Creamy Chicken Cupcakes

I was so happy this morning to order my Sparkly Soul headband. I actually ordered two. Since the shipping was the same for two as it was for one, I decided to take advantage of it and bought two. After I spilled my scalding hot tea down my clothes as I was getting out of the car this morning and had to run home again to change out of my soaking wet clothes, I was pretty stressed out. I think it was a combination of that, plus I did SOO well last week, I was ready to rebel. And rebel I did. There is no way that I can track everything that I ate today. I am paying for it though. I need to remember that I just can't eat like that anymore without feeling sick. One of these days I will remember...

Dinner tonight was a new recipe that I found on a new blog. I love anything that I can cook in cupcake form. This one used chicken, which I had never tried before. The result was good, but not great. I really felt like these were missing something. I plan to figure it out and try again. But here is tonight's recipe:

CREAMY CHICKEN CUPCAKES
Adapted from ABPetite
Servings: 6
Points+: 4

1 lb. chicken breast, cooked and shredded
1 c. 2% milk Mozzarella cheese
1 can 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
1 c. fresh mushrooms, diced
3/4 c. onion, diced
1 T. garlic powder
1 T. bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place chicken in medium bowl and add in remaining ingredients, except for bread crumbs. Stir until well combined. Line a 12 cup cupcake pan with paper liners. Evenly distibute chicken mixture among the cups. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until bread crumbs are lightly browned. Enjoy!

EXERCISE:
Well, after the revolving buffet that I indulged in today, I knew that I needed to get a good workout in tonight. I really didn't feel like it, but I knew that it was just necessary. So even though it was hot and humid tonight, I got in a 3 mile run. My iPod said that it was 3.9 miles, but I'm not buying it. I'm calling it 3 miles. I was just happy to get those 3 in. Hopefully, it will reverse a little bit of the damage from all the eating.

So long for today...

Minnesota Wild Rice Soup

Today was the last day of my week. It was also the last day of the challenge that I gave myself. Last week, I decided to give myself a reward to stay on-plan this week. Here was the challenge: If I stuck to eating only my daily points, plus and activity points that I earned, I was going to buy myself a Sparkly Soul headband. Since I can't remember the last time I had a week where I didn't dip into most if not all of my weekly points, I definitely had my work cut out for me. I'm so excited to report that I have met this challenge with flying colors. I can't wait to order my new headband tomorrow. Follow me on Facebook to find out more about these headbands and what color I choose.

Over the weekend, I made a soup out of the cookbook that my June Foodie Pen Pal sent me. She had sent me some wild rice in the package, too and told me about a recipe in the cookbook to use it in. I finally got the chance to make it and I have to say that I really liked it. TC did, too. But he likes pretty much anything that has any pork product in it. Ha! Here's the recipe:

MINNESOTA WILD RICE SOUP
adapted from Always Supurb Cookbook by Junior Leagues of Minneapolis & St. Paul
Servings: 8 - 10
Points+: 7

1/2 c. light butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 c. celery, finely chopped
1/2 c. carrots, finely chopped
8 oz. portabella mushroms, chopped
1/2 c. flour
6 c. low sodium, fat-free chicken broth
3 c. cooked wild rice
1 c. cooked ham, chopped
2 c. fat-free half-and-half
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. ground pepper

Heat the butter in a stockpot until melted. Add the onion, celery, carrots and mushrooms. Saute until the onion is tender; do not brown. Add the flour; Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Whish in the chicken broth gradually. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Turn off the heat.

Add the wild rice, ham and half-and-half to the vegetable mixture and mix well. Stir in the salt and pepper. Adjust the seasonings as desired.

Cook the soup until of the desired temperature. Ladle soups into bowls. Garnish with chopped parsley or chives.

EXERCISE:
On Monday evenings, since it's the day before my weigh-in, I either take a day of rest or I do some kind of light workout. Tonight, I decided to do a light workout and I did the Wii Fit Plus. This is a game I used to play a good bit for a while, but then stopped when I started with my more intense workouts. Tonight, I decided to give it a try since it's a fun way to get in some activity. I didn't do a lot, just 30 minutes, but I still earned myself one activity point. That's good enough for a Monday.

