Spicy black Beans and Rice with Mangoes

Hi Everyone!

Thought I would share with you a recipe that a friend made for a church cooking class and I loved it.  I "normally" am not a savory mixed with sweet kind of person--I REALLY do not like pineapple on my pizza, for instance, even though I love both pineapple AND pizza!  I guess I just prefer them to meet each other in my stomach, not in my mouth! ;)  Anyway, this recipe is the one exception I have found to my normal food rule!  I will share the recipe with you just as it was written in her cook book, but when I make it for my family (I have only eaten it at this point--have not made it myself) there are a few changes I will be making.  First of all, I do not use oil of any type--even to sautee in, so I will simply use a bit of water there instead.  Second of all, I will substitute out the white rice and put in brown rice instead.  I personally do not believe there will even be a change in flavor with that change, and the brown rice is lots healthier since the vitamins are not taken out. And last but not least, I have a little girl who is not too keen on anything really spicy, so my "Spicy Black Beans" will probably be adjusted to be rather on the mild side!  ANYWAY, those things aside, it is still a fantastic recipe and I hope you enjoy it too!

~Susan

Spicy Black Beans and Rice with Mangoes

1 T. olive oil
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno or other hot chile, seeded and minced
1/2 tsp. peeled and minced fresh ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
3 cups slow-cooked or two cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 c. water
1/2 tsp. light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
3 c. cooked white rice
2 medium-size ripe mangoes, peeled, flesh cut away from the seed, and diced

1.  Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, and jalapeno, cover and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the ginger, cumin, allspice, and oregano and cook for 1 minute to bring out their flavor.

2.  Transfer the sauteed mixture to a 3 1/2 or 4 quart slow cooker.  Stir in the beans, water, brown sugar, salt, and pepper, cover, and cook on Low for 6-8 hours.

3.  Taste to adjust the seasonings before serving.  About 10 minutes before serving, stir in the rice and mangoes.

Strawberry Shake

Hi Everyone!

Thought I would share with you a very yummy recipe we tried recently for breakfast.  It was delicious--and what surprised me was how it really did keep me full until lunch time.  I didn't expect it to, since it is almost all fruit, but it did.  Of course, I do not have to eat my breakfast super early in the morning, so if you do you might want to try adding in something extra such as some whole wheat toast.  Either way, I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do.  My daughter loves it so much she has since asked me for it as a dessert at lunch time, and tonight she wanted it for supper!  Guess that means it is good any time!

~Susan

Strawberry Shake
serves 4

4 bananas (frozen--if they are small bananas, change it to 8 bananas)
8 c. strawberries (frozen)
4 c. unsweetened almond milk
1/2 c. quick oats

Add 1 frozen banana (or two small ones), 1 cup frozen strawberries, 1 cup almond milk and 2 Tbsp. oats to a blender and blend until smooth and creamy.  Add more strawberries if desired or eat them on the side.  You can also add a few drops of vanilla extract.  Repeat 3 more times for 4 total smoothies.  Enjoy! :)

Green Mint Smoothies!

Hi Everyone!

Well, I DID warn you in the title that these smoothies WERE green!  As in VERY green!  Green like grass.  Or in this case, green like spinach leaves!

I have heard different friends of mine raving about green smoothies before, so the concept wasn't new for me.  I have even had one dear soul make me a green smoothie to try at a church function we were both at.  Now I consider myself pretty open about foods, especially if it is a healthy food.  I'm just not all that picky, but I have to say--her green smoothie was yucky!!!!!    Or at least "I" thought so, though I DID really appreciate her making one for me to sample--I thought THAT was very very sweet.  I just didn't like it, and the main reason was not the taste, it was the grittiness.  I cannot even remember all that she put in her smoothie--it WAS all healthy, that's for sure.  I know she had some fruit, and as far as green stuff I do remember celery and kale being in there.  I like celery and I like kale, I really do, but I did NOT like them in this smoothie I tried.  So at that point, I decided that I would just MUCH rather eat my "green" not in my "smoothie," if you know what I mean.

Wellllllllll, that was my firm opinion for a long while, but I have to confess that today my opinion changed.  This past week I saw a recipe for a green smoothie floating around on Facebook, and thought it looked like it MIGHT have some potential.  It didn't have any kale in it, and the green was made up primarily from spinach leaves.  I would have made it right then, except that I didn't have any fresh spinach at the time, a rather important ingredient.

