Ari's Menu

Little changes making a big difference.


Skinnified Sunday: Salted Caramel Mocha Brownie Cupcakes

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  • Hi friends! Today I am going to my friend Bekki’s birthday dinner which means I got to make dessert! HOORAY!! I love any excuse to bake. Bekki loves sweet and salty, so I was pretty stoked when I came up with the idea of salted caramel mocha brownie cupcakes! Have you ever had the no pudge brownies? It’s a box brownie mix that is fat free and uses yogurt instead of oil. Heather and I tried them a few times and they were delicious, so I stole the idea and used yogurt in these too. I haven’t had one yet, but my friend Colin confirmed that they didn’t suck. Whoot!

I got the base recipe from Mom Advice

My Swaps:

  • Dannon Light & Fit vanilla yogurt for butter (-fat, -calories, -saturated fat)
  • Organic sugar and Splenda for regular sugar (-sugar, -calories, maybe the organic sugar balances out the fakeness of Splenda? 🙂 )
  • 5 egg whites for whole eggs (-fat, -calories, -cholesterol)
  • Whole wheat pastry flour for all purpose (+fiber, +protein)
  • + Starbucks via (+yum)

Skinnified Salted Caramel Mocha Brownie Cupcakes

yeild approx 35 mini cupcakes

  • 3/4 cup Dannon Light and Fit vanilla yogurt
  • 2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
  • 6 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup organic cane sugar
  • 1/3 cup Splenda
  • 5 egg whites
  • 2 tsp vanilla (or you can skip it because the vanilla in the yogurt has the same effect)
  • 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • Freshly ground sea salt to taste
  • Cool Whip for topping
  • Fleur De Sel Caramel for topping

 

Directions:

1) Combine flour, sugar, Splenda, via, and cocoa powder.

2) Add in egg whites one at a time, mixing after each addition.

3) Add in vanilla.

4) Melt unsweetened chocolate, and add in along with yogurt.

5) Mix until combined, scraping down sides of the bowl when necessary.

6) Transfer into lined and greased mini cupcake tines (I ran out of mini liners so half of mine are full size).

7) Top each cupcake with a pinch of sea salt.

8) Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes, until toothpick in center comes out mostly clean (but don’t over bake–you still want a gooey brownie center!)

9) Top with desired amount of cool whip.

10) Put a little caramel in the microwave for approx 10-15 seconds to warm, then use a whisk to drizzle over the cupcakes.

11) Enjoy!

See those flakes of sea salt? Stevie takes the BEST pictures! 🙂

Taaaddddaaaa!!

So this was def not my most visually impressive dessert. But I am pretty certain they are going to at least taste delicious 🙂

Skinnified Sunday: Maple Bacon Pancakes

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Hi everyone! Man, the weekend seems like a total blur. Today was day 7 of my 33 straight work days. Craziness is beginning to set in especially considering Fiddler officially began today with the audition workshop. Only 26 days left 🙂 Needless to say, not a lot of cooking has been going on in my kitchen, well at least not a lot of exciting cooking, but I did manage to pull out something quick and delicious yesterday morning that filled my sweet and salty craving!

Back in the day, one of my favorite things to order at a restaurant was pancakes with over medium eggs and bacon that I would put on top and cover the whole thing with maple syrup. I LOVE sweet and salty combinations! Salted caramel mocha? The vain of my existence right now. There is no way to make that drink healthy. I’ve been through it in my head 100 times. But this breakfast totally did the trick. Not to mention is was ready in about 15 minutes.

Maple Bacon Pancakes

  • 2 cup of all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 egg, lightly beaten
  • 2 cup buttermilk
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon of butter
  • 6 slices of bacon, sliced horizontally and then diced

My swaps:

  • 1/2 recipe (-temptation)
  • Whole wheat pastry flour for all purpose flour (+protein, +fiber)
  • Red fat buttermilk for regular (-fat, -calories)
  • Brown sugar and Splenda for sugar (I think I forgot to half the sugar part so honestly calorie and sugar wise it was the same as the original, but I would probably do it that way again and I prefer brown sugar to regular)
  • Egg whites for whole eggs (-fat, -calories, -cholesterol)
  • Cooking spray for butter (-fat, -calories, -saturated fat)
  • Center cut or turkey bacon for regular (-fat, -calories, – saturated fat)
  • + 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder (+protein)
  • + vanilla extract (+yum)
  • + maple extract (+yum)

Skinnified Maple Bacon Pancakes

yield 3 servings

  • 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • dash salt
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp splenda
  • 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup red fat buttermilk
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp maple extract
  • 3 slices center cut or turkey bacon, diced

Optional toppings:

  • Syrup (I always use sf maple syrup)
  • Yogurt
  • Eggs
  • Granola
  • Butter
  • Nuts
  • Chia seeds (I wish I would have added these during the cooking! I forgot 🙁 )

Directions:

1) Cook bacon in a sprayed nonstick pan. Transfer to paper towel to cool.

