Aug

10

Pimp My Annie’s Homegrown Organic Beef Stroganoff Skillet Meal

Filed Under Diet & Exercise, Food | Leave a Comment

That's a great title for the next hit reality show, don't you think? Tonight's Dinner consisted a little something I whipped up starting with the Annie's Homegrown Organic Beef Stroganoff Skillet Meal. I'm not a super fan of the box kits, but 1)this one is organic and 2) it's yummy and 3) it's fast! It's hard to find in grocery stores in the Boston area, and if you do find it, it's over $4, so I buy mine here. The directions say to add a pound of ground beef. I don't know that I've ever made it that way. I've used the Morningstar Farms crumbles with good luck though. Tonight I added a can of Trader Joe's premium white chicken, drained. (Don't say ick. It's awesome in soups and stews.) About a cup of frozen peas. About 1/2 cup of baby carrots that I had boiled up for the toddler. (Much like the pizza phase. The carrot phase has involved adding his loved carrots to lots of dishes where that you wouldn't normally think a carrot should go.) And about 1 cup of sliced organic portabella mushrooms that I sauteed in a smidge of olive oil.Yum. And it took about 10 minutes. And looked like this:

Dinner 8/10/2010

That's on a salad plate. Last week I read The Skinnygirl Rules: For Getting and Staying Naturally Thin by Bethanny Frankel. Don't judge. I love her on Bravo, and since I've gotten the Kindle App for my Blackberry, I've read more books in one week than I have the entire 2 years since I had the toddler. Anyhoo, one of her rules is to serve your meals up on smaller plates. Seems easy enough and it does seem to help trick your mind into thinking you've gotten a bigger portion .

Then we finished off with a little dessert. I love summer.

Dessert 8/10/2010

So what's with the food photos, kim from kimworld, you ask? Well, I got lost in a wonderful blog today called Carrots 'N' Cake. Tina, the blog author started her blog by photographing everything she ate to keep her on track on her goal to lose weight before her wedding. Something just struck me when I read that, and, well, I can use any help I can get to keep me on the eating healthy/exercising/losing weight trend. I'm going to borrow the idea for awhile and see if it sticks.

Does banana creme pie photograph well? Hope so. Just kidding. I think.

Jan

18

Favorite Find - Perfect Diaper Bag Snack: Trader Joe’s Applesauce Crushers

Filed Under Baby Land, Favorite Finds, Food | 1 Comment

So I was wandering the aisles of Trader Joe's the other day looking for something new and fun, when I ran across these little crazy tubes with  twist off caps filled with applesauce.

Trader Joe's web site gives us the nitty gritty.

Applesauce Crushers
Enhancing the convenience of the consumption of applesauce has challenged applesauce purveyors throughout the ages. We’ve crushed that challenge. How? With our Applesauce Crushers. We’ve taken all natural applesauce and packaged it in unique pouches that allow you to squeeze, squish, crush the delicious fruit sauces straight into your mouth. Yes! Right into your mouth – no spoon is necessary. Made just for us in France, these unique snack pouches are perfect for lunch boxes, briefcases and slip into a decent sized pocket with ease. Kids love to crush ‘em! And could there be a more fun way to get a good supply of Vitamin C? Doubtful. Each package of four 3.17 oz. pouches of Applesauce or Apple Carrot Fruit Sauce Crushers is $2.99.

Update: Nutrition Information for Applesauce Crushers

I got a few questions about the nutrition information. Here it is!
Serving Size: 1 pouch, Servings per Container 4
Amount Per Serving:
Calories 50 Calories from Fat 0
Total Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 0 mg
Sodium 0 mg
Total Carbohydrate 12 g
Dietary Fiber 1 g
Sugars 11 g
Protein 0 g
Vitamin A 2%  Vitamin C 15%
Calcium 2%  Iron 2%

I'm sure kids would love them. My boy is just barely gumming his way through stage 2 solids, so we have some time before I'll be able to turn him loose with the tube of Applesauce Crushers. So when I saw these little products, I was actually thinking of the boy's mom instead of the boy. It struck me at the perfect snack to pack in the diaper bag for moms. It's quick, clean, and nutritious -- and only 50 calories.

What's your favorite snack to pack in the diaper bag?