Archive | Gettin Skinneeeeee RSS feed for this section

Chicken Pot Pie

10 Feb

Time for another recipe! Well…it was sort-of a recipe, more like recommendations of ingredients with vague comments about how to put them together lol

I wanted to try making Chicken Pot Pie, the kind with the biscuits on top, but had no idea how. So I did what I always do, I YouTubed and Googled and came up with lots of recipes but also lots of questions.

All the recipes mentioned needing whatever quantity of cooked chicken, but none of them said how to cook the chicken. Am I supposed to bake it? Grill it? Boil it? Why don’t these recipes start with “Step 1: cook the chicken in such-n-such a manner”? Won’t the chicken cook when it is in the oven mixed with all the other ingredients?

That was my main line of confusion, so then I did what I always do when confused by recipes, I emailed my mom. I basically sent her the questions I typed in the above paragraph with a desperate plea for help.

She took pity on me, probably while shaking her head wondering how I function as an adult when left to my own devices, and replied with the tidbit of information that chicken pot pie is designed to use up left over chicken, which is why the recipes don’t say how to cook the chicken.

Oops!

Then she sent a recipe for chicken pot pie she has from a relative…

1 can mushroom or celery soup (Aunt Jude used one of each as she was making a 9 x 13 pan)
Cooked chicken, cubed
chopped onion, celery, mushrooms
frozen mixed vegetables, or left over veggies
seasonings
milk
Mix soup and small amount of milk in a large bowl. Stir in cooked chicken and chopped onion, celery and mushrooms, add frozen veggies (or a mix of frozen/left over veg) till you like the quantity. Pour into casserole dish, top with pastry lid. Bake at 375 for 25 mins, or until pastry looks cooked.
This is not a recipe!
This has vague measurements, and even vaguer details.  A small amount of milk? What is a “small amount”? When I asked her she said “until it looks right”. *rolls eyes*
And uh, hello, “seasonings”…what seasonings? Which ones? How much of each?
Some of us need a detailed road map when cooking and the above recipe was not that!
Not wanting to admit defeat I attempted to make the recipe, only smaller as I didn’t want endless left overs. I used one can of the mushroom soup, 1/4 of a can of milk, half a bag of mixed frozen veggies (Compliments brand, they are meant for soup so lots of celery, carrots, things like that), a bunch of shredded chicken that I bought from Safeway, and for seasonings I used parsley, oregano, basil, and jalapeno red pepper flakes…what can I say, I wanted a bit of a kick to the flavour.
The kick didn’t really happen, it is a bit bland but not in a bad way, which sounds weird I know. It actually ended up tasting fairly good, it isn’t pretty but oh well. It also isn’t some strongly flavoured dish but I don’t think it is supposed to be and maybe it wouldn’t taste like chicken pot pie if it was…deep thoughts to ponder on some other day lol
I didn’t make the biscuits, or give it a pastry top. I was going to make an individual biscuit using the two ingredient dough that has exploded in popularity all over the internet but was too lazy and didn’t lol I didn’t want to make the biscuits or pastry lid like on traditional pot pies because I thought they would get soggy after being on there for a while and since it is only me eating this thing I was betting on the leftovers lasting for days, and days, and then being frozen to last a little bit longer…and none of that made me feel confident in the biscuit life span. Go figure, I’m a bit of a cynic 😉
chicken pot pie
chicken pot pie 2
It turns out that the recipe that isn’t a recipe made a pretty good meal, that has fed me for daaaaays. Tomorrow will be my last serving of it and I’m gonna kinda miss it. I just might have to add this one in to my rotation of meals I make on a more regular basis…not that I actually have a list like that, but grown-ups seem to so maybe I should make a list…can putting “ordering pizza”on the top of a list like that count? Hmm…more deep thoughts to ponder… 😉

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

FitBit Love

7 Feb

I have had a FitBit on my wrist for about 4 years now and I love it just as much now as I did when I first strapped one on. Maybe even more now, since I have a newer, snazzier, version than the one I started out with.

