Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Sweet and Sour Sauce (take 2)
I shared my recipe for sweet and sour sauce back in March. It's one that I have made my entire adult years and sure it's the same my mom made as I was growing up. It's a great recipe that has only two faults - it's a little complicated (mostly lots of chopping veggies) and it makes a ton. When I make this we eat it for days. So when my friend Carol put up a really simple Sweet and Sour sauce recipe on her blog I couldn't wait to try it. Of course, I can never follow a recipe so I did my best impersonation of hers. I substituted the water and the tomato paste for 1 quart of homemade canned diced tomatoes. I used about 1/2 of a 20 oz can of crushed pineapple since that was the only size at the store. The result was amazing. This version is slightly less tangy than my home version and it was so quick and easy. I highly recommend it (it tastes just like the sauce in a restaurant).
Portion Control
More often than not, you will discover that the problem with weight is in direct correlation to the portion size. We live in a nation of supersize and more for your money. We seek out deals that often offer us more food for less money. We have allowed economics drive our diet.
For me, my diet is rather well balanced (could use more fresh fruits and veggies) but my problem is I eat lots of it. I love food. I love good deals. And I am not one to leave food on my plate because that's a waste of perfectly good food. One thing I want to note is that my parents were not the sort that made us clean our plates, this is a habit I developed all on my own.
In my house, the rule is you don't have to eat all your food but if you want seconds then you must clean your plate. This ensures my son eats his veggies before going back for more rice or pasta.
We're also carb lovers. I can live off of bread, pasta and rice. I love vegetables so that's good but I'm not big on fruit necessarily. Meat I can take or leave most of the time. I love starch and this shows in my food diary. I often lack in my protein and go over on my carbs.
How does this all translate to weight loss and budgeting? Easy - portion control means eating a set amount of food. For me, this means measuring the food so I know how much I am eating and so I can accurately record it in my diary on Sparkpeople. Knowing exactly how much food I should eat encourages me to cook less. Cooking less save on my budget.
Now you may feel that bulk cooking works best for you. Great, so long as you are watching your quantities. More food encourages us to eat more. That stems from a time when food was more difficult to regulate. Bigger plates encourage us to dish up more because we want to feel like we are eating.
For my house, cooking in bulk means one of two things - my 14 year old son eats all the leftovers because they are there or we throw out the leftovers because we forgot about them. This is not always true but it happens more often than I like. Cooking enough to feed everyone reduces waste.
Am I hungry? The honest answer is yes. My body is getting adequate calories and nutrients but I'm hungry because my body is used to eating more. Our stomach is flexible, it stretches and shrinks to accomodate food cycles (back when we were hunters and gatherers). Just because I am hungry doesn't mean I'm starving.
Hunger is a tricky thing. If I allow myself to get too hungry then I will overeat when I have the chance. I might sneak in a snack which, more often than not, will be something with little nutrition.
The beginning of retraining my body to eat less is hard which is why most people fail at their diet. I don't deny myself a type of food but I limit how much I eat. I don't feel deprived but I feel hungry. I'm working on teaching my body to eat differently than I did before. It sucks, I'm not going to lie, but it's the same as if I was training to do anything. If I wanted to run a marathon - I would ache, I would be tired. I know I would wake up some mornings and question my whole reason for doing the marathon and wonder if it's really worth it. It's all worth it when you cross that finish line.
For me, my diet is rather well balanced (could use more fresh fruits and veggies) but my problem is I eat lots of it. I love food. I love good deals. And I am not one to leave food on my plate because that's a waste of perfectly good food. One thing I want to note is that my parents were not the sort that made us clean our plates, this is a habit I developed all on my own.
In my house, the rule is you don't have to eat all your food but if you want seconds then you must clean your plate. This ensures my son eats his veggies before going back for more rice or pasta.
We're also carb lovers. I can live off of bread, pasta and rice. I love vegetables so that's good but I'm not big on fruit necessarily. Meat I can take or leave most of the time. I love starch and this shows in my food diary. I often lack in my protein and go over on my carbs.