2) Combine dry ingredients.

3) Add wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not over mix!

4) Let stand for 10 minutes, then fold in bacon.

5) Cook on sprayed non stick pan until bottom is golden brown and top begins to bubble.

6) Flip, and cook until bottom is golden brown.

7) Top, serve and enjoy!

 

It’s weird–I like my desserts small so I an eat more than one, but I love to just eat one big pancake.

I’ve really improved on my pancake flipping skillz!

Steve topped his with sf syrup and light whipped butter

I topped mine with non fat vanilla Greek yogurt and low fat vanilla almond granola–so good!

 

Apple & Goat Cheese Sandwich

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So yesterday I made the most delicious lunch ever, and ate it so fast that a camera was the last thing from my mind, but sometimes when I create something I absolutely love, I will make it like 11 days in a row until I’m sick of it and never want it ever again. So, obviously, today I recreated yesterday’s sandwich

Apple & Goat Cheese Sandwich

  • 2 slices cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread
  • 1 oz goat cheese
  • 1 tbs fig butter
  • 1/2 apple, thinly sliced
  • light drizzle balsamic vinegar
  • 1 leaf romaine lettuce

Directions:

1) Place bread on foiled baking sheet and place in the oven on burn broil to crisp.

2) Spread fig butter over one slice.

3) Drizzle second slice with balsamic vinegar, and top with goat cheese.

4) Stick back in the oven until cheese is softened.

4) Top with apple slices and lettuce.

5) Enjoy!

I enjoyed my sandwich with some yogurt which was delicious, but not nearly as exciting. Then, Steve and I got some quality time in with our children!

Winnie always looks so sad in pictures. Cheer up, Win!

Notice Clem’s flipped back ear.

I guess we tired them out? I love when they hang out together just by themselves! It must be like when parents see their siblings love each other. 🙂

Confession: Sometimes if I only take/post pictures of one of the dogs, I start to feel guilty like I’m picking favorites and everyone will think I love one more than the other. I also feel guilty if I pay more attention to one of them, because then the other one gets sad and sulks. Does anyone else have this problem? Or do I worry way too much about the feelings of puppies?

PB&J Oatmeal & Garmin Talk

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Hello, friends! After a weekend of, for whatever reason, feeling like my eating was all out of whack, I have been putting a lot of thought into my meals yesterday and today. One of my favorite things in life is when I feel like I consistently eat food that is great for my body and great for my soul-healthy, satisfying, and delicious. Yesterday, and today so far have been just that! In fact, my oatmeal this morning may have been the best oatmeal I’ve ever made. I usually don’t take pictures of meals unless I’m making a full on recipe (somehow I feel like simple things like oatmeal would bore people?), and Steve is here to take amazing pictures with his fancy camera. But today was so yummy, that I made an exception. You know, no matter how delicious oatmeal is, it never looks appetizing to me in photos.

See what I mean? Somehow Kath’s oatmeal always looks like it was painted to be that pretty. Oh well, this oatmeal tasted fantastic.

PB & J Oatmeal

yield one hungry person!

  • 1/3 cup slow cooking oats
  • 2/3 cup almond milk
  • 1 ripe banana, sliced
  • 1 tsp chia seeds
  • cinnamon to taste
  • drizzle sugar free maple syrup
  • 1/2 tsp coconut extract–the winning ingredient!
  • 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 3/4 tbs any nut butter (I used PB & Co White Chocolate Wonderful–YUM!)
  • 1/2 tbs fig butter
  • 1/2 tbs 100% fruit blackberry spread (or spread of your choice)

Directions:

1) Heat all ingredients, except nut butter and fruit spreads, on stove top until oatmeal is cooked. **IMO, cooking the banana in with the oatmeal the entire time makes the oatmeal taste like banana bread–YUM!**

2) Put fruit spreads at the bottom of the bowl.

3)  Top with oatmeal.

4) Top with nut butter.

The fruit on the bottom gives you a treat waiting for you as you get towards the bottom!

This was the perfect post spin breakfast! Speaking of spin, guess who totally rocked it out in class today?!

