Hungry Tummies; tired brains

2010-06-01T16:36:00.000-07:00

Mayan Hot Chocolate

Now i know you are going to think this is nuts (no pun intended), but i've tried it and it's good. This year, i am going to experiment with a winter squash called sweet meat.

Bake a small butternut squash, half sides down, in an inch of water in roasting pan at 375f till tender, 30 minutes.

Measure out 2/3 cup squash and puree with 1/2 c. milk in the blender till smooth.

In a saucepan, combine 2 cups milk, 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate, and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon with a pinch of nutmeg and pinch of cardamom. Heat over double boiler, stirring constantly until chocolate is melted and creamy. Remove from heat and whisk in pureed squash. Serves 4.

300 cal, 14 g fat, 4g fiber
recipe from Chef Jesus Gonzalez via relish mag.

2010-05-28T16:28:00.000-07:00

Easy Cheese Lasagna WW style

1 - 28 oz jar spaghetti sauce
6 uncooked lasagna noodles
1 - 15oz container of fat free ricotta cheese
1-2 cups sliced or chopped raw veggies
8 oz shredded low fat mozzarella

Layer 1/3rd of sauce and 1/2 the noodles on the bottom of an 11x7 baking dish. Top with 1/3rd more sauce, all of the ricotta and veggies and 1/2 the mozza. Then layer remaining noodles and sauce. Cover with foil and bake at 375f for 1 hour. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

6 sevings/6 pts per piece

2010-05-28T16:22:00.000-07:00

Weight Watchers Angel Food Cake

I love this cake as it is really easy to throw together and not too bad for your waistline. And you can make it seasonal to boot. And all you need is 1 box of Betty Crocker "1 step" angel food cake mix and one other ingredient.

In the summer you can mix in 1 - 15oz can of crushed pineapple.

In the winter you can mix in 1 cup of pumpkin puree and 1/3 c. water.

Follow directions for baking on the box.

Then dig in! 3 pts per serving and the whole cake is 12 servings.

Remember, if you're going to eat in front of the fridge, you might as well pull up a chair. :o)

2010-01-06T15:54:00.000-08:00

Yummy Candied Pecans from Sarah

These are the best and easiest i've ever tried to make!!

Spread chopped pecans on parchment on cookie sheet.

Pour a couple handfulls of brown sugar, or mix it up with a bit of maple sugar and brown sugar, over the nuts.

Add spices...which for us is lots and lots of cinnamon, but you could add anything.

Drizzle any liquid over top: we use port, Sarah uses coffee syrups sometimes, i could see a citrus juice with some corriander.

Place in 350 degree oven until it starts to smell up your kitchen (5-8 minutes), then remove to cool.

Break up and place in airtight jar--good for 2-3 days.

NOTE: along with the cinnamon, i like adding a little Sale alle Erbe (Salt and Rosemary)--gives it a little ooh la la!

2009-12-23T22:11:00.000-08:00

3 Cheese Manicotti from Julie

8 Uncooked Manicotti shells (or as many as you can fit in your baking dish, adjust quantities below as necessary. Glass/ceramic baking dishes work best.)

Cheese Filling:

2 Tbsp. Minced onion
½ teaspoon Dried oregano -- crushed
2 Eggs (or 4 eggs whites or egg substitute) -- beaten
1 ½ cups Shredded mozzarella cheese
1 ½ cups Ricotta cheese
1/2 cup Grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup Snipped fresh parsley
1 dash Pepper

(Nothing fancy about stuffing the shells, but this is when filling them uncooked makes this recipe much easier.)

Sauce:

2 jars of Classico Marinara/Tomato & Basil

5 fresh mushrooms, sliced

(I usually short-cut the marinara sauce by buying Classico, but if you are feeling ambitious you can use your homemade version instead.)

Topping:

½ cup of Shredded mozzarella cheese

Pour half the tomato mixture into a 2-quart rectangular baking dish. Arrange stuffed manicotti in the baking dish. Pour remaining sauce over shells. If desired, cover and chill manicotti for up to 24 hours.

Bake the stuffed manicotti, covered, in a 350 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining topping of cheese for 5-10 minutes, or until noodles feel cooked when poked with a fork. Remove from oven and let sit for 5-10 minutes to cool and set.

FYI – instead of manicotti shells, you can also stuff the jumbo sea shells and reduce the baking time by 5-10 minutes. In a pinch, I’ve kicked the oven up to 400 degrees and watched closely to reduce baking time.

2009-11-12T19:16:00.000-08:00

Oven Baked Bacon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line baking sheet with parchment and top with wire rack.

Place bacon on rack (no overlapping) and bake until crisp and browned, 10 - 15 min.

Blot with paper towel before serving.

2009-11-12T19:14:00.000-08:00

Lollipop Cookies by Martha

This is such a great idea!

2009-09-18T09:17:00.000-07:00

A Potluck Dinner Invitation Contribution: Lentil Soup with homemade bread

Today, in reading the list of blogs that keep me informed and inspired, i found an entry about a woman have a potluck dinner, of sorts, for guests of her blog. It's a really grand idea, i think, because of all the potentially wonderful recipe ideas to be gleened from the experience!

So here are my two pence, as it were: a doctored up Lentil Soup recipe from WW (to make it more like my favourite lentil soup at my new favourite restaurant, The Comfort Food Cafe) and some delicious homemade bread from my friend, MacD's recipe stash on her blog (click"homemade bread" above to link to that recipe.)

