me.

I’ve been worrying A LOT the past few days about A LOT of things,

yes, AGAIN!

For so many years after I gave my life to Jesus, I stopped being a worry-wart but in the past 3 years it has slowly gotten BAD again.

The things I’m worrying about are normal, I guess. It’s just, I KNOW that I can’t control the outcome of anything but I WANT to!

:sigh:

The Mr. and I have been talking about starting a family lately and we finally came to the decision that it’s time. No more BCP. Funny thing is even though I’m worried about how quickly we’ll be able to get pregnant, I’m more worried about what we’re gonna do once we ARE pregnant. LOL! I mean, no one is ever READY to have a child (so I’ve been told) and there apparently is never a GREAT time to have a child and you’ll never have ENOUGH money either. I mean we’re stepping out in faith and knowing that if God is ready for us to be parents that we will be parents soon, right?

Yea, for some reason,

I struggle with that word, FAITH and I ask myself WHY all the time. There’s no reason. I mean God has provided and shown me His love so often I should be an expert at NOT worrying by now, ya know?

As I’ve sat and prayed and LISTENED lately, I’ve come to the conclusion that
it’s FEAR that grips me.
FEAR of failure...period.

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity,

but of power, love, and self-discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7

The truth of the matter is that fear isn’t even from God.
He doesn’t want me to be AFRAID. He already has a BIG PLAN!

“Do not tremble; do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim my purposes for you long ago? You are my witnesses—is there any other God? No! There is no other Rock—not one!” Isaiah 44:8

He’s had a BIG PLAN before I was even born.
I, of course, blog and light bulbs go off for me.
Venting, ranting, sharing, putting it all down here, in a notebook.
It’s where I slowly begin to understand myself, God and others around me.

This was the verse of the day that I received in my e-mail today and it was just what I needed.

"…For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn't believe even if someone told you about it.” Habakkuk 1:5

And even as I click the “publish” button, I am scared.

Marvelous Monday : Baby Back Ribs, Seasoned corn & Coleslaw

Baby Back Ribs, Seasoned corn & Coleslaw

I made two different flavored racks of ribs. The Pork Loin Back Ribs were on sale so I decided that it wasn’t going to hurt anyone…definitely not our stomachs anyway…LOL! I made a regular flavored BBQ rack and a spicy, sweet apricot BBQ glaze rack that I made myself.

Spicy, Sweet Apricot BBQ Glaze

• ¼ cup Polander Sugar-Free Apricot preserves
• ¼ cup KC Masterpiece original BBQ sauce
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 Tbsp Cumin powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp garlic red pepper sauce (found in the international aisle)
• Salt & pepper
  

Mix spices with the apricot preserves. Then add the BBQ sauce. Mix well.
Set aside at room temperature so that the flavors have some time to meld until your ribs are ready.

So, I started the ribs this afternoon when I got home from work. I unwrapped them, removed the membrane from the back and rubbed them down with a porkrub by McCormick, wrapped them in foil and put them in the fridge for 4 ½ hours. (We had an appointment with the Chiropractor so the time was perfect)

Got home and put an empty baking sheet in the oven and heated to 400 degrees.

Then, I placed the foil covered ribs on the HOT baking sheet in the oven concave side up for 1 hour.

I flipped the foil packets over for the 2nd hour. After the second hour I pulled the baking sheet out of the oven and cut open the foil and spread it open so that I could see the meaty part of the ribs all the way across.

Rack of Ribs 1—poured BBQ sauce on and spread evenly across the entire rack
Rack of Ribs 2—spooned over the Spicy, Sweet Apricot BBQ glaze and spread evenly

Then I placed the baking sheet back in the oven.
BROIL for 8-10 minutes.




The rest of the meal was easy and I set-up to get all of it started when I put the ribs into BROIL.
I opened a can of corn heated and seasoned with paprika, 1 Tbsp of "I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter", salt and pepper and a Garlic Onion medley.

The coleslaw was even easier!

I opened a bag of already washed and ready to serve coleslaw. I added 15 cherry tomatoes sliced in half and some salt and pepper.

Then in a small bowl I mixed 3 Tbsp of EVOO with 3 Tbsp of Lemon Juice, salt and pepper. Then I poured this over the coleslaw and tossed. (Don’t add the vinaigrette until you are ready to eat or it will start to cook the coleslaw pretty bad because of the lemon.

Voila!

Labor Day Weekend!

It was a VERY nice weekend. We didn’t go far, just an hour away and that was Friday night into Saturday. On Friday night we got dressed up and ate at P.F. Chang’s. It was soooo good. I had Chang’s Spare Ribs and shared Wonton soup with the Mr. We also had some lettuce wraps which were AMAZING! They tasted too good to be good FOR you though. There was no way I could deny THAT!

Saturday we spent in the shopping mall where P.F. Chang’s was and did a little shopping. Like, we went to Vitamin World . Ever since I started this low glycemic, low carb, low fat thing, my stomach has been a MESS! I’ll just say it, I have trouble “going!” It’s NOT fun and it makes for miserable moments. If you have any suggestions, let me know, PLEASE! We also went to DSW Shoes where I got a pair of Naturalizer shoes for $16. GREAT DEAL! Oh and of course we went to Barne’s & Noble where we bookworms got a few books.

