Low Country Cookie

Oh Paula Deen, Paula Deen, why do you showcase such wonderfully delicious recipes? I know Paula says that she only eats that way a few times out of the year. After all, she only films so many episodes a year but…

Alright, I went crazy over these little sweet morsels of cookie. I ate 8 of them in a day, now that might not sound too bad, what’s 8 cookies right? But these tiny babies pack a dizzying 182 calories each! Yes, each! You’ll understand the exclamation points a little more once you see the tiny size of the cookies.

I would still recommend them though. Everyone who tried one raved about them and had I known the caloric load I would not have eaten so many myself but, heck, one or just two would be just right for a dessert.

Low Country Cookie
recipe slightly adapted from PaulaDeen.com

1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 egg
1 cup sugar
12 tablespoon (1 1/2 sticks) butter
1 16-ounce box graham crackers
1 cup or 3 (1/2-ounce) cans shredded coconut
1 splash vanilla extract

Topping:

2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
3 tablespoons heavy cream

Line a 13 x 9-inch pan with whole graham crackers.

Melt butter in saucepan and add sugar. Beat egg and cream together; add to butter mixture. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add nuts, coconut, 1 cup graham cracker crumbs, and vanilla; stir to combine. Pour over the bottom layer of crackers in the pan.

Cover with another layer of whole graham crackers. Prepare topping.

Topping:

Beat all ingredients together and spread over top layer of crackers.

Chill until ready to serve and cut into as many servings as you would like. I did 48 servings.

Now I found that if you leave them on a counter in a warm kitchen they melt slightly which some people seemed to prefer.

I loved them. I’m not going to lie. Like I said above I ate 8 of them throughout the day. A staggering 1,456 calories is my total damage. I am not proud of myself. But even with that information I would make them again and make a point to not take any home or have more than two at whatever social gathering I take them to.

Each cookie (1/48) equals 182 calories.

Baconed Brussels Sprouts

I came across this recipe while reading a book I just got in the mail, Reshaping it All by Candace Cameron Bure, and for anyone who struggles regarding weight loss or getting healthier I would highly recommend reading it. She did a wonderful job of giving strong inspirations throughout the entire book but mostly she quotes a lot of scripture that just hammers home what she is trying to teach. I love it, I’m still reading it but so far I really have been enjoying it. I’ve gone back and re-read some chapters and highlighted good sections. Anyhow, enough about that, this recipe is completely yum. We really liked it. I used this as the main dish and am completely satisfied by it. Even Baby Cakes loved it, and he’s not much for veggies, sure he eats them but he would always rather have something else.

I did remake this recipe per say. I shrunk it a bit, basically halved the recipe and then omitted some of the bacon as well.

Baconed Brussels Sprouts
recipe lightly adapted from Reshaping it All by Candace Cameron Bure, pg. 62

10 thick slices bacon, large diced
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
seasoning blend, your choice, to taste

In a large, deep skillet, cook the bacon over moderately high heat until browned, about 8 minutes; using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to paper towels to drain. Pat off excess fat.

Add the onion and garlic to the skillet; reduce the heat to moderate and cook, stirring, until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the softened vegetables from the pan and set aside.

Add the Brussels sprouts in batches and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until they are golden brown on the outside. Add the reserved bacon and vegetables to the Brussels sprouts in the pan along with salt and pepper to taste.

Cover the skillet with a lid and cook, stirring occasionally, until sprouts are just tender, 10 to 12 minutes.

Now this skillet, as a main dish, made 4 servings at 336 calories each. At that amount you can still afford some side items as well.

We loved it! The carmelized sprouts and crispy bacon. Seriously yummy.

Greek Garbanzo Salad

If you’ve followed me for a length of time you will notice that I have spurts of healthy cooking, be it Weight Watchers, Cook This Not That, etc., but I always seem to go back to my norm of cookery, the unhealthy southern fare I grew up eating, heavy on the butter and cream. My only saving grace is I’ve only fried maybe 2 things in the last few years, eggs and salmon patties. What you can’t see are the meals my husband and I eat the rest of the time. He doesn’t need to watch his intake and count calories and I do, or did before now. I’ll spare you the nitty gritty but some factors in our private lives have made it imperative that I follow a certain diet plan, a Low Amylose Diet to be exact. So due to this for the time being the majority of post for the next say 6 months will be following this plan. Now that I’ve shared that let’s get started on the first recipe, shall we?

I needed a side dish that I could eat without guilt and that would fit the outdoor picnic occasion, so I made this salad based off of some ideas I had seen online of garbanzo bean salad, although I couldn’t tell you where or when.

