Healthy Living – Page 11

Adventures in the Kitchen with Michelle

December 11, 2012December 5, 2012 by KTgreen

I’m sooo happy it’s Christmas ! I’m a Christmas Kid, like my Auntie. There’s part of me that hates the holiday season,…no, not my wallet,…my thighs! Ugh – everything is either covered in chocolate, laced with heavy cream or filled with some decadent use for cream cheese. My list for that last one’s really pretty long!

The other day I was out shopping, (shocking, I know) and once again found myself in front of the dairy case dreaming, or drooling over the 50 varieties of Eggnog now available. BTW, none of which can even come close to MY Eggnog. If you’ve been to a Beal Christmas Party (well, except the last one) you’ve had my eggnog – and probably needed a cab too! It’s Martha’s version. Who know she was such a party-girl. There’s like a dozen eggs, cream, milk, and almost 6 cups of booze! I pulled that recipe out and ran it thru the analyzer and nearly fainted – 395 calories (I’ll call it a solid 400!), and 23.7 g of FAT. OMG. I had to laugh when I looked at the booze included, the program gives a grading on the healthiness level of each ingredient. Apparently, bourbon is slightly more healthy than cognac and much better than rum – hmm, is that why Capt. Jack Sparrow’s so svelte? BTW – they all scored an F. Ha ha ha ! Or, Ho, Ho, Ho….Yo,ho,ho…

Wait a minute, at the store they had a lo-fat one by Bolthouse Farms (I’m sure there are others, but this one caught my eye) – and for a mere $6.00 you could have a small bottle of it. Not even in the 1/2 gal size. OMG. I looked at the label and thought,.no, no, I can do this. And not for $6.00! This is what I came up with…

Step 1: The ingredients (no, I didn’t use the heavy cream. But everything was so clean for a photo)

Adventure's in the Kitchen with Michelle — Step 1

2 Cups Almond Milk

1 can Evaporated Fat-Free Milk (12oz)

3/4 Cup Fat-Free Half&Half

1 Egg

1/2 Cup Whey-Low reg.

1 tsp Vanilla

Nutmeg to taste

Optional booze:

1 shot Bourbon

1 shot Cognac

2 Shots Dark Rum (cause I like rum!)

Step 2: Get the milks in a sauce pan on low and begin to warm.

Step 3: Whisk the egg and sugar, and vanilla together and whisk into the milks before they get too hot. (or you’ll have sweet scrambled eggs!) S L O W L Y bring it up to a steam (about 160-165 deg). It’ll thicken a bit, but not the ‘drinkable custard’ that store-bought is. You’ll need more eggs for that, and my thighs said “NO!”

Step 4: The Optional booze – yeah, right! Nobody but me drinks it here – so, load the cannons my friends! It’s Christmas!!

Step 5: The pricey supermarket bottle listed ‘whey concentrate’, which I took as a thickener. I’ve got that, sort of (we use it for smoothies). So I took a 1/2 cup of the finished product and whirled it up in the magic bullet. It was ok, a little thicker. If you have some you can do that. Not worth the added calories to me though.

Finale: Makes 6 cups of an awesome substitute! The analyzer came up with more fat than I thought at 10g, but still only 155 calories. It still is eggnog, with an actual whole egg (I guess I could try it with EggBeaters too,…but I was out) and everything is a kitchen staple here. So, it probably made the equivalent of $12.00 worth of the supermarket stuff,…and that’s with MakersMark and Friends! (yes, those are kitchen staples here too….you know me, right?) Yo, ho, ho and Merry Christmas!!!

Home Remedies

November 29, 2012 by KTgreen

I’ve been sick. Sore throat. Tired. Generally yucky. And I’m totally not blaming that kid with “hand, foot and mouth” disease or that adult with the 24 hour flu. Both who I spent a week with. I’m blaming all those people on the airplane that can’t COVER THEIR MOUTHS when they are hacking and sneezing.

