Valentine's GNO

This month we had our GNO at Emily's. We had such a great time visitng, eating and working on crafts. Emily had everything we needed for very cute cards with examples to help us out and lots of different options to choose from. Raenie taught us all how to make little boxes from fun Valentine's paper to fill with treats and by the end of the night, we were all prepared for Valentine's.

Our Valentine's Cards

Our treat filled homemade Valentine's boxes

Heather and Raenie

Katie and Emily

Amanda's Shortbread Cookies

Shortbread Cookies

Personalizing cookies with stamps

Emily's Chocolate's

Emily's Chocolate's

Beef Enchiladas

Beef Enchiladas

Layered Bean Dip and Chips

Layered Bean Dip and Chips

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Avocado Tortilla Soup

1/3 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic
¾ tsp. cumin
¾ tsp. oregano
¼ tsp. pepper
8 cups Chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can diced green chilies (4 oz.)
10 corn tortillas
1 ½ lb (approx. 4) chicken breasts cooked and shredded
1 avocado
2 tbs. chopped fresh cilantro
Salt to taste
½ cup shredded cheese

Saute the first six ingredients for 1 minute. Add the broth, tomatoes, and chilies. Stack the tortillas and cut into 1/8 inch strips. Add the strips to the boiling broth. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the tortilla strips have thickened the broth. Add the chicken, stir in the cilantro and salt to taste.
Pour the soup into bowls and top with sliced avocados and cheese. Enjoy!

Crochet Beanies and Flowers

In addition to whipping up our healthy foods, eating, and chatting a lot -- we did some crocheting.

(Adrien crocheted the beanie, and Amanda made the flower. Raenie and Emily both made lovely mini-dish-towels and flowers as well, but we didn't get any picture of them, more's the pity.)
We found some of our patterns at Lion Brand Yarn, you should check out their website.

Healthy Foods for 2009

Fruit Smoothies

Fruit Smoothie
1 cup milk
1 cup juice (apple or orange...whatever you have on hand)
1 serving of yogurt (whatever flavor you wish)
1 frozen banana
1/2 bag of frozen mixed berries

Add liquid ingredients first to your blender and then add frozen ingredients. Blend together until completely smooth. Serve immediately.

Note: This recipe is really adaptable...you can add more or substitute with whatever you have in your freezer/refrigerator...you can't go wrong.

Vegetable Pizza

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 package quick-rising yeast, such as Fleischmann's RapidRise
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
2/3 cup hot water (120 to 130 degrees F)
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1. Combine whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Combine hot water and oil in a measuring cup. With the motor running, gradually pour in enough of the hot liquid until the mixture forms a sticky ball. The dough should be quite soft. If it seems dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons warm water; if too sticky, add 1 to 2 tablespoons flour. Process until the dough forms a ball, then process for 1 minute to knead. (I just used Kitchenaid)
2. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Coat a sheet of plastic wrap with cooking spray and place it, sprayed-side down, over the dough. Let the dough rest for 10 to 20 minutes before rolling.
3. Place a pizza stone or inverted baking sheet on the lowest oven rack; preheat oven to 500 degrees F or highest setting. Roll and top the pizza as desired (we suggest a 13-inch circle) and bake the pizza until the bottom is crisp and golden, 10 to 14 minutes. Serve immediately.
Yield: 6 servings

Cream Cheese Ranch Spread

8 oz Cream Cheese

2 TBS Ranch (or to taste)

Garlic Salt to taste

Mix well and spread on cooled pizza crust. Top with your favorite sliced veggies.

Fruit Parfait

The fruit parfait is actually really simple..

Layer of fat free vanilla yogurt

Layer of granola

Layer of strawberries and blueberries

Layer of fat free vanilla yogurt

Layer of granola

Strawberries and blueberries on the top


Low Fat Spinach and Artichoke Dip

(Basically I found a recipe for Spinach and Artichoke dip that was yummy and played around with putting in low fat ingredients and adding more veggies to find a combination that still worked for me)

Ingredients:

1 cup Light Sour Cream

1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts, drained, coarsely chopped

1 pkg (8 oz) chopped spinach

1/4 cup fat free or light mayo

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1 clove garlic, finely minced

1/2 tsp basil

1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, grated

1/4 tsp garlic salt

salt and pepper to taste

Cream together mayo, parmesan, mozzarella, sour cream, garlic, basil, and garlic salt. Mix well. Add the artichoke hearts and spinach (make sure to thoroghly drain both), and mix until blended. Pour mixture into pan (pie pan or 9 by 9 glass pan). Sometimes I like to sprinkle a tiny bit more of the parmesan cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until the top is browned. I like to serve this with chopped tomatoes and tostitos chips.