This dish is the one to eat if you are seriously craving pasta. I loved it! So much so that I ate half of of dish, every single glorious flavorful bite.

Greek Garbanzo Salad

Dressing:

3/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup of red wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons of crushed oregano
1 teaspoon of salt
pinch of pepper

Put all ingredients into a mason jar, screw on the cap and shake until combined. Chill overnight or a minimum of 3 hours.

Salad:

16 ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
½ cucumber, peeled and small diced
roma tomatoes, small dice
10 kalamata olives, sliced
¼ cup feta cheese, crumbled
2 tablespoons dressing, recipe above

Add all the salad ingredients except the feta cheese into a bowl and toss to combine. Chill for 2 plus hours. Just before serving stir in the feta cheese.

Makes 4 servings at 174 calories each or 6 servings at 116 calories each.

If you’re not following the Low Amylose Diet you could always add ½ a purple onion thinly sliced to the salad as well which will up the calorie count a bit.

Pioneer Women’s Aunt Trish’s Salad

Who doesn’t know the Pioneer Women? She’s had a blog longer than I have and now she has a cooking show on Food Network. I love her style of cooking; she makes good old home cooked food and this simple tossed salad is no exception.

I first saw this recipe on Food Network a few weeks ago and then during my blogging break I made it and took it to Mother’s Day at my Momma and Daddies house, it got rave reviews from both sisters in law and one of my baby brothers, not to mention I loved it. Well, with reviews like that regarding salad it’s a keeping in my opinion. So I am making it again tonight to go with some steaks that Baby Cakes is grilling for supper.

Just a heads up, the dressing has to sit and marry over a 24 hour period at a minimum. I can’t stand it when I go to make something the day of and realize I didn’t read the entire directions and didn’t give myself enough time. Lesson learned? Always read cooking instructions in advance but, just in case you’re anything like I used to be there’s your heads up.

Pioneer Women’s Aunt Trish’s Salad Dressing
recipe from Pioneer Women

¾ cups canola oil
juice of 1 lemon
4 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
dash salt, to taste
dash black pepper, to taste
1 teaspoons sugar
dash of paprika
garlic clove, minced

Place all ingredients into a jar. Shake it up and store in the fridge at least 24 hours before serving.

Serve on a green salad with halved cherry tomatoes and a thinly sliced red onion.

Also works well on pasta salad.

It’s summer time, time to start trying out some new salad recipes.

Now to get a calorie count I just divided the entire salad, with lettuce, tomatoes, and onions, already tossed with the dressing into 8 servings making it 225 calories each serving.

Smothered Cabbage with Sausage

First and foremost, I’m back y’all! I had a lovely break, although I continued cooking to restock my posts, but even still it was a lovely little break from blogging. Now I can’t promise I won’t be having a few more of these throughout the summer due to real vacations and some other personal things, in fact, I am 100% sure I will be taking a couple more blogger breaks before this summer is over, just so you know. Grin.

It’s no secret I love sausage, although I know it’s not something I should be eating regularly, and cabbage? Forgetaboutit! In the Baby Cakes household we eat cabbage regularly and proudly. So when I came across this recipe on my reader I was all for it and wouldn’t you know it, I had everything on hand to make this delicious meal.

Smothered Cabbage with Sausage
recipe slightly adapted from thesouthernladycooks.com

1/2 stick butter
1 small head of cabbage, chopped
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 small onion, chopped
1 lb. pork link sausage, sliced into coins
1 teaspoon olive oil
15 ounce can diced tomatoes
2 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt and pepper, to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat; brown the sausage coins. Transfer to a paper towel lined dish and set aside.

Melt the butter in the same skillet; add the onion and green pepper and cook for about 5 minutes or until just softened. Stir in the cabbage and cook about 10 minutes. Stir in the remaining ingredients, including the browned sausage; cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes.

Makes 4 servings.

Golly Gee this was good! Like seriously gonna want thirds good. Then again, anything cooked in butter is. I would, and will, totally be making this again, and again, and again in the very near future. Baby Cakes raved throughout his entire two helpings about how great it was.


1 serving has 336 calories.


Don’t you just love cabbage? It is so low in calories and yet is so filling. You would never guess that the entire bowl full of goodness has so few calories.    

Scalloped Potatoes

Have I ever shared Baby Cakes’ love for scalloped potatoes? He would request boxed scalloped potatoes every night of the week if he could. I’m not really one for boxed potato side dishes, snob I know, but the time they take to cook would be much better served cooking something fresh don’t you think?

