Carrots!

This carrot cake took me forever to make (grating the carrots and decorating) but it was worth it and I was pleased with how it turned out. Funny story, I baked this cake for our Youth Fundraiser cake auction and Aaron turned out to be highest bidder! (He said he was trying to up the bidding price.) And since we spent so much money on it and it was Mother's Day the following day, I decided to take a break from my diet and splurge.

I asked my sister who baked a delicious carrot cake for her wedding to send me her recipe. Here it is:


4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup peanut oil (this only gives it a hint of peanut flavor, but if you opt not to use it, just omit it and don't add any more oil. 3/4 cup of vegetable oil is plenty, just don't drain the pineapple as much.)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. salt
4 cups carrots (about 1lb) grated
2/3 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained
I added 1/2 cup shredded coconut (opt)

This makes (2) 9" round pans.

Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. Lightly spray (2) 9" round pans with vegetable spray. In large mixing bowl, beat eggs untill foamy, add wet ingredients and then mix in dry, adding carrots, pineapple and nuts last.

Bake 30-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out dry. Cool 10 minutes in pans then invert onto serving plate to cool.

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing:
1 package (12 oz.) white candy melt chocolate
2 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 tbsp. lemon juice

Melt Candy Melts according to directions. Allow to cool slightly, stirring occasionally (don't let it harden). In mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese (preferably with a flat beater) until smooth and creamy. Gradually beat in the cooled candy until blended and smooth. Beat in the butter and lemon juice.

Smooth a small amount of icing on bottom cake layer; top side up. Top with second layer bottom side up. Frost cake with remaining icing. Gently press chopped walnuts into the sides of round cake to give it a finished look.

Refrigerate until ready to serve; bring to room temperature 30 minutes before serving.

Savory Chicken Saute & Mashed Cauliflower

I'm sorry it's been a million years since I posted anything. I wanted to share one of the most simple and one of my favorite dishes from the South Beach Diet recipe book. I find myself making this often because I usually have all the ingredients and it's so fast/easy to make.

4 Chicken Breasts (boneless, skinless)

2 TBSP Olive Oil 1 Yellow onion, chopped or sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 TBSP fresh, chopped rosemary leaves or 1 tsp dried
1/2 - 1 1/2 cups chicken broth (be generous!)

pinch of salt and pepper

Prep time: 0 mins

cook time: 20-30 mins.

First, saute one side of chicken breasts in olive oil (4-5 minutes). Sprinkle the salt and pepper to taste onto uncooked side of chicken. Add rosemary and and continue to saute until nicely browned on both sides, which is about 4-5 minutes on each side. Add the garlic and onions to the pan. Let the onions caramelize a bit and when the bottom of the pan gets brown pour in the chicken broth and scrape up the browned bits. That will be the sauce and I like it so I use more broth. I let it simmer for 10-15 more minutes but it is not necessary especially if you use less broth.

Eat with plenty of steamed veggies and brown rice. Or, you could use the South Beach Diet's Mashed Cauliflower.

1 head of cauliflower

1 TBSP fat-free half & half *

1 TBSP I can't believe it's not Butter or light butter *

Salt and pepper to taste

This recipe takes me more prep time and I only have a small blender. Chop cauliflower, and then boil until tender. Drain well. Use a food processer or blender to mash cauliflower. I tend to like it chunky. Add half and half, butter and salt and pepper to taste.

* The recipe book says "1 ounce" for these ingredients, but I have tried to find a conversion to tsp/tbsp but can't find one so I estimate.

Easy moist Roast Chicken

Is anyone else dying at the cost of chicken lately. Then, whenever it is on sale I always seem to miss it, or they sell out too fast. So, I have been experimenting with roasting whole chickens. I finally found an easy recipe that makes a nice moist chicken. Ches couldn't get enough of it. This is the recipe as I found it on All Recipes.com

Juicy Roast Chicken

INGREDIENTS
1 (3 pound) whole chicken, giblets removed
salt and black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon onion powder, or to taste
1/2 cup margarine, divided
1 stalk celery, leaves removed

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Place chicken in a roasting pan, and season generously inside and out with salt and pepper. Sprinkle inside and out with onion powder. Place 3 tablespoons margarine in the chicken cavity. Arrange dollops of the remaining margarine around the chicken's exterior. Cut the celery into 3 or 4 pieces, and place in the chicken cavity.
Bake uncovered 1 hour and 15 minutes in the preheated oven, to a minimum internal temperature of 180 degrees F (82 degrees C). Remove from heat, and baste with melted margarine and drippings. Cover with aluminum foil, and allow to rest about 30 minutes before serving.