Heck, some nights i might even throw in a roasted chicken a la Nigella. :o)

Lentil Soup

10 cups reduced sodium broth
1 pound lentils, French green variety if you can, as they hold their shape the best
carrots, chopped
leeks, sliced
1 bay leaf
1 c. crushed toms with basil
1/3 to 2/3 c. tom sauce (dependent on how tomato-y you like your lentil soups)
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
ground pepper
other fresh herbs (optional)
1 Tbsp olive oil

In olive oil, saute' the leeks (amt: to your liking--i used two the diametre of half dollars in this recipe), carrots (amt: to your liking, i used 6), bay leaf until leeks are wilted. Add lentils, and stir to coat with oil. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to bring a covered pot to simmering, for 30 minutes.

Stir in all the tom varieties, vinegar, pepper and other herbs you may like (i love the marjoram we grow around here, so i flood our soups, sauces, usw. with it.) At this point, check the thickness of your soup--if you like a thinner lentil soup, add up to a cup to 2 cups of water and adjust flavours accordingly.

Notes: I've tried the "Better than Boullion" instant stock--if using it, cut down to 8 cups and use plain ol' water for the rest, otherwise it's really ever too salty!

What's really handy too (especially if you have wee ones who might have rather wishy-washy views on lentils) is to roast up some of Nigella's chicken...here's the jist from my blogpost about it:

"Basically, dressing your chicken how you like (evoo and herbs or citrus or garlic, what have you...), place it, covered with alum. foil tent, in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes per # + 10 minutes extra. After retrieving it from the oven, you let it to rest for 10 minutes before you carve it.

And the *WHOLE* trick to a moist and tender breast of chicken every time is:

roast it upside down--breasts on the bottom. "

Throw some of this chick in the lentils soup--nummy!

2009-09-07T10:13:00.001-07:00

Slow Cooker Lasagna from Kraft's Food & Family magazine

Don't know how many people actually subscribed to this free magazine, but it's chock full of recipes and every once in a while i gleen an idea from it. Granted, i don't use the Kraft ingredients called for the in recipes, or the low fat options, because we buy mostly organic, however, none the less, the recipes can be really yummy.

A couple months ago, i received notice that they would no longer be sending them, unless you paid for them. Well, truth be told, i don't find them that great. So i skipped it. This month, i found another in my mailbox, with "helpful tips" for cutting time and expense of making meals. (Both of which i still think has a drastic impact on the family table....but i digress.)

One recipe i found intriguing was lasagne slow cooker style. Here it is....

Brown 1# ground beef in a skillet and drain. (I also added onions and garlic to the mix, because personally, no spaghetti sauce is worth eating unless it has the flavours of these two ingredients.)

Add 26 oz bottled sauce and 1 c. water and let simmer.

In another bowl, mix 15oz ricotta, 1.5 cups mozzarella cheese, 2TBSP parmesan, 1 egg, and
2 TBSP fresh parsley.

Into crock, add 1 cup meat sauce, break 3 lasagna noodles to fit in crock and arrange to cover sauce. On top of noodles, spread half of the cheese mixture. Repeat (2 c. sauce, 3 more noodles, and rest of cheese mix.) Finish off with the rest of the sauce and put on the lid.

Cook for 4 to 6 hours on LOW heat or until the liquid is absorbed. Then sprinkle with another 1.5 cups of mozzarella and let stand, covered, until cheese is melted (10 + minutes.)

Easy, eh? The recipe says you can make it even easier by making it up ahead of time, refrigerating it, and then cooking it by the following day.

I can't wait to try my Dad's homemade spaghetti sauce recipe in place of the jarred sauce used in this recipe! With the Italian sausage and spices. Eewwww wee!

2009-08-18T16:56:00.000-07:00

Menus from weeks that worked! To jog my memory

M: Cheese Pizza
Tu: Meatballs and polenta
W: roasted chicken w/ veggies and dessert
Th: Girl's Night Tea (Daddy working late)
F: Pumpkin Waffles with pecans and marscopone
(bought an extra chicken for enchilada casserole)

2009-08-18T16:48:00.000-07:00

Green Tomato Hash

Well, never in my life did i think i'd be eatin' green tomatoes, but since gardening in the Pac NW--especially tomatoes in the garden--it can be a supurb year where no one dares looks at a neighbour for fear they'll pass along yet another grocery sack of produce from their garden, or it can be a year known as the "Summer of Lettuce and Peas"

When we had a cooler and wetter than usual summer a few years ago (the first time i joined a CSA) there was an overabundance of greenies from the CSA and our garden. My mom figured there had to be some use for them, so we scoured the internet, and this is a recipe she found from southern cooking on About.com.

Baked green tomato hash casserole is made with leftover meat, beef, or pork, and potatoes.

Ingredients:
•2 cups leftover chopped beef, pork or ham
•1 cup diced raw potatoes
•2 tablespoons butter
•1/2 cup diced green tomatoes
•1/4 cup chopped onion
•salt and pepper, to taste
Preparation:
Combine ingredients; mix well. Turn into a buttered casserole and bake at 325° for 1 hour.
Serves 4.

I've been making this with shredded beef or pork, Spanish style, which adds lots of flavour. Hubbie has an unsatisable palate for all things hot, so we've tried it with some jalapenos on his part too (it's that growing up in El Paso that taught him to love all things spicy--aka 5 star spicy. The kind of spicy that is so hot, you utter to yourself a Hail Mary or two and you tell your food, "I'll see you....later", just before you take the first bite.) Yeah, it's that kinda hot. Ei yi Ei!!

2009-08-11T14:36:00.000-07:00

Grandpa Neal's Thumbprint Cookies

These and butterscotch pie or cookies, i always remember my mom's dad making. luckily, Mom wrangled the recipe from him, so we can still make them and rekindle our fond memories of Grandpa!

