Low Sugar Granola

Last week, Daniel had Spring Break. Because David was still in school, we decided to enrol Dan in Spring Break Camp. Every morning, I dropped David off at school and then had 60 minutes to kill before bringing Daniel to camp (which was just around the corner from David's school). What do you do with 1 empty hour and a 4 year old? Breakfast naturally.

Every morning last week Daniel and I ate at a different local restaurant. One morning we ate at a sandwich and salad cafe which offered a really spartan breakfast menu. Daniel choose granola topped with fruit and milk. He devoured it. I told him that morning that we could try making our own granola (you know how unhealthy traditional granola is) and this is what I came up with.

When analyzed against Bear Naked Fruit and Nut Granola, mine comes in at about the same per serving (1/4 cup) for calories (140), carbs (16 gr) and fiber (2 gr). Where it really shines is the sugar, where I have halved the amount per serving (mine is 3 gr to their 6 gr). This makes the fiber to sugar ratio pretty appealing for a grown up snack and an overall decent choice for kids anytime.

Low Sugar Granola

2 C rolled oats
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t salt
3 T canola oil
1/4 C agave syrup
1 t vanilla
1/2 C walnuts, chopped
1/2 C almonds, slivered
1/2 c raisins

Preheat oven to 325. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, toss oats with cinnamon and salt. Set aside. In a small bowl, whisk oil, agave and vanilla with a fork until well blended. Pour wet mix into bowl and mix with hands to combine. Pour mixture onto baking sheet and spread evenly. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and stir well. Return pan to oven and bake an additional 5 minutes. Remove from oven and stir in nuts and fruit. Return to oven for an additional 2 minutes or until nuts are fragrant. Remove and let cool. Pack into air tight container and enjoy.

Carrot Oatmeal Cookies

Since Christmas, I have been trying to wean myself off of sugar. It is so hard with the holiday goodies still around the house (yes, still!) so instead of fighting the urge to have a treat with the kids I decided to make my own healthier treat. Again, I find myself with loads of carrots (see this carrot cookie recipe) so I did a little internet search and found an easily modifyable carrot cookie recipe. At first bite, my family didn't really like these, but after a minute or two, we all started grooving on these cakey and not too sweet treats.

Carrot Oatmeal Cookies (adapted from this recipe at 101 Cookbooks)

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 cup rolled oats
2/3 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)
1 cup shredded carrots (about 2 medium carrots)
1/2 cup dark agave syrup
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 t ground ginger


All ready to go













Preheat oven to 375F degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, ginger and oats. Add the nuts and carrots. In a separate smaller bowl use a whisk to combine the agave, and oil. Add this to the flour mixture and stir until just combined.



Coming together












Drop onto prepared baking sheets, one level tablespoonful at a time, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. Bake in the top 1/3 of the oven for 10 - 12 minutes or until the cookies are golden on top and bottom.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

I'm back and I brought dinner with me

Hello internet. Have you missed me? I have missed you, but I have been spending lots of time with you doing other things mostly work related. In fact, I have been working nearly round the clock this month and have hardly had a spare minute to blog. But, we still have to eat around here, even when I don't have a chance to write about it, so I have a lot of good new recipes to post. Let's get things rolling with last night's dinner masterpiece.

I will freely admit that as a child I ate my share of crummy stuffed bell peppers (sorry Mom!). They were mostly bitter green peppers filled with tasteless meat and rice. I really hated stuffed pepper night when I was a kid. And honestly, when I stared at the pile of red bell peppers that my hubby came home with a few nights ago stuffed peppers didn't immediately pop into my head. But when searching for a dinner that would use a substantive amount of them I kept running across stuffed pepper recipes. Clearly the universe wanted me to make stuffed peppers, but they needed to be something yummy and that my kids would actually eat.

I surfed over to my favorite food blog, Kayln's Kitchen, and low and behold, Kalyn had just what I was looking for. These were, without question, the single best stuffed peppers I have ever eaten. Period. Chris and I ate them with a side of green beans. For the kids, I could have served the filling over or along side pasta and it would have been delicious. Please make these....you won't be disappointed.

