Movin on...healthy snack competition...

It's Friday and we are movin on......

Happy birthday, dear BD. You are such an amazing person. I wish you the best that life has to offer. So glad that you are in my life....

On a somber note, the Baker's mom passed away peacefully this week. She was a creative and classy lady who was the inspiration behind my all time favorite cupcake.....vanilla vanilla. Her legacy will live on in the Baker's culinary creations which have the Main Line in a tizzy during the holidays. Rest in peace.

Now for something less serious, albeit important....the Biggest Loser....which I am not right now.

Last night there was a contest for the best healthy low fat snack/app. The winner would earn 10 points on their score card. Did  I want to do this? The answer is "no". I did not. I kept putting off my choice of snacks/apps for weeks until I could no longer ignore it.

And so, I scanned Pintrest for easy, affordable, and tasty and came up with.....

Drum roll, please.....

Quinoa peanut butter energy balls!


Yep, they looked good and anything with peanut butter is great idea (in my own head, at least).

Once I selected the snack, I went to work and pulled together organic and incredibly expensive ingredients. I took a little taste (I learned this on Top Chef...you never serve a dish unless you taste it first and if it has too much salt in it, you have to "pack your knives and go"). There was something missing....what is it? What is it?

I know...chocolate chips! I added the chips although they were not in the recipe and with only a few hours to go before the contest, I made the quinoa and created little balls. After freezing them for an hour, I took them out and presented them to Tink and the Big kid.

AS they took a bite, their faces told me that they needed a napkin to spit the quinoa balls out of their mouths yet their manners made them finish their snack.

"Uh, BP mom...not the greatest thing you ever made...."

"Uh mom, this is amazing!"

Then I took a bite...ew! Disgusting....no flavor...a weird after taste. This was definitely a disaster. I was down to 2 hours before the contest and went into Plan B.....

Quickly, I sent the Big K to the store and he retrieved ingredients for.....

Cauliflower pizzas!

Yep, plan B was on its way and I made them with no time left on the clock. Knives down. Hands up....

I placed the little pizzas into a travel aluminum lasagna pan and went to the contest. I was late, naturally since I was browning the tops of my pizzas and when I got there, I was floored.

On two long tables were a plethora of snacks and apps....they were beautifully created. They were placed on china plates and had the recipes written in calligraphy with special matching napkins and looking like they belonged on a cover of Bon Apetit. It looked like professional Top Chef had crafted these treats as I dropped my head. I placed my lousy quinoa balls in my large Rubbermaid container on the beautiful table and then added the pizzas which were huddled in the aluminum lasagna pan. Since I had not created a label for my entrys, I used a pen and paper plate to share with the group the names of my snacks. All in all, it looked like a 4th rate job and I was mortified.

Fortunately, names were not on the dishes as we took numbers to identify our snacks. The judge was the head trainer of the gym and he had to taste every tasty snack (except for the quinoa balls....no one liked them...no surprise).

The head trainer called everyone together. He announced that all of the snacks were delicious (I knew that he was lying about the quinoa balls). But, there are 4 that stood out. The top snacks would earn bonus points on their Biggest Loser card. I could definitely use these points since I had lost only 3 pounds.....

Fourth place.....mango salsa......Yeah!

Third place.....shrimp wontons.....Boo! Shrimp? really? Have you checked the mercury and fat levels ??? Huh?

Second place....Cauliflower pizzas....Huh? What? Really? I am so honored! Yep, he did not care about the presentation, but the taste was mighty fine. Shocked, I grabbed my 5 extra points and threw out the quinoa balls which no one ate.

First place...a crab cup....Crab cup? Come on, folks! Crab? Who has the funds for crab, let alone little cups that were masterfully displayed (Note, the women who won, owned a restaurant for a number of years...uh, can anyone say "ringer"?)? They were granted ten extra points. Ok,  I like these girls and glad that they won.

Now that the snack competition is over, I have to focus on losing the three extra pounds that I gained last night sampling the "healthy" snacks and apps.

By the way, here is the cauliflower pizza that can be modified.

OK, time for me to head out. Have a great day!
Peace!