a little of this...a little of that

I know you're all waiting to hear about the margaritas...

Yes, they were good!  They actually tasted very much like the real thing.  However, I kind of used the recipes as a guide and made my own up.  I used the lemon Crystal Light dissolved in 5 oz of water, a squeeze of fresh lime juice, 1-1/2 oz tequila and fresh strawberries...plus lots of ice.

They were really light & refreshing...and didn't leave any of that thick sugar feeling in your throat like real ones do.

***

Ok, so this really has nothing to do with anything, but the first time I saw this I laughed so hard that I was crying.  It is just SO funny!  Watch it and try not to laugh!

hola amigos!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

I love Mexican food (among most other foods), therefore I LOVE Cinco de Mayo.

As you all know, I re-joined WW a few weeks ago and have been going strong (I actually have my weigh in tonight...keep your fingers crossed for me!). I really don't want to blow my weight loss victory on a gallon of margaritas and a pound of chips & salsa...so tonight we are doing C de M WW style!

Lean meat tacos with low calorie tortillas, low fat cheese & sour cream. I am, however, going to indulge in REAL tortilla chips (those lowfat cardboard strips just don't cut it) and a few margaritas.

In honor of my WW C de M, I thought I'd share a few low cal margarita recipes that I recently stumbled across over at HungryGirl.com (if you haven't checked out this website, I HIGHLY recommend it!)

I can't guarantee that they will taste like the real thing, but I will be testing them tonight and will get back to you tomorrow!

Rockin' Razzy Rita
(Entire recipe: 105 calories, 0g fat, 5mg sodium, 2g carbs, 0g fiber, 0.5g sugars, 0g protein = 2 Points)

Hand over your keys. It's time for a Rockin' Razzy Rita…

Ingredients:
*1.5 oz. tequila
1/2 tsp. Crystal Light powdered drink mix, Raspberry Ice
5 oz. water
1 oz. lime juice
Optional: lime slice for garnish and salt or no-calorie sweetener for rim of glass

Directions:
If desired, run some lime juice along the rim of the glass and dip into a dish of salt or sweetener. Combine all ingredients, mix well, and serve over ice. Or, for a frozen one, place all ingredients (dissolve Crystal Light in water first) in a blender with 1 cup crushed ice, and blend on high until well mixed. Optional: Garnish with a slice of lime. Serves 1!

HG's Fruitylicious Margarita
(Entire recipe: 105 calories, 0g fat, 15mg sodium, 3g carbs, 0g fiber, 0.5g sugars, 0g protein = 2 Points)

This one's crazy delicious, customizable and guilt-free to boot!

Ingredients:
*1.5 oz. tequila
5 oz. SoBe LEAN; Diet Mango Melon, Energy Diet Citrus, or Diet Cranberry Grapefruit
1 oz. lime juice
Optional: lime slice for garnish and salt or no-calorie sweetener for rim of glass

Directions:
If you like, wet the glass rim with juice from a lime and dunk it into a dish of salt or sweetener. For frozen sips, combine all ingredients in a blender with 1 cup crushed ice, and blend on high until well mixed. Or, mix ingredients well and serve over ice. If desired, garnish with a lime wedge. Serves 1!

HG's Magical Low-Calorie Margarita
(Entire recipe: 105 calories, 0g fat, 58mg sodium, 2g carbs, 0g fiber, 0.5g sugars, 0g protein = 2 Points)This one's an old favorite...and it ROCKS!

Ingredients:
6 oz. Sierra Mist Free (or Diet Sprite Zero, or your other fave no-cal lemon-lime soda)
*1.5 oz. tequila
1/2 tsp. Crystal Light powdered drink mix, Lemonade
1 oz. lime juiceOptional: lime slice for garnish and salt or no-calorie sweetener for rim of glass

Directions:
If desired, run some lime juice along the rim of the glass and dip into a dish of salt or sweetener. Mix all ingredients together. Pour over 1 cup of crushed ice. Optional: Garnish with lime slice. Enjoy. Serves 1!

planning, planning, planning...

