Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Ok, so brussel sprouts aren't the most exciting vegetable out there. Like most people, I've never really liked brussel sprouts. I've been trying very hard to incorporate more green vegetables into my diet so I thought I would give these tiny cabbages another shot.

I searched high and low for some way to cook these things without just boiling them to death. Most people will just boil them until they are mush, put some salt on them and then complain that they don't taste good. Gee, I wonder why that would be?

I finally ran across a recipe for broiled brussel sprouts, from Brany Boils Over, that had potential. I changed it up a little and came out with a recipe that I would make again. It would make a great veggie dish during the holidays too.

Roasted Brussel Srpouts

From Branny Boils Over

Ingredients

1 10 oz Bag Frozen Brussel Sprouts
6 Tablespoons Plain Bread Crumbs
2 Tablespoons Margarine, Melted
1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 Teaspoon Onion Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Nutmeg
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

1. Steam the sprouts in the microwave.
2. Cut eat sprout in half lengthwise.
3. Spray a baking dish with PAM.
4. Place the cut sprouts into the baking dish.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
6. Sprinkle all of the seasonings onto the sprouts.
7. Mix the bread crumbs and margarine together and sprinkle over the top of the seasoned sprouts.
8. Bake for 20 minutes.

If you really want to get fancy you can stick the sprouts under the broiler for 5 minutes after baking. This will give you a nice crispy crumb topping.

Yields: Approximately 6 servings (1/2 cup each)

Please forgive me, I have Baked Falafel

I know I'm a LLPOF (liar, liar, pants on fire). I said I took a short break and would be back and then...nothing. I haven't posted in almost 3 months. That is completely inexcusable. I guess I should start by giving an update on what's been going on here and then, to try to win your forgiveness, I'll give you a most excellent recipe for baked falafel. You will love it, I promise.

So bake in August, when I last posted, I was still on the weight loss journey and becoming increasingly frustrated with my lack of progress. I was also a little down about our fertility problems. Well, let me tell you all of that has changed!

On September 1st I went to my fertility doctor for my routine blood draw and to begin planning my next cycle of medications. That afternoon I got a call from the nurse telling me that our August cycle had worked. We were finally pregnant! I was in shock. I had been having PMS symptoms for a couple of days and was absolutely positive that I was going to start my period any second. I even went to the store to by tampons after my blood draw. I called Vince at work and told him that I was pregnant. He was in the middle of a meeting and couldn't talk, but I think he was a little lost for words anyway. As soon as I got off the phone with him, I ran over to CVS and purchase a couple of digital pregnancy tests. I needed to see the positive result for myself. I took a total of 4 tests that afternoon. It was a shock each time to see "Pregnant" show up in the window.

On September 15 I went in to the doctor for my first ultrasound. I was 6 weeks pregnant at that point. We were able to see a little blob and a tiny little flicker of a heartbeat. On September 22 we had our 2nd and final ultrasound with the fertility doctor. At this appointment our baby looked like a little Gummi Bear with arm and leg numbs. We were able to see a strong heart beating away at 131 beats per minute.

My last ultrasound was on October 25. This was done as part the NT scan to test for Down's Syndrome. Our baby actually looked like a little baby at this point. He was jumping around all over the place, kicking at the ultrasound wand, and waving his/her arms around. He/she flipped over to moon us at one point too. It was very cute. We will not find out the sex of the baby until mid-December when we do the anatomy scan. I can't wait to see him/her again!

I've made my first maternity clothing purchases and will be wearing them very soon. My belly just keeps on growing. When I got to 8 weeks along, my doctor had me come off of the Metformin that I had been taking. As soon as I came off of it, I gained 7 pounds. My doctor and I were worried about my weight during this pregnancy so I made an appointment with a dietitian. The dietitian put me on a strict carb control diet and upped my calories to 2000 per day. I've also been told to limit my exercise to keep my heart rate under 140. I have so far lost 4 pounds, so I am doing well keeping healthy. I'm also hopeful that I won't have much to lose once the baby is born.

In other news, we have decided to do some renovations to our condo. We are meeting with a contractor tomorrow for pricing and timelines. We are going to remodel our kitchen, put in a laundry room, add a den workspace, put in crown molding and new baseboards, and put in new lighting and tray ceilings in the bedrooms. We are hoping to have all of the work finished by April so that we have time to set up the nursery before the baby gets here.

