menu 4/29

Thursday
B- Hungry girl's french toast in a bup, orange juice
L- sauteed zucchini and pepper pita with mozarella, yogurt, apple
D- Salmon(SD), spinach salad, rolls (King Arthur book p. 214)

Friday
B-pina colada oatmeal, milk
l-nachos
d-pslow cooked pork from last week FDF 154

Saturday
B-
L-Italian style bacon ?  (HG p. 80ish)
D-Turkey Bean burgers (S&D p. 11)  sweet potato fries

Sunday
D-Crunch-onion BBQ Chicken (HC p. 54) no-knead wheat rolls (HC p. 33) corn, jello with fruit

Monday
B-Omlet
L-cheesy beefy supremem wrap (HG p. 78)
D-Tacos (HC p 45)

Tuesday
B-Bagel, cream cheese, fruit
L-vegitarian stew, corn, fruit
D-Slow cooked meat loaf (HC p. 44)

Wed
B-Toast with peanut butter, fruit, milk
L- left overs
D-Cheater Spring rolls (FDF p. 158)

No snack plan this week.  I rarely seem to stick to it.  I know to eat a veggie for snack. 

Italian Spinach Braid

This recipe comes from Taste of Home's Healthy cooking magazine, but of course it is a la Kimberly.  Can't seem to follow a recipe anymore.  This called for frozen dough - that is where change started.  Sure would have been easier with the frozen dough, but I don't keep that on hand and I didn't buy any.  For some reason I also forgot to buy mozzarella cheese.  I don't have any idea why.  All I had was a mexican 4 cheese blend.  I subbed out a parmesan/romano mix for the Romano called for in the original and played a bit with the seasonings.  I'm writing now more than anything to try to remember what I did for the bread in case it turns out wonderful and I want to do it again. 

For the bread I started looked at 30 minute bread dough on realmomkitchen, but I subbed out wheat for white flour, and I used agave as my sweetener, and a little bit less.  Then the dough seemed too sticky to braid so I added more and more flour, a little vital wheat gluten, then some potato flakes and some Italian seasoning.  This is what I did, (and in parenthasis what I think I could do for next time.)

Bread Ingredients

• 1 1/8 + 2 teaspoons warm water.  (Use 1 1/8 next time and only use 3 1/2 cups flour - no extra)
• 2 Tablespoons yeast
• 1/4 cup agave nectar (I actually shorted this a tiny bit
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 3 1/2 cup whole wheat flour  (I added about 3 Tablespoons more)
• 1 Tablespoon vital wheat gluten
• 1/3 cup potato flakes
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Directions
Mix first 4 ingredients in a bowl and let rest for 15 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients and stir until a nice dough forms.  Roll out on lightly floured surface.  Transfer to a greased cookie sheet and let rise for 10 minutes.

Ingredients

• 1 lb pre-cooked beef, defrosted 2 minutes in microwave.
• 1 package (10 oz.) frozen spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry  (I only had 6 oz frozen and added some fresh to make up the difference.  We'll see how it turns out.
• 2/3 cup mozzarella (I only had 4 cheese, but I would use mozzarella just because it is and Italian dish)
• 2 Tablespoons grated Romano/Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic (2 cloves)
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. 
2. Spread mix down center of dough.  On each long side, cut 1 inch strips about 3 inches in.
3. Starting at one end, fold alternating strips at an angle across filling.  (I never do this well. :(  Pinch ends to seal.  (They brushed it with egg white which would have been a great idea, but I didn't do it.
4. Serve with pizza sauce.

This was really tasty dipped in pizza sauce.  I loved it, so did Brandon.  It got mixed reviews from the kids. Duncan didn't think he should eat the bread because it was all "soggy."  It wasn't in the least bit soggy.  It was completely cooked all the way through so go figure.  I thought I wouldn't like the fennel, but it ended up making Tavio think it had sausage in it when it was just hamburger, and hey, maybe that was the point of the fennel.

Cashew Chicken

This original recipe came from the Saving Dinner book.  It was suggested to serve this with a Spinach Salad and rice.  I just added lots more veggies to the original recipe (only had 2 carrots and 1 stalk celery.)  This sounded like a stir fry which are usually heavier in veggies so I used more carrots, celery and added broccoli.  It could use more veggies with no problem, but I hadn't planned on it.  I just had some fresh broccoli that needed to be used.  Pea would also be good.  I also wanted a bit extra sauce so I upped the amount of orange juice in the sauce.  I also cut out a whole Tablespoon of oil because I used my pre-cooked chicken.  That also made it a quicker meal as well whick is always nice.   It turned out excellent.  There were no left overs because people had seconds.  Here is how I made it.

Ingredients

• 1 cup orange juice
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 Tablespoon corn starch
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 Tablespoon oil
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 4 medium carrots
• 3 stalks celery, sliced
• 2 cups chopped broccoli
• 1 lb pre-cooked chicken (defrosted 2 minutes in microwave)
• 1/2 cup cashews (original recipe had more)
• 3 cups brown rice (I actually made this much to have left over for rice pudding in the morning, but I didn't end up with much more than the cunchy stuff on the bottom of the rice cooker.  :(

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine juice, honey, soy sauce, corn starch, and seasonings.
2. In a wok, heat oil, add veggies and stir-fry for several minutes until veggies are crisp-tender.    Add the chicken and break up a bit more if necessary. 
3. Add sauce mixture and cook until sauce boils and thickens.  (Original recipe added cashews at this point, but Tavio complained, and I got to thinking about it and decided they would be better all salty and crunchy on top, so I didn't add them.)
4. Serve over rice.  Sprinkle cashews over the top.  (I then mixed everything together on my plate because I had made more sauce purposely to cover the rice.)  YUM!

pina colada oatmeal

So I got a marga grain press a while ago and then finally got some oats to roll in it, so now I'm always looking for new oatmeal ideas.  I got the idea the other day after having cottage cheese and pineapple and after making those coconut/chocolate bread pudding bowls to try pina colada flavored oatmeal.  Well, today was the day I tried it and it was yummy.  A new favorite way to eat oatmeal.  Here is what I did.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup rolled oats (freshly rolled if you can)
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/8 teaspoon coconut extract
• 1/2 Tablespoon splend
• 1/2 can crushed pineapple  drained (about 1/4 cup I think)
• 7 grams sliced almonds - the equivalent of 6 almonds -I weighted them, then replaced them with already sliced almonds - maybe 1/2 Tablespoon - 2 teaspoons if measuring.
• 1 teaspoon shredded coconut

Directions
Combine oats, milk, water, splend and coconut extract in a bowl.  (It has to be pretty big or it will boil over.)
Microwave for 4 minutes on high. (I had to stop and stir mine after 3 because it was boiling over.)
Remove from microwave - stir in almonds and pineapple.  Top with shredded coconut. 

