Product Reviews: Fast food & fast foam

Alert! Alert! Here is my two cents on some things you may try.

Sorry about the lack of pictures. I have misplaced my camera and until I find it these blogs are going to be a little plain :/

I know this little doohickey has been reviewed by others before but I just have to say I love it. I got this mini-beautiful foam making dynamo at Ikea for $1.99!!! It has lasted years...at least 5 so far. Once I realized how much I was going to use the thing I bought a bunch just in case it broke or got lost. However, I have since lost them since I have never had to replace it :D

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10076320

To my surprise they raised the price of this gem! (however $2.99 is still one heck of a deal!)

It even makes fabulous foam on fat free milk!

Now on to some not so hot reviews.

I would love to be home and be organized and able to cook each breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But that's never gonna happen. Not for me anyway. For this family occasional fast food is an inevitable. SO, if you're going to eat out try and make it healthy...right...

This week and last I tried two different healthy options from fast food chains. Carl's Jr.'s Turkey Burger and Jack in the Box's Chicken Fajita Pita.

Okay, the first thing I need to say is that neither of these items looked at all like they are pictured in adds but who was expecting that.

Carl's Original Turkey Burger:

Overall this was a decent option for a lighter dinner. The burger the way it comes is not particularly "healthy" at 490 calories, 23 g. fat, and only 3 g. fiber. However, I had it with no mayo which I guess cuts is down a little. The burger patty tasted pretty much like any old turkey patty, the bun was wheat, and the "special sauce" was basically ketchup with relish. BUT all in all I would eat it again when we go out. Maybe I'll ask for carb free and minus the bun which will cut down on calories.

Jack in the Box Fajita Pita:

Bleh! That is basically it. @ 326 , 10 g. fat, and 3 g. of fiber the chicken tasted pressed and too peppery, it was way heavy on the onions and there was only a tiny bit of various kinds of lettuce. The tomatoes tasted like preservatives and it was really greasy. I meant to ask for no cheese but forgot and there was way too much kinda melted cheese. Ick! I usually like Jack food for the most part but not this. Opt for a different healthier lunch next time you are there.

Boo to you Jack!

See you soon,

K

Well, sorry for the week(s) delay. Maybe I shouldn't have chosen the week before finals to start a new blog but you know....anything to keep my mind off studying I guess!

Even though it's been pretty busy around here we still managed a few new recipes and made a few yummy discoveries :)

Honey Apple Butter! What! Yes!

I found this little delicious gem at Trader Joe's. It isn't super point friendly but not too bad I have been enjoying it on sprouted grain toast or in oatmeal. It also worked well as a tasty dessert. We mixed mangos, blueberries, and honey apple butter and spread it over angle food cake. A very good low point after dinner option. Yum!

In our last veggie box we got fava beans. Hummm....needless to say I wasn't brimming with ideas of how to prepare them. I decided on a simple salad.

They are kind of pretty inside actually.

Start by shelling and boiling the beans for about one minute.



Remove from water and place immediately into an ice bath. This stops the cooking process and keeps the beans firm, not mushy (like mine came out..oops..)


You then have to peel them once again, they are a little labor intensive but believe me it is worth it in the end.

The recipe called for various things but we used fava beans, cilantro, dried onions (because I did not have green onions which would have been good also, olive oil, lemon, salt, and pepper.

The salad turned out surprisingly good. I liked the flavor of the actual beans much more than I expected to. This will be in our rotation for sure!

I occasionally talk to other ladies who try and "hide" "mask" "whatever" other veggies in sauces and soups to encourage others in their household to eat a little more variety. Here is how I make my spaghetti sauce more Deceptively Delicious.

• One jar Ragu-I know I'm a bad Italian but who has time for sauce from scratch...really...
• 1 cup steamed, blended, and frozen green beans
• 1/2 cup steamed, blended, and frozen broccoli (the red in the picture is some frozen sauce I had left over)
• two chopped zucchini (if you really have a picky eater peel the zucchini it is harder to see that way
• 1 lb of ground turkey breast
• I cooked all of it (except for the turkey I which I pre-cooked) in the crock-pot for a few hours and easy as pie, dinner was done.
  

Lastly, tonight's dinner wasn't particularly "healthy" but it was fun! To celebrate our 1 month wedding anniversary we had pasta and chicken we froze and saved from the wedding night. It was super yummy. Complete with one extra little furry guest who missed the original event.See you soon

K

In the mood for a hot pink dinner?

Every two weeks we have a beautiful box of fresh, locally grown, organic, delicious, produce delivered to our door step. Well, things have been so busy over the last couple of months that I may as well be simply taking the produce box in from the porch (if that) and tossing it straight into the trash. I could kick myself each time- but I just haven't been getting around to eating all of the fruits and veggies we get. SO I am once again committing to eating the entire box, each week!

This week I had beets both red and white and sweet potatoes....along came the idea for soup (usually what I do when I have a ton of something, like beets, and I'm not sure what to do with them).

I came across a lot of recipes online that had a ton of ingredients. Celery juice, carrot juice, a ton of spices, etc. However, I chose to go the simple route. This soup has beets, sweet potatoes, onion, and cumin.

The how to:

Peel and chop a 1-1 beet/sweet potato ratio.

I used 4 cups of beets and 4 cups of sweet potato.

Beets are so purrty! Maybe next time a raw beet and veggie salad to preserve some of the lovely colors!

Next, I added 1/2 and onion (red but you could use whatever you prefer), 4 cups of chicken broth, and 2 cups of water.

Simmer for about 45 minutes. See the colors bleed! Just a word of caution. A wise old Granny once told me "What goes in must come out" Beware! beets stain...everything...just sayin'

Once the veggies have simmered and are soft I added 1 1/2 tsp of cumin (at this point you can add any spice you like. Some of the other suggestions were celery seed or tarragon) let the soup cool a bit and blended until smooth. I added a bit of cilantro for freshness and color.

Turned out yummy. The soup was sweet and hearty at the same time. It was very mild and could have used a little salt for a richer flavor but I am trying not to add salt where it is not necessary and went with the natural taste instead!

ww-2 per 1/2 cup....this is truly and estimation. I forgot to weigh stuff and lost my points book so make sure to add them up on your own if you feel liking making this soup.

*note- Point value is based of the old winning points.