Creamy Tomato Soup

This is the soup i made: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/creamy-tomato-soup-10000001892157/

Tomato soup is probably one of my biggest comfort foods. Along with grilled cheese, i can eat either of them  probably close to every day, on own or together lol. Though for all these other foods i want to try, i wouldn't have time for all of them if i had grilled cheese and/or tomato soup lol.

I've been liking the idea of making soups myself just for the sake of saying i made soup. I'm perfectly fine with canned soup for the convenience. Someday i want to try a vegetable soup.

As for this soup, it was pretty good, i feel was little less tomato taste than others. I also didn't use a blender, i used my little ninja processor. If i used the blender, might of made it just a little smoother than it was. The texture mine came out was fine for me, but was nothing like campbell's tomato soup, though makes sense because it's not campbell's.

It did make more soup that i could eat in one sitting, a downfall to making myself food with no one to share with. Just left overs i guess.

Skinny Coffee Frappuccino

I had randomly thought last night that since my coffee drink is already mixed and flavored, if i just added ice to it in a blender, i could make a frappuccino. It for the most part worked.

This is the coffee drink i used: http://mendsexperiences.blogspot.com/2013/05/genesis-today-skinny-coffee-vanilla.html

Taste wise, it was good. pretty much was just the drink with ice in it lol. I used my ninja rather than using a blender, so it had biggish ice pieces. Small enough to drink with a straw(not the small kind), but wasn't super smooth like you'd get by using a blender.

I did about a cups worth of the drink, and maybe 2 cups of ice. Here's the picture before i ran it.

With those amounts, it pretty much made two of them. Next time i will either try less ice or less ice and less drink. The processing also fluffed up the coffee drink to where the while thing became full of the drink.

i had to take alittle out just to be able to grab the blades to take out easier lol.

I will also try another idea i had for a frappuccino that i saw on pinterest(i think that's where i saw it) once i get a ice cube tray.

Lastly i wanted to share my deal i figured out on the skinny coffee.

I went to go get more of the little ones i bought before because that is what i was pretty sure i only saw. Once i was at walmart and about to go grab some, i saw these large ones. Checking them out, these large ones were a better deal. You lose the easy on the go the little ones give you, but i don't need them on the go really, and i have to go cups at home i could use.
Anyways. The little ones are like around 11 ounces and cost over $3 each. These large ones are about 33 ounces and cost under $6. So you get close to 3 times the amount for under double the cost the little ones. talk about a deal!
Even the cashier was pleasantly surprised on the deal of the large ones. I don't think she's tried the drinks before but she did notice the price and size of them. I had also a different flavor of one of the little ones so she saw the difference that way.

Spaghetti Inside Garlic Bread

Doesn't that just look so yummy?!?!?!

This was inspired by this picture: http://pinterest.com/pin/464152305316350079/
There was no recipe attached to the picture, so i just figured out something out to do myself and this is what came of it.

Since there was no recipe attached, i wasn't sure on what bread they used, could of been home made. I probably could of found something to make, but i ended up just going with pizza crust for the bread. I saw something else that was a similar idea to this, just different filling, and they used croissants for the breading(the kind from the tubes). The pizza crust worked out fine for a bread, was fairly easy to use since i used the tube kind so i didn't have to roll it out, just had to unroll it lol.

Since there's not a recipe with the picture, i'll write a small step by step that i did for this, i will have 3 pictures to post afterwards.

I had my oven at 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
1. Place foil over baking sheet. (makes for easier clean up)
2. Spray the foil with cooking spray. (just in case it tried to stick)
3. Open and unroll the pizza crust.
4. Brush melted butter along the middle section, where the spaghetti will go. Then sprinkle with garlic salt. (garlic bread sprinkle should work too, i did this to help give it more garlic bread flavor)
5. Place the spaghetti along the center and top with your choice of cheese. (check out picture link provided above for example, or picture of mine below)
6. cut the extra sides of the dough into strips. (i might of mind mine a little too thin, but just meant more than if they were thicker)
7. fold over each strip over the spaghetti, trying to make sure as much of the spaghetti is covered. (larger strips mean less folds)
8. Once all folded, brush the top with melted butter and sprinkle with garlic salt. (or whatever garlic you used)
9. Put it in the oven

Now i ended up cooking mine for 14 minutes. That's what the tube said to cook thick crust pizza. After i took mine out, i should of cooked it for less. Then after eating it, parts were still just slightly doughy, wasn't too bad, i think was mostly just a few parts that the cheese was at. So i suggest either lower temp for longer or if you don't care about the possible doughy, then just cook it for a little less than 14 minutes, making sure you check to make sure it's not getting over cooked.

I plan on making this again, to try and find the best way of making it, temp and time, pizza crust or croissants, all that type of stuff. I will keep updating on what i do for it.