Well, the other day while scoping out side dishes (for a few reasons, one being I love side dishes, hence why I order veggie plates a lot, and another reason being it’s almost summer here (feels like it already) so the hubby grills while I make the side items) I came across this recipe for scalloped potatoes. Now, I’m not going to lie, my Dad makes a mean scalloped potato dish, so good in fact that the caterer for our wedding actually used my Dad’s recipe (don’t worry I will one day share that recipe with the blogosphere). However, this recipe looked really good too so why not try it?

Right out of the gate this smells fantastic. The garlic and onion powder blooming in the butter really plays on your sense of smell. I couldn’t wait to try these. Yum-O (to quote Rachael Ray)! Baby Cakes ooh’d and ahh’d his way through more than half of the casserole dish, but then again so did I. Although, I must say, my Daddies recipe is much better! Grin.


Scalloped Potatoes
slightly adapted from Cooking Mimi

3 large baking potatoes, cleaned, and sliced thin
4 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon dried onion flakes
½ teaspoon ground mustard
2 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter the baking dish(es) and set aside.

In a large saucepan melt the butter over medium heat. Mix together the flour, garlic powder, onion flakes, and ground mustard. Whisk the flour mixture into the melted butter and cook for about 3 minutes.

Slowly whisk in the milk and cream; whisk out any lumps. Reduce the heat and cook for about 5 minutes or until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Take off heat and stir in the parsley, salt, and pepper.

Add the potatoes to the prepared baking dish(es) and pour the sauce over the top.

Bake for 45 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and the sauce is bubbling. Let rest out of the oven for about 15 minutes before serving to thicken the sauce as it cools.


A sidenote regarding the picture: I cooked them for 60 minutes, hence why they are a bit dark in color. I did change the cooking time in my recipe to be 45 minutes so that that doesn't happen to yours. Alright, carry on.

Now, if you’re feeding a smaller crowd you can easily freeze some for later. To do that simply split everything evenly into two smaller baking dishes, cook them both only let one dish cool completely on the counter; once cooled wrap tightly with aluminum foil and stick in the freezer. When you want to reheat it just pull it from the freezer the night before, let it thaw on the counter and cook, covered, for about 15-20 minutes on 350 degrees or until warmed through.

1/8 of the recipe equals 195 calories.

Would I serve these again? I sure would!

Baked Dilled Eggs with Cheddar and Bacon

Friday morning on my way out of the door to go to work I noticed water pooling on the floor in front of our refrigerator. We knew there were things starting to go bad with it, we had even already gone and looked at refrigerators to be ready for when it does bite the dust, but I just wasn’t expecting it so quickly. It was older; it came with the house when we bought it, the instillation man told us it was an early 90’s model, what a trooper right? About 20 years old. I was sad to see it go but at the same time glad to see it go because now we have a new refrigerator!

I shared this because staying home and cooking out of ice chests for a day, not to mention having a reason to keep Baby Cakes at home on a weekend morning, I finally got to make a breakfast recipe I’ve wanted to make.

This was so simple to pull together and uses things you have in the pantry and fridge anyway. We have a new quick egg recipe.


Baked Dilled Eggs with Cheddar and Bacon
recipe adapted from Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet cookbook, pg. 34

4 eggs
4 tablespoons fat-free milk, divided
2 tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons shredded mozzarella cheese
2 teaspoons dill fronds
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 bacon strips, cooked

Coat four 4-oz. ramekins with cooking spray; break an egg into each dish. Spoon 1 tablespoon milk, half a tablespoon cheese(s), half teaspoon dill and a sprinkle of salt and pepper over each egg and whisk to combine all ingredients. Sprinkle bacon crumbles over egg mixture.

Bake, uncovered, at 325° for 12-15 minutes or until whites are completely set and yolks begin to thicken but are not firm; let cool for a few minutes before serving.


The next time I make this I’ll only make 2 of them, just divide all the ingredients between 2 ramekins to make it a bit heartier. As it was Baby Cakes ate three alone. Goodness are they yummy. I can already think of adaptations.

Made the way the recipe calls for each dish is 107 calories. Woot woot.

Caldo de Camarón (Shrimp Soup)

I don’t have to remind you that Baby Cakes loves Mexican food, or that I am a soup lover, or that we both love seafood. No, I think you might know if you’ve followed me very long. Heck, we live in Texas, southern Texas at that, seafood and Mexican food know no bounds here and we are both most assuredly fine with that.

I actually had never tried this soup until recently, we went out for supper and the weather was just right for soup, overcast, cold, and rainy, so in lieu of my go to chicken tortilla I ordered this. How had I never had it before? It was so good. This is the first restaurant soup recipe I have ever tried to recreate, that alone says something.

