Vegetarian Tortilla Soup

Vegetarian Tortilla Soup

2 points per 1 cup serving

My newest obsession is Qdoba's Vegetarian Mexican Gumbo and this Tortilla Soup is part of my recreation of it. This recipe is just for the soup, and at the end, I will tell you how I put it together w/ other ingredients to make my own Mexican Gumbo. This soup recipe is based on one I found at allrecipes.com.

Ingredients

• 1 Tbl olive oil
• 1 lb. package of frozen Grilled Pepper Blend (I found these at Target - Archer Farms brand)
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 Tbl ground cumin
• 20 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 small can chopped green chile peppers (Use more or less to taste. I actually like things very spicy, but I only added about 3/4 can so it wouldn't be too spicy for my 3 year old. I would have liked at least 2 cans for my own taste.)
• 4 tsp Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base (or 4 vegetarian bouillon cubes or 4 cups of vegetarian broth).
• 4 cups water (if using broth, eliminate water!)
• 11 oz can of whole kernel corn (I used Green Giant Mexicorn)

Directions

• Heat olive oil in large pot
• Add onion, garlic and frozen pepper blend and saute until vegetables are tender
• Add crushed tomatoes, cumin, chile peppers, bouillon and water and bring to a boil.
• Lower heat and simmer about 20 minutes.
• Add corn and simmer another 5 minutes.

To make Mexican Gumbo, add 1/2 cup cooked brown rice, 1/2 cup cooked black beans to a bowl, then add 1 cup of Tortilla Soup. Top with shredded cheese, sour cream, chopped cilantro, lime juice, avocado or guacamole, tortilla chips and/or whatever else you can imagine!! Obviously, all of these things add to the points value; but it makes for a very filling main dish!!

Oat Dinner Muffins

Oat Dinner Muffins

Guessing at 2-3 points each

I came up with this recipe so that I'd have a quick, whole grain bread to eat with beans, soups, etc. Cornbread is really tasty, but since the corn is degerminated in the milling process, it is not a whole grain.

I majorly modified a basic muffin recipe from my trusty ol' Better Homes And Gardens Cook Book and came up with these sweet, delicious, whole grain dinner muffins. I completely eliminated cooking oil from the recipe to make it lower in fat and you can't even tell.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white flour


• 3/4 cup rolled oats


• 1/4 cup flax seed meal


• 1/4 cup sugar (though, I think I will use a bit less next time)


• 2 tsp baking powder


• 1/4 tsp salt


• 1 beaten egg


• 3/4 cup milk

Directions:

• Spray muffin pan or line with paper baking cups.


• Preheat oven to 400.


• In medium bowl, combine flour, oats, flax seed meal, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center of flour mixture.


• In another bowl, combine egg and milk.


• Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir until just moistened (batter should be lumpy).


• Spoon batter into muffin pan. I used a 1/4 measuring cup and it only made 8 muffins vs. the 12 the original recipe stated it would yield.


• Sprinkle dry rolled oats on the top of muffin batter.


• Bake in 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes until a wooden toothpick inserted in centers come out clean.
  

Sweet Cornbread

Sweet (but not TOO sweet) Cornbread
I still need to determine points, but I'm guessing about 3 points per 1/8 piepan slice

I recently found a brand of baking flours and cornmeals called Shawnee Best. I like using local foods/companies so I was excited to buy it!

This recipe comes off of the back of the Shawnee Best Yellow Corn Meal package. I meant to make the Homestead Corn Meal Muffins - there is a different recipe for muffins vs. cornbread on the package - but I realized too late that I was out of muffin liners, so I used a pie pan instead.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup yellow corn meal
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil (original recipe called for 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk (I used soy milk b/c we have some to use up and Robin doesn't like it)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Lightly grease bottom of pie pan with butter.
• Mix together cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.
• Add oil, egg and milk and stir until dry ingredients are just moistened.
• Fill pie pan with batter and bake approximately 15 minutes. It is done with a toothpick inserted into center of the bread comes out clean.

I still need to determine points, but I'm guessing about 3 points per 1/8 piepan slice.

Oatmeal flax seed meal muffins (a.k.a. Meal in a Muffin)

Oatmeal Flax Muffins (a.k.a. Meal in a Muffin)

Plus a little lesson about flax seeds and flax meal. Bonus!

Adapted from Bob's Red Mill Bran Flax Muffins

Yield: 21 muffins; 3 points each muffin

I call these "Meal in a Muffin" because they include all of the food groups, including chocolate!!


I adapted these muffins from the Bran Flax Muffin recipe on the back of Bob's Red Mill Organic Flax Seed Meal package. Flax seed meal is really just flax seeds that are ground up very finely. I tried making my own flax seed meal a while back from whole flax seeds with no success. I ran some whole flax seeds in my food processor for a very long time and wound up with really scraped up, but still whole, seeds.


Why the flax seed meal? Why not just eat the seeds whole? Well, flax seeds are very good for you (see the product details section of the Flax Seed Meal link above), but if eaten whole, they pass straight through without being digested. So their benefits are literally being flushed down the toilet. The meal is digested by your body and you can reap the great benefits of these wonderful tiny brown seeds. Ok, ok... now on to the receipe!


Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups white flour (Bob calls for whole wheat, but I think it might make the muffins too dense)
• 3/4 cup flax seed meal
• 3/4 cup rolled oats (Bob calls for oat bran cereal, but rolled oats work just as well)
• 1/2 cup sugar (Bob calls for 1 full cup of brown sugar)
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 medium/large carrots, shredded (I use the food processor's shredding blade for ease)
• 2 medium apples, cored and shredded (Again, I use the food processor. Bob's recipe calls for the apples to be peeled, but I don't do that. It takes too much time and the peel of the apple has a lot of good nutrients that I don't want to miss out on!)
• 1/2 cup baking chocolate chips (I use these in place of the 1 cup of raisins)
• 3/4 cup chopped almonds (Bob calls for 1 full cup)
• 1/2 cup low fat vanilla yogurt (Bob calls for 3/4 cup of milk, but I like using yogurt for some of the milk)
• 1/4 cup 2% milk
• 2 large eggs, beaten (though if using a KitchenAid mixer, you don't need to pre-beat the eggs).
• 1 tsp vanilla
  

Directions

• Mix together flour, Bob's Red Mill Flaxseed Meal, oat meal, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl.
• Stir in carrots, apples, chocolate chips and nuts.
• Add yogurt, milk, eggs and vanilla.
• Mix until ingredients are moistened. DO NOT OVER MIX.
• Fill muffin cups using a 1/4 cup measuring cup.
• For a gourmet look, sprinkle the tops of the muffins with a small amount of dry rolled oats.
• Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes.
• Yields 21 muffins (Bob's recipe reads that it yields 15. I don't think I fill the muffin cups as full as Bob does.)

Chocolate-Coconut-Flax Seed Meal covered pretzels

OK so this these FAR from nutritious, but very delicious. I wanted to make a chocolaty snack for a road trip and just made this up on the fly.

Ingredients:

• 48 Snyder's Pretzel Snaps (obviously you can use any type of pretzel)
• 3/4 cup of Nestle semi-sweet chocolate morsels
• 1 Tbs 1% milk
• shredded coconut - not much, maybe 2 Tbs?
• flax seed meal - again not much... maybe 1 - 2 Tbs?

Directions:

• Melt chocolate in sauce pan over low heat, stirring continuously to prevent sticking and burning.
• Add milk and mix thoroughly.
• Add pretzels and stir to coat. They will NOT coat completely.
• Spread pretzels out onto a wax-paper covered cookie sheet. You might need to sort of reallocate chocolate from pretzels with a lot of chocolate to pretzels with not so much. Sort of like a culinary Robin Hood. Green hat and tights optional. ;)
• Sprinkle coconut and flax seed meal over the pretzels*
• Place in freezer until cooled. I left them in overnight, then put them in a bread bag (trying to reuse stuff more often!)

*One thing I would change is to add the coconut and flax seed meal to the chocolate while it's still in the saucepan, before adding the pretzels. Even though I sprinkled these on while the chocolate was still hot, most of the coconut fell off after I placed the pretzels in the bag. Even so, these are VERY delicious. Nice balance of sweet, salty and crunchy!! (And by adding the flax seed meal I feel like they are somewhat healthier!!)

Curried Lentils

This is one my my new favorite recipes to make. It is super easy, low in points and SO delicious! I could eat this every day. This can be made in the crock pot or on the stove.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of dry red lentils, rinsed
• 1 cup of dry green lentils, rinsed
• 4 cups of vegetable broth (I use "Better than Bullion" to make the broth)
• 2 medium potatoes, cubed
• 1 - 2 red bell pepper, diced (I've also added chopped carrots to the recipe.)
• 1 Tbs curry powder (or to taste)
• 1 1/2 cups of water

Directions

• Add all ingredients to pot (for the stove) or crock pot (if using slow cooker)
• Stir to mix thoroughly
• If using a slow cooker, cook on high for about 3 or 4 hours. DONE!
• If using the stove, bring to a boil, then lower heat. Simmer for 30 minutes to an hour until done. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.
• Add more water during cooking if needed.

This is very good served over brown rice or all alone. This recipe has been a HUGE hit with anyone who has tasted it!

4 points for 1 cup.

Blueberry compote

Blueberry Compote

1 point per serving

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
• 1 tsp raw honey (you can substitute sugar)
• 1 Tbs water

Directions:

• Add half of the blueberries (1/4 cup), the honey, and the water to a sauce pan and stir.
• Cook over medium high heat, while constantly stirring.
• When the blueberries have burst and the sauce is a deep purple, add the last half of the blueberries.
• Continue stirring the sauce until the blueberries have cooked, just a few more minutes.

This yields one serving, but it can very easily be doubled (or more) if you are cooking for one person. I put this on French Toast and it was delicious!

Easier Enchilada Sauce

I've developed an easier version my enchilada sauce, which originally appeared here: http://chefholly.blogspot.com/2006/06/vegetarian-black-bean-enchiladas-about.html.

And this is a variation of my original enchilada recipe: http://chefholly.blogspot.com/2007/07/variation-of-black-bean-enchiladas.html.

This sauce does not require a batch of freshly made salsa, but it tastes just as good! Here's how I make it.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of canned crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup of water
• 2-3 Tbs chili powder (or to taste)
• 2-3 tsp ground cumin (or to taste)
• 1-2 tsp garlic powder (or to taste)
• 1 Tbs dried oregano leaf (or to taste)

Directions:

• Place all ingredients into sauce pan and stir to mix completely.
• Taste. Add more spices if necessary.
• Heat throughly.

That's it! :)

American Toast (a patriotic version of French toast)

4 points for 2 pieces (including berries, whipped topping and maple syrup!)
This is a lightened up version of French Toast. I'm calling it American Toast since yesterday was Independence Day! Pictured above are 2 pieces, which was my serving, but my instructions are for 3 slices. I made one piece for my little sous chef, Robin.
Ingredients:

• 3 slices Newman's Own 100% whole wheat bread
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbs 1% milk
• about 3/4 cups of strawberries/blueberries
• about 1.5 Tbs pure maple syrup (I used 1 Tbs for my serving and I'm guessing 1/2 Tbs for Robin)
• 1.5 Tbs whipped topping (not the healthies thing, but from the 4th of July celebration yesterday and it tasted really good. Plus, it's low in calories.)

