Baked Honey Dijon Pecan Salmon

So, this recipe has been making the rounds in the blogosphere. I've had it bookmarked forever (along with a million other recipes I need to post) and finally decided to try it out. It was delicious! I can see why so many people are writing about it.

I've been trying to add more fish in to our diet. I'm actually not a big fish eater but I love salmon. I have several salmon recipes to post and will be trying out some others for trout, snapper, and orange roughy in the future. I'm also going to try going meatless once a week. We'll see how that goes...we really like our meat around here!

This recipe offers a very generous portion size and is very filling. I changed the measurements of the ingredients to get the points value down and it still came out really good and full of flavor. This one is a keeper for sure.

I served it with a broccoli/cauliflower mix and rice.

Baked Honey Dijon Pecan Salmon

Adapted from Sweet Beginnings

Ingredients
4 - 4 oz Salmon Fillet(s)
1/8 Cup Margarine, melted
1 1/2 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
3/4 Tbsp Honey
1/4 Cup Panko Breadcrumbs
1/4 Cup Chopped Pecans


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, mix together margarine, mustard, and honey.
3. In a separate bowl, mix breadcrumbs and pecans together.
4. Place the salmon in a baking dish.
5. Brush each fillet with the honey mustard mixture and then sprinkle the tops with the nut mixture.
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Yields: 4 servings

Joey's Bison Meatloaf

I'm a meatloaf fan. I always have been. Not only do I think it tastes good, but it is an easy meal to make during the week. I can also make it as individual "muffins" or mini loaves so they are nicely portioned out. Vince on the other hand has no love for it. I've tried countless recipes trying to get him to eat (and like) meatloaf. He would grudgingly eat it but kindly ask that I not make it again. So I finally asked my mom what she does for meatloaf. I figured that a woman with 5 kids and 7 grandkids must have a secret of some kind for meatloaf. Boy, was I right.

Mom said that she finally asked Joey, my oldest nephew, to help her come up with a meatloaf recipe that all of the kids would eat. I knew that if a 12 year old boy would readily eat it that Vince would eat it too. So, mom gave me Joey's meatloaf recipe. I tweaked it a little to use what I had in the house and it was a hit. This is seriously the best meatloaf I have ever eaten in my life. It was so good that we ate it all before I had time to take any pictures of it, so you'll have to wait until the next time for that. The loaf itself came out so moist that it was very hard to slice into servings so I might make it as mini loaves or muffins next time to save myself from trying to portion it out. Other than that, I won't change a thing.

This recipe is NOT diet friendly in any way shape or form. I knew that going in so I made sure to save enough WW Points during the day to have this for dinner and not destroy my day. You could also use some of you weekly Points for it if you wanted to. However, if you are watching other things like fat, salt, or sugar, you may want to change some ingredients to suit your needs.

Here is the ingredient list for Joey's Original Meatloaf Recipe:
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup Special K cereal
3 large eggs
2 Tbsp plus about 1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup hot water

My tweaked "grown-up" version is below.

Joey's Bison Meatloaf

Ingredients

1 Pound Ground Bison
1/2 Cup Seasoned Bread Crumbs
1/2 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
2 Large eggs
1 Cup Golden Grahams cereal
1 16oz package of low-sodium bacon
2 Tbsp plus 1/3 Cup ketchup
1/2 cup hot water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large skillet, cook half of the package of bacon until crisp.
3. Crumble the cooked bacon and set aside.
4. In a bowl, mix the bison with the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, cereal, eggs, cooked/crumbled bacon, 2 tablespoons of ketchup, and water.
5. Form the meat mixture into a loaf and place either into a loaf pan or onto a baking pan.
6. Cover the top of the meatloaf with 1/3 cup of ketchup.
7. Top the entire meatloaf with the raw bacon strips. Making sure to tuck the ends of the bacon under the loaf to prevent them from curling up during baking.
8. Place in the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes.
9. Remove from oven and let rest for 15 minutes. Then slice and serve.

Yields 8 servings (slices)

Chicken Parmesan Burgers

Chicken Parmesan is one of my favorite meals. Unfortunately, the breaded and fried chicken doesn't really scream healthy. I found this recipe while perusing food blogs and was pretty skeptical. I mean really, it just doesn't sound like the most appetizing burger in the world.

Boy was I wrong. This recipe has easily made it in to our regular dinner rotation. It is worth quite a few WW points but definitely worth it. I paired it with a big salad (veggies are 0 points on the new system) to keep the meal from becoming too horrible.

Chicken Parmesan Burgers

From A Taste of Home Cooking

Ingredients

1 Pound Ground Chicken
1/4 Cup Seasoned Bread Crumbs
1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 Teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 Teaspoon Onion Powder
4 Tablespoons Tomato Sauce
4 oz Grated Mozzarella Cheese
4 Light Hamburger Buns
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a bowl, mix the chicken with the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and seasoning.
2. Form into 4 patties.
3. Cook the patties in a pan until cooked through, flipping the burger halfway through cooking.
4. Turn off the heat.
5. While still in the pan, top each burger with 1 tablespoon of tomato sauce and 1 oz of mozzarella cheese.
6. Cover the pan and wait for the cheese to melt.
7. Remove the burgers from the pan and serve on toasted hamburger buns.

Yields: 4 servings

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