A Taste of Tuesday: Spice Primer

I got one of the most thoughtful gifts I've ever received for my birthday from Heather. She made me this awesome chart so I could learn how to use spices. Hope you find it as helpful as I do!

Send me an email if you would like a PDF version of it.

Taste of Tuesday

I came up with a new recipe this week. David and I have been using this program on the iPhone called "Tap and Track" to monitor our exercise and food intake. One thing this has helped us with is to realize that neither of us are particularly good at getting in protein. So, I made this high-protein, lower carb casserole. It is similar to my Not Chicken Pie recipe, hence the name:

Even Less Like Chicken Pie (makes 10 servings, freezes well)
============================================
Ingredients:

• 8 oz shredded low-fat cheese. I used the Sargento Reduced Fat Mexican blend
• 2 packages Aidell's Organic Chicken and Apple sausage, sliced
• 5 oz bag of baby spinach, chopped
• 1 Vidalia Onion, diced
• 1.5 lbs chopped fresh broccoli
• 1/2 cup 100% Egg Whites
• 2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
• Garlic
• Paprika

Chop the broccoli, removing the leaves and other stuff you don't want. Steam the broccoli till tender and set aside. In a large frying pan or wok, stir fry the chopped onion and garlic (to taste) in the vegetable oil until translucent. Add in the chopped baby spinach and cook until kinda slimy looking. Turn off the heat and remove from burner. Add in the chopped broccoli, sausage, cheese and egg whites. Mix well, then put into a large casserole dish that you have sprayed with Pam. Smooth the top and sprinkle with paprika. Bake in 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes. 

Nutritionals per serving:

• 271 calories
• 20.1 g protein
• 15.4 g carbs
• 15.5 g fat

A Taste of Tuesday

So, I have decided that I really like having sandwiches for breakfast. I find I don't get the mid-morning munchies nearly as bad. Even if I have a BA omelet or something, I still get hungry earlier. So anyway, I had tuna sandwiches for about 2 weeks and got a little burnt out. This week I made some really yummy chicken salad. Here's how I made it:

Dee's Chicken Salad
===============

• Chopped cooked chicken (you can broil some, I slow-cooked a bunch of boneless/skinnless thighs)
• Mayo - I  used the Walden Farms calorie/fat free stuff. I'm not a huge fan of mayo and this doesn't really taste anything like mayo, but it's great to hold chicken or tuna salad together.
• Shredded cheese (I am a creature of habbit, I used the cabot 50% light again)
• Pecans
• Raisins

Mix together and put on something.

Note: It is REALLY hard to find bread that does not have HFCS or sugar as the second ingredient. I found some weird little round things put out by pepperidge farm called "Deli Flats" that have "sugarcane fiber" and honey in them. I can't find much nutrition information about "sugarcane fiber" other than a few web sites that say it should not be considered real fiber.  So, I have no idea if it is any better than just sugar, other than the fact that it was pretty far down the ingredient list, so at least this bread isn't loaded with it. They taste ok. Honestly, the chicken salad is good enough that it overpowers the bread anyway!

The Return of a Taste of Tuesday

A while ago, I went through a vegetarian phase. My buddy Joy sent me a bunch of recipes, including one for Spinach Casserole. I have adapted it a little to suit my tastes. It's really good as a side dish, but it has enough nutrients to be a main dish as well.

Spinach Casserole

Ingredients:

• (2) 9 oz bags fresh spinach, chopped
• 8 oz your favorite cheese. I like cabot 50% pepperjack
• Spices in dish: I use nutmeg, cayanne and black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup egg whites
• Pumpkin seeds
• 1 onion, diced
• Brown rice, cooked (I use a bag of boil-in-bag brown rice, it's easy to cook and hard to screw up)
• Paprika (enough to look pretty)
• Garlic (to taste, I use LOTS)

Procedure:

1. Cook the rice according to package directions and set aside.
2. In a large frying pan, cook the garlic and onions till the onions are translucent.  I use regular cooking oil, but I guess you could use Pam if you wanted to reduce the calorie count.  Add the chopped spinach by handfulls. letting it cook down (it will eventually all fit in there.) 
3. When the spinach mixture is all cooked, take pan off the heat. Either in the frying pan or in a big bowl, add the cooked rice, cheese, egg whites, nutmeg, cayanne an black pepper to the spinach.
4. Spray a cooking dish with Pam and dump the mixture into it. 
5. Sprinkle pumpkin seeds on top to taste (I like the texture, so I add quite a few), then add enough paprika to make it look pretty. 
6. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes or until browned on top.
7. Nom-nom-nom-nom-nom.