Oooh, we had lunch at McAlister’s Deli. The first time I had McAlister’s was in San Antonio and I was sad that we didn’t have one in the valley. (The Mr. Had never been)Well, apparently we have one now! They have GREAT sweet tea. I personally like it better than Rudy’s sweet tea.

Saturday evening we went to the Outlet Mall. I really love that place! We did a little damage but mostly only got what was needed. Unfortunately, shoes for the Mr. can be pretty pricey because he mostly goes for comfort rather than style but it’s not like we buy them ALL the time. I got a few new T-Shirts and a belt. Ah, I needed a new one. We had to make holes in the other one because it was too big so now, my belt fits! YAY!

Sunday we spent at home doing absolutely NOTHING demanding. The Mr. played video games and I played MY video game, The Sims 3. That game is addictive! It’s really kind of weird when you think about that game too. I mean basically you are controlling this little person’s life. You make it eat, go to bathroom, take a shower, get a job, get married, have babies. It’s crazy! LOL, but kinda fun.

Yesterday we went to the in-laws house and I made Baby Back Ribs. Great food, and happy in-laws. Who could ask for more?

So, Marvelous Monday’s food was Baby Back Ribs but I didn’t take any pictures so, I guess I’ll have to make them again next week. I’m sure the Mr. won’t mind AT ALL!

Hope ya’ll had a great Labor Day weekend!

~Mrs. Galvan~

Some real stuff

So, we’re getting some much needed time off this weekend.

I’m looking forward to spending a few days, ALONE with the Mr.
The great thing about our relationship is that we can sit in silence together, doing nothing, reading, writing, thinking, dreaming, planning. Not many people can do that.

SO, as we “disconnect” this weekend, please pray for us. Pray for REAL rest.

--cut to silent thoughts--

I just finished reading Mossy Lou’s blog and have been sitting here in tears at my desk. The tears have been coming for some days now.

This world is so sad without Jesus. Every single day we experience people who have no idea who He is, or what he’s done for us AND even WE take Him for granted.

I’ve taken Him for granted lately. The worst part is I KNOW that I've been taking Him for granted.

Like someone at small group said last night, “I feel as though I’ve started to turn my back on Him.” I don't want that though, that's the LAST thing I want.

With my job comes much burden and so I never stop praying BUT I feel like I haven’t been listening lately.

I have no excuses but I do KNOW that I won’t give up, I’m hanging on.

I’m grateful that His mercies are new EVERY morning and that I can start over today.

Please pray for me.

Marvelous Monday: Turkey Zucchini Meatloaf & Cauliflower Mash

So, the Mr. wanted meatloaf. I LOVE meatloaf but I knew that if I was gonna make meatloaf it was gonna be TURKEY meatloaf. (We’re trying to cut back on the beef!) The Mr. was okay with turkey meatloaf. Then I was thinking, “But I don’t want it to be BORING meatloaf” so I started looking online for something that wasn’t so boring and decided on Turkey Zucchini Meatloaf. I used THIS RECIPE from epicurious.com and pretty much followed it except no parsley and I subbed Panko bread crumbs for seasoned bread crumbs. (less sodium) The last 20 minutes in the oven I topped it with Tomato & Basil Marinara sauce.

I once again tried to get the Mr. to eat cauliflower…he ate what I put on his plate but he wasn’t gonna have another serving. Oh well! I tried :)

Cauliflower Mash

• 1 head of cauliflower
• 4oz low fat cream cheese
• 4 slices of center-cut bacon (cooked & crumbled)
• 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
• ¼ cup Panko bread crumbs
• 2 Tbsp butter (I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter)
• 1 tsp salt
• Ground pepper to taste
• ½ tsp of Dill weed

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Remove the outer leaves of the cauliflower and steam in about a ½ cup of water for 15 minutes on medium-high.

Then mash the cauliflower and mix in the butter, the cream cheese, panko bread crumbs, bacon crumbles, cheddar cheese, salt and some ground pepper (to taste). Then pour into the blender and blend until smooth.

Pour into a pie pan. Sprinkle with Dill weed and a light sprinkle of bread crumbs to give some golden color.

Bake for 15 minutes , then broil for 1 minute to toast the top up.

Mm…I was VERY happy with this meal! My brother in-law came over for dinner too and well, he ate what would have been leftovers so, I’d say it was a hit!

I hope you get the chance to make one of these. Delish!

~Mrs. Galvan~

Marvelous Monday: Pork & Apples

So, the Mr. and I both have heard about how good apples and pork go together but neither of us had ever experienced the combination until this evening.

I made pork loin steaks with an apple & onion gravy and a fresh veggie mix.

Mmm…WOW! (Not to be confused with SHAM-WOW!)
It was soooo good!

