Blueberry pancakes

Here is a new healthy pancake recipe I made this morning.  I like the addition of wheat germ and the tiny bit of sweetness added by the honey.  I also enjoyed the texture the wheat germ added - reminded me of a cornmeal pancake - in texture only.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 2 Tablespoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons honey
• 1 1/2 cup blueberries (I actually only had a cup and threw in about 1/4 cup dried blueberries.  I'm officially out of blueberries.  :)

Directions

1. In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients.  (flour, wheat germ, baking powder, and salt.)
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. (eggs, milk, oil, and honey.)
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir just until combined.  Fold in blueberries.
4. Bake on a hot griddle until cooked.  

herbed scones

Today was a day of scones at our house.  I made some for breakfast, then when looking for a biscuit or roll recipe for dinner I found this recipe on the same page as the breakfast ones.  These were more savory and the perfect compliment to our soup.  Tavio loved them.  The other boys didn't seem to be as big of fans of the scones.  I would have to guess it was the texture, but I thought the texture was great.  Nice and crisp on the outside, kind of flaky on the inside.  Very nice just like the breakfast ones (which will probably be my next post.)  Both came from yet another book I have checked out of the library called The Rodale whole foods cookbook.  Considering this was a "whole foods cookbook"  I was surprised that the original recipe didn't use any whole wheat flour, just unbleached.  I changed that in my version.  :)  I did still go with 1/2 and 1/2 - mostly to appease my teenagers.  I also just noticed that the recipe called for a 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda that I missed.  Feel free to use it if you like.  Oh, and I guess I'd better go and change the name of these from herbed buttermilk scones to just plain herbed scones since I was out of buttermilk.  You can change the yogurt, and milk for buttermilk it you'd like.

1 final note, these are not low calorie with 1 stick of butter.  :)  Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cold and cubed
• 1/4 cup greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. In a food processor, combine the flours, baking powder, thyme, mustard seeds, salt and pepper and pulse to mix.
3. Add the butter and pulse just until the mixture forms course crumbs.  Add yogurt and milk and pulse just until combined.
4. Transfer to a floured surface or silpat (I put mine straight on the silpat I was going to cook it on - less mess/dishes)  Knead until well combined if necessary.  Pat into an 8 inch circle (about 1/2 inch thick)  Cut into 8 wedges and separate/ place on baking sheet 1/2 inch apart.  
5. Bake for 12-14 minutes (12 was perfect for me) until lightly browned and crisp.  

zucchini corn cakes

Saw this cute little idea in an old Pillsbury magazine that I have from August 2001 - Crazy old.  I'm pretty sure I hardly looked at it back then because it is a vegetarian edition of the magazine and that didn't really interest me at the time.  Now however, that is a different story and I have tried a few things lately out of there.  This one was nice and simple.  Even though I was out of pancake mix and had to make more the entire meal only took me 30-40 minutes to prepare and that includes cleaning up as I went along and setting the table.  Not bad.  I have of course adapted it to my liking.  First and foremost using my own pancake mix rather than a store bought one, but I also did things like topped it with salsa rather than diced tomatoes....  I thought these were great.  DH swears he can taste the zucchini in them.  I don't think you can - no more or less than zucchini bread anyway.  Duncan loved them and had 3 or 4 which for Duncan is a lot of food.  Tavio hated them "too wheaty"  in his opinion - Mostly that is an aversion to my waffle mix which he doesn't like.  I thought they were a great, simple meal and 5 out of 6 members of the family ate them just fine.  :)  I would rate these a 4 or 4.5, but in trying to give a good idea of what the entire family likes, I'm giving them only a 3.5.
One final note - I did double the recipe from the original.  I ended up with a decent amount of left overs, but again, one of the teenagers at 1/2 of one and that was it.  Feel free to 1/2 the recipe if you have less than 6 people in your family.

Ingredients

• 3 cups pancake mix (if using a store bought mix, make sure it is a complete mix - the just add water kind.)
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup frozen corn, thawed under warm water and drained
• 1 medium-large zucchini, shredded
• sour cream and salsa as desired to top

Directions

1. Combine pancake mix, cornmeal, salt and pepper in a bowl.  Stir in water just until lumps disappear.  Stir in corn and zucchini.
2. Cook on a griddle set to 375.    I spooned mine onto the griddle with a 1/4 cup measuring cup then spread them out a bit with the back of the cup.  It made somewhere around 20 cakes.
3. Serve topped with sour cream and salsa.

