Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut---Homemade Almond Joy Candy--at the Potato Ho Down!

I'm kind of annoyed about this one, but think these actually turned out really well.  When I graduated from high school, in Idaho, some twenasldfahshty years ago, a family friend gave me a little cookbook called Potato Potpourri.  Every recipe in the book has potatoes, including Almond Joy Candy Bars.  So I was all excited tonight when we had some mashed potatoes for dinner and there was just enough left for me to get out the book and make these.  Search, search, search, look, growl, search, look--no book.  I can't find it!  I don't know why I can't find it, I only have one place that I keep my cookbooks.  Sigh!  Remembering when I'd made these Almond Joy Bars before, I recalled that there really isn't too much to the recipe, so I decided to just wing it.  I think I did pretty good.  These taste great and you would NEVER know there are mashed potatoes in the coconut filling.  So simple and so good, you've got to make these for the coconut lover in your life--after all, it is Valentine's Day soon!

Here's the easy recipe.

Homemade Almond Joy Bars

1/2 cup mashed potatoes (with no seasonings)

2 cups powdered sugar

2 cups sweetened flaked coconut

pinch salt

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

24 almonds, toasted and cooled

12 oz. chocolate (I used Hershey's Special Dark-because that's what I had, I think Almond Joys are made with milk chocolate and Mounds are dark chocolate)  Use your favorite.

1 tablespoon butter or shortening

Mix together in medium sized bowl the potatoes, sugar, coconut, salt and vanilla.  Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.   Form about a tablespoon of the coconut mixture into an oval shape and  push an almond into the center.  Set the coconut mounds on a sheet or plate covered with wax paper and freeze them for another 30 minutes or so.  Melt chocolate in 20-30 second intervals in a microwave safe dish or in a double boiler on the stove then add the butter/shortening and stir until melted and smooth.  With each mound on a spoon, dip them in the chocolate and cover to coat completely.  Set them back on the wax paper and refrigerate until set.   Makes 24.

 

I prefer these with milk chocolate, but the dark chocolate is great and healthier!  ; )  You would never know there is mashed potatoes in these!

I dipped a few of them in the chocolate twice.  Kevin thought it was a bit too much, so I've saved most of them in the freezer to dip in milk chocolate. 

You gotta try these!  And hey, if you don't like the almond, leave it out and make Mounds!

Check out these Almond Joy Candy Bars and all the other potato posts and recipes at the Potato Ho Down blog.  Yummy!  Lots of good stuff, including these candies that you just have to try sometime--you'll never need to buy candy again!  Being a "lil' tater" myself (I am from Idaho!) I think this is a great spud-ly blog to turn to for all recipes and dishes with potatoes!

World Nutella Day, Celebrate With Chocolate Graham Cracker Nutella S'mores!

Hey Everybody--it's World Nutella Day!  You must celebrate with some Nutella.  If you have never had Nutella, well just shame on you.  Go get some, you just need a spoon.  No, you don't even need that, use your finger.  Just have some of the divine chocolate and hazelnut masterpiece. 

Go visit Michelle at Bleeding Espresso's blog, and Sara at Ms. Adventures in Italy, and World Nutella Day and be Nutella-ized!

Look what I did with this luscious stuff.  Hello--I only took one bite of the final product (self control--it was 9 p.m.! and can't wait to have another bite. 

Homemade Chocolate Graham Cracker Nutella S'mores

There's Nutella in there!  These "crackers" are good just plain.  But who in the WORLD would just eat them like that???

Better....but, hmmm.....something else?

A toasty little marriage made in heaven under the broiler.  SO freakin' good!   SEE----

Sharin' the love.

Amazing ooze when I took the bite.  But can you believe it, I only took the one bite!  Sigh.  I don't get up at 4:45 every morning and go workout for an hour and a half for NOTHING!

Okay, okay, I might have licked the spoon.

Wouldn't you?

Chocolate Graham Crackers, adapted from Prepared Pantry

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cups graham flour
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 cups cocoa
1/2  cup butter  (I used Smart Balance 50/50) AND 1/4 cup NUTELLA)-instead of 3/4 cup butter
1/3 cups granulated sugar (I used evaporated cane juice sugar)
1/3 cups brown sugar
3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I omitted, so not to take away from the Nutella taste I wanted)
1 large egg (I used Egg Beaters w/touch of yolk)

For the sugar topping:  (I did not do the topping, knowing these would be slathered in NUTELLA)

