Sassy Sexy Shapely

The Sassy Chef can’t have an ordinary housewarming party, which is why I am throwing a PB&J party at the end of the month.  This weekend, I worked on the menu.  I’ve decided I need a couple of appetizers, a couple of main course items, and a couple of desserts.  The stuff needs to be easy to prepare because I don’t have a lot of time, cookware, or space to prep stuff beforehand or even the day of the event.  It also needs to be fairly easy for guests to eat.  I’m going to have about 25 people here, and there won’t be a lot of room for fussy food that requires a fork and knife.

I plan to use Smart Balance Omega Peanut Butter in all the recipes along with many of my normal substitutions (Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Unsweetened, Vanilla, Smart Balance Omega Light buttery spread, sugar-free/no-sugar-added preserves when available, etc.) to make the items a little healthier. 

Should be fun!

Appetizers under consideration

• Celery sticks filled with chunky PB swirled with mango chutney
• Whole wheat hot dog buns spread with spicy PB and pineapple preserves, cut into bite size chunks with the ends discarded
• PB&J popcorn balls

Entrees under consideration

• Mixed green salad with lots of veggies and diced chicken breast, served with a choice of zesty PB vinaigrette or pepper jelly vinaigrette
• PB Steakhouse Chili, warmed in the slow cooker and served with sides of cornbread drizzled with jalapeno jelly

Desserts under consideration

• PB&J cupcakes
• PB&J thumbprint cookies
• Mini tartlets filled with PB mousse topped with raspberry preserves
• PB&J dessert pizza

One of the perks of ordering Chinese food is that there are always leftovers.  We can’t possibly eat everything that comes with the meal, so we end up having another Asian feast the next day.  Yay!

Even spreading it over two days, we’re still left with white rice that we never seem to eat.  I hate to throw it away, so into the freezer it goes, awaiting my next flash of gastronomic genius.  My first clever idea was to whip up a quick rice pudding for Mexican Girls’ Night.  This time, I decided to use it with some diced chicken packets from the South Beach Wrap kits I so adore.  Thus was born the latest culinary creation of the Sassy Chef.

Cheesy Chicken, Rice & Veggie Bake

Ingredients

• 6 cups cooked white rice
• 2 1/2 cups cooked diced chicken breast (approximately 2 breasts)
• 2 boxes Green Giant Immunity Boost veggies, cooked according to package instructions
• 1 23-ounce jar Tostitos Salsa Con Queso
• 1 24-ounce jar Tostitos Chunky Salsa
• 1/2 cup Pizza Blend Shredded Cheese

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Coat 13×9 baking pan with olive oil spray.
• Blend all ingredients except shredded cheese in bowl.
• Pour into prepared pan.
• Top with shredded cheese.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is browned and bubbly.

Makes 18 servings | Approximately 190 calories per serving 

Note:  This recipe makes a bit more than the baking pan can hold, about 3 1-cup servings worth. 

 Dark Chocolate Kashi Bars

These bars are a variation on a recipe I found online.  The original recipe calls for graham cracker crumbs, and I thought substituting the Kashi crumbs would make them a bit healthier because of the extra fiber and protein.  Next time, I will pulse the Kashi into finer crumbs.

These bars taste really good, but I can’t afford to make them regularly.  Even with the Kashi and the fat-free milk, they are still extremely high in calories.  If you cut ‘em down to 1″ squares, they’re manageable.  They’re so rich and yummy, though, that it’s nearly impossible for me to limit myself to what is essentially one small bite.  I must admit that, when I made them for the first time last night, I ate more than I should have.  They sure were yumtastic!

Ingredients

• 10 cups Kashi GOLEAN Original Cereal
• 1 bag Hersheys Special Dark Chocolate Chips
• 2 cans Fat-Free Sweetened Condensed Milk

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Coat 13×9 baking pan with cooking spray.
• Pulse Kashi into graham cracker-like crumbs, enough for 4 cups of crumbs.
• Mix Kashi crumbs, chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk until well combined.
• Spread mixture into baking pan.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes, making sure bars don’t burn.
• Cool completely and cut into approximately 35 1″ by 1″ squares.