White bean chili verde

When this recipe says chili verde, let me tell you, it means chili verde.  I've been trying to use more dry beans, and I've found that my kids have liked the chilies that I have made.  I've been trying to rotate type of bean, so it was time to try a white bean chili.  This one caught my attention because of it's use of tomatillos.   It also had tons of veggies - spinach, cilantro, peppers... 

Now, I'm not going to lie, this was a bit on the time consuming side.  It didn't help that I overfilled my blender and ended up spraying my kitchen with chunky green salsa either (did I mention that salsa was boiling hot and got all over me too.)  NOT pretty.  The chili did turn out well.  I liked the flavor, and I liked that it had tons of veggies in it.  However, it was a bit soupier than I would have expected.  In fact you could call this a green chili soup.  I actually ended up putting some crushed tortilla chips in my "soup."  It really tasted the best that way.  (I think because we didn't add enough salt. - by the time my poor hubby came home, I wanted out of the kitchen.  My arm hurt from being burned, and I'd spent my "simmer time" cleaning a huge mess.  I headed out to pick up my oldest from wrestling and he finished - resulting in salt not being added at all - but added later.)  

I think this would have been super tasty served with a slice of fresh lime to squeeze in.  It would also keep with the green theme. :)

Here's a little time schedule I used.  I have to say it didn't work exactly as planned but that was due to 1001 interruptions by 4 boys.

The night before - or early in the morning for me - soak beans

Start 3:10 -left the pot simmering while taking a son to cello lessons and dropping another at wrestling.

Home 4:45 -roast veggies then steam 

                     prep veggies non-steamed veggies (tomatillos and cilantro)

5:15 - puree  then simmer

5:45-6:00 - done and serve.

Again, that would be in an ideal world.  I will say that I did start when I got home at 4:45 but I wasn't quite done when I went to get the son from wrestling at 6:30.  But that was normal motherly interruptions  of checking on kids, helping with one thing or another - breaking up arguments...  Then of course there was the minor blender disaster - So hopefully your world is more perfect than mine and the schedule above will be more accurate.  :)

 

And my final commentary before I get on with the recipe already - this recipe calls for some random chilies.  It has inspired me to do a post on chiles (it will be my next post but will not show up until tomorrow.)  This recipe called for cubanelle chiles or Italian frying peppers - neither of which I could find at the store (and I went to the Fiesta mart - totally should have had every type of chile available in my area.)  So at the store I guessed and went with anaheim.  I was so proud when I got home and looked online and found out that low and behold anaheim is a good sub for cubanelle.  Yea me.  :)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups dried Great Northern or other white beans, soaked overnight or from the early morning, or quick soaked (I used a mix of Great Northern and small white beans - it is just what I had)
• 8 cups water (I'd seriously consider reducing this to 6 or even less if you want a thicker chili.  8 makes a nice soup)
• 2 dried ancho chiles
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 anaheim chiles (unless you know what cubanelle chiles or Italian frying peppers are and have access to them.)
• 2 green bell peppers (I actually used 6-8 tiny sweet bells.  I always have them on hand and didn't feel like purchasing greens just for this chile.)
• 12 ounces spinach (I used baby just because that is what I always have on hand)
• 12 tomatillos, husked, washed, and quartered (I had some pretty large tomatillos so this was a lot.)
• 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves (I just used the entire bunch minus a couple that I kept for garnish then forgot to use as garnish - ha!)
• salt -do NOT forget this.  :)

Directions

1. Drain the beans.  Combine the beans with the 8 (or less) cups water, ancho chiles, and bay leaves in a large pot.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, (here is my problem.  I didn't see this partially covered part - that may have evaporated off some water??  I needed/wanted them covered because I was gone and couldn't babysit them.)  Simmer until beans are tender - 1 1/2 -2 hours.  (My beans were actually done when I got home after 1 1/2 hours.) 
2. Roast the anaheim chiles and green pepper (or red and orange)  under a broiler or over a gas flame, turning frequently until the peppers are charred all over.  Transfer to a paper or plastic bag.   Close tightly, and let steam for 10 minutes.  Peel and remove seeds.
3. Drain the beans, reserving cooking liquid and anchos but discarding the bay leaves.  
4. Bring the cooking liquid to a boil.  Add the anchos, roasted peppers, spinach, tomatillos and cilantro.  Cook until the spinach is wilted - 4-5 minutes.  
5. Spoon the spinach mixture into a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.  (DO NOT OVERFILL - Disaster may ensue)   
6. Return the puree to the pot with the beans.  Add salt to taste.  Simmer over very low heat for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to blend.

