Sis' Popovers

My sister, Emily, and I made these on a warm summer afternoon!

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Grease a popover tin with cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, beat eggs and combine with flour, milk and salt until just smooth. Be careful not to overbeat. Fill tin cups 3/4 of the way full. 
3. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Rotate 180 degrees. Continue cooking for 30 minutes longer. Immediately remove from cups allow to cool for 10 minutes. Serve warm.    

Baked Parmesan Tomatoes

A sprinkle of Parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil transform tomatoes into the perfect side dish. Or try sandwiching them between slices of your favorite whole-wheat country bread.

From EatingWell:  August/September 2006

Yield: 4 servings

Active Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 tomatoes, halved horizontally
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 450° F.
2. Place tomatoes cut-side up on a baking sheet. Top with Parmesan, oregano, salt and pepper. Drizzle with oil and bake until the tomatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

Yummy!

http://mobile.eatingwell.com/recipes/baked_parmesan_tomatoes.html

Check Out My Cookbook-Delicious Dishes: Dietitian Approved

I'm proud to present my cookbook, Delicious Dishes: Dietitian Approved. View my cookbook at: http://www.lulu.com/content/legacy-lulustudio-photo-book/delicious-dishes-dietitian-approved/10912538

Hot Cross Buns

Ingredients:
Rhode's frozen bread dough (any frozen bread dough or dough loaves will do)
3/4 cup Dried fruit (apricots, cherries, candied ginger, raisins)
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Beaten egg

Icing Ingredients:
1 cup Confectioner's Sugar
1 Lemon grated zest
1-2 tbsp milk or half & half

Directions:
1. Thaw frozen yeast dough bread in refrigerator overnight if possible. Chop dried fruits and distribute into a mixing bowl. Add the cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg; mix until blended. Knead this mixture into the dough.

2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or grease a muffin pan. Form dough into rolls. Place in muffin cups or about 1 1/2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Cut crosses into the tops with kitchen scissors or a knife. Brush the tops lightly with the beaten egg. Set in a warm, draft-free spot to double in size about 30-45 minutes.

3. Bake the dough in a preheated oven according to package directions. Meanwhile, make the icing from the confectioner's sugar, lemon zest and milk. Spoon it in a cross on each bun once removed from oven.

Semi-Homemade Salisbury Steak

Ingredients: 1 lb ground beef, 1 egg, 1/2 cup bread crumbs, 3 garlic cloves-chopped, 1 small onion-chopped, salt and pepper to taste, 1 container mushrooms (any type), 1 container prepared gravy.  Directions: Combine above ingredients excluding gravy and mushrooms- form meat mixture into patties. Cook in a pan with 1 Tbsp olive oil and 1 Tbsp butter on medium high heat browning on either side. Saute mushrooms in the pan with the salisbury steaks. Add the gravy and simmer about 15 minutes or until steaks are cooked.

Serve over egg noodles. Enjoy a quick and easy meal!

Homemade French Toast

Ingredients: 1Tbsp Butter, Bread, 4 Eggs, 4 Tbsp milk, Cinnamon to taste, 1 Tbsp sugar.

This recipe used Challah, but cinnamon breads, raisin breads and other fruit breads make a scrumptious twist on the traditional French Toast.

Directions: Beat 4 eggs, milk, sugar and cinnamon in a dish. Preheat a frying pan on medium high heat; melt butter in pan. When ready, dip each side of bread in the egg mixture (a couple seconds for each side- may require longer time to soak if a thicker slice of bread is used) allowing the excess to drip off. Place in the pan and cook until golden brown on either side.

5 Layer Taco Dip

5 Layer Taco Dip great for any occasion!

Here's a great dip for snacks that will last you the week or great for any get-together.

Ingredients:
Prepared Guacamole
1/2 cup Sour Cream mixed with Taco Seasoning to taste
1/2 cup Salsa
1/2 (15 oz) can Black Beans
1/2 (15 oz) can Refried beans
1/2 cup Shredded Cheese
1/4 cup Black olives (optional)

Directions:
1. Layer all ingredients as indicated starting with guacamole at the bottom layer, next sour cream, then beans, salsa, cheese and olives (optional) at the top. Use any type of dish you would like. For snacks, a rubber Tupperware works great. For parties, a glass dish showcases the layers of the dip.
* Ingredient measurements will vary depending on the quantity of dip made and type of dish used.

