Relearning to cook: Pumpkin Muffins/Bread

Monday, September 20, 2010

Last week I made Pumpkin muffins with the intention of blogging about them and frankly, they sucked. One of the things I hate about healthy baked goods is that chewy texture they get. These muffins had very little pumpkin taste, chewy outside, spongy dry middle, and they really weren't worth the 164 calories. So I decided not to bother to blog about them once I made this next recipe.
I used to bake wedding cakes professionally and baking is something that has always been close to my heart. The thing I miss most about eating healthy is pastries and muffins etc so I am determined to find some recipes that I can enjoy. Some people have emailed me and told me they really want to learn to cook so I am going to use a lot of detail. Baking is a precise science so be careful in your substitutions if you decide to change the recipes.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread
Yield:2 loaves for 32 servings
2 cups sugar
2 cups canned pumpkin (if you can't find pumpkin near you mashed sweet potato or butternut squash would work)
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup fat-free vanilla pudding ( I used fat-free greek yogurt)
4 large egg whites
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon (I used more like 3)
1 tsp ground clove (not in original recipe but I think it really added something)
1 tsp ground ginger (also not in original but again added something)
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate (I left them out but the recipe had amazing reviews with them so if you are a chocoholic try it out and let me know how it is)
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees bake

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk.

When you first put all this stuff together it looks really oily. Do not leave out the oil to lighten it because it will affect the crumb of the cake and make it really dry.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, clove, and ginger in a medium size bowl, stirring with a whisk. Make sure to mix the dry ingredients it makes for even distribution throughout the batter. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture, stirring just until moist. (Do not overmix it will make the bread tough) Stir in chocolate chips if you want to use them.

Spoon batter into 2 (8X4-inch) loaf pans coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (Different ovens can run hotter or colder so keep an eye on it when you get close to finish time) Cool for 10 minutes in pans on wire racks, and remove from pans. Cool completely on wire racks.


Doesn't that look amazing?

Calories per slice 152, fat 5 g, Iron 1 mg, cholesterol 0 mg, Calcium 10 mg, Carbs 26.5 g, Sodium 137 mg, Protein 2 g, Fiber 1.1 g

Rating
Taste- 5, absolutely delicious. Seriously this is the best low-fat baked good I have ever had
Visual appeal- 5, it tastes as good as it looks.
Time to make-2 at slightly over an hour baking time it isn't quick but it is all waiting time so no biggie
Difficulty-1 all items are easy to find and other than a boxed mix it doesn't get much easier
Texture-5 moist, delicate, exactly like a full fat version
Portion Size- 3 a little on the small side so it can be easy to overeat this item.

Overall, this is so worth it. I adore pumpkin items in the fall and with the dunkin donuts pumpkin muffin weighing in at 560 calories I haven't been able to enjoy them. This is definitely my new replacement. If you make it let me know what you think!

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Inspirational Story and Rant/Crisis Averted

Monday, September 20, 2010

I headed home from work today a grumbly angry mess ready to unleash the rant of all rants up all of you. I have been bottling up my feelings for awhile and I had just about boiled over. Then a friend posted this on facebook. Please watch it before you read the rest of my blog
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SbXgQqbOoU&

I sat in the bathroom, yeah I don't know why I like to cry in the bathroom, and I bawled hysterically through the entire 5 minutes. I cried because it reminded me how hard I have been working and why I am doing this. How far I have come. This past weekend I didn't eat out of control, I ate out but I controlled my portions and made good choices, I only drank 2 glasses of wine, and I still got up this morning and had gain 2.2 lbs. Now, I know all the reasons why this can happen, but it just sent me over the edge. Then add some personal problems, financial issues, work problems and I just lost my mind. I was ready to just give up. Then I got all of these awesome messages, spark goodies, texts from MADEMCHE (thanks girl, I love you) and then I watched that video and all the stress melted. I am doing this to be happy, to be inspired, to change my life and eating and quitting is not going to give me that life. SP is as important in this journey as the water, exercise, and eating right. Even on days when I am stressed I need to log on and blog it out and support my friends and it will keep me going. Thanks guys, I really need all of you today and it means a lot to me that you rallied to the occasion. I have to get over this need to be perfect and not admitting when I need help. Hugs, Ash

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Positivity is one of the best things about SP

