the17thman

Frozen Chocolate Cheesecake Bites!

Snack Time!  I'm going to a little party tomorrow and need to bring something.  So I went online and found a recipe for Frozen Chocolate Cheesecake Bites!  Mind you the recipe was a bit modified cuz' I'm not very good in the kitchen and I couldn't find everything in my quick trip to Walmart.  I found the recipe online that was modified from my hero of food Hungry Girl!  And on top of that modification I made my own modifications. 

The Hungry Girl recipes for Frozen Chocolate Cheesecake Bites!

(2 Bites: 40 calories, 0g fat, 100mg sodium, 6.5g carbs, 0g fiber, 1g sugars, 2g protein = 1 Point!)

Meet our new favorite use for ice cube trays.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Cool Whip Free

5 tbsp. fat-free cream cheese; softened

1 tbsp. SPLENDA, Granular

10 tsp. HERSHEY'S Sugar Free Syrup

Directions:

Using a fork, vigorously mix Cool Whip, cream cheese and Splenda until smooth and well blended.  Evenly distribute mixture into 10 sections of an ice cube tray.  Tap tray firmly on the counter a few times to get mixture to settle flat.  Next, top each with a teaspoon of chocolate syrup.  Tap tray again to settle.  Place tray in freezer until Bites are solid -- at least 2 hours.  Once frozen, Cheesecake Bites should pop out easily (if not, run the bottom of the tray under the faucet for a few seconds to loosen them).  Makes 10 Bites!

Okay so that really wasn't what I did.  I found a modification from a few random sites and found a few other twists.  Umm..so I got a bunch of stuff...
Two tubs of Fat Free Cool Whip which I used about 1 1/2 of.  I used two cubes of Cream Cheese that was 1/2 whatever as Walmart didn't have Fat Free Cream Cheese.  I got sugar free Hershey chips.  I did buy chocolate syrup but didn't use it.  I thought the chips were better.  I used 3 packets of Splenda. 
The modified website came from a few sites and I read various comments.  People mentioned the ice cube tray didn't work to well but to use mini-cup cake trays with linings.  So that is why I shopped for everything at Walmart.  Got the tray, linings and the goods all in one stop.  Hell, I was busy today! So why are they brown.  I used unsweetened cocoa powder.  The modification recipe was for swirled cheesecake bites.  But I didn't seem to figure out how to make swirls.  So chocolate cheesecake bites it was.
I decided to go with 4 sugar free chips per bite.  3 seemed to much like a face and any more seemed like over kill.  I put them in the freezer for the nite.  Tomorrow around 6pm people will get to taste them and tell me if they like them.   Oh my recipe made 20.  Only 15 of them will make it to the event.
This morning I took them out of the freezer and onto paper plates leaving the mini cupcake papers on them.  Figured they'll be easy to handle at the party thingy.  They don't look as pretty as they should be but I'll have to try to work on my presentation.

Wednesday's Swim Report - Charlotte's Web

1.  The Charlotte Observer report "Phelps back for 3rd straight year
The 14-time Olympic gold medalist will headline competition that begins Thursday.  The Charlotte UltraSwim - one of the biggest and most prestigious swim meets in the United States - returns for four days of competition starting Thursday at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center in uptown Charlotte."

2.  Go to USA Swimming for full coverage of the "2011 Charlotte UltraSwim Grand Prix.  The sixth stop takes the USA Swimming Grand Prix Series to North Carolina. The 27th Annual Charlotte UltraSwim will take place May 12-15 at Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center in downtown Charlotte."

3.  From USA Today (w/ video) "At 16, swimmer Missy Franklin is rapidly rising through elite ranks.  Missy Franklin, who turned 16 Tuesday, leads Michael Phelps — and everyone else in the swimming world, for that matter — in this season's Grand Prix standings."

4.  Fox Sports reports "London Olympics boss Sebastian Coe wants a touch of Sydney and Ian Thorpe's magic in 2012. London Olympics boss Sebastian Coe wants a little bit of the party atmosphere from Sydney and a lot of the Ian Thorpe magic at his 2012 Games.  The Sydney Olympics remains the mark against which all sporting events are measured and London was hoping to emulate or surpass the 2000 Games, Lord Coe told a post-budget breakfast at Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday."

5.  Skynews reports "Touretski keeps mum on Thorpe.  Ian Thorpe's coach Gennadi Touretski is remaining tight-lipped about the five-time Olympic Champion's progress in the lead-up to the 2012 London Olympics."  Love how the reporter manages to mention Thorpe's Armani suit from the Royal Wedding!

6.  About.com has "Pilates Mat Exercise - Swimming.  Swimming makes a great counter stretch for the many Pilates Mat exercises that require forward flexion.

    * Lie on your stomach with the legs straight and together.

    * Keeping your shoulder blades settled in your back and your shoulders away from your ears, stretch your arms straight overhead.

    * Pull your abs in so that you lift your bellybutton up away from the floor.

    * Reaching out from center, extend your arms and legs so far in opposite directions that they naturally come up off the floor. At the same time, get so much length in your spine that your head moves up off the mat as an extension of the reach of your spine. Keep your face down toward the mat; don't crease your neck.

    * Continue to reach your arms and legs out very long from your center as you alternate right arm/left leg, then left arm/right leg, pumping them up and down in small pulses.

    * Coordinate your breath with the movement so that you are breathing in for a count of 5 kicks and reaches, and out for a count of 5.