My Apple and Onion gravy recipe:

• 1 Braeburn apple(cored & sliced)
• 1 medium white onion sliced
• ½ cup chicken broth
• 3 Tbsp cold water
• ½ tsp corn starch
• 1 tsp EVOO

In a medium size skillet sauté onion with EVOO until almost soft and then add the apple. Saute together for about 3 minutes on medium heat.

In another small bowl combine corn starch and cold water until the consistency looks like milk, no lumps.

Pour chicken broth into the skillet with onion and apple mixture, allow to simmer then mix in the cornstarch. Keep warm while you make the pork loin steaks.

I used two 6 oz pork loin steaks.

Heat pan with 1-2 tablespoons of EVOO on medium high. You want the pan to be hot because you want to get a nice sear on the steaks. Season one side of the pork loin steaks with salt and pepper and place that side down in the hot pan. Let sit for 6 minutes. Season the the other side and then after 6 minutes flip. Then flip one more time and let them sit for 3 minutes before turning the heat off. The steaks will continue to cook.

Pour apple & onion gravy over the top and serve with fresh vegetables.

I sautéed summer squash, zucchini, onion, carrots and mushrooms with some EVOO and a little salt and pepper. It was delish!

For dessert I made Linda’s 35 second Chocolate cake with a few adaptations. After the batter was ready in the ramekin I placed a small dollop of sugar free raspberry preserves in the middle and THEN stuck it in the microwave to cook. Then served it with a dollop of sugar free cool whip and drizzled it with sugar free hot fudge.

The Mr. wanted caramel and hot fudge on his and no preserves so I just made it the way Linda said to and added a dollop of cool whip and drizzled with sugar free caramel and hot fudge.

This was one of the fastest and most satisfying desserts I have had in a long time. Thanks Linda!

Hope you can try these recipes out. They are absolutely wonderful!

~Mrs. Galvan~

Beef Bourguignon!

Yesterday evening I realized that I didn’t post anything about Julia Child’s Beef Bourguignon that I made last Saturday. So here you go!

The Mr. loved it! And immediately asked when I would make it again… I HAVE decided that this meal will be a special occasion meal because it took FOREVER to make.

I mean, I had to dry each piece of meat individually so that it would brown and even while it was in the oven I didn’t even get a chance to rest and sit down because I needed to make the mushrooms and pearl onions.

Then at the end of it all I had to pour the stew through a sieve and wash out the Dutch Oven, put the meat back and boil down the broth to make it thicker.

Believe me, I’m not complaining, it was all totally worth it!

The meat was soooooo tender and the flavors, Mmm… WONDERFUL!

The next day, Sunday, we had left overs and it was EVEN BETTER!

So, if you've seen Julie & Julia and are curious about the meal--try making it! It will definitely change your life!

Bon Apetit! (LOL!)

An Amazing Evening with the hubby and dinner!

The Mr. and I had a fun night last night. We originally had planned to have some friends over but that didn't work out so we got to spend an evening alone. We even spent a few hours writing music. I hadn't done that in so long. I know he hadn't either. It was nice to have someone to collaborate with, and someone who plays the guitar 10 million times better than I do. Still a work in progress but so far, not so bad. *smile*

Last night’s dinner was good! It’s very rare that I don’t rip apart the meals I’ve made with “It’s too salty” or “It’s not cooked all the way” or “I don’t like it, do you?” but I was pretty happy with last night’s meal. We had Parmesan Crusted Tilapia with Roasted Tomatoes, Bacon & Green Beans.

Parmesan Crusted Tilapia, have you ever had it? Mm…I had it once at Olive Garden and was very impressed with the thought. So, of course I HAD to make it!

Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

Makes 4 filets

Parmesan Crust Mix:

• ¼ cup panko bread crumbs
• ¼ cup parmesan cheese
• 1 Tbsp White Truffle Oil (or substitute EVOO) Mix all three ingredients well in a bowl.
  
• 4 Tilapia Filets
• ¼ cup of Alfredo sauce

Heat oven to 450°

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Then place your filets down and lightly salt and pepper them. Drizzle 1 Tbsp of alfredo sauce over each filet and then use ¼ of your crusting mix on each filet. Bake for 10 minutes.

Roasted Tomatoes, Bacon & Green Beans


First, buying the fresh green beans… I buy a handful for each person I’m gonna feed.

So I bought 2 handfuls of green beans. It’s a nice serving amount.

• Fresh Green Beans
• 1 pint of cherry tomatoes
• 1 Tbsp EVOO
• Sea Salt
• Fresh Ground Black pepper
• 6 slices of cooked bacon (chopped)
  

Heat oven to 400°

For an easy clean up line your baking sheet with foil paper and then spray with cooking spray. Place the cherry tomatoes in one layer on the baking sheet. Drizzle about a Tablespoon of EVOO over the tomatoes, salt and pepper and then place in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

Q: How can you tell they are done?
A: They start to kind of shrivel and open up a little and they get really soft.

While the tomatoes are in the oven you can cook up the bacon. (Save about a Tablespoon of the bacon drippings)Don’t forget to clean your green beans. You can either tear the stems off or take some cooking shears to the ends of them.

