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Cranberry-Glazed Turkey

from: 96

Ingredients
22 1/2 sheets (about 1 [14-ounce] box) low-fat honey graham crackers, divided
Cooking spray
3 cups fat-free milk
2 (3.4-ounce) packages fat-free vanilla instant pudding mix
1 (8-ounce) tub fat-free cream cheese
1 (8-ounce) tub frozen reduced-calorie whipped topping, thawed
1/4 cup fat-free milk
2 tablespoons stick margarine or butter, softened
2 tablespoons honey
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar

Directions
Arrange 7 1/2 graham cracker sheets in the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Combine 3 cups milk, pudding mix, and cream cheese in a large bowl, and beat at low speed of a mixer 1 minute or until thick. Fold in whipped topping. Spread half of the pudding mixture over graham crackers, and top with 7 1/2 graham cracker sheets. Repeat the procedure with the remaining half of pudding mixture and 7 1/2 graham cracker sheets.
Combine 1/4 cup milk, softened margarine, honey, and unsweetened chocolate in a medium bowl, and beat well with a mixer. Gradually add powdered sugar to milk mixture, and beat well. Spread chocolate glaze over graham crackers. Cover dessert and tent with foil; chill 4 hours.

Nutritional Info (1/18th of a recipe, or 3(
CALORIES 234 (22% from fat); FAT 5.8g (sat 2.7g, mono 1.5g, poly 1.3g); PROTEIN 5.4g; CARB 41.5g; FIBER 0.8g; CHOL 3mg; IRON 1mg; SODIUM 352mg; CALC 105mg;

from: CookingLight.Com

Ingredients
1 cup packed brown sugar
7 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large egg whites
1 large egg
1 1/3 cups mashed ripe banana (about 2 large)
1 cup regular oats
1/2 cup fat-free milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cooking spray

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°.
Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; beat well at medium speed of a mixer. Combine banana, oats, and milk; add to sugar mixture, beating well. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir with a whisk. Add to sugar mixture; beat just until moist. Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Nutritional Info (1 slice, 1/18 th recipe(
CALORIES 185 (30% from fat); FAT 6.1g (sat 1.2g, mono 1.8g, poly 2.8g); PROTEIN 3.3g; CARB 30.1g; FIBER 1.3g; CHOL 12mg; IRON 1.3mg; SODIUM 200mg; CALC 72mg;

from: MarthaStewart.com

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, plus 4 tablespoons, room temperature
1 bottle dry white wine
1 fresh whole turkey (14 to 16 pounds), rinsed and patted dry
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
7- 8 Cups Cranberry-Cornbread Stuffing
5 red onions (about 2 pounds), peeled and quartered
Cranberry Glaze
Pan Juice Gravy
1 Cheese Cloth

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 450°, with rack on lowest level. In a large saucepan, melt 1 1/2 cups butter; add white wine. Turn off heat, leaving mixture on top of stove to keep warm. Fold a large piece of cheesecloth into quarters; cut it into a 17-inch, four-layer square. Immerse cheesecloth in wine mixture, and set aside to soak.

2. Place turkey, breast side up, on a clean work surface. Fold wing tips under turkey. Season cavity with salt and pepper.

3. Fill large cavity loosely with 7 to 8 cups stuffing. Tie legs together loosely with kitchen twine. Stuff the turkey neck cavity, fold neck flap under, and secure with a bamboo skewer. Rub turkey with the remaining 4 tablespoons butter, and season with salt and pepper.

4. Remove cheesecloth from liquid; squeeze lightly, leaving it very damp. Spread it evenly over breast and leg area.

5. Arrange onions in a large, heavy roasting pan. Place turkey on top of onions; transfer to oven, and roast 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°. Pour a quarter of the wine mixture over cheesecloth and exposed parts of turkey; continue roasting 2 hours more, basting every 30 minutes.

6. When all the wine mixture has been used, remove the cheesecloth and discard; continue cooking until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh (avoiding bone) registers 155°, about 40 minutes more.

7. Brush the turkey with the cranberry glaze, coating completely. Roast turkey 10 to 15 minutes more. Brush turkey again to coat, and continue cooking 10 minutes more to set the glaze (the turkey should register 165°).

8. Transfer turkey to a carving board; let rest about 30 minutes before carving. Reserve pan juices for preparing gravy.

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What's Goin On

Hopefully, today ends my internet-hiatus. Since we moved in, we haven't had internet, which hasn't involved me visiting a methadone clinic only because we have been soooo busy doing everything else. But today (hopefully) that is over and I'll have net again!!!

