Archive for the ‘Make It’ Category

Make it – Pumpkin Muffins

March 8th, 2010

I don’t know about you, but I’m still kind of sour over the fact that we barely had a fall this year. (I tend to hold grudges…) It went from sunny and warm to FREEZING and cold almost overnight! And since spring is nowhere to be found, I figured I’d try and re-live a bit of fall. Because there’s nothing that BAKING can’t fix ;)

Introducing: “If you close your eyes you’ll swear it’s fall” PUMPKIN MUFFINS!

You’ll need:

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup egg substitute
  • 3/4 cup skim milk
  • 1/4 cup applesauce
  • 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
  • cooking spray

1.) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.) Spray 12 2-1/2 inch muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

3.) In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients and make a well in center of the mixture.

4.) In a separate bowl, combine egg substitute, milk and applesauce. Stir in pumpkin.

5.) Add pumpkin mixture all at once to flour mixture and stir until just moistened (batter will be lumpy).

6.) Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling about 2/3 full.

7.) Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from muffin cups. Serve warm. The batter makes 12 muffins!

These are incredible (and only 100 calories!) and you’ll notice they are very healthy! Although I assure you that they don’t taste healthy – no sir! These babies are so moist and jam-packed with fall flavor! And if you don’t want to re-live fall, that’s fine too — because pumpkin is perfectly acceptable all year round — right? Please tell me I’m not the only fall-obsessed crazie!

Snack ideas for pumpkin muffins:

  • Spread with cream cheese for a delicious breakfast or mid-day snack
  • Crumble on top of oatmeal for a filling breakfast
  • Top with Cacao Bliss or another decadant nut butter for dessert

Any other ideas?!

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Posted in Make It | 15 Comments »

Make it – How to make SUSHI (just 5 steps!)

March 1st, 2010

For as often as I eat sushi, I’ve always been pretty intimidated to attempt making it myself. Well ever since the Mister and I made our Lent commitment, my sushi-tooth has been in full-force! But instead of throwing in the towel, I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to MAKE MY OWN! So I enlisted my friend Jenn (I wasn’t about to go down alone!), and we got to work.

Our materials:

Smoked salmon
Cooked lobster – we’re allowed to cheat and use non-raw fish – we’re newbies!
AVOCADO
Broccoli slaw
Cream cheese
Brown rice (I had some in the cupboard from the folks at Annie Chun’s)
Seaweed/Nori paper

We discussed our process/approach and got to work!

STEP ONE:

Lay Nori sheet on bamboo may (I got this bamboo mat for $00.99 at my local grocery store

STEP TWO:

Spread your favorite rice on top of the Nori sheet (make sure you let it cool)

STEP THREE:

Start layering your ingredients of choice in a row, one inch away from the edge

STEP FOUR:

Use the Bamboo mat to roll the sushi. You can use your thumbs to roll the mat, and your fingers to keep the ingredients in place. Make sure to press on the bamboo mat to wrap tightly, otherwise it will fall apart. See this web site for detailed instruction and a video tutorial.

STEP FIVE: Let the roll sit for one minute (this will soften the Nori sheet a bit) or chill in the fridge. Cut with a sharp knife. ENJOY!

OK – so it might not be the prettiest sushi you’ve ever seen, but I am SO PROUD of our creations! Plus, we had a ton of fun (and many laughs!) making them ourselves. I think these would look a lot prettier if we used the standard white sushi rice, but the rice we used was delicious AND healthy.

Have you made sushi before? What are you waiting for?! If I can make it, I ASSURE you that you can, too ;)

Posted in Make It | 28 Comments »

Make it – Crock-pot Chicken Cacciatore

February 22nd, 2010

Who says complex, impressive dishes have to be complicated? Sure, anyone can throw some chicken/meat into a crock-pot and call it a meal, but why not get creative with the ingredients to mimic restaurant favorites?

I went to work to create an easy, crock-pot version of the traditional favorite, Chicken Cacciatore. It takes about 10 minutes to prepare.

You’ll need:

  • 4 chicken breasts
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 package of fresh mushrooms (I used baby bellas)
  • 1/2 onion (sliced)
  • 4 garlic cloves (2 minced, two whole)
  • 1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce
  • 1 large red bell pepper, sliced
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 3/4 cup dry white wine

First, pan-sear chicken breasts in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Chicken does not need to be completely cooked-through, just seared.