My first FitBit was a Flex, the one that is semi-water proof and the display shows 5 dots. The dots light up when you tap the FitBit to show you how many steps you have taken that day. I had my step goal set at 10,000 steps per day so each dot represented 2,000 steps. While it was good, all tech has it’s flaws. It could go in to sleep mode if you were pushing a grocery cart across a parking lot (from the bumps I guess), it often thought my chopping vegetables was me stepping (it was amazing how many more “steps” I got on days I did veggie prep! lol), and well, it only gave me limited information. For detailed info about how I was doing that day I had to sign in to my app, which yes ok, not like that is a big deal or even hard to do, but c’mon, I’m lazy, which ironically enough, is why I invested in a FitBit in the first place lol

That first FitBit, I had epic plans for it. I bought it a short time before I was going on vacation, what was going to be a very active vacation, and I couldn’t wait to see how many steps I could rack up while in Northern Wales. Well yeah, that didn’t work, because it broke after I had it for a month or so? I was so upset! I contacted FitBit to let them know it broke, actually I think I contacted them to ask what I could do to fix it, and by default let them know it broke. They gave me some things to try, that didn’t work, and then they did something awesome…they sent me a brand new FitBit Flex for free!

Talk about amazing customer service! 😀

I didn’t get the replacement FitBit in time for my vacation, but hey, whatcha gonna do? *shrug*

Once I returned from my trip my new FitBit Flex and I became inseparable. Literally. The only times I took it off were when I showered and when it had to charge. I even covered it in saran wrap and wore it when taking part in a muddy obstacle course and more importantly, when dragon boating. Well, to be fair, I only covered it in saran wrap when dragon boating if it was pouring rain, on non-rainy days I just made sure to wear it on the arm that didn’t get submerged into the water with every stroke of my paddle. Splashing I knew it could handle!

Two Christmases ago I took the Flex out of it’s wrist band and tucked it in my clothes, in what I thought was a secure spot, because I was going to my work Christmas party and the band was not what one would call fancy looking. I absolutely couldn’t wear it with my dress, so into my cleavage it went. Don’t judge, I’ve done it before and it worked great! That particular time it didn’t work out all that well and somewhere during the night I lost it. Sadness. 😦 I tried calling the party venue, left them multiple messages, describing what it looked like, but nobody ever called me back so I’m assuming they either (1) didn’t listen to their messages, (2) didn’t care, (3) didn’t find it and didn’t care if they told me that or not. Which fair enough, why should they care that I was stupid and lost my FitBit and was now frantically hoping beyond all hope it would magically re-appear in to my life.

I was so upset I posted to social media about having lost it and someone I have never met, who lives on the other side of the country, said they had just upgraded their FitBit and no longer needed their Flex and get this, they sent me their Flex for free! With the band and charger and dongle!

People can be amazing sometimes. Absolutely amazing. 😀

When it arrived in the mail I was so incredibly grateful that I immediately sent them a Thank You card with a gift card inside. I mean wow, who does things like that not just in general but for someone they never met? Blows your mind a little doesn’t it?

Then another amazing thing happened, for Christmas that year I received a FitBit Alta as a gift from my parents. I had been wanting to upgrade but couldn’t justify or afford the cost and they knew this, so being the awesome parents that they are, that is what they bought me.

So now I had my replacement Flex and a new Alta. For a while I thought I would wear the Alta most of the time but swap out to the Flex when dragon boating but that didn’t really pan out. Instead the Alta and I became best friends and inseparable and now it only comes off my wrist when I am showering or charging it.

Then a crisis!

This happened…

fitbit flex

The strap broke! NoooOOOooo!

I wasn’t even doing anything interesting when it broke, the silicone part just came off of the clip part that attaches to the actual tech part of the FitBit Alta.

Travesty! The horrors! What was I to do??

Well I’ll tell ya what I did, I went searching for my crazy glue hoping I could fix it only to find my crazy glue had become a solid mass, I mean what, did it glue itself to itself? So then I started tucking the tech part in to my sock / boot / waist band / pocket (depending on what I was wearing) because I couldn’t be without it but I didn’t know how best to carry it around. I was constantly worrying it would fall out and I wouldn’t notice and then I’d not only not have a wrist band for it but I wouldn’t have the Alta at all! *cue the dramatic music*

Being the broke person that I am I chose to order a knock-off band from eBay instead of forking over $40 for a real replacement from FitBit and boy did I regret that. It didn’t fit as well, it was different material and not as comfortable, it was starting to give me a rash, just not good things.