So when I was at the grocery store yesterday purchasing kale (NOT to go in a smoothie!!!) I saw the spinach leaves next to it in the fridge section and remembered that I had wanted to try that recipe.  So both kale and spinach came home with me, and after lunch today I thought I would whiz up that green smoothie for dessert for whoever was brave enough to try it.  :)  Only one problem.  When I got out the recipe, I saw that it also called for 1/4th of an avocado  and  I didn't have any avocados in the house!  Well, that's all right.  I decided to try the recipe anyway, even if I didn't have everything.  After all, avocado, while healthy, is still rather high fat, and I like to keep my cooking as low fat as possible.  I DO eat avocados, but if I am going to eat something high fat I want to really be able to taste it, not have it blended up in something else where I don't even know it's in there. . .

With this reasoning, I decided to be brave and try it.  The original recipe also called for a "handful of spinach leaves."  Well, I guess my "handful" must have been quite a bit larger than their "handful," because the picture that accompanied the original recipe showed a beautiful slightly green colored smoothie.  Mine ended up being a green-crayon-from-the-crayon-box colored smoothie!  But I REALLY liked the flavor, and my daughter did too, so I guess that is what counts, right?

As we were eating it, I commented that it really reminded me of mint chocolate chip ice cream, and as soon as she heard me say THAT my daughter begged for me to put some of my vegan chocolate chips in it!  So I sprinkled just a few on top.  Yum!  Now keep in mind, I did NOT say that it TASTES exactly like mint chocolate chip ice cream.  I said it REMINDED me of it.  So don't leave me a comment and tell me that it is no where near ice cream in flavor.  We ARE talking something healthy with spinach here, after all!  If you want something that tastes exactly like mint chocolate chip ice cream, you better just go buy yourself some mint chocolate chip ice cream.  But I think your body will like this dessert better!

Green Mint Smoothie
Susan's version :)

1/2 c. rice milk
small handful fresh spinach leaves
1/8-1/4 tsp. peppermint flavoring
1/4 tsp. vanilla flavoring
1 Tablespoon agave nector
2 frozen bananas, peeled and broken into chunks

Place ingredients in blender in the order listed.  You want your spinach leaves to be closest to the cutting blades so they will be well blended.  Turn blender on high, and blend until VERY well blended.  You do not want little pieces of spinach leaves to be floating around in there but rather a consistent green color.  Add a tiny bit more rice milk if necessary--I did not do this but did stop the blender several times and mix things around scraping down the sides.

Pour into your cup and enjoy!

Makes one tall glass or two smaller cups.

Nutty Butter

Hi Everyone!

Wanted to share a very simple recipe that is quick and healthy--and has the added advantage of being money-saving as well! This is sort of a peanut butter substitute.  It tastes a LOT like peanut butter, but not exactly like it.  My 19 year old son actually tells me that he thinks it is better than peanut butter.  I like it for four reasons:

1.  It cuts the fat and gives you a MUCH lower fat product that still gives you that peanut butter flavor.  Yes, I know that peanut butter and other natural fats found in things like nuts and avocados are "healthy" fats.  But they are STILL fats.  And if you are not trying to gain weight, it is best to keep even healthy fats to a minimum.

2.  It is cheap.  Peanut butter overall is an expensive product, going higher all the time.  Canned beans overall are an inexpensive product.  Mixing the two together extends the more expensive product with the lesser expensive product.

3.  It significantly increases fiber.  While the peanuts themselves do have some fiber, almost no food has as much fiber as the powerhouse of beans.  In this recipe, you can use any type of canned white bean, but navy beans are the highest fiber-wise.

4.  It tastes GREAT!!!!  :)  

Interested?

Alright!  Here is the very simple recipe:

Nutty Butter

1 can any type white bean, rinsed and drained

3 Tablespoons agave nector

1/2 teaspoon coriander or cinnamon

Blend mixture together VERY well using a food processor.  Spoon into a container and store in fridge.  Use any where you would normally use peanut butter.

That's it!  Simple!

I have used this in celery sticks, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and in cookie dough.  I have NOT used it yet in any type of a savory loaf recipe, but I would--you would just need to leave out the sweetening, because the above recipe makes for a sweet spread.  Sweeter than peanut butter, which I personally like because I like sweet things--but NOT what you would want to put into a veggie loaf recipe!

Hope you enjoy!

~Susan

Quick and Easy Rice Milk

Hi Everyone!

Thought I might share with you how I make very quick, easy, and inexpensive rice milk.  I LOVE this rice milk, primarily because it IS quick, easy, and inexpensive!  Of course, then there is the added benefit of knowing I am not feeding my family unhealthy additives.  And my recipe is SO easy to remember, since it only has two items.  #1. Brown Rice, #2. Water.  There--I told you it was easy! 

