I am a bad, bad blogger.

Vacation, destination wedding, birthday party planning leaves no time for blogging, or cooking even, for that matter.  But I'm back.

Now, to your regularly scheduled blog.

Let's see.  I think I photographed what I made for dinner last night.

White Bean Burgers


1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp oil
1 cup great northern beans
1/3 cup quick cooking oats
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Lawrys to taste

In a large skillet, saute onion and garlic in oil for about 5 minutes or until soft, then set aside. In a large bowl, mash beans with a fork. Be sure to mash most of the beans until a paste forms, leaving some whole beans are okay. Add oats and seasonings to beans. Add onions and garlic to mixture. Mix until well combined. Allow mixture to rest in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, the mixture can be left overnight or up to 3 days. Divide bean mixture into 4 equal balls. With hands, shape mixture into patties about 3 inches around and 1/2 inch thick. To cook patties, bake in 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes, turning once. Or, place 1 tsp oil in large skillet over medium heat. Place patties into pan and cook for about 5 minutes. Turn patties and cook an additional 5 minutes, or until patties are browned on both sides. Serve patties on hamburger buns with desired toppings. 












I added a wedge of light Laughing Cow cheese to melt on top.  Goooood.  I had two 'burgers' and skipped the bun.


Today's breakfast needed to be substantial, because I have a big day ahead, trying to get my house together and the menu started for my daughter's 4th birthday part this Sunday.  Of course, I've bitten off more than I can chew.   And I'll probably have more food than my guests will be able to eat.  I always overdo it....


Anyway, back to breakfast.


Ricotta pancakes.  Which I have no recipe for, but could probably use one.  Mine are simply a tub of ricotta, a couple tablespoons of flour, and some egg beaters.  Today, I also added a few drops of orange extract, because I had some in the pantry.

They start out looking like pancakes, but never solidify properly.  

Mine sort of look like scrambled eggs, in the end.  But I do like their flavor.   And, because my Mother-in-law grows figs, I happened to have, oh, about three thousand of them in my fridge.  So I cooked them down, for a fruity topping.


This many figs:

Only makes this much topping:

I added a teaspoon of sugar, but probably shouldn't have.  It was overly sweet.  I'm batting a thousand today.  And here, is how I made my bacon.  In fact, I would never make bacon on the stovetop in a frying pan again, now that I've discovered this way to cook bacon to perfection.


The oven!

They lie flat, don't splatter, and cook evenly.  Granted, this is turkey bacon, which isn't known for splattering.  But it's still an easier option for me.  Notice, I lie mine on a cooling sheet first, out of habit, for drainage.  Wasn't necessary.


Finished plate:

I am FULL.  :)

Frozen Banana Soft-Serve-- TWO INGREDIENTS!

If you've never tried this before and you have a powerful food processor or blender, I insist you give this recipe a go-round.

Frozen Banana Soft-Serve

Ingredients
Bananas
Water

Peel and slice bananas.  Freeze for 4 hours or overnight. 

Place in food processor with about 1/4 cup of water and blend until smooth.  You can probably use milk or cream, too, but we are trying to keep our calorie/sugar count down.

Eat!  And repeat.  We topped ours with toffee bits.  But chocolate chips would have made a nice topping, too.  In fact, I can think of a hundred different ways this would have been fantastic:  shredded coconut, peanut butter, strawberries, hot fudge, butterscotch chips, granola.  Endless possibilities!

We like that there is no added sugar.  Well, before we added the chips, anyway.  lol.   It's totally sweet, all on its own.

Sinful!

Roasted Chicken Quesadillas and more!

It's been a rough week.  I had two cheat meals.  I suppose dieting since January has started to wear on me.   I am totally uninspired, and bored with what I've been eating.

But here I am, just a month before my brother's wedding.  Vacation is just around the corner.  I really need to cut down. 

This morning, I made poached eggs over steamed asparagus.  I love poached eggs with hot sauce.

For a snack this morning, I will probably have a Laughing Cow Light cheese wedge with some red peppers.  Just one wedge gives you all this cheese.  And it's really, really good.  Only 35 calories.   I also like this cheese on apples.