2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Directions

1. Mix the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl.
2. With the paddle attachment of your electric mixer, beat the cold butter until it is soft. Add the sugars and continue beating. Then add the honey, extract and egg and beat until combined.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl and beat until a fairly firm dough is made. Wrap the dough in plastic and place it in the refrigerator to chill. (Only chilled the dough for about 30 minutes.)
4. When the dough is firm enough to roll, lightly dust a countertop and a rolling pin and roll the dough to a scant 1/4-inch thick. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
5. (Cookie cutters work great and are cute and fun for these!)  Use a ruler to mark 3-inch squares. Cut into squares with a sharp knife using the ruler as a straightedge. Use a thin metal spatula to scrape the crackers from the counter. Place them on a well-greased baking sheet with a margin of space to allow for spreading. Use a fork to pierce the crackers as shown. (Definitely use a thin spatula to scrape the dough from the counter to the baking sheet.)
6. For the topping, brush the tops of the crackers with melted butter. Sprinkle the sugar over the buttered tops.
7. Bake the crackers for ten minutes or until the edges just start to brown. Remove them to a wire rack to cool.   (Made 22  3 1/2 inch hearts.)

Note--I'm not real sure the Nutella is noticeable in the crackers alone, so next time I will probably just use all butter and save the Nutella for spoons, fingers, knives, topping, etc., etc.

This post is being added to Shelly at  Cookies and Cups Smores Link Party on April 27, 2012!

Homemade Graham Crackers

I finally made homemade graham crackers for the first time and LOVED them.  I may never buy the commercial ones again--okay, well, maybe for using the crumbs to make a crust or something, but I just may have to try a crust using homemade sometime, too!  I just don't like how everything you buy has hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup and all the other stuff we can't even pronounce.

I ran across these homemade graham crackers, actually when Maria at Two Peas and Their Pod (how cute and talented is she!) posted them back in November of last year.  I had them in mind to make since then.  Taylor was up for snack at preschool a few days ago and I decided it would be a great time to finally make the graham crackers.  I made some changes to Maria's recipe, but not many.  I think it is a great homemade graham cracker.  Instead of whole wheat flour, I used some graham flour that I have and instead of sugar I used evaporated cane juice sugar.  It worked great!  Here is the recipe as I made them.  Thanks, Maria.  I can't wait to try them as S'mores sometime!  I cut mine a bit thick and may try them a little thinner next time.  I really liked the nuttiness from the graham flour.  I sprinkled them with a cinnamon/sugar mix before baking.  

HOMEMADE GRAHAM CRACKERS

1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

2 cups graham flour (whole wheat is fine)

1/4 cup evaporated cane juice sugar (regular sugar is fine)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup cold butter, cut into pieces

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon molasses

1/4 cup water (may need a little more--I used another tablespoonful)

In bowl of food processor, combine flours, sugar, salt, baking powder and cinnamon.  Pulse a few times.  Add the cold butter and pulse until texture is dry and crumbly.

In a separate bowl, mix together the honey, molasses and water.  Add to food processor and blend together until it forms a ball.  Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Roll the dough out on a well floured surface (I used all purpose).  Roll the dough out pretty thin and cut with cookie cutters or cut into rectangles.  Make fork marks in the dough.  Transfer to baking sheets lined with parchment paper (that's what I use, just a baking sheet would work fine).  You could sprinkle these with sugar or cinnamon/sugar before baking.   

Bake for 11-14 minutes until golden and crisp.  This recipe made 19  3 1/2 inch hearts.

  

Taylor wanted to be in a picture since these were for his school snack.  Silly!  Stay tuned, I made some chocolate graham crackers today--with a nutty little twist!

Parker has been home from school "sick" for the last two days.  What's up with just having a fever, that's it, nothing else?  Should he be at school?  So rather annoying because he's not really "sick".  So, we've been spending some "quality" time together.  Okay, I LOVE Parker to death.  When he was three and still not really saying very many words, we were a little concerned and had him start preschool where they worked with him a bit on speech and well, since then, he NEVER stops talking.  I mean--never.  As we were walking through the store today, he seriously never went 10 seconds without saying something, and you know, it's usually really important things like, "can I have this?" "can I have that?"............non-stop!  Enough beef about that, I really just wanted to post this picture of Parker because well, while the incident was somewhat funny, Parker concluded by saying "can you take a picture of me and put it on your blog?"

Earlier today Parker decided he wanted an apple.  I cut it up for him and told him to get a cup for it.  In one of the kitchen drawers are all sizes of cups, emptied and washed containers that had sour cream, parmesan cheese, Pringles, fruit cups, etc.  Parker happened to pick a huge apple and while I was cutting it up got a cup to put the slices in.  Of all the choices, he picked the smallest cup and was trying to carry his apples in this.  We (Parker, Taylor and I) got quite the laugh out of it.  Silly!