Directions:

• Heat skillet to medium hot.
• Crack the egg into a bowl and mix completely with a fork.
• Add the milk and mix (this thins out the egg to help save on calories/points).
• Dip both sides of bread into the egg mixture and scrape off the excess. Place bread into the skillet. Depending on how large your skillet is, you may be able to cook more than one piece at a time.
• Cook each piece of bread for a few minutes at a time, until each side is browned.
• Remove toast to plate, add berries, syrup and whipped topping.*
• Enjoy!!

*For two pieces, add 1/2 cup of berries, 1 Tbs syrup and 1 Tbs whipped topping. For one piece, add 1/4 cup berries, 1/2 tbs syrup and 1/2 Tbs whipped topping.

Black Bean and Scrambled Egg Breakfast Tacos

1 taco = 2 points

I made this recipe just like the Black Bean Tacos, except I only used 1 Tbs of black beans, added half a scrambled egg and skipped the cheese. This was a very good and filling breakfast!

Black Bean Tacos

5 points for 3 tacos

I've been making these tacos all week loosely-based on a blog post my sister Carrie sent to me. I've finally perfected the technique for cooking the tortillas so that they don't break when you turn them over! I just made 3 of these for dinner, so I will give instructions on how to make 3. They are SO good and it is hard to believe how low in fat and calories they are. The beans and the corn tortillas make a complete protein. The dairy is also a complete protein in itself.

Ingredients:

• 3 thin corn tortillas
• 6 Tbs black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 Tbs salsa
• 3 Tbs shredded lowfat cheese* (divided)
• 1 Tbs light sour cream (divided)
• Olive Oil spray (or Pam if you don't have an oil sprayer)

Directions:

• Heat skillet to medium high.
• Place black beans in a bowl, along with the salsa. Mash with a fork until well blended.
• Lightly spray tortillas on each side with olive oil (or Pam) and place onto skillet. I have a large iron skillet and I was able to start one taco, then after I folded it over, I moved it to the side and was able to start on the next tortilla and so forth. By the end all 3 were folded over and cooking in the skillet at the same time.
• While tortilla is cooking, scoop 1/3 of black bean mixture (about 2.5 Tbs) onto it. Spread the bean mixture to run the diameter of the tortilla, but slightly off center.
• Using a spatula, fold the tortilla in half.
• Scoot the taco to the side of your skillet and start the next tortilla.
• Turn tacos over to cook the other side once the tortillas are getting a bit crispy** and is getting dark brown spots on them.
• When the 2nd side is getting a bit crispy** and has dark brown spots, remove tacos onto a plate.
• Add whatever you like to the tacos; I added some more salsa, 1 Tbs of cheese per taco and 1 tsp of light sour cream per taco. I didn't have any fresh lettuce or tomatoes, but that would have been really good in them.

*I used a sharp cheddar cheese made from goat milk from a local dairy; it has the same calories and fat as lowfat cow milk cheese. If you use regular cow milk shredded cheese, the points increase to 6. I'm not a huge fan of lowfat cow's milk cheese because it just doesn't seem to cook or taste the same. I'm willing to give up lower points for good cheese.

**These are not crispy corn tacos. The tortillas are still soft, but the outsides are a bit crispy/crunchy. I just wanted to clarify; if you were expecting an uber-crunchy taco like you might get at Taco Bell, you'd be disappointed. I love the consistency of these tacos. They don't fall apart when you eat them.

Chickpea Salad Sandwiches (aka, Vegetarian Tuna Salad)

3.5 points for the entire sandwich (1.5 for the chickpea salad, 2 for the bread)

I had read somewhere several years ago that vegetarians can make a mock-tuna salad by using chickpeas (also called garbanzo beans or ceci beans) in place of the tuna fish. I never tried it until yesterday. I must say, this is a pretty good, quick lunch. I was bummed I didn't have any lettuce and tomato to complete the sandwich, but it was still good. Plus, the chickpeas aong with the whole wheat of the bread make a complete protein.

Ingredients (makes enough for 2 sandwiches)

• 1/2 cup cooked chickpeas, drained
• 1 Tbs light mayonaise
• 1/4 tsp yellow mustard*
• several dill pickle slices, chopped
• squeeze of lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• Place chickpeas in a bowl and mash with a fork. They don't need to be pureed by any means, but you might want to be sure that you hit each bean.
• Add the rest of the ingredients and mix with the fork.
• (I just realized that it would be easier to just throw all ingredients into a food processor until mixed.)

Again, this makes enough for 2 sandwiches. I ate the one pictured above yesterday and today made a wrap with a Flatout flatbread. I added zucchini slices to the wrap to bulk it up a bit.

Green Salad with Mango -OR- What to do with a mango that is too tart to eat

I got some mangoes this week through my organic food co-op so I cut one up for Robin and me to eat. It was pretty tart, even for me, so I decided to just throw it on my green salad that I already had going. I added salsa and some salad spritz and wow, I couldn't believe how good this was! The sweet-tartness balanced very well with the spiciness of the salsa and the acidity of the salad spritz. Very good!!

Father's Day Oat and Flax pancakes

I made these pancakes for Father's Day. Well, I just happened to make them ON Father's Day before realizing it was Father's Day. LOL.

This recipe makes about 13 pancakes at 2 points a piece.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup 2% milk
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 2 Tbs honey
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup ground flax seed meal

Directions:

• Combine dry ingredients in mixer.
• Add wet ingredients until completely mixed.
• Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop batter onto medium-hot pan.
• Cook the 1st side a few minutes, until edges start to get dry and bubbles break through the top of the batter and start to pop.
• Flip, and cook 2nd side a few more minutes.

Grilled Portobello (Portabella) Mushroom Burgers

Grilled Portobello (Portabella) Mushroom Burgers

6 points

I made these a few nights ago during a visit to my parents' house. I don't have an outside grill of my own (I don't grill a lot and the small amount I do grill, I can do on my cast iron grill pan on the stove), but my parents do. My dad fired up his small grill for these absolutely DELISH burgers. The points from these come from the cheese (I think 3 points per slice) and the hamburger bun (also 3 points, if I remember correctly). We served these with yellow squash that was sliced and sauteed with a small amount of butter, olive oil, fresh onion slices and garlic powder.

These burgers were SO GOOD.

Ingredients:

• Portobello (portabella) mushrooms - one for each burger
• Newman's Own Light Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing* (I used about 1/4 cup for 2 mushrooms with a bit left over)
• 1 - 2 tsp dry thyme
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 - 2 tsp dried onion flakes
• Slices of cheese (I used muenster)
• hamburger buns
• hamburger condiments and garnishments, as desired (e.g., mustard, mayo, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles).

Directions:

• Prepare your grill for cooking.
• Clean mushrooms by wiping them lightly with a damp towel. You just want to get the dirt off without damaging the mushroom. Avoid using water because it could reduce the flavor of the mushroom. (See this reference: http://www.recipetips.com/glossary-term/t--33854/portobello-mushroom.asp).
• Mix the Balsamic vinaigrette dressing, thyme, garlic powder and onion flakes in a bowl.
• Brush the tops and bottoms of the mushrooms with the dressing mixture.
• Grill the mushrooms about 5 - 7 minutes on each side.
• Add the sliced cheese to each mushroom and cook until just melted (only about a minute or two).
• Place mushroom on hamburger bun and garnish as desired.
• Enjoy!

*If you don't have balsamic vinaigrette dressing, you can mix about 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar with about 2 tsp olive oil, the above spices and salt for the marinade.

Egg Salad Sandwich

Egg Salad Sandwich 3.5 Weight Watchers Points

My mom made egg salad sandwiches a couple of weeks ago while we were visiting and I now have a new favorite sandwich!!

I hard boiled some eggs earlier this week so that they'd be ready for whenever I needed them.  Yesterday, I grabbed two to put into Robin's and my brown bag lunch we took to the zoo.  

Anyway, I just made an egg salad sandwich for myself for lunch today.  It was so good!

Ingredients:

• one small hard boiled egg
• 1 Tbs Hellmann's Light Mayo, divided
• 1 tsp yellow mustard
• several dill pickle slices, diced
• 2 pieces Nature's Own 100% whole wheat bread
• paprika
• black pepper

Directions

• grate the egg into a bowl (this is easier said than done!)
• Add 2/3 Tbs of the mayo (2 teaspoons), mustard, and diced pickles.
• Use remaining teaspoon of mayo to spread onto the bread slices
• spread the egg salad onto one of the bread slices
• sprinkle egg salad with paprika and black pepper
• close sandwich, cut in half if desired and eat!

This is such an easy, delicious, filling sandwich if you already have the eggs boiled and cold.  I was really able to get the points down without sacrificing taste by using a small egg, which are 1 point each.  The package indicated "medium" eggs, but they are very small and onl 50 calories each.  Even with the amount of fat (I can't remember how much off the top of my head, probably around 3 or 4 grams), they still come out to 1 point.  This was well enough egg for one sandwich!

I also used the reduced fat mayo (I just can't bring myself to use fat free mayo; it's just wrong), which is half the fat and calories of regular mayo.  The mustard, pickles, paprika and pepper are 0 points, but add a lot to the flavor.  And the Nature's Own 100% whole wheat bread is 1.5 points for 2 slices.

I bet this would be good with some lettuce and tomato, which I have in the fridge, but I wanted to taste the pure egg salad the first time.  I'm glad I did!

Protein Packed Salad

4 Weight Watchers Points

I'm eating this delicious salad I created for lunch today as I type this post.  I was at the local health food store today and found a new local goat cheese!! I was so excited.  The goats were milked and the cheese was made about 100 miles from where I live.  The cheese is from Pure Prairie Creamery.  This creamery offers several flavors of cheese; I chose the sharp white cheddar.  It is incredible, to say the least.  Oh, and it is naturally low fat.  It has about the same nutritional information as another (non-local) brand of reduced-fat organic cow milk cheese that I sometimes get.

For my protein packed salad, I used the following ingredients:

• Chopped romaine lettuce (about a cup or two)
• Sliced and quartered cucumber
• Diced fresh tomatoes
• 1 oz sharp white goat cheddar cheese, shredded
• One medium hard boiled egg, chopped
  
• 1 tsp flaxseed meal
• Several sprays of Newman's Own Natural Salad Mist - Balsamic flavor

I just layered the ingredients into a bowl in the order above, sprayed with the Salad Mist (I was so excited there is another option now besides the Wishbone Salad Mist which is almost completly HFCS - aka the devil), and added a dash of salt and pepper.

This is a very satisfying, healthy, low points lunch!

16 Bean Soup made in the Crock Pot

It's been years since I've made dry beans in a Crock Pot, so to refresh my memory, I Googled and found a really neat blog with some great instructions: A Year of CrockPotting: Cooking Dried Beans in the CrockPot.

Basing my technique on this blog's instructions, I rinsed a 1 pound bag of 16 bean soup in a collendar last night and picked out any beans that looked shrivled, cracked or just looked yucky.  I placed the beans in the crock and added enough water to cover the beans plus about 2" of water.  I scooped out any beans that floated to the top, then I just covered the crock with the lid and left the beans on the counter to soak overnight.

