Tip from My Kitchen--round 2

If you have extra pizza or pasta sauce, even just a few tablespoons, freeze it. The same goes for fresh produce like onion or pepper slices. Then on a day when you need a meal for one, slightly toast an English muffin in a toaster oven. After it's very slightly brown, pull out the muffin, top it with the de-thawed pasta sauce, add your favorite toppings (I like tomato, turkey pepperoni, green peppers, and low fat cheese), bake in your toaster oven for a few minutes, and enjoy.



Freezing the little extras can save you time, money, and the hassle of "what can I eat?" when you need something quick and easy.

Apple (& Pear) Crisp

Winter brings about the blahs. You know what I mean? There is such a lack of good, fresh produce. I know, there is an abundance right now of apples. But...

I really don't like apples. I know, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." That's complete nonsense. I wish it were true. If an apple a day could cure diabetes, bring 'em on!

But they don't. And even though I know apples are high in fiber and other good-for-me stuff, I just don't crave them. My dislike of apples might have stemmed from childhood when my sister would take applesauce and using her tongue push it out from between the gaps of her teeth making me want to vomit up my lunch. Or maybe it's just the brownish tinge of apple juice which reminds me of this brown jello the lunch ladies once served in grade school.

I just don't like apples.

But, make apples into a dessert...well, now we're talkin'.

Apple Crisp

Ingredients:

• 1/4-1/2 cup of nuts, any kind, I prefer pecans





• 1/3 cup whole wheat flour





• 1/3 cup of Splenda Brown Sugar Blend





• 1/4 cup of oats






• 1/2 cup cereal (I like Kashi's Vive)






• 1 stick butter or 1/2 cup margarine






• ground cinnamon






• 1/8 t salt





• 4 apples---any type or a mix of several types





• lemon juice to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.





2. Combine all dry ingredients plus about 90% of the melted butter. Set aside.




3. Cut apples into small pieces, but really, in any size/shape you desire. Place apple slices in a baggie or large plastic container. Pour in desired amount of lemon juice (and/or apple juice). Close and shake container, coating the apple pieces.






4. In a large, glass pan, pour in remaining butter to coat the bottom. Add apples, and then add on top the dry-ish mixture.





5. Bake for 55 minutes until brown and bubbly.






6. Serve apple crisp with vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt.
   
   

I recently re-created this recipe by also using pears along with the apples. Honestly, the taste was not much different, but if you like variety you might give this a try.

Bob's Red Mill Low Carb Crepes

While at the health food store gathering up types of flour I've never heard of and some agave nectar, I stumbled upon a product that I didn't think was possible. LOW CARB, let me repeat, LOW CARB, baking mix. My eyes must have lit up and enlarged to four times their normal size. I had to catch my breath. I blinked a few times, wondering if I was seeing the label correctly.

I was. It was true.

Bob's Red Mill Low Carb Baking Mix seemed too good to be true. But the nutrition facts had to be accurate. I mean, doesn't someone review and/or audit those labels?

I snatched up a bag, and headed purposefully toward the checkout, nearly shaking in anticipation.

Two days later, I found a recipe on Bob's (what a nice guy he is) website for Low Carb Crepes. Of course, I altered the recipe to make it a bit healthier.

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Low-Carb Bakign Mix





• 1 T canola oil





• 3 omega-3 eggs





• 1 1/4 cup of low-fat milk





• 1/2 t baking powder





• Splenda (about 1/4 cup)





• 1 t vanilla





• lower/reduced sugar jam (I used Smucker's strawberry)





• powdered sugar for dusting





• cooking spray

Directions:

1. Heat a small skillet on medium. Be sure to spray the skillet each time in between making crepes.





2. In a mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients.





3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the eggs, water, and vanilla. Mix with a fork.





4. Pour a small amount of batter into the skillet. You will need to pick up the skillet and swirl the batter around until the bottom of the skillet is thinly coated with batter.





5. When one side is done, gently flip the crepe over and lightly brown the other side. You will cook each crepe about one minute or less per side.





