After almost 6 years of marriage...

...We finally got ourselves a toaster.
I have no idea what took us so long. I think it somehow got turned into a game- let's see how long we can make it without a toaster.
Answer: 5 years, 7 months, 11 days, 18 hours and 35 minutes.

My husband was excited to have a toaster strudel.I took one bite of his, and that was enough for me. Reading the ingredients and nutrition facts on these things, will help you do just that.

And I couldn't wait to get my hands on a nice and toasty
BLT, with turkey bacon.I like mine lightly toasted.
My husband likes his burnt.
Who knew? :)

Can you live without your toaster, or do you use it everyday?

Brittany's Kitchen Adventures- Turkey Chili

Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving!

Welcome to Brittany's Kitchen Adventures!
Before going on a "diet", I had practically never stepped foot inside the kitchen. I've had to teach myself how to cook/bake, but there's still a lot of things I've never tried, because they intimidate me. I'm a Deliciously Healthy cook/baker in training. Come on a journey with me as I conquer the kitchen! Every Monday, I pick something new and challenging to try in the kitchen! I blog about each kitchen adventure, whether it was a success or not. There's bound to be some disasters, but hopefully a lot of Deliciously Healthy successes!

I have a confession to make.
I. Brittany@Deliciously Healthy. Am afraid of crockpots.

Yup. It's true.
I finally bought one about 6 months ago, but I've used one excuse after another to not use it. Crockpots intimidate me. Why? I'm not sure. I guess it's because I went my whole childhood without even seeing one with my own eyes. From what I remember, the first time I saw a crockpot was when I was 14, at my aunts house. "You leave it on all day? Huh?"
And I've been intimidated ever since.

Another little fact about me: I LOVE chili. Mmmm. So good. But, I've always been too intimidated to make it. It's so good, it has to be out of my cooking league.

So for this weeks kitchen adventure, I'm tackling 2, yes TWO things that scare the chubbiness right out of me.

I used this recipe, because it had the word "quick" in it. And that made me feel better.

First up, I cooked the ground turkey in a skillet. I thought I was going to cook the turkey IN the crockpot. Apparently slow cooking meat was one of the things that intimidated me, because I was relieved when I saw that I just had to cook the turkey the way I've done a thousand times before. That, I can do.On a side note- You want a cheap Christmas decorating tip? Slap present bows on everything!

Next I chopped up some onion, and bell pepper.

Then I just threw the tomato soup, canned beans, veggies and seasonings in the crockpot.
And started to stir everything together. At this point I started talking out loud to myself. I was telling myself how easy this was. That it was absolutely silly of me to be afraid of the crockpot, and of making chili, and I should believe in myself more. And just then, I realized I forgot a step. I forgot to spray the inside of the crockpot with cooking spray. Whoops.

I finished up stirring, put on the lid, turned it on high, and walked away, giving myself a pat on the back. 30 minutes later I came back to check on it. "Hmm. I thought it would be doing something by now?" Then I realized I forgot to plug it in. Silly me.

4 hours later, we dug in!Mmm. The fact that I made it, makes it the best chili I've ever had. Seriously delish.

It's the perfect dish to eat while sitting in front of the Christmas tree, and listening to Christmas music.
I feel myself getting more and more courageous in the kitchen. I'm realizing how silly it is of me to be intimidated by things like this. It's actually pretty empowering. Before you know it, I'm going to be making things I can't even pronounce! Like in french and stuff. I can't wait!

Is there a kitchen appliance that intimidates you?
Have you put up your Christmas tree yet?

Easy Apple Dumplings, and my :Deliciously Healthy Thanksgiving Menu

The one and only Pioneer Women has this amazingly delicious apple dumpling recipe. It involves 2 sticks of butter,
1 1/2 cups of sugar, and 2 cans of mountain dew, among other things.

It's so good...but you know that's going to go
straight to my hips.

I also love her recipe, because it's very, very simple and quick. The prep time is seriously like 10 minutes.

Simple + Delicious = It has to find a place at my Thanksgiving table this year.

I just had to figure out how to lighten them up a bit.
A little less heart-attack in a casserole dish, and more Deliciously Healthy.

