Kale Chips

Having discovered kale recently, I’ve been looking for different ways to cook it. I saw this idea on a diet chat board, and thought I would give it a try. The first time I made it, I put the chips in a little bowl and offered one to Liam. After he tried one, he took my bowl and said “NO! Mine!” And he proceeded to eat the whole bowl. Wow! This is really the only green food he likes (besides green olives!). They are healthy and easy to make. Try them. *photo courtesy of Plantainsandkimchi.com.

rating: 8

Kale Chips

kale
cooking spray
salt

Clean and dry the kale really well. Cut out thick stems, and cut into smallish pieces. Not too small or they will shrivel up! Spray baking sheet, arrange pieces, sprinkle with salt (and whatever else you want), spray the top of the kale, and bake 15-20 minutes in 300 degree oven. I flip them half way through and sometimes sprinkle malt vinegar on them.

Strawberries & Balsamic Vinegar

I’ve made this recipe many times and I ALWAYS forget to take a pic. So I made it again last night and….forgot again. So this pic is from blatantgizmo. My strawberries pretty much looked like this . The balsamic just kind of jazzes up your berries. It takes them up a notch. Try it!

Strawberries & Balsamic Vinegar
(from the June 2009 issue of Shape magazine)

strawberries
balsamic vinegar
sugar

Slice the fruit, place it in a shallow pan, and sprinkle it with sugar. Let it sit at room temperature or in the fridge for 30 minutes. Mix 2 tsp high-quality wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar per cup of fruit. The result: a sweeter, riper flavor with just a little zing.

Grandma Mollie’s Oatmeal Raisin-Chocolate Chip Cookies

First of all, I don’t have a Grandma Mollie. But boy, these cookies are good! And easy! This recipes makes alot of cookies, so I kept some, gave some to Toby to take to work, and then gave some to a neighbor. They are dangerous to have around, that’s for sure. They’ve got a little bit of everything in them! And they are not too sweet. Really good.

rating: 9

Grandma Mollie’s Oatmeal Raisin-Chocolate Chip Cookies
(from the Sept. 2009 issue of Country Living magazine)

makes 4 dozen cookies

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1 1/4 cups chocolate chips
1/4 cup milk (I used Silk lite plain soy milk)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a medium bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Stir in eggs until well combined. In a separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients, plus raisins, walnuts, and chocolate chips. Add dry mixture to wet mixture and stir to combine. Stir in milk. Drop dough in heaping tablespoonfuls, about 1-inch apart, on a baking sheet. Bake until golden brown and slightly crunchy, about 15 minutes.

Country Pumpkin Muffins

I am taking a little break this week, but I wanted to share one new recipe with you. I made IHOP’s pumpkin pancakes over the weekend (from a cookbook full of famous restaurant recipes that my mom gave me), and I had almost a whole can of pumpkin left over. That pancake recipes only calls for 3 TBSP of pumpkin! Anywho, so I found this recipe, and it was a good choice. First of all, I had exactly enough pumpkin for it. Second, it’s GOOD! I did omit the raisins because of Toby’s weird “no raisins” rule.  These were so easy- you just mix the wet ingredients together, then mix the dry ingredients together, then mix them ALL together, then add the nuts. This recipe gave me 24 muffins. In the comment section after the recipe, you can see what other people did to *tweak* this recipe, like subbing half brown sugar for white, etc. Try these! And see you next Monday!

rating: 8.5

http://tinyurl.com/ba96fh

Sweet-bean Piroshki

Toby actually found this recipe in a parenting magazine we both read, called Cookie. I was a little confused as to what you would serve WITH these little bean things. I eventually decided on mashed potatoes and a salad. These are pretty easy to make, however, I had ALOT of the actual bean mixture left over. Like, so much left over that I could have made maybe 8 more of these things! In any case, these were good! Toby of course said that they could use some zing. I personally think that his years of adding hot sauce to everything have killed some of his taste buds. I think these were good as is. I would make them again, although I am still not sure what you should serve alongside them. These would be good as appetizers, or as little bites to serve at a party.

rating: 8

Sweet-bean Piroshki
(from the Dec.08/Jan.09 issue of Cookie magazine)

1 large baking potato, peeled and cut into chucks
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
2 scallions, chopped
3 tbsp fresh chopped dill
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper (black works, too)
1 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained
2 15-ounce prepared pie crusts
1 large egg, mixed with 1 tbsp water

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a medium sauce-pan, boil the potato until tender, 15-20 minutes. Drain; set aside.
3. In the same pan, melt 1 tbsp of the butter over low heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
4. Stir in the scallions and dill. Remove from heat.
5. Add the potato, salt, pepper, and the remaining butter and mash.
6. In a bowl, mash the beans. Combine them with the potato mixture.
7. Cut each pie crust into quarters. Place 2 tbsp of filling on each. Pull the edges up to meet, pinching to seal. Brush each with the egg mixture; bake for about 20 minutes.