That’d be ME! I love the feeling after I give my all to a great work out! Which leads me to my next topic…

Yesterday morning, I went for a run, but my usual run tracker on my phone couldn’t find a gps signal so I had to use a different one. I had been using the Run Keeper ap, but this time used the Sports Tracker. Well the numbers were totally off. I mean I know about how fast I run on a treadmill and have NEVER considered anything below 5 mph even a light job. It’s a hard sweaty power walk, but I can’t run at that pace, and if you recall from last weekend, my device told me I ran 3.1 in 29:59, although who knows how accurate that one was at this point 🙁 Anyway, today after 37 minutes, it told me I went 2.7 miles. Ugghhhh. I don’t feel like it’s right, but the inaccuracy is really frustrating. So I have a decision to make. Do I spend a good chunk of change (remember, this girl works in theatre where the money is scarce) on this baby?

Right now it’s on sale on amazon.com for about $140. The Garmin 305 was my spin teacher’s recommendation that will keep track of my heart rate in classes, during any work out and will track my mileage on runs. I really want to improve my running, so I feel like it would be a good investment, not to mention I’ve wanted a HR monitor for a long time. Just hard to spend the money. I as also thinking of buying the ease into 10k ap on my phone by the same guy as C25K. I would really love for my next race after this 5K to be a half marathon, but I know before that happens I need to get comfortable with the 10k distance.

I would love any thoughts/recommendations/opinions on the Garmin, and/or improving running distance in general. It is NOT my forte, but it’s something I enjoy that I want to improve on.

Alright, off to job #2 for the day, then my house becomes the Disney Channel as I work on Aladdin choreography! Have a great day everyone!

Skinnified Kahlua Mocha Cupcakes

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What would a birthday be without cake? In my group of friends, I am the designated birthday cake baker. I love it. One of my favorite things to do for someone I love is bake something special for them. It feels like I get to give them a piece of myself. Yes, I’m sentimental. In the past, I have made a lot of cakes that I wouldn’t touch myself. It pretty much took all the fun out of it and made me hate life a little. It’s one thing to make someone their favorite cake that happens to be a flavor you don’t like and choose not to eat it, but it is an other to be in such a strict mentality that the entire night is an internal battle. Right now, my feelings are, if I don’t feel okay eating it, I’m not making it. I’m not sure how this will go over with the best friend birthdays that begin next month, but for now, it is only healthy(ish) cupcakes coming from this kitchen!

Luckily, Kara likes my healthy baking so I didn’t feel like I was cheating her by sticking to my guidelines. I really hope some day a piece of real birthday cake won’t cause me a ton of anxiety, but until that day, I just know I need to do what’s best for me 🙂

Sunday afternoon after a fantastic Zumba and coffee date with my friend Christina (we’ve been friends since preschool–pretty amazing, right?), I came home and got to baking! I began by spreading my things all the way across all of our counter space in what Steve refers to as “Hurricane Ariana” Messy cooks are good cooks! Plus, what fun is baking if you don’t get a little messy? Also, I bought some new tools special for the occasion!

This tool is supposed to cut out a hole in the cupcake, to fill with frosting or other deliciousness. It didn’t work as prettily as I would have liked, so I didn’t use it long. Maybe if I made a separate filling and wasn’t just using the frosting it would have been worth it, but it just seemed like unnecessary extra frosting for me. I also bought this decorating set that I tried to fill the minis with and it hardly worked at all, but it did make the tops of the cupcakes a little prettier.

These, like the Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes are based off a recipe from Annie’s Eats. Apparently, this Annie is a genius, and I should add her to my blog reader! Thanks Annie for all the great inspiration!

My Swaps:

  • Double the espresso powder (+YUM)
  • 3 egg whites for 2 whole eggs (-fat, -cholesterol, -calories)
  • Reduced fat buttermilk for buttermilk (-fat, -calories)
  • Applesauce for vegetable oil (- fat, -saturated fat, -calories)
  • Whole wheat pastry flour for all purpose (+fiber, +protein)
  • 1/2 Splenda, 1/2 brown sugar for sugar (-sugar, -calories) **Note: I wouldn’t have swapped the brown sugar for regular, but we were out of regular so I improvised :)**
  • + coconut extract (+YUM)
  • Frosting I had to start from scratch–I bet it was delicious, but this home girl can’t hang with that much butter!

Skinnified Kahlua Mocha Cupcakes

yield 24 servings (I made 12 regular, 24 minis)

  • ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 tbsp. instant espresso powder (I used 3 packets of via)
  • 1½ whole wheat pastry flour
  • 3/4 cup sugar or brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup Splenda
  • 1½ tsp. baking soda
  • ¾ tsp. baking powder
  • ¾ tsp. salt
  • 3 egg whites
  • ¾ cup warm water
  • ¾ cup reduced fat buttermilk
  • 3 tbsp unsweetened apple sauce
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp coconut extract
  • Kahlua for brushing

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350.

