diet cookies?

Chef D suggested I make these ginger snap cookies to share at our last bible reading group.  I like ginger...a lot.  So, it was not a hard sell.  I ended up testing out, cough, several during the cooking stages -- you know, just to ensure they were of the high standards required by our group members;)  I found them to be quite tasty with a nice, spicy kick.  I particularly enjoy the bits of candied ginger. (NOTE:  Although the recipe says to cook for 12-15 minutes, only cook them for 10 minutes or they will be hard.)

My friend, Barb, tested out a few herself during the refreshment time following our discussions.  We both have been counting calories and trying to lose some weight, so we thought that our next day weigh-ins would probably not be very pretty.

We were wrong!  We both actually dropped weight and Barb jokingly suggested it was due to those ginger snaps.  It was not hard convincing me to give it another test (I love these cookies!), and sure enough I lost another pound!  This led me to do a little googling and I found several places that said ginger was a metabolism booster.  I have no proof that these cookies make you lose weight, but I think I will keep eating them just to see (you know, for the sake of science).

rotisserie cornish game hen with sauced three-cheese ravioli and sauteed zucchini

I had the privilege again to assist Chef D with a weekend meal.  Tonight he wanted to give our new rotisserie a go with something a little different -- cornish game hens.  He used the Mimi's Sticky Chicken seasoning before putting them to cooking for about 2 1/2 hours on a low rotisserie setting.  We weren't really sure how long it would take, so we probably let them go a wee bit longer than necessary.  In the end, they weren't too overcooked, though.

He picked up some pre-made three-cheese miniature raviolis at the supermarket and used a pre-made spaghetti sauce as a base to which he added additional fresh herbs and seasonings.  

I helped by prepping the zucchini with our favorite julienne peeler.  I sauteed them in a dab of extra virgin olive oil with a bit of Mrs. Dash Table Blend and Emeril's Original Essence.  It only takes about 2 minutes since the zucchini has been cut to such small pieces.  Don't overcook!

This meal ended up being a bit on the spicy side, so we ended our meal with a little 100-calorie treat to cool down our lips.

Total calories for the meal (eating 1/2 of the hen and including the treat at the end): 635

shrimp and grits for Christmas!

One day last week Chef D suggested Shrimp and Grits for our Christmas Day meal.  He had ran into a friend from church who shared that this menu was a Christmas family tradition and that got his taste buds yearning for Shrimp and Grits.  I tracked down the friend and got her recipe and then compared it with a few others I found on the internet.    Chef D and I finally decided to use a combination of them all and create our own.  We used this recipe as a base, but adjusted it slightly by adding leeks and green bell peppers.  I left out the cheddar cheese to allow everyone to choose whether or not they wanted plain grits or cheese grits with their shrimp sauce.  In the end, I felt it definitely needed the flavor of the cheese, as shrimp sauce was kind of bland.  It was not bad, but it just was not special.  We will probably try a different recipe again someday.

I chose a family favorite, fresh fruit with mint-balsamic tea, to accompany the shrimp course.  It has been several years since I prepared this fruit salad, but it will not be that long before I make it again.  It was just as delightful as I remember.

I also decided to try out a new, easy roll.  We had these new place and bake rolls from Pillsbury -- crescent rounds.  The whole family was pleasantly surprised with their taste and texture and we will probably have them again sometime.

A few weeks ago we purchased some yummy sticky toffee pudding to serve to our Tuesday night Bible Reading group.  Chef D decided to try to recreate it using this recipe and served it for dessert.  He topped it with a little whipped topping and we were good to go...DELICIOUS.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas Day celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

a few quick reviews

As always, Sharla's Tortilla Soup was a hit on from all viewpoints. I even had one of the ladies from the potluck go back for seconds with the comment that this was the first time she had tried avocado. I love this soup and how easy it is to make.

However, the Chicken and Rice Casserole was not as big of a hit, at least on the home front. Both Chef D and I agreed that the cheese just did not fit with the flavor combinations. I will probably try it again sometime without the cheese.

Unfortunately, I loved the brownie cups way too much. Two of our fellow bible reading group members decided to bring dessert also, so I ended up with several of the brownie cups leftover...and I have very little self-control in limiting how many I eat!

birthday meal

Today was my eldest son's 11th birthday, so he got to choose our menu for the evening.  He chose ham, cinnamon rice, and pumpkin muffins. We ended up saving the muffins and giving them a dose of homemade cream cheese frosting before singing the requisite birthday serenade.  Our friends from our Bible Reading group were here to help us celebrate the momentous occasion.  

He will celebrate with his friends on Saturday night with a Game Party.

dessert egg rolls?

