Celery Snacks

I really love celery with peanut butter or cream cheese. My thighs, not so much. Reduced fat peanut butter isn't any better for you - actually it's worse. Reduced and regular have about the same calorie count, while reduced only saves you about 4 grams of fat per serving. Reduced is also loaded with sugar and contains hydrogenated vegetable oil - a primary source of trans fat. Yucky stuff! That's actually the case with many low fat or fat free foods. The fat is replaced with sugar, so just stick to the regular stuff (with most foods) and eat healthy portions.

Cream cheese isn't one of those foods where the fat is replaced with sugar. Actually, fat free cream cheese replaces the fat with more protein. Awesome! I'm not a huge fan of the taste of fat free cream cheese but if I mix it up with my peanut butter, I get a pretty tasty creation. I know. It sounds gross, right? It's really not though! Fat free cream cheese is kind of bland and really just serves as a base to your peanut butter. You still get that yummy PB flavor, but it's mellowed a little by the cream cheese and not quite as rich. Still super tasty though, and way better for you!

Celery, PB & Cream Cheese

Ingredients:

8 stalks celery, trimmed and cleaned

1 tablespoon peanut butter, creamy

3 tablespoons fat-free cream cheese

Instructions:

• Stir peanut butter and cream cheese together until it's a solid color; no more streaks
• Spread PB mixture into celery stalks.
• Enjoy!

Here's what was left of mine when I remembered to take a picture:

Serves 2. Weight Watchers Points = 2/ea

For the Love of Pizza

I've never been much of a pizza fan. My husband will ask every once in awhile if we can order some and usually I scrunch up my nose and shake my head. It's just greasy, ass-expanding, heartburn-inducing junk. Right? Maybe not. Several weeks back I got the request for pizza and I sighed and said, "why don't try to make one?" DH was really surprised but totally on board, although we had no idea what to do. I found my bread machine recipe book and it had a basic pizza dough recipe, so we got started. 

I had some plain canned tomato sauce in the pantry and a tiny can of tomato paste and I used those to make a sauce. We just happened to have mozzarella cheese too. I was really intimidated but I can't tell you how EASY it is to make a pizza from scratch. And it's so tasty. Nothing like the delivery stuff that's dripping with oil or butter or whatever it is that they use to make us fat.

Anyway, now we make pizza once every week or two and I've come up with my own dough recipe. I'm working on a sauce recipe but for now, we're still using Hunt's Sauce and Hunt's Paste. Also hoping to work on a wheat crust.

It's easy, yummy, cheap and I love to have either a seafood or meatless dinner night at least once a week, so we just use veggies when we do pizza. I don't like thin crust pizza, so the recipe below is for a 12" regular crust. If you want a thin crust, you can divide the finished dough in two and make two 12" thin crust pizzas.

Homemade Pizza Crust Dough

Ingredients:

2/3 cup + 1 tablespoon water, 80 degrees

1 tsp active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon olive oil

2 1/4 cups bread flour

1½ tsp salt

1 tablespoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions:

• Combine yeast, warm water and sugar together in a large boil (preferably the bowl to a stand mixer). Set aside for 10 minutes for yeast to proof.
• In a separate bowl, combine and stir dry ingredients: flour, salt, basil, oregano and garlic powder.
• Once 10 minutes is up and yeast is foamy, add milk, olive oil and dry ingredients to yeast mixture. If you're using a stand mixer, install the dough hook and set the mixer to low, or the next setting up, for 15 minutes. If you're going by hand, knead the dough for at least 10 minutes, preferably 15. Once you're about 5 minutes into the kneading process, check dough - if there's still extra dry ingredients that haven't been mixed in, add a tablespoon of water.
• When you've finished kneading, cover the dough with a clean, warm, damp dish towel, and set it in a warm place. Allow dough to rise 30 minutes.
• Place dough on a lightly floured surface and press/stretch dough. It's tricky and doesn't have to be perfect. Keep turning as you stretch - you may find it easier to hold the dough on one side and allow gravity to stretch, while turning the dough. I let mine stretch just a little bigger than I need, as it tends to shrink back down when I put it in the pan.
• Press dough into 12" pizza pan (we just made it into a pizza shape in the middle of a cookie sheet the first time we made one and it turned out fine). I really like to sprinkle a tablespoon of corn meal onto the pan before laying down the dough. Now you're ready for sauce!