2) In an electric mixer, combine flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, Splenda, and sugar.

3) Add all other ingredients except Kahlua and mix well for 2-3 minutes, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed.

4) Fill lined baking tins 2/3 full. **Note: The batter is a little runny and messy. It worked best when I transferred it to a freezer bag with a small hole cut at the bottom**

5) Bake for 18-22 minutes (about 3-5 min less for minis) until tops spring back when lightly pressed.

6) Use a fork to poke small holes in each cupcake.

7)  Brush with Kahlua while still warm, repeat.

8) Transfer to cool on wire rack.

9) Once cooled, frost and enjoy!

 

Kahlua Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

yield 24 servings

  • 16 oz fat free cream cheese, softened
  • 8 oz reduced fat cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/4-1/2 cup Kahlua
  • 1-2 tsp coconut extract

Directions:

1) With a hand mixer, beat all ingredients together, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

2) Chill for approx 1 hour.

3) Frost and enjoy!

Attempting to fill…


Skinnified Sunday: Pizookie

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Confession: I have been planning out the dessert I wanted to make for me and Steve’s halfiversary for about a month. Last month, we went to Oregano’s with the fam to celebrate some good news for my brother Charlie. At the end of the meal, Charlie and Hank had the pizookie. If you haven’t ever had a pizookie, you are missing out on one of life’s most amazing desserts. I decided that at some point I had to recreate my own because I will most likely never order one in a restaurant again. I don’t like to use words like never, but honestly, if I get dessert out of the house, at this point I will only get frozen yogurt, or sometimes a cookie. I just don’t like eating something that I can make and make it a lot healthier.

As soon as the idea popped into my head, I knew I wanted to save it for the occasion, and it was well worth the wait! We used the cute little ceramic cups I bought at William’s Sonoma to make individualized pizookies. Have you seen the size of the restaurant ones?! It must be like 10 servings!

Pizookie

  • Huge half baked chocolate chip cookie
  • Topped with vanilla ice cream and chocolate chips
  • Served warm in the skillet it is cooked in
  • Yes, I know, this is not a recipe.

My Swaps:

  • Individual portions (-temptation to eat more than a serving!)
  • Applesauce for butter (-fat, -calories)
  • Splenda for sugar (-sugar, -calories)
  • Grain sweetened chocolate chips and less of them for chocolate chips (-fat, -sugar, -calories)
  • Whole wheat pastry flour for all purpose (+fiber, +protein)
  • Egg white for whole egg (-fat, -calories, -cholesterol)
  • Vanilla nut butter flavor for vanilla extract (+YUM)
  • Low fat ice cream for regular (-fat, -calories)

Skinnified Pizookie

yield 6 servings

  • 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1/8 tsp baking soda
  • pinch salt
  • 2 tbs applesauce
  • 1 tbs light whipped butter
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 tbs Splenda
  • 1 egg white
  • 1 tsp vanilla nut butter flavoring (or flavor/extract of your choosing)
  • 1/4 cup grain sweetened chocolate chips (I combined regular and white chocolate)
  • 9 oz low fat vanilla ice cream
  • sprinkles (optional)

Directions:

1)Preheat oven to 325.

2) Using a hand mixer, combine applesauce, brown sugar and Splenda.

3) Beat in egg white and vanilla nut butter flavor.

4) Mix in baking soda, salt, and flour.

5) Fold in chocolate chips.

6) Place desired serving in individual baking dish.

7) Bake for approx 15 minutes until set, but with the inside still gooey.

8) Top with one scoop vanilla ice cream.

9) Add sprinkles.

10) Enjoy!

Skinnified Sunday: Chicken Tender Salad

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Steve and I actually did our Skinnified Sunday dinner a day early because tonight we are going out for our friend Kara’s birthday. So we moved our cooking and our 6 month anniversary celebration up a day! That’s right, we have been married for 6 months today. I know a halfiversary may seem like a silly thing to celebrate, but we like to celebrate, and after almost 8 years together, it’s fun to start the counting over and celebrate months!

First, we went to one of my all time favorite stores–WILLIAM’S SONOMA!!! and used some of our store credit from the wedding to buy some new toys!

Then we exchanged gifts. I got him a book to assist in his new photography obsession (In case you didn’t know, he takes all the good pictures that show up on the blog. You can see more of his amazing photography @ his blog or on his flicker account). And he got my a framed picture of the whole fam from our wedding!

