Tomato Scallion Quiche with Spaghetti Squash Crust

Another recipe from the Foodbuzz 24 24 24 event! This one is brought to you by Gretchen and Mike who I think are celebrating their 1 year wedding anniversary this week?? HAPPY ANNIVERSARY GUYS!!!! Gretchen has been doing the organic thing and I knew she'd come to the plate swinging and she didn't disappoint! John has been asking if I got the recipe yet for this because he wants to make it again already. He LOVED it. The flavors paired so well together, and it was cooked perfectly! Great job Gretchen and Mike!! And I must admit I'm not a baked egg kind of girl (bad experience at a bed and breakfast turned me off to them years ago) but I put that to the side and tried this because it just looked so good... and you know what... I LIKED IT!!! Seriously the fact that I ate it... it's damn good!


Tomato Scallion Quiche with Spaghetti Squash Crust

3 cups of baked spaghetti squash
2-½ cups mozzarella
6 organic eggs
2 cups chopped tomatoes
½ cup chopped scallions
1 cup organic heavy cream
½ teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon ground fresh pepper

Bake Spaghetti Squash:
Cut squash length-wise. Remove pulp/seeds and place face down in baking dish ¼ full of water. Place in oven 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove from oven, use a fork to pull cooked squash from the shell into a dish and cool. Use paper towels to remove excess water from the squash before preparing crust.

Preparing crust:
Beat 2 organic eggs. Mix eggs, 1 ½ cup mozzarella and 3 cups baked squash. Line pie dish with mixture and bake 400 degrees until the mixture solidifies into a crust. The squash mixture tends to slide down the sides of the quiche dish, so watch throughout and drawn squash back up the sides using a fork if necessary. Let cool before adding quiche mixture.

Preparing quiche:
Cut up 2 cups of tomatoes and ½ cup of scallions. Place tomatoes into spaghetti squash shell and season with basil, sea salt and ground fresh pepper. Add scallions and remaining 1 cup of mozzarella into pie shell. Beat remaining 4 organic eggs with organic heavy cream, then pour over top of tomatoes and scallions. Bake 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Garnish with tomatoes and enjoy!

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Mystery Butter?

If you saw a gigantic tub in the bulk section of your local organic co-op labeled mystery butter $1.69 lb... would you by some??

you should know me better by now... of course I bought some!

Let me give you a little frame of reference... it's next to the gigantic bulk tubs of peanut butter, cashew butter, almond butter, sunflower seed butter... you get the point. Just grab a container (or bring your own) and with a big ladle, fill up on as much as you like... well maybe not as much as you want.... more on that later.

I did just that and very excitedly headed back to work where I toasted up some nice whole wheat bread and slathered on the mystery!!


Mystery butter is apparently very popular since there is a sign next to it saying "Limit of two 5 lb buckets per customer" Last time I was in the co-op they were sold out of the stuff... But seriously 10 lbs of mystery butter??? How large are these people who are buying this stuff in that huge of a quantity?? And they are limiting you to TWO 5 POUND container... how many containers were people trying to by??? How much mystery butter can one eat in a day?? Does anyone else find this 10 lb limit scary??

So what is mystery butter you ask? My guess is at the end of the week whatever scraps are left from all the other nut butters get plopped together to make the "mystery butter". Fun idea though right? My batch of mystery tasted heavy to the cashew with a little bit of almond and sunflower as well.

Either way... I'm totally picking up some more... it's darn tasty, and organic to boot! :)

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Vegetable Salsa... Fail

So as you all read about already, I got to participate in an amazing Foodbuzz event on saturday!! Read all about it here. Now I also promised you more recipes to go along with said post... here is the first one!!

John and I each cooked our own thing for the event. I decided to go with a super fresh veggie salsa based on roasted veggies! I found the recipe on Whole Living for veggie salsa... It had such promise... roasted eggplant, squash, tomatoes!!! MMMMM so wonderful... The veggies after being roasted and cooled smelled so fragrant and tasted AMAZING... but then came the tumeric... I'd never cooked with it, and I didn't like the way it smelled... but I used it anayway... and the result... a bitter bitter salsa... it was seriously depressing... Thankfully I had my sausage sliders I told you about yestserday as a fall back but this beautiful salsa...


...tasted, as I like to say, moose. What does moose mean you ask... I don't mean it actually tasted like a moose, moose meat is actually rather tasty... When I say moose...well let's just leave it at, it tasted really bad :D

I would make this again minus the tumeric and add a few more spices perhaps... but this recipe can be put under the fail category for sure :)

I'm going to let John write up about his recipe... so depending on when he has a chance to write it up... hopefully you'll hear from him by weeks end :D And as soon as everyone else at the party sends me their recipes I'll post them ASAP!