This morning at about 10am, I poured off the soak water and added fresh water, again enough to cover the beans plus 2" of water.  I turned the Crock Pot on high and left the beans to cook.  I checked on them about 4pm (so, 6 hours of cooking on high) and they were very soft.  At this point, I added spices since I've read that adding spices before the beans cook through will keep the beans from softening.  Instead of using the packet that comes with the 16 bean soup mix, I use my own spices.  I added the following spices.  The measurements are approximations, since I cook by taste.

• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 Tbs chili powder
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• dash or two of salt
• dash or two of pepper

I wish I would have added the spices earlier than I did.  If I hadn't been napping, I might have checked on the beans around 2pm and added the spices then.  Don't get me wrong: the beans were so delicious, but I think the spices could have infused the beans better if they had been in longer.

I was worried that the liquid would be too watery, but it was pretty thick.  I might add less water next time as I like my bean liquid very thick.  Thick enough to spread the "soup" on a cracker, if one were so inclined.

I dashed some Tabasco Chipotle sauce on top of the beans and added a bit of shredded cheese. Yum, they were so very good!!

My new Crock Pot!

My New Crock Pot!

Isn't she beautiful??  I'm so excited about my new Crock Pot!  I have been wanting to buy one for God-knows-how-long and I was shopping for random stuff at Target this past week and found a display of several different small kitchen appliances on sale for $18.99, including a 5 quart stainless steel and black Crock Pot! That sure found its way into my cart in a hurry!  The regular price is $24.99 and according to Target's website, it is still on sale. http://www.target.com/dp/B001DIXFAA/sr=1-10/qid=1243217129/ref=sr_1_10/188-5306395-9833241?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=0&index=target&rh=k:crock%20pot&page=1

My mother-in-law bought a Crock Pot for me several years ago, but it has gotten lost in one of our many moves.  I've been meaning to replace it, but I just haven't gotten around to it.  I love that the stainless and black of this one matches the rest of my kitchen appliances, both large and small.  Except for my boring white KitchenAid mixer.  That's next on my list to replace.  I'll either get black or red, for a pop of color.

Anyway, I'm soaking a package of dry 16 bean soup overnight tonight and will start the Crock Pot in the morning.  The technique I'm using I found on a super cool blog, A Year of CrockPotting: Cooking Dried Beans in the CrockPot. I can't wait to see how they turn out!

Roasted Cauliflower

Roasted Cauliflower

This is a delicious, low fat/low carb way to make boring ol' cauliflower.  You may have seen "Cauliflower Popcorn" recipes in magazines such as Weight Watchers and the like.  I've made the "popcorn" before, but we prefer a bigger cauliflower floret, so that it's not as crunchy and dry.  The result is a moist side dish with a wonderful roasted flavor.

Ingredients

• One head of cauliflower
• 3 Tbs olive oil
• chili powder to taste
• garlic powder to taste
• Italian seasoning to taste
• pinch or two of sea salt

Directions

• Preheat oven to 450F
• Cut away the long stalk and break cauliflower into medium sized florets
• To wash, place florets into sink or big bowl of water + 15 drops of Grapefruit Seed Extract. If you don't have GSE, a bit of vinegar will do the trick.
• Place cauliflower in a bowl
• Add the olive oil, chili powder, garlic powder, Italian seasoning and sea salt*
• Toss with fingers to coat
• Place on baking pan in oven
• Bake for about 15 minutes, turn florets over, then bake 15 more minutes

*I never measure my seasonings. I just add what looks to be right and taste. If it needs more, then I add more.  If it needs less, well, I'm kinda screwed. ;)

Grilled Vegetable and Hummus Wrap

Grilled Vegatable and Hummus Wrap

I'm actually eating this for dinner as I type this post. I had some veggies from my organic co-op in the fridge that needed to be used up, so I decided to grill them on my grill pan and make wrap sandwiches.

Ingredients I used:


asparagus
sweet peppers (cut into strips)
zucchini (cut on the bias)
Newman's Own Basalmic Vinagarette dressing
dried thyme
sea salt
romaine lettuce
tomato (sliced)
mayo
hummus
fresh lemon juice





Directions:



While I was heating the grill pan, I poured a small amount of Newman's Own Basalmic Vinagarette dressing over the asparagus, sweet peppers and zucchini. I added dried thyme and pinch of sea salt, then tossed to coat.





Once the pan was hot, I grilled the vegetables until they were al dente (several minutes on each side).

To serve, I spread mayonaise and hummus on a FlatOut flat bread. Then I added some of the grilled vegetables, some romaine lettuce and sliced tomato. A small squeeze of lemon, some sea salt and a dash of pepper finished off the wrap. Then, I just rolled it and cut it in half.





Very delicious! A wonderful lunch or dinner for summertime. (However, even though it is April, tonight's forecast calls for a hard freeze with a low of 25, LOL).

Easy creamy tomato pasta sauce

OK, so this really isn't a recipe, but more like a quick tip.

Jeff went grocery shopping this past weekend and accidentally bought Horizon Plain Whole Milk yogurt, rather than the vanilla he usually buys. If you've never had plain yogurt, it tastes like sour cream.

So, I am looking at this big tub of plain yogurt wondering what the heck I'm going to do with it. Then, last night, I was making a quick pasta dinner with (non-homemade) Newman's Own organic tomato basil pasta sauce and organic whole wheat pasta. I had an idea! What if I mixed some of the yogurt into the sauce for a creamy tomato sauce?? I scooped a little of the pasta sauce out, then added some yogurt and mixed. The result was a fabulously gorgeous and wonderfully delicious creamy tomato pasta sauce!!

I knew Jeff wouldn't touch this concoction with a ten foot pole wearing surgical gloves, so I didn't mix the yogurt into the whole pot of sauce. I just added a scoop (about 1 tablespoon) of yogurt to Robin's and my servings after portioning them out. It did cool off the sauce a bit, but that was fine with me.

I couldn't get enough of this creamy tomato-y sauce!! I loved it and so did Robin, my little 2 year old who eats like a bird (pun intended).

Just thought I'd pass this little tip along. :)

Homemade Lara bar!

Homemade Chocolate Coconut Almond Oat Lara bar

(It sort of looks like poop on a plate, sorry!)

One bar is 3 Weight Watcher's points.  Below is the Nutrition Facts label.

My sister mentioned the other day that she wanted to find out how to make Larabars at home.  I did a quick Google search today and found this blog:  http://bunnyfoot.blogspot.com/2006/02/homemade-lara-type-bars.html

So, taking bunnyfoot's formula, I created my own combination.  My Lara Bar is an almond, oat, coconut, chocolate mix.  All raw ingredients (is cocoa powder raw?)!  These were so easy to make!!  I think I'm going to call these Home Bars.

Here's how I did it.  I made 7 bars from the ingredients below:

Ingredients

• 7 dried date, pitted
• 35 raw almonds
• 7 Tablespoons rolled oats
• 7 Tablespoons shredded coconut
• 3 and 1/2 teaspoons powdered unsweetened cocoa

Directions

• Place all ingredients in food processor and process until all ingredients start to form a sort of dough.  This doesn't take long at all.
• Roll the dough into a ball and begin to shape into a flat disk.
• Place into Ziploc bag and form into a rectangle with a uniform thickness.
• Place in refrigerator for a couple of hours.
• Cut into 7 bars.

There's nothing magical about the number 7; that's just all the dates I had left and I figured one date per bar.  The bunnyfoot recipe called for 1 Tablespoon pureed dates and 3 Tablespoons of dried ingredients.  One pureed date is about equal to 1 Tablespoon.

Each Home Bar cost about $0.52.  What do Lara bars cost at the store?  At least a dollar each?

I use a KitchenAid food processor and I didn't have to puree the date before adding the dry ingredients.  Here are pics... taken with my awesome new G1 phone from T-mobile!!

All of my gorgeous raw ingredients, just waiting to whirl around together

About halfway through processing

The ingredients are all stuck together... time to play! ;)

A big ball of Home Bar

All shaped and ready to refrigerate!  (Goodness, it looks like hamburger meat; gross!)

Wasa Bread Pizzas!

Wasa Bread Pizzas

2 points each

Wasa bread is my new BFF.   Wasa is a really crispy (aka, hard) flat bread.  It is about the size of maybe two regular saltines next to each other, but thicker.  It is low in points and high in whole grains and fiber.  I just realized I ate Wasa for all 3 meals today, .

Tonight, I made Wasa Bread Pizzas for dinner.  They were 2 points each and I had 2 of them.  They turned out great!  I wasn't sure if the Wasa bread would get really soggy from the spaghetti sauce; luckily it didn't.

They were super easy to make.  Here's what I did:

• Preheat oven to 425.
• Turn 2 Wasa breads upside down on a cooking sheet.  The tops of the Wasa breads have lots of nooks and crannies; the bottoms are flatter and easier to spread stuff on.
  
• Spread 1 tablespoon of spaghetti sauce on each bread.
• Sprinkle 1/2 oz of shredded cheese on each bread.
• Bake at 425 for about 3 or 4 minutes.
• Enjoy!

That's it!  The most time consuming part was shredding the cheese, but if you buy pre-shredded cheese (it is more expensive than block cheese) then it would be even faster.

What to do with leftover rice?? Hot rice cereal for breakfast!!

The other night I made some brown rice to go with a thick bean soup I made.  Well, I made WAY too much rice.  I hate to waste food, so I had to figure out what to do with the leftover rice.  I thought that I could make it like oatmeal for breakfast!  It turned out really yummy!

Here's the nutrition data:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup cooked brown rice
• About 2 Tbs whole milk
• Very thin pat of butter
• 1 tsp blueberry preserves
• 1 tsp peanut butter
• 1 tsp flax seed meal

Directions

Combine rice and milk in bowl.  Add butter and reheat until heated through.  Add jelly, peanut butter and flax seed meal.

Really good and filling!  Of course, you can add whatever you like to it, I just happen to like PB&J in my oatmeal.  :)

Quinoa with Black Beans

Quinoa with Black Beans

4 points per 1 cup serving

OMG I can't believe I haven't included this recipe yet?? Wha.....? I make this a lot and it is really good. I made it tonight for my in-laws and they liked it as well.

I "Hollified" this recipe quite a bit from http://www.allrecipes.com/. Here's how I made it tonight.

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion diced
• 1 medium carrot shredded (sometimes I add this, sometimes not)
• 1.5 cups uncooked quinoa
• 3 cups water
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder (sometimes I add fresh diced garlic - about 2-4 cloves - instead)
• About 3 cups cooked black beans (about 2 cans)
• 1/2 large can of diced or crushed tomatoes (about 1 15oz can)

Directions

• Heat olive oil in non-stick skillet
• Saute onion and carrot until soft
• Add water and bring to a boil
• Add quinoa, chili powder, cumin and garlic powder and stir through
• Bring water back to a boil, and reduce heat to low
• Cook 20 minutes, stirring occasionally
• Add black beans and diced tomatoes, stir through
• Cook until heated through completely
  

This is a larger batch than I normally make. I typically will make this with just one cup of uncooked quinoa. Sometimes I use one can of black beans, sometimes two. It just depends on what I have in the pantry. As I mentioned in one of my previous posts this week, I made a pound of dry beans earlier this week, so I just used 3 cups of those beans, which is equal to about 2 regular cans of beans.