Notes: My chicken was bigger, and I still used less butter then that. I used enough celery to fill the chicken full, and probably almost half as much butter, and my chicken was 7 lbs. I also cut the skin down the center of the top, put the seasonings and some butter on the inside, and then pinned the skin back up with my roasting pins. It was fabulous! Then I just take all of the leftover and bag and freeze for easy chicken later.

Roast Pumpkin Soup

I got this recipe from Elizabeth, who I think got from an English cook book she has. It is a great fall meal, or any cold day meal!! My family prefers it made with Butternut Squash, but I have done both ways.

Roast Pumpkin Soup

2 c. pumpkin
(to roast, cut up squash, brush with olive oil, and bake at 350 til tender. I cover mine for the most of it, and uncover at end to get a good roast flavor)
1 TBS olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 tsp cumin
2 large carrots (or more)
2 celery sticks (or more_
4 c. chicken broth

Cook onion and cumin in oil for 2 min. Add carrots and celery, cook for 3 minutes. Add pumpkin and stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 plus minutes. Puree when all vegs are tender.

Serve with sour cream, nutmeg and parsley.

Country Tomato Bisque

This is my cousins recipe. It makes a lot so I freeze it in portions for later. A big hit in my family, and so much healthier then Cambell's.

Country Tomato Bisque
Serves 8-10

4 Tbsp butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 stalks celery, chopped
3 large carrots, peeled and chopped
2 onions, chopped
3 zucchini, chopped
4 Tbsp flour
2 28-oz (or 4 14-oz) cans diced tomatoes with juices
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 Tbsp brown sugar 1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried marjoram
2 bay leaves
2 cups half & half
grated Cheddar cheese
sunflower seeds

Melt butter in large soup pot. Stir in garlic, celery, carrots, onions, and zucchini until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Blend in flour. Add tomatoes, broth, sugar, salt, basil, marjoram, and bay leaves. Heat to boiling. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Remove bay leaves. Puree mixture in a blender in small batches until smooth. Pour in half & half and stir. Garnish with grated Cheddar cheese and sunflower seeds.

Spiced Pork Chops

This is the meal that made me want to start posting again. It was so good Ches kept asking for more, and CJ wanted me to make it again tonight!! It is from my a distant cousin of mine (I think).

Spiced Pork Chops

1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp ground mustard
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp. celery salt
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. dried oregano
1/8 tsp dried basil
1/8 tsp salt
pinch of pepper
4 pork chops (boneless)
1 to 2 Tbs oil
1 c. ketchup
1 c. water
1/4 c. packed brown sugar

In a shallow dish, combine the first 10 ingredients; dredge pork chops till completely covered. In a skillet, brown chops in oil on all sides. Place in a greased square pyrex dish. Combine ketchup, water and b. sugar; pour over chops. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until tender. Serve with rice.

Notes: I cut up my chops into smaller pieces so as to get more coating on everything. I didn't have any dry mustard, so I added some spicy brown mustard to the ketchup mix. Do not over cook. Enjoy!!

Re-Start!!

Okay, it's time to get this thing restarted. I have several recipes I have been wanting to post, but haven't because I forget to take pictures. Then I thought, that is dumb, I shouldn't with hold fabulous meals just because there isn't a pretty picture to share! So, post now, picture later.

And we're off!!

sage chicken and rice

1 large onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 celery stalks, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 tsp dried sage
1 1/4 cups chicken stock
2 chicken breasts, cut in 1-inch pieces - do not pre-cook
1 1/3 cups mixed wild rice and brown rice
14 ounce can chopped tomatoes
dash of Tabasco sauce
2 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
3 1/2 ounces lean ham, diced
salt and pepper

1 - Put the onion, garlic, celery, carrots, and sage in a large pan and pour over the chicken stock. Bring to boil, cover pan, simmer for 5 minutes.

2 - Add chicken to the pan, cover, continue to cook for another 5 minutes.

3 - Stir in rice, chopped tomatoes, Tabasco sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Bring to boil, cover, simmer for 25 minutes.

4 - Stir in zucchini and ham. Cook another 10 minutes uncovered, stir occasionally until rice is tender and heated through.

My notes: I skipped the ham because we didn't have any. I don't know how this would have changed the flavor, because I screwed up with the rice.