Ok, I'll admit it...planning our wedding has become pretty much all I can think about these days...which is, unfortunately, a reason I haven't been blogging as much. I'm still reading blogs, and have added 4 new wedding blogs to my google reader, I'm just not actually posting. I will try to do better and start posting stuff about the planning process...promise!

This past weekend I took a break from wedding planning and took on birthday cocktail party planning! You may remember that my birthday is just around the corner (March 20 to be exact), and my sister's birthday is on the 9th. Well, long before I got engaged, we decided to throw ourselves a joint birthday party this year. It was last Saturday at our Mom's house (her house is SO great for entertaining, whereas our condo...not so much).

We decided to have a cocktail party, and my sister found these SUPER cute napkins that were light blue with a pink martini and green, brown and pink polka dots. I decided to run with the colors and really coordinate everything...I figured it was good practice for the wedding...right?

We bought a few bags of valentine's day M&M's and picked out all of the reds, which left varying shades of pink and white. Then I found Shrek M&M's and picked out the green and brown ones to add to our pink/white combo...SO CUTE! Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of this...oops!

Instead of cake we opted for cupcakes. So, the weekend before the party, my mom and I were up until 11pm Friday night baking 4 dozen regular size cupcakes and another 4 dozen mini cupcakes...both chocolate and white. We froze them and I decorated them the night before the party.

Here is a picture of my work of art!

And a close up...(notice the color coordination!)

I hand decorated each and every cupcake with homemade cream cheese frosting (the chocolate was store bought). My mom has a cake decorating kit and for most of the cupcakes I used a star tip to make little stars all over the top, right next to each other. I think Martha would be proud!

This was not where the party planning ended...we asked everyone to BYO(favorite)B. Knowing full well that people would bring alcohol, I just couldn't not make a punch of some sort...which then led to making jello shooters as well. Between the punch and jello we went through 4 bottles of vodka! Not to mention all the beer, wine and other bottles of stuff people brought over.

(You can see the napkins & plates on the far left and that cute frame has a pic of us when we were little!)

We also had a full spread of appetizers including: BBQ wings, gyoza, spring rolls, spinach dip, veggies and ranch, hummus and pita chips, homemade salsa and tortilla chips...and something else too, I just can't remember.

Anyway, the party was a HUGE success and I finally breathed a sigh of relief on Sunday morning! Now it's back to WEDDING PLANNING!

The birthday girls!

martha would NOT be proud!

Today is our annual holiday cookie exchange at work, so last night I attempted to make these, because Sarah's post convinced me that they would be the perfect cookie exchange recipe!

They sound easy enough right?

WRONG!

First of all, let me start off by telling you that I had to be at work early this morning, so I stayed up at Jason's last night. His place is about 1/2 the distance to work as my place is...so when I have to go in early, I usually just stay with him.

Unfortunately, being a boy who lives on his own, he does not have a mixer, food processor, or other baking necessities. So I, being the smart cookie that I am, grabbed my mixer on my way out the door yesterday morning and figured that his blender would make a great substitute for a food processor.

Um, not so much.

The first round of 'ground' cookies comes out fine and I pour them into a bowl, add the cream cheese and get out my mixer, that I was so proud of myself for remembering.

But oh no!!! Where are the beaters???

Oh, that's right, I don't keep them in the box with the mixer. I keep them in the drawer with the silverware...at my house...60 miles AWAY!!!

Well, maybe I can make do with the whisk that comes with the mixer, because it just so happens to be in the box.

Now, as I'm 'whisking' my cookie crumbs & cream cheese, Jason is blending the second round of cookies. As he is blending the cookies, it starts to smell hot, but you know how blenders are. Well, he takes the lid off and low and behold the cookies have actually gotten burnt!

So we put everything away and head to Fred Meyer (kind of like a Target, but with a grocery section too) and buy ANOTHER package of oreos, a small food processor and a new mixer (with beaters). Both small appliances were only $7.99 each, so I'm not too upset about rebuying things that I already have.

Back home to finish up the first part of the cookies. Jason grinds up the rest of the cookies while I use the new mixer to 'remix' my cream cheese & cookie mixture. We gradually add more cookies, as the recipe calls for, and I keep mixing away...

