Recipe Courtesy Of: Cooking Light Magazine Jan/Feb 2012

Original Recipe Located Online At:  http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/texas-sheet-cake-10000001654622/#reviewForm

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (about 9 ounces)
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa, divided  (I used 1/2 cup in the cake batter and 1/4 cup in the “frosting”)
• 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, divided 2 large eggs
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup fat-free milk
• 3 cups powdered sugar 1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Coat a 13 x 9-inch pan with cooking spray, and dust with 2 teaspoons flour. Set aside.
3. Lightly spoon 2 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 2 cups flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Combine 3/4 cup water, 1/2 cup butter, and 1/4 cup cocoa in a small saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Add to flour mixture. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until well blended. Add buttermilk, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and eggs; beat well. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 375° for 22 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack.
4. Combine 6 tablespoons butter, fat-free milk, and remaining 1/4 cup cocoa in a saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Gradually stir in powdered sugar and remaining 2 teaspoons vanilla. Spread over hot cake. Sprinkle cake with pecans. Cool completely on wire rack.

Recipe Courtesy Of: “Gina’s Skinny Recipes”

Original Recipe Located At:  http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/03/mexican-slow-cooked-pork-carnitas.html

Ingredients:

• 2.5 lb pork shoulder blade roast, lean, all fat removed (Again, I used a pork tenderloin)
• 6 cloves garlic, cut into slivers
• cumin
• dry adoboseasoning (I used Goya)
• garlic powder
• 3/4 cup 99% fat free chicken broth
• 2-3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce(to taste)
• 2 bay leaves

Directions:

Season pork with salt and pepper. In a medium sauté pan on medium-high heat, brown pork on all sides for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.  To be honest, I’ve often skipped the browning the meat process when cooking in a crockpot, and I haven’t noticed an issue.  I think when it cooks low and slow and has liquid in it, particularly when it’s a meat you’re going to be shredding, it doesn’t matter so much.  But perhaps that’s also because I typically cook smaller cuts of meat.

Using a sharp knife, insert blade into pork, cutting small holes and insert garlic slivers.

Season pork generously with cumin, adobo and garlic powder all over.

Pour chicken broth in the crockpot, add bay leaves and chipotle peppers.

Place pork in crock pot and cover.

Cook low for 8 hours.  I only cooked mine for about 5.5 hours, but again, it was a smaller cut.  After 8 hours, shredpork using two forks and combine well with the juices that accumulated at the bottom.

Remove bay leaves and adjust salt and cumin (you will probably need to add more).  I added about two tablespoons of sofrito at this point, because I was worried it might be a bit spicy (I still used 3 chipotles even though I had 1lb less meat).  Plus I just happen to love sofrito and recaito, and throw them in just about anything!

Let it cook another 15-30 minutes.

Original Recipe (Modified) From:  Cooking Light Jan/Feb 2012

Recipe Located At: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/tuscan-white-bean-soup-50400000118614/

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups finely chopped onion
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup organic vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary  (I used dried)
• 2 (15-ounce) cans no-salt-added Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 fresh thyme sprigs (I used dried)
• 2 cups chopped escarole
• 1 cup pureed butternut squash
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 6 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• 8 oz angel hair pasta (I made a bit more because the box was a little over half full)

Directions

1. Heat a large Dutch oven (I just used a pot) over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion, and sauté for 4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic, and sauté for 30 seconds. Stir in rosemary, thyme, red pepper, salt, and black pepper.

**At this point I removed half of the bean mixture and set it aside to use the next day (today) in the soup.  You could just halve the ingredients if you only want to make the pasta, but it did make for a quick dinner tonight, as I just had to add more broth, chopped carrots, and escarole! 

2.  Add the broth, let it cook down a bit, then stir in the pureed squash.  After the squash is incorporated, add the escarole and turn down to low/medium-low so the flavors can meld together. 

