I have to pack this morning as we are leaving after lunch. It looks like it is going to be cool over in the city this week so I get to wear fall clothes, isn’t that exciting? I tried on jeans yesterday and it feels so weird to wear long pants again. I got out some sweaters too and my leather jacket. It feels like Fall is here and I am thrilled to be almost 20 pounds lighter than this time last year. Oh what a difference it makes! Feeling healthier and being smaller is worth every nibble, snack and junk food I passed up! I need to shop for a new winter jacket while in the city. Macy’s here I come!

New Blog Feature

My son installed a new device on the blog that will allow you to receive an email if I make a reply to a comment you leave.  At the end of the comment section you will see the following, if you want to get my reply via email check the box!

I am trying to leave comments and answer questions and this way you don’t have to come back to the blog to see if I left a reply. I hope you will try it!

Favorite Cookie Recipe

I want to share with you my children’s favorite cookie and it just happens to be a Cooking Light recipe that I have been baking since 1997. Even though they are now grown they still claim the Anzac biscuits as one of their favorites! It is a light version of an Australian biscuit or as we say in the States, cookie. The recipe calls for Lyle’s Golden Syrup and it can be found in the specialty food section if your grocery store has one or a store like Cost Plus. Locally where I live it is sold at Nugget Market and Cost Plus. If you can’t find it you may sub light corn syrup but it won’t have as buttery a flavor as the Golden Syrup.

The cookies are thin and we like them to be more soft and less crispy. Leave them on the cookie sheets for 2-3 minutes to cool before trying to remove them to a wire rack. They are very buttery tasting with a wonderful flavor combinaiton of oatmeal and shredded coconut. Holy yum people these are so good with a cup of coffee or hot tea and still under 100 calories! Throw out those 100 calorie packs and have something that is truly delicious and worth 100 calories.

This recipe only makes two dozen and they don’t last long in my house! You may want to double the recipe as I often do.

Anzac Biscuits

Yield:  2 dozen (serving size: 1 cookie)

1 cup regular oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup stick margarine, melted (I use butter)
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons golden cane syrup (such as Lyle’s) or light-colored corn syrup
Cooking spray
Preheat oven to 325°.

Combine first 5 ingredients in a bowl; stir well. Add margarine, water, and syrup; stir well. Drop by level tablespoons, 2 inches apart, onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 325° for 12 minutes or until almost set. Remove from oven; let stand 2 to 3 minutes or until firm. Remove cookies from baking sheets. Place on wire racks; let cool completely.

Note: We found these cookies were much better when made with golden cane syrup such as Lyle’s. Cane syrup is thicker and sweeter than corn syrup and can be found in cans next to the jellies and syrups, or in stores specializing in Caribbean and Creole goods.

CALORIES 98 (27% from fat); FAT 2.9g (sat 1g,mono 0.9g,poly 0.7g); IRON 0.6mg; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 11mg; CARBOHYDRATE 17.3g; SODIUM 59mg; PROTEIN 1.2g; FIBER 0.6g WWPs: 2

Adapted From Cooking Light, APRIL 1997

Enjoying Fall weather and feeling good in my jeans and sweaters!

Tami

What is your favorite cookie?

Before Katy left for Spain she requested I make her favorite breakfast of Easy Eggs Benedict. This recipe comes from Carol at Carol’s Cozy Cafe message board. Carol and I have shared recipes for years on message boards. She lives in Canada and all though we have never met in person I consider her a friend. We have similar taste in food and we both share a love of cooking and baking. Her recipes always please my family! Check out her message board and be sure to take a look at all of the healthy recipes posted there. She even has a special section for my tried and true favorite recipes under Tami’s Tested recipes.

Here is what it looks like ready to go in the oven.

This can be prepped ahead of time and held in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake it.

The toasted wheat English muffin is the perfect base for a slice of Canadian bacon and scrambled eggs all smothered in a light buttery hollandaise sauce! What’s not to like about this dish?

Carol says it is the perfect Christmas morning breakfast but I have to tell you my family likes it more often than just once a year and so will your family.

