Pumpkin Pie-tini (Hungry Girl style, of course!)

I will admit when I first stumbled upon the recipe from Hungry Girl's Happy Hour book for a Pumpkin Pie-tini, my first thought was "Ew, gross." I am NOT a huge pumpkin fan, I like it alright, but well, chocolate is my first love, so pretty much anything without chocolate I can either take it or leave it! However, in the spirit of the season I decided to make a big batch of Pumpkin Pie-tini's to take to our annual Friendsgiving dinner that my girlfriends and I celebrate together every November before Thanksgiving. They were DELICIOUS! They taste just like pumpkin pie! And they were SO easy to make! The best part...only 144 calories per serving! Ingredients: 4 - ounces light vanilla soymilk (refrigerated by milk) 1-1/2 - ounces vanilla vodka (I actually used Whipped Cream Vodka instead) 1 - ounce sugar-free calorie-free vanilla flavored syrup (the kind you use in coffee) 2 - tablespoons canned pure pumpkin 1/4 - teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (found in the spice section of your supermarket) Directions: Combine all ingredients in a glass and stir until smooth. Transfer to a shaker filled with ice. Shake thoroughly and then strain into a large martini glass. Enjoy! Makes 1 serving Per Serving (entire recipe, 1 martini): 144 calories, 1g fat, 65mg sodium, 6.5g carbs, 1.25g fiber, 3.5g sugars, 3g protein.

November Thankfulness

Oooh where to start?!! It's been a while since I've blogged...October was a super busy month for me, if flew by in a blink and now here we are, halfway through November already, Christmas is just around the corner! Eek!! Not to mention my 33rd birthday, in less than a month! I wonder what my 33rd year of life has in store for me!! Hopefully something amazing!!! The day after my birthday, I will start school!! Cosmetology school!! Since I was 16 I have dreamed of doing hair, and going to beauty school! If you don't count the fact that at six-years old I decided to 'play hair dresser' and give my little brother a hair cut with my kiddie scissors---which of course, my mom did NOT think was a great idea at all, I have wanted to do hair for the better part of 16 years! Buuuut life happened, I went to work for my dad's electrical contracting company as an Office Administrator for 13 years, got a great hands-on education, AND was able to work from home these past 4 years since my daughter was born. I LOVE my dad for that and am forever grateful. However...business isn't going so well, I've been on unemployment for over a year now and my heart just isn't IN office work. With my baby girl in preschool 5-days a week, I decided to take the plunge and enroll in Cosmetology school! It will be the best birthday present I could give myself!! And my amazing boyfriend is beyond supportive!!!

So for this month of thankfulness, I am beyond thankful for FINALLY doing something for myself that I have wanted to do for so long!!! I hope you will all enjoy reading about my journey in this new chapter of my life!

Exploding Chicken Taquitos!

Yesterday was a busy day of preschool, cleaning and visiting with friends, and in my whirlwind of a day I noticed that I'd forgotten to take anything out for dinner! EEk! Around 3:30,when things finally settled down, I realized that all of our meats were still frozen, so I reached for the nearest Hungry Girl book, Hungry Girl 1-2-3, and began flipping through the pages! It didn't take me long to find something I could whip up in a snap with ingredients that I had on hand...Exploding Chicken Taquitos! It literally took me under 15 minutes to put them together and ready to toss in the oven for only another 15 minutes! And what a HUGE hit! The boyfriend devoured them and even my sometimes picky dinner eater toddler gobbled hers right up! That was definitely a first, dinner time is usually a battle for us! You can bet that I will stock up on canned chicken the next time I hit the grocery store, as I already have a ton of leftover corn tortillas frozen into packs of 10-15 in my freezer!!