Italian Stuffed Peppers (adapted from this recipe at Kalyn's Kitchen)

6 red peppers
1 pound lean ground beef
1 pkg. (5 links) Italian sausage, casing removed
1 cup diced onion (1 medium onion)
1 cup diced red pepper (tops of peppers)
Salt and Pepper to season meat
1 1/2 cups grated low fat mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1 1/2 cup tomato sauce (I used Classico Tomato Basil)

Preheat oven to 375. Cut tops off red peppers, making a deep enough cut that you have some red pepper to chop for the filling. If needed, "square" off the bottom of the pepper to make them stand up. Clean out inside of peppers and wash if needed.

In very large frying pan, cook hamburger and sausage until lightly browned. Drain meat, reserving about 1 T of oil in the pan. Set meat aside. Add peppers and onions to the hot pan. Cook 3 - 4 minutes or until just starting to soften. Add pepper and onion mix to the meat. Add about 1 cup tomato sauce, just enough to barely moisten the mixture. Season mixture with salt and pepper to taste. Let mixture cool slightly, then mix in cheese.

Choose a glass or metal pan barely big enough to hold all the peppers standing up. Spray the pan with nonstick spray. Stuff each pepper with meat/veggie/cheese mixture, using a large spoon , piling it up on top and pressing in tightly until you use all the filling. Place peppers in pan touching each other. Top with an additional spoonful of tomato sauce. Bake, covered with foil about 30 minutes. Take off foil and bake about 20 minutes more, until cheese is melted completely and top is slightly browned.

Turkey Pot Pie

WARNING! This recipe (if eaten with the crust) is not low GI friendly. But it is really good so sometimes I have to make a pot pie and just deal with it. I can't eat nuts and berries all the time, can I?

So this year hubby and I decided to go out to Thanksgiving supper. I love Thanksgiving and all of the cooking, but when there are only 4 of us it seems a waste to cook all morning and then clean all afternoon. So out we went. But I couldn't not make something Thanksgiving-y, so a few days before the actual event I roasted a turkey breast for supper. We had loads leftover so I made this with some of the leftovers. I actually made the filling, froze it and then pulled it out when I was ready to use it. When you freeze pot pie filling, be sure that before you top it with the crust that it is heated thru (that's right, thaw it and heat to bubbling before you top your pie).

Turkey Pot Pie (serves 6)

1/4 C butter
1/2 C onion, chopped
1/2 C mushrooms, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
3/4 C frozen peas
1 T garlic, minced
1/3 C flour
1/2 t dried sage
1/2 t dried thyme
1 1/2 C prepared turkey gravy
1/2 C turkey stock (or chicken stock or water)
1/2 C milk
2 T dry sherry
3 C cooked turkey, cubed
S & P to taste
1 recipe Single Crust Savory Pie Dough (follows)

Preheat oven to 425.

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in all veggies except peas and saute until tender but not browned (about 5 minutes). Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in flour, sage and thyme. When well blended, add gravy, stock and milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in turkey, peas and cook until veggies are tender, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in sherry. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

Pour mixture into a deep dish pie pan or other baking dish as desired. Top with pastry. Seal and crimp the edges. (Note: If you like lots of crust - like I do - do not trim the excess pastry from the pan. Simple turn the pastry under, press to seal the edges and crimp as you normally would). Pierce the crust with a fork or cut slits in the pastry to allow for steam.

Bake in the preheated oven for 35 - 40 minutes or until browned and bubbling. Remove from oven and let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Single Crust Savory Pie Dough

1 1/2 C flour
1/2 t salt
4 T shortening, chilled and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
8 T butter, chilled and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
4 T water

Add flour and salt to food processor. Pulse a few times to evenly distribute salt. Add shortening and butter. Using 1 second pulses, process until the flour is pale yellow and resembles course meal. Sprinkle water into bowl. Pulse 4 or 5 times or until the mix comes together. Turn out on plastic wrap. Form into a disk, warp tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes (or up to 2 days).

When filling is ready, roll the pie dough into a sheet large enough to cover your pie and proceed as directed above.

Hot, steamy and soooooo yummy!

Curried Sweet Potato Soup

I made this soup about a month ago and have been meaning to get a post up since then. I am so busy these days that I haven't had much time to blog. Things just seem to be getting busier, so I decided to just hunker down and get some recipes posted.

This soup was made in response to an overflowing bowl of sweet potatoes that sat on my counter for about two weeks. Those spuds just sat there almost taunting me "Make something new! Make something new!" Finally I gave in and this soup is the result. Enjoy.

