Feelin’ Hot-Hot-Hot

With only two days left until the official start of fall, I couldn’t wait any longer to get my apartment in the autumn spirit! Ryan stepped away from keeping tabs on his fantasy football players for a minute to help me reach the “holiday box,” stuffed to the brim with decorations to get the apartment through the holidays. Within 20 minutes we had a fall-tastic apartment!

What a Welcoming Pumpkin!

Festive Foliage

Apparently the Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino did more than I thought to get me in the fall spirit! 

Dinner tonight was an easy decision because of this lil’ baby that arrived in the mail yesterday:

Cooking Light, October 2009

This cover of Cooking Light is beautiful. I love all the warm, seasonal colors and the cover image is mouthwatering. After flipping through the magazine pool-side this afternoon, I clipped a recipe for a creole shrimp and sausage stew that looked yummy and easy-peasy.

Creole Shrimp and Sausage Stew Recipe

After adding the recipe to my handy-dandy recipe binder and receiving the approval from Ryan, we began slicing a fresh green pepper and lean turkey sausage to throw into a pot with olive oil and garlic.

Turkey Sausage, Garlic, Green Pepper and Olive Oil

The next step was to add a can of tomatoes with green chilis and a can of drained and rinsed kidney beans.  

Adding Beans, Tomatoes and Chilis

To complete the stew, we added shrimp and parsley.

Creole Stew with Shrimp

The stew was savory, spicy and made my mouth water a bit! I am a sissy with spicy foods but made it through my entire bowl, though my mouth was hot-hot-hot by the end. Ryan and I both agreed this recipe is a keeper!

Ready to Dig In!

Yummers!

Hot!

Here’s the recipe (makes four servings, approximately one cup each):

Ingredients:

2  teaspoons  olive oil

1  cup  chopped green bell pepper

1  cup  thinly sliced turkey smoked sausage (about 6 ounces)

1  teaspoon  bottled minced garlic

3/4  cup  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

1  (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained (such as Rotel)

8  ounces  peeled and deveined medium shrimp

1  (15-ounce) can organic kidney beans, rinsed and drained

2  tablespoons  chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add bell pepper, sausage, and garlic to pan; sauté 3 minutes or until bell pepper is tender, stirring occasionally. Add broth and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Stir in shrimp and beans; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 6 minutes or until shrimp are done. Sprinkle with parsley.

Nutritional Information:

Calories: 191

Fat: 6g (sat 1.7g,mono 2.7g,poly 1g)

Protein: 21.3g

Carbohydrate: 13.2g

Fiber: 3.5g

Cholesterol: 97mg

Iron: 2.9mg

Sodium: 694mg

Calcium: 127mg

Pumpkin Spice is Oh-So-Nice

In a less-than-intelligent move, I took Sadie on a 5-mile run at 11 a.m. in the mid-day Florida heat today. It was an intense sweat fest, a decent work out and, as it turns out, a great way to wear out my looney dog. She was passed out on the couch five minutes after we got home. Victory! 🙂

As I was running and the sweat was rolling down my body, I remembered that Starbucks is offering their Pumpkin Spice goodies again! When it’s 90 degrees outside, it’s easy to forget that it’s fall (okay, well actually it’s technically fall in two days). Fortunately regardless of the temperature outside, this fantastic coffee chain still offers fall goodies in Orlando – yay! I like to pretend the air is crisp outside as I sip my Starbucks fall-tastic drinks. 😉

When Ryan got back from his soccer game (yes, he’s crazy enough to run in this heat too), I talked him into a trip to the ‘Bucks for my first Light Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino of the season.

Oh-so-happy with my first Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino of the season

It was just as delectible as I remembered!

Mmmmmm

So Stinkin' Good!

I wish Starbucks would release the recipe for this bad boy because I think I’d make it a point to enjoy one every day! The pumpkin flavor truly enhanced the beverage and the spices all came together to make it the perfect seasonal beverage. Ryan also got into the Starbucks fun and ordered a Chai Tea Latte (also pretty darn delicious).

Someone's Excited!

It's so good I go cross-eyed... Seriously, don't my eyes look freaky-deaky?

