Chili Con Turkey

In the quest to get healthy again; I made this healthy abs diet dinner.  This was very tasty and very filling! I used brown rice and frozen corn and hot salsa to season and it was very good.  It's not exactly chili, but a very nice ground turkey dish bursting with flavor and health!

Chil Con Turkey

from Abs Diet by way of Men's Health

Serves 4

1 pound of ground turkey

1 can (14 oz) Mexican Diced Tomatoes

1 can (15 oz) Reduced Sodium Black Beans; rinsed and drained

14 oz corn (I used frozen, but recipe uses canned)

1 package of chili mix (I used probably 1/4 cup hot salsa instead)

1 tbsp ground flaxseed

1/4 cup water (I'd leave this out next time I make it)

1 cup cooked rice (I used brown)

In a large skillet over medium high heat cook the turkey until it's done.   Add all of the ingredients, except the rice and cook until everything is warmed through (about 10 minutes). Serve over the brown rice and eat up!

I-Am-Not-Eating-Salad- Salad

In the quest to get back on track and start eating healthier, it was time for drastic measures.  What better way to get back on track than by eating salads! What I did was create salads for the entire week.  This is exactly the same salad from the Abs Diet Book already pre-portioned and ready to go.  One day of weekend work makes for an easy week!

I-Am-Not-Eating-Salad- Salad

From Abs Diet by way of Women's Health

2 ounces grilled chicken

1 cup of romaine lettuce

1 tomato, chopped

1 small green pepper, chopped

1 medium carrot chopped

3 tbsp of Italian Dressing (I used 2 tbsp)

1 tbsp parmesan cheese

1 tbsp ground flaxseed

Chop the chicken into small pieces. Mix all the ingredients together, and store in the fridge. Eat on multigrain bread or by itself.

What a nice sense of accomplishment to have lunches completed for the week! Some of these have tomatoes from my garden too!

Philadelphia Fryers

It's time to start eating healthy again and I decided to go with this tasty take on a philly cheesesteak.  This version comes from the Abs Diet Book and it's super easy to prepare and requires practically no cooking. I served the sandwich on my homemade buns and it was delicious.  I chose a hot salsa and it was quite hot! It's a good sandwich and quite filling.  I served it with leftover sweet potato fries.

Philadelphia Fryers

adapted from Men's Health

Serves 4

1 medium onion sliced

1 green pepper sliced

2/3 cup medium or hot salsa

4 buns

3/4 pound thinly sliced roast beef

1/2 cup grated cheese 

In a nonstick skillet over medium heat, cook the onion and peppers until tender.  Add the salsa and warm through.

Open a bun and add the roast beef, peppers and onion and top with cheese.  Microwave until the cheese is melted (if you wish).

Here's the roast beef version

Here's the steak and american cheese version

This is steak

Yogurt Pancakes

I was in the mood for pancakes, but wanted to try and keep it healthy.  I searched pinterest for some healthy pancake ideas and saw that using plain yogurt in the pancakes was very popular.  My grandma also uses yogurt so I knew that this would be good!  I followed a recipe found on chobani.com and made a few modifications because I was out of a few ingredients.  These pancakes were delicious and possibly better than Aunt Jemima's.

 These pancakes are light and fluffy, with a delicious taste to them.  If you want a light and fluffy pancake, packed with protein, give these a shot!

Yogurt Pancakes

Adapted from Chobani.com (this recipe is no longer on their website)

3/4 cup AP Flour (going to try coconut flour next time!)

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp sugar

1 egg white

1/4 cup plain greek yogurt

1/2 cup milk, or a little more if you prefer thinner pancakes

3/4 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup melted butter

Combine all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.  Add the greek yogurt, egg white, milk, vanilla and melted butter and stir to combine.  Cook just as you would pancakes and eat up!

Banana Bread!

I've had some bananas sitting out for awhile that were starting to turn overripe.  When that happens, it means banana bread is going to happen!

I've had my go-to banana bread recipe for awhile and it's delicious.  It's dense and packed full of bananas.  If you want a banana bread that tastes like bananas, give this one a try!