Until the mixer stops.

(and no, I didn't turn it off or unplug it.)

Oh...and now the new mixer is smoking!

Are you freakin' kidding me?!?!

I actually burned out the new mixer. I guess that's what $7.99 buys you. I should've known better. Luckily the mixture was pretty much done at that point and so I just hand mixed it a little bit more and was able to combine it all.

I think that they turned out pretty good...I haven't tasted one yet, because a Cookies & Cream truffle just didn't sound very appetizing for breakfast today, but I, along with the rest of my office will be enjoying them later today.

Well, they better enjoy them...at least they're not getting burnt Oreo crumbs!

Spring Cleaning

Lately I've been on a total cleaning spree. I came home from work on Thursday and picked up, vacuumed & dusted the whole apartment! It was crazy! I'm not sure where this energy has come front...but I'm definitely taking advantage of it while it lasts.

Saturday I decided that I was going to clean out the cabinet below my bathroom sink. Now I know what you may be thinking...how bad could it possibly be?

Well, let me show you...

It had actually gotten so bad that things were falling out when I would open the doors! Yikes! Everything was literally balanced on something else. Now, the fact that this cabinet was busting at the seams forced me to keep a ton of stuff on my countertop...cluttering that up so much that I barely had any counterspace.

(Yes, I know I need a new toothbrush.)

I ended up throwing out a HUGE garbage bag, you know the ones with the drawstrings on top, FULL of stuff! I was amazed at some of the stuff that I've been saving so long...lotions that don't smell good anymore, samples of stuff that can NOT be good anymore, it was pathetic.

Here's my new (organized) bathroom!

And now I have room to actually use my counter!

I actually feel at peace when I'm in here now...is that weird?

Move over P.F. Changs...

So I cooked dinner last night and used many of my new kitchen gadgets. I know that I probably sound like the biggest dork, but I don't care! It was seriously the most fun I've had making dinner in a long time.

On the menu?

Sweet & Sour Pork with Jasmine Rice

It was SO good. And to make things even better, it was a Weight Watchers recipe! I unfortunately didn't take a picture of this culinary masterpiece, but I am going to share the recipe with you. If you decide to make it, let me know what you thought!

Sweet & Sour Pork
1 cup = 5 points

1-1/2 pound lean pork tenderloin, cut into thin strips
15 oz canned unsweetened pineapple chunks
1/2 c water
1/3 c rice wine vinegar
1/4 c packed brown sugar
2 T corn starch
1/2 t table salt
1 T soy sauce
2 medium green peppers, sliced
1 small onion, sliced

Heat a nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat.

Add pork and cook until golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes; remove from skillet and set aside. Drain any remaining fat from skillet.

Drain pineapple chunks, reserving juice; set aside.

Combine water, vinegar, sugar, cornstarch, salt, soy sauce and reserved pineapple juice in a small bowl; add to skillet and cook until sauce is slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Add pork; cook covered over low heat until meat is tender, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.

Add peppers, onion and pineapple chunks; cook 5 minutes. Serve over rice (make sure you count your points for the rice).

Kiss the cook!

Sunday night marked the end of my weeklong birthday celebration. However, it was the best part!

Family Birthday Night!

Every year when someone's birthday comes up, they get to pick what they want for dinner and we have a big family night. This year, my mom and I combined our birthday nights (her birthday is only 4 days after mine) and celebrated both Sunday night.

Not only did we have an amazing dinner (BBQ ribs, twice baked potatoes, candied carrots, etc.), but my sister made a to die for chocolate layered cake. Plus, family birthday means presents!

My mom knows that I like red kitchen stuff, so among the Bath & Body Works stuff, she got me a bunch of red kitchen gadgets!

She also got me a super cute set of red canisters, red measuring cups and spoons and white and red cutting boards, but I can't find a picture of them for the life of me!

I'm cooking a new recipe tonight...Sweet & Sour Pork (Weight Watchers style), so I will definitely be using my new utensils! I'll let you know how it goes!