3.  Heat water to a boil, add pasta of your choice and cook to desired “doneness”  (I prefer al dente).  Toss with bean/squash sauce and top with grated cheese.

Enjoy!

Today’s recipe comes from a magazine that I always find numerous recipes in that I can’t wait to try.  I’m so thankful that my mom gifted me a subscription to Cooking Light.  This is a double issue and includes a wide array of chicken recipes, which is wonderful since that’s the meat I most frequently cook.

Original Recipe From: Cooking Light  (January/February 2012)

Recipe Located At: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-chorizo-stew-50400000118611/

Pardon me, I forgot the parsley!  (The garnish, that is.)

Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• 2 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
• 1 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 onion, quartered
• 1 medium carrot, chopped
• 2 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 6 ounces chopped Spanish chorizo
• 3 cups cubed red potato
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Preparation

1. 1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan; bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 14 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove chicken, reserving cooking liquid; cool. Shred chicken. Strain cooking liquid through a fine sieve over a bowl; discard solids.
2. 2. Wipe pan with paper towels. Sauté sausage over medium-high heat 2 minutes. Add potato, onion, and bell pepper; sauté 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and next 3 ingredients (through saffron); sauté 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add reserved cooking liquid; bring to a simmer. Simmer 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add shredded chicken; simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in vinegar. Ladle about 1 cup stew into each of 4 bowls; top each serving with parsley.

This had very good flavor and was a perfect match for the cold weather that arrived today.  I did make the mistake of not using the proper type of chorizo.  Mine was not the hard, cured chorizo, but rather a chorizo that was similar in texture to typical Italian sausage.  I happened to have some on hand that I picked up from the butcher the other day, so I went ahead and used it.  It tasted fine to me, but I’m sure it was quite a bit different, especially in terms of consistency.  I would call this more of a soup than a stew, since I associate “stew” with a very thick broth.  But whatever you call it, it’s the taste that matters!

Recipe Courtesy Of: The Best Bake Sale Cookbook

Original Recipe Located At: pp 50-51

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspon ground cinammon
• 1.5 sticks unsalted butter (3/4 cup), at room temperature
• 1 cup packed brown sugar (I’d cut this to 3/4 cup next time)
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk  (I’m fairly certain I forgot this…oops)
• 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup dark raisins (I used cranberries)
• 1/2 cup walnuts (I left these out since I was bringing them to work and some people are not fans of nuts/are allergic)

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly spray or grease 2 cookie sheets.

2) Combine the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

3) In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until creamny, about 2 minutes.  Mix in the egg, milk and vanilla.  Blend in the flour mixture.  Stir in the oats, cranberries and nuts (if you add nuts) with a wooden spoon.  The dough will be stiff.

4) Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of dough 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.  If necessary, round the edges of the dough with the back of the spoon.

5) Bake in the center of the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies are firm to the tough and golden brown around the edges.  Cool the cookies on the cookie sheets for 2 minutes, then remove to cool.

On a related note, I used my silicone baking sheet liner (courtesy of my mom),  and I am a convert.  The cookies came off so easily and I didn’t have to spray/grease or anything.  Awesome!!

I’ve made these fish tacos several times and they’ve always turned out great.  My husband would like me to make them more often, but it is one of the messier dinners I make (plus I don’t like to know I shouldn’t eat fried food too often), we only have them every now and then.  I follow the recipe from Food Network’s Sunny Anderson for the batter, but I make my own “slaw”  instead of the pickled onion/cucumber.

Original Recipe From: Sunny Anderson

Recipe Located At: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sunny-anderson/cerveza-battered-fish-tacos-with-quick-pickled-onion-and-cucumber-recipe/index.html

Cilantro-Lime Slaw:

I prep this before starting in on the fish and set it aside.  The amounts you use vary depending on how many tacos you’re making.  This was enough for approximately 6 tacos.

