Archive for June 1, 2009

Chocolate yogurt

June 1, 2009 at 11:41 am · Filed under snacks

I love the chocolate whipped yogurt that Yoplait makes. But it’s not light or low fat and by the time they whip so much air in it is not very much yogurt for the money or for the calories.

Stonyfield Farms makes a chocolate yogurt, and though some of their yogurts are really good, their chocolate is GROSS.

So I figured there was no good way to get light chocolate yogurt… until I had a lightbulb moment.

Chocolate Yogurt

6-8 ounces low fat (or whatever you like) vanilla yogurt.
1 tsp cocoa powder (I used dark chocolate)

Mix the two ingredients. I then topped mine with a small handful of hemp granola to add some crunch.

A tablespoon of cocoa powder only has 5 calories and .5 g of fat. So a teaspoon is practically non-existant. If you find a tsp isn’t quite enough, add a bit more!

Also, if you buy yogurt in big containers you’ll save money and packaging. Just spoon out however much you want into a small plastic container, mix your chocolate, add cereal/granola/fruit if you want and take it to go with lunch!

Yum!

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Cinnamon Rolls

June 1, 2009 at 11:30 am · Filed under Uncategorized

If you’ve been around Charlotte, my sister, or me recently you’ve probably heard mention of Pioneer Woman. Her blog is an awesome mix of cooking, photography, life on a ranch, and other random musings. Of course, her recipes (and by extension her photography) are what are important here.

So here is yet another PW recipe. Truth be told, I haven’t actually made this one, but I have eaten it, so I think that counts. Charlotte made these cinnamon rolls for a brunch we had, and they were so so very amazingly great. However, they’ll kill you dead with sweetness. And this recipes makes a TON. Like, 5 pans or something? Charlotte sent us home with one pan and it took me weeks to eat them because I could only eat half a roll at a time. I think she froze some pans, too.

Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Rolls

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/cinammon_rolls_/

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Bolognese Sauce

June 1, 2009 at 11:29 am · Filed under dinner, italian

Here is another Pastor Ryan recipe.

Pastor Ryan’s Bolognese sauce

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/05/ryans-bolognese-sauce/
I made mine with Morningstar Farms veggie crumbles instead of meat, but my sister made it with meat and said it was good. So I think this is a versatile recipe that will work with fake meat, turkey, and/or beef.

I used fresh herbs in mine, too, because I had them growing on my patio.

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Roasted Ricotta Roma Tomatoes

June 1, 2009 at 11:29 am · Filed under italian, side dish, snacks

Until now most of my recipes have been tweaked enough that I wanted to repost the whole recipe. But when it comes to recipes from Pioneer Woman, they’re usually difficult to improve. Plus she takes such wonderful pictures that I it’s just a way better idea to link you to her recipes and let you see for yourself.

This recipe is actually by her friend Pastor Ryan, and man does he make good food!

Pastor Ryan’s Roasted Ricotta Roma Tomatoes

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/07/roasted-ricotta-roma-tomatoes/

I made these last week while we were at the beach. My mom was having guests over and I pulled together a quick lunch for them. Mostly it was an excuse to try this recipe. Everyone loved it. They taste like little (low carb, i bet) pizzas.

These are my new favorite appetizer, and if you invite me to any gathering in the near future I’ll probably bring some!

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THE dip

June 1, 2009 at 11:28 am · Filed under snacks

THE dip

Ahh, the dip. A party staple amongst my friends. I’m not sure exactly how it originated, JP and Breandan could probably fill us in on that. I’ve changed it a bit to suite my tastes, but it’s still close.

I’ve been waiting to post this recipe until I made it again and got a picture, but I made it for our beach trip last week and totally forgot to take a picture of it. And really, it’s pretty ugly looking, so a picture would probably deter you from making it. But this stuff is GREAT. I usually serve it with tortilla chips, but I have literally made a sandwich out of it!

Rhiannon’s version of THE dip

1 large can vegetarian baked beans
1/2 regular-sized jar salsa (maybe 4-6 ounces), I use mild, but use what you like
1/2 small block mozerella cheese, shredded
1/2 small block cheese of choice, shredded (I would use monterray jack here maybe)
1/2 small block other cheese of choice, shredded (cheddar is good)

Unlike most recipes, I have used bags of mixed cheeses to great success. If you’d rather do this, use about 1.5 cups of cheese.

