Alright, so the moment of truth has arrived this week and I’m disappointed to say that my weight has stayed the same. However, this came to me at no surprise so I can’t really be that disappointed about it.
How was this not a surprise you ask? Well, my “cheating” got a little out of hand last weekend and I guess you could say early this week too (late night nut consumption.) Although I’m not cheating on horrible things like chips or cookies, overdosing on nuts and raisins isn’t that much better when you’re on a mission. This is a perfect example of how overeating healthy foods can still weaken your weight-loss efforts. Now, it’s obviously better to be eating foods that have nutritional value, but when it boils down to it nuts have a lot of fat (good fat) and raisins have a lot of sugar (natural sugar) so when you combine those in proportions big enough to cause a stomach ache, the results will not be satisfactory.
To point out the positive angle of all this, I have managed to maintain my three pound weight-loss, kept up with my workout routine and have been eating better-for-me foods overall. Also, this little bump in the road will motivate me further to not grab that extra handful of peanuts while watching Revenge tonight.
On a lighter note, I finally made my decision on what dessert(s) I want to make for Thanksgiving. The first is a small variation to Martha Stewart’s “Chocolate-Glazed Pumpkin Cookies.” Instead of glazing with chocolate, I’m going to glaze with cinnamon cheesecake frosting made from scratch.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour ( I will probably substitute with whole wheat pastry flour)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 can (15 ounces) pure pumpkin puree
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin-pie spice, and salt; set aside.
- Using an electric mixer, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg; beat until smooth. With mixer on low speed, alternately add flour mixture in two parts and pumpkin puree in one, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined (do not over mix).
- Drop dough by heaping tablespoons onto two baking sheets, about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until puffed and edges are golden, 15 to 20 minutes, rotating sheets once during baking. Immediately transfer cookies to wire racks, and cool completely.
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/4 C (half stick) butter, room temperature
- 1 t vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon (add more to taste)
- 2-3 C powdered sugar (add more or less to make it a stiffness that you like)
- Mix cream cheese and butter well.
- Add vanilla and cinnamon.
- Add powdered sugar.
Read more: http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2008/09/cinnamon-cream-cheese-frosting-recipe.html#ixzz1dt0C3HHk
The second is an Ice-Cream Pumpkin Pie. Who doesn’t love ice-cream?!
Ingredients
- 18 graham cracker boards
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar
- 1 pint chocolate chip ice cream, softened
- 1 pint vanilla ice cream, softened
- 1 cup solid pack pumpkin
- Chocolate curls for garnish, optional
3. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes. Remove to a rack; cool completely.
4. Spread the softened chocolate chip ice cream over the bottom of the cooled crust. Freeze until hardened, about 3 hours.
5. In a medium-size bowl, mix together the vanilla ice cream, pumpkin and remaining tablespoon of cinnamon sugar. Spread over the top of the frozen chocolate chip layer. Freeze 3 hours or overnight.
6. To serve, garnish with chocolate curls if desired. If frozen overnight, let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving. Makes 8 servings.
I can’t wait till Thanksgiving!!! Happy Hungry Hump Day 🙂
holi-health 