Where to begin... I've been having a hard time deciding how to continue the blog, now that I'm [finally] on MAINTENANCE. I think I'll continue to post a combination of Decision Free, Healthy Solutions, and Maintenance-friendly recipes, and try to include ways of making the Maintenance recipes HMR-friendly whenever possible.
So now I have the dilemma of trying to recall and record everything I've been cooking in the past few weeks. So as not to overwhelm you, gentle reader, I'll try to post only a couple dishes at a time. And maybe, just maybe, someday I'll start taking pictures of my creations. Maybe.
Maple Brown Sugar Baby Carrots
(Replicated almost exactly from a recipe found at Diet Recipes Blog)
Ingredients:
1 bag (16 oz?) baby carrots
3 Tbsp sugar-free maple syrup
1 Tbsp Sugar Twin brown sugar substitute
1/3 cup water (may need less since SF maple syrup tends to be watery to begin with)
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and simmer for about 5-8 minutes (until the carrots are crisp-tender).
3. Uncover and cook for about 5 more minutes (until the juices are reduced).
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Apple Bake
(Based on a recipe from Fatfree Vegan Recipes)
Ingredients:
1 large Gala apple, chopped
1 packet HMR Multi-Grain Cereal
1/4 cup Sugar Twin brown sugar substitute (I don't actually remember how much I used; I'm completely guessing)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg (I used 1 tsp, but it was way too strong)
1/2 cup water
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place ingredients in glass Pyrex bowl (I used the 1-quart size) that has been lightly sprayed with PAM and cover with foil.
3. Bake for about 45 minutes (until apples are soft).
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Wild Mushroom Savory Sauté
(Based on a recipe from Diet Recipes Blog)
Wild Mushroom Savory Sauté
Ingredients:
8 oz package mushrooms, cleaned and roughly chopped
1 medium onion, sliced
2 tsp minced garlic (or 2 cloves)
1 tsp dried thyme
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
Butter flavored cooking spray
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Spray a large non-stick skillet with cooking spray and bring to medium heat.
2. Add the onion and cook for about 4 minutes (until soft).
3. Add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute.
4. Add the mushrooms and thyme and sauté for about 3-5 minutes.
5. Add the red wine vinegar and raise the heat to high.
6. Cook, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes (until the mushrooms are tender and the vinegar is almost evaporated).
7. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Full recipe = approx. 3 vegetable servings
This was very good. After adding the thyme, it smelled phenomenal, and would probably taste just as delicious (if not more so) without the red wine vinegar, depending on personal preference. I like thyme more than wine, so I'll have to try omitting the vinegar next time.
Wild Mushroom Savory Sauté
Ingredients:
8 oz package mushrooms, cleaned and roughly chopped
1 medium onion, sliced
2 tsp minced garlic (or 2 cloves)
1 tsp dried thyme
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
Butter flavored cooking spray
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Spray a large non-stick skillet with cooking spray and bring to medium heat.
2. Add the onion and cook for about 4 minutes (until soft).
3. Add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute.
4. Add the mushrooms and thyme and sauté for about 3-5 minutes.
5. Add the red wine vinegar and raise the heat to high.
6. Cook, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes (until the mushrooms are tender and the vinegar is almost evaporated).
7. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Full recipe = approx. 3 vegetable servings
This was very good. After adding the thyme, it smelled phenomenal, and would probably taste just as delicious (if not more so) without the red wine vinegar, depending on personal preference. I like thyme more than wine, so I'll have to try omitting the vinegar next time.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Expecting the Unexpected
Today's entry earns its title from my dinner: two out of the three (yes, three) dishes that I prepared had results that were, as I expected, unexpected. They were expectedly unexpected.
The following recipe (which took all of my culinary prowess and kitchen expertise) came about because I needed a double entree, and since the rest of my meal seemed vaguely Italian (or at the very least not Mexican, which was my other option), I went for the Italian-inspired entrees. I thought they would go together more or less okay, but when I tasted them, it was like Walt Disney meeting Salvador Dali: each element contributing hints of their respective flavors to create something utterly new and inspired.
Chicken Ravioli Parmesan
Ingredients:
1 Chicken Pasta Parmesan HMR Entree
1 Cheese & Basil Ravioli HMR Entree
Directions:
1. Heat first entree according to packaging.
2. Heat second entree according to packaging.
3. Combine two entrees in an adequately sized bowl.
It took me longer to sing the praises of this soon-to-be frequently repeated combo than it did for me to make it (or to eat it, for that matter).
