Oatmeal Cookie Pie Crust

I love cheesecake and I do love traditional graham cracker crust, but I also love oatmeal cookies. Like. A lot. So, I decided to try this oatmeal cookie crust with my low fat cheese cake and I have to say. Damn. It is yummy! 

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1. 1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 inch spring form pan. I use butter, crisco or sometimes cooking spray
  2. 
     
  3. 2. Mix the flour, cinnamon, and salt and then add the oats
  4. 
     
  5. 3. Using a mixer on medium speed, beat the brown sugar, butter, and vanilla 
  6. 
     
  7. 4. Using low speed, gradually add the flour mixture and mix very lightly, just until it is combined
  8. 
     
  9. 5. Press the mixture into the bottom and slightly up the sides 
  10. 
      
  11. 6. Bake 10 minutes. I find it easier to place the pan on a cookie sheet to avoid dropping it
  
  

Moroccan Chicken and Lentils

I love middle eastern food. Like. Love. I also love lentils and am always searching for new ideas. I've made this recipe, or similar to it a few times and it has always turned out well!  It is a one pot meal, if you want it to be that. So yeas, I used a slow cooker.  I don't like giving exact measurements because it is not necessary when cooking savory so adjust as you see fit.

2 cups lentils
Chopped vegetables: carrots, onion, rutabaga and anything you might like.
Chopped garlic
2 tsp curry powder
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp ginger (dry or fresh)
chicken stock

Chicken
Chicken thighs - Pre- bake them to develop flavor and use your favorite spice rub


1. Put everything into a crock pot, but not the chicken. Stir to mix
2. Put the chicken over the lentils and vegetables.
3. Pour the stock over everything. Use enough to cover the lentils, but not the chicken or else you will have soup.
4. Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.
5. Enjoy!

Coconut Oatmeal Cookies - Gluten Free! Lower Carb too!

No, I am not gluten free, but I do look for cookies and things that are much lower in starchy carbs. Well, it's still difficult to find yummy things, but I found this recipe, made it and love it! The cookie is quite soft though, almost like a cake, but the flavor is perfect. It will not be suitable for anyone allergic to nuts or coconut, sorry!

I am also very sure you can add other things to the cookie such as chocolate chips or raisins, but I didn't have either of those, so I made a coconut oatmeal cookie instead!

If you aren't used to cooking without flour, you sometimes have to be prepared to either buy a few extra ingredients or always have them on hand. Also, I will tell you that I didn't have almond flour, but I did have slivered almonds in the freezer and ground those up into a "flour" along with some walnuts so you can just imagine how delicious these are!  I also replaced one of the sticks of butter with apple sauce and the cookies are still moist and flavorful.

This recipe made about 30 cookies.

Ingredients

Mix these together in one bowl and set aside:
2 cups oats
1.5 cups Almond flour
3 tbsp coconut flour
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 baking soda
1/2 tsp salt


Cream these next ingredients together:
1 stick softened butter
1/2 cup apple sauce 
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 400F
 2. Cream the above ingredients together til nice and fluffy, then slowly add the rest of the ingredients
3. To get 30, I used a spoon and scooped a bit more than a table spoon onto parchment paper and then lightly pressed them out into cookie shape.
4. Bake 10-12 minutes. Cool. Eat. Repeat.

Mom's Chicken Fingers

I had a craving for chicken fingers which doesn't happen normally. However, I didn't want just any old chicken finger. No. I wanted my mom's! You're probably asking what makes them so special. Well, actually there isn't anything so special about them but they are a bit different than the typical chicken finger.

First, the only coating we use is flour. That's it. Nothing crazy. Nothing special. But, you need to season the flour so we use seasoned salt, pepper and garlic powder. Unfortunately I don't do measurements, but you should be able to taste all three, or smell all three in the breading mixture.

To keep the flour from flying around, I used a round cake pan and it worked well.

Ingredients
White flour
garlic powder
black pepper
seasoned salt
1 cup of milk with 2 eggs
Chicken breast cut into strips
Canola oil

First thing's first. I use a nonstick pan or a cast iron skillet, not too big because it will use a LOT of oil. So heat up the oil!

Make your life easy and set up an assembly line. I usually start to the right of my stove. So your first station is the milk and egg, then flour and then oil.