Serve as desired - topped with cheese, tortilla chips, a slice of lime, sour cream -- any or all of those would be tasty.

black bean-sweet potato cakes

It is a good thing I have made some successful sweet potato pancakes recently or these would have been a total flop.  The recipe I was following called for only 2 eggs and no flour.  Let's just say my first batch looked more like hash browns that any sort of pancake.
This recipe also called for a lot more cilantro and chives than I put in (mostly because I didn't have that many chives in the garden.)  I ended up adding some seasoning as well.  Then they were delicious.  Still come in second place to these.
Here is how I ended up making them.

Ingredients

• 3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and grated
• 1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 Tablespoon chopped chives (could up to 1/4 cup and skip the onion powder or omit completely)
• 1 teaspoon chopped cilantro (couldn't really taste this either.  I should have chopped more to have any flavor or omit it entirely.)
• 4 eggs 
• salt and pepper to taste - you want at least 1/2 teaspoon of salt probably up to 1 teaspoon
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• dash of onion powder 1/4-1/2 teaspoon maybe
• oil for frying 1-2 Tablespoons per batch.  I used olive and coconut oil.

Directions

1. In the bottom of a large bowl, whisk together the egg, onion powder, salt, pepper, cilantro and chives (if using) Add the sweet potatoes, black beans and flour and stir until well combined.
2. Heat 1-2 Tablespoons of oil in a large nonstick griddle over medium heat.  Drop batter on briddle by spoonful to make pancakes.  Flatten with the top of the spoon.  Brown on one side then flip and brown on the other side. 
3. You can keep these warm in a warm oven or cover them.

I ate one of these topped with salsa, because eating them plain I thought I would like it.  Turns out I liked them better plain.

great greek pasta

So, finally a recipe that isn't originally from 6 o'clock scramble.  (I think I've exhausted most of the vegetarian ones in there anyway. :)
I found this recipe in my saving dinner book.  It originally had chicken in it.  I have adapted it to not have chicken although I did serve it with the option of chicken - which all of my children chose.  (I just used some pre-cooked I had in the freezer - thawed it in the microwave and added it on top.)  I had mine without the chicken.  Either way it was a nice pasta salad.  I did not use all of the pasta.  Would definitely have been too dry.

Ingredients

• 1 pound rigatoni (I didn't use it all -you'd be fine with 12-16 oz.)
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 cup diced onion (I used sweet onion)
• 1 large tomato, chopped (I actually used 1 roma and a few cherry tomatoes)
• 1/2 cup Feta cheese, crumbled
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 teapsoons oregano
• salt and pepper to taste
• Optional, chopped, cooked chicken

Directions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile in a large skillet, saute onion in butter until fragrant.  Add garlic and saute a bit more.  Reduce heat and add tomato, feta, lemon juice and oregano.  Stir to combine.  Add pasta and stir until completely heated through.  Salt and pepper to taste and serve.

cuban black beans and rice

I was going to post a tortilla recipe here, but I'm on a six o'clock scramble roll, so here is another idea I got from there - again, super modified because I decided to use dry black beans and cook the black beans and rice together like a green smoothie girl recipe I tried a while back.  I also subbed a tiny v8 for vegetable or chicken broth because I had it and it was about the right amount without having to open a can.....
While this wasn't my favorite black bean recipe of all time, it is a nice, mild flavored black bean.  I wished it had a bit more flavor, however, those trying to appeal to a crowd with varied palates might enjoy this.
I will say I didn't have many complaints, and Duncan has loved this as much as the vegetarian chili I made last month.  He's had it every day for lunch - ok so have I.  Might I suggest topping it with some tasty salsa (I'm loving whatever fresh salsa they sell at Costco - has a hint of lime flavor.  YUM)  and some sour cream or cheese.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups dry brown rice
• 1 medium leek, chopped (use white part and about 1/2 inch of green part
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped (I just tossed in a handful I had diced and frozen)
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice (I think I just juiced a whole lemon)
• 1 5 oz can v8 (or 1/2 cup vegetable or chicken broth or stock)
• 2 cups dry black beans (soaked overnight)
• 6 cups water
• sour cream or plain yogurt for serving

Directions

1. In a large stockpot, bring beans to a boil in the 6 cups of water.  Reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours or until tender.  (If you soak your beans overnight and until the next afternoon, they will probably take less than 2 hours, unless they are old or something.)
2. When beans are tender, Soak the leek in cold water for a few minutes to clean thoroughly.  
3. Add the rice to the beans.
4. In a saute pan melt butter over medium heat.  Saute leek for a minute or 2 then add garlic, bell pepper, celery and continue sauteing (basically I add to the pan as I chop, then stir)  Add cumin, thyme, pepper, lemon juice and v8.  Stir to combine, and pour into the rice and bean pot.
5. Continue simmering for about 1 hour or until desired consistency/texture is reached.
6. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and/or salsa.