During the last 10 minutes of the tomatoes in the oven, place the green beans in a skillet with ½ cup of water and 1 Tablespoon of “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” or something similar on med-high heat. Let the green beans simmer until the water disappears (about 8 minutes) and then turn the heat down to medium. Add the reserved bacon drippings.

When the tomatoes are done add the chopped bacon to them and then pour over the green beans. Mix together with tongs.

My hubby was happy! After we finished eating he was looking for more green beans. He LOVES bacon and so I know this part of the meal was heaven for him!

I've been thinking a lot about this desire and love I have for cooking lately. It makes me happy to cook for people and see my husband's face light up on the first bite.

Thank you God for the ability to cook, for the resources to make the things I want and for providing for my every need--electricity, water, food...I'm grateful for your provision Lord.
~Amen~

We also had a low-fat, sugar free custard with sliced figs for dessert last night. The Mr. licked the plate! I tried to get a picture but the camera was in the kitchen! LOL!

Low-Fat/Sugar Free Ricotta Custard
Makes 2 servings

• 1/2 cup low fat ricotta
• 2 Tbsp Sugar Free Coolwhip
• 4 figs
• 1 tsp cinnamon
  

Mix the ricotta, coolwhip and cinnamon together. Spoon half the mixture onto a small plate or in a small bowl. Cut the stem off the figs and slice length -wise and place over the custard however you like. This is how I did it. P.S. This one is my own so please link back:)

Not the greatest picture. It tastes a lot better than it looks.

It's Thursday! Just one more day and then I get to sleep in for a few hours. I can't wait! Have a great day!!

~Mrs. Galvan~

Where God met me

I realized I haven't shared my story in awhile so I thought I'd repost it:


In October this year it will be 7 years to the day I turned my life over to the Lord. My life then was a mess! Let met tell you how I got here...

I grew up being a good girl...born and raised Catholic...as a child we went to church on the major holidays like Easter and Christmas and we also went on the not so major holidays like Mother's Day and Father's day. I spent most Sunday's on my daddy's lap watching whatever sport was big that season...I was definitely a "daddy's girl." We had family vacations and family night and we were a happy little family.

At the age of 8 my parents got seperated and all that stopped.
My dad kinda fell off the face of the earth. He didn't help us financially either so, my mom got two jobs and was never at home. So, of course we didn't go to church. I grew up fast and raised my little sister.

At the age of 13 my parents officially got divorced. My sister and I moved in with my grandparents because my mom was too big a mess to take care of us. I got back into to church and did all the stuff I was supposed to do as a good little Catholic girl. My grandma passed away my senior year in high school and life just sort of fell apart. I started college and fell into the music major party crowd. I had a ton of "friends". I was drunk a lot mostly and in some unhealthy relationships. Then I got sucked into paganism--worshipping multiple gods and found myself a part of a coven just thirty miles north of home. It was a place I felt accepted, wanted and important. By the age of 23, I was drinking, drugging, looking for "love" in all the wrong places and not real sure what I was doing with my life. (When I look back now, it's amazing that I didn't flunk out of college)

At the age of 25, I found myself bored with where I was, unloved, unhappy, wanting to die and unsuccessful. My life had become a routine. Some friends from college kept inviting me to a college group that met on Friday nights at their church and although at this time I was really beginning to wonder if there was a God, I couldn't go even if I wanted to because I worked the night shift at my job...so, i would just say no. One of those friends happened to need a ride home from school one day and as I was driving him home he asked me, "Leslie, do you think when you die you'll go to heaven?" I said, "Yea, I think so." He said, "Why do you think so?" I said, "Because I'm a good person." He told me that just because I'm good doesn't mean that I am gonna go to heaven and that the only way to heaven is through Jesus Christ. That was all he said. After I dropped him off I was livid! Why would he ask me a question like that?!?! He had hurt my feelings...

The next day he once again invited me to church that Friday. He said, "Come once, If you don't like it, you don't ever have to come again." I told him I would see what I could do. At my job they didn't like to give you time off and if I really wanted it off I was gonna have to used (PTO) Paid time off. I was working for a call center at the time and when I got to work that evening they told us that we would have Friday's off for the next month due to low call volume. I sat at my cubicle in aw for a moment and then went and called my friend and told him I'd go to his college group thing.

Friday came and I went to the church. There were people from school there that I knew, which I thought was cool. It was a comfortable atmosphere and the Christians that I thought in my mind would be fakes and rude and stupid were the nicest people I'd ever met. I left there that night knowing that I would visit again. I didn't go to church that Sunday even thought I wanted to because I got scared last minute. The following Friday I went back and my new friends encouraged me to go on Sunday. They offered to sit with me so I didn't feel so alone.

Sunday came and church was unreal...

The pastor said that God knew I would be there that day and that he wanted me to know that it didn't matter what I'd done, or what I'd seen that God loved me! He explained that God had sent His son Jesus to die for MY sins so that I could one day be with God in heaven. (I remembered the conversation I had with my friend) I couldn't quite understand that...in Catholic church we always were told if you're bad then you weren't going to heaven. I gave my life to the Lord that day and my life changed almost immediately. God has apparently begun to prepare me for that morning. I stopped drinking, doing drugs, renounced the witchcraft stuff and stopped sleeping around. The cussing even stopped. When you're ready, you're ready.