How does this all translate to weight loss and budgeting? Easy - portion control means eating a set amount of food. For me, this means measuring the food so I know how much I am eating and so I can accurately record it in my diary on Sparkpeople. Knowing exactly how much food I should eat encourages me to cook less. Cooking less save on my budget.
Now you may feel that bulk cooking works best for you. Great, so long as you are watching your quantities. More food encourages us to eat more. That stems from a time when food was more difficult to regulate. Bigger plates encourage us to dish up more because we want to feel like we are eating.
For my house, cooking in bulk means one of two things - my 14 year old son eats all the leftovers because they are there or we throw out the leftovers because we forgot about them. This is not always true but it happens more often than I like. Cooking enough to feed everyone reduces waste.
Am I hungry? The honest answer is yes. My body is getting adequate calories and nutrients but I'm hungry because my body is used to eating more. Our stomach is flexible, it stretches and shrinks to accomodate food cycles (back when we were hunters and gatherers). Just because I am hungry doesn't mean I'm starving.
Hunger is a tricky thing. If I allow myself to get too hungry then I will overeat when I have the chance. I might sneak in a snack which, more often than not, will be something with little nutrition.
The beginning of retraining my body to eat less is hard which is why most people fail at their diet. I don't deny myself a type of food but I limit how much I eat. I don't feel deprived but I feel hungry. I'm working on teaching my body to eat differently than I did before. It sucks, I'm not going to lie, but it's the same as if I was training to do anything. If I wanted to run a marathon - I would ache, I would be tired. I know I would wake up some mornings and question my whole reason for doing the marathon and wonder if it's really worth it. It's all worth it when you cross that finish line.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Steak, Cabbage and Onions
That's a terrible name for the recipe but I made this up last night so there's no great title. We sprouted some broccoli sprouts and thought they would be good with the cabbage we go for 39 cents last night. We love fried cabbage and this recipe is low cost and healthy. I don't recommend broccoli sprouts though. They are pricey and smell horrible. They tasted fine but for a week we were sure something was rotting in our kitchen as they sprouted. We threw them in this dish but you can use any sprout or none at all.
1 petite sirloin steak
1 large onion
1 head cabbage
1 cup sprouts
oil
Oil pan and heat (we use cast iron so you can omit if you use non-stick). Slice steak into 1/4 inch strips. Fry in pan until well seared. Chop onion and add to meat. Chop cabbage and add to pan when onion and steak are caramelized. Fry for 2-3 minutes and then top with a lid and turn off heat. This will steam the cabbage but prevent the bottom from burning. When cabbage is soft, turn heat back on. Add sprouts and heat thoroughly.
We serve with soy sauce and rice.
Can subsitute chicken, tofu, etc for steak.
1 petite sirloin steak
1 large onion
1 head cabbage
1 cup sprouts
oil
Oil pan and heat (we use cast iron so you can omit if you use non-stick). Slice steak into 1/4 inch strips. Fry in pan until well seared. Chop onion and add to meat. Chop cabbage and add to pan when onion and steak are caramelized. Fry for 2-3 minutes and then top with a lid and turn off heat. This will steam the cabbage but prevent the bottom from burning. When cabbage is soft, turn heat back on. Add sprouts and heat thoroughly.
We serve with soy sauce and rice.
Can subsitute chicken, tofu, etc for steak.
Weight Loss on a Budget Part 2
As I get to thinking about my plan the more I realize that the tricks I can use to reduce my caloric intake are ones that will help maximize my grocery budget. Once again, all this takes is a little creative thinking.
