Move over, Taco Bell!

Today was a long, productive day, which started with a nice scenic run around my neighborhood at 7:15AM. After my run, for some reason, I was not craving my usual fiber cereal and milk topped with blueberries/raspberries and pecans/walnuts. Instead, I was craving YOGURT. It was bizarre. So I topped my nonfat plain yogurt with bran flakes, blueberries, and some walnuts. It was quite fulfilling.

The long, productive day ended with a haircut, which took much longer than anticipated. So when I got home, I decided to make an elaborate dinner. After the elaborate dinner cooking ended, the elaborate dessert preparation began. Not just one elaborate dessert, but two. I love Friday nights.

The Tulika-fied version of Taco Bell's seven layer burrito.

I began making the guacamole, which consisted of two avocados, half a tomato, one garlic clove, some lemon juice, and salt.

Pre-mashing. 

Post-mashing and pre-mixing of lemon juice.

Another ingredient in the burrito was red beans (which substituted for pinto or black). They tasted a lot like pinto beans. It was almost like they WERE pinto beans.

Lettuce, tomatoes, and jalapenos.

And what is a seven layer burrito without the sour cream!? I try not to eat sour cream. But I do eat Greek yogurt, which tastes way too similar to sour cream, and has ZERO fat! Best substitute ever.

I loaded these toppings onto a whole wheat tortilla and added some 2% Mexican blend shredded cheese.

I took the Tulika-fied seven layer burrito even further than the Taco Bell version and topped it with some enchilada sauce...

I added a side of salsa to the plate, but I ate this burrito so fast that I was unable to take a picture.

I also ate a second one.

Next up: dessert #1.

Today is Alyssa's birthday. Fortunately, she is out of town today, so I was able to easily bake her a surprise birthday dessert! Also fortunately, she is just as much of a health nut as I am (if not more!) so I got to do some experimental "healthy" baking. 

Whole wheat-crusted low fat fruit tart (with NO added sugar!)

Whole wheat pie crust ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 cup olive oil

First I mixed together the dry ingredients.

And then the oil/milk.

Then mixed them together.

I ended up using my hands. Forks are overrated.

I then placed it in the baking dish to form a crust-like shape.

This took longer than expected. I just like things to be even and/or symmetrical.

I put the crust in the oven for ~20 minutes at 375 degrees. Then I started on the custard.

Custard ingredients:

• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup egg whites (or 2 eggs)

I blended these ingredients together.

I love this stuff so much. So I decided to post a picture.

When the crust was ready, I poured the custard on top.

I put this in the oven at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes, checking occasionally. 

The finished product (minus the fruit)

I also had some extra custard, so I put it in a tiny bowl and baked that. However, it was kind of a disaster because I filled the bowl too high. So after baking for about 15 minutes, it began to overflow.

It then collapsed. Like a soufflé.

I actually had planned on giving this little bowl of custard to Deepa when she came over. Despite the overflowing mess, she seemed to enjoy it!

Deepa and the little overflowing custard bowl.

I added the fruit to the fruit tart to make it complete:

Symmetrical--just the way I like it. I really hope Alyssa doesn't read this until after she sees this in the fridge tomorrow!!!

While the custard was baking, I decided to make dessert #2.

Fudge.

I melted a box of unsweetened baker's chocolate (100% cacao!) with half a can of sweetened condensed milk and the leftover coconut milk from yesterday (about 2 tablespoons). This was on low heat over the stove.

It melted SO fast. Then I let it cool. 

Yum. I am stuffed.