Super Duper NON-Meat-Filled

After that smokey, super-duper meat-filled post this weekend, this one will be a wee bit of a contrast! Here is my second go around of Meatless Monday, documented this time because I am smart(ass).

I have been looking forward to making this for a looooong time, ever since I saw it on Janetha's blog back in December! Of course I modified the recipe a little, like any good experimentarian. I almost used my leftover kelp noodles, but decided to keep the carbs up in this one :)

Sun dried Tomato and White Bean Pasta with Pesto

A while ago, Ronzoni sent me some of their pasta to try, and I have been hooked ever since. I know that some people find the taste of whole wheat pasta a little bitter, but I love the nuttiness and grainier texture.

This dinner came together super quickly. As the pasta was boiling, I sauteed up about 1/4 of an onion. I am cutting back. Um, just kidding. Then I added a few sliced mushrooms and some fresh spinach.

Janetha's original version had chicken in it, but since it was Meatless Monday, I went with some rinsed and drained white beans for protein instead.

Of course, I couldn't go without the sun dried tomatoes--they were totally the reason I was after this recipe in the first place!

I chopped about 5 or 6 of them, and then mixed them with the cooked pasta, sauteed veggies and the other star ingredients:

Delicious basil pesto and laughing cow. Yummy. It's basilicious. That's what it says on the package! Ha ha!

Rocks my socks. Anyhow, since Dustin is out of towners this week, I decided to take advantage of my alone time and do some healthified, also meat-free baking that I knew would be non-husband approved. BUT, definitely Emily-approved! And more importantly, April-invented!
I baked up a mini loaf of April's Low Carb Sweet Bread, with just a couple of modifications, using 3 egg whites in place of egg substitute, and halving all ingredients. I also subbed in 1/4 c. quick oats for some of the ground flax seed.

Sadly, my attempt turned out a little bitter--I should have added more stevia. April's original recipe calls for 2 tsp of pure stevia extract and I just threw in two packets of NuNaturals because it was all I had. However I remedied it in a hurry by creating what else? A cottage cheese concoction!

1/2 c. lowfat cottage cheese, suncrystals, powdered peanut butter and banana slices. Dang, should have made more than half a batch!

Oh jeez, I just realized I didn't really have one original idea in this whole post--just a copy cat! Oh well. That is one thing I love about blogging is gleaning new tips and tricks from all my friends and their fantastic minds! Luckily, I have the whole rest of the week to think up some crazy kitchen experiments with D gone. Truly, I miss him terribly, but it is really fun for me to come up with things to suit my taste alone. We'll see if any of them are decent enough to make it onto the blog :) What are your favorite ways to spend your alone time?

For me, reading, calling old friends to catch up, making up exercises and watching crappy TV top the list. I even got to catch Biggest Loser tonight, which D hates! I have such a girlie crush on Jillian! She is fabulous. And Bob has nice teeth. And I think the drama is hilarious. You can tell they totally play to the camera, big time! Ok, enough now. Hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing evening. Happy Humpday tomorrow! xoxo

I Like it Spicy Part 1

I really don't like not blogging for long periods at a time. I always miss you guys! I am SO behind on my reader right now, but I promise I will catch up soon--after I wrap all my presents, mail all my cards, work an extra day this week, celebrate Christmas early with my in-laws on Friday and hit up my work holiday brunch Saturday a.m. Yikes. But I know you all know how it is this time of year...

Anyway, it seems the consensus from my last post is that Chex mix totally rocks and that most of you call that choco/peanut butter/chex combo "puppy chow" instead of "muddy buddies." Word up.

Well, inspired by all the holiday goodies of the last couple weekends in a row, I endeavored to take on some more baking as I was busy being a work widow on Saturday.

Luckily, on Friday, I received an awesome package from Rachel who represents some fun products like Mrs. Dash Seasonings, Ronzoni pasta and my all time favorite sweetener, Sun Crystals!

She was kind enough to send me all this cools stuff to review and I couldn't wait to try out a new product--Sun Crystals baking blend!

One of the reasons I love Sun Crystals so much is that it is all natural, with only two ingredients on the label list, as opposed to most sweeteners with chemical-laden lists a mile long. The Sun Crystals baking blend is no exception and still contains only cane sugar and stevia. The only difference is that the ratio of sugar to stevia is slightly higher to maintain the delicate balance required in baking.