I mentioned before that omitting unnecessary ingredients helps stretch the budget but it also reduces wasteful calories. I used cheese as an example because it's one I see a lot. Cheese can be heavy on calories and should be treated like a condiment instead of a meal (except that's not always possible in cases of mac and cheese, pizza, quesadillas, etc but I'll talk about that in a moment). Where I see this most is with pasta and with sandwiches (hamburgers included). More often we add cheese because we believe we need to but it doesn't actually add to the dish. We love parmesan cheese on spaghetti but when our budget got tighter we moved from fresh shredded parmesan to the grated powdery stuff that comes in a can. Doesn't matter what brand you buy, they all barely have any flavor. Not using the cheese reduces calories and when you stop thinking about it, you won't notice any difference.
The same goes for most sandwiches. Cheap processed cheese has little flavor but is not calorie free. Eating your hamburger without the gooey glop makes a calorie difference that you won't even taste. It's tough to convince someone that investing in higher priced, higher quality cheese is actually saving your budget (and your waist line). A good quality cheese requires less because you can taste it. I like sharp cheeses - sharp cheddar, blue cheese, feta, because they all encourage using less.
The same goes for butter/margarine. Often times we use too much. A light smear of butter on a piece of bread still offers the flavor without all the extra calories. I had to teach my son that 1/2 cube of butter for a can of vegetables was just a waste. One can add a little or none at all and still have a good tasting side dish.
Vegetables are tough for some people. If you are one who can't eat them without a ton of butter or cheese sauce - there is a way to curb that habit. Each time you eat them, use less. I got my family away from using cheese sauce for vegetables by sprinkling on a good sharp cheddar or parmesan on the vegetable when I served them. Eventually, they didn't even need that. I just cut a bunch of calories and stretched our monthly allotment of cheese and butter.
We've moved from microwave popcorn to air-popped corn which is so much better (too much controversy over the safety of microwave popcorn for me). I found I don't mind it plain but sometimes a little flavor is nice. I'm returning to a trick my grandmother used to use - spray the popcorn with butter flavored cooking spray and sprinkle on some spices. She often used taco seasoning on the popcorn. It's a great low fat, low cost snack (popcorn kernals often cost less than a three pack of microwave popcorn and makes soooooo much more).
Back to the cheese for a moment, since I am easily distracted. When it comes to foods like mac and cheese, pizza and quesadillas - how do you reduce the amount of cheese and still feel like you have a good dish. It goes back to buy a good quality cheese. Mac and cheese can be made with less fat by using oil instead of butter to make the roux, using a lower fat milk (the jury is out on whether low fat milk is good for you) and a sharp flavorful cheese. It will take less cheese to flavor the sauce. Same goes for quesadillas - less can be more if you use a good flavor cheese.
As for Pizza - use lots of vegetable toppings and less cheese or omit the cheese all together for some varieties. We love pizza crust with potatoes and onions. Cheese is nice but not necessary.
Making food flavorful with herbs and spices will help reduce cost and calories because you are not adding things to flavor the food.
A tip I learned from my mom when I was younger (that I am sure she has since forgotten) - use salsa as a salad dressing. Salad dressings are often laden with fat and add little nutrition. Using salsa gives the salad flavor and extra veggies. I like to mix it up and use blue cheese or feta as a toppine (about 1 TB is all I need). Sometimes a little crumbled bacon (about 1 strip fried and crumbled). They are fatty foods but they offer more than just fat (well except maybe the bacon). I like adding avocados when I can get them. They have good fat and lots of nutrients so it adds an extra punch to my salad.
I'm sure there's more in the recesses of my brain but that will have to wait for another post since this one is long enough.
I mentioned before that omitting unnecessary ingredients helps stretch the budget but it also reduces wasteful calories. I used cheese as an example because it's one I see a lot. Cheese can be heavy on calories and should be treated like a condiment instead of a meal (except that's not always possible in cases of mac and cheese, pizza, quesadillas, etc but I'll talk about that in a moment). Where I see this most is with pasta and with sandwiches (hamburgers included). More often we add cheese because we believe we need to but it doesn't actually add to the dish. We love parmesan cheese on spaghetti but when our budget got tighter we moved from fresh shredded parmesan to the grated powdery stuff that comes in a can. Doesn't matter what brand you buy, they all barely have any flavor. Not using the cheese reduces calories and when you stop thinking about it, you won't notice any difference.