"In Your Face Banana Bread"
From Recipe Girl

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ cup butter, softened
¾ cup (packed) brown sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
2 1/3 cups mashed over-ripe bananas (about 5 bananas)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 9×5-inch loaf pan.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, soda and salt; set aside.

3. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended.

4. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten.

5. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake 60- 65 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean.

6. Allow bread to cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: 1 loaf

Breakfast Naan

This breakfast meal is a delicious way to use up some leftover naan.  It's a filling breakfast with eggs, naan, avocado and yogurt sauce.

Breakfast Naan Pizza

Naan

1/2 smashed avocado

2 eggs over medium

Yogurt Sauce (1/4 cup plain greek yogurt, 3 tbsp sriracha sauce, splash of lemon juice, salt and pepper)

Cilantro (if desired)

Heat the Naan until it's warm. Top with smashed avocado.  Add eggs, yogurt sauce, sprinkle with cilantro and eat up!

Naan- Long Version

If you have extra time and wish to make a super fluffy naan, then go ahead and try this delicious version from the Food Network.  I started this dough in the morning before work in about 15 minutes and let it sit in the fridge all day.  This dough was very easy to work with after such a long rest and the naan were delicious.  Give it a try!

Naan- Long Version
Adapted from Food Network

1 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons plain yogurt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Melted butter for slathering on the naans (minced garlic added to the butter if you want garlic naan.

Directions
In a large glass, dissolve the dry yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar with 3/4 cup warm water (about 100 degrees F). Let it sit on your counter until it's frothy, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, sift the flour, salt, remaining 1 teaspoon of sugar and baking powder into a large, deep bowl.

Once the yeast is frothy, add the yogurt and the olive oil into the glass, and stir to combine. Pour the yogurt mixture into the dry ingredients and add the kalonji and fennel seeds, if using, and gently mix the ingredients together with a fork. When the dough is about to come together, use your hands to mix. It will feel like there isn't enough flour at first, but keep going until it transforms into a soft, slightly sticky and pliable dough. As soon as it comes together, stop kneading. Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and let it sit in a warm, draft-free place for 2 to 4 hours (or in the fridge while you're at work all day)

When you're ready to roll, make sure you have two bowls on your counter: one with extra flour in it, and one with water. The dough will be extremely soft and sticky-this is good! Separate the dough into 6 equal portions and lightly roll each one in the bowl of extra flour to keep them from sticking to each other.

*I found that after a long fridge rest, the dough was not extremely sticky and I did not need the separate water bowl.

Shape the naan. Using a rolling pin, roll each piece of dough into a teardrop shape, narrower at the top than at the bottom. It should be 8 to 9-inches long, 4-inches wide at its widest point and about 1/4-inch thick. Once you've formed the general shape, you can also pick it up by one end and wiggle it; the dough's own weight will stretch it out a little. Repeat this method with the rest of the dough.

*I just rolled them into circles.

Warm a large cast-iron skillet over high heat until it's nearly smoking. Make sure you have a lid large enough to fit the skillet and have a bowl of melted butter at the ready.

Dampen your hands in the bowl of water and pick up one of your naans, flip-flopping it from one hand to the other to lightly dampen it. Gently lay it in the skillet and set your timer for 1 minute. The dough should start to bubble.

*I brushed melted butter on them before placing in the skillet and then once in the skillet, I brushed butter on the other side.

After about 1 minute, flip the naan. It should be blistered and somewhat blackened, don't worry - that's typical of traditional naan! Cover the skillet with the lid and cook 30 seconds to 1 minute more.

Remove the naan from the skillet.  Place the naan in a tea towel-lined dish. Repeat with the rest of the naans and serve.

Sneaky Guacamole

If you're looking for a way to incorporate more vegetables into your diet, may I suggest this guacamole?  This guacamole is delicious and creamy but has a little secret; Peas! Yes, I included some peas into my guacamole and you can't even tell.  What a great way to sneak some vegetables into your diet!  I used this guacamole to top tuna tacos, but you can use it with chips too!