1 cup shortening (Grandpa & Mom use Crisco, i use butter at room temp)
1 - 3oz pkg of cream cheese
1 cup sugar

Mix these together until blended.

Add 1 egg yolk and the vanilla. Stir well.

Add 2 & 1/2 cup flour.

Roll into a ball, place on greased cookie sheet. Make a thumbprint in each cookie. Here i've seen variations--some people dip the cookie into finely chopped nuts of some kind, then fill with a 1/2 tsp of your favourite jam.

Bake 15-17 minutes or until golden brown.

Please let them cool completely!! Especially because the jam will be sooo hot--children especially have to be watched if they help you make these!!

2009-08-11T09:35:00.000-07:00

GRANDMA DUB'S GOULASH

is a recipe from my dad's mom, Virginia. it would be interesting to see if i could come up with something other than Campbell's spaghetti in a can!!

1 1/2 lb ground beef
l med onion, chopped
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
2 large cans or 4 small cans Campbell's spaghetti (like Spaghetti o's only spaghetti but I guess you could use Spaghetti O's)
8 oz can tomato sauce
parmesan cheese, grated

Cook onions and mushrooms in skillet sprayed with Pam until onions are tender, then add ground beef and cook til brown. Stir in Campbell's Spaghetti and tomato sauce, reduce heat and cook until thoroughly heated. After dishing out on plates, sprinkle with grated parmesan.

Enjoy. This is a fast and super easy dinner that kids and adults both love. Serve with crusty bread.

2009-07-30T19:03:00.000-07:00

Baked Polenta With Fresh Corn

My mom has the books for Dr. Gott's diet. There is a fine recipe for polenta in there that is so tasty you could eat it for dinner or breakfast. :o)

Preheat oven 350 degrees.

Spray and8x8 dish with nonstick spray and add:

1 cup course ground cornmeal(polenta)
3.5 cups warm water
1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernals
1 tsp salt

Mix and bake uncovered for about 50 minutes.

Stir in 1/2 cup grated parmensan and cook another 10 minutes.

This could be dressed up even further with some wilted greens or Mom servesit with meatballs and sauce.

2009-07-30T08:20:00.000-07:00

Chicken Enchiladas

This is a recipe a dear friend gave to me. Most people love it for it's alternative to red sauce that comes with enchiladas normally. It's like an "a la crema" recipe or a "suiza". We love to make a big batch of it and take it with us on trips--these reheat really well in a microwave.

2-3 Chicken Breasts, cooked and shredded
2 packages 8 ounce cream cheese, room temperature
1 large can mild green chilies
1 large onion, sliced and caramelized in butter
5 crimini mushrooms, diced and cooked with onions
1 package flour tortillas
1 pint heavy cream (we use half n half)
Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
green onion, chopped
olives, sliced

Mix together chicken, cream cheese, green chilies, and onions ( I also add sauteed diced mushroom and I use only a small can of green chilies)

In a heated oiled skillet, warm both sides of tortilla (until blisters) remove and fill with chicken/cheese mixture - roll and place in baking dish. Repeat until you have enough filled tortillas to fill the baking dish. Sprinkle shredded Monterey Jack cheese on top of enchiladas and pour cream over the top.

Bake at 350 until bubbly 30-45 minutes
Garnish with green onions and olives

2009-05-19T17:34:00.001-07:00

Honey Vanilla Pound Cake

While looking through an old House Beautiful, i found this Barefoot Contessa recipe. Most of her recipes are to shee shee for me, but this one intrigued me because it is:
1. easy.
2. homeade pound cake (who can't love that)
3. freezer friendly!! (which is also pretty hard to resist)

1/2 pound unsalted butter, room temp
1 & 1/4 cups sugar
4 extra large eggs at room temperature
2 T mild honey
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 & 3/4 cups sifted cake flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven 325 F. Grease and flour 8x4X2 inch loaf pan.

Cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for 3-4 minutes. Meanwhile, put the eggs, honey vanilla, and lemon in a glass measuring. With the mixer on med-low, add the egg mix one egg at a time allowing egg to incorporate.

Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. On low speed, add very slowly to the wet mix. until just combined. Pour in pan and smooth top. Bake for 50-60 minutes till toothpick comes clean. When completely cool, wrap in plastic wrap then alum foil to keep in freezer for 6 months.

2009-05-11T12:02:00.000-07:00

Yummy Grilled Mozza-Burgers

I found this yummy recipe in a Kraft Food magazine. I changed the ingredients a little to make it more palitable to my 6y/o.

To 1lb. extra lean ground beef, mix in

1/4 cup BBQ sauce (up to 1/2 cup, depending on your child's tastebuds)
1/2 cup grated mozzarella
1/4 cup bread crumbs (a little more if you add more BBQ sauce--make bread & BBQ a 1:1 ratio)
(if you don't have bread crumbs, you can blitz some regular oats in similar quantities and use those)

We grilled to perfection (about 6-7 minutes on each side) and gnoshed away. We garnished with some caramelised onions and mustard. Super-yummy!

2009-03-25T17:20:00.000-07:00

I *heart* Sausage Rolls

I found this recipe on the Recipezaar website: a virtual, user driven, ever expanding recipe box.
An Aussie woman submitted this recipe, and i figure, they knew their sausage rolls in AUS!

Ingredients
6 pre-rolled puff pastry sheets, halved
1 kg ground sausage
1 cup fresh breadcrumb or dried breadcrumbs
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/2 cup milk
salt and pepper
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk

Directions

1 Pre-heat your oven to 220c.

2 Lay all the sheets of pastry out on your counter top.

3 In Australia, this pastry comes interleaved with plastic, which I still leave on at this stage.

4 Mix together the meat, breadcrumbs, onion, parsley, milk and salt and pepper.

5 The mixture will be quite sloppy-this keeps the sausage rolls moist.

6 Whisk the egg and 2 tablespoons of milk together in a small bowl.

7 Fill a large piping bag (no nozzle) with the mix and squeeze out a long line of mix down the long edge of the pastry-about 1/2 an inch in from that edge.