When I ate it at the restaurant I could pick up on the taste of crab boil. You know, that seasoning blend you use for shrimp, crab or crawfish boils? It didn’t overpower but it was certainly there. So I researched and came across so many recipes for this soup, none of which used boil seasoning. This is my adaptation; it was created by recalling the way I remember it tasting only adding some butternut squash instead of potatoes to save some calories.

Here is the only downfall I found about my recipe, it was way too spicy for a big baby like me. Next time I'll 86 the chipotles and only use the crab boil seasoning. However, Baby Cakes loves it! He even took it to lunch the next day.


Caldo de Camarón (Shrimp Soup)

2 tablespoons chipotle in adobo sauce
1 onion, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic
28 ounces fire-roasted tomatoes
2 medium carrots, diced
4 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon paste
2 tablespoons crab boil seasoning
1 pound cleaned frozen shrimp

Add the chilies, onion, garlic, and canned tomatoes to a blender and blend until smooth.

Fill a large pot halfway full with water (approximately 6 cups) and add all the ingredients, including the chile mixture and cook over medium heat until the squash is fork tender.

Add the shrimp and cook 3-5 minutes more or until pink.

Serve in a big bowl with a side of brown rice or with some crusty french bread for dipping.


It really is an incredibly simple weeknight meal, especially a rainy weeknight like tonight. The french bread really did cut the spice.

1/4 of the pot worth of soup, about 2 cups, equals 265 calories. That's it! Amazing, I know. (That means I get some garlic bread too! Yipee!)

Add this soup recipe to your rotation or just try it for pete's sake. It is delicioso!

Grilled Cheese with Apples and Bacon

Who knew that a grilled cheese sandwich could be blog worthy? I have made grilled cheese before sure, I do as my mother did and serve a grilled cheese made with slices of american cheese aside a bowl of canned tomato soup, easy and quick. I’ve had many happy thoughts of someday serving this to our future children on a rainy day for lunch. Just like my mom did for us. Only after eating one of these babies the sandwich in this daydream has changed a bit. I never really put much thought behind a grilled cheese’s health factor until I recently began caring about what I was putting in my body but now I have seen firsthand that with a smaller amount of higher quality ingredients you can make a far superior sandwich, not only in taste but also in nutrition.

When I told Baby Cakes what I was making for dinner he was so excited and after eating it, well, let’s just say it will be made again and again.

Now I did deviate from the original recipe a bit, although I have no doubts that it would have worked just fine made the Cook This Not That way, I just wanted it to be heartier since I wasn’t serving it with anything else and I only needed 2 sandwiches, one for him and one for myself, so I changed the amount of ingredients per sandwich. Overall still a healthy dinner.


Grilled Cheese with Apples and Bacon
adapted from Cook This Not That, pg. 130

1 tablespoon butter
4 slices rye bread
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
4 slices sharp cheddar cheese
1 apple, peeled, cored, and sliced
6 strips cooked bacon

Heat the butter in a large skillet or nonstick sauté pan over low heat. Slather 2 slices of bread with the mustard, and then divide the cheese, apples, and bacon among them. Top with the other bread slices and add to the hot pan. The key to a great grilled cheese (i.e., crispy crust, fully melted cheese) is patience, so cook these sandwiches slowly until each side is deep brown and crunchy, about 10 to 12 minutes total.


This really makes an amazingly delicious sandwich and it tops out at 440 calories. I’ll take it and even savor a few pretzel thins along with it.

Now to find the perfect tomato soup recipe to serve on that rainy day in the future.

Sausage and Cabbage Skillet

It’s been awhile since I’ve shared anything featuring sausage. Strange because boar sausage and venison are always in abundant supply at our house; it’s time to use some up.

There isn't anything like a skillet meal. While going through recipes I am always pulled towards one pot, crock pot, and casseroles recipes. Perhaps it's the ease of cooking or maybe the ease of cleaning but I am always up for trying a skillet recipe.

This one just seemed like something I would make, don't you agree? It even has brown sugar. Cabbage, sausage and brown sugar. Yum!


Sausage and Cabbage Skillet
recipe adapted from Taste of Home, October/November 2005, p. 39

1 pound link sausage, cut into 1/2-inch coins
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium head cabbage, coarsely chopped
1 onion, chopped
24 ounces canned tomato sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon paprika
20 ounce bag frozen county style hash browns, thawed and drained

In a Dutch oven, brown the sausage in the butter; remove and set aside. In the same pan, sauté the cabbage and onions in the remaining butter and drippings until the onions are tender.

In a small bowl, combine the tomato sauce, sugar and paprika; pour over the cabbage mixture. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the potatoes and the reserved sausage. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender.


