stop eating them.  Or making them.  Have you seen all the desserts posted on my blog the last few months? Way too many desserts and not enough healthy dinners for sure. 
Keeping a journal and writing down what I eat is what worked for me before.  I've been trying to do that but it just isn't working.  I need a plan.  I decided to try the 17 Day Diet.  It's a popular low carb diet that is super, duper low carb for 17 days.  Then introduces some carbs for the next 17 days.  Then more carbs and cycling between carbs days and no carbs days for the next 17 days.  The theory is to confuse your metabolism so that you aren't eating the exact same things daily, thus losing weight.    Now, as a rule for eating, I don't believe in eliminating anything from your diet.  I think in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle, you should be able to eat anything. In moderation.  This theory works, unless you abuse it. Like me.  I don't believe that anyone should eliminate carbs permanently from their diet.  However, I can certainly do it for 17 days. 


So for the next few weeks, I'm going to let my blog go into a different direction.  I plan to let you know what recipes I'm using for the 17 Day Diet.  My goal is to stick to this for at least 17 days and then have formed the habit of eating well.  I'll also let you know how it goes and the results.  My first day on the 17 day diet and I cheated. Not really.  I didn't actually have the book until the first day. I had been doing research online and knew pretty much everything about it. Then the book came in from the library.  I found out that pork loin isn't "allowed" until the second round of 17 days.  Maybe it's not lean enough?  Mine was pretty darned lean so I think it was okay.  You could try this topping with chicken too.  I just happened to have a couple of pork loins in the freezer that needed to be used.  I'll be eating a lot of chicken and turkey the next few weeks! This is a very high protein diet.  I was NOT hungry at all the first day.  According to their plan, I could have eaten more food.  But there just was no room.  I ate I'm hoping that it continues to go this well! 

When I was researching for this diet, I was looking online for menu plans.  I plan, for the next 17 days, to show you my menu plan. 
 Day 1 - 17 Day Diet
2 egg whites w/ spinach and salsa
1 apple
1 - 6 oz. yogurt
Salad with loads of veggies and 3 oz. of chicken with buffalo sauce
1 - 6 oz. yogurt
6 oz. pork loin with sundried tomatoes and spinach
Steamed broccoli with garlic
Water and green tea



Pork Loin with Sundried Tomatoes and Spinach Recipe

24 oz. Pork Loin

1/3 cup sundried tomatoes, rinsed and chopped
Handful of spinach
1/2 cup chopped onions
3 garlic cloves, minced

Cook pork loin according to directions on package. Mine took a bit over an hour.  Then cover it with foil and let rest for about 10 minutes.

Saute onion, garlic, spinach and sundried tomatoes in a bit of cooking spray until onions are soft. Put the sundried tomato mixture on the pork loin and serve. 

4 servings

401 calories per serving
6.7 carbs 
16.4 fat



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Fruit Yogurt Smoothies - 17 Day Diet - Day 2

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I've been following The 17 Day Diet this week.  I was pleased to see that the "allowed" foods are foods that I like to eat anyways.  The meal plans are actually very similar to how I ate when I lost a whole bunch of weight before.  I love eggs and could eat them every morning for breakfast.  I have a feeling that most mornings I will be having eggs.  Sometimes I got to change it up though.  This morning I made a yogurt smoothie.

I usually buy frozen strawberries and mixed berries in the freezer.  I love fresh fruit though so we buy that often.  Have you ever found yourself throwing out half cartons of strawberries or blueberries because you didn't eat them before they went bad? At the beginning of a diet, we all race to the produce section of the grocery store and load up on fresh vegetables and fruit that often end up in the garbage due to spoilage. Well, just freeze any fruit that you've had a few days.Then you can add frozen fruit to smoothies! Or any kind of blender concoction.  Freeze blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, bananas, peaches, grapes and pineapple, then add the frozen fruit when blending protein shakes or smoothies made with yogurt or kafir. (I've never tried kafir but I've heard it's popular for making smoothies). Grapes are cool to eat just by themselves frozen! 
Do you ever cut fresh pineapple?  I keep the core for smoothies! I cut the core into ice cube sized chunks and freeze them in a baggie.  They are perfectly good and healthy to eat but just isn't the best to eat by itself as it's kinda tough.  It's PERFECT for smoothies though!


