Weekly Nutrition and Fitness Checkup

I have been doing P90x for the past 4 weeks now and have been on a regular eating schedule with bi-weekly cheat days. Since the beginning I have lost 9 pounds and gotten right back to my pre-pregnancy weight. (Cris was born Oct 8th.) My highest pregnancy weight was 180. So I lost 20 pounds right after delivery and then these additional 9 pound when I decided to eat right and workout. I probably would have been right around 145 right about now, but thanks to Thanksgiving, lol, I'm not quite there yet. But don't worry I will be soon.

With my success, I reached out to my mother and sister because they are trying to eat right and exercise too :) I have asked that they send me a food log of their week and I'll assess the plan based on their individual goals to find areas of improvement to help them real their fitness goals :)

I challenge all of you to take a more serious approach to your goals. Make a plan and stick to it. Include rewards for yourself for motivation and you'll be more likely to succeed.

If you need help, just email ahkeeia@yahoo.com, or comment on this post. Also if you would like weekly analysis of your food logs email and we'll discuss special offers. :)

I'm phinally a Prophyte!!!!!!

So I have been waiting for a little while now to have neos of my own and they are phinally here!!!! Welcome my lovely sorors of "Paradigm Shift" FA2K11!!!! I am so happy you're my sister :)

Holiday Pancakes!! :)

So I know I have been M.I.A. for quite some time, but...................... I had my little bundle of joy!!! Cristopher Trent Ward was born October 8, 2011. Since then I have been super busy taking care of home and I'm back at work, so I haven't quite figured out how to balance work and life yet, but I'm working on it, lol. And I must say shout out to my cousin, Deidra, because she always gets on me about not blogging, lol. So thank you ma'am. I'm back at it :) .............. Anywho, on to the idea de jour :)

I absolutely love making pancakes for breakfast. I'm also a huge fan of adding fruit and nuts to them to make for a  more exciting pancake. My thought for the holidays is to add those staple ingredients into the batter to create the most delicious Holiday Pancake :) I immediately thought of Egg Nog. It tastes like thick, spiced milk with a little tang, lol. My next thought was pecans. Though I don't like pecan pie (I just haven't created a recipe for it, but I will soon and I'm pretty sure I'll like it, lol) Pecans are a staple ingredient for the holidays along with pumpkin and nutmeg. So combining all of these ingredients into your already prepared pancake mix will make the most delicious pancake of all time during the holiday season.

Here's how to do it :)

1 cup Pancake mix (the just add water kind)
1 cup cup Egg Nog
1/2 cup Pumpkin Puree (from a can)
1/4 cup Pecans (chopped)
1 tbsp Nutmeg or Cinnamon
1 tbsp Vanilla Extract

In a large bowl, whisk all the ingredients together until the batter is smooth. Cook like you would your normal pancakes. Large griddle on medium high heat. 3 mins per side or until golden.


Hope you enjoy :)

"No Sugar Added" .... Don't Be Fooled!!!

So lately I have been noticing that many food products say one thing on the front of their packages, but the nutrition labels tells a different story. I thought I might share some knowledge with those of you who have been fooled by pretty labels.

The biggest myth or false advertisement of them all is "No Sugar Added" in juice brands. WTF!!?!?!?! Whoever came up with this idea totally sucks. If you read the nutrition label on those brands, it STILL has about the same amount of sugar as the regular version. (ex, reg 33g sugar, "no sugar added" 27g sugar) The difference is pretty much nonexistent.

I searched long and hard for a juice that didn't scream DIABETES!!! After much searching and nutrition label reading, I finally found a juice that I can feel good about drinking. It is the DIET version of  Ocean Spray Cranberry. It still taste delicious, but it more healthy for you. And get this, even though it has only 2g of sugar per 8oz the label does not say "no sugar added". Pay attention to what you are drinking and what you give to your loved ones, especially those with health problems. Sometimes taking the extra minute to read can make all the difference between living a healthy lifestyle and killing yourself slowly.

Pork and Apples are happily married.

So  my cousin, Deidra, got on me about how she is disappointed that I haven't been writing on my blog. Made me feel really bad :( But honestly, the creative juices have left the building. I think they are on the way back soon though. Just the other day I was thinking about adding new foods to my life and one of the foods that I rarely eat, other than bacon (delicious!!!!!!!!) is pork. So I thought I'd give it another try today.