So I did what I did last time I had a problem, I emailed FitBit and told them what happened. I didn’t ask them for a new band, I was past warranty and didn’t think that was right. But I did tell them the circumstances under which the band broke, and how it wasn’t fixable, and now I was wearing it tucked in my boot, and maybe they should look in to the problem because if this is a product flaw they may want to address it.

I got a very polite response asking me for some more information, which I provided, and then I got an even better email from them saying I was past warranty but sometimes rules are meant to be broken and they were going to send me a replacement band anyways!

This! This is why I love this company and will keep buying their products! Well, this and the fact that I love their products lol

Not only did they send me a replacement band they sent me the newer version of the band, so instead of a clip type closure it is a, umm, I don’t know what the type of closure is called, it is like a belt or a watch closure…here lemme put a picture in to show you what I mean…

fitbit band

See what I mean? My closure is like that, only my band is black, like I’d ever buy it in baby pink. 😛  lol

Now, my Alta and I are back to being inseparable…on my wrist, not in my boot! 🙂

Here is a link to the FitBit Alta that I have on Amazon…in case you are interested in getting one yourself!

http://amzn.to/2E6jwaY

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Canned Bird

7 Sep

At some point I bought a can of turkey meat. Yes, you read that right, the way you buy canned tuna to make tuna salad, I bought that, but the turkey version.

PC Blue Menu Seasoned Chunk Turkey Breast

I think I had some brilliant idea of getting my protein in, at a not horrible cost, and with no worries about (1) having to cook the meat and therefore risk food poisoning and (2) being able to keep it in the cupboard and have it on hand whenever I need it. The boon of not needing defrosting time was also taken in to consideration I’m sure.

I’ll be moving soon and am loath to pack and move a bunch of food. I go through this every time I move. The result is I end up eating a lot of strange foods, or strange combinations anyways.

Tonight after dragon boat practice I was in that mood where I didn’t want to eat because I wasn’t hungry but I knew I probably should eat because I’d been exercising, and I hadn’t had dinner, and if I didn’t eat then (it was roughly 10pm) with my luck I’d feel peckish around midnight and really be in a pickle about if I should eat, and if so, what I should eat. sigh.

So into the cupboard I went to see if inspiration would strike and I found the can of turkey meat.

I reeeeally didn’t want to open it, buuuuut, it is protein (technically), and theoretically wouldn’t be gross (people eat tuna and that stuff is just nasty, this couldn’t be worse, right?), it didn’t require me to cook anything, and I could easily make a simple turkey salad wrap with it…there were a lot of positives on my mental checklist about this food.

I opened it, thank goodness I haven’t packed my can opener yet!, and oh my dear god the smell. The smell is not pleasant at all! At least not to my nose…the cat liked the scent so much he came out of the bedroom and started meowing at me, demanding his share. It smelled like tuna. How is that even possible??

Now, I’m not proud of this, but I used the cat as a test subject and gave him some of the meat. I figured if he ate it then it must be ok. Umm, he wouldn’t eat it. Sniffed it and walked away without a backward glance!

This didn’t bode well…but I felt like I had come to far to back out now so I drained it, then rinsed it because it was freaking me out, mixed it with some dill, black pepper, mustard, and calorie wise miracle whip, then I spread it on a mini tortilla wrap and topped with some shredded coleslaw (no dressing), and a small amount of shredded cheddar.

Simple? Yes.

Likely to food poison me? Probably not.

A meal that contains food groups? Surprisingly, yes.

Go me go. 😉

It wasn’t as horrible as I was expecting…I mean, it wasn’t so gross I didn’t eat the wrap. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it, but it could have been worse…right? Right! It can always be worse! Aren’t I such an optimist? 😉

So there we have it, my experiment with Seasoned Chunk Turkey Breast in a can. For all that it smells atrocious, doesn’t have a pleasant texture, and tastes unique, I can see why people might buy it. I don’t remember the cost but it can’t have been too high, and it was an easy to use food item, and the meal came together quickly – all things to take in to account when grocery shopping.

I however will not be putting this particular item back on my list. I’m putting it in the same category as brussel sprouts, fine for people who like them but something for me to avoid if only to not have to smell it.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Soft Tortilla Bowl

11 Feb

I’m a bit delayed with this one but I finally got around to trying the Soft Tortilla bowls by Old El Paso. I’ve been wanting to try them for a while now but I don’t really make tacos so couldn’t justify randomly buying them.