Here is an interesting tidbit I found in Fitness Magazine. It reads,  "In a Penn State study, people who sipped smoothies that were mixed for five minutes longer felt fuller and at 12 percent less food afterward than those whose beverages were quickly combined." Who knew?  Maybe I ought to blend my smoothies longer.   
Day 2 - 17 Day Diet
Yogurt Fruit Smoothie
Turkey lettuce wraps - 4 oz. real turkey, lettuce, tomato, cucumber
Baked Apple (recipe to follow)
Aztec chicken (recipe to follow)
Green beans




Fruit Yogurt Smoothie Recipe

6 oz. yogurt (I used half vanilla and half raspberry)
3 frozen strawberries
Handful of frozen blueberries, raspberries and blackberries
1 pineapple frozen core cube
Water

Place everything in a blender and add water until blended to the consistency you like. I like mine pretty thick so I didn't need a whole lot of water.



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You don't need expensive equipment to get a killer workout!

To contact us Click HERE
Here is the class we did at Personal Best on Thursday, January 26, 2012. It was a challenge, but FUN!!!!

* JUMP ROPE - FOR 1 MIN.
* PLANK JACKS -16- MT CLIMBERS 16
COMPLETE THESE 3 EXERCISES BACK TO BACK 5 TIMES THROUGH AS FAST AS YOU CAN!

* KETTLE BELL SWINGS - 30
* HOP TURNS - 20
COMPLETE THESE 2 EXERCISES BACK TO BACK 5 TIMES THROUGH AS FAST AS YOU CAN!

* WEIGHTED JACKS- 32
* FOOT BALL HIGH STEPPING- 32 - RIGHT INTO BURPES 10
COMPLETE THESE  3 EXERCISES BACK TO BACK 5 TIMES THROUGH AS FAST AS YOU CAN!

* ROLL-UPS INTO SQUAT -THRUST INTO A PUSH-UP - 10
* LEG RAISES - 20
COMPLETE THESE EXERCISES 5 TIMES THROUGH AS FAST AS YOU CAN!

GOOD LUCK! LET ME KNOW HOW IT WORKS FOR YA!

Don't lead me on.

To contact us Click HERE
Every day I navigate a parking garage.

Round and round I go until I see an open spot, excitement surges as I slow up to swing in...

..then...

Bah! Taken.

Without control my natural thought is "I hate you midget car!"

I have mixed feeling about sharing this, because I find it to be overly aggressive, inappropriate, and I'd like to think... a bit out of character for myself.

Yet every. single. time. I see one of those smaller-than-usual cars, creeped up into a normal-size spot, I feel disappointed... deceived....disgusted...and that exact thought automatically rants in my mind (sometimes even under my breath).

I feel confident that little car is snickering, with its high pitch laughter, as it watches another car mistakenly think it has found an open parking spot.

I then spend the rest of my garage parking experience (at least 3 more levels) feeling guilty for my irrational hatred and harsh reaction towards those cars.

...until I see one again, maybe on the road... maybe in a commercial...maybe in a normal-size parking spot hidden by a normal-size vehicle....and my eyes automatically squint, my jar automatically clinches...and my uncontrollable response is..."If you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all." (Thanks, Mom.)

It's called a tail...

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I believe there is an invisible line on one's head that distinguishes the correct hemisphere a pony tail should rest.

And when the pony tail or messy bun-knot or bird nest ball crosses that line it becomes....

 a unicorn horn...a unihorn oooor some mutation of it.

The unihorn is a hungover girl's attempt at appearing carelessly relaxed...

And just as the hungover girl feels....the unihorn appears...like shit.

Below is for your visual reference.

These girls are hungover, they just have makeup artists:














These girls are just hungover.
        

Ladies, either cut back on the cocktails or push back the horn and embrace the pony.

I'll Have My Pie & Eat It Too!

To contact us Click HERE

...with Thanksgiving in my heart!

Many people gain weight through the holiday season as families get together and feast.  In the past you have probably overeaten the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, and then when it's time for dessert you are completely stuffed.  However, you eat dessert anyway, because it's there.  Plus it's delicious.  Plus it wouldn't feel right somehow if you didn''t indulge in your favorite dessert on the holiday.  It becomes a tradition.  Most Americans probably throw their hands up in dismay the period from Thanksgiving through Christmas intent on starting a healthy program by New Year's Day.  Why wait?  You can still work out and control your portions through the notoriously self-indulgent holiday season.

My advice would be to plan ahead.  Do not think with your stomach.  We have all been through this period of overeating, and then we feel guilty later.  Let's stop learning the hard way (or just not learning at all).