1. dip or soak all chicken strips in the milk/egg mixture.
2. Using only ONE hand, pick out a strip and use the other hand to toss it around the flour.
3. Repeat step 2 until you have about 3-4 pieces you can put into the hot oil.
4. Gently place the chicken into the oil and let it fry until golden brown. You may have to turn it over, but don't get into the habit of constantly flipping it.

I love these chicken fingers with macaroni salad, I don't know why, I just do!

It's that easy!

Lentil Bread - Mostly Wheat Free

So, I've been looking for a way to enjoy bread while following my very low fast carb Diet Free Life. What this means for me is that I am trying to avoid eating an abundance of fast carbs (foods that quickly turn to sugar inside your body) and unfortunately, this means bread and pasta, two of my favorite things.

Then I had this idea! Lentils.  Lentils are delicious, don't get me wrong, they still are high in carbohydrates, but also high in fiber, have an interesting flavor, and are considered a slow carb. I love lentils in cold salads and hot soups, but in bread?? YES. So I searched and searched for a recipe that I thought might work and I found one, tweaked it to suit myself and I'd like to share with you.

Now, don't go expecting this to be fluffy white bread, there is little to no gluten in here, which gives breads its chewy texture. This bread is more dense, a little drier, but delicious. I am posting this recipe for now until I perfect this, then I will post a new recipe. This bread didn't rise like I had hoped, but I was able to slice it into "slices" that resemble bread by slicing the long way, rather than on the short side like a typical loaf of bread.

In the mean time, I will also work on an almond flour bread that we used to make for my brother when he followed a specific carbohydrate diet for Crohn's disease. I am just looking for something that isn't so high in fat though. Maybe a lentil\almond mix!?

1.5 cups of lentils (white or regular brown)
3 Tbsp flour (or rice or other gluten free four)
3 Tbsp arrow root (or ugh...corn starch)
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp olive oil


1. Soak the lentils overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 400F
3. In a food processor, blend the lentils. Add a little water to loosen it a bit, but not too loose about 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients and keep processing. This will add a lot of extra needed air for rising.

** The batter will be thick like a cake batter and should be bubbly from the added air.**

 5. Pour batter into an oiled non stick pan or lined with parchment paper.
5. Bake for about 45 minutes. You might want to cover the top with parchment paper too after the first 15 minutes.

After the bread has cooled, you will probably see that it didn't rise much (or did it!?). It's ok! Just cut the loaf into 3's and then cut the top, two middle slices and the bottom. You should get about 8 slices per loaf.

I am going to keep working on this recipe to see how to get it to rise more so stay tuned!

Lentil Bread Grilled Cheese

Pizza - Cauliflower and Almonds

 

Many people can't eat wheat products. Many choose not to and many must avoid them to lose weight. I've been cooking with almond flour now for almost 20 years since my brother was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease back then. Man, times have changed! I remember having to order 25 lb tubs of almond flour directly from the almond farmers because it was unheard of. Aren't we lucky now that any ordinary grocery story sells it! And its cheaper now too!

So, because of the diagnosis, my mother and I became experts in baking with almond flour. We've made breads, pies, cakes..you name it! Heck, even my pie crust recipe is STILL getting hits all these years later (I think I posted it back in 2002 or so)!

So here it is, pizza crust AND is actually pretty yummy! Now, there are many variations and I like two of them. One uses only cauliflower and the other which I am going to post uses both cauliflower and almond flour. I decided to add some almond flour to get rid of the extra I have in my freezer.

Half head of cauliflower
half cup of almond flour
half cup shredded cheese
1 egg
2 tbsp cream cheese

Preheat oven to 410F

1. I started by microwaving the cauliflower because it dries it out while it cooks. You DO NOT want to use wet cauliflower. If you steam or boil it then make sure you squeeze out the water.
2. Process cauliflower in a food processor, add the other ingredients and pulse until mixed.
3. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper, you can add a little olive oil to the paper
4. Pour the "batter" onto the cookie sheet and spread fairly thin.
5. Bake in the hot oven for 20 minutes. If it is browning, then that is good. The crust needs to dry out.
IF you can flip it over then do that and cook another 10 minutes. Its ok if the crust is brown.
6 . Spread tomato sauce and cheese over the top and cook for another 10 minutes. Let it cool slightly and then cut. You should be able to pick it up like pizza.