I didn't have wild rice, so I used only brown rice. This had 2 effects, neither of which went over very well. First, it doubled the cooking time - the step where it's supposed to cook for 25 minutes, I had to cook it for about an hour so the brown rice was soft enough. That meant I had to keep adding liquid to it to keep it from burning the bottom of the skillet. It's cooked in chicken stock and I kept adding water, which totally diluted the flavor. It ended up being pretty bland. I should have at least added some more chicken stock when continuing to put liquid in it.

It was good other than that, so I'm definitely planning to try it again.

This is from a Lowfat cookbook I have, and each serving is only 390 calories with 4 grams of fat.

pita chicken

Wow, it's been a long time since anyone posted on this blog! I've been meaning to post some recipes for my sisters, so I figured I should just post them here instead of duplicating things all over the place. I've tried a few other recipes on this blog - I LOVE the summer squash pasta that Tiana posted back in April. I've made it 2 or 3 times this summer.

This is a really yummy dinner that we had last night - I got the recipe from allrecipes.com here.

2 chicken breasts cut into strips
1 tbl olive oil
1/4 tsp each: garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper
1/4 cup salsa
pita bread
tomato sliced
avocado sliced
sour cream

Heat the olive oil, and cook the chicken strips. Just before it's done, sprinkle with the spices and add the salsa until it's all heated through and the liquid from the salsa cooks out a bit.

Put chicken/salsa in the pita, top with tomato and avocado slices, and sour cream. Eat.

You can of course add any other tex-mex toppings you like, like olives or lettuce or something. We had it with just tomato and avocado, and it certainly didn't seem lacking to us.

I didn't measure the spices - just sprinkled them over the chicken. Go super light on the cayenne unless you like things spicy. I like the kick, but my kids don't so they didn't eat much. I didn't measure the salsa either - just put it in until it was a balance that I liked.

Noodle Bowls

First of all...credit for this goes to my friend Rachel. She posted it on her blog but I loved it so much that I asked her if I could put it on our food blog for you all to enjoy. Secondly...just a note that I used totally different vegetables and chicken instead of beef so you can pretty much prepare it with whatever you have on hand. The sauce is what makes it. Yummy.



8 oz. linguine, uncooked
3 cups broccoli florets
3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced (about 2 cups)
2 tsp. veggie oil
1 lb. beef sirloin steak, cut into strips
1/4 cup zesty Italian dressing
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
1 tsp. ground ginger

Cook pasta as directed on package, adding broccoli and carrots to the cooking water for the last 2 minutes of the pasta cooking time. Drain pasta mix. Meanwhile, heat oil in large nonstick skillet. Add meat; cook until browned on all sides, stirring occasionally. (I barbecue mine then continue the recipe!) Stir in dressing, teriyaki sauce and ginger; cook until sauce thickens, stirring occasionally. Toss pasta and meat/sauce in large serving bowl. I also add 1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts for some crunch! This serves 4, so for larger families...may need to double!

Vietnamese Pho Soup

Aaron was hungry for this the other day and searched online for a recipe. It was so filling and delicious!

This is a popular soup in Vietnam, pronounced "FO". Granted the recipe calls for things you may not have already in your pantry, but Aaron thought that it wasn't that difficult to make. He wasn't strict on the measurements, and just kind of went by if it smelt good and right. : )

Basically you bring the broth to a boil and then simmer it for 30 mins. Meanwhile you can soak the rice noodles for 10 mins. Then cook them according to package directions, rinse and set them aside. Slice the scallions, onions, peppers, cilantro and place with other garnishes (bean sprouts, basil sprigs, lemon or lime quarters) in a serving bowl or bowls.

To serve: Divide noodles among 4 to 6 large individual serving bowls. Arrange thinly sliced raw beef, scallions, onion, and cilantro on top. Pour boiling hot broth to cover noodles and serve immediately. The boiling broth will cook the thin slices of beef.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:
Beef Broth:
1 small onion, chopped
2 tsp minced ginger
3-4 cans of beef broth
8 cups water
A pinch of Anise
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 pound lean, tender beef - DON'T COOK, SLICE THINLY AND SET ASIDE. The boiling broth poured over it when you serve it will cook it.

Noodles:
1 16-ounce package dry, flat rice noodles (pho)

Garnishes: (Pick and choose the ones you want.)
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1 large onion, thinly sliced
10 cilantro sprigs, finely chopped
1 cup bean sprouts
10 sprigs basil
fresh red or green chile pepper, thinly sliced
10 sprigs fresh culantro (ngo gai) or CILANTRO
*Culantro is a leafy herb with a similar aroma to cilantro, although more pungent. If unavailable, increase the amount of cilantro or simply leave out.