Nutritionally, the Sun Crystals baking blend carries the same calorie count as sugar, but is twice as sweet, so only half as much is required. Unlike using liquid stevia or agave, this is in crystallized form, so it doesn't require any extra calculation or run the risk of a change in baking chemistry or texture.

I was so excited to try this new product with a version of an old favorite--gingerbread cookies! These have always been some of my favorite cookies around the holidays. I absolutely love to cut them out into different shapes and decorate them with all kinds of sprinkles and colored icings!

I have a recipe that I prefer to use from my parents' old battered (and I mean that literally--there are lots of dough and flour covered fingerprints on those pages!) Betty Crocker cookbook. I had to actually call my mom on Saturday and get the recipe from her. I have modified it just a little over the years to reduce the fat and arrange the spices more to my liking. Here it is!

Extra Spicy n' Sweet Sun Crystals Gingerbread Cookies

• 1/3 c. shortening
• 1/4 c. Sun Crystals Baking Blend
• 1/3 c. molasses
• 1/4 c. water
• 2 1/2 c. flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 tsp. ginger
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/ tsp. cloves

Cream shortening and Sun Crystals together in a large bowl. Stir in molasses and water. Add dry ingredients and all spices and mix until thoroughly combined. Dough will appear crumbly.

But all you have to do is get in there with your hands and smoosh everything together until you get a tidy little ball like so:

Wrap you little dough baby in plastic wrap and pop into the fridge for at least 1 hour to firm up.

After dough has chilled, roll out on a floured surface and cut into shapes (or non gender specific people) using a four inch cutter.

Bake cookies at 375 degrees for 6-8 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack before decorating.

**Hint** If you want to remove the fat completely from these cookies and add an extra delicious element, try subbing pumpkin puree for the entire amount of shortening. You can still roll and cut out the cookies as directed, but they turn out softer. Yum!

Since I teach Sunday school for a class of 6 -7 year olds each week, I decided to make this batch especially for them (please ignore the ugly on on the bottom--he was an extra and I didn't feel like frosting his face).

And because we're all kids at heart, I made some for all Dustin's and my siblings who came over on Sunday for dinner...

The cookies turned out beautifully with the addition of the Sun Crystals baking blend. They weren't dry or crumbly like baked goods sometimes turn out with other granulated sweeteners (I'm looking at you Splenda!!!). Plus, I felt much better about feeding this healthier, chemical-free cookie to my little class and family.

In addition to my cookie baking and funny face decorating on Saturday, D finally made it out of work in time for us to take a culinary dinner adventure.

To India! There is a place I have been dying to try for a while now called the Bombay House.

I was super pumped when Dustin agreed to go there, but a little perplexed when he kept insisting that we weren't trying it for the first time--we'd actually eaten there before.

Of course I kept insisting right back that he was crazy and I'd never been there before in my life...that is, until I stepped in the door and remembered that I had. Whoops. But I also remembered that I hadn't liked my food, the service had been terribly neglectful and slow and that I'd vowed to never return.

Well, it's a good thing I'd forgotten all that junk because we had a completely pleasant experience and I loved my food. Our order still took a little longer than my hungry little belly would have liked, but I believe it's because they actually cook everything fresh and to order. My belly can definitely wait for that!

Dustin wanted naan, and I usually don't turn down any chewy, doughy goodness myself, so I was thrilled to see a caramelized onion version on the menu. Yes, please!!

For my entree, I ordered the aloo gobi with extra veggies. Apparently that is not a common request because the server looked at me very quizzically and asked "Like potatoes?" Um no. Like carrots and stuff. Sweet. That's what I got.

I also ordered mine medium spicy, which was just about perfect. I contemplated going with the medium plus, but you have to be careful with those kinds of things or else you end up with fire coming out of your ears. So yummy I'm thinking of recreating it at home this week. Given my success with the last Indian dish I cooked, I'm really becoming a big fan--plus at home I can make it my own kind of medium (plus) spicy!

How about you guys--what type of ethnic food is your favorite to prepare or eat out? Are you a mild, medium or hot kind of gal?

You'll notice that this is Part 1, so never fear my friends! There is more nice n spicy goodness coming your way later on. Love and kisses for now! xoxo

Apples, Continued...

Well, our apple stash certainly is dwindling. And after this weekend's first snowfall of the season, we probably are down for the count...that and the fact that I have been eating them nonstop :)

Thanks to all your apple ideas, I have had tons of tasty recipes to experiment with, and this was one of my favorite suggestions. It was suggested by a sweet gal named Nina, but I don't think she has a blog of her own to link back to, so a big heaping thanks to her for this supremely seasonal Sweet Potato Apple Hash.