Does this kid look sick to you? 

After the apple incident, Taylor wanted a picture taken of him with his apple, too.  Exciting, I know.  Try homemade graham crackers!

TWD--World Peace Cookies

Yeah for cookies!  Today's Tuesday's With Dorie recipe was chosen by Jessica at cookbookhabit.  Great choice.  I've seen these cookies all over blogland and was glad to finally give them a try.  They are very chocolaty, have a nice sand and sable-ness, and I loved the little hint of salt Dorie said would be present in the cookies from using a sea salt.  They are like a super chocolaty, buttery shortbread.    I kept thinking when I saw photos of them and other's ranting about how good they are that they don't LOOK like they are "all that".  And while I'm not sure I'd say they would promote world peace because they are THAT good, I do think they are REALLY good. 

I'm a big chicken though.  I thought I'd go all out and finally try this---

Three and a half ounces of dark chocolate with chili pepper in it.  I took a little taste of the chocolate and while it really wasn't HOT, hot, I was too scared to use the whole thing as part of the five ounces of chocolate in these World Peace Cookies.  So much of a chicken that I only used ONE ounce and used 4 ounces of Hershey's Special Dark for the rest.  Well, now that I know the cookies are good, I wish I would have put the whole 3.5 ounces in because you can't even tell it's there.  Next time.   I must have made mine pretty small as I got 36 cookies when Dorie mentions only two dozen.  I stuck a bunch in the freezer.

May you have peace in your world!  Make a cookie from Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home To Yours awesome baking book.  I'm really enjoying being part of this group as we bake our way through this book.  Check out everyone else's World Peach Cookies on the TWD blogroll--I'll bet there are so good ones!  If you really want the recipe, you can get it on Jessica's blog on the link above.  But really, do I have to keep saying it every week???  Get THE book!  ; )

Peace Out!

Got  milk?

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Hey Rita!  I finally made ganache (hello, SO easy!) for the first time for something and had a little leftover and made a few delicious truffles!   I knew you'd be proud!  ; )

My Little Cowboys!

Yesterday was Kansas Day.  I don't remember when I was growing up (a LONG time ago) ever celebrating Idaho Day or Colorado Day or any other state day in places I've lived, but having kids in school here in Kansas, a pretty big deal is made every January 29 in honor of Kansas Day.  The kids learn all kinds of interesting things about the state and about famous people from here.  In preschool, Taylor's school had a fun western dress up day in honor of this great state and its history.  They have a little feast of things like hot dogs, crackers and such and do some fun activities.

I don't consider myself any kind of a country western kind of gal, but THIS is one dang cute cowboy!

Yesterday--------------------------------------------------------Last year, still pretty darn cute!

That little cutie has a pard'ner---------------

 

Ya'll come back now, ya hear?!

Hey, Grandma, Sam wanted to tell you that he is such a big boy he doesn't have bah-bahs anymore! (finally)  He got to go pick out two new sippy cups today.

He's been such a trooper about it and though he still wants one, is doing really well.  Even when we put him to bed and naps, he just cries for a very short time.  We're so happy about this.  And (knock on wood!) he's been sleeping all night until we actually wake him up at 8 o'clock  to eat breakfast with everyone before the boys go to school. 

Yeah for Sammie! 

TWD--Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread

Tuesday's With Dorie this week was chosen by Heather of Sherry Trifle and she chose Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread, pgs. 212-213 in Baking From My Home To Yours.  This was a good one!

But--I actually changed a lot of things about the recipe because I know that a lot of ingredients could be changed to make this gingerbread lower in fat and just a little healthier.  So--get Dorie's exact recipe from Heather's blog and here's the recipe as I made it.

Chocolate Gingerbread Cake, adapted from Dorie Greenspan by Katrina

2 tablespoons finely chopped peeled fresh ginger

1 tablespoon sugar

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground ginger

a few shakes of pumpkin pie spice (I ran out of ginger!)

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

5 tablespoon 50/50 Blend Smart Balance Butter, unsalted

6 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce

3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

3/4 cup Egg Beaters w/touch of yolk

1/4 cup molasses

1/4 cup agave nectar (I didn't have enough molasses and the agave worked great!)

6 ounces Hershey's Special dark chocolate, 2 oz. melted & cooled, 4 oz. finely chopped

1 cup low fat buttermilk

Icing

3 ounces Hershey's Special dark chocolate , chopped

3 tablespoons 50/50 Smart Balance Butter, unsalted

3 tablespoons powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray silicone rose-shaped bundt pan with cooking spray (any 9x9-ish pan will work). 

