Thursday, October 7, 2010

Cake, Caramel, and Apples -- Yum!

I made cake. I made caramel. I made them all from scratch with no mixes whatsoever. I'm totally excited and it turned out so pretty.

I made an Apple Upside Down Cake yesterday. A light version. I made it with Almond milk and Brummel and Brown Spread w/ Yogurt instead of milk and butter. It turned out delicious and my boys had no idea how much healthier it was than a normal cake filled with oil, lots of eggs, and tons of sugar.



I got the recipe idea from a Cooking Light Magazine and then did some tweaks to make it a little more healthier and lighter. It was a lot of work but a lot of fun too. Making the homemade caramel sauce for the apples was the most fun. It was crazy easy. 1/4 cup water and 3/4 cup sugar. Stir it until the sugar is all the way dissolved and then let it boil without touching it until it turns a golden color.

This morning I said a fond farewell to half the cake and sent it with my husband to his work. It might be lighter but I don't need a WHOLE cake at my house begging me to eat it. We all had some last night and I saved a couple slices but then sent the rest of the cake away. It's really great to be able to do the baking I love, have the control to only eat a portion at a time (instead of the whole batch) and then have the strength to send the bulk of it away to be eaten by others. Just another example of how I've grown with healthy living and that it's really working for me.

I was a cooking fiend because I also made Cider Glazed Chicken and a Garlic Buttered Brown Rice. The rice turned out really good. I used a boil-in-bag brown rice and instead of boiling it per the directions in water I boiled it in homemade chicken stock. Then when it was done I browned some Brummel and Brown Spread with some chopped garlic and diced onions and then mixed it all together. My husband who doesn't like brown rice actually liked it!! That's a major win right there. For the Cider Glaze I just took some fresh apple cider (the kind you have to refrigerate no concentrate here) a little Dijon mustard and cooked it down then coated chicken breasts in it.

Yummy.

--Previous Day Tracking --

Exercise - 30 minute walk, 200 crunches, 50 push ups, and 20 minutes of Wii Step.

Healthy Lifestyle - Day 121

Only Water - Day 116

Total Pounds Lost - 43.9

Meals:
Breakfast - bowl of FiberOne Honey Clusters w/ homemade Almond Milk
Morning Snack - FiberOne Granola Bar
Lunch - Classic Grilled McChicken Sandwich w/out mayo
Mid-Afternoon Snack -tasted the homemade caramel and a few apple slices
Dinner - Cider Glazed Chicken, Garlic Browned Butter Rice, and green beans.

2 comments:

Turkey girl said...

Oh! This gives me an idea! I have a gingerbread cake mix from Trader Joes, perhaps I should make it a Ginger Apple upside down cake!! *drools*

Lisa Dovichi said...

Turkey -- that sounds so good. You just do the caramel then put it at the bottom of a cake pan, do the apples into that, and then the cake on top -- then bake. Tell me how it turns out! :D