Updates and other fun things

So, many of you have asked about Greensboro. It's going well. I'm over the initial shock and settling in nicely. The members are really nice and welcoming. The branch itself presents a few unique challenges. Most of the priesthood comes from outside the boundaries, so that makes it hard to visit the members like we want to and to grow the branch. Also, the missionaries were pulled out so that makes it doubly hard to do any kind of missionary work. However, the members who come do their best to contribute and work hard to look after each other. I think it will be a wonderful, tiring and challenging two years!

Yesterday I had my friend Jeni over for her birthday lunch. She loves Mexican food and she's trying to lose weight, so instead of taking her to Pepitos (just one of our all-time favorite Mexican places since college), I made her a healthy meal. The weather was beautiful, so I had full access to my grill. The least healthy items were the rice, cheese dip and tortilla chips (cake goes without saying). The tortilla chips had more calories than pretzels, but less sodium, so I went with chips. You could probably toast flour tortillas for a healthier alternative. Also, I didn't drain my canned tomatoes when I added it to my Velveeta (also high in sodium) so it thinned it out a little, meaning you ate less cheese with each dip. Rice just turns right into sugar when you eat it, even brown rice. Wild rice would have been even more healthy. Anyway, you can read all about the day on her blog and see pictures, but she asked me to post a couple of recipes. It was really fun, despite fussy kids, and we had a really great visit. All in all, a pleasant way to spend the afternoon. Feliz cumpleanos, amiga!

The Menu
Grilled Chicken with Mango Salsa
Spanish Rice with Brown Rice
Cheese Dip with Tortilla Chips and Carrots
Raspberry Lemonade
Mexican Chocolate Cake

Mango Salsa
1/2 medium red onion, finely diced
2 mangos, peeled and diced
1 red pepper, finely chopped
2 TBSP cilantro, coarsley chopped
1 TBSP green onion, minced
2 TBSP fresh lime juice
2 TBSP olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Toss all ingredients together gently. Great with tortilla chips, fish or grilled chicken breasts.

Spanish Rice with Brown Rice
2 cups cooked brown rice
2 TBSP butter
1/2 cup green onion, diced
1/2 cup green pepper, diced
1-14 oz. can of diced tomatoes, drained
Chili powder
Ground cumin

Saute onion and pepper with butter in a sauce pan until tender. Add rice, tomatoes, chili powder and ground cumin. Heat through and serve. You can also put shredded cheese on top. Yum.

*When you cook the rice, the package will probably call for more water than the white rice recipe. Use less water for a firmer rice. The juice from the tomatoes will make up for it. I learned this the hard way.

Mexican Chocolate Cake
This recipe called for espresso but I altered it to include the cinnamon-chocolate combination that is often found in Mexican deserts. It's also less than 200 calories a slice!!!!!
3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 TBSP butter, melted
2 TBSP canola oil
2 eggs
2 egg whites
1-1/2 cups lowfat plain yogurt
2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
2 ounces dark chocolate, melted

Whisk together flours, cocoa, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, whisk together melted butter and oil. Add eggs and egg whites and whisk. Fold in yogurt, vanilla and sugar. Fold melted chocolate into batter. Gradually sift in dry ingredients. Mix until just incorporated; don't over mix. Pour batter into greased 13x9 pan or two round 9-inch cake pans.* Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Frosting:
1-8 oz. bar Neufachatel cheese (reduced fat cream cheese), softened
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Combine all ingredients with a mixer until smooth. Frost the cake. Sprinkle with dark chocolate shavings.

*Each cake makes 16 one-slice servings that are less than 200 calories.