Moist, Healthy Pumpkin Muffins

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup wheat bran
2 eggs
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1.5 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup oil
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup mashed bananas
1 cup buttermilk

Whisk all dry ingredients together.  Mix all wet ingredients together.  Gently mix wet and dry.  Pour into greased muffin tin.  Bake at 400 degrees F for 15-25 minutes.  Tops of muffins will spring back when done.

Pumpkin pancakes

1 cup oat flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1-2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 cups buttermilk
1 cup chocolate chips

Multigrain Waffles

I found my next go-to waffle recipe.  I'm in heaven.  My mouth is still salivating one hour later.  I ate my waffle plain--it was slightly crunchy, but moist inside and had such a hint of cinnamon/vanilla flavor that syrup was not needed.  

I followed the recipe from Eatingwell.com's website (http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/multi_grain_waffles.html) but modified it a little.  I used 2 tablespoons of honey instead of brown sugar, instead of 2/3 cup all-purpose flour I used whole wheat and I used 2 tablespoons melted butter instead of oil.  Oh, and I had some flaxseed meal that needed to be used up, so I threw in 2 tablespoons flaxseed meal.

2 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup cornmeal

1.5 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

2 T. ground flaxseed

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 T. honey

2 T. melted butter

2 tsp. vanilla

Mix the buttermilk and oats in a small bowl and let sit for 15 minutes.

Whisk together all the dry ingredients.  Mix the rest of the wet ingredients, pour into the buttermilk mixture.  Pour the buttermilk/wet ingredients into the dry.  Slightly mix just until everything is combined.

EDITED 5/3/2015

3 cups 1% milk

1 cup nonfat plain greek yogurt

1 cup rolled oats

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 + 1/3 cup cream of wheat

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup flaxseed

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 large eggs

4 T. honey

2 T. butter

4 tsp. vanilla

This is the original recipe from EatingWell:

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 2/3 cup whole-wheat flour
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup toasted wheat germ, or cornmeal
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

MORE HEALTHY RECIPE IDEAS

• Hearty Bulgur Recipes
• Low Calorie Burger Recipes
• Heart-Healthy Recipes for Breakfast
• Healthy Hot Dog Recipes & Healthy Hamburger Recipes
• Christmas Brunch Recipes

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

• Multi-Bean Chili
• Pecan & Mushroom Burgers
• Whole-Grain Waffles with Cherry Sauce
• Parsley Tabbouleh
• Mediterranean Burgers

PREPARATION

1. Mix buttermilk and oats in a medium bowl; let stand for 15 minutes.
2. Whisk whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, wheat germ (or cornmeal), baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl.
3. Stir eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla into the oat mixture. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients; mix with a rubber spatula just until moistened.
4. Coat a waffle iron with cooking spray and preheat. Spoon in enough batter to cover three-fourths of the surface (about 2/3 cup for an 8-by-8-inch waffle iron). Cook until waffles are crisp and golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Repeat with remaining batter.

Beef Italian Meatballs

2 lbs. ground beef

1 cup breadcrumbs

1 cup parmesan

2 eggs

1/2 cup water

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp black pepper

2 tsp. parsley

2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. ground fennel

3/4 tsp. cayenne

Heat oven to 400 F. Beat the eggs, pour in the breadcrumbs, parmesan and water.  In a separate small bowl, mix the spices and then mix them gently with the egg/breadcrumb mixture.  Put the meat in and mix gently.  

Shape into 1.5 inch balls and place in a large cooking pan.  Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until meat is 160 degrees.

Beef Pot Roast

Today I created this pot roast recipe and found it to be delish! Caleb claims that the gravy I made from the drippings is as good as the school lunch gravy...ummm...let's just say, he used to never eat gravy until he tried it once at school this spring and he discovered he liked gravy. He came home from school that day and said, "MOM!!! I like gravy! Can you make it like the school lunch people do?" I knew I would never make gravy like the school lunch kind because it was probably full of sodium and additives, but I promised him one day I would make him yummy gravy. I haven't made beef roast yet this summer because, well, it's kinda hot to be making pot roast. I love to eat it in the fall and winter. For some reason I had a yen for it and decided to make it for Sunday dinner. Here's what I did:

2 lbs. beef rump roast
Olive Oil
Flour
1 cup red cooking wine
1/4 cup red wine vinegar (optional)
1 onion, sliced
3 carrots, peeled and cut into one pieces
2 celery stalks, cut into one inch pieces
3 cloves of garlic
Dried rosemary
Salt and Pepper
2 cups beef broth, reduced sodium
2 bay leaves