Salads Galore!

Make salads for a week worth of lunches!

In efforts to stay healthy, my husband created this genius idea to keep an abundance of salads fresh and ready-to-eat for a week of lunches. Prepare these over the weekend, and you'll be all set for your busy week. Here's how to do it:


1. Wash salad greens of your choice and allow to air dry for an hour. Then chop into bite sized pieces. (We purchase a bag with 3 romaine heads in it and this makes enough for 10 salads).
2. Fill each plastic container with about 1 cup of salad greens. Throw in any additional vegetables of your choice such as cherry tomatoes, shredded carrots and cucumbers.
3. Fold a piece of paper towel for each container and place on top of the salads. Cover each container with the lid and store salads upside down. This pulls any remaining water away from the salad greens so it doesn't get soggy.
4. Enjoy a ready-to-eat salad everyday for lunch!

Chocolate Creme Pie

I made this delicious pie for dessert over at my sister-in-laws house last month. My niece loved it, so I certify this pie as kid approved! My mom created this recipe and suggested it when I was debating on what to make. Thanks mom!

1. Bake prepared pie crust according to package directions making sure to poke numerous holes in all parts of the crust using a fork to prevent it from puffing up. I admit this happened on the first crust, and it was pitched in the garbage. Just keep an eye on the crust as it bakes and if begins to puff, use a fork to poke more holes while still in the oven.

2. Prepare the filling in a medium sized bowl and pour into the cooled crust. Mix together 2 packages chocolate instant pudding with 2 cups cold milk and 1 container cool whip (I used Trader Joe's cool whip- so excited to find this product at their stores!).

3. To garnish the pie, melt semi sweet chocolate in a microwave safe bowl on low setting (this is the hassle free way) or in a pyrex bowl over a pot of boiling water. Once melted, use a spoon to drizzle over the pie. Place in fridge to let pie filling set and chocolate will harden.

Chicken Chili

I made this delicious dish in the crock pot using left overs from a whole chicken I made in the crock pot earlier in the week. So delicious!

Ingredients:
Shredded chicken (use as much as you like)
1 (15 oz) can Black Beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can Pinto Beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can Canellini Beans, drained and rinsed
1 (28 oz) can Diced Tomatoes
A couple spoon fulls of tomato paste
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup chicken broth
1 Tbsp Cornstarch blended in a couple Tbsp water
1 cup Shredded Cheese (any type will do)
Salt, Pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder to taste
1-2 tsp Cumin
Dash of Cayenne Pepper

Directions:
1. Pour all ingredients into the crock pot (excluding shredded cheese) making sure to blend well. Turn crock pot on low for approximately 8 hours.

2. Taste test before serving and adjust seasoning to taste. Serve in dishes and top with shredded cheese.

Chocolate Cappaccino

For the coffee lovers out there! Used my new cappaccino machine to make this delicious cup of coffee.

Chocolate Cappaccino

Coffee grounds + water + a dash of cocoa powder + process in cappaccino machine (or a coffee machine) = chocolate cappaccino

Top off with steamed vanilla soy milk. This also works if you shake the soy milk in the bottle. It will get frothy...I used to do it that way before I had a frother. You can also use milk, but the vanilla soy milk adds sweetness and then no sugar needs to be added seperately.

Enjoy your day!

Sauteed Scallops

Here is an easy protein to saute up with any side dish. Its elegant enough to serve for special guests too! Of course, my hubby and I made it for ourselves. We ate like a king and queen that night. One of our favorite dinners.


Ingredients:
1/2 lb fresh scallops
1 Tsp Olive oil and 1/2 Tsp Butter
Salt and Pepper to taste


Directions:
1. Heat oil and butter in a saute pan on medium high heat

2. Place scallops in pan and saute on each side about 3 mins or until golden.

3. Salt and pepper to taste...and that's it!

Yum!

Sushi Sensation!

Hope everyone one had a happy holiday season and a happy New Year!


