Turkish Inspired Almond and Banana Dessert

My hubby just returned from a trip to Turkey, and I was inspired by some of the pictures of food that he took. (We both take pictures of interesting foods we eat when we travel.) The Turks use quite a lot of honey, almonds, and other nuts in their desserts, so I decided to use some of the almond meal and honey I have at home.

Ingredients:
Almond meal
Honey
Little pat of butter
Salt
Banana (optional)

I put the almond meal in a pan and began to heat it for a minute. I tossed in a little bit of salt. I then added a honey in slowly mixing it in until my almond meal formed one solid clump. I then began to wrap it into a log shape and added a pat of butter to the pan. I kept turning the log in the pan until it was a little browned on the outside. I then took it away from the heat, sliced the almond/honey log and served it with part of a sliced banana. I actually found that the banana was almost too sweet with it. But the log was tasty, and the husband doled compliments.

Egg, Cheese, Turkey Bacon Souffle

One of my creations this weekend included an egg souffle with cheese and turkey bacon. I used a recipe straight from mamashealth.com.

I substituted regular bacon with turkey bacon. (My turkey bacon is also nitrate and other bad things free.) I also substituted regular flour with gluten-free flour.

This is the second time I have made this recipe, and it has been tasty both times. The hubby approves as well. It is a good way to use several eggs if they are nearing their expiration date, as was the case with a batch I had in my refrigerator.

This recipe does "de-poof" as soon as it starts too cool, so it is fun to serve it right away. It also still tastes great when reheated later.

Weekly Summary (July 12) - The sweets monster on the prowl

This week my weight climbed by half a pound. The sweets monster came out toward the end of this week. There is no denying. I also wasn't tracking my calories at the beginning of the week when I wasn't feeling well, and when I started counting I was already well over for each day. I feel confident that I can do better this next week because I was able to do a bit better yesterday and am not feeling the cravings today. I also have my kitchen nicely stocked with veggies and have my hubby's support.

Very importantly, the hubby helps my motivation by telling me I look skinny and good and is very tolerant of the days when I need to cut back on calories because I realize I have some making up to do. :)

I did manage to get in my exercise, walking 2-6 miles every day with some weight training and yoga mixed in, but I did take it easy toward the beginning of the week (slower pace). I also had some fun experimenting with recipes and will be posting a few more later this week.

Weekly food summary (Sweets monster on the prowl late in the week)
Sunday (Yikes, mainly sugary, useless carbs):
Gluten-free pancakes
Mac and Cheese
Apple slices and cherries
Sparkling Pomegranate- Apple Juice

Monday (Pretty good day):
Gluten-free pancakes
Apple
Yogurt with black currant jam
Sparkling Pomegranate- Apple Juice
Egg ranchero (egg, cheese, dab of sour cream, fresh salsa) with 2 slices of turkey bacon
Figs with Greek yogurt, honey, and caramelized pecans

Tuesday (Pretty good day):
Sparkling pomegranate apple drink
Soup
English Muffin
Soup
Figs with Greek yogurt, honey, and caramelized pecans

Wednesday (Uh ohs, I bring home ice cream from the store...):
English Muffin
Rice & Shine made with water, sprinkle cinnamon and sugar
2% yogurt & jam
Soup
Chips
Ice cream
Strawberries

Thursday (...and rice pudding):
Strawberries
2 rice puddings
Ice cream
Plum
Chips
Hummus
Rice Crackers
chocolate pudding
Mango

Friday (...and chocolate pudding...thankfully child sized, but still):
Rice pudding and Strawberries
Banana
Cucumbers and Rice crackers with hummus
2% Yogurt
Chocolate pudding

Saturday:
Rice and shine
Egg, cheese, turkey bacon souffle
Watermelon
Mango
Banana, almond meal and honey dessert
Tom yum soup with shrimp
Plum wine

Exercise:
Sunday: Walked 6 miles and strength
Monday: Walked 6 miles
Tuesday: Walked 6 miles
Wednesday: Walked 2 miles and strength training
Thursday: Walked 6 miles
Friday: Walked 6 miles
Saturday: Yoga, ran 4 miles, walked 2 miles

Impromptu Summer Stew

While I was raiding my kitchen cabinets yesterday, I decided to make a stew. I wanted something that wouldn't be too rough on my tummy (still recovering from last week's bug), contained some veggies, and that I actually already had ingredients to make. I was very loooow on food stuffs in the house yesterday (which has now been rectified by a trip to Whole Foods).