I figured now was as good a time as any to buy the fixings for tacos soooooo I bought the bowls. I however have yet to buy the meat…so I still haven’t made tacos. *rolls eyes*

What I did do though was re-purpose them for breakfast, cause who doesn’t like a fun breakfast?

egg-taco-bowl

Because it is me I bought the whole grain bowls, hey, it lets me pretend I am making healthier choices. Don’t judge, that’s just mean. 😉

I scrambled an egg and two egg whites, tossed in some dill because, well…because I was making the eggs for me and I like dill in my eggs…that’s about how deep I get when making choices in the kitchen lol

The bowl is supposed to go in the microwave for 10 seconds according to the package, so obviously I did that. No reason not to, right?

Once it was done in the microwave I put some shredded cheese along the bottom, put the scrambled eggs in, topped with the rest of the cheese (I used 20 grams total of cheese, and yes, I weighed it out) then just for fun topped with 1 tablespoon of salsa.

Gotta say, I was quite happy with the results. Tasty. Protein and carb and dairy and I guess even veg since I had salsa on there…all good things! And better than it being all good things, it was all tasty things. Mmm!

Only thing is those bowls are small. They are mini sized so not like I couldn’t tell from the packaging they are small lol That’ll probably be okay when I actually make them as tacos because I’ll eat two but no way I am eating enough scrambled egg to fill two of those bowls, that is just too much egg. I have an egg limit and that would take me past it lol

If I hadn’t put some cheese on the bottom of the bowl I am fairly certain the heat and moisture from the scrambled eggs would have destroyed the structural integrity of the bowl and it would have been quite the messy meal. So whatever you fill yours with, I suggest putting something as a barrier along the bottom, whether it is cheese, or lettuce, or whatever your little taste buds desire. Unless of course you want it to fall apart when you pick it up and have all your fillings spill all over your plate, and your hand, and possibly your shirt…sure hope that isn’t your favourite shirt you are wearing! 😉

I am hoping to make some bbq shredded chicken in the next day or so and try that in the bowls. Or just buy some ground meat and make taco meat, then eat taco bowls like how they are meant to be used. Ya know, like normal people…

I can’t remember how long the package said they are good for once they are opened, I do remember that they need to be put in to a container of some sort (mine are currently in a Disney tupperware – in case you were wondering) and do not need to be refrigerated which if you think about it is a bit um…concerning? I mean yeah ok, they are sorta like bread, and bread doesn’t have to be refrigerated, but these aren’t really bread, and they last longer than bread would, so what is in them that has them lasting so long? I figure I don’t reeeeeally want to know so I am ignoring that little quirk. 😉

I’d classify the tortilla bowls as a good buy. They can be used for a lot of different things, you get 8 in a package, they aren’t freakishly expensive, and they taste good. Well ok, to be fair they themselves don’t have much of a taste, they are more the vessel for your other, tastier foods, but they are perfect little vessels and do a good job, which is all I ask of them.

Oh, and just an fyi, if you are on WW, one bowl is 2 SP, so yay! for a new, point friendly food. 🙂

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Cat vs Cookie

9 Feb

So there I was, sitting on my living room chair with two coveted Maple Shortbread Cookies. They cost me a whopping 6SP in Weight Watchers land so a definite treat.

The cat comes to sniff the first cookie. I’m ok with this because he likes to smell all my food but never tastes it. I am torn between he is sniffing for poison and if he ever smelled some he would save me by swiping the food out of my hand OR my food is so unappealing to anyone who isn’t me even a cat won’t eat it…

Anyways!

He comes to sniff the cookie. He sniffs for longer than normal. Weird, but alright. Then all of a sudden he decides to switch from sniffing to gnawing on the cookie! Doesn’t even try licking it first! Oh no, not him, just starts gnawing on it, like he could somehow fit the whole thing in his mouth. *rolls eyes*

So, being the supportive of personal growth person that I am I broke off the section of cookie that is now quite obviously never going in to my mouth and offered it to him. He nibbled it a bit then proceeded to ignore it in favour of giving himself a bath.

Seriously? He gave up a delicious Maple Shortbread Cookie to lick his own tummy. I think we can all agree he doesn’t make the best life choices.  😉

The travesty is that I lost about 1/4 of my cookie. My planned for, points already tracked, can not replace, cookie. 😦

Such a cruel world. *big epic sigh*

2017-01-11-21-46-27

Don’t let the innocent look fool you!