Here's the pictures i said i was going to post.

 This shows how the spaghetti should be placed and example of how to fold it over

 how it looked before cooking

and this is why i found out 14 minutes was too long. the edges were getting burnt. the middle bottom was still alright. It was almost over cooked but wasn't burnt.

I think last thing would mostly be the taste. What i made was good. I've had a lot of garlic(mostly garlic salt) while growing up, so i have a harder time tasting garlic than the rest of my family, so i felt there wasn't enough garlic taste, but my mom was just fine with how much was there. I also used day old spaghetti because that was at my mom's request because she prefers day old spaghetti because the noddles get to soak up the sauce some. For the cheese, i used cheddar cheese.
Taste really all matters on how you prepare it. It will taste different with different ways the spaghetti gets made, depending on what breading you use, what cheese you use, how much garlic and all that. Just will need to experiment with what you want :)

My brother isn't a spaghetti fan so he never tried this, but he suggested that he would if i made it with Alfredo,  so that will be another variation i will try and make in the future.


I hope this post is helpful. It's kinda annoying to find something on pinterest that you want to make and not find a recipe or step by step type thing. That was partly why i wanted to write more than just the taste on here :)

Nature's Harvest Dry Roasted Edamame, with Sea Salt

I enjoy edamame, so when i saw this, i thought i'd try it. I've mostly just had the kind that steams in the pod and then you pop them out of the pods. So this was something new to try.

On the package, can't really be seen in the picture, it says: "0g trans fat & a cholesterol free food" "excellent source of fiber & protein" and "good source of iron"
I found this page with the nutrition facts since i didn't take a picture: http://www.fooducate.com/app#page=product&id=9C324C02-0F87-11E1-8977-1231380C180E
As you can see, just 1/4 cup of these, you get 5g of fiber and 11g of protein.
I think if you compare a cups worth of this to a cups worth of peanuts, these turn out to be better. Aside from the sodium and carbs. if you go based on weight watcher's point plus system, the edamames are 15 points for a cup(4 points for a 1/4 cup serving) and the peanuts are 24 points for a cups worth. I'd say points wise, these are good for a replacement. I do feel it has a nutty taste/feel to it when you eat these. Whether just eating these or putting them on a salad, not sure yet what else you could put them on lol. i don't know how well they'd cook in things.

Edamames are also good for you. i found this page to explain why: http://www.livestrong.com/article/409591-the-health-benefits-of-edamame/

I am finding myself having a hard time not popping these into my mouth as i'm writing this lol. Though they are salty, i don't think it's like how peanuts are to where you feel like your mouth is drying out from eating a handful. The texture is different from peanuts, i feel it's more of a crumble like texture once you start to chew them.

For those who are dieting, i say this might be worth you trying out to see if you like it. I'm not sure how much i'll keep this on hand since i don't seem to stick to a good diet. But i would buy this again in general.

Lastly, i wanted to share a picture of what a serving size looks like

Apple Cinnamon Water

I'll admit it...I'm one of those people who wants those quick fix in weight loss. So when something talks about bring up metabolism and such, i want to try them. My downfall.....I don't stick with them. Drinking water is my biggest downfall, i just don't really drink it. Main part of that for me is that i don't like the taste and it's so boring for me. While browsing Pinterest, i did come across this drink, Day Spa Apple Cinnamon Water- 0 calories.

It mostly talks about how to make it rather than the why it works. Personally for me, i haven't tried it long enough with drinking it enough to notice what difference it makes. So i'll go into a small bit on that.

I think i had heard about cinnamon helping, but didn't really know why. so i just did a quick search and this webpage seems to give a good explaining to why. http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/weight-loss/how-a-scoop-of-cinnamon-a-day-can-help-you-lose-weight.html#b
For the apples, I already knew that apples were a good fruit to eat to help get a wake up boost, so just kinda figuring that along helps with metabolism. Did a quick search and found this page that seems to give a short thing about apples. Just not sure about on this since you are not eating the apples. http://www.livestrong.com/article/233137-do-apples-help-you-lose-weight/
Last thing is the ice. You might be like "Say what? Ice makes you lose weight?" Yes it does, well the ice water. I've read on this one before, it's because it's cooling your body down when you drink it, so it has to work harder to warm itself back up. Along with you getting the water you need. I went ahead and found an article for you to read if you want more information on it. http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/diet-fitness/weight-loss/question447.htm

I'm not a nutritionist or anything, or even really that healthy. But it is something i read up on for when i finally get my butt moving on the right track. So that's why i wanted to provide the articles as to why. Feel free to share better articles if you know of any.

Now back to the drink itself.