Pour enough oil into a dutch oven to lightly cover the bottom. Heat on medium high heat. Sprinkle the roast with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour and sear on all sides until a light crust forms on all sides. Set the roast aside. Caramelize the onions in the oil until soft. Put roast back in pot and make deep slits on the top. Slice up the garlic and stuff and 1/3 of a garlic clove in each slit. Stuff each slit with rosemary. (I like to do this so the meat absorbs the flavor of all the spices. Pour in the wine. I also added a douse of red wine vinegar, but my mom said she thought it made the drippings just a little too sour, so omit that if you want. Put in the bay leaves, carrots, celery and broth. Cover the roast and place in a 300 degree oven for about 3.5 hours. You could also slow cook this.

To make the gravy, remove the roast and vegetables. Mix about 3 tbs. cornstarch in about 1/4 cold water. Slowly pour into the drippings. Slowly heat, stirring constantly until slightly boiling. Boil for about a minute.

Honey Whole Wheat Waffles

The kids were begging for waffles this morning and Caleb loves "yellow" waffles, a.k.a. all-purpose flour waffles. However, to show him whole wheat waffles can be almost as good, I decided to add honey to the batter. The result was delicious! He claims he likes these even more than the "yellow" waffles.

2 eggs
2 cups whole wheat flour (we used white wheat)
1 tbs. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbs. baking powder
1/2 cup oil
1 3/4 cups milk
1/4 cup honey

Separate the eggs and beat the egg whites until stiff and soft peaks form, set aside. In a separate bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl mix together egg yolks, milk, honey and oil. Mix together the dry and wet ingredients just until slightly blended. Gently fold in the egg whites. Cook on a hot waffle iron.

Easy, Fast Spaghetti Sauce

Tonight I meshed together a couple of recipes to make a super easy, flavorful spaghetti sauce. I guesstimated a lot, but I will put down how much I think I put in of each ingredient:

Homemade turkey sausage: (if you don't want to make it, you can buy a pound at the store, but the storebought stuff is very high in sodium)

1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried sage
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 lb. lean ground turkey


1 large onion chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed or finely grated
canola oil
1 28 oz. can crushed tomato, no salt added
2 cans 8 oz. tomato sauce, no salt added
1/2 tsp. dried basil or more to taste
1/2 tsp. dried parsley or more to taste
1 tbs. sugar or more to taste
salt and pepper


To make the sausage: Mix together the first five ingredients. Put ground turkey in a large bowl. Sprinkle spice mixture over the turkey, carefully blending it in with your hands.

Drizzle oil in a large frying pan, enough to coat. Turn heat to medium high. When the oil starts to bubble just slightly on the edges, put in the onion and garlic, stirring until onions or a light caramel color and tender. Put in the turkey sausage, breaking it up with a spatula and cook until brown.

Put in the crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce, basil, parsley and sugar. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer for about half an hour.

I don't always cook spaghetti noodles since it seems they are harder for my kids to eat. I love to pour this sauce over bowtie pasta, but penne or shells pasta would work, too.

Turkey Pot Pie

I used a couple of different recipes to get ideas on the turkey pot pie I made. I used two cups of cut up turkey that I boiled off the bones of the turkey carcass from our Christmas Eve dinner, frozen peas, fresh carrots, celery and onion and few spices along with my freshly made broth (see my earlier post). I pour all this into a 9x13 pan and topped with biscuit dough. You could easily substitute out any of these vegetables for others.

Pot Pie Sauce/Filling

A couple tablespoons oil
2 cups cut up carrot
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup frozen peas
1 large onion chopped
6 tbs. butter
6 tbs. flour
2 cups fresh turkey broth
1 cup milk
2 tbs. dried parsely
1 tsp. dried oregano
2 cups cut up leftover turkey
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oven to 450. Heat the oil in a large skillet on medium high heat. Cook the onion until tender. Add carrots, celery and peas and a little of the broth. Cover, lower setting to medium and steam for about five minutes. In a large saucepan, melt butter. Whisk in flour. Slowly add the remaining broth, whisking the whole time to prevent any lumps. Bring to a light boil for about 5 minutes while the sauce thickens. Slowly add the milk, whisking the whole time. Add the parsely, oregano and salt and pepper to taste. Boil for a few minutes whisking the whole time. Pour in the vegetables and turkey. Turn stove to low and let this sit while you make your pie pastry or biscuit topping.