Tags: , , , , ,

Random Dessert

28 Jan

I have noooooo idea what to call this but names don’t really matter, taste does, and it turned out surprisingly tasty. Definitely going to make it again!

Looks wise though, um, yeah, so not pretty!

banana-pancake

Take one banana, it needs to have a little brown on the peel so it is easy to mash. Mash the banana, add two eggs, mix. You’ll have a runny mix that may be slightly lumpy, depending on how well you mashed the banana so mash it well!

Pour the mixture in to a frying pan, cook, flip, cook some more.

Top with PB2 that has been mixed back to peanut butter consistency, or use almond butter, or real peanut butter, whatever takes your fancy. Actually, I might not use normal peanut butter because it is made with a decent amount of sugar and the banana makes this sweet enough as is, the PB2 is not as sweet as real peanut butter so it is a nice counter taste to the sweetness of the banana. That’s just my opinion though…

My picture shows the banana pancake (that is my working title for now) covered in PB2, I should have taken a pic of it prior to topping it, sorry ’bout that.

I maaaaaay have accidentally burnt the one side, well, maybe overcooked is a better description of what happened, but it didn’t ruin the taste so bonus! Also, it is such a runny mixture that when I flipped it well, it basically turned into a big ‘ol mess , which is why I say it isn’t a pretty dish. I think if I cook it on a lower heat so it cooks more in the middle before burning on the one side I can flip it and it just might hold its shape…maybe?

The final consistency weirdly enough reminded me vaguely of custard, despite the fact it is in pancake form, I guess because it stayed so gooey, but a good gooey, nothing gross happenin over here, I promise! The PB2 was a great topping because the banana made the pancake sweet and PB2 is sooooo not sweet, together they matched perfectly. 🙂

So yeah, healthy snack / dessert / treat…whatever you want to label it. If you wanted to make it thicker and more filling you could probably add some oats to it, or if you want only the egg and banana in it but not as runny I suppose you could use just one egg. Tweak it whatever way you want, lemme know if you try something and it makes a tasty result! Sharing is caring people! 😉

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Costco Toys With My Heart

27 Jan

Oh Costco, you are so mean!

A while ago I wrote how they took away Kodiak Cakes from their stores. Devastation! Horror! Tragedy!

Well happy news, they brought them back so yay! Kodiak Cakes came back in to my life and I was a happy camper.

Costco, being worse than a jilted ex who keeps popping in to your life to mess with your head, has now discontinued another staple of my food world.

Devastation! Horror! Tragedy!

Costco, what are you trying to do to me? 😦

PB2, a food you may or may not have heard of, was most affordable if bought at Costco but sadly they have removed it from their regular stock. *pout*

Guess who blew their food budget out of the water to stock up on 4 containers of the stuff? This girl!

Yes ok, it can be bought at GNC and other health nut stores but in smaller containers for more money. Uh…no thanks! Hence stocking up today, before the last store in my area ran out of the last little bit of their stock.

pb2-c2

In case you have no idea what PB2 is lemme give you the lowdown. It is a peanut butter alternative, a powdered peanut butter. You can either add water to the powder to bring it back to normal peanut butter consistency or add it in powdered form to smoothies, oatmeal, all sorts of things.

Some of the ways I have used it…

(1) 2Tbls PB2 mixed with 1 1/2Tbls water so it is a bit runny, like heated up peanut butter, then I dipped sliced apples in it

(2) mix it with water to normal peanut butter consistency and spread it on my Kodiak Cakes (like pancakes), or on bread

(3) in powdered form put it in oatmeal, omg so good in oatmeal!

(4) in powdered form added it in to a smoothie

(5) made it in to peanut butter consistency and used it in a baking recipe

Basically anywhere you use peanut butter you can use PB2 for fewer calories, fat, etc.

I haven’t used it in anywhere near all the ways others have, a lot of people use it to make a peanut sauce for cooked dishes, which I like the sound of but have no idea how to make a normal peanut sauce let alone a modified version lol

A source told me when she lived in a small town and had no stores nearby to buy it from she ordered it online for about $8 a jar so I guess that will be something to look in to once my stockpile runs out. I reeeeeally hope by then Costco has come to their senses and brought it back though because seriously, taking it away, so mean!

first-world-problem_o_120117

Tags: , , , , ,

Crackslaw

26 Jan

Yes you read that right, Crackslaw, that is the name of a recipe I tried out. It is so named because it is supposed to be freakishly delish and addictive.