I have not been reading as much since summer ended. I have a few book reviews to give on books that I read over the summer and I'm always looking for a good read. Recommend 'em if you got 'em!

I've been going through more of my photos from various vacations and trips so I'll be making a few posts to show off some of my photography. I know it is a complete attention whore thing to do but, isn't that the purpose of a blog anyway?

Thanksgiving is in 2 weeks. That means that Christmas is right around the corner! I plan to be giving lots of updates on Black Friday sales and my holiday baking projects. I have tons of recipes to add to my list.

So, without further ado...Baked Falafel!

Since meeting with the dietitian I have been searching for recipes that are low carb and higher in protein. I found an awesome blog by a registered dietitian and have slowly been trying out her recipes. So far so good! I got this recipe from her blog and made a few slight changes to suit my personal tastes.

I found the recipe on the blog PreventionRD. Please check out her whole blog, she has tons of yummy stuff on there!

Baked Falafel

From PreventionRD

Ingredients

1 Cup Dried Garbonzo Beans (Chick Peas)
1 Medium Yellow Onion, chopped
1/2 Cup Fresh Parsely, chopped
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Minced Garlic
1 Teaspoon Cumin
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
6 Tablespoons All Purpose Flour
5 Whole Wheat Pitas, cut in half
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
Cherry Tomatoes
Cucumber Slices

Directions

1. Soak the beans in water overnight.
2. The next day, drain the beans and put them into a food processor with the onion.
3. Pulse until well chopped and blended.
4. Add the remaining ingredients and blend well.
5. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
6. Lightly grease a baking sheet. (I use PAM spray.)
7. Form the bean mixture into walnut sized balls (about 20) and place on the baking sheet.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Spread 2 tablespoons of hummus on to a pita half and then fill with 2 falafel balls, cucumbers, and tomatoes.

This recipe can be doctored up in any number of ways. Use tahini sauce instead of hummus, or use a different flavor of hummus. Use any type of vegetable you want to stuff the pita with. Very filling, nutritious, and low on points!

Yields: 10 servings

Best Banana Bread Ever

I love banana bread. There are two schools of thought when it comes to this nutty banana confection. Some people like their banana bread to be like bread. My mom for example makes an excellent banana bread that can be sliced, toasted, and buttered. Just like any other bread but with a nutty banana flavor. I, on the other hand, prefer my banana bread to be more cake-like. I prefer a sweet, light bread that could pass for a muffin. And I really like it with chocolate chips.

I have been making banana bread for years. Usually just once or twice a year during my quest for the perfect recipe. The perfect balance of sweetness and nuttiness, of bread and muffin. Up until last month I was still searching. I had found some decent recipes but none that really stuck out in my mind and none that I had bothered to put into my recipe book for future use. That is until last month.

Last month I was preparing to go to Phoenix to visit my mom. I knew that I had a long flight with a 3 hour lay-over. I also knew that I did not want to spend a boatload of money on airport food or even worse, airplane food. So I decide to pack myself a dinner and snack.

I made a yummy turkey sandwich on homemade whole wheat bread with lettuce, tomato, and mayo. I was going to pack some fruit when I noticed that I had 3 very over-ripe bananas sitting in the fruit bowl. What else do you do with over-ripe bananas besides make banana bread?

So I hit the internet on a search for a quick recipe that used what I had handy in the house. I finally ran across an awesome recipe on the blog How Sweet It Is.

I tweaked the recipe to add an extra banana, walnuts, and make the whole thing dairy-free. It is seriously the best banana bread I've ever eaten. It is moist, sweet, nutty, and full of banana flavor. I made 4 mini loaves so I could bring some to my mom in Phoenix. We ended up eating all of it within my first week there.

I don't know how to put into words how good this bread is. I've already made the recipe twice since returning from Phoenix last month. I even purposely bought bananas and let them over-ripen just so I could make this bread with them. I currently have 2 mini loaves in the freezer, for fear that we will eat them too quickly.

If you are ever going to make a banana bread, make this one. If you have made one before and didn't like it...make this one instead. I guarantee you will fall in love with it.