First you need to cook your rice. I usually make a double batch when I make this up, since we use it every single day on our cereal for breakfast.  But for a regular batch, you will bring 1 cup water to boil, then add 1/3 cup brown rice.  Turn down to a simmer, and let cook for 40 minutes.  If you want to end up with a larger amount of milk, just double the amounts.

When your rice is cooked, place it in your blender.  You will now need 4 cups of warm water.  I just stick mine in the microwave for a couple minutes.  Make SURE your rice and water are both warm when you are making this.  If you cannot make it up while the rice is still warm from cooking, warm your rice up before you do blend it when you come back to it later.

Anyway, place your rice in your blender, and add half of your 4 cups of warm water.  Blend on high for three minutes.  Then add in the remaining 2 cups of water, and blend briefly just to mix it in.

 Next you need to strain your milk.  I have a mesh strainer that fits in the top of my pitcher.  Works great--I just start slowly pouring the milk through the strainer.  After a while I do need to start stirring so it will all strain through.

 You will be left with just a tiny smidgen of chopped up brown rice that is too large to go through the strainer.  When all gathered up, it fits on my stirring spoon, so I throw this into my compost bag without guilt.  If you want to use it up in a casserole or something you are making, go ahead.  This picture above shows from a single batch of rice milk.  Basically, it makes four cups plus a little over.

This picture shows what I have from a double batch of the recipe.  At this point, you are almost done but not quite.  Let the milk sit for 30 minutes.  During this time, heavier rice particles will pool on the bottom of your pitcher.  After it sits for 30 minutes, I simply pour off the top milk slowly into another pitcher, leaving around the bottom inch which is thick and sludgy and I throw it away.  No, I don't feel guilty.  If I am needing rice milk for a recipe I am making, I will use it.  But if I only want milk at that time for cereal, it's too thick for cereal use.  If you want to sweeten your milk with something--sugar, honey, maple syrup, agave nectar--now is the time.  I have tried this, and honestly, my family pretty much cannot tell the difference if I have sweetened the milk or not.  So why bother?  You can also add vanilla flavor if you want to.  Again, I tried it, but my kids use the milk and never even notice if it has vanilla flavor in it or not.

So that's it--just chill in the fridge and use.  I will say, in my opinion this milk is best for cooking or using over cereals.  I do not personally just drink it straight as a drink. If I want that, I will make up a batch of home made soy milk which is much richer tasting (soy beans have quite a high natural amount of fat in them).  But for our every day use, this rice milk is my favorite.  Hope you like it too!

~Susan

Crusty Bread

Hi Everyone!

Today I am going to share with you a recipe that a friend of mine recently directed me to, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE this recipe!!!!  At first, it may sound like it is a lot of extra work, but once you make the recipe you will realize that it is really quite the opposite--easy, fun, healthy, and most important, yummy!

In a nutshell, this is what is called a "No-Knead" bread.  Kind of sort of similar to things like cornbread, except that with THIS bread recipe you are going to end up with a pretty awesome crust.  In fact, the name of the recipe is "Crusty Bread!"

So trust me on this one, and just TRY it--I'm sure you will love it as much as I do.  The only "tricky" part to making this bread is that you need to find something special to bake it in.  A cast iron dutch oven would be ideal, so if you have one then use it.  But if you are like me and are dutch-oven-less, then start thinking about what other things you have in your kitchen that you can use instead.  I ended up using the ceramic insert to my crock pot, and used my cast iron skillet on top of it for a lid.  I couldn't use my crock pot lid, because this is going to bake in the oven and I didn't want to melt the plastic handle on my crock pot lid.  I have also heard of people using a baking stone with a glass bowl inverted on top, and the friend who shared this recipe with me used an Anchor casserole dish/lid that she picked up at Walmart several years ago.  Anyway, start looking around your kitchen.  Below you can see my set-up.

Crusty Bread

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour (I used 2 cups whole wheat and 1 cup white)

1 3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. yeast (If you are using whole wheat flour like me, increase this to 1 tsp.)

1 1/2 c. water

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt and yeast.  Add water and mix until a shaggy mixture forms.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12-18 hours.  Overnight works great.  Heat oven to 450 degrees.  When the oven has reached 450 degrees place pot and lid in the oven and heat the pot for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, pour dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball.  DO NOT KNEAD!!!!  REMEMBER THIS IS A NO KNEAD BREAD.  Just shape it a bit and cover with plastic wrap and let set while the empty pot is heating.  Remove the hot pot from the oven and drop in the dough.  Cover and return to the oven for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake an additional 15 minutes.  Remove bread from oven and place on a cooling rack to cool.