ENJOY

No Rice Fried Rice (Cauliflower Fried Rice)

 

 Like many people, I really enjoy Chinese or Asian inspired food, just look at my previous entries! Anyways, tonight I was craving fried rice, but those of you that know me, even if I drink only water, my body turns it to fat so I've been finding out that starchy carbs are not my friend. What was I to do! I remembered a friend telling me how someone they know made fried rice with cauliflower as the "rice" and I kept thinking "how delusional."  

So tonight as I was microwaving the cauliflower I kept wondering why people try to trick themselves with horrible substitutes, and why am I one of those people tonight!  So I found a head of cauliflower, cut it in half and microwaved it til soft. I chopped it in the food processor until the size of rice and put t aside.

Now, the flavoring is up to you, but I will post the recipe I used. Oh and by the way.....It actually DOES taste like yummy fried rice!

half head cauliflower

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp fresh grated ginger

1 tbsp fish sauce (optional)

handful of peas

handful of green beans, chopped

handful of chopped mushrooms

1 onion chopped

2 tsp garlic chili sauce

1 egg

1 tbsp oil

1. Cook the cauliflower until soft. Place in food processor and pulse until you get small rice sized bits

2. Heat the oil and add the onion and cook for a minute. Add ginger and chili sauce and cook for another minute.

3. Add cauliflower, green beans and mushrooms. Next, form a bare circle in the middle of the pan where you will scramble the egg. Once scrambled, mix into the rice.

4. Strir fry for a minute then add the soy sauce and fish sauce. Stir fry more.

5. Turn off the heat and add the peas.

DONE

Hoisin Sauce

Cooking Asian food can be a daunting task. We all know this. Then you find a recipe you think might be good, you start to read it and there are strange ingredients that you don't normally have on hand. No worries! I have a solution for hoisin!  You may have many of the ingredients readily on hand, and if you don't then you need to stock your kitchen.

3/4 kidney beans (color doesn't matter), rinsed

3 cloves minced garlic
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 tbsp molasses
2 teaspoons Chinese 5 spice
2 fresh dates (you don't have to add these, but I did for a little extra sweet)

Add everything to a good blender and blend til smooth.

Yup. That's all!

Chinese Chicken and Broccoli ....Again!

Don't you just crave Chinese food sometimes? I do often and while there are numerous buffets to choose from at a cheap price, it is like asking for punishment! I've been following a Diet Free Life on and off for years and when I follow well, I lose lots of weight. One of my favorite things is you can basically eat what you want so here is something that I wanted to eat tonight! I got this recipe from Food Network, but I tweaked it a bit.

I also didn't have hoisin sauce on hand so I made my own. After tasting it, I will never buy hoisin again, it was so good I could drink it.

Lastly, I am not eating fast carbs for meals at the moment, so instead of rice, I used leftover, mashed kidney beans and they were perfect! They soaked up that flavorful sauce.

Chinese Chicken with Broccoli!

2 chicken breasts sliced thin

3 scallions thinly sliced

2 cloves minced garlic

1 inch peeled fresh grated ginger

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 tablespoons sugar ( I use unprocessed)

1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon arrow root

1 tablespoon wine vinegar

1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

 

1/3 cup water

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/4 cup hoisin sauce (see my home made recipe)

5 to 6 cups broccoli or a bag of frozen

 

1. Make the marinade. Mix the garlic, ginger, soy sauce sugar, vinegar, 1 tsp arrow root and sesame oil. Add chicken and marinate at least 15 minutes or more.

 

2. Get a skillet very hot. Add 1 tbsp of the oil. Add the broccoli and cook out any excess moisture. Once the broccoli is cooked and still green remove it from the pan.

 

3. Heat the pan again with the remaining oil. Add the chicken (I had to do this in parts). Let the chicken slightly brown before flipping around. Once fully cooked, add 1 tbsp corn starch 1/3 cup water and the broccoli.

