Kinda Healthy Brownies

Friday night snack attack!

We have been on dessert kick lately and tonight was no exception.  Ice cream alone wasn't going to do the trick so I decided to make brownies.  I was kind of amazed I had all the ingredients.

Here is the list of ingredients I used:
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used 4 ounces of plain unsweetened applesauce)

• 1 cup white sugar (I used Splenda; follow the equivalent  for 1 cup of white sugar)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (I used the same amount of whole wheat flour)
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional) (I did not use nuts)
• 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds (optional)
• 
  
• Directions:
• 1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x9 inch baking pan.
• 2.  In a medium bowl, mix together the oil, sugar, and vanilla. Beat in eggs. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; gradually stir into the egg mixture until well blended. Stir in walnuts or add flax seed, if desired. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
• 3.  Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the brownie begins to pull away from edges of pan. Let cool on a wire rack before cutting into squares.
• 
  
• Verdict:
• They satisfied the craving but I think the next time I will either use 1/2 white sugar and 1/2 Splenda or use regular flour.  Something was kind of off about it.  I also will up the cocoa powder a bit.  Now that I think of it, adding powdered sugar to the top might have helped a bit.  Overall they are good, just got to tweak the recipe some.  I would actually be fine with my kids having these for breakfast but maybe with some protein powder added.
• 
  
• I found this article interesting about substitutions and baking:
• http://www.healthylifect.com/home/article/Try-This-Cooking-with-Protein-Powder-3521492.php

Chicken Pot Pie

Fancy schmancy.

Growing up we didn't eat a lot of traditional comfort foods or frozen foods.  So when my Mom would give in and let us get a "TV dinner" I would get a chicken pot pie (or Banquet fried chicken meal) and I loved them.  For a while the church we attend would have Wednesday night fellowship meals catered (yeah...our church rocks... www.kyleumc.org) by a local business, the Texas Pie Company (www.texaspiecompany.com/).  Their samplings, other than pie, are chicken pot pie, King Ranch chicken, chicken tetrazzini, lasagna and beef stroganoff.  All great comfort food meals.

Recently I decided to make chicken pot pie myself.  For some reason it always scared me before. The whole idea of making pie crust (or bread) confuses me.  But when I realized, "duh...frozen pie crust" I knew I could do this.  Here is a rough description of what I do, along with the ingredient list.

Ingredients:
     2 frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts (you decide what you want to use)
     3-5 diced carrots
     2 stalks celery
     1 small onion
     2 cloves garlic

     frozen peas
     poultry seasoning, pepper, parsley and marjoram, to taste (I also use a hit of cumin.)
     chicken broth
     milk
     whole wheat flour

How to:

1.  Boil chicken in enough chicken broth and/or water to cover.  I used a Knorr caldo de pollo cube (www.knorr.com).  I would have also added a bay leaf if I could have found them in my pantry.

2.  While chicken is cooking add onion to a medium skillet.  I used frozen diced onion I had put up.  I don't use oil for this part because you just want the onions to start "sweating" not brown.

3.  Once the onions start "sweating" add the diced carrots and celery.  Cover and cook about 10 minutes and then add the garlic.  Again, you don't want to brown the items, just want them 

to get tender.  Add some broth or water if you feel the urge.  

4.  Once the chicken is cooked strain the broth into your vegetable mixture.  I strain it because I don't like the "floaters" you sometimes get when boiling frozen chicken.  Dice chicken to the size you like and add to the veggies.

5.  Taste the combination and adjust the seasonings.  I usually do not add salt because the caldo de pollo cube is salty enough.  Then add about 2 tablespoons flour to about 1/2 cup of water, stir till lumps dissolve and add to the veggies.  I also add about 1/2 cup of milk for more creaminess.  You can use half and half and evaporated milk too.  Bring to a low boil to thicken.  Taste and again adjust to your preference.  
6.  The last step is adding the frozen peas.  I add about 1 1/2 cups.  You can also use frozen veggies in place of all the vegetables but I don't like the balance of what vegetables are 
usually in a package.
7.  Prepare pie crust according to directions for a 2 crust pie.  Add enough of the pot pie mixture to be just shy of the very top, you need breathing room.  I used about 4 1/2 cups of the mixture.  Place the top crust and vent.
8.  Cook according the the pie crust box.  Anywhere from 25-40 minutes, depending on your oven and amount of doneness you like.
*I cook intuitively so all measurements are guess-timations.

Verdict:  My family enjoys this and I could eat it quite frequently but I know they would tire of it.  Harper, the youngest, isn't a fan of it but I think that is her being stubborn.  Marlee, the oldest, really likes it.  It is really an easy thing to do that looks impressive.  You can use what you have on hand or like too.  Less celery, add cooked, diced potatoes...sure.  I think the trick is cooking or pre-cooking everything, that way it doesn't take an hour to cook.  It is easy to double and freeze the extra.

Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon

What better way to increase your

Omega 3 intake than by covering salmon

with brown sugar?