Now-a-days most chefs will say that pork is a lean meat and now can be eaten when cooked to medium. I'm not quite sure about the lean part and I definitely don't suggest or recommend anyone to eat their pork under well done #ImJustSayin. Despite all that I bought some thin pork chops and decided to cook them today, and since pork and apples make a good combo, I tried a version of my own. Here's what I did.....

4 Thin Cut Pork Chops
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Garlic Salt
1 tsp Seasoning Salt
1 tsp Paprika
1 1/3 T Cinnamon
1 T Sugar
2 large apples peeled and cubed
1/2 cup Water
2 T Olive Oil

Firstly, make sure the pork is clean and patted dry. Heat a large skillet to medium-high heat with 1 T OliveOil. Mix together 1 tsp of all the spices except the sugar. (Save the rest of the cinnamon and sugar for the apples) Sprinkle both sides of the pork with the mixture.

While waiting on the pork to marinate a little bit, in a small pot, add the apples, water, sugar and cinnamon. Turn on high heat and cook until apples are tender. Very careful add the mixture to a blender and blend until you have apple sauce. (Word of caution, hot mixtures and blenders don't usually mix, but make sure you have a towel over the top of the blender so the top doesn't come popping off from the steam.) Set to the side. (Also if you don't have a blender, you can serve the apples as a thick, syrupy, chunky sauce. Might be even better :) Just add less water to create a thicker consistency.

When the pan is hot enough, add the pork and cook for 5 mins on one side. Drizzle the other 1 T of Olive Oil over the top of the pork when you are ready to flip. Flip and cook for another 4 mins.

When plating you can either spoon the apples sauce on top of the pork or on the side is a dipping sauce. Good either way :)

Homemade Strawberry Vinaigrette

So I woke up one morning and had the strangest craving for a strawberry salad with walnuts and blue cheese crumbles, but I didn't have any dressing to top it off with so my creative juices got to flowing.

I decided to try my hand at making a vinaigrette. Here;s what I did:

1/4 cup  Sliced Strawberry
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1/4 cup Canola Oil
2 T Balsamic Glaze
1 tsp Pepper
1 tsp Sugar
1 T Apple Cider Vinegar

Simply blend in a blender until smooth and just a little runny. You may need to add more or less oil for the perfect consistency, and there you have it, Your own Strawberry Dressing!!! Yummy :)

Father's Day Meal for Trent

So I thought I would prepare a meal that all men should love, Steak and Potatoes, lol. Good idea too, becuase Trent loved it!! Here's what I did......

I made Sirloin Steak with Rosemary Roasted Potatoes and Garlic Roasted Asparagus Spears.

I cut some Yukon Gold potatoes into 1-inch pieces and boiled them for about 5 mins. I then put them in a casserole dish with Olive Oil, Onions, Rosemary, Garlic Salt, Onion Powder, and Pepper. I baked them for about 40 mins.

For the Asparagus, I simply seasoned with Olive Oil, minced garlic, salt and pepper, and roasted for 10 mins.

The steak was easy as well. Simply pat the steaks dry with a paper towel then season with whatever you have. Heat a skillet to medium high heat. Add olive oil and cook steaks on each side for about 5 mins to reach medium well temp. This is the most important tip of all. When you take the steak out of the pan LET IT REST. Meaning, do NOT touch it, cut it, poke it or anything!! Let it rest on the cutting board, loosely covered with foil for about 5-10 mins. This will help the meat stay moist and redistribute the juices.

All in all  this was a pretty easy meal to cook and does not take a lot of effort.

P.S. I start my new schedule at work and I'm super excited about it!!! :) AND I go home to Memphis in 5 days for my Baby Showers!!!! Yay!!!!

Themed Gatherings and Party Foods

I absolutely love to host small gatherings with friends and family, especially at home with my mom! The two of us together can pull together a party fit for royalty in under an hour with the right planning and preparation. Since we've been doing it for so long, it's easy for us to plan because the you always have key items that will make the menu no matter what and then specialty items that fit the theme. For instance,  my mom and I are in the process of planning a baby shower for me, coming up really soon on June 24th. My lovely line sisters are planning a baby shower for me too for June 25! So I get to go home and have multiple showers! Yay!!! But any who, my mom and I are still working on the menu for the family shower.

So here are some of the ideas I had:

Essentials
1.) Fruit Tray
2.) Cheese and Cracker Tray
3.) Chips
4.) Some sort of dip, preferably 2 types
5.) Veggie Tray with different dressings

Needless to say you need beverages to accompany the food.