And I think that's exactly what I did.

I cut out some of the sugar, cut the butter in half, and used
apple cider in lieu of mountain dew.And it tastes exactly the same.
That always amazes me.

(because I was experimenting with this, I cut the recipe in half, making only 8 dumplings, instead of 16. I've listed the full recipe, but my pictures are of half the recipe)

Deliciously Healthy Apple Dumplings:

What you need:

• 2 granny smith apples
• 2 cans of Pillsbury crescent rolls
• 1 cup apple cider or apple juice
• 1 stick of smart balance buttery spread (it's half butter, half margarine... and half the cal.)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• cinnamon

What you do:
Preheat your oven to 350. Butter a 9x13 baking dish. Peel and core apples, then cut each apple into 8 slices, so you end up with 16 apple slices. Roll out the crescent roll dough. Then roll up an apple slice into each of the crescent rolls. Lay them side by side in your greased baking dish. Melt 1 stick of butter in sauce pan over low heat. When butter is melted, add apple cider, sugar, vanilla, and just barely stir together. You want it to be lumpy. Poor the mixture over the top of the dumplings. Sprinkle cinnamon over top, and bake for 30-40 minutes. Then get ready for some warm gooey goodness.
My husband may, or may not have screamed like a girl when he had one.I added a little low-fat whipped cream. It would be divine with vanilla ice cream.

info:
servings: 16
serving size: 1 dumpling
calories per serving: 230
How many calories are in a traditional slice of apple pie? 410!
I nearly cut the calories in half.
I'm making these apple dumplings in lieu of apple pie. Because by the time you're done eating your turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and everything else, there's just no room to eat 5 different kinds of pie. You always hope there's going to be, but there never is. These apple dumplings are going to be the perfect solution, to the too many pies problem. A slice of pumpkin pie, and one of these, and I'm
good to go.

What other Deliciously Healthy yumminess is going to be on my table?
Funny you should ask:

• Turkey, of course ;)
• Mashed potatoes
• Gina's stuffing
• Whole wheat rolls
• Cranberry sauce out of the can. Thanksgiving isn't thanksgiving to me, without a can shaped mold of cranberry sauce on the table.
• And pumpkin pie. This is going to be this Monday's kitchen adventure. Wish me luck, and tune in on Monday to see how it goes!

I hope everyone has a very happy, and healthy thanksgiving!

I Got My Cooking/Baking Mojo Back!

This past week, I've had nothing but one recipe disaster after the other.
It was super frustrating, and I started to wonder if I should get my butt out of the kitchen. Aside from driving me crazy (and broke), this problem was rather inconvenient. I have a hungry husband to feed!

But I didn't give up. I tried one recipe after the other.
Finally, I got my mojo back!

We are really excited about this, here at our house.
We have the yummy aroma of a good home cooked meal, filling our house again.

This meatloaf recipe from Good Housekeeping,
is what got me out of my cooking funk.
It was tasty!(it tasted better then it looks. I promise ;)
Wanna make it? Click HERE for the recipe!

Then tonight I made these heavenly
Doughnut Muffins:I got the recipe from one of my favorite blogs,
Slim Shoppin'
She is awesome. Deliciously. Awesome.
I loved these, and I think it was the easiest muffin recipe I've ever made.
I tried linking you to the recipe, but it didn't work. Here's the recipe I got off her site:

1 cup all purpose flour
¾ cup whole wheat flour
¼ cup flax seed, ground
½ cup vanilla yogurt (I used light)
½ cup sugar
¼ cup canola oil
1 egg
½ tsp. salt
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
¾ cup skim milk
3 tablespoons chocolate chips

Just mix everything together until it’s combined. Try not to over stir.

Spray a muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray, and bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Sprinkle muffins with cinnamon and sugar, before baking.

Calories for each muffin: 175 calories, 6.5 grams of fat 25 carbs and 1.5 grams of fiber.

It feels nice to cook up a deliciously healthy storm again!

Now I'm in the cooking and baking mood!
I think fall does that to you. Does it not?

I've found lots of yummy recipes on blogs, that I can't wait to try!