As I was typing this, I realized that I didn't top the quinoa with avocado tonight! That is the whole reason I made quinoa because I had several avocados that need to be used. Darn!! Anyway, it is really good with avocado.

Also, Jeff likes to make a wrap out of his. He puts a big scoop onto a large tortilla, adds cheese and salsa and wraps it up. Yum.

This larger batch made 7 cups total. I figure 1 cup is good (generous) serving size. Check out the Nutrition Facts below. Not bad!! Though, I am disappointed in the protein rating that NutritionData.com provided for this recipe. I always have heard that quinoa is a complete protein by itself, yet even with the beans, ND.com rated this only a 50. 100 or more is considered to be a complete protein. Hmmmm??? I'll have to research.

Black Bean Salad - a quick lunch

Black Bean Salad

6 points

I made a big pot of black beans and a green salad last night. I was craving something cool and crisp after working out at a spin class (my first one ever... it kicked my buttox), so I whipped up this delish lunch with my leftovers:





Ingredients:

• About 2 cups of green salad (mine consisted of green leaf lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes)


• 1/4 cup black beans


• About .5 oz shredded cheddar cheese


• 1/4 avocado


• About 1 Tablespoon ranch dressing

Directions:

• Place salad in a bowl and top with beans, cheese, avocado and dressing. Add S&P to taste.

If I had lemon juice, I would have added that. Also, I really wanted to add salsa to the top, but I'm out of that too. (Can you tell I need to go grocery shopping?)

Here is the nutritional info. It looks a little scary, but it is only 6 Weight Watchers points. Plus, the NutritionData.com website indicated that it has a protein score of 112... which is great because anything over 100 is a complete/high quality protein. I'm always looking for complete protein meals! Yay!

So, being a complete protein hopefully this will stick with me through the afternoon. It might even get me through my 4pm crash.

Notice my new name?

I thought "Holly's Food Blog" sounded.... well... blah.

So, now, I'm "Delicious/Nutritious: Healthy vegetarian recipes." The Delicious/Nutritious part comes from a song I made up a long time ago, when Robin was eating purees. I'd sing as I was trying to get her to eat something:

It's so delicious, and very nutritious! It's so very very nutritious for you!!

The song has sort of a march feel to it.

Anyway, since then, I always say something is "Delicious/Nutritious". And I found out this past weekend that my older sister, Amy, says the same thing. Weird.

Satisfying afternoon snack: Wasa bread, cream cheese, avocado and more

Yummy!!

I needed a quick, filling afternoon snack, so I spread some cream cheese (full fat, ugh, since my closest grocery store doesn't have low fat organic cream cheese) onto a Wasa bread. Then, I mashed 1/4 of an avocado on top, added two slices of tomato. Hit it with a squeeze or two of lemon juice, sprinkle with garlic powder, salt and pepper and you have a creamy, crunchy, tangy absolutely yummy afternoon treat!


The only problem with this is, you eat it way too fast. And you want more. But, take a gander at the Nutrition Facts (courtesy of my new internet BFF, http://www.nutritiondata.com/) and you'll see why I stopped at just one.

Super cool new e-tool!! NutritionData.com

I discovered a really cool website for building recipes and getting nutritional information. I think you can track what you eat as well. Anyway, it is really awesome. It has a slight learning curve, but lookee what I can now put on my blog posts!!

I built a recipe on the website for a snack I had this afternoon (I'll blog about that in a minute) and this is the Nutrition Facts box that popped up. It also has tons of other nutritional information.

So, look around and have fun! Oh, and best of all, it is free. My kind of website. ;)

Kale and Bean Soup

Kale and Bean Soup

I found a recipe for Bean Soup with Kale on http://www.allrecipes.com/ and "Hollified" it. A lot.

Ingredients:

• EVOO
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 bunch of kale, chopped with long stalks removed all the way through the end of the leaf)
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 2 - 15oz cans kidney beans (drained)
• 1/2 big can of diced tomatoes (about 1.5 cups)
• 2 - 3 tsp Italian seasoning
• 2 - 3 tsp dry thyme
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 medium potato - diced
• 4 large carrots - sliced

Directions:

• Spray large pot with EVOO and heat.
• Saute garlic and onion until soft.
• Add kale and saute until wilted (see photo below).
• 
• Add broth. At this point, I used my immersion blender to chop the kale even smaller (see photo below).
  
• Add carrots, potato, Italian seasoning, thyme, canned tomatoes, and salt & pepper.
• Simmer about 15 minutes or until carrots and potatoes are getting soft.
• Add beans and simmer until heated through.

Sauerkraut: I do believe it was a success!!

After a couple of weeks of fermenting, I noticed that there was in fact "scum" on the surface of my brine. I had previously thought that certainly, not MY sauerkraut would develop scum!!

According to Sandor Ellix Katz (aka, "Sandorkraut"), creator of the Wild Fermentation website (www.wildfermentation.com) and the author of Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods (Chelsea Green, 2003):

Sometimes mold appears on the surface. Many books refer to this mold as “scum,” but I prefer to think of it as a bloom. Skim what you can off of the surface; it will break up and you will probably not be able to remove all of it. Don’t worry about this. It’s just a surface phenomenon, a result of contact with the air. The kraut itself is under the anaerobic protection of the brine.

OK, so if "Sandorkraut" thinks it is OK, then allright, I'll give the scum a chance. (Sounds like a lesser-known John Lennon B-side song "Give Scum a Chance").

So, I left the sauerkraut alone. I didn't taste it every day or two like Sandorkraut said to do. I was a bit afraid of the scum and afraid of my experiment being a failure!

But, alas, I decided tonight to check it out. I pulled off the cover and all of the scum pulled up with it! None remained on the kraut.

I tasted it.

Oh my.

I've never had real fresh sauerkraut. And it is delicious! I think it is a success!

I put it all in a gallon ziploc bag (for lack of a better storage container) and put it in the fridge. Now, we need some vegetarian brats to make a yummy kraut and sausage sandwich!

I'll have pics later!

Sauerkraut: An experiment in fermentation

I love sauerkraut. So, when my organic food co-op had extra heads of cabbage last week, I grabbed a couple of extra to try to make some at home.

I did a bit of research a few weeks ago and to my surprise, sauerkraut isn't pickled as I originally thought, but it is fermented in brine. (Don't tell my husband's German family that I didn't know that!!)

I've never fermented anything. Well, I take that back... I've never successfully fermented anything. I tried several years ago to make a sourdough starter, aptly named "Fermie" but it was a failure. I don't even remember what happened; I must have blocked the trauma out of my memory.

Anyway, so this will be an experiment and a somewhat long-term one at that since it takes a few weeks for the cabbage to fully ferment.

I found a neat website - Wild Fermentation - and used their sauerkraut recipe as a base for my kraut.

Here's what I did:

I shredded one head of cabbage and put it into some Grapefruit Seed Extact water in the sink to clean it.

Then, I washed a glass bowl (the original recipe says to use a crock or a food grade plastic bucket, neither of which I have). To sanitize the bowl (fermentation freaks me out a little, honestly), I poured in some boiling water and dumped it out.

I put the cabbage in my salad spinner to spin the water out, then put a layered it into a plastic bowl. I sprinkled sea salt after each layer. I also threw in some black peppercorns for funzies. After all of the cabbage was layered in, I mixed it all with my fingers.

Then, a little at a time, I put the sauerkraut into my glass bowl. I tamped each layer with my hands to pack it down tight. This helps draw the water out of the cabbage.

I put a plate on top of the cabbage, then put on my weight - a glass jar filled with water.

I covered it with two towels (to make sure all sides of the bowl were covered) and placed it in a corner of my kitchen. I was surprised (yet again!) that it didn't go in the fridge.

I'm supposed to press down on the plate every couple of hours until the water covers the plate. Then, I'm supposed to check it (i.e., taste it) every day or two. When it tastes good, it's ready!

Hummus pita pocket sandwich

I'm eating this right now! I think it is probably about 5 points for the total sandwich.

I bought some dry hummus mix in the bulk bin from our health food store the other day and while it tastes pretty good, it definitely isn't as good as store bought or homemade hummus. But it is really cool to whip up a little bit of hummus quickly.

So, for today's lunch, I mixed 2 tablespoons of dry hummus mix with 1/4 cup of water (that is a 1:2 ratio; hummus to water).

I cut a whole wheat pita in half to form two pockets and spread the hummus into each pocket. Then, I stuffed each half with leftover salad from last night (romaine, tomatoes and cucumbers). I put a tiny bit of ranch dressing (to satisfy my ranch tooth, lmao) then shredded some white cheddar on top. I'm eating it with a handful of pretzels. YUMMY!

PS: This would be perfect with feta cheese. But the cheddar is pretty dang good anyway.

Even Quicker Tortilla Pizzas!

Sorry, no pic. I think these are probably around 3 points each as well.

Last night, we had some left over spaghetti, but not enough to make a meal out of, so I threw together some quick pizzas. I didn't have any pita bread (or Flat Out flat bread which is also good for a quick pizza), so I eyed the whole wheat tortillas in the fridge and thought... hmmm... that might just make a good pizza crust! Man were they ever good. I liked them better than the pita pizzas we made the other night.

Just throw some spaghetti sauce on the tortilla, shred some cheese over, bake at 425 for about 5 mins (again, keep an eye on them every minute or two) and voila! quick and easy pizza.

Quick Pita Pizzas

I whipped up a quick Friday night dinner by making quick pita pizzas. I think these are about 3 points each!

Ingredients

• Pita bread
• Spaghetti Sauce
• Cheese (I used shredded cheddar, but use whatever you like)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 425
• Split the pita bread horizontally so that you get two round pieces - one top and one bottom
• Spread spaghetti sauce on the pita bread
• Sprinkle with cheese
• Bake for about 10 minutes. Keep checking to make sure it isn't getting overdone. The cheese should be bubbly and getting a little brown but not too brown.

