I remember being 10 years old, getting my allowance, and getting on my bicycle, and peddling down to the local drugstore to get my weekly “fix” of Bubble Yum, lemon drops, and Jolly Ranchers. These kinds of unhealthy habits have plagued me into my adulthood.

Lately, I’ve been desperately trying to cut back on refined sugar and artificial sweeteners where possible.  CUT BACK – not quit completely.  Desserts are the toughest part here, although I admit I’ve been eating my share of naval oranges lately!

Recently I ran across this recipe for Oat Date balls. Everyone raves about these, and I just decided what the heck? I’ll try ‘em. They have cocoa in them, and I swear they taste like Almond Joy candy bars to me.  VERY satisfying, and a little more healthy than the traditional sugary stuff that I usually rely on.

Oat Date Balls

• 1/2 c. raw rolled oats
• 8 dates
• 1 Tbsp water
• 1-2 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1 Tbsp cocoa powder
• Coconut for rolling

In a food processor add the dates and oats, pulse a few times and then add the water, cocoa powder, coconut oil and pulse until everything is combined. Then just starting rolling them into balls- always remove the processor blade first (blood and dates don’t complement each other well – ha). Once you’ve got all the balls ready, you can roll them in the coconut, and then put them in the fridge to harden up a bit.

It’s hearty, it’s a good source of whole grains and fiber, and it fills you up.

Recently, I’ve gotten bored with regular oatmeal – until I started spicing it up more with Whey-Low and strawberries.

I discovered Whey-Low when I lived in Arizona. You can buy it at Whole Foods, or you can buy it online. (hint: if you sign up for their enewsletter, they send you a monthly 15% off code to buy it online; this takes care of the cost of shipping!)  It is an all-natural, low-calorie, low-glycemic sugar replacement that actually bakes and tastes like sugar. 4 calories per teaspoon! I don’t know how I lived without the stuff.

Anyway, I usually put some sort of fruit on my oatmeal, but I’ve learned that strawberries really satisfy my “sweet tooth”. Weird fact about me: I don’t like big “hunks” of fruit in anything. When it’s chopped up really small, or pureed, I’m 3 times as likely to consume it.

Whey-Low Strawberry Oatmeal

• 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
• 2/3 cup fat-free milk (I use Lactaid)
• 1/2 tsp Whey-Low Gold (brown sugar substitute)
• 1/2 tsp Whey-Low regular
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 6-8 strawberries

In a microwave-safe dish, mix 1/2 cup oats, milk, cinnamon, and Whey-Low Gold. Microwave for 3 minutes.

In the meantime, dice and chop up strawberries really fine. Add Whey-Low regular, and “cut in” with your chopping knife.

When oatmeal is cooked, stir well and transfer to a bowl. Add diced sweetened strawberries to the top and stir in.

Therefore, EVEN ON A “DIET”, I have to figure in some way that I can have dessert.  Otherwise, I’m no fun to be around (and “by no fun to be around”, I might mean “I am cranky and make everyone around me miserable.”)

And if you try to call apple cinnamon yogurt with a graham cracker Apple Pie, you are likely going to get my boot in your…errr…Apple Pie.

I saw this recipe in the brand-new Carb Lover’s Diet Cookbook I got in January. Could it possibly be good, or would it taste like sawdust?

Fortunately, these Pecan Blondies were delicious! Now granted, they did NOT rise up as high as the ones in the picture in the cookbook. That might have had something to do with the fact that I didn’t use parchment paper like instructed.

I’m not sure I even trust you good if you have parchment paper just layin’ around in your house.

Anyhoo, these bars have a distinct cake flavor that really surprised me. They are great with a cup of coffee in the morning (I had them as breakfast), or as a dessert.  And since the pecans are only sprinkled on top instead of being mixed IN, you could easily leave ‘em off, if you didn’t like nuts.

Pecan Blondies

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar (I use WheyLow brown sugar)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 T butter, melted (I use Brummel & Brown)
• 2 T vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup apple juice
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup pecans, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 350. Coat an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray. Then, the directions say to line with parchment. But I didn’t have any parchment, so I sprayed it and lined it with a big ole roll of NUTHIN’.

Combine flour, 1/2 cup oats, sugar, and salt in a foodprocessor; pulse until finely ground. Add butter, oil, juice, egg, and vanilla; pulse until mixed up.

Spread batter into pan; sprinkle with pecans and the remaining 1/4 cup oats.

Bake at 350 for 25 or 30 minutes, or until edges pull away from side of pan. You’re supposed to cool completely (I couldn’t wait that long). It’s supposed to make 16 squares, but since these aren’t feeding Barbie Dolls, they really only make 8 squares for us regular-sized humans.