Best Banana Bread Ever

From How Sweet It Is

Ingredients

1 Stick Margarine, Softened
3oz Soy Cream Cheese (Tofutti brand)
1 Cup Brown Sugar
3 Very Ripe Bananas
1 Large Egg
1/4 Cup Soy Sour Cream (Tofutti brand)
1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour (may substitute Whole Wheat)
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Chocolate Chips
1 1/2-2 Cups Chopped Walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).
2. Grease or line pans.
3. In a large bowl, cream the margarine, sugar, and cream cheese until light and fluffy.
4. Add the bananas, sour cream, and egg.
5. Mix until smooth.
6. Mix in the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
7. Fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts.
8. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean.

This can be baked in 2 regular sized loaf pans for 60-75 minutes, 4 mini loaf pans for 35-40 minutes, or in regular size muffin pans for 25-30 minutes. These baking times are approximate and will vary by oven and location.

Yields: 2 loaves

Don't be afraid to experiment with this recipe! Try different kinds of nuts or different types of chips (peanut butter chips would be interesting). It really is a very tailorable recipe.

Moroccan Chicken with Lemon and Olives

This is one of my favorite dishes at Casablanca, a local Moroccan restaurant. Although my absolute favorite is the Bastilla pastry, which I will be attempting to make at some point.

I was a little intimidated at first. At the restaurant, it seems like a dish that takes all day to cook. The flavors are intense and the chicken is always perfectly cooked and falling off the bone. I had no idea how to go about making this one. So I did what everyone else does, I searched the internet for recipes. I was actually surprised at how many I found, and they all seemed to be pretty similar. I don't have a Tagine, which is the traditional way to cook this dish, so I chose a recipe that was cooked on the stove top.

I found a recipe on the Bon Appetit website. I followed the directions exactly, since I'm not familiar enough with this dish to start making substitutions. It was awesome.

It blends all of the traditional Moroccan flavors of cumin, ginger, cinnamon, etc. in a thick savory sauce for the chicken. Since the chicken is cooked in the sauce, it is infused with all of these flavors. My house smelled awesome while I was cooking this. I get hungry just thinking about it. Yum.

I served it over Basmati rice and had a big salad along side.

Moroccan Chicken with Lemon and Olives

From Bon Appetit

Ingredients

1 Whole Chicken (Approx. 4 pounds), Cut into 8 Pieces with skin removed
1 Large Lemon
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Large Yellow Onion, Diced
2 Teaspoons Minced Garlic
1 Tablespoon Paprika
2 Teaspoons Ground Cumin
1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
2 Cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
1/2 Cup Green Olives

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a large chef's pan or skillet.
2. Add the diced onion.
3. Saute the onion until golden brown.
4. Add the garlic, paprika, cumin, cinnamon, and ginger to the pan.
5. Mix with the onion for 1 minute.
6. Add the chicken broth.
7. Bring to a boil.
8. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
9. Add the chicken to the pan.
10. Cut the lemon into small wedges and add to the pan.
11. Cover the pan, reduce heat, and simmer for 30-40 minutes. You want the meat to be cooked through and ready to fall off the bone.
12. Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the pan.
13. Add olives to the skillet.
14. Boil until the sauce is thickened.

Serve by placing the chicken over rice and pouring the sauce over everything.

Yield: 5 servings

Creamy Non-Dairy Rice Pudding

I love rice pudding, tapioca pudding, chocolate pudding, pistachio pudding...well, just about any kind of pudding really. I love the texture in rice and tapioca puddings. The creaminess of the custard pudding combined with the soft rice. Yum.

My problem has always been the amount of time it takes to make. I also didn't want to have to use a half gallon of milk to make it. Once I get the craving for rice pudding I want it now, not in 2 hours. This recipe takes a total of 40 minutes, and that includes the time to cook the rice. I usually just use leftover rice so that cuts the time down to 20 minutes.

Typical rice pudding calls for regular white rice. I have used Basmati and Jasmine to make this recipe. I think using these fragrant rices really adds to the sweetness and flavor of the pudding. The medium and long grain rices will also give a creamier pudding because of the starch content. I've also seen recipes that use Spanish yellow rice along with Spanish seasonings to make Cuban Arroz con Leche. I plan to try it with brown rice as well but I think I'll need to make a few adjustments for sweetness and texture. I'll update if I ever get around to trying it out.