Here's a picture of some of the party goers! Not sure how I didn't take many pics of the people... must have been too distracted by all the great chow :)

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Foodbuzz 24 24 24: Operation Public Market

Imagine... hundreds of local farmers and vendors, all showing up no matter what time of year it is, no matter what the weather, to this open air place:


Rochester NY's 103 year old Public Market is thriving like crazy in these tough economic times. Found in the heart of the city, thousands show up every week on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday looking to find the best, freshest, local veggies, among other not so local fair (mango anyone?). Vendors' offerings range from fresh fruits and veggies, meats, cheese, bread, honey, clothing and other household goods... and the occasional live chicken (it's legal to raise chickens for eggs in your backyard in the city! No roosters allowed though):


I'm thankful for being picked again to participate in this months 24 24 24 by Foodbuzz. I proposed a task in cooking for a group with only $20 to spend at the local public market... Each person's task was easy... or maybe not so easy for some. Roam the market, $20 in hand, and buy up ingredients to make a delicious meal to feed 8 adults and 1 kid later in the day. Each person came up with creative ways of spending their money and brought amazing dishes to the party last night. (no one bought a live chicken though... I totally should have!)

Let me tell you a little more about the market... It is not for the claustrophobic, you tend to feel like cattle being herded through the lines of tightly packed vendors... it's rather easy to loose your friends, I've definitely lost John more than once there (thankfully he's tall and easy to locate!) I mean just look at all those people!


And that's just one aisle of the market!! This place is huge. And let me tell you, it will try your patience... after almost two hours of being trapped behind slow moving people and numerous sets of parents attempting to fit a double wide stroller full of kids and veggies down a crammed isle... you may end up looking like this:


Yeah I was reaching my point of wanting some people free time here... Thanks for making sure to capture the Kodak moment John! :D But the payoff of fresh local veggies...


totally makes it worth it!

To give you an idea of what I bought... I got this huge thing of tomatoes, eggplants, yellow and green squash for a total of $5. Impressive huh!


I also picked up dessert for us, a large marble angel food cake $1.50. A mini chocolate cake $2. And some cannoli for $1.25 each. Delicious!

Once everyone got home from the market the cooking began! Not everyone has sent me their recipes yet, so I'm going to do posts all week about the specific recipes everyone made as they send them to me! Then I'll link them back to this post so everyone can see all the recipes! So check back for an update link at the end of this each day this week!

For now though here's a little taste of what we had. Starting with an appetizer I made, simple and seriously delicious!

I bought some chicken andouille sausage from a butcher for $3 a pound. Pairing this with some extra sharp cheddar ($2 for 1/2 lb) from an Amish run stand and a loaf of honey wheat bread ($3) from a local baker... made for an irresistible appetizer!


Andouille & Cheddar Slider
1 lb chicken andouille sausage (or other VERY spicy sausage)
1/2 lb extra sharp aged cheddar cheese
1/2 loaf honey wheat bread

Cook the sausage on the stove or a grill until an internal temperature of 160 is reached. Slice into bite size pieces. Slice bread into small chunks, top with cheese and sausage. CHOW!

Totally easy and amazingly flavorful!

We had an amazing time and THANK YOU FOODBUZZ for making it possible! A glass of wine to you in thanks!


Check back for the recipe links to all these great dishes... which one looks the best to you??

Update:
Veggie Salsa
Tomato Scallion Quiche with an unusual crust...

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Muffin Mania

I know I know I'm on a total muffin kick lately! I just love them though, so portable, and a great snack! This is a recipe for a more traditional blueberry muffin that I made up using lemon fat free or low fat yogurt as the base. Totally love how moist these muffins are! I added a crumble topping from the Recipe Round Robin I participated in, and I now dub these my new favorite traditional blueberry muffin! Hands down baby! It's got it all, moist tender center packed with blueberries, and a delicious crumble for some added sweetness on top!

