A Twist on Comfort Food - A Recipe

YES!  That would be the Pillsbury Doughboy you see.  What place does the Pillsbury Doughboy serve in a blog about healthy living and eating?  Well, he is the key to this next recipe! 

Let's get real here, we all have our comfort foods.  Whether we are 600 lbs or 106 lbs - we ALL have them.  We turn to them when we are overtired, sad, angry, or need a little extra squeeze of love.  Some people turn to chocolate and others to a slice of hot and gooey pepperoni pizza - I tend to turn to entire entrees...... Just another one of the habits I have had to kick to the curb over the last few years.  So, the question becomes - how do I get my comfort?

Food "make-overs" have become one of my favorite challenges to tackle.  First, I find a comfort food (...or entree) that I want and then I challenge myself to make it healthier AND to taste better than the original.  I find cutting out all of the crap and sticking to whole foods generally makes for lighter and more flavorful creations.  A recent study  concludes that the body is better able to use the calories from whole foods versus processed foods.... SORRY Twinky Diet - but you have been rebuked!

So - I encourage everyone to use whole foods as much as possible, but know that this is sometimes impossible - I do cook for six every night so I get it!  This recipe uses both whole and processed foods (thank you Pillsbury) and the filling can be prepared in advance!

Sausage and Veggie Turnovers

Spinach - fresh or canned

Onions - chopped

Portabella Mushrooms - discard stem, clean, and chop

2 pieces Alfresco Chicken Sausage (I can't get enough of it!) - diced

*****(optional) Feta or asiago or other desired cheese

Pillsbury Pie Crust

Spray Butter

Cooking Spray

In a skillet - combine the spinach,onion, portabella, & sausage - saute in the spray butter. Remove from heat and let cool.  I place it in the freezer if I don't cook it early.  Not letting it cool will melt your crust and you will have a giant mess on your hands.....TRUST ME.....!!!!! 

Roll out your dough on a cookie tray that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  Place half of your saute mix in the middle of the dough and top with some feta or other desired cheese (optional).  Fold over the crust & pinch together.  I then fold the extra pinched dough up and pinch again. Spray the top with spray butter and cook at 400 for 23 minutes. Do the same thing with the other dough - fill, pinch, and cook.


You can take beaten egg whites and brush on the top of the dough as well.  This will give it a nice shiny look. 

Have fun and enjoy!!!!!



 

  

I Eat Less Than Your Skinny Ass!

Okay, so I shit you not - (nice way to start, right?!?!...must be a good one!  So, keep reading.)  I eat way fewer calorie than my skinny friends.  How do I know?  I watch them eat.  I not only watch them eat, I study what they eat.... each and every bite.  As they sit there and savor their calorie ridden, fat hidden, or carb lovin' meal - I watch in awe, envy, and complete jealousy as they take each and every mouthful of whatever delicatessen they have chosen to place on their plate. 

How do those skinny bitches do it?  Ladies, we have all asked ourselves this question a million times over.  As a collective whole - we spend billions of dollars every year on the diet industry to try and answer this very question.  We all want the secret to a tight ass, firm tits, and a flat stomach......BUT...... what we also really, really, really want to know is how to get the tight ass, firm tits, and flat stomach while still being able to eat the calorie ridden, fat hidden, or carb lovin' meal. 

The truth is - the only thing separating these "haves" from the "have-nots" is body muscle.  It is simple - the more muscle we have the more we can get away with additional calories.  The more fat we have- the less able we are to get away with it.  I am a "have-not".  I cannot get away with eating the additional calories without thinking about the consequences and workout to follow.

Wait.....were you thinking that I was going to give you dieting tips like - when going out to eat you should have half your meal wrapped  immediately so you are not tempted to eat too much?  Hell no, remember - we threw the dieting out the window a few months ago.  Plus, we all know these "tips" by now.  We are happy and reward ourselves when we follow them and we are nasty and chastise ourselves when we don't.  And besides - if you're like me, the leftovers are like money burning a hole in your pocket.  

I have talked a lot about food over the last few months, but changing our food intake is not enough to create the body muscle we need in order to achieve our desired outcome.  Movement is necessary.  Notice, I say movement and not exercise.  I am a firm believer in scaffolding - starting small and progressing forward.  Movement can begin by pledging to not take the "laziator" at work or by walking 20 minutes extra a day while on break.  It is not walking into the gym for the first time and deciding to run a marathon.  So, take a moment and think about how you can increase your movement.  With spring approaching there are endless possibilities. 

Now, I may never get the tight ass, firm tits, or flat stomach - and that is okay.  I still win by moving more and gaining muscle.  And, I promise to all my girlfriends - big and small - I will look at what you are eating and I will compare it against my plate each and everytime.  It is who I am.  So - GET UP & MOVE!!!!            

   

Liberate Yourself! ....with a recipe

I HATE it when people talk about cheating.  Why does the term "cheating" always have to be associated with dieting?  I have heard it all, "I have to cheat to succeed" and "I cheated today so I might as well eat whatever I want now."  First of all - STOP dieting and start living.  Diets are signified by a beginning and an end.   Dieting is based solely on failure and success.  If I diet to lose 20 pounds and I only lose 15, am I a failure? Believe it or not, when you're the dieter - most often the answer you tell yourself is YES.  So, the retort is easy - stop dieting and you stop being a failure. 

Choose to live a healthy lifestyle instead.  A healthy lifestyle is a way of being.  It is infinite with no beginning and no end.  Living healthy signifies that you have a genuine respect for your whole self: body, mind, and spirit.  It allows for movement, flexability, and most importantly - choice.

Don't be afraid to live.  Not allowing yourself to live, and to live healthy, is the only cheating I will recognize.

In celebration of your choice to shed the diet and to live healthy I am going to give you a tasty recipe to try.  Have fun, enjoy, and liberate yourself once and for all!

Savory Sea Scallops with Simmered Apples
Sea Scallops (1 lbs. or more)
Fresh Sage (1 leaf per scallop or more... I like more)
Unsalted Butter (around 1/2 stick.... You can use much less though)
EVOO (enough to coat pan)
Sea Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)
Proscuitto (your choice - wrap scallop or chop and cook sep)
Golden Delicious Apples - peeled, cored, coarsley chopped (about 4 cups per 1 lbs of scallops)

Lightly coat a skillet with EVOO and unsalted butter.  Add the fresh sage and cook for a few minutes.  Remove and place on paper towel.  Add chopped proscuitto to the pan, let it crisp up some.  Salt and pepper the scallops and add to the pan and cook.  Here, I remove the scallops/proscuitto when done and cook the apples separate adding a touch more butter.  I crumble some sage back in and simmer with the apples. When the apples are good and simmered add the apples to the scallops & the rest of the sage and serve. 

You can choose to add the apples to the scallops and cook together with a touch more butter. Add sage when done and serve.

ENJOY!!!!!