One of my gifts from my hubby this year was a sushi making kit. We are both sushi lovers so we decided to make it at home one weekend. It was a very long process (about 3 hours) to make these and for that, we will be going to a restaurant to get our sushi fix for now on!

Sushi actually isn't that difficult to make.

Ingredients:
2 cups Short grain rice + 1 cup water
1/2 cup Rice Vinegar
Assorted veggies; julienned (we used carrots and cucumber)
Cream cheese; cubed
Avocado; sliced
Fresh salmon or tuna; sliced or diced
Seaweed paper
A sushi roller

The short grain rice takes the longest to prepare. The rice needs to be rinsed numerous times before cooking it to remove excess starch. The rice is then cooked according to package directions. When cooled, mix the rice with the Rice vinegar.

Next, lay the seaweed paper on the sushi roller and evenly spread about 1/2 a cup of rice covering the seaweed paper. Place a small amount of the julienned veggies and other fixing (fresh fish, avoacado or cream cheese) in the center of the rice. Finally, the trickiest part is rolling it up tightly.

The finished product looks like this...not bad for the first and only time making homemade sushi!

Salmon, cream cheese, avocado, carrot and cucumber

Cucumber roll

California Roll- this one was rolled inside out.

Tuna, avocado, carrot, cucumber, cream cheese

Potato Blossoms

So easy to make and so delicious!

Ingredients:
Olive Oil
Salt
Idaho Potatoes (however many you want to prepare- 1 per person)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Meanwhile, wash and dry potatoes. Thinly slice potato going with the width being careful not to cut all the way through the bottom skin.  Place potatoes on a foil lined pan and drizzle each potato with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 40 minutes or until tender, remove from oven and salt again. The potato slices should easily detach from the rest of the potato.

2. Serve one potato per person with ketchup or a dip or your choosing.

I served these potatoes along side the Roman-style Chicken I made on Sunday.

Roman-style Chicken in the Crock pot

I made this Sunday afternoon for lunch/dinner aka linner. It turned out great in the crock pot but it can also be prepared in a saute pan. Whichever way you prefer, this linner is a winner!

Ingredients:
4-6 Skinless Boneless Chicken Breasts (frozen or fresh- I used frozen)
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
1 tbsp Olive Oil
2 Red Bell Pepper, sliced
1 Yellow Bell Pepper, sliced
1 Orange Bell Pepper, sliced or
1/2 bag Mini Sweet Peppers (I used these from Costco)
2 Cloves Garlic, chopped
1 (28 oz) can Diced Tomatoes
1/2 cup White Wine
1 tsp Thyme
1 tsp Oregano
1 cup Chicken Stock
1 tsp Parsley

Directions:

1. Layer frozen or fresh chicken breasts at the bottom of the crock pot. Pour tomatoes, wine, chicken stock, and olive oil over the chicken. Season with the remaining ingredients and layer with the sliced peppers. Stir occasionally to ensure all the peppers are cooked evenly.

2. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.

Serves: 4-6

** To prepare this dish in a saute pan, its best to use fresh chicken breasts. Season them with salt and pepper and coat a large saute pan with the olive oil over medium heat. When oil is hot, cook the chicken until browned on both sides. Remove from pan and set aside. Add peppers to the same pan and cook until browned. Add remaining ingredients except the chicken and the stock. Cook about 1 minute and return chicken to the pan; add the stock. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to simmer covered about 20-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Eggplant Rigatoni

I made this dish last week after I got home late from work. It took about an hour to prepare, but it was simple and well worth the wait. It was, "lick the bowl clean," good.

Ingredients:

Salt

8 oz Rigatoni noodles

5 slices prebaked and breaded eggplant slices*

1 (15 oz) jar of your favorite pasta sauce (I used tomato basil)

1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

1. Bake eggplant slices on a baking sheet according to package directions; about 20 minutes at 350 degrees in the oven. Meanwhile, bring a pot of well-salted water to boil over high heat. Drop in pasta and cook until tender, about 6 minutes. Drain pasta and return to pot. Pour in the jar of sauce and mix until pasta is well coated.