A Taste of Tuesday

So, I really wanted some fruit with breakfast today, but didn't want 2 carbs, so I decided to make an omelet with some fruit on the side. My dad taught me how to make omelets a long, long time ago. Every weekend for about 3 months, I would claim that I "forgot" what he had shown me, and had him make me one while I watched. I thought I was putting one over on him, but in hind sight, I think he, like I now, just really liked making omelets.

I few years ago, I took my Hiawassee Mom shopping at the outlet malls, and I found the greatest omelet pan ever. I think it is truly the key to making perfect omelets. It makes me happy to make omelets using this pan not just cause it's cute, but because it reminds me both of my dad and my Hiawassee mom:

It is insanely cute, and has a matching omelet turner-over thingy

But I digress. There really isn't a recipe for omelets. I just spray the pan with Pam, then put in what ever  I find in the fridge. This particular day, I used:

• Egg whites
• Frozen veggies (carrot, broccolli and cauliflower mix) thawed
• Cabot 50% Pepper Jack cheese

Put every thing in the omelet pan. Cook on one side for 3-4 minutes, flip and cook other side for about 3 minutes. Serve with fruit on the side, or, if you are PMSing, a bag of Pepperidge Farm Double-stuffed Chocolate Milanos. 

Taste of Tuesday

So, my assignment for Thanksgiving is to bring the green bean casserole. I couldn't find any mushroom soup in the store that didn't have HFCS and other icky stuff in it so I decided to make my own. I also got real fresh green beans. Luckily, before I started making the soup, Heather gave me some pointers. So, to make the green bean casserole I followed the basic recipe on the French's can, but here is my recipe for home made cream of mushroom soup:

Ingredients:

• 8 oz fresh sliced baby bella mushrooms
• Light cream 
• Chicken broth
• Chopped garlic
• Chopped onion

Directions:

1. Stir fry the garlic, onion and mushrooms in a little bit of oil. Heather suggested olive oil, which I don't like the taste of, so I just used regular vegetable oil. 
2. If needed, drain the mushrooms on a paper towel. 
3. Take 1/2 the mushrooms, 1/4 cup chicken broth, and about 1/4 cup cream and puree in a blender. Repeat with the other 1/2 of the mushrooms.  If you have a bigger blender than I do, you can puree all of the mushrooms at once. 
4. Spice the soup as needed. I used a little garlic salt to brighten up the taste a little.
5. If you are just going to eat the soup, heat it till warm. If you are making casserole, follow the instructions for that.

A Taste of Tuesday

 This is pretty similar to last week's recipe. I got creative with the base. I wanted something to counter the fact that I wasn't wearing my glasses when I dumped the Cayenne into the pepper. So I added some splenda brown sugar and cinnamon. It came out really tasty.

Chicken Stew

==========

Ingredients:

• Carrots
• Turnip or Rutabaga
• Onion (a vidalia if you can get it!)
• Boneless, skinless chicken (I used thighs, I think they cook nicer in a crock pot)
• 1 can chicken broth
• Brown sugar (I used the Splenda brown sugar blend)
• Flour
• Spices for browning chicken (I used black, white, and red pepper but you can use whatever you like)
• Spices for adding to base

1. Chop the chicken up into chunks.
2. Mix about 1/2 to 1 cup flour and the chicken browning spices in a flat dish. 
3. Roll the chicken in the flour mixture, then stir fry till browned.
4. Place the chicken into a crock pot. 
5. Chop up the carrots, turnip/rutabaga and onion, and put into the crock pot.
6. Pour in the chicken broth. 
7. Turn on crock pot and cook for 4-5 hours. Cooking time and temp depends on your crock pot. I cooked it on high for about 5 hours. Once the veggies cook down a bit, stir up the chicken from the bottom so everything gets a chance at being in the warm cozy bottom of the pot. Do this a few times during cooking.
   
8. About 1/2 hour before you want to eat, mix some water, corn starch, brown sugar, and cinnamon in either a gravy shaker or a blender till smooth.  I have no idea how much stuff I used, you will have to experiment.
9. Pour the flour/corn starch/brown sugar mixture to crock put and stir until it thickens.
   