While I got cooking, Steve started to get creative with the camera and got a super sweet picture of our wedding rings 🙂

This dinner was pretty easy, so I was able to enjoy myself a little more (sometimes I get really stressed about everything being perfect) and play with my vegetables.


Meanwhile, Winston and Clementine were cute

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For dinner, I was inspired by the trap of restaurant salads. Have you ever ordered a salad in an attempt to stay healthy at a restaurant, only to look it up later and realize that you could have just had a burger and fries for less calories?! I feel like I’m pretty good at this point in deciphering a menu, but there as a time where I thought salad=healthy. The specific inspiration:

Red Robin’s Crispy Chicken Tender Salad

  • Greens
  • Breaded, friend chicken
  • Cheddar cheese
  • Hard boiled eggs
  • Bacon
  • Cheddar cheese
  • Bread
  • Dressing

My Swaps:

  • More veggies–tomato, cucumber, carrots, red pepper (+vitamins, +flavor, +all sorts of veggie goodness)
  • Faux fried chicken for friend chicken (-fat, -calories)
  • Half whites/half whole eggs for hard boiled eggs (-fat, -calories, -cholesterol)
  • Center cut or turkey bacon (baked) for bacon (-fat, -calories, -saturated fat)
  • Goat cheddar for cheddar cheese (-fat, -calories, +flavor)
  • Fat free croutons for bread (-fat, -calories, +crunch)
  • Added avocado (+YUM)
  • Home made feta yogurt dressing for full fat restaurant dressing (-fat, -calories)

Skinnified Chicken Tender Salad

yield 6 servings

  • 1 1/2 hearts romaine, chopped
  • 2 1/2 Persian cucumbers, sliced
  • 3/4 cup carrots, chopped
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 3/4 cup fat free croutons
  • 3/4 cup goat cheese, shredded
  • 2 hard boiled eggs, sliced
  • 6 slices center cut or turkey bacon, baked and chopped
  • 2 hard boiled egg whites, sliced
  • 1 avocado, sliced
  • 1 lb chicken breast, sliced
  • 3/4 cup cornflakes, crushed
  • 1/4 cup Fiber One Original, crushed
  • 1/4 cup reduced fat parmesean cheese
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 ts garlic pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • dash cayenne
  • 2 egg whites, beaten

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 400.

2) Combine cereals,parmesean, oregano, garlic pepper, salt and cayenne.

3) Dip chicken in egg whites, then transfer to cereal mix.

4) Spray a raised baking rack on top of a cookie sheet lined with tinfoil.

5) Place chicken on the rack and back for 20-25 minutes.

6) While chicken is baking, put all other salad ingredients together except goat cheddar and croutons.

7) When chicken is finished, chop into smaller pieces and add on top of salad.

8) Place desired serving in bowl and top with croutons and goat cheddar.

9) Enjoy with feta yogurt dressing!

Feta Yogurt Dressing

yield 8 servings

  • 6 oz non fat plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 tbs light olive oil mayo
  • 1/4 cup reduced fat buttermilk
  • 1 tsp mustard
  • pepper to taste
  • 1 clove garlic, minced (I used a zester with mine)
  • 4 oz reduced fat feta cheese, crumbled (I suggest Trader Joe’s brand)

Directions:

1) Whisk all ingredients together, except feta.

2) Gently fold in crumbled feta.

3) Enjoy!

And as their present to us, the kids were especially cute and lovey with each other. They know it just melts out hearts!

Happy 6 months, babe!!

Pumpkin Smoothie

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Well, it’s true, every single food blog on the internet is talking about pumpkin. I knew I liked it in pie. I knew I liked it in bread. I wasn’t surprised that I loved it in oatmeal or cupcakes, but I’ve really been surprised by how obsessed into pumpkin I have become and it’s only September! I guess it’s all the reading of everyone else’s pumpkin foods. I’m kind of a follower 😉

Today I decided to try 2 new things

1) Pumpkin smoothie

2) Smoothie in a bowl

Every single blog I read, the put their smoothies in a bowl. I never understood why, but I figured it was worth a try.

Pros:

  • TOPPINGS!
  • Longer lasting
  • Toppings
  • Did I mention toppings?