Ingredients:

• One lime
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 a bunch of cilantro
• 1 teaspoon “Sazon Tropical” (Goya)
• 1 cup coleslaw blend

Directions:

Put the sour cream and juice from one lime (I always microwave it for 20 seconds to warm it up and get the juices flowing) into a small food processor (I have a Cuisinart handichopper that I got for $10 and I use it all the time).  Tear off the leaves from approximately half of a bunch of cilantro and place them in there as well, along with the Sazon.  Pulse until blended.  Mix with coleslaw blend and place in the fridge until you’re ready to use it.  You can also layer it separately from the coleslaw when you make the tacos, which is what my husband wanted to do this time.  That way if you like a lot of sauce/a little slaw, you can do that.

Cerveza-Battered Fish:

Ingredients

• Vegetable oil, for frying
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons ground cumin
• 3 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 12 ounces beer
• 3 (8-ounce) tilapia fillets, cut into chunks
• 8 (8-inch) flour tortillas  (I use corn tortillas.)

Directions

Original recipe located at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/lemon-blueberry-cheesecake-bars-recipe/index.html

I’ve made these bars several times.  The first time I used blueberries, which the original recipe calls for.  The second time I had raspberries that needed to be used up and I liked the flavor combination but didn’t like how the raspberries caused the cheesecake to crack so much.  This time I made the raspberries (one pint) into a sauce, adding a little bit of sugar, some organic strawberry rhubarb jam, and corn starch.  I put healthy dallops all over the cheesecake batter.  I did cut down on the lemon a bit because the raspberries have more tartness to them than blueberries.

Ingredients

For the base:

• Butter, for greasing
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 9 graham crackers
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted



For the filling:

• 16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 2 lemons, zested and juiced
• About 1/2 cup sugar, eyeball it
• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
• Powdered sugar, for dusting

Directions

For the base:

For the filling:

Original recipe located at: http://annies-eats.com/2010/08/30/banana-bread/

This is another one of the many recipes on Annie’s Eats blog that I have saved to try.  I happened to have a bunch of bananas on hand that I wanted to use up and I knew she must have a great banana bread recipe.  She did!  Of course, I am a much lazier baker.  I took out some of the (okay a lot of the) steps and although I haven’t tried the original recipe for comparison, this turned out very well! 

Annie made an excellent point on her blog that banana bread often turns out quite sticky and I didn’t have that problem with this.  It was such a hit at work that I brought it in again the next week in muffin form and added chocolate chips this time (how could that ever be a bad decision)?!  I will say that I think you do yourself a disservice if you don’t buy good quality chocolate chips (my favorite are Ghirardelli).  I also think semisweet chips balance out well with the sweetness of the bananas, as opposed to a milk chocolate chip.

Ingredients:
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
6 large, very ripe bananas (about 2¼ lbs.), peeled
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 large eggs
¾ cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. granulated sugar

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Lightly spray a loaf pan (about 9 x 5 inches) with cooking spray.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt; whisk together and set aside.

What the recipe says:

Place 5 bananas in a microwave safe bowl; cover with plastic wrap and make several slits in the wrap to act as steam vents.  Microwave on high until the bananas are soft and have released liquid, about 5 minutes.  Transfer the bananas to a fine mesh strainer set over a medium bowl and let drain, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes (you should have ½-¾ cup liquid).

What I did:

Mash all 6 bananas (I knew I wouldn’t bother decorating the top with the 6th one), microwave on high for 1 minute, notice there’s really not a ton of extra liquid….then become too impatient to wait 5 minutes + 15 minutes straining and decide to just mash them and see how it turns out! 

What the recipe says:

Transfer the reserved banana liquid to a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.  Cook until reduced to about ¼ cup, 5-10 minutes.  Remove the pan from the heat.  In a large bowl, combine the bananas and the reduced banana liquid.  

What I did:

Well, since I had no banana liquid to reduce…I skipped this altogether (I told you I took out a lot of steps, okay?!).

