Banana Pumpkin Brownie Bread Cake

Variations of a familiar theme! Original recipe for Strawberry Banana Brownie Bread Cake

Ingredients:

1 box pillsbury pumpkin bread mix

1 box duncan hines snack size brownie mix

3/4 cup water, divided in to 4ths

1 can of pear halves, canned in own juice, drained and rinsed

180 g or 6.3 oz frozen bananas

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 365.

Combine boxes of dry ingredients and stir til mixes are interspersed ( I used a wisk)

Put the frozen banana with 1/4 cup water in food processor, puree til smoothish

then add another 1/4 cup water, puree til combined.

puree pears in food processor til smooth.

Mix all ingredients in to a large mixing bowl, including the final

1/4 cup water. Spread evenly in a 9x13  baking dish, that has

been sprayed with pan spray.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until cooked through. Enjoy!

18-20 servings yielded @ 4 Points+ each.

you could cut them smaller and get 22-24 @ 3 Points+ each

This was pretty good. It came out with a very gingery taste to it, which I happen to enjoy. Ed liked it but it wasn't a favorite, must have.

Turkey Egg and Cheese Sandwich

To keep things light a fresh in the morning, it is important to have a few quick "go-to" easy foods!
This is one of mine. You can sub out ham, or just about any other meat on the sandwich!

Ingredients:
2 Slices light wheat bread
1 egg
1 slice cheese
1 serving turkey deli meat ( I used Oscar Mayer)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preparation:

Put your bread in the toaster.
Spray a small (1-2 cup size) microwave safe container with pan spray. Beat egg in container, add salt and pepper. Microwave on high for about 1 minute. CONTAINER WILL BE HOT! =) Be careful when removing from the microwave. While toast is finishing, put the deli meat in the microwave for about 30 seconds. I normally will put it on a saucer plate in about the size and shape of the bread.

Once your toast is done, put the meat on the bread, top with cheese, and then turn the scrambled egg out on top of the cheese. Serve and Enjoy!

Quick, Easy and yummy!

From the Box: Jimmy Dean Delights Frozen Breakfasts

Sometimes, you just don't feel like cooking. Normally I can get past that and just do it. But it is nice to know there are some decent alternatives out there!

Introducing the D-lights Bowl:
turkey sausage, scrambled egg, cheese and potato bits. ALOT of food for 6 Points+
Just nuke it, stir, nuke some more and enjoy!

D-lights Sandwich:

These come in many varieties. On english muffins, bagels, with Sausage, Canadian Bacon... Yummy!

Ed and I prefer these to be thawed before we cook them, so you can just pull it out of the freezer the night before. I normally open mine up, fold the cheese corners over (see pic below) so I don't any cheese on the paper towel when you nuke it!

These are very good for 6-7 Points+ depending on the variety you get!

Guest Post: How Does Your Garden Grow?

Hi There!!

My name is Annette (Hi, Annette), and I am delighted to provide a guest post for Angie this weekend. I'm the author of Weighty Matters, and a lifelong foodie... okay, not a "foodie" per se, except in the sense that, well, I like food and I like to eat.

But to be honest, I never cared much about where it came from other than my cabinet, or the grocery store shelf.... until recently, that is. I want the best possible food to go into my body to fuel it, and I love a good bargain too. Sometimes I luck out with both, and other times.... well, in most cases, the wallet trumps all.

And there's nothing I love more than good quality fresh fruits and vegetables. I don't think we appreciate just how lucky we are here to have so many ways to get them: not only from local farms and farmers' markets, but so many backyards! For many years now, we've gardened a piece of a community plot. Heck, the last couple of years, it's just been Daddy farming it. Sadly, for the last few years, it's been hit-or-miss. We had a bumper crop of crookneck squash one year, and the next..... nearly nothing.

So after last year, he made the decision to let it lie fallow this year. And he has so far, with plans to fertilize in the fall, turn it under, let the winter do its thing, fertilize again in early spring and turn again and hopefully by late spring, it will be ready to do its magic. But I have been jonesing for some fresh veggies... what to do, what to do? Plant my own, in containers.