Now, this is a great bread for adding in whatever "flavors" you like.  My first loaf pictured here I added in 1/2 c. dried chopped onions as well as a bunch of chopped up fresh Rosemary.  That loaf barely lasted the day.  I currently have another batter rising on the counter that I put Orange zest, slivered almonds, and dried cherries in.  Yum!  I can't wait to bake that one in the morning!  Use your imagination, stare at your cupboards, and see what inspiration comes to you.  And if you make a combination you really like, please share it with me here!  :)

Have fun!  And happy baking!

~Susan

Yummy Waffles! Healthy and Cheap!

Hi Everyone!

A couple weeks ago my mom asked me what recipe I used for making waffles. Well, turns out she wasn't happy because my waffle recipe requires the use of a blender--and she does not have a blender where she currently is.

Blenders are NOT that expensive--not if you are just purchasing a cheap one at Walmart, anyway. And this recipe needs no special high-powered blender. Just your plain "garden variety" blender will do just fine! So, my advice to Mom is to go buy yourself a blender! These waffles taste yummy, they are SO healthy for you, and they are CHEAP on top of it. I love it when healthy foods end up being truly cheap on your grocery budget! :) That does not happen ALL the time, but it is always nice when it does!

So here it is--my "famous" waffle recipe. Just for you, mom. Have I convinced you to go buy a blender yet????

Light Oat Waffles

2 1/2 c. water

2 c. regular rolled oats

2 T. whole grain flour

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 T. sesame seeds

Blend all ingredients except sesame seeds until creamy. Preheat a non-stick waffle iron on high for 5-8 minutes.

When waffle iron is hot, lightly spray with cooking spray and then sprinkle with sesame seeds. Sorry this picture is fuzzy, but I figured better a fuzzy picture than none at all!
Pour batter into waffle iron, then sprinkle more sesame seeds lightly on top of batter and close waffle iron.

Bake for 8-12 minutes, or until the light on your waffle iron goes off to show it is done.

NO PEEKING!!!!!










Eat right away, or you can cool on baking rack before freezing. Separate waffles by wax paper and freeze in Ziploc bag. Then I reheat them in our toaster oven.

Yum! Whole grain, healthy waffles. And oats are cheap!

Good toppings include natural peanut butter, fresh fruit, fruit jam, granola, etc.

Enjoy!

(Mom, have I convinced you to buy a blender yet?)

Roasted Vegetables and Chickpeas

Hi Everyone!

Sorry I have been so quiet on my blog lately. In case you are wondering where I am--I am currently in Deuteronomy! :) While I miss posting on my blog daily, there is just no way I can be doing the Bible in 90 Days program and have time left in the day to actually get dressed and make food for my family!

And speaking of food, I wanted to share this wonderful recipe I just found. It is SO healthy for you, and my family loves it. I do too! In fact, as I pulled out this recipe to write it up here my teen age son sees it and asks "When are you going to make that again? That was GOOD!" :)

So, without further ado, here is our yummy new recipe discovery!

Roasted Vegetables and Chickpeas

1 lb. carrots, peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces

1 lb. sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

1 large red onion, peeled, halved, and cut into 1 inch wedges

1 lb. red or russet potatoes, cut into cubes

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 16oz. can chickpeas (garbanzos)

2 to 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil or olive oil (I use olive oil)

1 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed (I used fresh rosemary, perhaps 1 Tablespoon)

1 tsp. packed brown sugar or granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

Move oven rack to center of oven. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place all vegetables, garlic, and chickpeas in a large shallow roasting pan. In a small bowl combine oil, rosemary, brown sugar, and salt. Drizzle over vegetables; toss well to coat.

Roast, uncovered, about 45 minutes or until vegetables are lightly browned and tender, stirring twice. Makes one large lasagna type pan full. Serve with home made bread--yum!

Low Fat Cinnamon Rolls--Yum!

Recently I was really craving something sweet, so was looking for a dessert recipe. But at the same time I wanted to stick with something low-fat and fairly healthy. . . All of a sudden I remembered THIS recipe. Don't know why I haven't made it for a while. . . I just forgot about it!