We enjoyed our mini drive-by date before heading to the grocery store to pick up various goodies for the week and all the ingredients we need to make tonight’s creole stew! I’m a little nervous because we bought hot turkey sausage for in the stew and I am not exactly the best with spicy foods. Wish me luck!

PB2 For Me and You

Clearly the name of this blog does not disguise my intense love for peanut butter. The salty yet sweet goodness of the creamy spread has always been a favorite of mine.

Peanut Butter and Bread

Since peanut butter is high in calories and fat by nature, many companies have created alternatives to this nutty creation.

After reading reviews and hearing good things about PB2, a kind of powdered peanut butter, my curiosity finally got the best of me and I bought a jar.

Jar of PB2

As a self-proclaimed peanut butter lover, I was a little skeptical of this alternative. Real peanut butter has approximately 180-200 calories and 14g fat per two tablespoons whereas PB2 has around 50 calories with only 2g fat. Both options provide around 6g protein per serving.

Before enjoying PB2, the instructions say to mix two tablespoons of the powder with one tablespoon of water until the mixture becomes smooth and creamy.

PB2 Mixed

Though certainly not a replacement for the real deal, I must admit I was quite impressed with PB2. The consistency was decent and the flavor was tasty. Die hard peanut butter devotees will not want to make the switch (and I’ll admit there’s no substitute for real peanut butter), but PB2 was pretty darn good and for those watching their calories, this is a wonderful option.

I enjoyed my PB2 roll-up style, spread on a whole wheat tortilla.

 

PB2 Tortilla

Cottage Cheese If You Please

I grew up watching my dad snack on one wacky combination: cottage cheese and apple butter. He would mix the two together until it looked absolutely revolting and then eat every last bit. Eventually I became brave enough to take the bite he was always offering me. Shocker: it was good. Really good.

Cottage Cheese

I know some people hate cottage cheese. The people that dislike this high-protein dairy delight typically really hate it with a passion. I’ll admit I’m a huge fan. I have found that those who couldn’t be more repulsed by the curds often have an aversion to the texture. I recently began blending cottage cheese with a myriad of fruits, nuts and yogurt and have found that this dramatic change in texture gives cottage cheese a whole new dimension.

One of my favorite cottage cheese blends actually tastes a lot like pumpkin pie filling.

Cottage Cheese and Canned Pumpkin Pre-Blended

I blend equal parts cottage cheese and canned pumpkin along with a copious amount of pumpkin pie spice and a pinch or two of Splenda (use your sweetener of choice). I top the mix with slivered almonds or pumpkin pie seeds. It’s like Thanksgiving in a bowl.

Pumpkin Pie Cottage Cheese

Here’s a brief list of things you may enjoy blending with cottage cheese:

Yogurt (any flavor)

Frozen or fresh berries (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries)

Frozen mango or pineapple

Nut butters

Canned Pumpkin

Sugar-free Jello

Sugar-free Jello powder or sugar-free Jello pudding powder

Protein powder

Another cottage cheese success story… this was cottage cheese blended with 1/2 scoop All the Whey cake batter protein powder, frozen blueberries and a splash of Almond Breeze almond milk.

Blueberry Cottage Cheese Pre-Blended

Blueberry Cottage Cheese Bowl

Usin’ My Noodle to Review Carba Nada Pasta

Carba Nada Al Dente Pasta (Egg Fettuccine) is a reduced carb pasta with 140 calories, 24g carbs and 12g protein per serving. I ordered this pasta with high hopes from Netrition.com and was thrilled when it arrived quickly. What thrilled me even more? Its fantastic taste! 

Carba Nada Egg Fettuccine

The noodles come as shown and are hard and crispy like real, dry pasta (unlike some other “low/no carb pastas” such as Shirataki noodles).

Dry Carba Nada Noodles

The noodles cook up quickly and in less than five minutes I had a big ol’ bowl full of yummy pasta.

Boiling Noodles

Noodles Draining

I topped my pasta with marinara sauce, roasted asparagus spears and yellow squash. It was wonderful, filling and the noodles (cooked al dente, just like I like ’em) remained firm yet doughy until the very last bite. I cannot say enough wonderful things about Carba Nada pasta. Ryan also gave them two very enthusiastic thumbs up!

Carba Nada Pasta with Asparagus and Yellow Squash