Curried Sweet Potato Soup (serves 4 - 6)

3 small sweet potatoes (or 3 C cooked)

1 T flour

1 T butter

3 C homemade chicken stock

1 T dark agave nectar (or brown sugar)

1/4 t ground ginger

1/8 t ground cinnamon

1/8 t ground nutmeg

1/2 t curry powder

1/2 t salt

1 C milk

Heat over to 400. Slice sweet potatoes horizontally. Place on cookie sheet cut side down. Bake in hot oven about 30 minutes or until soft.

While the potatoes are cooling, melt the butter in a heavy sauce pan over medium heat. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is a light caramel color. Add broth and agave syrup and bring to a boil. Scoop the potato pulp into the stock mixture and add spice. Stir to combine and turn heat to simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes. Using an immersion blender, blend soup in the stockpot until smooth (or use a blender and process in batches). Add milk and heat to desired temperature. Ladle into warm soup bowls and serve.

Beautiful Baked Meatballs

I have been craving meatballs lately. I don't really want the spaghetti, but I really, REALLY want meatballs. Maybe it is the weather? Am I anemic? I don't know and I don't care because I just want meatballs.

Tonight I gave into my craving (full disclosure: I had some out last week but they were only fair) and made my beautiful baked meatballs. This recipe is my compromise between proper meatball technique (frying then simmering in sauce) and easy (baking then coating with sauce). It combines the ease of baking with the slow cooked flavor of fried. They are an excellent quick no-fuss meal and were so good. They were exactly what I have been craving.

Beautiful Baked Meatballs (makes 5-6 generous servings)

1 pound ground beef
3/4 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
1/3 C whole grain bread crumbs
2 T flax seeds (optional, but very good for you and you won't even notice they are there - promise!)
1/3 C milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 t crushed garlic
1 T Italian seasoning blend
1/2 t seasoned salt (or salt and pepper)
1/2 C Romano cheese (with additional to sprinkle on top of final dish)
2 C of your favorite marinara or spaghetti sauce

Heat oven to 425. Spray baking dish with non stick coating spray and set aside.

Place both meats in a large bowl and set aside. Add breadcrumbs, flax seeds, milk, eggs, garlic, seasoning blend, seasoned salt and cheese to bowl. Stir to combine well. Combine the bread and the meat mixtures and mix well (but lightly) with your hands.

Using an ice cream scoop, portion you meat mixture into 15 good sized meatballs. Arrange meatballs in baking dish so that there is a small amount of space between each meatball.







My little meaty soldiers all in a row.







Pour the marinara over the meatballs to fully cover. Bake, uncovered, for 35 minutes or until firm and bubbling.






All dressed and ready for the oven.








Serve with a side of pasta (Dreamfields, of course!) and enjoy.

Waste Not Want Not Chicken Stock

When we started buying organic protein, I was overwhelmed at the price. $17 for a whole chicken? Really? After I got over the sticker shock, I realized that if I utilized the entire bird, $17 wasn't too bad after all. For that $17, I get one dinner (for 4), two lunches and 6-8 cups of chicken stock (which will turn into 2 family dinners worth of soup later). When I start to do the math on a per serving basis (in this example, $1.22 per serving) the price becomes a lot more palatable.

As I make a lot of soup during the fall and winter (I love making soup: dump in ingredients, stir, walk away), chicken stock made from the carcass was the logical thing to do. I used to purchase Trader Joe's Chicken Broth, which contains 600 mg of sodium per 1 cup serving. That is 25% of your daily sodium intake in one cup of soup! My stock has no added sodium, although I suspect there will be some small amount of sodium present due to residual seasoning. The broth is flavorful and colorful, the later from the addition of onion peel (yes, the peel). You can either strain off and use just the stock or you can pick the carcass and use the meat (I only do this when I am making chicken noodle soup but I leave the decision up to you).

Waste Not Want Not Chicken Stock (makes approximately 8 cups)

1 chicken carcass (from a roasted chicken)
2 medium carrots, roughly chopped
1 onion, unpeeled, roughly chopped
8 cups water

Add chicken carcass to large stock pot. You want to totally submerge the bird in water, so if you may need to break the carcass in pieces depending on the size of your pot. Add the carrots, onions and water. Set over high heat and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium. Cook at a low boil for 1 hour. Remove from heat and let cool. Once cooled, strain the liquid from the pot into a large zip top bag. Label and freeze for later use.