It is super tasty, and I guess I could see how it could become a frequently cooked dish, especially if you are someone cooking for a family and you have to find something that will at least partially please more than just yourself while not going crazy over your food budget.

It is a definite keeper. 🙂

The original recipe can be found here…

http://www.food.com/recipe/crack-slaw-low-carb-434863

I of course made variations because heaven forbid I make it exactly like the recipe said to! Mostly the changes were because I wasn’t buying new ingredients for a recipe I might never make again when I had slightly different versions that I figured would work just as well. Also, I have it on good authority it is a good dish for customizing, you can tweak it to your preferences and my preference was to not have to buy any more ingredients than absolutely necessary lol

The ingredients for my version are as follows…

1 package of Coleslaw mix (14oz bag)

2 gloves garlic, minced (I have the kind in a jar)

chopped white onion, I didn’t measure how much, just diced till I had a bunch, maybe 1/3 of an onion?

1/2 tsp tabasco sauce

shake of jalapeno flakes

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp white vinegar

2 Tbls soy sauce

2 Tbls extra virgin olive oil

1 pound extra lean ground chicken

So my changes were:

(1) it is supposed to be sriracha sauce, I didn’t have any, so I used tabasco

(2) it is supposed to be toasted sesame oil, same as above, I didn’t have any, so I used evoo because I had that already

(3) it is supposed to be 3 green onions chopped, I already had white onion on hand so I chose to use that

(4) it is supposed to be beef, I was going to get lean ground turkey but the lean ground chicken was the cheapest of all the meats so chicken it is!

(5) it is supposed to be Splenda but I refuse to use things like Splenda or Truvia so I opted for real sugar

(6) there is supposed to be ginger paste in there but I am not a huge fan of ginger so I left it out

(7) the jalapeno flakes aren’t in the original recipe, shrug, I wanted it a bit spicier than what I thought the tabasco sauce would get me and I had jalapeno flakes on hand so I shook some in

So ya know, some minor changes…but nothing I feel ruins the overall structure of the dish.

To make Crackslaw you…

(1) brown your ground meat, season with salt and pepper to taste (if you so desire…I don’t use salt when cooking and I forgot to use the pepper so I added that later)

(2) remove browned meat from the pan and set aside

(3) put oil in pan, sautee garlic, onions, and coleslaw until the coleslaw is at your desired tenderness…remember it will wilt down so you don’t need as huge of a pan as you may be imagining…having said that I almost overflowed mine so use a decently large one…

(4) mix the tabasco sauce, sugar, white vinegar and soy sauce together, pour in to pan, mix (this is where I added the pepper)

(5) add back in the meat, mix well, keep in pan until meat has come back up to serving temperature

If you want you can garnish it with more chopped green onion (uncooked of course), and more hot sauce, for those who like things spicier.

2017-01-24-17-30-46

A bonus to using a bag of coleslaw rather than shredding your own cabbage is it comes with other veggies mixed in already but if you are really anti carrot you could always just shred a cabbage…ya weirdo 😉

It is dead easy to make, and because it is so flexible with what you put in it you can make it as tasty or as bland as you like. I ate a serving of it the day I made it then portioned out the rest for two more servings. I could probably have divided it up to 4 equal portions but the day I made it I was super hungry and took a bit more so I opted for 3 equal portions so I could calculate the Weight Watchers points easier. Cuz hey, this is all about me, right? 😉 Just like with pasta the flavours got stronger as it sat so when I heated up the leftovers it was noticeably spicier than my first meal.  Thank you jalapeno flakes! 😀

So yeah, I’d say it is a good dish to make. The ingredients aren’t too expensive to procure, the meat cost me $7 and the ready made coleslaw cost $1.47. I was lucky that I already had the other ingredients, or at least things that could stand in for the other ingredients, so minimal shopping had to be done. Bonus is most of the ingredients are things you’d have on hand anyways, like the garlic, oil, hot sauce, jalapeno flakes, soy sauce, etc, so you’d probably only really need buy the meat and coleslaw and maybe one other ingredient depending on how low you are running on other items…I’ll have to buy the garlic next time since this used up almost all I had left. But you get my drift right? Easy to make. Fairly cheap to make. Makes a large portion so if you are feeding a family it is definitely a cost effective dish to make, and if you’re feeding yourself you’ve just food prepped for 3 to 4 meals, depending how you divide it up. Go you go!