8 Roll up, peeling the plastic away as you roll.

9 Seal the inner edge with a little of the egg mix.

10 Cut each of these rolls in half.

11 I like to make an indent with a sharp knife in the middle of each of these smaller rolls to make them easier to eat.

12 Prick each roll a couple of times with a fork.

13 Repeat this until all the pastry and mix is used.

14 Brush the tops of the rolls with the egg mix.

15 Place in the oven and cook for 5 minutes.

16 Reduce the heat to 200c and cook for a further 20 minutes.

17 Remove to a tray to cool a little before serving them with ketchup or (my favourite) BBQ sauce.

My Notes:

We use a mix of ground pork and ground veal for our "sausage". I've also tried ground white turkey and ground pork which was very taste (and heart healthy.) ;O)

So, i figure we will not need 6 sausage rolls tempting our bellies, so i make 6 and save the rest of the meat mix for tomorrow night's dinner. The meat mix, with a little parmesan and an egg and a splash of milk, is ideal for Italian meat balls.

2009-03-08T20:19:00.000-07:00

My Favourite Chocolate Frosting

The stuff Mom made ever since i started having birthday cakes. :O)

"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa (but my secret ingredient is Wondercocoa brand cocoa)
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

When using Hershey's, you'll get the average tasting homemade chocolately frosting. When i use Wondercocoa, the frosting tastes like your eating fudgy brownie batter! It all depends on your taste. :o)

2009-03-07T10:00:00.000-08:00

Dry Bean Preparation

I acquired this "back to basics" recipe a few years ago visiting Cd'A. Preface: some areas of ID have higher percentage of Mormon families in the city populations than SLC, and Cd'A is one of those places. There is a great store next to the WW in Hayden called Wishful Kneads. It is run by a Mormon couple that share the experience of their teachings when it comes to food prep, self sufficiency, and storage by offering tons of classes ranging from homemade canned soups to sandwich bread to good ol' beans and rice (and other grains). Their store is great-it's all local as can be, floor to ceiling shelves loaded with flour, grains, yeast, jams and syrups made locally from MT, relishes, kitchen tools for efficiency.

Trying to decide what to buy there is a huge problem for me. I'd love to order the whole store and bring it back home with me.

I was able to talk with the store owners a bit and glean some insight from them as to how to prep basic supplies. Favouring is totally up to you: spices, herbs (boquet garni being my favourite--especially because you don't have to chop tiny herbs up for what seems like hours!), veggie combos (like "The Holy Trinity"), and depending on the season which cooking liquids you'd use.

Here then is the prep for any dried bean. The only cross reference check i need to make is with Alton Brown's bean prep regarding black beans--apparently they don't need to soak as long.

Other basic preparations to follow for the common food staples.

2009-03-07T09:59:00.000-08:00

Dry Lentil Prep

source: Wishful Kneads, Cd'A, ID

2009-03-07T09:58:00.000-08:00

Dry Peas Prep

Throw in some carrots, finely diced onions, thyme (to taste) and ham and you've got split pea soup! YUM!

source: Wishful Kneads, Cd'A, ID

2009-03-07T09:57:00.000-08:00

Popcorn A La Stovetop

And to reference Alton Brown again, the best way to pop corn on the stove is in one of those large aluminum baking bowls. Pour in ingredients and top with aluminum foil, place bowl on burner. Not sure how this works with gas stoves, but on my electric burners, it's great!

And, if you don't salt and butter your popcorn too much, you can use the leftovers for breakfast cereal in the morning.

2009-03-07T09:55:00.000-08:00

Rice Prep

source: Wishful Kneads, Cd'A, ID

2009-03-07T09:54:00.000-08:00

Old Fashion Oatmeal

I found this recipe a reader sent into an issue of Mother Earth News last year. Sub-ing milk for the water we usually use as the cooking liquid really makes a huge difference in the tastiness of the finished product. :o)

Spicin' It Up:

add cinnamon to taste. Serve with 1/2 pear, diced, and drizzle of 1 - 3 tsp honey.

2009-03-04T17:17:00.000-08:00

Mom's Salsa is the best--for a really quick salsa.

You have to be thinking ahead though, because it tastes so much better the day after it's made...and the day after that, and the day after that, and especially the day after that. :o)

1 can fire roasted diced toms
1-2 cloves garlic (i always add more cause i was Italian in a former life)
1 small can diced green chilis
crushed red pepper flakes to your taste
1/2 small onion, diced finely

Mix these up the night before tacos, nachos, or your next guacamole craving and you'll be good to go.

If you like salsa a little less chunky, you can whir it up a bit with your whirring instrument of choice.

2009-01-28T11:09:00.000-08:00

Roasted Chicken

I love all things Nigella Lawson. One of her books, "How To Eat", is just a super charming book and the reason why i now love reading cookbooks. This book is like a biographical novel; she tells wonderful stories about her experiences and family. One in particular is about how her mom used to roast a couple of fryers a week.

I loved this idea and immediately tried it (now every week, but every other).

And since i am the type that usually would call my mom every time i needed help figuring out how long to cook my birds, i was very excited to see such a hard and fast rule.

Basically,

Dressing your chicken how you like (evoo and herbs or citrus or garlic, what have you...), place it, covered with alum. foil tent, in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes per # + 10 minutes extra. After retrieving it from the oven, you let it to rest for 10 minutes before you carve it.