2. Spray an 8 x 8 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Pour pasta in the dish. Layer eggplant slices over the top of the pasta and coat with the cheeses. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees until cheese is melted, about 10 minutes.

Serves: 4

* You can find the pre-baked and breaded eggplant slices at Trader Joe's.

Simply Healthy Au Gratin Potatoes

I made these delicious potatoes as a side dish to a baked cod fillets.

Ingredients:
2 lbs of your favorite potatoes (I used Idaho potatoes)
3 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp garlic powder
Pepper to taste
Minced fresh onions to taste (or dried minced onion)
3-4 cups shredded cheese (cheddar or marble)
1 qt low-fat milk

Directions:
1. Grease your crock pot. Scrub, peel and thinnly slice potatoes. Layer 1/3 of the potatoes in the crock pot dish. Sprinkle with 1/3 of salt, garlic, pepper, onions, cheese and milk. Repeat with 2 more layers. Turn crock pot on low and let bake until tender, about 8 hours.

Autumn Acorn Squash Soup

Ingredients:                         

• 1 1/2 pounds cooked acorn squash , peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 pinch sugar
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• Dash cayenne pepper
• 3 cups chicken broth, homemade or from a carton or can
• 1 1/2 cups half-and-half (or whole milk)
• Salt and pepper, to taste

 Directions:           

1. Heat saute pan to low and add butter, sugar, onion & garlic powder; cook until sugar melts and fragrant, about 1 mintue.                
2. Add cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and cayenne pepper; continue to saute, 30 seconds to 1 minute longer.                
3. Pour all cooked ingredients from saute pan into the crock pot and add broth and squash; set to low for 8 hours.                
4. Using an immersion blender or traditional blender, puree until very smooth, 30 seconds to 1 minute. (If using a traditional blender, vent it either by removing the lid's pop-out center or by lifting one edge of the lid. Pour in a little half-and-half, blend briefly, then add to the soup.)                
5. Return to crock pot (or a soup pot); add enough half-and-half so the mixture is soup-like, yet thick enough to float garnish. Taste, and add salt and pepper if needed. Heat through, ladle into bowls, garnish with sliced apples and pecans and serve.                

Serves 6

Artisan Lettuce Salad with Champagne Dressing

This was such a quick and easy recipe and it will make a great lunch for the hubby and I this week at work.

Salad Ingredients:
2 Artisan Lettuce bundles (you can use your favorite variety of lettuce or salad greens)
1/2 cup croutons (I made mine homemade)**
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Champagne Dressing:
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 cup Champagne or white wine vinegar
1 tsp honey
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 Tbsp water
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped.

Directions:
1. Cut core end of lettuces to release the leaves; cutt the heads in half lengthwise. Rinse and drain well; pat dry.

2. To prepare the vinaigrette whisk together mustard, vinegar, honey, pepper and water in a small bowl. Whisking constantly, slowly add oil. Stir in onion.

3. Top lettuce wedges with croutons and Parmesan cheese. Drizzle with vinaigrette to taste.

Makes 2 servings

**Make your own croutons with bread, butter and seasonings- slice and bake at 350F for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Homemade Granola Bars

I made these granola bars to pack in my lunches for the week. They were very easy to make and required very little effort. This is a great snack with the right balance of proteins and carbohydrates to keep you satisfied until your next meal.

Ingredients:
2 cups old fashioned oatmeal
1/2 cup vanilla protein powder
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
2/3 cup honey
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups nuts (any kind will do) & 1 cup raisins and dried apple (any dried fruit will do)  OR
3 cups fruit and nut mix

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a 12 x 8 inch baking dish and line with parchment paper.

2. Spread oatmeal on a sheet pan and bake for 10-15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and stir in protein powder.

3. Reduce oven temperture to 300F. In a small saucepan, combine butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla and salt; bring to boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute, then pour over the tasted oatmeal mixture. Add fruit and nuts. Stir until blended. Pour into the prepared pan, lightly pressing into an even layer. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until light golden brown.

4. Let cool completely. Cut into 2 inch squares or 1 inch bites.

Makes 24 squares or 48 bites. Store in air tight container for up to one week.