Sausage Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients
1lb tube of Breakfast Pork Sausage 

     (OR 1 tube of Gimmie Lean Vegetarian Soysage + 2 T Butter) 

1 med. Green pepper, diced
1 med. Onion, diced
10 Eggs
3 C Skim Milk
2 t Dry mustard
1 t Salt
1/2 t Pepper
6 English muffins, torn/cut into bite-size pieces
1 med. Tomato, seeded and chopped
2 C Sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions
1. Grease or line a 9x13 baking pan. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Brown sausage, breaking up crumbles. * If using soysage, melt 2 T butter before adding soysage

3. Toss in green pepper and onion with the sausage to soften, about 5-10 min. Dump into baking dish.
4. Add cut english muffins, tomatoes, and 1 C sharp cheddar cheese to baking dish. Mix together. (You can prep this the night before, if needed.)
5. Combine eggs, milk, dry mustard, salt and pepper. Whisk well.
6. Pour egg mixture over casserole. Press down contents briefly so egg mixture completely covers it.
7. Top with 1 C sharp cheddar cheese. 

8. Bake uncovered 55-60 minutes, until eggs are set.

Dish may be refrigerated for up to 1 hour before baking. (It will be mush if egg is added the night before.)

Turkey Veg and Hummus Rollups

Take a burrito sized tortilla shell.

Cover it with a thin layer of hummus, all the way up to the edges.

Next take roasted red bell pepper slices

To make your own roasted bell pepper: put a whole red pepper directly on a gas burner. Let it blacken. Continue rotating until the entire surface is black. Let it cool 2 min. Put in a plastic bag and seal. Let it steam for 3-5min. Scrape off the charred bits and/or run it under water. Then chop and de-seed!

Next take a few handfuls of mixed lettuce greens, shredded carrot, diced parsley, and green onion and add to the pepper.

Grab some sliced turkey and layer it as well.

Make sure ingredients are tightly packed together. Then begin rolling.

Keep rolling tightly.

Chop off the ends.

Divide in quarters, then cut on the diagonals to get 8 pieces.

And serve!

Banana Applesauce Muffins

Combine dry ingredients:

1/2 c whole wheat flour

1/2 c rolled oats 

1/2 c flour

1/2 c ground golden flaxseed meal

2 T buttermilk powder 

1 T baking powder 

1 t cinnamon 

1/2 c brown sugar 

Combine wet ingredients:

3 small banana 

4oz natural applesauce 

2 t vanilla extract 

1/2 c water

Stir wet and dry together until combined.

Beat until foamy:

3/4 c egg whites 

Then add to batter, stir until whites are just incorporated. 

Spray lined muffin pan. Scoop in batter (I use a small ice cream scoop). These muffins only rise a little. 

Adapted from The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook

White Pizza

Tortilla pizza with olive oil, spinach, ricotta,
garlic powder, baby bellas, and prosciutto

So Thursday I was left unsupervised during dinner so after walking laps around the grocery store and changing my menu about 15 times I finally decided on an easy white pizza. It was tasty but not perfected yet (see pretty picture).  The spinach ricotta mixture was too thick and not warm enough even though the prosciutto and mushrooms browned a bit and the flour tortilla crust was crisp. 

My 2nd attempt Sunday night I saute diced onion, thinly sliced mushrooms, and olive oil. I threw in the prosciutto as well. I liked the flavor but this time the liquid from the saute greyed the prosciutto but fortunately it still crisped in the oven. Next round, I will wait to top the pizza with the proscuitto. This time after I defrosted the chopped spinach I squeezed out as much liquid as possible and heated it through before adding it to the ricotta. I also used a little more salt, black pepper, and garlic powder in the ricotta mixture. I also brushed the tortilla with olive oil because I was missing the flavor the first round. 

Lemon Squares

I made these Lemon Squares yesterday for my mom's birthday. They were fantastic! So fantastic that I forgot to take a picture! Guess that means that I will have to make them again soon!

