A Tale of Two

Caramel sauces.

I saw this recipe right before Halloween and decided to make it that afternoon for us to have while we watched Linus wait for the Great Pumpkin.  The picture looked so good, like Cracker Jack. I even added some peanuts. I followed the recipe precisely (yes, really!) and poured everything out onto two baking pans lined with parchment paper.

Big disappointment. The syrup was thick and never smoothly coated the popcorn.  The texture was rather grainy, too. This isn't to say the popcorn wasn't rapidly devoured--we're talking butter & brown sugar, after all.

But I remembered another recipe I'd tried a while back, also without complete success.  The main problem there was that I didn't make the sauce far enough in advance, and poured screaming hot sauce over fresh popcorn, "melting" the popcorn. I did remember that the leftover sauce itself was pretty good, especially over pancakes the next day.

So I made that one again this afternoon. I used all butter instead of a combo of "healthy" butter & olive oil, but other than that, I did follow the recipe precisely. At first, I worried. The butter & brown sugar looked exactly like the Halloween debacle. Then I poured in the apple juice & cornstarch, and it magically turned into a sauce.  Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuummy. 

When I came back to it a few hours later (I left it at room temp in a glass container), it had separated into two layers, but they were easily stirred back together.  I made the popcorn tonight, and poured it over, and it worked really well. It wasn't dry like Cracker Jack, but the taste & texture were great.

I mentioned how much better I liked this one than the Halloween one, and Sarah said she had liked that one better. "It had peanuts." Well, if you don't take the peanuts into account?  "I still liked it better." Maybe next time I'll try baking it after to dry it out a little, like the first recipe, but that Grandbaby Cakes wins this one hands down as far as I'm concerned. 

Kitchen Experiment, Week 1

A few weeks ago, I decided that I no longer cared to bear the brunt of Kitchen Duty alone. I realized that the whole family should be taking part in this aspect of our lives.

First, I asked for help with the dishes. Our dishwasher has been out of commission for a while, and I don't have a lot of interest in replacing it in the foreseeable future (unless we win the lotto, in which case I will happily get a beautiful dishwasher for the maid to use). I asked Lauren and Jeff to each pick one night a week to clean up, and Sarah to take two nights. That's still three nights for me, which is fine. 

There are two provisions:

1. If you don't get it done on your night, you will also be responsible for it the next day. So far, I'm the only one who has fallen down on the job there.
2. If you can't or just don't want to do the dishes on your night, it is your responsibility to find someone to cover for you. Negotiate a trade of days or cash payout, but get it done. 

So far, this plan is going quite well. It's verging on pathetic how happy I am at having someone else clean up. The only trade so far was last night, when I asked Jeff if he could help Lauren with her science lesson (kinetic energy, potential energy, energy transfer--I didn't have the energy for it) in return for my taking his night at the sink.

The other part of Kitchen Duty is making dinner. I like cooking, but I get so bored with making the same things over and over. The girls are certainly old enough to pick up the slack in the kitchen.

So in addition to cleaning up, each girl also gets to cook dinner once a week. This isn't as much a time savings for me right now, but I think it will pay off. One difficulty is that I have classes four evenings a week, so timing is challenging.

Last week was the first time I asked what they wanted to make on their respective nights. Sarah said "pancakes & bacon" and Lauren said, "biscuits & gravy."  Hm. Not the healthiest, but for the first week, ok.

Sarah was making her dinner as I ran out the door to work (she's made both pancakes and bacon before, and I supervised the batter ingredients, so I wasn't too concerned); when I got home, there were three very crispy pieces of bacon left. She said that she ate the burned pieces herself. I've noticed that both girls tend to get distracted and forget about the food while it's cooking.

Lauren did her cooking on the weekend, because I knew she'd need substantial guidance making it. We used canned biscuits, because I didn't think we should do more than one recipe at a time. She did a good job with the gravy, but when it came time to eat, she said, "I don't actually like gravy very much."

Um. . .  whose child are you, and why exactly did you ask to make that?

At any rate, I'd call the first week of our Kitchen Experiment a moderate success. Week 2: Potato Skins and Tomato Soup.

Pulled Pork

A couple weeks ago, Jeff requested pulled pork for dinner, with a mustardy sauce instead of a tomatoey one. We'd had something similar a few months ago at Noble Pig, my cousin's BBQ place on the east side, and he really liked it.