One pot Italian rice and beans

Here is another recipe from my preferred recipe book right now - The Six o'clock scramble.  I did modify this a good deal to use up things I had on hand like fresh rather than frozen green beans, tomato sauce not pasta sauce - upped the basil ... Seemed to go over pretty well with everyone.  Nothing super wow, but also nothing that got too many whines and moans.  :)  Pretty sure I didn't get a picture, and I forgot to serve it with the mozzarella cheese on top, but that would have been yummy.  I just forgot to get it out after making a salad.

Ingredients

• 10 oz (or so) fresh green beans, washed, trimmed and chopped
• 1 can (15 oz) red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes with their juice
• 1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
• 1 cup pitted black olives plus 1/2 cup of their juice
• 1 1/2 cups pre-cooked brown rice (I had left over in the fridge - original had just 1 cup quick cooking)
• 2 teaspoons basil
• shredded mozzarella cheese for serving

Directions

1. In a medium stockpot with a lid, combine all ingredients except cheese.  Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes (more or less depending on how cooked you want your beans and/or how long you want the flavors to mix.)
2. Serve topped with mozzarella cheese.

Peanut butter stew

So, I am super far behind in blogging for multiple reasons one of which is computer issues. I've finally given up on getting our computer fixed and downloaded picasa onto the random old work laptop DH had sitting around here, and finally got some pictures onto that computer so I could update my blogs - I mean for Heaven's sake I was uploading pictures from all the way back at new years. So I go to upload and blogger won't even let me sign in. Out of curiosity I check on the ipad - NOTE - the ipad has never let me blog. Says it doesn't support html or something, so I haven't even tried using it for ages. Today low and behold, it pulls up a page for me to type, so here goes nothing. I'm just going to start with last night's dinner and we'll go from there to see what we manage to get done.
 One last comment on blogger not working -I find it completely ironic that blogger is not working on my regular computer using all google products - google chrome and blogger. Yet it will work on my ipad????? I'm just glad it is working somewhere so I can at least get something done. I won't be able to add pictures, and it looks like I'll have to go and edit in some bullets and numbers to make things how I like them, but at least I can work while my little one naps.

 On to the meal. I really liked this meal. Loved the combination of the peanut butter and the sweetness the tomatoes and the sweet potato added. Very interesting flavors. Brandon says he liked it better before I added the peanut butter. (I had him check the sweet potatoes for doneness while I was making a salad. The younger boys didn't like it at all and were not happy to take their 3 and 6 bites, but finally did comply. The older boys ate it without complaint and Duncan even took it for lunch today. (I do have to say this could entirely be because we said it was a West African inspired stew and he loves anything that says it is from Africa. I'm not looking any gift horse in the mouth though, so I'll take it.
 The original recipe is from the book The Six o'clock scramble. One of my favorite books lately because it does have a lot of vegetarian options. I did make a couple of adjustments. Like my sweet potato was extremely large so I added another cup of cabbage. I had no peanut oil so I used butter and olive oil. Had to use white grape juice because it was the closest I had to apricot or apple..... You know me. Always changing things around. Of course, that would be why I blog -so I can remember what I've done to a recipe. :)

Oooh, just checked out this post on the computer.  In the time it took to pick up my kiddos from school I have had 4 views.  Sorry to those viewers.  I see that the ipad did absolutely NO editing, not even paragraphs or lines.  Lesson learned - type into the ipad, but don't hit publish or you'll have large hard to read blob of text.  Oops!  Here is the edited version.
Sorry about this picture.  It is what happens when your computer is down so long you stop taking pictures of meals.  This is a random shot out of the container of left overs... Not wonderful - although I can't say that this was ever the "prettiest" dish.  :)

 Time - prep 25 min + 20 minutes simmer
Servings 8
 Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon butter 
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil 
• 1 large onion, diced, I used 1 cup - I'm very partial to sweet onions and that is what I used here.
•  2 cloves garlic, minced 
• 3 cups chopped cabbage (close to 1/2 of a small green cabbage) 
• 1 large sweet potato, diced into 1/2 inch cubes - mine was very large. I thought I was picking medium large at the store, but when I started dicing and tossing in the pot, it was a lot. If yours is only medium large, you may choose to reduce the cabbage to 2 cups. 
• 3 cups tomato juice 
• 1 cup white grape juice - original said apricot or apple - I'm sure any mild juice would do. 
• 1 teaspoon sea salt 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 
• 1 15 oz can dice tomatoes, drained (or 2 chopped tomatoes) 1/2 cup smooth, natural peanut butter 

Directions

1. In a large pot, heat butter over medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute until softened and fragrant.
2.  Add the olive oil, garlic, cabbage, and sweet potatoes. Saute the mixture for 5 minutes. 
3. Add the juices, salt, ginger and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover the pan and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender. 
4. Add the peanut butter, stirring thoroughly until incorporated. Serve hot.