::: insert picture here:::

http://www.marthastewart.com/338728/lemon-squares

Pad Wun Sen with Shrimp

This was a first attempt after missing one of my favorite dishes first had at Thai Taste in Carbondale. It's close to what I want it to be, maybe a little sweeter than I remember and I had no chilies on hand. Either way, it was still delicious! Overall, it was pretty cheap to make too (3 hearty servings for $6-8)

2tbsp fish sauce (3crabs brand is our favorite)

3tbsp Brown sugar to taste 

4tbsp soy sauce 

4tbsp oyster sauce (lee cum ki brand has a negligent mother on the label)

1tbsp oil

2 garlic cloves, smashed/sliced

2 carrots, cut into matchsticks

1 onion sliced thinly

1/2 head Napa cabbage cut into 2in squares

1 pkg thin rice noodles, soaked as directed in hot tap water for 10 min.

2 eggs, scrambled

1/2 lb shrimp, defrosted, peeled, and tails off

Green onion

Cilantro

Add Thai chilies or chili paste to add heat.

Prep all ingredients as listed

Mix sauce ingredients together, microwave to melt brown sugar and set aside

In a wok, heat the oil. Add garlic, onion and carrot. Cook til they start to brown. 

Next add cabbage and noodles. Incorporate well.

Pour in the sauce. ( I did this at this point because the noodles were starting to stick to the wok

Next add the egg. Let the egg set before stirring into the noodles.

Add the shrimp. Cook until warmed through. 

Toss in green onion and cilantro as garnish

I am not a baker!

I do not call myself a baker but I am going to try my hand at 2 desserts for family birthdays coming up. Pictures to follow!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/spiced_pumpkin_cheesecake.aspx

Chocolate bundt cake

http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/chocolate-sour-cream-bundt-cake/

Cranberry Relish

• 1 bag fresh cranberries
• 1/4 C water
• 3/4 C sugar
• 1 C fresh squeezed orange juice ( used 3 med. seedless naval oranges)
• 1 orange worth of peel, peeled wide using a vegetable peeler
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 
  
• In a medium saucepan, combine cranberries, sugar, orange peel, cinnamon stick, and water. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir in orange juice. Reduce to a simmer and cook until thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand to continue thickening. Stores for 1 week refrigerated. Serve at room temp.

Recipe adapted from Tasting Table on PBS and Martha Stewart.

I have NO idea how to make this picture more appetizing, but seriously, I've gone from a cranberry non-believer to cranberry addict!

Green eggs and ham breakfast

One egg

1/4 cup egg white

1/3 package of frozen chopped spinach

Add sprinkle of onion powder and garlic powder

Two slices of Canadian bacon

Sprinkle of finely grated sharp sharp cheddar cheese

Cooked with a little smart balance 

served with toasted English muffin

Eggplant & Sweet Potato Green Curry

I found this in one of those bookstore bargain table over-sized cookbooks--"The Complete Stir-Fry Cookbook." It is a wonderful recipe that features a couple ingredients I have been wanting to work into our diet more often: eggplant and sweet potato. I will have to add a picture next time we make this, as it is all gone now. The lime juice and zest make for a zippy, fresh flavor. The purple eggplant, orange sweet potato, and green cilantro are quite colorful together, too.

Prep time: 25 minutes
Total cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp oil
1 onion, chopped
1-2 tbsp green curry paste
1 1/2 c coconut milk
1 med-lrg sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 med eggplant, quartered and sliced
2 tbsp fish sauce (we like the 3 crabs brand)
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tsp lime zest
2 tsp soft brown sugar
1/2 c loosely packed cilantro leaves

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oil in a large wok and stir-fry the onion and curry paste for 3 minutes over medium heat. Add the coconut milk and 1 cup of water to the wok. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the sweet potato and cook for 6 minutes. Add the eggplant to the wok and cook for 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are very tender, stirring often. Add the fish sauce, lime juice, zest, and sugar. Gently toss contents of wok. Sprinkle with the cilantro leaves and serve.