The same goes for most sandwiches. Cheap processed cheese has little flavor but is not calorie free. Eating your hamburger without the gooey glop makes a calorie difference that you won't even taste. It's tough to convince someone that investing in higher priced, higher quality cheese is actually saving your budget (and your waist line). A good quality cheese requires less because you can taste it. I like sharp cheeses - sharp cheddar, blue cheese, feta, because they all encourage using less.
The same goes for butter/margarine. Often times we use too much. A light smear of butter on a piece of bread still offers the flavor without all the extra calories. I had to teach my son that 1/2 cube of butter for a can of vegetables was just a waste. One can add a little or none at all and still have a good tasting side dish.
Vegetables are tough for some people. If you are one who can't eat them without a ton of butter or cheese sauce - there is a way to curb that habit. Each time you eat them, use less. I got my family away from using cheese sauce for vegetables by sprinkling on a good sharp cheddar or parmesan on the vegetable when I served them. Eventually, they didn't even need that. I just cut a bunch of calories and stretched our monthly allotment of cheese and butter.
We've moved from microwave popcorn to air-popped corn which is so much better (too much controversy over the safety of microwave popcorn for me). I found I don't mind it plain but sometimes a little flavor is nice. I'm returning to a trick my grandmother used to use - spray the popcorn with butter flavored cooking spray and sprinkle on some spices. She often used taco seasoning on the popcorn. It's a great low fat, low cost snack (popcorn kernals often cost less than a three pack of microwave popcorn and makes soooooo much more).
Back to the cheese for a moment, since I am easily distracted. When it comes to foods like mac and cheese, pizza and quesadillas - how do you reduce the amount of cheese and still feel like you have a good dish. It goes back to buy a good quality cheese. Mac and cheese can be made with less fat by using oil instead of butter to make the roux, using a lower fat milk (the jury is out on whether low fat milk is good for you) and a sharp flavorful cheese. It will take less cheese to flavor the sauce. Same goes for quesadillas - less can be more if you use a good flavor cheese.
As for Pizza - use lots of vegetable toppings and less cheese or omit the cheese all together for some varieties. We love pizza crust with potatoes and onions. Cheese is nice but not necessary.
Making food flavorful with herbs and spices will help reduce cost and calories because you are not adding things to flavor the food.
A tip I learned from my mom when I was younger (that I am sure she has since forgotten) - use salsa as a salad dressing. Salad dressings are often laden with fat and add little nutrition. Using salsa gives the salad flavor and extra veggies. I like to mix it up and use blue cheese or feta as a toppine (about 1 TB is all I need). Sometimes a little crumbled bacon (about 1 strip fried and crumbled). They are fatty foods but they offer more than just fat (well except maybe the bacon). I like adding avocados when I can get them. They have good fat and lots of nutrients so it adds an extra punch to my salad.
I'm sure there's more in the recesses of my brain but that will have to wait for another post since this one is long enough.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Pina Colada Jar Cake
Sorry about the cake post right after the weight loss post but in reality cake is still part of a balanced diet. Everything in moderation. I mentioned I had lost this recipe. When I did a google search I found several sites with this recipe but, thankfully, they were all the same recipe so I believe it's the same. This recipe got me thinking, jar cakes might make great rum cakes, just bake them in the jar and let cool. Pour over alcohol of choice and let sit. I'll have to pull out a rum cake recipe to get instructions but I think it can be done and how cute to give out little rum cakes at the holidays.
I don't think I ever pureed the pineapple in this recipe because I'm a little lazy and I love the chunks of pineapple. I, also, use unsweetened coconut because I prefer it.