CAROL’S SHORTCUT EGGS BENEDICT

4 English Muffins — split & toasted (Whole wheat are good to use)
8 slices Canadian bacon — or lean ham
8 large eggs
1/4 cup skim milk
dash pepper
1 tablespoon light butter
1 Hollandaise sauce, packet ( I like Knorr brand)
1/4 cup light butter

Arrange toasted English muffin halves, cut side up, in a 9×13″ pan. Top each with 1 slice of the bacon.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs, milk & pepper.
Melt the butter in a large skillet, add the beaten eggs. Cook & stir until the eggs are scrambled to desired doneness.Remove from heat.

Divide the eggs evenly on top of the muffins & bacon. At this point the casserole can be covered & refrigerated overnight.NOTE: I made mine 2 hours before needed, chilled until just ready to bake. Then followed the sauce directions below….

Prepare Hollandaise sauce according to package directions using only HALF of the required amount of butter.I used the 1/4 cup light butter.
Divide the sauce evenly on top of the eggs. (I like to use a little fresh ground black pepper over the top)
Cover and bake in a pre-heated 350° oven for 20 minutes

Serves 8 @ 5 Points each

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 223 Calories; 11g Fat (44.0% calories from fat); 15g Protein; 16g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 214mg Cholesterol; 715mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 1 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1 1/2 Fat.

This is a nice hearty special breakfast and perfect for serving company since you can prep it ahead of time. Add some fresh fruit and a cup of your favorite hot beverage and you have the perfect brunch!

Thanks for a great recipe Carol!

Blogging Update

Thanks to all who replied and shared their feelings about blogging and posting. It seems that many of us are trying to figure out what the right balance is. I enjoyed getting your feed back and the support to cut back! It is nice to know you will still read the blog even if it isn’t updated as often each week or if I don’t get around to read your blog as often.I need to figure out the Google reader and get the blogs I like to follow on that so I can see when they are updated.That would also be a time saver.

I know that I am going to cut back on the amount of commenting that I do on other blogs so that I have more time to post recipes and product reviews on Nutmeg Notebook. The sharing of recipes, good food and healthy products is what motivated me to want to start a blog in the first place and I need to be true to that vision.

San Francisco Here I Come!

Yes, that is right we have another road trip coming up! I will be accompanying hubby Tom to San Francisco later this week. He will be conducting business during the day and I will be free to shop, sight see and eat lunch out on my own for three days.

I would love any suggestions for restaurants to eat at for lunch or for dinner for the two of us. We will be staying near Union Square. Do you have any favorites? I am also making a list of stores to visit so if you have any favorite foodie/cooking stores you think I must see please let me know. I already have on my list the Ferry building, Crate and Barrel, Sur La Table, Williams Sonoma and of course Macy’s and Nordtrom’s for clothes and shoes!

Relaxing and enjoying a day of leisure.

Tami

What is your favorite special breakfast?

For lunch yesterday I had one of my favorite lunches a Boca in between two slices of Ezekiel bread with lots of toppings. This is filling for few calories. What a huge sandwich it makes!

I usually have some fresh fruit with yogurt at lunch but I was down to just some apples. Since my teeth are a little sore from my braces a crunchy apple was not an option.

Then I remembered seeing chocolate banana soft server on Marisa’s blog Loser for Life. I keep frozen bananas on hand for smoothies and strawberry – banana soft serve but I hadn’t tried making chocolate. I made the soft serve and it was so good that I made it again after dinner. Uh oh this could be a problem!

After  my filling lunch I did some major grocery shopping at Sam’s Club, Trader Joes and two grocery stores. I have plenty of fresh fruit and veggies to get us through the weekend. Here is my Sam’s club shopping spree. Not shown are a box of pretzels for David and two cases of water! The big warehouse stores are starting to carry some organic produce at a good price too!

After dinner I decided to make the chocolate banana soft serve again, in the interest of documenting it for the blog of course! This incredible concoction originated in the raw foods world. Those are the folks who don’t eat anything cooked. I wouldn’t go that direction myself but I have tried some amazing recipes using all raw ingredients.

