Holllllllliday Tiiiiiiiime

It's officially ok for me to be posting holiday recipes.

I mean, if Christmas tunes are on the radio, it's fair game, right?

Plus I bought the following at the grocery store this past weekend:

Piney soap and snowman print baggies.  Sweet.

I also picked up a pomegranate at the store. 

Why?

(No, that's not a rhetorical question- seriously- why did I buy a pomegranate??  I have no clue how to eat it or prepare it).

I decided to try making a cranberry sauce with pomegranate.  It was...an experience. 

Superfruit Sauce
1 bag cranberries, rinsed
1 pomegranate, seeded
2-3 small apples, peeled and chopped
1 cup blueberries, rinsed
1/3 cup white sugar
2/3 cup orange juice
1/3 cup water

1. Okay, so first things first.  How the heck do you seed a pomegranate?  Maybe this is something that Pinterest people have nailed, but once I sliced into this thing, I was clueless. 

I first tried scraping out the seeds with a regular spoon.  That did nothing but create a juicy mess.  Not effective.  Then I realized if you peel back the sides, you can easily expose the whole seed and gently peel it off with your fingers. 

The inside skin is kind of like a honeycomb with the seeds stuck inside.  At the risk of sounding super lame/way too easily amused, once I got the hang of it, it was kind of fun to peel off the seeds.

All in all it took less than 10 minutes to seed the whole thing.

Onto the recipe...
2. Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Bring to a low boil, stirring regularly.  As cranberries begin to burst, the sauce will thicken.
3. Once all the cranberries have burst and the mixture is struggling to bubble through the thick sauce, remove from heat and let cool completely.
4. Refrigerate overnight.

I called this "Superfruit Sauce" because it sounds cool this is loaded with antioxidants, thanks to the cranberries, blueberries, and pomegranates.  You could use any combination of fruits for this, but being Thanksgiving week, cranberries seemed appropriate.

Try out this sauce this year.  Skip the canned junk.  The pomegranate seeds give it a little crunch, so it's definitely a different texture, but it's a tangy/sweet combo that just tastes really good.

Now to crank up the Christmas tunes for the drive home from work...

Been awhile...

...since I posted a cupcake recipe.

For good reason though, right?  I mean, I get paid to promote health and wellness, and as nice as li'l cupcake may be, it's nothing but a sugar bomb.

But a very very cute sugar bomb.

This past weekend I co-hosted a bridal shower for a good friend.  I happen to love girly-girl stuff, as does this friend, and so pink was the theme.  I decided to go with raspberry cupcakes with champagne buttercream frosting.  No fiber or flaxseeds to be found here.

 Other items on the brunch menu included chicken wild rice salad (made with leftover cheater chicken from last week's posted recipe), fruit, pita chips with salsa, and an egg bake (not pictured).  The treat bags contained funfetti puppy chow.  Don't know what it is?  Google it.  You'll feel like you're the only person in the world who hasn't heard of it. 

So yeah, back to these cupcakes.  They're actually pretty easy to whip up.  You just have to buy 1 non-traditional ingredient: raspberry extract.  At first I thought I'd just puree some raspberries and use the juice to flavor the cupcake, but after reading online, I learned from others that this results in a very gray batter- not pretty at all.  Find some McCormick raspberry extract at a grocery store or online for best results.

Raspberry Cupcakes with Champagne Buttercream
1 box white cake mix (plus ingredients that it calls for- oil, eggs, water)
3 teaspoons raspberry extract
Few drops red food coloring

2 sticks butter, room temperature
3-4 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup champagne
Pinch of salt

1. Make cake mix according to package instructions.  After beating, stir in raspberry extract and food coloring.  Use your judgement on this- a few drops go a long way in terms of coloring, and we want nice pink, not crazy red.  Fill cupcake liners 2/3rds full and bake according to package instructions.  Let cool completely.

2. Beat butter until it's fluffy.  Beat in 1 cup of powdered sugar and pinch of salt.  Add champagne.  Beat in additional sugar until it's a pipe-able consistency.  I chilled mine for an additional 20 minutes to make sure it would "set" nicely on the cupcakes.

3. Using whatever reasonable size tip (mine was nothing fancy- you could even just snip the corner off a Ziploc bag and do nice fat thick frosting) at the bottom of a plastic bag, add frosting and start piping.  I kind of did a double pipe- starting at the center, working outwards, and then swirling back over back to the center for nice height.  I added a little edible glitter to mine too. 

4. Chill until ready to serve.  Add the raspberry on top right before serving (if the raspberry sits too long, the juice begins to bleed onto the frosting). 