Makes 35 squares.

Approximate nutrition stats: 149 calories | 3.25g fat | 3.5g fiber | 5.85g protein

“Sometimes knowledge is power but other times it’s a big fat wet blanket.”

So says Maggie Nemser in a recent post on Shine.com, and she couldn’t have written truer words.

Once you start making yourself aware of what you’re consuming, you can’t go back to that blissful state of ignorance. The cat’s out of the bag, Pandora’s Box is open, and there’s no going home again. You know what you know, so if you eat bags of tortilla chips with salsa con queso regularly, you can’t be surprised when your jeans stop fitting.

It’s great to know the stats on the food you’re eating. It helps your health and dress size, but it’s frequently a downer. It’s nicer when we can make bad decisions by accident. It’s easier to forgive ourselves. I have to admit, though, that knowing the stats often keeps me from going hog wild, albeit with a reluctant grimace of frustration.

Oh well. It’s tougher to shrug off a wet blanket, but it can be done. Know your stats, shrug off the disappointment, and then go on to create something hugely healthy and dazzlingly delicious for yourself.

This recipe has plenty of berries, which are nutritional powerhouses, and a half serving of veggies, too… not to mention a boatload of fiber!  As I’ve learned from my Sneaky Chef cookbooks, you can’t taste the puréed veggies because the strong berry flavors mask them.  How super cool is that?!?!  J

Curious about the container in the photograph?  It’s a Chilled Shaker.  I picked it up on sale at GNC in a Fit & Fresh kit.  It features a nifty removable ice wand that keeps your shakes cold for up to 6 hours.  I highly recommend it. 

  Berry Smoothie

Ingredients

• 1 cup frozen Blueberries (no sweetener – just berries)
• 1 cup frozen Blackberries (no sweetener – just berries)
• 1 container Gerber Garden Vegetables Baby Food (peas, carrots & spinach)
• 1 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
• 1T – 2T Torani Sugar-Free Almond Syrup

Directions

• Pulse all ingredients in blender until they reach the desired consistency.
• Pour and serve.

Serves 1

Nutrition Information: 240 calories | 14g fiber | 4.5g fat | 5g protein

This is a variation on the Cherry Almond Parfaits.  It’s another super-easy, super-tasty low-calorie dessert… the perfect ending for any dinner party.  Your guests will never know it’s been healthy-ized!

    Black Forest Parfait

Ingredients

• 1 Sugar-Free Chocolate Pudding Cup (60 calories)
• 1T Torani Sugar-Free Coconut Syrup
• 1/3 cup No Sugar Added Cherry Pie Filling
• ½ Hungry Girl Death by Chocolate Cupcake, crumbled
• 6T Reddi Wip Fat Free Whipped Topping

Directions

• Blend sugar-free coconut syrup into chocolate pudding.
• Ladle pudding into serving dish.
• Top pudding with pie filling.
• Top pudding and pie filling with crumbled cupcake
• Swirl fat-free Reddi Wip on top.

Serves 1

Nutrition Information: 164 calories | 4.25g fat | 0.5g fiber | 2g protein

    Cherry Almond Parfait

The other night, my BF’s brother came over to visit and ended up staying for dinner.  I really enjoy having guests, even unexpectedly, and I try to keep the freezer stocked with fast yet fun items I can warm up quickly.  I had three-cheese lasagne and garlic bread ready to go.  Surprisingly enough, although the items weren’t labeled “healthy”, they were very reasonable in calories and fat.  I even indulged in a small piece of each rather than making a separate meal for myself.

The grand finale was dessert, something I thought up on the way home, knowing my BF’s brother might join us for supper.  I picked up some sugar-free pudding and no-sugar-added cherry pie filling and created these yum-tastic Cherry Almond Parfaits.  Serve ‘em up in a pretty glass, and you’ve got a spectacular happy ending.