So here it is--one of my favorite recipes in the world. I think you will love it too. Besides that, if I post it on my blog, when I can't find my copy of the recipe I can always look it up here. Don't laugh, it's happened. More than once! ;)

Apple Sauce Cinnamon Rolls

Rolls:

4 cups flour (I use half whole wheat, and half white)

1 package active dry yeast

1 cup natural applesauce

1/2 cup skim milk (I use soy milk)

1/3 cup plus 2 T. sugar, divided

2 T. margarine (I use a low fat version)

1/2 tsp. salt

1 egg, lightly beaten ( I use 1 T. cornstarch and 2 T. water)

2 tsp. cinnamon

Icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 T. skim milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Step 1: In large bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour and yeast. Set aside. In small saucepan, combine 3/4 cup apple sauce, milk, 2 T. of sugar, margarine and salt. Cook over medium heat until margarine melted. Add to flour mixture along with egg. Beat with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl frequently. Beat on high speed 3 minutes. Stir in 2 1/4 cups flour until soft dough forms.

Step 2: Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface; flatten slightly. Knead 3-5 minutes or until smooth and elastic, adding remaining 1/4 cup flour to prevent sticking if necessary. Shape dough into ball; place in large bowl that is sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, cover and let rice in warm place about 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.

Step 3: Spray large lasagna pan with nonstick cooking spray. Punch down dough; turn out onto lightly floured surface. Cover with towel; let rest 10 minutes.

Roll out dough into large square. (O.K., so mine isn't exactly a square. It's close enough!) Spread remaining 1/4 cup apple sauce over dough, to within 1/2 inch of edges. (I usually use more apple sauce here. It's healthy--just don't put it on TOO thick or it will all squish out when you roll it up.) In small bowl, combine remaining 1/3 cup sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over apple sauce.

Roll up dough jelly-roll style. Moisten edge with water, pinch to seal seam.

Cut roll into 1 inch slices. Personally, I think the easiest way in the world to do this is with dental floss. Really. Go get a large piece of floss--maybe 2 feet in length. Wrap each end around a finger on each hand. Slide the floss under your dough roll, slide near the center of the roll and then twist the floss over on top of the roll. It will cut through cleanly, then you just slide the floss under the roll again and repeat until it is all cut. You can see my dental floss in front of my cut dough, on the counter there. It sounds more complicated than it is. You are basically squeezing the dough from all around it instead of mashing it down flat when you try and cut it with a knife. But if you don't want to try my floss idea, just cut it with a knife.

Place your rolls into your sprayed pan. I had a couple more than would fit in my pan--not a problem. Just stick them in a second pan. I promise you, you will NOT have a problem with leftovers! Cover with towel and let rise in warm place around 30 minutes or until nearly doubled in bulk. Meanwhile, get your oven preheating at 375 degrees.

Bake 375 for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. I usually end up close to 30 minutes in my oven. But check them--you do NOT want to burn these or dry them all out because you forgot them!

Cool the pans on wire racks for 5 minutes.

In small bowl, combine powdered sugar, 1 T. milk, and vanilla until smooth. Drizzle over tops of rolls. Serve warm. Yummmmmmm!!!!!!!!

Add a fruit salad, and it's my favorite Friday night supper. A special meal for a special time--welcoming in the Sabbath!

Susan's Top Secret Ginger-Bread Men Cookie Recipe

O.K.

I know you all want it--people are BEGGING me for it, SO. . .

Here it is. My TOP-SECRET Ginger-Bread Men Cookie Recipe. Not really. But doesn't that make it sound more exciting? I mean, if I say "Here is the recipe that no one has asked me about but I think you will like" who will write down the recipe then?

All teasing aside, I do really like this newly adapted recipe. My family has fought over the results (THAT is not an exaggeration!), and the recipe is low-fat for a cookie--and with the changes I made, it is vegan as well. Oh--and I added in the whole wheat flour, so it has some fiber in it. I haven't made it with all three cups of flour being whole wheat, but as Aunt Kay says, I'm "fixin too." You can say "fixin" if you are from the south.

So here goes:

Gingerbread Cookies

Mix together the following:

3 cups flour (I use 2 cups whole wheat and 1 cup white)

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 T. ground ginger (yes, that really IS one Tablespoon!)

1 3/4 tsp. cinnamon (I substitute corriander)

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

Beat until well-blended:

6 T. softened butter

3/4 c. packed brown sugar

1 large egg (I use 1 T. cornstarch and 2 T. water)

Add and beat in:

1/2 c. molasses

Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until smooth. Divide dough in half. Roll dough out on floured surface until 1/4 inch thick. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters. Bake at 375 degrees for 7-10 minutes. Cool on racks.

Enjoy!