I found this recipe, which seemed promising:  dry rub, and a separate mustard sauce.  Aldi didn't have pork shoulder/butt, but they did have the next best thing:  country style ribs.  I cut the recipe in half, which seemed to be about right, and cooked the ribs in the oven. My crockpot seems to get a little too hot sometimes, and I was worried the ribs would turn to mush if I left them in there too long.

It turned out really well. In an interesting turn, everyone else in the family thought it was better than I did. I thought it was good, but not as good as Noble Pig. Jeff said, "Well, if you're going to have unreasonably high standards . . ."  I liked the sauce better than the meat itself. We dipped soft pretzels in it, and I put it on my hash browns under my eggs in the morning.

Everyone liked it so much that when I saw a pork shoulder yesterday, I grabbed it. I've made the rub (I'm now totally out of paprika) and it's in the crockpot in the refrigerator right now. Since it's rather massive, I'm not worried about it going several hours tomorrow. As for the mustard sauce, I got some grainy mustard, and I think that will zip up the sauce even more. This is a recipe that is going in the keeper book.

Recipe Review: Peanut Butter Cookies

Or, Sarah's Choice (which has nothing at all to do with Sophie's Choice, thank you God).

Sarah is coming back from Salem's youth group mission trip tonight. She's been gone for about a week. When she was gone for a week last summer at Civil Air Patrol encampment, I took her cookies when we went to pick her up, and she inhaled them, along with every other cadet there who saw that she had home made goodies.

When I asked what kind of treat she'd like as soon as she got back from this trip, she asked for peanut butter cookies. I found this recipe: Classic Peanut Butter Cookies and just got done making them.

And now for a word on peanut butter. I really hate cheap, hydrogenated peanut butter.  I really like natural peanut butter. For the kids, it's exactly the opposite. And frankly, the dog gets more peanut butter (as a treat in his Kong) lately than any of us, so I'm not inclined to spend a lot. It's Aldi brand for us, creamy instead of crunchy.

This is less than half the batch.

The batter went together very easily. I added a little vanilla to the wet ingredients, and a little  cinnamon to the dry ingredients. Have I ever mentioned that I almost never mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl anymore?  I just dump the flour on the well-mixed wet ingredients, then add salt, baking powder, etc. on top and mix that gently before I mix it into the dry. It turns out fine and one less bowl to wash makes me just that much happier.

Of course, sometimes I manage to find ways to make extra work for myself anyway.  For example, when I was making the criss cross pattern with the fork, I thought, "Hey, aren't you supposed to roll them in sugar first?"  So I got out a little sugar and started doing that. Then I thought, "HEY, wouldn't these be even better rolled in cinnamon sugar?"  So I got out some cinnamon sugar and rolled some in that before taking the fork to them.

Here's the thing about extra work. I feel that if it's a little bit of extra work for a lot of extra result, it's worth it. (See:  getting the skins off chickpeas before you  make hummus)  If it's a lot of extra work for little or no result, why bother?  (See:  using fresh pumpkin to make pumpkin pie)  Rolling the cookies in sugar wasn't hard, but it was time consuming.  I tasted one of each variation after they'd cooled (in the name of science, of course!) and could barely detect any difference. Maybe a little, but not enough to justify the extra time.

The point is, I ended up just scooping them out onto the cookie sheet, having at them with a fork, and baking them. Today, simplicity trumps everything else.

They're delicious, by the way!

Orange Food Tastes Good!

(Apologies to Anne Burrell.)

Thanksgiving is next week!  When did that happen? We're going up to Jeff's parents' for dinner, and bringing pumpkin pies.  When Jeff was a teen, an entire pie was reserved just for him, but he's more moderate now. I'll make a traditional pie and whipped cream to go with it, but it's nice to have something in the healthier arena as well.

I made Chocolate Covered Katie's Crustless Pumpkin Pie last night. It was very easy and everyone really liked it. Not having to make a crust saved a ton of time and effort.  Since we're not vegan, I added an egg, but left the oil out.  Less than 100 calories per slice!  I also added a little ginger, because I love that bit of kick. Next week, I'll make the traditional version, but I'll be making Katie's version regularly this winter.