I ate my first few bites plain, but then added 1/2 cup milk so I'd get my full cup of milk with my breakfast.  Both ways are delicious, and good for you too.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

This recipe comes from my new Hungry Girl book.  I did end up modifying it, so I'm posting what I did.  First of all I wasn't planning to use canned chicken.  I use my pre-cooked.  I did use the amount called for.   This recipe had some parts that were vague.  Like is called for frozen bite-sized mixed veggies.  I debated on what type to add.  I went with a broccoli, corn and red pepper mix (thinking the corn and red pepper went well with the enchiladas.)  However the mix had a lot more broccoli than I expected, so I added more corn.  That ended up being a lot of veggies but oh well.  Next time I think I'd just add corn and some red pepper, or maybe red peppers and onion.  It also didn't say what size pan to use.  I started with a 9X13 because I was doubling the 4 serving recipe to make it family size, but that seemed too small for the tortillas.  I also subbed out part of the salsa for taco sauce. 

I have more thoughts for changes next time - I'd probably sub out 1 can cream of celery for 1 can cream of chicken, and I'd probably make do 1/2 and 1/2 with the salsa and taco sauce.  Here is how I made the casserole today.

Ingredients

• 20 oz pre-cooked chicken, thawed
• 2 cans cream of celery soup
• 2 cups brocoli, red pepper, corn mix

• 1/2 cup corn
• 3/4 cup salsa
• 1/4 cup taco sauce
• 12 corn tortillas, cut into 1/8ths
• 2 cups cheese - I used a mix of what I had - fat free cheddar, reduced fat monterrey jack, and regular colby jack

Directions

1. Preheat overn to 350
2. In a large bowl, mix chicken, soup, veggies, salsa, and taco sauce
3. Spray a 9X13  baking dish with non-stick spray. (I actually used a 10X13, but 9X13 would have been better.)  Cover 1/2 the tortilla pieces.  Spread 1/2 of the chicken mixture over the tortilla pieces.  Sprinkle with half of the cheese. Repeat layers. 
4.  Bake 35 minutes or until edges are brown and crispy.
5. Allow to cool for 5 minutes until sauce thickens. 

I wrote this up before we ate it.  It turned out really good.  I probably wouldn't give it 5 star on taste for the brocolli today, but I'm giving it 5 star becasue the combination of the fact that it was so easy and I think would be 5 star with the following changes for next time:  Follow the same instructions but use these ingredients:

Ingredients

• 1 package (about 1 lb) pre-cooked chicken
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained (or pinto if you prefer)
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced (or use a frozen onion and pepper mix for ease)
• 1.5 cups frozen corn
• 2 cans cream of celery soup (98% fat free)
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 1/2 cup taco sauce
• 2 cups fat free cheddar (or cheese of choice)
• 12 tortillas cut into 1/8ths (I just ran over them with a pizza cutter.

Not Fried, Fried chicken, fresh veggies and dip

This was delicious.  I made no changes, so I won't post the recipe.  It is on page 102 in the book and I highly recommend it.  A few notes - I couldn't find a poch of tomato cup-a-soup.  I did find a package of tomato soup mix that was super old.  I was afraid it would ruin the meal but it didn't.  I also needed more than the 2 egg whites.  I hoped that I could just get by with the little bit left on the plate, but I wouldn't recommend that because they turned out a little powdery on top.  I guess the flavor was fine - no complaints, they just weren't as aesthetically pleasing.  I made part of these with skin and part without.  The recipe didn't specify skin or no.  The ones with skin seemed to crisp up quite nicely.  I ate the ones without skin and they were great as well.  Definitely a meal worth repeating.

Artichoke chicken mini pizzas

Good thing I take pictures.  It reminds me what I haven't blogged about.  These are a little mini pizza that I tried at the grocery store the other day.  They were good and different so I bought the ingredients to make them.  First I lost the recipe.  Then I found out I could look it up online.  I found it there but then I couldn't find the pitas.  I had begun to think that I really hadn't even bought them.  I finally found them a couple of days later at the very back of the pantry.  Apparently my 4 year old tried to help me put away the groceries and just threw those in there but I have a verly long, narrow pantry that goes back under my stairs so I don't go to the back unless I'm getting something I ran out of.  Once I had both the pitas and access to the recipe online I finally made the pitas.  It will probably be hard to repeat unless you live in Texas because the ingredients are rather specific to HEB which is a Texas grocery store.  I actually liked them better in the store.  They were good at home, but not as good as at the store somehow.  Benjamin ate them up at the store but not at home at all.  Brandon loved them.

Ingredients

• 2 HEB fully cooked Italian chicken breasts (I just used my own pre-cooked chicken.  It wasn't Italian flavored, but believe me, these have Plenty of flavor.)
• 6 pita flatbreads (HEB makes square ones with Italian seasonings baked in.  There are only 5 in a package, so I made only 5)
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened (I used 1/3 less fat)
• 2 Tablespoons HEB Basil Pesto Tapenade
• 1 jar (10 oz) HEB Artichoke Tapenade
• 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 carton HEB Feta crumbles (again, they had one with Italian seasoning which I used)

Directions

1. Heat overn to 400
2. Thaw chicken breasts (cut if using HEB)
3. Line 2 baking sheets with foil. (I actually squished mine onto 1.) 
4. Combine cream cheese with pesto in a small bowl.  Spread over pitas.  Spoon artichoke tapenade over pesto.  Arrange chicken and bell pepper over bread and sprikle with cheese.
5. Bake 10-15 minutes or until pizzas begin to brown.  Let stand 2 to 3 minutes.  Cut into 4 slices each and serve.

Spicy Meatball Sandwiches with coleslaw

This recipe comes from family dinner fix.  I didn't make it nearly as easy as she did because I made my buns from scratch, and I never found cole slaw dressing, so Brandon looked up a coleslaw recipe from food network.  I'll have to have him look it back up.  I remember having it up on the computer for a couple of days because I wanted to blog it, but I never did. 
Anyway, back to the sandwiches - the coleslaw will be another post.  They were ok, but I probably wouldn't make them again.  I found the meatballs to be dry.  The sauce was good, kind of an Indian flavor to it, but I would have preferred the regular Italian flavor meatball sandwich if I were going to the trouble of making home-made meatballs.  So, although they were good, I would choose a regular meatbal sandwich first.  The sauce was also a bit spicy which for some of our anti-spicy family members wasn't good.
I'm not sure if Brandon made any changes as he made this recipe.  If not, it is page 116 in the book.  If so, I'll have him post what he did.

Creamy Ziti

First thing I have to say about this is that it was the Greenest food I have ever made I think.  It looked like it should be for St. Patricks day.  I was a bit frightened to eat it, but it was actually pretty good.  The original is from Saving Dinner.  I changed a few things up adding less mustard, more lemon, didn't have fresh dill, and couldn't find hot sauce, etc.  I liked the way it turned out.  The original recipe also called for turkey ham.  Not sure I've ever even seen that.  We had some left over Easter ham diced and in the freezer so that is what got used. 

