Creamy Goodness and My Finished Pendant...

I eat Dannon's All Natural Plain Non-Fat Yogurt every day. I'd been looking at the foil top where it advertised "Creamy Sweet Potato Soup" and decided to try.

Boy was it wonderfully creamy! I'm going to have to try adding this yogurt to my favorite butternut squash soup recipe as it has almost the same flavor and could use some creaminess.

The recipe was really simple and my husband thought it was great:

Ingredients
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1 large sweet onion, sliced
2 tsp. ground cumin
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1-1/2 qt. chicken broth
1-3/4 cup Dannon® Plain Yogurt
2 Tbsp. chopped parsley or cilantro
1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
Directions
1.In a soup pot heat oil. Add onions and cumin and sauté 3-4 minutes. Add potatoes and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer soup 20-25 minutes.
2.Puree soup with 1-1/2 cups Dannon® Plain Yogurt and parsley or cilantro. Serve each portion of soup with a dollop of remaining yogurt and a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds.
Yields
12 Servings (8 oz. per serving)
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And here are a few views of the pendant I started and finished last week. This was a fun one and I plan on more woven wire pendants in the future!

Smoky Black Bean Soup with Chicken Sausage

I was reading my march issue of Fitness Magazine and found a recipe that sounded good for dinner last night. I of course don't do anything spicy, so used kielbasa instead of spicy chicken sausage and omitted the chili altogether. I also put 2 times as much in the blender because I was craving a really thick soup rather than the thinner version on the pretty magazine photo. Smoky Black Bean Soup with Chicken Sausage

1 tsp olive oil

3-oz precooked chicken sausage, thinly sliced

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp dried oregano

2 15-oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained

2 cups chicken broth

1 canned chipolte chili in adobo sauce, minced

1/3 cup sour cream

1/2 tsp finely grated lime zest

4 tsp freshly squeezed lime juice

1/4 tsp honey

salt

Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add sausage in a single layer; cook until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Turn and cook 1 minute more. Transfer to a plate lined with papertowels.

Add onion and bell pepper to pan; saute until soft, 3-4 minutes. Add garlic, cumin and oregano; saute 1 minute more. Stir in beans, broth, and chipolte; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine sour cream, lime zest, 1 tsp lime juice, and honey in small bowl.

Transfer 1 1/2 cups soup to blender and puree. Stir puree back into soup; add sausage. Stir in remaining lime juice and season with salt to taste. Serve and top with lime sour cream.

Guilt-free Mini Cheesecakes

I pull recipes out of magazines all the time, but rarely get to try all the ones that I want. I already love the traditional version of this covered in cherry pie filling, but decided I'd try these "White Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes" recipe printed in the February 2011 copy of Fitness Magazine.

I found these mini cheesecakes to be delicious and you could definitely taste the white chocolate. Since I live in the middle of nowhere, some of the ingredients were unavailable. My local grocery store does not carry reduced fat vanilla wafers and the fat-free cream cheese was completely out of stock (and has been for more than 2 weeks). I only garnished mine with strawberries and chocolate flakes because the kiwis were hard as rocks, too.

Ingredients
12 reduced-fat vanilla wafers
8 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
4 ounces fat-free cream cheese, softened
3 ounces white chocolate baking squares, melted and cooled
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup fat-free milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 egg white, lightly beaten
Chocolate curls (optional)
Sliced strawberries (optional)
Sliced kiwifruit (optional)

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line a muffin pan with baking cups. Place one vanilla wafer on the bottom of each. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheeses with an electric mixer on medium speed 30 seconds. Beat in white chocolate, sugar, milk, and vanilla until well combined. Stir in egg white. Spoon mixture into muffin cups until each is about three-quarters full.

3. Bake about 20 minutes or until set, then set pan on a wire rack to cool 10 minutes. Remove cheesecakes from pan; cool on wire rack 1 hour. Cover and chill 3 to 24 hours.