Ah, that looks much better.  Glad I found this out before hitting publish on the other one I'm typing.  :)

Peanut butter granola bars

Here's a recipe I made forever ago - like 4-5 months ago.  My modifications are written on a paper that I'm tired of tossing around my kitchen so it is getting a blog post.  If I remember right, these turned out a tiny bit crumbly/hard to keep together,  so I may want to make some modifications to the recipe.   However, it seems like I got better at cutting them, and knew to treat them a bit more carefully than regular granola bars and all was well enough.  The flavor was great, and they are a lot better for you than most granola bars.

Ingredients

• 5 cups oats
• 2 cups rice crispy cereal
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips.  (I like to use the minis - they seem to go farther)
• 1/2 cup agave
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 3/4 cup peanut butter, melted
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients together until all of the oats are rice are covered in the honey/agave.
2. Spray a 11 X 14 pan with cooking spray and pat the mixture into the bottom of the pan.  
3. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  Let cool for 10 minutes.  Cut into desired shapes.

Ideas for next time - use only honey, add raisins or other dried fruit.

Chunky Marinara sauce

This recipe originally came from the same freezer book as the last 2 recipes.  However, I added to it.  I doubled the recipe, added carrots, removed the sugar, added lots more spices, and still didn't like it as much as my regular spaghetti sauce.  I did like the use of lots of extra veggies.  I chopped them in the food processor so that went quick.  I loved that for all of the veggies except the onions.  I always hate to chop onions in the food processor because for some reason they end up smelling to strong, plus they get a little over-processed and a little too wet - even when not truly over-processed.  Anyway, if making this again, I would definitely chop my onions by hand.  I'd also probably leave out the green peppers - sub in some red, but maybe not as many.  I thought this had a bit too strong of onion and green pepper flavor.  It does get posted though, just to remind me that I can add celery and carrots to my regular spaghetti sauce and it works well.
This is how I made the double batch.  Some of my substitutions were of necessity, some just creativity.\

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 3 large onions, finely chop (hand chop -they are better I promise)
• 3 large green peppers, finely chopped
• 1 large red pepper, finely chopped (I actually use the mini sweets, but I use about 1 regular pepper's worth)
• 6 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 6 carrots, finely copped
• 2 Tablespoons minced garlic
• 4 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes (I actually ended up using 8 15 oz, but just because it is what I stock in my pantry.  Definitely if just purchasing for this I would buy the bigger cans)
• 2 6 oz. cans tomato paste
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 Tablespoons Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1 Tablespoon thyme
• 1 Tablespoon basil
• 4 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. In a large skillet heat butter over medium high heat.  Add onions and saute until onions are soft and translucent.  Transfer to a 5-6 quart slow cooker.  (This barely fit in my 5 quart and I mean barely.  I had to stir very carefully.)
2. In the same skillet, heat oil and add the remaining vegetables.  Saute for 3 minutes.  Add garlic and saute for a couple more minutes.  Transfer to slow cooker.
3. Add remaining ingredients to slow cooker.  Stir well.  Cook on low for 6-8 house or on high for 4-5.  Remove bay leaves.  Cool completely if planning to freeze immediately.

We used 1/2 of this or so for spaghetti the first night I made it, then used some for the pizza bites I made the next day.  The rest went into the freezer.

Macaroni and Cheese (with hidden veggies)

This started out as a recipe from Double delicious but I really had to add a lot more cheese to make it taste anything like macaroni and cheese.  I also didn't feel like doing the extra step of throwing this in the oven so I left that out.  Honestly for a mac and cheese recipe with veggies - I'd still go back to the nacho's recipe and just leave out the jalapenos.  I did that the other day and liked it as well if not better than this recipe.  This recipe was OK though, and the kids all ate it which automatically wins it a post on the blog.
I also did some funky things like used bean flour rather than regular - feel free to use regular.  Bean flour was just me experimenting.  :)  The cheese measures are approximate because I just kept adding until it tasted good.  I'm just guessing as to about what I ended up using.  The original only had 1 cup of cheddar with 2 T of Parmesan sprinkled on top for the oven.  So you can see how much cheese I added.  With only 1 cup you could have just called the dish orange macaroni and milk.  Of course it isn't as "healthy" with added cheese (and I didn't use the reduced fat called for either) but I like flavor and so do my kids.  :)