Tofu and Veggie Stir Fry

We recently joined an organic produce co-op and I discovered that a stir-fry will use up a lot of vegetables!! I also discovered a delicious all-natural Teriaki Sauce - Soy Vay. It is so good!! I has sesame seeds as well as actual pieces of ginger and garlic. Here's a pic and a link: http://www.soyvay.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=23&chapter=0&zenid=2ee7c41367e2df9eb995758e47a80a62

Here's my recipe. I just use whatever stir-fry worthy veggies I have on hand. This is what I used last time:

Ingredients

• 1 cup of brown rice (or other grain such as quinoa)
• 2 carrots, sliced on the bias
• 1/2 head cabbage
• 2 zucchini, sliced
• 2 stalks of celery, sliced
• 1 bunch of broccoli, chopped
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1 pound firm or extra firm tofu
• Soy sauce
• 1/2 bottle of Soy Vay (about 1 1/4 cups) - make sure it is well mixed

Directions

• Start cooking your grain according to package directions. I used quinoa the last time I made this and it was really good!
• Preheat oven 350 degrees
• Cut tofu into pieces of the desired size you like. We like ours super thin, so I cut the tofu into 64 pieces. I cut the tofu into sixteenths, then each sixteenth is cut into 4 pieces.
• Spray baking tray with oil
• Arrange tofu in a single layer
• Drizzle with soy sauce and brush to cover.
• Spray with oil
• Turn tofu pieces over and brush again as needed
• Spray again
• Bake about 15-20 minutes
• While tofu is baking cook the stir fry. Spray the skillet with oil and heat on medium heat.
• Pour a bit of Soy Vay in the skillet (about 1/4 cup or so)
• Add broccoli, carrots and celery (or whatever veggies you are using that will take longer to cook).
• Stir to cover veggies with Soy Vay.
• Let cook a few minutes (5? 10?) until they start getting a little soft.
• Add zucchini and onion and the remainder of the Soy Vay, stir to completely combine and let cook a few more minutes.
• Add cabbage, stir and cook another 5 mins.
• Add tofu and stir and cook a few more minutes.

Serve with cooked grain. Delish!!

Misto oil sprayer

We recently bought a Misto oil sprayer rather than continuing to buy Pam. I love it!! It uses air to propel the oil, so you aren't eating all of the additives that Pam has!! All you do is fill up the sprayer halfway (the air needs room), pump the lid up and down about 10-15 times and spray. Easy! Healthy! Cheaper than Pam!!

The sprayer was $10 at Bed, Bath and Beyond. That's about 3 cans of Pam, I guess. Then, of course, you have to figure in the cost of the oil. It uses 3oz of oil. The organic EVOO I get is about $6 for 17 oz; about $0.35 an ounce. So it is about $1 to fill the thing up. It uses up quicker than a can of Pam, but, seriously, this thing will pay for itself very shortly!

Here's a picture and a link: http://www.misto.com/

Sweet Potato Pancakes

2.7 points each

I just wanted to share a recipe that I made up a couple of weeks ago to use up some sweet potatoes (actually yams, which are much more nutritious than sweet potatoes). These pancakes are super delicious and very healthy.

Ingredients
1 medium sweet potato - baked, peeled and pureed
1 cup white flour
1 cup rolled oats
1.5 cups milk
2 Tbl EVOO
2 Tbl sugar
1 Tbl baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup flax seed meal

Directions

• Combine all ingredients until just blended
• Using 1/4 cup measuring cup, pour batter onto medium-hot skillet
  Cook a minute or two on each side. These don't bubble like regular pancakes, so you can't use that as an indication that they are done on the first side.

Makes a baker's dozen (13) pancakes.

These are super thick, dense and fluffy!! So, it might make it a bit hard to get the middles fully cooked. Today, I made them again and pureed a banana along with the sweet potato. I did not add any more liquid, which I should have done because they were very very thick and it made it difficult to cook the insides. Plus, it only made 10 pancakes vs. 13 (which makes the points higher). After I cooked them on the skillet, I put them in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes. This cooked the insides and made the outsides really crispy!! YUMMY!

Spanish Garlic and Vegetable Soup

Points? Probably not many... I'd guess 2 or 3 per half cup? According to the nutritional info on allrecipes.com one serving is 3 points, but I don't know how large a serving is. This recipe makes 6 "servings".

I found this soup on www.allrecipes.com to use up cabbage, cauliflower and carrots I got at co-op. It is really good! My very picky husband actually said it is "unbelievably good"!

I tweaked the recipe a bit: I used half as much cabbage as called for in the recipe. I also used almost a whole small can of tomato paste and increased the amount of milk to 3/4 cup. The can of diced tomatoes I used had Italian seasonings (basil, oregano and something else I can't think of off the top of my head). I also added some Italian seasoning. Also, I used my new immersion blender and just pureed the whole soup right there in the pot I cooked it in. Awesome.

The link for the recipe is: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Spanish-Garlic-and-Vegetable-Soup/Detail.aspx but I'll paste the recipe here. BTW, that's MY pic on the recipe that I submitted to allrecipes.com! Yay! My blue bowls are famous!!

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 large carrots, peeled and diced
1 medium head cabbage, chopped
1/2 head cauliflower, chopped
2 leeks, sliced
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
4 teaspoons tomato paste
1 quart water
1/4 cup milk or light cream
1 tablespoon butter
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

• Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add carrot, cabbage, cauliflower and leeks. Cook, stirring constantly, for a few minutes until cabbage wilts.
• Stir in the garlic and tomato paste, and continue to cook for another minute or two, stirring constantly to prevent the garlic from burning.
• Stir in 2 cups of water, then cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Pour in the diced tomatoes and the remaining 2 cups of water, and return to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
• Reserve 2 cups of the liquid, and puree the remaining soup in a blender or food processor.
• Return the blended mixture to the reserved liquid, and stir in milk and butter. Return to a boil, and cook for 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve.

Variation of Black Bean Enchiladas

I posted my recipe for Black Bean Enchiladas over a year ago here: http://chefholly.blogspot.com/2006/06/vegetarian-black-bean-enchiladas-about.html

Since then, I've started making a stacked enchilada, rather than rolling them. This is SO much easier!! This version uses 8 tortillas rather than 12. Here is how I do it.

• Prepare sauce as directed in original recipe (or try my Easier Enchilada Sauce!).


• Cut 8 corn tortillas in half


• Pour 1 cup of sauce into bottom of pan and spread evenly.


• Arrange 8 tortilla halves along bottom of the pan (Note in the pic, I used 7 halves... just overlap 2 halves in the middle slightly when using 8).

• Pour drained can of black beans over tortillas and spread evenly.








• Add 1 cup of enchilada sauce and spread evenly.





• Arrange the other 8 tortilla halves on top of the beans and sauce




• Add last 1 cup of sauce

Add 1 cup of shredded cheese

• Bake for about 25-30 minutes in 350 degree oven
• Cut into whatever portions you like




• Enjoy!

Black Bean Burgers with Oven Fries

Black Bean Burgers with Oven Fries

Being that it was the Fourth of July, I decided to make a vegetarian version of the class American favorite. Since Jeff doesn't like egg and most of the recipes I initially found required egg as a binder, I had to do quite a bit of research. I finally combined a few recipes I found online (plus added a few things) to come up with this super delicious black bean burger!

Ingredients

• 1/4 onion
• 1 carrot
• 1/2 zucchini
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp chile powder
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup salsa
• 1/2 cup cooked brown rice
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 - 2 tsp olive oil for sauteing
  

Directions

• Chop the onion, carrot, zucchini and jalapeno pepper in food processor
• Heat the olive oil in a skillet
• Saute the vegetables until softened
• Add the black beans, spices, water, and salsa
• Simmer until most of the water is absorbed
• Add rice
• Remove pan from heat and lightly mash beans with a fork
• Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the rolled oats
• Allow to cool
• Form 6 patties and refrigerate 1 hour to firm
• Cook patties in large skillet sprayed with Pam, about 4 minutes each side

While the patties are refrigerating, you can make the oven fries

Ingredients

• 3 russet potatoes
• Cajun seasoning
• Pam

Directions

• Cut potatoes into french fry shaped pieces
• Spray with Pam
• Sprinkle with Cajun seasoning
• Mix with fingers
• Bake at 450 for about 25 minutes

Pumpkin bread

Pumpkin Bread

Points and pics to follow. (Major guessing on the points... 4 per serving?)

I bought a small pie pumpkin a few weeks ago for Robin's first Halloween pumpkin. We didn't carve it because I wanted to use it for baking after Halloween.

I got this recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens (BHG) cookbook, but of course its been "Hollified". The recipe does calls for a 15oz can of pumpkin. Robin's pumpkin ended up being 1lb and 3oz after being pureed, so i just used the whole thing.

Preparing the pumpkin:
First, I scrubbed the outside of the pumpkin with antibacterial soap and a washcloth. The pumpkin wasn't organic and I didn't want pesticides and other yuck to get into the flesh when I cut it open. Then, I cut the stem part out, just like you would if you were going to carve the pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern, then I pulled out most of the seeds and stringy parts. Yes, it still had the "Eeew" factor that it did when carving pumpkins when we were little kids. Then, I cut the pumpkin in half long ways. The pumpkin's skin is REALLY tough, so it's a little hard to cut. Please be careful when cutting the pumpkin... I don't want anyone getting their finger cut off!

To remove the rest of the stringy parts, I used a spoon and forcibly scraped the inside of the pumpkin. The flesh of the pumpkin is pretty stringy itself, but its easy to tell when you've scraped out the guts. They are more orange and slimy than the flesh.

The instructions for cooking the pumpkin came from the Super Baby Foods (SBF) book by Ruth Yaron. The pumpkin was 2 pounds after de-stemming and gutting it. SBF said to add 3 tablespoons of water to the bowl per 1 pound of winter squash. Cover and microwave for 8 minutes for each pound. My Pyrex bowl wasn't large enough for both halves, so I did two batches. I cut each half in half again longways before microwaving.

After the pumpkin was done cooking, the flesh very easily separated from the skin. I pureed the first batch while the 2nd batch was cooking. Then, I pureed the 2nd batch. Viola! I can't wait to buy an organic pumpkin so I can make some pureed pumpkin for Robin to eat!

Note: I have no idea why, but I always put a "g" at the end of the word pumpkin. Weird!

Recipe from BHG cookbook:

• 3 cups sugar (I used 2.5 cups)
• 1 cup cooking oil (I used 1/2 cup of olive oil and it still came out really moist)
• 4 eggs
• 3 1/3 cups flour (I used 1 cup of oatmeal, ground in the food processor plus 2 1/3 cups of flour)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg (I used 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice in place of the cinnamon and nutmeg)
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 15oz can pumpkin (I used my pureed pumpkin)
• 3/4 cup raisins

As I was typing this, I thought a tablespoon or two of vanilla extract would be really good in this. I usually put some vanilla in sweet baking recipes even if the recipe didn't call for it. I can't believe I forgot! Darn!

• Preheat Oven to 350 and grease 2 loaf pans. (I dont have loaf pans so I used one 9x13 rectangle pyrex and one 9x9 pyrex cake pans).
• In large mixing bowl, beat sugar and oil w/ electric mixer. Add eggs and beat well. (I have a kitchenaid mixer which does a GREAT job of mixing, so I didn't beat in the eggs at this point. It would have beat the eggs too much, causing the batter not to rise enough). Set aside.
• In large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Alternately add flour mixture and water to sugar mixture, beating on low speed after each addition until just combined. Beat in pumpkin, then fold in raisins.
• Pour into pans and bake 55 to 65 mins for loaf pans. I baked mine for 40 minutes, since the batter wasn't as thick in my pans and it would have been in a loaf pan.
• The instructions say to cool completely on wire racks, wrap and store overnight before slicing. HOWEVER, who really wants to wait overnight to enjoy some delightful pumpkin bread?? I just waited until it wasn't hot and I dug right in. I didn't even take it out of the purex pan.

Another Note: If I had it, whipped cream would have been good on it.