4. Before serving, remove baking cups. If desired, garnish with chocolate curls, strawberries, and/or kiwifruit.

My New Favorite Pancakes

I've had a recipe from Fitness Magazine since May that I've been dying to try. Now the name was not so good - they were called "Banana-Nut Protein Pancakes." That doesn't exactly sound delicious, and it totally turned my husband off from even trying them.

Thanks to his job, he's out of town, and I decided to try them on my own!

Recipe:

In blender, combine 1 banana, 1/4 cup rolled oats, 2 tablespoons low-fat cottage cheese, 2 egg whites and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; Blend until smooth. Stir in 2 teaspoons chopped walnuts. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and coat with non-stick cooking spray. Pour batter into skillet to make two 4-inch pancakes; cook 3 minutes on each side. Drizzle with 2 teaspoons maple syrup.

It was like eating banana nut bread for breakfast! That's exactly what they tasted like. I actually doubled the recipe so that I could have leftovers for the following morning (cooked them all up at once), but I ended up with five 5-inch pancakes total.

I almost balked when I saw the recipe calling for only 2 teaspoons of Maple Syrup. Surprisingly, the pancakes are so dense, they do not soak up the syrup at all, and 2 teaspoons is really enough.

The best carrot cake in the world...

Well, that is my opinion anyway... I love my family's old recipe for carrot cake and have yet to find one in a restaurant that is even half as good. It takes a very, very, very long time to make, so I don't make it very often... like for my husband's 26th and 30th birthdays (Yes, those candles are supposed to look like a 3-0, so it will be another 4 years before I taste this creation again...)

But on to the main attraction:

Ingredients:

2 c. flour

1 tsp. soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. sald

2 c. sugar

1 1/2 c. oil

3 eggs

2 c. finely grated carrots (freshly grated)

1 c. well drained crushed pineapple (15 1/4 oz. can)

1 c. coconut

1 c. chopped walnuts

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. raisins

Sift flour, soda, cinnamon, and salt together. Set aside. Beat sugar, oil, and eggs with electric mixer until very well mixed. Gradually add flour mixture; fold in carrots, pineapple, coconut, walnuts, vanilla, and raisins. Bake in greased and floured two 8 inch pans or one 12x9 inch pan at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Cream Cheese Frosting: Mix 4 oz softened cream cheese, 1/2 box powdered sugar, 1/2 stick margarine or butter and 1 tsp. vanilla until smooth.

Hide cake from the rest of the family so that you have plenty to enjoy :)

Holiday Baking - 1 - Pumpkin Bread

My holiday baking has begun... and the Thanksgiving ritual since I left my parent's house - start with the pumpkin bread. (Yes, that is my diet pepsi in the background... only #2 for the day.)In my new gigantic mixing bowl - Thanks, Susan! - I mixed up the double batch for 6 loaves of bread. (1 for Thanksgiving, 1 for my parents, 1 for the in-laws and 3 for those impromptu hostess gifts I seem to always need).

Here's my family recipe:

3 eggs

1 c. oil

3 c. sugar

2 1/2 c. pumpkin (can or fresh)

5 c. flour

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

3 tsp soda

2 c. walnuts

1 c. raisins

Blend eggs, oil, sugar, and pumpkin. Sift in flour, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, salt, and soda. Add chopped nuts and raisins. Bake at 350 for 1 1/4 hours for loaves or 45 min for muffins.

Ahhhh... and I've sniffed the nutmeg, so now I'm in the spririt!

Couscous Salad

I love it when I find Real Simple in my mail box. They had an article on a speedy way to clean a bookshelf that I am just going to have to try and this delicious couscous salad. My husband was leery when I told it to him, but after making it he went back for seconds and ate the leftovers a day later. I made it with the full box of couscous and increased all ingedients appropriately, but here was the recipe:

Ingredients
1/2 cup couscous
1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
1/2 cup crumbled Feta (2 ounces)
1/2 cup halved red seedless grapes
1/4 cup chopped parsley
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
kosher salt and black pepper
pita bread, for serving
Directions
1.In a bowl, combine the couscous with ½ cup hot water; cover and let sit for 10 minutes.
2.Fluff the couscous with a fork and fold in the walnuts, Feta, grapes, parsley, olive oil, lemon juice, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Serve with pita bread, if desired.