If you aren't dieting, serve with really good bread. If you are dieting, serve with really good bread and run a few extra miles.

A Taste of Tuesday

So, I was horrified on Saturday to find that my life has been a lie, and nothing is as it seems!

Growing up, my mom made insanely tasty beef stew with lots of turnip in it. I think it was the cold weather, but I had a hankering for beef stew and ran down to the fresh market with the intention of getting me some turnip! David said he didn't think he'd ever had turnip before, so I explained to him that it's basically a bowling ball covered with wax, but once you cut it and peel it, if you can avoid slicing off any appendages, it is very very yummy.

So, I'm walking around Fresh Market, and have these little wimpy whitish-purple thingies that they have labeled as "Turnip". I said to the produce boy, "Those aren't turnip, I'm looking for wax-covered bowling balls." And the little boy said to me, "Those ARE turnips, you are looking for RUTABAGAS, which we don't sell."

I said "No! I'm from up north, they are turnips and they..." but it was a lost cause, he insisted that the little whitish-purple thingies were turnip. So, I bought them. They were NOT the turnip that I had up north. I guess they had their positives:

• They were WAY easier to peel than the wax-covered bowling balls
• They starred in Gone With The Wind. To my knowledge, Rutabagas have never had a starring role in a movie. 

But on the negative side, they have a much mellower flavor, I prefer the more pungent taste of the wax-covered bowling balls.  But I digress. I did make the beef stew, and although it's not my mom's recipe, it came out really good. So without further ado, I give you:

Beef Stew

=======

Ingredients:

• Carrots
• Turnip or Rutabaga
• Onion (a vidalia if you can get it!)
• Stew Beef (I used 2 packages to up the protein amount)
• 1 can beef broth
• Ketchup (I used the organic stuff with no HFCS)
• Flour
• Spices (I used black, white, and red pepper but you can use whatever you like)

1) Mix about 1/2 to 1 cup flour and the spices in a flat dish. 

2) Roll the stew beef in the flour mixture, then stir fry till browned.

3)  Place the beef into a crock pot. 

4) Chop up the carrots, turnip/rutabega and onion, and put into the crock pot.

5) Pour in the beef broth. 

6) Turn on crock pot and cook for 6-8 hours. Cooking time and temp depends on your crock pot. I had mine on low for the first few hours, then turned it up to high for the last few.  Once the veggies cook down a bit, stir up the beef from the bottom so everything gets a chance at being in the warm cozy bottom of the pot. Do this a few times during cooking.

7) About 1/2 hour before you want to eat, mix some water, some flour or corn starch and some ketchup in either a gravy shaker or a blender till smooth.  I have no idea how much flour and ketchup I used, you will have to experiment. I used ketchup to taste, probably about 1/2-3/4 cup.

8) Pour the flour/ketchup/water mixture to crock put and stir until it thickens.

If you aren't dieting, serve with really good bread. If you are dieting, serve with really good bread and run a few extra miles.

A Taste of Tuesday - Smoked Tuna Pate

A long time ago, David and I were down in the keys and we stopped at a little restaraunt. They had a smoke tuna pate appetizer, and it was insanely yummy. I've spent a long time trying to duplicate it, and today's recipe is about as close as I think I'm going to come.

Mix together:

1-2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened or melted
Liquid Smoke*
Old Bay*

* To taste. I think I like it with more spices vs. less.

Slightly drain 1 can of tuna, leaving the tuna moist but not completely dripping. Place cream cheese mixture and tuna into a Magic Bullet or blender. Blend until it's the consistancey of pate. Serve with crackers and some fruit.

A Taste of Tuesday

As previously mentioned, my favorite standby breakfast is DeeMcMuffs. However, the nutritionist that I've been seeing says that I need to up my protein after a work out and told me that I need to put a few egg whites in there.  I didn't really think about the ramifications of this... perhaps I should have saved this picture for halloween but what the heck, we are close enough. Prepare to be scared... I present to you, my breakfast:

It actually tastes pretty good, and I prefer the white to the yolk anyway, but man, it's a bizarre looking concoction! I think I need to find a way to make it a little flatter, but still fit on the english muffin. I'm open to suggestions.