I also made Roasted Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Pilau last night, to go next to pork chops/fish.  The girls thought it was ok, but Jeff really liked it. Like, said three times how much he liked it.  I didn't have pumpkin, but I got a kuri squash last week, and they're pretty close, so I used that. I don't like how sweet potatoes sometimes get black spots when you roast them in the oven (no, they weren't burned), but they're still tasty. I used vegetable broth instead of chicken, and added some diced dried apricots because I had them and it sounded good.  I'm going to mix the leftovers with either diced chicken or ham for lunches this week.  This is another one I'll be making pretty steadily. 

Breakfast

I am a carb junkie, no doubt. Bread pudding is one of my favorite things ever, my stepmom's Thanksgiving stuffing being a close second.

I made Skinny Apple Pie Bread Pudding for breakfast this morning.  It was really good, but I ended up eating way too much of it. Sarah also liked it, but Lauren just thought it was ok.  I don't have custard cups, so I used my square 8x8 baking pan and used an extra piece of bread.  It worked out well, but did I mention that I ate way too much of it?  I'm going to get some custard cups/ramekins soon, because that kind of portion control is really necessary for me.

I'd also like to try Pumpkin Baked French Toast, which is essentially the same thing but with pumpkin (also vegan). Dark Chocolate Chunk Bread Pudding looks ridiculously delicious, but it's no even remotely appropriate for breakfast.  That's another one that needs ramekins for portion control, so I have an excuse to wait on that one.

Sewing post coming SOON!

What's Cooking?

(a dressmaking post will be coming soon)

I made Apple Scones last week, and they turned out pretty good, but not as amazing as I'd hoped. I'm sure that's largely due to the fact that I've largely fallen off the healthy bandwagon, and am more used to cooking with a lot more fat & sugar than these called for.  I might make them again, but I'd rather go for some cinnamon rolls.

I took some BBQ chicken and put it into biscuit turnovers last week, to rave reviews from both kids. I'm trying to think of other things I can put inside a biscuit.  Sloppy joe meat looks the most promising based on kid reactions.

I'm also trying to decide what to do with the lone pound of ground beef in my freezer. One pound can go for burgers or chili or sloppy joes or meatballs or shepherd's pie or Hamburger Helper. It's not quite enough for pasties.

All of those are good things that will get eaten.  But I'd really like to try empanadas. They're similar to pasties, in that they have meat & vegetables and have a pastry crust, but the meat is cooked ahead of time, and of course the flavors are totally different. I really like trying new things, although they aren't always a hit with everyone else.

Adventures in Dressmaking, Part 2

I recut the front bodice piece this morning, and it went together much better. You can see the old piece in the background and the newly cut one in the foreground.

I realized there was another issue, though--the midriff band is suddenly about two inches too short on either side. I realized that since I'd extended the bodice, the band would have to be extended as well.  I didn't bother with doing that right now, because it's just the muslin and I'm trying to see how the overall fit is. The sides are still sewn together, so I can check how it fits.

Except I can't. I can't check on myself because I can't see myself and adjust on my own body.  It feels like there is a LOT of extra fabric in the back, far more than would be necessary to accommodate a zipper, but I can't tell for sure. My plan is to Skype my mom with it on and have Sarah pin the back for me, and do the best we can with that.

I did have some mental whining about wishing my mom was actually physically up here, but Skype is certainly better than doing this just over the phone. 

In zucchini news, I made the quiche, and it was good, but the caramelized onions were the best part. And nobody else had any of it. Next time (yes, there will be a next time), I'm going to skip the crust. The delicious, flaky crust is just extra work, extra fat, extra carbs, extra calories.  Yes, extra delicious, but that's not the point.  I'll also shred the zucchini & squeeze out the extra water--even though I sauteed the veg first, the center of the quiche was a little soggy.  I can do better, and I don't really need a recipe for it. 

Recipe Review: Peach Pie

I never seem to find good peaches. When I see them in the produce market, I pick them up and smell them, but they never smell very peachy, so I usually pass them by. But yesterday, I wanted to make a peach pie, and I figured that since I'd be cooking them, it would intensify the flavor, so I grabbed about ten.

I was using this recipe as a guide, but knew I wanted to do a crumb topping instead of lattice. I briefly considered skipping the crust altogether and just going for a crumble, but crust isn't hard, and I wanted that flaky texture along with the crunchy crumble and tender peaches. I made the crust and stashed it in the refrigerator, then got to work on blanching the peaches.