So busy busy busy. I've been working and all and then working on getting our house in order in the evening. That's mostly about unpacking boxes (you would not believe how many books we've got!!) and getting a few other things in order. Last night, for example, we got our new washer/dryer. They're made by Fisher Paykel, a company out of New Zealand that's supposed to make excellent stuff. Most importantly though, they fit pretty easily into our fairly shallow laundry closet. It was a bit of a chore, especially since we had to return the first washer since it was dented and wouldn't get level … but they're in and when I get home (early since it's a holiday) I'll be doing some laundry first thing!! Wait. I'm excited about doing laundry. Something's wrong. And like I said, we're getting internet today, which of course means that we're getting cable today and phone because for some reason, Comcast offers phone and it's cheaper than the phone company with all of those nice little extras. And with phone, I'll be able to activate my new baby … my Tivo!! The media junkie is about to really get her fix.

But heavily trumping the house stuff is my sis coming home today!! That's right … miss Kelly will be here at 7 PM this evening and the good times will start err … rolling. To add to the fun, we've got the newest volume of karaoke revolution and it's got … duet mode. We'll be trying it out reaaaaal soon!!

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The Weekend

Well, after all the excitement of closing was over, we had to move … we'd scheduled with a company to move at 9 AM on Saturday. At 10 they still weren't there. It turned out that they'd neglected to put us on the schedule (?!). So we (Matt) called around and found another moving company to come get our stuff. Of course, all of this made us majorly delayed and so by the time our stuff was geting loaded into the house, it was time to head off to my aunt's 40th b'day party, so we had Andrew, Matt's brother, come over and wait with the movers while we went to the party. Continue reading “The Weekend”

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What a Day!

The incredibly observant (actually, not only observant, but also vigilant) among you may have noticed that littlet picture that popped up on my moblog at about 4:30 today. Those are the set of keys as given to us by the folks at Land Title after we turned over a big chunk of cash and signed about 3 million sheets of paper (give or take a few 100 thousand).

Ah, but that account of it makes it all sound so easy …. the day itself was nerve-racking as hell!! Acutally, the last few days have had us on pins and needles. On Tuesday we discovered (yes, we discovered, not anyone told us) that we'd need a verification of rent from our previous landlords. Sounds easy enough, especially cuz we were very good tenants. The kind that paid their rent on time … in full … always. Yea, well as of this morning, and six faxes later and a bitta mis-handling on Coldwell Banker Morgatge's part and a lot on our former landlord's part, the paperwork still wasn't through. In fact, at 3 PM when we showed up for closing , it still wasn't through. We watched our realtor (Cyndi Ralph – more about her later) head into the building on her cell phone looking pretty ticked-off. Then we go into the little room with the big chairs and the can full of pens and sit down and the nice lady from Land Title informs us that we probably won't be closing today since our loan hasn't gone through. I start to freak (just a little, I'm sure) and we decided to hold on and at least wait for Cyndi. So Cyndi comes in a few minutes later and tells us everything is AOK. Our loan has been approved and our papers and wire transfer will be there in about 15 minutes … and they were.

Cyndi had called the VP of CBM and screamed at him that this whole thing was ridiculous and that we were closing today and he was going to make it happen. And he did. Obviously, we Cyndi lots. Of course, we did even before this, but …. sheesh. Two first-time home buyers were impressed, and more than well taken-care-of. To state the obvious, if you or anyone you know is buying a home in CO , we heartily recommend her!!! Continue reading “What a Day!”

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Banana-Oatmeal Bread

from: 96

Ingredients
22 1/2 sheets (about 1 [14-ounce] box) low-fat honey graham crackers, divided
Cooking spray
3 cups fat-free milk
2 (3.4-ounce) packages fat-free vanilla instant pudding mix
1 (8-ounce) tub fat-free cream cheese
1 (8-ounce) tub frozen reduced-calorie whipped topping, thawed
1/4 cup fat-free milk
2 tablespoons stick margarine or butter, softened
2 tablespoons honey
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar

Directions
Arrange 7 1/2 graham cracker sheets in the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Combine 3 cups milk, pudding mix, and cream cheese in a large bowl, and beat at low speed of a mixer 1 minute or until thick. Fold in whipped topping. Spread half of the pudding mixture over graham crackers, and top with 7 1/2 graham cracker sheets. Repeat the procedure with the remaining half of pudding mixture and 7 1/2 graham cracker sheets.
Combine 1/4 cup milk, softened margarine, honey, and unsweetened chocolate in a medium bowl, and beat well with a mixer. Gradually add powdered sugar to milk mixture, and beat well. Spread chocolate glaze over graham crackers. Cover dessert and tent with foil; chill 4 hours.

