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.

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.

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.

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: Lighter Brownies

The Cooking Channel has a new healthy living show out called Good Housekeeping Drop 5 Pounds. I watched the first episode, didn't hate it, and set the DVR to record it. It's got cooking, exercise & general healthy living tips, from a few different hosts. The recipes are generally the kinds I like--easy and healthy, without many Franken-food ingredients (Hungry Girl, I'm looking at you!).

The Lighter Brownie recipe looked especially good, so I copied it and tried it yesterday.

Holy cow, I need to buy more cocoa powder. They were really good. I did change things a little bit, but only out of necessity. I don't have "trans fat free vegetable oil spread," but I do have butter, so I used that. And I (sadly) don't have an 8x8 baking pan, so I used my old 7x9 pan. I also cut them in 12 instead of 16. So the calories are a little higher than the 95 listed on the website. Mine came out to 129. Yes, that's about a third higher, but it's still pretty good for a brownie.

Now, these are not massive, thick cakey brownies. These are fairly thin, chewy, fudgy brownies with pretty intense flavor. There was barely enough cocoa powder in the can, so I added the last of it, and it might have been just a hair too much. But they're goooooooooooood. They definitely have that "oomph" that I'm looking for, the "I'm done" signal.

I looked in my Cook's Illustrated Best Light Recipe as well, and there is also a brownie recipe there, for 130 calories. I'm wondering how it'll stack up, so I might give that a try as well in the future. But for now, this recipe is my go-to for brownies, and I'll be making it frequently.

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.

Recipe Review: Chicken Soup & Dumplings

Al of us have been hit with winter colds lately. Even Sarah, who is normally the healthiest of us, is miserable. No fever, just a drippy nose & the sore throat that comes with it, and really tired.

My first line of defense is always food. I go through tons of ginger, honey & citrus in tea. I put enough garlic in chicken broth to make our whole house repel vampires. And I've lately become a big fan of elderberry syrup.

Yesterday, we saw an episode of Mad Hungry that had Lucinda making chicken & dumplings. I'm really enjoying that show--she doesn't cook über healthy stuff, but it isn't over the top unhealthy, and it's generally aimed at families.

Sarah said it looked good and asked if I could make some, so I got the last of the chicken broth out of the freezer. I only made half the recipe, because there were only 4 cups of broth. I only used garlic, onions and carrots in the broth, and I didn't add any herbs to the dumplings.

Here's how they look while cooking:

And in the bowl.:

I remember making drop dumplings with soup from Bisquick when I was a teen--they seemed fluffier than this. Maybe my baking powder is getting old? At any rate, they weren't as fluffy as I remember, which was a little disappointing. Sarah liked them, Lauren didn't. I thought they were ok. I might give them another go, but it's not high on my list right now.

I'd like to try my hand at matzo balls next. I've never made those, but my grandmother did. I think I'll get some matzo and keep them in the cupboard. I don't have any more chicken stock in the freezer, but I make it on such a regular basis that it's not a big deal.

Recipe Review: Garlic Lime Tilapia

I'm always looking for new ways to make fish. So far, fish is generally a hard sell for the family. They eat it, but grudgingly. When I saw Garlic Lime Tilapia, I thought it sounded pretty good, and made it last night. Sadly, this is not the recipe that turned my family around on fish. Again, they ate it, but only what was served to them.

I eat tilapia pretty frequently for lunch. I dust it with Old Bay or Cajun seasoning, and fry it in a pan with cooking spray. I either put it on a piece of bread for a sandwich (a little low fat mayonnaise is a bonus), or just have it with some veggies and maybe a carb.  Sometimes I put salsa over it, too. Tasty, low fat, low cal, good protein, and cheap.

Maybe I need to try a different kind of fish for the rest of the family. I've got a pan-fried catfish recipe with a cornmeal crust that looks good. . .

Recipe Reviews: Rice Pudding

Last night, I made the Cherry Vanilla Rice Pudding from the Cook Yourself This Faster cookbook. I'd never made rice pudding before, and I don't think I'd even eaten it before, but was pretty sure I'd like it. It's rice, people. With sugar & dairy. What's not to like?

The recipe itself is quite basic: 4½ cups of 1% milk, ⅔ cup white rice, ⅓ cup sugar, a little orange zest, and some vanilla extract and dried cherries at the end. Serve warm or cold.

First off, I didn't have 1% milk, so I used the 2% that I did have, and 4 ½ cups of it seemed crazy, so I only used 4 cups. Even then, I wasn't convinced it wasn't too much, but of course it all came together beautifully in the end. I thought it was insanely delicious, and Sarah also loved it. Jeff thought it was good, and Lauren didn't even want to try it. My only complaint was that at six servings, each portion was a little small.

Of course, since there were enough leftovers, I had some with breakfast this morning, too. Not as good cold as warm, but still good.

227 calories, 41 carbs, 4 g fat, 7 g protein, 0 fiber, 2 g saturated fat.

Hm.  What can I do differently next time?  I think it would be worthwhile to make a point of getting 1% milk, and I'd use the full amount (there were a few grains that were just a bit too al dente for me). I think I'd also nix the dried fruit--it's tasty, but there wasn't much of it, so it just didn't add much. And I'd make 4 servings instead of 6.

All these changes would change the numbers to 296 calories, 53 carbs, 3 g fat, 12 g protein, 0 fiber, 2 g saturated fat. Still not an everyday dish, but it's so rich that I'd be satisfied with a really light dinner beforehand if I were getting a full quarter of the whole pot.