Put the chicken into the crockpot.

Pour the pasta sauce on top and add all of the other ingredients into the pot.

Let sit 8 hours on low. When you are ready to eat, stir the contents of the pot and serve.

I like to top mine with mozzarella cheese, and I normally serve this with some fresh Italian bread — it’s perfect for dipping into the extra sauce.

ENJOY!

What is your favorite fancy meal to simplify in the crock-pot?

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Posted in Make It | 13 Comments »

Make it – a LOVEly dinner

February 15th, 2010

Happy Monday! The Mister and I are continuing our v-day celebration today, as we both took the day off work ;)

But I wanted to share the delicious dinner we made last night. It’s pretty fancy, VERY delicious and super simple.

On the menu: Pesto Scallops and Cornbread Stuffed Peppers

Instead of relying on jarred goodness, we wanted to make the pesto from scratch. I’m so happy that we did because it was very simple and tasted so fresh! I used Rachel Ray’s recipe to create the pesto.

I cooked the scallops per Rachel’s instruction, but I added my own special touch after plating – SUN DRIED TOMATOES! (one of my FAVORITE ingredients, as of late!)

Don’t those look fancy-schmancy?

To spice things up a bit, we decided to serve these alongside cornbread stuffed peppers.

You’ll need:

  • 1 cup cornbread mix
  • 1 long red pepper (cut in half, lengthwise)
  • 2 canned chipotle peppers, diced
  • 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro. chopped
  • 1/2 cup cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare cornbread mix according to directions on box (alter added ingredients for one cup, accordingly). Mix in chipotle peppers and cheese. Spoon mixture into pepper cups and top with cheese.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until cheese is browned.

These we so great! smooth and creamy, but with a smoky kick from the chipotle peppers. The cilantro added a refreshing authenticity to the dish.

All in all, this was the perfect meal to enjoy with the Mister and reflect on years past, as well as the promising future!

Of course the meal had a very sweet ending (would you expect anything less?)– but I don’t want to overwhelm you with goodness right now, so I’ll be back later with that recipe/photos — any guesses?!

Did you have a special dinner last night? How did you celebrate Valentine’s Day?

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Posted in Make It | 10 Comments »

Make it – Lemon butter fish

February 8th, 2010

Fish. People either love it or hate it. You rarely meet someone who is “on-the-fence” about these gilled specimens. Although, I’ve found that many of the fish-haters out there haven’t even tried it. How do you know if you like something if you haven’t tried it?! (Do I sound like your mother? ;) )

It’s true though, many people simply don’t like the IDEA of fish — so they go through life floundering (ha!) about with never even knowing that they are missing out on one of the most delicious (and healthy!) forms of protein out there.

For those of you who claim that you don’t like fish, but haven’t tried it recently (taste buds are always changing!) You have got to give this dish a try. It’s mild, light and full of buttery goodness. How could you go wrong with butter, anyway? For those of you who like fish, this is a great recipe to add to your weekly rotation — it’s easy enough (only 4 ingredients!) not to stress you out, but fancy enough to serve for a special occasion, guests or just ‘cuz ;)

P.S. the Mister loved this dish — and until we started dating, he claimed he hated seafood of all kinds (the horror!). Of course he had never actually TRIED it – but I quickly changed that ;)

I served this recipe along oven-roasted asparagus, which I cooked along with the fish.

You’ll need (serves 2):

  • Two fillets of a mild, white fish
  • 2 tablespoons of butter (I used Smart Balance)
  • The juice of one lemon
  • I glove of garlic (minced) OR 1/8 teaspoon of garlic powder
  • 1 bunch of asparagus
  • Olive oil

First, melt the butter on the stove top. Add the minced garlic, cook until browned. Add the juice of one lemon and set aside. Pre-heat the broiler. Coat the fish fillets with a bit of olive oil. Rinse and trim asparagus and coat with olive oil (season with salt and black pepper, if you’d like). Arrange both the asparagus and fish together on a cookie sheet (I line mine with non-stick foil for easy clean-up).

Cook for 4 minutes on each side, or until the fish flakes with a fork and the asparagus is browned. Plate and top with lemon/butter mixture.

Enjoy!

Are you a seafood lover or hater? When is the last time you gave it a try?

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Posted in Make It | 12 Comments »

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