It was so good! In fact, it's so good that from now on I am abandoning the old way I made stuffed cabbage casserole and using this sauce recipe. Oh, and I already have plans to try this recipe again only with hamburger meat in lieu of sausage. The sausage was good but I have bigger things for this recipe to evolve into.

Both Baby Cakes and I score this baby at a 10. You read that right a 10 across the board.

Now this recipes could have been made healthier, less brown sugar comes to mind, but even with all that brown sugar it equals a hearty helping with a fair amount of caloric heft. An 1/8 of the skillet equals 372 calories. Not exactly 'diet' friendly this is one of those times where flavor and health collide.

Grilled Mexican Style Corn

After the last Cook This Not That fail I was a little disenchanted by them, honestly speaking, but they have more than made up for it with this recipe. Who doesn’t love corn on the cob? Maybe people with dentures and babies without teeth yet but heck I love it so much I would probably just gum it to death. I know I’m not alone on this one.


Grilled Mexican Style Corn
recipe from Cook This Not That cookbook, pg. 296

4 ears of corn, husked
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
juice of 1 lime
½ tablespoon chili powder
finely grated parmesan cheese

Heat a grill until hot. While the grill is warming up, bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the corn and salt. Boil for 5 to 7 minutes, until the corn is slightly tender, but not cooked all the way through. Drain the corn and transfer to the grill; lightly char the kernels.

Mix the mayonnaise and lime juice. Remove the corn from the grill; paint with a bit of the citrus mayonnaise, then dust with chili powder and parmesan cheese.


Oh my golly gee good you guys. Used to be I would drown corn in butter and black pepper but in the last year I have come to realize that good corn doesn’t need anything. Well, it may not “need” anything but it sure tasted great served this way too.

Company worthy recipe!

The cookbook shows a calorie count of 210 per ear but when I put the recipe into calorie count is came back showing 194 calories per ear. As usual use your own judgement here, but I always pick the higher caloric value just to be safe.

Chicken Pot Stickers

As of late when I have had a hankering for chinese food, and let me tell you that it happens often, I have been ordering special won ton soup (it’s my favorite!) and I might allow myself one eggroll if even one. But let’s face it, it is positively torturous to go to a chinese restaurant and only eat soup (although as I said above, I do love me some special won ton soup), I would much rather have lo mein noodles or crab puffs, oh or fried pot stickers. That is where this recipe comes in.

I would tell you that I intend to make special won ton soup but the little restaurant that is so conveniently located on my way in from work sells a massive amount of the liquid gold for way cheaper than it would cost me to make it. It is chalked full of dumplings, leeks, shrimp, pork, chicken, bamboo shoots, all kinds of good stuff. So instead I am going to focus on making the worst offenders healthier. And thanks to, once again, the Cook This Not That cookbook I am starting now.

I did have trouble finding a bag of frozen pot stickers, or dumplings as I’ve also heard them called, but I finally found little boxes of them in asian section of frozen foods. I did have to buy 4 boxes to get to 24 of the pot stickers. Let me tell you, it took a lot of willpower not to toss in a box of egg rolls while I was at it. Although I should have just went crazy with the caloric faux pas I had. Let me explain...

I followed the recipe to a tee only it wasn't working. For starters it wasn't enough oil so I added more and then more to make the pot stickers un-stick, and then after the wontons where cooked and I added the soy sauce and rice vinegar it didn't make near enough sauce. I read and re-read the recipe. I followed it exactly to no avail. The pot stickers came with dipping sauce so I opened three of them and used them in the end. The only problem is that it raised the calorie count by a ton. However, it tasted really good.


Chicken Pot Stickers
adapted from the Cook This Not That cookbook, pg. 90

24 frozen pot stickers (chicken, pork, or vegetable)
1 tablespoon sesame or peanut oil
4 ounces mushrooms (preferably shiitake), stems removed, sliced
2 cups sugar snap or snow peas, tough ends removed
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
3 dipping sauce packets from the pot stickers boxes
2 scallions, sliced (optional)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Drop in the pot stickers and cook for a few minutes until tender but not gummy. Drain.

Heat the oil a large nonstick skillet or sauté pan over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until lightly browned. Add the cooked pot stickers to the pan and cook, undisturbed, until crispy and brown on the bottom, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer the pot stickers to a plate. Pour in the dipping sauce and bring to a simmer, toss in the snap peas and warm through.

Garnish with scallions (if using).


Now let me share what we thought of these little meat filled gems- simply put, Amazing! I could totally eat these instead of the fried resturant version for the rest of my life and never miss them although with my adaptations it really isn't any better for you.