My late Grandmother McSparin (Grandma Mac) was excellent at self-control.  She would always make a huge feast for everyone, with all my Aunts' and my Mother's help of course.  However, when Grandma Mac finally sat down to eat she would just have a tiny portion of each dish she wanted to taste. She was tiny, and she was probably technically underweight for her height.  Still, there is something to learn from her.  If you know you are most excited about dessert, then don't fill up on everything else just because it's there.

First I would rather have a perfect bite of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, and stuffing.  Then I skip all the sides that I might have on any given day of the year.  If it isn't my favorite, then I skip it.  I take only a small portion of what I might like the first time around.  I only go back for seconds on the dishes that I really truly crave.  This slows me down long enough to realize that I am already getting full.  Then for dessert I try to stick to a small portion of my top two favorites.  For Thanksgiving it's a sliver of pumpkin pie and a sliver of pecan pie.  For Christmas it's a nice slice of my Mom's homemade pumpkin cake roll.  If all three are present on a holiday, then I skip the pumpkin pie.  (Hey, at least that's something.)

This year I wised up BIG TIME!  I know all I want is just a taste of dessert.  Cutting just a sliver of pie or breaking a cookie in half just looks so "pidiot" (so pious about your diet that everyone thinks you are an idiot).  JK!  In light of this epiphany, I spent the entire afternoon making mini pumpkin pie and mini pecan pie tartlets.  I would love to tell you that I slaved away perfecting these recipes, but I actually got them from Better Homes and Gardens:  Cookies Cookies Cookies Christmas Time Treats.  I tried to find the recipes on their website, but this book is circa 1992 so surprise!  It's not on their website.  I subbed in Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour so my gluten-free hubby could have some dessert.  The tartlets won his coveted seal of approval.  Hubba, hubba!  I'm pretty sure nobody has said hubba, hubba since 1942.  Lol!



Here are the recipes:

TINY TARTS

• 1/2 cup margarine or 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3 ounces package softened cream cheese
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

DOUBLE THE TART RECIPE IF YOU ARE MAKING BOTH KINDS OF TARTS.

PECAN FILLING

• 1 egg, beaten
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon melted margarine or 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped 
• 1 teaspoon  vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract 

OR

PUMPKIN FILLING

• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Directions:

Tarts:.In a mixing bowl, beat margarine or butter and cream cheese until thoroughly blended. Stir in flour. Chill the dough for one hour.  Roll rounded-teaspoonsbul of dough into 24 equal balls. Press evenly into the bottom and up the sides of mini-muffin 1 3/4-inch muffin cup non-stick tin.  Filling:. In a small mixing bowl, stir ingredients together until mixed well. Fill each pastry with 1 heaping teaspoon of desired filling.
Baking:For pecan pie tartlets bake in a 375 degree oven for 15 to 18 minutes or until filling is set and crust is lightly browned.  Cool slightly in pans.  Remove tea cakes from pans and cool on wire racks.  Makes 24.
For pumpkin pie tartlets bake in a 325 degree oven for 30 minutes or until filling is set and crust is lightly browned.  Cool slightly in pans.  Remove tea cakes from pans and cool on wire racks.  Makes 24.Calories:
Pecan Pie Tarts per tart:  128 calories (It sure makes me think twice about having a whole slice of pie!)
Pumpkin Pie Tarts per tart:  66 calories
Pssst!  Since I can't have my Mom's pumpkin cake roll this year, I topped the pumpkin pie tartlets with her decadent, homemade cream cheese frosting that she makes for the pumpkin cake roll.  Who says a girl can't have it all!!!!???

550 Calories & Under at Applebee's

To contact us Click HERE


As research for the book I am writing, I tried the Garlic Sirloin off the 550 Calorie & Under Menu at Applebee's last night for dinner.  I must say it was delicious.  However, one of my clients had warned me that he didn't really buy that those entrees are actually under 550 calories.  Now I can see why.  The caramelized onions underneath the steak were really greasy, delicious, but greasy.  I would also say that 7 oz. of steak is a hefty portion for someone on a diet regimen.  Applebee's claims in their nutrition facts that their 7 oz. House Sirloin is 250 calories.  However, I looked up  7 oz. of lean broiled sirloin on CalorieKing.com, and it showed that size portion would be 373 calories. Not cool.

I have a more positive take on the sides.  As you can see from my pic, the portions of the potatoes and the portabella mushroom with creamed spinach are small.  Kudos to Applebee's on that.  I'm persuaded to believe the sides were actually low-calorie.  The potatoes tasted more like butter than herbs, but at least there wasn't a large portion.  They tasted like they had been boiled, and they were not greasy with oil.

