Bait and Switch

 Hi everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and I have something tasty on the menu.

 But first, I'll show you what I was going to do...

 

 Someone told me about raspberry white chocolate ganache. Now, I'd heard of ganache and it's usually glossy or piped or whipped... Like so.

 

 So, I started by mixing of the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla in a sauce pan. Getting it to a nice boil. I'll leave out the details, since that's not really where we're going with this. ("Why? WHY???", you ask.) But this is where I got the glazed version...

We tried covering a few cupcakes like this, but it just wasn't firm enough. So then I started adding powdered sugar...

Until I had a giant bowl of frosting that was basically fudge. You know the stuff you add walnuts to and cut into small squares at Christmastime? Huh. So as I'm contemplating this huge bowl of 'frosting', Edna is uncharacteristically quiet.

  "Edna, dearest, do you feel well?"

 And her beaters whirred a bit and went quiet. What on earth could be the matter? We'd made lemon meringue pie, lemon cake with baked topping (another post), butternut squash mini cakes with maple whipped topping (another post) and cookies in just the last few days. I was enjoying the creative process. Apparently Edna was feeling... off.

 

(Here are some office people feeling lousy.)

  I took a good look around the kitchen. Lots of sugar. We all love sugar! (Yes, yes we do!) But maybe there was such a thing as too much sugary goodness.

After a quick trip to my local store I came back and showed Edna what I'd found.

She beamed. Which is how a Sunshine Mixmaster should look.

Crimini mushrooms. FRESH. Someone told me that even if I didn't really like mushrooms, I would love these. I thought they'd be expensive, but they were actually the same price as the old button white mushrooms.

100 calorie, 8 grams of whole grains, Italian herb pita pockets with fiber and low carbs. She was starting to see where I was going with this.

Turkey bacon. I know, what a wimp. But I just can't do real bacon without feeling guilty. Wish that carried over to cupcakes, but it doesn't.  1.5 g of fat, 6 grams of protein and 1 carb.

So, I threw the turkey bacon in a pan, started scrambling eggs with the crimini mushrooms, and pretty much the entire family crammed into our little kitchen. Something smelled good and they wanted to EAT IT NOW.

A taste tester testing turkey tibdits. Say that five times fast.

(Check out the expression. Bacon love.)

Finished product, with some fresh veggies to the side and some low fat cheddar and mozzarella in the pita with the bacon, eggs, and mushrooms.  As for the crimini mushrooms, they were VERY tasty. I think I'll buy some more. Nice flavor that didn't even have that weird fungi aftertaste. Bonus.

 So, I asked Edna how she was feeling now that she'd smelled some wonderful new and fresh smells.

 

That was about what she said, right there.

 AS for the frosting, it stayed in the fridge for a while, got a lot of little finger marks, went on a few graham crackers, and the rest got a little crusty and dry so I threw it out. Hate to waste the chocolate, the heavy cream, and the sugar. But on the other hand... I let it go.

 As for the title, you thought this was going to be all about CUPCAKES, and then we threw some bacon and pita bread and crimini mushrooms in there.

 

  But sometimes, change is good. not good enough to make me give up all my sugar, but definitely time to hit the protein and cut the carbs. Especially going into winter, when all I want to do is eat, eat, eat.

 

  Which is great on a food blog but not so good for getting your pants to zip.

  So, until next time, my sweets! Wait... we're cutting back on the sugar.

Until, next time mons petits chous? (French endearment, means 'little cabbage'... not! It really means my sweet. So, that didn't help us any.)

 Uhhh, how about Polish 'mushki'? That's 'little flies'.  Ew. No.

 

  Edna suggested 'le mie passerottas', which is Italian for 'my little sparrows'. (Assuming everyone reading this is a girl, or we'd change the form.)  I love it! Light, bright, full of energy, zip and verve!

 Especially the way she said it, just like a native. Hmmm. There's a story there. I wonder if she'll ever tell me...



 



 

 

 

Pam Hillman's Getcha Good "Kashi Go Lean" Breakfast!