And the *WHOLE* trick to a moist and tender breast of chicken every time is:

roast it upside down--breasts on the bottom.

2008-11-29T09:45:00.000-08:00

No Fuss Blue Cheese & Pear salad with Apricot Nectar Dressing

This is the salad i made for Thanksgiving 08, and i have to say it turned out better than i thought. Just isn't a very good "travelling" salad, as you can't combine everything right away (or you can, but the leaves will be sloppy.)

Dressing:

1/2 c. apricot nectar

1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil

1/3 c. white wine vinegar

1 Tbsp. dijon mustard (maybe a honey dijon might be nice too? or mix with a seeded mustard?)

1/2 tsp. salt

Wisk together, in a rather large bowl, these ingredients until they are well blended. Then add:

3 green onions, finely chopped

1/2 c. dried apricots, snipped

6 pears (i used a mix of Barlett and Seckel) cored and cut into wedges

Toss to coat pears and cover to refrigerate for 30 minutes to 3.5 hours. (any longer, the vinegar will start to break down the pears making them mushy.)

To serve:

On a large platter place:

10 cups of mixed greens (mesclun, romaine, etc.) and 1/2 head of radicchio (or herbed salad greens).

Then remove pear slices from dressing and arrange on greens, reserving vinaigrette.

Arrange 8 to 10oz cambazola or other blue cheese (use wedges or crumbles) or goat cheese (cut into rounds) over the salad.

Sprinkle with 3/4 c. coursely chopped toasted almonds (or nuts of your liking)

Drizzle with reserved dressing or serve on the side.

Makes 12 servings.

242 cals, 16 g fat, 4 g fiber

2008-11-27T10:18:00.000-08:00

Corn Muffins

Cooking spray (or parchment for pan liners)
3 T butter
1 c. plain yoghurt
1 large egg
1 cup cornmeal (i use a mix of course ground and regular ground for a grittier effect)
1/4 c. brown sugar
1T white sugar (i forgot to add this--and sprinkled just a pinch on the top of each muffin and it was sweet enough--you can probably just leave it out.)
1 c. unbleached white flour (i use whole wheat)
2 tsp baking pwdr
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

topping: butter, jam, or real maple syrup

Preheat oven 375. spray a 6 muffin capacity muffin tin with the cooking spray.

Measure out yoghurt in a small bowl. Beat egg and add to yoghurt. Add melted butter to this. Whisk until all ingredients are blended.

In another bowl, combine cornmeal, brown sugar (and white sugar), flour, baking pwdr and soda, and salt. Combine well. Make a dent in the flour mixture with a wooden spoon. Add yoghurt mix to the flour mix and stir with wooden spoon until everything is wet and well blended. Use spoon to transfer batter to muffin cups.

Cook for 20 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes. Extra muffins freeze well. Also great to reheat in the toaster.

(recipe found in one of Molly Katzen's cooking with children books)

2008-10-28T17:05:00.000-07:00

Mike's Mom's Famously Coveted Granola (recipe)

Mike's mom's granola is perfectly plain jane...you just taste the toasted oatie goodness and barely the sweetness of the honey, etc.

8 c. old fashioned oats
2 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. oat bran
1/2 c. wheat germ
1 c. chopped nuts
1 c. canola or olive oil
1/4 c. molasses
3/4 c. honey or maple syrup (i tried it with fruit syrup sweetener made of peaches and pineapple and it was pretty good)
3/4 to 1 c. water

mix till flour is incorporated (add up to 1 c. more water for big clumps of granola) Place in two HUGE corningware roasting pans. Cook in oven 350 degrees for 25 min, then stir and cook at 325 for another 25 minutes.

I've experimented with: 3/4 c. flax seed (maybe less is better, but we need all the fiber we can get around here), 1-2 tsp of cinnamon...nutmeg, you name it.

Because there isn't a thousand different flavours going on in here like with some of the store brands, this is super with all flavours of yoghurt and fruit!

2008-10-28T16:59:00.000-07:00

Jeanette's Chuck Wagon Beans

I remember these most delicious beans when Jeanette surprised us with lots of homemade food when Mike was ill. I've been pining for the recipe as of late, and sent this is my new "recipe file", now you get to share in it's yummy goodness!

1 lb sliced bacon
6 lb ground beef
6 cups finely chopped onion
2 cups finely chopped celery
4 beef boulllion cubes
1 1/3 cups boiling water
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups catsup
1/4 cup plus 2 TB prepared mustard
1 TB salt
1 tsp pepper
4 cans (1 lb 13 oz) baked beans

Heat oven to 375'

Cook bacon until crisp in large heavy roaster; remove and drain on paper towels.
Drain bacon fat from pan. In same pan, cook and stir ground beef, onion, and celery until ground beef is browned and onion tender. Dissolve bouillion cubes in boiling water; stir boullion and remaining ingredients into meat mixture. Cover and bake 1 hour 15 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Before serving, crumble bacon on top of beans. Serves 24

2008-04-17T17:24:00.000-07:00

Cookies 'n' Cream Cupcakes with Tangy Vanilla Frosting

Nona made these great cupcakes for her Uncle T's 40th birthday present. Very flavourfull!

Frosting:

Add #c. pwdr'd sugar to 1 stick softened butter and cream together with mixer. Stir in 2 tsp vanilla, 2 TBSP milk, and 1 tsp orange flower water. Beat until smooth and spreadable. Add more milk or sugar as needed.

Note: to make fabulous vanilla frosting, skip the orange water. to make licorice frosting, sub 2 tsp licorice or anise extract for the vanilla.

Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Cream together 1 stick softened butter, milk, and vanilla with mixer until fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Mix in 2.25 c. all purpose flour, 1 TBSP baking powder, & 1/2 tsp NaCl until integrated. Stir in 1 2/3 c. sugar and beat with mixer on low for 30 seconds. Turn up mixer to medium speed and beat for 2 minutes. Add 3 large egg whites. Beat for 2 more minutes. Stir in 1 cup sandwich cookies lightly crushed (we used ginger creme cookies, recipe calls for chocolate, you could use nutter butters--yum!)

Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick test works. Cool in pan.

2007-11-03T12:42:00.000-07:00

Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease 9x9 pan.

In a large bowl mix, combine:

1 1/2 c. rolled oats
1/2 c. oat bran
1/4 c. dry nonfat milk powder
1/2 c. raisins (or we've used dried blueberries, currants, etc with success)

Mix well to insure that raisins are separated.

In a small saucepan, combine:

1/3 c. honey
1/4 c. peanut butter (or any nut butter)
1/4 c. extra light (in flavour) olive oil
1/2 t. vanilla extract

Stir the mixture well for a few moments over very low heat. Do not let the mixture get hot. Remove from heat and add:

1 egg

then mix well. Pour the honey mixture over the oat mixture. With a wooden spoon, blend well until all the dry ingredients are moistened.

Pour into pan and distribute the batter evenly. Bake 20 minutes.

Once removed from oven, score into bars with the edge of a spatula. Let the bars cool in the pan, and then invert them onto a plate and cut thru to separate. Store in air tight container.

from The brown bag lunch cookbook

ps: not sure why the recipe would call for specifically using a wooden spoon for stirring. if you know, please leave it in the comments!! ;O)

2007-03-07T15:02:00.000-08:00

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough!

Wahooy!! Thankfully, my friend, Jeanette shared this recipe with me. It's a health-nut's pizza dough dream!

Ingred:

1 pkt yeast

1 c. warm H2O

2 TBS. olive oil

1 tsp sugar

1/2 - 3/4t. salt

mix and leave to bubble for 5 mins

then mix in:

1 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour

1 c. all purpose white flour

Use another 1/2 c. white flour for kneading dough into a big lump.

Cover with towel and let rise in warm spot (over the heating vent, in a 200 degree preheated oven--just make sure that you turn off the oven before you put the dough in to rise, or you'll cook it--or wherever you normally leave your breads to rise.)

Jeanette's hubbie is a master grill chef, so he grills the dough (pre-topping assembly) on both sides. Then after the dough is just crispy, J puts on the toppings and return them to the grill to melt the cheese.

If you're not as adventurous, then place them in a 425 degree oven and cook till your liking. Just make sure to check for bubbles in the crust and deflate them!

Enjoy!

Toppings: of course, one's preferred pizza toppings are a very personal thing! Might i suggest one of my favourites (just make sure everyone else in the house eats it too, or you might find yourself the odd man out because you reek of glorious garlic.) Lately, i've been hooked on Whatever-chu-got Cheese and Garlic pizza: i cook 2 bulbs of garlic (cloves separated and peeled) in about 1/4 c. of olive oil (Trader Joe's has a fabulous Australian OO that has a hint of citrus in it--it's so tasty one could drink it straight from the bottle!) I am Emeril's worst nightmare because i don't use my knob very well--i cook the garlic on med low (and sometimes with some sweet onions thrown in) they come out very yummy and caramelly and nutty--oooooh! But you have to babysit them or they'll get too brown, too fried, and kinda tough. I've found a recipe from the Stinkin' Rose that makes it a little more of a science--2 c. garlic cloves to 1 c. olive oil in saucepan. Cook for 40 min on low heat stove, stirring once at the 20 minute mark. Once they begin to soften, transfer just the cloves to a baking pan and bake in 250 degree oven for 25-30 minute until golden and slightly wrinked.

I've been experimenting with all different kinds of cheeses too and we like a combo of mozz, smoked gouda or smoked provolone, and dollops of ricotta. Sauce is optional, we just use some yummy Aussie olive oil for our sauce, usually. We also have been throwing a few roasted red peppers (roasting directions are in the Real Tamale Pie recipe in this blog) on the pie along with some onions and heaping spoonfuls of garlic. Man, it's a tasty treat!!!

Enjoy!!

2007-02-06T14:17:00.000-08:00

Real Tamale Pie

i found this recipe in an awesome book called "Vegetarian Planet" by Didi Emmons. this recipe is the best tamale pie i've ever tried because it uses masa instead of cornmeal!! The book also has some great bread recipes...if i am quick i will get a couple of them tried and posted before the book goes back to the library. :o) Enjoy!!

4 c. sliced onions
2 large bell peppers

2 c. masa harina
1 stick butter
1 tsp salt
3/4 c. water

1 & 1/2 c. (15 oz can) cooked and drained pinto or black beans
4 oz soft, mild chevre (goat cheese)

1 T. chili pepper
1 tsp cumin seeds
28 oz can crushed plum tomatoes
2 minched garlic cloves
1 ancho pepper, soaked in hot water (optional)
1 pinch cayenne
1 pinch sugar
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

1/2 cup chopped scallions

Preheat the oven 450 degrees. Spread the sliced onions on one ungreased baking sheet and the whole peppers on another. Put both baking sheets into the oven. Roast the veggies for 25-30 minutes (stirring only the onions once or twice until brown and soft.) Take peppers out after skin blisters and swells. Lower oven to 375 degrees.

Make the masa dough: mix masa, salt, & butter with your hands, squeezing the dough thru your fingers. Add the water slowly, stirring and squeezing with your hand. Mix until the ingredients are blended.

