Butternut squash, Chickpea, Red Lentil Stew=YUM

 

Hey I came across this recipe a while back and thought it would be perfect for a cold Winters day. I decided that I had to test it out today. Boy am I glad that I did! Even Sean loved it! It was a HUGE HIT and I only changed one little ingredient….well the main one. lol I didn’t have pumpkin so I used butternut squash and WOW it came out so good! This is a MUST try and it is so easy to toss in the crock pot too! I set it on HIGH for 5 hours and the whole house smelled delicious!

I need to add it to the Weight Watchers recipe builder- since I changed the ingredients and left off the toppings, but from the stats at 7 PointsPlus a serving it sure doesn’t seem like a bad meal to enjoy for us Weight Watcher peeps!

 

Here is the original recipe from Better Homes and Gardens-

Pumpkin (or Butternut squash!) Chickpea Red Lentil Stew

Ingredients

1pound pie pumpkin or winter squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes

1-15 ounce can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained3medium carrots, sliced 1/2 inch thick
1-cup chopped onion (1 large)
1-cup red lentils, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1tablespoon lime juice
1teaspoon ground cumin
1/4teaspoon salt
1/4teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4teaspoon ground black pepper
4cups chicken or vegetable broth
1/4cup chopped peanuts
2tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Plain nonfat yogurt (optional)

directions
1. In a 3-1/2- to 4-quart slow cooker, combine pumpkin, chickpeas, carrots, onion, lentils, tomato paste, ginger, lime juice, cumin, salt, turmeric, and pepper. Pour broth over all in cooker.
2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8 to 10 hours or on high-heat setting for 4 to 5 hours. Top each serving with peanuts, cilantro, and if desired, yogurt.

Makes 6 (1-1/3 cup) servings.

nutrition facts (Pumpkin, Chickpea, and Red Lentil Stew)
Servings Per Recipe 6, Calories 275, Protein (gm) 14, Carbohydrate (gm) 46, Fat, total (gm) 4, Cholesterol (mg) 2, Saturated fat (gm) 1, Monosaturated fat (gm) 2, Polyunsaturated fat (gm) 1, Dietary Fiber, total (gm) 10, Sugar, total (gm) 8, Vitamin A (IU) 89, Vitamin C (mg) 15, Thiamin (mg) 0, Riboflavin (mg) 0, Niacin (mg) 4, Pyridoxine (Vit. B6) (mg) 0, Folate (µg) 81, Sodium (mg) 1027, Potassium (mg) 795, Calcium (DV %) 81, Iron (DV %) 3, Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet

 

Ya gotta make this! I actually liked it better without the toppings- so I skipped the yogurt, peanuts, and the cilantro(yuck!) lol

 

I love finding new recipes that everyone loves!

Have you made anything NEW recently that you and your family have declared NEW favorites? Please share!

 

BYE!

Technorati Tags: Butternut squash,Chickpeas,Stew,Pointsplus,Weight Watchers,Red Lentils,Butternut squash chickpea red lentil stew,winter recipes

Duncan Hines Giveaway!

Hey everyone! As part of the Foodbuzz Taste makers Program I received coupons to create a delicious dessert idea from Duncan Hines & Comstock-Wilderness. This was a tough job to have! lol Not only make something but test it out too!  Would you also like some coupons?

Because the people over at Duncan Hines were very generous and gave me LOTS of coupons! Whoohoo!

I decided to just mix a box of Duncan Hines Devils Food cake mix, a can of Comstock light cherry pie filling, and 6 ounces of sparkling water (mine was pomegranate flavored) -- yes that is all I added. DO not follow the directions on the cake mix box!  :)

I sprayed an 8x8 Pyrex dish with PAM and baked the dessert for 60 minutes at 350 degrees- or until toothpick comes out semi- clean out of the center of the cake.

The result was an extremely moist cake! WOW! I added the recipe to the Weight Watchers recipe builder and 20 servings are only 3 Pointsplus each. The hard part was cutting this cake into 20 servings because of how moist it was! I think it would have been great with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream too!

Ok so now are you ready to get your coupons? Yes I said COUPONS. I have 6 coupons so I will be randomly selecting 3 winners to get 2 coupon each! WOW!
How do you enter?
How about 3 ways??!!
1- Just leave me a comment! SIMPLE!
Want another entry?
2- Blog about this giveaway.
Still want more?
3- TWEET about this giveaway OR post about it on Facebook!
**Just leave separate comments for me about what you did to spread the word about this giveaway. Piece of cake right? hehe
**Since the coupons will be my responsibility to mail out I am limiting this giveaway to US residents only.
Winners will be selected using Random.org on Friday Dec 2nd.
Thanks for entering! Can’t wait to see what you bake up! Good luck!

Technorati Tags: Duncan Hines,Comstock-Wilderness,Diet Soda Cake,Givaway,Coupons

Nasoya Coupon Winners!

Hi guys! Hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving! Today I am decorating for CHRISTMAS! It's my favorite thing to do on black Friday! hehe

The two winners of the Nasoya coupons are:

Lyndsay at Thinspiration & Janece!! WHOOHOO  If both of you will please email me your mailing info I will send the coupons right out!  tjbooboo@gmail.com

Congrats guys!