If you have any deliciously healthy recipes you think I should try, what are you waiting for?
Share them with me!
Please ;D

An Old Favorite Recipe, With A Deliciously Healthy Twist!

I am in love with Shepperd's Pie.
It gives me that warm and fuzzy feeling every time sink my teeth into a fork full of this yummy comfort food! Yes, food has the ability to give me warm and fuzzy feelings, and that's never going to change.

I. Love. Food.

And in order for me to be successful on this journey to lose weight, and become healthier, I need to embrace that. I can't, and will not break up with delicious food, and I will
never stop loving the food I eat.

I hadn't had Shepperd's Pie since January, before I started this Deliciously Healthy Journey of mine (on a side note: Gosh I've grown so much since then!). Why hadn't I had my beloved Shepperd's Pie? Well, let's start with the fact that the potato layer had 1 stick of butter, and 1 cup of cream. Yes, straight up cream. On top of that, I would have veggies mixed in with greasy ground beef. On top of that went biscuit batter topped with 3/4 of a stick of melted butter. Yes, more butter. I had gotten the recipe from Paula Deen. You know how she loves her butter!

So, I had shied away from Shepperd's Pie.
Why? I freakin LOVE it!

As I said before, I will never stop loving food, and there is no reason I can't have Shepperd's Pie while on a diet. All I have to do, is make a few healthy tweaks. Sure, it's probably not the healthiest recipe I could make, but it's almost half the calories as the original, and I'm getting to enjoy something I LOVE while being on a diet.
And that folks, is priceless.

I wasn't sure if it was going to come out the same, but it is seriously DELISH! It tasted just like the recipe I used to make, with all the butter and cream! My husband, and our house guest LOVED it as well!

Deliciously Healthy Shepperd's Pie:

This is what you need:

• 1 small onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 stick of smart balance butter blend or 1/2 cup regular smart balance
  
• 1 1/2 pounds lean ground turkey
• salt and black pepper
• 8 to 10 medium red potatoes
• 2 cups low fat milk. Divided
• 1/2 cup low fat sour cream
• 2 cups of instant biscuit mix
  
• 2 cups mixed vegetables

This is what you do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Ground Turkey Layer:

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add chopped onion, and ground turkey. When the turkey is cooked, add the veggies, and turn to low heat. Cover with a lid for about 5 min, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside.

Potato Layer:

Slice potatoes 1/4-inch thick. Place in a saucepan, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Cook for about 15 minutes or until fork tender. Drain potatoes and transfer to a mixing bowl. Mash potatoes with 1/2 cup heated milk, 1 stick smart balance butter blend, and sour cream. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Mix until it's the consistency you like.

Biscuit Layer:

Combine biscuit mix and 1 1/2 cups of milk. The mix should be thinner than that of normal biscuit mix but not runny.

Spray a 9 by 9 by 2-inch pan (or any similar casserole dish) with cooking spray. Layer mashed potatoes halfway up the sides of the dish. Next, spread a layer of turkey and mixed veggies on top of the potatoes. Then pour the biscuit batter over the turkey/veggies. Bake for about 35 to 45 minutes or until top is golden brown. Let stand for a few minutes before serving.

Here's what I'm thinking:

• Serves 10 and the servings are nice and big!
• Calories per serving: 425

Enjoy!

(this is less then a serving!)

It's really good with ketchup!

Besides looking a tad evil! ;D

Psst...
I posted my recipe on Smart Balance.com.
I would appreciate your vote to all those who try this yummy recipe!
Rate it HERE
Thanks!

I Enjoy Being Deliciously Healthy

Hello!(I'm a nerd;)

I'm still being a complete blog slacker aren't I?
I'll do better, I promise ;D

Tuesday was my weigh in (is it Friday already?). It had me at 182. What do you know, I'm down 2 pounds from last weeks weigh in. It's like clock work!! Because of the (crazy) goals I set for myself a while ago, this 2 pound loss every week, may have caused steam to shoot out of my ears by now, but it hasn't (I promise;). I'm happy with it. I'm at peace with it.

