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Recipe Thread #1
Okay ladies, I have granola on my mind! Yes, I said granola. I, for some reason got it into my head that I want to make homemade granola. Have any of you ladies ever made granola?
Sorry, no. Isn't granola high calorie ?
Alias, all kidding aside, I think it depends on how it's made. The pro's could even out the cons. Whole oats, slivered almonds, walnuts, wheat germ, etc. on a whole are good for you. Then if you add unsweetened cranberries.... I think how you bind it and sweeten it can make a big difference. Honey vs maple syrup, molasses. I know I'd like to use vanilla in it, I have a really good quality one that is outstanding. I 'm on a mission here!I just got the bug to make it. However, if I hit the right combo I know my daughter would love it to snack on (better than chips or cookies, right?). I'd like it mixed into yogurt. A big plus, it has to be a lot less expensive than buying it in those little containers in the store!
Yes, it's healthy. One just has to be mindful not to eat a ton of it.The yogurt idea is a good one.
For snacks I sometimes mix.
~various nuts
~Fiber One cereal (looks like twigs)
~Cheerios - I mix the regular cheerios and the multi grain. If you like a sweeter mix, use a combo or regular cheerios and Multi grain Cheerios. For some reason they decided to make the multi grain cheerios sweeter. I wish they didn't do that, but I guess people love their sweets.
~cranberries or other dried fruit
That's it. I don't add any sweetener. The dried fruit adds sweetness.
Alias Reader wrote: "Yes, it's healthy. One just has to be mindful not to eat a ton of it.The yogurt idea is a good one.
For snacks I sometimes mix.
~various nuts
~Fiber One cereal (looks like twigs)
~Cheerios - I m..."
I think the sweetener part is what melts and binds it together and adds the crunch when you bake it. But I like everything you mentioned as well.
I don't bake it. I just throw it in a zip lock snack bag.
Alias Reader wrote: "I don't bake it. I just throw it in a zip lock snack bag."I'd call that trail mix?
Linda wrote: "Okay ladies, I have granola on my mind! Yes, I said granola. I, for some reason got it into my head that I want to make homemade granola. Have any of you ladies ever made granola?"We used to make granola in the 80s & 90s but never found a recipe we liked. There are two keys. The first is the sort of sweetener you use. We experimented and ended up using a variety. Molasses, the healthiest (at the time, that is) was tricky. If you use it, be judicious--a little bit goes a long way. The sweeteners are what make it unhealthy (we used a tad of oil, experimenting with that too, but finding peanut oil worked for us best) because it took quite a bit of brown sugar (we didn't even try white sugar) to make it good.
The other key is to keep an eye on it when you bake it. We found it would go from "not quite ready" to charred in a nanosecond. Ultimately, we ended up the route Alias took, not cooking it and abandoning sweeteners.
In all, we ended up just buying it. And by that point we were kinda sick of it, so haven't bought it much since. However, in the last year i've been buying a bit from the bulk bins. If i were to make it again, i'd add vanilla extract. We didn't use flavorings at all, btw, as our recipes never called for it & the idea never dawned.
Good luck, Linda.
deb
Julie wrote: "3238010 Madrano wrote: "Last night i made a pumpkin-black bean soup. The last step in the instructions was to add 3 tsp. balsamic after cooking the soup 45 minutes. "This sounds interesting. Do you mind posting the recipe? ..."
Not a problem. Two differences i employed follow: I ran out of veg. broth, so used chicken broth for 2 cups. The only diced tomatoes i had were made with cumin & chili (Rotel), which i felt was too hot for me.
Pumpkin Black Bean Soup
2 cans black beans (15 oz each), drained and rinsed
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (16 oz) pumpkin puree
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 Tablespoons olive oil
4 cups vegetable broth
1 Tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Baked pumpkin seeds, for garnish
In a large pot sauté red onion, garlic, cumin, kosher salt, cinnamon, allspice and pepper in oil on low-medium heat until red onion and garlic are brown; about 3 minutes.
In a food processor or blender puree the beans and tomatoes with half of the vegetable broth. Add pureed ingredients, pumpkin and the rest of the broth to the pot.