Note: The recipe originally called for 6 kaffir lime leaves to be added with the eggplant. They are not available very often at my local international grocery store, so I omitted them and though the finished product was still wonderful.

NUTRITION PER SERVING (6)

Protien 3 g; Fat 16 g; Carbs 14 g; Fiber 3 g; Cholesterol 0 mg; 205 calories

Hummus Kalaya

Julie has already posted one hummus recipe from the Cheese Factory that uses canned garbonzos. You can see that recipe here. The recipe here uses dry beans and is from the Chicago Diner.

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

1/2 pound dried garbanzo beans (about 1 1/4 cups)
2 quarts water
1/2 coarsely chopped green onion
1/2 cup parsley
3 Tbsp minced garlic
3/4 cup tahini
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1-2 Tbsp olive oil

Directions

Bring the beans and water to boil, and simmer 1 1/2 hours until they are very tender. The softer they are the creamier the hummus will be. Drain the beans, reserving about 1 cup of the liquid. Place the beans in a food processor with the reserved liquid and remaining ingredients, and process until smooth.

Note: There are a few ways to speed up the cooking time on the garbanzo beans. A quick search online found suggestions to: add 1/2-1 tsp of baking soda to the cooking water; soak the beans for 12 hours before simmering in the soaking water; and use a pressure cooker. I also found suggestions to add a postage stamp sized piece of kombu (dried kelp used heavily in Japanese cooking, particularly in making dashi stock) to the pot while cooking. It will speed up cooking too, as well as helping to eliminate gas from the beans and making them easier to digest.

To make the veggies:

Ingredients

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium carrot
1 small zucchini
1 red or yellow bell pepper
1 medium red onion
1/4 small head of red cabbage
2 handfuls of fresh spinach
1 rounded Tbsp dried oregano
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Cut all veggies to similarly sized matchsticks. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large cast iron skillet. Add all ingredients except the spinach and red cabbage. Cook until the veggies have started to soften and have a little color. You need to make sure not to stir them too frequently if you want color to develops. Now add the spinach and cabbage and cook just a couple minutes  until the spinach has wilted.

Arranging everything for serving
Pita bread can be heated in the oven or on the stove top in a cast iron skillet. Cut them in 6 pieces and arrange in a ring on your serving piece with the points facing out. Arrange the veggies to form a sort of next in the middle of the pita and then spoon hummus into the center. If desired, you can further dress the plate with a quick drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of paprika and/or chopped parsley.

Hot and Steamy Salmon

 


So I was looking for super food recipes today and found several for salmon. Most of them were grilled though, and I was not quite committed enough to this endeavor to fire up the grill for the season just yet. I always feel like I over cook fish on the grill or in the broiler anyway. Something made me think, "poached," and then I remembered we have a bamboo steamer. It gets a fair amount of use, but mostly for steaming dumplings. So I consulted Google and found several tips for cooking fish in a bamboo steamer. This is the recipe I went with:


Cook time: 10 Minutes
Prep time: 10 Minutes

Ingredients

* 2 4-6oz Salmon Fillets
* 1 tbsp soy sauce
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 2 scallions
* 4 slices ginger
* 1 lemon
* 2 tsp sesame oil
* Pepper to taste

Directions

* Rinse and pat dry the salmon fillets.  Drizzle soy sauce,  salt, and pepper over the fish.  Sprinkle with sliced scallions and ginger.

* Cut the lemon in half and then cut half a lemon into thin slices.

* Use about 1 section of your bamboo steamer (about 1 inch tall).  Place either some cabbage, butter lettuce, or banana leaf down on the steamer and lay the fish on top.  Place the sliced lemon on top of the fish.  Squeeze the remaining juice from 1/2 the lemon all over the top.

* Steam the fish for 8-10 minutes by placing the bamboo steamer over boiling water in a wok or similar dish.

* Remove from heat and drizzle the sesame oil over the fillets.  Serve hot over rice, bok choy, or thin noodles. (I skipped the sesame oil described here and opted for a teriyaki sauce instead--see below)


View this recipe at its original site here.