Ingredients

• 1 pound pasta
• 2 Tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 Tablespoons bean flour (or regular)
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 2 1/2 -3 cups cheddar cheese
• 1/4-1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup carrot puree

Directions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain and set aside.
2. Meanwhile heat the coconut oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan.  Whisk in the bean flour to form a paste.  Slowly whisk in milk to prevent lumping.  Bring to a boil and cook until the mixture thickens slightly.  (about 5 minutes)  Add remaining ingredients (both cheeses, salt, and carrot puree.)  Whisk until smooth.  
3. Stir the cheese into the pasta and heat through.  Serve.

chicken pasta salad

Here is yet another recipe from recipe shoebox.  This one was OK.  I think I would have liked it better if there were less pasta.  It was better the first day than as left overs, and it made a lot, so I may 1/2 the recipe next time.  The left overs seemed like they absorbed the dressing and were a bit dry.  Of course I did cut the oil way down.  Certainly more oil would have helped.  :)

Ingredients

• 1 container pre-cooked chicken
• 1 pound rotini noodles
• 2 heads broccoli, finely chopped
• 1 cup diced red, yellow and orange bell peppers (I use the baby ones -it would be about 2 regular size)
• 1/3 cup diced onion
• 1 can sliced olives
• 1 cup shredded cheese (optional - I did not use it)
• 1/3-1/2 cup ranch dressing

Dressing ingredients

• 2 envelopes dry Italian dressing mix
• 6 Tablespoons cider vinegar
• 6 Tablespoons water
• 6 Tablespoons oil  (you may want to use more - original was 3/4 cup, but a bit less water too)

Directions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.  Rinse with cool water to cool.  I did this while chopping all of the veggies.
2. Combine chicken, chopped vegetables, and olives.  Set aside.  Whisk together dressing ingredients and pour over vegetables and chicken.  Mix together.  Add ranch, cheese if using and pasta.  Fold together.  Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving if desired.  (I did not.) 

Mexican Bowtie pasta with chicken

This recipe wasn't a total failure, but I no longer have the recipe (turned the book back into the library yesterday.)  It is from Family Feasts for $75 a week.  (page 155 if I ever get the book again.)  I liked that it made a ton - I froze half of it. - that is how much it made.  It was also a typical mexican flavor dish but with the addition of cream cheese which made it creamy and more mild that some dishes.  In this picture you can also see that I served it with grape salad.  I did in this case use 1/2 of the cream cheese mixture as mentioned in the original post.  You can see that it was plenty saucy.

apple cider spice donuts

Man, I started writing this over a week ago.  Not sure why I didn't finish.  Good think I saw it when I was blogging like crazy yesterday.  I knew to come back and finish it up today.

Here is another recipe I've had marked in my evernote app for a while.  It is from Our Best Bites.
I had actually started on these the other day because you are supposed to simmer down some apple cider for use in the dough.  Got that done, but then didn't want to have to make the dough, roll it out, cool it....  So today I got really lazy with the whole process and I loved the process.  I have a cute little donut maker (similar to this but made by babycakes.)  So I ended up just scooping out a scoop of dough right onto my little donut maker.  I didn't even try to shape them.  The machine pressed them down and they turned out perfectly cute.  Sure their whole didn't go all the way through, but for the ease, it was totally worth it.  They still look like a cute donut.
I of course tried to help this recipe be healthy.  It was all good except for the fact that I found them to be a bit dry.  I preferred them with a bit of glaze just because they seemed dry when plain or with just cinnamon sugar.  I'm sure I could fiddle with the dough a bit and make it more moist.  The flavor was good, but I didn't think the apple was quite strong enough.  Next time I'd probably add some apple sauce or diced apple or something - it would both add moisture and flavor.

Here is how I made them today -

Ingredients

• 1 cup high quality apple cider (or 1/4 cup apple juice concentrate)
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2 Tablespoons coconut oil (original had 4 Tablespoons butter flavored Crisco but I didn't have any)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup splenda
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 3 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup white bean flour (or another 1/4 cup white flour)
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• glaze or cinnamon/sugar if desired.

Directions

Had to add a picture of how easy these were to make in the
doughnut maker.  