Pina Colada Jar Cake
1 can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple in natural juices
11 tablespoons butter, room temperature
3 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
4 eggs
1/2 cup dark rum
3 1/3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup coconut, sweetened flaked
Preheat oven to 325°. Wash 8 wide mouth 1-pint canning jars with lids in hot, soapy water. Let dry on clean paper towels or dish towels. Generously grease inside of each jar. Drain crushed pineapple a colander, squeezing to get as much of the juice out as possible; reserve juice. Put the well-drained pineapple in a food processor; pulse until smooth. Measure out 1 1/2 cups of the puree. If necessary, to make 1 1/2 cups, add a small amount of the reserved juice. Set puree aside. Discard remaining juice or freeze to use as liquid for a cake or other dish. With an electric mixer, cream butter and brown sugar until light. Beat in eggs, beating well after each addition. Beat in pineapple puree and rum; set aside.
Into another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Gradually add the dry ingredients, about 1/3 at a time, to the pineapple batter mixture, beating well after each addition to make a thick batter. Stir in coconut. Measure 1 level cupful of batter to spoon into a jar. Repeat with remaining batter and jars. Carefully wipe rims clean, then place jars in center of preheated oven. Bake 40 minutes. Cake should spring back when lightly touched with finger. About 10 minutes before cakes are done, bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Put in jar lids, cover, and remove from heat. Keep lids in hot water until they're used. When cakes are done, remove jars from oven. If jar rims need cleaning, use a moistened paper towel. Carefully put lids and rings in place, then screw tops tightly shut. Place jars on a wire rack; they will seal as they cool.
I don't think I ever pureed the pineapple in this recipe because I'm a little lazy and I love the chunks of pineapple. I, also, use unsweetened coconut because I prefer it.
Pina Colada Jar Cake
1 can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple in natural juices
11 tablespoons butter, room temperature
3 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
4 eggs
1/2 cup dark rum
3 1/3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup coconut, sweetened flaked
Preheat oven to 325°. Wash 8 wide mouth 1-pint canning jars with lids in hot, soapy water. Let dry on clean paper towels or dish towels. Generously grease inside of each jar. Drain crushed pineapple a colander, squeezing to get as much of the juice out as possible; reserve juice. Put the well-drained pineapple in a food processor; pulse until smooth. Measure out 1 1/2 cups of the puree. If necessary, to make 1 1/2 cups, add a small amount of the reserved juice. Set puree aside. Discard remaining juice or freeze to use as liquid for a cake or other dish. With an electric mixer, cream butter and brown sugar until light. Beat in eggs, beating well after each addition. Beat in pineapple puree and rum; set aside.
Into another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Gradually add the dry ingredients, about 1/3 at a time, to the pineapple batter mixture, beating well after each addition to make a thick batter. Stir in coconut. Measure 1 level cupful of batter to spoon into a jar. Repeat with remaining batter and jars. Carefully wipe rims clean, then place jars in center of preheated oven. Bake 40 minutes. Cake should spring back when lightly touched with finger. About 10 minutes before cakes are done, bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Put in jar lids, cover, and remove from heat. Keep lids in hot water until they're used. When cakes are done, remove jars from oven. If jar rims need cleaning, use a moistened paper towel. Carefully put lids and rings in place, then screw tops tightly shut. Place jars on a wire rack; they will seal as they cool.
Weight Loss on a Budget
I've been debating about writing a section on dieting on a budget. I have some strong feelings about dieting and the "obesity" epidemic. I, also, worried that it would add just another layer to an already overwhelming change. It's difficult to maintain a grocery budget and a balanced diet. Adding the addition of "dieting" can completely cause the entire system to crash.
The weight loss industry has convinced the American public that losing weight is hard and you can only do it if you spend a lot of money in the process. More often than not their systems are designed to fail for if you succeeded then you would no longer require their products. I'm not going to say that all programs are designed for failure but many are - especially those that come in pill form. Most people want everything right now. Rapid weight loss results in what is called Yo-Yoing. Yo-yoing is losing weight, gaining it back, losing weight, etc. This is the result of most weight loss programs.