 

4. Pour over the hoisin. Shut the heat and enjoy!

 

Stuffed Grape Leaves - Dolma

Every summer for the past 15 years I've made stuffed grape leaves in abundance, but why summer? Here in Massachusetts and New Hampshire we have the concord grape which grows wild and out of control. Every. Where. So I decided one day that I am tired of paying $5 for brined leaves when I can just pick my own! So I did just that. I always pick them from the same spot at my mother's house in NH. Out back way behind the pool where nothing but wild life roam. I know that my leaves are organic as no one planted the vines and no one touches them. No fertilizer, no pesticides....nothing.

So, I spray my legs with bug spray as there are a lot of ticks and then I find the best and most perfectly shaped leaves I can find. I usually end up with about 100. If having a party and you know everyone loves these, you could easily collect a couple hundred leaves from one spot.

Next, you have to wash them. They are wild. There are birds, insects and other strange things flying around. Wash each leaf in a bucket of water. It's refreshing to do on a hot day. I just dip them in and very lightly scrub, and then add to the pile. To the pile, I add more water, salt and lemon juice to help kill anything else and preserve the leaves. They keep very well in the fridge for a couple of weeks, but they will change color from bright green to dull brownish green. THIS IS OK!

The next part is difficult, trying to find that perfect recipe. Well, here is what I do, and everyone is different. I use beef and ground turkey or chicken, mixed. I use a little bit of rice, fresh lemon juice and a little mint or dill, chopped and of course, salt.

Ingredients:
Grape leaves
1 lb of turkey and beef
1/2 cup rice
juice of one lemon
extra lemons, sliced
1 tbsp chopped dill or mint (or both?!)
Salt
Pepper

Mix everything together except for the lemon slices. Lay out a perfect leaf and be sure to cut off the tough stem and as much of the middle vein as possible. The rolling might seem daunting at first, but it really is quite easy, just a little time consuming so get a prep space in front of the tv ready.

1. With the dark side down, add about a spoonful of mixture at the bottom where you cut.
2. Roll the part closest to you over the mixture.
3. Fold inthe sides and quickly roll so they stay tight.
4. Keep rolling and folding the sides in until you have a tightly rolled grape leaf.

All American Baked Beans

Nothing screams summer (or English breakfast) like a crock full of baked beans. I grew up on these beans, waiting for every summer BBQ because I knew my mom was going to make them. While she made hers with navy beans and salt pork, I used red kidney beans and no meat due to having some vegetarians in the family.  You can really use any bean you like as long as it holds up during the grueling cooking time these babies require.

First off, I usually do about 1-1.5 cups of beans for a fairly large crowd. It may not look like a lot, but they grow during cooking. A very important thing about many varieties of dried beans, SOAK THEM, at least overnight (8 hours). What this does are two things; re-hydrate and reduce cooking time (thus preserving the nutrients) them and removes some of the oligosaccharides from the bean. If you don't remove the oligosaccharides you are in for a musical day the next morning. It removes the sugar that causes us to ....well...toot.

I change the water every few hours, maybe you don't have to, but I do. I don't know why. Anyway....After soaking, add them to your crock pot and cover with water, just maybe half an inch above the top of the beans. Next, add your ingredients all at once and stir. It's not going to look pretty, but just you wait.

 The ingredients are simple:
1.Ketchup or a small can of tomato paste
2. Yellow mustard
3. Molasses
4. Onion
5. Brown sugar or Coconut sugar

Chop the onion into large pieces. It will break down during cooking. Add a generous squirt of mustard, maybe a table spoon. Next, add the can of tomato paste, about 1/3 cup of molasses and brown sugar. You might want to add some onion powder too. Any additions is totally up to you. In the picture below, I added cocoa powder to see how deep I could get the flavors, forgetting that there is a lot of sugar in the beans.

Stir and set the crock to cook on low for the next 12 hours or so. You can stir every now and then. The sauce will become dark, thick and rich.

Vietnamese Chicken with Garlic, Lime and Pepper

Again, another post!  This one surprised me a lot. The flavors were so yummy and made the house smell amazing. I need to stop showing you how easy these are, or else we might make our local restaurantes go out of business! (never!)

So, I was in search of something easy, with chicken and peanuts. I found a recipe that uses beef, but I am not the biggest fan of beef so I made this my own and added chopped Chinese long beans.

