A healthy meal for friends

For this meal I served a pulled-pork sandwich that was less then 369 calories! To do this I used a pork tenderloin in place of the traditional port shoulder and replaced the BBQ sauce with crushed tomatoes, brown sugar, and mustard. I even topped it off with a light cabbage slaw. For the side I made Chile-Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges. This served four and had a calorie count of 191.

For the sweet part of our meal I made roasted pears with crushed cookies. Pears are naturally sweet and become even more when baked until very tender. They are delicious on their own or topped with a dollop of rich mascarpone cheese and crumbled cookies for a slightly lavish treat. This had a calorie  count of 196.

Celebrate American Heart Month!

With February being American Heart Month rock out the kitchen with heart inspired recipes! Below you will find some fun recipes to try out, enjoy!:)

Heart Milk Cubes:
* 10 Cavity Heart Shape Silicone Mold (I picked mine out at Wal-Mart for less than $1.50)
*Milk
*8-9 drops of red food coloring
Combine milk & red food coloring and pour into silicone mold. Freeze overnight and serve in the morning in a glass of milk
http://asubtlerevelry.com/heart-milk-cubes

Lil York Mint Owls:
These are an adorable way to use up heart shaped York mints, and there are many variations to colors you can use for the eyes and wings. To save blog space I'll post the link below
http://www.myowlbarn.com/2012/01/valentines-day-treat.html

Strawberry & Ghiradelli Heart Puppy Chow:
This recipe was a sweet and fruit inspired variation to puppy chow without the usual peanut butter I'm used to. It was terribly addicting, I used White Ghiradelli chocolate chips, & sampled as many of those chips as I did the puppy chow! Check it out on the link below
http://jericas-world.blogspot.com/2013/02/be-mine-series-valentine-puppy-chow.html

Cupid's Cloud & Brownie Hearts!

Cupid's Cloud and Brownie Hearts are the perfect combo for Valentines Day! I love the splash of color the raspberry whip displays and the brownies are healthier than expected!

For Cupid's Cloud: You will need 2 cups of frozen raspberries, 1/8c + 1tbsp of white sugar, 1 cup of light whipped topping & 1/2 tsp vanilla. Blend the whip topping, 1 tbsp white sugar, and vanilla with a mixer. I used my Magic Bullet to blend 1 cup of frozen raspberries at a time with the 1/8c of sugar. Fold into whip topping mixture and transfer to freezer until ready to serve.
http://www.aprettylifeinthesuburbs.com/cupids-cloud-a-valentines-day-dessert/

Brownie Hearts: I've included the recipe in the link below to save space.
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/fudgy-chocolate-brownies-10000000222750/

Once your brownies are cool, transfer to a cutting board and use a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out hearts. Put a couple of dollops of Cupid's Cloud between 2 brownies. Dust with powdered sugar and serve!