:)

Best Eats in Maui!

This post is FILLED with yummy food pictures. This is a warning and a confession at the same time. lol With that being said- ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK and NO, I did not track a single pointsplus all week. I ate, I enjoyed, and I am back to reality this week.

At the Westin Villas they have a few restaurants. We had booked our vacation using Costco and had a credit at this place for a 3 course dinner. I had no idea what to expect and I think both Sean and I were surprised at just how good it was.

 Cheers!

 Up first were the appetizers! We shared plates so we could try a little of everything.

Shrimp risotto-

 Steamed clams-

 Main entrees- Filet

 Gnocchi with lobster-

Then it was dessert time but we had to get it togo! We were so STUFFED! lol

 We stopped at a small little cafe that I can not for the life of me remember the name of but they were very friendly and the food was tasty! Sean said this was the BEST BURGER EVER and I got a BS(spinach)TA wrap that was fantastic!

Can I just tell ya how much I love these little stands on the sides of the road!

 SHAVED ICE!! I made the mistake of ordering the LARGE my first time. It was larger than my head! lol

Ever use YELP? Well that site was so helpful to us this past week! We loved reading everyone's favorite choices from the menus and even seeing the pictures of the food in advance! Especially helpful when the place doesn't have a web site! If you ever need help finding a place by $$, nearby, type of food, highest rated, or even open now- Yelp is a great help to get you some yummy eats! :)

Okazuya was one of those places that you can't judge a book (or restaurant in this case) by it's cover...or strip mall. There was only a small bar to sit at to eat or tables outside and I gotta say I wish this place would open up near me. I WANT MORE!

 Mahi Mahi with lemon caper sauce...wow, just WOW! Ya know I don't eat fish right? Well now I am HOOKED!

 Steak...cooked to perfection & melt in your mouth delicious! Oh my goodness I am drooling as I type! huh

 More shaved ice...loll

 The Luau we went to was fun but the darkness was not a good place to take pictures :( SO I snapped a pic of the menu to share.

 The food was good- served family style. We had a fun table of people and the funniest part- the couple sitting next to us was SEAN & TRACEY TOO! lol What are the chances of that??  The show was really great! The Westin put on a terrific luau!

 Gazebo Restaraunt in Lahaina was a last minute Yelp look up and boy it did not disappoint!

 It was decorated so festive!

 I ordered the fried rice with egg....this is a HALF order! lol I made a pretty big dent in it. :)

 I can't remember exactly what Sean ordered....burger patties with grilled onions...

 but this is how happy is was after his first bite. loll

 Again at the Villas we hit another one of the restaurants to take in happy hour.

 sweet potato fries

 coconut shrimp

 Beef satay

 everything was delicious....even my Blue Hawaii! :) Cheers!

 Ok so after we went on a road trip adventure we got HUNGRY! YELP helped again... We just hit the search button in the area we happen to be at and VIOLA!

 Yes, this is a truck. As is a truck on the side of the road. I think this might have been my favorite meal all week! Geste Shrimp Truck was THE BOMB! Small simple menu that was BIG on flavor and quality!

 Sean got the hot dog plate....

 I had to get the Hawaiian scampi!

 Sean was obviously unhappy with his selection. Haha! Ever HUNGRY and in Kahului GO FIND THAT TRUCK!

 Got butter? Noo...I'm kidding I didn't eat this beach crab, but I did drool a little bit when I saw him scurry away on the beach. LOL

That just about does it....If you made it to the end without needing to wipe your chin off congratulations. lol I had a hard time just writing about all of the yumminess. :)

Bye :)

Nasoya Giveaway!

Hey guys! I was contacted by the folks over at Nasoya to try out something from their line of foods and I was also given a couple of extra coupons to pass along to you as well! I decided on the tofu BUT they make other great items too! Noodles, won ton wrappers, and even hummus! Please check out their web site and come back to tell me what product you would like to try out. I will pick TWO winners on Friday 11/25 using random.org

I tried out the NEW Tofu Plus that is fortified with vitamins. It was good! I used my BAKED TOFU recipe and then sliced it up to add to stir fry. Both Sean and I loved it! It's nice that the tofu has the added nutrients if you are on a meat free diet. Helps you get in the extra good stuff that we all need!

SO whatcha think....wanna FREE coupon? :)

Back from Maui!

Hello Everyone!! Well what can I say about such a relaxing week? WOW, just wow. Let's just say Sean and I needed this vacation BAD. We did lots of NOTHING, which is exactly what we needed. We loved deciding between, pool, beach, or driving around to explore the island without a care in the world. It was a wonderful vacation and I am so grateful to have been able to go away to such a beautiful place. Maui will be on our RETURN SOON list! :)

Back to reality, home. Clothes ALL cleaned and put away...but now very tired from getting things done on my first day home. So I thought I would just share a few pics (just a few- but we took 600!) with you and promise to get a post ready with all of the AMAZING food we ate very soon!

Aloha! :)

:)