Rosemary Hummus (0 Star)

One of my goals for this year is to eat more veggies, especially fresh ones. I normally am not too excited about eating them plain, though--a dip is essential for me. However, since many dips are so high calorie and not so great on the "healthy" scale, I've been interested in finding some dips that I love that are more healthy and lower calorie. This hummus was a good fit.

I'm not a big hummus fan and my previous attempts at making it have been bad enough that I threw them away. But I thought I would make another attempt and this one I liked.

This was a very easy recipe and one thing that I liked about it was the absence of sesame tahini--a common hummus ingredient. I didn't have any on hand and it can be pricey, so I was glad to not have to deal with it. I also didn't have fresh rosemary so I just used about a half teaspoon of dried rosemary.



Rosemary Hummus
adapted from Tasty Kitchen

•2-½ Tablespoons olive oil
•½ teaspoon dried rosemary
•30 ounces canned garbanzo beans, drained
•⅓ cups plain Greek (or regular) yogurt
•1 teaspoon lemon juice
•1 whole garlic clove, peeled
•1 teaspoon salt
•¼ teaspoons pepper

Place the oil in a small skillet over high heat. Once smoking, sprinkle the dried rosemary into the oil and flash-fry for maybe a couple of seconds. Remove from the heat, and immediately pour the hot oil and rosemary into a small heatproof cup or bowl. Allow to cool a bit before adding this to the other ingredients.

Place the garbanzo beans in the food processor with the yogurt, rosemary-infused oil (cooled), lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Puree to desired consistency.

Click here for the original recipe.

Mud Balls (4 Star)

This is a treat that all of my kids love. I used to make peanut butter balls when I was a kid (the ones with peanut butter, butter, and powdered sugar) and loved them. This is what I came up with to fulfill my desire for a more healthy (and chocolaty!) peanut butter ball. I usually just wing it on the amounts but this is probably close to what I put in.

Mud Balls

1/2 cup peanut butter (crunchy or creamy--you choose)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Combine the above ingredients--alter amounts, if necessary, to adjust for personal taste and consistency--and roll into balls. If you wanted to get fancy, you could roll them in crushed, roasted peanuts, but my boys don't like fancy.



And, by the way, isn't this the cutest cake plate? My creative sister-in-law, Holli, made it by attaching a pretty cup to the bottom of a pretty plate. I love it.

Roasted Cauliflower Soup (0 Star)

I like soup. Soup is good. This Roasted Cauliflower Soup is good.



The only change I made was the salt. The recipe calls for a tablespoon of coarse salt. I only had sea salt and I used 2 teaspoons. Coarse salt must be less salty because 2 teaspoons of sea salt was too salty for me. Next time I will use one.

Click here for the tutorial and here for the recipe.

Turkey Gravy (4 Star)

This post is a little late for Thanksgiving, but I think turkey is great now, too. What's better than a little turkey dinner to warm and cheer up January?

I had some left-over cranberry sauce from the cranberry spread that I made for New Year's and since I had an extra turkey in the freezer that I had bought when they were on sale, I decided it was a great time to make a turkey dinner this week.



This is the recipe I have been using for turkey gravy lately and I adapted it from Prudence Pennywise's recipe. Consider it a simplified version. We love this gravy. It has a hint of apple-y sweetness that is so delicious with the savory herbs and drippings.

Turkey Gravy
adapted from Prudence Pennywise's Apple Cider Gravy

drippings of one 12-16 pound turkey
2/3 cup frozen apple juice concentrate
2 1/2 cups water
4-6 teaspoons chicken base (I use Better than Bouillon Organic Chicken Base from Costco)
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried sage
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
additional 1/2 cup water
1/3 cup flour
1-2 teaspoons sea salt (to taste)

Pour turkey drippings into a medium to large saucepan. Add the apple juice concentrate, water, chicken base, and herbs and whisk together. Turn heat up to medium-high. While gravy heats up, put 1/2 cup water and flour into a jar or container with a lid that seals tightly and shake until smooth. When gravy is boiling, pour flour and water mixture in and whisk until thickened. Add salt to taste.

Click here for Prudy's original recipe.

Fire Roasted Tomato Soup (0 Star)

I almost didn't post this recipe because my picture is kind of lame--more of an afterthought to our consumption. But then I decided to post it because this soup is so awesome and I didn't want to wait until the next time I make it to try to get a good picture.

This is the best tomato soup I have ever tasted. It is creamy and flavorful with a slight kick. And it is full of vegetables, so it's a great way to get more good wholesomeness into yourself.