This recipe was pretty quick.  It basically took as long as it took to cook the pasta.  I did everything else while waiting for the water to boil, or waiting for the pasta to cook. 

Original recipe says this is for 6, but it made way more than 6 servings in my opinion.  This is what I did.

Ingredients

• 1 pound penne pasta
• 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
• 12 oz. ham, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup non-fat sour cream
• 1 10 oz. package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 3/4 cup skim milk
• 1/8 c. Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley (used Italian because that is what is in my garden)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried dill
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon Tabasco sweet and spicey hot sauce (not as spicy as regular hot sauce)
• salt and pepper to taste (I sprinkled some over served portions, but not when I had seconds - I didn't miss it.)

Directions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, drain.
2. Meanwhile, combine sour cream, spinach, milk, mustard, parsley, deill, lemon juice and hot sauce in a blender and puree until smooth.
3. Saute the ham and red pepper in the oil until veggies are tender.  Add puree and heat to a simmer. When pasta is ready, add it to the mixture, mix well and serve. 

Tuna casserole for 1

I made this up for lunch the other day and it was yummy so I'm writing what I did so I can make it again.  I'm pretty sure I didn't take a picture, but I'd like to remind myself what I did since I always want lunch ideas that are simple and nutritious.  I'm writing this how I made it which did leave me with a tiny bit of left over tuna salad mixture.  I just fed it to my son with crackers for a snack when he came home from school.  If you really like tuna, I'm sure you could just add all of the tuna. 



Ingredients

• 1 5 oz. can tuna drained
• 2 teaspoon light mayo
• 2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 oz. fat free cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup elbow macaroni.

Directions

1. Prepare macaroni acording to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, mix tuna, mayo, and relish in a bowl.
3. Place ff cheddar cheese in another bowl.
4. When noodles are done, drain and quickly add to the bowl with the cheese.  Stir until cheese melts.  Add 2/3 -3/4  of the tuna mix and the celery and mix until well combined.  Enjoy!

Seasoned corn with bacon

is recipe came on the same page in the magazine as the Texas Burgers.  I made less alterations to this recipe than the burger recipe, but I did alter it some.  This was super yummy.  It was awesome just because it was cooked in the bacon pan and had bacon, but the seasonings were also very nice.  Not overdone, just right.  Brandon described it as a corn chowder taste without being soup.  I should have made more because everyone wanted seconds.  This is how I made it.  Next time I'll add more corn, onions and probably seasonings, but probably not more bacon.

Ingredients

• 4 strips bacon
• 3 cups frozen corn
• 2 Tablespoons chopped onion
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon-pepper
• 1/4 dried basil

Directions

1. Cook bacon in a large skillet until crisp.  Remove, drain on paper towels.  Pour bacon fat out of the pan. 
2. Saute onion briefly in any grease remaining on the bottom of the pan.  (Original recipe purposely saved 1/2 teaspoon and was 1/2 as much.  I thought it worked wonderfully well in the tiny bit that didn't pour out of the pan and was less fattening.)  Add remaining ingredients and continue sauteeing until corn is tender.  Crumble bacon while corn is cooking.  Stir in bacon when corn is done.

Texas Burgers

This recipe comes from Taste of home simple and delicious magazine although I did change it up a bit.  I had to make more because it was technically for only 2 people.  I also made my burgers smaller and made them burgers on buns, not open face on Texas toast. I also used just 1 small can of tomato sauce and wasn't opening another one so I added some Ketchup..... This is how I made it for my family. 


Ingredients

• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon thyme
• 1 cup Colby Jack cheese
• 1.25 pounds lean ground beef
• 1 8 oz can tomato sauce
• 2-3 Tablespoons Ketchup (I just squirted some more to make it look good.)
• 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon Worchestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon steak sauce

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the onion, garlic, thyme, 3/4 cup cheese and beef.  Mix well.  Shape into 6 patties.  (I made 2 5 oz. burgers, 3 4 oz. burgers and 1 2.2 oz burger - weight includes onion weight though.)  eaedzrrI grilled mine outside on the bbq.
2. In a large skillet, heat tomato sauce, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce and steak sauce.  Bring to a boil.  Cook an stir for 1 to 2 minutes or until slightly thickened.  Add cooked burgers to the sauce.  Turn to coat.  Sprinkle burgers with remaining cheese.  Let sit for a minute to melt. 
3. Serve on buns - top with additional sauce.

cup o chocolate-coconut bread pudding

This is another hungry-girl recipe.  This is actually the first one I tried.  I have made myself various variations of this recipe. from trying to make it more chocolaty by adding 2 pouches of hot chocolate, to just making it with 2 eggs and regular hot chocolate for the kids.  I've also left the mini chips and marshmallows off the top and had it for breakfast.  Any way around it you can't really go wrong for 215 calories, 6 grams of fiber and 19 grams of protein.  I'd still like to find a way to have a better chocolate flavor.  For breakfast, this is great, but for dessert I'd like a bit more chocolate flavor.  I'm thinking of trying to make my own hot cocoa type of mix with cocoa powder, splenda, and powdered milk, but I have not had time to play with that.  If I do, I'll be sure to post it.  Right  now, I'd give them a 9/10.  What I want in flavor, they definitely make up for in ease.

Ingredients

• 1 25-calorie packed diet hot cocoa mix (I think mine is 30 cal) (I just used regular for the kids)
• dash salt (I have left this out)
• 1/2 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute (I subbed out 2 eggs for the kids, but prefer the egg substitute)
• 1/4 teaspoon coconut extract
• 2 slices light white bread (I like wheat white)
• 1 teaspoon mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 10 marshmallows

Directions

Put bread in toaster.  Mix cocoa and salt in a glass.  Add 1/4 cup hot water and stir until cocoa has dissolved.   Add the egg substitute and coconut extract and stir.  Set aside. 
Spray a microwave-safe mug with cooking spray (don't forget this, these stick bad - the only real downside to the recipe.)  Tear bread into pieces and add to mug.  Top with cocoa mixture and mix to make sure all bread is coated.  Top with chips and marshmallows.
Microwave for 2 minutes and 15 seconds or until bread pudding it set.  (These puff up when they cook but shrink right back down as soon as they stop cooking.)

Holy moly cannoli cones

I bought a new cook book the other day by Hungry girl.  I had read about her on sparkpeople.com, and while looking for a gardening book at Walmart, I happened upon her book.  It wasn't too expensive, and I knew she did healthy or at least healthier recipes from seeing it on sparkpeople, so I bought it.  While I'm not a fan of her writing style at all, her recipes are good -at least the 3 that I have tried so far.  I just made these for the second time this week, so I thought I ought to come and write them down. 