Gruyere Cheese Fondue with Roasted Potato Spears

Every Christmas Eve we do fondue. I say every- this is the second year we’ve done it. We are trying to make it a tradition in our family. Last year’s fondue was good. This year I thought I might jazz it up a bit with a different cheese and a different item to dip into the cheese. I found this recipe and gave it a whirl. I really like the addition of the raosted potatoes. How easy is that to do?! I thought the cheese fondue part was as good as, if not better then, last year’s fondue. I know that it got thicker faster than last year’s, that’s for sure! Toby said that it was good, but he prefers last year’s version. Whatever. Besides the roasted potatoes, we also dipped apple wedges and crusty bread.

rating: 8.5

Gruyere Cheese Fondue with Roasted Potato Spears
(from the magazine Everyday with Rachael Ray)

1 1/4 pounds baking potatoes, sliced lengthwise into 1/2″ thick wedges
2 tbsp vegetable oil
salt and pepper
12 ounces gruyere cheese, shredded (3 cups)
1 tbsp plus 2 tsp cornstarch
1 clove garlic, halved
1 cup plus 2 tbsp dry white wine
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 pinch ground nutmeg

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. In a large bowl, toss the potatoes and oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and arrange in a single layer on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet. Roast, turning once, until browned and slightly crisp, about 25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix together the cheese and cornstarch. Rub the cut sides of the garlic on the inside of a fondue pot or heavy 2-quart saucepan; discard the garlic. Add the wine and lemon juice and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the cheese mixture, then cook for 1 minute. Stir in the nutmeg and season with salt and pepper. Serve warm with the roasted potatoes for dipping.

Banana Bread

I had some bananas that I knew wouldn’t make it until tomorrow, so I googled on what to do with them. The obvious solution? Bake banana bread! I found a simple recipe on allrecipes.com, but I tweaked it a little. I took one reviewers suggestion and made muffins instead of a loaf of bread, and I also added a handful of chopped walnuts and a handful of chocolate chips. This recipe made about 14 muffins, I believe. They were good! I would like them to be a little more moist, but I would make these again.

rating: 7

http://tinyurl.com/yhwjjg

Cinnamon Apple Chips

In the current issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray, she has a whole section on apples and fall-ish recipes. I decided to make these for a little after-dinner snack. I do not have a mandoline (it’s on my wish list), but the little knife I used did a pretty good job. These ended up staying in the oven about 2 hours. I had some of the cinnamon-sugar mixture left over, so I am not sure if I sprinkled it on as liberally as you are supposed to. After I put the chips on the drying rack, they really crisped up nicely. I will make these again.

rating: 8

Cinnamon Apple Chips
(from the latest issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray)

1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 large apples

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon. Using a serrated knife or mandoline, thinly slice the apples crosswise, discarding the seeds and both ends. Arrange in a single layer on parchment-paper-lined baking sheets; sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar.

2. Bake the apple slices, turning every half hour, until dry, 1.5-2 hours. Remove and transfer to racks to cool. Store in an airtight container.

Blueberry-Banana-Yogurt Freezer Pops

These were so easy to make! I used the blueberries (the recipe also says you can use strawberries or raspberries). It says to discard the blueberries once you have pushed everything through a wire-mesh strainer. I thought that was pretty wasteful, so I kept them and have them on my oatmeal every morning! It’s really good. These are a healthy cool snack, and I will keep making these all summer!

rating: 9.5

Blueberry-Banana-Yogurt Freezer Pops
(from the June 2008 issue of Southern Living magazine)

1 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
1 banana
3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup honey

Process 1 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt and 1 banana in a blender 30 seconds or until smooth. Bring 3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries and 1/2 cup honey to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat; reduce heat to low, and simmer 5 minutes. Pour mixture through a fine wire-mesh strainer into a boil, using back of spoon to squeeze out juice and pulp. Discard skins (and seeds, for raspberries). Cover and chill blueberry mixture 30 minutes.Pour yogurt mixture evenly into 10 (2-ounce) pop molds. Top with blueberry mixture, and swirl, if desired. Top with lids of pop mold, and insert craft sticks, leaving 1 1/2-2 inches sticking out of pop. Freeze 6 hours and until sticks are solidly anchored and pops are completely frozen. Makes 10 pops; prep: 10 min., Cook: 5 min., Chill: 30 min., Freeze: 6 hours.