Take me to your eater! (Hey, that’s me!)
I got a lot done today, but unfortunately it was all around the house and little studying. Guess that means another marathon Sunday is coming up. I definitely got workout #2 while cleaning all the floors in the house. It took me well over an hour!
Today’s lunch was too much fiber – my gut was rumbling all afternoon and I did not even think about eating. My stomach still wasn’t totally ready for dinner, but the husband was, and I could tell I was hungry but the bolus of vegetables was covering it up, so we cooked around 7:30. I had a smaller portion than I might normally have had, but it was the perfect amount for tonight.
The husband and I chatted over Friday night cocktails. Mine was a diet tonic with lime + cherry + a splash of cherry juice.
Dinner was gumbo (defined as so because of the presence of okra, shrimp and rice, which I know it’s classic). We’re making an effort to use up some pantry foods, so a frozen chicken sausage and frozen shrimp went into the pot.
The mix:
- Okra (a lot)
- Green beans (a lot)
- About a cup of homemade tomato sauce
- 1 chicken sausage link
- About 15 shrimp
- About a cup of chicken broth, homemade, defrosted
- Cumin, chili powder, cayenne, salt and pepper
- Lundberg Short Grain Brown Rice (my favorite kind of rice because it’s sticky and chewy)
- Dollop greek yogurt
An okra cross section. Okra comes in long pods and we cut them across into bite-sized pieces. You can see there are these little white balls in there that used to totally gross me out when they served fried okra in my elementary school. But then I grew up
I just love the chew of okra – it’s not chewy in a broccoli way – I can’t even describe it. I’d say the chew is closet to brussels sprouts, but the flavor kind of like a mild green bean??
Then I started my evening project: mini cupcakes!!
I saved Happy Herbivore’s recipe for Coconut Cupcakes a while back and have been looking for a reason to make them. Tomorrow’s dinner party seemed appropriate since I could make them in advance (I almost made a silken tofu chocolate pudding but decided to save that for next time because these looked too good.) I pretty much followed the recipe exactly, except I made mini-cupcakes instead. And the icing was just a “throw in the bowl” experiment – I wanted it thicker and more like buttercream. Although the final result is quite thick and nice, I decided that my next baking project will involve real BUTTER. I just love thick buttery frostings 🙂
Since I was baking for company, licking was prohibited. But I did get a beater when I was finished!
And just to be sure they were safe for our friends to eat, I tried one 8) It was actually more muffin-like than cupcake-like, most likely because it was on the tougher side from the WW pastry flour (I was careful not to overmix my batter!) But the icing made them awesome. The coconut flavors carried throughout really came together.
We’ve got an early morning tomorrow – better get my beauty rest!
Justy2003 says
Love the title/opening for this post!
And those cupcakes look amazing! The frosting looks especially delicious!
Sidi says
You should’ve color the frosting for some contrast.
I’m just teasing you 😉 … They look nice and must be very tasty too…
Krista says
Hey, Kath!
I’ve made the Coconut Cupcake recipe before and my whole family loves it! My daughter actually requested that I make mini cupcakes for her end of the school year party last June. I’m sure they’ll be a hit with your friends!
Krista
magpie says
Ooo those mini cupcakes look fabulous! And okra is always great 😉
Rose says
Those little cupcake/muffins look great! I’m excited to hear about your day tomorrow – it’s sure to be interesting!
Biz319 says
I am going to have to make them with my daughter – SOON!
I tried fried okra while on vacation, but have never had them “raw.” Of course, anything deep fat fried is awesome, right?!
Maybe if I snuck them in my next stir fry, I might not even notice?
GOOD LUCK TOMORROW! Can’t wait to hear all about it!
Julz says
OKRA!!! I ADORE OKRA! You have to be SO freaking careful though, because overcooked OKRA = OVERKILL DISTASTER. SO mcgrossy.
Raw Okra is my ABSOLUTE fave way to eat it, ever. ***Swooon 🙂
madison (follow my weigh) says
wow those cupcakes look amaaaazing!
Kelley says
Oh man, I want to come to your dinner party. 🙂 Those look delish!
Also, i wanted to tell you that I made your Mexican Polenta Casserole tonight. It was reallllly good. Thanks for the great idea!
Foodie (Fab and Delicious Food) says
Oooh, those cupcakes look so good!
Ashley says
Have fun tomorrow!!
christie i. says
cupcakes look awesome!
VeggieGirl says
“Take me to your eater” HAHA!! 😀
Cuuuuuute cupcakes!!!
Enjoy your Saturday!!
Christie says
Thos cupcakes look great.. and I have SUCH A sensitive stomach that half the time when I go to bed my tummy acts up.. i guess that is just part of having a high fiber diethahah
Katrina says
Just thought you might like to know this. It was posted on a friend of mine’s blog.
I love the Kashi line of products which includes granola bars, cereals, frozen waffles, and recently frozen dinners. All of the Kashi products have natural ingredients and lots of whole grains. Anyway, this week at SuperTarget, there is a fantastic deal going on. All the Kashi products are on sale PLUS for every four Kashi products you buy, you get a $5 Target gift card. While I was there today, I stocked up on some of my favorites. Wish I could have shared this great deal with everyone earlier in the week.
Go stock up on you Kashi AND get some money back! 😉
Katrina
Melissa P. says
Those cupcakes are so cute! I love everything mini- I think it is a girl thing…
Nancy says
Those cupcakes look SO goooood! It might not help that I’m super hungry while I’m reading your post… but they’d look just as delicious regardless :-p
Sorry if you’ve already answered this for someone else, but do you know the nutritional info for the recipe? I’m trying to figure out the WeightWatchers points for it. Thanks!
ModelBehavior says
I tried okra when I was young and it had the texture of slimy phlem, I think it was fried. Anyway it grossed me out so much I haven’t been able to eat it since 🙁
Kath says
Katrina ,
Thanks so much for letting me know!! Not sure if I’ll make it to Target, but I’ll try.
Nancy,
I did put them into CalorieKing and the mini-style was about 60 calories for the cupcake and another 30-40 for the icing (I just divided the whole batch of icing by 24, so it’s a really rough estimate).
Kath
Katrina says
I just made a trip to Target, bought 8 boxes of Kashi things I’ll definitely use and they gave me $10. Cool. Not sure how long it last, through today??? I forgot to look. All Kashi stuff was 4 for $11.
runjess says
Did the Kashi thing at Target yesterday. Exciting.
I always lick when making treats for company. They’ll never know 😉