Don't they just look delicious??

healthy AND tasty... that's how I roll

Blueberry Muffins
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup splenda granulated (or 1/4 cup white sugar)
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
dash salt
1/2 cup apple sauce (I use unsweetened)
2, 6 oz containers fat free or low fat lemon yogurt (so 12 oz total) I used stonyfield farms low fat lemon this time SO GOOD
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
zest of 1 lemon
1.5 - 2 cups blueberries, rinsed and patted dry

topping
1 tbsp slivered almonds
2 tbsp firmly packed brown sugar
1 tablespoons whole wheat flour
3/4 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/4 cup uncooked regular oats

Pulse almonds 2 or 3 times in a blender or food processor until chopped. Add brown sugar and 1 tablespoon flour; process 5 seconds. Add butter; pulse 5 or 6 times or until mixture is crumbly. Stir in oats; set aside.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and spray 12 muffin cups with pam.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In another bowl blend apple sauce, yogurt, egg and vanilla thoroughly. Stir the wet mixture into the flour mixture just until combined. The batter will be very thick.

Add the blueberries and stir gently. Divide the batter between the 12 cups (they will be very full cups) sprinkle with topping, and bake for 6 minutes at 425, reduce heat to 350 and continue cooking for 12-14 minutes, or until tester inserted into center comes out mostly clean. Cool completely on wire rack.

Nutritional Facts: via Caloriecount
Calories 119
Calories from Fat 19
Total Fat 2.1g
Saturated Fat 0.9g
Cholesterol 21mg
Sodium 57mg
Total Carbohydrates 21.2g
Dietary Fiber 1.2g
Sugars 6.2g
Protein 4.0g

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Wheat pizza dough in 30 minutes flat

I like the idea of being able to get home at night and have a nice pizza with home made dough... and I REALLY like the idea when it doesn't take 2 hours for the dough to rise!! I found the recipe on What's cooking in the orange kitchen yesterday and HAD to make this for dinner.


Having a kitchen aid mixer makes this stupidly easy, but if you don't have one no worries just use your hands :) (bonus you get a little arm workout).

I made broccoli and mushroom stuffed calazones. My roomie and I gave them a thumbs up! And the crust recipe is a keeper for sure! Filling recipe is below the dough recipe.


Jessica says the 12 ounce dough recipe made 2 good size calzones, but they are on the thin side so if you like yours thicker (crustier) go for the 1 pound recipe.

Whole-Wheat Pizza Dough
(Source: Originally from EatingWell.com As found on Amber's Delectable Delights I found it linked there from What's cooking in the orange kitchen) man this recipe gets around!

To make 12 ounces dough:
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 package quick-rising yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons), such as Fleischmann's RapidRise
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2-2/3 cup hot water (120-130°F)
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

To make 1 pound dough:
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 package quick-rising yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons), such as Fleischmann's RapidRise
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3/4 cup hot water (120-130°F)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1. Combine whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Combine hot water and oil in a measuring cup. With the motor running, gradually pour in enough of the hot liquid until the mixture forms a sticky ball. The dough should be quite soft. If it seems dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons warm water; if too sticky, add 1 to 2 tablespoons flour. Process until the dough forms a ball, then process for 1 minute to knead.
2. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Coat a sheet of plastic wrap with cooking spray and place it, sprayed-side down, over the dough. Let the dough rest for 10 to 20 minutes before rolling.
3. Place a pizza stone or inverted baking sheet on the lowest oven rack;preheat oven to 450°F or highest setting. Roll and top the pizza as desired(we suggest a 13-inch circle) and bake the pizza until the bottom is crisp and golden, 10 to 14 minutes.

*For calzones split the dough in half and roll them out into 2 flat circles. Put the filling on half of one of the dough circles and then folded the other half over. Pinch the edges all the way around. Keep an eye on the baking time. Mine took 15-20 minutes. Serve immediately



Calazone filling
recipe by me

1 tsp chopped garlic
spray of olive oil for pan
1/2 cup chopped brocolli
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup pasta sauce of choice
1/4 tsp dried basil (or 1 Tbs chopped fresh if you have it on hand)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup part skim mozzerella
1 Tbs parmasaian cheese

Saute garlic until fragrant then add everything but the cheeses in a pan until cooked through, roll out half the dough from the recipe above and pile mixture on half of the circle. I used all of this filling for 1 calazone (half the dough recipe). Sprinkle with cheeses. Fold dough over and pinch to seal. Bake at 450 for 15-20 minutes. CHOW!