I have never made salmon so I wasn't sure how it would go over or taste.  Fears relieved...it tasted wonderful and was super easy to make.  I roughly followed this recipe:  http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Brown-Sugar-Glazed-Salmon-2
I didn't have any honey so I used a little bit of apricot Simply Fruit.  I also added a bit more Dijon mustard and also included 2 cloves of diced garlic and about 1/2 teaspoon of fresh ground ginger.  Since it was pretty sweet I also added some lemon juice.  I salted and peppered the salmon pieces by themselves.  The sauce made enough for 6 pieces of salmon but next time I will make a bit more because it is yummy.  I also will eliminate the butter because it didn't seem to make a difference.  I did spray the foil paper with spray and patted the salmon pieces dry before putting them on the foil. Next time I will only make 4 pieces because the kids split a piece while Sean and I each had one.

Even though we all liked this (very proud of the girls for trying something totally new) next time I will do a more savory and healthier version.   I will probably just go with fresh herbs and lemon.  I did like how quickly and easy it was to cook.  I was very apprehensive that it would stick or not cook throughly.

I served the salmon with one of my favorite potato recipes from Better Homes & Gardens, http://www.bhg.com/recipe/vegetables/cottage-fried-potatoes/.  I've made these potatoes many times over the years and they are just hearty and homey.  We had a simple green salad along with it.

Easy Stromboli

Easy Stromboli and salad

After taking a much longer than expected break from this blog I am back.  Well...we are back.  To kick off the relaunch of this blog my 8 year old daughter, Marlee, made dinner all by herself (for the first time) tonight.  All I did was "supervise".

We had decided a few weeks ago we were going to do this so we had a recipe all picked out and had the ingredients on hand.

Easy Stromboli, http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/easy-stromboli/9a606a9a-70f8-4916-856b-52d727f2a9bc/, was our inspiration.  We followed the instructions of the recipe to a T but we modified the ingredients.  Since my girls don't like pepperoni we used bacon pieces.  We keep plenty, and I mean plenty of bacon pieces on hand.  We buy it from Sam's Club (http://www.samsclub.com/sams/hormel-bacon-topping-2-5-lb/prod4530014.ip?navAction=). We also used sliced mozzarella cheese and a bit more sauce than what it called for.  And that was it...20 minutes later ooey gooey goodness with some parmesan cheese (yeah...the stuff in the can...don't judge) sprinkled on top. This served all 4 of us perfectly.

Marlee turned on the oven, put it in the oven, turned on the timer, checked on it and took it out, all by herself.  I am sooo very proud of her.  Next time she says we are doing dessert with "secret ingredients".

Marlee says:
Hi, it's Marlee. I had so much fun making this and I HOPE I can be on the blog more often!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1/26/12 - Fennel and garlic roasted pork loin with potato hash medley

Looks and tastes like fall.

Fennel and garlic roasted pork loin with potato hash medley and kale chips. Soooo good. You have the right to be jealous.

For some reason I have fallen in love with the flavor of fennel seeds this pass year.  Don't know if I have actually eaten fennel bulb but I dig the flavor of the seeds.  Kind of an earthy, licorice taste.  The fact that it is a main ingredient in absinthe has nothing to do with it.

This meal started the night before as I put together a marinade for the pork loin.  Now a pork loin is perfectly lovely with salt and pepper but I wanted to be adventurous. I put together fennel seed (about a ¼ teaspoon), sea salt, black pepper, ground marjoram (for kicks), Steak au Poivre, and 4 garlic cloves along with some soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and a splash of balsamic vinaigrette.  I added the pork loin and let it all become friendly overnight in a Ziploc bag placed in a bowl (always place stuff like this in a pan of some sort in case there is a leak).

The next day I browned the pork loin all over in a pan.  I made a bit of a mistake here…browning it was a good I idea but I had the heat too high and the sugars in the marinade browned too much.  It was fine but next time I will be aware of that possibility.  After that I added about ½ a cup of chicken broth, water or apple juice/cider would work too, to the same pan I browned the pork loin in, covered it and put it in a 350° oven.  I cooked it for about 25 minutes but this baby would have been good at 15 minutes + 10 minutes of resting.

With the marinade I poured it in a small saucepan and then just cranked up the heat to reduce it and kill any bacteria.  When it reduced by more than half I tasted it, adjusted the seasoning with some diced garlic, chicken broth and a splash more balsamic vinegar and then continued to let it thicken and simmer.

While the pork loin was cooking I shredded a few russet potatoes I need to use and cooked them quickly.  Pretty much hash brown style.  I then diced up a sweet potato I needed to use (poor carbs aren’t getting much love in our house right now) and cooked it for about 15 minutes in a skillet till the cubes were browned, soft and almost caramelized.

