Blue Ice

This was absolutely, positively the most beautiful day at Mackinac Bridge. We heard about the blue ice and before coming home from our overnight trip to Traverse City we decided to go to the bridge.

In an article in USA Today I found this explanation, "When lake ice is clear with no bubbles, in this case where lakes Michigan and Huron meet, it allows for short wavelength light to penetrate and scatter in the water below and reflect back through the ice."  George Leshkevich, a field scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Mich. 

It was 38° but actually felt much warmer. There were lots of people climbing on the ice. The mountain of ice is inches away from the house we were near.

The huge shards created steps to climb. I had on tennis shoes and it was too slippery for me.

Mudhustler Brownies

Here are Mudhustler brownie recipe and my version. Only differences are I use real brown sugar, add zucchini and make in silicone cupcake pans.

Mix together:

1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 scoops Quest vanilla

1 TBS Baking Powder

1/4 cup Hershey's special dark cocoa 

3 TBS brown sugar

1 TBS Espresso Powder

Add:

2 eggs

1 TBS vanilla

15 oz pumpkin

1-2 cups shredded zucchini, 

(Water squeezed out)

Scoop into Pam sprayed cupcake pans -recipe makes 12.

Bake 350° for 25 minutes. Turn off oven and leave in oven with door closed. Store in refrigerator. 

Serve with FF Reddi Whip and raspberries.

1 for 1 pts or 2 for 3 pts 

This is Mudhustlers original recipe:

Enchilada Casserole

Oh yum! Big hit last night with company.

Enchilada Casserole

6 xtreme ole tortillas 

1 1/4 cup Trader Joe's Cheddar, Monterey Jack and Mozzarella blend light shredded

3/4 cup FF mozzarella 

1 can Enchilada sauce

1 lb lean ground turkey

1/2 cup green pepper

1/2 cup yellow pepper

1/2 cup onion

1 can pinto beans

Add vegetables to pan and saute. Add pinto beans and mash all together. Add 1/4 cup cheddar cheese.

In a seperate pan cook turkey with salt, pepper, cumin, garlic, ancho chili, paprika, Mrs. Dash, fennel. Mash as cook.

Put a few TBS sauce in a Pam sprayed casserole dish. Layer:

2 tortillas

Sauce

Bean mixture

Turkey

1/4 cup cheddar blend cheese

1/4 cup mozzarella

Repeat.

End with 2 tortillas pour remainder of sauce and last of the cheese. Cover with foil.

Refrigerate 

Bake 350° for 1 hour. Take out of oven and uncover. Let rest for 10 minutes. Serves 4 generous servings 6 Freestyle SP each.

Lent 2018

St. Dominic's Parish
SS Peter and Paul Church
Saginaw, Michigan
Lent 2018

I love it when art and environment is inspiration driven. Nancy had this Lenten vision and it is beautiful. She chose words from the readings for the day and made signs to be added each week to the Gathering area cross.  I made two PowerPoint slides to be shown before Mass each week with those words.

In Church

In Gathering Area

Each week a new word will be added to this cross

 Ash Wednesday - Slides 1 and 2

 1st Week of Lent - Slides 1 and 2

 2nd Week of Lent - Slides 1 and 2

 3rd Week of Lent - Slides 1 and 2

 4th Week of Lent - Slide 1 and 2

 5th Week of Lent - Slide 1 and 2

 Palm Sunday - Slide 1 and 2

 Easter Sunday - Slide 1 and 2

This Ahi Tuna recipe was so easy and so delicious.

I found this on Pinterest and followed it to the website "Sisters Do Food and Fitness"  (Click the picture to go to the website.) Right after I publish this post I am going back to the website to find more recipes to try.

This was my first time cooking Tuna that wasn't in a can or a pouch. I switched the black sesame seeds to Everything But The Bagel Seasoning. I served it over rice and vegetable stirfry and drizzled the tuna with the dipping sauce. IT WAS SO GOOD!

Ahi Tuna

2 (5 ounce) ahi tuna steaks

1/4 c. panko breadcrumbs

1/4 c. black sesame seeds

1 tbsp. sesame oil

Soy Dipping Sauce -

1/2 c. soy sauce

2 tbsp. lime juice

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tbsp. honey

2 tbsp. cilantro, chopped

1 tbsp. sesame oil

1 tbsp. Sriracha (or red chili sauce)

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients for the soy dipping sauce. Place in refrigerator to chill.

In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp. sesame oil over medium-high heat. 

Combine panko and black sesame seeds in a large bowl. Roll the ahi tuna steaks in the panko mixture to coat.

Gently place the crusted tuna in the skillet and cook to desired doneness, 1 minute per side for rare.

Use filing sauce sparingly - very salty.

I'll Stand by You

I love this!

Carba Nada Pasta and Zoodle Bake

This was delicious.

2 packages Lean Ground Turkey

Fennel seed 

Oregano

Garlic

Cumin

Paprika

Mrs. Dash

Salt

Pepper

Mix together refrigerate overnight

Cook turkey sausage and crumble while cooking. 

Add 1 box tomato sauce 

1 can chopped tomatoes
2 wedges Laughing Cow Cheese

Half a package Carba Nada noodles boiled 1 minute 

5 zucchinis zoodled baked

1 TBS parmesan mixed together

Mix together

1/2 cup ricotta 

1 cup cottage cheese

1/4 cup FF mozzarella 

1 egg

Cinnamon

Parsley

Layer 

Sauce on bottom (leave out turkey)

Pasta/Zoodle

Cheese mixture

Turkey sauce

1/4 cup mozzarella 

Cheese

Pasta/Zoodle

Turkey sauce

3/4 cup FF mozzarella 

2 TBS Parmesan

Refrigerate overnight

350° 1 hour covered 10 minutes uncovered then take out and let sit 10 minutes

This serves 8 generous servings 4 Freestyle points each

Love this

Lately visitors have been looking for Lenten ideas. Love being a source for them.