Creamy Non-Dairy Rice Pudding

Ingredients

3/4 Cups Uncooked Rice (or 1 1/2 Cups Cooked Rice)
1 1/2 Cups Water
2 Cups Unsweetened, Unflavored, Soy Milk (you could also use vanilla soy/almond milk for more flavor and sweetness)
2/3 Cups Sugar
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 Large Egg, Beaten
1 Tablespoon Margarine
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Nutmeg
Optional: 2/3 Cup Raisins (some people like to soak the raisins in rum prior to adding)

Directions

If you are using leftover rice, skip steps 1 & 2.

1. Boil the water in a sauce pan.
2. Add the rice to the boiling water and cook for 20 minutes, until all the water is absorbed.
3. Add the sugar, salt, and 1 1/2 cups milk to the rice.
4. Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy, about 15 minutes.
5. In a small bowl, beat the egg with 1/2 cup milk.
6. Add the egg/milk to the rice pudding.
7. Add the raisins.
8. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
9. Remove from heat and add the margarine, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Serve the pudding warm. If you choose to serve the pudding cold, you will have to add about 1/2 cup more milk since the pudding thickens as it cools.

Yields: 6 servings

Quick, easy, and yummy. This recipe even won over Vince, who was convinced that rice pudding was a bland and flavorless glob.

Non-Dairy Coconut Ice Cream

I recently tried Soy Delicious Coconut Almond Bars. For those of you that are not aware, Soy Delicious makes vegan (aka dairy-free) ice cream products. The bars were awesome. They were a creamy coconut ice cream covered in chocolate and almonds. The good: They are delicious and only 170 calories. The bad: They cost almost $6 for a box of 4 bars. There's no way I could justify that, no matter how good they are.

So my quest for the perfect creamy dairy-free ice cream began. It took a few trys to get it right. Some were not very coconutty, others didn't freeze well, and others were more like iced milk than ice cream.

Then I stumbled on a recipe at Allrecipes. My search has ended. This ice cream turned out smooth, creamy, sweet, very coconutty, and completely vegan. What more could you ask for? Chocolate. You can never go wrong with chocolate. Just a little goes a long way. It's like a frozen Mounds bar.

Just try it. You'll love it. I promise. Just do it already!

Coconut Ice Cream

From Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

1 (15 oz) Can Cream of Coconut
1 Cup Unsweetened Unflavored Soy Milk
1 1/2 Cups Unflavored Soy Creamer
Optional: 1 Cup Shredded Coconut

Directions

1. In a bowl, mix all of the ingredients together thoroughly.
2. Make sure your ice cream maker is set up and ready to go.
3. Pour the liquid mixture into your ice cream maker.
4. Freeze according to the directions of your particular machine.

Note: Cream of Coconut is not the same as Coconut Milk or Coconut Cream. Cream of Coconut is thick and sweetened (look for sugar in the ingredients). It is typically found with drink mixes for Pina Coladas.

Yeilds approx. 2 quarts of ice cream.

You can use regular dairy products for this recipe as well. I'm sure it would turn out even creamier using real cream.

Almond Roca Protein Shake

I know it sounds weird but it really is good. This started when I found a recipe for an Almond Joy Shake. I didn't have all of the ingredients necessary for that one, although I do now and I'll be making it soon. I started substituting for the missing ingredients and this was the resulting recipe.

It is coconuty (is that a word?), slightly chocolatey, and oh so almondy. You can make it thick like I did and eat it with a spoon, or thin it out and drink it. Either way it makes a great after work-out shake or even a dessert!

Almond Roca Protein Shake

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Lite Coconut Milk
1/4 Cup Water
1 Scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
2 Tablespoons Coconut Flour
1 Tablespoon Almond Extract
1 Tablespoon Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (this is baking powder not hot chocolate mix)
4-5 Ice Cubes
Sweeten to taste (I used 4 packets of Splenda)

Directions

Put it all in the blender and let it go!
If you want a thinner shake, just add more water.

This may taste like dessert but it is actually pretty low calorie, really high in fiber due to the coconut flour, and high in protein.

Lasagna Stuffed Shells

I can't remember having stuffed shells. I'm sure at some point in my life I did, but I just don't remember it. They look good, and they smell good, but they are filled with evil, evil cheese. I wanted to try them out but honestly didn't think they would be good with nothing but pasta and tofu in them. Then I found a different recipe and my whole view changed.

I have already perfected dairy-free lasagna. I love it but it is a pretty heavy dish. Tons of pasta, sauce, meat...well, tons of everything really. These shells seemed like the perfect solution. I could have the taste of lasagna that I loved but in a smaller commitment. I love how they turned out. I will be making these again, once my freezer stash has dwindled.