So long for today...

Emeril's Marinated & Grilled London Broil

Well, here it is again. The end of another weekend and the beginning of another work week. Some weekends seem to fly by so fast. This one was no exception. It's also disappointing that the Olympics are officially over. I think I'm as let down as the athletes are! We've been watching them every night cheering on the USA. We did pretty well with 104 total medals. There for a little while, we were neck and neck with China, but we pulled ahead and didn't look back the last few days. Way to go USA!!

I love grilled London Broil. It can be a tough cut of meat, but if you tenderize and marinate it the right way, it can be tender and delicious. I went to the meat market last weekend and picked up one of their Lond Broils. This week, I found this recipe through a Google search and marinated it over night. Since TC was working late a few nights last week, I ended up eating this for leftovers a couple of times, but it still tasted almost as good as it did the first night. Here's the recipe:

EMERIL'S MARINATED & GRILLED LONDON BROIL
adapted from Food Network
Servings: 8
Points+: 5

1 (2 1/2 lb.) tri-tip London Broil or flank steak
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
1/4 c. dry red wine
2 T. olive oil
2 T Worcestershire sauce
2 T. soy sauce
1/2 T. seasoned salt
1 t. coarsely ground black pepper
4 cloves garlic, smashed

Place the flank steak in a large, plastic resealable bag.

In a large, glass measuring cup, combine red wine vinegar, red wine, olive oil, Worcestershire, soy sauce, mustard, seasoned salt, salt, pepper, and garlic. Pour the marinade into the bag with the steak, seal and place inside a large, glass baking dish to prevent possible spills. Marinate in the refrigerator for 24 hours (or at least 6 hours).

Preheat a gas or charcoal grill to high heat. (Alternately, preheat the broiler). Remove the steak from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Place the steak on the grill (or under the broiler) and cook to desired doneness, about 6 minutes per side for rare. Transfer the steak to a cutting board and let stand for 5 minutes before carving.

Slice across the grain into thin diagonal slices. Serve steak with sauce.

EXERCISE:
I got up this morning and did a pretty slow 3.73 miles through the neighborhood. Still trying to take it easy and lower the stress on my body. I was happy that my papparazzi (aka TC & Addison on the golf cart) came along with me on this run. We get some pretty strange looks from some of our neighbors sometimes, but it's nice to have company on my runs. I was going to do yoga tonight. I even started the video and rolled out my yoga mat. But when it came down to it, I just wasn't feeling it. I still needed to get things ready for Monday morning and I hadn't done my blog post yet, so I passed up on yoga tonight. I hope Jillian will forgive me.

So long for today...

Cajun Chicken Pasta

Yay! We officially made it to the weekend! My cousins came into town last night to spend the night on their way to Florida. We didn't have any definite plans when we woke up so we decided to make a trip to Trader Joe's today. Addison loves looking for TJ the turtle and gets so excited when she finds him. In the meantime, I picked up all kinds of new things to try. I can't wait to let you know what I think!

Dinner last night was a new recipe that I found on my favorite website, PINTEREST!! Seriously, if you haven't checked it out yet, you are missing out on some pretty fun stuff. This recipe looks and sounds good. It's from Gina at Skinnytaste. I love making recipes from websites that already have the points value calculated for me. It not only saves me time from having to put it into the recipe builder, but it also lets me know that I don't have to find any substitutions because they've already done that for me too! This was such a delicious dish. It takes a little while to get all of the veggies chopped up, but once that is done, you pretty much throw it together and eat it! Here's the recipe:

CAJUN CHICKEN PASTA
adapted from SkinnyTaste
Servings: 5
Points+: 8

8 ounces uncooked linguine
1 pound chicken breast strips
1-2 tsp Cajun seasoning (or to taste)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 medium yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1 cup fat free low sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup skim milk
1 tbsp flour
3 tbsp light cream cheese
fresh cracked pepper
2 scallions, chopped
salt to taste
non-stick cooking spray

Prep all your vegetables. In a small blender make a slurry by combining milk, flour and cream cheese. Set aside. Season chicken generously with Cajun seasoning, garlic powder and salt.