To assemble the pie:

Remove the skin from the peppers, split them open, and discard the seeds. Cut into strips or leave in one piece. Mash the beans with potato masher, leaving enough texture. Press the dough into a 9x9 inch baking pan. Spread the beans evenly over the dough. Lay the peppers on the beans. Dot with goat cheese, then cover the cheese with the onions. Cover the pan with foil. Bake for 40 minutes at 375.

While pie is baking, heat chili powder and cumin seeds in sauce pan over medium heat, shaking the pan constantly, until the seeds have begun to release their aroma (about a minute). Add tomatoes and garilc. If you are using the ancho chili, remove from water, chop it fine and add it to the tomatoes. Simmer the tomato sauce for 25 minutes, stirring once or twice. Toward the end of the simmering, add the cayenne, sugar, and salt and pepper to taste.

When pie is finished, cut it into 4 pieces. Spoon a little of the tomato sauce on each of the plates and place each pieceon the sauce. Garnish with teh scallions and serve.

Notes: i found the dough to be too dry when prepared as above, so i think i might try to add a little more water--to the consistancy of pie dough almost. However, if you are making this dish to have leftovers, i would make the dough as recipe states, because if you store the dish with the sauce on it, the water from the sauce makes the tamale dough texture just right (not too dry you need to drink a half gallon of water/slice.) :o)

also, i assembled the dough and the beans in my pan, and made a "half and half". I placed the cherve, onions & peppers on one side and cooked sliced carrots and some colby jack (because i didn't think Riona would like the goat cheese.) The colby jack side was equally as good (but better with onions)--just an idea to make it kid friendly tho.

a fourth of this pie is a huge amount of food (masa is quite hardy!!), so we've found that one can get by with a sixth or an eighth quite nicely!

2006-09-19T07:21:00.000-07:00

BBQ Chicken in a Pot (WW recipe)

This is fab-U-lous!

Toss all these ingredients into a crock pot:

6 - 6oz chicken breast, skinless and boneless
1 1/2 c. slice onion
1/2 of a lemon, sliced
1 - 18oz BBQ sauce of your choice (Trader Joe's natural BBQ sauce is excellent in this recipe!)
1 c. diet soda (or sometimes i just throw in a whole can.)

Cook all day on low till done.
You can remove some of the juices to a pan on the stovetop and reduce liquid to make gravy.

6 servings = 4 pts each (~200 calories each)

Note: i've tried frozen chicken in this recipe to save a little money, but for some reason it just doesn't come out as tasty--it's really dry. Goes to prove that no amount of carbonation can fix frozen meat! :o) When it's made with fresh chicken, you'll want to keep a good eye on it after about 4 - 5 hours, because the chicken gets so tender that you will have a hard time picking it out of the crock pot without it falling apart. :o) When life hands you shredded chicken in a pot, just make BBQ Chicken tacos!! :o)

2006-09-19T07:08:00.000-07:00

Bumbleberry Pie is a charming name for a pie with mixed fruit and berries in it.
This is a recipe we recieved from our CSA last wk. Pretty tasty! We had these ingredients in our boxes this wk, but Farmer Judy said that she made one with blueberries and cut up plums. Some recipes use strawberries or gooseberries. The actual ingredients and proportions aren't very important, it's that you use 5 cups total of assorted fruits and berries. Farmer Judy also recommends the fruit portion of this recipe to be used in a cobbler recipe!

2-9" unbaked pie crusts

1 1/3 c. sugar

1/2 c. flour

2 c. thinly sliced apples

1 c. blackberries

1 c. rhubarb, cut in 1' pieces

1 c. raspberries

Preheat oven 350 degrees.

Stir flour and sugar together in large bowl. Add fruit, toss together, turn into the pie shell. Cover with pastry top, trim, seal edges. Cut vents in top. Bake for approx. 45 minutes, until browned and the apples are cooked--bottom line: watch to see that the juices are boiling so that the filling thickens.)

Note: i found that i had to cook it for almost an 1 and half before the juices started flowing and the pastry browned. Just keep a good eye on it!!

2006-09-18T10:53:00.000-07:00

Beet Greens and Honey Walnuts!!

Yuuuuummy! However, i have to warn you that if you make these too many times, the family may revolt! :o)

2T evoo
1T chopped garlic
1 tsp NaCl
1T whole butter
1 bunch fresh beet greens, washed, stems removed, chopped
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 c. whole, shelled walnuts
2 tablespoons honey

Heat oil in pan & add beet greens. Stir-fry greens over high heat & garlic, salt & pepper. Lower heat & let simmer in own juices for 5 minutes before pouring into a serving dish. Heat butter in saucepan over medium 1 minute before adding walnuts. Shake nuts in butter, add honey and coat before pouring over beet greens.

Notes:
I don't use the red pepper flakes (if you don't like the sweetish side of bland tasting food tho, i'd leave it in.) I also haven't bothered with chopping the greens...it all wilts either way! :o)

I serve this over brown rice. It can be eaten on it's own or served over a different grain (quinoa, couscous, etc.)

The portion of the recipe for honeying the walnuts can also be used when making a salad and you'd like some "candied nuts" in it--any nuts can be used this way. And to mix it up you can add some cinnamon to them too. :o)

2006-07-25T09:06:00.000-07:00

Americana Pot Roast is my new favourite crockpot recipe!! I made it at my parent's place while we were visiting and it turned out 1-der-ful!! Just plopped it in Mom's crock for 8 hours and dined for a few days on it. :o) The roast turned out soooooo tender, it just fell apart (i don't know if it was the way this recipe drenches the roast in liquid, or if it was the natural beef we used.)

