Kristi's Rhubarb Pie with Christina's Twist!

Thank you Kristi for allowing me to play with this recipe!! It was yummy!! (I'll post pictures in a bit!)

For the original recipe see http://kristimenuideas.blogspot.com/2010/07/strawbery-rhubarb-pie.html.

The nutritional values of the original pie (cut into 8 servings) are as follows:

392.2 Cal/serving
16.2g fat/ serving
2.6g fibre/ serving
9 ww points... (holy crap.)


Here is my version:

Filling:
3 C Rhubarb (cut into pieces)
1/3 C Sugar
1/2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1/8 C stevia
1/8 C coconut flour
1 pt. Sliced fresh strawberries

Crust:
1/2 C Lard or Veg Shortening
1/2 C Coconut flour
1 C All purpose flour
Enough Ice water to moisten

Cook @ 425 for 15 min
Then reduce temp to 350 for 30-35 min. (It only took 30 min in my oven so that's why the cooking times are different than the original recipe)

Nutritional Value per slice (pie cut into 8):

249.7 Cal
15.3g fat
2.8g Fibre
Almost 7 WW points... (yikes)

So this is still not something I would eat very often but I did manage to shave off 142.5 cal per serving. (1140 cal off the whole pie... woot woot!)

Thanks again for the recipe Kristi!

P.S. Thanks to my mommy's thinking I have realized that I could try and substitute the lard in the crust (which has 924.5 cal per 1/2 c and 102.5g fat) with coconut butter (which has 640 cal per 1/2 c) that would reduce the calories significantly. I'll let you know if I attempt it later!

Yummy food reviews!! Oh Oh oh yeah!!

So if you are like me, you probably end up seeing random commercials from the U.S. I kept on seeing these commercials for Yoplait light in the U.S. that had extremely Delicious sounding yogurt flavours. Who wants plain old strawberry when you can have white chocolate and strawberry?? hmm? hmmm? Not I said the hungry lady!! So I took a drive down to good ol Montana and purchased a shite load of yogurt!!

I LOVE: white chocolate strawberry

pineapple upside down cake

Boston cream pie

key lime pie

raspberry cheesecake

The rest were really good too... but those are my favorite. Oh and somehow the orange cream one tastes like booze... so muh not so great.

So there are still 100-110 cals per 170g container, BUT no fat!!

So I also happened to find the Source yogurt which is 35cal per 100g package.

Of course it has fake sugar in it so you get to choose between obesity or cancer... but such is life, right?

Exercise!!

So this is the part everyone hates!! I actually love feeling my muscles ache after a workout. I feel so fantastic after a workout it's ridiculous; however, it's actually getting myself to workout that's the problem! So here are some of the things I enjoy... I'll even write a little blurb about each.

Wearing a Pedometer: So I have an omron pedometer(http://www.walmart.com/ip/Omron-Pocket-Pedometer/5513760) that you can actually plug into your computer and it puts everything onto a graph for you... this REALLY helps you to see how active you are during the day. It's nice because I don't think most of us are aware of how idle we really are. They say you should do 10000 steps a day. I thought... oh yeah no worries... WELL... on an average day I was getting between 5000 and 8000 steps. So now what I do is toward the end of the day I look at the pedometer and if it's looking really low I go for a walk and try to make the numbers go up!!!

Pilates: I have this box of 3 pilates DVDs that came with 2 bands and a ball. (I got it at Costco for like 30 bucks or something) I LOVE IT! It's called 10 minute solutions. My tummy muscles burn afterward like the dickens... it's delicious (as I said I like the sore muscles after...weird huh). The beauty about Pilates is that it doesn't seem too bad while you're doing it. I never feel like I'm going to die or pass out but a few hours later you can really feel all of the muscles you worked on. If you have tummy troubles as I do this is perfect because every exercise you do focuses on your "core", which means you are always working the tummy. Also these DVDs are broken down into 10 minute exercise segments so there are no excuses about not having time!!