Marisa added a little cocoa to create chocolate banana soft serve! I assembled my ingredients, a large frozen banana,  1/3 cup Greek yogurt, a drop or two of Stevia and fresh raspberries for garnish. For this small amount I used my mini Braun food processor.  This time I had some fresh berries to top it with.

Process until smooth and creamy using a pulse action to begin with. Scraping down the sides if needed.

The results are smooth, creamy, chocolate soft serve!

I tried to snap my photos quickly as it melts fast!

A few more raspberries.

This was an amazing flavor combination! I loved it! It will be made again this weekend for sure. Thank you Marisa!

CHOCOLATE BANANA SOFT SERVE

1 large frozen banana

1/3 cup Greek Yogurt fat free (Marisa used 1/4 cup) Use any fat free yogurt you have on hand

1 -2 drops Nu Naturals Stevia drops or your favorite sweetener

2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Berries for garnish

Slice the frozen banana and add it to processor with yogurt, cocoa and Stevia. Process until smooth and creamy using a pulse action to begin with. Scraping down the sides if needed. Garnish with berries.

Random Thoughts About Blogging

Like many other bloggers I am thinking about cutting back on my posts. I spend a great deal of time trying new recipes, typing up recipes, taking food photos and creating posts. The creative outlet is wonderful. When I find an awesome product or make an amazing recipe it gives me immense pleasure to share it.

I am so happy when you take the time to leave me a comment. Getting some feed back  on the blog is so important. It is like getting a grade for a paper you have written and it lets me know you are out there! I enjoy reading your thoughts and ideas. Keep them coming!

I am trying to manage my blogging time better. It does take a great deal of time to follow other blogs. When bloggers take the time to post a comment here I want to show them the same support on their blog. It has become too time consuming and something has to go. Finding balance in all areas of life is important. I am working on finding that balance with the blog as well.

Google Analytics has become an awesome tool to see how the blog is doing. It looks like I have the most blog visits Monday –  Wednesday and sometimes Thursday. So maybe I should only post those days. I have mostly cut back from weekends as there is little blog traffic then and I welcome the  couple days break from posting. I want to maximize my efforts and still have an interesting format for readers to enjoy.

I am trying to reply to everyone’s comments again now that life is slowing down a bit. Do you come back to see if there is a reply after you have commented? There is a plug in for blogs that allows a reply from me to go to your email. Would you welcome that or not? I would like to make the blog more interactive and would love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks for reading and leaving comments!

Looking for more balance.

Tami

Now, I am not a vegetarian but I enjoy many vegetarian products. They are often low calorie, low fat but filled with fiber. This Amy’s frozen entree is delicious, healthy and filling and it tastes like comfort food. It can be purchased at the regular grocery store in the frozen foods health food aisle. The cheapest store I have found it at, is Super Walmart for $2.99. It is closer to $4.99 at most other stores.

Check out the fiber content!

This is another vegetarian option. Taco filling mix, just add water and cook for 5-6 minutes. The instructions call for adding 2 teaspoons oil but I skip that and just add a little extra water instead. The taco filling is so flavorful with just the right amount of seasonings. I use it for taco salads, crunchy tacos and burritos. Layer it in a casserole dish with re-fried beans, salsa and some light cheese, bake until bubbly and serve with baked tortilla chips. This can be found in the health food section at most grocery stores, Whole Foods or a health food store.

Low calorie, low fat and high fiber.

Do you like lentils? They are tasty, filling and full of fiber. I buy these at Costco and they come 4 pouches in a box. Easy and quick, just heat in the microwave. I like to eat them in a bowl with a few corn tortilla chips or a piece of corn bread. Daughter Katy loves these and she likes to add cheese and sour cream. Hopefully she can find something like them in Spain!

It says Spicy but in my opinion they are pretty mild.

I have been buying these cheese blintzes for years. We usually have a box of them in our freezer. They are so good and they will make you happy at breakfast or served as a light lunch. Top them with some fresh berries and a sprinkle of powdered sugar and you have a quick and easy dessert.

I have always bought the plain ones but they are available in a variety of choices.