Sneaky Guacamole

1/4 cup thawed frozen peas

1 avocado

1/2 jalapeño

1/2 tomato.

Juice from 1/2 lime

Salt

Put all of the ingredients in a bowl or food processor and chop until the consistency you want.  Enjoy!

(not the best picture, but you get the idea)

Tomatoes and Lentils

Lentils are very healthy and good for you, but are a bit plain by themselves.  I used lentils as a side dish with my Yogurt Marinated Chicken.  These lentils have flavor and were really good with the tomatoes.  Let me know what you think!

Tomatoes and Lentils

1 tsp oil

1/2 onion finely chopped (I used a food processor)

2 cloves of garlic minced (you can use the food processor)

1/2 cup of lentils

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp paprika

1 can of diced tomatoes

1/2 cup chicken stock

Salt and Pepper

Heat the oil in a small pot over medium heat.  Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft.  Add the spices and lentils and cook for about a minute.  Add the tomatoes and chicken stock and cook until most of the liquid is absorbed and the lentils are tender.  About 15-20 minutes.  Yummy!

Yogurt Marinated Chicken

I bought some greek yogurt to have on hand and while that's great, I don't want it to go bad either.  I decided to use it to marinate some chicken breasts all day.  I thought to serve this marinated chicken in a pita with some spiced lentils and tomatoes.  It was pretty good, but I would amp up the spices in the marinade next time.

Spiced Yogurt- Marinated Chicken

Adapted from Men's Health

Marinade

Whisk 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt with the juice of 1 lime, a splash of red-wine vinegar, 1 tsp dried dill and 1 tsp each of cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, and turmeric (all ground). Season with salt and pepper.  Place two chicken breasts in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, let it marinate all day in the fridge or probably overnight would be ok too.

Cook It

Bake in a 350F oven until done and juicy, about 30-40 minutes depending on the size of the breasts

Serve It

Slice the breasts and serve on pita with lettuce, tomatoes (I didn't add them but it would be good!), feta and yogurt sauce. Enjoy!

Yogurt Sauce

1/4 cup of plain greek yogurt, juice from 1/2 lemon, 1 tsp sriracha sauce, 2 tbsp of feta, salt and pepper.

Abs Diet Buffalo Meatball Sandwich

Another go-to meal in this house are the simple and delicious meatball sandwiches part of the Abs Diet cookbook.  These meatballs are made from ground buffalo and are very simple to make and come together very quickly.  I served these meatballs with homemade crusty bread and it was delicious.  Give buffalo a try!

Abs Diet Buffalo Meatball Sandwiches
from Abs Diet
1 pound lean ground buffalo
2 egg whites
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 french baguette or crusty bread
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 jar (14 ounces) spaghetti sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt-free all-purpose seasoning
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 thin slices mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.

2.

Mix the buffalo, egg whites, wheat germ, onion, Parmesan, and garlic. Shape into 12 meatballs and place in a baking dish that's been lightly coated with cooking spray. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes (turning once) or until cooked through.

3.

While the meatballs are cooking, slice the baguette in half lengthwise and remove some of the interior bread to trim the carbs and make room for the meatballs. With 5 minutes left to bake the meatballs, place the bread in the oven to lightly toast. After you do that, brush the meatballs with the oil and season with the all-purpose seasoning and pepper.

4.

Warm the spaghetti sauce in a pan over medium heat. Spoon the meatballs into the sauce to coat and then line them up in the bottom bread half. Top with the mozzarella.

5.

Return the baguette to the oven for about 2 minutes or until the cheese melts. Allow to cool for a minute and cut into slices

Mini Meatball Sandwich!

Buns- For Meatball Sandwiches, or Saucy Sandwiches

In my quest to avoid store- bought bread, I needed to find a bread recipe that was quick to make and perfect for saucy sandwiches.  I wanted a crusty baguette-type bread, but that took forever to make.  After a google search I found a recipe that would have bread ready in less than an hour.  Perfect!  This bread came out pretty good, with a good hearty crust. I made them with a mixture of bread flour whole wheat flour and all purpose flour and I made them into buns instead of loaves.  Overall this was successful and I would make them again!