A Taste of Tuesday

As you know, I am not fond of High Fructose Corn Syrup in my regular (non-junk) food. I came across a recipe recently that called for barbecue sauce, and when I went to buy some, I could not find any that did not contain HFCS, which really kind of irritated me. So I decided I would try to make my own. Now I am NOT claiming under ANY circumstances that this sauce recipe is low-calorie,  but it is FREAKING yummy and works really well with the recipe here. So without further ado:

Dee's Barbecue Sauce

• 1 can tomato paste
• Just a touch of apple-cider vinegar
• Orange marmelade*
• Brown sugar spenda*
• Molasses*
• Black pepper*
• White pepper*
• Cayanne pepper*
• Grated orange peel*
• Liquid Smoke*
• Paprika*
• Onion salt*
• Fresh crushed garlic* (to taste, but I use enough to kill all of Transylvania)

Mix all ingredients together, stirring well. Ingredients that are asterisked should be added to taste and should be adjusted as needed. I accidentally added too much vinegar and had to tone it down with the splenda. If you go easy on the vinegar you might not need the splenda at all. Feel free to leave out or add any spices you like or don't like. I promise I won't have the Cooking Police come after you.

I Don't Have a Clever Name For This Recipe Yet, But It's Freaking Yummy, Trust Me
Cooking time:  Hours if you have to chop the raw chicken and snow peas yourself. It drives me nuts when I watch Rachel Ray's "30 Minute Recipes" -- yeah, right. It takes 30 minutes if you have minions to do your chopping for you. If you don't, plan on 30 hours!

• Chicken thighs (uncooked, chopped into bite size pieces)
• Shrimp (uncooked, peeled, deveined, tails off)
• Roasted Peanuts (these are optional, but I thought they really added a spark to the recipe)
• Snow peas (uncooked, chopped into bite size pieces)
• Flour, red pepper, black pepper
• Dee's Barbecue Sauce

Mix the flour and spices together. Coat the chicken and shrimp in the flour mixture and stir fry in oil until the chicken no long clucks and the shrimp stop whining about how hot the pan is. Add in the barbecue sauce and peanuts and stir until warm. Last, add the snow peas and cook until al dente.

Nom, nom, nom, nom, nom, nom!

A Taste of Tuesday

I tend to be a breakfast skipper, or when do eat breakfast, I don't always make the best choices. Most days it' so much easier just to grab a Pop Tart, and even if it's a Fiber1 PopTart which have the huge benefit of being able to, shall we say, "move me", they are still pretty high and calories and are not always the best choice.

Another breakfast issue is that I go to the gym first thing in the morning and get icky if I eat before I work out. So, I usually workout on an empty stomach and am ravenous when I get home, which means I need something high-protein and FAST.  This is my standby lap-band friendly breakfast "recipe". And I use the term "recipe" loosely:

Dee McMuffs

Ingredients: Pam (or other cooking spray), 1/2 English Muffin, 1 Egg, 1/2 inch block of Cabot Low-fat Pepper Jack Cheese.

Note: You can use different type of cheese but it won't be as yummy and will therefore no longer be distinguishable as a Dee McMuff.

1. Find a microwave-safe bowl that has the exact diameter of an English Muffin. You can go larger or smaller, but personally, I really can't handle non-symmetrical food in the morning.
2. Spray the bowl with Pam (or other cooking spray).
3. Place an egg in the bowl. Stab the yoke a bunch of times to prevent splattery accidents.
4. I forgot to mention, you should have cracked the egg before step 3, it makes stabbing the yoke much easier. Wow, "stabbing the yoke" sounds like it should be a euphemism for something dirty. But it isn't, so get your mind out of the gutter. But I digress.
5. Microwave the egg for 30 seconds.
6. While the egg is cooking, cut an English Muffin in 1/2 and toast it. Save the other half either for tomorrow, or for a friend, or use as a frisbee in a game of catch with the cat.
7. Take the egg out of the microwave and stir it up a little bit.  Chop up about 1/2 of the cheese and drop into the egg.
8. Microwave the egg/cheese mixture for another 30 seconds.
9. Take the egg out of the microwave, and remove the english muffin from the toaster. 
10. Place the english muffin bumpy side down on the egg mixture, then turn over onto a microwaveable plate.
11. Slice the rest of the cheese and put on top of the cheese. 
12. Nuke for another 30 seconds. 
13. If any of the cheese falls off the egg, scrape it off the plate and put it back on top. Quickly, before it sticks to the plate. Now! Do it Now! Sorry, I just hate the thought of any of the cheese going to waste.