I used biscuit dough for our topping, but you could also make a pie pastry.

Here is the biscuit recipe I use:

Biscuits

1/2 cup shortening
2 cups whole wheat flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tbs. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 cup milk

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Cut in the shortening using a pastry blender or forks. Stir in the milk just until moist.

Pour the vegetable/turkey mixture in a 9x13 pan. Drop biscuit dough across the top. Bake in 450 oven for about 10-12 minutes or until the biscuits are light brown.

Turkey broth

We had a turkey for Christmas Eve dinner and I decided to use the leftover turkey for additional meals besides just turkey sandwiches. This led me to look up leftover turkey recipes. I found this recipe to use the turkey bones for broth at CheapCooking.com. Tonight I used the brother to make turkey pot pie and I was surprised at how much better the pie sauce was using the freshly made broth. Here is the recipe:

Turkey Broth and Other Leftover Turkey Recipes

Do NOT throw away that turkey

carcass. Pick all the meat you can off of it and make skillet turkey and rice or turkey enchiladas or a turkey casserole or at least turkey sandwich mix. If you don't want to deal with it now, chop it up and freeze it in 2 cup portions. If you don't want to make the broth now, you could freeze the carcass as well, if you have room in your freezer. Or make the broth and freeze that and make the soup later.

• 1 turkey carcass
• water to cover
• 2 cloves garlic (optional)
• 1/2 tsp basil
• 1/2 tsp parsley
• 2-4 peppercorns
• 1-3 tsp salt
• a few shakes of pepper
• 2 stalks of celery
• 2 carrots
• 1 onion, halved

Put the turkey carcass in a big stock pot and cover with water. You can break up the carcass a bit to fit the pan. Add everything else. You don't have to peel or neatly slice anything. Just break it up into chunks. And don't worry if you don't have something; broth is very flexible! Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat. Simmer (with barely a bubble breaking the surface) for a few hours. Simmer

longer if you have time, but it will be good after a few hours. Strain the soup using a colander or cheesecloth or whatever you have around. Pick out all the meat that you can and use in the dishes mentioned above or reserve for soup later. Pour the broth into a large jar (I pour it into a big pickle jar) and refrigerate it overnight.

In the morning or the next evening when you go to make soup, the fat will have solidified at the top so you can just spoon it off. Generally, the broth will be quite thick and jelly-like. This is good. When you heat it to make soup, it will be great! Keep the broth 5 days in the fridge or freeze it for soup later. I like to freeze it in 2 cup and 4 cup portions.

Chili and Cornbread

Here's our family chili recipe. It's a good basic recipe that I mostly got out of my old Betty Crocker cookbook, but I modified it about 30% to make it more to our liking:

Chili con Carne

A couple tablespoons olive oil
1 lb. lean ground beef or turkey
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely grated
2 tbs. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. cocoa
1/2 tsp. red pepper sauce
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. allspice
2 tbs. brown sugar
1 28 oz. can low sodium crushed tomatoes
1 16 oz. crushed or diced low sodium tomatoes or tomato sauce
2 15.5 oz. low sodium cans of any bean of your liking, such as black beans, pinto beans or kidney beans (I actually cook my own from dried beans to lower the sodium and to increase the flavor.)

Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat. When you start to see bubbles add the onion and garlic. Saute until the onion is slightly soft, add the meat and brown. Pour meat mixture and rest of ingredients into a crockpot and cook on high for 4 hours. Or you could bring to a simmer on the stove and cook for about 2 hours.

Cornbread

I got this recipe four years ago off the America's Test Kitchen website. When I went to link you to it, it now asks you to sign up for a free trial membership. Hmmm....I hope I am not breaking any copyright law or anything, but here's the recipe, and if you want to check out their site go here:

1.5 cups flour (I use whole wheat)
1 c. cornmeal
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 c. packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 cup buttermilk (Or put 1 tbs. vinegar in 1 cup of milk)
2 large eggs
1/2 c. butter or margarine melted and cooled

Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 8-inch square baking dish with non-stick spray. Whisk all the dry ingredients except the sugar in a medium bowl. In a food processor or blender, process brown sugar, thawed corn and buttermilk until combined, about 5 seconds. Add eggs and process until well combined (corn lumps will remain), about 5 seconds longer.