This week, I think something finally clicked:
I'm not on a diet!
Seriously. I'm not. LOL!
I'm simply making healthy choices, and living a healthier lifestyle. This week, the majority of my focus has been on putting Deliciously Healthy fuel into my body, and figuring out how I can eat cleaner, by making simple changes. Eating healthy, and being healthy, came way before thinking about calories, and weigh-ins. This week, it's been a lifestyle, NOT a diet! I'm eating Deliciously Healthy, and I'm loving it!

Who knew you could live and be healthy, love what you eat, AND lose weight? Being healthier is gratifying and worth it, all by itself! Losing 2 pounds a week on top of that, feels like a little extra bonus. I'll take that little extra bonus with a smile on my face, and be grateful for it! :)

I'm not saying that this journey isn't hard for me, and that I don't still day dream about cupcakes, and chocolate donuts with pink sprinkles (MMM).
This is my new lifestyle. A lifestyle that is healthy, and has more meaning, then simply the numbers on the scale. I see the bigger picture now, and seeing the big picture, gives me the strength, knowledge and motivation, to eat Deliciously Healthy, and enjoy doing it.

So, that's where I am this week. 182, happy, healthy, grateful, and content!
I'm not making any promises for next week! I kid. I kid ;D

Now, it's time for a Deliciously Healthy recipe!
Are you ready for this? Because it's awesome!

I had a few things in my fridge, that were going to go bad if I didn't use them soon. I had low-fat ricotta cheese left over from my stuffed shells, spinach, mushrooms a friend gave me, and 1lb of turkey my husband put in the fridge for some reason, so I had to cook it soon. Hmmm.... What can I make, that uses all of those ingredients?

(Light bulb moment)

Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna!!It was delish! My husband loved it! My husband always says he doesn't like "diet food". His taste buds are my Deliciously Healthy, gauge. If it's healthy enough for me, and delicious enough for him, it can make it onto my little blog. He licked his plate (it's sad, but I'm not kidding), so it passed the test!

Here's What You Need:

~8 ounce package whole wheat lasagna noodles
~1 pound lean ground turkey
~1 cup chopped onion
~1 1/4 cups low-fat ricotta cheese
~4 egg whites
~1 cup chopped mushrooms
~1 package of spinach, cooked. Or you can use 1 10 ounce package of frozen spinach, thawed and drained.
~3/4 teaspoon salt
~1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
~1 14 ounce jar of low-sodium spaghetti sauce
~3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

This is What You Do:

Heat oven to 35o. Cook noodles according to package. While noodles are cooking, cook turkey, and add the chopped onion to the turkey. Mix together in a bowl, the ricotta cheese, and next 5 ingredients. Pour 1/2 cup of the spaghetti sauce, in a 11X7X1 1/2 baking dish. Lay 4 of the cooked noodles on top, overlapping each other. Spoon out half the mushroom mixture, and spread over noodle layer. Poor half the turkey and onion mixture, over the top. Lay down 3 noodles, to create a new layer. Spoon out remaining mushroom mixture, and spread over the noodles. Pour the remaining turkey and onion over the top. Lay down 3 noodles, and pour the remaining spaghetti sauce over the top. Cover loosely, and bake for 50min. Uncover, and bake for an additional 10min.

Here's What I'm Thinking:
6 servings
~About 390 calories, per serving.

****

Deliciously Healthy Tip:Since I've been cooking healthy, I've noticed that I seem to be getting rid of a lot of egg yolks! It seriously pained me to dump them down the drain! That was until I learned you can give them to your dog! Egg yolks are easy on their stomachs, helps their metabolism and muscles, and it makes their coats nice and shiny! We have 3 dogs: A Cairn terrier, Lab, and a Greyhound. I read that egg yolks are especially good for Greyhounds, so I give the majority of them to her. I would check to make sure that it's okay for your specific breed, but if you have a dog, and hate wasting egg yolks, this can be a great alternative! :D
(Note: It's not healthy however, to give your dog only the egg whites. You either want to give them the egg yolks, or a whole egg.)

I hope you all have a FANTASTIC weekend!!
And remember: It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle.
Whoever came up with that phrase, is a genius. Probably a skinny genius ;D

Whole Bunch of Randomness ;)

HI EVERYONE!!