I like to peruse the health food section at the grocery store and find low fat, high protein foods to add to my menu choices.  Having plenty of variety is important from a nutritional stand point. It also keeps me interested in healthy eating!  There is nothing like made from scratch, healthy wholesome meals but these things do come in handy from time to time.

Heat, eat and enjoy!

Tami

Do you have any favorite convenience items you keep on hand?

I found this plate at the Harry and David store in Oregon, I love the dragon fly!

Oh, I can’t forget the cute little lady bug!

Corn Meal Muffins

1 cup uncooked cornmeal, yellow
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
14 3/4 oz cream-style corn, canned
1/2 cup buttermilk *
2 large egg whites
2 tsp corn oil
Preheat oven to 400ºF.  Place foil cupcake liners in a muffin pan and spray with nonstick cooking spray.I like foil cupcake liners the best because they are sturdy and they don’t stick to the muffin unlike paper liners.
Combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a large bowl. Mix well with a fork, then make a well in the center; set aside.
Combine creamed corn, buttermilk, egg whites and oil in a medium bowl; mix until blended. Fold mixture into dry ingredients; mix until blended. Pour batter into prepared muffin pan and smooth the top.
Bake until a wooden pick inserted near the center comes out clean, about 15 – 17  minutes. Allow to cool in pan on a wire rack for  5 – 10 minutes.

* I keep Saco  Cultured buttermilk blend for baking in my refrigerator for recipes like this. It can be found in the baking aisle at the grocery store.

*Or you can substitute  1/2 cup skim milk mixed with 1/2 tablespoon vinegar, let sit for 5 minutes, stir and continue with recipe.

If you want, add some chopped green chiles, a teaspoon or so of diced jalapeño pepper for a little kick!

Servings: 12 muffins        WWPs 2

Adapted from a Weight Watchers Recipe

You just mix the dry powder in with the other dry ingredients in your recipe and then add water in place of the buttermilk. It works perfectly and you don’t have to worry about what to do with a whole quart of buttermilk. It’s brilliant!

This week is going by fast already, it has been a busy one so far for us. Son David started back to College yesterday. I was busy making him sandwiches to carry with him. He works the 5:00AM – 9:00AM shift as a UPS package loader prior to attending classes during the day. One great thing about it is that it requires him to go to bed at about 8:30 on work nights! Not that we have anything to worry about it, he is an awesome young man who works hard both at work and college. His job is very physical and he comes home famished ready for a lunch type meal at 9:15 in the morning. I have been making him Subway style sandwiches and his friends didn’t believe him that his mom makes them, they said home made sandwiches don’t look like this! At our house they do! I made several sandwiches ahead for Hubby Tom and Son David to grab and go!

I made turkey and roast beef sandwiches for the hungry guys!

INVISALIGN UPDATE

I was at the dentist this morning to have my Invisalign, teeth straightening appointment. My top teeth have graduated to a retainer! It is just like the aligners, clear plastic and initially I have to wear it 24/7 for 3 months. Then I graduate to evenings only for 6 months and after that every other night! For the lower teeth I have about 3 more months of wearing aligners for straightening before I get a lower retainer. The time has flown by and I have been surprised at how quickly my teeth have moved. It is very exciting to have straighter teeth. My dentist and I had another smile photo shoot today and he promised to email the photos  to me.

I will be eating soft foods this evening. The first day with new aligners makes the teeth very sore. It brings back memories of when my kids wore braces and I would have to figure out soft meals for them when they would have an orthodontist appointment for an adjustment. They usually got some ice cream as part of the deal! I will have to see what I have in the freezer in the way of a cold treat for me!

Tami

DID YOU WEAR BRACES AS A KID?

]]> http://nutmegnotebook.com/?feed=rss2&p=1714 24 http://nutmegnotebook.com/?p=1699 http://nutmegnotebook.com/?p=1699#comments Sat, 28 Aug 2010 17:11:50 +0000 Tami http://nutmegnotebook.com/?p=1699 Whole Foods is an amazing grocery store! I love to go there and look at everything. Everything is displayed so beautifully it is a food lovers paradise. Yes, I know that groceries there can be quite pricey. Therefore, I am selective about what I buy. I have found that their store brand 365 items are quite reasonable. Watch the ads and buy things when they have them on sale. Before we had a Whole Foods in our town I would drive about 22 miles to the nearest one once a month and take my cooler to stock up. Here is what I bought this week.

