day 333: skinny crockpot chicken soup

skinny crockpot chicken soup with rice :)

day 333 and it is outside.  the perfect day to get the crockpot out and make something for dinner that will fill the house with wonderful warmth and smells throughout the day!  i found this skinny crockpot chicken soup recipe on pinterest that had me salivating just looking at the pictures.

the recipe comes from carla at lets get cooking and is pinned to my recipe must do's blog.  it could also have been pinned to my weight watchers board on pinterest as carla has kindly worked out the points+ for a cup and a half of this soup as 5 :)  i plan to have home made bread with it, so i may need to add some more ;)

i love a meal like this, you make it in the morning, all you do is throw a list of everyday ingredients at the crockpot, turn to low, and leave it until you are ready to serve dinner.  now that is surely an awesome recipe in anybodies language!  i didn't have any wild rice so substituted some organic brown rice in instead, that was the only change to the recipe i made.

the ingredients and recipe :)

all in the pot, then walk away :)

come home to the smell of a delicious soup that doesn't disappoint!

outcome:  this is going to be such a winter staple, peeps loved it, the adults thought it was awesome, and i felt like i had completely pulled the blanket over everyone's eyes because it was so quick and totally simple to make.  the rice makes it almost creamy without the fat associated with a usual creamy soup.  the crockpot does all the work for you i put bone in chicken thighs and by the time i served it up the chicken was self chopped and the soup was ready to eat instantly that i opened the lid.  the bonus ... there is enough left to feed the family tomorrow night for dinner :oD

my thanks to carla at lets get cooking for this perfect winters recipe.  it is one i am sure i will make again and again over the next couple of months as it's easy, delicious, and i didn't spend more than 15 minutes in the kitchen organising it :)

day 326: healthy apple butter cake

the apple butter cake ... beautiful 

day 326 and i am amazed at the variations i see on pinterest for cake mixes ... everything from soda to yoghurt to apple ... and that last one is the one i am keen to try today.  can you really make a cake with just a cake mix, purée apple, and water?  today was the day i was ready to find out!  this "recipe" comes from hungry girl and it's one of many she has for healthier versions of cake mixes.  the recipe is also pinned to my weight watchers recipes happy days board on pinterest.

as stated this cake requires only apple purée, a cake mix, and water.  you put everything in a bowl and mix, then pour into your cake tin and whip it into the oven.  i used a ring tin sprayed with rice bran oil for this cake to try something a little different.  it took 2 minutes to make, one of which was used trying to find my scissors ;o]

the ingredients + water

mix

pour and bake ... yes, this was not rocket science ;)

the result ... i can not tell you how good this was, just try it!

outcome: STOP THE PRESSES, OMG, WHOOP WHOOP, and anything else you would care to add to this fantastic cake's checklist ... YOU HAVE TO HAVE IT STRAIGHT OUT OF OVEN, it tastes like apple pie or an apple steamed pudding ... we all keep saying OMG, seriously one of my favourite recipes of my p365 year so far.  steve wouldn't/couldn't stop eating it and over half the cake was gone by the end of the evening.  we had it with lite whipped cream (like a fat free cool whip) and it was divine!  try this cake warm on a cool autumn winters evening and you will be the favourite in your home all night long :)

what steve left of the cake ... although the night is still young ;)

many, many, many thanks to hungry girl for this recipe, i will make this often in the winter months because it only takes 2 minutes to make and is as good as an apple pie any day!

day 318: whole wheat blueberry muffins

a healthy snack option everyone will enjoy :)

day 318 and we are into food again today.  that could be because in a tizz i through out all the processed food the other day and we have nothing in the cupboards ready-made anymore.  that means i have whining every time the peeps are hungry because they can't find their go-to snack foods anymore :o/  time to fix the problem and fill some tins with some healthy foods they (and i) can eat.

these whole wheat blueberry muffins from skinny taste look ideal as the recipe uses mostly unprocessed ingredients.  i am not changing our complete diet ... don't get me wrong, i still believe in chocolate, lollies, and all things salty, especially chips but i would like to make my use of these things less frequent :)  the recipe is also pinned to my weight watchers recipes happy days board.

once again, the peeps volunteered to help, ben lasted five minutes before finding one of his books on the table and reading that instead.  polly stuck with me and completed the healthy baking assignment.

this photo says it all really :)

we didn't change anything in this recipe, i was too scared to as my knowledge is shamefully woeful when it comes to baking in a healthy manner.  i also put the recipe into the weight watchers recipe builder and discovered each muffin is worth 4 points+, just in case anyone but me needed to know.  the recipe is totally peep friendly for baking, so you can stand back and watch while they take on this task themselves .,., love recipes they can do on their own :)

the ingredients ... see, i am TRYING to be more healthy :)

my helper folding (ok tossing is more accurate) the mix

the ready to eat healthy whole wheat blueberry muffins .. yum!

