An apology

I just wanted to say that I know I haven't been true to the mission I set for myself when starting this blog, and for that I apologize. Once I find my camera, hopefully I can put up more pictures of both the recipes that I have become obsessed with  and the crafts I have been doing, as well as more recent pics of my kids. Also, if anyone has any ideas to further my original intent of helping to save the environment let me know. For now, I guess it's just that I am trying to make more food from scratch, therefore spending less on food and using less packaging.

Miriam

Yummy. I looked around to try and find a recipe for bread with beans in it. I can't remember what inspired me to do that, maybe I thought it would be less PP. I was wrong about that, but it is so worth it. I found this recipe for bread with pinto beans in it and altered it a bit. Here is what I came up with:

White Bean Bread

Looking for a homemade bread that is naturally high in fiber and protein? Well, this is it! Perfect as a side for soup or used to make healthier croutons.  


Ingredients:

1 15.5 oz. can of Cannellini Beans 1 cup skim milk 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp ground ginger 2 tbsp sugar 2 tbsp melted margarine 2 cups all purpose flour 1/3 cup wheat germ 1/3 cup oat bran or wheat bran 1/3 cup flax meal 1 tbsp Vital Wheat Gluten 2 tsp bakers yeast

Directions

Drain and rinse beans. Blend beans and milk together. Add all ingredients into your bread maker in the order recommended by your manufacturer. Set on white bread 1 1/2 lb. loaf. Wait for it to be done and enjoy. Makes 16 servings, 3 PP per slice. 

 

It didn't rise too well, but it sure is tasty!

Soup... so comforting in the cold.

     Comfort food, mostly we think of things that aren't good for us when we think of comfort food. Soup, if made properly can be one of the healthiest foods and oh so comfortingly warm when it is cold outside. I found this soup on http://lipsmackinggoodness.blogspot.com:

Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup

3 cups broccoli, chopped
3 cups cauliflower, chopped
4 cups turkey broth
1/2 or whole onion
1 sm. potato, diced
4 oz. cheddar
1/2 c. milk
1 garlic clove, minced
pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt

Saute onions until golden. Add broth, garlic, broccoli, cauliflower, and potato and bring to a boil in a 4 quart saucepan. Reduce heat, cook covered, 15 minutes. Remove about 1 cup broccoli and cauliflower pieces, set aside. Cook soup 10 minutes longer. Add shredded cheese and heat until melted Pour into blender and puree until very smooth. Return pureed soup to pan with reserved vegetables and heat through, but do not boil or cheese will curdle. Add milk, salt and pepper.

   I switched it around a bit for my lunch today to use things I have in the house. I used 1 cup skim milk instead of 1/2 cup and cheese. I used a bag of frozen broccoli, cauliflower and carrots as well as some frozen spinach (added in the last few minutes). I used dehydrated onion (boiled for a few minutes in water before adding anything else) and chicken broth. It came out great and by leaving out the cheddar it made it fit into the Simply Filling WW technique, and it tasted great! I didn't put this into the recipe builder, but since the milk and potato are the only thing with any quantifiable amount of points I would have to say it would be one or two PP per serving.

Dinner for 2/1/11

   I have been continuing to go through the many recipes I have found in various places online. I tried the recipe below last night. Unfortunately, I didn't notice that it said soup and I thought it was a noodle dish with a sauce, so I tried to reduce the sauce and it wasn't very strong in flavor. I replaced the rice wine with rice vinegar, left out the red pepper, mushrooms and green onions, used whole wheat linguini instead of udon noodles and used canned carrots and frozen spinach. Perhaps these substitutions had something to do with the lack of flavor as well. We ended up adding more soy sauce on it to make it taste better. If you want to try this recipe I would suggest using onion and more garlic to increase the amount of flavor. The kids would only eat the noodles, but they did like those.

Udon Noodle and Beef Soup

4 servings
8 PP values per serving

Ingredients

    * 8 ounces uncooked udon noodles (thick, round fresh Japanese wheat noodles) or spaghetti
    * 1 1/2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
    * 1/2  teaspoon crushed red pepper
    * 2  (14 1/4-ounce) cans low-salt beef broth
    * 3  tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
    * 3  tablespoons sake (rice wine) or dry sherry
    * 1  tablespoon honey
    * Cooking spray
    * 2 cups sliced shiitake mushroom caps (about 4 ounces)
    * 1/2 cup thinly sliced carrot
    * 8 ounces top round, thinly sliced
    * 3/4 cup diagonally cut green onions
    * 1 (6-ounce) bag prewashed baby spinach

Preparation

Cook noodles according to package directions; drain.