I bought the vanilla flavored So Delicious coconut creamer and it is very good. I wouldn’t use it everyday but for my decaf dessert coffee it is perfect! The coconut water I use in some of my fruit and kale smoothies. Hubby Tom wanted some flavored yogurts for snacks. Son David loves raspberries and they were on sale so I snagged him a couple containers. They have a garbage can next to the corn on the cob display so you can shuck the corn right there, I love that! The black beans, limes, jicama and radishes went into the salad recipe I am going to share with  you. The dates are for a recipe I want to try but at the moment I can’t remember what it was. Sometimes I have brain fade! The brown rice crisps are like rice krispies but healthier. I like to sprinkle them on yogurt or sometimes I make snack bars with them. The mushrooms and the whole grain wrap were turned into a pizza that TJ from TJ’s Test Kitchen inspired me to make. TJ posts a lot of healthy Weight Watcher friendly recipes, check out her blog. If you don’t already follower her you should! The sprouted buns are perfect for veggie, turkey or Boca burgers.

Have you ever purchased the canned corn from Trader Joe’? It is the best canned corn ever, this stuff tastes like fresh corn on the cob. Perfect for using in recipes, especially when fresh corn is not in season. Or if like me you want to save the fresh stuff to cook on the bar b que.

I print hard copies of recipes that I find on the internet and I have a huge stack of them in my “to try” pile. This Mexican Chopped Salad recipe has been on mind for a while now and with our triple digit weather this week I needed something cool and refreshing for dinner. Hubby Tom and I loved the flavor combination in this dressing. Fresh lime juice, olive oil, fresh cilantro, garlic, honey and my addition of ground cumin made for the perfect salad dressing.

The wonderful crunch provided by all the fresh chopped veggies, black beans and corn, made this salad satisfying and full of natural fiber.  This will be a salad that I will be making again. It would be perfect for a pot luck. Just wait to dress the salad right before serving.

It is such a pretty salad too.

I had some leftover chicken that hubby had cooked on the bar b que grill, so I chopped it up and sprinkled it on top. It took this from being a side salad to an entrée!

I did not discover the joy of a cup of a coffee in the morning until I was about 31years old. My parents drank it as I was growing up and I sure thought it smelled good. They drank it black and I sure thought it tasted bad! I was having brunch at someones house and she served Lion’s brand coffee from Hawaii that had a hint of cinnamon and she offered me a cup with a little bit of sugar and cream and I was immediately hooked! I had no idea that coffee could taste so wonderful.  Hubby Tom was delighted when I joined him in his morning ritual of sipping coffee as he started his day. For us, it is a nice way to start our day together. We pour our morning cup and chat about the day ahead, planning out our week and catching up in general. It is my favorite part of the day.

I ordered that Lion coffee by the case from Hawaii until the company had the nerve to discontinue my favorite flavor. From there we found a store brand that was good for a while but we grew tired of it and went in search of more flavor. We tried Peets, Eight O’Clock, Seattle’s Best and Dunkin Donuts just to mention a few. We finally settled on Starbucks Colombia. At Winco Foods where we live it is sold for just under $8 per bag. Sometimes Target sells it for less. When I see it at a good price I stock up and put it in the freezer. Now that son David (no worries he is after-all almost 21) has started drinking it every day we are going through a lot more!

We use to have this Braun coffee maker that made the best coffee and although it was still working it looked terrible. What was once an all white coffee maker had started to yellow from age and it no longer looked great on my kitchen counter against my white tile back splash. It was also making a lot of sputtering noises during the brewing process! Hubby Tom did his research and discovered that Braun was no longer in the coffee maker business. We settled on a new Cuisinart coffee maker that was highly rated by Consumer Reports and various other on line resources.

The timing was perfect as we had a load of donations to take to charity so I put that Braun coffee maker in the back of my van and gave it away. The next morning we made coffee in our shiny new Cuisinart. It was the worse cup of coffee we had at home, ever! Hubby Tom threatened to go to the thrift shop and buy back our discarded Braun!