Honey Granola Bars

Last week I went in search of a healthy dessert recipe, as I was craving something sweet. I found this recipe, and it turned out pretty yummy! No, not the same as a store bought granola bar, but it is very low fat and held together really pretty well! The last granola bar recipe I tried was more granola crumbs, not bars. :) So, hope someone enjoys adding this recipe to their collection as much as I did!





Honey Granola Bars

1 1/4 c. quick cooking oats
1/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. toasted wheat germ
1/4 tsp. cinnamon (I used corriander)
1/4 c. plus 2 T. honey
1/3 c. dark raisins or chopped dried apricots (I used the apricots)

I also added 2 T. ground flaxseed meal--I think next time I may even hide a bit more flaxseed in them, as it is SO healthy for you!

1) Combine the oats, flour, wheat germ, and cinnamon, and stir to mix well. Add the honey, and stir until the mixture is moist and crumbly. (I gave up and used my hands, which worked great!) Fold in the raisins or apricots.

2) Coat an 8 inch square pan with nonstick cooking spray. Pat the mixture into the pan, and bake at 300 F for 18-20 minutes, or until lightly browned.

3) Cool to room temperature, cut into bars, and serve.

Olive Bread

1) Have your lovely kitchen assistant mix 5 cups whole wheat flour, 1 cup white flour, 4 1/2 tsp. yeast, and 1 tsp. salt in large bowl.

2) When dry ingredients mixed well, add 2 cups warm water and 2 T olive oil, mixing to a soft dough.

3) Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 8-10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.

4) Place in lightly oiled bowl, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place for 1 hour.

5) Turn out onto floured surface and punch down. Flatten out and sprinkle on 1 can black olives and one jar green olives, sliced. Fold up and knead to distribute the olives.

6) Shape into an oval loaf. Place on lightly greased baking sheet. Make deep cuts in top of loaf and gently push sections over. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place for 30-45 minutes, until double in size. Meanwhile, preheat oven for 400 degrees.

7) Brush the bread with olive oil and bake for 35 minutes. (I use Pam Olive Oil spray instead of brushing, as you can put on a lighter coating that way.)

8) Enjoy!

Just look at those lovely olives peeping out at you! This is probably my kids absolute favorite bread in the whole world. Mine too! Original recipe called for all white flour and only 1 cup of whole wheat flour, but I switched those around. If you have family members who are scared of whole wheat, you could always switch it back to all white flour. But I lay bets that if anyone will be "converted" to a whole wheat bread eating person, this is the recipe to do it with! Hope you enjoy!

Adventures in Eating--Linguine!

Eating around our house is always an adventure--especially when I am trying to tweek the way we normally eat something, and make it healthier! Today I had been reading about increasing fiber in pasta meals, so a little while before lunch I employed the "Stand and Stare" method of meal planning and thought "PASTA!". You know the method--I can't be the only one who uses it, because I actually read about this method of planning on another blog. So I "KNOW" I am not alone. There is at least one other like me "out there"! You stand in front of your cupboard and refridgerator and see what ingredients just seem to go together.

Today, I started with a 13 ounce box of Ronzoni Healthy Harvest whole wheat linguine. Got the water boiling on the stove and put it in to cook.

Meanwhile, I opened and rinsed two cans of Great Northern Beans, throwing them into a large bowl. Next came a can of black olives, which I decided to slice so they would be spread throughout the dish better. We have lots of fresh garden tomatoes currently, so around 10-12 romas were chopped and added in.

Last step was to make a pesto sauce using fresh basil from the garden. The only change I do in my pesto recipe is I only use 1 Tablespoon olive oil, instead of the 1/4 c. olive oil that the recipe originally called for. I know olive oil is a good type of fat, but it still adds quite a bit of fat to recipes and today I was trying to add in more fiber, not fat! I have found 1 Tablespoon seems to still be enough to spread around and keep my pasta from sticking in one clump--and the pesto still has some water, lemon juice, and walnuts blended up in it, so there is other moisture.

The food may look kind of funny if you are used to pasta with NOTHING mixed in, but honestly, the only word to describe this new dish is YUMMY! Both kids had numerous servings of it, and I think they would have finished it all off except I finally took the bowl off the table because I wanted some leftovers for tomorrow! There were only four of us eating it, and the bowl size is a huge one!

Needless to say, I will definately be making this recipe again! Which means I need to write it down in my cook book before I forget what I put in it! (But at least now I can always go back and look it up here!)

Pesto Sauce:
1/2 c. walnuts
1/4 c. olive oil (I use 1 T. and then fill the rest in with water)
1/3 c. water
1/4 c. lemon juice
1/2 c. fresh basil leaves
3 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp. salt

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Makes approximately 1 1/2 cups.