Cons:

  • Less portable (I like to take my smoothies to go)
  • It made it harder to talk on the phone while enjoying my smoothie (I’m a multi tasker!)
  • I missed sipping it

I would put it in a bowl again for the toppings, but not every time. I like to sip 🙂

Pumpkin Smoothie

yeild 1 big ole smoothie

  • 1 ripe banana
  • 1/2 cup non fat vanilla Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 1 tsp chia seeds
  • 1/3 cup pumpkin
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 2 tbs oats
  • Tons of ice-How much exactly? I can’t really say–about a big tall glass full. The more ice, the more volume, the more it feels like I get to eat!

Optional toppings:

  • raisins
  • low fat granola
  • cereal
  • nuts
  • grain sweetened chocolate chips
  • nut butter
  • maple syrup

Directions:

1) BLEND!

I topped with raisins, granola, Fiber One cereal and honey sesame cashews (the best and worst thing I ever bought–sooo delicious! Make the same mistake as me at Trader Joes and I promise you will simultaneously regret it and no regret it!)

Work out:

I have never felt in better shape, or more positive about my work outs as I have since I started taking gym classes consistently.  I feel like I may have said that about 100x by now, but it’s just so true. Today was supposed to be cardio and yoga, but it was beautiful outside and so we settled for a nice walk outside pre-calss, which ended up being fine by me because class was HARD today! I was super sweaty and there were times where my body was starting to shake. Does it make me a freak if I love that feeling?

Yoga is a big challenge for me. Mentally and physically. If I don’t get my heart rate as high as I’m used to, I have a hard time not beating myself up about not doing more at the gym or not working harder, but the truth is, yoga pushes my body in a completely different way, and being well rounded is so important. Also, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m a little neurotic. As soon as the teacher says “Now leave any other thoughts and worries outside of this room”, I immediately start to think about everything I could possibly be concerned about. Sometimes I wonder if I’d have an easier time if she told me to worry AS MUCH as possible. Some reverse psychology haha. I just have a really challenging time finding a mental place of calm. It is totally not my style, but I’m hoping that the more I practice, that I will be able to gain as much mentally as I am physically, and maybe one day, I will be able to shut off my brain for a second.

The inner dialogue of Ari’s brain:

Teacher: Silence your thoughts

Ari’s brain: What do I need to get done today? What am I going to make for lunch? What time is it? What am I behind on? What will everyone think of my work? I have to pee. I’m hungry. What time is it? When can I move from this pose? I like my husband. He’s cute. SHHHH, she said SILENCE! I suck at this. I really have to pee. Oy.

Lastly, if I am going to keep up this practice, I am really going to have to invest in my own mat. The ones at the gym look like someone got hungry during class and took a bite out of it

They don’t feed her at Starbucks apparently 😉 Also, the mats smell like feet. Which is fine when you’re just doing abs on them in bodyworks, but when my face is planted on it during child’s pose, I don’t really appreciate the foot smell so much.

Ok, I’m off to get ready for work. Have a great day everyone!

Skinnified Sunday: Rachael Ray’s Double Bacon Beer Burgers

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Sorry this is so late! Life has been crazy. Yesterday I barely spent any time at home, and that time was spent choreographing and getting the pumpkin spice latte cupcakes up! Anyway, Sunday was a pretty amazing day, and in addition to all the food pictures, Steve took lots of pictures of the family

Like mother, like daughter 🙂

We even finally got one together!

I love my children!

Me & Jasy

But mom, when do I get a burger?

Onto the food! I guess I’ve been in a Rachael Ray kick lately. Next week I will have to open a different cook book. These burgers turned out pretty spectacular. At the end of the dinner everyone was like “Well this wasn’t the ‘skinnified’ part, right?” Ohhhhh yes it was! Here we go…

Original Recipe:

  • 1 tablespoon EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 10 slices smoky bacon, 2 of them chopped
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
  • 3/4 pound ground chuck
  • 3/4 pound ground sirloin
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • Salt and ground black pepper
  • A few hearty glugs stout beer, such as Guinness, half a bottle
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
  • 3 tablespoons grainy mustard
  • 1/2 pound sharp white aged cheddar, sliced
  • 8 leaves red lead lettuce or red leaf romaine
  • 1 red onion, sliced
  • 4 Kaiser rolls or crusty rolls, split open

My Swaps:

  • I made 1.5 of the recipe because I was cooking for 6 instead of 4. We’re popular 🙂 (+fun!)
  • Olive oil who needs it?! (-fat, -calories)
  • Center cut or turkey bacon for regular bacon (-fat, -saturated fat, -calories)
  • 1 slice bacon per burger (-calories)
  • 2 lbs 96% lean ground beef for chuck/sirloin–the first time I’ve used actual beef in FOREVER! (-fat, -saturated fat, -calories)
  • Fat free sour cream for sour cream-you could also use non fat Greek yogurt (-fat, -calories)
  • Light havarti for sharp cheddar (-fat, -calories) But to be honest, next time I would skip the cheese for myself because with all the other flavors, I just didn’t need it.
  • Red onion ehh just didn’t feel like slicing one haha
  • Whole wheat sandwich thins for Kaiser rolls (-calories, +fiber, +protein)
  • Grilled instead of pan friend in bacon drippings (-gross, -fat, -calories, -heart attack)