For weeks we tried many different ways to make our coffee with the hopes of getting a good cup. Mostly we turned out what would be considered hotel coffee,  you know the kind that you make in that little pot in your hotel room using that little packet they give you. ICK! By the way we no longer use that little coffee maker in hotel rooms, more about that later.

A Good Cup

We finally have our method down, we start with hot water even though we know you aren’t suppose to, we don’t think the coffee maker heats the water up enough to make a good brew. We use more coffee grounds than the instructions say and we pack it down firmly in the filter like you do for making espresso. Lastly we run it on the slower 1-4 cup setting even if we are making a pot full which is usually the case. It actually does taste like good coffee now, thank goodness!

Fat Free Creamers

We have tried a number of creamers. I use to use half and half but that is just too many calories and way to easy to go overboard with what appears to be a simple pour. Fat free milk makes the coffee a strange color and appearance is important you know, after all it is the first thing I drink in the morning! Almond milk was also a no, it made the coffee taste strange. Land O Lakes has a good fat free creamer but I sometimes have a hard time finding it in a larger container.

Trader Joe’s carries this Shamrock Farms fat free half and half that is one of our favorites. The flavor is good, it makes the coffee the right color and it clocks in at just 20 calories for 2 tablespoons. It does contain corn syrup but it does not say high fructose corn syrup so I am still uncertain if Dr Oz would approve! You know that HFCS is on his list of no-no’s.

I recently found So Delicious coconut milk creamer at Whole Foods and gave it a try. This product is soy free, fat free and dairy free.It is made with organic coconut milk and a few other ingredients to make it thicker. It has a great flavor and strangely it does not taste like coconut. It does not have a lot of weird ingredients in it either. I like it enough to buy another container the next time I am in Whole Foods which will most likely be today. So Delicious also makes this incredible frozen dessert bar that I reviewed earlier in the summer. Check out that post here. I like every product of theirs that I have tried so far.

Sometimes a good cup of coffee is hard to find when you are traveling. I found the Starbucks instant microground coffee packets at Costco. We took these on vacation with us and found them to be excellent. Now hubby Tom takes them with him when he travels for business. This is the best instant coffee around. If you don’t have a Costco look at Target or your regular grocery store for these.

I only drink 1 1/2 cups of coffee a day and only in the morning. Caffeine anytime past noon is a no – no  for me as it will surely keep me from sleeping at night! Some studies say coffee drinkers get some health benefits when it is consumed in moderation. Coffee in moderation works for me.

Enjoy A Hot Beverage Instead of Dessert

I sometimes like a cup of decaf coffee after dinner and if we are eating out I find that it can be a nice substitute if others are having dessert but I don’t want to have the extra calories. A cup of herbal tea also works well. It keeps my hands busy and there is something satisfying and filling about a warm beverage.

Which do you choose coffee or tea?

Black or with a little something extra?

What brand of Coffee maker do you use?

Karen asked yesterday how I was feeling about Katy being gone. Initially of course their is some worry as she gets adjusted and experiences culture shock, while having to find her own living situation in a foreign country. Hey Mom’s just have that built in desire to not see our children have any pain or anxiety!

I am thrilled that she had the courage to move to another country to attend school there. She has long been fascinated by Spanish culture and drawn to the language. It has been her desire to become fluent in Spanish so she can share her love of the language with her future high school students once she becomes a teacher. She decided to over come her fears, step out of her comfort zone and take a risk to realize her dream!

It is a grand lesson for the rest of her family. She is a great example of the BE DO HAVE school of thought. BE committed, DO what it takes and you will HAVE what you want. It has only been two days since she left and I am doing quite well right now. I know that the longer we go the more I shall miss her. She has studied out of state in the past so I know what it is like to have her gone for a few months at time. She was but a short flight away before so we saw her every few months. Ask me again in a month or so, I am sure the emotions will be a bit of a roller coaster ride!

Someone asked yesterday if hubby Tom and I plan to go see her. Yes indeed! We will be going next Spring while Katy has a nice long break and can be our travel guide. We intend to make good use of her Spanish skills!

