Pumpkin Yogurt!

I was craving something sweet and pumpkin tonight and I created a dessert, well ok I merged some other people's desserts together into one.  Pumpkin Yogurt is here.

Ingredients:
One cup of non-fat unflavored greek yogurt
One cup of pumpkin puree
Two tablespoons of sugar free pudding mix
One cup of Special K
Splash of Torani Syrup

Put everything but the cereal into a food processor and blend until smooth.  You can then add sweetener to taste.  There is a lot of wiggle room in this recipe, and I am only eating half of the recipe in a sitting.  I used vanilla pudding mix, and caramel syrup (both sugar free).  The cereal just adds a bit of crunch which I thought was needed.  I used Special K because I always have that at my house, but any cereal would do.  I think that even people who can eat sugar would like this recipe as well.  You can always use regular pudding mix and flavrored syrup if you are averse to the artificial sugar thing.  You can also sub in vanilla yogurt.  I would recommend using granola instead of cereal as well, I just didn't have anything.  Anyway my version has about 120 calories without the cereal, 180 with the cereal.  I definitely recommend popping it in the fridge for a bit before chowing down on this deliciousness.

Happy Dining!

50/50

Touching, hilarious, poignant, raunchy, and uplifting.  All of these words describe the movie 50/50.  Like the title implies, this movie has split personalities.  Half hilarious buddy comedy, half touching story of a man battling disease.

50/50 does not actually refer to the dual nature of this lovely piece of film making, but to the odds of survival for the protagonist, Adam. Portrayed perfectly by the ever wonderful Joseph Gordon Levitt, Adam is told that he has a rare form of a cancer when he goes to the doctor due to back pain.  He has a large tumor on his spine, the size and placement of the tumor make operating risky so Adam goes through chemotherapy.  Adam is in his mid to late 20's and the people surrounding him do no exactly know how to deal with someone so young facing such an ordeal.

Adam's bast friend is played by Seth Rogen, the producer of the film.  Seth does a great job with the role, primarily because he actually lived this movie.  The movie is based on the real life health problems of a friend of Seth Rogen.  After surviving cancer Rogen urged his friend, Will Reiser, to write about it.  The do succeeded in bringing humor to a terrifying situation, but they also succeeded in portraying the dark side as well.  I truly applaud Reiser for being able to laugh at the hard times.  Finding humor in bad situations is something that I have always admired in people.

I don't want to give away to many of the plot points of the movie.  I think that the sucker punches that occur in movies like this are part of the beautiful artistry of films.  The ability to make a person experience emotions akin to the emotions being felt by the characters is the true mark of a good film.  Joseph Gordon Levitt brought the fear of cancer and the unknown to the screen and into the hearts of the audience.  I was reduced to tears on several occasions, both through the pain and fear that were felt, and through laughter.  

I highly recommend this film, but I recommend it with a bit of a disclaimer.  If you know anyone battling cancer at the moment or have lost anyone to it, you definitely want tissues.  Even if you are lucky enough that the disclaimer does not apply to you, I recommend keeping a stash with you just in case.

Happy Viewing.

Tuna Avocado Salsa

I had seen something where someone put tuna salad in an avocado.  I thought this looked yummy, but a bit indulgent considering the price of an avocado.  So I decided to make my own version where I added tuna to an avocado salsa I had been recently devouring.  This way I stretch the avocado to beyond just two servings.

It looks a little gross I know, the salsa definitely looks more brown in this picture than it does in real life.  The tuna adds some good protein and Omega-3s to the dish, but it does make the salsa look a little less palatable.

Ingredients:

1 avocado

1 tomato

1 jalapeno

1 Lime

Salt

Pepper

2 packs of tuna (drained)

Corn Tortillas

Cheese

To make the salsa, first dice the tomatoes.  Then dice the avocado, to do this slice the avocado in half.  Use your knife to pop out the core.  Use a butter knife and slice the avocado still in the peel, don't push through the peel.  Cut the avocado lengthwise and crosswise.  Use a spoon to scoop out the avocado into the same bowl as the tomato.  Dice the jalapeno very finely, I cut out the seeds and the ribs as well so that the heat level is reduced.  Roll the lime on the counter, really push into it to get the juices activated.  Stick a fork into the lime and wiggle the fork, you should get juices bursting forth.  Add lime to your taste level, I don't like my salsa to be too limey.  Taste your salsa to make sure it is the way you like it and then mix in your tuna.  Taste to make sure your spice levels are ok, at this point add salt and pepper as needed.  You can use this as a dip or you can do as i did and use it to top a delicious open faced quesadilla.  

When I make my quesadilla, I grill one side of my tortilla for just a minute.  While it is cooking I spritz a tiny bit of cooking spray on the other side of the tortilla and a sprinkle of salt. Then I flip it over and add the cheese.  The spritz and the salt help make the under side of the tortilla a little crunchy.  I can eat a whole tortilla pictured above, with about a half cup of salsa.  Normal people may want to have two.  

Pancakes Should Be Sweet

Growing up, I was a very spoiled girl.  My grandfather was a fantastic man and an even better pancake chef.  I used to tell him that I thought he was so good at making pancakes that he could get a job at McDonald's.  (To be fair to my child self I thought McDonald's was the bees knees and that was high praise in my opinion.)