Bread Machine Instructions:

• To your bread pan, add in this order: water, milk, oil, salt, flour, spices, sugar and yeast. Yeast should be on top, not touching any liquids.
• Set your bread machine to pizza dough setting. If pizza dough isn't available, use the dough setting, 1 pound. Most likely the rise time on a dough setting is 1 hour. You only need about 20 minutes for this pizza dough though.
• Place dough on a lightly floured surface and press/stretch dough. It's tricky and doesn't have to be perfect. Keep turning as you stretch - you may find it easier to hold the dough on one side and allow gravity to stretch, while turning the dough. I let mine stretch just a little bigger than I need, as it tends to shrink back down when I put it in the pan.
• Press dough into 12" pizza pan (we just made it into a pizza shape in the middle of a cookie sheet the first time we made one and it turned out fine). I really like to sprinkle a tablespoon of corn meal onto the pan before laying down the dough. Now you're ready for sauce!

Sauce

Ingredients:

1 can tomato sauce, 8 oz (whatever variety you prefer)

1 can tomato paste, 6 oz

Optional: 1 teaspoon minced garlic, 1 teaspoon dried basil

Instructions:

• Combine ingredients in a small saucepan, over medium/low heat, until just heated through. 

Homemade Pizza

Ingredients:
pizza crust dough in prepared pan
sauce
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
toppings of your choice


Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees (do it!)

• Spread sauce over pizza. We usually use about 2/3 of the sauce on the pizza and have some leftover for dipping crust. How much sauce you use is all about preference.
• Sprinkle cheese over pizza.
• Add your toppings
• Bake in preheated over for 20 minutes

We went with onion, tomato and basil on all and red bell pepper from our basket on half. Actually, the tomato and onion were from our basket as well. It was super delish! 

I forgot to take a picture after it was done in the oven. 
Here's how it looked before going in: 

 

Serves 4-8. Weight Watchers Points = 14/ea for 4 servings, 7/ea for 8 servings.

Super Yummy Banana Bread

It's freezing here (literally; it's 20 out with lots of ice and snow on the ground) and I have a bunch of bananas that are pretty ripe. My husband likes them a little green, as do I, and while my little likes them ripe, she can't eat half a dozen bananas in the day or so before they go bad.

I can't bare to throw away good food and it's a perfect kind of day for baking, so banana bread it is!


Super Yummy Banana Bread

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (1 stick)
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed (I use light)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 eggs, room temperature, beaten 
2 1/4 cups overripe bananas, mashed (about 5 medium bananas)

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees (do it!). Grease a 9x5" loaf pan*.
• In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In a separate bowl mix butter, brown sugar and vanilla at med/high until fluffy (about 5 minutes).
• Mix eggs and bananas to butter mixture, on low until you have a well combined batter (a minute or two).
• Slowly add flour mixture to batter, stirring gently by hand, just until moist**. Pour batter into loaf pan.
• Bake in preheated oven for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean***. Allow bread to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. I rubber spatula is helpful to slide between the loaf and pan on all sides, just to be sure your loaf doesn't stick.

*I think everyone's idea of greasing is different. I just slice a pad of butter and use a paper towel to coat the pan.
**It's very important that you don't over mix the flour mixture into the batter, otherwise you'll wind up with a dense loaf that doesn't rise as it should.  
***If your toothpick isn't clean, but your bread looks/should be done, be sure to stick a couple places to be sure you're not hitting banana.


I won't always have time for pics along the way, as my little is usually at my feet when I'm cooking, but she was down for a snooze when I was doing this, so I got camera happy.

 
There was a little beggar tugging at my pant legs so I couldn't get a clear shot of the finished loaf:

Serves 12-15. Weight Watchers Points = 7/ea for 12 servings, 6/ea for 15 servings.

