Chocolate Almond Cherry Crisps

For the past couple of weeks I have had an intern here at work.  In order to be a dietitian you have to do 1000 hours of supervised practice under a dietitian.  Since there is an internship program here at U of H, which is the one I did, I met with the director as soon as I started here to recruit some help!  She sends over interns from time to time to spend 2 weeks with me doing a sports nutrition rotation.  The intern that I currently have previously graduated from culinary school, so I thought a cooking demo would be a perfect project for her!  

 
She looked at my crazy when I told her all we had to work with was a microwave, but we made it work.  We invited all of our female student athletes that are here for the summer to come watch and eat.  We made a fruit smoothie...

a Chicken Waldorf salad wrap...

and chocolate almond cherry crisps for dessert.

I didn't take pics of the process because I didn't want to get in the way, but I thought I would share the dessert recipe because it was soooooo easy and really good.  If you are attending a shower or party with me in the next couple of months, I am for sure bringing these...so don't make them! =)

I received this recipe in an email last week, and it was perfect for the cooking demo since it's no bake.  The only thing we changed was the type of chocolate.  It originally called for milk chocolate and white chocolate but we switched to dark chocolate chips for some added antioxidants!

I didn't take a picture of the end product because they were gone so quickly, but here is the pic I got in the email.

1 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips (we used a whole small bag)

1 1/2 cups Rice Krispies

3/4 cup dried cherries (also high in antioxidants and great for inflammation)

1/3 cup slivered almonds (healthy fat)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Pour chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for 45 seconds.  Stir and microwave for an additional 45 seconds or until almost melted.  Stir in remaining ingredients.

Drop by tablespoons onto baking sheet lined with wax paper.  Place in fridge for about 30 minutes, until firm.

ENJOY!

Doctor's Appointment #3

We had our 3rd doctors appointment today and it was a pretty boring one!  Which is a good thing I guess.  We got to hear the heart beat which was nice and strong at 156.  But, other than that it was pretty uneventful!  We go back in 4 weeks and we will have our full anatomy scan, which is when we find out the sex =), in about 6 weeks. 

PS...Guess who cooked dinner last night?!?  Including some roasted zucchini which I actually ate and liked!

Back to my crazy work day...we are doing a cooking demo for some of the female student athletes today so there is a lot to do around here!

14 Weeks

First trimester DONE!  It's a GREAT feeling!  Unfortunately, I did not wake up Friday morning feeling like a whole new person, but I am definitely not as tired as I was a few weeks back, and I even bought vegetables when I went to the grocery store today...which unfortunatly hasn't happened in a long time.  I couldn't quite bring myself to buy the broccoli, but I will eat it again someday! 

This weekend was quite a fun one!  Barry and I drove up to Inks Lake to spend the weekend with his family at a lake house they rented on the water...the view was awesome.   Here are my 14 week pictures we took right when we got there...

They tried to get me to take pictures in my swim suit so you could actually see some progress...but lucky for you all that's not happening!  I assured them there would be plenty of progress to be seen in the near future!

We spent the weekend relaxing, fishing, jet skiing and just hanging out...it was great!  Here are a few pics I snapped...

Some early morning fishing

We caught thiiiiiiiis many nothing =(

Don't let that sweet face fool you...he's a crazy driver!  He did give me a slow tour around the lake because Baby B didn't feel like flying off the back of a jet ski and going for a swim that day!

The whole gang!

We go back to the doctor Tuesday so I will update then!  Lots of other exciting stuff planned for the week for me to blog about...I may even make an appearance in my kitchen! 

Off the enjoy the rest of my Sunday with an awesome Aggie baseball comeback (they were down 8-0 and now its 8-6...3rd inning...its happening!) and a Mavs WIN!

13 Weeks

What a weekend!!  Shopping with the hubby Friday night, sleeping in and pool time Saturday morning, spending the day in College Station with Cora...and her parents...Saturday, church and lunch Sunday morning, followed by a SUPER productive Sunday afternoon and a Mavs WIN!  Sounds great, right?!?! 