If you want to check out her stuff, her website is http://www.hungry-girl.com/.  I'd love to fiddle with this recipe so that I didn't have such silly measures, but I have not done that.  I haven't been very exact on either my ricotta measures or my cool whip measures.  This time I had a bit extra cool whip, and my cones were fuller.  Last time my cones came just to the top.  Either way - YUM.  I don't think you can mess these up.

Ingredients

• 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons fat-free ricotta cheese
• 2/3 cup cool whip - reduced fat or fat free
• 2 1/2 Tablespoons Splenda
• 1 Tablespoon fat free, sugar free vanilla instant pudding mix
• 1 Tablespoon powdered sugar
• 2 Tablespoons mini chocolate chips, divided
• 6 sugar cones

Directions
I just throw everything but the chocolate chips and cones in my Kitchenaide and mix it up well scraping the sides once in between.  Stir in 1 Tablespoon chocolate chips.
Place mix in a bag, cut off corner and pipe into cones. (I just use a sandwich size ziploc - it fits.)  Top with remaining chocolate chips.  My family prefers them refrigerated.
Yum!

Sweet Lentil stew

This recipe is from Saving Dinner.  It originally called for 1 jar of spaghetti sauce.  Since it was made in a slow cooker, and so is my spaghetti sauce (which tastes better than any store bought sauce) I decided to just make my own which really changed up the recipe a lot.  It was the tastiest lentil dish I have ever made- usually I'm not a huge fan of lentils, but this was just spaghetti with lentils rather than meat and potatoes rather than noodles - more or less.  I also threw in some carrot because some pasta sauces have carrot.  Here is what I did.

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups dried lentils, washed
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
• 1 small red bell pepper, diced
• 2 medium potatoes, diced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 carrots peeled and chopped
• 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 28 oz can crushed tomato
• 1 6 oz can Italian style tomato paste
• 1/2 Tablespoon each of oregano, Thyme, and Italian seasoning
• 1/2 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 cups water

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker.  Cover and cook 8-10 hours on low or 4-5 on high.
Remove bay leaves before serving.

Summer squash saute

This is the squash recipe I made.  It is from Taste of home simple and delicious magazine although I changed it up.  Tastiest squash recipe I've made in a while and very simple.

Ingredients

• 3-4 large yellow squash cut into 1/4-1/2 inch slices
• 1/2 large sweet onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic
• 1.5 Tablespoons butter
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions

In a large skillet, saute the squash, onion and garlic in butter for 10-12 minutes or until tender.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper. 
Simple and Delicious!

menu 4/22/10

Menu time again.  Feels too soon since I just went grocery shopping on Monday because I got so far behind last week.  Working the same as last week with 3 meals and a snack - even though I haven't followed my snacks or lunches very well, just having them written out somehow helps me make better choices.

Changing Thursday dinner to a crock pot meal - sweet lentil stew SD p. 161, whole grain rolls, salad


Friday -
B-omlet with green pepper, onion cheese and salsa
L- Tuna Salad (Firm book p. 23)
S-bean dip with salsa and carrots
D-Open face Texas Burger, corn and bacon S&D p. 25

Saturday
B-Cannoli-stuffed french toast nuggets (HG p286) oranges, milk
L-Cottage cheese and pineapple, carrots and hummus, crackers and peanut butter
S-Turkey breast and summer squash
D-Creamy Ziti (SD p 160) salad

Sunday
B-Peanut butter on toast, grapefruit, milk

L-Turkey Sandwich with tomato, cottage cheese and peaches
S-Turkey bacon with peas
D-Cashew chicken, brown rice (SD p 178)

Monday
B-Pina colada oatmeal, milk
L- Cheese and Hummus sandwich, apple, carrots with dip
S-celery and peanut butter
D-Honey Barbecued Salmon (SD 159) baked potato, green beans

Tuesday
B-Waffle, yogurt, fruit
L-cashew butter sandwich, cream cheese filled celery, grapes
S-lemon pepper black beans and corn
D-Italian spinach braid (HC p. 45)

Wednesday
B- cheese wrap, canteloupe
L-Nachos with beans, red pepper
S-Yogurt and carrots
D-Chicken enchilada casserole (HG p. 66)

Thursday
B-Cream cheese and raisin pita
L-Sauteed peppers and zucchini pita with mozzarella, apple, milk
S-Celery with cashew butter
D-Tomato-molasses pork loin with rice and spinach salad (FDF p. 154)


Also want to try beso mi queso at hungry girl

Whole wheat banana pancakes

I made this recipe up today after searching sparkpeople for a banana pancake recipe.  I was going to follow one there, but it used 1 extra large egg and only 2 bananas and I had 3 to use.  I also decided to go ahead and try whole wheat which I don't usually do with pancakes, but it was just me and the little boys who are not anti wheat like the rest of the household.  Super simple and nutritious recipe.  They turned out great.  First batch didn't cook well, but I didn't wait the 15 minutes I wrote in the recipe (which lots of whole grain recipes have you wait.)  I had 2 hungry boys who did NOT want to wait 15 minutes.  By the last batch, they were perfect. 

Ingredients

• 3 ripe bananas
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups milk (I used skim)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 Tablespoons splenda
• 2 Tablespoons chopped pecans (optional -I added these after the 1st griddle full.)

Directions

In a medium size bowl, smash bananas with a fork.  Beat in eggs, milk and vanilla.  In another bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt and splenda.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until combined.  Stir in pecans.  Let stand for 15 minutes while you heat an electric griddle to 350.  I made 17 good size pancakes.

The baby and I ate these plain.  The 4 year old dipped them in syrup.

Nutritional Info

Servings Per Recipe: 17

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 92.2
Total Fat: 1.5 g
Cholesterol: 21.7 mg
Sodium: 177.2 mg
Total Carbs: 17.3 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.3 g
Protein: 3.9 g

Sausage and beans over rice

Here is another recipe from Simple and Delicious magazine.  This one came on the same page as a squash recipe which will be my next post.  Both were good, but I think I actually liked the squash better.  This one seemed like it was missing a little something, but not sure what.   I think it tasted a bit sweet.  However, it was still great, quick and easy, and good enough to eat for left overs today at lunch, so well worth the post.

Ingredients

• 1 package reduced fat sausage (12 oz.)
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 can kidney beans
• 1 can pinto beans
• 1 can condensed tomato soup
• 1 cup salsa
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 2.25 cups rice

Directions

Put rice in rice cooker.  Add water and cook. 
In a large frying pan, cook sausage, green pepper, onion and garlic, chopping up the sausage as it cooks until the sausage is done and the veggies are tender.  Add the remaining ingredients.  Heat through. (I reduced the heat and let this simmer while I was preparing the squash, but I don't feel it was very necessary.)