Enjoy!

A Taste of Tuesday

One of the staples I like to cook with is frozen veggies. They save a lot of time, there is no waste, and as far as I know, are nutritionally second only to fresh, local grown veggies. So, I was in the grocery store yesterday looking for the ingredients for today's recipe. I stood in front of the frozen veggies, and could not, for the life of me, find the broccoli-cauliflower mix.

David finally pointed it out to me -- silly me, I was looking for something called "Broccoli and Cauliflower". What David pointed out to me was called "Alpine Mix" with the subtitle of "brisk and lively" I immediately imagined cauliflower with long yellow braids skipping happily through a mountain side meadow singing "The hiiiils are alive, with a hunk of broooooccoooolliiiiii...." Now, if it were up to me, I would name this particular mix "Trees and Brains" -- cause face it -- broccoli looks like trees, and cauliflower looks like brains. And I don't know if I would call it brisk and lively -- I think it's more like "green and kinda yellowish-white" But I digress.

Today's recipe is based on one from a Betty Crocker casserole cookbook. I have modified it to make it lower fat and more lap band friendly. Without further ado, I give you today's recipe:

Fish with Trees and Brains

• 1/2 bag frozen broccoli and cauliflower mix
• 1 cup Stovetop stuffing
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 pound fish filets (I've made this with salmon, haddock and catfish, they all work great, but you will have to adjust the cooking time based on the thickness of the filets)

Nuke the veggies till thawed. If they aren't already chopped, chop them.
Mix the broth and the dry stuffing mix into the veggies, and nuke another minute or two, until the stuffing absorbs the broth.
Spray a casserole with Pam. Layer the veggie/stuffing mix with the fish, ending with the fish.
Cover and bake until the fish flakes with a fork. For thin filets like catfish or haddock, about 35 minutes, for thicker filets like salmon, about 45 minutes.

A Taste of Tuesday

Back when David and I were dating, his mom made us some spectacular ribs in a crock pot. Being the great mom that she is, she gave me the recipe. At the time, I had a beloved kitty, Rebel. Rebel was up there in years, and was dying of kidney failure. I knew it was time, but had not yet mustered the strength to have her put to sleep. She pretty much just sat around the house and didn't move, eat or do much at all. Well, I prepared a crock pot of this recipe, turned on the crock pot, and left the house for a few hours.

When I came home, the house smelled -- soooo very yummy -- and Rebel was not just awake, she was actually up on the counter doing a happy dance around the crock pot.  We all ate very well that night. Rebel passed away a few days later, but I have since called this recipe "Resurrection Ribs" because for a few brief shining hours, they brought my Rebel back to life. Enjoy:

Resurrection Ribs

• 3 1/2 lbs pork loin ribs (I have also made this with beef and chicken and it's just as yummy)
• Mix the following together in a flat dish, and rub on meat:
• 1/4 cup splenda brown sugar blend
• Pepper to taste (I tend to use a lot)
• 3 TBSP Liquid Smoke
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped (I usually use more -- enough to kill a family of about 17 vampires!)
• (optional) 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup cola (I use Coke Zero, it tastes almost exactly like real coke and I can't tell a difference in the end result of the recipe)
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 1/2 cups BBQ sauce (non HFCS if you can find it -- check the organic aisle of the grocery store)

Spray inside of crock pot with cooking spray.
Layer ribs and onion in the crock pot. Pour in cola.

Cover and cook on low heat 8-9 hours or until tender. 

Remove ribs from cooker, drain and discard liquid. 

Dip the ribs into BBQ sauce, place in cooker, then pour any remaining BBQ sauce over ribs. 

Cover and cook 1 more hour. 

Note: This recipe is pretty lap-band friendly. The meat is tender enough to be tastey, and solid enough to stick around. The last few times I've made this, the meat has been so tender that it all just fell apart.  With the chicken, I saved 1/2 for chicken salad. For beef or pork, you can serve with veggies or fruit, or make open face sloppy joe type sandwiches.