Put the freshly grated ginger and sugar  in a small bowl and set aside.

Whisk the flours, baking soda and spices together.   Set aside.  In bowl of electric mixer, combine butter, applesauce and sugar and beat well.  Add Egg Beaters a little at a time and beat well for one minute.  Scrape sides of bowl.  Add molasses and agave nectar and beat until smooth.  With mixer on low, add the melted chocolate and the sugared ginger.  Then add the dry ingredients in three increments along with the buttermilk in two additions (ending with the dry ingredients).  Mix just until incorporated.  Fold in the chopped chocolate.  Pour batter into pan. 

Bake for 40-50 minutes until knife inserted into center comes out clean.  Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes, then unmold the cake. 

For the icing, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water.  When melted, remove from heat and using a whisk, add the butter one tablespoon at a time.  Sift the powdered sugar over the chocolate and stir in.  Let sit for 10 minutes.  Ice the gingerbread.

  

I didn't want to have too much batter in the bundt pan, so I made five cupcakes.  Baked them for 14 minutes.  They turned out great.

It is advised when making gingerbread that you check how much ground ginger you have left.  I'm just saying, you might want to check.  Another thing I suggest--how much molasses DO you have?  And as for bittersweet chocolate--I learned when I made Dorie's chocolate cupcakes last October, that bittersweet chocolate just isn't sweet enough for me, so I used Hershey's Special dark chocolate in this recipe.  The cake turned out moist and dense and flavorful with all the changes I made.  Baking it in the silicone bundt pan made for a fun, pretty cake, but I kept testing that thing from the time it had baked for 40 minutes until about 60 minutes before the knife really came out clean.  And with every extra minute, I could tell the edges were baking up nice and toasty and knew I wasn't going to be able to trim off the edges as Dorie suggested with the 9x9 pan.  So, all the little nooks and crannies of edges are a little--crunchy I guess and the rest is great.  I actually don't mind the edges, so it's all good.  I loved the flavor of this gingerbread.  Next time I make it, I already have more ground ginger and the fresh stuff tucked away in the freezer where it is supposed to last.  I'm happy about the changes I made and thanks Heather for this week's great pick!

 

If you can't tell, I drizzled the icing on after putting it in a plastic bag and snipping a little off the corner.

A lot of people on the problems and questions boards were saying they thought the cake was even better the next day, but I loved it fresh and it seemed a little more dry the next day.  It won't stop me from eating little slices of it here and there--after all, I made it healthy, right!  ; )

Some Cookies with Agave Nectar, Barney Butter and Other Good Stuff

Time for cookies!   Anna recently posted a link on Cookie Madness to a sight with tons and tons of recipes that use agave nectar in place of sugar.  Agave is a  sweetener that is low glycemic, all natural, and you use only 1/3 cup in place of 1 cup of sugar.  It is almost like the consistency of honey, but not quite as thick or sticky.  I have been trying to find ways to use it and so has Anna. 

I was also recently able to purchase some much-talked-about  Barney Butter (a great almond butter!) and set out to find a cookie recipe to use both the agave and Barney Butter.  After searching the link Anna provided, I chose this recipe for some chocolate chip cookies.  You can get that recipe, but I changed quite a bit of things, so here are the cookies I made.  My recent discovery of using pureed beans in place of fat in baked goods also prompted me to try a little in these cookies.  (You can puree a whole can of beans--black for things like brownies and any white beans for things like cookies--basically you just match the color of what you're going to make with the color of beans.  You can add a whole can with the liquid included to a food processor and process until smooth, but I rinsed and drained the white beans and just added a little water as needed to make a smooth puree, I think it only took about 2 tablespoons of water for the whole can.) 

Barney Butter Chocolate Almond Cookies (with agave)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

2 tablespoons white bean puree

1/4 cup Barney Butter (I used smooth)

1/4 cup agave nectar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons Egg Beaters with a touch of yolk (or 1/2 an egg)

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

3 oz. Hershey's Milk Chocolate w/Almonds bar, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper.  Set aside. 

Combine butter, bean puree, Barney Butter, agave nectar and brown sugar in bowl of mixer and beat until light and fluffy.  Add egg and vanilla and mix well.  Add baking soda, salt and flours and mix just until combined.  Stir in chopped chocolate.  Scoop dough in balls onto baking sheet.  (I used a small scoop, 3/4 to 5/8 oz.)  Bake for 9 to 11 minutes.  Cool a few minutes on the baking sheet, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.

These aren't cakey, but soft and sturdy and full of great almond flavor, chocolate and nutrition! (Use a dark chocolate and some chopped almonds to make them even better for you!)  Stay tuned for more cookies! 