Thai chicken wrap

I have a picture of these, and I remember having them and they were good, but Brandon made them so I don't know how well he adhered to the recipe. I do know they are from Family Dinner Fix and I have really liked that book.  Highly recommend it.  Recipes are a complete  meal and usually pretty quick and easy to prepare.  I'm giving it a 4, but had I rated it right after eating it, it may have scored higher.  That is what happens when the computer dies.  I won't be posting the recipe - I'll only post when I change them up in some way.  Since I don't know here, it will remain unposted. Runs in my mind that we both thought they would be better in a different wrapper - like a vietnamese egg roll wrapper or something like that.

menu

Wow am I glad to have a computer again. Now I have a ton of work to do updating my blogs. I got our family vacation on the other blog, but still have a birthday to do, our garden, a child who got braces off, and just some general family stuff to blog. Here I have a good weeks worth of recipes and tons of photos to add. It will take a while, but I'm starting with my menu because I wrote it on the other side of my grocery list, then lost my list. I've been looking for it all weekend, and just as I was about to redo it, I found it in a pile of stuff that fell out of my purse when the baby knocked it over. I've looked in my purse a ton of times because that is where I thought the list/menu was and I couldn't find it. Go figure. None the less, I'm happy I found it.
I'm also going back to doing my whole day with breakfast, lunch and snack out because in only 2 weeks I'm already not eating my veggies like I should.

Already done this week
Parmesan Tilapia with dilled brussel sprouts and carrots S&D 24
Spicy meatball sandwiches with cole slaw FDF 116

Monday
B- peanut butter on wheat, oj, yogurt
l-blt on a pita, cantaloupe, milk
d-pork and pineapple taco (LCp 217)
s - sweet potato with black beans and salsa

Tuesday
b-oatmeal applesauce muffin, grapefruit, yogurt
l -egg salad pita, summer squash, grapes, pudding
d-thai chicken salad FDF 104
s-carrots and hummus

Wednesday
b-oatmeal, raisins, hazlenuts and milk
l- hummus pepper pita, apples and peanut butter, milk
d- hearty red beans and rice with squash S&D p. 66
s-celery and cashew butter

Thursday
b-french toast - Hungry girl, fruit,
l-nachos
d-not fried chicken FDF 102
s-yogurt and baby carrots

Friday
I don't want to plan this far, but I already have one dinner left over
Open faced Texas burger S&D p. 66

Black Forest Brownie Squares

I can't believe it has been almost a week since I posted anything here. Being without a computer will do that too you. First I was just behind in pictures, now it's the whole blog. Luckily for my catching up, I've not cooked as much as usual due to the fact that I have also been without a dishwasher for 3 weeks. Happily, we got the new one installed yesterday, so I can get back to my normal amount of cooking now that my amount of clean up time will go down dramatically.
I made these Brownies last Sunday for choir practice. They were pretty simple, and yummy. They are from the Nestle best-loved cookie book. I love that book. I used to have it in book and magazine form, but I gave the magazine away since I had the book. I really haven't been disappointed by any of the recipes in there. (And I have found disappointing cookie, bar, and brownie recipes elsewhere.)

Ingredients

• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups cool whip, thawed
• 2 cups (21 oz can) cherry pie filling

Directions

1. Melt 1 cup chips and butter in a large, heavy saucepan over lowest possible heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat; stir in eggs. Gradually stir in flour, granulated sugar, vanilla and baking soda. Stir in remaining chips. Spread into greaste 9X13 pan.
2. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes (took mine more like 35) or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out slightly sticky. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Spread with cool whip. Top with pie filling. Cut into squares.

I dished the topping on individual brownies. 1 can didn't last for the entire pan. I thought about cutting up some strawberries, tossing them with a little sugar and putting them on the top the next day, but we just ended up eating them with no topping. They were still a tasty brownie. 9 out of 10

Chocolate-fruit crepes

I saw these in a Taste of home simple and delicious magazine and decided to try them for breakfast this morning. They were tasty, but had this been my first time making crepes, I would have been frustrated. The batter was rather thick for a crepe making it hard to swirl around the pan like you have to with crepes. It was thick even though I ran out of buttermilk at 1 1/4 cups and used skim milk for the last 1/4 cup which is much thinner than buttermilk. I thought that was odd. I did really like the filling. Kind of a cross between a cherry pie and peach cobbler flavor with the added cinnamon. The flavor of the crepes themselves wasn't bad either, but I think they would have been just as good if I just used my regular crepes recipe and added chocolate.
2 other comments about the original recipe - it called for you to refrigerate the crepe batter for an hour - I didn't because I haven't done that before and couldn't see why you would. My batter was still very cool. Maybe to help the cocoa disolve? To remedy that problem, I just tossed the batter in the blender. I also thought that would help it not be quite so thick, but it was still thick. I thinned it some with a Tablespoon more of milk, but I still wasn't happy with the way they spread. They made spindly legs rather than a nice round crepe unless I put more batter on the pan. Then they made a bit thicker crepe. I was only supposed to use 2 Tablespoons of batter, but that would have made an exceedingly small crepe. Needless to say, I didn't get the recipes yeild of 10 servings of 2 crepes each. I made 12, but some of them not the full size of my crepe pan.
Everyone loved them - no one cared about thickness of the crepe or batter because they tasted great. I probably won't reuse the crepe recipe, but I probably will use the filling again, and I may fiddle with my crepe recipe to see if I can make a tastier chocolate crepe.
This is the recipe as I made it.

Crepe Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 1/4 + 1 Tablespoon milk
• 3 Tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 cup flour
• 2 Tablespoons splenda
• 2 Tablespoons cocoa
• 3 eggs

Filling Ingredients

• 1 can (21 oz.) cherry pie filling (I used the extra cherries one)
• 1 can (15 oz) slices peaches, drained and chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
• whipped cream

Directions

1. Combine crepe ingredients in blender. Blend until smooth. (Not what I did, but what I wish I would have done at the beginning. Would have used lots less dishes and I'm washing them by hand since my dishwasher doesn't work.)


2. Heat lightly greased crepe pan over medium heat. Pour batter (probably about 1/3 cup worth - I was using a 1/2 cup measuring cup but not filling it all the way full.) into the center of the pan. Lift and tilt pan to coat bottom evenly. Cook until top appears to be dry. Turn and cook 15-20 seconds longer. Remove to a plate or wire rack (I'm lazy and just stacked them on a plate - recipe suggests separating by waxed paper.... I just piled them up like I do pancakes and had no problems.) Repeat with remaining batter, greasing pan only if necessary (I never had to.)


3. In a microwave-safe bowl, combine pie filling, peaches, and cinnamon. Microwave for 2 minutes, stir, microwave for 15 seconds more - or until desired temp. Stir in almond extract.


