Stylish Blogger Award

Recently I recieved a Stylish Blogger award from Dulce Dough. Thank you so much for reading and enjoying my little blog. If you haven't checked out Dulce Dough, you really must! Such fabulous recipes for sweets! I am so new to the food blogging world I didn't know this fun little award existed. How nice!

Following the rules of the award, I have to:

1. Thank them, make a post, and put a link back to the person/s who gave me this award.
2. Share 7 things about myself.
3. Pass the award to 10 recently discovered great bloggers.
4. Contact these bloggers and personally tell them about the award.

Seven things about me:

1. I am 28 years old and have been married to the best guy I know for almost two years.
2. Currently, I am working on my PhD in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Idaho
3. In the past, I taught theatre in public school for five years and want to go back!
3. I love teaching group fitness and TRX classes!
4.Next to being with family and friends, traveling is my favorite thing in the world!
5. I have three sisters, one brother, and one niece and one nephew who are adorable twins!
6. I have run two marathons and probably won't ever do a full one again.

7. My first theatrical role was playing "Miss Mexcio" in a small production put on by my second grade class.

Great blogs I follow and upon which I bestow a Stylinsh Blogger award:

I have many great blogs that I follow. I haven't been blogging for long, so I don't know who has recieved this fun little award before or not, so I will bestow it upon some lovely blogs that I follow and think are fabulous, or often make my day! Some of them are food blogs, some are just great blogs! I will list them below and contact them about their award accordingly. :)

Amy's Cooking Adventures

BriTunes2

Budget Gourmet Mom

Fight The Fat Foodie

Healthy Meals for Less

Jill's Blog

Knit Cookies Knits

Mother Rimmey's Cooking Light Done Right

Standing, Sitting, Lying Down

Sugar and Spice and Everything Juicy Couture

Whole Grain Gourmet

Coconut Lime Sweet Bread: Two Recipes

I made a TRUCK LOAD of this delicious coconut lime sweet bread for my friend April's baby shower this morning. It was super delicious and because I made so much, many people got to take it home to enjoy it. I adapted this recipe from Our Best Bites' Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze recipe and they adapted their recipe from Cooking Light. These are also great versions of this recipe. However, it is not a super healthy treat, so I did my best to make a light more Weight Watchers-friendly version along with it and the lighter version turned out really good as well! Here are both recipes:

Coconut Lime Sweet Bread

Ingredients

Bread Ingredients

2 c. Flour

1 c. Sugar
3/4 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt

2 Eggs

1/4 c. Sour Cream
1/4 c. Melted Butter
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 c. Flaked Coconut
2 Tbsp. Lime Juice
1/2 c. Milk
An Extra 2 Tbsp Flaked Coconut

Lime Glaze Ingredients
1/4 c Lime Juice
1/2 c. Powdered Sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Thoroughly mix dry bread ingredients together in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, combine wet bread ingredients, leaving out the extra two Tbsp of flaked coconut. Whisk thoroughly. Pour wet mixture into dry mixture and mix until you have a very thick batter. Pour into a greased 9X5 loaf pan. Sprinkle extra coconut on to the top. Cook bread for 60 minutes then check it by inserting a toothpick into the center. If it comes out dry, it's done! If it's wet, bake another 5 or 10 minutes until baked thoroughly.
Remove from oven and let cool.

While your bread is cooling, whisk lime juice and powdered sugar together into your glaze. Drizzel over the top of your slightly cooled bread. Slice and serve!

Notes
Makes 14 servings of with 6 WW Points Plus per serving.

Coconut Lime Sweet Bread: Lightened Up

Ingredients

Bread Ingredients
2 c. Whole Wheat
1 c. Splenda
3/4 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
3 Egg Whites
1/4 c. Non-Fat Vanilla Yogurt
1/4 c. AppleSauce
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 c. Flaked Coconut
2 Tbsp. Lime Juice
1/2 c. Fat Free Milk
An Extra 2 Tbsp Flaked Coconut

Lime Glaze Ingredients
1/4 c Lime Juice
1/2 c. Powdered Sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Thoroughly mix dry bread ingredients together in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, combine wet bread ingredients, leaving out the extra two Tbsp of flaked coconut. Whisk thoroughly. Pour wet mixture into dry mixture and mix until you have a very thick batter. Pour into a greased 9X5 loaf pan. Sprinkle extra coconut on to the top. Cook bread for 60 minutes then check it by inserting a toothpick into the center. If it comes out dry, it's done! If it's wet, bake another 5 or 10 minutes until baked thoroughly.
Remove from oven and let cool.

While your bread is cooling, whisk lime juice and powdered sugar together into your glaze. Drizzel over the top of your slightly cooled bread. Slice and serve!

Notes
Makes 14 servings of with 3 WW Points Plus per serving- half the points of the fatty bread!

Turkey Cranberry Meatloaf and Garlic Mashed Potatoes

I acknowledge that it has been longer between posts than my New Year's resolution allows. March was quite the month for us with midterms, plays, and an emergency trip to Salt Lake. However, I'm making amends by sharing not only one, but two of my signature, all-time-favorite recipes. First, a healthy delicious turkey meatloaf then fat-free garlic mashed potatoes. They are fabulous together!

Turkey Cranberry Meatloaf

Ingredients

19 oz. (1 pkg.) lean ground turkey

2/3 c. whole rolled oats

1/2 c. dried cranberries

1/2 c. finely diced cellery

1/4 c. finely chopped green onion

2 egg whites

2 Tbsp. minced garlic (or garlic to taste)

2 Tbsp. dried parsley
2 tsp. oragano
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Form meat into a 9x9 glass baking pan coated with non-stick spray. If desired, shake an extra bit of garlic, parsley, and oats over the loaf for aesthetics. Bake loaf for 30-40 minutes or until cooked thoroughly.

Notes
One sixth of the loaf  (which is a very generous serving) is 5 WW Points Plus.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients
4 large ( or about 1 lb.) russett potatoes
1/2 c. fat-free sour cream (I recommend Tillamook)
1/2 c. skim milk
2 Tbsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp Garlic and Herb Mrs. Dash Seasoning (This is my secret ingredient, but italian seasoning will also do)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Peel or partially peel, cut, and boil potatoes in a large pot of water until soft and mashable. Drain water. Mash potatoes with a masher. Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Notes
One 1/2 c. serving (or one sixth of the recipe yield) is 4 WW Points Plus.