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Call me Opus: the return of the guest blogger

"I gotta make some changes. I'm not a woman. I'm a child. What kind of life is this?"
- Elaine Benes, Seinfeld, 1995

My thoughts mirrored Elaine's (substitute 'man' for 'woman' please) as I scooped mint chocolate chip ice cream into the middle of a split choc chip cupcake (recipe found here) in order to make a pseudo-ice cream sandwich. Are you kidding me? Doesn't this amount to playing with my food?! What's next, I'm gonna borrow an Easy Bake Oven?! Compounding my confliction was the fact that exactly one night previous, Steph and I both had already partaken in this same activity. But now, alone, deep in the shadows and still of the night, I found myself carving out delicate blades of minty green, gently layering onto cushions of chocolately goodness. Alas, in a matter of seconds, all that remained (after my final bit of self respect evaporated) was a longing for, to quote Billy Idol’s ‘Rebel Yell’, "more, more, more"...

I decided to distract myself with another ponderous point: is mint chocolate chip supposed to be white or green? As a rather husky youngster, I recall summer trips to the ice cream stand; but depending on which place we patronized, the color of said ice cream varied. It seemed the name changed too, the 'mint' alternately jumping (like Frogger) from the beginning to the end of the posted moniker, and back again… Does any of this even matter? Probably not (I am a realist), but interestingly, my rant is justified (albeit creepily) by IceCream.com: "as a Mint Chocolate Chip lover, you tend to be ambitious and confident… yet a little skeptical about life." Hmmmm… (By the way, to find out your Ice Cream Flavorology (is that a word?) check out this)

In the 80's (I have heard), a hilarious politically- and socially-minded cartoon strip named 'Bloom County' by Berkeley Breathed featured, among an array of motley characters, Opus the penguin. A gentle soul, Opus often found solace from the less-than-ideal world we inhabit by plopping himself into nature’s womb to refresh and renew his spirit. Maybe these ice cream sammies were just my version of Opus' 'dandelion break', seeing how it's never going to get warm enough here in Western NY for dandelions...

P.S. Maybe next time I'll actually cook… if you’re good!

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Free Cone Day

image from Ben and Jerry's

I feel compelled to share information when it comes to free chow...

It's my favorite time of year boys and girls... it's FREE CONE DAY at Ben and Jerry's (between noon and 8pm at participating location) !!! Woohooo! So hopefully you have a shop near you! We have one on the RIT campus here, and I'm an alumni member at the RIT gym... so guess what I'm doing after my workout tonight?? You got it! Work out hard... go chow some ice cream! Too much fat and badness for you? Try a lighter side of Ben and Jerry's

Ben & Jerry's - You might think the guys who invented some of the craziest flavors in history would have nothing guilt-free to offer. Guess again! Here's the rundown on the stuff at their "Scoop Shop". (Nutritionals are for half-cup servings.) Most of their sorbets have just 100 fat-free calories and 1g fiber (POINTS® value 2*). The Jamaican Me Crazy one has a bit more calories -- 140 total -- and that's also fat-free with a gram of fiber (POINTS® value 3*). The frozen yogurts have 130 - 160 calories, 1.5 - 2.5g fat, and 0 - 1g fiber (POINTS® value 3*). HG Warning! Their No Sugar Added Vanilla Fudge Chip ice cream may be sweetened with Splenda, but it's loaded with fat -- it tips the scales at 180 calories, 13g fat, and 3g fiber (POINTS® value 4*). Info from HungryGirl

If you don't have a Ben and Jerry's near you go grab a 50 cent iced coffee at Dunkin Donuts today instead! Click for details.

mmmmm DnD iced coffee! Just ran out at lunch time :)

side note: as you can see graphic designers don't have to dress up to go to work... love my job!

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Thank you!!

Thank you everyone for all the wonderful comments you all left me on Friday :D Mom and I had a wonderful time, lots of eating, trying dresses on, and relaxing!

I'm a low key, no makeup kind of girl... so trying on wedding dresses was a bit scary for me lol. I didn't think I'd want a train, or a veil. I found two dresses that were AMAZING... the second one may be it... but I can't say I'm committed yet. (plus I'm having some serious issues justifying the price tags on these things... I mean I know it's all about the quality and the lace and silks are top notch... but man they are $$$$) The second dress also looked amazing with this cute little side of the head small flower thing... no veil, and totally cute! Love it.