1 1/2 lb thinly sliced chicken
1 medium onion, chopped into quarters
3 tbsp toasted chopped peanuts

2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar (I used turbinado)
1 tbsp fish sauce

5 cloves minced garlic
3 tbsp oil (I mixed coconut and peanut)

1. In a small bowl, combine the garlic with half the oil and a tsp of black pepper. Set aside
2. In another small bowl combine the soy sauce, lime juice, sugar and fish sauce. Make sure the sugar is dissolved.
3. The other half of the oil should be mixed with another tsp black pepper.

You now have 3 small bowls.

In a large skillet, heat half of the leftover oil
over medium high. Place half the chicken in the pan and brown. Turn over and brown the other side. Once cooked, remove to a plate and set aside. Do the same with the other half of the chicken.

Next, if you are using a vegetable, add it now and saute for a couple minutes. You might need to add a little water to help steam cook. Next, add the chicken and the garlic and oil and saute for a couple of minutes, just until the garlic is slightly cooked.

Pour the mixed sauces and sugar over the chicken and vegetables until thickened. Once thickened and cooked, add the peanuts and serve.

Easy!

Vietnamese Chicken Salad

I told you I've been on a Vietnamese kick this summer! It's the fresh taste that Vietnamese brings to us by using herbs like mint and cilantro. Here is a super easy salad to make which most restaurants sell for about $8-10. There is no need to spend that much on one portion and you will see why!

If you are interested in cooking Asian food there a few ingredients that you will have to spring for, and by spring I mean pay $3 or less. Here they are: Fish Sauce, Oyster Sauce, Low Sodium Soy Sauce, Chili Garlic Paste and just a small jar of minced garlic and one jar of ginger. All of these last forever in the fridge so even if you don't use them often that is ok.

Off to the Asian market and here is what I picked up for the salad.

1 Head Napa Cabbage, shredded
Bean Sprouts
Shredded Carrots (2-3)
One Red Bell Pepper, sliced
Chicken breast

Handful of mint and cilantro, chopped

Dressing:
2 tsp chili garlic sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp peanut oil
1/2 medium onion, sliced thin

Mix all of the dressing ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Make sure the sugar is dissolved. Yes, the onion is included!

In a larger bowl, mix the salad ingredients. You can really put what you like in here, but I like this mix, although, in my pic I forgot the red bell pepper. Mix all of the ingredients including most of the mint and cilantro. Dress the salad by pouring the dressing over, including the onions. Top of the salad with the rest of the mint and cilantro and voila!

Super easy Vietnamese Salad!

Vietnamese Made Easy - Summer Roll!

We all love summer rolls, even if we don't love Vietnamese food. But, what isn't there to love about it? A few months ago I tried Vietnamese with a neighbor for the first time. I became addicted. I just had a summer roll and a banh mi sandwich, both were amazing. The flavors of Vietnamese are quite different than other Asian cuisines. I noticed how fresh and cooling the food was. The use of fresh mint surprised me, but in a good way. You know how we call pork "the other white meat?" Well I'd like to call Vietnamese food "the lighter and fresher other Asian cuisine." 

So, after I tried and became addicted to the banh mi, I went back and tried a noodle dish which consisted of vermicelli noodles, grilled chicken, a small egg roll, and a bean sprout and carrot "salad" oh and a light orange toned sauce which is quite delicious. For $8 you can't beat it, plus you know what you are eating is healthier than American-Chinese food.

This past weekend I decided to do it! I was at my local Asian market and picked up the summer roll wrappers. There were so many sizes and a couple of brands to choose from. I picked a size that I thought would work well. 

First step: Arrange your area with the ingredients for your summer rolls. This will make rolling them speedy and  easy. Place a wet paper towel near to the wrappers and water.

Step 2: Have a small skillet of water on low, lightly simmer, but not boil. Try to have your filling station as close to the water as possible. You'll need to transfer your rice paper to a wet paper towel in seconds.

 

Step 3: Begin!  Dip a rice paper into the water, swish around with your fingers, maybe about 20 seconds. You will start to see it change consistency quickly. Take it out before it is too soft or jello-y. If you leave it in too long, it will rip easily. These are delicate, but not too difficult to handle. If you leave them in the water for just the right amount of time, its almost as if they are slightly al dente, then move them to the wet paper towel so they don't stick or dry out.