Place garlic, pepper, and broth in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.

Combine soy sauce, sake, and honey in a small bowl; stir with a whisk.

Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and carrot; sauté 2 minutes. Stir in soy sauce mixture; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add vegetable mixture to broth mixture. Stir in beef; cook 2 minutes or until beef loses its pink color. Stir in noodles, green onions, and spinach. Serve immediately.

Banana Slow Bread

While looking around for a recipe for bread I happened upon this one on Allrecipes.com. I healthied it up a bit and came up with this:

Banana Slow Bread PP Value:    2 Servings:  16 (If 12 then 3 PP) Preparation Time:  5 min Cooking Time:  150 min Level of Difficulty:  Easy A more filling and more versatile version of banana bread. Great for a quick snack, breakfast or an on the go lunch when coupled with a yogurt (or other protein). Ingredients  4 medium bananas 2 1/2 cup(s) White Whole Wheat Flour    1/4 cup(s) uncooked oat bran    1/4 cup(s) ground flax seed meal      1/2 cup(s) fat-free skim milk    1 Tbsp ground cinnamon    1 tsp ground nutmeg    2 Tbsp honey    2 1/2 tsp yeast    Instructions Blend the bananas in a blender or break into small pieces. Place all ingredients in bread maker in the order your manufacturer suggests. Set on White 1.5 pound loaf. Relax and enjoy! I don't know if it is because my yeast died, or because of the lack of enough liquid, but mine didn't rise very well. My kitchen is also very cold and I left the ingredients in the bread maker overnight and set the timer so that it would be ready at 9am.  I'm going to go test my yeast right now. Have fun!

Dinner for 1/28/11 and 1/29/11

Chicken Chili PointsPlus™ Value:    5 Servings:  4 Also known as white chili. Ingredients 2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, or breast      15 oz canned cannellini beans      8 3/4 oz yellow corn      1 cup(s) fat-free chicken broth      1 small onion(s)    2 Tbsp minced garlic    1 Tbsp Spiced seasoning mix, meaning whatever spices you like    Instructions Dice and cook chicken, set aside. Spray the bottom of a 3 quart, or larger, saucepan with cooking spray. Over medium heat saute the onion and garlic until just browned. Add whatever spices you would like (I used cumin, corriander, ginger and a small dash of italian seasoning) as well as the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, add chicken, beans, and corn heat until cooked through. Simmer until most of liquid is gone. Serve with salsa and/or sour cream over rice. I made it with chicken thighs this time in order to use up what we have in the freezer, but I will definitely use chicken breast next time in an effort to switch it to all power foods. Maxwell didn't eat it, but everyone else loved it. In fact, I am eating some of the leftovers right now (turned out to be more than 4 servings) with the last of the pulled pork and carrots we had for dinner last night. Here is the pulled pork recipe I used:       Pulled Pork Course: main meals PointsPlus™ Value:    8 Servings:  4 Preparation Time:  5 min Cooking Time:  480 min.   Super simple and super yummy. Ingredients 4 servings Sweet Baby Rays Hickory BBQ Sauce      1 cup fat-free beef broth    1 1/2 pounds pork center loin, lean and fat      2 cups carrots    Instructions Put all ingredients into a slow cooker and cook on low for 8 or more hours or high for 5 or more hours. Pull out carrots, drain and serve on the side. Pull apart the pork and serve over rice, pasta, or pasta.

As requested... PP values

The meatloaf, as listed, was 4 PP value (I'm sure the cheese I put on it added another 1 or 2).

The Pumpkin crescent rolls are a very solid 1 PP value.

The blueberry muffins are 3 PP value.

I'm not sure how much the garlic muffins were in the original recipe. Here are my revamped ingredients that came up as 2 PP value:

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 tsp sea salt

1 Tbsp sugar

3 Tbsp Brummel & Brown Soft Spread Margarine

1 cup fat-free skim milk

4 cloves garlic (medium), minced

1 medium onion, diced

2 egg whites

1 1/2 cup(s) White Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 cup(s) dry potato flakes