VERY delicious! I’m thinking a scoop of vanilla ice cream on a warm pecan blondie would just get anyone out of a bad mood.

I was in the mood for something breakfast casserole-y this morning, but I wanted it to be more lean and whole-grain focused.

I modified an existing recipe. And GOOD. GRIEF. Y’ALL. IT’S GUUUUUUUUD!Breakfast Casserole:

• 4 slices marbled pumpernickel rye bread (I buy mine at bakery counter at Publix; Pepperidge Farms also makes some)
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup milk (I use fat free Lactaid)
• 1/2 tsp dry mustard
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Fresh cracked pepper to taste
• 1/2 package turkey kielbasa (my fave is Butterball)
• 1/2 cup shredded 2% sharp Cheddar cheese
• Lil’ cherry maters (these don’t go in it, you just eat ‘em with it and they purdy up the dish)

First, tear the bread into little cubes, and line the bottom of a casserole dish (spray that sucker with Pam first).

Cut up kielbasa into chunks, and spread over the bread.  Sprinkle cheese over all this.

Beat well 4 eggs, add milk, dry mustard, salt and pepper. Pour mixture over the bread/cheese/turkey stuff.  Let it sit for 5 minutes, long enough for the bread to soak up all the eggy goodness.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes.

(H. has no commentary on this dish, since H. thinks it’s a violation of The Geneva Convention to combine eggs with anything else, being the egg purist that H. is. But you’ll just have to believe me that it is mighty tasty!)

I also think you could add other stuff, like fresh spinach leaves, mushrooms, maybe even shred a potato on there (also Carb Lover’s Diet friendly), and it would be just as delish.

It’s time to get that under control, durn it.

For me, control = planning. So, here’s the meal plan for the upcoming week:

Dinners:

• Taco soup
• Chef salad w/chicken
• Bowie pasta dish (loosely based off of recipes pg. 107 & 150 CarbLover’s Diet book)
• Pork tenderloin
• Pork quesadillas
• Philly cheesesteak sandwiches
• Pizza

Possible breakfasts/desserts/side dishes:

• Edamame (soybean), corn, and tomato salad
• Egg, black bean, and avocado wrap with cheese (loosely based off recipe pg. 60 CarbLover’s Diet Cookbook book)
• Pecan blondies (pg. 250 CarbLover’s Diet Cookbook book)

Those red round things? Polenta, with spaghetti sauce on top.

I finally made my re-styled Chicken Parmesan last night.

It was on my menu plan for last week, but that plan got shot all to hell and back on account of my BIRTHDAY and some subsequent splurging.

I’m back on track now.Anyway, I don’t have an official list of ingredients all neatly spelled out for this recipe – you kinda just have to come along for the ride to see what I did.  But I will tell you the results up front: this is some SERIOUSLY DELICIOUS Chicken Parmesan.

First, I buy thinly sliced chicken. I cannot stand thick pieces of chicken breast, so I either pound the heck out of them, or buy them thinly sliced to begin with.

Also, so that this would be officially “Carb Lover’s Diet” friendly, I needed to use whole-grain breadcrumbs. I was kinda dreading that. However, I ended up finding whole-wheat Panko crumbs made by Ian’s at Publix. The flavor was so delicious, and way better than regular breadcrumbs if you can believe it.

I poured out about a cup into a plate, and mixed them with a big ole’ shaking of Italian seasoning, and garlic salt. I spread them out all over the plate in anticipation of using it for the coating.

I got two of the thin chicken breasts, and dipped them in an egg mixture (1 beaten egg, and a glorp of milk. You know what a glorp is? You just do a big pour and finish quickly – GLORP!! I think it’s about a 1/4 cup.)  Then, after putting them in the egg/glorp mixture, I dipped them in the breadcrumb mix above. You have to really moosh the crumbs onto the chicken with your fingers, or else it doesn’t get properly coated. Don’t leave out mooshing.

I put about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet, and then brown the chicken (4-5 minutes on each side on medium-high heat). Then, transfer them to a cookie sheet, and put a good helping of your favorite spaghetti sauce on top of each, followed by a slice of mozzarella cheese. My favorite spaghetti sauce of all time is Bertolli Olive Oil & Garlic.

Cook at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until done.  If it’s the thinly sliced chicken, it’ll be done in 15 minutes since it’s been browned.

I served Italian green beans and fried polenta with this. Never had polenta? Well, I told you in an earlier post that polenta was a new discovery for our household, and we love it! You really ought to give it a try (it’s really just corn, y’all.) I buy the pre-made polenta in the refrigerator section (actually, the kind I bought was basil and garlic polenta – yummy!).  I just slice off 1/2 inch sections, and fry each side in the olive oil left over from browning the chicken – maybe 3 minutes each side? I also put spaghetti sauce on top. Polenta is a “carb star”, if you are following the Carb Lovers Diet.