Exploding Chicken Taquitos
Ingredients

• 8 (6 inch) corn tortillas
• 1 (10 ounce) can white chicken meat packed in water, 98% fat free kind, drained well
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 1/3 cup fat-free cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/4 teaspoon taco seasoning mix, dry
• red enchilada sauce (optional)
• salsa (optional)
• nonfat sour cream (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the chicken and salsa, and mix thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
3. Remove chicken mixture from the fridge, and drain any excess liquid. Add cheese and taco seasoning, and mix to combine. This is your filling. Set aside.
4. Prepare a baking sheet by spraying with nonstick spray, and set it aside.
5. Dampen two paper towels, and place tortillas between them. Microwave for about 1 minute, until tortillas are warm and pliable.
6. Take one tortilla (keep the rest between the paper towels), spray both sides lightly with nonstick spray, and lay it flat on a clean dry surface. Spoon about 2 heaping tablespoons of filling onto the tortilla. Spread it evenly across the entire surface, and roll tortilla up tightly, so that you have a cigar-shaped tube. Secure with toothpicks and place seam-side down on the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling.
7. Bake for 14 - 16 minutes, until crispy. Allow taquitos to cool for 5 minutes. If you like, dunk in enchilada sauce, salsa, or sour cream!

PER SERVING (2 taquitos): 197 calories, 2.5g fat, 594mg sodium, 22.5 carbs, 3g fiber, 2g sugars, 20.5g protein

Fall Comfort Food...Hungry Girl Style!

It never fails, as soon as Fall comes along, I'm ready for cozy hoodies, slippers and my favorite comfort foods! Last night I made the boyfriend's favorite, Chicken and Dumplings...with a twist! Healthy! :) It was delicious! The best Chicken and Dumplings I've ever made, and the boyfriend's favorite so far!! Yay me! And thanks to Hungry Girl! Hungry Girl's Hungry Chick 'n Dumpling Surprise
Ingredients: Stew 3 large stalks celery, chopped 3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped 1 large onion, chopped 1 tsp. chopped garlic Two 14-oz. cans (about 3 1/2 cups) fat-free chicken broth 12 oz. raw boneless skinless lean chicken breasts 3 cups sliced mushrooms 1/2 tsp. dried thyme 1/4 tsp. black pepper 1 dried bay leaf One 10.75-oz. can 98% fat-free cream of chicken condensed soup 2 cups frozen peas
Dumplings 1 1/2 cups Bisquick Heart Smart baking mix 2/3 cup fat-free milk 1/8 tsp. each salt and black pepper Directions: To make the stew, bring a very large pot sprayed with nonstick spray to medium-high heat on the stove. Add celery, carrots, onion, and garlic. Stirring often, cook until veggies have slightly softened, 6 - 8 minutes. To the pot, add chicken broth, chicken breasts, mushrooms, thyme, and pepper. Add bay leaf and 2 cups of water. Stir well. Cover pot and bring contents to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and let simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 25 minutes. Carefully remove chicken and transfer to a large bowl. Re-cover the pot, and let contents continue to simmer. Once cool enough to handle, shred chicken with two forks -- one to hold the chicken in place and the other to scrape across the meat and shred it. Add shredded chicken to the pot, along with condensed soup and frozen peas. Stir thoroughly and raise heat to medium low; return stew to a simmer. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine dumpling ingredients. Gently mix just until a soft dough forms; don't overmix. Once stew is simmering, add dough in heaping tablespoons to form about 16 individual dumplings; add the dough slowly and evenly so dumplings don't stick together. Cook until dumplings are firm, 10 - 12 minutes, gently turning them over about halfway through cook time. Remove bay leaf, and serve it up! MAKES 8 SERVINGS

Serving Size: 1/8th of recipe (about 1 1/2 cups stew with 2 dumplings)
Calories: 215
Fat: 3g
Sodium: 845mg
Carbs: 30g
Fiber: 4g
Sugars: 7.5g
Protein: 16.5g

PointsPlus® value 5*

HG Tip! Store leftover stew and dumplings separately to prevent soggy dumplings.

Wordless Wednesday

Monday Madness!

I am starting my own tradition here with a Monday Madness! This week's Monday Madness post is a SURVEY! Those of you who know me, know how much I love filling out survey's...too bad I can't get paid to do it! LOL

So, here we go, drum roll please.....

1. What time did you get up this morning? 5:15. WAY too early. I laid in bed till 6:30 before finally giving up on falling back asleep!

2. How do you like your steak? medium rare is best!

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Hangover 2 with Jennie and Josh, I think...unless we saw one after that...which we might have, argh, what WAS it?!! LOL Sheesh, I can't remember!