I couldn't tell from the recipe if it was a cold dish or a hot dish, but I served it cold and loved it!

Meatballs... my go-to party food.

Do you have a food you make for every party? I actually have 3 and sometimes worry if the neighbors are getting tired of the same stuff over and over. So here are my meatballs (yes, I know most of my recipes involve these little cups... I actually serve meals in them to my husband and he's gotten used to it in the last year that he how thinks it is normal).

The meatball recipe that I love... pre-cooked frozen meat balls into crock pot with equal parts barbeque sauce and grape jelly. Cook on high for 1 hour then turn to low for 2-5 hours.

Such an easy, tasty recipe and many of my friends think that I'm spending hours over the stove (even though I tell them I am not).

Yum... Sweet Potato Soup

In the week before Valentine's Day, the Fayetteville Observer posted some "perfect" Valentine's meals and there was a sweet potato soup recipe that looked so good I had to clip it.I made this soup for dinner and it was so good, I had the leftovers for breakfast the following day... although I am completely sure "healthy" is not a descriptor you can use.

Sweet Potato Soup

Bake one large sweet potato until done.

Peel and mix with 2-3 cups vegetable stock in blender until smooth.

Add 1/2 cup heavy cream, a 1/4 stick of butter, and a teaspoon of fresh finely chopped rosemary and heat until warm in pot.

Serve in bowl with small spoon of sour cream.

I, of course, forgot to serve it with the sour cream, but still would label the flavor as "divine."

I do love a good dip!

I really like inviting the neighbors over for dinner - actually, I'm always looking for a reason to throw a party! And my foods always seem to revert back to my old favorites.

This is my dill veggie dip. It is a family recipe and I grew up on no other - thus do not particularly like any other dips :)

1 cup Mayo

1 cup Sour Cream

3 Tbsp Parsley Flakes

3 Tbsp Minced Onion

3 tsp Seasoned Salt

3 tsp Dill Weed

2 tsp garic powder

Mix together and Chill for at least 4 hours before serving (to ensure flavor soaks through).

The Best Pumpkin Bread

I'm very picky about my bakery items... like pastry crusts - I like no one's by mine.

Pumpkin bread falls in that category, too. Most bakeries serve me a slice of something way too dry to be a fancy bread in my book...

So here is batch 1 of this year's pumpkin bread:Only 2 more to go :) I'd make more than one batch at a time, but my bowl won't hold anymore than one batch... thus this year's christmas wish = gigantic mixing bowl.

Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

3 eggs

1 cup oil

3 cups sugar

1 can pumpkin (2 1/2 cups fresh pumpkin)

5 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons soda

2 cups walnuts

1 cup raisins

Directions:

Blend eggs, oil, sugar, and pumpkin. Sift in flour, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, salt, and soda. Add chopped nuts and raisins. Bake at 350 for 1 1/4 hours for loaves, 45 min for muffins.

Brunch Dish... What to serve the morning after a huge holiday meal!

My family has a traditional treat that we serve on the day after a huge holiday meal where you have spent hours and hours slaving over the stove (like this one below): What?!? You don't serve your Thanksgiving dinner on your coffee table? Nevermind...

So on to the brunch dish... I love this recipe - it is so easy (actually that qualifies for all of my recipes doesn't it?)

Preheat oven 450 degrees

Ingredients:
12 Slices Canadian Bacon

12 Slices Swiss Cheese

1 Dozen Eggs

1/2 Pint Cream

Grated Parmesean Cheese

Directions:

Line a 9x13 Baking Dish with the Canadian Bacon.

Add a layer of Swiss Cheese**

Break eggs over each cheese/meat pile, being careful not to break the yolks.

(**Recommendation, buy cheese slices and don't let your husband slice the cheese if he can't make even slices because you get the messy set up below versus a very pretty dish if your cheese is level.)

Drizzle cream over the whites until the yolks just peek through.

Bake at 450 degrees for 10 min.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with grated parmesean cheese.