Some specialty items that may go along with the Hawaiian outdoor theme that I want to have are:
1.) Skewered Shrimp with Coconut Pina-colada Sauce
2.) Meatballs with a Sweet glaze
3.) Citrus grilled chicken wings

We may even do some snow cones!! But this is a pretty simplistic menu that will surely make people happy. :)
I encourage you to all throw a little party using the essentials and a few specialty items of your own!!

P.S. Shout out to my mom!! She is super excited to be a grandma soon. She bought like 15 outfits for Cristopher already and he isn't due until October :) Gotta love her :) And another shout out to all of my line sisters who are working really hard on a bay shower as well. I love you girls and appreciate all that you do :)

Shrimp Diablo

So I was watching Cooking Channel, Fresh Food Fast with Emeril Lagase, the other day and he made a really simple pasta dish that inspired me to create a twist to call it my own. I actually made this for dinner last night and Trent absolutely loved it. It's so easy to make and takes only like 10 mins at the most.


Angel Hair Pasta
2T chopped garlic
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
1 can crushed tomatoes or can of diced tomatoes
1 T Siracha Sauce
1 lb Shrimp, Peeled and deveined


So this is how you do it, start by cooking angel hair pasta according to the package instructions. Enough for two people. Simultaneously, in a large skillet, heat about 2 T of Olive Oil to a medium high heat. Add the garlic and onions. Saute for 5 mins until onions are soft. Be sure not to burn the garlic!! Add the Red Pepper Flakes along with the tomatoes and siracha sauce. Cook for 10 minutes. If sauce is getting to thick, add just a little water or seafood stock to thin it back out to the consistency of a sauce. Add the shrimp in the sauce and turn off the heat. It only takes 2 minutes for shrimp to cook. At that time also add the pasta and coat in the sauce. Serve with sprinkles of fresh chopped parsley for color and flavor. Delicioso!!!

This meal will be a little spicy, hints the name, Shrimp Diablo, but anyone can enjoy this by using less of the crushed rep pepper flakes and the siracha sauce. :) Eat up!!

P.S. Today I am 23 weeks into my pregnancy. I'm feeling great and more and more excited to meet my little bundle of joy :)

Final Course and the NBA Finals!!!!!

There's always an opportunity to make a meal better if it didn't start off too good, but the final course has to be great, because it's the last thing your guest will taste. You want to make something that is fabulous, looks like you took all day to make, yet easy for you to prepare. Some really great dishes that are eye-catching and simple include: Cheesecake, Pie, Banana's Foster, Layered Fruit Parfait, Bread Pudding, and many more desserts. One of my favorites is Bread Pudding!!

Bread Pudding is simply pieces of bread mixed with an egg mixture and baked. The wonderful thing about it is, many people usually already have all of the necessary ingredients on hand to make it. For my recipes, I like to add a bit of raisins just to jazz it up a bit.

8 slices of  Bread cut into 1 inch cubes
1 cup Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 cup Milk
2 Eggs
1/4 cup Raisins
2 tbsp Cinnamon

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut bread into cubes. Mix both Milks and beat in eggs, cinnamon and raisins. Spray a pan with non-stick spray and add bread. Pour egg mixture over bread and mix to ensure all bread in moist. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 25 mins or until golden brown and custard has set.

This recipe is even more delicious served warm with extra cold ice cream. Simple, yet tasty enough to be considered hard work, lol.

One really fancy light dessert that I think is really good for a hot summer's day is a Granita. Granita is Italin for fruit ice and originates from Sicily. To make this wonderful item simply add equal parts fruit juice and warm water to a shallow glass pan with half the amount of sugar. (ex. 1 cup water= 1/2 cup sugar). You don't want it to be overly sweet like a snow cone or anything. Mix these ingredients in the dish and freeze for at least 4 hours. To serve, just scrape the fruit ice with a fork and serve in a fancy martini glass with a sprig of mint as a garnish.

Whatever it is you're making, always try and make it your best dish ever!! :)

And about the Finals game last night between Dallas and Miami..... Wow!! I don't want to be too quick to judge or take sides, but I'm thinking that Miami may have the Finals in the bag. It was a good game, but I'm just anxious to see how the rest of the series will play out. There's always a chance Dallas could make it interesting and make it last til game 7!!! :)

Comfort Foods

Everyone on the face of the earth, hopefully, loves a good hearty meal every now and then. I know I surely do. In fact I craved what is arguably one of the most comforting foods, Pot Roast. For this Pot Roast, I went to Walmart and bought a package of meat that had the veggies already packaged with it. And because I really like veggies, I added parsnips to the roast as well. It looks like a White Carrot, but tastes more like a potato when cooked to a tender texture.