By the book calories: ¼ of the skillet, 6 pot stickers and 1/4 cup of sauce with peas and mushrooms equals 202 calories.

Adapted calorie count: 1/4 of the skillet, 6 pot stickers and 1/4 cup of sauce with peas and mushrooms equals 465 calories. (I am ashames to say I ate 2 servings before I realized how many calories the sauce alone caused it to rise. That's a whopping 930 calories in 1 meal! Bad, very bad.)

Oven Roasted Asparagus

I cannot tell you how many times we have had asparagus cooked this way at our house. It is so delicious and truth be told I often eat chopped asparagus cooked in an egg scramble. I love the flavor. This recipe was the first way I ever tried it and I am happy to say the reason that I am a convert.

The most recent time we had it was the other day with the Honey-Mustard Salmon.


Oven Roasted Asparagus

1 pound asparagus stalks
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat an oven to 400.

Prep the asparagus by breaking each stem where it naturally breaks when slightly bent. Discard the hard end, keeping the tops.

Place the asparagus on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to coat.

Roast in oven until just tender, 10 to 12 minutes.


I swear once you try it this way you’ll never make it differently again.

Calories for 1/4 of the pan is 64 calories. Whew, you can't beat that!

Honey-Mustard Salmon

Part of getting healthy is not only losing weight but also about eating healthier things. It’s about the nutrients I have going into my body as well as the calories I take in.

Baby Cakes has never really been one for fish, sure he’ll eat one of my tuna fish sandwiches every once in a while but as far as simply eating some grilled tilapia, or baked whitefish, or some salmon, nah, he’ll pass. He no longer has a choice if he’s eating in my kitchen because we will be eating fish twice a week from now on. I’m sure I can spare you how healthy fish is for you, if cooked right that is. Battered and fried fish pretty much defeats the purpose of eating healthy fish.

I’ve noticed that I have been choosing a lot of recipes, I even have two more for next week, from my Cook This Not That cookbook and this is one of those recipes.


Honey-Mustard Salmon
recipe from Cook This Not That cookbook, pg. 232

1 tablespoon whipped butter
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon soy sauce
½ tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
dash salt
dash pepper
4 salmon fillets, 6 ounces each

Preheat the oven to 400.

Combine the butter and brown sugar in a microwavable bowl and microwave for 30 seconds, until the butter and sugar have melted together. Stir in the mustard, honey, and soy sauce.

Heat the oil in a skillet over high heat. Season the salmon with salt and pepper and add to the pan flesh side down. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes until fully browned and flip. Turn off heat and transfer to an over proof baking dish skin side down.

Brush with half of the glaze and place in the oven and bake until the salmon is firm and flaky (but before the white fat begins to form on the surface), about 5 minutes.

Remove, brush the salmon with more of the honey mustard, and serve warm.


In the book they recommend serving it with asparagus so that’s just what I did; so simple to make see that recipe here.

The calorie count per 6 ounce fillet with sauce already on it is 418 calories. Paired with the right side dish and you have a super healthy meal.

Huevos Rancheros

When it comes to breakfast and lunch in our household Baby Cakes and I are incredibly routine, the exception being the weekends as we’re almost always running the roads all weekend long. He eats the same breakfast every day and either the same sandwich or leftovers for lunch. I have a cup of coffee every morning with a banana and the same lunch consisting of the same salad along with the same snacks every single day. Now to some that might be boring and to a self-proclaimed food blogger I can admit that it is odd, but to keep things interesting I am always making and trying new recipes for supper and special occasions.

Because we don’t often make breakfast on the weekends and I’ve already shared that we are creatures of habit during the work week I occasionally find myself making breakfast for dinner. I had taken notice that Baby Cakes orders Huevos Rancheros often so I thought I might try and make it. While thumbing through a cookbook I had stashed away I came across a delicious looking recipe for Huevos Rancheros, not to mention a healthy version. Sold!

The best part about this recipe, aside from the amazing flavor, is how quick it was to make, especially the second time. Because it makes 4 servings, I made the entire recipe and then split the ingredients. I used half of the salsa and beans and stored the other half in separate containers, as in beans in one and salsa in the other, so 2 days later I made it again but that time all I had to do was lightly nuke the beans to take the chill out, toast the tortillas and cook the eggs. Viola! A simple and really quick weeknight meal or heck a quick weekend breakfast, maybe I can talk Baby Cakes into staying in just once.


