Turtles Candy!

I love turtles candy, but the sugar free I can buy in the store has so many sugar alcohols they just tear me up. Can't even eat one! So this morning I was thinking about the ingredients in turtles and realized that I could probably make a pretty decent copy...not the same, but good enough to satisfy me. Note that there are no amounts listed in the ingredients. This is, so far, a "by gosh and by golly" recipe. I'm sure there are other turtle fans out there and wanted to get the recipe posted as soon as possible. So, for now, you'll just have to make it by remembering the texture and thickness and gooeyness of a real turtle.

Turtles

Smucker's sugar free caramel syrup
Almond flour
Instant oatmeal
Dry roasted (with sea salt) peanuts
Dry roasted (with sea salt) almonds
raisins
Smucker's sugar free chocolate fudge topping

Mix some almond flour with the caramel syrup until somewhat thickened. Add some oatmeal until it's pretty thick (almost as if you were going to roll it into balls). Add the peanuts, almonds and raisins (hey! some coconut would be good in there too!) and mix until well mixed and nice and thick. Add more flour or oatmeal to thicken more if you want to roll into balls.

Spray an ice cube tray with Pam and drizzle some fudge topping into the bottom of the compartments. Spoon some of the caramel mixture on top then smudge (technical word!) some more fudge topping. Put the ice cube tray in the freezer until solid enough to pick up and eat.

Mine are in the freezer now and you know I will eat my share as soon as they are ready. If they come out good, I think I'll get some mini cupcake paper cups and put them on a tray to freeze in the paper cups.

I actually cheated "just a little" and left a taste in the mixing bowl...Hey! that's the cook's prerogative, right! I gotta tell ya, even if they don't harden correctly, they taste awfully good! I'll update as soon as I taste the final result!

Update: Hmmm...I didn't know that ice cream fudge topping wouldn't freeze? Duh! Have another idea that won't add a bunch of sugar alcohols and will try that soon. Meanwhile if anyone else has an idea, let me know!!!

Workout Recommendation

A few weeks ago I mentioned to my swimming buddy that I was having a difficult time with exercise. I've developed arthritis in my left hip since my accident on my bicycle last year and now I've been looking for a low impact exercise that is high energy enough so that I'll work up a good sweat. Well, of course, Renee came through for me!

She told me about the Walk at Home workouts by Leslie Sansone. I went to Walmart and bought the Big 4 Mile Walk video immediately and have been working out to it almost every day. Love it! Nothing hurts when I'm finished but sweat is just dripping off of me! Love it!

She has a website too with a store and a walk club that you can join. If you join the walk club, you get a percentage (15% ?) off in the store. I'm haven't joined yet, but I will. She streams different workouts in her walk club so you can have a variety of walks without buying the videos. I'm sure she hopes you'll get hooked on the workout (not hard to do) and go out and buy the video so you'll have it after they take it off the website.  I saw in the store they also have a couple of faith-based workout videos.

I hope you give this workout a try. This is the video I have and I absolutely love it!

Steamed Fish

I've really loved fish ever since my gastric bypass surgery. I crave fish. I eat fish so often, frankly I'm surprised I haven't grown fins! Tonight at support group we were talking about fish and I talked about my little microwave steamer. I bought it at World Market and it was only $5.00! I've actually got two and the second one was on sale for $3.00. Bob even told me tonight that I should really go back and get a couple more just to make sure I always have one clean and ready since I use it so often! LOL! But I think he might be right...LOL! I love fish just about any way I can get it, but I especially love it steamed. No oil or anything else to interfere with the good fish taste.

Steamed Fish

1 filet (I use frozen tilapia or cod...if you use fresh you'll need to adjust your cooking times)

frozen vegetables (I like mixed green beans or garden mixes)

frozen sweet peppers, sliced

seasoning of choice (I like all different seasoning mixes...Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime, Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning, Italian Salad Dressing dry mix are a few of my favorites)

salt

With a little water in the bottom of the steamer, place the basket on top. Place the fish and veggies then sprinkle everything with seasoning to taste. Cooking time really depends on your microwave and thickness of your fish. My frozen tilapia normally takes about 6 minutes and frozen cod normally takes about 7 minutes. Let the food rest in the steamer for about a minute before serving. Serve with a small side salad and you've got a great meal!