With my client's opinion in the back of my mind I saved roughly half the steak and onions.  After looking up the facts today I am glad that I did that.  You can see some of the remaining grease on the plate.


I would also like to point out that Applebee's does post the following disclaimer on their website:

"Variations in ingredients and preparation, as well as substitutions, will increase or decrease PointsPlus™ values and any stated nutritional values, such as calories."

Taking the nutrition facts posted on the Applebee's website with a grain of salt, here are the calories on their 550 calorie and under entrees:

Great Tasting & UNDER 550 Calories™ - includes sides
Asiago Peppercorn Steak 380
Signature Sirloin with Garlic Herb Shrimp 500
Grilled Dijon Chicken & Portobellos 470
Roasted Garlic Sirloin 450
Sizzling Asian Shrimp & Broccoli 470
Sizzling Chili Lime Chicken 470

Applebee's also has a Weight Watchers PointsPlus™ menu which features low-calorie entrees as well.  Personally I think they should just combine the two menus and tell us both the calories and the points.  The menu at the Applebee's I went to listed 550 calorie entrees and Weight Watcher's entrees on two totally separate pages.  It probably has something to do with their agreement with Weight Watchers.  It would be nice if both menus were on one page.  Anyway, here are the calories and points on those entrees:


WEIGHT WATCHERS® includes sides

Weight Watchers® Cabernet Mushroom Sirloin 460, 12 pts.
Weight Watchers® Creamy Parmesan Chicken 470, 12 pts.
Weight Watchers® Grilled Jalapeno-Lime Shrimp 300, 8 pts.

To sum up I would definitely order the Garlic Sirloin again.  It was delicious, and I appreciate that Applebee's is trying to offer some healthier options.  The next time I will probably skip the onions altogether.  They seemed to be the source of the grease.  Now if you will excuse me, there is a leftover steak with my name on it.  Lunch?  Yes, please!

Sara

P.S.  Happy St. Patrick's Day tomorrow! 

Low-Calorie Dinner Options at Chili's

To contact us Click HERE


Chili’s Grill & Bar

Salads (Dressing included unless otherwise indicated.)
Caribbean Salad with Grilled Chicken 610
Caribbean Salad with Grilled Shrimp 590
House Salad No Dressing 150
Dressing, Honey Mustard No Fat 70
Dressing, Low Fat Ranch 80
Soups (without crackers)
Chicken Enchilada Bowl 380, Cup 190
Chili’s Terlingua Chili with Toppings Bowl 360, Cup 180
Loaded Baked Potato Soup Bowl 410, Cup 210
Southwest Chicken & Sausage Bowl 330, Cup 160
Lighter Choices (as served)
Classic Sirloin 260
Grilled Chicken Salad 420
Grilled Chicken Sandwich with Steamed Broccoli 610
Lighter Choice Grilled Salmon 480
Margarita Grilled Chicken 550
Not “Just” Sides
Black Beans 100
Black Bean Patty Only 200
Rice 190
Steamed Broccoli 80
Sweet Corn on the Cob with Butter 200

Don't lead me on.

To contact us Click HERE
Every day I navigate a parking garage.

Round and round I go until I see an open spot, excitement surges as I slow up to swing in...

..then...

Bah! Taken.

Without control my natural thought is "I hate you midget car!"

I have mixed feeling about sharing this, because I find it to be overly aggressive, inappropriate, and I'd like to think... a bit out of character for myself.

Yet every. single. time. I see one of those smaller-than-usual cars, creeped up into a normal-size spot, I feel disappointed... deceived....disgusted...and that exact thought automatically rants in my mind (sometimes even under my breath).

I feel confident that little car is snickering, with its high pitch laughter, as it watches another car mistakenly think it has found an open parking spot.

I then spend the rest of my garage parking experience (at least 3 more levels) feeling guilty for my irrational hatred and harsh reaction towards those cars.

...until I see one again, maybe on the road... maybe in a commercial...maybe in a normal-size parking spot hidden by a normal-size vehicle....and my eyes automatically squint, my jar automatically clinches...and my uncontrollable response is..."If you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all." (Thanks, Mom.)

It's called a tail...

To contact us Click HERE
I believe there is an invisible line on one's head that distinguishes the correct hemisphere a pony tail should rest.