4. What is your favorite TV show ? Sex and the City

5. If you could live anywhere, where would it be? Hawaii please!

6. What did you have for breakfast? Coffee + Bailey's= YUM!

7. What is your favorite food? ice cream

8. What foods do you dislike? Not many...oysters, blek!

9. Favorite Place to Eat? The Keg.

10. Favorite dressing? Ranch

11. What do you drive? Mercury Mountaineer and I love it!

12. What are your favorite clothes? my Silver jeans, zebra heels and a cute top!

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Scotland, Ireland and England

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? always half full, unless it's a martini, then it's half empty and time for another! ;)

15. Where would you want to retire? somewhere tropical!

16. Favorite time of day? Night time

17. Where were you born? Renton

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? Football/UFC are about the only sports I watch!

19. Who do you think will not tag you back? not tagging anyone

20. Person you expect to tag you back first? No idea

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this?

22. Bird watcher? um no

23. Are you a morning person or a night person? night

24. Do you have any pets? A 6-yr old Border Collie dog, Ellie May, and 2 cats (wow, am I really down to two?!!) Edgar who is 11 and Earl who's 9. Oh! And the BF's Pit, Deja.

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? nope!

26. What did you want to be when you were little? so many things! Famous author, veterinarian, or 'secretary' even at one point...lol! Livin' the dream!

28. Are you a cat or dog person? both

29. Are you married? Not yet, someday!

30. Always wear your seat belt? Yes, always

31. Been in a car accident? Yes, which is why I now wear my seat belt!

32. Any pet peeves? DRAMA!

33. Favorite Pizza Toppings? white sauce, cheese, and whatever else I'm in the mood for! Love pizza!

34. Favorite Flower? Rose

35. Favorite ice cream? Jamoca or Fudge Brownie

36. Favorite fast food restaurant? Taco Bell

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test? Once. California Rolling Stop oops!

38. From whom did you get your last email? junk

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Victoria's Secret, Nordstrom or Buckle and Target!

40. Do anything spontaneous lately? nope not so much

41. Like your job? Love it!!

42. Like Broccoli? Yes

43. What was your favorite vacation? Mexxxico!!!!!

44. Last person you went out to dinner with? Jamie

45. What are you listening to right now? SILENCE, the house is quiet and I am lovin' it!

46. What is your favorite color? pink!

47. How many tattoos do you have? none

48. How many are you tagging for this quiz? none

49. What time did you finish this quiz? 1:25pm

50. Coffee Drinker? Yes!

Coffee...coffee, mmm!

Good morning! What'cha drinking today?? I'm having a lovely breakfast blend by Green Mountain Coffee made with my brand new Keurig Elite Brewing System! Delicious! Up until about 2 weeks ago, I had no idea what this fabulous coffee system was!! We were at Sharon's house setting up for our annual purse sale (we had for sale over 120 gently used/like new purses to sell!) and Sharon made us coffee with her Keurig. It was amazing!! And SO SO easy to use! But that's not all, the best part was, the Sweet Iced Tea that it brews from Celestial Seasonings! THE BEST EVER! I was hooked! I am normally not a big iced tea drinker, I will order one occasionally while out to eat if I don't feel like having a soda or water, but I just cant' get enough of this iced tea!! So with proceeds from the purse sale (up $200) and the sale of my junker Pontiac, I decided to splurge and purchase my own Keurig! I am enjoying my first cup of coffee, brewed in just seconds, which I flavored with a little bit of Bailey's Irish Cream Creamer! Delicious! And the iced tea is already calling my name! :)

What you can do with...Duct Tape??!

I grew up from a small town where duct tape fixes EVERYTHING!! Really, it does!! Always keep a roll in the house, in your car, who knows when you might need it!! But by far the coolest thing I have seen with Duct Tape is my new purse! I love it!!! And the girl who made it for me has over 40 different styles of Duct Tape! Who knew!!!

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Aside from pizza, Mexican food is my favorite!! And one of my favorite dishes is Chicken Enchilada Casserole! Yummmy! But think about how many carbs, calories and grams of fat the average Chicken Enchilada Casserole is! Ew! So I was SUPER excited when I came across the Hungry Girl version in the Hungry Girl 1-2-3 book I am borrowing from my friend Nikki! :) Tried it out, and it was delicious!! A couple of things I will change next time, depending on how much it alters the calories...I will use REAL chicken breast, add cilantro, (because to me, I can't have a Mexican dish without it!!), and maybe a dollop of sour cream! ;) Fat Free, of course!! But for 260 calories for 1/4 of the casserole, this recipe was AmaZING as-is! Especially for the amount of time it took to prepare (under 10 minutes!) and the clean up (SUPER EASY!)!