Lasagna Stuffed Shells

From Allrecipes.com

Ingredients
1 Box Jumbo Pasta Shells (about 40 shells)
1 Pound Ground Turkey
12oz Firm Tofu
8oz Veggie Shreds Parmesan/Mozzarella Mix Flavor
2 Large Eggs
1 1/2 Jars Tomato Sauce (I used Tomato & Basil flavor)

Directions

1. In a large stock pot, bring about 4 quarts of water to a boil.
2. Once the water is boiling, salt the water generously and add the shells.
3. Cook the shells for about 10 minutes. You want them to be slightly under-done.
4. While the shells are cooking, cook the turkey in a skillet and set aside.
5. In a bowl, mash together the eggs, tofu, and veggie shreds.
6. Once the shells are cooked, remove from the water and rinse with cold water.
7. Spread tomato sauce on the bottom of two 9x13 baking pans (or 3 8x8 pans).
8. Take a shell and spoon about a teaspoon of turkey into the bottom of it.
9. Next, spoon a heaping teaspoon of tofu mixture onto the turkey.
10. Place the shell into a baking dish.
11. Continue with the remaining shells.
12. Once all of the shells are in the pans, spoon tomato sauce onto the top of each shell.
13. Bake the shells at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, just until the cheese/tofu is melted.

Optional: Feel free to cover the tops of the shells/sauce with more shredded cheese.

Yields:12 servings

These are really filling and very yummy. They freeze well too. The best part is the stats.

Spanakopita

Spanakopita is a Greek spinach pie. It is usually seen being passed around at wedding as tiny hors d'oeuvers. I found a recipe for dinner Spanakopita on one my new favorite cooking blogs, Branny Boils Over. I, of course, took that recipe and modified it to make it dairy-free and higher in protein.

I think it turned out awesome. Vince on the other hand, didn't like it. He said the flavor was good but he didn't like the flaky pastry shell. He's "not a flaky crust kind of guy". Oh well, I guess I can't win them all with him. I'm still making a batch to put in the freezer. I can take them out and heat them up for a quick, yummy lunch.

This recipe does call for the use of phyllo dough. I know that can be intimidating but it really is easy to use. I'll walk you through it. Don't panic, it will be ok.

Spanakopita

From Branny Boils Over

Ingredients

14 Sheets of Phyllo Dough (about 1/4 of a package)
1 10oz Box of Frozen Spinach, Thawed and Drained
4oz Soft Tofu
2oz Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
2 Tablespoons Parmesan Flavor Veggie Shreds
1/2 Medium Yellow Onion, Diced
1.5 Tablespoons Pine Nuts
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Pepper
1 Large Egg
1 Large Egg White
1.5 Tablespoons Seasoned Bread Crumbs
1/4 Teaspoon Nutmeg
4 Tablespoons Margarine, Melted

Directions

1. In a skillet, fry the onion until caramelized (about 3 minutes).
2. Briefly add the spinach to the skillet, just long enough to steam off any excess moisture. You want it to be completely dry.
3. In a bowl, mix together all of the ingredients, except for the margarine and the phyllo dough.
4. Set the filling aside.
5. Open the package of phyllo dough and roll out the sheets.
6. Place a damp paper towel over the sheets to keep them from drying out while you work.
7. Carefully take one sheet and lay it out flat.
8. With a pastry brush, brush the sheet with melted margarine.
9. Carefully lay a second phyllo sheet on top of the first.
10. Brush the second sheet with melted margarine.
11. Lay a third phyllo sheet on the stack.
12. Brush the third sheet with margarine.
13. Lay a fourth sheet on the stack.
14. Do not brush the top of the fourth sheet.
15. Cut the stack of phyllo sheets in half, lengthwise.You will now have two long rectangles of phyllo dough.
16. Make 4 more long rectangles of dough in this way.
17. For the last (7th) rectangle, take one sheet of dough and brush margarine on half of it (lengthwise).
18. Fold the sheet over itself lengthwise.
19. Brush margarine on the top of the sheet.
20. Place another sheet on top.
21. Brush margarine on half of this sheet.
22. Fold the second sheet over itself. You will now have one long rectangle of dough.

