Indiana State Pie

Indiana has a state pie (is that normal?), which since I am a pretend Hoosier, I will be making the famous sugar cream pie this weekend. Any excuse for a pie is a good excuse.



Photo credit: Frank Espich



Not Your Typical Fruit Salad

I called to find out what we could bring to the Easter dinner we were invited to... and fruit salad was the answer. Suuurrreee, let me head to the kitchen and whip up some good ole fruit salad.

Yeah right. Fruit salad? I have no idea how to make fruit salad.

In fact, I don't even eat fruit salad.

So, this is my idea of a  fruit salad (adapted from all recipes).

It's more of a dessert.

Layered Fruit Salad

Ingredients:

About a cup or two of your 5 or 6 favorite fruits--> it depends on how big your bowl is as to how much fruit you want to use (we used frozen blueberries and peaches, but the rest were fresh)

1 eight ounce package of low fat cream cheese

1 eight ounce tub of whipped cream

1/2 cup of powdered sugar

1/4 cup pecans or almonds

Cute glass bowl :)

Cut up your fruit

Layer in the glass dish

Mix the sugar and cream cheese until smooth

Fold in powdered sugar

Spoon over the fruit

Add nuts

Like I said, this is not your typical fruit salad.

It's better.

Seriously.

And prettier.

Greek Vs. Regular

I was first introduced to greek yogurt by a "Health Nut" friend who said it was better for you. I immediately took his word for it and was planning on trying it. When I got to the grocery store, I discovered that it cost almost 3x's as much, so I passed it up. And stopped thinking about it.
When I began training for my first half marathon in late summer, I realized my body was needing more than what I was giving it. Not calorie wise, but protein and nutrient wise. I remembered the greek yogurt and decided to try it, despite the cost. And boy did I fall in love!
I don't eat it everyday. It's just too expensive. I eat it three times a week based on work out. I eat it after body pump and after my long run. The main reason I choose Greek Yogurt over regular yogurt is for the protein benefit, in hopes that it is helping to restore and rebuild my muscles.
For days when I am not working out and crave yogurt, we keep te regular stuff in the fridge, because I love the pie flavors! :)

The nutrition basics are as follows:

Dannon Greek Yogurt (plain)- 80 calories, 0 grams of fat, 6 grams of carbs, 15 grams of protein, and 50 mg of sodium

Dannon All Natural Yogurt (plain)- 80 calories, 0 fat, 12 grams of carbs, 8 grams of protein, and 150mg of sodium

Benefits of greek over regular (all natural): Lower sodium, lower carbs, more protein, much better taste and texture (in my opinion)

Benefits of regular over greek: more calcium, and often times less calories and fat, more flavor options

My Broken Hand Mixer

This is my old hand mixer (number 4 actually):

The motor also died.

 So my husband let me buy this:

It's my new favorite thing.