Home Brewing + Bread Maker = Beer Grain Bread

When you make beer at home (and really good beer, I might add… like the Two-Hearted Clone that we’ve been consuming periodically since Father’s Day), you also get GRAIN! Yes, good hearty grains! And when you have grains, you have BREAD! Yes, good hearty bread! YIPEE!!!

We saved our beer grains from the Father’s Day Home Brew (in the freezer) and used it in our hearty grain bread in the bread maker.

When you make home brew, here’s a thought:

“Save the grain!”

When you make homemade bread, here’s a thought:

“Get it while it’s hot!”

I don’t know about the other bread-bakers out there (and I’m really NOT a qualified one, I just put things in the Breadman and then anxiously hold my stick of butter), but I’ve found that it doesn’t last long… it gets kinda weird without all the preservatives you get in your local packaged loaf.

SO… moral of the story is eat it! Start it at 2pm and then have your family or pals there by 5:30 to eat, drink & be merry (while consuming the entire loaf of bread… TRUST ME).

PLAIN YOGURT is… weird.

BUT… not if you add things like:

Honey, Coconut and Dark Chocolate Chips… then it’s like a quasi healthy yogurt thing. A low-fat yogurt that met a candy-bar and hung out in nutritious land is what you’ll get here, folks.

Just a thought.

The MBMB

“Mountain Berry Morning Blaster” (named by my little chef)

LAYER 1- Pureed Blueberries & Strawberries with a bit of maraschino cherry juice
LAYER 2- Pureed Blueberries & Strawberries with Raspberry Yogurt added
LAYER 3- Pureed Blueberries & Strawberries w/ Raspberry Yogurt, Lite Vanilla Ice Cream & Blue Food Coloring (anything with food coloring is a winner, right?)
LAYER 4- Extra Creamy Whipped Topping

*And now, an anecdote…  I recall, at age 4/5, consuming the “Funny Face” pancake at IHOP which consisted of chocolate chip pancake, whipped topping, cherries, powdered sugar and chocolate chips (awesome I might add) and figured that this MBMB is health food in comparison ;)

Finire di Mangiare!

Not your granny’s Eggplant Parmesan!!!

This WONDERFUL lowfat vegetarian version of Eggplant Parmesan is a great and healthy light meal without all of the caloric mess!

3 Slices of Eggplant with just 1tsp of Light mayo on each and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese… add a few mushrooms over the top, 1/3 cup of fresh spinach, 1 tbsp (or less) on each slice of marinara sauce, a little olive oil, salt & pepper and 1/3 slice of Lowfat provelone to melt on top… put in toaster oven for 10-15 minutes until cheese gets browned (hence the pic above) and Finire di Mangiare!

(3 WWpts!)

EAST meets WEST

Breakfast Re-Vamp from Heavy to Healthy

You see, when you’re watching what you eat (aka “prepping for swimsuit season”), you move from the ‘Roba favorite:

BACON EGG & CHEESE HOAGIE (19 WW pts)

To the more “figure friendly”:

ASPARAGUS & VEGGIE FRITTATA w/ MINI WHOLE WHEAT BAGEL (8 WW pts)

Learning how to continuously add veggies and fruit into your diet becoming more full with less fat.

What you find is that when you eat lighter, you actually FEEL lighter. Weird, huh?

The journey to summer at this point will be challenging, because it’s the last 15 lbs… the “rough stuff”, the “last layer”, the “chub hub”, the “final front-REAR” (for Trekies)… okay, enough. Point is, it’s not like the big 80lb weight loss on Biggest Loser… it’s the bulge that has made its home on your rear that isn’t intending to foreclose anytime soon.

Let the games begin…

The GIRLISH Figure

A great breakfast for those that attempt to ‘Weight Watch’.

Egg whites (3) with mashed black beans, fresh spinach and sliced avocado. The red pepper is optional. This filling little morning feast is only 5 points. If you nix the avocado, it’s only 2!!! Now THAT is something to write about. :)