Simmer uncovered until thick, stirring often and scraping the bottom, about 40-45 minutes. Before serving stir in balsamic vinegar. Garnish with baked pumpkin seeds.
Good luck!
I think I found it! Vanilla and uses honey instead of molasses! Thanks for the tips Deb.Vanilla Scented Granola
Ingredients:Yield:
8
cups
vegetable oil cooking spray
4 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup golden brown sugar, packed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
Change Measurements: US | Metric
Directions:
Prep Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 45 mins
1 Position rack to middle of oven and preheat to 300*.
2 Lightly spray large baking sheet with nonstick spray.
3 Mix next 5 ingredients in large bowl.
4 combine oil, honey and sugar in small saucepan; bring to simmer over medium heat.
5 Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.
6 Pour hot liquid over oat mixture; stir well.
7 Using hands, toss mixture until thoroughly mixed.
8 Spread granola on prepared baking sheet.
9 Bake until golden brown, stirring occasionaly, about 30 minutes (but check after 20).
10 Transfer sheet to rack; cool granola completely.
11 (Can be made two weeks ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.) Makes about 8 cups.
Linda wrote: "Alias Reader wrote: "I don't bake it. I just throw it in a zip lock snack bag."---------------
I'd call that trail mix?"
---------------
Yes. Trail mix.
Madrano wrote: "Julie wrote: "3238010 Madrano wrote: "Last night i made a pumpkin-black bean soup. The last step in the instructions was to add 3 tsp. balsamic after cooking the soup 45 minutes. "This sounds int..."
------------------
My sister loves both black beans and pumpkin, so I am sending the recipe her way. Thanks !
Alias Reader wrote: "My sister loves both black beans and pumpkin, so I am sending the recipe her way. Thanks ! ..."
My pleasure. After the initial meal i added some roasted beef we had on hand. They simmered together 20 minutes or so. I liked the resulting taste. Just thought i'd mention it.
deb
Linda wrote: "I think I found it! Vanilla and uses honey instead of molasses! Thanks for the tips Deb...."
Linda, this sounds similar to the recipe we used. I think we also threw in pecans just because we liked them so much. And, as mentioned, over the months we tried different additions, such as seeds. Sesame were fine but sunflower seemed not to fit.
Also, as i think i mentioned, we lessened the sugar as the months went by. Iirc, we tried maple syrup as a sweetener once but never got that right. The taste was nice, though. The recipe you shared doesn't have much cinnamon and i know ours had much more. But we really like that spice, so it was probably our own decision on that. Finally, oat bran came into its own during that decade and we sometimes threw in some of that, although i never thought it did much for it.
Please let us know how it turns out.
deborah
Madrano wrote: "Linda wrote: "I think I found it! Vanilla and uses honey instead of molasses! Thanks for the tips Deb...."
Linda, this sounds similar to the recipe we used. I think we also threw in pecans just b..."
Deb, I made it this afternoon and it came out perfect. I did heed your advice and kept a very watchful eye on it. I took it out after 25 minutes, and only stirred it once because I wanted the clumps. The flavor was very nice. I use a very good quality vanilla, Madagascar Bourbon pure vanilla extract. I was given this as a gift, as it is $18.00 for 8 oz. ! So I am quite pleased the granola came out good, my 10 year old critic loves it! I do think I might up the cinnamon to 1/4 tsp. next time.
That vanilla sounds divine! Glad the recipe worked for you, Linda.I thought i'd add that last night i made a chicken pot pie, one Leslie from Alabama shared somewhere a couple of years ago. (Hey, thanks, Leslie! We continue to love the Cheese Drops, too.)
ANYway, i love pot pie but never made one since DH isn't fond of them. However, when cleaning out the freezer i ran across several pie crusts i made & froze in the last 3 months. In an effort to use them but not for a sweet pie, i came upon this idea, particularly when i saw the abundance of chicken breasts and some "lost" frozen peas in there.
The results were good & DH even liked it. This is a sort of lazy method, perfect for me, in that you use cream of chicken soup instead of making a sauce from scratch. However, i uncheated by using fresh carrots, potatoes and onions.