Kids in the Kitchen Monday--Applesauce Cupcakes!

O.K., so Monday brings us to another "Kids in the Kitchen" day. Only this week, I was so busy with other things that it didn't happen until Tuesday! Big brother Austin is at camp this week, and Alison was VERY quick to ask if she could take over his Monday lunch meal. She is anxious to do more and more in the kitchen. Note the hair decorations on our lovely kitchen assistant. When she came out of the bathroom this morning, my husband took one look at her and asked me "Are you going to take her out in PUBLIC like that???!!!" To which I replied, "Why not?" I mean, if ONE butterfly barrette is good, isn't NINE butterfly barrettes that much better?

Photos show our kitchen assistant mixing up her soon-to-be-famous Applesauce Cupcakes. Original recipe came from a kid's cookbook her great aunt gave her, but let's just say it was changed a bit in the process. Alison started out reading the recipe out loud to me. "Eggs. Well, we don't use eggs. So we will just leave them out!" To which I promptly told her that if we left them out, we needed to substitute something in their place. I know eggs have some very good nutrition in them, but unfortunately I can't eat them due to cholesterol, so I will replace them with 1 Tablespoon of corn starch plus 1/4 cup of water. So those were replaced. White flour was replaced with whole wheat flour. When reading the recipe which said "1 cup sugar" I remarked that one cup of sugar was a lot--so Alison said "let's just put in 1/2 cup!" I figured, why not? So the recipe substitutions went on. One half cup of butter was replaced with 1/4 cup olive oil. I have absolutely no idea what the REAL recipe would taste like, probably not really like our finished product, but I have to say we all thought the cupcakes Alison made today were SCRUMPTIOUS! Of course, I did catch her just in time to prevent her from putting in 1/2 cup of baking soda--recipe read 1/2 tsp., and Alison caught the 1/2 part and thought she had the right measurement. I don't think we would have been able to eat them if she had put 1/2 cup of soda in!!!!

We choose to make them in the mini-muffin sized tins. They just seem more fun that way. Besides, you can eat more!

Taste testing is always the best part! Well, if they taste GOOD it's the best part, anyway!

Alison rounded out her meal with corn on the cob which she enthusastically shucked herself, as well as some vegeterian baked beans. We also had some fresh peaches from Georgia and cool whip on top. Yum! Can't wait for tomorrow's leftovers!

Alison's Applesauce Cupcakes

Blend together:

1/4 c. olive oil

1/2 c. sugar

2 T. cornstarch

1/2 c. water

In separate bowl stir together:

1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. coriander

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Add dry ingredients to wet, along with 1 c. applesauce, mixing well.

Bake in preheated oven at 3:50

Mini muffin tins took 25 minutes--full size tins would take a bit longer.

Enjoy!

Kids in the Kitchen Monday--Meatball Pizza!

We have had company this week, so I am a bit late in posting our latest cooking lesson. But as they say, better late than never, so here goes--pictures from Austin's most recent cooking adventure. For this week, he decided to make "Meatball Pizza", which is a recipe the kids love for me to make. Austin truely did a great job. He started out with getting the "meatballs" ready--actually, these are vegetarian, so there is no meat in them but that's the simpliest title to give them. Anyway, he mixed up the meatballs, and started out happily scooping them. It was great to have someone else doing this job. It's not hard, but is definately time consuming. I had to laugh, because when I came back into the kitchen a bit later I was just in time to overhear Austin muttering to himself something along the lines of "I'm not going to make meatball pizza again for a LONG time!" Ahhhhh. Music to my ears--more mother appreciation for things that I do! ;) Of course, we all LOVE meatball pizza, so I actually think that now that he knows how to make it, he should make it all the time for us, don't you all agree?

After the meatballs were made and baking in the oven, it was time to move on to the pizza dough. Austin used to have his own bread business, but his bread was always mixed up in my Bosch kitchen machine. Other than that and doing bread machine bread, he hasn't had a lot of experience in mixing bread dough by hand--and it's a bit of a challenge, even for adults who have good use of two hands! But he did a great job, mixing, mixing, mixing, mixing and it finally was kneaded pretty good.

Wait a minute! Don't you think it looks like he is having TOO much fun? I mean, this IS supposed to be school, so maybe he should at least look more serious......

Every famous chef needs a lovely assistant, so Alison graciously stepped in to fill the role. She's a good little kitchen worker, and I think her favorite medium is dough!