Thursday, September 16, 2010

I had searched for a long time for an online community that was not plagued with ignorance and negativity. I am an elite member of yelp and I found whenever I went on their message boards there were trolls who spent their whole day bullying and belittling people. Same thing on WW website and a few others. A friend of mine was so viciously attacked on WW she closed her account. That kind of behavior is something I just don't understand. Why would you spend the time and energy to attack strangers on a webpage? Does it improve your life? It certainly doesn't help the victim in anyway. It makes me sad. My parents taught me to respect other people and their opinions. I know I am not the only one who was taught that? So why has the internet become a manners free zone?
SP surprised me because I have seen very little of that behavior here. Oddly it seems to be the recipe section that attracts the most negativity. Figures food is the thing we all fight about lol. Kind of ironic. Sure I have had a few negative comments on my blogs but it has only been a handful and considering the number of comments I have gotten that is probably a .0001 percentage of the comments. I will take that average! I try to stray away from religion and politics on here because that isn't what this site is about. Intolerance makes me insane. I really believe if you don't have a positive contribution to a conversation it really is better to not comment at all. I have noticed a lot of preachy blogs that condemn people for this method or that method. Particularly clean eating seems to receive a lot of venom. Why? Maybe drinking diet coke all day works for you but personally I don't get the soda thing. It is one of those things I ditched from my life and never looked back. If you want to suck down chemicals and additives and god knows what all day,that is cool, it is your body. Just because I disagree doesn't make it wrong. Because I choose to eat clean doesn't mean I am some kind of food nazi who can't enjoy food ever again. I genuinely enjoy eating this way. Doesn't mean I don't go to restaurants or enjoy an occasional indulgence. Yes, I can see myself eating like this for life. The point of what I am getting at is that we all do this differently and finding what works for me may not be what works for you. Instead of worrying about what is the "right way" why not be open minded and just support each other? I have received so many positive comments and emails and sparkgoodies. This is the strength of SP. Lets keep the positivity going instead of spending time tearing down this diet book or that weight loss plan. I respect we are all individuals with our own path. Thank you all for your positivity and support. It keeps me going!

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Compliments and Stress

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

This morning I got dressed in some new clothes and I felt pretty good about how I looked. For the first time I feel like I don't look so heavy that I stand out. It feels strange to be worrying so much about my appearance but really exciting at the same time. When I got to work and I went into the kitchen for my usual good mornings to the chef's one of the girls came over to me and said "I have to tell you that yesterday and today you look so sexy and skinny and it is amazing how much you have changed". It made me feel so good. She always says what she thinks and I appreciate real genuine compliments. The coolest thing was not even an hour later I bumped into another one of the female chef's and she said "omg I haven't seen you in 2 weeks and you look amazing. I am so proud of you". She is super into fitness and we talk about it all the time so it meant a lot to me that she had noticed. I felt like a million dollars.
Then I proceeded to have an insanely stress filled day but I am doing so much better managing the stress than before. Honestly, I still want to eat to deal with it but I can talk myself out of it. Before I would have plowed through the entire bag of whatever candy was closest to me. Now I take one look at the candy and I think it isn't worth it. How I feel right now about myself is like a high I have never experienced. I was happy in so many other areas of my life and I just refused to deal with my weight it was like an anchor holding me back. I am so happy I have made the decision to live a healthy life. Everything is easier for me because I feel so much more confident.
Now onto the stress. Men are definitely taking notice and I have mixed feelings about it. It actually makes me kind of angry. Suddenly men are stopping to stare at me and then when I catch them staring they get all nervous and smile at me. One guy even tried to talk to me in my car and he called out something like "hey pretty lady" and I looked around for who he was hollering at. Yup, I didn't even think he could be talking to me. Men at stores and at counters are suddenly so much more helpful and nice. It really pisses me off because it makes me feel like weight shouldn't be such a huge deal. Did that extra 30 pounds really make me invisible? Make me less of a person? It feels so strange. Now granted, I am putting a lot more effort into my appearance in general but it doesn't change who I am in my heart and who I have always been. Uggh, I am sure that this is just my brain taking longer to catch up with my body and I will come to terms with it. All part of the process.

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Small victories= huge motivation

Monday, September 13, 2010

It all started Saturday night. My fiancé finally has weekends off with me so for our first Saturday together we went to the gym first thing in the AM (yeah for both of us, he is living healthy now too and I am so happy) and busted our butts. Then we went to do some electronics shopping for him because we really needed a huge home theatre thingy that I can't even figure out how to use the control . Then we went to Target and saw Machete, it was hubbies turn to pick the movie. It was awesome and a great social commentary which surprised me. So by that point we were STARVING and he wanted seafood. The restaurant was packed and the sushi place was closed to we went for Korean BBQ which I love! Mmmm Bulgogi and kimchi, nom nom nom. Dinner was fabulous but the tables are fixed into the floor with the grill in the middle. I used to have to squeeze in the booth and it made me feel self conscious. When I sat down I realized I barely am half way to the table now. I just stared at my lap in astonishment. Even he noticed it without me having to point it out. It was so amazing. Then this morning when I got up it felt like fall and I thought, YEAH I can wear boots today. I grabbed some new straight leg jeans a friend gave me and I started to put them on thinking they couldn't possibly fit yet. They fit perfect and were a tad big in the waist . When I looked in the mirror I realized for the first time I can remember since high school I could see my rib bones. WTF is that!? When I stand up straight and "engage my core" you can very clearly see rib bones sticking out under my bra. I did it about 20 times and just kept staring in amazement. I am going home tonight and running in and ripping off my shirt to show the man. This is one of the most exciting things I have experienced in recent history. Honestly, it surprises me at this weight I am having victories like this. I know I am tall but I feel like I am still way too heavy to be the size I am and seeing the bones etc that I am. Times like this make me think about why did I live so unhappy for so long?? I can't wait to see what the next 10 lbs off brings me?!

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