4. Place filling on crepe and roll up. Top with whip cream - or chocolate fudge sauce if making for dessert.

Lemon crumb cake

This recipe is from Taste of Home's healthy cooking magazine. I had planned to make it for Easter, but didn't end up making it until last night since we had so much candy from Easter.
I had some trouples with this cake. It took way longer to cook than the instructions said. Then I let DH check for doneness, and it ended up out of the oven too soon - not entirely his fault however, we had added more lemon topping than it called for. The first time it came out, the edges were ok, and we ate some, but as we got to the middle it was too doughy. At that time, I thought it was ok, but would have been better and easier just to make a yellow cake mix for the bottom. However, after cooking it longer, it got a spongier texture (Odd because it was really light and airy before. I guess some of the lemon topping cooked in - who knows.) It was better that way. The original recipe called for all sugar. I used 1/2 sugar, 1/2 splenda, and will type it up the way I made it.


Ingredients

• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup splenda
• 2 eggs
• 2 Tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 cups flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 can lemon pie filling (original recipe said 15 3/4 oz. Mine was 21 oz)

Topping Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup splenda
• 1/3 cup cold butter
• 1/4 cup almonds

Directions

1. Beat first 5 ingredients in a large bowl until well blended. In a small bowl, combine dry ingredients. Gradually beat into buttermilk mixture until blended. Pour into greased 9X13 pan. Drop pie filling by teaspoonfulls all over batter


2. For topping: In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar and splenda. Cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in almonds; sprinkle over batter. Bake at 350 for (Recipe says 30-35 minutes - we did 35-40, took it out, and put it back in for another 15-20 - It had cooled a bit in between, but I would say total cooking time would be) 45 min - 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.


3. Cool for 10 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream if desired.

menu

I'm much better at my eating and have actually been using left overs for lunch lately, so this week it is back to easy planning for me of only dinners. I'm just listing them again so I can pick and choose my meals by how busy I am that day.

• BBQ Steak with Balckberry Sauce, baby potatoes and corn on the cob (FDF 108 - grill, 50 min)


• Sweet Indian chicken with rice and spinach salad (FDF p. 72 - 30 min)


• Thai Chicken Noodle Salad (FDF p. 104, night before prep, 30 min)


• Down home pork chops and roasted asparagus (S&D p. 23, 30 min) (from last week)


• Parmesan crusted tilapia, dilled brussel sprout medley (S&D p. 24, 30 min)


• Spaghetti, french bread, corn

Haven't done and could be done anytime

• Tuna tetrazinni with corn and peas (FDF pg 68 45 min)

lemon cake from easter stuff.

Want to try

Hungry girl cup o chocolate coconut bread pudding p. 87

Quesadilla burgers on blogchef

BBQ salmon, fruit salsa, pita chips.

Man, I thought I would get away with not writing out this recipe, but then I started looking at my changes and decided I should write things out since I made a good deal of them. The original recipe is from The Family Dinner Fix by Sandi Richard Changes I made include - adding a bit of fruit to the salsa, changing seasonings, changing the way I cooked things..... - enough to need to write out my changes for next time. This was a great meal other than the fact that I don't think I cooked the salmon long enough. It seemed a bit slimy - not sure if it was cooking time or just that I let it sit to long before serving because I wasn't done with the salsa, but that was the only thing I didn't like about the recipe and I'm sure it is fixable. I'm just not an expert fish cooker because until recently we hardly ever ate fish because it isn't a favorite of mine, and I've always left the fish cooking up to Brandon. This was good though. Even Tavio who isn't a fish lover rated the salmon 7 out of 10. That is saying something. Of course Duncan my fish lover looked like he was the most deprived child on earth when he thought that his dad had taken all of the seconds and not left him any.

Salmon Ingredients

• 2 lb salmon filet
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon no salt garlic and herb seasoning mix (I used to use Mrs. Dash garlic and herb, but ran out and they didn't have any at the store, so now I have a McCormick.)
• 1 teaspoon grushed rosemary leaves
• 1/8 cup Dijon mustard
• 1/8 cup mayonaisse
• 1/4 teaspoon splenda
• 2-3 Tablespoons brown sugar

Directions

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix dijon mustard and mayo and splenda in another bowl. (I was trying to make a milder mustard here can you tell?) Rinse salmon and pat dry with paper towel. One one side only, rub salmon with spice mix. Spread mustard mixture over spices. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Grill 10-15 minutes or until it flakes with a fork. In the book this was served over an apple juice reduction made by boiling 1 cup apple juice with a squeeze of lemon until reduced by 1/2. I made it but with lime. Not sure it was worth it. I can't say that it added much to the overall meal.

Baked Pita Chips Ingredients and directions

Spray 4-6 pitas with butter flavor spray. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Cook at 350 until crisp. (The book said 250 for 8 minutes but that was not even close to what it needed. I did 8, then 8 again, then turned up the oven and did at least 8 more, but I think I did another 3 after that.) I'm thinking you could also broil these, and I know I've made chips like this from tortillas but can't remember exactly what I did. These didn't turn out as crispy as I would have liked. I had thought about dividing them in half before seasoning and baking, but I didn't, maybe I should have. I also used my nice home made pitas, which may have made a difference because they are a little thicker than normal. The picture in the book has some of the thinnest pitas I've ever seen. Next time I think I would just use tortillas. I did love the cinnamon flavor with the fruit salsa though. Yum!

Fruit salsa ingredients

• 2 large granny smith apples, chopped finely
• 1 lb strawberries, hulled and chopped finely
• 2 kiwis, chopped finely
• 1 orange
• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon grape jelly

Directions

Mix, apples, strawberries and kiwis in a bowl. Add the zest of the orange. Juice the orange into a small bowl. Add the brown sugar and jelly. Whisk until smooth. Add the juice mixture to the fruit and toss to mix.

This meal actually had no veggie with it which is strange for this book (one of the things I love about it - complete meals.) It did have plenty of fruit, but I wanted a veggie so looking at the nice colors in the salad, I decided nice orange carrots would look pretty with the meal. (Not to mention the fact that all I had to do was grab a bag of baby carrots, open them and serve. I was all about easy after chopping all of that fruit. :)

Chili marinated pork with black bean salsa

This is another recipe I adapted from a recipe in Steven Raichlen's Healthy latin cooking. I like the recipes in that book, but they are time consuming. This actual recipe wasn't very time consuming. It was actually easy. I did make the black bean salsa to go with it. It was good, but a bit more time consuming to chop everything up. However, it was so pretty to look at with the different colors. Then I added corn and lime rice as other sides. The corn, lime rice, and black bean salsa got mixed on my plate by the end with a few pomegranate seeds. Yum. I actually stored the left over salsa, rice, and corn together as a pilaf and had it for lunch yestarday. YUM! The modifications I made to this recipe were mostly to cut down spiciness. I'd give the pork a 4 star, the salsa alone a 4 star, and the pilaf a 5 star.


