Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Cupcakes Are Good For The Soul

I mentioned that I made cupcakes from the 'Hungry Girl: 200 Under 200' cookbook and thought I would give a quick review for anyone interested. I actually baked two different sets of cupcakes yesterday: the piña colada recipe and the banana with peanut butter frosting one.

I actually made the latter recipe a few days ago for the first time and sampled one then; today was the initial taste of the piña colada one. In my opinion, they were both really good! Maybe it is just because I have been avoiding sweets for the most part lately, but I thought these were so, so yummy! I had been looking forward to the tropical ones the most and was surprised when I discovered that the banana cupcakes were my favourites. Still, both will definitely be going into my baking arsenal and pulled out again and again. Sarah from Ethereal Endeavor recommended baking them a little longer than the book says which I did – for about thirty minutes instead of twenty – and I think that made a big difference.

In general, the cookbook has lots of really tasty looking recipes that I am sure I will try out eventually (I am still battling to release my inner chef). The one thing that I am not a huge fan of – which, however, makes the recipes very quick to prepare – is the use of pre-packaged ingredients such as cake and hot chocolate mixes. Overall, I am really pleased I got the book and look forward to trying my hand at the cinnamon rolls recipe sometime in the not too distant future!

FOOD & BEVERAGES:
- 10 glasses of water throughout the day
- 2 cups of salad with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, green pepper, sliced deli ham, grated cheese, and fat free honey mustard dressing
- 1 pan fried mustard chicken breast
- 1 homemade piña colada cupcake
- 1 mug of vanilla steamed soy milk
- 1 1/2 cups of carrots, celery, and red pepper with fat free rancher’s choice dressing
- 3/4 cup fat free mixed berry yogurt
- 2 cups of Caesar salad with light dressing and croutons
- 1/2 mug of decaffeinated tea with milk

EXERCISE:
- 45 minute step workout video (without the step)
- 25 minute walk
- 6 sets of 15 lunges for each leg
- 6 sets of 15 squats
- 6 sets of 10 knee push ups
- 6 sets of 30 stomach crunches (2 straight, 2 right, and 2 left)

11 comments:

  1. Im torn on the HG stuff.
    I wish I were more "up in arms :)" at the amount of processed crap in her recipes---yet Im really not.
    for me
    for now
    for my busy life
    it kinda fits!

    (great workout!!)


    MizFit

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  2. I'm still being happy about your progress pics.

    Cupcakes! Yum!

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  3. I agree with Miz (as always) They call HG the queen of processed foods which is true! All things in moderation I say. You're doing a great job with workouts and eating. Way to go!!

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  4. Sounds great.
    Do yourself a huge favor and make those cinnamon rolls. They are fantastic. My son loves them. I think they are better the next day. I store them in a container in the fridge and heat up in the microwave. mmmmmm

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  5. One thing I do is use my HG cookbook as a guide. I will use their de-fatted recipe with a twist of my own. I made the peanut butter fudge. They use cake mix and canned pumpkin. It was good.......not great....but when you consider the amount of calories they cut, hey, I'll take it.

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  6. I've looked at that cookbook and I'm in the same camp as everyone else. I really do try and use as little processed food as possible in meals I cook. But for snacks and such - we do use processed foods like crackers, pretzels, baked chips, etc.

    Thanks for the cupcake review. I love cupcakes! Well, all cakes actually.

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  7. Sounds good! I think if you use HG recipes once in a while, then why not? Why they do use a lot of processed stuff, i think they can definitely fit into a healthy lifestyle.
    Hope the cupcakes gave you what you needed!

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  8. See, now that's why I should do more research before buying something. I had no idea that HG was so well known for using the processed stuff. They were so very tasty though! Mmmmm...

    And thanks, again, Larkspur!

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  9. I just saw this cookbook at Walmart a couple of days ago and wanted it sooooo bad but just don't have the money in my tight budget. I'm praying a family member will buy it for me for Christmas, lol. Guess I better start spreading the word!

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  10. always awesome when someone is 'pounding the pavement' with exercise! Keep it up! I miss it!

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  11. OH, and I feel I should mention, my great glaring number was 263. I'll never forget that number or hte impact it made on me. We will NEVER see those Numbers AGAIN!

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