God met me right where I was and helped me turn my life around.

So, I started going to church regularly and then started singing on the worship team. My friend from school had told the worship pastor that I could sing and so even though he'd never heard me sing he soon gave me a solo and God has continued to use me as part of that team. Bringing people into God's presence through music is one my passions. *sigh*

Over the past three years God has also brought me to a place in my life where I needed to work through some of the hurts, habits and hang-ups in my life. Our church began a program called "Celebrate Recovery". Through this program I've found emotional healing for a lot of things that caused me hurt in my life. I've found that some of the things I was doing to "medicate" the pain in my life--(like drinking, drugging and men) were only symptoms of other hurts in my life. I went through my 12-steps and am now a part of the leadership for this program at our church. Another one of my passions is to help women find healing through Jesus Christ. I love watching them make decisions for Christ, for their families and for themselves.

Oh and I'm also on full-time staff at my church. Thank God for taking me out of that call center I really could call hell. *Phew*

So, yea...I don't just love to cook...I love Jesus! He saved my life! I really don't know where I'd be or if I'd be in existence if he hadn't met me that Sunday.

God is good :)

~Mrs. Galvan~

Marvelous Monday: Spaghetti Squash

We had spaghetti squash for lunch yesterday. My plans had been to make it like you would spaghetti, (ya know, with marinara sauce and a couple of meatballs) but as I was stringing out the squash I got another idea: (P.S. This one is my own so please link back)

Spaghetti Squash Bake

• 1 medium size spaghetti squash
• 3 Tbsp Pesto (prepared)
• ½ cup Roasted garlic Alfredo Sauce
• ½ cup shredded parmesan cheese
• ½ cup shredded low-fat mozzarella cheese
• 4 slices bacon
• 2 chicken breasts, cubed

Pre-heat oven to 375° and while you are waiting for the oven to get hot pierce the spaghetti squash many times all over with large fork or knife so that the squash breathes while in the oven.

Then place the squash in a shallow baking dish and bake for 1 hour.

While the squash is baking cook up your bacon and when it’s done place it on a paper towel to catch the bacon grease. Place the two chicken breasts in the same pan and sauté in the bacon grease. (about 6 minutes on each side) Then, cube up the chicken and mix with the bacon.

When the squash is finished cut it open length-wise and scoop out the seeds. In a large bowl
string out the entire squash with a fork. This should leave you with what looks like spaghetti noodles. Mix in the pesto and chicken & bacon mixture. Then spoon out into a glass square 8 x 8 x 1 1/2 inch pan (which is bigger than a brownie pan but smaller than a normal size cake pan). Sprinkle the top with parmesan cheese, spoon over the Alfredo sauce and sprinkle the mozzarella over the entire mixture.

Then place back in the oven for 10-15 minutes until heated through again.

I didn't make it exactly this way because it really was a recipe "on the fly" but then figured out what I needed to do while we were eating it.

It was very yummy regardless and no pasta involved!

I don't take pictures the first time I make a recipe so, next time, which will be soon!

Have a great week!

~Mrs. Galvan~

Crockpot brisket!

This meal took me a total of 15 minutes to prepare. As I’ve said before, Thursday is the busiest day of the week for us so on Thursday morning, I broke out the crock pot, sprinkled some “Grill Mates: Garlic & Onion Medley” into the bottom, placed almost two pounds of whole uncooked brisket inside, sprinkled some more Grill mates and drizzled about ¼ cup of KC Masterpiece Original BBQ sauce - on top, then popped the lid on and set it on low for 6 hours.

Here's what it looked like after 6 hours:


Then at dinner time I pulled out some frozen stir-fry veggies, (which inlcuded broccoli, red & green pepper, carrots, onions, and water chestnuts) added some frozen green beans and a little frozen corn PLUS some kecap manis. If you’ve never had kecap manis, it is sweet and smoky and soooo good in stir-fry, even as a barbeque sauce. You can get it at your local Asian food market and it’s pretty inexpensive too.

Here was the final result. The brisket was juicy and tender and the veggies were oh-so good!

I hope you'll get to try this. It's great for mom's on the run and for busy, busy people who need to eat on the run:)

Have a great, great, great Friday!!

Tomorow/this weekend: Beef Bourguignon in honor of Julia Child :)

Rice Cake Desserts! (Diabetic-friendly)

Here’s a new fun dessert recipe that I like to make with Quaker Caramel Corn rice cakes, a banana , Kraft Sugar Free Cool Whip, Smucker's Sugar Free Hot Fudge and Smucker's Sugar Free Caramel sauce.

Thanks to Debbie & Mary K for showing me this one! Mmm....good!