Oh how I've missed you guys!
I survived week 1. Hopefully next week will be the last week of this, "duty" I've been assigned, and I can have my life back!

Because I haven't had the time to blog, I'm going to squeeze all the posts I haven't had the time to do, into one big blog post! So, it's going to be a little all over the place! I hope I don't make you dizzy! ;)

Let the complete randomness begin! :

1st of all, I got 2 blog awards this week!

The first, is the "Creative Writer" award, from the wonderful Molly Marie Gets Healthy blog!Here are the rules:
1. Thank the person who gave this to you
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog
3. Link to the person who nominated you
4. Tell up to six outrageous lies about yourself, and at least one outrageous truth
5. Nominate seven “Creative Writers” who might have fun coming up with outrageous lies
6. Post links to the seven blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know you nominated them.

To comply with the 4th rule, here are 6 outrageous lies about myself, and 1 truth! Can you guess which one's the truth? :

1. I'm really a man
2. I love sea food
3. I like to walk on the wild side
4. My favorite color is puke green
5. I was a child beauty queen
6. I'm a chocoholic
7. I'm an excellent artist

Now, I pass along the award to the following 7 creative bloggers:

Dawne
CBG Blog
Swimming it off
Project 365
Jewlia Goulia
Fat Girl Dives In
Doin' It For Me

THANK YOU MOLLY MARIE!!

The 2nd award is the "Sunshine award", given to me by the totally awesome CBG Blog!Here are the blogs I pass along the award to, and who bring sunshine to my day! :
(There's no limit, so I'm gonna go a little crazy!)

Dawne
Loser Girl
Bella
Project 365
Anonymous Fat Girl
Endurance Isn't Only Physical
Molly Marie Gets Healthy
Chubby Girl Diary
Watch My Butt Shrink
Two Pounds a Week
Corletta
Deborah

THANK YOU JESSICA!

Alrighty then. Now on to the next subject, which would be the results from my weigh in! ...Which was almost a week ago! Last Tuesday, I weighed 189!! Whoo hoo! It's been over 3 years since I've been in the 180's! It was a nice little milestone for me! I also did a sneak peek weigh in, a day or two ago, and I weighed 188! That means I'm only 2 pounds away from losing my first 20 pounds! (In October/November, I weighed 206. Whoa!) I'm very excited to reach that milestone! ...and for the little award I get for reaching it! ;)

A few days ago, I found out that a website called, budget life, did a blog post listing the top 25 weight loss blogs (In their opinion), and what do you know, I was listed! I was pretty flattered! This is what they said about Moi! :
"Twentysomething Brittany has more reasons than simple vanity to lose weight (although looking great in skinny jeans is a goal, too!). She’s got quite the number of health problems, and for all her dreams to come true, she’s got to lose some weight. However, she doesn’t want to give up her love for food while she’s at it. Now she shares her trials, tribulations, and triumphs in her pursuit to better health and a happier life. With her tips and recipes, you can be :deliciously healthy, too!"
I LOVE it! ;)

Next up, is my new favorite quick and yummy, Deliciously Healthy dish!
Do you like sloppy Joe's? Well, my husband and I live for them! Before going on my little diet, we ate sloppy Joe's ALL the time! A couple weeks ago, I was craving them like a mad women! Finally, I got the idea to simply make a few tweaks, to make them Deliciously Healthy! And boy did I ever!

I cooked up some lean ground turkey, added some seasonings, including cinnamon (Trust me. It's AWESOME!), and stirred in some Manwich sauce! Then, I just put a couple nice big spoon fulls on a whole wheat bun, and sprinkled on some low-fat mozzarella cheese! I dug into that messy goodness like nobodies business! It was totally yummy, totally filling, and totally simple and quick to make! Plus, It totally satisfied my craving! We've had them several times since then!I've also used hotdog buns:
Now for a couple little random side notes! :

~Yesterday, I went pant shopping, and bought a size 16! I used to be a size 18! I'm 1 pant size smaller! Whoo hoo!