Prepare pasta in salted water according to package directions.

Heat a large heavy nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; spray with cooking spray and add half of the chicken. Sauté 5 to 6 minutes or until done, set aside on a plate and repeat with the remaining chicken. Set aside.

Add olive oil to the skillet and reduce to medium; add bell peppers, onions, and garlic to skillet, sauté 3-4 minutes.

Add mushrooms and tomatoes and sauté 3-4 more minutes or until vegetables are tender. Season with 1/4 tsp salt, garlic powder and fresh cracked pepper to taste.
Reduce heat to medium-low; add chicken broth and pour in slurry stirring about 2 minutes.

Return chicken to skillet; adjust salt and Cajun seasoning to taste, cook another minute or two until hot, then add linguine; toss well to coat. Top with chopped scallions and enjoy!

EXERCISE:
I was pretty busy after I got home from work last night trying to do some last minute tidying and cooking and I really wanted to get a quick workout in. Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way, so it ended up being a rest day. But that's ok, because it's been a while since I had one. My body needed it, too!

So long for today...

Peanut Butter Snickers Cupcakes

Well hey again! We've almost made it to the weekend. I'm looking forward to the weekend again, even if it will be a short one. This was the first day this week that TC worked less than 16 hours. So it was nice to have him home again. Addison really missed her daddy and was very happy when she saw him this morning. He had been going to work before she woke up in the mornings and wasn't getting home until after she went to bed at night. She thought he was out of town working. So she was so excited when she saw him this morning. It was so sweet!

Once again, we had another party at work today. It was our summer student's last day of work with us, so we had to give him a nice going away party. This was the second summer that he worked for us and he really fit in well, so we wanted it to be nice. We ordered pizza, had some snacks and I made some cupcakes. He requested some kind of cake with peanut butter Snickers, so this is what I found. TC said that they were the best cupcakes he's ever had. I'm sure he's not biased...but the people at work also said how good they were, so I guess I will believe them. Check out the points value and you'll understand why I didn't have one. Here's the recipe:

PEANUT BUTTER SNICKERS CUPCAKES
adapted from My Baking Addiction
Servings: 24
Points+: 15

1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs; lightly beaten
1/2 cup warm water
1 teaspoon of vanilla
12 frozen Peanut Butter Snickers Squares, cut in half

For the frosting:
2 sticks unsalted butter; room temperature
1/2 cup shortening
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 pounds confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup caramel topping; plus more for drizzling
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line (2) 12 cup muffin tins with paper liners.

In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs, vanilla and water.

Evenly divide the batter among the prepared pans.

Gently push a frozen Snickers Miniature bar into the center of the batter and smooth the surface making sure to cover the candy bar with batter.

Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool cupcakes thoroughly on wire rack.

Cream the butter and shortening in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer. Add the vanilla extract, salt and caramel syrup and combine well.

Begin adding in the sugar and mixing thoroughly after each addition. After all of the sugar has been added and mixed thoroughly, give it a taste and decide if you want to add in more caramel syrup. For thicker frosting you can gradually add in a little more sugar.

Garnish with chopped Snickers bars and a drizzle of caramel of caramel syrup.

EXERCISE:
Tonight, I decided to go back to what I used to do when I was really staying on-plan and doing well with the weight loss. Tonight, I did yoga again. I did level 1 of Jillian Michael's Yoga Meltdown. I really like doing the yoga. It's so relaxing, but I'm still getting in a strength workout!

So long for today...

WIAW # 4

So I tried another WIAW this week. In the past they have helped me to stay on track with my eating and since I am trying very hard to stay on plan, I wanted to do another one. So here we go. I do have a couple of things that I forgot to take a picture of, but I hope you'll forgive me.