There is a similar recipe on the side of the rice cake package but this is my version:

This will make 2 servings (2 rice cakes)

• 2 Caramel Corn Rice Cakes
• 1 medium banana
• 2 teaspoons of sugar free cool whip
• 2 teaspoons of sugar free hot fudge
• 2 teaspoons of sugar free caramel sauce

Spread 1 teaspoon of sugar free cool whip on each rice cake.

Slice the banana into coin slices and use half of the banana for each rice cake.

Drizzle 1 teaspoon of hot fudge and 1 teaspoon of caramel on each rice cake and there you go!

You really only need to eat one of these. Share the other one with a friend. :)

I have been making these for my mom since she got here and she really likes them too.

These are also good without one or the other drizzling. They really don't taste sugar free either. I have made them at my small group and most everyone liked them. One guy even said he thought it was too sweet...LOL!

Hope you get to try these and enjoy!

~Mrs. Galvan~

My mom's dinner tonight

My mom is visiting this week and so I have someone to try my recipes other than my hubby. For dinner tonight I made portabello pizzas. They were fast and since we were going to the movies to see "Julie & Julia" I didn't want to spend A LOT of time in the kitchen. So, this recipe is I guess what you'd call "semi-homemade". A lot of the ingredients were bought already prepared.

This made 5 portabello pizzas

White Sauce Portabello Pizza

• 5 Portabello Mushrooms
• 1 cup Roasted Garlic Alfredo Sauce (or whatever flavor you like)
  
• 2 chicken breasts
• 5 Tblsp of Basil pesto (Member's Mark from Sam's)
• 1/2 cup of shredded parmesan cheese
• 1 cup of shredded mozarella cheese

preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Take the portabello mushrooms and remove the stems and then place on a cookie sheet, gill side down. Put in the oven for 5 minutes.

Cook the chicken breasts (however you like them spiced) I use Grill Mates Garlic & Onion Medley and ground black pepper.

Pull the mushrooms out of the oven and set them aside.

After your chicken breast is cooked, chop them up into small cubes.
Flip the mushrooms over on the same cookie sheet. Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of alfredo sauce on each mushroom, depending on how big the mushrooms are this will vary. Then, put as much chopped chicken cubes as you like (just make sure you have enough for all of them) on each mushroom.

Drizzle 1 tablespoon of prepared pesto on each mushroom, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and then with mozarella cheese.

Bake for 8 minutes and then broil for 2 minutes.

If you leave them in the oven any longer than this they will get a little mushy and watery so be careful. Make sure you set a timer somewhere:)

Here was my finished product and my mom LOVED them. She ate TWO!

The great thing about this recipe is the carb count is way lower than REAL pizza. It really has become a substitute for pizza in my own life. I LOVE pizza but really shouldn't eat the bread part and so this makes me just as happy!

Enjoy!

~Mrs. Galvan~

Marvelous Monday: Baked Stuffed Apples

So, Monday is the Mr's day off and I only work half the day. I usually make a nice meal on Monday evening so it's definitely a dinner night to look forward to.

We had roasted salmon with a tomato-basil-caper salad. I also made a zucchini and summer squash gratin (which I didn't take a picture of because it was the first time I made it) Then for dessert I made a Baked Stuffed Apple that was AMAZING! I got the recipe from the linked website and tweaked it because I'm a diabetic.

Told some friends I would post the recipe the way I made it so here it is!

Baked Stuffed Apples (Diabetic-friendly)

This makes 4 stuffed apples.

• 4 medium size apples
• 1 cup low fat ricotta
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• 5 packets of SPLENDA
  
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 vanilla bean
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• Sugar-free caramel sauce (Smucker's)
• Cinnamon/Pumpkin Spice
  

Preparation

Remove the core of the apples. If you don't own an apple corer, OMGoodness, you need to buy one! It made this so much easier. I cored the apple and then used the corer to removve a good amount of the apple flesh easily. Chop the flesh up a little so it will cook up faster

Add 2 tsp of water to the apple flesh, vanilla bean scraped, cinnamon (or pumpkin spice-whichever you have) and 3 packets of SPLENDA. Cook until it gets really soft, soft enough to mash up.

Mash well, it will be a little chunky but that's the best part and let cool.

Once the apple mix is cool, In a container, add apples, ricotta, lemon zest, last 2 packets of SPLENDA, pure vanilla extract and egg yolk (save the egg whites in another bowl). Mix very well until the mixture becomes smooth.

Then, beat the whites into a fluffy consistency and fold into the apple-ricotta mixture. Fill the apples with it and cook in the oven for 20-25 min at 375F.

Drizzle with sugar-free caramel sauce and serve lukewarm.

I only had 3 apples so I had leftover apple-ricotta mixture. I used some "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" spray to grease two ramekins and then poured the extra mixture into it. I put it in at the same time as the apples. It made a nice, fluffy little cake that I served drizzled with sugar-free caramel sauce and a scoop of Carb-Smart vanilla ice cream.



ENJOY!!

~Mrs. Galvan~

The Day After (dun dun dun!!!)

Not feeling so bad today. When I thought about what I ate yesterday, I didn’t do TOO bad. I mean, the worst part was really the cake, the one egg roll and the one friend wonton with cream cheese inside that I ate. The rest wasn't so bad.