Darn that store, where they had the little tomato-growing-kit. They started the whole thing rolling - you can see them in the first picture, in the rectangular box. That was May 13. And the next picture is from May 25......











I have a whole slew of them -- please feel free to browse around at the pictures here:

May 11 Album and May 25 album (oh, the dog? he grows, but trust me, we aren't giving him any extra fertilizer!!)

And in the meantime, you're always welcome to visit Weighty Matters, where I tend to pontificate at great length.... :) but always with a wry, dry, sly sense of humor! And thanks to Angie again for this opportunity!

Freezing Cantaloupe

Occasionally, you find a super great deal on produce and HATE to pass it up. I had gotten 2 cantaloupes for .99 each and realized they were STILL in my fridge and needed to have something done to them pronto. I had made and frozen melon balls before but I really wanted to do something different.

I cut the melons in half, removed the seeds and sliced in to 1/4 inch slices. Cut around the edges to remove the rind, and placed on a baking sheet, in a single layer. Once frozen transfer to a freezer bag. Store until ready for some frosty goodness. Yummmy!

Baked French Toast

1 loaf wheat french bread (approx 10 oz)  cut in to 15 slices
4 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon ginger


In a 9x13 glass baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray, evenly layout the bread slices. Combine the remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl until well blended. Pour liquid mix back in to a measuring cup (about 2 cups!) and pour evenly over the bread slices.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 8 hours.

Preheat oven to 400. Remove plastic wrap and bake for approximately 20 minutes.
Serve and Enjoy.

Each slice comes out to be 2 Points+ (additional Points+ for syrup or other add-ons!)
Ed and I both liked this and I think there are many other variations/flavor combinations out there. You can slim it down some, using different breads, eggs and milk, but as per the norm, I was using what I had on hand that was cheap!

Banana Apricot Smoothie

Super Yum :D The apricots add a nice flavor

1 Frozen banana

about 5 apricot halves, canned in own juice, drained and rinsed

1 oz 1/3 less fat Philly Cream Cheese

1/2 cup Peach Propel zero

Combine ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. 

Enjoy!

3 Points+

Grilled Steak Stir fry, Grilled Peaches and Thai Kitchen Hot & Sour Rice Noodle Soup

I think random things might be my specialty!

.46 lb Angus Stir-fry steak (thin sliced, approx 3 inches long?)

Steak Stir-fry Marinade:
1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce
1 teaspoon Olive Oil
 1/2 tablespoon Spicy Montreal Steak GrillMates Seasoning

Mix the marinade ingredients, pour in to a container or baggy. Add steak, mix til well covered, close and refrigerate for at least 1.5 hours

Grilled Peaches:
1 can of peach slices, canned in own juice, drained and rinsed
1 packet splenda
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon ginger

Mix dry ingredients and toss over peaches, mixing well.



Preheat grill to medium heat. I made two "grilling foil pans" (flat foil with edged bent up)
place the pans on the grill or a minute or two to heat up. Dump steak in one; peaches in the other. Cook for about 3-5 minutes, stir and cook another 3-5 minutes or until cooked through.


Serve with Thai Kitchen Hot and Sour Rice Noodle soup on the side. (I just scooped out some of the noodles and let Ed have the broth)

All of the above make 2 servings of each.
steak @ 4 Points+ per serving
peaches @ 0 Points+ per serving
Noodle soup @ 3 Points+ per serving

so 1 total serving = 7 Points+.

I wasn't a big fan of the noodles but Ed liked everything! The steak and the peaches were super YUM!

I have linked up @
Hunk of Meat Mondays
Delectable Tuesday
 Recipes for the Grill

Oatmeal Pancakes

I have seen many recipes out there for Oatmeal Pancakes, but our Leader Sheri at our Saturday AM meeting, cooked for us this weekend, so I was able to try the recipe she had. Uber Easy, Uber yummy!