Why do most programs fail? The answer is simple, they don't change the underlaying problem. For example, you have a house. The exterior siding is stained so you spray paint it a dark blue to cover it up. Over time the paint fades and you're back to yucky siding. So you paint it green when what you need to do is scrape away all the old paint, prime and then paint it a color that you like instead of something that covers up.
The same is with losing weight. We don't want to take the time to do it right, we want to fit into that outfit for our class reunion which is next week or get ready for summer vacations on the first warm day after winter. We want quick, easy and something that doesn't require a lot of thought. But that doesn't spell success.
When it comes to weight (losing or gaining) there's a simple equation - calories in vs calories out. To lose weight your calories in have to be smaller than your calories out. Easy as can be - in theory.
Now we're looking at food on a budget. This is where I have some real issues with the fighting obesity programs. I don't believe education is THE answer. I believe it's a part of the answer but no amount of education is going to change the price of food and people's access to it. If I had unlimited funds, you can bet I would buy fresh organic fruits and vegetables to serve at every meal. I might even make that the majority of my meal but I can't. I have to be creative when it comes to fruits and vegetables through foraging and gardening because to buy them in the store would financially ruin me. I'd love to buy organic farm raised meat and eggs - I can barely afford what I do buy. This is not a pity party just reality. To buy the foods that are best for maintaining weight just are not affordable. What is affordable is calorie dense foods. That is why the poor have always been portrayed as fat, cheap foods are calorie dense. That doesn't make them lack nutrition, in fact many provide great nutrition but also excessive calories.
How does one maintain a budget, provide good nutrition, and lose weight to keep it off permantently? The truth is - I'm going to find out. My doctor has demanded I lose weight for my health. My blood pressure has been creeping up along with my weight over the last year and it's time to focus on becoming healthy.
One tool I am using is Sparkpeople. Sparkpeople is a free website with lots of tools, trackers and support. I have used it in the past but not really as a committed weight loss tool. What I am going to use and used in the past is the Nutrition Tracker. This is the best tool out there. Enter what you eat and how much (a little tricky for those who make everything from scratch but not impossible), the system tells you how many calories, carbs, fat, protein you have eaten. If you set up a weight loss goal, the tracker will also give the parameters you need to meet to lose weight and still be healthy. My goal is to lose 100 pounds in one year. Sunday was my birthday so by my next birthday I want to be 100 pounds lighter. This might be a slightly too big of a goal but we'll see. It means slow weight loss - 2 pound a week approximately. Slow weight loss is tough because you can't see it right away but it's the perfect plan for keeping the weight off. I am giving myself a year because in that time I can learn to make better choices. I'm not planning on overhauling my diet, just learning to eat less of calorie dense foods and more of the lower calorie foods. Tracking my diet will mean greater success.
I have lots of ideas but I have already talked too much so more thoughts tomorrow.
The weight loss industry has convinced the American public that losing weight is hard and you can only do it if you spend a lot of money in the process. More often than not their systems are designed to fail for if you succeeded then you would no longer require their products. I'm not going to say that all programs are designed for failure but many are - especially those that come in pill form. Most people want everything right now. Rapid weight loss results in what is called Yo-Yoing. Yo-yoing is losing weight, gaining it back, losing weight, etc. This is the result of most weight loss programs.
Why do most programs fail? The answer is simple, they don't change the underlaying problem. For example, you have a house. The exterior siding is stained so you spray paint it a dark blue to cover it up. Over time the paint fades and you're back to yucky siding. So you paint it green when what you need to do is scrape away all the old paint, prime and then paint it a color that you like instead of something that covers up.
The same is with losing weight. We don't want to take the time to do it right, we want to fit into that outfit for our class reunion which is next week or get ready for summer vacations on the first warm day after winter. We want quick, easy and something that doesn't require a lot of thought. But that doesn't spell success.
When it comes to weight (losing or gaining) there's a simple equation - calories in vs calories out. To lose weight your calories in have to be smaller than your calories out. Easy as can be - in theory.