Wii Fit and Wii Active: So wii fit is good for people who are not as in shape... and it has more games. It's great to just have fun with but I wouldn't expect to get a bikini bod while doing it. On the other hand, wii Active is fabulous. You can seriously work up a sweat with that sucker. Especially if you choose the harder levels. I was doing wii active everyday (well they make you skip a day everything 3 days I think) and I was getting in such good shape that I could run on my tread mill for like an hour without passing out. I was so impressed with myself.

TREAD MILL: This is my favorite!! I like to run and listen to my music. I like the feeling of having a coating of sweat on all over me. It makes me feel like less of a lazy bum. Also... living in southern Alberta we have like 3 months of good weather a year so staying active in winter months gets to be hard. Especially if you don't live in a city where they have swimming pools and gyms... I love my tread mill. I got mine at superstore for 98.00 bucks... and YES it's electric and digital... it just doesn't have the ability to incline by pushing a button but you can make it incline a bit by manually doing something on the underside of the machine. I always keep mine on the incline.

Have fun staying in shape!! Find things that you enjoy doing. Dancing is amazingly good for you!! Just let yourself go!!

Potatoes, yams, and jicama oh my!

So I decided to see what the nutritional break down of these were... since they are somewhat interchangeable. It's fun to see!!

100g Raw Jicama (Yambean, or Mexican potato)

38 cal

1% calcium

1g protein

3% iron

4mg sodium

33% daily value vit C

9g carb

5g dietary fibre

100 g Raw Russet Potatoes

79 cal
5mg sodium
18g carbs
1g dietary fibre
2g protein
32% Vit C
4% Iron
1% calcium

100g Raw Yams

118 cal

9mg sodium

28g carbs

4g dietary fibre

2g protein

2% vit A

3%Iron

28%vit C

1% Calcium

Alternative recipes that I have tried!

So I have wanted yummy brownies for awhile but I'm not interested in gaining a bunch of weight either. Here is a recipe I tried recently. Was it GREAT? No. Was it good enough to satisfy my craving? Yeah. Like I mentioned before, the worst that can happen is you have to try again.

So here is the original recipe from healthyindulgences.blogspot.com

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 sticks of organic butter (3/4 cup), softened

OR 1 stick butter, 8 oz sour cream (for more moist brownies)

1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

4 large eggs

1 cup sifted coconut flour

3/4 erythritol or xylitol or 1/3 c honey

1/2 tsp good tasting stevia (increase to 1 tsp if using honey)

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp aluminium free baking powder

1/3 c unsweetened cocoa powder

1/3 c organic heavy cream

1/2 c pecans or walnuts

Cal 232.8 Fat 26.2 g Fibre 1.6g (if cut into 12)

MY REVISED EDITION

1/2 c Light Cream Cheese

1 mashed banana

1 tbsp vanilla flavoured stevia

4 lg eggs

1 c coconut flour

1/3 c sugar free preserves (preferably sweetened with fruit juice instead of artificial sweeteners)

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda (baking powder has corn starch and I didn't want to use it)

1/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder

Mix all together until smooth. Pour into greased 9x9 cake pan. Cook at 350 for 25-30 min or until knife comes out clean.

Cal 92.8 Fat 6.0 Fibre 1.6g (if cut into 12)

My personal tips for next time: Needs melted chocolate or chocolate chips in it. Needs some nuts. Maybe a blend of coconut flour and almond flour. Use a smooth jam with no seeds. (hehe..)

* Nutritional values are approximate. I used an online recipe calculator.

Cookies, Cake, Pastries, Candy, and ICECREAM!!!

Got your attention didn't I? Well I'm thinking that we should begin will cravings... and how to avoid getting accosted by giant chocolate fudge brownies... mmm... okay enough about my fantasies. It's time for you to DROP THE CASSEROLE AND STEP AWAY FROM THE MINIVAN.(hehe... I amuse myself.)

Firstly I think it's important to know yourself and know when a craving is likely to hit. For me, it's whenever I am by myself and usually later in the evening when there is no way in heck I'm getting myself something like celery uh uh... nope... not unless the celery came with chicken wings and ranch dressing. SO... without further ado...