Other Accompaniments: (Optional)
lime or lemon quarters
fish sauce
hoisin sauce
hot chile sauce

Recipe Reprinted with permission from The Vietnamese Cookbook, by Diana My Tran.

Catalina Chicken

Anyone in the mood for a super easy, super low fat and super yummy dinner idea?? I thought so. My college roommate introduced me to this years ago and then a few months ago we tried it with a few additional ingredients and it is so good. Enjoy!!

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts

Fat Free Catalina salad dressing

Cranberry sauce

Onion Soup Mix pack

Toss all the ingredients in the crockpot and cook on low for about 4-5 hours. I didn't put any measurements in because it is easily modified for the size you want to prepare. You just want the chicken breasts to be covered with sauce. When chicken breasts are tender shred them.... and serve over rice. This dish has about 2.5 grams of fat per serving!!! (If you looked at Trina's recent post that showed an appetizer from Outback Steakhouse coming in at 182 grams of fat - 2.5 grams sounds pretty good.)

food links you might find interesting

In some random internet clicking, I came across a website called "Eat This, Not That!" It definitely made for some interesting reading ... how drinks alone can sabotage your caloric count here, and if you eat out very often, this is an eye opener.

Bon appetit!

Hidden Veggie Chili and Corn bread

I have always wanted to make chili, just never got around to doing it. Finally, one day I decided to go for it. I looked over several different recipes, picked out things I thought would be good, and came up with my own. Can I just say it turned out FABULOUS! I loved it, CJ loved it, Ches has yet to try it (he was sick when I made it). Also, one of my favorite things to do when I cook is to sneak veggies in and see if CJ notices. Not that CJ is anti-vegetable or anything, but if I told him I was putting more veggies into this chili then beef, he probably would have protested. He didn't even know I put any in, though I think it just added to the great flavor. I may never go back to canned chili again!!

Sorry, I am taking off this recipe for now. I have modified it several times, and am kind of turning it into a signature dish. Maybe someday I will be ready to share the recipe again, but right now I am not.

My favorite cornbread

This is a recipe I tweaked a little to get it nice and moist. Just remember not to overcook it!

Ingredients:
1 c. flour
1 c. cornmeal
1/4 c. sugar
4 tsps baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 c. milk
2 eggs
6 Tbs melted butter (again, I use smart balance spread)

Combine dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and beat 1 min. Pour into greased 9x9 pan (I use a glass dish) Bake at 425 for 15-20 min. Serve immediately.

Cheater Toffee

One Monday afternoon I realized that though I had a FHE lesson plan I had no Family Home Eating planned. It would have been a major disappointment to Ches to have FHE with no FHE so I quickly scanned my fav site, allrecipes.com and found this recipe, made a few modifications and here we have it! Quick, easy, Enjoy!

Ingredients:
Graham Crackers
1/2-1 c smart balance spread
1/2 c sugar
vanilla
chopped nuts (recipe said pecans, I used walnuts, though I made some w/o any because Ches is anti-nut)

Directions:
Cover baking sheet with graham crackers and sprinkle with nuts
In saucepan melt "butter" and sugar together, til boiling, boil 3 min.
Pour in some vanilla (around a tsp)
Pour mixture over crackers and nuts, coating evenly.
Bake at 350 for 12 min, until golden. Cool completely before cutting and eating.

Baked Spaghetti

This is a recipe that I first tried on spring break '01. Me my cousin and her roommates went to St. George, then Las Vegas for spring break. While we were in St. George we were staying at one of the girl's parents vacation house and so we had a full kitchen. Rachel (don't remember her last name) taught us this recipe, and it was so good that Maria (my cousin) and I were begging for it ever since. It took several years to finally get it from her (slacker) and then a couple more years for me to finally make it (bigger slacker). But yes, it was just as good as I remembered it. CJ said he preferred it over regular spaghetti. It does have cream of mushroom soup in it, and I usually try to avoid using that, but for this recipe I will make an exception. Sorry about the lamo picture. My kitchen really has terrible lighting for good pictures.

note: I halved the recipe when I made it, and you can see it still made a lot. I kind of guessed on the amount of spaghetti since I always just buy the big packs, and she didn't really say how much, and I also used a little more then half of the cream of mushroom soup. Oh and I used almost the whole jar of spaghetti sauce too. Also, depending on how bland your sauce is, you might want to season it up with garlic and onions. Mine was garlic , onion and basil sauce so I felt no need.

