May 31, 2008
· Filed under Recipes -- Main Dishes
Sesame Shrimp Kebabs
1/4 cup rice wine
1/4 cup soy sauce (I use low sodium)
1 tablespoon Splenda
1 piece fresh ginger root peeled — cut 1/4 inch thick
4 teaspoons sesame seeds
2 pounds large shrimp peeled and deveined
To make marinade: In a small saucepan over moderate heat, combine rice wine, soy sauce, sugar and ginger root. Blend well. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove ginger root. Add sesame seeds. Allow marinade to come to room temperature.
Place shrimp in a nonmetal dish. Pour marinade over top. Turn shrimp to coat pieces. Cover dish and refrigerate up to 2 hours. When ready to grill, place shrimp on skewers by alternating the direction the heads and tails face each other. Over hot coals, place shrimp on a grill coated with nonstick vegetable spray. Cover grill and cook 3 minutes on each side. (This recipe can be done on an indoor grill such as a George Foreman grill as well!)
**Soak your wooden skewers ahead of time in water to keep them from burning!”"
May 31, 2008
· Filed under Recipes -- Crockpot, Recipes -- Main Dishes, Recipes -- Soups, Recipies -- Vegetarian
\This is a veggie friendly recipe. You can replace the texturized vegetable protein with a pound of pre-cooked ground beef instead!
Crockpot Taco Soup
1 package Harvest grain or Boca Crumbles
1 (16 oz) can kidney beans, undrained
1 (11 oz) can Mexicorn or niblet corn
1 (10 oz) can Rotel tomatoes
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 can chiles, chopped
1 (16 oz) can pinto or ranch beans
1 pkg Ranch Dressing Mix
Place all ingredients into crockpot and stir. Simmer in crockpot on LOW for 3-5 hours. Soup may be topped with chopped red onions, grated cheese, and/or sour cream. You can also serve with whole grain tortillas or whole grain tortilla chips!
May 29, 2008
· Filed under Recipes -- Main Dishes, Recipes -- Side Dishes, Recipies -- Vegetarian
Mock Crab Cakes
2 c. grated zucchini
1 c. whole grain bread crumbs
1 teasp Old Bay seasoning
1 beaten egg
1 tablesp mayo
olive oil
Mix all ingredients together except olive oil. Form into patties and roll in more bread crumbs. Fry in pan shined with olive oil. Carrots, onions, and other veggies can also be added to this recipie.
May 28, 2008
· Filed under Recipes -- Breads
This bread is made with half whole wheat flour. You could substitute the all purpose flour for King Arthur white whole wheat to make it even more GI friendly!
Tip Top Soup Bread
1 ¼ to 1 ½ cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
¾ cup grated cheddar cheese
1 tbs. sugar
1 packed rapid rise yeast
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
½ cup milk
¼ cup water
In a large bowl, combine ½ cup flour with whole-wheat flour, cheese, sugar, un-dissolved yeast, salt, and garlic powder. Heat milk and water until very warm (120 to 130). Gradually add to dry ingredients. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally. Add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough.
Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. Cover; let rest for ten minutes. Shape dough in a 5-inch ball and place on grease baking sheet. Cover; let rise in a warm, draft free place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Bake at 375 for 20 to 25 minutes or until done. Remove from sheet; cool on wire rack.
May 27, 2008
· Filed under General Info
Have any? Please post them in the comments, I’m working on updating!
May 26, 2008
· Filed under Recipes -- Crockpot, Recipes -- Main Dishes, Recipes -- Soups
This recipe uses white meat chicken and baked tortilla strips instead of fried ones to keep it GI friendly.
Crockpot Tortilla
2 4 oz skinned and boned chicken breast halves — cubed
2 cups frozen whole kernel corn — thawed
1 large onion — chopped
garlic cloves — pressed
2 14.5 oz cans low sodium, fat-free chicken broth
1 10.75 oz can tomato puree<
1 10 oz can diced tomatoes and green chiles (Rotel)
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
teaspoon ground red pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
4 5.5 inch whole grain tortillas or tortilla chips
Combine first 13 ingredients in a 4-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours (low for 8-10). Discard bay leaf.
Cut tortillas into 1/4-inch-wide strips; place on a baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 5 minutes. Stir and bake 5 minutes more or until crisp. Serve with soup. Garnish with cilantro, if desired.
May 25, 2008
· Filed under General Info, Links
May 25, 2008
· Filed under Recipes -- Breads
This recipe is from a website that I can no longer find to credit…this is a great way to get whole grain pita bread if that is something that is hard to find in your area!