Return to oven and bake 8-10 more minutes.

Cut into square and serve (Trust me, it tastes so much better than it looks in this picture).

Dinner again... Beef Stew with Butternut Squash

I found a new recipe in a magazine - it was either Self, Fitness, or Shape (but I can't remember and have read all 3 in the last month). I'm not normally a beef person, but I've done beef meals twice in the last couple of months. This one tasted great and had a sweet flavor. Here is my altered version of the recipe (fed 14 adults over the weekend). The meal was easy to prepare and everyone liked it. I had guests arriving at 6 PM, but left for the grocery store to get ALL of the ingredients at 3 PM.

Ingredients:
2 T olive oil
2 lb stew beef (cubed)
2 large sweet onions (chopped)
3 T garlic flakes
2 t ginger
2 med butternut squash (cubed)
28 oz can diced tomatoes
16 oz can tomato sauce
4 c beef broth
1 T cumin seed
1 T cinnamon
8 c whole wheat couscous
1/4 c sliced almonds
1/4 c minced fresh parsley

Directions:
Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add beef and cook until browned on all sides (about 5 min). Transfer meet to stock pot leaving juices in pan. Add onion to pan; cook until translucent (about 6 min). Add garlic and ginger and stir while over heat for 1 min more. Transfer onion mix to stock pot and add squash, tomatoes, sauce, broth, cumin, and cinnamon. Bring to boil; reduce heat to low and simmer until beef is tender (about 30-35 min). Place large spoonful of couscous in bowl and top with stew. Sprinkle with sliced almonds and minced fresh parsley to garnish.

More Dinner Art

A pretty dinner always makes it taste better; don't you think so?

I've been on a bit of an "eat healthier" kick for quite a while (much to my husband's dismay), but recently, he's decided "eating healthy" isn't too bad. This meal was stuffed tomatoes and a white bean consomme with almond milk.I had one problem when I wanted to make it... where to get almond milk? I live outside of a relatively small town and am about an hour from any health food stores. With no time to drive that distance, I ended up researching making my own almond milk [and I buy almonds in 1 gallon size buckets, so I figured I'd have enough almonds on hand :)].

It was surprisingly easy - fill a glass jar with 1/3 almonds, 2/3 water and seal tightly. Leave for 24 (but no more than 48 hours). Run through the blender and then strain out the almond pieces (which can be used as a topping for oatmeal or yogurt). The liquid left is your almond milk. Its taste is bland and similar to unsweetened soy, but I bet if it was sweetened it would be better.

So enough rambling. Here is the consomme recipe:
2 cans (19 oz ea) white beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups unsweetened almond milk
2 whole cloves garlic
1 sprig rosemary
1 T each finely chopped parsley, chives, and tarragon

Combine beans, milk, garlic, and rosemary in a 3 quart pot over high heat.
Add 1 cup water, simmer for 10 min.
Strain beans over a bown; reserve the liquid.
Discard rosemary and garlic.
Puree 2 cups cooked beans with 1 cup of reserved liquid.
Combine puree with rest of liquid and whole beans in pot.
Heat and stir briefly.
Add herbs, salt and pepper; serve with crusty bread.

Artwork, Artwork Everywhere... Even Dinner

I just love making everything pretty, even my meals. Spending time creating garnishes, splashing different colors, trying to be healthy...For tonight's dinner, I have a butternut squash soup (made with squash from my own vegetable garden!), pita's with green peppers and cream cheese, tuna salad and tomatoes.

This butternut squash soup is one of my favorite recipes. Before finding it in a magazine, I had thought it was much too hard to make soups from scratch - and since it, I've been experimenting with all kinds foods I'd never have thought to try.

So, I've decided to share it:

Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 med-large butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
5 cups water (or chicken broth)
1 - 15 oz can white beans drained and rinsed
2 Tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon cider vinegar

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook for 3 minutes. Add squash, salt, and spices. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add water (or broth) and bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer until squash is tender (about 15 min). Stir in beans, juice, and vinegar. Puree in food processor or blender. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.