I didn’t buy much this morning at the Organic Farmer’s Market as I still have lots of fresh produce on hand but I did have to get more of my favorite tomatoes and peaches. The little tomatoes are so sweet they can be eaten out of hand as is. My own tomato plant is loaded with little gems but I am waiting for them to ripen.

I made a delicious fresh peach -date chutney in the crock pot. We had it with our organic grilled pork chops and chicken breast. Pork tenderloin would be amazing with this. Peach chutney would also be a lovely topping for crostini (little toast appetizers), paired with some brie melted between whole wheat tortillas, a topping for turkey burgers, spread over a light bagel with a smear of Laughing Cow Light Cheese, mixed in Greek yogurt, cottage cheese or a topping for frozen vanilla yogurt!

This is a dump style recipe. Just dump all of the ingredients in the crock pot and let it cook for 2-3 hours. I like easy!

When it was done I did a taste test and although it was good I felt like it needed a little flavor boost. I split it into two bowls. In one bowl I added 1/4 teaspoon curry powder. In the other bowl I added 1/4 teaspoon Allspice and  about1/4 teaspoon freshly grated Nutmeg. Both versions were delicious! It would be hard to choose one over the other. Of course the curry version is a little hotter. The allspice, nutmeg version would lend itself better to desserts.

I used Medjool dates. If you don’t have dates on hand feel free to substitute a dried fruit like craisins, dried cherries or raisins. Next time I will cut back on the brown sugar as it seemed pretty sweet to me. The red pepper flakes add a little bit of heat to the chutney but you can leave them out if you would rather have an all sweet chutney. If you don’t have fresh peaches try subbing nectarines.

I got this recipe off the Internet and I think it was from the Cooking Light message board but I didn’t note the source. I hate it when I do that as I like to give credit where it is due.

Peach – Date Chutney

5 large peaches, peeled, pitted and chopped

1/2 cup chopped pitted dates 0r substitute raisins, craisins or dried cherries

2 tablespoons minced onion

1/2 cup packed brown sugar (or a little less)

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes ( optional)

Optional Curry powder, Allspice, Freshly ground nutmeg

Place all ingredients in a slow cooker. cover and cook on high for 2-3 hours. Remove the lid, let it cool. At this point I divided the chutney into two bowls. In one bowl I added 1/4 teaspoon curry powder. In the other bowl I added 1/4 teaspoon Allspice and  about1/4 teaspoon freshly grated Nutmeg.

Both versions were delicious! It would be hard to choose one over the other. Of course the curry version is a little hotter. The allspice, nutmeg one would lend itself better to desserts.

Makes about 3 1/2 cups chutney depending on the size of peaches. Tightly sealed in containers it should last 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator.

Feeling Peachy!

Tami

Which is your favorite, peaches or nectarines?

It’s official Katy is off to Spain today! The adventure of a lifetime has begun. She made me that purple folder and filled it with all the information she thought I might need about her study abroad program. She is very organized that way – great skills for the future teacher she desires to be! We took her to San Francisco yesterday and her and another study abroad student stayed over night in a hotel near the air port so they could catch their early morning flight today.

What is normally a 1 1/2 hours drive to San Francisco took us over 4 hours yesterday. It was mostly bumper to bumper traffic. We made the best of it by putting on some music and singing, snacking and having fun!

Katy’s best friend Esau accompanied us to San Francisco.

We went down to the Wharf and ate at one of Katy’s favorite spots, The Pier Market at Pier 39. We have been going to eat there since she was a little girl. They have the best salmon sandwich and Katy and her Grandma Jan have to have it when ever they go to San Francisco.

The sandwich is grilled salmon on fried Bannock bread, with tartar sauce. It made Katy happy!

Some people decided to go all out and have fish and chips. I won’t mention names!

I ordered my favorite, Teriyaki Salmon. The salmon is cooked to perfection and it practically melts in your mouth. This is my all time favorite salmon dish. Of course we had fresh sourdough bread as well. You can’t get better sourdough bread anywhere other than San Francisco’s own Boudin Bakery. Lucky for us they have opened a restaurant near where we live and now we can have good authentic San Francisco sourdough bread when ever we desire.