Yummmmmmmmm! I can almost smell it just by looking at the picture! The finished product--with crust, tomato sauce, meatballs, olives, and onions. Of course, you can add whatever you like on top, but we sure gobbled this pizza up!

Mini Meatballs

1 12.3 ounce package Mori-Nu Silken Tofu

1 medium onion

1 tsp. imitation chicken seasoning

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1 T. Braggs Liquid Aminos or soy sauce

1 c. pecan meal

2 c. crushed saltine crackers or bread crumbs

In blender put the tofu, onion, seasoning, garlic powder and soy sauce. Blend until smooth. Pour the blended mixture into medium size bowl. Stir in the pecan meal and cracker crumbs. Shape the mixture, one teaspoon at a time, into 100 mini meatballs. Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray and place the meatballs on the tray. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

These meatballs freeze great, so when I have the time I try and make some up ahead of time so I can have them in a flash when needed. Enjoy! :D

Kids in the Kitchen Monday!

Today was my 17 year old's day to make lunch once again. He did a great job this week, making a total of six different recipes. Yum! It was even better than last week, and last week his meal was DELICIOUS. Today he chose Mexican food, and you can see in the picture that Alison was a very willing kitchen assistant. In fact, to be honest, she shocked me with how WELL she rolled tortillas! They might not be a perfect circle, but they were exactly the right thickness--not too thin, not too thick, and no holes in the middle! Austin mixed up the dough (recipe to follow!) and then I showed him how to roll one tortilla. Alison asked to help, so I gave her one ball of dough. Austin rolled two or three, and then I showed him how to cook them. Meanwhile, Alison had finished rolling hers and asked if she could roll another. When I saw what a wonderful job she did, she ended up inheriting the rolling job completely while Austin manned (or is that "teen-aged"?) the stove.

Here's Austin cooking a tortilla in a hot, dry, frying pan.

This is a true "Happy Meal". Even the food is smiling back at us! :D

Finished stack of tortillas.....

Here is the finished meal, right before we dove in!

Things Austin made were:

1) Home made tortillas (recipe below)

2) Baked Corn chips (recipe already posted on blog)

3) Refried beans--cooked in crock pot

4) Brown rice--cooked in rice cooker

5) Vegan Cheese sauce

6) Polynesian Bars--sort of a bar cookie with date filling

Not too bad for a kid with cerebral palsy who only has use of one hand!

O.K.--here is the promised tortilla recipe--

Homemade Tortillas

1 c. whole wheat flour

2 c. white flour

dash salt

1/3 c. olive oil

1 1/4 c. water

Mix all dry ingrediants together. Mix wet and pour over dry. Mix and then knead on counter for a few minutes. Make into 12 small balls. Flatten in hand slightly, then roll on floured counter into circle. Put on a hot DRY frying pan and bake until you can move it with your fingers. Flip and cook other side. Fill with favorite filling and enjoy! :D

P.S.--I haven't tried this recipe yet with all whole wheat flour, but I will one of these days....

Honey Banana Bread

As you all know, I have been searching out high-fiber recipes lately. I ran across this recipe in one of my cook books, and was very happy to see that not only was it written for using only whole wheat flour, but also it has no added oil or fat at all--only what naturally occurs in the whole wheat flour! Needless to say, I had to try it! I think it turned out great. Tasted wonderful, only improvement "I" would give it might be to add walnuts--though of course those would also add some fat as well. But it would at least be a "healthy" fat type, and would carry fiber along with it as well! :) Another thing I liked about this recipe is that when I cut into the bread it was "dry" and not overly wet, as sometimes banana bread is for me. I am tempted to try this same recipe again, substituting zucchini, or even shredded carrots. I did have to add a tiny bit of water at the end of the mixing, as it was just a bit too dry to get all of my flour mixed in. I added no more than 1/4 cup, and I had doubled the recipe so I was making it for two loaves. Anyway, following is the recipe! Enjoy!

Honey Banana Bread

2 c. whole wheat flour

1/4 c. brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder (I used Rumford)

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 c. mashed very ripe banana (about 2 large)

1/3 c. honey

1/4 c. skim milk (I used soy milk)

Step 1) Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and nutmeg and stir tomix well. Add the banana, honey, and milk, and stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened.

Step 2) Coat an 8 x 4 inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Spread the mixture evenly in the pan, and bake at 325 F for 45-50 minutes, or just until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Step 3) Remove the bread from the oven, and let sit for 10 minutes. Invert the loaf onto a wire rack, turn right side up, and cool before slicing and serving. Yum!