red as a beet

The theme of today's post is the color red. I made two Weight Watchers recipes, both quite red, and a barley recipe from my new favorite foodie blogger (Oh She Glows). Plus, see below for more red surprises.

Dessert first, as always. (This isn't how I eat, by the way. Well, not most of the time. It's just that I prefer this course!) Mahogany velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, WW style. I was very intrigued by this recipe because the red didn't come from red food coloring as in traditional red velvet cakes, but from beets!



I love the idea of using a natural colorant and adding some nutritional value at the same time.



Don't think for a minute that I was fooled into thinking that these are healthy, though.




Two disappointments: the cupcakes weren't very red (perhaps why the name is "mahogany" and not "red") and the cream cheese frosting wasn't very good. Fat-free cream cheese = no good.




Christmas cupcake liners were all I had. Must add to shopping list.





I never eat beets. I believe this is the fault of one of my school cafeterias - probably a school in France. Those suckers are really bitter - no wonder I didn't like them as a kid. Not sure I like them as an adult yet. Except in red velvet cupcakes, that is. ;-)



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The other Weight Watchers recipe was skillet chicken paprika. I wish I could share the recipe, but that is probably against copyright rules. Therefore, I'll just give you the ingredients: chicken, paprika, flour, onion, garlic, red pepper, olive oil, sour cream (I used Greek yogurt instead), and a can of diced tomatoes.



You cook the chicken and set aside. Then soften the onion and red pepper.



Then you add the flour and paprika. It quickly becomes a gorgeous red mixture that is very fragrant.




The final result is delicious. Yum!



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Another recipe I made this week (twice!) is Easy Creamy Tomato Barley Risotto from Oh She Glows. Have I mentioned that I love her blog? She makes vegan so easy, delicious, and attainable!

First you add the barley, oil, oregano, and basil.



Then you add the rest of the ingredients, including miso and nutritional yeast - two new ingredients for me, and let it simmer for about 30 minutes.



It's super easy and really tasty. I can't wait to eat this for lunch this week!



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My American breakfast this morning. Yum. Added some strong mustard to the eggs and it was spectacular. Hey...red strawberries!



Very similar to a lunch the other day. Nothing red here, sorry! Actually, there is paprika in the omelet, but you can't really see it.



And a delicious red drink. Mango rum, mango vodka, grenadine, cranberry juice, and pineapple juice, with a splash of Sprite.



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Speaking of red, my camera (which is red for those of you who haven't seen it) is still being fixed!! I'm lost without a camera. Thank goodness I have an iPhone!

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On the running front, so far so good. I completed the first week of training and all went well. I have done the first workout of the second week and I am proud to say that I was able to run every time I was supposed to. One uphill run was quite a struggle, but I made it and recovered. I'm on my way to 5K!! :-) Stay tuned!

New sneakers!


Very sweaty!


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The highlight of the week has to be winning the PSSC Spring 2011 Volleyball Championship. YEAH!! (Red shirts!)



I wish you a great week!

cookie dough

Have I mentioned before that I love cookie dough? Remember the chocolate chip cookie dough brownie?

I have tried two new recipes involving cookie dough recently. First, let's deal with the one that didn't work out so well.

The name is super long:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough + Cupcake = The BEST Cupcake. Ever.

Quite a name, right!?! For me, the equation ended more like this:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough + Cupcake = Lots of potential. But fail.

Oh well! I'll try again!

The cookie dough looked great. There may or may not have been some major sampling at this point. ;-)


The recipe actually involves making cupcakes from a mix. I don't really ever make cakes from mixes because I don't like the flavors very much, but I figured it would save some time and not be as noticeable with cookie dough so I did it that way.
Still looking very promising!


And then they came out of the oven looking delicious!


The reviews of this recipe warned that the cupcakes wouldn't look done but to take them out anyway. Within a minute of being out the oven, I realized that they clearly hadn't been in the oven long enough. They had all sunk in way too much:


I still sampled, because it takes a lot to deter me from dessert, but they just weren't edible. Way underdone.


I haven't given up on this recipe yet, but next time I will make the cake from scratch and I will leave them longer in the oven.

The other cookie dough recipe I made was a much bigger success. And was much easier. And is vegan!! It's from Angela over at Oh She Glows: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough "Blizzard"



If the "vegan" description turned you off, I beg you to reconsider. You would have no idea these were vegan if I hadn't told you.

At this point, once again, there may have been some serious sampling. I couldn't even resist eating one between these two pictures. Just look at these!


Then you blend a frozen banana and a few tablespoons of cookie dough, add a few cookie dough balls and you have a blizzard!


I'm sorry for the quality of the pictures for this recipe. My camera has been acting up so I sent it in for repair. I'm lost without it and have to make do with my iPhone. (Although I do think it's doing a decent job.)


The best part of this recipe? Aside from the deliciousness of course... I got to use my Ninja blender! Still loving it! :-)

i've been busy

Let's just say that something had to give between Pilates, volleyball 2 nights a week, yoga, coaching, new boyfriend, normal socializing and working, and a new blog. And the loser (or winner, depending on how you look at it) is the blog. So I'm going to keep adding new posts, but it's going to be whenever I can, not on any regular schedule. It's too bad though, because I really like the idea. Perhaps a little later when my life isn't so busy.

It's also too bad because I think this makes me focus more on healthy eating. Sure, I track everything I eat, but somehow that still isn't enough motivation to eat as well as I should. I just go way over my points and then feel bad at weigh-in every Tuesday (or at least the last 3 - tomorrow should also be fun).

But on to more positive things: a good dinner. Tonight I made 15 Minute Creamy Avocado Pasta from the Oh She Glows foodie blog and a bunch of vegetables. Delicious. The avocado pasta cost me a lot of points, but it was worth it. The veggies were a good supplement. If you want to make the veggies, here it is:

Serves 3-4 as a side dish

Ingredients:

2 tomatoes

1 zucchini

1 yellow squash

1 eggplant

2 Tbsp. olive oil

Italian herbs

breadcrumbs (optional)

shredded cheese (optional)

garlic powder

salt + pepper

Directions:

Slice all vegetables. Stack against one another in a glass dish. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle breadcrumbs, herbs, cheese, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to your liking. Use your judgement here.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for one hour.

This reheats well so don't be afraid to double the recipe. Also, a drizzle of balsamic vinegar before cooking adds a punch of flavor and blends great with the veggies.