The last step was making the kale chips.  Easiest thing to do is just give you the recipe I used from allrecipes.com (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/baked-kale-chips/).  My suggestions, make sure the kale is rinsed and dried as much as possible, leave them in bite size or larger pieces and try to only have one layer of them.  I had to cook them a bit longer, like 2 minutes, so for that last bit I turned the oven up to 400° and finished them off.

When it was finally time to slice the pork loin it had rested a bit too long and was cooked more than I would have liked but it was fork tender.  Once I sliced it up I drizzled some of the reduced marinade (strained it first…just looked prettier that way) over it.

Verdict:  I thought this meal was great.  The fennel was a new flavor for my family.  Sean didn’t seem crazy over the flavor but the kids didn’t seem to mind it.  The potato hash was good and I liked the contrast with the sauce and the fennel taste. As for the kale chips, frankly the things are like crack.  So good and the kids were licking their fingers and practically the plate.  I will make this all again with some adjustments and remember to double the kale chips. 

1/20/12 - Beef & Veggie stir fry

I love our Frankoma plates!
I think of Sean's Grandma,
Helen Soja, every time we use them.
I miss that lady.

I had some veggies that I needed to use so I decided to make beef and veggie stir-fry.  I decided to serve it with brown rice and some Tai Pei chicken egg rolls that were rescued from the bottom of the deep freeze (http://taipeifood.com/products/ps_and_er/chicEggRoll_24oz.html).

To cook the brown rice I used the tried and true Alton Brown recipe I found last year (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/baked-brown-rice-recipe/index.html).  Perfect rice every time, well except the time I doubled the recipe.  If you choose to double it use separate baking dishes (last time I used a 9” cake pan because it was closest).  Make sure to put the dish on a baking sheet before putting in the oven.  Makes it much easier to move the dish and saves your oven if some of the water splashes out.  As for the egg rolls I put them in at the end of the cooking time for the brown rice.  Since the cooking times were different I turned up the heat for a bit once the brown rice was done.  I found that cooking them at the low temp followed by the higher heat made them crispier.

Using the last of the thin cut meat I had bought from Walmart I very thinly sliced it and marinated it in soy sauce, fresh minced garlic and fresh grated ginger (first time using fresh ginger).  While the meat was marinating I chopped up the veggies I needed to use up…broccoli, button mushrooms, white onion and asparagus.  I sautéed the mushrooms alone so they could brown, once they were done I added the white onion and cooked till it was translucent.  Once that was done I quickly steamed the broccoli and asparagus halfway then stir-fried them till done.

When the veggies were done I quickly cooked the meat in two different batches.  Literally took 90 second per batch over medium high heat in a little olive oil.  To finish of the meat I sprinkled a liberal amount of sesame seed in the pan to brown a bit and then added the meat and back in to coat.  Last step was adding the veggies so everything could be evenly distributed.

Verdict:  This was crazy good.  I don’t know if it was the marinade that just brought it all together or the fact that everything was cooked just right and not rushed but I really loved this meal.  Since I was sick the weekend I made this I ate this like 4 times with a healthy dose of chili paste in it and some more soy sauce.  I can’t wait to make this again.

1/17/12 - Pumpkin chili with sweet corn & flax seed cornbread

Thanks for the picture, honey.

Sorry for being out of touch lately but life caught up with me.  I have still been cooking but not nearly as much as I would like.

The first thing I cooked last week was pumpkin chili and sweet corn & flax seed cornbread.  Odd combination but so good.

First I browned 1 pound of ground turkey.  Once that was cooked I added 2 cloves fresh garlic and some rehydrated minced onion (trying to use up an impulse spice purchase).  Once that cooked up a bit I added chili powder, comino, sea salt, pepper and a little caldo de pollo.  After that was nicely mixed I added 1 can each of diced tomatoes and Bush’s chili beans, liquid and all (Marlee use to love these beans and I still have a few cans).  I then added about 5 cups of water, just enough to have about 1” of water above the chili. 

Now for the pumpkin!  During the fall my husband cooked and put up the innards from several pumpkins.  The pumpkin seeds were eaten long ago but I am so glad he put up the pumpkin pulp.  So, I defrosted the pumpkin overnight and once it was unfrozen I added half to the chili and then used my immersion blender to smooth out the rest.  Next time I will use the immersion blender on all of the pumpkin but it was fine the way I did it.

The pumpkin didn’t really alter the taste of the chili, maybe a bit sweeter, but it gave it good body and so many great vitamins like beta-carotene and Vitamin C.  To offset the sweetness I added a bit more chili powder and comino.

As for the cornbread, I just used a box of Jiffy cornbread mix and followed the recipe on the box but added a can of drained and rinsed sweet corn.  On top of that I added a few tablespoons of flax seed to give us some omega-3 essential fatty acids and more fiber.  I cooked it for the amount of time the box called for.

Verdict: We all liked this but I know next time to not serve the girls quite so much.  I put out shredded cheese and sour cream to top it off (next time I will add Tabasco sauce to mine).  The cornbread was awesome!!  So tender and sweet.  I will totally make this again.