Blanching peaches just means plunging them into boiling water, leaving them there for a minute, then putting them in an ice water bath.  The peels should come right off. And they did--for the first peach. Maybe I didn't leave them in the water long enough, but almost all the peaches had to have the peels cut off, instead of peeling away from the flesh. This was the most time consuming, annoying part. Moral of the story?  Use frozen peaches!


After that, it was pretty easy.  Roll out the crust and put it in the pie pan, building it up a little higher on the sides. Mix the sliced peaches with white sugar, brown sugar, flour, cornstarch, cinnamon and ginger. Pour into the pie crust. Top with your standard flour/oatmeal/brown sugar/butter/more cinnamon & ginger crumble topping. Bake at 450 for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 350 and bake another 45 minutes or so. Let the pie sit in the cooling oven (there are two advantages here:  it thickens better, and doesn't take up valuable counter space).

I got some caramel praline crunch ice cream to dish on top--which really was gilding the lily--but vanilla would have been good, too.

The pie was good, but not bursting with that summery peachy goodness I'd been hoping for. Moral of the story? Use frozen peaches!!! 

Note that there are no nutritional statistics for this recipe. Between the flaky pie crust, sweet peach filling, crunchy topping, and ice cream, one serving had enough calories for a full meal. It was definitely a splurge, but well worth it.

Recipe Review: Honey Lemon Bars

I've been wanting to make the Skinny Honey Lemon Bars for ages.  First, I didn't make them because I didn't have the right size pan. Then, I was low on honey. Then, the friend that Sarah had over doesn't eat eggs (instead, they made sugar cookies that were so good, they're totally my new go-to recipe).

Finally, I made them on Saturday. And I followed the recipe exactly. I know--shocking, right?  But it seems pretty carefully calculated, and I didn't want it messed up. So no tweaking on this one. The result?  They're pretty good. Both girls love them. I just like them. For me, it isn't an A+ recipe for two reasons.  First, the honey taste kind of competes with the lemon. I like honey, but I think I'd like a different sweetener for this one. Also, the crust layer is thicker than the lemon layer. As far as I'm concerned, that's backwards.

Will I make them again?  Maybe, but I think I'm likely to look for a variation that has a different lemon layer.

Greek Yogurt Love

The Aldi near me has recently started carrying Fage 0% fat Greek yogurt, which means that that's one less thing I have to trek to Meijer to get. I've started getting two containers a week, because I go through so much of it.

What do I do with it?  Well, there's the standard yogurt & fruit snack, smoothie, or popsicle.  Sometimes I make a classic Swiss Birchermüesli (soak some oatmeal in milk for about half an hour, then add yogurt, grated apple, and as much fresh, in season fruit as you can stand--lovely dinner when it's too hot to cook). Last week, I started making yogurt pancakes. I saw the original idea on one of the MyFitnessPal message boards, and tweaked it a little.

Here's how I do it: mix 6 ounces Greek yogurt with an egg and a half a teaspoon of vanilla. Mix in 1/3 cup whole wheat flour and a teaspoon of baking soda. Cook as with regular pancakes. Makes 5 or 6, depending on size. Nutrition:  302 calories, 36 carbs, 6 grams fat, 29 grams of protein, 4 grams fiber.  That's for the whole batch!!!  I generally don't bother with syrup or butter. The real beauty of this recipe is that there is so much protein and it's relatively low carb. I feel like I'm always "chasing" protein, and unless I have eggs, it's hard for me to get at breakfast.

In contrast, the pancakes I make for the kids have about 25% more calories, 30% more carbs, half the protein, and half the fiber. I might have to start making yogurt pancakes for them, too. In that case, I'm going to need a lot more yogurt, and should probably start making my own, but that's another post.

Recipe Review: Skinny Taste Snickerdoodles

We're going to a friend's today for a pool party. Yes, I'm aware that it's 55 degrees out. Luckily, the friend also has a hot tub. We're hoping this will be a recurring event, and when talking with the mom in charge, I suggested that (since we're all trying to be healthier lately) we make a point of bringing healthy foods and the recipes.

When I suggested this, I was thinking of things like Cold Sesame Noodles. Middle East Panzanella. Corn and Black Bean Salad. All delicious things on a hot summer day. Um. Did I mention the bipolar Michigan weather?  I decided to make cookies instead.

