OM NOM NOM (The Recipe Section)


 Hi kids!  Yes, it's been almost a month since I've updated this blog.  The good news?  I am down to 158lbs as of Sunday--I'm thinking 7th or 8th grade again.  Good lord.  Anyway, I've been trying some recipes lately and I'll share them with you here!  And please, if anybody has any good, healthy recipes, please feel free to post them here or to my FB page!

Tonight I made Crispy Salmon Bites from Running to the Kitchen.  These were really good!  I have to learn how to make a better dill sauce to dip them in, but otherwise they were delicious!

 

This is one of my own modifications.  Who likes pumpkin pie or pumpkin bars?  Yes--you do!  The original of this recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar and one cup of OIL but I figured I could mess with it and make it healthier.  This recipe has very little sugar in it and the only fat comes from the eggs.  

Bariatric-Friendly Pumpkin Bars


4 eggs
3 packets of Stevia powder (or your choice of sweetener)
1/4 cup sugar (you can use more if you want it sweeter)
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1-15oz can of pumpkin
2 cups AP flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 350F
In a large bowl mix the egg beaters, Stevia, sugar,  applesauce, yogurt & pumpkin with an electric mixer until fluffy.  In a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients and add to the wet ingredients, mixing until fully combined.
Lightly grease a 10x13 jellyroll pan and pour the batter in.  Bake for 20-25 minutes then check for doneness.  

And last, but not least, the Cauliflower Pizza Crusts!  Honestly, you can't possibly be as surprised as I was that this worked AND tasted good.  But I am SO DAMN HAPPY that it did!  We even had two non-bariatrics who gobbled them up!


Cauliflower Pizza Crust

 
 Makes 4 individual pizzas
2 eggs
2 cups mozzarella cheese
2 cups riced cauliflower*
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup fresh julienned basil or 2 tsp dry basil or Italian seasoning blend or whatever Italian-style herbs you like.  

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, spray with non-stick spray.
In a medium bowl, combine riced cauliflower, basil, eggs and mozzarella. Divide into 4 amounts and press evenly on the parchment paper.
Bake the crusts at 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

*Directions for riced cauliflower: The original recipe recommends that you grate the cauliflower on a cheese grater.  I think my way worked pretty well.  I steamed the cauliflower in the microwave, pressed some of the water out in a strainer, pulsed them in the blender (if you have a food processor, use that) then put them in a clean flour-sack dish towel and squeezed out more water before mixing the rest of the ingredients in.  You need to get as much of the water out as possible so that the crust won't fall apart.

Here's a handy picture of what they look like when they're done!

 After you've par-baked them top them with sauce and your favorite toppings.  Return them to the oven for anywhere from 5-10 minutes depending on how done you like the cheese on top.  

Happy cooking everybody!!

'Til next time,
K




YAY!  I figured out how to make a separate section!!  This section will be for recipes!  Please comment and leave links or write out recipes here for anything healthy that you think other people would like.  I'm a total foodie and I collect recipes like crazy ladies collect cats!


Let's get started with some of the Crock Pot Tuesday recipes.  We've been at this for three weeks so far.  Today Jerry, our token male, made shrimp jambalaya.  It was a huge hit!  Totally delicious, the meat was really tender and it had great flavor.  In deference to me and Nicole, one of our other members, Jerry halved the spices on this, but obviously you make it as spicy as you like!  You may click the picture below or I've written the recipe out underneath it.

Shrimp Jambalaya


Ingredients: 
12 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
8 ounces smoked sausage, of your choice
8 ounces smoked ham, diced
1 green pepper, finely chopped
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 celery ribs, finely sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
14 1/2 ounces whole tomatoes, un-drained
1/3 cup tomato paste
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon black pepper
salt, to taste
1 pound fresh shrimp, shelled and cleaned
4 cups cooked white or brown rice
Directions: Place the chicken and all remaining ingredients, except the shrimp and rice, in the Crock-Pot® slow cooker. Mix well to
combine.
Cover; cook on Low 8 to 10 hours (or on High for 3 to 4 hours).
Add the shrimp during the last 30 minutes of
cooking.
Spoon the Shrimp Jambalaya over the rice when ready to serve.


Week Two was courtesy of Louise Vang--I call her "My Hmong Lady".  Seriously, if you don't have a Hmong Lady, get yourself one!  Of course, I say this with the utmost respect.  She is an astounding cook.  She taught me how to make egg rolls. When she started she would put some of her lunch in a bowl and say, "Eat it."  When I asked what "it" was I got a stern "Eat it" again.  So I ate it.  She's broadening my horizons and she's never made anything I didn't like!  

This dish is a Filipino one.  It can be made with chicken, pork or beef.  Click the pic for deliciousness.   

Filipino Chicken Mechado



Since the whole crock pot thing was my idea I went first.  I have been finding many interesting recipes on www.loveit.com and this was one of them.  This was positively delicious.  Everyone liked it and there was only about one cup left in the crock pot at the end of the day.  This recipe is courtesy of Picky Palate, a website that also has some great recipes.  Click the pic and you will got to Picky Palate.




 BROADENING MY HORIZONS

I have to admit that, until recently, I had never tried curry.  Frankly, I was a but afraid of it.  I thought they were all very spicy and I'm not a spicy food girl--especially not post-op because I can't drink while I eat or for 30 minutes after.  The bariatric nurse at the clinic, Dorothy, told me she like Trader Joe's for sauces for meat.  SO off to Trader Joe's I went.  I think meat generally needs sauce.  There's not much more boring than a plain chicken breast.  A good steak?  No sauce necessary.

At Joe's I bought two sauces:


I pretty much did the same thing with each of these, but they were both VERY good.  I cut up a chicken breast, sauteed mushrooms and sliced zucchini squash in salt, pepper and garlic, then put in the sauce, some water and the chicken.  Simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes and then serve over rice.  I added a little honey to the yellow curry sauce and Louise was licking the Tupperware.  Heh.



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