Quick French Bread

adapted from Keep Home Simple

2 1/2 Cups Warm Water

2 tbsp Yeast

2 tbsp Sugar

1 tsp Salt

3 tbsp Oil

5 1/2 -6 Cups Flour (2 cups whole wheat flour, 1 cup of bread flour, 1 1/2 cups AP flour)

Add yeast and then sprinkle the sugar over the 2 1/2 cups of water.  Let it sit for about five minutes until you see the yeast get all bubbly on top.

Stir in the salt, oil, and flour.

Then:  Knead the dough for a few minutes until it is smooth.  Cover your bowl with a warm wet towel and let the dough sit for about 15 minutes.

**Tip - put a bowl of water in your microwave and turn your microwave on for two minutes.  Then take the bowl of water out and set your bowl of bread dough in the warm microwave for the 15 minutes.  This moist, warm environment makes the bread rise a lot faster.

I formed the dough into 4 buns, but I really should have done about 6 or 8 because they were way too big! Allow the loaves to sit for a few minutes while you preheat your oven to 375. Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown.  My buns stuck to the pan, so sprinkle the pan with cornmeal or make sure the buns have enough flour. Maybe grease the pan too. Other than the sticking, they were pretty good! Check out my recipe for meatballs to go with them!

 Cross Section

Chocolate Banana Coconut Flour Muffins

I had a few overripe bananas and I had bought coconut flour for some reason and I bought a muffin pan recently, so I decided that I needed to make all of those ingredients come together somehow.  I found a recipe for Chocolate Banana Coconut Flour Muffins on pinterest and it was just what I was looking for!

These muffins are delicious. They are sweet enough, but not too sweet, rich, chocolatey and even healthy! These are the perfect little snack and a perfect way to get a chocolate fix without going overboard.  Well played.

Chocolate Banana Coconut Flour Muffins

with no adaptations from Be Delicious

3 ripe bananas (mashed)
3 eggs
3 tablespoons coconut flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup honey
Approximately 1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with liners. Combine all ingredients (except for the chocolate chips) in a mixing bowl. Mix until well combined. Fill liners with batter about 2/3 of the way full. Top with chocolate chips. Bake for approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Cool.  Enjoy!

I made 12 muffins and did not use liners.  This picture shows only 4 because the others were already eaten by the time I remembered to take a picture.

Cream Cheese Sandwich Cookies

I had a dream, a few weeks ago, that one day cheesecake and cookies could come together in the same recipe.  I tried one idea which was to make cheesecake filling and my chocolate chip recipe to make bars.  It was ok, but not good enough.

I had another go at it, this time creating sandwiches instead.  I used my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe and created a filling of cream cheese and sugar.  It turned out fine, but still wasn't the cookie in my dreams. I did not use the right amount of flour and so this created a flatter cookie, which actually  made for a better sandwich.  Here it is!

Cream Cheese Sandwich Cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 stick of butter softened
1 cup of brown sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp Maple Syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup of flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips.

Preheat the oven to 325F
Cream the butter and sugar together.  Add the egg, maple syrup and vanilla and beat to incorporate.  Add the dry ingredients, mix well and stir in the chocolate chips.  Place on an ungreased baking sheet about 3 inches apart and bake for 15 minutes.  Let cool on a wire rack, or taste one after a few minutes to make sure it's still good.

Cream Cheese Filling
1/2 brick cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp corn starch

Mix all the ingredients together.

Assembly
Spread a layer of cream cheese filling in between two cookies and eat!

Mini Oreo Cheesecake

My "mini" oreo cheesecake came after a day of experimenting with cream cheese, cookies, and oreos.  This is really simple, because I made it up (of course). It was pretty good, but maybe too many oreos.  I'd make it again!

Oreo Cheesecake

Crust

Oreos

Butter

Crumble enough oreos to make a crust for whatever you bake the cheesecake in.  I used a baking dish that's probably 10x2 (maybe smaller).  Melt enough butter and pour to the crumbled oreos so that it comes together.  Dump that mixture into your greased dish and make sure the entire bottom is covered. Crust is done.