Ingredients:
cooked and drained spaghetti noodles
1 jar of spaghetti sauce
shredded cheddar cheese
2 small cans of sliced olives, drained
1 small package mushrooms, chopped
2 large tomatoes, diced
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 c water
1/4 c Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Sautee tomatoes, mushrooms and olives over medium heat for 5-7 min, add sauce while sauteeing if desired. Add rest of sauce when done.
2. Mix mushroom soup with water and set aside.
3. In large dish layer noodles, sauce, cheese, noodles, sauce, cheese, mushroom soup, and top with Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Mexican Sour Cream Rice

This one was a big hit with my family. The Monterey cheese really brought in an excellent flavor. It makes a lot so I put half in a tupperware and froze it for another meal. The recipe calls for fresh cilantro, but I didn't have any and the stuff in the store looked gross. Also, I added a can of drained diced tomatoes. I was also in a rush to get things done so I just microwaved it til it was hot and bubbly. Still tasted good, but I will probably bake it next time.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
1 (14 ounce) can chicken broth
1 cup reduced fat sour cream
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chile peppers
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
1 can rinsed and drained black beans
1 (8.75 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
salt and ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
In a large pot, bring the rice and chicken broth to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 1-1/2 quart casserole dish.
In the pot with the cooked rice, mix the sour cream, green chile peppers, 1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese, corn, beans, and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to the prepared casserole dish, and top with remaining cheese.
Bake uncovered 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until cheese is bubbly and lightly browned.

Bruschetta with Tomato and Basil

I made this bruschetta recipe for a dinner party a week ago. Then I read the post for Trina's bruschetta chicken and it sounded good to me. I didn't have the ingredients for her bruschetta chicken but I had leftovers from my party. So,instead of putting the brushetta on toasted bread I put it on grilled chicken and angel hair pasta. It was really good. It's also really good the traditional way on bread. It is a fast make, we were eating within 25 minutes.


Ingredients
6 or 7 ripe plum tomatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped.
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste


Method
Prepare the tomatoes first. Parboil the tomatoes for one minute in boiling water that has just been removed from the burner. Drain. Using a sharp small knife, remove the skins of the tomatoes. (If the tomatoes are too hot, you can protect your finger tips by rubbing them with an ice cube between tomatoes.) Once the tomatoes are peeled, cut them in halves or quarters and remove the seeds and juice from their centers. Also cut out and discard the stem area. Why use plum tomatoes instead of regular tomatoes? The skins are much thicker and there are fewer seeds and less juice. Chop up the tomatoes finely. Put tomatoes, garlic, 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, vinegar in a bowl and mix. Add the chopped basil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

I also had some fresh mozzarella I wanted to use up so I chopped that up and added it. It was good but not necessary.

More Pasta

You know the great thing about pasta? It is so quick and easy, and so versatile! Here is a new quick easy thing to do with pasta and veggies.

Just take any of your favorite veggies, like:
red pepper
zucchini
yellow neck squash
carrots
broccoli
snap peas
asparagus
whatever

Then saute your preferred veggies in some olive oil whilst cooking your favorite pasta (linguine, or thin spaghetti go well). Season veggies with a bit of salt and pepper. Then when pasta and veggies are at desired tenderness, toss them all together with your favorite Italian dressing! Bernstein's (I probably spelled it wrong, and I am not talking about the bears) goes really well, but this time I chose some creamy Parmesan. Yummers!

Basic Pizza Dough

This is my most favorite pizza or breadstick recipe because it's fast and tastes great!

2/3 package dry yeast
1/2 c. lukewarm water
1/4 tsp. sugar
1 1/3 c. flour
1/3 tsp. salt
1/3 Tbls. olive oil

1. Dissolve sugar & yeast in water; set aside for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Combine flour, salt, & olive oil in bowl; make a well in the center.
3. When yeast mixture is bubly, pour into center of well. Start kneading, bringing flour toward center of bowl; gradually increasing kneading motion.

If dough feels sticky, add flour, if it feels dry, add water. Knead vigorously until dough is smooth and elastic. Roll into ball; cover with a damp cloth. let rest for about 20 minutes in warm place. Beat dough with your palm to expel gas formed while fermenting. When ready to use, place dough on floured counter top or table and flatten with your hands or rolling pin from center out. Bake in oven at 425-450F. This recipe makes 1 crust, but I usually triple to make two big pizzas or three medium pizzas. Also, the dough can be stored in the fridge or freezer, just baste with a little olive oil and wrap in plastic wrap. Enjoy!