Skinnified Double Bacon Beer Burgers

yeild 6 servings (well it actually ended up making 7 burgers)

  • 9 slices center cut or turkey bacon, 3 of them chopped
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 2 lbs 96% lean ground beef
  • 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • Salt and ground black pepper
  • A few hearty glugs stout beer, such as Guinness, half a bottle
  • 3/4 cup fat free sour cream
  • 1.5 tablespoon prepared horseradish
  • 4.5 tablespoons grainy mustard
  • 6 slices light havarti
  • 8 leaves red lead lettuce or red leaf romaine
  • 6 whole wheat sandwich thins

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350.

2) Bake 9 slices of bacon for approx 15-20 minutes on a slotted broiler pan until crispy.

3) Spray nonstick pan and cook three chopped slices of bacon until they begin to crisp.

4) Add chopped onion and cook until tender. Approx 5-7 minutes

5) Remove, place in a large bowl and cool.

6) Add meet, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper and combine with hands–the fun part!

7) Form into desired size of patties (we had enough for 7) with a small thumb print in the middle for even cooking *see picture below

8) Grill until desired “doneness”

9) Place in a cake pan, and pour room temperature Guiness over to soak in.

10) Crisp up sandwich thins in the oven with cheese on top.

11) While buns are crisping, combine sour cream, horseradish and mustard.

12) Top buns with burgers, lettuce, sour cream mixture and any other desired toppings (I added tomatoes)

13) Enjoy!

 

Steve, me, Hank, mom, Charlie, Jason!! The best friends feel just like family!

TAAAAADDDDAAAA!!!!

I love weekend breakfast!

· by ·

Lately, I have been having the weirdest (for me) craving. All I have wanted to do is make french toast for breakfast. This is weird for me, because usually I like my french toast with super thick, fluffy, grainless white bread with a big glob of butter on top. This why I haven’t had it (with the exception of pumpkin bread french toast that I made for Thanksgiving) in years. No matter what I can say about indulging every now and then, I just don’t feel good when I eat that way. Physically or mentally. So I usually go for whole wheat pancakes when I want a sweet carby breakfast. But this time I had an idea and I had been waiting for the right opportunity to try it out. Well friends, today that time finally came!

As usual, I looked at a couple recipes online for inspiration, then did my own thing 🙂

French Ezekiel Banana Toast

yeild 2 servings (2 slices each)

  • 4 slices cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread
  • 3 egg whites
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 1 banana
  • 1-2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract (I wanted to use almond, but sadly we were out)
  • 1 tbs sugar free maple syrup + extra for topping
  • chia seeds (optional)

Yogurt Topping

  • 1/2 cup non fat vanilla Greek yogurt
  • 1 tbs peanut butter (I used PB & Co White Chocolate Wonderful. I suggest you do too 🙂 )

Directions

1) Beat egg whites, vanilla, milk, cinnamon, 1 tbs syrup, and half of the banana with an electric hand mixer

2) Soak bread (the longer, the better!)

3) In a small bowl, beat yogurt and peanut butter together with an electric hand mixer

4) Place soaked bread on a sprayed nonstick pan over medium heat

5) Sprinkle with chia seeds if desired

6) Pour remaining soaking mix on top

7) Flip after about 5 min (when bottom is golden)

8) Sprinkle with more chia if desired

9) Cook approx 3 more minutes on second side (until golden)

10) Slice remaining half of banana in half length wise

11) Place banana on pan, sprinkle with cinnamon and cook for about a minute on each side

12) Plate and serve!

 

Prepping the soaking batter

 

Showing some love for Ezekiel bread–it really is good! No one believes me. Buttholes. 🙂

Ready, set, cook! Notice the scrambled eggs cooking in the background? We were completely out of dog food. Whoops. So the puppies got a specially prepared breakfast. Clementine of course dug right in, while Winston is a big scaredy cat had slight anxiety over the change. I had to feed him by hand assist him in his eating endeavors. No pictures of that–Win has a reputation to uphold!

Topping

TAAAAADDDDAAAAA!!!