Cheesecake

1/2 brick softened cream cheese

1 egg

3 tbsp cornstarch

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F

Mix everything together in a bowl until combined.  Pour the mixture over the oreo crust.  Next stick whole oreos into the cream cheese mixture.  Place the cheesecake into the oven and bake until the cheesecake no longer jiggles. For my small cake this was about 40 minutes.  The top will get a little brown, but you want it to be cooked, so make sure it doesn't jiggle.  To make a bigger cheesecake, just increase the ingredients! Couldn't be easier.

Hamburger Buns- Round 2

Another one of the buns recipes I tried is one I found at King Arthur Flour's website.  I thought it would be a reliable recipe because it had a lot of great reviews.  Well, they were good, but very heavy and dense. This was basically bread in bun form; not what I'm looking for.

Here's the recipe and here are the photos!  

Beautiful Burger Buns

From King Arthur Flour

• 3/4 to 1 cup lukewarm water
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 large egg
• 3 1/2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon instant yeast
• *For best results (a smooth, slightly soft dough), use the smaller amount of water in summer (or in a humid environment), the greater amount in winter (or in a dry climate); and something in between the rest of the time.
• topping
• 3 tablespoons melted butter

1) Mix and knead all of the dough ingredients — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — to make a soft, smooth dough.

2) Cover the dough, and let it rise for 1 to 2 hours, or until it's nearly doubled in bulk

3) Gently deflate the dough, and divide it into 8 pieces. Shape each piece into a round ball; flatten to about 3" across. Place the buns on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, cover, and let rise for about an hour, until noticeably puffy.

4) Brush the buns with about half of the melted butter.

5) Bake the buns in a preheated 375°F oven for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden. Remove them from the oven, and brush with the remaining melted butter. This will give the buns a satiny, buttery crust.

6) Cool the buns on a rack.

Yield: 8 large buns.

They were easy to make, but just did not give me the results I was looking for. I don't think I'd try this recipe again, because it takes so much longer than my new favorite recipe. 

Glamour shots!

Hamburger Buns- Perfection at Long Last

After trying my hand at hamburger buns a few times using a few different recipes, I think I know which recipe is the winner and it's this super easy and quick recipe from Taste of Home.  The buns, when made with a few modifications, produce a bun that is fluffy and full of flavor.  Once you have a homemade bun you realize that store bought ones really have zero flavor!  You might think that they do, but they really don't.  Once you realize how easy it is to make buns at home, you may never go back! 

Hamburger Buns
modified from Taste of Home

Ingredients
2 tablespoons active dry yeast

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water (110° to 115°)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup bread flour*

2 1/2- 3 cups All Purpose Flour (or whole wheat if you so desire)

DirectionsIn a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add oil and sugar; let stand for 5 minutes.  Add the egg, salt and enough flour to form a soft dough.
Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes. Do not let rise. Divide into 6 pieces (about 5 oz each); shape each into a ball. Place 3 in. apart on greased baking sheets and flatten the ball so they look like discs
Cover and let rest for **30 minutes. Bake at 425° for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

*I went with a mix of bread flour and AP flour to get more gluten development.  I'm still learning why I'd want more gluten development, but I read that somewhere it's important and so, I decided to mix the flours.
**The original recipe is to allow to rest for 10 minutes.  There are many comments in the review section that advise rising for 30 minutes and it makes a world of difference.  A 30 minute rest produced a fluffier, softer and airy roll like those of store bought.  The 10 minute "rest" produced a bun that was very dense. It made for a good breakfast sandwich the next day, but does not make for a good bun for burgers, sloppy joes, etc.

These buns rested for only 10 minutes.  They split on top (not sure why), but were dense and took about twice as long to bake.

These bottom two photos are the buns that rested for 30 minutes (I think I had the oven at 450 instead of 425 and that's why they're so brown). They did not split and I think you can tell that they look softer and more airy than the 10 minute rest.

This photo looks like a flower!

These buns are the most beautiful yet!