Recipe for Disaster

Here is a new recipe:

Smoothies

• Some skim milk
• Some protein powder (I like the publix brand greenwise soy vanilla)
• A few handfuls of frozen fruit (I like blueberries, but whatever you like)
• A handful of raw spinach or other greens

Blend in a blender. Drink.

Note: This particular recipe can reach a trajectory of up to 6 feet if you accidently whack the cup over while pouring from the blender. Also, cats, although they will show some interest, will not lick up a blender of smoothie off the floor. Ask me how I know this.

A Taste of Tuesday

Today's epicurean delight (haha) is another of my own creations. As previously mentioned, I am a very lazy cook, and will take short cuts where ever I can. With that I present:

Fettuccine Ala Dee

• 1.5 (or more) lbs lean ground beef
• 1/2 bag frozen Seasonings Blend veggies (the one I got was the Publix brand and had onions, green peppers, red peppers, and I think a few other things)
• Minced garlic to taste (I like a lot -- if I can't use my breath to peel wallpaper, there isn't enough garlic in there)
• 8 oz chopped mushrooms
• 1 jar organic spaghetti sauce (I like the Paul Newman's Sockarooni)
• 1 can organic cream of mushroom soup
• (optional) Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 package fettuccine, cooked as directed on package

Brown the veggie mix. garlic and ground beef.

Drain off the fat and return to the pan.

Add the spaghetti sauce and mushroom soup. Stir till it looks stirred and hot.

Add parmesan cheese to taste. Mix with the fettuccine.

A Taste of Tuesday

This is a recipe that I got off the Fettuccine box, but I've adapted it a bit to make it more lap band friendly by reducing the amount of pasta, increasing the ham, and using lower fat dairy products. This recipe freezes and nukes up well, I have a bunch of 4 oz servings in the freezer as I write this.

Fettuccine Papalini

• 1/3 (12 oz) package Fettuccine
• 1 bag (10 oz or so) frozen green peas
• 16 oz cooked ham, chopped
• 6 oz (or more, I usually add the whole package) mushrooms, chopped
• 1 clove (I add more, the worse breath the better!) minced garlic
• 1/4 cup butter or margerine (this is optional, as described in instructions below)
• 1 cup fat-free or low fat half and half
• 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
• 1 cup fat-free or low fat parmesean cheese

Cook pasta as directed on package and drain. Nuke up the frozen peas till not frozen anymore.

Stir-fry the ham, mushrooms and garlic in some of butter. You can use cooking spray (such as Pam) if you want to reduce the fat/calories a bit.

Stir in the half and half, egg yolks and the rest of the butter (again, you can greatly reduce the fat and calories by just omitting the butter altogether.) Cook until hot through.

Pour ham mixture over the pasta and toss with the cheese. Nom.

A Taste of Tuesday

David had a hankering for Chili this week. I've never made it from scratch before, but I figured, how hard can it be? So off I went to the grocery store to get some chili type ingredients. Right as I walked in the door, there was a big display of canned tomatoes on sale buy one, get one free. Totally cool. I picked up one of the cans and read the label. Now, keep in mind, this was just diced tomatoes -- not sauce or anything -- just chopped tomatoes -- and the ingredients list included High Fructose Corn Syrup as the third or forth ingredient. Huh?

Now, as stated in the FAQ, I am not a health food nut, I eat more than my share of junk. But the thing is, when I buy junk, I expect it to be made of junk. If I am in the mood for a Snickers bar, they could put arsenic as the first ingredient, and I would still eat it.

But when I am buying chopped tomatoes, I want chopped tomatoes, not tomatoes covered in cheap syrup that serves as a filler. I wound up buying organic canned tomatoes because they were the only ones in the store that did not contain HFCS. Yes, they were more expensive, but cost is more than just about money.

So, I spent a very long time in the store, reading every label, and eventually came home to make my baby chili. But it was very cold out, and I was whining about the weather. David said that where I was so miserable, we could call what I was making "Warmi" instead of chili. So, without further ado, here is my recipe:

Dee's Warmi

• Browned Ground beef (I used about 2.5 pounds -- better for lap band, but adjust to suit your taste)
• 2 cans organic diced tomatoes
• 1 can organic tomato sauce
• 1 can organic red kidney beans (For non-lap band peope I would suggest 2 cans of beans and less ground beef)
• Spices - I used cayanne, black and white pepper. This came out a little bland. David added salt, cilatro and more cayanne to the left overs, and it tasted better. You can also buy chili spice blends at the store, though I've never tried them.
• (Optional) Some uncooked elbow macaroni

Dump everything into a crock pot for 6-8 hours. If you choose to add the macaroni, dump it in to the crock pot (uncooked) about an hour before you want the chili to be done.