Well, it was a good plan.  The weekend started off great, we did go shopping Friday evening, I did sleep in Saturday morning and go to the pool.  And then things changed.  Barry called me around 10:30 Saturday morning while I was relaxing at the pool to tell me that he thought the air conditioner was broken.  Awesome.  He was on his way out of town for a Bachelor party.  So, I called the home warranty people and they said they would have someone out that day.  So much for spending the day in College Station!  They didn't show up until 4:00, at which time my house was 90 degrees!!!!, and told me they wouldn't be able to fix it until Monday.  Great.  So I packed a bag in .5 seconds and was on my way to College Station afterall.  No way I was sleeping in that!

Luckily Becky and Michael live close and I was able to take advantage of their fully functioning air conditioner!  We had a nice relaxing night Saturday and a fun Sunday!  We went to church, did some shopping, ate at my fave restaurant in College Station and looked at a bunch of houses...which I love doing!  Cora, on the other hand...

BORED! But, how fab are those glasses?!?

She was super good through all the house hunting and I had lots of fun getting to hang out with her for a whole day!

Barry got home this afternoon and rigged up a window unit air conditioner in our bedroom.  So, eventhough we are confined to our room, it actually feels pretty good in here!  And, I was able to get some much needed closet cleaning done since there is nothing else to do!  I think Lori is more annoyed than anyone about this because she is stuck in here with us!  Its nasty muddy outside and she is notorious for completely ignorning any rain/mud and laying in the middle of the yard like its a beautiful sunny day.  So she is grounded from the outside for now.

Uggghhhh!

And, since I have nothing to do and I am avoiding further room cleaning I have lots to say on the 'ole blog!

Here are my pics from last Friday, 13 weeks 1 day.  I think I am starting to get over the extreme exhaustion...I am on day 3 with no nap! =) And, I have even been hungry the last couple days, which is a great feeling!  The baby is growing to the size of a lemon this week...which I sort of feel like is a step backwards from a peach, but whatever my app says must be right!  It also says the baby is moving around constantly at this point...I can't wait until I can feel it!

heckuva hair day

This is the last pair of jeans that I can actually button with no Belly Band.  It doesn't really look like there is much of a bump there, but there definitely something!  I plan to wear those jeans every day until I can't button them anymore!

I'm still holding out for a Mavs win to complete my weekend plan! =)

Chicken and Rice

This is a pretty common recipe that I'm sure you all ate often growing up, but this is my healthier version!  I'm sure I will be making this for my kids quite often because it takes about 5 minutes to prepare...and who doesn't love that!

I use whole wheat rice instead of white rice for some added nutrients, protein and fiber and healthy request soups.  I also used chicken breast tenderloins.  I have seen it done with chicken thighs, but I prefer the lower in saturated fat counterpart!

This is another one of those recipes that I make differently every time, but this is how I did it this time.

2 cans Healthy Request Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 cup Water

1 cup uncooked brown rice (I use Minute brand)

Dash of garlic salt (not really sure if that does anything!)

Pepper to taste

8-10 chicken breast tenderloins

Mix first 5 ingredients in medium sized mixing bowl.

Mmmm...mush.

Sometimes I will use 1 can cream of mushroom and 1 cream of celery.  Sometimes I add a package of frozen broccoli.  Sometimes I add a package of dry onion soup mix.  All delicious combos - depends on what I have on hand!

Pour rice mixture into 9x13 casserole dish.

Lay chicken breast on top of mixture.  These were frozen because I made it a few hours before I was going to cook it, so they had time to thaw in the fridge.  You would want them to be thawed before putting it in the oven.

Bake COVERED at 325 for 60-90 minutes...until chicken is cooked through.

Yes, the two of us did eat half the dish.  Its that good.

Have a great weekend!!

ENJOY!