For prepping, it really isn't that hard. Just cut the apples, put in the sticks, add the ice, fill with water, then put in the fridge.
For taste, this mostly matters on what apples you use. I either used honey crisp or fugi. Been awhile since i made this so i don't remember. Would be interesting to try with green apples since they'd have a tarter taste. For what i did use, this was good. The cinnamon did give it an almost burning like feel for me when drinking it, if i'm remember right.

I will be making this again at some point to try and see what difference happens if i actually drink a gallon of it a day. Will be a little experiment for myself. Just probably won't be at least until my daughter starts sleeping at slightly better times.

I hope this post helps those who read it.

A Banana + 2 Eggs = Pancakes?

Now i dont have a pretty picture of a nice stack of these....I eat while i cook pancakes, only time i have a stack is after i get full lol. This picture though is of one of the pancakes i made. Here's a good page to use to follow how to make them, http://www.blogilates.com/recipe-index/100-natural-pancakes-recipe-gluten-free-flourless-low-calorie

I've tried this before where you just use a fork and mash the banana and 2 eggs together to get a smoother texture. I don't remember really how those turned out. For this one, i did a double batch of 1 bananas and 4 eggs and i used my food processor to mix them together. might of gave it a thinner texture, but seemed okay.
Here's some pictures from me processing it...

I ended up trying to cook on stove top and on an electric griddle....i think both are fairly a bust if you try and rush this. because it's thin and only eggs and bananas, cooking it on a high temp just doesn't really seem to work. Lower and little longer seems to work better. Also, if you are not using a non stick pan, be sure to spray or it will be even harder to flip. It's hard to flip it on it's own. In a few comments on the link i provided above, there was comments about adding coconut flour to thicken it a little to make it easier to flip. You can use normal flour, just would defeat the flourless part of this. I've read that coconut flour is good for you, and it's gluten free. Could maybe also use almond flour, just almond flour is something to watch because it's made purely from nuts (easy enough to google more info if you are interested). I wouldn't mind trying this again with using the almond flour or coconut flour to thicken it.

There was also a comment about about using this for crepes(might of been a comment on part of the pinterest post i found it through). i liked the idea of the crepes, just i didn't have any whip type topping and the pan i was using wouldn't be very good for making crepes. I did managed to make a slightly thinner one and just put some of my greek cream cheese on it then rolled it.

Tasted pretty close to a cream cheese filled crepe.

As for the taste alone, it has a banana taste to it...i'd be surprised if it didn't. I'd say it's almost like a banana muffin type taste? i ate one while it was cold and when cold it did taste a good bit like banana bread. For not having flour in it, it did still have a slight bread/pancake feel for it

For me, i find this just a pretty simple something to make if i just want to make something quick to eat and have bananas and eggs. it's an alright way to use up almost gone bad bananas. Which both reasons were why i made these when i did.

Green Mountain Farms Greek Cream Cheese

In other posts i've mentioned a greek yogurt cream cheese that i've used. This is the product i have been talking about.

With my hopes for actually dieting, healthier alternatives, such as the greek yogurts, tend to catch my eye. I love cream cheese. The idea of it being made with greek yogurt did give me a bit of a "uhhhh i'm not sure on this" type feeling. But i was pleasantly surprised on the taste. It's not exactly like normal cream cheese, but has a good taste to it. I've only tried the whipped version so far, i got the brick version for when i get a recipe that needs cream cheese. Even the texture is a cream cheese one still. I really could just eat a spoonful. Which i seem to be trying to do while writing this.

When searching the name of this product, i found their website http://www.franklinfoods.com/greek-cream-cheese

That should be able to give better info on the actual product. As it says on the site, it can be bought at walmart, which is where i found it. I think it would be fun to do a taste test of regular cream cheese with this one to see what real taste difference there is, maybe i will some day. For now, this is the cream cheese i will be using unless i want flavored ones, though i'm sure i could figure out how to just flavor this on my own.

Here's the nutrition facts for the whipped one. (found on the website i provided)

8oz. Whipped Tub

Serving Size - 2 Tbsp (22g)

Amount per Serving

Calories 45 Calories from Fat 20

% Daily Value

Total Fat             2.5g      4%

Saturated Fat    1.5g      8%

Trans Fat              0g

Cholesterol      10mg    4%

Sodium             65mg    3%

Total Carb         2g         1%

Fiber                   0g

Sugars               2g

Protein               3g 

Based on that, if you go to figure out the weight watches points plus for it, it's only 1 point for 2 tbs!!!! that's a lot better than other ones. I was checking out the points on other creams cheeses that are listed on the weight watcher's website. There are other 0-2 point ones that are for like the fat free and even regular, but those were for just 1 tbs. For point wise, i think this one might actually be one of the better ones, without that "healthy" taste. 

I do think the taste will differ for each person, but i like it and do recommend people try it.