I wanted to share with you my experience with cooking a whole chicken in the crockpot.  Somehow, I've never tried it before.  It worked out well, actually.  Took maybe, six hours on high?  I added two cloves of garlic to about four cups of chicken broth, then tossed the chicken in after seasoning it with salt/pepper/paprika.

We made some chicken wraps with low-carb tortillas, red peppers, 2% mexican shredded cheese, and taco sauce.

This week, I'm really going to buckle down.  No bread.  Less than 4 oz of meat a day.  No more than one can of diet soda a day.  That there is going to be the hardest, for me.

Today, I wanted to share with you my refrigerator.

I wonder if this is basically what other people's fridges look like.  We just went grocery shopping yesterday, and  have to get through most of this food before Friday.  I'm just curious, because my husband complains about the mountains of dishes every day, but I cook.  Often.  Dishes are the direct result of him having so many cooked meals.

I think he's pretty lucky, myself.

What about you?  Is this what your fridge looks like?

Portions Schmortions.

I'm my own worst enemy.

It's been one party after another this weekend. We're off to our fourth party (swear to the big G) after this. I've kept to the program for the most part. Except I've eaten more than usual.

So this morning, I had yogurt (Fiber One, because it has the least amount of sugar), with chopped walnuts and a Baker's Flaxseed slice with whipped cream cheese, and some fresh cherries.

Then, for lunch, leftovers.  A couple small falafels and 2 black bean burgers from the other day.  With salsa, and green beans from my mother-in-law's garden.  Since I've had so much bbq meat this weekend, I'm steering clear as much as I can the rest of the time.

Yesterday, I ventured into the world of flourless cake.  My brother and father are celiac, so I wanted to bring a flourless cake to the bbq.  I researched a few recipes, and went with a cupcake version:

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE

• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (or 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips)
• 6 large eggs, separated, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• Ice cream, for serving (optional)

 Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Melt butter and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pan of simmering water. Stir to combine, then remove bowl from heat and let cool slightly. Whisk in egg yolks.

With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, beating until peaks are stiff and glossy but not dry (do not overbeat). Whisk one quarter of the beaten egg whites into chocolate mixture to lighten; gently fold mixture into remaining whites.  

  Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full.  (I pour the cupcake batter, rather than spoon it in.  No patience.)   Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until cupcakes are just set in centers, about 25 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes (their centers will sink). Cupcakes are best eaten the same day they are baked; keep at room temperature until ready to serve, topped with scoops of ice cream, if desired. NOW, the cupcakes look like this coming right out:

But this is what they look like after five minutes of cooling:

Do not be alarmed.  The consistency is very brownie-like.  Which you won't catch ME complaining about.   This is a recipe I highly recommend.  As my dad said yesterday, "They're ugly, but good!"

Mock Sesame Beef

We lost our power, due to a heatwave outage, so I've got a few meals to catch up on.

I don't know when I had what, and it doesn't matter anyway.  So I'll just give you a rundown.  First, the SEITAN.

I had my first seitan at a chinese restaurant recently, and became hooked.  Mock Sesame Beef, it was called.  But I inquired, and found out it was made with Seitan.  So what did I do?  Hightailed it to the nearest health food shop and picked me up a box of Seitan quick mix.

Quick?  Not so much.  First you make a dough, then knead it.  Then you cut it into bite-sized pieces.

Then you boil them.  Then you fry them.  AHHHHH!  You know how I hate to use so many pans!!!

 

Then I added a half-bottle of my favorite Kikkoman's Kung Pao sauce, and steamed some broccoli.  I had some leftover barley, so I tossed it all on top, instead of making brown rice.  That would have put me over the edge.  Top it off with some sesame seeds, and there you have it.  Meatless goodness.

 

My lunch yesterday was falafel.  More like faBLAHfel.  Yuk.  Totally flavorless and bland.    I made it from a recipe right off the Bob's Red Mill website, using their chickpea flour.  I had a bag in my pantry forever, so I thought I'd get rid of it.  I made so much falafel, and still have a half bag leftover.  Maybe I'll make some hummus....

My lunch today was to die for.  Black bean burgers!  Although, I hesitate to call it a burger.  The consistency just isn't the same.  But I don't eat them in a bun, so it didn't bother me.  The flavor is so good, you don't even mind the texture, which is sorta mushy.