Ingredients

• 1 Sugar-Free Vanilla Pudding Cup (60 calories)
• 1T Torani Sugar-Free Almond Syrup
• 1/3 cup No Sugar Added Cherry Pie Filling
• 1/4 cup Kashi GOLEAN Honey Almond Flax Cereal
• 6T Reddi Wip Fat Free Whipped Topping

Directions

• Blend sugar-free almond syrup into vanilla pudding
• Ladle pudding into serving dish. (A pretty wine glass makes a nice presentation.)
• Top pudding with pie filling.
• Top pudding and pie filling with Kashi.
• Swirl fat-free Reddi Wip on top.

Serves 1

Nutrition Information: 160 calories | 4.25g fat | 2g fiber | 3.25g protein

CNN Money has an interesting article today about nine foods that have been banned either throughout the U.S. or in one or more states.  Most of them don’t mean much to me. I’m not into raw milk or foie gras or caviar.  I do agree wholeheartedly, though, with HFCS.  It has become so ubiquitous, and our consumption of it is huge.  Because it’s such a new additive, we have no idea of the long-term affects ingesting such large quantities.  With the incidence of diabetes increasing at alarming rates recently, I can’t help but wonder if HFCS has something to do with it.  Better to have it gone - or at least more stringently regulated.

• Trans Fats – banned in New York City
• Raw Milk – banned in Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming
• Absinthe – banned in the United States
• Foie Gras – banned in Chicago
• Sea Bass – banned in the United States
• Wild Beluga Caviar – banned in the United States
• Shark Fins – banned in the United States
• High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) – on the “endangered list” in San Francisco

In June, British researchers will conduct a yum-o-licious study with post-menopausal, Type 2 Diabetic women.  One hundred fifty participants will eat one chocolate bar a day to determine whether compounds called flavonoids found in chocolate and other foods can reduce the risk of heart disease. The study will last a year. Half the women will receive a bar containing 30 grams of flavonoids found in soy, cocoa and other fruits and vegetables. The other fifty percent will get chocolate with no active compounds. The results of the study will be published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Now why can’t we have a study like that here? I’d sign up in a heartbeat. Of course, I couldn’t, really, because I haven’t hit menopause yet, and, thankfully, I don’t have Type 2 Diabetes. I’d certainly be more than willing, though, to offer my body for the benefit of science in a case like this. J

Oh well. Since I can’t join the study, I’ll instead keep a good thought that the findings are in chocolate’s favor. I’d love to have a healthy reason to eat a bar of cocoa-laden goodness every day!

I discovered The Constant Dieter via Yahoo!’s Shine website. In her intro on Shine’s Healthy Living section, Nicole S. describes herself as:

“I’m just a woman who needs to diet… but doesn’t really want to. It’s always a big inner contradiction for me because while I want to lose 15-20 pounds, I don’t really want to sacrifice the rest of my life at the same time.”

Clicking into her blog to learn more, I was struck by the following snippets from a 2007 entry:

“The next person who tells me, ‘I was so busy today, I forgot to eat!’ is going to get a wallop. How in the world can one forget to eat? It makes no sense to me at all. Wouldn’t you start to wilt? Wouldn’t your stomach remind you to eat by letting out a growl? Not having time to eat is one thing; not remembering must be B.S.”

“Anyway, you get the idea. Food is constantly on my mind! So the next time someone says, ‘I was so busy I forgot to eat!’ I’m going to respond with sympathy, saying, ‘Gosh, I can’t imagine being devoid of a basic instinct like hunger. How sad. Have you had that checked out?’ “

Her attitude is perhaps more cheerful than mine is at times, but we have basically the same feelings about dieting. I don’t want to diet… don’t want to think about food all the time, but I have to in order to maintain my weight loss. It’s nice to know I’m not alone. It’s also nice to know I’ve got company in not “getting” those people that forget to eat. I’ve never understood that, and I’m glad there are others out there who find it as mind-boggling as I do. I’ll be stopping back to read Nicole’s Shine blog regularly. Sisters gotta support each other! J