~My husband made some cinnamon rolls today, and I'm totally not having a problem passing them up (knock on wood;). That's pretty darn amazing to me, since I LOVE cinnamon rolls!

~I've been having lots of fun going through my closet, and seeing what I can fit back into! It's so rewarding!

~I think I should have a little more time this week to do some blogging! I have a few posts in mind, including some yummy recipes I want to try! I'll keep my fingers crossed that I'll have the time!

~I totally miss reading all of your blogs, and I'm going to do my best to catch up on all my BF! I hope everyone has been doing well!

XOXO

Another Deliciously Healthy Weekend!

We started out the weekend by going to the movies. This was my 1st time going to the movies, since I've been on my diet, so I was a little nervous. Movie theaters are a major temptation for me, for 2 reasons:
#1.Kettle corn makes me weak in the knees.
#2. Before catching a movie, we ALWAYS go out to eat at one of my favorite restaurants, Jim-N-Nicks, because it's right next to the theater. It's a hard habit to break. AND, you can smell their BBQ outside, and down the block. Seriously. That's how we 1st found the restaurant. Our noses led us there ;)

So, in an effort to resist the kettle corn, and conquer the aroma of Jim-N-Nicks BBQ that surrounds the area, I made BBQ chicken wraps at home, for dinner. I was good and full when we left for our movie, and I got a little BBQ fix :)
My mouth was watering by the time I got done making it, and all I could think about was sitting down and digging in! So, this is the only picture I remembered to take ;)I got 4 boneless skinless chicken breast, and cut them into about 1/2 inch strips, and cooked them in a skillet. Once they were done cooking, I added 1 cup of sweet and tangy BBQ sauce, some chopped onions, and let it simmer for about 5min.Then I just put some of the chicken strips in a low calories tortilla, added some low-fat cheese, low-fat sour cream, and some cubes of avocado.
It was delish, and very filling!

After dinner, we were headed to the movies, with full bellies!
I brought a 100 calorie pack to eat during the movie. ( Shhhh! Don't tell! ;)I'm glad I didn't spoil my diet while going out to see a movie, because we ended up leaving early, due to a very talkative, and annoying lady sitting behind us. We got a refund, and she got kicked out :) Normally I don't do things like that, but she was obviously doing it to be disruptive. I would have been really disappointed if I had spoiled my diet, for a movie we didn't end up seeing. It was a test to see if I could resist the sweet aroma of BBQ, and kettle corn, and stick to my diet...and I passed! To me, that was better then any movie!

I also made some tacos this weekend. I got the idea from THIS blog, to use lettuce instead of taco shells...genius! Then I just cooked up some lean ground turkey with taco seasoning. I topped my tacos off with low-fat sour cream, low-fat cheese, tomato, onion, salsa, and avocado. It was totally tasty! Two tacos filled my husband and I up pretty darn good! ;)

The rest of the weekend was spent lounging around. My husband was sick/getting over being sick this weekend, so we didn't really do much, other then attempt to see a movie, play cards, watch the new season of 24, and EAT...Deliciously Healthy of course!

On a little side note: I stepped on the scale this morning!
I told myself Monday was the day I needed to start looking at the numbers, and stop being blissfully unaware. So, I finally did it. The numbers said, "194.5" That means I've lost 2lbs. Boo! ;) Actually, I'm not that disappointed that I've lost 2lbs in 3 weeks. At least it's something. If I were to gain 2lbs, I would be really upset, and would look at those 2 little pounds as a major deal. So why shouldn't I treat losing 2lbs as a major deal? Also, for the first week and a half, I was focusing on weening myself off of things slowly, instead of stopping everything at the same time. Then, into the 2nd, and a little bit into the 3rd week, I had already stopped all the bad foods, and I was eating healthy, but I wasn't keeping an eye on my portions, or counting my calories. That was the last stage of the process for me. Add on top of all that, the fact that I've barely (and by barely, I mean I haven't) worked out, and I'd say I'm pretty happy with a 2 pound loss.

Now that I've got everything down pretty good, it's time to switch this from being a nice and slow stroll in the park, to a brisk walk. It's time to work up a sweat, and burn some calories baby!

Hope you all had a great weekend!