I read alot of blogs. A new blog called The Hedonist Cook wrote an article called Why American Cheese is Evil. Basically it’s an article about her preference for cheese and the conversion of her friend to see the her point behind the cheese issue.
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Archive for the ‘Cooking’ Category
My Mom sent me two different types of bran when I couldn’t find any here – wheat bran and oat bran. I’ve used most of the wheat bran up in my last blueberry muffins.
Today I think I will try this receipe for Oat Bran Blueberry Muffins. It doesn’t look nearly as good as the other ones, but then again I don’t have all those ingredients either, so we will try this one:
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INGREDIENTS
* 1 teaspoon white sugar
* 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
* 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups whole wheat flour
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
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I just did an analysis of two of my favorite soups already in my repoitoire – Taco Soup and Potato Soup. Both will do as a low cal dish.
and
So I’m at four definite and one possibility, only a few more to go.
As a side note I also did 30 mins of DDR today and burned 470 calories. And found another song I really like to use. I will probably start doing those favorite songs as I tend to like the faster ones, and the ones that are a bit harder even on beginner.
I’ve got three low cal recipes to try, now just to do some pricing on these things so I don’t blow my budget.
Shea loves tamale’s we’ve never had good luck with them. THIS we might have luck with. I am going to definitely try this one but instead with a chicken “chili” filling and probably throw some corn in for added veggies. And maybe have a pico de galo topping for me, Shea won’t eat it but I love it. It’s kinda similar to my Mexican casserole so it might do real well or it might bomb lol. It’s 273 caloriess per serving so not too bad.
I have a low cal enchillada recipe, I’ll have to pull it out again and combare what the calorie intake is compared to this. I can probably throw some corn into this as well, but probably won’t. Why ruin a good thing with that kind of experiment.
Gumbo what more can I say, we’ve been looking for a good recipe that is easy to make, so why not try this one. I’ll attempt to try the okra in it, but we’ll see how things go. It’s not much different form Shea’s grandmother’s recipe, but the portions are much more reasonable for me lol. So I will definitely be trying this out too.
So two definite and one possibility but it’s also an old recipe so we’ll see.
This is probably the only resolution that is about me (and Shea) personally.
Resolution #1 – lose weight. I am not going to put a weight limit on it. I’d like to be a minimum of 136 but I just need to lose weight period so I’m not setting a specific goal/time frame.
Instead I’m going to set small achievable goals.
My first few goals are meant to set us up for this particular resolution.
#1. Get a scale that does not rely on batteries to work. While the digital are more accurate when the batteries die you are kinda out of luck until you replace them. And they have a weight limit that isn’t quite so visible as your scale maxing out.
#2. Find at least one weeks worth of low cal recipes that fit into my weekly budget. These recipes should add vegetables to the diet that aren’t otherwise in my current repertoire of foods. I’m looking at soups, stews and other dishes in which I can puree and/or hide the veggies from my very picky husband. If he sees them he won’t eat them. This does two things, adds veggies to all our diets and stretches the bang for the buck on the meat.
#3. Try to play Disney Groove for an hour a day with or with out the girls. While I’m still working the very easy setting I think this is by far the best way for me to get extra exercise. As long as I sweat then I’m happy with the activity.
#4. Do a little research on EA Active to see what it has on it for “games” and activities and see if its worth the money to buy for both Shea and myself.
And finally #5. Stop drinking non diet soda. While this may seem like the easiest of goals it is probably my hardest one to achieve. I don’t like diet soda, I’ve tried and tried to drink it but I can’t get it down. But unfortunately I am drawn back into soda for the flavor of Dr. Pepper. Also unfortunately my caffeine intake at this current moment is way to high to it cold turkey. I cannot manage a day with the caffeine withdrawal headache I will get if I stop cold turkey. I have a few cans of regular Dr. Pepper left in the fridge, I will from my next purchase be buying Diet Dr. Pepper if it’s still on sale, if not I’ll find another suitable caffeinated diet soda to begin the slow down turn of caffeine intake. Diet soda’s will do two things, remove the caffeine intake slowly as I won’t drink as much and two keep the calories down until I can limit my drinks to Crystal Light and/or flavored water. But this is going to be the hardest of the small goals to achieve.
Well our Turkey Dinner went over well, not as well as it could have. My turkey wasn’t completely thawed out so I had to do the water method before throwing it in the oven. I couldn’t find the potato peeler so my mashed potatoes had the skins in there too. I food process them so it’s not such a big deal just something I don’t care for.
The girls must not have been hungry cause they didn’t touch their corn. I bought six ears just for them.
The yeast rolls were eh. They were edible, but they were flat, more like biscuits. They rose nicely the first time, maybe it’s cause I spaced them too far apart they rose out instead of up, dunno. It was also kinda damp outside so I’m sure that didn’t help. A do again but have to see about doing something different.
The pecan pie on the other hand was a major hit! The only thing Shea said could be better was the nuts a little softer, not sure what I can do about that but he loves it so it’s all good. Nothing to change, I can make one more pie with the stuff I bought, so we’ll try again to make sure it’s “perfection” lol.