Pork ingredients

• 4-6 boneless pork loin chops
• 1/2 teaspoon chipolte seasoning
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 shallot
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 3 Tablespoons red-wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• sour cream
• 1 pomegranate, broken into individual seeds
  

Directions

In a blender combine chipolte seasoning, oregano, allspice, garlic, shallot, orange juice, lime juice, and vinegar. Puree until smooth.

Cover pork with marinade in an airtight container or ziplock bag. Marinate in the refrigerator for 6-12 hours.

After marinating, grill 4 inches from the heat for 6-8 minutes or until 160 on a meat thermometer. To serve, place black bean salsa on a plate. Place pork chop in the middle, top with sour cream and pomegranate seeds.

Black Bean Salsa Ingredients

• 2 cups rinsed and drained black beans
• 2-3 slices of a large red onion - about 1/3-1/2 cup diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 rib celery, finely chopped
• 1 poblano pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 1/2 jalapeno chile seeded and minced
• 1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
• 3 Tablespoons lime juice
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 -1/2 teaspoon pepper
  

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Toss to mix. (Chopping all the ingredients sure is time consuming, but doesn't it make a pretty picture?)

I've posted lime rice before, but it is easier to just type it in again than to look for a link right now because it is so simple.

Lime rice Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups long grain rice
• Juice of 6 limes
• chicken stock
• 1/8-1/4 cup cilantro - I used less today than I normally do

Directions

I make this in my rice cooker. I add the rice, cilantro and the juice of the limes, and then fill it up the the appropriate line with chicken stock. If making in a pan, just substitute water with lime juice and chicken stock.

To make a tasty pilaf - mix salsa, rice, and 1 can corn, heated and drained. Yummy and pretty.

Spring greens fruit salad

This recipe is from Betty Crocker April 2001 Spring Celebrations magazine. I did a good deal of changing to it. Lessened the vinegar and oil, didn't want to buy champagne vinegar at $11 a bottle, didn't make as much dressing as it called for, used agave rather than honey so the baby could eat it, used more lettuce than called for.... I tried to toast my hazlenuts between serving dinner and burned them, so I just topped them with some untoasted hazelnuts. This is the way I made it. If making it again, I would probably use a bit less lettuce, and gouda. I didn't use the full amount of nuts because I just sprinkled them on top.


Ingredients

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons agave nectar
• 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
• dash of salt
• 1 bag mixed baby greens
• 2 cups sliced strawberries
• 2 peaches, pitted and thinly sliced (couldn't find any so I diced some canned - not as good but ok.)
• 1 cup diced Gouda
• 1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted and coursley chopped

Directions

1. Mix vinegar, oil, agave, marjoram and salt.


2. Mix greens, strawberries, peaches and cheese in a large bowl. Add vinegar mixture; toss to coat. Sprinkle with hazelnuts.

Dough scrapers

These are another tool I really like that I didn't start using until semi-recently. I decided to write about them because the green scraper was the only thing that helped me scoop the roll dough into the muffin tins today. I learned about dough scrapers at a bread class I went to about 8 months ago or so. I learned how to knead bread by hand using a dough scraper in 1 hand and kneading with the other. I like that, so I decided to get one. However, I couldn't find 1 like the 1 I used in the class, and there were 2 I couldn't decide between online. I ended up buying both, and I like both for different reasons.

I have this oxo scraper. I really like it for kneading bread, and scraping my counters clean. It is also easier to see the numbers on this one and measure things like width of dough you are rolling out or the width of a pita. It can actually also chop things so it is a nice multipurpose tool. I use it to chop dough into pieces, and Benjamin uses it as his chopper to help me dice veggies somedays.
I also have this green isi scraper. It is not as handy to cut things because it is encased in plastic, but it does cut. It is also not as handy to measure with because the number 1 is above the notch and so it is hard to use. However, it is very handy for scraping bowls, and it can cut through dough - just not as well as the other one. This tool really helped me make rolls today because I could scrape the dough with the tool, then use it to cut off a piece just by pushing it against the side of the bowl.

Sour Cream and Chive Rolls

This recipe is from a Betty Crocker Spring Celebrations recipe magazine from 2001. We had actually planned on trying multiple recipes from this booklet, but only ended up trying the rolls and the salad. The others we were going to try were deviled eggs (but we had egg salad pitas for lunch so we didn't have hard boiled eggs left - nor did we need to eat more eggs.) We also thought of trying orange barbecue ham, but decided to just warm the ham with the included glaze because it was just easier.
These rolls were very different for me because the dough was sooooo sticky. I really had a difficult time trying to figure out how to get them out of the bowl and nicely into the muffin tins. I ended up using my green scraper - a tool I love and plan to write about in the next post.
These had a great flavor but were dry. I really think it was because they were overcooked.


Ingredients

• 3/4 cup sour cream (I used 1/2 cup light and 1/4 cup fat free although my fat free had a better texture than my light -go figure)
• 2 Tablespoons shortening (I used butter flavored)
• 2 1/4 cup flour
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 teaspoons yeast
• 1/3 cup very warm water
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons chopped fresh chives (just planted some in my garden I was so happy to use them.)

Directions

1. Heat sour cream and shortening over medium heat, stirring frequently, until shortening is melted. Cool about 20 minutes or until lukewarm. (I let it cool too long because I was making other things so I added hot water too it and even put it back on the stove to warm back up a bit.)


2. Mix 1 1/4 cups of the flour, the sugar, salt and yeast in a bowl. Add sour cream mix, water and egg. Beat until smooth. Stir in remaining flour and chives until smooth. Crape batter from side of bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place about 30 minutes or until double.


3. Grease 12 medium muffin cups. Stir down batter by beating about 25 strokes. Spoon into muffin cups. (Easier said than done. I sprayed my green scraper with cooking spray and cut the dough out that way. It worked well. That is what I did after spooning it out looked like it wouldn't work, and I tried greased hands and that didn't work.) Let rise uncovered 20 to 30 minutes or until it rounds over the top of the muffin tin.


4. Bake at 400 for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. (15 made them a little more brown than I would have liked. I'd start with 12 next time.)

corn bread

I made 3 bean chili again the other day per Tavio's request. I was again looking for another corn bread recipe so I checked out my sparkpeople recipe ap on my iphone and found this recipe. I did change out the sugar for splenda. Not sure if I used 1/2 splenda, 1/2 sugar or all splenda. I had to cook it 15 minutes longer than the recipe called for and still it was extremely moist. More of a cross between corn bread and corn pudding. However, it was super tasty. Not easy to pick up and put butter on like bread, but really yummy. I would make it again, and probably cook it a bit longer. It was what I was looking for - more corn meal, less flour, and cream of corn in the recipe.





Ingredients

• 1/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup corn meal
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup splenda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 14 oz creamed corn
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup reduced fat cheddar cheese

Directions:

Combine dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients just until combined (I melted the butter because I couldn't figure it could be added "just until combined" if it wasn't melted.) Fold in cheese. Puur into a pie plate. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes (I baked it for more like 40-45 and I would probably bake it a bit longer.)