It is Picky Palate's creation and is excellent as written. However, I am posting it below with changes that I made due to ingredients that I had on hand and also because I took the easy road and made it a little differently (easier). A little flavor may have been sacrificed my way, but only the very keen palate would notice, I think!



Creamy Fire Roasted Tomato and Bacon Soup

28 oz can Muir Glen Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes or 28 oz fresh tomatoes and a couple of dashes of liquid smoke
1 medium or large onion, peeled and cut into fourths
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into fourths
2 stalks celery, trimmed and cut into fourths
1 Serrano pepper, stem trimmed off
4 cloves fresh garlic, peeled, or 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
¼ cup flour
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/3 cup bacon bits (I buy the bags from Costco) or you can cook 12 strips of bacon and then crumble (save half for garnish)

42 oz chicken broth

Few pinches of salt to taste
¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 Cup half and half or heavy cream

Additional bacon bits to garnish

1. Place the first 8 ingredients into a blender in the order listed above. Puree until smooth.

2. Put the vegetable puree into a large pot and add the chicken broth. Heat to a boil and then simmer on low, uncovered, stirring occasionally for 15-20 minutes.

3. Add salt to taste, pepper, and cream, and stir until heated through. Allow flavors to combine on a medium-low heat for about 5 minutes and then serve with bacon bits sprinkled on top.

Click here for the original recipe.

Crock Pots, Twizzlers, and Conductivity

Did you know that if you have a gallon-size Ziploc bag full of red Twizzlers sitting in between the base of your crock pot and the ceramic pot, it will still cook a pot of beans?

It will.



But the Twizzlers won't be very edible afterward. They'll be downright crunchy. But they won't melt, they will retain their shape and just get crisp and brown.



And you may have Ziploc plastic stuck to the inside of your crock pot base and it won't be easy to get off.



And it may take your beans longer than normal to cook. But if you're busy like me, and don't even get around to checking on the beans until they've been cooking for ten hours, then you won't even notice anything unusual until you try to take out the ceramic pot to wash it and for some reason, it's stuck. And then you get your strong hubby to pull on the pot while you hold the base, wondering what is going on because you didn't see anything spill in between. And then you see, with utter amazement, that there is a bag of Twizzlers gluing the appliance and pot together, and you put two and two together--oh, the Twizzlers were on the shelf above the crock pot and the last time you used the crock pot the base was put away on the shelf while the pot was in the dishwasher and one of the kids made chocolate chip cookies and the chocolate chips were under the Twizzlers and when you got down the chocolate chips you didn't notice that the Twizzlers fell into the crock pot and when you put the pot away, you didn't notice that there was something else underneath it, and you still didn't notice that morning when you threw in the beans and water and plugged it in, and yes, something had smelled a little sweeter than usual when they were cooking, come to think of it, but how did you not smell melted burning plastic, and WOW, you can't believe they still cooked!

Too bad you forgot to take a picture of the bag of crispy Twizzlers so everyone else could know what slow-cooked Twizzlers look like. And you might want to be a little more aware of things, ya know? The boogeyman could come boogeying into your kitchen and you wouldn't even notice.

Breads and Spreads (4 Star)

For the New Year's party that we went to at Brandon's sister's house (which was so very fun, but I forgot my camera--bummer) I made a bread and spread bar. It turned out pretty good, so I thought I'd share.

This almond bread was one I had never made before, out of a book that I recently purchased called "100 Great Breads" by Paul Hollywood. The recipes in it sound really good and the pictures are beautiful, however, so far the ones that I have tried all have something a little questionable about them, such as a lot of salt. This recipe has a lot of salt and next time I make it I will use less because I thought it was too salty. I'm posting this recipe with my changes because I also used a little less flour. I used my bread maker on the dough setting instead of his instructions, so this is how I made it.

Almond Bread
adapted from "100 Great Breads" by Paul Hollywood

3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup water
scant 1/4 cup butter
generous 1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup ground almonds
3 1/2 to 3 3/4 cups white bread flour
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
4 oz slivered almonds

Put all ingredients into the bread maker pan in the order listed, except for the slivered almonds. Let the bread maker run the "dough" cycle. Add enough flour to make a smooth dough, but not dry.