I used this egg roll wrapper and filling recipe as part of tonight's meal.  The boys had pizza rolls while Chef D and I had something closer to the egg roll filling in the recipe (fake crab meat in the place of the shrimp).  We ate them along with a light but hearty (because it had added rice) broth that Chef D made yesterday using some leftover wing tips not used in a batch of Mimi's Sticky Chicken wings that we took to a church potluck last night.

However, what you see on the right was our favorite egg roll filling: chocolate chips, miniature marshmallows and coconut with a light sprinkling of powdered sugar.  They were a hit!

Edited to add this very important information:  I did NOT make the egg roll wrappers from the recipe on the above linked site.  I bought egg roll wrappers.  

apple pie bites, part two

Einstein did not get one of the apple pie bites last night, so I made a small batch this afternoon to surprise him with when he gets home from school.  I used refrigerator biscuits this time instead of crescent roll dough.  The crescent rolls were so much easier to deal with since I did not have to roll them, plus they held together at the top while these biscuits did not.  But, they still tasted good (even though this version was cranberry-free)!

salmon cakes and asparagus with creamy dill sauce

This is my 50th post!  [just wanted to share that with anyone who cares]  Now, on to the business at hand.

The salmon cakes were much easier to prepare than I thought.  It just took a few moments to pulse the ingredients in the food processor then add in the salmon.   I used a 1/3 cup measuring cup to scoop it out and flatten out a bit before leaving it in the icebox until it was time to cook.  I also did a quick blanch of the asparagus and made the dill sauce in advance, so all I had to do at the end was add it together and heat up a bit.  

I really enjoyed the texture of the cakes, but Chef D and I both agreed it had a bit too much heat.  If I make this again, I will reduce the sriracha to 1/2 tablespoon.  I think this could easily be made with frozen salmon to reduce the cost.

Chef D recommended this apple pie bite recipe for our dessert after our bible reading group.  I had some crescent roll dough that needed to be used, so I used that instead of the biscuit dough.  I just rolled it out and flattened out all the perforations and cut it into 6 squares.  I also added an eggwash to the tops before baking.  They turned out great!  

salt-encrusted ribeye roast with broccoli salad with dried cranberries

I had never tried to cook beef using this salt-encrusting method.  It seemed pretty simple:  mix the salt with the water and put a layer on the bottom, put the beef on top and then pack the rest of the salt all around.  It did look strange, but I was willing to give it a try.  The recipe said it would take about an hour and a half for a rare roast, but I did not want a rare roast (although, Chef D would have!), so I put the timer on 2 hours.  After about an hour, I checked and the meat thermometer was all the way to the top!  Not good!  I couldn't imagine that it would have reached the well-done stage in just one hour.  I pulled it out and let it set for the recommended 15 minutes before removing the salt.  I checked it and it appeared to still be pink on the inside.  Whew!  I covered it with foil to keep it warm until Chef D arrived home.

Well, when he cut the meat, it was obviously well-done.  Bummer.  We ate what we could and are attempting a salvage by cutting it into thin strips and sitting with au jus in a crockpot for awhile.  I am still not sure if this method of cooking a good roast is the best choice for me.  

Einstein, one of my picky eaters, needs more protein and fiber in his diet. So, tonight I made peanut butter balls to put in his lunchbox.  I used this recipe from Family Fun, with a few adjustments.  I used less of the confectioner's sugar ( 3/4 cup) and added 1/4 cup of wheat germ.  

bb's chicken and dumplin's with a chicken salad sandwich

Since I ended up being out of town a few hours today instead of Thursday, I moved my crockpot-based meal to today.  So, today we had our family-favorite chicken and dumplings.  We had leftover chicken last night, so I made Chef D's favorite chicken salad for sandwiches on a slice of sourdough bread to have along with the dumplings.  This worked out great to stretch the meal since we ended up having two additional guests for dinner.  Everyone ate all of their dumplings (and I even sent some leftovers home

 with our guests) and the chicken salad was a success (except for a minor incident of someone sneaking their pecans out of their salad!).

Oh, my.  These Brownie Cups were delicious, according to everyone who ate them.  Of course, Chef D thought they could use a little more sugar, or at least a dollop of marshmallow cream!  He has quite the sweet tooth.

slow cooker roast beef with root vegetables

This roast beef was very easy to prepare. Just a few minutes of chopping the vegetables, seasoning the roast, and starting up the crockpot at 6:00 AM. Eleven hours later, I had a tasty, tender roast. This is what I love about cooking with a crockpot. It left me plenty of time to throw together some cornbread muffins to complete the meal as well as macaroons to serve during our bible reading group tonight.

This wasn't our favorite crockpot roast beef, and Chef D passed on the root vegetables in favor of the cornbread muffins, so I probably won't recreate this meal soon. But, it served the purpose of having a hot meal on the table for dinner. The macaroons, on the other hand, were quite good.