• Brush your teeth!!! Seriously... have you ever tried eating anything directly after brushing? It's gross... nothing tastes good. Even another mint flavour tastes horrid after brushing. I have actually gone through quite a few toothbrushes using this trick. Every time a craving hits and I KNOW I'm not really hungry I'll go and brush. Some people have said that you should drink a glass of water but that really doesn't work for me. First of all, it makes me go to the kitchen which is the last thing I should be doing in the middle of a munchy crisis. Secondly it does nothing to satisfy my oral NEEDS!!(maybe chewing ice would help??)

• Talk to yourself! This one takes time... well it did for me. I actually had to stop myself half way to the refrigerator (who am I kidding... maybe even after a few bites of whatever was calling to me.) and ask myself "Self, do you REALLY need this? Are you REALLY hungry?? Is it worth it?" and to be honest I usually answered no... but I have noticed myself can be a bit of a lier. Self awareness is key! It sounds SO simple but I think half the time we just let ourselves run wild and satisfy whatever kind of desire we have at the moment instead of asking ourselves if it is what we really need.

• Don't say "NEVER", say "Not right now!" It is, in my opinion, counterproductive to say "I can't ever eat this ever again! I'm not allowed to eat (fill in the blank)." because everyone knows you will reach a breaking point and gorge yourself full of the deliciousness to the point where you can no longer move, breath, or call 911 for help. Tell yourself WHEN it is appropriate to have the things you love. Maybe you can plan to allow once a week, once a month, or once a day (mmm hmmm... that's what I'm talking about!) to treat yourself to something yummy. If you know you can have something it no longer taunts you like forbidden fruit.

• Prepare for disaster! Like a 72 hour kit for your nutrition. Everyone loves the convenience of packaged food. The nutritional value, not so much. If I am faced with the option of preparing something like a salad or grabbing a bag of cookies when I am starved... I'll grab the cookies. So what I need to do is make sure there are fast, ready options for me when disaster strikes. Pre-cut your veggies... no really... I know you think "uh but I still want those cookies!" but if you don't have to do any work except to grab a baggy of celery, carrots, and cauliflower out of the fridge and munch on them you will be way more likely to choose the veggies.

• Stock up and stock down. Buy good food! Make sure you have all of the healthy options! If you have an array of beautiful, colorful goodness in your house then you wont want to go out and grab the junk... because let's face it... we're lazy and don't REALLY want to leave the house at 12:00 am. Now for the other part... DON'T BUY JUNK!!! Just don't do it. No crappy cereal, no candy, no cookies, no pop, no chips, no NOTHING. Don't even allow it in the house. If you are allowing yourself a treat then go buy a single serving of whatever cranks your tank... but it shall not pass unto the glory of your home.

• Watch a cooking show or look through recipe books. Okay it sounds bonkers, right?? Well... for some reason this works for me. I love watching Food Network. I love seeing all of the gorgeous food, I love learning new things... and for some reason this really helps to satisfy some deep seated need I have. I love baking, but then I end up with a whole tray of cookies staring at me... and really, my three year old doesn't like eating so they would have gone to waste if I didn't eat them... hehe. Anyway, watching someone ELSE bake helps me... and then there are no leftover goodies haunting me from beyond the refrigerator.

• Don't let grandmas recipes bog you down!! Grandma`s GONE... let her recipes rest in pieces!! We have SO many options these days... don't just use the old fashioned full fat, full of sugar, full of...well... they are yummy... but... what I'm saying is experiment! Take those old recipes and twist them into new fangled low-cal yummies. Cut the butter out of baking by using bananas, avocados, or apple sauce. It doesn`t hurt to play around... and DON`T be afraid! The worst that can happen is it doesn`t work out and you have to try again. Life won`t end and grandma won`t rise from her grave and stalk your kitchen forever more.

• Find alternatives. Sweet potato fries instead of french fries, cauliflower mash instead of mashed potatoes, coconut flour instead of wheat flour, stevia instead of sugar. BUY THE LOW FAT DAIRY PRODUCTS... yes I know, it`s hard but you will adjust. I promise... even my mother, who is French Canadian and LOVES cheese, adapted well to low fat.

Okay, I believe that is enough for now. I would love to hear some tricks and tips from anyone out there who knows a thing or two. Let me know, and good luck on your weight loss journey!!