All in all, it was delicious. Shake, glorp, moosh, done!

The secret? WHITE whole-wheat flour

So, one of the kind of tough things about the Carb Lover’s Diet is getting used to using whole grains instead of white flour for any of my baking needs. I used to think whole-wheat flour was the only thing you could use to replace white flour in a recipe. However, I’ve been experimenting with all sorts of things: flaxseed meal, almond flour, oat flour, whole-wheat pasta flour, etc. Also, it’s amazing to me how tasty things are with just regular oatmeal added.

Which brings me to these biscuits. They are made with 100% whole grain ingredients, but are almost as tasty as a regular biscuit, but with a richer, more robust texture and flavor. Also, they are drop biscuits, which appeals to my lazy side!  I made these, and ate them for breakfast with a hard-boiled egg, and it was a very hearty, satisfying breakfast indeed.

The trick ingredient? Using WHITE whole-wheat flour. I can’t find this at Publix; have to buy it at Whole Foods, and it’s made by King Arthur flour. White whole-wheat flour I’ve found has a much less bitter “whang” (that’s a Neill/Byrd family word that means aftertaste) than regular whole-wheat flour.

Oatmeal Drop Biscuits

Stir thoroughly the flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in oats.Combine egg, milk and honey; add all at once to dry mixture. Stir just until moistened. Drop by spoonfuls onto greased baking sheet. Bake in 425 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Makes 10-12 biscuits.

P.S. – one of these days, I’m going to learn how to make homemade apple butter. I just know these would be exquisite with apple butter on ‘em.

RO..tisserie chicken RO..tisserie chicken

You’re great for working women

 

RO..tisserie chicken RO..tisserie chicken

You save my family from BOREdom

 

Forgot to cook or thaw for tonight

Your tasty flesh will my family delight

 

RO..tisserie chicken RO..tisserie chicken

You lovely last-minute TREASURE

 

This particular rotisserie chicken was purchased from The Fresh Market. Do you have one of those in your town? They make a garlic and wine rotisserie chicken that is just so moist and flavorful. Of course, I also love the ones from Publix.

I usually pair this with a quick baked potato in the microwave, and an easy salad.  YES, I’m a redneck and prefer iceberg lettuce to all those other fancy lettuces.

But TONIGHT – I also bought some roasted new potatoes, and an edamame corn tomato salad. SO yum I can’t even tell you.

No cooking. But STILL eatin’ right!

Therefore, I decided to include a picture of my cat Snowbaby, nestled in my lap, which is where she lives most days as I work on my computer. Isn’t she an adorable little angel?

Oh, right – back to the Muesli.

This recipe was a pleasant surprise. I was looking for a way to fix oatmeal differently. I really loved this recipe – it really fills you up, and stays with you until lunchtime. I strongly advise making this the night before, so that the oatmeal fully absorbs the milk. Otherwise, I usually end up dumping out a tiny bit of milk at the end.  Just my personal preference. Not a huge fan of milk anyways, so “extra” liquid at the end of my cereal grosses me out.

• 1/2 cup old-fashioned Quaker oats (or other rolled oats)
• 1/2 cup 1% low-fat milk
• 1 apple, cored and chopped
• 2 T sliced almonds
• 2 t honey

Combine oats and milk in a bowl; let stand 7 minutes. (as recommended above, I fix it the night before). Then, stir in apple, almonds, and honey.

You could probably also add a dash of some cinnamon or ground cloves to this – that would terrifically enhance the flavor.

You might be tempted to peel the apple first, but don’t go doing that. As my Memaw Neill would say, “that’s the part that’s got the good fer ya in it”. Seriously, you will want all those vitamins. And also, if you have any problems with irregularity, the fiber in the peel is VERY beneficial, if you know what I mean. :/

Tonight, I proved him right!

You guessed it – tonight, we had spaghetti.  SPAGHETTI!!!!!!!1 24 oz jar Bertolli Olive Oil & Garlic spaghetti sauce

1/2  lb. ground sirloin

13.25 oz box Ronzoni Healthy Harvest Whole Grain thin spaghetti (only use half)

Brown the hamburger meat (I brown the whole pound, then freeze half for use later). Dump in the Bertolli sauce, and cook until heated.

This is one of our favorite ways to eat spaghetti.

We like to buy pumpernickel bread at our local bakery (if you are in Birmingham, we get it at Edgar’s). It’s very moist, and they bake in some onion, which makes it incredibly savory.

If you follow the Carb Lovers diet, then you’ll know that the whole-wheat pasta, and the pumpernickel bread are the “Carb Stars” of the meal!