Thursday, January 17, 2013

Healthy Snack: Roasted Chickpeas

These are great as a handful of yummy crunchies or on a salad.

1 can chickpeas
Olive oil
Salt and other toppings of your choice (seasonings, honey, whatever...)

Open and rinse out chickpeas (get rid of the foam)
Mix with olive oil and spread out on a pan.
Bake at 400 for 30-40 minutes until toasty colored
Season with salt or other seasonings
Let cool
Snack or put aside for salad toppings

Friday, December 14, 2012

Apple pie in a mug

This is a favorite hobby of mine...... making and eating yummy things from mugs!

2 apples, your favorite for baking with
4 graham crackers

Toppings: whipped cream, frozen whipped topping, frozen yogurt or ice cream, cinnamon for dusting


Directions:

Cube apples and place in 2 microwaveable mugs.
2 Microwave each mug of apples for 2 minutes on high.
Stir to combine, cook for another 2 minutes each to fully soften and cook the apples.
Add 2 crushed crackers for each mug 

Add your choice of whipped cream, frozen whipped topping, frozen yogurt, or ice cream, dust with cinnamon, and serve.



YUMMY!

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Oldies but Goodies for Fall

It's Fall Time!  We love it!

Here are some older recipes that we have that are great for Fall.  One is Grandpa's Chili and the other is Greg's Tomato Soup.  Bring on the tastiness for Fall!


Grandpa Bush’s Chili

1 to 2 pounds ground chuck (as meaty as you like)
1 15.5 oz cans of light red kidney beans
1 16 oz can Bush’s Original Baked Beans
1 14.5 oz can peeled, diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
2 packages of French’s Chili-O seasoning (Original)
2 slices white or yellow onion diced
4 to 6 oz Old El Paso Wild for Mild Salsa
2 to 3 tablespoons ketchup

Brown the ground beef and drain
Add Chili-O mix
Drain kidney beans and add
Add other ingredients and cook in slow cooker or on stove at low heat for 3 to 4 hours.

Can be served with grated cheddar cheese

Advice; if you use any other chili seasoning or other brands of baked beans and salsa, do not expect the same taste.



Best Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese
Ingredients
            Soup:
-       4 tablespoons unsalted butter
-       4 tablespoons flour
-       1 teaspoon sugar
-       2 slices of bacon finely chopped
-       5 or 6 cups of chopped tomato, fresh if possible
-       2 rounded tablespoons tomato paste
-       1 onion finely chopped
-       2 cloves garlic finely chopped or minced
-       2 cups heavy cream
-       2 cups chicken broth
-       Salt and pepper to taste

Sandwiches:
-       Your favorite pesto sauce
-       Your favorite cheese
-       Deli sliced ham
-       Bacon
Soup:
Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add bacon and cook until crisp.  Remove bacon and place on a paper towel lined plate.  Lower heat to medium, add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally until soft and fragrant; remove from heat.
In a medium-large pot, heat milk and chicken broth over moderate heat.  Put tomatoes, tomato paste, previously cooked onions, bacon and garlic, sugar, remaining butter, flour, and salt and pepper in a food processor or blender and grind until smooth.  Pour mixture into cream/broth and raise heat to bring soup to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes.
Sandwiches:
Spread pesto on bread, put cheese, ham and crispy bacon in sandwich.  Butter outside of bread and grill.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Bacon Fun

Make bacon.  Not the floppy kind, but crunchy and firm.  Dip in melted chocolate.  All together now...

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.



We didn't have enough bacon left for each kid to get their own piece, so I added it to chocolate chip cookie dough.  Ummm: Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!



Experiment and Enjoy.

No pictures, these didn't last long enough!

Thursday, March 22, 2012

EASY baked omelet

*for my family I'll have to at least double this, everyone devoured and enjoyed!

Ingredients

  • 6 eggs
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

  • Place eggs and milk in a blender. Add the flour, salt and pepper; cover and process until smooth. Pour into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until eggs are set.
  • Sprinkle with cheese. Roll up omelet in pan, starting with a short side. Place with seam side down on a serving platter. Cut into 3/4-in. slices. Yield: 6 servings.
*Can add sprinkled ham, mushrooms, other omelet stuff AFTER rolling and serving. It doesn't roll so great with extra toppings.

Nutritional Analysis:2 slices equals 204 calories, 12 g fat (6 g saturated fat), 238 mg cholesterol, 393 mg sodium, 11 g

carbohydrate, trace fiber, 13 g protein.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Strawberry Soup




















I was driving home from work yesterday and thought - what about making a fruit- based soup? Tomato is a fruit, and I love tomato soup. What about strawberries? So last night I looked on the internet for recipes, but I found "strawberry soup" recipes that are basically fruit smoothies in a bowl- not exactly what I was looking for. I wanted to try something hot- like a traditional soup, not a gazpacho or a chilled smoothie. So I made up my own recipe and it was wonderful. I am thinking of trying more fruit soups inthe future. So far this one is my favorite. . . out of the one I have tried.

Strawberry Soup:
-----------------------

*10 fresh (or frozen-thawed) strawberries
*2C skim milk
*1C water
*1/4C Parmesan cheese
*2T lemon juice
1tsp salt
*3T sour cream

1/8C Finely shredded extra sharp cheddar
3T olive oil
2 tsp honey

Finely blend ingredients with *
Place over low-medium heat (do not boil). Add remaining ingredients and stir often. Let soup barely simmer-not boil- for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and enjoy!

It was a big hit in the Bush household! Gone fast! Yum!

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Quick Brazilian Cheese Rolls {Pao de Queijo} - Gluten Free!

Quick Brazilian Cheese Rolls {Pao de Queijo} - Gluten Free!

Recipe by Our Best Bites

1 large egg

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup canola oil

orunsweetened applesauce

1 cup tapioca flour (sometimes labeled tapioca starch) no substitutions

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 C grated cheddar cheese* (preferably medium or sharp)

1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese

*you can play around with the cheese.Monterey Jack, low-moisture mozarella, swiss, and even gruyere in place of the cheddar.

Optional: extra cheese to sprinkle on top and any herbs/flavorings you'd like to add

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place egg, milk, oil, tapioca flour, and salt in blender and blend until smooth. Add cheeses and pulse 2 times. Immediately pour batter into a mini muffin tin (if your muffin tin isn't non-stick, spray lightly with non-stick spray first), filling each well about 3/4 full, or just slightly less.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until puffed and golden. Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes before removing rolls from pan. Serve warm. These actually don't re-heat well so I recommend making and eating fresh. Yield: 16-24