When I was little my favorite place to be was the kitchen of my grandparent's house.  One time my brother and I got to stay with my grandparents for a whole week, just us, no parents.  It was awesome.  My mom told my grandpa that he couldn't let us stuff ourselves the whole week (to be fair, I was already quite portly and they were fantastic cooks).  Her rule was that we were only allowed to have one pancake in the morning.  Quite sensible.  Grandpa wasn't into sensible though, he decided to follow the letter of her rule if not the sentiment behind it.  He made the biggest pancakes you have ever seen.  Seriously, they took up the entire plate.

I have no idea what he put in those pancakes, I wasn't old enough to really know how to cook at that point.  As I grew up and started cooking on my own I did discover what I think is the secret to his pancake deliciousness.  Sugar.  His pancakes were so sweet that they didn't really need syrup.  I mean I still put it on there... but you didn't need to.  He cooked them to the perfect level, they got a little crispy on the edge and then the little layer of batter in the middle.  That layer of batter kept the pancake from being too dry.  He put a ton of butter in the pan before dropping the batter in, it was almost like frying a pancake.  I tell you the truth, the sugar and the butter make a world of difference.

Now let's fast forward to the present.  Pancakes always make me think of my grandpa.  He passed away a little over 9 years ago.  I think one reason I have been missing pancakes so much is that they are a link to my memories of him.  Making pancakes on a weekend morning was a grandpa thing, and when I make them I think of him.  I am thrilled to have found a way to make pancakes that will fit into my new world.  It is not the same as sitting down at his table, it is not even the same as experimenting in my kitchen trying to recreate his pancake genius, but it is a small way to recreate my memories.

Pumpkin Ricotta Pancakes

One thing I have really missed as a post-op is pancakes.  There is nothing in the world quite like a hot stack of pancakes covered in a splash of syrup.  Unfortunately regular pancakes do not fit into the strict dietary restrictions of One-der-land (oh yes, I am there!). I came across a bunch of pumpkin recipes from one of my favorite bloggers, Michelle aka Eggface.  If you don't already know about her blog, you must check it out.  I liked her recipe but it called for almond meal which I dont have.  So I decided to search the web for some other recipes.  I put together the elements that I liked from several of the recipes and here is what I came up with.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix, canned pumpkin or pumpkin you roasted yourself)
1/2 cup ricotta
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons Torani sugar free syrup (i used caramel)
1/2 cup of milk
1 egg
sweetener (I used splenda, you could use sugar or anything you like)
syrup (I am using Hungry Jack sugar free, again use whatever you like)

In food processor combine pumpkin, ricotta, egg, Torani syrup, and 1/4 cup of milk.  Blend to combine.  Move into a large mixing bowl and add flour a spoonful at a time until you get the consistency you like.  You hold back some of the milk to mix in in case you add too much flour and the batter becomes too thick.  I like a thick pancake batter so that I get a small layer of uncooked batter in the middle of my pancake, some people think that's weird and may want a thinner batter.  Add you sweetener to taste.  Cook in a non-stick pan with either some butter or Pam butter spray.  Be warned that these take a bit longer to cook than regular pancakes so you may want to plan some extra time.  I think they came out great.  I am loving having some pancakes again. :)

A few notes though.
1) Roasting your own pumpkin is really easy.  I will be doing a blog post on this sometime this week, but if you can't wait till then here is what you do. Cut pumpkin in half, scoop out seeds, drizzle with olive oil and place cut side down on a cookie sheet.  Bake at 400 for about 40 minutes or until fork goes in easily.  Let cool and then scoop out your pumpkin goodness.  If you do it yourself instead of buying canned you also get to make the pumpkin seeds.  Yum!

2) Pancakes should be sweet.  See next post, for more information, I have decided that the person I am about to discuss deserves his own post.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I was in the mod the other day for some chicken tortilla soup.  Times have been a little tight in the budgetary department lately, and I was definitely not willing to pay $5 for one cup of soup at a restaurant.  So I decided to make it myself.  Turns out that it is really easy.  I modified several recipes that I found online to make my version.

Ingredients:

1 can of corn (drained)

1 can of black beans

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 can of chicken broth

1 can of water

2 large chicken breasts (about a pound)

corn tortillas (one tortilla per serving)

avocados (amount will depend on how much you like them)

limes (again, how much do you like)

Put corn, beans, tomatoes, broth and water into a stock pot and bring to a boil.  Once it comes up to a boil, drop it down to a simmer and let it simmer for about a half hour.  Then add the chicken breasts and let them simmer with the soup for about 20 minutes or until cooked through.  Pull out the chicken and let it cool for a while, once it is cool enough to handle shred the chicken using a fork.  Put the shredded chicken back into the pot and let everything simmer together again for at least 20 minutes.  It is more of a stew than a soup I guess.  I chose to make it extra thick because mixing liquids with food is a post-op no no of sorts, so I like really think soups.  When you are ready to serve, you will want to grill your tortillas.  Spray pan with nonstick spray and place in your tortilla, when it starts to bubble a little flip it over.  Ladle a big spoonful of soup into a bowl, top the soup with a big squeeze of lime, some avocado slices and strips of your tortilla.  I use a pair of ktchen shears to cut up the tortillas.  

Sorry about the weird picture, I thought to take a picture after I had already started chowing down on my lunch.  Pretty inexpensive all around, you can totally leave out the avocado if they are pricey in your region.  Some people also like to use corn chips for extra crunch, but i like the softness of the grilled tortilla instead.  You can totally customize this to your specific tastes, I hate cilantro but it would go well in this soup.  Adding more chicken stock would make it more soupy if you like that.  

Happy Eating!