I created an easy, impromptu stew that turned out quite nicely.



Ingredients:
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can water
1/2 can chick peas (drained)
1/2 can yellow squash (drained)
1/3 of a package of gluten-free rice noodles
Olive oil
Garlic
Salt
Parsley, onion powder, coriander, pepper to taste

I coated a little bit of the pot's bottom with olive oil and began cooking a little bit of minced garlic until it started to brown. Then I poured in the can of tomatoes, the water, the chick peas, the yellow squash, and added salt. I brought those to a boil. Once they were boiling I added the rice noodles and cooked the soup based on the rice noodle's timing (8 minutes for my noodles). I added parsley, onion powder, and coriander (only a little dash of each).

After pouring the soup in a bowl, I added some black pepper. Turned out to be quite yummy and approximately 3 servings. I love the days when I am not traveling for work and get a chance to experiment with cooking.

Figalicious

While grocery shopping last week, I spied an unusual fruit. A fig. I thought about it and realized I had never made anything with fresh figs before. I decided to purchase the pack and, yesterday, made my first fig dish.




Ingredients:
6 fresh figs
Honey
Greek yogurt
Pecans or other nut
Brown sugar
Salt
Butter

The recipe was very easy. Turn the oven to 350F. Next, make a tinfoil pouch for the figs. Then, cut off the stems and cut a cross deep into the figs. Put the figs upright in the tinfoil pouch. Pour honey across the tops. Put pouch, tightly sealed into oven for 45 minutes.

While that is cooking, I caramelized the pecans by heating them on a skillet for 2-3 minutes, then added the butter (just enough to coat the nuts), some brown sugar, and salt. I let them cool as the figs finished baking (and, of course, sampled the product).

When the figs came out of the oven, I topped them with Fage Greek 2% Yogurt and the caramelized pecans. This makes approximately 2 servings.

Enjoy some figs!

Frozen Summer Treats!

I love frozen treats in the summer time. However, I avoided many of them until recently due to their high sugar and sometimes high-fat content. Trader Joe's has a few great options... Caribbean Fruit Floes are one of my favorites... though I would have to check the ingredients again before purchasing.

I also have taken to making pops by freezing ripe bananas this summer. They make a creamy treat after they are frozen and only contain their natural sugar. You can coat them with chocolate or yogurt too before freezing for a fancier treat. I also came across a recipe that calls for rolling them in honey and then Rice Crispies on bakingbites.com.



I may try watermelon pop next. A few of the recipes call for blending and then freezing:
1 cup of watermelon
1 cup of orange juice
1 cup of water

Mmm... even a watermelon smoothy.

My favorite gluten-free/homeopathy blog also has a pops (or "lollies" as I guess they call it in the UK) recipe that looks delicious that I will have to try in the not too distant future:

Rose Pink Ice Cream Lollies

I will be grocery shopping again in the next day or two and looking forward to creating my next frozen treat! Please send any other frozen treat suggestions my way!

Continuing on the Path

I managed to lose another pound last week, so I am down 4.5 pounds into my weight loss. Closing in on 25% of my goal. The reasons for my weight loss last week are a toss-up. I got a bit of a stomach bug/ache that may have helped me more easily keep within my calorie goal. Hopefully, this week my stomach will repair itself, and I will be back on the path. (I think it was a stomach issue resulting from eating something I am allergic to without realizing it because it also came with hives...)

With the stomach issues, I didn't get in quite as much exercise as I normally do, but did get in several 6 mile walks early in the week. I also got in a 4 mile walk on Thursday and a bike ride on Saturday.

Yesterday, I started this week off right (joking a bit) with some gluten-free Trader Joe's pancakes. I mixed in real cocoa and a few of the allergen free chocolate chips, too! :)

I also walked 4.5 miles and a little strength training. I am still a bit in recovery, so I snuck in a late afternoon nap. As my stomach recovers, I am going to try to work back in more vegetables (which have been making my stomach queasy on sight) and less pure carbohydrates.