1. In a medium saucepan over high heat, bring apple cider to a boil.  Continue to cook over high heat for 7-10 minutes or until it's reduced to 1/4 cup (I actually did 3 cups and reduced it to 3/4 cup and it took probably closer to 20.  I had to come back and finish later because I was going to make the dough the day before and refrigerate like the original.  I didn't.  I just  made the reduced apple cider and stored it in the fridge.)  If not making this the day before, remove from heat and allow to cool. \
2. While the cider is reducing (or cooling for that matter - or the next day like I did.) Combine oil, butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and mix on high for 2-3 minutes or until light and fluffy (using coconut oil, I did have to scrape down the sides a bit -original had 1/4 cup butter flavor crisco but I didn't have any)  Add eggs one at a time, beating completely after each addition.
3. Add reduced cider and buttermilk and beat until combined
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice.  Add flour mixture to the liquid and mix just until blended.  This dough turns out about the consistency of cookie dough.  Super nice for scooping onto my doughnut maker.
5. If you are baking them, scoop dough onto the doughnut maker and let it do it's job.  So simple.  If you want to dip them in cinnamon and sugar you will have to give them a spritz of spray butter or dunk them in melted butter or something to get the sugar to stick.  Or you can make a simple glaze.  My favorite was a simple powdered sugar, cinnamon and milk glaze that I had made.  OBB had you make a pumpkin pie spice sugar, but that was actually my least favorite of the ways I ate these.  I liked glaze, cinnamon sugar, and plain better.  :)

To fry these, go check out the instructions on our best bites.  You have to refrigerate the dough, then roll it out and cut it out, and fry it.

Lemon Lime Jello

Along with the lime chicken I made yet again another jello salad.  I don't know what my facination is with making these.  I guess I feel like I made a dessert which of course my kids love.  They are in no way healthy though - although I have an Idea to try this but in a healthy version - I'm a little worried though.  Anyway, the idea for this came from Deals to Meals.  I thought is was so strange to combine jello and pudding - probably what possessed me to try it - I couldn't even imagine the result.  It turned out ok.  Pretty tangy with these lemon/lime flavors.  I'd love to see a chocolate pudding with strawberry jello.  (That is my goal for a healthy version - we'll see)  Here is how to make this one. -Oh, I was going to go without putting the cool whip on top, but trust me, it needs it.  Kind of takes off the super strong tangy/sweet artificial lemon/lime flavor.  Sorry, I know I'm not making it sound appetizing.  It is my healthy side taking over the typing fingers.  The kids loved it though.  Tavio chose to have 1/2 pudding and 1/2 ice cream for dessert last night, so it really isn't all that bad.  :)

Ingredients

• 1 large box cook n'serve lemon pudding
• 1 large box lime jello (I used 2 small)
• 1 tub cool whip (I only used about 1/2 the tub

Directions

1. Make lemon pudding according to package directions.  Set aside.  Make the lime jello according to package directions, minus 1/2 cup water (I do have to say I did it the quick way using ice for the cold water so it would be cool and start to set.)  
2. Whisk together the jello and pudding.  Pour into a 9 X 13 pan.  
3. Let cool in fridge for 3-4 hours until firm.  When firm top with cool whip.  

Banana nutella rolls

I had these on the menu forever before actually trying them.  They were pretty simple to make.  Not sure how much I really liked them.  They sounded so yummy - nutella and banana, but I'm not a huge fan of mushy banana (although I do like them fried so I thought this would be good.  I do however think this would be excellent with another fruit that maybe wouldn't get mushy, and if you are more of a banana fan, I'm sure these would be great.  I'd love to try them with sliced strawberries or even raspberries.  YUM!
I found the recipe in my Rachael Ray magazine.  Not many changes except I didn't dust mine with powdered sugar and she did.  You could try that if you wanted something sweeter.  I also tried making a couple with just cooking spray (not brushed with butter - mostly because  I had 2 left and no more melted butter.  They are still good, but obviously better with the butter.)

Sorry for the picture -I totally need a new flash.  This also must have
been the week I had no dishwasher since it is on a paper plate.  I chose
this picture rather than a powdered sugar one to show the bananas
and nutella inside.  

Ingredients

• 8 egg roll wrappers
• 3 bananas, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
• 3 Tablespoons Nutella (didn't measure this at all and probably used more)
• 2 Tablespoons melted butter

Directions

1. Working 1 at a time, spread 1 teaspoon (more or less) of nutella down the center of the egg roll wrapper (leave room all around to roll up)  Top with 4 or 5 slices of banana.  
2. Brush edges with butter.  Roll up like a burrito.  
3. Brush the outside with butter and cook in a nonstick skillet over medium heat 4 minutes per side or until nicely browned.  

Sweet bean burritos

I found this burrito recipe in my Saving dinner book.  I think half of the time I try something because it sounds different and I can't decide if it will taste good.  Then I'm apprehensive to actually taste what I've made.  This would be one of those meals.  Sweet potato with black bean?  I would have never thought to stick those two together.
Unfortunately for me, I can't remember how much we liked them, or exactly how much spices I added.  I do remember that they were better than I expected.  The sweet potato did make them sweet, but it was still good.  Went well with the cumin.