Salmon, Asparagus and Baked Tomatoes

I try to put fish on the menu at least once a week. It's difficult because really good fish isn't available at my local market. I always try to buy fish from a high end market like Central Market,Whole Foods or Market Street. The difference is recognizable in the flavor, odor and appearance of the fish.

I really love the Trout and Salmon Rub from Colorado Spice but I forgot to pick some up when I went to Central Market the other day. Instead, I picked up some fresh dill and used some of the lemons from my basket. And always handy when I make fish, is my trusty fish thermometer. LOVE it!

Salmon With Lemon and Dill

Ingredients:
8 oz salmon fillet, skin on
1 tsp olive oil
2-3 sprigs of dill, rinsed clean
1-2 small lemons, sliced in rings
parchment paper (or foil) 


Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees (never skip the preheat!) and line a baking pan with parchment paper or foil.
• Rinse salmon under cold water, pat dry with a paper towel and place skin side down in pan.
• Arrange dill evenly over fillet and top with sliced lemon.
• Bake 16-20 minutes, or until fish is opaque throughout. Try your fish thermometer at about 15 minutes.
• Use a spatula to separate fish from skin. This should be pretty simple as the skin will stick to the parchment or foil and the spatula will just slide right between the skin and fish.

Here's how mine turned out:

Serves 2. Weight Watchers Points = 5/ea

Asparagus is my favorite side when serving fish, and I have a really yummy and simple recipe.


Parmesan Asparagus

Ingredients:
1 bunch of asparagus
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions:

• Fill a medium pot with water, 2/3 full. Bring to boil.
• Chop stems off asparagus, leaving only green. Add to pot and boil 3 minutes. Drain.
• Heat olive oil in a medium saute pan, at medium/low heat. 
• Add asparagus to heated oil and toss in parmesan cheese. Toss in pan until heated through.
  

Delicious:

 Serves 2-4. Weight Watchers Points = 4/ea for 2 servings or 2/ea for 4 servings

Some yummy baked tomatoes go really well with these two. They're quick, easy and delish!


Baked Tomatoes

Ingredients:
2 medium/large tomatoes* (preferably the kind that come on the vine)
parchment paper (or foil)
optional: salt, course pepper, parmesan cheese

*never store your tomatoes in the refrigerator - the cold will ruin their flavor.

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to *400 degrees (always preheat!) and line a baking pan with parchment paper or foil.
• Rinse tomatoes in cold water, shake the water off. Using a sharp knife, cut the top 1/4 off (stem side).
• Use your knife to slice down into the flesh of of the tomato, in a cross shape. Don't cut into the skin; you just want to open up the inner flesh a bit.
• Optional: Sprinkle tomatoes with salt, pepper and a little parmesan cheese.
• Place tomatoes in baking pan and place in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes. 

* I just put the tomatoes in with my fish on the rack below, which probably accounts for the long cook time of my fish. 

I did mine with salt, seasoned pepper and a little parm:

 Serves 2. Weight Watchers Points = 1/ea with parm, 0/ea without parm.
 

Everything looks really nice together, although I'm in desperate need of some new dishes. I shared this plate with my little, who loved every bite! 

Total Weight Watchers Points = 10

Baskets, Breakfast, and Soup, Oh My!

Okay, so a couple months ago I discovered the joys of joining a food co-op. I was on a couponing site, reading up on money saving tips and someone mentioned Bountiful Baskets. I was really excited to try it out. It's $15 for a basket of produce that would cost you at least $40 at the grocery store. I've contributed my $15 for the last three contribution periods and I've volunteered at the pick up site each time I've gone to pick up my basket. It's SO great! I love getting out and meeting people who are just as excited as I am about getting an awesome deal on super yummy, and healthy, food! 

