Sandwich Pockets

A quick calazone type recipe that's easy to throw together for lunch or dinner on the run.

Your favorite pizza crust recipe OR a tube of refrigerator biscuits

1 cup turkey (or regular) keibasa cut into small pieces

1 cup mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup Miracle Whip

2 ounces cream cheese

1 1/2 tsp deli mustard

Combine mozzarella, cream cheese, miracle Whip and mustard. Add keilbasa.

Divide dough into eight pieces and roll out into circles.* Place sausage mixture on one side of each circle, fold into half moon shape. Seal the edges. Bake for about 15 minutes at 400 degrees or until the crust turns golden brown.

These are best served right out of the oven, but are tasty cold too.

*If using refrigerator biscuits, roll them out into nice flat circles.

VARIATIONS:

• thin sliced turkey lunch meat or leftover turkey
• thin sliced ham or diced ham, substitute Swiss for mozzarella and dijon mustard for the deli

Ginger Pear Bran Muffins

A friend of mine brought these muffins to our Women's Bible Study and I fell in love and immediately asked her for the recipe. They are super healthy, too!

2 cups wheat bran

1 cup oat bran

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

2/3 cup plain yogurt

1/3 cup canola oil (I used vegetable oil because that's what I had on hand)

2/3 cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

2 cups peeled & mashed very ripe pears (about 3 pears) or 2 15-oz cans of pears, drained and mashed + 1/3 cup of the pear syrup

1/2 cup finely chopped candied ginger, preferably uncrystallized (crystallized is fine)

Place oven rack in middle of oven and heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a standard size muffin pan or line cups with paper liners .Combine wheat bran, oat bran, whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl and set aside.

Combine eggs, yogurt, canola oil, honey, and vanilla in a small bowl and mix well. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix with a rubber spatula just until combined.

Gently stir in the pears and candied ginger.

Generously fill muffin cups with batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 to 28 minutes.

Cool muffins in pan for 10 to 15 minutes, then carefully remove from pan and serve warm, or let cool on a wire rack.

Store muffins in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze. Defrost muffins at room temperature, or in the microwave if you're really in a hurry.

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Trader Joes sells bags of uncrystallized candied ginger in their dried fruit section. I used crystallized ginger from the bulk section of Fred Meyer. I also used vanilla yogurt and omitted the vanilla extract.

Basic Muffins

2 cups flour, okay to use 1 cups white, 3/4 cup whole wheat flour + 1/4 cup wheat germ

1 Tbs. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 Tbs. sugar for sweet muffins, 1 tsp. sugar for savory

1 egg slightly beaten

1 cup milk

1/4 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 375. Grease 12 muffin cups. Mix dry ingredients and then add wet ingredients until just combined. Batter will not be smooth. Spoon into muffin cups and bake for 17-22 minutes.

Sweet additions: 1/2 cup dried fruit.

Savory additions: crumbled bacon or finely chopped ham and 1/3 cup cubed cheese. I also added a few additional spices like a touch of garlic powder, thyme, and 1/8 tsp. pepper. Perfect served along side soup.

I've baked this recipe both savory and sweet now, both time with whole wheat flour/white flour combo. The muffins are fluffy, healthy, and have a nutty-buttery taste. This is a super easy and fast snack.

Raisin Oatmeal Cookie

I've been on kind of a kick lately with healthy eating and have been trying to find some good options for sweets for my family that contain fewer calories, and less sugar than the usual. I heard about a website from a friend called hungrygirl.com, in which they take a typical restaurant type foods and re-make them to a low-cal version.

This afternoon I tried the Raisin Oatmeal Cookie and I think they are pretty good. They have a nice cookie texture and are plenty sweet enough for me. The true test will be if my kids think they are just as tasty.

Note: I did make a few modifications to the recipe. I used craisins instead of raisins (just what I had on hand). I doubled the recipe to get 12 cookies (it actually ended up making 14). I used 1 packet of stevia sweetener in place of the splenda. And I used real butter, and 1 egg, instead of the butter substitute and egg beaters. This probably does up the calories a bit, but still, better than some alternatives.

Check out the website for tons of great recipe makeovers!

Granola

Yesterday I woke up thinking, "I must have granola!" Unfortunately I didn't have any granola, so I ate Cheerios and spent the day finding a recipe and going grocery shopping. Granola isn't a quick to make (takes about an hour in the oven), but it is great to have on hand for nutritious breakfasts and snacks. This recipe has wheat germ, flax meal, sunflower seeds, slivered almonds, a little sugar and honey. The smell in the house last night was intoxicating and it was everything I hoped for when I ate it for break fast this morning. I'd love to see other recipes, so please share if you have a favorite granola recipe.

Granola

Buttery Soft Pretzels

My kids love those soft pretzels from Auntie Anne's at the mall (so do I!) and these are just as good, and fun to make. Go to allrecipes.com and type in Buttery Soft Pretzels for the recipe.

Irish Bread

This recipe was given to me by my friend, Patty, from church and I am loving the ease of this bread. It is a great looking bread too and is tender and moist, even the second day. 

4 cups flour

dash of salt

2 tsp baking pwder

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups buttermilk

1/2 stick of butter (1/4 cup)

1/2 cup of sugar

approx 1 cup of raisins

1 beaten egg

Mix dry ingredients, then work in butter. Add raisins. Beat egg with buttermilk and add to dry ingredients. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 min and then 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes (I usually just set the oven to 375 and then when I put the bread in I just turn it down to 350 and bake for 50 minutes and check it to see if it needs to go any longer). These fit into small to medium loaf pans. My mom often makes 1 and a half of the recipe and makes 2 larger loaves or puts it into a round tube pan.