A visit to Pier 39 is never complete with out a walk out to the end of the pier to see the sea lions.

One last photo of the four of us together. We won’t see Katy again for many months!

We said a tearful good bye after enjoying a long day together. I talked to Katy briefly this morning after they got checked in at the airport and through security. She is flying with a big group of International Study students from CA and she was meeting lots of new people at the airport who are in her program. She will try to text or call from D.C. before they take off for the final leg of the flight to Spain. After that we may not hear from her for a couple of days. It will actually be Tuesday when they land in Spain as they are 9 hours ahead of us. Once they arrive in Spain there will be two days of orientation and many things to acquire like cell phone plans and a piso (apartment)!

Thank you to all of the family and friends who sent us emails, text messages, and comments here on the blog expressing their well wishes as we navigated successfully through a day of saying good bye. We appreciate the thoughts and prayers that were shared, we felt the love!

Please continue those prayers for Katy as the next few weeks will be filled with culture shock, nerves and fear as she sets about getting established in a foreign country.

Feeling grateful for the love and caring of family and friends.

Tami

If you have followed my blog you might remember how much I loved the plantains I ordered when we went out for my birthday dinner. They came with black beans and sour cream and I was instantly in love with a new food! I thought they tasted sweet and more like dessert than a savory dish. I was in Whole Foods and spotted the plantains so I bought two.

Plantains look a lot like a banana but tend to be firmer and lower in sugar content than bananas. Bananas are most often eaten raw, while plantains usually require cooking. Plantains are used either when green or under-ripe when they are more starchy and less sweet or overripe at the peak of sweetness. Plantains are a regular food item in the tropical ares of the world. They are treated much like we treat potatoes and with a similar neutral flavour and texture when the unripe fruit is cooked by steaming, boiling, baking or frying. They are rich in vitamin A and C.

Nutritional Information for 1 medium plantain; 220 calories, 4g fiber, 10g sugar, 2 g protein

The plantains I purchased were green and my research showed that if you want them to be sweeter then let them ripen and become more black. Plantains are larger than most bananas. It took several days for them to get ripe sitting on my kitchen counter.

After a little Internet research I decided to go with a dessert type recipe for preparing the plantains. I found several recipes where a smaller amount of butter or oil was used instead of deep fat frying them. The plantain on the left was the one I started with and it was actually very ripe so much so that I thought it might not hold together once sliced so instead of cutting longer pieces on a diagonal I went with small slices. It would look much prettier sliced on the diagonal so I won’t let it get so ripe next time.

Just a tablespoon of butter melted and a light spray of canola oil spray in a nonstick skillet is all that is needed to cook these discs of sweet goodness. The slices on the left were from the very ripe plantain, the ones on the right were firmer but still sweet enough.

Brown the plantains on one side and turn over to brown on the other side. Sprinkle with a little bit of sugar and let them caramelize into warm little bites of sweetness. Beautiful! Slightly sweet, with a caramelized crunch to the outside and then you bite into the inside to find a warm center with the consistency of a sweet potato but a flavor similar to a banana. Pure delight!

We ate them just like this but they would also be wonderful served with a dollop of Greek Yogurt or over vanilla ice cream or frozen vanilla yogurt. The leftovers were just as good at room temperature the next day. Did I mention that they are very filling, you can only eat a few. I will definitely be making these again and again.

Caramelized Sweet Ripe Plantains

2 Ripe Plantains, mostly black on the outside

1/2 tablespoon butter

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

Canola Oil Spray

Peel the plantains and cut into circles or on the diagonal into 1/2 ” slices or a little thinner.

Spray a non stick pan with the canola oil and melt the butter in the pan over a medium heat. Add the plantains to the bubbly melted butter. When lightly browned turn over and brown on the other side. Sprinkle with the sugar and let them caramelize slightly. Remove from pan and serve warm. Serves: 4

Inspired by food fit.com & African Vegan Recipes ivu.org

Enjoying family time and good food!

Tami

What new food have you tried lately?