Step 4: Move fairly quickly, the rice paper is still absorbing water at this point, so throw in your beautiful ingredients. For your first couple, don't worry about the way it looks just yet. Try to get the feel for this. I usually place the fillings closer to my body, then fold them over, tuck under tightly and fold in the sides as you would with an egg roll. The hardest part will be trying to find where to separate the wrapper from the paper towel, but with practice, its easy!

Filling the wrappers

 Rolling the rolls

 And here are the final products! Since you will be making more than one, and when you see how addictive easy it is, you will want to make many for leftovers. But, its not easy to keep them as they stick to almost everything. If making these for a party, you might want to have a damp paper towel at the base of your serving dish, and then use romaine leaves to secure each roll. Using the leaf like this will be sure to protect it from touching the others and creates an edible vessel to serve with!

Of course you will need to make plenty of Vietnamese Peanut Dipping Sauce to go with these!

Summer Rolls Ingrediets:

Rice paper 

hot water

shrimp or boiled chicken

fresh basil leaves

fresh mint leaves

rice or tofu noodles

Shredded carrot

thinly sliced cucumber

Shredded lettuce

thinly sliced green onion

Swedish Meatballs with Gravy

Who doesn't love Swedish Meatballs? They remind me of the 1970s, although, I wasn't alive then it just seems like something that was on every 1970s table. Yeah yeah, but now its 2014 and guess what, the little balls of heaven are STILL blessing our tables, especially thanks to IKEA. Sure, you could spend a small fortune for IKEA supper or you can just make it yourself and since I don't live near an IKEA, I made it myself, minus the lingonsylt which I can't make :(

Anyways....I made my gravy with non-fat greek yogurt and a little arrowroot and it came out DIVINE. You must try! If you can't find arrowroot, just use cornstarch.

Meatballs:
1.5 lbs ground beef, chicken, pork (any mix you like. I used chicken and beef)
1/4 cup egg whites
1/4 cup matzo meal (or bread crumb)
salt
pepper
1 tbsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp all spice
Olive oil

Mix all together and shape into small balls. I usually make them slightly smaller than a golf ball, it lets me eat more! Heat enough oil to lightly cover a skillet and drop the balls in. DO NOT move them around or they will break apart! Fry the meatballs gently for a couple minutes on each side. Remove from pan when done and golden. Don't scrape or drain the pan unless there is a ton of fat.

Gravy
1 15 oz can chicken or beef stock
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour (or can skip the roux all together)
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
water
1/2 cup greek yogurt
2 tbsp corn starch or arrow root
salt
pepper

This is the tough part. Over medium heat melt the butter and then add the flour.
Whisk gently adding a little water at a time. Your roux should be smooth and creamy, not lumpy. Adding more water and whisking should smooth it out. Let the roux cook for a minute or so. Next, turn up the heat a little higher and add your stock while whisking vigorously, you want to get all the browned meat off the bottom of the pan. Add the vinegar.

Your gravy will be very fluid at this point, add enough arrow root or starch to thicken it. I like my gravy VERY thick so I add quite a bit. Whisk until smooth and re-add the meatballs. Simmer for about 5 minutes and then TURN OFF THE HEAT (This part is super important). Let the gravy cool for about 2 minutes BEFORE you add the greek yogurt or it will curdle and look yucky. Whisk the yogurt into the gravy, taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

I served my meatballs with German Spaetzle, but you can use any flat egg noodle you like. I also added peas to the bottom of my bowl because I needed a vegetable and I didn't feel like sauteeing cabbage tonight.

Chutney and Cheddar Chicken

If you are like me, you make the same chicken recipes day after day, week after week. Don't get me wrong, they are yummy recipes, but can't we just try something NEW for once? The answer is yes! We can!

My mother makes a lot of fruit glazed chicken breasts and I was actually craving that tonight. Of course, I didn't have any fruit jam, but I did have one jar of a special gem that I made a few months ago, English Christmas Chutney. This chutney is not jelly like at all, but is a mix of chopped, vinegary and savory, sweet and dried fruit. I will post my recipe as soon as I make it again.