I tried “cold-eze”, ibuprophene, Alka seltzer cold tablets, — mostly cause those were in my cupboard. Too tired and puny to drive anywhere and buy anything else. Then I tried hot water with lemon and tea which actually helped the throat a little. So I started thinking about home remedies. Hmmmm, what else could I whip up without leaving the house? A little research on the Internet for home remedies. One cup of hot water with 1 tablespoon of lemon and 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. Had all the ingredients and I have to say it was totally disgusting. But the sore throat went away briefly. Long enough to get to the store and buy heavily marketed OTC drugs.

So, my question to you is, what home remedies do you rely on to cure those little miseries? Not sick enough to go to the doctor, just sick enough.

Adventures in the Kitchen with Michelle

December 11, 2012November 28, 2012 by KTgreen

Today was supposed to be rainy. I got everything done yesterday so I could stay inside today and play Cookie Monster Mama. Then it rained early and then it turned cool and the sun came out. Now that isn’t a bad thing, but I sure don’t want to be inside…how about just opening the doors. Ahhhh,….that’s better.

Lately, I’ve been going on and on about things having to do with Fall. Pumpkin, maple syrup, etc. What else? Apples. I love apples – all kinds! My old house in Brooksville used to smell like apples and cinnamon. I miss that. This one’s just too big for all that. I’d burn down the place with that many candles! And Bath & Body Works doesn’t sell their incense oils by the gallon. That said, nothing gives a house a warm homey smell on a cold day like firing up the oven and making cookies.

But I started this little story with an apple prompt. Apples & cookies?? Who does that? I do, that’s who! Months ago I worked up an apple studded version of an oatmeal cookie. It didn’t turn out as great as I expected. The guys liked it, but it still had nearly a whole stick of buttah!! I put the recipe aside and figured I’d ‘fix it’ later. Man, if I had a dime for every time I said that I’d be rich!!! But this a perfect day for it…Let’s Play Cookie Monster Mama…

Michelle’s Apple Pie Cookies

Step 1: Preheat that oven to 350 deg. Gather the staff. This turned out to be one of my more lengthy recipes. But a little of this and little of that and you’re on your way to a hand-held apple treat that’s just chock full of Fall wonderment. And this one won’t leave your ass looking just as dimpled as the chunky surface of these cookies!

Dry:

3/4 Cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour

1 Cup Oats (NOT quick cooking)

1/4 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

Wet:

1/4 Cup Apple Sauce

3 Tbl Butter (very soft)

1 Egg

1/2 Cup Truvia Baking Blend

2 Tbl Brown Sugar

2 Tbl Apple Butter (my organic apple butter has serious apple punch!)

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

2 tsp Boiled Cider *

1/8 tsp Allspice

1/8 tsp Nutmeg

1/8 tsp Ground Ginger

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 Cup Golden Raisins

2 Tbl Butterscotch Chips

1/3 Cup Apple (about 1/2 an apple, chopped raisin size)

* Boiled Cider? WTF? Well, it’s a great little secret ingredient I get online at www.KingArthurFlour.com. It’s like concentrated apple flavor – get some and your pies and other apple yummies will never be the same. Boiled cider is to cider the way apple butter is to apple sauce. Hmmm, I’m thinking about an Apple Cidercar, or an Appletini. But that’s another blog. Omitting it from this will take out a bit of punch, but won’t ruin the cookie either.

Step 2: OK, you know the drill – mix the dry – mix the wet. I add the extras to the dry. The flour, etc coats the apples and keep the raisins separated. But you can toss them all in last – whatever.

Step 3: Here’s the batter. Better get scooping. Bake these up for 13-14 min. or so. Should be about 32 cookies.

The sun’s going down and I’ll have to close the doors soon. I thought that clock fell back? Mmmmm, a little juice and mineral water spritzer while I type, and of course do a little quality control testing. We’re professionals here folks – I can’t just send out any old recipe.

Did I mention these won’t stick to your hips! Wanna know why? Wait for it….. 59 calories!!! Whooooo Wheeeeee! I’m getting so good at this. I think I need to use my other Apple to make up a cookbook…yeah, and if I had a dime for every time I’ve said that…