Red Pepper Lentil Dip
February 5, 2012 - Written by Diana
Here’s a really fast and I think pretty healthy dip. Unlike sour cream dips, legume dips fill you up faster so you’ll eat a little less of the not so good stuff. My suggestion is to start with the bean dip with veggies to leave a little less room for those fattening things. You can revisit last years dip suggestions to see healthier alternatives for your gatherings.
Lentils – are a type of legume, and are very high in proteins. They cook relatively quickly and when mashed are similar to chickpeas used for hummus. You can substitute lentils for chickpeas in your hummus, or use it instead of refried beans in your bean dip. The red lentils have more of a mild flavor and aren’t as high in protein as the dark green, but I used them because I thought they would go well with the red peppers. Use this dip for crackers, raw veggies, pita or just chips. Serve warm or cold and to keep from drying out you can pour a thin layer of oil over top …
The Healthy Way to Get Through That Superbowl Party
January 27, 2012 - Written by DianaSuperbowl and healthy eating don’t seem to go hand in hand. We associate this testosterone infected party with fried finger foods covered in cheese, things you can toss back and swallow with beer – though in my case it would be wine or a cooler. The truth is, though I bring healthier foods, there will be other things there that I should stay away from. I’m going to try and give us some great ideas to help us get through this fat laden party in the next week. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll eat some of the bad stuff, but if I fill my plate with the good stuff, and just leave a little spot here and there for the other stuff that will be okay.
Tosca Reno the queen of the Clean Eating recipe books has produced a small guide book. It’s small in size, and you can stick it in your laptop case or your briefcase to reference whenever you need a little help. Tosca calls it “JUST THE RULES: TOSCA’S GUIDE TO EATING RIGHT
Genius Choppers – Great Tools When You Have a Lot of Chopping To Do
January 25, 2012 - Written by DianaRecently I came home to baked fries, that my son made and put into the toaster oven. No oil, not deep frying, just baking and they were fantastic tasting. He decided to use the Genius Nicer Dicer to cut the potatoes into uniform size – and I think it did the trick. Since the potatoes were uniform in size, they took the same amount of time to cook and were perfect. Because he used herbs, salt and pepper, they were tasty even without the oil.
We’ve been trying out the Genius Salad Chopper and the Genius Nicer Dicer, two chopping tools that are sold on QVC. They’re mostly self contained because you can store the blades, and slicers inside the container the Chopper sits on top of. It’s both a work and serving station.
The salad chopper bowl is huge, which will come in handy when you have a really big gathering and want to serve a big group though, t’s a bit oversized for a family of four. The Salad Chopper comes with two different sized blade inserts, an insert with two graters and a cleaning tool. The …
Apple-Cabbage Slaw with Kumquat Dressing
January 20, 2012 - Written by Diana
You knew I was going to do something with that kumquat ginger syrup didn’t you? I made another chicken roast, with a side of winter vegetables and a really cool tasty Apple-Cabbage Slaw with Kumquat Dressing. A little sweet, a little vinegary, but all good. In fact, my daughter ate it and then stopped and said – “Wait, this is slaw, you tricked me.” I asked if she liked it and she said she did, but it was still slaw.
We had a full house – both of the kids were home and the fiancee was at dinner too, so I brought out the leftover kumquats for a tasting. My daughter died laughing over the name and then refused at first to eat it. She wanted to peel the skin which I said was the best part. My son and the fiance popped them in their mouths without a second thought, but my daughter really had to get herself ready. Then she was fine until the tart juice squirted in her mouth making her pucker. Later I thanked …
Introducing Kumquats + Kumquat Ginger Simple Syrup
January 15, 2012 - Written by DianaWe are smack dab in the middle of kumquat growing season which runs from November to March. This is my first new ingredient of 2012, but hopefully there are plenty more to try. Kumquats look like little oranges and have the floral orangey fragrance, but are a little different from the larger juicy oranges.
Kumquats can tolerate a low of -10, and a hot summer between 77 ° to 100 °F. Though it can stand the lower winter temps a little, it does much better with a long summer in the lower states, like Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and California producing larger and sweeter fruit.
This is my first experience with kumquats – the whole fruit is edible, though the seeds can be used to create a pectin for jamming and can be easily removed from the fruit when you are using it. The outer rind of the kumquat is floral and sweet like an orange skin, but sweeter. The inner flesh has a tart juice inside but quite tasty.