Specifically, Gina's Skinny Taste Snickerdoodles.  And yes, I did modify the recipe. I don't have cream of tartar (subbed baking powder for it & the baking soda) or agave syrup (subbed honey). Also, I think I let them cook a little too long. Once they're cool, they're pretty crunchy, and I strongly prefer a chewy cookie.

They're very tasty, though, and the kids really like them.  This is one that goes into the "make again" file.

Recipe Review: Martha Stewart's Tiramisu Cupcakes

Last night was Sarah's Girl Scout end of year party. She volunteered for me to make tiramisu (with cupcakes as a backup plan). Uh.  OK. I love tiramisu, but I've never made it. I found a few recipes that looked reasonable, but realized I'd have to hit Meijer to get the mascarpone cheese. I avoid Meijer whenever I can, and only go when I needs several things I can't generally get at my regular stores (kosher salt, bulgur wheat, whole wheat flour, etc.). Since I was going, I decided to get other stuff as well. Grrr--I hate paying higher prices for things I know I can get cheaper at other stores.

To top it off, they didn't have mascarpone cheese. I was irked, but decided to hit Westborn Market on my way home, because they have a whole ROOM for cheese, and I was pretty sure they'd have it, as well as ladyfinger cookies. As I pulled in the Westborn parking lot and saw no cars, I realized that they were closed. D'oh!

I decided that cream cheese would have to suffice (which I already had at home), and that I could run down to Randazzo's produce market for the ladyfingers--I've seen them there a million times, but never gotten any. I dropped the groceries I already had at home, then got back in the car.

Dun dun DUN! Randazzo's had also closed!  I growled the whole way home, and googled "Tiramisu cupcakes." Of course, good old Martha Stewart had a recipe. It called for a few things I didn't have, like vanilla beans & of course mascarpone, but I had decent substitutions. It looked a little complicated, but whatever, right? The next morning, I copied it and holy cow! Are you kidding?  That's one complicated recipe!  I thought to myself, "these had better be some STELLAR cupcakes for all this work."

I made them, and took them to the party, and they were good. Sadly, they were not stellar. I didn't use enough of the coffee syrup for fear of them being soggy, so most of them were a little lacking in oomph. Again, not bad, but not worth the work.  Know what would have been stellar?  Yeah. Tiramisu. If I ever have a need to make it again, I'll plan a little farther ahead and just make the real thing, which seems worlds easier.

Brownie-Off

I love me some brownies. When I first made the Drop 5 Pounds brownies, I loved them, but I'm always on the lookout for something with fewer calories. I saw in my Cook Yourself Thin Faster cookbook that they had a recipe for "Fudgy Brownies" that looked pretty good, and are only 89 calories each (adjusted for 12 servings instead of 16).

I made a batch Friday, and they were ok, but definitely lacking that chocolate hit from the other recipe. I think that the extra cocoa powder and the coffee make a big difference. I'd still like to try and find a brownie recipe that smacks me in the face with chocolate flavor but is fewer than 100 calories per serving--I might have to just develop it myself . . .

Recipe Review: Chocolate Almond Meringues

Originally from Ellie Krieger, but (all together now!) "I tweaked it." I didn't have almond extract, so I used vanilla. And I like dark chocolate much better than semisweet, so I used two of the little 70% bars I get from Aldi (almost two ounces). I also didn't have cream of tartar, so I just left it out. I didn't bother to blend the sugar down to superfine, either. The eggs were the only thing I didn't alter.

I'm so glad I have a stand mixer, because it made the whole process a breeze. Separate three eggs, putting the whites into the mixer, and beat on medium. Once the egg whites get foamy, add a teaspoon of vanilla and a third of a cup of sugar (slowly), and keep beating to soft peaks. Finely chop the chocolate, then add it in and keep mixing like crazy to stiff peaks. No, I didn't take the time to fold in ever so carefully. I thought about just spooning mounds onto the parchment paper, but did use a sandwich bag to pipe them out.

The piping went ok, but my technique needs work. They came out looking a little . . . um . . . scatological, if you know what I mean. . I got 33 out of the recipe instead of 20, but they're pretty small. I could have made them bigger, but I really like the smaller size.