Using a rubber spatula, make well in center of dry ingredients; pour wet ingredients into well. Begin folding dry ingredients into wet, giving mixture only a few turns to barely combine; add melted butter and continue folding until dry ingredients are just moistened. Pour batter into prepared baking dish; smooth surface with rubber spatula. Bake until deep golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 20-35 minutes. Cool on wire rack 10 minutes; invert cornbread onto wire rack, then turn right side up and continue to cool until warm, about 10 minutes longer. Cut into pieces and serve.

Editor's note: I know it's not the healthiest version of cornbread due to the high amount of butter. It is moist and has a good sweet corn flavor, however, and can be eaten plain and is totally delicious. I need to experiment with ways to lower the fat content. If and when I do, I will repost. If you have any other cornbread recipes that you really like that are moist and sweet but healthier feel free to let me know, I am open and willing to try something different.

Cracked Whole Wheat Cereal

People have asked how I make my cracked wheat. This is a recipe where I never measure, but I am going to give you some estimates and you can fiddle with it. If you like a creamier texture, add more water, if you like it thicker, use less water.

1 cup wheat berries
2 cups water
Pinch of salt

Put your wheat grinder on it's highest setting. Pour in the wheat and grind. While the wheat is grinding, bring water and salt to a boil. Slowly add your ground wheat using a whisk so you don't get any lumps. Lower heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cover while you get your condiments out to serve with it.

My children just love honey drizzled over top and some milk. That's it. You can add so many other things, though, like raisins, coconut, fresh berries, cinnamon sugar, etc. Sometimes I add little vanilla.

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

I got this recipe mostly from an old Betty Crocker Cookbook, I tweaked it a little, but not much.

6-7 C whole wheat flour
1/3 C honey
1/4 C oil
1 T salt
2 pkgs. regular or quick-acting yeast
1/4 C wheat gluten (you can leave this out, but the texture is sub par when you do this)
2 1/4 C very warm water (120-130 degrees)


Mix 3 cups flour, honey, oil, salt, gluten and yeast in 4-quart bowl; add warm water. Beat on low speed, scraping bowl frequently for 1 minute. [When I double or triple the recipe, I just mix by hand.] Beat on medium speed, scraping bowl frequently for 1 minute. Stir in enough flour, 1 cup at a time to make dough easy to handle.

Take dough out and knead on a floured surface for about 10 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. Place in a greased 2 1/2 quart bowl, grease the top and cover. Let rise in warm place until double, about 40-60 minutes. Dough is ready when you push your index finger into the dough about 1/2 an inch and the indentation remains, i.e. it doesn't start to push back out.

Punch down dough; divide into halves. Let rest 5 minutes. Shape into two loaves and place in greased loaf pans. Brush loaves lightly with margarine. Let rise until double, 35-50 minutes.

Heat oven to 375. Place loaves on low rack so that the tops of pans are in center of oven. Bake until loaves are deep golden brown and sound hollow when tapped, 40-45 minutes. Remove from pas; cool on wire rack.

Tacos Made from Scratch

There's nothing truly original here, but these are so good, I had to blog them so that I don't have to hunt the recipes down every time I make them. I make the tortillas, taco seasoning and salsa from scratch. And, these beat anything you could buy at a restaurant and they are tons healthier. They are not super fast to make, it takes me about 90 minutes start to finish. That includes chopping everything and rolling out and cooking the tortillas. The kids enjoy helping make the tortillas. I don't often make the tortillas from scratch because they take the most time, but they are worth the extra effort.

Whole Wheat Tortillas
The full recipe can be found here:

3 C of Soft White Wheat Grain should make approx amount of flour below.

In large mixing bowl combine:
4 1/2 – 5 C fresh ground Soft White Wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
Mix together

1/4 C oil (canola, vegetable blend, or olive)
Drizzle half of the oil over the top of dry mixture. Mix with either forks or pastry cutter until almost a fine powder, then repeat this procedure until oil is gone.

1 1/2 C warm water
CAUTION – you MAY NOT end up using all the water. Drizzle half over the top of oiled flour and mix – should still be dry. Now while mixing drizzle down the sides of the bowl, turn bowl occasionally to make sure all sides are drizzled. Continue mixing (not necessarily pouring water) until a soft dough is formed. It should be moist and slightly gooey to the touch.

Plop dough out on a piece of cellophane cut long enough to form it into a tube (should be about the diameter and length of an inner cardboard of a paper towel roll) cover and let sit in fridge for up to 30 minutes.