And when the pony tail or messy bun-knot or bird nest ball crosses that line it becomes....

 a unicorn horn...a unihorn oooor some mutation of it.

The unihorn is a hungover girl's attempt at appearing carelessly relaxed...

And just as the hungover girl feels....the unihorn appears...like shit.

Below is for your visual reference.

These girls are hungover, they just have makeup artists:














These girls are just hungover.
        

Ladies, either cut back on the cocktails or push back the horn and embrace the pony.

I'll Have My Pie & Eat It Too!

To contact us Click HERE

...with Thanksgiving in my heart!

Many people gain weight through the holiday season as families get together and feast.  In the past you have probably overeaten the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, and then when it's time for dessert you are completely stuffed.  However, you eat dessert anyway, because it's there.  Plus it's delicious.  Plus it wouldn't feel right somehow if you didn''t indulge in your favorite dessert on the holiday.  It becomes a tradition.  Most Americans probably throw their hands up in dismay the period from Thanksgiving through Christmas intent on starting a healthy program by New Year's Day.  Why wait?  You can still work out and control your portions through the notoriously self-indulgent holiday season.

My advice would be to plan ahead.  Do not think with your stomach.  We have all been through this period of overeating, and then we feel guilty later.  Let's stop learning the hard way (or just not learning at all).

My late Grandmother McSparin (Grandma Mac) was excellent at self-control.  She would always make a huge feast for everyone, with all my Aunts' and my Mother's help of course.  However, when Grandma Mac finally sat down to eat she would just have a tiny portion of each dish she wanted to taste. She was tiny, and she was probably technically underweight for her height.  Still, there is something to learn from her.  If you know you are most excited about dessert, then don't fill up on everything else just because it's there.

First I would rather have a perfect bite of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, and stuffing.  Then I skip all the sides that I might have on any given day of the year.  If it isn't my favorite, then I skip it.  I take only a small portion of what I might like the first time around.  I only go back for seconds on the dishes that I really truly crave.  This slows me down long enough to realize that I am already getting full.  Then for dessert I try to stick to a small portion of my top two favorites.  For Thanksgiving it's a sliver of pumpkin pie and a sliver of pecan pie.  For Christmas it's a nice slice of my Mom's homemade pumpkin cake roll.  If all three are present on a holiday, then I skip the pumpkin pie.  (Hey, at least that's something.)

This year I wised up BIG TIME!  I know all I want is just a taste of dessert.  Cutting just a sliver of pie or breaking a cookie in half just looks so "pidiot" (so pious about your diet that everyone thinks you are an idiot).  JK!  In light of this epiphany, I spent the entire afternoon making mini pumpkin pie and mini pecan pie tartlets.  I would love to tell you that I slaved away perfecting these recipes, but I actually got them from Better Homes and Gardens:  Cookies Cookies Cookies Christmas Time Treats.  I tried to find the recipes on their website, but this book is circa 1992 so surprise!  It's not on their website.  I subbed in Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour so my gluten-free hubby could have some dessert.  The tartlets won his coveted seal of approval.  Hubba, hubba!  I'm pretty sure nobody has said hubba, hubba since 1942.  Lol!



Here are the recipes:

TINY TARTS

• 1/2 cup margarine or 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3 ounces package softened cream cheese
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

DOUBLE THE TART RECIPE IF YOU ARE MAKING BOTH KINDS OF TARTS.

PECAN FILLING

• 1 egg, beaten
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon melted margarine or 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped 
• 1 teaspoon  vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract 

OR

PUMPKIN FILLING

• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Directions:

Tarts:.In a mixing bowl, beat margarine or butter and cream cheese until thoroughly blended. Stir in flour. Chill the dough for one hour.  Roll rounded-teaspoonsbul of dough into 24 equal balls. Press evenly into the bottom and up the sides of mini-muffin 1 3/4-inch muffin cup non-stick tin.  Filling:. In a small mixing bowl, stir ingredients together until mixed well. Fill each pastry with 1 heaping teaspoon of desired filling.
Baking:For pecan pie tartlets bake in a 375 degree oven for 15 to 18 minutes or until filling is set and crust is lightly browned.  Cool slightly in pans.  Remove tea cakes from pans and cool on wire racks.  Makes 24.
For pumpkin pie tartlets bake in a 325 degree oven for 30 minutes or until filling is set and crust is lightly browned.  Cool slightly in pans.  Remove tea cakes from pans and cool on wire racks.  Makes 24.Calories:
Pecan Pie Tarts per tart:  128 calories (It sure makes me think twice about having a whole slice of pie!)
Pumpkin Pie Tarts per tart:  66 calories
Pssst!  Since I can't have my Mom's pumpkin cake roll this year, I topped the pumpkin pie tartlets with her decadent, homemade cream cheese frosting that she makes for the pumpkin cake roll.  Who says a girl can't have it all!!!!???