I did not however even think about checking my blood sugar this morning. I didn't EVEN want to know.

Today’s breakfast was my serving of fruit, Dannon’s Light & Fit Carb & Sugar Control Yogurt, and a cup of sugar free coffee! Lunch was 2 chicken sausage links (Cilantro & Jack Cheese) and broccoli sprinkled with parmesan cheese. It was delicious and fast. It’s really the best meal for lunch since we only have an hour.

It’s Thursday and today is our busiest of days. We get out of work and then have an hour to eat before we have to be back at church for worship team rehearsal. So, we usually pick something up to eat or eat out somewhere. I’m not sure how that’s gonna work this week though. We’re a little tight financially so it may mean that I will have to cook something, FAST!

Ya know, like a LESS than 30 minute meal.
*sigh*
I’m tired just thinking about it.

Anyway, yesterday was a GREAT day! Having dinner with some of our small group and some close friends was really a treat and I felt really special and loved.

My Birth DAY! :D

So, here's some of what has happened thus far today:) Actually, these first few pictures are of EARLY birthday presents. I love EARLY birthday presents!!




These two jars are special:) My best friend, Isabelle's dad made me some of his "famous" salsa and a chimichurri sauce. Mmm...can't wait to use them, YUM!

These knives were my gift from my hubby. Oh, and HOW I LOVE THEM! See, my LOVE for cooking only really began last year but I didn't have anyone to cook for until we got married last October. NOW, all I do is cook :D and well, these knives definitely help because the ones I had weren't very good...LOL! I actually used these knives yesterday! YAY!



And here I am eating my first piece of greasy pepperoni pizza from Sam's in two months. It really is the ONE food I miss most since changing the way I eat. I love Portabello Pizza's too but they just aren't the same.

The day isn't over yet, still get to have dinner at an asian buffet place that I like a lot too with friends. I'm excited about that. Mmm...TSO Chicken, here I come:)

Tomorrow: Back to my regularly scheduled eating:D





And at the end of my day...

I got to have cake and eat it too :D

~Mrs Galvan~

Life

The e-mail I sent out today regarding http://www.futureme.org/

Good morning friends!

I just wanted to share an e-mail that I got from MYSELF this morning...Yes, from MYSELF. LOL! J
There is this website called http://www.futureme.org/ where you can set up an e-mail to send to yourself or to loved ones for the future.
Apparently, in December 2005 I set up an e-mail to be sent to myself TODAY. (I completely forgot that I did this...lol!)

So, this morning is my 32nd birthday and I let me tell you, 32, not such an exciting number:) but when I got this e-mail, it made me realize that the number may not be exciting but the fact that I'm alive and EXACTLY where God wants me to be is a reason to be excited and overjoyed! That's just the beginning of course...Then there's the fact that the desires of my heart then HAVE been fulfilled. I AM in full-time ministry AND married to a worship leader. God is good! :)

So, wherever you are at this morning, remember that you are NOT forgotten by God. He loves you and wants the best for you. Continue running hard after Him and living the way He wants you to. Don't be swayed by the world.

"Take delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. " Psalm 37:4

It's true!

I love you guys!
Leslie Galvan
http://www.bcflife.org/


-----Original Message-----From: FutureMe.org [mailto:mailer@futureme.org] Sent: Wednesday, August 05, 2009 9:03 AMTo: Leslie Galvan
Subject: Life

The following is an e-mail from the past, composed on Tuesday, December 20, 2005, and sent via FutureMe.org
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Dear FutureMe,

You love God more than anything in the world and you love serving Him! You're dreams include full-time ministry and marrying a worship leader. Now, those dreams may not have been God's will for your life but it was your desire at that time. "Take delight in the Lord and He will give you your heart's desire". You should be 32 which is when you said you'd like to be married...unless of course Jesus has already come back and the only ones reading this have been left behind.

If that's the case...YOU NEED JESUS! It's the only way to have eternal life and escape this hell you're in now.

Lots of love


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
like hearing from your past?
we like donations and gifts! http://www.futureme.org/donations/
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Creativity

Something that I struggle with is being creative. I tend to think safe with food, even with life. I don't know WHY that is. I mean, well, maybe I do...LOL! (I don't remember being very "day-dreamy" when I was a child. My imaginary friend disappeared at an early age.)

I've come a long way in the past few years with even trying food that I thought was gross because I finally came to realize that the reason I didn't eat a lot of certain vegetables/cheeses/meats was because my mom would tell me that I wouldn't like something. Having never tasted whatever it was I would agree and then just always look at that particular food and say, "I don't like it!"

This is something I'm gonna work real hard on with my own kids. I'll serve them something and if they TASTE it and don't like it, well then they don't like it. Of course that doesn't mean I'm not gonna try the food again served a different way with some different ingredients. For instance, my husband:), he knows that I do this with him OFTEN. For instance, he DOES NOT like cauliflower. So, whenever I've made steamed broccoli, carrots and cauliflower (because it's tedious to sit and pick out the cauliflower) I leave it on his plate. He usually pushes it aside or puts it on my plate. Then once, I bought a bag of frozen veggies with cheese sauce and he ate the cauliflower. He says it's because it had cheese on it, LOL!

