Zucchini Nut Muffins

Yes, that's homemade icing!

I got into a baking mood this past Saturday.  Last month I made Red Vel-beet Cupcakes, so this month I wanted to make another cupcake/muffin with a new veggie!  I Googled "zucchini muffins" and this recipe was first on the list: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/zucchini_muffins

I added walnuts and skipped the raisins/dried fruit.  They turned out to be pretty tasty!  I made some in mini-muffin pan and some regular sized.  Think I like the bite size the best.

I whipped up some icing from scratch so my boyfriend could eat them like "cupcakes". Great warm with melted butter too!

The only bad thing about these muffins is that they're too good and I demolished most of the minis... you'll see them on my hips this week.  You know what that means...time for a Diva Derriere challenge!

Au revoir!

Red Vel-beet Cupcakes

I discovered this fantastic recipe from the blog Coconut Lime and have been meaning to make them for a while now.

Since it was Independence Day and all, I envisioned making red velvet cupcakes with white creamy frosting and blue sprinkles (the whole red, white and blue theme). This idea was totally spontaneous and I made it to the store around 4pm. Not too many holiday choices for decorating cupcakes, so no sprinkles today.

The cupcakes came out beet-ifully! Not as red as I expected, more on the chocolate side (which is fine by me). No food coloring in this recipe!

Also used her icing recipe, but mine didn't really "thicken" up so I added a bunch of powdered sugar and let it cool. I really try to avoid any store-bought icing (its all filled with chemicals). I don't have a mixer either, which would solve a lot of problems. Hand mixing icing burns some calories.

However, I had success with my handmade icing... the day after it had been sitting in the fridge. (Baking Tip from Lolly: Let cupcakes AND icing completely cool, at least 2 hours, before icing.)

 Tonight I made a new batch and added chocolate chips to 1/2 the batter. Super chocolaty!

 This one has the super creamy cool icing. YUM!

Now that I've eaten a few too many of these creations... it's time for another few sets of Hoe Downs before bed.

Au revoir!

P.S. I plan on doing a 45+ minute T-Tapp workout tomorrow to torch the added sugar from my new cupcake addiction.  Tomorrow is also the last day of the 2010 60-Day T-Tapp Challenge!  I can't wait to see everyone's progress.  Good luck!

{ weekend } Besties & Beach Bunnies

Me & Lolly

Friday, May 14th

Well my friends, the weekend is finally here! I am super excited about hanging out with Lolly for the next few days. It's been forever since we had best friend time together.


Healthy Habits

Body Care
Body Brushing - check!
Oil Pulling - check!
Workout/Exercise - check! Well, just Hoe Downs.

Nourishment
No fruit today.
Veggies - check! 3 servings today.
Water - check!

Supplements
Alfalfa: 6 caps
B-12 Plus: 8 sprays
Pyruvyl Glycine: 4 sprays
Vitamin D3: 4 sprays


Eats

Brekkie

Starbucks Egg White Turkey Bacon Whole-grain Sandwich and a Iced Grande Nonfat Vanilla Latte.

Actually will never order breakfast like this from Starbucks again. SO not worth it, but I wasn't feeling up to a wheatgrass detox. AND I really miss the spinach on egg and cheese sandwiches.

I really need to get over my Starbucks addiction... again!


Dessert

Lolly baked some cute little cupcakes! She calls them Neapolitan Cupcake Sandwiches. And they are gluten-free!

Lunch

Leftover Panang Chicken with Brown Rice from Ban Thai.

Dinner

Lolly made me dinner... it was delicious!

Cool Cucumber Sandwich.

Something about the combination of cool cucumber, tomatoes and crispy bacon on whole grain bread... it's mouth-watering.

Drinks

La's Rose Colored Glasses Drink.

Every girl needs a signature drink named after her!

Then we headed to The 8th Avenue Pub to hang out for the rest of the evening.

Yes, this is my "go anywhere" dress!

I tried some other kind of beer, but ended up starting off with a classic Yuengling.

And then another Yuengling, then a Blue Moon.

We headed back to Lolly's after that and were excited about our beach day in the morning.


Saturday, May 15th
Beach days. Sun rays. Blue skies. Dragon flies.

Healthy Habits

Body Care
I pretty much skipped everything... but I re-applied my sunscreen about 4 times and didn't get burnt at all.

Nourishment
No fruit today.
Veggies - check! 4 servings today.
Water - check!

Supplements
Alfalfa: 6 caps


Eats

Brekkie

Iced Coffee (cream/sugar), Pancakes, Eggs and Bacon from the Venus Restaurant in Largo on the way to the beach.

To DIE for! Topped with some syrup and ate a little more than half.


Eh, I ate a few bites of eggs and 1 slice of bacon.