So I started off the roast by searing all sides in a hot pan and preheating my oven to 350 degrees F. I then placed the roast in a casserole dish and poured the veggies, potatoes (cuto into 4), baby carrots, celery, onions, and parsnips, all around the meat as well as a seasoned water mixture to keep the meat and veggies moist. Place the dish in the oven and cook for 5 hours, or longer if desired.

I served the Pot Roast over brown rice and Trent absolutely loved it!!!

M.I.A.

Hey everyone! I know I have been missing in action as far adding new posts and I apologize. My life has been going going going non-stop and I didn't make time to check on my website.

Great news though, I have a new job that I love AND...... Trent and I will be having our first child!!! Don't know the sex of the baby yet, but today, he or she is about the size of a grape :) We are super excited and can't wait for our bundle of joy to be done baking in the oven, lol.

I have been thinking about new topics of discussion. I'll list a few here and let me know what you think:
*Gluten-Free.....What's the Big Deal?
*Whole Wheat vs White
*Comfort Foods
*Chopped Allstars
*How to Play Iron Chef at Home :)

Feel free to add topic items :) I'm always open to suggestions. Anywho, gotta get ready for work, ttyl :)

Colors inspiring Food

I'm always inspired when I see bright and vibrant colors. Instantly I begin to think of ingredients that are that color or that will go well with a particular color. What inspired me to write this blog is my wonderful sorority. The colors of Pink and Green make a wonderful culinary delight. The dish that I though of was a Pink Salmon with a apple cream sauce with a fresh salad of green apple, arugula, and pomegranate seeds. No, I haven't made this dish yet, but as soon as pay day comes, I'm gonna dash out to a high quality grocery store and get the ingredients to pull it off. 

My boyfriend and I painted our living room orange, so all day I've been thinking about Orange sorbet, asian mandarin salad, saffron, a spicy aioli, and a laundry list of other orange foods. 

I challenge everyone to get inspired by a color, your favorite color, any color, and see how creative you can be :) Today, my color is yellow!!

My PHavorite Cooking Shows

Like most foodies, I was excited when The Cooking Channel was thought of and finally began. I remember wondering for months what channel The Cooking Channel was actually on. When I moved into my home in Virginia I called all the local cable providers to ask about The Cooking Channel, and no one but one company knew what I was talking about. Everyone other company thought I was talking about Food Network. For those of you who are confused, let me clear the air. There are 2 different channels that I am taking about. The first is Food Network and the second is The Cooking Channel. The Cooking Channel stems from the creators of Food Network. So they are related. Think of them as cousins, lol.

For as long as I can remember, my life has revolved around the Food Network. I would watch it everyday for hours and hours. I never get tired of watching food, but I do, however, get tired of watching the same shows so when The Cooking Channel came along it was an answer to my food prayers. Now I can switch between those two stations are choose what food show I want to watch.

I want to share some shows with you that are my PHavorites!!!

Food Network:
     Barefoot Contessa
     Chefs vs. City
     Chopped
     Diners, Drive-ins and Dives
     Iron Chef America
     Jamie at Home
     Secret's of a Restaurant Chef
     The Next Food Network Star
     The Next Iron Chef
     Throw Down with Bobby Flay
    
These Food Network shows are the ones that I will always watch no matter what. I will literally drop whatever I'm doing at the moment and indulge in 30 minutes of Food Happiness.

The Cooking Channel:
     Chuck's Day Off
     Cook Like an Iron Chef
     Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello
     Iron Chef Japan
     Two Fat Ladies

I absolutely love these shows and believe I learn a lot from watching them. I hope you find the same excitement and education in these shows as I do.

P.S. Congrats to the new line of Alphas that just crossed the Mighy Mu Iota Chapter at UT Knoxville, Heir P.H.O.R.C.E. Welcome to the PHam!!!!
    

Trent's B-Day Dinner :)...................... and a word from Tyrese!

Don't you hate when someone is really good at figuring out surprises? Well, that's the dilemma I face with Trent whenever I want to do something special for him. The way to keep it a secret is to just not tell him that you have a surprise, but I always end up saying something. Well I'm planning a special dinner for his birthday, which is January 9, and I want to include CRAB CAKES. Now Trent LOVES crab cakes, but has not had a good one since we've been in Virginia AND Maryland! (I know right!! I'm just as shocked as you are!! ) So to overcome this serious problem, I'll just make the crab cakes myself.