6. Remove the crepe from the skillet and place on a plate. Spread a small amount of jelly inside the crepe, fold it over, and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve and eat warm.

I love crepes! My father used to make my grandmother's recipe every other Saturday morning. The traditional recipe is higher in carbs, lower in fiber and protein, and takes much more time (and dishes---including a blender). The lower-carb crepes tastes almost as good as my fathers. The only difference I could tell was that I didn't have my eager siblings around to share them with.

What's your food kick?

I get on these food kicks.

When I first got married I always made cheese and chicken quesadillas, toasted ravioli, and frozen pizza (those were pre-diabetes days---ha!).

Then I decided to do some real cooking, and I made this chicken, carrot, and Ramon noodle mixture once a week. My husband and I laugh about it now.

One time I tried to make a new kind of quesadilla---they contained shrimp and lettuce. I want to throw up just thinking about them. Here's a tip: do not attempt shrimp and lettuce quesadillas. Ever. Period.

Then I got into an obsession with low fat broccoli and cheese soup. Then salmon patties. Then rotisserie chicken.

I always am onto some new dessert. It started with simple chocolate chip cookies. Currently it's low fat Oreo balls and apple crisp (with, oh how wholesome!, organic Fuji apples).

Currently it's scrambled (omega 3) eggs and easy, vegetarian soups. And fruit salad. And hot, herbal, fruity tea with Splenda.

Brownies, my friends, never go out of style.

I know, variety is the spice of life. I am a failure in the variety department, but I got a new cookbook (Slow Cooking...something) from a dear friend for Christmas. So watch out world, maybe I'll venture into some new territory.

What's your food kick?

Vegetable Soup--A Simple Pleasure

A few years ago, I received a copy of Real Simple Meals Made Easy for Christmas. Isn't the cover so beautiful? I'm a huge fan of Real Simple magazine, and cookbook doesn't disappoint! I admit, I wanted it mainly for it's food porn (that's cook talk for pretty food pictures that are quite desirable!).

I'm in full blown soup mode.

This version is slightly altered from the original.

Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

• EVOO






• 1 large yellow onion, chopped






• 1/2 a bag of frozen, sliced carrots






• 1/2 a bag of frozen, broccoli






• 3 14.5 oz cans of low-sodium chicken broth






• 1/2 lb of potatoes cut into 1 inch chunks






• thyme






• sea salt






• 1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes






• 1/2 bag of frozen, cut green beans






• Parmesan cheese for topping

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a non-stick, large saucepan (I use my soup pot) and cook the onion until soft, using the EVOO.






2. Add the broth, 1 cup of water, the potatoes, thyme, and salt (seasonings to taste). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover partially, and simmer for 15 minutes.






3. Add the tomatoes, carrots, green beans, broccoli. Return to a boil and simmer, cooking until the veggies are tender---about 5 to 10 minutes.






4. Ladle soup into bowls, sprinkle with cheese, and serve with bread.

Soup freezes so well, so I never mind taking the time to make up a big pot.

Also, using frozen veggies is the way to go in my opinion. The original recipe called for fresh, but keep a few things in mind when considering substituting frozen for fresh. First, fresh is often not fresh. The produce has sat on a truck for a day or two in God knows what sort of conditions and temperatures. By the time you buy it, get it home, and then actually use it (which could be days after you purchase it), it's old, it's discolored, it's not what you want.

Second, fresh costs more! My grocery store now sells Wild Harvest, an organic product line that includes frozen fruits and veggies at a fraction of the cost of fresh.

Third, frozen is fresher than "fresh." Frozen veggies and fruits are harvested at their peak and immediately frozen.

Finally, who has time to always cut examine, wash, cut, and prepare fresh veggies? Personally, I'm preparing for my lifetime of motherhood and as a person who has provided care for children for as long as I can remember (staring at three when I decided I would be my new baby sister's little mommy), I get that parenthood takes time, lots and lots and lots of time. So if I'm going to give my kids the healthy foods that I know they need, I've got to be realistic in my food prep practices.