Now we're looking at food on a budget. This is where I have some real issues with the fighting obesity programs. I don't believe education is THE answer. I believe it's a part of the answer but no amount of education is going to change the price of food and people's access to it. If I had unlimited funds, you can bet I would buy fresh organic fruits and vegetables to serve at every meal. I might even make that the majority of my meal but I can't. I have to be creative when it comes to fruits and vegetables through foraging and gardening because to buy them in the store would financially ruin me. I'd love to buy organic farm raised meat and eggs - I can barely afford what I do buy. This is not a pity party just reality. To buy the foods that are best for maintaining weight just are not affordable. What is affordable is calorie dense foods. That is why the poor have always been portrayed as fat, cheap foods are calorie dense. That doesn't make them lack nutrition, in fact many provide great nutrition but also excessive calories.
How does one maintain a budget, provide good nutrition, and lose weight to keep it off permantently? The truth is - I'm going to find out. My doctor has demanded I lose weight for my health. My blood pressure has been creeping up along with my weight over the last year and it's time to focus on becoming healthy.
One tool I am using is Sparkpeople. Sparkpeople is a free website with lots of tools, trackers and support. I have used it in the past but not really as a committed weight loss tool. What I am going to use and used in the past is the Nutrition Tracker. This is the best tool out there. Enter what you eat and how much (a little tricky for those who make everything from scratch but not impossible), the system tells you how many calories, carbs, fat, protein you have eaten. If you set up a weight loss goal, the tracker will also give the parameters you need to meet to lose weight and still be healthy. My goal is to lose 100 pounds in one year. Sunday was my birthday so by my next birthday I want to be 100 pounds lighter. This might be a slightly too big of a goal but we'll see. It means slow weight loss - 2 pound a week approximately. Slow weight loss is tough because you can't see it right away but it's the perfect plan for keeping the weight off. I am giving myself a year because in that time I can learn to make better choices. I'm not planning on overhauling my diet, just learning to eat less of calorie dense foods and more of the lower calorie foods. Tracking my diet will mean greater success.
I have lots of ideas but I have already talked too much so more thoughts tomorrow.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Chocolate Applesauce Jar Cake
I'm just posting a recipe today. I'm working half day today and then my afternoon is filled with various appointments so I'll be on the run. I know I had three recipes for Jar Cakes but for the life of me I can't find number three. I just remembered what it was so maybe I can find it for Monday. This is a tasty cake but I do want to mention that the jar cakes are a little on the dry side so a little extra applesauce will not hurt (and the reason for serving with a good sauce over the top).
Chocolate Applesauce Jar Cake
4 oz + 3 tbs. unsalted butter, soft
3 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tbs. vanilla extract
1 teas almond extract
2 cups unsweetened applesauce
3 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 teas baking soda
1/2 teas baking powder
1/2 cup chopped pecans or other nuts
8 pint jars
Preheat oven to 325, generously grease jars. Beat butter and 1/2 sugar, beating in eggs and remaining sugar and extracts. Beat in applesauce. Add dry ingredients. Stir in nuts. Spoon 1 cup batter in each jar. Carefully wipe rims clean, place in center of oven, cook 40 minutes. 10 minutes before done prep lids and rims. When cakes are done, remove jars from oven. Carefully put lids and rims in place, screw tightly shut.
Chocolate Applesauce Jar Cake
4 oz + 3 tbs. unsalted butter, soft
3 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tbs. vanilla extract
1 teas almond extract
2 cups unsweetened applesauce
3 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 teas baking soda
1/2 teas baking powder
1/2 cup chopped pecans or other nuts
8 pint jars
Preheat oven to 325, generously grease jars. Beat butter and 1/2 sugar, beating in eggs and remaining sugar and extracts. Beat in applesauce. Add dry ingredients. Stir in nuts. Spoon 1 cup batter in each jar. Carefully wipe rims clean, place in center of oven, cook 40 minutes. 10 minutes before done prep lids and rims. When cakes are done, remove jars from oven. Carefully put lids and rims in place, screw tightly shut.
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