550 Calories & Under at Applebee's

To contact us Click HERE


As research for the book I am writing, I tried the Garlic Sirloin off the 550 Calorie & Under Menu at Applebee's last night for dinner.  I must say it was delicious.  However, one of my clients had warned me that he didn't really buy that those entrees are actually under 550 calories.  Now I can see why.  The caramelized onions underneath the steak were really greasy, delicious, but greasy.  I would also say that 7 oz. of steak is a hefty portion for someone on a diet regimen.  Applebee's claims in their nutrition facts that their 7 oz. House Sirloin is 250 calories.  However, I looked up  7 oz. of lean broiled sirloin on CalorieKing.com, and it showed that size portion would be 373 calories. Not cool.

I have a more positive take on the sides.  As you can see from my pic, the portions of the potatoes and the portabella mushroom with creamed spinach are small.  Kudos to Applebee's on that.  I'm persuaded to believe the sides were actually low-calorie.  The potatoes tasted more like butter than herbs, but at least there wasn't a large portion.  They tasted like they had been boiled, and they were not greasy with oil.

With my client's opinion in the back of my mind I saved roughly half the steak and onions.  After looking up the facts today I am glad that I did that.  You can see some of the remaining grease on the plate.


I would also like to point out that Applebee's does post the following disclaimer on their website:

"Variations in ingredients and preparation, as well as substitutions, will increase or decrease PointsPlus™ values and any stated nutritional values, such as calories."

Taking the nutrition facts posted on the Applebee's website with a grain of salt, here are the calories on their 550 calorie and under entrees:

Great Tasting & UNDER 550 Calories™ - includes sides
Asiago Peppercorn Steak 380
Signature Sirloin with Garlic Herb Shrimp 500
Grilled Dijon Chicken & Portobellos 470
Roasted Garlic Sirloin 450
Sizzling Asian Shrimp & Broccoli 470
Sizzling Chili Lime Chicken 470

Applebee's also has a Weight Watchers PointsPlus™ menu which features low-calorie entrees as well.  Personally I think they should just combine the two menus and tell us both the calories and the points.  The menu at the Applebee's I went to listed 550 calorie entrees and Weight Watcher's entrees on two totally separate pages.  It probably has something to do with their agreement with Weight Watchers.  It would be nice if both menus were on one page.  Anyway, here are the calories and points on those entrees:


WEIGHT WATCHERS® includes sides

Weight Watchers® Cabernet Mushroom Sirloin 460, 12 pts.
Weight Watchers® Creamy Parmesan Chicken 470, 12 pts.
Weight Watchers® Grilled Jalapeno-Lime Shrimp 300, 8 pts.

To sum up I would definitely order the Garlic Sirloin again.  It was delicious, and I appreciate that Applebee's is trying to offer some healthier options.  The next time I will probably skip the onions altogether.  They seemed to be the source of the grease.  Now if you will excuse me, there is a leftover steak with my name on it.  Lunch?  Yes, please!

Sara

P.S.  Happy St. Patrick's Day tomorrow! 

Low-Calorie Dinner Options at Chili's

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Chili’s Grill & Bar

Salads (Dressing included unless otherwise indicated.)
Caribbean Salad with Grilled Chicken 610
Caribbean Salad with Grilled Shrimp 590
House Salad No Dressing 150
Dressing, Honey Mustard No Fat 70
Dressing, Low Fat Ranch 80
Soups (without crackers)
Chicken Enchilada Bowl 380, Cup 190
Chili’s Terlingua Chili with Toppings Bowl 360, Cup 180
Loaded Baked Potato Soup Bowl 410, Cup 210
Southwest Chicken & Sausage Bowl 330, Cup 160
Lighter Choices (as served)
Classic Sirloin 260
Grilled Chicken Salad 420
Grilled Chicken Sandwich with Steamed Broccoli 610
Lighter Choice Grilled Salmon 480
Margarita Grilled Chicken 550
Not “Just” Sides
Black Beans 100
Black Bean Patty Only 200
Rice 190
Steamed Broccoli 80
Sweet Corn on the Cob with Butter 200