Oh, and I roasted the pumpkin seeds too! While I was preparing the batter, I arranged the cleaned seeds in one layer on a baking sheet and dried them off a little. I sprinkled them w/ cajun spice and baked at 325 for about 30 minutes. Yum!

Anasazi Beans with Brown and Wild Rice

Anasazi Beans and Rice
6 points per serving

This is another new (to us) type of bean Jeff and I found at Whole Foods. They are absolutely gorgeous and I almost didn't want to cook them because I knew they would look differently. We call them "cow beans" because they look like little cows!! The pic below was taken after I rinsed them initially and before they went into the pot.

These almost tasted like they were cooked with pork, but of couse they weren't! This would be a good veg dish for a meat eater. We really enjoyed this dish and will definitely make it often!

Beans

Quick Soak Method

• Place 1 pound of rinsed and sorted beans into large pot*
• Add 6 cups of water
• Remove any beans that float
• Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes
• Remove from heat and let stand for 1.5 hours

Ingredients

• Beans
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 cups crushed tomatoes
• 2-3 Tbl chili powder
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp oregano
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions

• After soaking, drain and rinse beans; add back to pot
• Add 4 cups of water
• Add all ingredients and stir
• Bring to a boil
• Reduce heat and simmer for 1.5 - 2 hours

Rice

Directions

• Add 2.5 cups of water to 1 cup of rice in sauce pan**
• Bring to a boil
• Reduce heat to very low and cook for 45 minutes

Serve 1 cup of beans over 1/2 cup of rice.

Notes:
*I usually sort out any beans that are wrinkly after the initial rinse, however most of these beans wrinkled up. I figured we wouldn't have had much of a dinner, so I just sorted out the ones that were broken, off color, mushy or just didn't look right.

**I thought the rice was a little soggy, so probably 2 1/4 cups of water would have been just right.

Adzuki beans with stir fry vegetables and brown rice

Adzuki beans with stir fry vegetables and brown rice

5 points per serving

Yesterday, Jeff and I decided to go to Whole Foods and pick out some new beans and rice to try. We got a pound of organic Adzuki beans, a pound of organic Anasazi beans (which we nicknamed the cow beans because they are white and brown spotted), a mix of some organic brown and wild black rice and a rice pilaf with brown rice, yellow and green split peas and something else I can't remember off the top of my head.

Adzuki beans are common in Japan and a lot of Japanese desserts are made with them. I had found a recipe online for Adzuki and Kale, which sounded good. We went to our local Super Walmart and found some "flowering kale" which didn't really look all that fresh. So, I decided to make a stir fry instead.

This recipe was completely made up as I went. It was so good! Even picky Jeff went back for more!

Beans
Directions (quick soak method)

• Rinse and sort beans into large pot
• Add 6 cups of cold water
• Bring to a boil; boil for 2 minutes then turn heat off
• Let sit for 1 hour
• Drain and rinse beans
• Add back to pot and add enough water to cover beans
• Bring to a boil; then reduce heat and simmer for about 35 minutes (I simmered for about 45 minutes and they seemed too done to me)
• Start cooking the brown rice while waiting for the beans to come to a boil

Stir Fry

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup teriaki sauce
• 2 Tbs flour
• 1/2 cup liquid from the cooked beans
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp whole coriander, ground
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1/2 of a 4 pound bag of frozen stir fry veggies
• 1 1/2 to 2 Tsp sugar*

To make the sauce:

• Combine soy sauce, teriaki sauce and flour using a whisk. Make sure all the flour is dissolved
• Add the bean liquid, mix well and set aside
• Heat the olive oil and add garlic, coriander, ginger and red pepper flakes. Stir and let simmer a few minutes
• Add the onion and soy sauce mixture and stir. The soy sauce mixture will thicken up pretty quickly; you may need to add a little water to thin it out.
• Add the sugar and more of the spices according to your taste. I added some garlic powder too.
• After the sauce cooks a few minutes, add the vegetables, stir completely and cook on medium until hot (I'm guessing about 10 minutes)

To serve for 5 points, scoop 1/2 cup of rice, 2 cups of vegetables and 1/2 cup of beans into a bowl and enjoy! I'm assuming that a 1/2 cup of these beans have the same amount of points as other beans.

*Note: I originally didn't use the sugar in the sauce. But after I tasted it, it was VERY salty from the soy and teriaki sauces, so I just added a little at a time until the sauce was perfect. I'm guessing at the amount of sugar... just use your taste buds! I think next time when I need to buy soy and teriaki sauces, I'll opt for the lower sodium.

Pics are coming! I'm having trouble with uploading them tonight.

Tapas!

This weekend, my parents and Jeff's parents were in town for Robin's baptism and Saturday night we had tapas for dinner!* They were so fun to make and eat. This pic was taken tonight, when we had leftovers for dinner. Counter-clockwise on the plate: cucumber, red bell pepper strips and broccoli, pita chip, feta cheese and red bell pepper dip, pita chip, hummus, pita chip, eggplant dip, pickled okra, tabouli.

I'm mostly guessing on the points, really (except the feta cheese dip), but it was all really healthy and if eaten in proper porportions, can be a very WW wise meal.

We made:
Hummus (previously blogged)
Feta cheese and roasted red pepper dip
Pita chips (previously blogged, in the hummus entry)
Tabouli
Crudites with Spinach Dip
Eggplant dip

Feta Cheese and Roasted Red Pepper dip
2.5 points for 1/4 cup
While making this, I realized it's sort of a variation on pimento cheese spread. I'm eating some of this with pita chips as I type this!

Ingredients

• 1 4oz package crumbled feta cheese
• 1/4 of a 12oz jar of roasted red bell pepper
• Red pepper flakes to taste**

Directions

• Add ingredients to food processor and process for a few minutes until smooth.
• That's it!!

Tabouli
I'm GUESSING the points value for this is 3 for a cup? I made this using a pre-packaged Tabouli mix that included the cous cous and seasonings. I added 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1/4 cup of lemon juice, 3/4 of a diced cucumber, 3/4 of a diced large tomato, and about 1/8 red onion, diced. I found the Tabouli mix in the produce section at Walmart for less than $2! By the way, the directions on the package said to let it all sit together in the fridge for at least 4 hours. I completely FORGOT that I made this so we didn't even eat it last night!! I had some this morning and then again as part of my dinner tonight. ;)

Crudites and Spinach Dip
We bought Spinach Dip and my mom cut up some veggies for dipping. We had red bell pepper, cucumber, broccoli, and red onion. I don't have the spinach dip package still, so I don't know the points here!

Eggplant Dip
I got this recipe from a friend, Merrill, on one of my message boards. It turned out SO good and it made a LOT. Jeff even liked it!! The only points really come from the olive oil used, so I will conservatively call 1 cup of this 1 point. I "Hollyfied" the recipe slightly by adding dried oregano, using fresh garlic instead of garlic powder, and using crushed tomatoes rather than tomato paste and in a larger quantity.

Ingredients

• 1 eggplant, cut into 1" cubes
• 2 red bell pepper, cut into 1" pieces
• 1/2 red onion, cut into 1" pieces
• 1/4 tomato, cut into 1" pieces
• 6 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2-3 Tbs dried oregano
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup of canned crushed tomatoes

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400F
• Place all vegetables except crushed tomatoes onto a baking sheet covered with foil
• Drizzle with olive oil
• Sprinkle with oregano, salt and pepper
• Hand toss until all veggies are covered with oil, oregano, salt and pepper
• Cover with foil
• Bake for about 50 minutes or until veggies are soft when pierced with a fork
• Place into food processor with crushed tomatoes (you may need to do several batches as this makes a lot) and just lightly process. This should be very chunky.
• Serve with pita chips.
• Note, this is good either hot, room temperature or cold! By the time you get it all processed it will be room temperature.

Notes:

*We started preparing everything while everyone was at our house, so I just put things out for everyone to eat as it was prepared. First was the Spinach Dip, crudites and some French bread that was sprinkled with sesame and poppy seeds and roasted garlic. We also had dill havarti cheese that we served at the same time. Next was hummus and pita chips, then the feta dip. Finally, the eggplant dip was served. Jeff noted that the way it was served was not conducive to portion control!! Good point, but I didn't want people waiting!! :)

**I did not use red pepper flakes in the feta dip. Jeff's parent's don't really eat spicy food, so I had to hold back a little!! I think that the eggplant dip would be really good with red pepper flakes as well... next time I make it I'll put them in!

Update to Mahatma Brown Rice directions

Update to my short rant on Mahatma Brown Rice directions

I got brave and decided to make Mahatma brown rice in the microwave according to the new directions. Guess what?? Perfect rice. So, apparently using 3.5 cups of water and microwaving uncovered on high for 35 mintues actually works. Which is excellent because it saves 10 minutes!

Cuban Black Beans

Cuban Black Beans and Rice

4 points for 1/2 cup of brown rice and 1/2 cup of beans

I found this recipe on www.allrecipes.com. A couple of weeks ago, the news coming out of Cuba inspired me to find a Cuban recipe. This passed the "Jeff test" so I think this is now in my reprotare. This picture actually came from the 2nd time I made these beans. I used a pound of dry black beans instead of canned.

Ingredients

• 2 cans black beans (or 1 pound of dry black beans)
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 bay leaf
• 1.5 tsp paprika
• 1.5 tsp cumin
• 1 Tbl dried oregano
• 1 large jalapeno, diced
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 cu balsamic vinegar
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions (canned beans)

• Prepare rice according to package directions*
• If you are using canned beans, it really doesn't get any easier. Just add everything to a pot, stir and simmer for about 10-15 minutes.
• Serve over rice

This picture was taken when I prepared this using canned beans.

Directions (dry beans)

• I use the quick soak method, which basically is after beans are rinsed and sorted, add 6 cups of water and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, remove from heat and let sit for 1 hour.
• Drain water from beans, add 6 cups of fresh water, then add all other ingredients.
• Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours.
• While beans are cooking, prepare rice according to package directions*
• Serve over rice

*Note: see my posts about preparing rice, here and here.

Vegetable Lasagna

3 points per slice, serves 12

OMG can I say that this is one of the best things ever. Not just in the category of food, but in the category of everything. I'm dead serious.

OK, so my mom is in town for the week and she brought her recipe from Weight Watchers for vegetable lasagna. They call it Easy Cheese Lasagna and they indicate that it makes 6 servings for 6 points each. But, we cut ours into 12 servings and called each serving 3 points. Even with 12 servings, each serving was pretty big. Here is how we made it:


Ingredients

• 1 cute mom wearing a cute polka dot dress she made herself
• 1 28oz jar of spaghetti sauce (We used 3 1/2 cups of my homemade pasta putanesca sauce)
• 6 uncooked lasagna noodles
• 1 15oz container fat-free ricotta cheese
• 2 cups of fresh spinach
• 1/4 onion, sliced
• 1 small zucchini, sliced
  
• 1 small yellow squash, sliced
  
• 1 small green bell pepper, sliced
  
• 8oz low-fat mozzarella cheese
  

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375. Spray 9x13 casserole dish with Pam
• Spread 1/3 of the sauce on bottom of dish
• Arrange 3 noodles in a single layer over sauce
• Top with another 1/3 of the sauce, all of the ricotta cheese, vegetables, and 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese
• Arrange 3 more noodles in a single layer, spread evenly with remaining sauce
• Cover dish with foil, bake for 55 minutes
• Sprinkle remaining mozzarella cheese and bake uncovered for 5 more minutes
• Let stand about 15-30 minutes before cutting. (With all of the vegetables, this will be very watery. By letting it stand, the water will go back into the vegetables and you won't have a soupy mess!)