Ingredients:
1 packet of instant oatmeal (your choice of flavor!)
1 egg
Enough water to get batter to the right consistency


Mix it up, pour in to preheated pan, sprayed with cooking spray. Cook for about 2-5 minutes on each side. Serve and Enjoy!

Ed had an apples and cinnamon pancake and I had a cinnamon swirl pancake! yummy :)
Depending on the oats you use, will depend on the Points+ Value.

I am excited to try some with blueberry flavored oatmeal!

Textureiffic!

I have linked up @
Melt In your Mouth Monday
Your recipe...My Kitchen
Mangia Monday

3rd Annual Weight Watchers Walk-it 5K Event: Greenville, SC

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Words can barely begin to express the joy, accomplishment and success of this event.
Only the 2nd official 5K I have ever done, this was the best yet. Hands down. For those of you who may be unfamiliar, Weight Watchers started 3 years ago with an initiative to get people up and moving. Just WALK. An easy enough concept, but still so hard to grasp for some. Anyone who has known me for a long time, should know, I never have been a "physically fit" person. Back in elementary school, I was over weight and it was like pulling teeth for to jog a mile, make that it was EASIER to pull teeth. To this day, I can say that I still have never run a complete mile. ( I am working on that! :D )

I am SO proud of all the people that came out to walk it today, and those that made there own events around their homes. Out of all of the locations that Weight Watchers helped set up, they reported that the Greenville location was in the top OF THE NATION! We had over 400 people register and finish the race. It makes my heart happy just thinking about it.

Last year, Ed and I participated in a local event our time was somewhere between 45-50ish minutes!

While we are waiting on the official numbers to come in, I am ever so pleased to report that Ed came in at about 32 minutes, and I finished in about 37!


Official Stats:

ED @ 34.21
Angie @ 37.35

Wow...... :D

It was a such a great day, with so many great people!


To see some more pics from the event please visit:
http://upstatefotos.smugmug.com/Sports/May-22-Race/17158487_22LMHg#1300537394_WRKBHwq
And for the race results:
http://go-greenevents.com/resultsdetail/id/326

I didn't bring my camera with me, but once I got home, I took some pics of our swag!

It does :)

sketchers bag

been there, done that, got the t-shirt!

My bib # :)

My First Blog Award

So I had an unbelievably nice message from Amee over at Amee's Savory Dish. She has presented my with my first ever blog award :) Hop on over to her site and check out some of the super amazing recipes she has posted!

Here are the rules that come with this award:


#1 You thank the person that awarded it to you and list a link back to them

#2 Tell 7 things about yourself

#3 Pay it forward by sending it to your favorite recently found new bloggers

#4 Contact the blogger that you have awarded and make them aware



Seven Things about me:
1. I will be walk/jogging my 2nd ever 5K this Sunday and I am super excited about it!
2. I was raised out near the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and lived there for about 20 years, until my husband and I moved out to Anderson, SC just over 4 years ago.
3. I love cooking (duh) and it makes me happy to cook for the people I love.
4. Hubby and I have no kids, but we have lots of lovely nieces and nephews that we love dearly! Just welcomed a niece on Sunday, and my BFF is expecting her little girl in August. Great additions to our others, Jayden, Matthew, Lilly, & Elizabeth.
5. I could spend ( and have spent!) hours on end looking at food blogs, coupon websites and baby stuff.
6. Check out my About Me Page!
7. I am really horrible at coming up with 7 things!

And the bloggers I will be passing this award on to are:

Martha @ http://seasidesimplicity.blogspot.com/
Beth @ http://www.farenecessities.com/
Jeanie @ http://tastycheapskate.blogspot.com/
Kim @ http://morrowsunshine.blogspot.com/
Nikki @ http://livinglifeofriley.blogspot.com/
Liz @ http://fresh-plate.blogspot.com/
Leah @ http://beyerbeware.blogspot.com/