Whole Wheat Pizza dough
NGREDIENTS
* 1 teaspoon white sugar
* 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
* 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups whole wheat flour
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* add to recipe box Add to Recipe Box
My folders:
* add to shopping list Add to Shopping List
* Customize Recipe
* add a personal note Add a Personal Note
DIRECTIONS
1. In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top, and let stand for about 10 minutes, until foamy.
2. Stir the olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture, then mix in the whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour until dough starts to come together. Tip dough out onto a surface floured with the remaining all-purpose flour, and knead until all of the flour has been absorbed, and the ball of dough becomes smooth, about 10 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover loosely with a towel, and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. When the dough is doubled, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 2 pieces for 2 thin crust, or leave whole to make one thick crust. Form into a tight ball. Let rise for about 45 minutes, until doubled.
4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Roll a ball of dough with a rolling pin until it will not stretch any further. Then, drape it over both of your fists, and gently pull the edges outward, while rotating the crust. When the circle has reached the desired size, place on a well oiled pizza pan. Top pizza with your favorite toppings, such as sauce, cheese, meats, or vegetables.
5. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes (depending on thickness) in the preheated oven, until the crust is crisp and golden at the edges, and cheese is melted on the top.
Blueberry Bran Muffins
INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
* 1 1/2 cups wheat bran
* 1 cup nonfat milk
* 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
* 1 egg
* 2/3 cup brown sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup blueberries
* add to recipe box Add to Recipe Box
My folders:
* add to shopping list Add to Shopping List
* Customize Recipe
* add a personal note Add a Personal Note
What to Drink?
Hot Non-Alcoholic Coffee
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or use paper muffin liners. Mix together wheat bran and milk, and let stand for 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, mix together applesauce, egg, brown sugar, and vanilla. Beat in bran mixture. Sift together all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir into bran mixture until just blended. Fold in blueberries. Scoop into muffin cups.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until tops spring back when lightly tapped.
I’ll let ya know how they turn out next week. I need to buy ingredients.
OMG, I can’t believe I’ve not posted about this yet. This is by far one of mine and Shea’s most favoritist dishes of all time. (and yes I know that’s not a word :P)
I was watching Ultimate Recipe Showdown and one of the winners did a similar pasta. Five cheeses bacon mac and cheese. You can get the TGIF modified version on their menu.
Here’s the basic proceedure I use.
I boil my pasta as package directions indicate. I use Ziti, Penne or Elbow Macaroni. My kids prefer the latter, my husband one of the former, but all is good.
Cut about 3/4 lb to 1 lb of bacon into bite size bits and fry them in a pan until crispy. Be cafeful with your bacon selection, the wrong one can really ruin the meal. It must say smoked and really shouldn’t be low sodium as we don’t add any salt to anything other than the pasta water.
When the bacon is crispy take it out of the grease and drain, but don’t drain the grease from the pan we need it! I generally use all of the renderings, but that’s up to you if you want to and how much liquid you intend to use. I don’t measure much these days so I can’t tell you how much. A typical roux is 1T of fat, 1T of flour to 1 cup of liquid depending on your consistency you want more or less liquid.
Add flour to the bacon drippings. I generally use three small handfuls of flour. Cook the flour so it’s cooked and gets rid of that flour taste. Stir in the milk and/or half and half. I typically use 2% milk but any other than skim should work fine. It’s about 1 quart of liquid but again I don’t actually measure when I’m doing it.
Add in about 2 cups of grated cheddar cheese into the milk bacon dripping mixture. Stir together until desired consistency.
Drain the pasta and pour the cheese sauce over it.
I generally grill chicken about 3 breasts and then cut it up into small bite size pieces, throw it into the pasta and sauce and add in the bacon, mix well and heat the rest through and blends together nicely.
While this is not a low fat meal it is AWESOME! It makes even better leftovers. And this is coming from someone who does not like leftovers.
I’ve been trying to master gumbo for a while now. And now that I’m focusing on rice for my girls as that seems to be a key ingredient most days to get them to eat, it’s a good staple to have, as it’s easy to make if time consuming.
I made a modified version of Shea’s grandmother’s and a recipe I found online. The biggest drawback to Shea’s mawmaw’s recipe is it is intended to make 4 gallons, scaling it down doesn’t work real well considering that there is no water quantity. Ours ended up too thick.
So today I used the following recipe.
Chicken and Turkey Sausage Gumbo
Tags: Southern, chicken, turkey, rice
Turkey Sausage
1 lb ground turkey
Mince garlic
Sugar
Oregano
Crushed fennel seed
Pepper
Salt
Season to taste and mix well.
Gumbo
4T butter
4T flour
6c water (was too thin 5c next time)
Celery salt
Pepper
Dash caynne pepper
Dried roasted bell peppers & garlic
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Salt
Bay leaf
1 lb turkey sausage
1 large chicken breast, cubed
2T tomato paste
Brown turkey sausage (needs to be drained really well). Put butter and flour in large pot and brown (medium to dark brown roux). Add seasonings to taste, Add meat, water, tomato paste and bring to a rapid boil. Boil for 5 mins, then simmer for 2 hours.
Serve with rice.
The parts in italics are the changes for next go around. Seasoning wise I think we did good. So next version will be a bit thinner and less oily. So here’s to hoping it goes just as good next time.
It makes about 6 servings with 6 cups and lots of rice.