TWD--Berry Surprise Cake

Our chosen recipe this week for Tuesday's With Dorie from Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home To Yours was for Berry Surprise Cake and it was chosen by Mary Ann of Meet Me in the Kitchen.

The cake wasn't my favorite.  Just didn't care for the taste, it was too egg-y, BUT I am happy to say that I followed Dorie's suggestions in the recipe to a T and many complained on the TWD questions and problems board that their cakes sunk in the middle, but mine didn't really.  It did just a little bit, but otherwise was spared the crater!  PRETEND that you don't see the flour on the top of the cake.  I know that others mentioned having some unmixed flour in their cake batter, but wanting to be ever so careful folding it in to the delicate beaten eggs, I chose to not overmix and did have a bit of the flour still there.  I'm kind of bummed that the cake just didn't wow me, because the rest did.  Mostly.

I liked the cream filling with the cream cheese.  I did add a little extra sugar to it as many also mentioned it wasn't sweet enough and it definitely needed more sweet to it.  Then, I spent a little bit of an arm and bought fresh raspberries--but THAT was the best part of this.  Loved the hidden fresh berries!  I would totally do this again, but use a different cake recipe.  Also, having grown up on good ol' Cool Whip and not real whipped cream, I just don't care for the real stuff.  I know, I know--no one hate me, please.  But I did use real cream for the filling, but wasn't about to "frost" the entire cake in whipped cream. 

  

So I did this.

I piped some more of the filling around the top and added a few raspberries and called it good.  It was oozing with filling inside and I thought it was plenty.  Not to mention the little hidden treasures.

All in all, it was just okay.  I'm glad I made it, I really almost just skipped this week as Kevin just doesn't like cake, but I wanted to "see" if I could do it.  We had some friends over tonight and it got eaten up and everyone liked it.  I'm glad I bought the raspberries.  Thanks for picking this one, Mary Ann.  I'm sure I'd have never flipped through the book and chose it and it was fun to try a cake like this that I hadn't made before.

A Great Chewy Oatmeal Cookie

Yesterday, Anna at Cookie Madness posted an article in The Olympian newspaper about an Alaska Airlines pilot who made some oatmeal cookies and brought a box full on a flight and shared them with those on the flight.   It talked about how the flight attendants were so excited about these cookies, because apparently they had had them before and they're good!  I must say, having flown on Midwest Airlines where they bake and serve fresh, warm chocolate chip cookies, this article caught my eye.  There really is nothing like feeling special  as a flying customer by getting fresh cookies while flying!  Well, this Alaska Airlines pilot makes some darn good oatmeal cookies and brings them on his flights.  He also gives out the recipe!  I was in an oatmealy mood, so I decided to make these, but by the time I'd finished, I changed things quite a bit!  The main ingredients are the same as the pilot's, so I am definitely crediting him.  This is a perfectly crisp and chewy oatmeal cookie with lots of good things inside!  Instead of just raisins and walnuts (which I LOVE), I made a few other changes as I was digging through my baking cupboard and finding things that needed to be used--some coconut,  Hershey's cinnamon chips, some Hershey's Premier White Baking Chips.  Here's the recipe from the Alaska Airline pilot and the changes I made are in italics.  I also only made half a recipe.

Alaska Airlines Pilot Oatmeal Cookies, adapted (you can get his full recipe on the link above)

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract   (1 teaspoon pure coconut flavoring--I was out of vanilla)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour (1/2 cup whole wheat flour, 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg (omitted)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup walnuts, toasted, crushed finely

1 cup walnuts, toasted, barely chopped

1 cup raisins (omitted)

1  1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

(1/4 cup sweetened, coconut flakes)

(1/4 cup Hershey's cinnamon chips)

(1/2 cup Hershey's Premier White Baking Chips)

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Beat butter and sugars until creamy.  Add egg and vanilla (coconut flavoring) and beat well.  Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and mix together.  Add oats, raisins, nuts and any other mix-ins and stir to combine.  Bake on parchment lined baking sheets for 11 minutes.  Makes about 2 dozen cookies, depending on size.

My Chock Full of Veggies Lasagna and Summer-y Blackberry Bars

Tonight for dinner I made my signature dish--LASAGNA.  I've been making this for years and it is often the meal I make for special occasions, company and when I just really feel like indulging.  BUT, it's made pretty darn healthy and you'd never know it!

Once again though, I don't follow a recipe and this lasagna still comes out SO GOOD every time!  (It's gotta be because I NEVER put onions in it! ; )  I always use different amounts of veggies and such, so this is just estimates of what I used today.