 I discovered something interesting several months ago.

Every body is different.

Yes, two words.

Every. Body.

Every body does not require the exact same amount of fiber, protein, fats, and carbohydrates as the next body. The percentages recommended by the Food and Nutrition Board are just that: recommendations, not fact.

Long story short. I have not been getting enough fiber for years. But I didn't know. Do you know how hard it is to get enough fiber? Well, let me tell you, it's not easy! Maybe it's the meat, bread, and potatoes lifestyle I've lived most of my life. Once I figured this out, I decided to do something about it.

After a very scientific search with the assistance of Mr. Google and my local Wal Mart, I perfected the following yummy tasting, healthy breakfast combination.

F1 Kashi GoLean Breakfast

3/4 cup of Fiber One Original Bran Cereal - 90 calories / 21g fiber

.25 cup of Kashi GoLean Honey, Almond, Flax Granola Cereal - 50 calories / 2g fiber

1/10 cup of dried cranberries - 39 calories / 1g fiber

1 TBSP slivered almonds - 43 calories / 2 g fiber

1/2 cup 2% milk - 61 calories / 0 g fiber

2 packs of truvia or sweetener of your choice if desired

Total Calories: 283; Carbohydates: 69g; Fat: 9g; Sodium: 246g; Protein: 11g; Fiber: 26g

Sure, the Kashi cereal adds 50 calories for only 2gs of fiber, but have you ever had Honey Bunches of Oats w/almonds? That's one of my favorite cereals, In comparison, 1 cup of HBOO w/Almonds and 2% milk has almost the exact same amount of calories as my F1 GoLean concoction, but HBOO has less than 3g of fiber!

Throughout the rest of the day, I make a conscious effort to add in some fiber-rich foods in my diet. Chicken salad with craisens, raisens, or an apple, and pecans or almonds for lunch. And, I try to keep a Kellogg's FiberPlus bar in my purse. Those things pack a whopping 9g of fiber for 120 calories. Sure, the apple has about 5 grams of fiber for 100 calories, but it's not the easiest thing to keep in your purse, you know.

Last tip. Don't increase your fiber drastically overnight. Gradually do it and drink lots of water. Water and fiber go together like peanut butter and jelly. Just sayin'

So, what does a typical day without exercise look like for me? This is what I posted on My Fitness Pal on August 1, 2012

Coffee w/Sweetleaf English Toffee sweetener - 0 calories / 0 fiber

F1 GoLean Breakfast - 283 calories / 26g fiber

16 ounces of water before noon

Lunch: Tuna or chicken salad on Nature's Own 3x the fiber Wheat bread - 300 calories / 7g fiber

16 ounces of water with lunch

Dinner: Green salad with grilled chicken - 400 calories / 5g fiber

16 ounces of water with dinner

Snacks: Chobani Greek Yogurt - 160 calories / 0g fiber

Kellogg's Blueberry Special K bar - 90 calories / 3g fiber

16 ounces of water throughout the afternoon/evening. MORE if I exercise.

Total 1233 calories, and 41g of fiber. Even though I'm not really tracking carbs, protein, fat and sodium, I was almost right on target with carbs, a little over on the fat (salad dressing and mayo), and had plenty of protein and my sodium was under my target.

Speaking of exercise. If I burn 400 calories exercising, then I get to splurge and eat some of those calories back. So, I'd add something like peanut butter and nutella, or a Skinny Cow Truffle bar. Or even that piece of leftover ice cream cake in the deep freeze.

Which reminds me. I already ate the ice cream cake, so I'm off to get rid of those extra calories....

Bio:

Award-winning author Pam Hillman writes inspirational fiction set in the turbulent times of the American West and the Gilded Age. Her second book,Claiming Mariah, releases January 2013 from Tyndale House Publishers. Claiming Mariah won the American Christian Fiction Writer’s Genesis contest and the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Golden Heart contest. She lives in Mississippi with her husband and family. www.pamhillman.com