CEiMB Rewind

Hi everyone! It’s Thursday, so it’s time for CEiMB. This week the assigned recipe was Sweet and Spicy Peanut Soup, hosted by Mary at Popsicles and Sandy Feet. I decided not to make this one, however, because I’m not a big fan of thick, blended vegetable soups (unless it’s Baked Potato, yum!) so I picked a recipe that the group made before I joined this summer. Sorry, Mary – after reading several posts, it seems like everyone else really liked the soup!

This week I made Ellie Krieger’s Nutty Granola, which was originally hosted by Leslie of Lethally Delicious in February of last year. Just click the link to view the recipe.

I have a basic granola recipe that I created several months ago that is easily customizable, but I wanted to give this one a spin as well. I really love nuts of all types, and this recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups total. I was sold immediately!

I really liked the combination of walnuts, pecans, and almonds in this mix. I also enjoyed the fact that it is very crunchy – I hate soft granola! Chewy granola bars are good, but if I am going to sit down with a bowl of cereal, I want it to hold up to the milk or yogurt that I add rather than becoming a soggy mess.

The only changes I made to this recipe were to use agave nectar instead of maple syrup, lower the oven temperature to 250 instead of 300 (because agave burns so easily), and I added the raisins at the end rather than baking them with the mix. I have found that baking any kind of dried fruit along with oat mixture dries it out too much and even loses a little of its flavor.

I will probably make this again and try different nut/fruit combinations, and I will definitely be enjoying some yogurt parfaits for breakfast in the upcoming week!

Chocolate Banana Bread

…with fresh raspberries.

One week ago, Ree at The Pioneer Woman posted a recipe in her cooking section for banana bread. I was interested because this recipe was just plain banana bread with no nuts, plus it incorporated sour cream. At this point, let me state that I LOVE sour cream cake. I’ve also been known to eat walnuts by the handful, but I have never liked them inside baked goods like quick breads or brownies. So, when I had three very ripe bananas staring me down from their space on the kitchen counter, I knew I had to try this recipe.

Yes, I realize I could just omit the nuts from any old banana bread recipe, but I think this is the first time I have seen one that did not call for them.

I also had to give in to my chocoholism (Is that a word? It is now.) so I kicked this recipe up by substituting 1/2 c. of flour with cocoa powder.

This bread was very light with a slightly crispy outer crust, and the banana flavor was nice but not overwhelming. It is good on its own, served on a paper towel (Scott’s breakfast Saturday morning) or plated with some fresh raspberries (dessert when my mother-in-law came to visit).

Click here to view the original recipe on Ree’s recipe site, Tasty Kitchen!

Inspiration

Hi everyone! And if anyone from my graduate class happens to drop by, welcome! Tonight one of our discussion topics was blogging, so I revealed to everyone in class that I have a personal blog and gave them the address. I hope I have some new visitors soon!

I was very inspired yesterday by Meghann's blogger bake sale, and sadly, I did not win Whitney's Customizable Granola. So, I made my own, using ingredients I had on hand.

In the mix:

• 3 cups oats
• 3 T. ground flax
• 1/2 c. cashew butter
• 1/3 c. honey
• 1 T. vanilla
• 1/2 t. salt
• dried cranberries
  

To start, I toasted the oats for 10 minutes in the oven at 200 degrees, stirring halfway through. Then I mixed the remaining ingredients (except the cranberries) in a small saucepan over medium heat until warm and smooth. I poured the cashew butter mixture over the oats, stirred to coat, and spread it out evenly on the sheet pan. Then I baked at 200 degrees for approximately 40 minutes, stirring every 10. Finally, I mixed in the cranberries and let the granola cool before storing in an air-tight container.

I packed some up in bags to take to my classmates and a small container to take to work today for a snack. I wasn't sure how I wanted to eat it, but then I thought about the yogurt/granola combinations I always see around the blog world and put the granola on top of my honey flavored Chobani:


Delicious and very filling! I will probably have a repeat of this snack tomorrow afternoon.


Now it's time to do some packing (I'm moving into my new apartment Friday, and the wedding is in 53 days!). I'll leave you tonight with some springtime pictures, taken right outside of my apartment!