My next adventure is much closer to a legitimate recipe, being in fact based on one from A Veggie Venture. I didn't have any lemons, and rather than just using bottled lemon juice from the refrigerator, I thought I'd use fresh fruit and be creative, all at the same time. So I used an orange instead. I figured that the dish would come out palatable but weird. What I got was slightly crispy, slightly tender asparagus (roasted to perfection, in my opinion) that had been kissed with the essence of citrus, and a feast of savory, oregano-infused orange slices. Who knew?
Orange-Roasted Asparagus
Ingredients:
About 1/2 pound fresh asparagus, woody ends trimmed off
1 navel orange, sliced very thin
1 tsp dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
Zero-calorie olive oil cooking spray
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees; spray a rimmed baking sheet with olive oil spray.
2. Slice orange and arrange slices on baking sheet; put in oven for 5 minutes. While the orange slices are in the oven, cut the woody ends off the asparagus.
3. After 5 minutes, remove pan from oven. Carefully remove the orange slices and set them aside. Now put the asparagus on the baking sheet (so none is overlapping), mist lightly with olive oil spray, and sprinkle with oregano, salt, and pepper. Give the pan a good shake to make sure that everything is evenly coated, then replace the orange slices on top of the asparagus (again, none of the slices should be overlapping).
4. Return to oven for 15 minutes, shaking the pan to toss the asparagus and turning the orange slices over once halfway through.
Full recipe makes 2 vegetable servings and 1 fruit serving (I ate half and put the rest in the fridge).
The following recipe (which took all of my culinary prowess and kitchen expertise) came about because I needed a double entree, and since the rest of my meal seemed vaguely Italian (or at the very least not Mexican, which was my other option), I went for the Italian-inspired entrees. I thought they would go together more or less okay, but when I tasted them, it was like Walt Disney meeting Salvador Dali: each element contributing hints of their respective flavors to create something utterly new and inspired.
Chicken Ravioli Parmesan
Ingredients:
1 Chicken Pasta Parmesan HMR Entree
1 Cheese & Basil Ravioli HMR Entree
Directions:
1. Heat first entree according to packaging.
2. Heat second entree according to packaging.
3. Combine two entrees in an adequately sized bowl.
It took me longer to sing the praises of this soon-to-be frequently repeated combo than it did for me to make it (or to eat it, for that matter).
My next adventure is much closer to a legitimate recipe, being in fact based on one from A Veggie Venture. I didn't have any lemons, and rather than just using bottled lemon juice from the refrigerator, I thought I'd use fresh fruit and be creative, all at the same time. So I used an orange instead. I figured that the dish would come out palatable but weird. What I got was slightly crispy, slightly tender asparagus (roasted to perfection, in my opinion) that had been kissed with the essence of citrus, and a feast of savory, oregano-infused orange slices. Who knew?
Orange-Roasted Asparagus
Ingredients:
About 1/2 pound fresh asparagus, woody ends trimmed off
1 navel orange, sliced very thin
1 tsp dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
Zero-calorie olive oil cooking spray
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees; spray a rimmed baking sheet with olive oil spray.
2. Slice orange and arrange slices on baking sheet; put in oven for 5 minutes. While the orange slices are in the oven, cut the woody ends off the asparagus.
3. After 5 minutes, remove pan from oven. Carefully remove the orange slices and set them aside. Now put the asparagus on the baking sheet (so none is overlapping), mist lightly with olive oil spray, and sprinkle with oregano, salt, and pepper. Give the pan a good shake to make sure that everything is evenly coated, then replace the orange slices on top of the asparagus (again, none of the slices should be overlapping).
4. Return to oven for 15 minutes, shaking the pan to toss the asparagus and turning the orange slices over once halfway through.
Full recipe makes 2 vegetable servings and 1 fruit serving (I ate half and put the rest in the fridge).
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Burnin' Up The Stash
The produce stash, that is! I bought way more fruits and veggies than I should have at Wal-topia last weekend, and they're all on their last legs. So I used up some bananas by making more Frozen Banana Fudge Bars: I made one with vanilla 120 and cinnamon, one with vanilla 120 and 2 Tbsp PB2, one with chocolate 120 (like last time), and one with chocolate 120 and 2 Tbsp PB2. I love these and wish I could eat them every minute of every hour of every day. Delicious.