I've been trying all sorts of new recipes and even creating some of my own, since joining the co-op. The thing is, you never know what you're going to get, so I typically head to the grocery store after picking up my basket, in case there's any additional produce I might need - usually it's just one thing, like onions or bell pepper; this week it was potatoes - and then the normal stuff you buy at the store. Then I head home and start planning out some meals based on the items in our basket. Here's the produce from the basket we picked up yesterday:

If you can't tell, we got romaine lettuce, mushrooms, red bell pepper, onions, kale, lemons, grapefruit, bananas, apples, mangoes and tomatoes. Actually, there were also oranges, but I traded my oranges for a couple more grapefruit since we already had a 5 lb bag of oranges at home. Just $15 for ALL of that!

The lemons were a dangerous addition to my basket as they go with super naughty breakfast/dessert that I try not to make more than a couple times a year. I just couldn't resist getting in the kitchen and making a Dutch Baby for breakfast. Yum, yum!

There are loads of recipes for this thing and I've tried a few and settled on the one below, which serves 2-4:

Dutch Baby

Ingredients:

3 eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup milk, room temperature
1/2 cup bread flour (all-purpose is fine too)
1/8 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter (Do NOT use margarine)
2 lemons, sliced into wedges
Powdered sugar

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. (You MUST preheat!) Place oven rack on the middle rack of your oven. Place a large, heavy ovenproof pan or a cast iron skillet, in the oven to heat. While the pan is heating, prepare your batter.
• In a large bowl - I like to use my stand mixer - beat the eggs until frothy. Add milk, flour, vanilla, and cinnamon. Beat for 5 minutes more - batter will be thin. Using a THICK pot holder, remove the hot pan from the oven. Add the butter, turning the pan around to melt and coat the butter.
• Carefully, pour the prepared batter into the hot pan. Immediately return the pan to the oven.
• Bake approximately 18 to 22 minutes or until puffed and golden brown.
• Remove from oven and serve immediately. Use a spatula to transfer the pancake to a serving plate.
• Top with freshly squeezed lemon juice, and a dusting of powdered sugar.  

It should look something like this:

Serves 2-4. Weight Watchers Points = 11/ea for 2 servings or 6/ea for 4 servings

Okay, so another dangerous item in our basket was the kale. As soon as I saw it I did a little happy dance because I knew that I would be using it in a yummy soup, inspired by Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana. I found this recipe and tweaked it to work with what I had on hand. Here's what I went with:

Zuppa Toscana


Ingredients:

½ - 1 lb ground Italian sausage* (mild or sweet)
½ tsp ground red pepper (cayenne)

1 large diced brown onion
2 strips of bacon, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
10 cups water
5 cubes of chicken bouillon
1 cup heavy cream
1-1 ½ lb sliced Russet potatoes, or about 4 large potatoes (1/4" chips, quartered is perfect. Skin on!)
1 bunch of kale (don't substitute here. Some recipes will tell you that swiss chard or other greens will work. They don't. It's just not the same)

 * The amount of sausage really varies on preference. Most recipes call for 1 lb but I thought it was way too much. Half to 3/4 is my preference.

Instructions:

• Saute Italian sausage and red pepper in a large pot. Transfer sausage to a bowl or storage container and refrigerate while you prepare your other ingredients.
• Using the same pan, saute bacon, onions and garlic over low-medium heat for about 15 minutes or until the onions are translucent. 
• Add water and chicken bouillon to the pot and heat until it starts to boil.
• Add potatoes and cook until soft, about 30 minutes.
• Add heavy cream and cook just until heated through.
• Stir in the sausage and serve. Add kale to the soup only once it's been served into bowls. You really don't want the kale sitting in the leftover soup once it goes in the fridge. It won't ruin it or anything but it's so much tastier if you just add fresh kale to each serving

Finished product:

Serves 6-8. Weight Watchers Points (based on 1/2 lb sausage) = 12/ea for 6 servings or 9/ea for 8 servings

 

So...

I've been taking so many pictures of all of the yummy food I've been trying my hand at, I figured I ought to start a blog. This is just a place for me to share my finds, success, failures, and reconnect with the wonderful world of blogging!

I'm also getting back into Weight Watchers so I should have a point count (based on WW's new PointsPlus Program) for just about everything I post.