Banana Nut and Raisin Bread
Need to figure out points!!

I "Hollyfied" a recipe from the old school red and white checkered Better Homes and Gardens cookbook - "America's #1 Cookbook Since 1930." I made this for my friends Lori and Momo for breakfast Sunday morning, during their visit.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white flour
• 1 cup ground oatmeal*
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice*
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 3 large)
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 1/4 olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup raisins

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350
• Spray 9x9 casserole dish with Pam (You really should use a loaf pan, but I don't have any!)
  
• Combine all ingredients just until moist (using stand mixer). If not using stand mixer, combine dry ingredients (except nuts) and make a well in the center, then combine the moist ingredients and add to flour mixture, stir just until moistened then fold in nuts.
• Bake for about 45 minutes (if using loaf pan, bake for 55 to 60 minutes)
• The BHG cookbook says to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack. Then, wrap and store overnight before slicing. Ummm, OK. Who would pass up the chance to eat warm banana nut bread?!? Not me. I let it cool for a few minutes (maybe 10?), then I sliced it up!
  

*Here is how I "Hollyfied" it: The recipe called for 2 cups of white flour. I ground up 1 cup of oatmeal in my food processor and replaced one cup of white flour with that. I also used 1/2 the amount of oil (original recipe called for 1/2 cup) and 3/4 of the amount of sugar (original recipe called for a full cup). I didn't have any nutmeg, so I used pumpkin pie spice in place of the cinnamon and nutmeg called for in the recipe. I added raisins, which were not called for in the recipe at all.

A short rant on Mahatma brown rice

A short rant on Mahatma brown rice

OK, in my red beans and rice post, I made a note on the instructions on my new package of Mahatma brown rice. The microwave directions on my old package of Mahatma brown rice said to:

• Cook 1 cup of dry rice with 2 1/2 cups of water for 5 minutes in high in the microwave.
• Then, cook for 40 minutes on 50% power

I have done this before (using rice from an old package) and the rice came out perfectly.

Then, the package of rice I bought last week said to use 3 1/2 cups of water. That's the only part of the directions I looked at when I made RB&R. (I didn't have quite enough rice from my old package, so I used a little from the new.)

So, yesterday, when making my rice crust quiche, I made 1/2 cup (dry) of rice. In my previous recipes, I had been making 1 full cup. I just halved the amount of water and cooked in the microwave as previously mentioned. Sounds right, huh?? So, after 45 minutes of rice cookin', I opened the microwave to find a ton of water atop some still somewhat-hard rice. What?!? I was on a time crunch... I had people coming and had just wasted 45 minutes and 1/2 a cup of rice!! So, I look again at the microwave directions. The directions are different than on my old package. The new ones say to cook for 35 minutes at high power. If that is the case, then it probably makes sense to use 3 1/2 cups of water. Ugh! Maybe they are now using a different kind of brown rice now?? Who knows. But, this wasn't the time to experiment, so I just cooked it the good old fashioned way, on the stove top.

So, I guess next time, I'll try the new directions if I have the time. I'll keep you posted... I know you will be diligently checking in until I get this rice thing figured out. I MEAN, IT'S RICE...THE MOST BASIC OF FOODS. HOW FREAKING HARD IS IT TO FIGURE OUT, HOLLY??

Oops, did I say this was going to be a short rant??

OK, rant over. :D

PS: yes I am aware that I'm a complete dork.

Quiche with Rice Crust
Need to figure out the points, but should be pretty low, I'm GUESSING 2-3 points for 1/8 of a quiche

I got this recipe from www.cooks.com. I only slightly "Hollyfied" it and I thought it was OK but not great. I made it for my friends Lori and Momo, who visited us this weekend. They claimed to have liked it! :) I need to tweak it next time... I think I'll add some garlic and just a LITTLE nutmeg.

Sorry, I didn't take a whole lot of pics... Lori and Momo were already at my house and they were hungry from their long road travels, so I was in a hurry!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup dry brown rice
• 3 eggs, beaten
  
• 1 Tbs shredded cheese
• 1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen chopped spinach (only use half)
• Dash ground pepper
• Juice from 1 lemon
  
• 1/2 med. onion, chopped
• 1 c. skim milk
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese
  

Directions

• Cook rice according to package directions
• Preheat oven to 425
  
• Mix rice, 1 egg and 1 Tbs cheese
• Press into pie dish to form a crust
• Bake for 3 minutes
• Cook spinach according to package directions, remove excess water with paper towels
• Mix 1/2 of the spinach, lemon juice, pepper, onion, milk, cheese and 2 remaining eggs
• Pour spinach mixture over rice crust
• Bake 10 minutes at 425
• Lower oven temp to 350 and bake 30 more minutes

Pasta Putanesca
3 points (without cheese, 4 points with cheese)
My mom and I made this one day last week, so I lied in my previous post that said we didn't make anything "blog worthy"! I had some left over sauce in the freezer, so last night I used that, added some more crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes and heated through for a quick sauce. Note that *real* Pasta Putanesca has anchovies in it. I don't think it has carrots in it; I came up with that.

Sauce
Ingredients

• 1 tsp olive oil
  
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1 handful of baby carrots, minced
  
• 1 Tbs Italian Seasoning (more or less to taste)
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes (more or less to taste)
• 1/2 small jar of capers
• 1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 bunch parsley, finely chopped

Directions

• In large skillet, heat olive oil
• Add onion, garlic, carrots, Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes and saute a few minutes, until onion starts to look clear.
• At this point, you can deglaze the bottom of the skillet with a splash of red wine, if you have some. This obviously adds a little flavor, and will help you get some of the yummy stuff unstuck from the bottom of the skillet.
• Add crushed tomatoes and capers and stir through.
  
• Usually, I add more Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes now. Stir through.
• About 10 minutes before you're ready to eat (about the time you put your pasta in the boiling water), add the parsley.

Pasta
I use whole grain pasta. I usually make a 1/2 pound of spaghetti and 1/2 pound rotini (corkscrews) at the same time. Jeff likes diversity in his pasta. We usually have about 2 srevings of leftover pasta (and more servings of sauce, which can be frozen for future use for pasta or pizza). Just follow the directions on the pasta box you buy.

To serve, scoop 4 oz of cooked pasta and 1/4 cup of sauce into a bowl or plate.

I usually add about a point worth of shredded cheese, because this meal lacks protein. I have added garbanzo beans (smashed a little with a fork) a couple of times, for protein. Add probably another point per serving if you do that.

I really want to start making my own noodles. Once I do that successfully, I'll post here!!

Cajun Red Beans and Rice
4 points a bowl


I made this for dinner last night. It was good, but I thought it needed something more, so I sprinkled red pepper flakes on mine. It still was missing something. Jeff thought it was WAY yummy. Maybe my friend JP who lives in N'awlins can help!!

Beans

Ingredients

• 1 pound dry small red beans
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
  
• 1 tsp garlic powder
  
• 2 tsp thyme
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
  
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 2 cups of crushed tomatoes
  

Directions

• Rinse and sort beans. ("Sort" means to remove and discard any odd looking beans. Anything off color, cracked, wrinkley or just weird looking).
• In large pot, add beans and 6 cups of water. Remove and discard any beans that float.
• Cover and bring to a boil for 2 minutes.
• Remove from heat and let beans soak for 1 hour - keep pot covered. (This is the "quick soak" method).
  
• Drain and rinse beans and add them back to the pot
• Add onion, spices and crushed tomatoes
• Add 4 cups of water and stir through
• Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 1 1/2 - 2 hours

Rice Ingredients

• 1 cup of brown rice
• 1 vegetable boullion cube (optional)*
• 1 tbs garlic powder*
• 1 tbs paprika*
• 2 1/2 cups of water**

Directions

• Dissolve the boullion cube in the 2 1/2 cups of water
  
• Combine all ingredents in microwave safe bowl with a lid
• Microwave in high power for 5 minutes
• Decrease power to 50% and microwave for 40 minutes

To serve: Scoop a half cup of rice into a bowl, then a half cup of beans over the rice. This is 4 points worth!

*Note: I used the boullion cube, garlic powder and paprika just as an experiment. It didn't make that much of a taste difference, so next time I will just make the rice with water. Plus, the boullion cube has a lot of unnecessary sodium in it.

**Note on the water: My old package of Mahatma brown rice said to use 2 1/2 cups of water for microwave cooking, which makes for perfect rice. My new package said to use 3 1/2 cups. I'm not sure if its a type-o or if they think runny rice is a good thing. Anyway, just a warning if you use Mahatma brown rice... use 2 1/2 cups!!***

***Note on the "Note on the water": I am about to post a rant on the Mahatma brown rice directions. Please read it before making Mahatma brown rice. :)

Sorry I haven't updated this for a while... my mom was in town last week and we didn't make anything "blog-worthy". We were stuck without a car and couldn't go grocery shopping!! We did make black bean enchiladas one night, but I've already posted that one.

I'm making Cajun Red Beans and Rice tonight and will post that as soon as I can!

HUMMUS!!

HUMMUS!!
2.5 points for 1/4 cup of hummus (or 15 points if you eat the whole thing in one sitting... believe me, it can be done!). 1 point for half of a whole wheat pita.

I made hummus and pita chips today. I had not made hummus in forever and I was just so blissed out eating it.

Hummus

Ingredients

• 1 15oz can of garbanzo beans
• 4-6 cloves of garlic (no substituions here!)
• 2 Tbl olive oil
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp paprika
  
• juice of 1 lemon
• dash of salt
  

Directions

• In small sauce pan, heat olive oil over low heat
• Add garlic, oregano and red pepper flakes and "fry" until garlic is brown (be careful... it's easy to burn garlic. If you burn it, you have to throw it all out, wash the sauce pan and restart. You don't want burned garlic taste!)
• Place garlic in food processor (leave the oil, oregano and red pepper flakes in the pan) and process until minced.
  
• Drain garbanzo beans and reserve liquid
• Add beans to food processor and process for few minutes. Add a little of the bean liquid (maybe 2 Tbs or less) to get a thick paste consistency. Don't add too much liquid because you don't want it runny. Remember that you are still going to add lemon juice and the oil later.
  
• Add the lemon juice and continue running the food processor
• While the processor is running, slowly stream the olive oil, oregano and red pepper flakes in.
• Keeping the food processor running, add paprika and a little salt.
  
• Process until the texture is fairly smooth.
• Taste and add more oregano, red pepper flakes, paprika and salt as needed. (I usually need to add more of each).

Pita Chips

Ingredients

• 1 whole wheat pita (or however many you want to make)
• Garlic powder
• Oregano

Directions

• Preheat oven to 425
• Cut pita into eighths, then separate each wedge to make 16 pieces
• Spread pita wedges onto baking sheet and spray with Pam
• Sprinke with garlic powder and oregano
• Spray again with Pam
• Bake for about 7 minutes. Just like the tortilla chips, these can go from almost done to burnt very fast, so keep an eye on them. You'll notice in my picture below that some of them got a little too done.
  