While tortilla press (or griddle) is heating divide into equal balls shaped like hockey pucks. Using a gram or oz scale to weigh the total dough and then each ball will make them uniform. We usually hit it at about .48 oz each ball. Always press the ball that you first made first and work your way through the line of dough balls in that order. The setting of the hockey pucks helps the tortilla hold together better.

Salsa (found the recipe here)

• 2 cups seeded, chopped tomatoes (6-7 medium tomatoes)
• the leaves from one bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped*
• 6 cloves fresh chopped garlic
• 1/2 an onion chopped
• 1 jalapeno, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• about 1 tablespoon lime juice

Preparation:

Mix all ingredients until well incorporated. Refrigerate overnight for maximum flavor.

*If you grab a handful of leaves from the top of the bunch and pull them out firmly, you will get mostly leaves. If a few stems are in there, it's okay.

Taco seasoning (found the recipe here)

I liked this recipe for its low sodium content.

Ingredients

• 4 teaspoons dried minced onion
• 3 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  

Mix all ingredients together. Brown 1 lb. extra lean ground beef or turkey. Pour taco seasoning mixture over meat and mix and warm through.

Chicken Noodle Pasta Toss

This week I have been trying out some new healthy budget friendly meals and found a great one that I thought I would share. I found it on Rachael Ray's website here. It's a new twist on an old fashion chicken noodle soup of sorts but without the chicken stock. If you are worried about the zucchini, the zucchini picks up the chicken and onion flavors and you can't even tell it's zucchini, promise. I made some baking powder biscuits to go along with it.

Chicken Noodle Pasta Toss

Serves 4

Kind of like chicken noodle soup without the soup, this budget-friendly meal can be made in no time!

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 2 carrots, cut into matchsticks
• 4 ribs celery from the heart, cut into matchsticks
• 2 small zucchini, cut into matchsticks
• 1 pound extra-wide egg noodles
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 box frozen peas (10 ounce box), defrosted

Preparation

Place a large pot of salted water over high heat and bring to a boil for the egg noodles.

Place a large skillet over medium-high heat with the EVOO. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and cook until golden brown and cooked through, 6-7 minutes. Add the onion, carrots and celery to the pan and cook until the veggies start to soften, 3-4 minutes. Toss the zucchini into the pan along with some salt and freshly ground black pepper, and cook for another 2-3 minutes, until all the veggies are tender.

While the meat and veggies are cooking, drop the noodles into the boiling water and cook to al dente, according to the package directions. Drain the noodles and return them to the pot they were cooked in. Add the butter to the pot and give everything a good toss to melt the butter and coat the noodles.

To serve, spoon some noodles into bowls and top with the chicken and veggie mixture.

Couscous, Tilapia and Broiled Zucchini

Love, love this meal! Took some tilapia, sprayed it with non-stick spray, dipped in italian breadcrumbs and fried it over medium high heat in some olive oil. You could also just fry it using the non-stick spray on the pan, too. Kids love it, they call it "chicken" because tilapia is so flaky and mild flavored, it does sort of seem like chicken. I cut up a zucchini my mom gave me from her garden, salt and peppered it and broiled it for about 8-10 minutes. Michaela liked the zucchini, the boys and Mike didn't. But maybe you have zucchini lovers in your family.

And the couscous. I got the recipe from the Rachel Ray show and it's the yummiest. Jake won't touch it, but it's because Jake does typically refuse new foods for the first million times I give it to him and then he likes it. I think he will like this too, eventually. It's fast, simple, sweet, but a little spicy (not enough the kids notice) and pretty healthy. Here's the recipe for the couscous:

Bacon-Corn Couscous

• 2 slices smoky bacon, chopped
• 1 ear of corn, kernels scraped from cob
• 1/2 small red bell pepper, chopped
• 4 scallions, finely chopped or 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup chicken stock
• A couple of tablespoons chopped fresh dill [I used about 3 teaspoons dried dill]
  
• A few dashes hot sauce
• 1 cup couscous

Heat a drizzle of EVOO [extra virgin olive oil] in a saucepot over medium-high heat. Add bacon and cook to crisp, then add corn and peppers and scallions or onion and stir 2-3 minutes to tender-crisp. Add stock, dill and hot sauce and bring to a boil. Add couscous and turn off heat. Cover and let stand 5 minutes.


The whole meal took me about 20-30 minutes to prepare.