Katrina's Chock Full Of Veggies Lasagna

1/4 lb. lean ground beef (93% fat free, usually, I only ever buy 90% fat free or better)

green pepper, chopped (about 3/4 of a pepper)

mini baby carrots, chopped, about 1 cup

zucchini, chopped, 1 medium

yellow squash, chopped, 2 small

mushrooms, chopped, about 1 cup

celery, chopped, 2 small stalks

3 garlic cloves, minced

onion powder (okay, I usually put a little in, but powder only)

1--28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

1--15 oz. Italian chopped tomatoes

oregano, dried, to taste (about 2 teaspoons)

basil, dried, to taste (about 1-2 teaspoons)  I always use fresh in the summer!

1-2 teaspoons sugar (this cuts the acidity of the tomatoes)

salt and pepper to taste

a little ground red pepper (or flakes)

fat free cottage cheese, about 1  1/2 cups

1/4 cup Egg Beaters w/touch of yolk

Kraft 2% milk mozzarella cheese, about 1 cup, shredded

parmesan cheese, shredded, about 1/4 cup

whole wheat lasagna noodles, about 12 noodles (some think you have to precook the noodles--I never have done that and the noodles always cook just fine in the oven--stop wasting time boiling the noodles first!)

Brown the ground beef, set aside.  Chop all the veggies.  (I LOVE THE VIDALIA ONION CHOP WIZARD (See my post about THE WIZARD CHOPPER)--sure made all the chopping a breeze!--Thanks again, Mom and Dad!)

Saute in olive oil the peppers, carrots and celery (onion, if you must) for 3-5 minutes, then add the rest-zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms and saute another 3-5 minutes until soft, but not too much.   Scoot some of the veggies aside, add a little more oil and the garlic and saute for 30 seconds to a minute.  Stir all together.  I usually move the veggies to a pot instead of a saute pan at this point and add the tomatoes, ground beef, spices, and sugar and let it simmer for 5-10 minutes.  During this time, I put the cottage cheese in the food processor and pulse it up until it looks just like ricotta cheese!  Add a good half of the mozzarella cheese and the Egg Beater and pulse a few times. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Assemble the lasagna in a 9x13 pan.  Layer ingredients, beginning with sauce spread on bottom of pan, then lay pasta over the sauce, spread cottage cheese mixture over noodles and begin layers again--sauce, pasta, cheese mixture.  After the third layer, end with sauce, then sprinkle remaining mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese on top.  Cover with foil and bake for 40-50 minutes, remove foil and bake another 10 minutes.  Let set for 5-10 minutes to cool slightly.  Serve.

 

The corner pieces are my favorite, cheesy-gooey-saucy-flavorful-and HEALTHY! 

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Dessert--I made these yesterday and unfortunately didn't take the greatest pictures, the color/lighting was off, but this is actually quite good.  I got some blackberries at $1 a pint recently (Love those winter sales on summer fruits!) and decided to find something to make with them.  I found this recipe at About.com (Southern Food).  It is simple and more flavorful than I thought it would be.  It is almost more of a cake than bars, but there is a surprise streusel type layer on the bottom.

Blackberry Bars, adapted from About, Southern Food

1 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup sour cream (I use light)

1/4 cup Egg Beaters with touch of yolk (or 1 large egg)

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup fresh blackberries (these were huge, so I chopped them a little)

Combine flour and brown sugar, cut in butter with pastry blender--wait-as I was doing that, I decided a few pulses in the food processor would be much easier.  Pulse to combine in food processor.  Press 1  1/3 cups of mixture in bottom of an ungreased 8 inch pan (I used a round cake pan), a square pan works, too.  Combine remaining  crumb mixture, sour cream, egg, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla.  Mix together until combined.  Stir in blackberries.  Spoon over crust and spread evenly.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Cool on wire rack.

 

The recipe said to sprinkle with powdered sugar, but I thought that seemed a little boring.  So I made a glaze with some blackberries that I stuck in the microwave for about 20 seconds.  Then I mashed them with a fork and added about 3/4 cup powdered sugar, a pinch of salt and about 1/4 teaspoon vanilla.  Stirred together well and drizzled on the "bars".  Mmmm, good!  (Again, sorry about the color of the photo, it's not bad, but just off a little.)

A Couple of Darn Good Cookies and "The" Chicken Black Bean Tortilla Bake

I'd better start with the taco "casserole" I made and showed a picture of with my TWD corn muffins, as many seem to want the "recipe".  Well, I'm sorry to tell you that there is NO recipe.  A LOT of the things I make for dinner are made up as I go along.  This was one of those dishes.  But because I care about ya'll so much, I'll see what I can do---Here's is about what I did.  This is the only picture of it I took.

