health challenge: good choices

I am still plugging along with getting healthy.  I hit a few bumps with a ten day power outage - I didn't have the full means to refrigerate or cook healthy foods, and then like the fat kid that I am, I dealt with my frustrations by eating.

Regardless, I am back on the horse as they say.  Not easy, considering that right after the first big meal I cooked once the power came back on, the stove broke.  Seriously??  But that is just how it goes for me.

So, I am just plowing on.

I like feeling better.  I like looking better.  I don't like to lose.  And I refuse to give up on myself.

So, I would like to focus my attention right now on making good choices.  Choosing a glass of milk instead of a bowl of ice cream.  Choosing to stop eating when I am no longer hungry.  Choosing to keep myself away from my big temptations.  I will probably never be much of a salad eater, but that doesn't mean that I can't choose a nice healthy meal for dinner, and forsake the bread, dessert, and soda.

We are coming up on the biggest eating holiday of the year, and I need to be able to make it through without gaining a bazillion pounds.  That doesn't mean I am not going to partake in my favorite food group - gravy - it just means that I am not going to fall so far off my plan that I never go back.

I am laser focused right now, and I want to succeed.

delicious endeavors, vol. 2

There are some yummy yummy in my tummy ideas this week.  (Like these.......mmmmm.......)

Please stop by Delicious Endeavors and check out volume 2.  Challenge yourself to trying something new this week!

Happy Eats!

mushroom onion pork chops

I do not typically cook from a recipe.  Even when I do, I find myself not measuring, tweaking and changing things, and always adding extra spice.  With this in mind, I want to give you a "recipe" for a meal I made last week. 

It started with me having pork chops, and not knowing what to do with them.

I heated my frying pan and added olive oil. 
Added the pork chops to the pan.
Seasoned with salt, fresh ground pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and adobo.

As they were frying, I chopped an onion.  I flipped the chops when they had browned on one side, and added the onion to the pan.

When the chops were cooked through on both sides, I think I added a pinch of minced garlic to the pan, then removed the chops to a plate.  I put about a half cup of white wine to the pan, and used a whisk to deglaze the pan while the wine reduced.  I then whisked in a splash or two of half and half, and added a can of cream of mushroom soup. 

Once blended and heated through, I added the chops back to the pan, covered, and reduced the heat to med-low. 

Cooked a pot of white rice, and served the chops and sauce over the rice.  Add something green - this meal cries for a salad, green beans, steamed broccoli, etc.

Yum yum!!

And for something I threw together, it was a delicious dish that tasted complicated, but wasn't.  I will definitely be making this again.  I could see adding mushrooms or broccoli to the dish as well.  Play and have fun - that is the point after all.  Don't let a recipe bind you!

Enjoy!

delicious endeavors, vol. 1

Welcome to the first edition of the Delicious Endeavors Blog Carnival.  Please visit the link, and enjoy the wonderful recipes and tips share by the amazing contributors.  Be adventurous and give something new a try!  And then let me know what works and doesn't.  Then we can use what we've learned to bless our families with some home-cooked love.  (My kids always want to know "What's in that?"  "Love," I tell them.  "I baked the love right in....")

Here are some that caught my eye:

Over at Goodies From Granny's House they are cooking up some pumpkin squares.  I can vouch for these - they never last very long around here.

Recession dining tips can be found here .  A lot of the standard meals in our family's repertoire are adaptations of the depression meals that my grandmother made.  They are warm, comforting, easy, and inexpensive.

And soon to be appearing in my kitchen, Upside Down Meatloaf.  I have not made meatloaf in ages as it is not my husband's favorite, but I am going to give it another shot.  Maybe this recipe will change his mind!


Go check out the carnival and don't forget to leave some comment love.

Happy Eats!!

ranch dressing

One of Outback Steakhouse's little secrets, is that they make everything homemade, fresh daily.  It is why, in my opinion, their bread, dressings, and croutons taste so darn yummy.  I love an Outback salad more than most salads (once I have scooped the yucky tomatoes onto hubby's plate, of course).  :)

My favorite is the ranch.  They serve is as a salad dressing as well as a condiment.  Mmm mmmmmm.  I suggest you make it, and then eat it with everything until it's gone.


OUTBACK RANCH DRESSING

1 tsp Ranch salad dressing mix (the kind in the packet - buttermilk recipe is best)
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup mayonnaise
1/8 - 1/4 tsp (to taste) fresh ground pepper
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp paprika

Mix all ingredients together until well blended.  Cover and chill (overnight if possible).


Enjoy!!
~*toemi*~

buttermilk and more

I have been on a cooking streak lately. 

I pretty much run hot and cold with cooking - I'm either into it or I'm not.  When I'm not, my family suffers.  Luckily, my husband and daughter are pretty good cooks on their own.  It is just easier on everyone when I am contributing. 

Furthermore, I don't particularly enjoy cooking for people outside my immediate family because it triggers my perfectionist tendancies, as I don't usually cook with recipes and I like to use spices.  It is hard for me to cook to appeal to the masses.  I already have one steady dissenter in my own ranks, I'm not sure if I could take any more than that.  

This past week I went out of my way to put food on the table every day.  I went so far as to dig out the cookbooks and try some new recipes.  It was like jumping through rabbit holes.... one recipe required buttermilk, and once I had purchased buttermilk I needed to find ways to use it up, which led to a whole slew of new recipes. 

In the end, we made two new main dishes, salad dressing, bread, chicken salad, pot roast and mashed potatoes (yummy comfort food), and used the buttermilk in four separate recipes.  Good eats for sure.

And since I am on a roll, I will be participating in the Delicious Endeavors Recipe Carnival.  Look for it Tuesday!