OK for all you food lovers out there (yes you!), this is going to crack you up... so one dress had these pleat things on the top and the woman called it a "crumb catcher" LOL!!! Seriously that's what she called it!! And it's so true! All the crumbs would totally go right into these pleats and get stuck! Needless to say I moved onto the next dress ;) Because we all know I will be CHOWING at my wedding :D

Mom and I spent most of the weekend eating amazing foods. If you are in the Rochester NY area I highly suggest Lento. The menu changes every day and everything is made from scratch, nothing comes from a can, even the mixed drinks were made with fresh squeezed fruit. Apple martini = amazingly fresh, not neon green mix *gross*. They start the meal with in house made foccacia bread that was warm and perfectly baked. For an appetizer we had the Verdura Mista, chickpea battered local vegetables, lightly fried with Asian sesame sauce. AMAZING, not at all greasy, totally light and flavorful. Mom had a lamb stew that was so tender, while I opted for the duck confit served over a bed of lentils spiked with applewood smoked bacon... to die for! I wish we had taken pictures... you'll just have to go and see for yourself!

OK that's all I've got for now... sorry for the serious lack of picture today!

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Setting a date!

Sorry guys no recipe today. My mom is in town and I took off work so we could go do girly things like have me try on possible wedding dresses AHHH. And sign the papers to officially set a date in 2010 for the wedding (John Mom and I do it at 2pm today!!!!) WOOOHOOOO!!! Totally exciting :) The big day will be taking place here:

Ceremony in the chapel, cocktail hour outside, reception in the building across the courtyard! Totally excited!

(photo taken from crcds website)

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Garlicky black-eyed peas n greens

So I've never actually made collard greens before... eaten them plenty... my favorite way to have them is in a dish called gomen, it's Ethiopian and delicious!!! I need to figure out how to make some at home for sure... so good!

As for these "garlicky" greens... they have over 7 cloves in it... and in all truth, they didn't taste very garlicky at ALL, it was kinda sad. So if you make these add more garlic for sure... and maybe some other things to jazz things up. After scooping some onto our plates John and I both were under-enthused. So the self described "concoction king" John went back into the kitchen and did some majic on them to make them taste better... what he did... I have no clue, and he wont tell me LOL! So here's a base recipe for you... and good luck getting John to fess up to what he added in :)


GARLICKY BLACK-EYED PEAS 'N' GREENS
recipe from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites

2 c dried black-eyed peas
4 garlic cloves, peeled
3/4 lb collared greens (which is what I used), kale, or mustard
greens, rinsed and chopped (about 6 c loosely packed)
1 T olive oil
2 to 4 T minced garlic (I used 3-4)
1 t dried thyme
salt and ground black pepper to taste

cooked rice
chopped scallions or red onions
lemon wedges or hot pepper vinegar

Rinse the black-eyed peas. Place them in a soup pot with garlic cloves and enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover, and cook for 45 minutes, until tender, adding water occasionally as needed. The beans should be moist but not soupy, so it is ideal when most of the water has been absorbed at the end of cooking. When the beans are tender, if most of the water has not been absorbed, lightly drain them. Cover and set aside.

Rinse the greens and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the oil and saute the minced garlic and thyme for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add the damp green and continue to stir until they are wilted but still bright green. Stir the greens into the beans and mix. Add salt and pepper to taste.

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What a jerk

So I went to the library the other day to grab a cookbook a coworker said was amazing... the computer said the library had the book... but it was NOT where it was supposed to be on the shelf, and no where to be found (I even asked at the reference desk)! Totally frustrating. I mean what kind of miscreant moves cookbooks in the library... jerk... anyway I took a look at some other cookbooks by the same author and found one that looked good and somewhat familiar... I later realized I OWN the cookbook but haven't looked at it for years... whoops! Well now I'm super excited that I own it because there are a TON of recipes I want to make from it!

I guess I should be happy with the jerk though, since it made me rediscover Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites: Flavorful Recipes for Healthful Meals. The only thing I wished this book had was pictures... I mean it should really be a requirement for a cookbook! Don't you agree?? Maybe that's why I love food blogs so much, pretty much all of them come with pictures :) If you are even in the Ithaca NY area, totally stop in to this restaurant, it's amazing!! John and I had a mini vacation in Ithaca last summer and seriously enjoyed our trip to Moosewood.

So in honor of the jerk who made me find this cookbook... I made the Jerk Tofu recipe... except John didn't feel like tofu... so I used chicken instead.

Jerk chicken, with almost fat free cornbread, and garlicky collards (recipe to come tomorrow)

Jerk Tofu
recipe from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites
Serves 8

Pressing tofu time: 30 minutes
Preparation time" 10 minutes
Baking time: 1 hour

Jerk Sauce
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped (about ½ cup)
3 fresh green chiles, seeds removed for a milder "hot"
2 tablespoon soy sauce
¼ cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger root
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground black pepper

Place the cakes of tofu between tow flat plates or baking pans. weight the top with a heavy object, such as a book or a can, so that the sides of the tofu bulge slightly but don't split. Let stand for a least 30 minutes. While the tofu is pressing, combine the jerk sauce ingredients in a food processor or blender and purée until smooth. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400º. Drain the pressed tofu. Cut each cake into three slices. Stack the slices and then cut through all three layers on the two diagonals, making an X. This will make 12 triangular pieces from each block of tofu. Gently toss the tofu triangles in the jerk marinade and place them in an unoiled 8 x 12-inch nonreactive baking dish. Bake for 1 hour, carefully turning the tofu about every 20 minutes.


