Viva Chile!

I haven’t lived in Chile for 9 years now, but since my Dad is from Chile, I wanted to start a tradition for Aubrey on Chile’s Independence Day. I decided to make a typical Chilean food, empanadas de pino. After browsing a few recipes, I settled on this one and got cooking.

First, I cooked up some onions in extra virgin olive oil and butter.

Then I added cumin, Paprika, garlic powder and a beef bullion cube.

I combined all of this with 2 pounds of ground beef and browned it, then I let it simmer for about 8 minutes.

Afterwards, I started on the dough. If you want to cheat, you can get those refrigerated crescent rolls and use that instead. I combined flour, sugar, salt, shortening, butter and water. I kneaded it by hand for about 10 minutes, then let it sit for 30 minutes. Then I rolled it into golf ball size pieces.

I rolled them out and filled them with the meat, then lined the edges with some water so it would stick when I folded them over. I brushed the top with egg yolk and milk, then put them in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes.

The last two pictures are before and after. 

I’m not that great at making Chilean food, but these turned out really well and now my house smells like Chile! My parents came down from Tulsa tonight and all I have to say is if my Dad was impressed, I succeeded! It was fun and I can’t wait to teach Aubrey how to make these, maybe next year she’ll be able to learn. Feliz Dia de Independencia, Chile! You will always be a part of me.

Yummy!

  This really is delicious- try it!

Green Machine Smoothie Change the title to “Green Monster” Smoothie, and it’s likely your kids will go wild for this nutritious and energizing drink! 1 cup of fresh spinach leaves ½ cup frozen pineapple 1 small banana 1 6-oz. container of yogurt (try to find Greek yogurt, which has twice the protein and fewer carbs than regular yogurt) 3-5 ice cubes Lemonade or orange juice (use sugar-free or diet lemonade if possible) Blend together and serve – and that’s it!  Perfect for before or after a workout. Recipe courtesy Chris Freytag; www.chrisfreytag.com

Yum!

   

Fitness update: Since I have started working out and watching what I eat, I have lost 4

   pounds! Woo-hoo! It is so much easier to get up and go to the gym at 5:30 am when I see

 the scale going down so fast. I really appreciate Ryan getting up with the baby and taking her to daycare on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I can get those workouts in. I am also doing  

  some classes on other nights, and I have been taking Wednesdays and Sundays off. One

   thing I really miss, though, is chocolate, so I googled some recipes yesterday and found these wonderful, low-calorie treats. I made the brownies last night and they are GREAT!

  Feel free to try them out and tell me what you think. And if you have any low-calorie       recipes (read:chocolate!) that you are willing to share with me, please send them my way! Have fun in the kitchen!

Brownies

Ingredients:

Nonstick cooking spray

4        tablespoons butter

2/3  cup granulated sugar

1/2  cup cold water

1  teaspoon vanilla

1  cup all-purpose flour

1/4  cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1  teaspoon baking powder

1/4  cup mini semisweet chocolate pieces

2       teaspoon powdered sugar

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat the bottom of a 9-x-9-inch baking pan with

nonstick spray. In a medium saucepan, melt butter; remove from heat. Stir in sugar, water,

   and vanilla. Mix in flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder until combined. Add 

    chocolate pieces. Pour batter into pan; bake for 15 to 18 minutes. Cool in pan on wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Calories per serving: 111 Fat: 4 g

 

Chocolate Cinnamon Croissants

Ingredients:

8 ounce pop-can of Pillsbury® Reduced Fat Crescent dough

4 tablespoons mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Unroll the crescent rolls to lie flat on a nonstick jellyroll pan or cookie sheet.
2. Mix sugar with cinnamon in a small cup, and sprinkle evenly over the top of the unrolled triangles of dough.
3. Sprinkle a heaping teaspoon (or 1/2 tablespoon) of mini chocolate chips over each triangle of dough. Roll up each of the crescents, curve into crescent shapes, and space them 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet.
4. Bake for about 11 minutes or until golden brown.

Per crescent: 129 calories, 6 g fat (1.9 g saturated fat) 

 

 

 

Would you like some dip with that football?

So my last post was all about life as the wife of a man obsessed with Fantasy Football. I mentioned chips and dip, an essential component of Sundays in front of the tube. Here are my top three favorite dips. If your home is anything like mine, all the OU/NFL football going on requires this dietary staple on a regular basis. Enjoy! *Note: make these with organic and lower fat ingredients and pair with organic chips for a healthier, tastier snack*

Abuelita’s guacamole:

Mash 4 ripe avocadoes to smoothness. Add the juice of half a lime, about 1 tbsp. of mayonaise, and some regular salt to taste. Mix together with a fork until it becomes creamy and delicious. Add tomatoes, jalapeños, cilantro or onions to your preference.

Ryan’s Fiery Salsa:

In a blender or food processer, combine a 16 oz. can of whole tomatoes, a handful of cilantro leaves, garlic salt to taste, 1 poblano pepper, 1 jalapeño pepper, and 1 tsp. of cumin. Blend to smoothness and add salt or cumin to taste. If you don’t like it very spicy, leave the jalapeño out- poblano’s don’t have quite as much heat. If you like it chunky, don’t blend it for very long.

David’s Fiesta Ranch dip (This is wonderful on veggies and chips!):

Combine one 16 oz. container of sour cream (low fat or even fat free still taste great in this recipe) with one package of Hidden Valley Fiesta Ranch dip. Mix it in the container to save yourself some cleanup. SO EASY and SOOOO GOOD!

Enjoy and BOOMER SOONER!!!