I put fresh broccoli in the second steamer basket and already had brown rice going in our rice cooker. To dress it up a little, I pressed the rice into a small bowl to use it as a mold and then flipped it over onto the plate. I then sprinkled some black sesame seeds on the rice for further decoration. On the side, I made a simple maple teriyaki sauce. It was delicious on everything; the rice, the broccoli, and the salmon.

Here's the recipe for the sauce:

2 tsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp maple syrup (the real stuff)
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tsp minced fresh ginger

Combine all ingredients and stir well.

Christmas Cookies 2012!

Cookie Request List:

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies
The orange in these cookies and the chewiness makes these unbelievable! They spread lots on the pan!

Lemon Ricotta Cookies with lemon glaze
My mom said the cakiness of these reminded her of the black and white cookies from the bakery. This batter looks too thin when going on the pan but puffs up into these little sweet spots. I would make them smaller next time. Love the lemon in these!

Classic Spritz
The key to these is NOT to over cook them. They are so little the timing on these needs to be closely watched.

Almond Crescents

Rum Balls My personal favorite!

Pecan Tarts

Snickerdoodles Katie swears by this recipe!

Also making vanilla caramels with seasalt and molasses caramels thanks to Michelle!
We learned this year that the molasses caramels need to boil much more than a soft ball, almost to a hard crack stage. We doubled each recipe to fill 1 jelly roll pan!

Dangerous Almond Cream & Pear Puff

This recipe was adapted from Puff-Pastry-Tart-Filled-with-Almond-Cream-at Epicurious with a few important changes. Super easy. Super delicious. Dangerously good.

5oz (half a can) pure almond paste
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 (17 1/4-oz) package frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed about 40 min 

2 T egg white

3 ripe pears, sliced 1/4 in thick slices

Preheat oven to 450°F.
Purée almond paste, granulated sugar, butter, and a pinch of salt in a food processor until combined.
Add 1 egg, vanilla, and almond extract and purée until consistent.
Butter parchment paper and place on cookie sheet. Top with 1 puff pastry.
Use rolling pin to stretch out dough slightly to approximately 9x11in.
Roll out 2nd puff pastry piece to the same size.
Brush a border on the edges of both puff pieces with egg white to help them stick together.
Mound almond cream in center, spread evenly.
Place a layer of pear slices evenly spread across the puff.
Cover with 2nd puff piece and press the egged edges together lightly.
Make several small slits all the way through pastry, at about 3-inch intervals, to create steam vents. 


Bake in lower third of oven until puffed and golden brown, 13 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool slightly, 5 to 10 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

Homemade apple pie perfection!

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/10/perfect-apple-pie-recipe-double-crusted-thanksgiving-dessert.html
Next time, I would add more cinnamon and ground cloves (something that I just remembered from baking my first apple pie with my mom in 2nd grade for a Girl Scout event!)
The apple texture and sweetness is just to my liking using Braeburn Apples.

Finnish Bread

This is not quite a full recipe for Grandma's whole wheat molasses bread since she cooks by feel not by measuring but this is close to the real thing! My brother Don said last time the recipe didn't turn out too well but he will try again!

4 c warm water
1/2 cake of yeast
     Dissolve.
1 1/4 c whole wheat flour
2/3 c molasses
5 c all purpose flour
9 t shortening
     Add cup of flour or T shortening in one at a time working it in we'll as you go.
Then add 4c all purpose flour
    ( recipe weighed out to 950 grams of all purpose flour total )

Apple Cinnamon Muffin Squares

Cinnamon Muffin Mix
substitute applesauce for oil
add 1/4C  additional water than recipe calls for

peel and dice 4 large apples

Spray a 9x13 pan
Spread 1/2 the batter in the pan
Topwith a solid single layer of apple pieces
Cover with remaining batter
Sprinkle with streudel topping

Bake at 375 for 15-20 min until set and lightly browned

Grilled Veggies with Quinoa

If you don't know much about Quinoa, check it out! Even Wikipedia taught me a lot such as:
Quinoa is not actually a grain because it is not part of the grass family.
This has been around 3-4000 years for human consumption!
Quinoa leaves are also edible, but not commercially available.
Quinoa grains contain essential amino acids and good quantities of calcium, phosphorus, and iron.
Its protein content is very high (14% by mass), yet not as high as most beans and legumes.
Nutritional evaluations of quinoa indicate that it is a source of complete protein.