Ingredients:
1 - 9.75oz (or 10oz) can 98% fat-free chunk white chicken breast in water, drained and flaked.
1 - 10.75oz can 98% fat-free cream of celery condensed soup
2/3 cup - frozen mixed vegetables
1/2 cup - salsa
6 - Six inch corn tortillas
1 - cup shredded fat-free cheddar cheese, divided
Optional: salt, pepper (I added garlic salt)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine chicken, soup, veggies, and salsa. If you like, add salt and pepper. Mix well and set aside.

Spray an 8x8 baking dish with nonstick spray. Break tortillas into pieces about the size of tortilla chips. Lay half of the tortilla pieces along the bottom of the baking dish.

Evenly layer half of the chicken mixture over the tortilla pieces. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese. Lay remaining tortilla pieces over the cheese. Top evenly with the rest of the chicken mixture, followed by the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese.

Bake in the over for 35 minutes, or until edges are brown and crispy.

Allow to cool or about 5 minutes, until sauce thickens. Eat up!

Makes 4 servings

Per Serving: (1/4 of casserole): 260 calories, 4g fat, 1,166mg sodium, 27g carbs, 4g fiber, 3g sugars, 27.5g protein

Wordless Wednesday

Berry-licious Lemon Drop

Ingredients:
2 Strawberries, thawed from frozen (I used 4 raspberries instead)
Half a 2-serving packet (about 1/2tsp) sugar-free lemonade powdered drink mix
1-1/2oz vodka (I used Absolute Raspberry)
3oz water
1/2oz lemon juice

Directions:
On a small plate, mash berries with a fork and set aside.

Combine powdered drink mix with 30z water in a glass and stir to dissolve. Transfer to a shaker filled with ice.

Add mashed berries, vodka, and lemon juice to the shaker and shake vigorously. Strain into martini glass.

The best part?! It's only 113 calories!!! So enjoy!! Cheers!

More Hungry Girl

I am SOOOOO excited! It came, it came, it FINALLY came!!! What has me so excited, you might ask? New jeans? No. New shoes? Nope. A new purse? Nahhhh. Almost just as good as all those though! It's a new book!! Hungry Girl Happy Hour! As soon as I saw this one I KNEW I had to have it!! I have become OBSESSED with the Hungry Girl books, shows, recipes and now COCKTAILS! Woohoo! I found this one on Half.com for $5.99+S&H. And of course it shipped media mail, so I had to wait very impatiently for it to get here from the East Coast. But it's well worth the wait! I've already tried the Hungry Girl Berry-licious Lemon Drop and LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! I can't wait to try more decadently delicious and delightfully low-calorie cocktails!

Livin'-on-the-Wedge Salad

Last night I made one of the best salads ever! No kidding! And of course, it's a Hungry Girl recipe! Let me tell you how much I LOVE her recipes! They are delicious!! And don't taste like low-calorie meals at all!! :) The servings are also usually really filling! The best part? The bf LOVES them too!! He usually just ends up eating more than a serving! ;)

So here's the recipe. It was 155 calories for the whole wedge. I added a half of hard boiled egg (about 35 calories) and 6 croutons (30 calories). I think the next time I make this I would like to add nuts of some sort, either sunflower seeds, pecans, or walnuts--whichever happens to be the lowest in calories!

I hope you will enjoy this one as much as I have! I can't wait to make it again!!

Welcome!

Welcome to my new home in Blog-land! I'm rather new to this, so please bear with me as I ramble and babble, type and tweak until I get the hang of this! I decided to start this blog with the purpose of having a place to share pictures, recipes, thoughts and ideas and just to post random stuff...much like conversations that you might expect to have in the local coffee shop, sipping mocha's, or at happy hour over martini's, with your best girlfriends.

So if you're up for it, grab a cup-o-Joe, (or your favorite martini, hey it's 5:00 somewhere!) get comfy, and come join the madness as I explore all kinds of new possibilities in the Blog World!