After the bread maker "dough" cycle finishes, (it basically mixes briefly, rests, kneads, and rises the dough) add half of the slivered almonds and knead them into the dough. Then cut the dough in half and shape into two loaves. Place on a buttered baking sheet and press the remaining slivered almonds into the tops of the loaves. Let rise for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 425 and bake the bread for 20 minutes. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

I loved the almonds in this--they toasted up very nicely. However, they didn't stay on the top of the loaves very well, even though I tried to press them in very firmly. I wonder if they would stay on better with an egg wash, or something.



The spread pictured below is a banana coconut cream spread. I got the recipe from my old American Harvest bread maker recipe book that came with the first bread maker I ever owned (it is now obsolete). This recipe book has some of the most awesome recipes. I am going to post the recipes from this book with slight changes to comply with copyright laws, but I'm pretty sure this book isn't printed anymore, so it would be hard to find. If you ever find one, though, I recommend getting it.

Banana Coconut Cream Spread
adapted from American Harvest bread maker recipe book

8 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup honey
2 Tablespoons mashed banana
2 Tablespoons unsweetened, toasted coconut flakes
1 Tablespoon orange juice concentrate

Beat the above ingredients until light and fluffy. Cover and refrigerate.



The bread pictured below is called Lemon and Orange Bread from "100 Great Breads". This bread also called for a lot of salt which I decreased, and it called for a little rye flour which I didn't have so I subbed whole wheat flour. This recipe also called for a ton of zest. I thought it was too much, but if anyone who tried this bread and reads this blog wants to let me know what you thought, I would love to know. I will post the full amount of zest in the recipe below. Again, I used my bread maker and am posting the instructions for that.

Lemon and Orange Bread
adapted from "100 Great Breads" by Paul Hollywood

1 1/4 cup water
generous 1/4 cup sugar
generous 1/4 cup butter
2 teaspoons salt
2 2/3+ cups white bread flour
scant 1/3 cup whole wheat or rye flour
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
zest of 5 lemons
zest of 6 oranges

Put all ingredients into the bread maker pan except the zest. Begin the "dough" cycle and while the machine does the initial mix, zest the lemons and oranges and then add to the pan. At this point, add a little more flour if the dough gets too sticky.

After the "dough" cycle is complete, divide the dough in half, equally. Butter a baking sheet or two small bread pans. Shape dough into loaves and put in pans. Let rise for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.



The spread pictured with this bread is cranberry orange spread. It is also from the American Harvest bread maker recipe book. In fact, the rest of the recipes I will post here are from that book.

Cranberry Orange Spread
adapted from American Harvest bread maker recipe book

8 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
1 teaspoon orange juice concentrate
1 teaspoon fresh grated orange peel
2 Tablespoons honey

Combine all ingredients until smooth and creamy. Cover and refrigerate.



Savory Garlic Herb Bread
adapted from American Harvest bread maker recipe book

1 cup water
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 Tablespoon dried minced onions
1 teaspoon garlic powder
3 cups white bread flour
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Put all ingredients into the bread maker pan and run the "dough" cycle. When cycle is finished, remove dough from pan and divide into two equal halves. Shape into loaves and place in two small, greased bread pans. Allow to rise for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.



Dilled Mustard Butter
adapted from American Harvest bread maker recipe book

1/2 cup butter, softened
2-3 teaspoons prepared mustard
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed

Beat together until light and fluffy. Is best for spreading at room temperature, but if you need to store it for a while, then cover and refrigerate.



Rosemary Cheese Spread
adapted from American Harvest bread maker recipe book

3 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 to 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tablespoons finely chopped green onion

Cream the cream cheese and butter together. Add the remaining ingredients and beat until well mixed. Is best for spreading at room temperature, but if you need to store it for a while, then cover and refrigerate.



Cinnamon Raisin Bread
adapted from American Harvest bread maker recipe book

1 1/4 cups water
2 Tablespoons powdered milk
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 cups white bread flour
3 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 cup raisins

Put all ingredients into the bread maker pan except the raisins. Run the "dough" cycle. When complete, add the raisins and knead into the dough. Divide the dough into two equal halves. Shape into loaves and place into two small, greased bread pans. Allow to rise for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.



Cinnamon Honey Butter
adapted from American Harvest bread maker recipe book

1/2 cup softened butter
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Beat all ingredients together until fluffy. Is best for spreading at room temperature, but if you need to store it for a while, then cover and refrigerate.



I also made French bread which is not pictured, but I have already posted a recipe here.

I made all of the loaves small so that they would be an ideal portion size for party trays and I think I could have even gone smaller. It was fun to try different combinations of the breads and spreads. In spite of concerns I had with some of the breads, they were all moist, chewy, and delicious.