The jerk sauce was wicked flavorful, although the clove is a bit overpowering so go easy on it if you aren't a fan of cloves. You can find more great Moosewood recipes here!

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Almost fat free corn bread...

...that tastes good :) No seriously it does! This isn't the sticky sweet kind, so if that's your poison of choice... you may not like this version. Oh and it's not made in a cast iron pan... so if you're from the south... please don't hurt me :) I'm just a silly northerner making low fat corn bread... so don't be hating on me :D


OK so now you are thinking... eww this is going to be nasty dry cornbread... NOPE! It's moist due to two reasons that help this thing be almost fat free... let's talk about ways to make things fat free... sub out the butter with healthier better for you things like: pureed fruit, pureed veggies, fat free yogurt... ok let's talk about that last one there. Stonyfield Farms contacted me and sent me some great coupons so I could try out and experiment with their wide range of products. They also sent a super cute spatula! Perfect for getting every last drop of yogurt out of the containers. LOVE IT!

I started out with their Greek yogurt (YUM). I've always just eaten my Greek yogurt with a little added honey and never cooked with it, so this was something new. I'm in the works of a tasty lemon poppy seed muffin using it as a base... it's not perfect yet though... so I'll have to share it with you a little down the road :)

Next I used some low fat lemon yogurt to make some AMAZING lemon blueberry muffins... but I think I've muffin overloaded you... so maybe I'll write about them later this week??

So back to that almost fat free corn bread! I used the fat free french vanilla yogurt to sub out the butter in this recipe. I also used pumpkin puree (don't worry you don't taste it... just adds the moisture and awesome texture). I also used whole wheat flour to make this thing even healthier! So why isn't this bad boy fat free? Well I used an egg... so that yolk is the tiny bit of fat in this guy. Even without the fat this thing has a really nice crumb and texture to it. I may have eaten 1/4 of the pan when I made this the other night.

mmmm cornbread!

Almost Fat free corn bread
adapted from from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites
wet
2 Tbs brown sugar (packed)
1 egg plus 1 egg white
3/4 cup stonyfield french vanilla fat free yogurt
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (you don't taste it... just adds awesome moist texture)

dry
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup corn meal
1 Tbs baking powder

Heat oven to 350 and lightly spray an 8" stoneware baking pan with cooking spray or olive oil
Beat together wet ingredients and set aside.
Whisk together dry.
Add dry to wet and stir until just barley incorporated (don't over mix/beat).
Pour into pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.

CHOW!

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I'm a sprout farmer!

It's true, and seriously fun and easy! My coworker Beth recently introduced me to the art of growing your own sprouts at home. I love sprouts but they can be so expensive at the store... problem no more! I grew this big quart size mason jar full for under 25 cents!


All it takes is a mason jar, a piece of cheese cloth, some seeds to sprout, and water! Easy cheesy. I had an extra wide mouth quart size mason jar laying around, and also had some cheese cloth on hand. All I needed were some seeds to get sprouting! I chose to sprout mung beans (bean sprouts) for my first try, I love the big crunchy texture and will totally be making pad thai with these!

Here's how you do it for mung beans (bean sprouts!) (I bought mine in the bulk section by the grains in an organic grocery store)

Place 3 Tbs of mung beans into the mason jar and cover with 6 Tbs water, cover top with cheese cloth and place jar ring on to hold the cloth in place. Let soak in a dark warm place overnight. In the morning drain the water (it's full of great nutrients so use it to water your indoor plants or something) then fill the jar to the top with new water let it sit 1 minute, swirl them around and drain it again. Place the mason jar in a bowl so it's tipped on it's side somewhat (jar mouth facing downward) and place back in a warm dark place (mung beans are eaten white, hence the dark place, if you are growing something like alfalfa, you keep them out in the sun so that they can turn green). Rinse them again at night and repeat each night and morning for 3-4 days. Your sprouts will be around 2 inches when they are full gown. The hulls of the seeds will fall off at some point, you can toss them out. The only thing to watch for is mold, if you keep them to moist they may grow mold (GROSS) so keep an eye out!