Assembly

1. Place 1/3 cup of filling onto one end of one of the rectangles.
2. Take the corner of the rectangle, with the filling, and fold it towards the edge of the dough.
3. Continue folding the dough until you have a large triangle.
4. Place the triangle on a cookie sheet.
5. Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake the Spanakopitas in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes. You want them to be golden brown and flaky.

Yields: 7 servings

These are pretty quick to make and are very filling. The best part is that they are each under 200 calories! The stats below are for each pastry triangle. You could also add in some Fiber One powder to up the fiber, it is pretty low.

Pepino Melon-Banana Protein Smoothie

I recently found Pepino melons at the grocery store. I had no idea what they were or what they tasted like but I was curious. So I bought a few.

These are Pepino melons:

They are about the size of a lemon. The skin is very thin and smooth, almost like the skin of a plum. They have a very sweet banana-like fragrance.

After I got them home, I had to look them up on the interwebz to figure out how to eat them.

It turns out that the whole thing is edible, just like a plum. Just wash it and take a bite! The flavor is pretty sweet. It tastes like a cross between a cantaloupe and a banana. They are very juicy so be prepared with napkins. You can tell they are ripe by the purple stripes along the side, those don't show up until the fruit is completely ripe.

Since I had this fabulous fruit sitting in my fridge and I also happened to have a couple of almost-too-ripe bananas in the fruit bowl, I made a smoothie. It was thick and creamy. Sweet with a unique taste of banana and melon.

Pepino Melon-Banana Protein Smoothie

Ingredients

1 Pepino Melon
1 Ripe Small/Medium Banana
1/2 Cup Unsweetened Soy Milk
1/2 Cup Water
1 Scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
1/8 Teaspoon Xanthan Gum (optional)
5 Ice Cubes

Directions

Cut the fruit into large cubes and add to the blender along with all of the other ingredients. Blend until smooth.

This packs a punch calorie and carb-wise but if you are using it as a meal replacement, go ahead and put in a full cup of milk instead of doing half water/half milk. You could also add in another banana for more carbs if you are drinking it right after an extremely vigorous work-out.

Blackberries & Cream Protein Smoothie

Today has been a good day diet-wise. After all of the house cleaning and organizing was done. I had time to fit in a 30 minute elliptical session. Since it was only 30 minutes long, I decided to make it a little more difficult by doing hills. I was only on level 5 (so the hill goes up to level 5 and then back down) but it was an excellent work-out.

After a nice long shower I decided to make myself a protein smoothie. It turned out really yummy. You could make this with any variety of fruit, but I had blackberries so that's what I made. The possibilities are enormous. Play around with it and come up with something yummy!

Blackberries & Cream Protein Smoothie

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Lite Coconut Milk
1/2 Cup Water
144 Grams (~1 Cup) Blackberries
1 Scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
2 Tablespoons Plain Yogurt (I use soy)
4 Packets of Splenda
6-8 Ice Cubes

Directions

Put everything into the blender and blend it until thick and smooth.

You may want to add about 1/8 teaspoon of Xanthan Gum to thicken it up and keep it from separating.

Squash & Spinach Stuffed Rotolo Pasta

Jamie Oliver is awesome. I've been watching the Food Revolution on ABC Friday nights. I've been a fan of Jamie's cooking for awhile but this show is what really sparked me to start cooking more food from scratch. In the show, he tries to get the public schools in Huntington, West Virginia to change the cafeteria menus to healthy food. He sets ups a "kitchen" in town where he gives free cooking lessons to anyone that walks in. He does fund raisers to have the cafeteria cooks retrained on how to cook actual meals, instead of just adding water and reheating precooked junk. It really is fun to watch the transformation and his enthusiasm for healthy cooking is infectious.

So, I took what Jamie was teaching in the schools and applied it to my own life. Basically, he says that you can still eat the food you love, you just have to make it healthy. So the journey began. There have been some disasters and some pretty good finds. I'm slowly adding to my recipe rotations and having fun trying new stuff.

This recipe is an adaptation from one of the recipes in the book Jaime's Italy.

This is a great summer meal. It is light and filling. There is no heavy sauce to go along with it, although Vince thinks this is a great tragedy. It is also very pretty. It makes a great presentation for guests.

Now don't panic, but you will be making your own pasta for this recipe. Deep breaths...really, it will be ok. It is not that hard to do. I'll walk you through it step by step. Just take it slow and it will turn out beautifully. I promise.