Anyways, I remembered that I had one jar left, and while I love to eat it spooned atop a nice sharp cheddar, I figured I'd try it out atop chicken covered with cheddar. The results were awesome!

I marinated my thinly sliced chicken breasts in lemon juice and Trader Joes 21 Spice Salute, salt free seasoning. If you can't find it, use Mrs. Dash or your favorite herb blend. Sprinkle the juice and herb blend of chicken and let stand for an hour or two. I sliced the chicken thin as if I were making marsala or piccata.

If you can't find chutney, use a thick jam or preserve that has chopped fruit in it. Apricot, cherry or blueberry would be awesome in this.

Ingredients:

1-2 large and thinly sliced chicken breasts
lemon juice (half lemon)
Herb seasoning
cheddar cheese
1 small jar of chutney
coconut oil

salt to taste

1. Heat a skillet and add some coconut oil. When pan is heated add chicken.
2. Brown chicken on both sides, add some water to the pan and let the chicken steam for about 3 minutes
3. Spread the chutney on each piece of chicken and top with cheddar. Add more water to the pan if needed. Cover and let steam for another 3 minutes.
4. At this point, chicken should be thoroughly cooked through. Serve and enjoy!

English, Cooking and Fun!

Welcome ESL students to my blog! Did you know that you can learn a lot of English through cooking? Here is a list of things you will learn:

Imperatives/commands
Giving directions (and potentially following directions!)
Food Vocabulary (includes spelling)
Count/Non-Count Food Nouns
Adjectives
Food packaging
US weights and measurements
Short story writing

It doesn't matter what level you are at, cooking brings all of us together and allows us to share something about each of our lives while learning a new language.

Assignment #1 - I want you to look through my blog and pick a recipe. In the comments section of that recipe, please list the imperatives that were used and write their definition.  Next, I usually include a short story about the recipe, please summarize the story in 2-3 sentences. Due February 28, 2014.

Assignment #2 - Who cooks in your family? Ask that person for their favorite recipe to cook for your family and post the recipe to your blog. Tell me about the recipe, is it from your country? An old family recipe? Write an interesting story in 2-3 paragraphs or more! Due March 7.

Assignment #3 -  I did this when I was in high school for French class and it was a lot of fun, before blogs existed. Because this takes planning, the due date will be in March 20th, 2014.

1. Choose another recipe or the same one from my blog. You will prepare it for your family. You will need to follow the directions and use the correct measurements when given.

2. Re-write the recipe on your blog. Add a photo. Write a short story about your experience (was it fun, boring, difficult, easy?). If you changed any steps or ingredients, please write about it.

3.  I'd like your family members to comment on the blog by giving you a grade and some comments about what you cooked for them. If they have a smart phone, show them how to use it!

***As always, if there are any issues that might keep you from being able to do part of the assignment, always let me know in advance!

These are supposed to be fun assignments, so if you come into any trouble please let me know!

Shiritaki, Shirataki, Yam Noodle...WHAT?!

Wow, it's taken me a long time to figure out what to write about this except for DON'T DO IT!! Now, I want everyone to try it and use my advice...

With the United States so concerned about diet and carbs and this and that, there are so many products available that claim to be delicious like pasta!  Gluten free this, low carb that....Well, please follow my advice and don't waste your time or money on any of those products. The sad truth is, nothing can compare to good ol pasta. Or can it....?

Back in the early 2000s I found this miracle pasta, bin after bin of this strange reddish brown stuff claiming to be edible. Since this was before we had too much information on the internet, I had no way of researching this stuff, and since it was so low carb EVERY ONE was going to find out about it and buy it, especially at 50 cents a lb right?  Well, there was a good reason that case after case was sitting there unsold at a national liquidation store. Not because the store was in a strange location, but because that pasta was down right the most disgusting thing I have ever put in my mouth, and I am so sorry for any of those whom I may have fed it to.

This reddish brown, inedible pasta shaped crap tasted and felt nothing like pasta. Even 10 years later I am still haunted by it. While I was so excited that I found it, after spending $20 on (you do the math) x packages, I was so livid with myself...what was I going to do with the rest? I had to throw it away, its not even something that you could donate.