Heat the beans and salsa on the stove until they are just starting to boil. Remove from heat and add the cheese a handful at a time, stirring after each addition. Supposedly stirring in a figure 8 fasion helps.

This will be liquidy to start with, though it will thicken up. It’s yummy either way!

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Chicken BBQ

June 1, 2009 at 11:06 am · Filed under dinner, photo

This is probably my most requested recipe. It’s from a crock pot book that Zach’s mom gave me years ago, though I have tweaked it a bit.

Chicken BBQ

Chicken BBQ

3 c. (somewhere around 1.5 pounds) Diced boneless cooked chicken
1/2 c. Diced onion
1.2 c. Diced green bell pepper (or any color bell pepper, really)
1/2 T. Butter
1 c. Ketchup
1/4 c. Water or chicken broth
1 T. Brown sugar
1/2 T. Vinegar
1 T. Dry mustard
1/2 T. Celery salt

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Cover. Cook on low 8 hours. Stir chicken until it shreds- this can take a LOT of stirring/mashing! Serve on buns.

Note: I usually boil the chicken and then go ahead and shred it some before I even put it in the crock pot.

Also, I have cooked this in as little as 2-3 hours on high, but it involves an arm wrenching amount of stirring to get it to shred. And it’s definitely better if you let it cook longer.

If you notice that it’s getting too dry looking, feel free to add a bit more water.

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Corn Casserole

June 1, 2009 at 11:04 am · Filed under side dish

I don’t know if this is a bread or a casserole or what. All I know is that it’s really really good. It’s not mushy like a corn pudding, but it’s not dry like corn bread tends to be. But when I think of casseroles, I think of layers, and there are no layers in sight.

This recipe actually came out of Fannie Flagg’s book “A Red Bird Christmas.”

Corn casserole

1 large can cream style corn
1 can white niblet corn
2 eggs beaten
1 stick butter
1 8 1/2 oz box Jiffy corn muffin mix
8 Oz. Sour Cream

Mix all ingredients together well. Put in 9X13 buttered baking dish. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes or until firm in the middle.

When I made it last I actually forgot to add the sour cream, and it was still good!

You can add in some grated cheddar, or top it with grated cheddar during the last few minutes of baking.

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Mostly-Fresh Vegitable Stew

June 1, 2009 at 11:03 am · Filed under dinner, lunch, photo

Sorry for the lack of pictures in today’s posts. I’ve been bad at taking them and worse at putting them on my computer. I’ll go back and add pictures later to the recipes I have pictures for.
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In the past I have always made vegetable soup from mostly canned veggies. Maybe stopping to dice an onion. But recently I have been really craving fresh veggies, and since I don’t like raw vegetables, some fresh vegetable soup seemed to be on order. It ended up a bit thicker than a soup, so we’ll call it mostly-fresh vegetable stew.

Mostly-fresh Vegetable Stew

2 tablespoons oil or butter
1/2 – 1 yellow onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, roughly diced
2 bell peppers (I used a mix of yellow, red, and green), diced
1 small zucchini, diced
1 small yellow squash, diced
1 sweet potato, roughly diced
2 cans tomato puree (you could use tomato sauce, but the puree is way better on sodium levels)
1 cup chopped spinach
1/2 cup dried lentils
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup frozen peas
at least 2 cups chicken stock
Salt, pepper, spices to taste
Shredded cheese (optional)

Heat the oil/butter on the stove and add the onion and garlic. Cook until onion is translucent and just starting to turn golden. Add the carrots and bell peppers, and cook for 5 more minutes. Add zucchini, squash, tomato puree, sweet potato, spinach, lentils, and chicken stock. Simmer on low until veggies and lentils are all tender. Add the corn and peas and heat through. Add more chicken stock if you feel it is too thick. Add spices.

I used a splash of balsamic vinegar, a bit of salt, and a bit of paprika as my spices. If I’d had more time I would’ve grabbed some fresh basil from the garden to add, as well. Then I put them in individual jars and added some shredded cheese. They were a very handy lunch.

Veggie stew

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