Squash & Spinach Stuffed Rotolo

From Branny Boils Over

Pasta

Ingredients

1 & 1/2 Cups Flour
3 Large Eggs
1/4 Teaspoon Salt

Directions

1. Place the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl.
2. Make a hole in the center of the flour.
3. Break the eggs into the hole.
4. Whisk the eggs until pale yellow.
5. Continue whisking while slowly incorporating the flour.
6. Continue to incorporate the flour until a dough has formed.
7. Once a dough ball has formed, begin to knead the dough until it is no longer sticky.
8. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface to roll out.
9. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a large rectangle shape. It should measure about 10 inches by 15 inches. It should be about 1/4 inch thick.
10. Cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap until ready for use.

Filling

Ingredients

1 Small Squash (I used acorn)
3/4 Teaspoon Coriander
1 Teaspoon Fennel Seeds
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Minced Garlic
About 2 Cups Baby Spinach Leaves
1 Tablespoon Butter/Margarine
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
1 Cup Ricotta Cheese (I used Soft Tofu)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. Cut the squash into quarters.
3. Scoop out the seeds and place the squash, flesh side up, into a baking dish.
4. With a mortar and pestle, grind the fennel seed with the coriander and salt.
5. Season the squash with the ground spices.
6. Cover the squash with tin foil and place in the oven for 25 minutes.
7. After 25 minutes, remove the foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes.
8. Remove from oven and let cool.
9. Once cool, scrape the flesh out of the skin and into a bowl.
10. Mash until smooth.
11. In a large saute pan or skillet, melt the butter and brown the garlic.
12. Add the spinach and cook until completely wilted.
13. Add the nutmeg and toss.

Assembly

Directions

1. Lay out a large piece of cheese-cloth or a clean dish towel (bigger than the pasta).
2. Lay the pasta onto the cloth.
3. Spoon the squash across the long end of the pasta that is closest to you.
4. Spoon the spinach across the pasta right next to the squash.
5. Spoon the cheese/tofu across the remaining edge of the pasta, be sure to go all the way to the edge.
6. Begin slowly rolling the pasta up, jelly-roll style. Start at the squash end and roll towards the cheese/tofu. Roll fairly tight but don't squish out the filling.
7. Use the cheese/tofu to seal the end of the pasta to itself.
8. Wrap the cloth/towel around the rotolo.
9. Tie the cloth on each end and 2-3 times in the middle using kitchen twine.

Cooking

Directions

1. Fill a large pasta pot (or stew pot) with about 6 inches of water.
2. Generously salt the water and bring to a boil.
3. Once the water is boiling place the rotolo (towel and all) into the water. You may need to place a plate or other object over the rotolo to keep it from floating to the top of the water.
4. Boil for 25 minutes.
5. After 25 minutes, remove from the water and place on a cutting board.
6. Carefully unwrap the rotolo and slice into 1/2 - 1 inch pieces.

Yields: 6-8 servings

I served this without any sauce but Vince "needed" it. He has an aversion to pasta without sauce. *sigh* He put basil tomato sauce on it, which I would not recommend. If anything, I would do a light cream sauce but it was really yummy without anything.

Thai Pineapple Rice with Shrimp

I first had this dish at Pasara Thai restaurant in Kingstown, VA. It comes served in a pineapple shell. A beautiful presentation. It is a little on the sweet side but could also be served cold as a refreshing summer dinner dish.

I did not serve our dinner in pineapple shells but Vince seemed to like it anyway. It was relatively easy to make, it just required a little bit of prep work. I used shrimp as the protein for our dinner but you can substitute anything you would like. I don't think the sweet flavors would work well with red meat though so I would stick with poultry, pork, and seafood.

Thai Pineapple Rice

Ingredients

1 Fresh Pineapple, diced
3 Cups Cooked Rice (I used brown)
3/4 Cups Coconut Milk
1 Medium Onion, diced
2 Tablespoons Raisins
2 Tablespoons Cashews, chopped
2 Tablespoons Oil, olive or peanut
1/2 Tablespoon Sugar
1 Tablespoon Cumin
1 Tablespoon Coriander
1/2 Tablespoon Ground Ginger
1/2 Teaspoon Turmeric
2 Teaspoons Minced Garlic
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
30 Shrimp (I used precooked frozen)