Huevos Rancheros
recipe from Cook This Not That cookbook, pg. 50

16 ounce can whole peeled tomatoes with juice
½ small onion, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon chopped chipotle pepper
juice of 1 lime, divided
salt and pepper to taste
16 ounce can black beans
pinch cumin
8 eggs
8 corn tortillas

Combine the tomatoes, onion, garlic, chipotle, cilantro, and half of the lime juice in a food processor and pulse until well blended but still slightly chunky; season with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl mix the black beans, cumin and remaining lime juice; season with salt and pepper. Use the back of a fork to lightly mash up the beans, adding a splash of warm water if necessary.

Coat a large nonstick skillet or sauté pan with nonstick cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Break the eggs into the skillet; cook until the whites have set but the yolks are still loose and runny.

On a separate burner, heat a medium skillet over medium heat and add the tortillas, 2 at a time; cook for 1 minute on each side, until lightly toasted.

To assemble the dish, spread the tortillas with the beans, top with the eggs, and top the eggs with the salsa. Garnish with more cilantro, if you like, and serve immediately.


This recipe makes 4 servings and according to the book each serving is 480 calories. When I put the recipe into Calorie Count it came back with 522 calories per servings so to play it safe I would count the higher amount. Still, 522 calories for dinner is not bad, not bad at all.

Sausage Broccoli Calzone

While searching through the newest Taste of Home Magazine the other night I came across this recipe, among many others, that looked too yummy not to try. I put the ingredients on my shopping list and counted the days until I could make it.

I wasn’t 100% sure that it would turn out that well seeing how I tend to get mixed reviews on the recipes I try from this, and other, magazine(s), but I was pleasantly surprised. The sausage gave it quite a bit of flavor. I didn’t season anything and turns out I didn’t need to. The only thing I did differently was add onions, use sage sausage, and up the amount and modify from just broccoli to a broccoli and cauliflower mix.

This would make a great Super Bowl snack and I know that because Baby Cake hinted that I should make it for just that.


Sausage Broccoli Calzone
adapted from Taste of Home Magazine, February/March 2012, p37

12 ounces bulk sage pork sausage
½ onion, diced
1 tube refrigerated crusty french loaf
3 cups frozen chopped broccoli and cauliflower, thawed and drained
1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 350.

Cook the sausage and onion in a skillet over medium heat until no longer pink and onions are translucent; drain.

On an ungreased baking sheet, unroll dough starting at the seam; pat into a 14-in. x 12-in. rectangle. Spoon the sausage lengthwise across the center of dough. Sprinkle with broccoli/cauliflower and cheeses. Bring the long sides of dough to the center over the filling; pinch seams to seal. Turn calzone seam side down.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.


Oh, we will be making this again and again and again. It was soooo good!

In the magazine it says that this makes 6 servings and that the calories per serving are 369 calories. I however, made it into 4 servings making the calorie count per serving 520 calories. No guilt though. It was totally worth it.

Cranberry Glazed Chicken Thighs

There was a sale on boneless skinless chicken thighs the other day when I swung by the store to pick up some chicken. The family pack was marked down to a great price so I bought it. Now Baby Cakes and I are only two people, although Baby Cakes does eat enough for 3 people, so I chose to break the package up to two meals. Hence why earlier this week we had Italian Honey Mustard Chicken and now we’re having Cranberry Glazed Chicken, both equally satisfying but I must admit I like the Cranberry one the best. Blame on my propensity for meat and fruit together but it is amazing!

You’ll be seeing an adaptation of this recipe very soon because I will be trying it on salmon next week.


Cranberry Glazed Chicken Thighs
recipe from Cully’s Kitchen

1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion chopped
6 chicken thighs
2/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
8 ounce can whole berry cranberry sauce

Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Place the butter and onion in a microwavable bowl and microwave for 3 minutes; set aside.

Place the chicken thighs in a dish in a snug single layer.

In the onion bowl, stir together the onions, ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, mustard powder, and cranberry sauce. Pour half of the mixture over the chicken thighs and then bake for 25 minutes.

Pour the other half of cranberry mixture and return to the oven baking about 25 minutes more.


I served it along side butter beans and stewed okra and squash. Not really the side dishes you would normally put with chicken but Baby Cakes has been complaining that he wants more beans and I am more than happy to ablige. The okra and squash because we are down to the wire with fresh produce and those are what I had on hand. I just couldn't eat another green bean.

Again, this is the best cranberry glaze I have ever had. I can imagine eating it on fish, turkey, chicken breasts and anything else that might pair well with cranberries.

For 2 thighs and 2 tablespoons of the glaze it equals 268 calories.

Yum,

Italian Honey Mustard Chicken Thighs

Apparently I have a chicken theme going. What can I say? It’s what’s for dinner.