1 boned rump roast (4 lb)
1 cup sliced onion
2 tablespoons Hungarian sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup dry red wine OR 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 can (14 oz. size) beef broth
8 small red potatoes, cleaned and washed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
6 carrots, cut into chunks

Directions:Heat oven to 300. Place a Dutch oven coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat until hot. Add roast, browning on all sides. Remove from pan; reduce heat to medium. Add onion, saute 10 minutes. Add paprika, basil, oregano, thyme and garlic; saute 1 minute. Add wine, water, and broth; bring to a boil. Peel a 1/2" strip around each potato. Place in pan; add salt, pepper, carrots. Return roast to pan. Cover and bake at 300F for 2 hours. Turn roast; cover and bake an additional hour until tender. Serve with vegetables and broth, or make gravy from broth if desired.

Recipe Location: http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/364/AmericanaPotRoast64158.shtml
Recipe ID: 34500

2006-07-21T08:04:00.000-07:00

Swiss chard was a new green to me until i found this at Recipezaar.com--and what a co-wink-ie-dink! It's a WW recipe and a yummy one at that! I might add mushrooms too--try it both ways!!

Swiss Chard or Spinach With Pine Nuts and Raisins (ww) Recipe
This recipe is delicious made with any dark green leafy vegetable (Kale, Swiss Chard or Spinach your choice). Recipe comes from WeightWatchers.com. Points value 2.
2 tablespoons raisins
1 tablespoon hot water
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 medium garlic clove, minced
1 bunch spinach or swiss chard (6-ounces)
1 tablespoon pine nuts, toasted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 servings 15 minutes cook time; 10 mins prep

2006-07-03T17:11:00.000-07:00

Chicken Apple Hazelnut Salad--the combo in it self sounds delightful!!

Ingredients:

5 Romaine lettuce leaves
5 red leaf lettuce leaves
1 chopped red apple
1/3 red onion, cut into thin rings
1/4 c. chopped filbert nuts
1/4 c. croutons
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 grilled or poached chicken breasts, julienne

Combine all ingredients except chicken to a large bowl.

Dressing:
1/4 c. lemon juice
1 T. light rice vinegar
1/4 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 cloves minced garlic
1/4 c. olive oil
2 T. canola oil
1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper

Toss salad with 2-3 Tbsp of salad dressing initially. Some of the dressing may be used to baste the chicken while grilling.

Notes:

Croutons--amounts of croutons one will consume are a personal thing, so i save them out of the salad to let the individual put them on themselves. Same with the cheese.

Sub = i didn't have any red onion, so i added a 1/4 c. blueberries to the salad. Just as yummy!!

recipe from Main Course Salads for Two from The Pacific NW by Janelle Lombard

2006-07-03T13:25:00.000-07:00

Ruby Razz Crunch!!!

another yummy recipe i tried recently i found @ http://www.rhubarbinfo.com/recipe-index.html . this makes a decent dessert, however i think i would tweak a few things...my notes are listed at the bottom or this recipe.

Ruby Razz Crunch
Ingredients:
1 (1 lb.) pkg. thawed, frozen rhubarb, cut if pieces are large
1 (10 oz.) pkg. thawed, frozen red raspberries (reserve
1/4 c. for topping)
1/2 c. sugar
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 1/2 c. sifted Pillsbury's Best enriched flour
1 c. quick-cooking oats
1 tsp. French's cinnamon
1/2 c. melted butter
Procedure:
Drain rhubarb and raspberries. Combine fruits; set aside. Mix the fruit juices and measure 1 cup adding water if necessary. Combine sugar and cornstarch in saucepan. Blend in fruit juices. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thick and clear. Remove from heat, cover and set aside. Blend together flour, oats, cinnamon and melted butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press half of crumb mixture firmly into 8 x 9-inch pan. Cover with drained fruit mixture and the thickened fruit juices. Sprinkle with remain- der of crumbs mixture; pat down lightly. Bake in slow 325 degrees oven for 55 to 60 minutes. Cool slightly in pan before cutting into squares. Serve warm or cold with mounds of frozen top- ping.

Notes:

Rhubarb--i used fresh rhubarb. And since rhubarb isn't one of my most favourite things, and i figured this might be quite tart with rhub and raspberries, i shorted the rhub a bit.

Flour--i try to use whole wheat whenever i can. in this dish, i found white whole wheat flour to be okay, but the oatmeal/flour/butter mixture came out a strange crumbly--not as it normal should. Next time i might use a half and half flour mix or whole wheat pastry flour.

Needs pecans or some sort of nuts!! I think it might add a little flavour to it.

Cinnamon--we are cinnaholics around here, so we always add more cinnamon to our dishes and 1.5 tsp still wasn't enough in this dish.

2006-07-03T12:41:00.000-07:00

Garlic Scapes!!!

This is the best thing i love about gardening: learning new dishes to cook with what you are planting!! Unfortunately, it's a bigger challenge than it should be because of the dreaded Mom Brain.

Last fall, i planted garlic for the first time after reading an article on how easy it was to grow. I planted both hard neck and soft neck varities, and once spring came, i learned what a scape was. It's a "bulb" that sprouts out of the hardneck varities that looks funny but tastes delightfully like young garlic (just like the leaves, should you choose to harvest those in the Fall.)

Our CSA turned me onto an article where i found a yummy recipe for Garlic Scape and Yukon Potato Soup. You can check out the recipe at http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2002351155&slug=garlic29&date=20050629

You can also find a few yummy looking recipes on sites like Dakota Garlic.

I haven't seen scapes yet in the stores (not even the health food stores), however i've heard you can find them at farmer's markets occasionally.