Kumquats can be eaten raw, shaved in salads and added to your favorite cocktail. You …
Chicken, Penne and Broccolini – Leftover Remix
January 11, 2012 - Written by Diana
Sometimes I am at odds with my son about dinner. If it takes too long, he won’t bother. If he has to read directions, he won’t bother. If it takes too many pots and pans, he won’t bother. This isn’t to say he’s hopeless or can’t cook. Slowly we are building up his repetoire and the meals he does cook are very delicious. My method with him is to encourage him to try to experiment by adding different vegetables and herbs to a basic recipe.
This time we took some chicken from our roast chicken the other night and added pasta, some broccolini, a few herbs, smash some galic and voila – dinner is served. This is a good college kid meal, you can change up the pasta, the veggies, substitute the oil with broth to make it a little lighter. Swap the lemon with white or red wine vinegar for a little different. We stood side by side at the stove cooking this dish. When we were done, I asked my son if he thought he …
Pinterest for Foodies
January 7, 2012 - Written by DianaPinterest is a fun new community sprouting up all over. It’s kind of a bulletin board with pretty pics of all of your favorite things. You can share photos of your favorite foods, shoes (that’s for Deb), sunsets, decor and about anything you’re interested in. Deb invited me, and I’m inviting you. If you need a pinterest invite => just drop me a line in the comments and I’ll send you an invite. I’m just starting out, so mine is mostly food. I should do a wedding one for my daughter, but I’ll probably do sunsets as well.
Etsy is really taking over the boards with all of their neat home made items. I need to ask EcoKaren how to add the button to Cookerati’s page. First you add the icon to your bookmarks – then you just drag the icon to the photo to pin it to your board. Mashable has a great instruction page.
I really think this is a great foodie tool. You can link to your favorite recipes and make them easy to find. A nice photo with …
Turkey Pumpkin Panini Or Turkey Pumpkin Wrap – Leftovers
January 1, 2012 - Written by Diana
Leftovers can be a treasure trove of deliciousness – or a burden if you don’t want to waste and don’t know what to do with it. For us it’s always a wonderful thing. The difficulty is wiring the fridge to zap my husband every time he sticks his hand in the zipped bag of turkey parts to snitch pieces. Leftover meals don’t happen if he eats all the turkey parts before you can create something. While some ideas take a lot of work, a Turkey Panini or a Wrap is really one of the easiest. It’s a step up from the regular turkey mayo on rye which is also one of my favs.
I used pumpkin puree instead of mayo or mustard in my sandwich and on the wrap, plus leftover turkey, white cheddar, some arugula (from the salad) and cranberry sauce for dipping in. This was the dinner for both my husband and me. My son is in love with wraps and all the leftovers are being rolled up as a convenient way …
Rosemary-Date Crusted Rack of Lamb – Crazy Good Stuff
December 22, 2011 - Written by Diana
Seriously, this was so delicious my husband and I were licking the crust off the bones and the bottom of the pan it was so delicious. My husband asked if I had been thinking this up all week. When we looked at the racks in the Bluescreek counter, that was when I decided what to have for our dinner. We have a night alone without kids – our last weekend night alone maybe since college break is on for both now. I wasn’t looking for romance, or a big to-do, just a nice dinner at the table alone without all the extra people. The dinner was so good, we hardly talked because we were too busy eating. Besides the rack of lamb we had potato and celery root au gratin, and really fantastic brussel sprouts. I think my husband appreciates a good meal, and enjoyed the whole thing. We both agreed, the lamb was crazy good. Lousy photo though with the IPhone – sorry.
Time to Make Those Holiday Treats!
December 17, 2011 - Written by DianaOne more week to make those treats for goodie gift bags for friends and family. I haven’t been motivated to jump into work yet, probably because my day job is still taking up my time. It’s time to dive in and start making things I know people enjoy as a nice little surprise in a treat bag.
My mom and my husband both love – Chocolate Covered Almonds. I give them a container full each, while everyone else gets a ziplock bag. This really works well if you make a few large batches and store in a big bowl until you are ready to give out.
I have a nephew that loves Chocolate Craisin Bark. If you can put together a double boiler and melt chocolate, you can do this one easily.
If you have candy molds, melting chocolate bark to make special Chocolate Candies or Lollipops in cool shapes is nice.
Robin made Candy Cookies using the pioneer woman’s idea for brownie bites and candy. Pretty tasty treats if you ask me.
Need some ideas for all of those candy canes that have showed up this season? Deb posted a few. I like to …