Chicken Black Bean Tortilla Bake (this is all estimations)

2 large chicken breast, cooked and shredded

1/2 cup black beans (canned), you can use more, but that's just some leftover I had

1/2 cup green pepper, diced

1/2 cup red pepper, diced

2 large garlic cloves (you can chop up and onion, too, but I hate onions!)

1  15 oz. can of crushed tomatoes

1  8 oz. can of tomato sauce (***The "bake" was actually a tad dry, and I wish I'd have used another 15 oz. can of crushed tomatoes)

1 teaspoon onion powder (omit if adding chopped onion)

a lot of chili powder (1-2 T.???--to taste)

cumin (1 T.???--to taste)

some dried oregano (1/4-1/2 teaspoon???)  See, I just never measure stuff!

I think I also added some ground coriander (1/2 t.???)

a few shakes of cayenne powder

some chopped cilantro (1/4 cup???)

salt and pepper to taste

Kraft 2% Milk cheddar and mozzarella cheese, shredded,  1 cup of each???

tortilla chips  (about half a bag or so)

garnishes--chopped tomato, chopped olives, chopped avocado, chopped cilantro, sour cream, salsa, taco sauce--what do you like on tacos?

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cook chicken and shred or chop (I had cooked four frozen chicken breasts in the crockpot about 6 hours-they were plenty done, used two for this.)  Set aside.  In skillet or Dutch oven, saute (onion) :(, peppers and garlic  in a small amount of olive oil.  Add canned tomatoes, sauce and spices--to taste.  I like to taste it with a tortilla chip.  Add chicken and beans to sauce and continue to simmer on med-low while you get everything else ready--cheese, chips, chicken, a 9x13 pan, sprayed lightly with cooking spray.

Assemble like you would a lasagna--start with some of the sauce on the bottom of the pan.  Add tortilla chips, crushed slightly, then some of both cheeses.  Layer again with more sauce/chicken mixture, then chips, cheese and any remaining sauce.  End with cheese.  Bake in oven for 30 minutes or so.  I put the tomato, olives and cilantro over the whole thing and served each serving with each person deciding what else they want--sour cream, avocado, salsa, etc.

***Again, this wasn't quite as "saucy" as I would have liked, so maybe use 2  15 oz. cans of tomato (you can use all sauce or diced/crushed tomatoes, whatever you'd like)  Still the flavor of this and all the chicken in it this was perfect.  I really just make things like this as I go along and to taste.  You can too!  ;)

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I've made some cookies over the last few days, but wait, they're pretty healthy!  You gotta try these!  First up, once again, Anna at Cookie Madness has found a great cookie!  She made and shared these on her blog on the first day of the year and I've wanted to make them since.  SO glad I finally tried them and so is Kevin.  He isn't much of a critic with my cooking/baking, he eats super fast and whenever I ask how things tasted he will just shrug his shoulder or say it was fine or good.  That's about all I get from him.  I often tease him that he doesn't take time to really "taste" food.  I do love that he almost always tells me after dinner, "thank you for making dinner, it was good."  And he has taught the boys to be thankful for all my work so they can eat as well.  It is nice to be thanked for my time.  Anyway, got a little off track there. 

After I made these Pecan Chewies yesterday, and Kevin tasted a few, he went on and on about how good they are.  He said he loved the crisp outside and the inside was like a perfect brownie, fudgy and perfectly chewy.  We had some friends over last night and he even convince our picky eater friend to have a few cookies and he even liked them (that's saying a lot!--Hi, Bob!)  Even later, Kevin announced to me that he could seriously eat all those cookies, they are that good and he said these could out do his favorite cookie, Snickerdoodles.    That's saying a lot coming from someone who never really has much to say about things I bake, and I often really want his opinion about things.  So, glad you love them, Kev!

They are GREAT, addicting, simple and even pretty low fat!  Here's the recipe from Anna's blog, but go check hers out on the link above and read what she had to say about them!  I almost followed her recipe to a tee, but accidentally forgot the vanilla!  And I toasted my pecans in the microwave on a plate, for about two minutes, turning them after one minute.   I baked mine 14 minutes exactly and she suggests 15-18 minutes. 