Dominican Turkey stew

I actually followed all of the directions on this recipe except that I used chicken breast instead of turkey breast. It was good. I was afraid I wouldn't like the capers or olives, but they added the right amount of salt to the recipe. It did remind me a bit of something I may have had in Venezuela. Sometimes hallacas would have this type of flavor. It was good. The recipe is on page 256 of Steven Raichlen's Healthy Latin cooking book.

bean tortilla with honduran butter

This is another recipe from Healthy Latin cooking. I mostly followed the instructions ;). I don't know why I never seem to follow the directions lately. I don't want it too spicy, I'd rather just use 1 can of beans, I have low fat cheese, I'd rather make it easier with cole slaw mix..... I'm full of excuses, but I guess if I actually followed the directions I wouldn't need a blog to keep track of what I did.

I made this with tapas meatballs the other day. Both were appetizers, but together with a veggie, they made out dinner. They were well liked, and the family was disappointed that there wasn't more. I'd make more next time. (9 star)


Ingredients

• 1 15 oz can of red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1-2 rings of onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Slaw

• 3 cole slaw mix
• 1/2 jalapeno, seeded and diced
• 2 Tablespoons vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

8 Tortillas (pretty sure this only made 6 - 1 for everyone.)

"Butter" ingredients

• 1 ounce feta
• 2 ounces low fat cream cheese
• 3/4 cup fat free sour cream

Directions

Filling: Combine beans, onions, garlic, cumin and stock. Bring to boil, reduce head and simmer for 4 minutes or until all of the stock has been absorbed. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Mash beans with back of spoon

Slaw: Combine vinggar, suger, salt, pepper, and jalapeno. Whisk together. Add coleslaw mix and toss to coat.

Butter: Combine ingredients in a blender, blend until smooth.

Warm tortillas. Place 3 Tablespoons beans in each tortilla. Roll up like a burrito. Serve topped with slaw and butter.

raised buttermilk doughnuts

Somehow of all the silly things to promise for breakfast on Easter morning, I promised Tavio in the store yesterday that I would make doughnuts. He wanted me to buy a small little bag for $5, I had wanted to try making some for a time, and I knew I had extra time Easter morning since it was Conference Sunday so I could let them raise. I also knew that I had seen a few recipes around on blogs. What I wasn't thinking was of all the sweets of Easter and adding more sweets to that. I made a healthy smoothie to tide everyone over while the doughnuts were raising, and to add something healthy to the mix.


I had seen recipes for doughnuts on realmomkitchen. I also looked up a recipe on allrecipe.com. Both were quite similar. realmom used all milk, allrecipes used 1 1/2 cups milk and 1/4 cup water, and their methods of mixing were different. I followed realmom's mixing because I knew I didn't need to proof my yeast. I also decided to use 1 cup skim milk, and 3/4 cups buttermilk to make a buttermilk doughnut. Realmom had 2 icind recipes, and allrecipes had 1 that was different- I went with the allrecipe glaze. It was delicious.


My first batch I took out when they were rather light in color because that is what a doughnut normally looks like. The next batch I set the time for 1 minute a side and they seemed really dark. I even took them out a bit before the minute. I actually liked the darker color ones more. They were really crisp on the outside and creamy on the inside. They were a little more cakey than I thought they would be, but they were still yummy. I thought they were a little more cakey that stor bought, but they were fine to me. Probably the result of cutting some sugar out and switching to buttermilk.


I had read somewhere to put them on wax paper when they were rising so they didn't deflate when you picked them up and put them in the oil. That worked ok for some, but some stuck and made it exceedingly difficult to get off. Next time I think I would use aluminum foil and/or spray the foil or wax paper with cooking spray.



Here is what I did:


Ingredients

• 5 cups flour
• 1 cup skim milk, heated (I heated this for 1 min 30 seconds in the microwave then added the buttermilk to cool it to lukewarm before adding to the mix.)
• 3/4 cups buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons yeast
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup splenda
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup shortening
• oil for frying

Glaze Ingredients

• 1/3 cup butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2-3 Tablespoons water
  

Directions

1. Mix 2 cups flour and the rest of dry ingredients in a bowl. Add eggs, milk, and shotening and beat until smooth. Add the rest of the flour and mix until smooth. Cover and let rise until double. (50-60 minutes).


2. Roll out to 1/2 inch thick. (I rolled them a bit thinner than this.) Cut with a doughnut cutter (I don't have one of these, just a big set of round cutters, so I used 2 to make a doughnut shape.) Let rise until double.


3. Make glaze by melting butter in a saucepan. Add vanilla and sugar and mix. Add water 1 Tablespoon at a time until desired consistency. I started with 2, but as I glazed, the glaze thickened and I added a bit more water.


4. Heat 1 1/2 -2 inches of oil in a pan to 350. Fry doughnuts for 45 seconds to 1 minute on each side. Cool on a wire rack on a cookie sheet. Dip in glaze while still warm.

For me this made approximately 2 dozen doughnuts.

menu

One of these days I'll actually get caugt up. I'm not doing my menu the same way I've been doing the last couple of weeks because I hardly followed the snacks and lunches last week mostly because I was really busy and didn't have time to make hummus or pitas, or boil eggs..... So, I'm going back to just listing what I want to have during the week, and listing out my prep items. Then I know what I need to make when I have a spare moment.

Breakfasts: (premake, applesauce otatmeal muffins and pitas)

Waffles, fruit, yogurt
Cereal, grapefruit, milk
Bagel, cream cheese, fruit
oatmeal, raisins, milk
egg wrap with cheese, grapefruit
Danishes and fruit
applesauce oatmeal muffin, yogurt, fruit, almonds
cream cheese and raisin pita

Lunches: (pre-make - hummus, bread, corn bread muffins)

Nachos with beans, red peppers, cheese and salsa
cottage cheese and pineapple, carrots and hummus, crackers and peanut butter
Cheese and hummus sandwich, apple, carrots and dip
cream cheese, walnuts and raisins wrap
egg salad pita, microwaved summer squash, fruit, pudding
Ham sandwich with tomatoes, cottage cheese and peaches
Vegetarian chili with corn, sour cream and cheese, fruit, corn bread

Snacks:

Almonds and carrots
bean dip with salsa, carrots
celery with almond butter
lemon pepper black beans and corn
yogurt and carrots
cucumbers and hummus
celery and cream cheese


Dinners:

Chicken Korma and carrot salad (TOH p. 82)
Chile-maridated pork with black bean salsa (LC p. 89, 303)
pork chops and roasted asparagus with orange juice (s&d p. 23)
Thai chicken wraps (FDF p. 80)
3 bean chili and corn bread
Easter Dinner -
BBQ salmon on a plank, fruit salsa and pita chips (FDF p. 98)