Total calories?  Pffft.  They're for a good cause- the bride! 

Also, do you like my living/dining room remodel?  White trim...ahhh. 

Cheater Chicken

In just the past few weeks I've ended up buying a few rotisserie chickens for various recipes that call for shredded chicken.  Sure I know how to roast a chicken, but it's messy, takes time, and you end up with a nasty carcass.

I had an idea (idea = rip-off of a recipe my sister-in-law makes) involving the slow cooker.  Why not make my own shredded chicken and freeze it for future use?

Cheater Chicken
2 packages (about 3 lbs) boneless skinless chicken breasts, fat bits trimmed
48 oz low sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon pepper

Place all the ingredients in a large slow cooker.  Cook on high for 3-4 hours, or until internal temp of chicken registers at least 165 degrees.

Place chicken breasts in a large bowl, along with about 1 cup of the broth, and use two forks to shred it into smaller bits.

Put shredded chicken in individual baggies and freeze for future use.  *Hint- to thaw, just pop the frozen baggie in a sink full of hot water.

Su-per ea-sy.  I am feeling good today knowing that I could easily make some chicken chili, chicken tacos, chicken pot pie, barbecue chicken sandwiches, or anything that involves shredded chicken.  Sorry Cub deli, but I will not be missing you.

Another thing that has me feeling happy today?

Super glittery gold nails.  Not exactly work appropriate, but great for a Monday.

Thursday nights

Thursdays are typically my busiest days at work, so by the time I get home after 6, I want easy dinners.  Not so easy that I'm reaching deep into the freezer for whatever ice-crusted box of frozen raviolis I can find, but something with minimal ingredients and minimal prep work.  This recipe fits those criteria.

Sausage & Spinach Bake
3 cups uncooked instant brown rice
1 can low sodium chicken or vegetable broth + 1 cup water
8 oz lean pork (or turkey) sausage, casings removed (I found uncased sausage at the store)
3 cups fresh spinach, washed and dried
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 teaspoon dried sage
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

*Preheat oven to 325 degrees*
1. Combine broth and water in a medium sauce pan.  Cook rice according to package directions.  Set aside.
2. In a skillet, cook sausage until done. 
3. In a large bowl, stir together hot rice, sausage, half of the cheese, the spinach, and seasonings.  The spinach will get wilted- this is ok.
4. Coat an 8x8 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.  Spread rice mixture evenly and top with remaining cheese.  Bake 5-10 minutes until cheese is nice and melted.

E-Z.

Makes 4 servings.  Per serving: 395 calories, 51 g carbs, 22 g protein, 4 g fiber, and 46% of your daily vitamin A needs.

As a bonus picture, I woke up to see this beautiful sunrise.  Onto Friday...

Those halls need some decking

Something wonderful happened sometime over the past four days.

The Comcast music channel started playing Christmas tunes. 

Some may say "it's too early!"

I say that I've been waiting for this for 11 months now. 


What could be more cheery background music than The Little Drummer Boy?  I listened to this channel while putting away groceries yesterday, pa-rum-pum-pum-pum.

I figured I'd give a look at a typical grocery haul.  We go shopping on Sundays, and Aldi is pretty much our one-stop shop.

(By the lighting in these photos, you'd think I have a single light in my entire kitchen, but no, this was all-lights-on-at-midday)

We have:
-bag of fresh spinach
-bag of bananas
-frozen pepperoni pizza (surprise, surprise- not my pick)
-2 cartons of raspberries
-bag of blue corn tortilla chips
-bag of shredded cheese
-carton of eggs
-carton of vanilla yogurt
-pre-made guacamole
-loaf of whole grain bread
-orange juice
-chunk of white cheddar
-tube of pork sausage
-carton of fresh Brussels sprouts
-2 packages refrigerated tortellini
-jar of marinara
-2 boxes of frozen breaded ravioli (another not-my-pick)

-bag of yellow onions
-fresh green beans
-carton of baby portobellas
-butternut squash
-cottage cheese
-Kefir (I've been obsessed lately)
-1% milk (we compromise)
-Honey Nut Cheerios
-Lucky Charms (both generic equivalents- we go halfsies with plain Cheerios and bran flakes)
-baby carrots
-2 bags of Clementines (also obsessed)
-2 pounds extra lean ground beef

So with all this food, recipes for the week include:
-homemade nachos
-meatloaf (with added carrots and onions), plus green beans
-butternut squash, mushroom, & tortellini
-brown rice, spinach, and sausage hotdish

If that last one turns out the way I dream it will, I will post it. 

Don't hold your breath, pa-rum-pum-pum-pum.