Here's the recipe:

Black Bean Burgers

2 cans (15 ounces each) BUSH'S BEST Black Beans, rinsed and drained
½ cup whole wheat or all-purpose flour
¼ cup yellow cornmeal
½ cup chunky salsa
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic salt

Place beans in food processor; process until fairly smooth. Add flour, cornmeal, salsa, cumin and garlic salt. Process until well combined. Spoon mixture into 6 balls on a large plate and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours before cooking.

Heat barbecue grill or ridged grill pan over medium heat. Coat grill or pan lightly with oil. Form each ball into a 4-inch patty about ½-inch thick. Place the patties on the grill or in pan and cook until browned and heated through, 4 to 5 minutes per side.

Obviously, I sauteed a few mushrooms to have on the side, and topped the 'burgers' with a slice of monterey jack.  I also had some grilled zukes from my mother-in-law's garden.   And I wanted to let you know that I did not eat an enormous amount of food:  I am now using these small salad plates.  It's my latest strategy in portion control.  

Does it sabotage me to fill the salad plates up to the very edge?  Am I completely missing the point?

Probably.

And lastly, I wanted to come clean.  I am an addict.  And this is my latest poison:

Damn, I wish I could get this monkey off my back.  And damn Dr. Pepper for inventing this addictive nectar.....

Sweet Potato Latkes!

And I'm not even Jewish!

Seriously, I love these dang things.  They're slightly labor intensive, and you dirty quite a few dishes, but they're that good.

Sweet Potato Latkes

1 3/4 pounds orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, peeled
1 onion
5 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/3 cup oat flour
2 T Oil

Grate sweet potatoes into a large bowl.   

Beat egg whites lightly with salt and pepper and add to potato mixture. Mix well. Add flour and mix well.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat in heavy nonstick 10- to 12-inch skillet. Fill 1/4-cup measure with mixture, pressing to compact, and turn out in mound in skillet. Quickly repeat for 3 more latkes. Flatten each with back of spoon to form 2 1/2- to 3-inch cake and press to compact. Cook 1- 1/2 minutes per side.

Move to nonstick baking sheet with slotted spatula. Continue with remaining batter, adding a little more oil to pan and stirring batter for each batch.   (I put a cooling rack down over a cookie sheet to achieve maximum crunchiness!)

Bake at 450 degrees until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes. Serve hot with applesauce if desired. 

To accompany my sweet potato latkes, I whipped up a batch of broccoli cauliflower salad, which consists of broccoli, cauliflower, matchstick carrots, raisins, shredded or cubed cheese, corn off the cob, onions, and whatever else you have leftover in the fridge that day.  lol.  I then douse the whole thing with a couple tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and EVOO, then salt and pepper.

What a delicious and healthy lunch!  

Found it!

Whew, found my Canon. I was hoping I wouldn't have to ask hubs for another camera. They seem to check out on me early.

So last night, I made a Turkey Taco Salad. Easy peasy. Browned some ground turkey breast with some onions, then added a packet of low-sodium taco mix and water, per the packet instructions. Plop it on top of some hearts of romaine, tomatoes, raw onions and some part-skim mexican cheese, and you got yourself a Turkey Taco Salad!

I feel as if I'm coming down with something, this fourth of July morning, so I'm keeping breakfast light with a Yogurt and Barley breakfast bowl.  I take one container of Activia (prune, today), one giant spoonful of cooked barley (which I cooked the other day and keep in the fridge), one small handful of chopped walnuts, and one handful of blueberries.  Voila.

And I wanted to throw another snack idea out there that I came across recently.

Have you ever seen these loaves in your grocer's?

They are oddly small loaves, which I wouldn't describe as 'bread'.  And a slice of this stuff is not all that delicious on its own.  I add a tablespoon of whipped cream cheese, and it makes it much more tasty.  It's one of those food items that is so good for you, you sort of forgive it for not being scrumptious.  But trust me, try it with the cream cheese.  When there's no time for breakfast, this would make a great, quick replacement.

And I know there are other varieties.  Has anyone tried them?  Let me know.