The verdict?  SOOOOO GOOD. I'm bringing these to potlucks from now on. The bits of chocolate (which sometimes got stuck in the piping bag) are wonderful. The crispy edges are my favorite part, but the chewy centers are good, too. Next time I'm at Meijer, I'm going to get some coconut extract and a lime, and zest the lime into the sugar. Mmm, tropical!

Since I got 33 cookies out of this (they're not all the same size, so these numbers are just an average), they're each 19 calories, 2 carbs, 1 gram of fat, and 1 gram of protein. I've already eaten five. 

Recipe Review: Pasties

I make pasties a few times a year. They're not hard, but are rather labor intensive, so it's something I make to stash in the freezer. A friend wanted to come and make some with me, but our schedules don't mesh very well, so I decided to do a Pioneer Woman style post, with as many pictures as I could. I got the original recipe concept here, but of course have tweaked it.

First, the crust. I use a standard pie crust recipe of 3 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 cup shortening, and about a cup of water. Mix the salt & flour together, and cut in the shortening. Add the water a bit at a time. You might need more or less depending on the day. If you add too much, you can add more flour later. My dough was a little wet, and I had to use a fair bit of flour when rolling it out. Once the dough is all mixed, stash it in the refrigerator while you make the filling. You can use any crust recipe you like, or even buy premade from the store, but crust is easy and cheap to make yourself.

I like to use a pound of ground beef and half a pound of ground pork for my filling, but I've also used all beef in the past, and it's still good. Since ground pork generally comes in one pound packages, I use the other half pound for Szechuan Pork & Green Beans. You also need potato, carrot, onion, and rutabaga. I started with a half cup of each, diced pretty small, but had a lot of veg left at the end, so for official purposes, I'd just use 1/3 cup of each. A good pinch of salt, few grinds of black pepper, and a couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce for seasoning.

A note about rutabaga--it's a classic ingredient in pasties, but can be hard to find. It's also pretty annoying to deal with. You only need a small amount, so feel free to leave it out. If you are going to use it, the leftovers can be mixed in with mashed potatoes, or added to soup. I only used less than a fourth of mine. You need to cut slices, then cut the skin off, then chop up pretty small.

Once all the vegetables are diced, mix them with the meat & seasonings. Stash that bowl in the refrigerator, covered, while you roll out the dough. Be sure to use enough flour so that the dough doesn't stick to the board. I used a 3 1/2 inch cutter, which is a really nice size. In the past, I've used a small plate to cut circles and folded them in half over the filling, but I like this way much better. Once you have a bunch of circles cut out, put a scant quarter cup of filling on half of them. Use the remaining circles to cover the filling. Since the filling is mounded up, bring the bottom edge up to meet the top and pinch together.

Once they're all made, brush with beaten egg and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes, until golden brown. In the past, the pasties I've made have been yummy but not much to look at. These look almost professional!  Jeff commented that they look like little bundles of goodness. 

I got 21 pasties out of this batch--more than I expected!  Another bonus of making them so small. Just out of curiosity, I put the ingredients into MFP's recipe tool to see what the stats were (since I had a fair bit of crust left over--another first!--I adjusted the measurements a bit). For each: 207 calories, 14 carbs, 12 g fat, 9 g protein, 1 g fiber. That's a lot of fat, but the overall calories are considerably lower than I anticipated.

Recipe Review: Salmon Two Ways

I'd like us to eat more salmon. Lean protein, omega-3 fats, etc. But it's expensive, and not a family favorite. I got a slab of frozen salmon on sale last week and cooked it up last night. Again, I'm sad to report that this is NOT the dish that will convert us to fish lovers.

I used the Honey Mustard glaze recipe from Cook This, Not That (which also had a bit of butter, brown sugar, and soy sauce) on half and a store bought Asian Orange Ginger glaze for the other half. There were problems right off the bat. First, it wasn't fully thawed from being in the refrigerator overnight, so I did a speed thaw under cold running water. That works fine for thin tilapia fillets, but it wasn't so great for this.

The recipe called for roasting at 425 for about 10 minutes. I know from watching Top Chef that if the white protein comes out of the fish, you've overcooked it. Well, that started happening with mine before it was even done cooking. It looked very unappetizing, as you can see from the picture.

The taste was ok. Lauren did like it, but didn't have seconds. I liked it, and will have the leftovers cold on a green salad today. I thought the honey mustard was good, so I'll make a dressing of that to go over the top (equal parts of each), along with the greens, tomatoes, and red onion.