Nutritional Info (1/18th of a recipe, or 3(
CALORIES 234 (22% from fat); FAT 5.8g (sat 2.7g, mono 1.5g, poly 1.3g); PROTEIN 5.4g; CARB 41.5g; FIBER 0.8g; CHOL 3mg; IRON 1mg; SODIUM 352mg; CALC 105mg;

from: CookingLight.Com

Ingredients
1 cup packed brown sugar
7 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large egg whites
1 large egg
1 1/3 cups mashed ripe banana (about 2 large)
1 cup regular oats
1/2 cup fat-free milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cooking spray

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°.
Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; beat well at medium speed of a mixer. Combine banana, oats, and milk; add to sugar mixture, beating well. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir with a whisk. Add to sugar mixture; beat just until moist. Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Nutritional Info (1 slice, 1/18 th recipe(
CALORIES 185 (30% from fat); FAT 6.1g (sat 1.2g, mono 1.8g, poly 2.8g); PROTEIN 3.3g; CARB 30.1g; FIBER 1.3g; CHOL 12mg; IRON 1.3mg; SODIUM 200mg; CALC 72mg;

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New York Pics!! and Weekend Recap

It's practically a miracle, but I've managed to update my pictures section twice in one week!! Yea me. Anyhoo, so check out the New York section for a synopsis of our trip and some great pictures and a lil' travel guide. So check that out, yea.

What else? Kinda boring weekend. Friday Matt and I ran errands and stuff like that and the he and Mom and I went to the Holiday Food and Gift Festival, which was actually kinda sucky, but I did get some hot chocolate mix (English toffee flavor) and some Mexican vanilla (yum!).

On Saturday, we ran around some in the morning and then in the evening we took my dad to see the house we are hopefully closing on on (!!) Friday since he hadn't seen it before and had dinner at Pei Wei. Then Matt and Mom and I watched some DVDs.

Today, Matt and I did some running around and then we've spent most of the rest of the day working on our various projects.

That's it … nice weekend.

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Holiday Shopping

Firstly, I'm going to do a small plug. I've been working with my aunt, a very talented artist, to build a new web site for her business and a cafepress shop to promote some of her art. Neither are 100% done, but they're both v. close and it's getting towards gift-buying time, so I wanted to mention it early on. I've also put it in my shopping links in case you forget!!

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House Pics

Up (sadly) sooner than my NYC pics!! Yep, they're here … house pics. Since it was a model home, there was some furniture in there that was up for grabs, so Matt went out this morning to pick out what we wanted (provided it was for sale). So we ended up with quite a few pieces (approx 2/3) for about $1500. Score.

Anyhoo, while he was out there he took pictures. I tried to get the floorplans to add to the pictures, but Village Homes' website won't bring it up right now, so we'll have to wait.

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Chocolate-Eclair Icebox Dessert

from: 96

Ingredients
22 1/2 sheets (about 1 [14-ounce] box) low-fat honey graham crackers, divided
Cooking spray
3 cups fat-free milk
2 (3.4-ounce) packages fat-free vanilla instant pudding mix
1 (8-ounce) tub fat-free cream cheese
1 (8-ounce) tub frozen reduced-calorie whipped topping, thawed
1/4 cup fat-free milk
2 tablespoons stick margarine or butter, softened
2 tablespoons honey
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar

Directions
Arrange 7 1/2 graham cracker sheets in the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Combine 3 cups milk, pudding mix, and cream cheese in a large bowl, and beat at low speed of a mixer 1 minute or until thick. Fold in whipped topping. Spread half of the pudding mixture over graham crackers, and top with 7 1/2 graham cracker sheets. Repeat the procedure with the remaining half of pudding mixture and 7 1/2 graham cracker sheets.
Combine 1/4 cup milk, softened margarine, honey, and unsweetened chocolate in a medium bowl, and beat well with a mixer. Gradually add powdered sugar to milk mixture, and beat well. Spread chocolate glaze over graham crackers. Cover dessert and tent with foil; chill 4 hours.

Nutritional Info (1/18th of a recipe, or 3(
CALORIES 234 (22% from fat); FAT 5.8g (sat 2.7g, mono 1.5g, poly 1.3g); PROTEIN 5.4g; CARB 41.5g; FIBER 0.8g; CHOL 3mg; IRON 1mg; SODIUM 352mg; CALC 105mg;

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The House

I've added a mo-blog from Flickr and the first pic is our new house!!! We haven't closed yet … but hopefully in about a week and a half, it'll be ours. I will be posting more details as they come up.