I can’t believe Christmas is in three days. I’m so close to being “ready” (what does that really mean, anyway? When are you ever “ready” for the holidays?). I’ve put off a lot of my baking for today and tomorrow (I get two days off in a row, which is unheard of!). Today I’m planning on making pepperoni bread (eight loaves) and Joanna’s pumpkin butter. I am going to make three of the breads whole wheat, but then I’m taking off my dietitian hat and just using white bread. I have also decided to use turkey pepperoni and organic cheese. Yeah, I know, organic cheese isn’t healthier, but I almost always buy organic dairy products. I don’t really have any reason for using turkey pepperoni, other than the reduced saturated fat content.
Last year’s pepperoni bread. Yum.
The other day I made these fantastic blueberry almond turtles. Here is a similar recipe that I found online (can’t find the original!). The only difference is that I used fresh blueberries, not dried ones.
The lighting is bad in this picture, but you get the idea, right?!
What You Need
– Some dark chocolate (I used one bag 60% cacao chocolate chips)
– Blanched almonds
– A few cups of fresh blueberries
– A double boiler or just a microwave safe bowl
– A cookie sheet lined with wax paper
Basically all you do is create several little mounds of blanched almonds on the waxed paper. Then melt the chocolate and toss the blueberries in the chocolate. Get them nice and coated, then drop about 5-7 chocolate-covered berries onto the almond mounds. Put in the freezer for about 30 minutes to get them nice and hard.
This is the bottom of the turtles.
Nutrition Highlights
– Low calorie
(~50-80 calories, depending on how big you make them)
– Contains magnesium, vitamin E, fiber, and flavanols, all of which play vital roles in chronic disease prevention.
My mom and I also experimented with quinoa flour the other day. We ground up some quinoa into a flour and tried making our waffle cones and bowls with the flour. They definitely tasted and looked a little different, but they were still a huge hit!
We made a few cones and waffle bowls.
Plus some waffle chips. The chocolate we used was simply melted Dove chocolate.
QUESTION: What’s your favorite holiday dessert? I think mine is Great Lakes’ Christmas Ale But if I had to choose a food, it would be my cousin’s rocky road fudge!
It’s the one in the top right corner. Oh my gosh. It’s to die for.
I hope everyone has a great Christmas! If you don’t celebrate Christmas, have a wonderful week and weekend. I will be back on the 26th with an “Almost Wordless…Sunday??” post! I will share photos, plus an update on how I have done with the Holiday Challenge. Have a great one!