We used the 4 cups of leftover veggies from our last blog post for veggie quesadillas, tossed with rice cooker quinoa, topped with a little chopped parsley and feta for a delicious and superquick dinner

To make perfect quinoa every time use your rice cooker!
2 1/2 C Quinoa
4 C Water or Broth
Cook 30 minutes in rice cooker
Remember to unplug after cooking, don't keep it on a warm setting.

Veggie Quesadillas

This is a quick weeknight meal that is filling, and delicious! Also meatless!
 

2 Carrots, medium diced
2 Small Red Onions, medium diced
1 Zucchini, medium diced
1 Squash, medium diced
2 Giant Red Peppers, medium diced


3 t garlic powder
1/4t cayenne pepper
2 t oregano
pinch of salt
4 oz of tomato sauce
Salt & Pepper
2 whole wheat tortillas per person
1/2 C Colby Jack Cheese per person

Add 1T olive oil to a large cast iron skillet heated to medium high. Add in all the chopped veggies. As they cook down, add 1 T garlic powder, 1 T oregano, and Salt & Pepper.

In a second pan heat pan to medium. Add 1 t of olive oil and 2 veggie patties. Flip occasionally until they defrost. Use a spatula (I used my Meat Chop'N Stir from Pampered Chef) to break up the burgers. Add 2 t garlic powder, 1/4t cayenne pepper, 1 t oregano, and a pinch of salt. 

Once veggies are grilled, divide them in 1/2. Put 1/2 in a storage container for future meals this week. Take remaining 1/2 and add to the seasoned veggie patty mix. Heat to encorporate and add about 4 oz of tomato sauce. Divide into 8 portions, about 1/3 C veggies per tortilla.


Clean out the cast iron skillet, lightly oil and wipe out til dry. Reheat skillet to medium. Add a tortilla. Layer 1/4 C cheese, 1/3 C veggies, 1/4 C cheese. Fold over and smush. Cook on side until starts to brown and cheese starts to bubble. Flip and brown on other side. Repeat.

Cut each quesadilla into 4 wedges.  Makes enough for 4 people for dinner, 8 tortillas total.

~Fancy~ Grilled Cheese & All-Grown-Up Tomato Soup

So, Guy & I wanted to make a quick and easy comfort dinner: Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese. Yum! We both started doctoring the soup & this is what we came up with. It was great! As for the Grilled Cheese, Guy remembers having this at the Chicago Diner when he was still in high school. I don't know how we have had a relationship for 13 years before he shared this grilled cheese secret, but its now my favorite way to have grilled cheese!

~Fancy~ Grilled Cheese

2 Wheat Bread
1/2 C Shredded Carrot

1/2 Refrigerator Dill Pickle, sliced thinly

optional: diced green onion
3 Slices 2% American Cheese
Smart Balance

Heat pan and butter bread. Place 1 slice of bread butter side down to brown. Top 1 slice of bread with 1 1/2 slice of cheese. Top with carrot and pickle. Top with 1 1/2 slice of cheese and 2nd piece of bread. Flip when well browned on first side. Cook until well browned Yum!

All-Grown-Up Tomato Soup
8 oz Small Dry Pasta - I had stars, orzo would work, but keep it small
Water

26 oz Condensed Tomato Soup (Family Size)
28 oz Can of Diced Tomatoes - don't drain!
13 oz Water
1 Lg pinch Saffron
3-4 Tbsp Tandoori Powder

Cilantro
Diced White Onion

Cook pasta as directed (mine was 3-5 min). Drain.
Heat tomato soup, diced tomatoes, water and spices. Add drained pasta when ready.
Top with cilantro and diced onion. Enjoy!