Pumkin Muffins

I don't know about you, but I just can't get enough pumpkin this time of year. I spotted this recipe on an old friend's blog and had to try it. (She got it from someone who got it from a restaurant in Disneyland--so it must be good). They were fantastic. I was fresh out of cream cheese (or rather, out of fresh cream cheese), so I made them plain. They are totally addictive. I don't know if anyone could resist them with the icing. I also skipped the raisins. It just seemed weird to me. Let me know how it turns out if you try the raisins. The leftovers (yeah right) freeze great too.

Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Icing

Pumpkin Muffins:
2 cups pumpkin purée (canned)
1½ cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
¾ cup canola oil
1½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ tsp. salt
1½ tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. cinnamon
¾ tsp. ground cloves
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
½ cup raisins


Preheat oven to 325ºF.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together pumpkin, sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla until well blended.
Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg over the pumpkin mixture and whisk until just blended. Over mixing may result in less tender muffins.
Fold in the raisins until consistently distributed.
Portion mixture into muffin pans and bake at 325ºF for 25 minutes.
Insert a toothpick into center of muffin and remove. If toothpick is clean, the muffins are ready. If not, allow muffins to cook an additional 1-2 minutes or until toothpick is clean.
Allow muffins to cool for 30–60 minutes.

Cream Cheese Icing:
1 cup unsalted butter
1½ cups cream cheese
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon

Allow cream cheese and butter to soften at room temperature for about an hour.
Mix cream cheese and butter together until smooth.
Add vanilla extract, powdered sugar and cinnamon, and mix until well blended.
Remove from mixer, and cover and refrigerate until needed.
Fill a pastry bag fitted with a star tip with icing.
Poke a hole into the center of each cooled muffin and squeeze icing directly into the middle of the muffin, finishing with a rosette on the top.

Chewy Granola Bars

I came across this granola bar recipe from Jr. High Home Ec. class, and started making these instead of buying granola bars. I haven't done the math but I imagine these are so much better nutritionally than store bought granola bars (they sure TASTE better) and cheaper, too. They don't last long around my house, but if I'm lucky I can put away 6 or 8 in baggies to pack in lunches. Here is the basic recipe:

4 cups rolled oats
1 cup brown sugar (I use a little less)
1/4 cup honey
1 cup melted marg. or butter
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. vanilla

Mix oats and sugar. Add melted marg. and other ingredients. Press into ungreased pan about 1/2 inch deep (8x8). Bake at 300 for about 20 minutes til lightly golden brown. Cool a bit, then cut into squares or bars.

I almost always throw in a couple small handfulls of choc. chips, and my kids really go nuts when I put in some mini m&m's. I'm thinking of trying dried fruit and nuts for more of a breakfast/snack bar. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Popcorn Crunch

A cold, windy and rainy fall day is perfect for staying indoors and making up a batch of caramel corn to munch on. I used my air popper (lots of fun for the kiddos to watch) and tried this recipe today. If you love cinnamon, this is the caramel corn for you!

3 quarts popped popcorn (I filled a really large mixing bowl full)
1 (6 1/2 oz. can mixed nuts--I left them out, only because I didn't have any)
1 pound light brown sugar
1 cup light corn syrup or maple syrup
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup water
2 t. salt
1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon

Mix popcorn and nuts in a large buttered bowl. Combine sugar, syrup, butter or margarine, water, salt and cinnamon in saucepan. Heat slowly to the boiling point, stirring until sugar melts. Cook to hard crack stage, 290 to 295 degrees (I used my candy thermometer, this took quite a few minutes).

Pour syrup in a fine stream over popcorn and nuts. Stir until popcorn and nuts are evenly coated with the syrup. Spread out on large buttered surface or waxed paper. Seperate into bite size portions with forks. Cool.

Recipe provided courtesy of The Popcorn Board.

Panzanella Salad Skewers

I made this recipe while camping last weekend. It was wonderful!

"Milk Shake"

My aunt sent me this recipe and it is my new favorite food. It is completely guilt-free. Only 2 points for Weight Watchers (which translates to less than 100 calories). It satisfies the sweet tooth and makes a delightfully different protein fix.

1/2 cup low fat milk

1/4 cup fat free plain yogurt

3/4 cup strawberries (or whatever other fruit you have around--I've tried it with blueberries, raspberries, and peaches. All were fantastic)

1/4 oz. Sugar Free vanilla pudding (about 1/4 of a small pkg. or about 1 Tablespoon)

Put it all in the blender and blend.

My made up smoothies...

I don't really make up recipes. I'm not that talented. My brother can make anything taste great off the top of his head. Me, on the other hand, I need cook books.
Recently though I have been gearing up for summer with that oh-so-tasty staple of my summer diet, the SMOOTHIE. I can make up smoothies. Here are my favorites. I don't measure the amounts, just guess.

The chocolate strawberry

1/2 a frozen banana
handful of strawberries (frozen or fresh)
plain soymilk (or real of course)
hersheys chocolate syrup


The tropical

1/2 a frozen banana
a small can of chunk pinapple (the really small ones) (in juice not syrup)
coconut milk (maybe 1/3 of the can)
orange juice

more smoothie recipes coming soon...