I think I'm going to grow some alfalpha next!

CHOW!!!

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Another muffin? Yes, yes it is.

I know this week has already been full of muffins and cinnamon rolls... but I have to tell you about some more muffins!!! Because they kick some serious butt. No really! These things are going to hop out of the pan and beat up all the annoying people in your life. :)

I had a growing pile of brown bananas (sorry Clara I know you aren't a banana fan)... and I asked John how he'd like his banana's baked... chocolate banana cake? roasted banana muffins perhaps?? His response, "what about some kind of banana oat muffin, with lots of oats?" Now my roasted banana muffins have some oats in them, but not a ton... so off I went mixing and a mashing until I had these:


How seriously tasty does that look?? Damn tasty if you ask me! And baby they are GOOD! So tender! I'm totally making more this weekend, they are a great portable snack, and as always super healthy :) The milled flax seeds really seemed to help with the puffing/binding factor (I recently learned you can use milled flax mixed with water to replace eggs! You can learn about it here)... not that these don't have an egg in them... but still! Here's the recipe!


Banana Oat Muffins
recipe by stephchows
makes 12 muffins

dry
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oat bran
1 cup rolled oats (not quick cooking)
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 Tbs milled flax seeds
1 tsp cinnamon

wet
3 very ripe bananas (about 1.5 cups)
1/4 cup splenda granulated (or 1/4 cup white sugar)
1 egg lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla

to add at the end
1/2 cup skim milk

Whisk together dry ingredients in a medium bowl
Beat together wet ingredients in a large bowl.
Slowly add dry to wet, alternating in the 1/2 cup of skim milk.
Scoop into 12 muffin tins, bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

CHOW!!!!

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Pasta Pandemonium

Oh the trials and tribulations of making homemade pasta... I made some a little while back and it went totally smooth... I got cocky... and decided to make some spinach pasta...

oooo pretty

no biggie right? Yeahhhh except when you don't chop the spinach up fine enough... and then you go to pass it through the pasta cutting part... and the spinach doesn't get cut... so it becomes a HUGE mess! HAHAHAAH John came out into the kitchen to find me cutting the pasta with this...


Pretty resourceful huh!? It worked out seriously well actually :) although the pasta was ALL types of different widths... Makes it more fun right? Oh you want to see the mess I made on the counter of all the pasta??


It's all good, I cleaned it all up in due time ;) The pasta wasn't the prettiest, but it was darn tasty! Go ahead you know you want to make a big mess like I did :)

Whole Wheat Spinach Pasta
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
2 eggs
6 oz frozen spinach, defrosted and chopped VERY fine

Mound the flour in the center of your work surface and make a well in the middle. Add the eggs and spinach. Beat the eggs and spinach and slowly start incorporating the flour. Once all incorporated knead for about 3 minutes. The dough should been elastic in texture. Keep kneading another 5-10 minutes until the dough is smooth and VERY elastic. Wrap it up and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Divide dough into little portions and work through a pasta machine until you reach your desired thickness (or roll it out on a table using a rolling pin) Next either use a pizza cutter to slice or pass through the pasta machine cutting part. (I'm so specific aren't I?)

Boil a large pot of water and add freshly cut pasta. Boil about 6 minutes. Serve with your favorite pasta sauce.

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RRR Recipe Round Robin

So I participated in a totally fun event. It's a recipe round robin (RRR). It was hosted by Aleta over at Omnomicon. Basically everyone was given 2 recipes to try side by side and vote on which one they liked better. There were at least 5 recipes, I had B and E to try. In the end neither of the ones I taste tested won but you can read about the one that did here.

But now you want to know which one of the two I made won right??? Well here is the deal with the two I taste tested, they were both on the healthy side! Aleta you rock for giving me these two to try! So who won??

Was it recipe B?














Or was it recipe E?













I'll tell you, it was a close call. B was like a corn muffin with a blueberry surprise. E was more traditional with a healthy crumb topping... mmm crumbs.... In the end the crumbs won me over! The only changes I made to the original recipes was using whole wheat flour instead of all purpose. The recipes below each make a half batch (6 muffins) so double it to make a full batch :)


OK here are the recipes!