Based on Nina's suggestions, here's what I used:

• half a small-ish baked sweet potato
• 1 small apple, chopped
• an embarrassing amount of onion
• ~1/3 c. black beans
• chili powder, cumin, cinnamon and garlic
  

I sauteed up the onion, then added the apple and let it cook until it became a tantalizing golden brown. Mixed in the chunks of sweet potato and then added the spices. When everything started to darken a little on the edges, I stirred in my black beans and then dumped the mix over a bed of mixed greens. Topped of with a creamy cool dollop of Fage.
It was almost like a mock taco salad, and it was very delicious. I loved the crisp, juicy burst of flavor the apples offered to the dish and I thought it mellowed so well with the smoky spices and soft sweet potatoes.

More apple deliciousness, this time in the form of the world's best way to use up a $#@!load of apples. Applesauce. It's amazing. I filled up two HUGE pots to the brim with so many chopped apples that it made my head spin, and...well, you'll see how many jars I got out of all that slicing and dicing...

Because we had so many, I actually decided to try my hand at honest-to-goodness canning. It's an art-form and I'm bringin it back peeps :) Just call me Grandma Emily.

It's important to heat the jars first, and then scoop the applesauce into them while the sauce is still hot, too. That is a true adventure in not giving yourself tragic burns, so watch out.

According to my little canning guide, it's also important to get all the air bubbles out of the jar by pressing against the mush with a spatula. I had no idea if this was working because it still looked kind of bubbly. But I figured if it didn't work out and caused the jars not to seal properly, I would just have to eat it faster. Oh the horror.

the hardest thing is trying to work quickly so everything stays warm before you put it into it's big boiling bath. That way the glass kind of tempers itself and you don't end up with applesauce shrapnel all over your kitchen.
Boil for 20 minutes and voila!
Count em, baby. Seven jars. Seven. Over two hours of work and three huge grocery sacks full of apples equals seven jars. Not that I'm complaining. That is seven jars of sweet autumn bliss that I get to dig into until next year. Okay, well two, because I gave most of them away. Sigh....I am nice like that ;)

I mentioned up there that my apple hash reminded me of a taco salad. Ever since eating it, I don't know what my deal is , but I have been CRAVING taco salad in the worst possible fashion. Weird. Is there anything you have been craving recently?

Also, have any of you ever canned or done any preserving?

My mother-in-law lives in an area that is very bounteous in terms of it's local produce, and I first became interested in it when I was up there last summer and saw her and her neighbors bottling everything from peaches to asian pears to plums, grape juice, and yes, applesauce. I thought it was the coolest thing that they actually had that much of a surplus and were putting it to good use. I think I made a few comments to that effect, and sure enough, I got the whole kit n caboodle of canning supplies for my birthday last year (nevermind that I didn't have anything to actually can at that point). Thanks MIL!! Very useful :)

Speaking of being useful, don't forget to click here to send Holly some "well wishes" and over here to help Katie's cause.

Have a great day everyone! xoxo

Chipotle Shells and Black Beans

This was a recipe I cribbed from the Cooking Light web site, but as usual, I modified the bejeesus out of it, so I think it's safe to post my variation. Hubz loved this, although it was very spicy and could benefit from the addition of more cheese.

• 1 chipotle chili in adobo sauce, chopped, plus 1 tsp sauce
  
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
  
• 1/2 small onion, diced
  
• 1 tbs. flour
  
• 1/2 tsp teaspoon chili powder
• sprinkling of salt
  
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin (or more...we looooove cumin in this house, so I'm pretty generous with it)
  
• 1 1/3 cups skim milk
• 1/2 shredded cheese (like I said, it could def use more, but this was all we had at the time)
  
• 3 c. cooked leftover pasta of any kind
• 1/2 c black beans, drained
  

Spray a big pot with cooking spray and sautee the onion, adding the red pepper after about a minute. Add adobo chili, sauce, all spices and flour, cook for about one minute. Add the milk gradually, stirring constantly, and cook until the sauce thickens and becomes bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in cheese. Add cooked pasta and beans to sauce, stirring to coat. Pour mixture into a 9x9 casserole dish coated in cooking spray. Sprinkle more cheese on top and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until warmed through. Makes 3-4 servings.
We added the beans for a little protein power, but I think this would also be great with shredded chicken (and beans!), or more veggies like bell peppers and corn. This served the two of us twice, and the recipe could easily be doubled for more.