    * Hopefully you feel like you are simulating swimming!

    * Do 2 or 3 cycles of 5 counts of moving and breathing in, and 5 counts moving and breathing out."

Uh…isn't that just the Superman?  Meh, I'll try it later.

7.  Active.com has a video of "Swimmer's Guide to the Perfect Pushoff.  A good pushoff is essential to establish your speed while training in the pool. Here's a step-by-step breakdown of the skills you need to obtain and sustain your momentum."

8.  Go Swim has "Preserving Olympic Principles: The 1980 Moscow Games.  I was recently involved in an interview process with a group of students from La Mesa, California.  They were putting together a presentation based on the 1980 Olympic Boycott for the National History Day Competition.  I got word a few days ago, that not only did they do well, they've made the finals to be held in College Park Maryland.  Because of the travel expenses, the team is looking for contributions to help offset the cost.  Please download the Donation Request Letter and support this great group of students."

9.  This is Derbyshire posts "Swimmer strips for cheeky photo shoot.  Champion swimmer Ross Davenport is among a number of male celebrities to have posed nude in this month's Cosmopolitan magazine to raise awareness of testicular and prostate cancer."

10.  For you open water shark swimmers from io9 "How do you measure free-roaming sharks without being bitten?"

 

How to make Uncle Tobys Quick Cups - Cooking with Eamon Sullivan

How to make Bircher Muesli - Cooking with Eamon Sullivan

How to cook Tomato & Cheese Mini Bakes - Cooking with Eamon Sullivan

How to make Sushi Sandwiches - Cooking with Eamon Sullivan

Cooking With The Biggest Loser - Michael's Jennie-O Turkey Meatballs

After watching last nights The Biggest Loser I was inspired to use the recipe that Michael used to make turkey meatballs.  I've had The Biggest Loser Cookbook for several months but have yet to cook from it.  Mostly because I never plan ahead when I go food shopping.  I always head to the store and buy what's on sale and what I crave.  So bad!  I need to pick a recipe from the cook book and then buy what I need to make   it.  That is what I did today.  Well I printed the recipe off the internet at jennieo.com and headed to the store on the way home from work.  So now I have the goods to cook right from The Biggest Loser and have my Ziploc containers to freeze the extra food.  That is one lesson I did learn by watching The Biggest Loser.  I would cook pasta with turkey meat sauce or stuffed peppers on Sunday and freeze the rest.  That way at the end of the day I had fast home cooked healthy food.

You can view more The Biggest Loser Jennie-O recipes online at jennieo.com.  I'll be cooking these tonight!  Here is the recipe for The Biggest Loser Jennie-O Turkey Meatballs:

Ingredients

1 – 1.25 lb package of JENNIE-O TURKEY STORE extra lean ground turkey

1/3 cup chopped parsley

1/2 tablespoon pepper

1 cup Garbanzo beans, pureed

1/2 cup egg substitute (such as Egg Beaters)

Non-stick cooking spray

1 – 14 oz can low sodium tomato sauce

1 medium fresh tomato, chopped

2 cloves chopped garlic

Additional pepper to taste

3 cups uncooked whole wheat pasta

Directions

Preheat oven to 375. Spray a cookie tray or jelly roll pan lightly with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, mix by hand or with a spoon the ground turkey, parsley, pepper, pureed garbanzo beans, and egg substitute. Roll the ground turkey mixture into small meatballs and place on prepared pan.

BAKE meatballs in the oven at 375 for 20 minutes or till no longer pink inside. Meat should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

While the meatballs are cooking, heat tomato sauce, fresh chopped tomato and garlic in a pot on the stovetop, season with pepper to taste. Once the meatballs are finished cooking in the oven, add them to the sauce.

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain. Divide pasta into six servings and top with the meatballs and sauce.

This recipe is Biggest Loser approved.

I went to my local super market and stuck with store brands.  The extra lean Jeanie-O wasn't on sale while the lean was but I stuck with the extra lean.  Total cost of the meal was $16.54.  The Egg Beaters were on sale and I'll use them in other recipes so gotta keep that in mind.  Same with the pasta.  It's going to feed me for more then one meal so it's pretty cheap.  The bad part is that Jennie-O doesn't give a calorie count on the meatballs.  Hmm...not good!  The Biggest Loser Cookbook has a different recipe that is next up on my list of things to cook.  

Putting it all together.  I wished I read more then just the ingredient list.  Since I came home from work the first thing I did was fire up the DVR to catch up on some tv.  With that said I put all the ingredients together.  Doh!  So it started off as a soupy mess.  Sorry guys, well sorry to me!  Since I had breadcrumbs in the panty I added some in.  After I checked the calorie count.  Holy S*%t!  Who knew bread crumbs were pure evil!  It's all empty useless calories.  

So now I'm done cooking and have started to eat.  Gotta admit even with my f'ing up the recipe they are still yummy!  I'll have to try it again.  Speaking of again I've resolved to cook one recipe a week out of The Biggest Loser Cookbook.  So I'll be posting a weekly Healthy Cooking post.  I figure cooking one recipe once a week will give me several days of meals since I'm cooking for one!  It is so hard to cook for one while trying to eat healthy.  It's easier to buy those precooked calorie busting foods at the market and go home.  But I'm going to start cooking healthy and just do it!

Hit the jump for my step by step photos of me attempting to cook The Biggest Loser Turkey Meatballs and Pasta!