Experiments with cooking techniques

After reading Jenna's blog the other day, I was intrigued by whipped cottage cheese. I found some at the Fresh Market, so this morning I had some cottage cheese oats.

I used:

1/3 c. thick rolled oats
1/3 c. milk
1/3 c. water
1/3 c. whipped cottage cheese
1 T. ground flax
splash of vanilla extract
pinch of salt
sprinkle of cinnamon
handful of walnut halves

(Do you like all of my descriptive words for "just a little bit?")

This was an awesome combination that kept me full all morning while I ran errands.



Last night, I tried my hand at poaching. I had never poached food before (not even eggs) so I did a little research online and experimented on some salmon. I forgot to take pictures of the poaching process, but this is what I put in my liquid:

1 14 oz. can vegetable broth
8 oz. chardonnay
whole peppercorns
1 bay leaf
zest of one lemon (in strips, not grated)

I poached two pieces of salmon for approx. 10 minutes, and it was very good! The fish really picked up the flavors, especially the pepper. I also made some corn and stuffed summer squash, so I only ate half of my salmon.

So...today I ate the rest for lunch.

Before:


After, as salmon salad, with a few Kashi crackers.

For the salad, I added:

diced red onion

S & P

dried parsley flakes

capers (I love the little bursts of salty flavor!)

1 T. fat free mayo

I've never had a salad made out of fish other than tuna, so this was a nice change. I think I'll start cooking extra salmon when I make it for dinner for some new lunches.

I'm going to be traveling this weekend, so I'll see everyone on Sunday. Have a great weekend!

Breakfasts

I ate breakfast at home the past two days in spite of the breakfast buffets at school to try to avoid overeating, although I did have some fruit and coffee both days as I mentioned in my last post. On Thursday I had some corn bran and the last of my blackberries:



I need to make another trip to the farmers' market this weekend.

One of the fantastic (wait, I mean bad) things about my new job is that I pass a drive-thru Starbucks on the way. I made a deal with myself that I would only go on Fridays, so today I had the orange mango banana Vivanno.


Unfortunately, traffic near this Starbucks is particularly bad in the morning (two lanes condense into one and it's a school zone). I sat in traffic for almost ten minutes this morning trying to make it through one intersection (while my school is only 15 minutes away normally) so I think I need to investigate a new route. So, maybe I'll have Starbucks Friday and maybe I won't.

I started my new job!

I woke up bright and early Wednesday morning, way before I had to be at work, so...I made a big breakfast! I wasn't sure when my lunch break would be scheduled or if I would have time for a snack, so I wanted to be nice and full for my first morning. I made the Whole Wheat Oat pancakes I posted earlier, but I added the last of my fresh blueberries. You can't see them in the picture, but they were there and really added a lot to the pancakes.

With one scrambled egg and one link of turkey sausage:



I also packed my first lunch, not knowing that the school was providing lunch the first day. Luckily we have a big refrigerator and a microwave in the library workroom, so I saved my lunch for Thursday. I made a wrap with a La Tortilla Factory Olive Oil Softwrap tortilla (I like these because they have 13 grams of fiber yet don't taste like cardboard), Jarlsberg light, cracked black pepper turkey, dijon mustard, spinach, and tomato.




I also took some sliced kiwi:




And a seltzer:


I'll close this post with a warning for new teachers:

Teachers, especially in large groups, really like to eat. If you start a job at a school, be prepared to take your willpower to work with you. So far, I have worked three days and have been provided with two breakfast buffets and two lunches and it has been very hard to make good choices. So far I've loaded up my plate with fresh fruit and tried to avoid the bagels and casseroles, but a piece or two of bacon may have found their way onto my plate.

Also, I may have had two or three (or four) cups of coffee over the past two days. At least it was decaf.

Tuesday

I still have lots of berries left, so I started out my day with them again. Here's a bowl of Quaker corn bran, milk, and blueberries:

I ate the leftover steak salad for lunch, so no picture. I was hungry again around an hour later, though, so I ate a handful of Triscuit thin crisps. They were salty and crunchy and really hit the spot!

I think I'm going to make something new for dinner, and I'm using that as an excuse to make a trip to Fresh Market. I'm off to shop!