Star Wars-Themed Lunch

Here is my creative attempt to help my son not yearn after the sodium-laden, processed school lunch he sees some of his friends eat. It started when I read this website. Instead of making a "fish-themed" lunch, I decided to make him a "Star Wars" themed lunch because we bought these nifty Millenium Falcon and TIE-fighter sandwich cutters from William-Sonoma. Mike and I have decided to leave him little notes tucked in his lunch. Caleb comes home with a big smile saying, "I found your note!" and gives me a big hug. Tonight, I decided to write him a little book about Padawan Caleb and his adventures. He embarks on his journey in the Millenium Falcon (obviously the sandwich), chooses a light saber (carrot and celery sticks), fights a rancor and collects it's claws (apple slices) as a trophy, quenches his thirst with his Padawan Juice (milk) and eats the food from a Jedi food capsule (Pez candy wrapped up in paper to look like a capsule). I didn't come up with all of this, Mike helped me decide what to call the apple slices and the food capsule with the Pez candy.

Who knew making your child's lunch could be so much fun!

Non-traditional Pizza

A mugshot of the Chicken Alfredo Pizza, three of them have
artichokes in addition to everything else.

The BBQ pizza.

Today I had planned on making sausage pizza, but then realized I had used my last bit of canned tomato sauce on the lasagna I made a few days ago. I decided to try my hand at BBQ pizza and Alfredo pizza. I was pleased with the results, and what's more, my family devoured them. It was a nice change from your typical standard Italian pizza. I took bits and pieces of recipes I found on the Internet and made them my own. Here they are:

Pizza Dough (this I took directly out of an old Betty Crocker cookbook):

1 package regular or quick-acting active dry yeast
1 C warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)
1 T sugar
2 T vegetable oil
1 tsp. salt (I use half this amount)
2 3/4 to 31/4 cups flour (I use whole wheat)

Dissolve yeast in warm water in a 3-quart bowl. Stir in sugar, oil, salt and 1 cup flour. Beat until smooth. Mix in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle.

Turn dough on to lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turn greased side up. Cover and let rise in warm place until almost double, about 30 minutes. Heat oven to 400 degrees F.

This will make about 12 6" mini pizzas or about two large pizzas depending on how thin you roll out the crust. Roll out dough, poke with a fork about 6 or 7 times, place on pizza pan and bake in oven for 4 minutes. I bake the dough a little before I top it because I don't like a doughy pizza.

BBQ Pizza

(makes 1 large pizza)
2 cut up cooked chicken breast
2 cups mozzarella
1 cup cheddar
1 cup bottled BBQ sauce
1/2 sliced red onion (optional) or about a tsp of onion powder)

Smooth the BBQ sauce over your slightly cooked dough. Sprinkle on the chicken and onion if using, then the mozzarella and cheddar. If not using the red onion, sprinkle with onion powder.

Bake for about 6-8 minutes based on how well done you like your pizza.

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

Sauce:
4 tablespoons butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 dash ground black pepper

4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp garlic powder

Toppings:
2 cut up cooked chicken breast
1 cup cut up jarred artichoke hearts (optional)
Rosemary
Thyme

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Blend in salt, pepper, garlic powder and flour, then stir in the milk and Parmesan cheese. Simmer, stirring constantly, until thickened. Remove from heat, cover and set aside.

Smooth sauce over slightly cooked pizza dough. Sprinkle with chicken, turning chicken in the sauce to coat. Sprinkle on artichoke hearts. Sprinkle with rosemary and a little bit of thyme.
Bake for 6 minutes.

Turkey Picnic Wraps

Well, it's Saturday, and I haven't made my marathon breakfast making goodies for the week. We are still eating the granola and pancakes we made last week! However, I did stumble upon a yummy lunch recipe I am going to store to make for school lunch. I saw it on the back of my spinach tortilla wrap package. I modified it a little:

Take a spinach wrap and smooth low fat mayo all over. Sprinkle with:

Cumin
Cayenne
Garlic Powder
Chili Powder
Onion Powder
Paprika

Or use a little bit of taco seasoning mix. I didn't want the sodium, so I used the ingredients that can be found in it.

Sprinkle with colby jack cheese or mozzarella (or any other cheese you find yummy). Layer with thinly sliced tomato on that. Next, put on some lettuce and slices of turkey sandwich meat. Roll up and enjoy.