Oh, and if you are on Weight Watchers, my version, divided in to 3 portions comes out to 8 Smart Points a serving.

 

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Kodiak Cakes

7 Jan

Oh Kodiak Cakes, how I will miss you!

Kodiak Cakes, in case you don’t know, are a high protein pancake / waffle mix that make a pretty decent pancake. I don’t have a waffle maker so I can’t say from actual experience how the waffles made with this mix are but I’m sure they are also good.

2017-01-07-12-25-58

An Aunt Jemima pancake they are not! Don’t be tricked in to thinking they will be just like the pancakes you get from iHop or that you ate growing up as a kid, before we all got convinced white flour is devil food and never to be touched *rolls eyes*

Despite not being like a “real” pancake, they are good, and a less guilty indulgence on a lazy morning day when you have time and the inclination to whip up some pancake goodness.

Sadly though, I ate my last Kodiak Cake today and will not be buying more. Not because I don’t want to be buying more, but because Costco has stopped carrying them (meanies!) and the closest place to me to buy them is a Safeway that is an hours drive across the border into the States. sigh.

Every time I am in Costco I ask if they have them back yet, maybe nagging them will change their minds?

2017-01-03-15-53-46

Kodiak Cakes covered in PB2, Mmm!

So there they are, my last two Kodiak Cakes, I savoured every bite, *wistful sigh* Oh, and no, I don’t eat them with syrup, I regret to inform you I stopped eating syrup due to the high sugar content, ugh, who have I become? 😉 Instead I took two tablespoons of PB2 powder, added water, made it pretty close to peanut butter consistency and spread it on the Kodiak Cakes when they were still hot. It actually tastes good despite my being all whiny that I no longer eat syrup lol I use PB2 on a lot of things, quite the useful little food!

If you live somewhere that still has access to Kodiak Cakes I highly recommend giving them a try, and hey, if you end up not liking them send the rest of the mix to me, I’ll eat it! 😉 lol

(fyi, that is a joke! )

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Day 5 of 20

24 Dec

Day 5 of the 12 Days of Fitness!

Lemme tell ya, this was a good one! 😀

I had a bunch of stuff to do around my parent’s place and earmarked today to be the day of getting shit done. Before that all started though I decided to go for a walk, in -12C (that is before windchill, I’m not actually sure what the temp with windchill was but the wind was going at 11km/hr and I sure felt it!), while it was snowing…I never claimed to make smart decisions lol

So out I went and I have to admit, I kinda liked it. It was cold, at about the ten minute mark I seriously considered turning back because the wind was cutting through my pants in a brutal way and my legs were burning from the cold but I know from past winters that if I just keep going eventually the pain goes away. It isn’t that I acclimatize, it is that my legs stop feeling temperature, or anything for that matter lol 😉

I fast walked for about 20 minutes then had to turn around due to a road and weather. On the way back I decided to jog a bit so on the parts of sidewalk that were cleared I jogged. When crossing roads I walked because they were super slippy and I really don’t need to fall and get injured right now. Some parts of the sidewalks were un-runnable thanks to snow and ice but I think I got a pretty decent jog in there. I passed two people who were shovelling snow while walking in the one direction and when I was passing them on the way back at a jog they both looked at me like I was a martian lol Admittedly, I wasn’t dressed like a runner so maybe it was my outfit that was confusing them, and not that I was running in that type of weather?

img_6066

I got wicked windburn on my cheeks from this walk!

Once back at my parent’s place I shovelled snow from their back porch, the front path, and the driveway. By that point I was cold but wasn’t going to start feeling any colder so I figured might as well get it all done at once.

About an hour later you’d never know I shovelled since it had kept snowing and everything was white again *rolls eyes*

I did other things around the house that kept me busy but those two activities are what I am counting towards my fitness for the day for the challenge.

I’d say I can quite confidently check mark this day as a success! 😀

Tags: , , , , , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →