Roasted Chickpeas

We were going to have some visitors tonight for the Super Bowl but that didn’t happen because of the weather. I made some naan bread and roasted chick peas to snack on. Let me tell you something, I saw a recipe for roasted chickpeas posted a few days ago on foodgawker.com and I had to try these! You have to drain the chick peas, and pat them dry with a paper towel. Place them on a cookie sheet pan and dowse them with some olive oil, cumin, and salt. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes or until golden brown. These almost remind me of snaking on pretzels.

I’ve been baking a lot today. Other than these two things I also made some Oat Bran muffins. Now, I feel like making some Amaretto vanilla cupcakes, because I had gone to a Bridal show last week and they had these out for samples. This weekend, I bought some Amaretto liquor at the liquor store just so I could make these cupcakes. They were that good.

Oat Bran Muffins

Oat Bran Muffins

Ingredients (28 muffins)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 3/4 cups oat bran
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup nonfat dry milk
1/4 cup flaxseed
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded carrot
2 cups chopped Granny Smith apple
1 cup raisins
1 cup fat-free milk
1/4 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large egg whites
1 thin-skinned orange, unpeeled and quartered
Cooking spray

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°.

Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours and the next 8 ingredients (all-purpose flour through salt) in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Stir in carrot, apple, and raisins.

Combine milk, oil, vanilla, egg whites, and orange in a blender or food processor; process until smooth. Make a well in center of flour mixture; add milk mixture; stir just until moist.

Spoon 3 tablespoons batter into each of 28 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake in batches at 375° for 20 minutes or until muffins are browned and spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove the muffins from pans immediately, and place on a wire rack.

Nutritional Information

Calories:114 (22% from fat)
Fat:2.8g (sat 0.3g,mono 1.3g,poly 0.8g)
Fiber 3 grams

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These muffins have everything but the kitchen sink in them, and the best part about it is that they’re really healthy for you! If you’re doing Weight Watchers they’d be 2 points per muffin. They have oat bran, whole wheat flour, flaxseed, carrots, apples, and raisins. I like the over muffin taste to them. I am going to try making these again but adding blueberries or raspberries. Flaxseed and oat bran are really cheap if you get them in bulk bins at your grocery store.

I’ve been trying a lot of new healthy recipes lately. Like adding spinach to a smoothie, which was really good. And adding healthier ingredients to baked goods like flaxseed and oat bran. Oh yes, I can’t forget about the sardine and avocado sandwich. That is my new favorite sandwich to make now.

Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon

Tonight, I made my first recipe from Julia Child’s book The Art of French Cooking: Boeuf Bourguignon. This actually turned out better than the molten lava cakes I had made tonight. The cakes never oozed chocolate out of the middle when I cut into them. Kind of disappointing.

I decided that this was the first recipe I’d make from this cook book because we already had some beef stew meat in our freezer. I had almost all the ingredients besides the beef stock and onions. The wine was less than 5.00 at the liquor store. The only time I’ll drink wine is in a recipe. Otherwise, I won’t drink it at all. Pretty cheap meal to make too if beef stew meat is on sale. The only thing interesting about this meal is how long it takes to make and that I like mushrooms now! Yep, I have never really liked mushrooms until trying this recipe. How can mushrooms sauteed in butter and olive be bad? To me I think the best part of this recipe was the pearl onions. You start making them the same way as you do the mushrooms, although you let them simmer in beef stock for 40 – 50 minutes and add in some herbs. I could eat just the onions by themselves made this way.

Everything in this recipe that I made today was cooked in a lot of oil, butter, and bacon fat. How unhealthy is that?? Right now, it feels like I have gained an 5 extra pounds just looking at the pot of stew in my dutch oven. All the effort and time consumption put into this recipe is well worth it though. Your house smells amazing and it tastes fabulous.

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Ingredients

For the Stew

6 ounces bacon, solid chunk
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 lbs lean stewing beef, cut into 2-inch cubes
1 carrot, peeled and sliced
1 onion, peeled and sliced
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper, freshly ground
2 tablespoons flour
3 cups red wine (a full bodied wine like Bordeaux or Burgundy or Chianti)
2-3 cups beef stock (Simple Beef stock is posted on the site, unsalted and defatted)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 garlic cloves, mashed (you may choose to add more)
1 sprig thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dred thyme)
1 bay leaf, preferably fresh

For the braised onions

18-24 white pearl onions, peeled
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup beef stock
& fresh ground pepper
1 bay leaf
1 sprig thyme
2 sprigs parsley

For the Sauteed Mushrooms

1 lb mushroom, quartered
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil

Cook bacon in boiling salted water 3 minutes, then drain.

Pat beef dry and season with salt and pepper. Divide flour and beef between 2 (1-quart) sealable plastic bags, seal, then shake to coat meat.

Heat 1‚ tablespoons oil and 1 1/2 tablespoons butter in a wide 6- to 8-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown beef well on all sides in 2 or 3 batches, without crowding, adding remaining ‚ tablespoon oil as needed. Transfer to a bowl.

Pour off any excess oil from pot, then add brandy to pot. Deglaze by boiling over high heat 1 minute, stirring and scraping up brown bits, then pour over beef.

Tie celery, parsley, thyme, bay leaves, and cloves together with kitchen string to make a bouquet garnish (tuck cloves into celery so they don’t fall out).

Heat 1 tablespoon butter in cleaned pot over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then sauté bacon, stirring, 2 minutes. Add chopped onions, garlic, and carrots, then sauté, stirring, until onions are pale golden, about 5 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add wine, meat with juices, and bouquet garni and simmer gently, partially covered, until meat is tender, 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

While meat simmers, blanch boiling onions in boiling salted water 1 minute and drain in a colander. Rinse under cold running water, then peel.

Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then saut
 boiling onions, stirring occasionally, until browned in patches. Season with salt and pepper. Add 2 cups water (1 1/2 cups if using pearl onions), then simmer, partially covered, until onions are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Boil, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced to a glaze, 5 to 10 minutes.

Heat remaining tablespoon butter in a large nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then saut
 mushrooms, stirring, until golden brown and any liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Stir onions and mushrooms into stew and cook 10 minutes. Remove bouquet garni and skim any fat from surface of stew. Season with salt and pepper.

Cooks’ note:

blueberry-banana green monster

Ingredients

2-3 cups organic spinach
1-1.25 cups milk (your choice of cow’s milk, soy, hemp, almond, rice, etc)
1 tablespoon flax (optional)
1 banana
1/2 cup blueberries
ice

Directions:

Blend all ingredients together in a blender until smooth.

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I like to post on the Weight Watcher boards from time to time, especially the 20 year old board forum. I kept on seeing these posts for green smoothies and somebody today posted a link to greenmonstermovement.com. This website has a ton of great smoothie recipes and all of them contain spinach. I think this is a great idea because it is a great way of getting your iron in, and you don’t even taste the spinach at all in the drink. I like raw spinach, not a really big fan of cooked spinach. I’m beginning to like spinach more now. If only I liked beans.

Yesterday I found some beef stew meat in the freezer that we must use up. I decided this morning, that this Sunday I am going to be making Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon. Can’t wait to try my first recipe from that cook book.

Favorite Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies

1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
3/4 cup wheat flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup chopped nuts

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 large baking sheets with non stick spray

2. Combine the oats, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. With an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the sugars, butter, and oil in a large bowl until creamy. Beat in the egg, and vanilla until blended. Add the flour mixture and beat just until blended. Stir in the raisins and nuts.

3 Drop dough by level measuring tablespoons, about 1 inch apart. bake until the cokoes are lightly brown, 12-15 minutes.

1 cookie =
75 calories
3 grams of fat
1 gram of fiber

Points value 2

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Another recipe from the Weight Watcher Comfort Classics cook book. These little cookies are addicting. I think it is impossible to eat just one of them a day. I tried one right when they came out of the oven and it was so chewy and gooey. Only 2 points per cookie. When baking, I like using the different sized scoops you can get at a kitchen supply store. I have one small one, which is about a tablespoon in size for cookies. I also have one that is big enough for making muffins and cupcakes. These scoops have been so handy when baking and I’m glad I purchased them.

Don’t worry, I am done posting recipes for awhile. Today I’ve posted 3 different new recipes on my blog all in one day and have had 2 different messes to clean up in my kitchen. One mess is in my kitchen right now, and I really don’t want to clean anymore tonight. Maybe tomorrow.

Bacon-Cheddar Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds of russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 in pieces
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream (I use Light)
2 tablespoons of Fat free milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup low-fat sharp cheddar
2 slices of center cut bacon, crisp cooked and coarsely crumbled
1 scallion, thinly sliced

1. place the potatoes in a medium saucepan with enough water to cover by 3 inches; bring to boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until fork-tender. 20-25 minutes. Drain and return to sauce pan

2. Add the sour cream, milk, salt, and pepper; mash with a potato masher until the potatoes become creamy. Stir in the cheddar. Sprinkle with the bacon and scallion.

Per Serving (about 1/2 cup)
194 calories
1 gram of fat
3 grams of fiber

Points value : 3

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We had these Bacon-Cheddar mashed potatoes along with the Biggest Loser BBQ meatloaf. It was a great combo together. This recipe was also in the Weight Watcher Comfort classics cook book that I had got for Christmas. So far, I think I’ve tried about 5 recipes from that cook book now and have really liked them all. I will try one or two new recipes a week, because I get bored with the same old stuff.

Biggest Loser BBQ Bacon Meatloaf‏

Biggest Loser BBQ Bacon Meatloaf

1lb ground turkey
4 slices of turkey bacon cut in half crosswise
1clove garlic chopped
1c chopped red onion
2 egg whites
2/3 cup oats
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup BBQ sauce

Directions
Preheat oven to 350
Spray loaf pan with Pam
heat skillet on medium heat. Add onion and bacon. cook 6-8min. or until bacon is done and onions starting to brown.
In a large bowl mix milk and oats. Let stand 3 min.
Add cooled onion mixture, ground turkey, garlic and egg whites.
Mix with your hands and form into loaf. Place in loaf pan and top with BBQ sauce.
Bake 35-40min.

Number of Servings: 8

Nutritional Info
Servings Per Recipe: 8
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 157.5
Total Fat: 6.4 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.1 g

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This recipe I found surfing the Weight Watcher boards Recipe Review forums. It is from the Biggest Loser cook book. Another recipe I’ve tried from that book that was really really good was the Baked Ziti. That recipe is also on the menu for this week. It makes a lot for two people so we will have a lot of left overs. I didn’t use any turkey bacon at all because I tried it once and didn’t really care for it at all. Turkey bacon is good, but it isn’t Bacon. The recipe ended up being a little bit higher in calories, but oh well. It was worth it.

Another grocery store mishap this week. On my grocery list I had written down milk. I even walked by the dairy section in the grocery store this weekend, and thought to myself, I want to get the plastic bottle so we can recycle it. I walked by it and totally forgot about it, because I had ricotta cheese on the mind. I really have to stop doing that.

Sherried Sardine Toast

First, I burned the toast. I can see why Rachel Ray always says on her show that she is notorious for doing that.

Then, I made the sardine mixture.

After the sardine mixture you mash up the avocados with some salt and a little bit of lemon juice.

And this is the final yummy result (Without the burned toast). Alton Brown, you are genius! I will definitely be making this for lunch again, even Ben liked it. I also hope that he has more healthy recipes like this on his show. Sardines are full of omega 3’s and CoQ10. Sardines are also good for Cardiovascular Health, Memory, Joints, Skin and energy levels.

Ingredients

2 (3.75-ounce 2-layer) tins brisling sardines in olive oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley leaves, divided
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest, reserve the lemon and cut into 4 wedges
Freshly ground black pepper
4 (1/2-inch) thick slices crusty bread, such as sourdough, country loaf or rye
1 ripe Hass avocado
Coarse sea salt

Directions

Drain the oil from 1 tin of sardines into a small bowl and set aside. Drain the oil from the other tin into another small bowl and whisk in 1 tablespoon of parsley, vinegar, lemon zest, and black pepper, to taste. Add the sardines, stir to combine and set aside for up to 1 hour.

After 45 minutes, put a rack 3-inches from the broiler and heat the oven to the broiler setting on high. Brush each slice of bread on 1 side with the reserved oil. Put the bread, oil side up, onto a cooling rack set inside a half sheet pan and broil 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown and crisp.

Halve the avocado and remove the pit. Smash the flesh in each half with a fork.

Spread the avocado evenly onto the toasted bread. Top evenly with the sardines. Pour any remaining dressing on top and garnish with the remaining parsley.

Season lightly with sea salt and serve with lemon wedges.

Pecan Sticky Buns

Ingredients

6 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
36 pecan halves, plus 1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 loaf (1/2 2-pound package) frozen white-bread (not pizza) dough, thawed
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Preparation

To make it…

Coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray. Spoon 1 teaspoon melted butter, 1 teaspoon brown sugar, and 3 pecan halves into each muffin cup; set aside. On a lightly floured surface, roll the bread dough into a 14-by-8-inch rectangle. Brush with the remaining melted butter, then sprinkle with the cinnamon, chopped pecans, and remaining brown sugar. Roll into a 14-inch-long log. Cut into 12 pieces and place each one cut-side down into a muffin cup. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Set aside for 25 minutes or until risen slightly. Heat oven to 325ºF. Remove the wrap and bake 15 minutes or until golden. Place a wire rack over a sheet of wax paper. Turn the muffin tin onto the rack, wait 5 minutes, then remove the tin. Cool completely. (Can be made ahead to this point. Return the buns to the cleaned muffin tin. Cover with foil and freeze up to 1 month. Thaw before reheating at 250º F for 10 to 15 minutes. Cool as above.)

To fake it…and save 55 minutes

Heat oven to 325º F. Coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray. Spoon 1 tablespoon melted butter, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 3 pecan halves into each muffin cup. Open two 11.3-ounce packages brown-and-serve rolls and divide among the muffin cups. Bake 10 minutes or until golden. Place a wire rack over a sheet of wax paper. Turn the muffin tin onto the rack, wait 5 minutes, then remove the tin.
Nutritional Information

Calories:242 (1% from fat)
Fat:15g (sat 4g)
Fiber: 2

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I shouldn’t have made these pecan sticky buns tonight, but I had wanted to get rid of some dough that was leftover. This recipe I found on myrecipes.com and it is from the magazine Real Simple. These sticky buns were REAL SIMPLE to make. Nothing much else to say about the sticky buns.

Look forward to more posts this weekend and new recipes this next week. I’m looking forward to a new meatloaf recipe from the Biggest Looser cook book. I don’t watch that show at all, but the Baked Ziti recipe from that book is really awesome. I plan on making it along with BBQ Bacon Meatloaf recipe.

Cinnamon Icecream Pie

Ingredients

1 container of cinnamon ice cream
25 ginger snap cookies
4 tablespoons of melted butter
1 container of cool whip
1 can of dulce de leche

Process ginger snap cookies and butter in food processor until well blended and looks likes crumbs. Spread ginger snap crust on pie pan. Scoop ice cream on top of pie crust. About 4 or 5 cups or enough until the ice cream reaches the top of the pie pan. Spread dulce de leche on top of ice cream then some cool whip. Chill in Freezer for 2 hours before serving.

Note: I let my ice cream sit out to make it easier to scoop out.

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They had cinnamon ice cream on sale for 1.28 cents at my local grocery store. Never tried cinnamon ice cream before and I had read somewhere that it was really good. This last week I had made dulce de leche in my crock pot and wondered what cinnamon ice cream and dulce de leche would taste like together so I had a scoop of that. It tasted pretty good. Then I thought this would be really good on top of a pie crust made with ginger snap cookies. So, I put some cool whip on top that and called it a day.

Ben’s mom actually makes something similar to this but in a cake pan. Oreo cookie crust, whatever ice cream you like, fudge and cool whip. It is so good and I look forward to having it every summer at the lake.