My next stash-busting activity was to use up the okra I bought by making roasted okra, but the okra appeared to have gone bad. So I roasted my elephant garlic instead, after searching for directions online. I used a bit of zero-calorie olive oil cooking spray instead of olive oil, and we were golden. I wasn't that enthused by the results, however. It still tasted kind of bitter, so I mashed it up and combined it with my one remaining entree, turkey chili, and sprinkled a little nacho cheese flavored popcorn seasoning on top. The flavor and color of the seasoning combined with the texture of the mashed garlic actually caused it to be vaguely reminiscent of the old cheese-laden (and calorie/fat laden) chili that I used to enjoy, back in the halcyon days of my youth.
Finally, I did something that can almost qualify as real cooking in order to use up my ample supply of grape tomatoes (I had so many wonderful plans for them, but alas, they grew wrinkly and gross-looking, and had to be used post-haste). I based this creation on a recipe found at Diet Recipes Blog (although some of the things that they classify as "diet" seem kind of sketchy to me).
Garlic Tomatoes
Ingredients:
8 oz grape tomatoes, halved
1-1.5 tsp minced garlic
Dried thyme to taste (I think I may have used about 1 tsp)
Salt and pepper to taste
PAM olive oil cooking spray
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees, lightly spray bottom of 9x13" glass baking dish with PAM.
2. Cut tomatoes in halve (optional, since it takes a long time to cut that many tomatoes, you can probably just leave them whole). Transfer to baking dish and give them a quick spray with PAM.
3. Sprinkle garlic and thyme over tomatoes; if you are bad at sprinkling things evenly (like me), mix them around a little with a fork or spoon. Sprinkle tomatoes with salt and pepper.
4. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until tomatoes are slightly charred (and extremely delicious).
Makes 2 servings of vegetables (Or fruits, technically...).
I used minced garlic because I wasn't sure how to execute the "squeeze the meat from the garlic cloves over the tomatoes" step in the original recipe, and dried thyme because I seldom if ever have fresh herbs in my house.
My next stash-busting activity was to use up the okra I bought by making roasted okra, but the okra appeared to have gone bad. So I roasted my elephant garlic instead, after searching for directions online. I used a bit of zero-calorie olive oil cooking spray instead of olive oil, and we were golden. I wasn't that enthused by the results, however. It still tasted kind of bitter, so I mashed it up and combined it with my one remaining entree, turkey chili, and sprinkled a little nacho cheese flavored popcorn seasoning on top. The flavor and color of the seasoning combined with the texture of the mashed garlic actually caused it to be vaguely reminiscent of the old cheese-laden (and calorie/fat laden) chili that I used to enjoy, back in the halcyon days of my youth.
Finally, I did something that can almost qualify as real cooking in order to use up my ample supply of grape tomatoes (I had so many wonderful plans for them, but alas, they grew wrinkly and gross-looking, and had to be used post-haste). I based this creation on a recipe found at Diet Recipes Blog (although some of the things that they classify as "diet" seem kind of sketchy to me).
Garlic Tomatoes
Ingredients:
8 oz grape tomatoes, halved
1-1.5 tsp minced garlic
Dried thyme to taste (I think I may have used about 1 tsp)
Salt and pepper to taste
PAM olive oil cooking spray
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees, lightly spray bottom of 9x13" glass baking dish with PAM.
2. Cut tomatoes in halve (optional, since it takes a long time to cut that many tomatoes, you can probably just leave them whole). Transfer to baking dish and give them a quick spray with PAM.
3. Sprinkle garlic and thyme over tomatoes; if you are bad at sprinkling things evenly (like me), mix them around a little with a fork or spoon. Sprinkle tomatoes with salt and pepper.
4. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until tomatoes are slightly charred (and extremely delicious).
Makes 2 servings of vegetables (Or fruits, technically...).
I used minced garlic because I wasn't sure how to execute the "squeeze the meat from the garlic cloves over the tomatoes" step in the original recipe, and dried thyme because I seldom if ever have fresh herbs in my house.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Lettuce-Free Salad
I've had the idea of strawberries with balsamic vinegar in my head for a few days now, so I threw them in this salad (it's still a salad if there's no lettuce, right?). Then I ended up using raspberry balsamic vinegar for some added fruitiness, so the strawberries wouldn't feel alienated.