In the past I shared an amazing chicken recipe with you all, you might remember it its Simply Great Chicken. It’s titled that because it is just that, simply great. Seriously, I have never had a better chicken thigh in my life. Well I because I have been cooking things I’ve made in the past instead of new recipes lately I thought I would play around with this recipe and see what happens. This is what happened.

I really have no logic behind the creation of this recipe. It just is. But boy am I glad it is. It was amazing! Now I don't know which chicken is better, the simply great chicken or this italian honey mustard chicken. It's a toss up.


Italian Honey Mustard Chicken Thighs

6 boneless-skinless chicken thighs
1 packet of italian salad dressing mix
½ cup honey
½ cup yellow mustard
1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard

Preheat the oven to 350.

Mix the dry salad dressing mix with the honey and mustard.

Pat dry the chicken; Set into a casserole dish and pour/spread over ½ cup of the mixture.

Bake uncovered for 25 minutes.

Pour the remaining sauce over the chicken and bake uncovered for another 25 minutes or until done.


We ate ours with black eyed peas and green beans, and because I once again know the calorie count I’ll share it. 2 chicken thighs with 2 tablespoon of sauce equal 282 calories. I can get down with that.

XOXO,

Pan-Fried Chicken Athena

A person can only eat so many grilled chicken breasts, (okay, it takes quite a bit before I wave the white flag and surrender when it comes to chicken, pork even, I am a white meat girl) but I am just about chickened out. So in my normal fashion I took to searching and because that never disappoints I found a wonderful recipe, one that I had ripped out of a magazine last month. I kinda have a crush on Taste of Home Magazines. I think it’s one sided though because I pay for its love and it won’t let me log on to share a link with you guys.

It was so simple to throw together and who isn’t about that on a weeknight?


Pan-Fried Chicken Athena
recipe adapted from Taste of Home, Dec./Jan. 2012

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons butter
6 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
6 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

Flatten the chicken breasts to ½ inch thickness.

Cook the chicken in butter in a large skillet over medium heat for 5-6 minutes on each side or until done. Transfer to a dish and keep warm.

Whisk in the lemon juice, worcestershire, mustard and salt into the pan drippings. Bring to a boil. Remove from the heat; stir in the parsley.

Spoon over the chicken.


It seriously took no time at all and turned out wonderful. I know it's not much to look at but flavor wise it's wonderful. To peak Baby Cakes’ interest I sprinkled red pepper flakes over his before I served it.

1 chicken breast with 1 tablespoon of sauce equals 240 calories, I’m down with that.

Enjoy,

Banana-Oatmeal Bread

One of the things I’ve noticed from watching what I eat has been the fact that I can’t seem to eat my bananas quick enough. I eat one daily and up until this last shopping trip I was buying them ripe and ready to eat but by the end of the week they were over ripe. Well, my co-worker told me about a little trick; buy them green and they’ll last longer. I did take her advice during this most recent shopping trip but it didn’t help last week’s bananas. What’s a food blogger to do with over ripe bananas? That’s an easy answer. Make banana bread!

I have shared quite a few recipes for banana bread over the years, like Meg’s Sweet Banana Bread (my hands down favorite version), Banana Apple Bread or Kona Inn Banana Muffins (amazing by the way) but this is the first healthy banana bread recipe I’ve made and shared with you.

Baby Cakes was home from work yesterday and called me at work asking how to make banana bread. I told him where he could find my recipe and assumed he was making it. About an hour later he called back and asked me what baking pan he needs to use and then again about 5 minutes later to ask another question. I finally told him that I’ll make it for him when I got home from work. So now I had to bake but the plus side is because I know I will be eating some of it (come on, how could I not have a piece or two) I get to make a healthy version. Thanks to Google, my dear friend, I found the perfect recipe to try.

It was very good oat type bread. It had just enough sweetness to it and although it’s not the moistest bread I’ve made it wasn’t dry at all. I’ll make it again, maybe next time with pistachio.

It would be excellent with applesauce smeared on it like a jam.


Banana-Oatmeal Bread
recipe slightly adapted from Cooking Light Magazine, June 1999

1 cup packed brown sugar
7 tablespoons canola oil
2 large egg whites
1 large egg
3 small ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup fat-free milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; beat well at medium speed of a mixer.

Combine banana, oats, and milk; add to sugar mixture, beating well.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir with a whisk. Add to sugar mixture; beat just until moist.

Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.


I had ½ a piece that night and 1 piece the following day, and then it had to go to work with Baby Cakes. I know my weaknesses and baked good are one of them.

Don’t get used to me sharing this info but 1/12 of the loaf equals 264 calories. 1/24 of a loaf, or half of one piece, equals 132 calories hence the ½ piece the first night.

Delicious and nutritious,