Ingredients

• 1-2 Tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, pressed (I may have just used garlic powder - I can't remember)
• 2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 medium sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed (I made these in the microwave to make them quick and easy - had them cooking while sauteeing my onions)
• 1 teaspoon cumin (I may have added more)
• cheddar cheese
• tortillas

Directions

1. In a skillet, saute onions in butter until soft and fragrant.  Add garlic and saute an additional minute.  
2. Add the beans, mashed sweet potatoes and cumin and mix well.
3. Heat tortillas.  Put bean mixture and cheese in each burrito and roll up.

Wheat berry salad

Yet another recipe I picked, but then worried if I or anyone else would like.  Luckily I was pleasantly surprised. It was tasty.  I had seconds and DH did too, but I do have to say, the left overs are not calling my name.
This meal comes from a book I have called  healthy meals by Jonni McCoy.  A lot of her recipes will do something like call for 2 cups meat, or 3 cups veggies - with some suggestions of what to use.  This recipe was that way.  It called for 3 cups diced veggies with suggestion to use broccoli, carrots, celery, bell pepper, zucchini, eggplant, leeks, etc.  DH chose leeks.  I wasn't the hugest fan of the leeks but I think I probably overcooked them a tiny bit.  Other than that, the flavor of this dish was nice - a nice Italian red sauce flavor.  I doubled the original and of course adapted it.

Ingredients

• 1 cup wheat berries
• 4 cups water
• 3 leeks, chopped (I only chopped the white section and barely into the green because I didn't feel like washing the dirt off each individual strand.)
• 3 carrots, sliced
• 5-6 tiny sweet bell peppers, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1 Tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 15 oz can petite diced tomatoes  (I may have used 2 cans - original was 1, and I wrote notes in my book of all my changes, but not that I used 2 cans of tomatoes.  Hmm.  Would be good with 2.)
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice (about 1/2 a lemon)
• 4 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. Heat wheat and water in a sauce pan until boiling.  Reduce heat.  Cover and simmer for 40 minutes or until berries are tender.  
2. Meanwhile, in a separate sauce pan,  cover the carrots with water, bring to a boil.  Boil for 3-4 minutes then remove from the heat and drain.  They should still be a bit crisp.
3. In a large skillet, heat butter and coconut oil over medium heat.  Saute onion and garlic in oil until onion is clear.  Add remaining veggies and continue cooking until veggies are desired doneness.  Drain the berries and add them while stirring.  Add tomatoes, lemon juice and seasonings and cook until heated through - 2 to 3 minutes.

Taco mac and cheese

Although this recipe was called mac and cheese, the original definitely didn't have enough cheese to be called that (In my opinion of course.)  Even with the addition of extra cheese, I still wouldn't call it mac and cheese as much as a skillet taco casserole or something.  The original recipe was from $5 dinner mom, but my recipe is very different.  I would have been making something very similar to the southwest chicken pasta salad I have made last week, so I changed it up a good deal - still sticking with the southwest/taco theme, but going with a smoky chipotle flavor rather than a mix of cayenne and green chilies.  I was happy with the results.  I could definitely have added a bit more spice, but I always err on the side of too little.  People wanting more can always sprinkle extra.
My other large change was that I thought this had WAY too many noodles for 1 meal.  I doubled the meat and added beans and called it 2 meals.  I put 1/2 in the freezer.  I've done that a lot this past week.  Ought to make for an easy week of cooking later on - maybe the first week back to school or something when life gets busy.  :)
This meal could easily be made vegetarian by omitting the beef and adding another can of beans.

yield - at least 12 servings (I made it and froze the left overs - may have even been more than 1/2.)

Ingredients

• 1 package (16 oz) elbow macaroni
• 1 pound lean ground beef (I use pre-cooked)
• 1 15 oz. can pinto beans
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 can (6 oz.) tomato sauce
• 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes (I like the petite diced)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/8 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin 
• 1 cup Cheddar cheese (I used more - sorry to say I don't know how much - probalby more like 2 -2.5 cups)

Directions

1. Cook macaroni according to package directions, drain and set aside
2. Meanwhile, cook ground beef in a skillet (if not using pre-cooked you may want to add some diced onion, salt and pepper) or toss pre-cooked in a skillet with garlic powder, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and milk.  Stir in cayenne and cumin and simmer for aobut 10 minutes.
3. Add macaroni and cheese to the beef mixture and stir to combine/melt the cheese.