Pecan Chewies

2 1/4 cups powdered sugar, lightly packed
6 tablespoons unsweetened natural cocoa powder
2 tablespoons all purpose flour (.7 oz/16 grams)
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 large egg whites, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups toasted and finely chopped pecans (8 oz)**
1 1/2 oz finely grated or chopped dark or bittersweet chocolate (I used some Hershey's special dark)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Stir powdered sugar, cocoa powder, flour and salt together in a bowl

Place egg whites in bowl of a stand mixer and beat just until foamy. Gradually add sugar mixture, scraping sides of bowl so that all of it is added to the whites. Add vanilla. Increase mixer speed to high and beat for about a minute and a half. Mixture will thicken slightly, but it will not be light and fluffy like meringue. Stir in nuts and chocolate.

Drop the dough onto the baking sheets by rounded tablespoons, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies on the middle rack for 15 -18 minutes or until dry on the surface. Slide the cookies, still attached to the parchment onto a wire rack. Let cool completely, then carefully peel the cookies from the parchment.

Store cookies in an airtight container or freeze.

Makes about 2 dozen (sometimes I get fewer).  *I got 28 cookies!

**To toast, spread pecans on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until they become fragrant and release their oils. Cool completely before chopping.

You won't know how good these are until you try them!  And you need to!   Besides some sugar, these just have egg whites (I had some egg whites frozen in the freezer and they thawed beautifully), a little flour, cocoa powder (which is full of antioxidants and fiber!), a little dark chocolate (also full of antioxidants!) and pecans (nuts are a good fat in limited quantity).  See, not bad on the "bad-for-you" cookie scale!  Kevin's new favorite cookie!  Thanks you, Anna!

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Copy, copy, copy, sometimes I feel like my seven year old, Parker, always trying to copy Scott, my 10 year old, and do just as he does.  Parker does this A LOT, every little thing he can do to be and do just as Scott does, even down to not deciding on his own which cereal to have until Scott decides or honey or jam with his peanut butter.  Anyway, Anna is such an amazing cookie baker, as I aspire to be and she comes up with some GREAT recipes.  She did it again and I told her I'd make these, especially because they are somewhat healthy and I'm trying to eat healthier, but just can't give up baking!  THESE COOKIES ARE REALLY GOOD--with the whole wheat flour and the extra boost from added protein, that and besides a little butter,  they are low in fat (peanut butter doesn't count, it's a good fat!) and sugar.  So, if you need/want a treat, but still want some nutrition in that treat, you've got to make these!  Check out Anna's post about them on her link below as she gives nutrition information and a great write up and picture of her cookies! Once again, thanks, Anna.

Stir & Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies, by Anna at Cookie Madness, the few changes I made are in italics

1/2 cup white whole wheat flour (2.25 oz) – all purpose okay too--I used the white whole wheat
1/4 cup protein powder — I used soy protein
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons unsalted butter — room temperature
2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
5 tablespoons turbinado sugar **
1 tablespoon molasses
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg --I used 1/4 cup Egg Beaters w/touch of yolk
1/4 cup peanut butter (a not-too-sweet type like Smart Balance) I used 2 T. Smuckers Natural and 2 T. Naturally More Peanut Butter (my favorite, but I'm almost out!)
1/2 cup chocolate chips –

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 1 or 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Mix the flour, protein powder, salt & baking soda together in a bowl; set aside.

Beat the butter, applesauce, sugar, molasses, vanilla and peanut butter together in a second bowl. Stir in the egg. I do this all with a spoon.

Add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture and stir until blended. Add the chocolate chips and stir. Scoop up tablespoons of dough and shape them into neat rounds. If you don’t want to bake all the dough at once, just scoop up what you need and chill the rest. The cookies don’t spread much or change shape much, so try to make the mounds of dough look nice rather than scruffy.

Fit the mounds onto one or two cookie sheets. Bake for 12 minutes or until cookies appear set. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. These taste good after they’ve cooled. They’re not very good while still hot.

Makes 12 cookies

**Turbinado sugar works very well, but I think packed brown sugar would work well too. Evaporated cane juice would also be a good choice. I also think it might be fun to swap agave syrup for the molasses or use almond butter in place of peanut butter.

Anna mentioned that these don't spread out much, so I decided to flatten these with a fork as is done with traditional peanut butter cookies, I also sprinkled them with just a tiny bit of turbinado sugar.

Sam loves Bob!  If he hears Tes' name (Bob's wife), he goes crazy saying "Bob, Bob, Bob".  If I tell him we need to get ready for church, "Bob, Bob, Bob."  Every Monday night, Bob and Tes come over for Family Night with us.  If I remind Sam that it's Family Night, he goes crazy saying, "Bob, Bob, Bob."  When he's playing on a toy phone, "Bob, blah, blah, blah, Bob...." and even when our phone rings, "Bob."  We all love you, too, Bob--AND TES!

Singing "Do As I'm Doing" for Family Night (it's an action song)