Showing posts with label Contests. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Contests. Show all posts

Friday, May 15, 2009

Ice Cream topped with Raspberry Mango Salsa in Cinnamon Sugar Bowls

Sometimes I think the naming part of recipes is the hardest part of all. I mean, what else can you possibly call this..? Compote, maybe, except that it wasn't cooked... whatever. This is yummy stuff so who cares about the name?

So for the the ending of our Get Fit Challenge BBQ bash tomorrow, I signed up to bring a dessert. And while the old me really wanted to bring a chocolate something in it's most sinful form, I thought it best to exercise some restraint, and bring something that only tasted sinful.

A few years ago I went to a Pampered Chef party, and a recipe, similar to this, was made to demonstrate how to use the catalog products. I've seen different variations of this all over the place, each one claiming it as their own. I really don't know who or where it originated from. All I can tell you is that it is delicious... refreshing... and not too unhealthy!

While I added my favorite fruits, I'm sure you could adapt it to whatever is available in your area. What I have done differently (from what I remember at the demonstration) is to add my homemade bourbon vanilla to the fruit, as well as some brown sugar, and to create flowered cinnamon sugar bowls rather than chips for the fruit. To make a little healthier, I also coated my tortilla's in PAM Baking Spray rather than butter, prior to dredging in cinnamon and sugar.







This is a really simple recipe that can be adapted to what is available, and casual or elegant, it's perfect for any summer occasion.

Ice Cream topped with Raspberry Mango Salsa in Cinnamon Sugar Bowls

1 small container raspberries
2 mango's, peeled and diced
2 kiwi's, peeled and diced
2 peaches, peeled and diced (canned ok if fresh not available)
Juice of 2 limes
2 tsp Bourbon Vanilla (regular ok)
2 Tbs packed brown sugar
1 dozen flour tortilla's
1 cup cinnamon sugar mixture to taste
PAM Baking spray
Vanilla ice cream


Fruit Salsa
In small bowl, mix together fruits, lime juice, vanilla, and brown sugar. Stir and set aside.

Cinnamon Sugar Bowls

Using a cookie cutter, cut desired shapes out of flour tortillas that are large enough to hold a scoop of ice cream later.


Once all tortillas are cut, spray each cut out shape on both sides with Pam Baking Spray. Pour 1 cup cinnamon sugar onto a dinner plate, and dredge both sides of cut tortilla into mixture.



Once all are coated they can be baked, in batches, on the bottom side of a PAM sprayed cupcake pan. I preferred this method rather than putting inside the cupcake tin, to get the shape that I preferred. Shape is entirely up to you though...

I baked them 7 minutes covered with a small pyrex bowl to shape, and 5 minutes uncovered to crisp, at 375 F degrees.


Once all are baked, cool completely. If not serving till later, bowls can be kept in a covered container or sealed Ziploc bag to keep crispy.

To serve, place one scoop of vanilla ice cream in center of tortilla bowl, add desired amount of fruit salsa on top, and enjoy!

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Sunday, May 10, 2009

It's that time again!

Yup, 3 months have passed already- it was weigh in time again for my Get Fit Challenge this Saturday! I was actually excited about this, because I knew that the scale was going to go down, rather than up, for a change.

Having the flu bug going through this house the past 2 weeks, though, derailed me just a bit. I actually did not work out for a whole week- that felt SO bizarre. Once you incorporate something into your daily life (that doesn't have a pastry bag attached) and make it part of your life... well, I felt aimless... lost... a wee bit schleppy... I know I had the flu (no, I didn't oink), but I still felt like a bad girl not getting out there and wheezing through a workout.


So once again, I donned my little black tank and sexy black shorts (a new a teeny swimsuit to be my prize once all my goal weight is lost)...

Blew out all the air bubbles I could possibly blow...

thought of all the goodies that brought me here to begin with...



then found more air bubbles in there to blow up to the surface...



So that this chiseled stud, who is perfecting his "I do not notice your scantily clad body" look...

could tell me that I've just lost a total of 21.7 lbs!! And even though I've been sick, and knew that I had lost 22, I was happy to see that I had only gained back about 8 oz while fighting this flu. Not bad!