I tried cooking it for HOURS, it was still hard and tasted horrid. I tried dousing it in cheese and butter. Nope, just wasted some good cheese on that. Never ever ever again! So for the next 12 years I continued to eat regular pasta, high fiber pasta, rice pasta, spelt pasta...you name it pasta!

One day while browsing a large local Asian market, I stumbled upon some refrigerated noodles packed in water. I had briefly heard about them before and at $1.29 a package I figured I'd try some. I got two shapes, one angel hair and one butterfly. I brought them home and researched and found out that these aren't all that new and have been around in Asian cuisine for thousands of years, and made from the Konjac or Konnyaku plant root.  If you've ever heard of the "rotting corpse plant" its pretty similar to that...makes you want to try it now huh, but very interesting looking plant!

Not only are these noodles low in everything bad and high in everything good, there is an abundance of glucomannan in the konjac plant that is supposedly helpful with weight loss. Read all about Konjac HERE!

First thought: ugh, these noodles never get soft and kind of smell fishy!  WASH THEM IN HOT WATER and don't sniff them!
Second thought: these are no substitute for pasta, but are excellent in Asian cooking!
Third thought: a whole package has something like 10-50 calories (depends on the brand, and DON'T Trust Asian packaging to tell the truth), a lot of fiber and almost zero carbs.

Next, which kind to buy? Like I said, the straight up konnyaku are semi crunchy and really can't be used as spaghetti or anything similar. They would be excellent in soups and stir fries though and soak up the flavors in your dish wonderfully. I also recently read that you can soften then noodle by dry frying it in a pan for a couple of minutes. I haven't done this yet. I mentioned I bought butterfly shape...it was the second most disgusting thing I put in my mouth...the texture was just....bad. Too thick of a noodle to do with anything. It wasn't even good in soup!

There was also another kind, which was speckled with seaweed flakes. I just tried these today and they were slightly softer and virtually no nutrition at all, a few calories and a lot of fiber. Bland and not bad, but there are better brands.

But the overall winner are the Shirataki brand tofu noodles. I am not a fan of Hungry Girl, but the package with her on it is the one you should get. The calories are slightly higher, the carbs are about 6 per package and I honestly think you can EASILY substitute this product for pasta. Again, DON'T smell these noodles right out of the package!  Boil for about a minute after rinsing and then enjoy.

I usually eat the whole package, its something like 40 calories, 1g fat, 6 g carb and 4 g fiber that makes this brand the overall winner!

Stay tuned for some recipes using House Foods Shirataki Tofu Noodles (and don't be afraid of the word tofu! It makes the noodle soft).

konnyaku fiber choice (left), Shirataki Yam noodle (top), House Foods Shirataki (bottom)

Easy Thai Dipping Sauce

This is a simple recipe for Thai dipping sauce to be used with egg rolls, won tons or any kind of dippable food! I usually use this as a baking sauce with fish, add a little dill and voila!

For my DFL friends, this is friendly by using arrowroot as a thickener and unprocessed sugar.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup water
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 tbsp fish/oyster sauce
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tsp chili-garlic paste
t bsp arrow root
half a lime

Mix everything together in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and add about 1 tbsp arrow root to thicken. Let cool. Store in a jar for a couple weeks in the fridge!

Tilapia With Thai Dill Sauce

Boy has it been a while! Lots of things have happened in the past year...including this recipe! Well, actually, I've got two recipes. The first one is an amazing toaster oven baked fish in a thai dipping sauce with dill. Wait what?!

Yeah, you know when summer is really hot and humid and you don't want to turn on the big oven? Well, this works amazingly in the toaster oven on 350F! Well, its November now, so I could use the extra heat, but I am still cooking this in the teeny oven.

I visited a friend of mine last year in Montreal, and this is actually his recipe used on trout, except, he didn't make the thai dipping sauce from scratch which is perfectly ok, if you can find it. The sauce is sweet, tangy and slightly spicy and when you add fresh chopped dill to it, it somehow pops to life with tons of flavor!

So here it is!

4 Tilapia fillets (can use salmon, trout or whatever you like)
1/3 cup Thai dipping sauce
Chopped fresh dill

Easy right?

Line your toaster oven pan with foil, place the fillets on it and pour the sauce over fillets. Sprinkle with dill and pop into the toaster oven for about 20 minutes on 350F.

Done!