I started with my Skinny Decaf Chai Latte (0 Points+):

For breakfast, I had my 1 egg, plus 1 egg white cooked in the microwave (2 Points+). With that, I also made a mug of Lower Sugar Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmean (3 Points+):

Snack was a banana (1 Point+), not pictured, but I think you remember :) and also an unpictured 1/2 c. of plain greek yogurt with some Stevia & vanilla mixed in (1 Point+) and also 1 T. of flax seeds (1 Point).

For lunch a had a tuna salad wrap that I forgot to take a picture of. But it was 1 FF tortilla, 1 leaf of romaine lettuce and about 1/2 c. of tuna salad. The total for this is 4 Points+.

Along with my lunch, I also had 15 Special K Cracker Chips (1 Point+):

and some fresh cherries (1 Point+).

My afternoon snack was strawberries (1 Point+) and a stick of light string cheese (1 Point+).

For dinner, I had leftovers of London Broil (5 Points+), 1/2 of whole wheat couscous (3 Points+) and 1/2 c. of green peas (1 Point+):

After dinner, I had a Lil Dipper Ice Cream Cone (3 Points+):

After my walk tonight, I also had a cup of 1% milk for a little protein boost (3 Points+):

EXERCISE:
My exercise tonight was a 3 milk walk/jog combination. I walked 3 miles with some spurts of jogging to get my HR up. When it got up to 140, I went back to walking until the HR got around 120 and kept alternating between these. When I got home, I was so close to earning 4 APs, so I did some strength moves to push myself a little further.

So here are the stats: I get 29 DPs but ate 31, add in the 4 APs and that leaves me with 2 points remaining. I can live with that.

So long for today...

Chicken Gyros

We made it through another Monday! I hope you all fared well! I tried to face this Monday with a positive attitude and I think it might have made a difference. It really wasn't as bad as what it could have been. I stayed on plan with my eating and even got in a little activity. Tonight was a mommy and Addie night since TC had to work late. It all balances out since TC gets every other Friday is Daddy/Addie day.

Dinner tonight was a recipe from Pinterest. Ever since I made the other chicken sausage gyros, I had been wanting to find a recipe using chicken or another kind of meat. It really didn't take long to find a recipe that sounded good to me. These were really good. I know that you usually use pita bread, but I wanted to save some points and use my fat free tortillas. Please pardon the name of the blog that the recipe came from...Here's the recipe:

CHICKEN GYROS
adapted from A Bitchin' Kitchen
Servings: 4
Points+: 8

For serving:

4 fat free flour tortillas
diced tomatoes
diced red onion
dried parsley

For the chicken:

2 t. garlic, minced (about 4 cloves)
juice of 1 lemon
2 t. red wine vinegar
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
2 heaping T. non-fat greek yogurt
1 T. dried oregano
A few shakes of salt and pepper
4 boneless, skinless, chicken breast halves, cut into strips

Combine all of the above ingredients except for the chicken in a dish, and whisk together to make a marinade. Add in chicken, and turn to coat. Cover, and place in the fridge for 1 hour to marinate.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

After the chicken is done marinating, heat a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. After skillet is heated, add chicken to the pan and cook until cooked through, 10 - 15 minutes.

Assemble gyros with chicken, tzatziki sauce, tomatoes, onions, and dried parsley, wrap in foil for ease of eating, and enjoy!

I also sauteed some red bell pepper and onions to add a little extra bulk to my gyro, but that is just a personal preference.

EXERCISE:
Normally, I like to have a day of rest the day before my weigh-in, but since the scale was up a little bit this morning, I wanted to have a little extra activity in my week. I also wanted to exercise since my workouts haven't had the intensity that I've been used to. I did the 2 mile Walk Away the Pounds tonight and used my light weights. I do try to use bigger motions when I do this video to burn some extra calories. Every little bit helps, right?

So long for today...