I've been searching high and low for the best recipes, comparing and contrasting, figuring out what are the basic ingredients that constitute a crab cake, and have come up with my own great recipe called, "Those other 'crab cakes' aint got nothing on me!, CRAB CAKE"

Pretty catchy name huh, lol. I thought I'd share this recipe with you too. It could be a Romantic Dinner for you and your hunnie bunnie one day. The recipe follows below :)

"Those other 'crab cakes' aint got nothing on me!, CRAB CAKE"
1 lb          Jumbo Lump Crab Meat
1 cup       Mayo
3             Garlic Cloves (Minced)
1             Celery Stalk (Chopped)
1/2 cup    Red Bell Pepper (Diced)
1/2 cup    Scallion (Chopped)
2 T          Parsley (Chopped)
1 cup       Yellow Onion (Diced)
1 1/2 cup Panko Bread crumbs
1             Egg
1 tsp        Dill Weed
1 T          Old Bay Seasoning
1 tsp        Pepper
3 T          Olive Oil (For Cooking)
               Lemon Wedges (Garnish)

In a large skillet, heat to medium high and add 1T of the Olive Oil. Add in Celery, Bell Pepper, Onion, and Garlic. Cook for 5 minutes until tender. Take off heat and place mixture in a large bowl.

Mix all the remaining ingredients (except Olive Oil and Lemon Wedges) into that large bowl and form small or large cakes. I usually will form about 6 with 1 lb of meat.

In the same skillet, heat the remaining 2 T of Olive Oil to medium high and cook each cake for about 4 minutes per side or until golden brown.

Serve with a Remoulade Sauce or Aioli, and garnish with Lemon Wedges.

I plan on serving these crab cakes with a spicy aioli and a cool Avocado Mayo. I'll have to test those recipes out first and then let you know. Also as side dishes, I'm thinking about some Garlicky Herbed Mashed Potatoes with some type of green vegetable. Right now I habe some brussel sprouts so they may have to do right now.

No birthday dinner is complete without DESSERT!! I'm thinkin of making Churros ( A Spanish Doughnut that looks like a huge French Fry. Usually served sprinkled with sugar or honey.) I'm going to serve them drizzled with honey and alongside some Rich Hot Chocolate. Yummy... and it's snowing outside right now, so this will warm us up :)

If you have any ides that could help me with Trent's B-Day dinner or any other special occasion for two, comment below and help me out :)

And now, a word from Tyrese:

"When you look a certain way, that says how you feel about yourself, " says Gibson. "When you're in shape, you don't have to walk up to somebody and say, 'Yo, I love myself.' You look like you care for yourself." -Tyrese Gibson.

P.S. Shout out to Trent's sister, Tracy. She just had a beautiful baby girl this past Wednesday, Jan 5, 2011. :)

It's A New Year...... Now What?

Happy New Year!!!!!! To my followers, thank you for supporting me and I hope you continue to do so in 2011 and bring more followers with you. Let's make this the BEST YEAR EVER!!!!!

At the beginning of every year we all see special promotions on gyms, fad diets, and fitness websites. A new year is always a good time to start over and do things the right way. You have the perfect opportunity to change yourself for the better and lead the life YOU want to lead. Most people do this via New Year's Resolutions, and I have done the same. I usually don't have a resolution, but in 2011 I have a long laundry list of them and have accomplished 2 of them already. Working out regularly is on the list as well. I have planned on working out at least 4 times throughout the week. Today is Wednesday and I have already gotten my second workout in, so I'm on the right track.

I just want to encourage everyone to find motivation within and also from others. You can use me as motivation to help you reach your individual goals. I love helping people and only want the best for everyone. So if you need my help simply email me at ahkeeia@yahoo.com and make a reference to the Food Blog in the Title, or facebook me. I'm pretty easy to get in contact with. lol.

With working out comes treating and feeding your body right as well. I challenge you to find a healthy meal plan that works for YOU and YOUR GOALS! Also make sure you are getting a good night's rest every night. That has a lot to do with your health as well.

Advice for today: Make you 2011 Resolutions COUNT!! Stick with them. You change yourself, you change the world :)

P.S. I'm gonna shout out a really good friend of mine. He has an internet blog talk show. It is called "Real Talk With Ray Massey RawUncut". Look him up on facebook at "Parental Discretion Advised!!!...." Shows going on every other night @ 10:00p.m. Central Time. By the name you can tell that tis is strictly for the mature crowd. So go out and support him and share your opinions.

Also shout out to enrgzrbunny87 and Deidra!! Love ya cuzz's!! And thank you to my Soror Melodie Barefield for following my blog. I really appreciate the love and support :)