What the recipe says:

Mash with a potato masher or whisk until fairly smooth.  Whisk in the melted butter, eggs, brown sugar and vanilla.  Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the banana mixture.  Fold together gently, just until all of the dry ingredients are incorporated.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth with a spatula.

What I did: 

I followed this step!  =)

What the recipe says:

Slice the remaining banana diagonally into ¼-inch thick slices.  Layer the banana slices along both sides of the top of the batter, leaving a couple of inches in the center to allow an even rise.  Sprinkle the sugar evenly over the assembled loaf.

What I did:

Remember when I said I knew I wouldn’t do this?  Yeah…I didn’t.  Man, Annie and Cook’s Illustrated would be so disappointed in me.  My co-workers weren’t, though!

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 55-75 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool at least 15 minutes in the pan before removing.  Continue to cool and serve warm or at room temperature.

I know I made a lot more adjustments to this recipe than usual, but the main thing I got out of trying this out is that the proportions of ingredients in this recipe are perfect and I really love the brown sugar vs. regular sugar.  Oh, and sometimes you can get away with being lazy!

Original recipe located at: http://annies-eats.com/2010/04/27/creamy-taco-mac/

Annie has quite the reputation among food bloggers and message board frequenters.  Now don’t get the wrong idea, I mean a GOOD reputation, a great one in fact!  I often look at her blog in awe, mainly because I will never be that kind of a baker.  I’m just not patient or as talented as she is!  But I have tried a few of her recipes, and you’ll see more in the days to come.  This taco mac went together very quickly and I was particularly glad to discover the homemade taco seasoning recipe on her blog because I know the sodium content of the pre-packaged blends is through the roof!

Ingredients:
1¼ lbs. ground turkey
8 oz. dry pasta shapes
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes, drained
4 tbsp. taco seasoning
3 oz. cream cheese
½ cup sour cream
Salt and pepper
Shredded cheddar cheese (optional) She says it’s optional but it’s not optional in my house.  The more cheese the better, right?!

1 small can diced green chilis (I added these to give it a little more kick and dimension…I think diced green peppers would be great, too…an extra vegetable plus a pop of color)

Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Cook pasta according to the package directions.  Drain, reserving ½ cup of pasta water.  Set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet or sauté pan, cook the ground turkey over medium-high heat until no longer pink.  A few minutes before the turkey is cooked through, add the chopped onion to the skillet.  Once the turkey is cooked through, mix in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Mix in the diced tomatoes and taco seasoning and let simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes.  Stir in the cooked pasta, cream cheese, sour cream and reserved pasta water, and continue stirring until the cream cheese is melted and the sauce is well blended.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer over medium-low heat 3-5 minutes to reduce the sauce a bit.  Remove from the heat and top with shredded cheddar cheese, if desired.

This recipe turned out very flavorful and was no more time-consuming than preparing Hamburger Helper.  I will say that just like HH, I find that the meat to pasta ratio is a little greater than I typically care for.  I wound up not using the entire amount of meat mixture when blending it with the noodles.  I know it’s probably better to have more protein and less carbs, but that’s just how I roll!

Original recipe located at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/sloppy-buffalo-joes-recipe/index.html

I have made this recipe twice using ground chicken, which the recipe calls for.  I happen to have a bunch of chicken breast packages I need to use, so I made the same recipe but using 3 chicken breasts instead.  I think it turned out well, but the ground chicken is definitely more of a true sloppy joe.  I only titled this sloppy joes because if you follow the original recipe, that’s what you wind up with!

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 pounds ground chicken or turkey breast
• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped or grated
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 to 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup hot sauce (recommended: Frank’s Red Hot)
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 8 good quality burger rolls, split and toasted (I used Ciabatta rolls today, which stood up well to the sauce)
• 1 cup blue cheese crumbles  (my husband dislikes blue cheese, so I wound up using pepper jack today and melted it onto the buns while they toasted in the oven)
• 2 large dill pickles, chopped

Directions