Lettuce-Free Salad with Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar
Ingredients:
2 oz. each (1/2 serving) of:
-Cucumbers, sliced/chopped to desired size (peel optional)
-Asparagus, chopped
-Grape tomatoes, halved
-Strawberries, cut in quarters/eighths/whatever you like
Raspberry balsamic vinegar to taste (or regular balsamic if you don't have raspberry)
Directions:
1. Measure and cut all ingredients. Put in bowl and toss until combined.
2. Drizzle lightly with vinegar; toss again to coat evenly.
3. Refrigerate if desired, or just eat it. Equals two fruit/vegetable servings.
Lettuce-Free Salad with Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar
Ingredients:
2 oz. each (1/2 serving) of:
-Cucumbers, sliced/chopped to desired size (peel optional)
-Asparagus, chopped
-Grape tomatoes, halved
-Strawberries, cut in quarters/eighths/whatever you like
Raspberry balsamic vinegar to taste (or regular balsamic if you don't have raspberry)
Directions:
1. Measure and cut all ingredients. Put in bowl and toss until combined.
2. Drizzle lightly with vinegar; toss again to coat evenly.
3. Refrigerate if desired, or just eat it. Equals two fruit/vegetable servings.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
When did I start liking tomatoes?
I used to loathe tomatoes, especially the little individually sized portions of evil (better known as cherry or grape tomatoes). I swore that no matter how my tastes changed from eating nothing but produce and space food, I would never go to the dark side of tomato tolerance. But I have come to eat not only my own words, but tomatoes as well. And I like them.
This recipe is modified from one that I found at Karina's Kitchen, which she modified from one found at The Perfect Pantry. I opted to follow this one mostly because it called for basil instead of oregano, and I thought that, since I adore oregano and tend to use it on anything even vaguely Italian, I should give another herb a chance to shine.
Baked Grape Tomatoes with Basil
Ingredients:
30-40 grape tomatoes
3 cloves garlic (or 1.5 tsp pre-minced, refrigerated garlic)
2 tsp dried basil
Sea salt and fresh pepper (or regular salt and pepper would work fine) to taste
Olive oil zero-calorie cooking spray
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Chop tomatoes in half and place in small mixing bowl. Give them a quick spray with the olive oil spray and toss them (enough to make sure they're lightly coated).
3. Add garlic, basil, salt, and pepper; stir until tomatoes are evenly coated.
4. Pour tomatoes into a glass baking pan. You can lightly spray the pan with some olive oil spray if you'd like, but I don't think the tomatoes will stick, since they've already been sprayed.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
This recipe is modified from one that I found at Karina's Kitchen, which she modified from one found at The Perfect Pantry. I opted to follow this one mostly because it called for basil instead of oregano, and I thought that, since I adore oregano and tend to use it on anything even vaguely Italian, I should give another herb a chance to shine.
Baked Grape Tomatoes with Basil
Ingredients:
30-40 grape tomatoes
3 cloves garlic (or 1.5 tsp pre-minced, refrigerated garlic)
2 tsp dried basil
Sea salt and fresh pepper (or regular salt and pepper would work fine) to taste
Olive oil zero-calorie cooking spray
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Chop tomatoes in half and place in small mixing bowl. Give them a quick spray with the olive oil spray and toss them (enough to make sure they're lightly coated).
3. Add garlic, basil, salt, and pepper; stir until tomatoes are evenly coated.
4. Pour tomatoes into a glass baking pan. You can lightly spray the pan with some olive oil spray if you'd like, but I don't think the tomatoes will stick, since they've already been sprayed.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Chayote Squash
I've been out of town, so I haven't been able to post or cook for a while. So here's something from the archives, just to ease my tortured conscience. This is, of course, operating under the illusion that there are people who actually rely upon me updating.
Super quick and easy recipe (although if I recall, dicing the squash may have been something of a hassle), modified slightly from A Veggie Venture. I remember trying two different chayote squash recipes at the same time, and since this is the only recipe I could find, I must have liked this one better.
Chayote Squash
Super quick and easy recipe (although if I recall, dicing the squash may have been something of a hassle), modified slightly from A Veggie Venture. I remember trying two different chayote squash recipes at the same time, and since this is the only recipe I could find, I must have liked this one better.
Chayote Squash
Ingredients:
1/2 chayote squash, diced
1/4 cup water (or cooking liquid such as chicken/vegetable broth)
salt
Green onion, chopped
Directions:
1. Heat skillet on medium high; spray with olive oil (not necessary).
2. Add chayote; cook through, stirring occasionally.
3. Add water, let simmer for about 5 minutes.
4. Add chopped green onion, cook another minute, and remove from liquid.
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