RECIPE B!!
1/2 C flour (i used whole wheat)
1/2 C corn meal
3 tbsp Brown sugar
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t cinnamon
1/8 t salt
3/4 C blueberries, I use frozen
1/4 c + 3 tbsp buttermilk
1 T vegetable oil
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 egg (~2 tbsp)

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add the blueberries and next 4 ingredients, stirring until just moistened. Drop the batter into a muffin tin. I use paper cup liners, if you don't have them make sure you've greased your muffin tin!

Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Makes 6 muffins.


RECIPE E!!!!
(Makes 6, 250 cals per serving)

Dry ingredients
3/4 cups all-purpose flour (i used whole wheat)
1 tbsp milled flax-seed
2 tbsp brown sugar
3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
pinch teaspoon salt
Wet ingredients
1/2 cup soymilk
1/2 tbsp lemon peel
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 large egg (about 2 tbsp)
2 tbsp honey
3/4 cups fresh blueberries (you can also use thawed frozen blueberries)

For the streusel topping (optional)
1 tbsp slivered almonds
2 tbsp firmly packed brown sugar
1.5 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
3/4 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/4 cup uncooked regular oats


1. Pulse almonds 2 or 3 times in a blender or food processor until chopped. Add brown sugar and 1 tablespoon flour; process 5 seconds. Add butter; pulse 5 or 6 times or until mixture is crumbly. Stir in oats; set aside.

2. Combine and dry ingredients in a large bowl then create a well in the center.

3. Whisk together soymilk, lemon juice, oil, applesauce and egg; add to well in the flour mixture, stir and combine and just moistened. The trick is to stir about 20 times, do NOT overstir.

4. Wash, drain and toss blueberries with 1.5 tablespoons flour and 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar in a colander. Fold in to flour mix, stirring to coat.

4. Spoon batter into muffin pans lined with paper cups till about 3/4 full.

To make streusel topping:
5. Pulse all streusel ingredients in a food processor until crumbly.

6. Sprinkle top of muffin batter generously with the topping, about 1/2 tablespoon for each muffin.

7. Bake at 375° for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown, the muffins are done when you insert a skewer in the middle, and no crumbs stick on the skewers when you remove it.

8. Remove immediately from pans, and cool on wire racks.

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Pumpkin with a Passion

Can one really ever have too many pumpkin cinnamon rolls? Yes, probably... oh well, I made these again, and they are just too darn tasty and pretty not to talk about :) This time I added hazelnuts to the filling and sprinkled some on top... Totally a good idea :)

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Monday

It's Monday... might as well start it with a monster leaning tower of egg mcmuffin :)


Two eggs, turkey slices, turkey bacon, turkey pepperoni, fat free cheddar cheese, whole wheat muffin... that's how John rolls ;)

Who eats pepperoni in the morning... that isn't on leftover pizza?? I'll eat it if it's on leftover pizza... but with eggs??? no thanks!

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Sesame Chicken

I'm a big fan of Chinese food, and although most places have brown rice now, and will steam your food instead of deep frying it... the sauces can still be killer. I had an amazing sesame tofu last week while celebrating my friend sugar's birthday. It was delicious! I had them steam the tofu and veggies and they came out so tender, and the sauce... oh the sauce! I needed to figure out how to recreate it!

So this brings us to the internet search for sesame chicken sauce recipes. I came across a ton of different version (all requiring a trip into a deep fryer first). Many recipes later I came to the combination of this one.

It looked beautiful and was wicked tasty! But did it taste like the sesame chicken sauce of my favorite local Chinese joint... not so much... That's ok though, at least it was good! So make this if you want a healthy alternative to your normal take out :) We served it over "boil in the bag" brown rice, quick and easy.


Sesame Chicken
sauce from Kitchen Snippets

1 lb chicken cut into inch cubes
1 large head broccoli, cut into little chunks and steamed
1 Tbs whole wheat flour
salt and pepper to taste

sauce
3 tbsp of sweet chili sauce
2 tbsp of tomato ketchup
1- 2 tbsp of honey (depend on how sweet you want)
1 tbsp of oyster sauce
2 tbsp of light soy sauce
1/4 cup of water
some toasted sesame seed

1. Dredge chicken in flour and salt and pepper. Shake off excess and set aside. In batches in a olive oil spray covered frying pan, lightly cook chicken a few minutes each side. Remove from pan and place in a large bowl
2. Place broccoli in a steamer basket over hot water and cover, cook until bright in color but not soggy. Once cooked toss in with cooked chicken
3. Mix all the sauce ingredients together and pour into a pan. Bring it up to a boil and let the sauce thicken a bit.
4. Pour sauce over chicken and broccoli and toss it gently until evenly coated with the sauce. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve with warm brown rice.

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