Monday

I have some catching up to do since I didn't post yesterday. I have been busy getting ready for my new job, and I start on Wednesday!

I wanted oatmeal for breakfast on Monday but didn't feel like standing over the stove, so I pulled out the instant steel cut oats. Monday's cast of characters:



All together:

I need to get another box of that oatmeal to make quick breakfasts. It was fast, easy, and filling. I don't know yet what time I will have a lunch break at work or if I will have an opportunity to eat a morning snack, so I need some breakfasts that are going to keep me full for awhile.

For lunch I had leftover veggie calzone and an orange. Look at all of that spinach stuffed in the calzone!

I was out doing some errands in the afternoon and got very hungry. Luckily I packed a snack and stuck my lunch bag in the car. I had some blackberries and a Fiber One bar.

I tried a new potato recipe for dinner, so look for it in the next post!

Parents' Visit Day 2

We started off our day with another mini quiche recipe: Mini Mushroom & Sausage Quiches. I found the recipe on the Food Network website, but it is from EatingWell magazine. They were better than the broccoli cheese ones I made a few days ago, probably because the seasoning in this recipe was better than my thrown together version.



My parents, boyfriend, and I ended up eating out for lunch while we were out shopping on Sunday. We went to a pizza place, and I had a cup of lentil soup and around 1/4 of a vegetarian calzone. I didn't take pictures at the restaurant, but the calzone will make an appearance as a leftover lunch.

My mom and I have a common love of kitchen gadgets, so she brought me a few things from a recent Pampered Chef party she attended:

She brought me a new chopper, a measuring cup (the kind Alton Brown uses, yay!), and a strange looking whisk. She also went by the local mill and got a bag of buckwheat flour, so I'll be looking for recipes that use that soon.

We also went to the Farmers' Market, since my parents have never been to one before. I got some blueberries, blackberries, peaches, a jar of blackberry butter, a jar of cranberry honey mustard, and one Cherokee purple tomato.

I'll be having lots of berries and leftovers this week.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes

I really wanted pancakes for breakfast yesterday, but I wanted whole wheat. I looked around the Food Network to look at recipes to see ratios of flour to milk, etc. and came up with this recipe:

1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 c. rolled oats
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1 T. protein powder
1 T. ground flax
1 T. sugar
cinnamon to taste
1 t. canola oil
1 egg white
1/2 c. fat free buttermilk

Mix all of the dry ingredients, then stir in oil, egg white, and buttermilk. Stir it only until it comes together (there will be some lumps), then let the batter rest while the pan heats.

I cooked them over medium high heat, probably 3 minutes on the first side and 2 minutes on the second. I topped them with a little Smart Balance and maple syrup. This made two huge pancakes, and I only ate one. Next time I think I will make more smaller sized ones so they are easier to flip, and I think it would help to monitor the cooking time.

Also, next time I am going to try whipping the egg white and folding it into the batter just to see how that changes the texture.

Pre-made breakfasts

I had never eaten quiche before Easter of this year, but I instantly fell in love with it. Since then, I have made quiches for brunch and dinner and I like ability to use so many different ingredients. As I was looking for some breakfast recipes for my parents' upcoming visit, I saw several for mini quiches and I decided that they be a great pre-made breakfast item for when I start my new job.

Last night, I made broccoli cheddar mini quiches:

3 eggs
2 egg whites
1/2 c. 1% milk
2 T. fat free half and half
6 T. shredded cheddar
1 c. broccoli, steamed and chopped
2 T. fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 scallion, chopped
salt and pepper

Whisk together eggs, egg whites, milk, and half and half . Pour evenly into 6 muffin cups (coated with non-stick spray). Add 1 T. cheese to each cup. Divide the broccoli, parsley, and scallions evenly between the cups. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste, and lightly stir each cup with a fork.

Bake at 325 for 25 minutes. They will be puffed up when they come out of the oven but will deflate after a few minutes.

My thoughts: They need a crust. That is the main factor (for me at least) that makes quiche so enjoyable. Also, next time I will use all fat free half and half instead of milk, because I wanted to be a little creamier, and using all FF H&H won't add that many extra calories. So, I think I should rename them Broccoli Cheddar Baked Eggs until I tweak the recipe. Don't get me wrong, however, because they were still quite good.