Update: It tastes even better with some wheat crackers, especially if a loved one breaks up the crackers and makes a smiley face out of them cause he knows you are grumpy due to the insanely cold weather :-)

Comments from previous blog:

(Anonymous) at 2010-01-06 15:38 (UTC) (Link)

I do read your blog!

Dee

I check your blog often--it's just that I am a lurker. I read but don't comment. And I relate so much to much of what you say. Wish I was close enough to do some of the activities with you. But not sure I would be able to. I am riding my stationary bike most days. And your blog has encouraged me to get up and move!!! And the only way I get through the boredom of riding a bike in the living room is by listening to my IPOD to songs I can sing every word with!

You are an encouragement to me and I am so glad you are a part of our family. By the way, I just copied the bread recipe and plan to make it today-- or have Amy make it :-) She has spoiled me. I seldom cook anymore. Love you, Kathy

A Taste of Tuesday

A while back, I was trying to make banana bread, but I only had 2 bananas. I looked through the fridge and found some carrots. I thought to myself, "Hey, seen one phallic shaped food, you seen them all" and I replaced the 2 other bananas with 3-4 carrots. It was really yummy. I made some other changes to the recipe over time, replaced the oil with applesauce, brown sugar with Splenda Brown Sugar Blend and threw in a few other things. So now I present to you:

Dee's Phallic Bread

Ingredients:

• Total of 5-6 phallic shaped fruit/veggies. I usually use 2 bananas and 3-4 carrots, but I think zucchini would work well too.
• 1/2 cup Egg Beaters
• Cinnamon, nutmeg to taste
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup Mott's Natural unsweetened Apple sauce
• 1 cup Splenda brown sugar blend or 1 cup brown sugar
• (optional) 1/2 cup Raisins
• (optional) 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions: Shred the carrots. Smoosh the bananas with a fork or potato masher. Add everything except the flour to the bananas and mix until smooth. Add the flour and mix until it looks mixed. Spray a glass loaf pan with Pam, and dump the mixture into it. Bake at 350 for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. (Time may vary depending on your oven -- it's much better to overcook this than undercook. Test for doneness at the 1 hour mark.)

Update: I found this actually works better as muffins, it comes out a little less dense than the bread. I baked them in the aluminum foil muffin papers for about 30 minutes. As with the bread, make sure you test for doneness.

A Taste of Tuesday

I am really not into cooking. If the world ended in a firey holocaust tomorrow, I could easily survive barricaded in a 7-11, living on coffee, Slim Jims, and Hostess Zingers. Who am I kidding here -- I don't need a holocaust, I actually HAVE spent weeks living on coffee, Slim Jims and Hostess Zingers. I wish I could say it was during my wild college days, but it was as an adult when I was just too darn lazy to cook anything else! So, to say I'm a lazy cook is an understatement. But, I do have creativity on my side and occasionally this works to my benefit.

For example, David was away last week. As he does most of the cooking now, I was feeling kind of lost and on the verge of heading out to 7-11 for old times sake. But I found a left over bowl of his White-barbeque sauce grilled chicken in the fridge. It was already chopped up, so I took a tiny bit of Smart Balance mayo, some Sargento shredded cheese, and some pecans to make a chicken salad. Bread isn't always lap-band friendly, but David had hit a sale on low-salt Ritz crackers... So I nuked up the chicken salad, and used it for dip with the ritz crackers, and that was my lunch. It was sooo yummy. So, I present to you:

Dee's Chicken Salad

• Left over cooked chicken
• Anything you find in your kitchen that looks like it might taste good (chopped apples, pecans, pumpkin seeds, raisins are all good candidates)
• Something to hold it all together. I use a little Smart Balance mayo, but barbecue sauce, cheeze whiz or Hershey's syrup would also probably work
• Some Sargento shredded cheese

Mix together, microwave until the cheese is melted (about 30-45 seconds), and dip something into it. I suppose if you are into healthy stuff, you could dip carrots or apples. I use crackers or my fingers or in a pinch, cookies.