2 cups warm water
3 tsp. yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1 tbsp. honey
3 cups bread flour
2 cups wheat flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. onion powder
Put the warm water into a mixing bowl. Whisk in the yeast, sugar, and honey. Let stand for 10 minutes until very foamy.
Meanwhile, sift together the bread flour & wheat flour with the salt & onion powder. When yeast mixture is ready, add 2 cups of the flour mixture and mix on medium speed (with the paddle attachment) until smooth. Gradually mix in the rest of the flour. Once it’s all incorporated, beat for 3 minutes on medium speed, then switch to a dough hook (or turn out onto a board to do it by hand.)
Add up to another cup of bread flour, a tiny bit at a time, mixing with the dough hook, until the dough cleans the side of the bowl. Knead for another 5 minutes, then turn dough onto a board.
Roll dough into a ball. Cut into eight pieces and set aside to rest for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 500°F and dust a baking sheet with cornmeal. (I don’t recommend a baking stone for this; you want it as hot as possible. If you feel you must, you’ll need to put it on the bottom of your oven. If you have an electric oven, you’re SOL here.
Dust your work surface with flour and roll each piece of dough into a nice round.
Place rounds on baking sheet and put in oven on the lowest rack possible. Shut the door and do not open for three minutes, no matter what! If you peek, they won’t “poof.” You can check after 3 minutes, then continue baking to desired color is reached (the darker, the crispier; if you like your pitas softer, bake them for less time, obviously.) Cool on racks. Fill with your favorite goodies & enjoy!
May 24, 2008
· Filed under Recipes -- Main Dishes
Happiness is a Roasted Chicken
Is there anything more comforting than a roasted chicken for Sunday dinner? When taking an informal poll among my friends of their favorite comfort foods, roasted chicken topped many lists. Maybe it is because you get that same home full of wonderful smells and gracious sit down for dinner appeal of a turkey for a fraction of the cost and the cooking time. No matter what the reason, roasted chicken is one of the foods that just make people feel cared for.
1 roasting chicken, organs removed, rinsed and patted dry
1 whole lemon, sliced in half width-wise
1 small onion, chopped
2 bulbs of garlic, all cloves peeled and separated
Several sprigs of fresh rosemary (or 3 tsp. dried)
2 pounds of red potatoes, unpeeled but scrubbed, chopped into bite sized
Olive oil
Preheat oven to 350. Oil a baking pan (9×13 or larger) and place chicken inside. Oil the skin, and loosen the skin from the body of the chicken. Squeeze half of the lemon over the chicken, and the other half inside the cavity. Place both lemon shells inside the cavity of the chicken. Place about three-quarters of the chopped onions inside the cavity and the rest in the dish surrounding the chicken. Stuff several of the garlic cloves under the skin of the chicken (as many as you can fit), several more inside the cavity, and the rest in the surrounding dish. Stick one sprig of rosemary (or one tsp. dried) inside the cavity of the chicken, and the rest of the rosemary leaves under the skin of the chicken and in the surrounding dish. Add potatoes to the surrounding dish, drizzle on more olive oil and mix gently to incorporate the onion, garlic cloves, and rosemary with the potatoes. Set your timer for an hour, depending on the size of the chicken you made need to cook it for 90 minutes or longer. The chicken is done when the juices run clear when you poke it with a fork in the thigh muscle (as opposed to a reddish pink) and the internal temperature reaches 180°F deep in the thigh.
Variations: You can roast any root veggies along with the potatoes (such as carrots or turnips) or eliminate the potatoes all together. You can exchange the onions, garlic, and other goodies inside the cavity for a traditional stuffing as well. You can also substitute in just about any herbs and spices you like; roast chicken is very forgiving and tastes great with about everything
May 23, 2008
· Filed under Recipes -- Crockpot, Recipies -- Sauces & Dressings, Recipies -- Vegetarian
Crockpot Tomato Sauce
4 tablespoons Olive oil
1 small Yellow onion, finely sliced
3 cloves Garlic, minced
3 pounds Fresh plum tomatoes, cored, peeled, seeded and pureed (enough to yield 4 cups about 20 medium tomatoes)
1/4 cup Minced fresh parsley OR 1 tablespoon Dried parsley
3 tablespoons Minced fresh basil OR 1 teaspoon Dried basil
1 tablespoon Minced fresh oregano OR teaspoon Dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
Turn the slow-cooker on high, let it heat for 5 minutes, and add olive oil, onion and garlic. Stir and cover. The pot won’t get hot enough to
brown them. Cook for 1 hour, or until onion is soft and wilted. Uncover and add tomatoes, parsley, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low and stir. Cook with the cover off for approximately 4 hours. The sauce is done when it is thick and not watery. Makes 4 cups.