Earlier this month I made Fully-Loaded Cauliflower Mash (my substitute for mash potatos) with turkey bacon, cheese and chives. I didn't tell him that it wasn't mashed potatos until he put it in his mouth. After the first bite, he pushed it aside. Secretly, I think it was because of the turkey bacon. I'm thinking I'm gonna try again with center cut bacon.

Anyway, that's what's running through my mind this morning.

As for being more creative with my food, I'm trying! I think that I'm succeeding too! I mean, i sort of don't really have a choice since I can't eat most other things due to my diabetes.

Tomorrow is my birthday and so my goal for the rest of my life is to continue to try to live life outside the box, try to have a little fun in every area. Besides, life IS short.

~Mrs Galvan~

Saturday yumminess!

So, Saturday evening I made Chicken Pesto Portabello Mushrooms for dinner. They were OH so delicious!
________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

This is really one of my new favorites. It's the 3rd time I've made some sort of portabello pizza but it came out the best THIS time. YUMMY!

What's for Tonight's Dinner

Since May 28th I have been eating healthier and trying to get my diabetes under control.
I have lost 12 pounds and have got my sugar down from 360 to 130-140 regularly. I still want that number to change some and with the doctor we're working on it.

So, since then, I've been doing a lot more cooking at home. Sometimes I take a somewhat fattening recipe and make it as low fat as possible and sometimes I take things that are OBVIOUSLY healthy for you and make them taste good.
My doctor said something to me the last time I saw him that I don't agree with. he said, "if it tastes good, it's bad for you." Since then, I have been striving to make that statement false!

Tonight I'm gonna make a stuffed turkey breast... stuffed with?
I'm not sure yet, I have a couple of options.
I'm also going to make stuffed zucchini.

We'll see how it all turns out. I don't usually take picture or post about a first time recipe but maybe I will tonight. If you're reading this today, I hope that you'll come back!

_________________________________________________________
Here's what we ended up with for dinner:P~~



Pesto stuffed turkey breast with seasoned corn and Prosciutto and Pepperoni stuffed zucchini. It was actually pretty delicious and for the first time making it all I was happy with how everything looked. I do however need a new knife...ugh! The one I currently own is CHEAP and cuts things badly.

_________________________________________________________
I had never made stuffed zucchini and it was a rather fun procedure :)











_______________________________________________________
I had also never made just a turkey breast, much less a stuffed one and I had definitely never tied one up with butcher string...LOL!




_________________________________________________________
Dessert was a low fat, low carb, sugar-free peaches and cream. This one is a work in progress. It turned out good but it's so hard to get something low fat, low carb and sugar-free to taste the opposite.






Come back now, ya hear? ;D

Outward Results of an Inward Starvation

So, I weighed in yesterday. I lost 3 more pounds. That's a total of 12 pounds since the end of May.
Don't worry I'm NOT starving :)

LOTS to do today! The Mr still hasn't gotten out of bed.

It's Friday!

It's finally Friday! YAY!

Of course, this is the pinnacle of our week. Tonight it's Celebrate Recovery and Saturday and Sunday are church services. Then Monday, the Mr is off but I have to work half day. *sigh* The madness never ends!

Soon, I know God is working things out for me, for us.

Last night I put some steaks in the crockpot and this morning they were scrumdidiliumptious. I thought I had turned the crockpot off but left it on warm so when the Mr went to pick lunch up and bring it back to the office, they were dried out. UGH! I was furious with myself! I was in such a hurry this morning I didn't really pay attention. *sigh* Oh well, we still ate it. It was still good, I guess. I really struggle with getting angry about petty things like that. I mean, I lost my appetite because of it.

So, I'm trying to decide what I'm gonna make for dinner on Saturday. I bought a turkey breast...that's a thought. I'm so sick of chicken already.

Time to get creative! I'll let you know what I did:)

Have a great weekend blogger world!

Sleep...

My template is still a work in progress. There seems to be something wrong with every one that I actually like. It's a little bit annoying.

Oh well, what do you do.
So, yesterday we got home from work and ate dinner and then 20 minutes later went to bed. It was 6:30! believe me, I had stuff to do but the Mr. convinced me to sleep.

Woke up at 10PM and wanted somthing cold so I had a sugar free popsicle and then didn't wake up until 6:30AM today.
I'm finding this morning that although it was a lot of EXTRA sleep, I certainly needed it.

Look who's back again! (with an accent)

So, It's been quite a little while since I've blogged. I find that as much as I like to let the world know about the things going on in my life, I run out of time to do so.


I'm back again! Hopefully for a longer period of time though.

Lately, I've really enjoyed reading other people's blogs so I figured why not start writing again so that others can enjoy reading my blog, right? I hope so.

I spent about an hour trying to get the layout right and I don't think it's right yet. Figures. I'll ask the Mr if he can tinker with it later.