So, so, yummy! I think this would also be good with cut up cooked chicken breast or turkey breast. This would probably reduce the sodium even more.

Food Network Crepes

Since it was the first day of school, I decided to make a special breakfast. My son has been asking for crepes lately, so I found this easy one on Food Network. I like it because it's not sweet so it's versatile. You can make it sweet by sprinkling your toppings with sugar, or you can stuff the crepes with sausage and eggs. We filled ours with strawberries coated with a little bit of sugar and whipped cream. When they were rolled up, we drizzled them with chocolate syrup.

Note: I didn't get 17-22 crepes, I got about 10.

Crepes

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

Prep Time:

5 min

Inactive Prep Time:

1 min

Cook Time:

20 min

Level:

Intermediate

Serves:

17 to 22 crepes

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup flour
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• Butter, for coating the pan

Directions

In a blender, combine all of the ingredients and pulse for 10 seconds. Place the crepe batter in the refrigerator for 1 hour. This allows the bubbles to subside so the crepes will be less likely to tear during cooking. The batter will keep for up to 48 hours.

Heat a small non-stick pan. Add butter to coat. Pour 1 ounce of batter into the center of the pan and swirl to spread evenly. Cook for 30 seconds and flip. Cook for another 10 seconds and remove to the cutting board. Lay them out flat so they can cool. Continue until all batter is gone. After they have cooled you can stack them and store in sealable plastic bags in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for up to two months. When using frozen crepes, thaw on a rack before gently peeling apart.

*Savory Variation Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs, spinach or sun-dried tomatoes to the egg mixture.

*Sweet Variation Add 21/2 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons of your favorite liqueur to the egg mixture.

Printed from FoodNetwork.com on Wed Aug 25 2010

© 2010 Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved

Granola & Healthy Buttermilk-Oatmeal Pancakes

Saturday seems to be my baking/cooking day lately. I get the yen to make muffins or pancakes, waffles, etc. This last Saturday I decided to make a bunch of pancakes and granola so that we would have plenty of ready-made breakfast items. This was because school starts this week and we have to be ready and out the door by 7:40 AM. Not a lot of time to be fussing with a making breakfast, but my son needs a hearty breakfast to see him through until lunch at 11.

Here are the recipes I used:

Amish recipe Granola:
1/2 C. vegetable oil
3/4 C. honey
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. cinnamon
5 C. rolled oats
1 C. sliced almonds


Mix the first four ingredients together then add the oats and almonds. Bake at 300 degrees F on a cookie sheet until brown. Mix every 15 minutes to keep from burning. Takes about an hour to bake.

Buttermilk-Oatmeal Pancakes

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/buttermilk_oatmeal_pancakes.html

From EatingWell: EatingWell for a Healthy Heart Cookbook (2008)

Start your day in a hearty, high-grain way with these buttermilk-oatmeal pancakes. Maple syrup is a perennial favorite atop a stack of these pancakes; sliced bananas would also complement their oat flavor.

6 servings, 2 pancakes each | Active Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 55 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups nonfat buttermilk, (see Tip)
• 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (just used whole wheat flour)
  
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 2 large egg whites
• 2 teaspoons canola oil, divided
• Maple syrup, (optional)

Preparation

1. Combine buttermilk and rolled oats in a small bowl; let rest for 20 to 30 minutes to soften oats. Stir all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, wheat germ, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk egg, egg whites and 1 teaspoon oil in a separate bowl. Add the oat mixture and the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined.
2. Lightly brush a large nonstick skillet with a little of the remaining 1 teaspoon oil and heat over medium. Using 1/4 cup batter for each pancake, pour batter onto the skillet and cook until the underside is browned and the bubbles on top remain open, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn the pancakes over and cook until the underside is browned, about 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a platter and keep warm in a 200°F oven. Repeat with remaining batter, brushing skillet with a little of the remaining oil as needed. Serve hot, topping with maple syrup if desired.

Nutrition

Per serving : 271 Calories; 5 g Fat; 1 g Sat; 2 g Mono; 39 mg Cholesterol; 46 g Carbohydrates; 12 g Protein; 4 g Fiber; 675 mg Sodium; 293 mg Potassium

3 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 3 starch, 1 fat

Tips & Notes

• Make Ahead Tip: Store the batter (Step 1) in an airtight container in the refrigerator overnight.

• Tip: No buttermilk? You can use buttermilk powder prepared according to package directions. Or make “sour milk”: the ratio is 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup milk.