The beach was no less than amazing. Sand Key Beach has a lot of shells in the sand. It's not as powdery white as Clearwater or St. Pete Beach. But the traffic was minimal and we found parking easily. The skies were clear (except for those pesky man-made lines) with a strong breeze.

The only bad thing was the dragon flies everywhere!!! They were HUGE.


Mike caught a dragon fly on his hand. He sat there for a few minutes.

I did not want to leave the beach... I think I could have stayed until the sun went down just lounging in the sand, swimming in the salty water and soaking up the rays. We're going to try to go again next Saturday too.

Lunch

Picnic Chicken Pita + added romaine. Oh and there was a margarita on the rocks somewhere in there as well... with lots of rocks!

Recipe Review!!

This one is a keeper. I never would have thought about mixing broccoli with chicken, cheese and bacon and then stuffing it in a sandwich. It was delicious and La had it ready in 20 minutes flat.

After picking up Roxy and recouping from the beach (a day in the Florida sun takes a lot out of you) I met up with Caroline and Logan, her new baby. He is a heart breaker already! SO friggin' cute!!!

Dinner

Shared this Greek Salad and Hummus and Pita with Caroline.

Dessert

1/2 of this Chocolate Baklava.

And a bite of Caroline's Tiramisu.

Then I headed over to Matty & Vally's place to help them pack up a few things for their move. They just bought the most spectacular home in Safety Harbor. It's a very exciting time. I am so happy for them!

Later, I did have 1/2 a glass of wine and a few more bites of a Picnic Chicken Pita sandwich before heading back to my Dad's to turn in for the night.


Sunday, May 16th

First thing of the day was to get in a real workout... and then run some of those errands I've been putting off. I got my car cleaned (boy, did it need it) and bought 4 brand new tires (it rides SO much better now). Of course it started raining as soon as I got to the tire place with a sparkling clean car! I finished up the rest of my errands (returns and exchanges) then came home for an excellent dinner.

Roxy went everywhere with me... and only barked a few times. She's such a great little traveler!

Healthy Habits

Body Care
Body Brushing - check!
Oil Pulling - check!
Workout/Exercise - check! I did a Basic Workout from Maxi Max #1 then the floor portion for about a 45 minute workout.

Nourishment
Fruits - check! 3 servings today.
Veggies - check! 5 servings today.
Water - check!

Supplements
Alfalfa: 6 caps


Eats

Latte

Starbucks Grande Nonfat Vanilla Latte.

Also drank a Venti Iced Green Tea (unsweet).


Lunch

Wendy's Mandarin Chicken Salad (minus the dressing).

Dinner

Scallops Penne with Basil and Spinach, plus Greek Salad.

Delish!

And two glasses of red wine...

Not at once... the other one is my dad's.

It was a fabulous weekend! Looking forward to Marcel coming home tomorrow after work. I can't wait to see him and give him a big hug.

Au revoir!

P.S. I might actually make it to bed before 11pm tonight! Shocker.

Recipe Review: Baked Potato Soup

With all these Idaho potatoes left over from the holidays and the colder weather we've been having I decided to make a comforting soup. I hopped on Allrecipes.com and discovered this Baked Potato Soup recipe.

Topped with Cheddar Cheese, Fresh Parsley, Organic Bacon, Paprika and Crushed Red Pepper Flakes.

This soup turned out to be delicious and perfect for the evening! (I love anything with a little cream.) I followed the recipe exactly, except that I boiled the potatoes and then sliced them into chunks. Baking potatoes just takes too long on short notice and I try to avoid the microwave if I can.

I ate the soup with some fresh tabbouleh and Asiago toast.

This recipe is wonderful reheated as well. More flavors come out the longer the ingredients sit together. Makes a great fast and filling lunch!

To make a healthier version of this replace the cream with lowfat organic milk, cheese with reduced fat cheddar and bacon with turkey bacon. Might try that later this week... or with sweet potatoes instead!

Stay warm!

Recipe Review: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

We've made a cookie exchange tradition at the office. Yes, we are a fitness company, but we are also food lovers and don't skimp on the good stuff!

Honestly, I did not feel up to baking cookies this year. I'm SO glad I did though! These tasty little babies came out fantastic.

I stopped at the Dollar Store to pick up some cute holiday Christmas tins for my baking creation. People love food... especially homemade deliciousness like this.

The recipe made 60 cookies!!! I was able to fill all 5 tins, each with a dozen.

I found this recipe on AllRecipes.com...

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups butter (no substitutes), softened
• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups quick-cooking oats
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars.
   
2. Beat in the pumpkin, egg and vanilla.
   
3. Combine the flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture.
   
4. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

The cookies turned out to be moist and chewy because of the pumpkin. I give them 4 stars!

Viola!