Directions

1. In a blender add the cumin, coriander, ginger, turmeric, garlic, salt, 1/2 of the diced onion, and 1/4 cup coconut milk. Blend until it becomes a thick paste.
2. In a large saucepan or wok, cook the shrimp (or heat through if precooked, frozen).
3. Remove the shrimp from the pan and set aside for later.
4. Remove water/juice from the pan.
5. Add oil to the pan and heat.
6. Add 1/2 of the diced onion and cook until soft.
7. Add the paste to the onions and fry for about a minute, until browned.
8. Add the pineapple, rice, coconut milk, raisins, and cashews to the pan.
9. Stir and cook until the milk is completely absorbed.
10. Add the sugar and the shrimp to the pan.
11. Cook until the shrimp is heated through.

At this point, you can be fancy and serve the rice in the pineapple shell or you can be unfancy, like me, and serve it in cereal bowls. You can also be adventurous and try to eat it with chopsticks. Although we do own chopsticks, I have not yet mastered eating rice with them. So we used spoons. However you decide to serve this or eat it, you will love it.

Thai Pork Satay with Peanut Sauce

I love to try new food. I truly believe that you can learn a lot about a culture by eating their traditional foods. That and it's just yummy.

I'm usually not into Thai food because I don't do spicy food, although Vince loves it. I usually stick with Pad Thai when we do go out.

As a part of our diet and living healthier, I have started making more food from scratch. I've also started making some new dishes, because well...the dinner rotation gets boring sometimes. Lucky for me, Vince will eat just about anything I make so he's good with me experimenting.

Usually I will look for a recipe for a particular dish that I loved in a restaurant, like the Thai Pineapple Rice that I'll be trying out next week. I will make the recipe as written once, then I will begin changing it to make it the way I and Vince like it and to make it healthier. This pork satay recipe however, will need very few changes. The only change I will make in the future will be to the peanut sauce, I like it to be a little thicker than what it came out as.

Ahhhh, the peanut sauce. It is a little sweet, peanuty, and creamy. You will want to pour it on everything. You will want to find new things to eat just so you can pour this peanut sauce on it. It is that good. I made a double batch of it so that I can keep a container in the fridge as a "dipping" sauce for celery. Mmmmm...I want some now. Then there is the marinade for the pork. A beautiful yellow color, very fragrant, and oh so yummy. I could eat the pork by itself without the sauce but, well...I love the sauce. If you've ever had Afghan kabobs you will know just how awesome this marinade is.

Ok, now that I've got my mouth watering and hopefully yours too, here's the recipe. Enjoy!

Pork Satay

Pork

Ingredients

1/2 Medium Yellow Onion, diced
2 Teaspoons Minced Garlic
1 Tablespoon Ground Ginger
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce (or the substitute that I posted about)
1 Teaspoon Ground Coriander
1 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Turmeric
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil (or peanut oil)
1 Pound Pork (loin or shoulder)
Skewers

Directions

If you are using bamboo skewers, make sure you soak them in water for at least 20 minutes prior to using. Trust me on this, I learned the hard way.

1. Place all ingredients, except for the pork, into a blender and blend until you get a thick paste.
2. Remove the fat from the pork and cut into strips about 1 inch wide.
3. Place the pork and the marinade into a large zip top bag. Squish it around (yes, that's a technical term) to make sure all of the meat is thoroughly coated.
4. Make sure the top is sealed tight and place into the fridge for about 4 hours.
5. Take the meat out of the fridge and slide each strip onto a skewer. Discard the rest of the marinade when all of the meat is skewered.
6. Fire up the grill! Grill or broil the skewered meat for about 10 minutes. You want it cooked through and to have a seared appearance to it.

While the meat is cooking, you can make the peanut sauce. This sauce can also be made ahead of time and just reheated.

Peanut Sauce

Ingredients

3/4 Cup Coconut Milk
4 Tablespoons Peanut Butter (I use natural)
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce (or substitute)
1 Teaspoon Brown Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Coriander
Optional: 1 or 2 dried chilis, diced

Directions

1. Place all ingredients into a small saucepan and heat.
2. Stir continuously until all of the peanut butter is completely melted.

Yields: 5 servings

I served the pork on top of a bed of brown rice and broccoli. I topped the whole thing with peanut sauce. Yummy and very filling.

1 serving was 3 oz of pork, 2/3 cup steamed brown rice, 1/3 cup steamed broccoli, and 2-3 tablespoons of peanut sauce.