The search for the elusive "yummy fish recipe that the whole family likes" continues. I haven't given up, but I don't have anything in mind for my next try, either.

Recipe Review: Egg Rolls

When I make stir fry, which is fairly often, I always have egg rolls for the family. I get the pork ones from Aldi, which are $2.50 for a package of four. They're 170 calories each, so I usually skip them.

I saw that 400 Calories had a Vegetable Egg Roll recipe up that looked good and was 162 calories for two, so I decided to try it. It turned out pretty well (the filling was great, and I'm going to start buying more cabbage), except for the cooking. I decided to pan fry with cooking spray  instead of bake, because I'm always looking for things to be as crispy as possible. The problem was getting even browning on all sides. It just didn't happen. They were still tasty--in fact, mine didn't even make it to the table, because I ate them up while I was cooking the rest of dinner! I shallow fried the ones for everyone else, and had the same issue.

The next day, I decided to try again, this time baking in the oven. I also added a little shrimp to the filling to make it a more complete meal instead of a side dish. Again, tasty. But again, not the texture I wanted.  Baking made the edges a little tough.

I do think that deep frying is the way to go on something like this. You get more even coverage, and if the oil is hot enough and you take it out at the right time, the food doesn't get greasy.

Deep frying is something I don't do often, merely because of the large volume of grease necessary that you then have to dispose of. And I certainly won't do it every time we have Chinese for dinner. But as a special treat, I'll certainly make these again.

Recipe Review: Elvis Cookies

I've seen several recipes floating around lately for cookies made primarily from fruit & oats. They're very versatile--you can really make them your own, as long as you start with those two ingredients.. I tried one with banana as the fruit, with cocoa powder & raisins, but the taste of the banana was still pretty strong.

So I thought, "If the banana is going to dominate, find something else that will really work with it, like peanut butter." And what else would you call a peanut butter & banana cookie but an Elvis Cookie, really?

I started by mashing up a banana and adding two tablespoons of natural peanut butter, an ounce of milk, half a teaspoon of vanilla, two tablespoons of brown sugar, and a few shakes of cinnamon.  I added a heaping half cup of oatmeal (I started with a level half cup, but it was too soupy) and mixed it all up. I used my mini scoop to portion them out, and got 14 out of the batch. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes, but they stay pretty chewy, even the next day. (the picture shows them on the Silpat, after I'd moved them a little so they wouldn't stick)

Per cookie: 41 calories, 6 carbs, 2 g fat, 1 g protein, 1 g fiber.

They turned out pretty well. Sarah liked them, Lauren didn't. I liked them, but realized I kept going back to eat more. When I have a couple Hershey's Dark Kisses after lunch, I'm done.  I had four of these and still kept wandering around the kitchen with the munchies.

Will I make them again? Yes, certainly, but I'll keep tweaking them. I think it's a good start for a "breakfast cookie," which is kind of the Holy Grail for me. I might try applesauce instead of the banana (Lauren will like that better), but then I'd cut the milk to keep the moisture balance. And I might blitz some of the oatmeal in the food processor to get a different texture/consistency. Adding dried fruit, chopped nuts, or even chocolate is another option. All that would up the calories, but if I want something more substantial, that isn't a bad thing.

Recipe Review: Curry with Cauliflower & Butternut Squash

I got two Cook This, Not That! cookbooks for Christmas, and there are so many recipes in there I want to try. It's really hard to decide where to start. I also like doing vegetarian meals occasionally, though I've yet to find one everyone really likes.

Last week, I decided to give Curry with Cauliflower & Butternut Squash a try. I make a pork & fruit curry dish that everyone likes quite a bit, but it's fairly sweet, between the apples, pineapple & bananas. Also, serve it with spaetzle, which the family can't get enough of.

Unfortunately, I can't say the same for this dish. Even I didn't like it all that much. Yes, there was coconut milk, but it didn't add a lot of flavor. The tomatoes didn't seem to "go" and although I liked the vegetables, the whole thing just wasn't doing it for me. It didn't make tons, so everyone had a little (Jeff had two pasties later that night), and I had the leftovers the next day for lunch.

I think that flavor combination just isn't going to work for us--I deleted a bunch of similar recipes from my "want to try" list.

Coming soon: my egg roll experiment, and Elvis Cookies.