Enjoy!!

Falafel with tzatziki sauce
2.5 points total (1 point for the falafel patty, 1 point for the 1/2 pita, .5 point for the tzatziki)

I made falafel sandwiches for dinner last night. Boy were they good and filling!!

Tzatziki sauce
Make this as far in advance as possible. I gets better as it sits together!

Ingredients

• 1 8oz container of ff plain yogurt
• 1/2 cucumber, seeded and minced
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp dill
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp olive oil
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• salt to taste

Directions

• After mincing cucumber, press between two paper towels to get rid of excess water
• Mix together all ingredients

Falafel

Ingredients

• 1 15oz can garbanzo beans
• 1/2 small onion
• 4 cloves of garlic (or 1 tsp garlic powder)
• 1/4 bunch fresh parsley
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup dried bread crumbs

Directions

• I used coriander seeds (did you know that is the seed of the cilantro plant??) and ground them up using a mortar and pestle:
• Coarsley chop onion
• Place onion, garlic, parsley, cumin, coriander, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper and baking soda in food processor and process until finely chopped.
• Add garbanzo beans a little at a time, and process until finely chopped.
• Transfer to a bowl and fold in bread crumbs until fully mixed in.
• Divide mixture into 8 equal patties
• Spray skillet with Pam and heat over medium heat
• Place patties in skillet and spray tops with Pam
• Cook until bottom is brown, then flip over and cook other side

To serve, place one patty, lettuce, onion, tomato* and tzatiki sauce in half a whole wheat pita. I had some baby carrots with more tzatiki sauce with mine.
Or you can go Atkins** style and make a lettuce wrap for only 1.5 points:
*I didn't have any fresh tomatoes last night but I wished I had.
**Note, I have never been on the Atkins diet... I just wanted to try a falafel with a piece of lettuce wrapped around it!!

Quick Tostada Dinner
3.5 WW points for 2 Well, we were running out of groceries, so I whipped up some quick tostadas (I just call them tacos) last night.

Ingredients

• 6 Corn tortillas (if you want to make tortilla chips, use more and cut them into eighths)
• 1 15oz can of pinto beans
• 1 Tbs chili powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp cumin
• dash of cayenne pepper
• 2 Tbs salsa (more if you want to spread salsa onto your tacos)
  
• Shredded cheese
  

Directions

• Preheat oven to 425
• Bake tortillas until brown and crispy, about 10 minutes (note that chips will be done quicker.) Keep an eye on the tortillas because they can go from "almost done" to "totally burnt" REALLY fast.
• Place can of beans into saucepan (don't drain). I mashed up my beans using a wire whisk.*
• Add chili powder, garlic powder, oregano, cumin, cayenne and salsa and stir until well mixed.
• Heat through.

• Spread 2 Tbs of beans onto each tortilla, add salsa and about 1 Tbs cheese**
• Jeff put his in the microwave to make nachos (aka "Jeffchos").
  
• You will probably have beans left over. They would make a great dip! Or you could add more to your tacos for more points.
  

*I guess I could buy refried beans, but I never think of it.
**I wish we would have had lettuce, fresh tomatoes and ff sour cream!

Mexican Black Beans and Rice
5 WW points

I was going to make Cajun Red Beans and Rice, but I only had one can of Kidney Beans and I had no cans of tomatoes left. Since I had black beans and some of my homemade salsa, I decided to make a Mexican Black Beans and Rice dish instead. Hands on time for this meal was only about 10 or 15 minutes. Of course, the rice takes a while to cook. But I think this is one of the fastest (hand-on wise) things I have made and it was REALLY good!

Rice Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked brown rice
• 2 Tbs Chili Powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 Tbs finely chopped cilantro
• 2 1/2 cups water

Directions

• Up until a few days ago, I didn't know you could cook rice in the microwave! It turns out just as good and there's no chance of burning it, which I normally do when I cook rice on the stove.
• In 2 quart microwave safe dish, mix rice, chili powder, cumin and cilantro
• Add water and cover the dish
  
• Follow cooking instructions on rice package - I used Mahatma brown rice and their microwave instructions were to cook on high power for 5 minutes, then reduce power to 50% and cook for 40 minutes. (Note: White rice takes about half the amount of time to cook, but its not a whole grain). The instructions said to let the rice sit for 5 minutes after cooking, but we didn't and it was just fine.

Black Beans Ingredients

• 1/4 onion, minced
• 2 - 4 garlic cloves, minced (or 1/2 to 1 tsp of garlic powder)
  
• 2 15oz cans of black beans
• 2 tbs cilantro, finely chopped
  
• 1/2 cup salsa (canned tomatoes would work, too)
• 2 Tbs chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp oregano
  
• dash of cayenne pepper (if you want it spicy)

Directions

• Spray sauce pan with Pam and heat
• Saute onion and garlic for a few minutes
• Add cans of black beans and stir
• Add cilantro, chili powder, cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper and salsa and stir.
• Heat through

Scoop 1/2 cup of rice and 1/2 cup beans into a bowl for 4 points worth of deliciousness. I added about 1/4 cup of shredded mexican cheese, which added about 1 point. Jeff didn't add cheese, but crumbled crackers on top of his for probably 1 or 2 points.

Other things to top this off with would be salsa, fat free sour cream or plain yogurt, or some fresh cilantro.

My world famous pizza that makes Jeff cry!
WW points value: 3.5 per slicePizza Dough

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups wheat flour (or oatmeal ground in a food processor*)
  
• 2 cups white flour
• 1 pkg yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
• 1 cup very warm water
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 1 - 2 Tbs Italian seasoning (optional)

Directions

• Use a mixer with a dough hook, a food processor with a dough setting, or a bread machine on dough setting, Or you could go old fashioned and knead by hand. I use a KitchenAid with a dough hook, so my instructions are for that. Don't use a speed higher than 2 when mixing dough.
  
• Mix together wheat flour, yeast and Italian seasoning, if using
• Add water and oil and mix, scraping down with a spatula as needed
• Slowly add the 2 cups of white flour
• Mix until the all of the dough has been on the hook for a minute or two. If it seems dry and it's not getting on the hook, add VERY small amounts of water at a time. If it seems very sticky, add VERY small amounts of flour at a time.
• Pull dough off of hook and spray with Pam. Turn dough over in bowl to cover with Pam.
• Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then with a kitchen towel and place in oven. To warm the oven, you can turn it on the lowest temp for a minute BEFORE putting the bowl in. MAKE SURE you turn it off before putting the bowl in.
• Let rise in the oven for 1.5 - 2 hours.
• Remove from oven... dough is ready to use! I use half of the dough for a very thin, crunchy crust. (Freeze other half for later use). You could use the whole recipe for a thicker, softer crust, but this would obviously increase the points value.

While dough is rising, make the sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp olive oil (or spray pot with Pam)
• 1/4 onion, minced
• 4 garlic cloves (or 1 tsp garlic powder)
• 1 Tbl Italian seasoning
• 1 - 2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
  

Directions:

• Heat pan with oil or Pam
• Add onion and garlic and saute for a few minutes
• Add Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes, stir and heat for a minute
• Add tomatoes, stir and heat through. Add more Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes to taste
• This makes about 3.5 cups, which you could stretch over 4 pizzas. Freeze what you don't use.

PIZZA TIME!

Ingredients:

• Pizza dough
• Sauce
• 4 oz mozzarella cheese**
• Any toppings you want to add
  

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425
• Spread dough over pizza pan
• Bake in oven for 12 minutes
• After dough is baked, spread about 3/4 to 1 cup of sauce over dough
• Sprinkle cheese evenly over pizza
• Add toppings. I've been known to add fresh tomatoes, onions, olives, and bell peppers. Jeff just likes cheese on his half. Sometimes he wants tomatoes.
• Bake in oven for 10 - 12 minutes
• Remove and let sit for about 5 minutes (this makes it easier to cut)
• Cut into 8 slices, serve and enjoy!

*I suspect that the wheat flour that you buy at the supermarket is NOT whole grain. A cheaper alternative is to buy oatmeal and grind it. Oatmeal is definitely whole grain and therefore healthier.

**Mozzarella is usually shredded very thick. I chop it up in the food processor so that 4 oz spreads much further.

Good bye, old friend!

I used the last of my 3 liter jug of Extra Virgin Olive Oil that I bought over 2 years ago from World Market. It lived in 3 houses with me and never went bad. I'm just so thankful that the last thing I made with it was the dough for the crust of my world famous pizza.

R.I.P.

Vegetarian Black Bean Enchiladas
About 4.5 weight watchers points for 2 enchiladas

Last night, I made vegetarian black bean enchiladas. They were so yummy... Jeff said that they were ALMOST better than my pizza!!

Before you start, you have to make a batch of salsa. (Skip this step if you are using my Easier Enchilada Sauce.)


Ingredients for salsa:

• 1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes
• 1-2 jalapenos
• 1 small onion
• 4 cloves garlic (or 1tsp garlic powder)
• 1 bunch of cilantro
  

Directions for salsa:

• Coarsely chop jalapenos, onion, garlic and cilantro and place into blender or food processor. Process until finely chopped.
• Open can of tomatoes and put into large bowl
• Fold onion mixture into tomatoes until completely mixed

Now, for the enchiladas!!

Ingredients for sauce: (Or you can try making my Easier Enchilada Sauce!)

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 onion, minced
• 4 garlic cloves or 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp oregano
• 2 or 3 Tbs chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 2 cups salsa
• 1 cup water

Directions for sauce:

• Heat olive oil and saute the onion and garlic for a few minutes - add the next 4 ingredients and stir. It will become a little dry and thick, so you can add a little of the water
• Add salsa and stir through
• Add water and stir through
• Heat through

Ingredients for enchiladas:

• 1 recipe of Enchilada Sauce (or you can make my Easier Enchilada Sauce!)
• 12 corn tortillas
• 1 can of black beans
• 1 cup of shredded cheese

Directions for enchiladas. (You might want to try my Variation of Black Bean Enchiladas for an easier prep!)

• Soak the tortillas in the enchilada sauce for a few minutes (you may want to let the sauce cool a little). Soaking isn't totally necessary but it helps keep the tortillas from cracking when you roll them up. It does sort of make them soggy, so you have to be careful and not break them when you handle them. But even if your tortillas are cracked or broken, its OK because everything gets covered w/ sauce and cheese and you can't even see the tortillas! If you don't soak, then just dip them into the sauce before rolling them up!
• Spray 9x13 casserole dish w/ Pam, then add about 1/2 cu of sauce to bottom of the pan
• Place 1.5 Tbl of black beans inside each tortilla and roll up into casserole dish. You may have some beans left over. Just put them anywhere you can once the tortillas are all rolled up.
• Scoop rest of enchilada sauce over the top
• Cover with cheese
• Cook for about 25-30 minutes in 350 degree oven

Welcome to my food/cooking blog. As I make things in my kitchen, I'll post recipes and pictures here!! If I know the Weight Watchers points values, I'll include that, too.