outcome:  really good, i felt healthier eating one for afternoon tea, ok i added some low fat marg to the top of it, but old habits die hard.  they were actually much nicer than i anticipated and the peeps loved them.  totally adding these to my weekly baking for the peeps and i as a snack food.  still not as healthy as we could go but definitely better than what we have been doing.  and i imagine if i made them on a sunday and froze them and took out a couple each morning they would be perfect quick snacking during the week ... that's IF i remember to take them out of the freezer ;)

my thanks to skinny taste for this recipe.  totally going back to pin some other healthy baking recipes to add to my healthy, unprocessed snack foods choices!

days 223 and 224 and we are safely home

the peanut butter and banana smoothie

days 223 and 224 coming at you tonight from home ... we are safely home after a three day adventure to a beautiful spot just north of auckland.  it was glorious, the peeps were great (most of the time), the company of a dear friend is always the best, and the weather even came to play!

day 223 saw me making cupcakes with a box of vanilla cupcake mix and lemonade.  the recipe is pinned to my recipe must do's board and comes from cookies and cups. shelly used a fruity soda can and a funfetti cupcake mix but i went with vanilla and lemon. so i am guessing you could use any flavour cupcake mix and any flavour of soda! as i was away on holiday, i wanted a lazy easy icing so i purchased betty crockers vanilla icing to add to the top of these little beauties.

what i used

look how frothy the mix goes as soon as you add the soda!

fill the cases to 2/3's full

baked and ready to ice

iced and ready to eat!

outcome: who knew you didn't need eggs and butter to make beautiful cupcakes.  they were so delicious and just as beautiful and moist today as they were yesterday ... so perfect if you have a party and want to make cupcakes a day ahead of time.  my usual cupcake recipe is normally only good for the day they are made so i am stoked these remain just as yummy the day after.  i am making these for a gift on sunday, that's how good they are!

my thanks to shelly at cookies and cups for this outstanding cooking secret ... ignore the cake mix packets just add soda for the best, moist baking ever!

day 224 and i was very tired when i got home this afternoon.  after eating lots and lots of unhealthy food for the last 3 days i wanted something nice and simple to eat to fill me up.  i found this yummy looking smoothie that also looked nice and nutritious as well.  this recipe is from the chiquita banana's website and is pinned to my weight watchers recipes happy days board on pinterest.  cool website and if your peeps love banana's as much as mine do, this site is definitely worth a look for all sorts of neat recipes.

what you need for the peanut butter smoothie

blend all the ingredients together and serve .. easy!

the finished smoothie ... so yummy and totally filling :)

outcome:  i have never had peanut butter and banana's together before and it was surprisingly good.  not a combo i would have naturally put together but it was actually really nice and boy was it filling.  this is definitely something i will add to the after school snack list as it's pretty darn nutritious, yummy, totally kid friendly, and nice and easy to make ...  plus for a growing tween boy, it's much more likely to FILL him up than a lot of other snacks!

my thanks to chiquita banana's for this recipe that i will use again and again with the peeps for after school (whilst  filling my glass!) ... love recipes that are filling, healthy, and liked by the peeps ... happy days, happy days ;)

day 221: weight watchers egg salad

egg salad in tomato and pepper nests :)

day 211 and i am looking to start the year with some slimmer recipes to continue slimming down ... christmas is over and the holidays are fast coming to an end so it looks like it might be time to get back on the weight reducing horse!

i figured this egg salad would be the perfect way to ease back into healthy food ... looks delicious and nothing like rabbit food ... teehee!  the egg salad is from the yummy life website and is pinned to my weight watchers recipes happy days board on pinterest.

i started off with every intention of following this recipe as per the instructions.  unfortunately i had a male look in the fridge and thought i saw plain yoghurt ... it was actually vanilla bean :(  don't get me wrong, i LOVE vanilla bean yoghurt just not in an egg salad.  i had already boiled and peeled the eggs when i went to retrieve the not so plain yoghurt, so thought i would wing it instead.  enter curry powder and hummus!  i added 1/2 a teaspoon of curry powder to the eggs and three heaped tablespoons of hummus as well.  i also added the salt, pepper, and one tablespoon of mayo that was in the original recipe.

and this is when i discovered the yoghurt wasn't as plain as i had though

the two saving ingredients!

the finished egg salad with it's two extra ingredients!

the recipe then suggests serving it in a variety of ways, i went with the tomato basket option for three of my family members.  and for the other two peeps (who are less keen on tomato) i made pepper baskets to serve their egg salad.

the nests for the salad

the finished, filled nests

it went really well with the rest of our dinner :)

outcome:  this was delicious!  really, who knew hummus would make an egg salad so yummy!  we all loved our little egg nests, and while the outcome wasn't quite what i had planned at the start of the day, it did not disappoint, and i even felt a little proud of my concoction!

my thanks to the yummy life, i apologise whole heartedly for butchering your very delicious looking recipe and while mine was a triumph i am very keen to give the original recipe a go in the near future.