Next Saturday is the big "Reveal" party ... the winner of our Get Fit Challenge will be announced. So I can't post here what my fat percentage lost is, as that is what truly determines who wins in our group, and we have to keep that part a secret. But it really doesn't matter to me whether I "win" the challenge or not. I feel so good at having accomplished what I have, working out with the most amazing group of gals, I feel like I've won so much already.

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Thursday, February 19, 2009

We have a winner!

Congrats go out to Kristen over at Dine & Dish!! She is now the proud owner of the Hungry Girl cookbook!! Her fabulous dieting tip is this:

"This is a strange one, but I eat mindlessly when I cook, so to stop that I started chewing sugar free gum when I am baking and cooking. Keeps me from nibbling on calories I don't count!"

That's a terrific tip, and one that I am definitely going to try. All the tips were terrific, really. I will post them all a bit later. We can never have too many when trying to stay healthy!

Kristen has a FABULOUS blog with amazing recipes and tips. If you haven't been there before, head on over. She won't disappoint!!

Congrats, Kristen!

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Monday, February 16, 2009

Wow, 100th post today! Giveaway, too!

Wow, I can't believe it- my 100th post. I look back to my first one and just laugh. I had no direction and just a stock blogger template. Now, a custom blog design, and everything I see has the potential to be a post, so I snap pictures of everything these days.

I am also amazed, no, stunned, that I actually lost 4 lbs this past week! There is truth to diet AND exercise, and it seems when you find the right plan of action, it doesn't feel like diet and exercise. It just feels good. I have energy. I'm not hungry. I eat at least 1000 less calories a day than what I was prior to beginning my journey, but now, eating the right foods, feel like I am cheating every day. This feels good.

I've relied a great deal on the recipes from the Hungry Girl cookbook. It is not gourmet by any means. It is, however, simple everyday fare that leaves you content, and not feeling like you have been gypped- you know- when you buy a box where the dessert looks like this
and what you really end up with is this


That is just wrong. Purely sale-intended evil in a box.

Hungry Girl, however, delivers. When you see a photo in the book that looks like this:

You can feel confident that yours will look like this:

and this:

and this:



At only 108 calories and 2g of fat per cupcake, that's pretty sweet (pun intended).

Caramel Pumpkin Pudding Cupcakes

  • 2 cups moist-style yellow cake mix (1/2 of an 18.25-ounce box)
  • 1 cup canned pure pumpkin
  • 1/3 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute
  • 2 tablespoons sugar-free maple syrup
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated)
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt

Ingredients for topping

  • 3 cubes (about 1 ounce) chewy caramel
  • 2 teaspoons light vanilla soymilk

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all cupcake ingredients in a mixing bowl with 1/3 cup of water. Whip with a whisk or fork for 2 minutes until well blended.

Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with baking cups. Evenly spoon batter into muffin cups.

Place pan in the oven and cook for about 12 minutes (until cupcakes have puffed up but still appear a little gooey on top- I actually cooked mine for 20 minutes).

Once cupcakes are cool enough to handle, arrange them closely on a plate so that the edges are touching. Place caramel and soymilk in a tall microwave-safe glass or dish (mixture will bubble and rise when heated).

Microwave at medium power for 1 1/2 minutes. Stir mixture vigorously until smooth and thoroughly blended. (Return to microwave for 30 seconds at medium heat if caramel has not fully melted.) Immediately drizzle caramel sauce over cupcakes.

** Be VERY careful with caramel topping in microwave- I burned my first batch! I'd do 30 second increments until thin and pourable!

ENJOY!

Oh yeah, I forgot, there is a giveaway! One lucky winner will receive their very own HungryGirl cookbook!


Just leave a comment with your favorite diet tip or trick. Remember to LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS! You have until Wednesday, the 18th of February, 8 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, to win! Good Luck!

Winners will be chosen using Random Integer Generator


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Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Win Free Cutlery!


Ok people, if you're anything like me, you curse your knives anytime you use them- I have to sharpen mine every time they are used, including the paring knives. Why can't I just chop away like other people, without having to sell my firstborn male child just to afford the knives?!

Here's an opportunity to win some, courtesy of Food Service Warehouse! They are giving one lucky winner $1000 worth of hair splitting knives- a must have in any kitchen! You only have till the end of February to enter, so hurry! Thanks to Milwaukee Cupcake Queen for the tip! I always find such neat stuff over at her place!

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