It was so delicious. I can’t believe it was my first time making a healthy french toast. It was also super easy and I will definitely make it again and again!

In other news, I finally broke down and tried the tofu I bought @ TJ’s last week. I wanted so badly to like it. I put it in a huge delicious salad. I’m sorry tofu lovers, but I HATED it. I’m throwing the rest in the garbage. My tastes have changed and developed quite a bit, and maybe a different tofu would have been better, but I’m definitely going to be put off by it for quite some time.

Tomorrow is Skinnified Sunday!!! My mom, Hank and Charlie are coming over to enjoy with us. I love cooking for my family. It is probably my very favorite. They have done a lot for me and I like being able to share my love of cooking with them!

Hope everyone is having a fab weekend!!

Super Hero Thursday

· by ·

Happy Super Hero Thursday everyone! Didn’t know today was a holiday? Well, don’t worry–I celebrate every Thursday, so you are free to join in at any time. Just buy some sort of super hero clothing item and wear it on a Thursday. Tada. Instant holiday. It started this summer because at my summer job “Thurthdayth are hard!” Yes, we say it in a lisp. We’re theatre people.

Today was an other crazy morning of spin–>dance–>meeting, followed by prep work and work work. But it started out on the right foot with my attire

Sorry it’s blurry. I’m not brave enough yet to ask gym strangers to take my picture haha. Spin class was killer today. Half way through I was D-U-N. It was the first time I actually felt like I had given so much so early in the class that I couldn’t continue to give 100%. That’s okay though, I just focused on getting through it for the rest of the time. Today’s ride was so hill-y and challenging in other ways that I’m not sure how to explain in words haha that I only wound up riding 20 mi today. It was good though,  and I’m taking tomorrow off so I’m glad I worked it out today! Dance class was hard again, but so good. I LOVE this teacher. She reminds me of what classes were like back in the Studio One days!

My lunch meeting happened at Sacks–YUM. If you live in Phoenix and you haven’t been to Sacks, what are you waiting for?! I almost always get whatever the hot special is on 12 grain bread. Today it was chicken and lots of spicy deliciousness. The second best thing about Sacks (the hot specials are the first best) is that with your sandwich, you get a perfectly sized chocolate chip cookie. Not like a huge cookie that constitutes about 4 servings, but a legit cookie serving of deliciousness. I would have taken a picture, but I got camera shy 🙂

When I got home from work, I was huuunnnggrrryyy and had a big craving for a box of Kraft mac n cheese. I remember when that stuff was a staple in my diet. I would eat pretty much an entire box to myself. Gross. You can judge me. I judge myself a little.

I decided to raid my pantry and fridge and figure out a way to satisfy my craving. The most amazing thing about this meal? From the moment I said to Steve “I want macaroni and cheese” to the moment the deliciousness hit my mouth was about 10 minutes–the same amount of time it would take to make the box filled with processed cheese powder!

I immediately grabbed a pretty random assortment of ingredients

And hoped for the best!

I boiled some pasta, sauteed some garlic and veggies

Added in a some goat cheese, cream cheese and skim milk. Mixed in some imitation crab.

And then despite Steve’s disapproval, added some green! And of course the pasta.

Clementine approved and wanted some in her food bowl

Ari’s Crabby Mac

yield 4 servings

  • 1 cup whole grain pasta (whole wheat, brown rice, etc.)
  • 4 oz reduced fat cream cheese
  • 4 oz herb goat cheese
  • 1/3-1/2 cup skim milk (we were out of almond milk, or I would have used that)
  • 2/3 cup crab meat (regular or imitation)
  • handful spinach leaves
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1/2 red pepper, chopped
  • 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
  • 1/2 tbs light whipped butter
  • a couple shakes Chalulah
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • chopped tomato for topping (optional)
  • extra spinach for topping (aptional)

Directions

1) Follow directions on the box to cook your pasta

2) Saute onion, pepper and garlic with butter over medium heat for approx 7 minutes

3) When veggies are tender, reduce heat to medium low. Add cheeses, milk, chalulah, and s&p. Whisk together until smooth.

4) Crumble in imitation crab and spinach

5) Add pasta and stir

6) Plate and top with extra spinach and tomato if desired

It totally fulfilled my craving and I had to stop myself from going back for seconds…because I had to save room for desert!

 

I’m Ari, and I am addicted to fro yo. No other dessert cuts it anymore. I just love fro yo and I crave it all the time.

Alright, I have a loooonnng day of teaching tomorrow followed by prep work to teach more Saturday. I plan on spending the rest of the night with the puppies, the husband and Project Runway! Goodnight all!


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