Here 'tis Leslie's version, in her own words, even:
Leslie’s Chicken Pot Pie
Last night I made my first chicken pot pie. It is neither made out of fresh vegetables nor low cal, but it was EASY.
I boiled some boneless chicken breasts, about 3 good sized halves, in some spiced up water. Then I put the shredded chicken in a casserole dish. I mixed 2 cans of cream of chicken soup (I did use low-fat) with some of the chicken broth, then put a couple of handfuls of frozen mixed vegetables into the mix, and topped with a slightly thawed frozen pie dough. I baked it about an hour at 350. DH thought he had died and gone to heaven.
My personal difference is that i lined the pie pan with crust, which was a bad idea, it never cooked right. Additionally, while the meat was cooling, i sauteed some chopped onions; then i added cut up carrots and potatoes, covering & letting them steam a few minutes. Finally, i only used 1 can of soup, as i was using a small foil pie pan (8", i think). This was tasty.
I like my pot pies bland, so didn't even add pepper or salt, although one may. The herbs i used when cooking the meat were a bay leaf, a couple of peppercorns, dry mustard and some rosemary.
Just thought i'd share. This is a keeper, even when i added the extra work.
deborah
Deborah, that sounds good. I need to make note of it. Leslie has the best recipes. Her Santa Fe Soup Food is amazing, and so is her Tomato Pie.And in reference to the bottom crust not cooking, I think this is always a problem, at least for me. When I use a pre-made pie shell for quiche, I always bake it for about 5 minutes before filling it and that seems to work.
My butcher shop has a woman who makes delicious prepared foods, but when I follow her directions for cooking her pot pie, the bottom crust is always soggy. One of the butchers told me to raise the temperature but I have not tried that yet.
Santa Fe Soup Food----from Food for Thought, a cookbook put out by the Junior League of Birmingham.
2 lbs. ground beef or turkey
1 large onion, chopped
2 (.5 ounce) pkgs. Ranch-style dressing mix
2 (1 1/4 ounce) pkgs. taco seasoning mix
2 cups water
1 (16 ounce) can black beans, undrained
1 (16 ounce) can kidney beans, undrained
1 (16 ounce) can pinto beans, undrained
2 (16 ounce) cans white corn, undrained
1 (16 ounce) can diced tomatoes with chilis, undrained
1 (16 ounce) can diced tomatoes,undrained
Brown ground meat with chopped onion 'til meat is browned. Drain off fat. Add ranch dressing & taco seasoning mixes into meat, stir well, add water. Open the rest of the cans & dump in. Simmer for 2 hours. Can add more water if too thick.
Optional: Garnish with sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, sliced green onions, tortilla chips. Will freeze well. Great to send back to college with students!
TOMATO PIE - to DIE for!Frozen pie shell (regular, not deep dish)
1 cup grated Swiss (can make part of the cup shredded cheddar - I use all cheddar)
3/4 cup mayonnaise (light is fine)
2 or 3 tomatoes, sliced 1/2 inch thick
3 green onions, chopped, including green part salt and pepper
Thaw pie shell and then bake 5 minutes at 400 degrees.
Mix cheese(s) and mayonnaise together in a bowl.
Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees.
Slice tomatoes, salt and pepper them, and let them drain on paper towels for a few minutes.
Put tomato slices in the pie shell and put the onions on top of them.
Put spoonfuls of the cheese mixture on top of this (it will not spread, so space out the spoonfuls. As it cooks, it will spread over the top).
Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
****Nice thing about this is that you can also use "winter" tomatoes or even plum tomatoes.
I have never tried Tomato Pie -- but that does sound incredibly good. Of course it will require me to allow for a big cheese fix but it seems worth it.
JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Deborah, that sounds good. I need to make note of it. Leslie has the best recipes. Her Santa Fe Soup Food is amazing, and so is her Tomato Pie.And in reference to the bottom crust not cooking, I ..."
My Santa Fe Soup came from my MIL, who cooks it all the time, it seems. When we moved her last week, she had 4 containers full of the stuff. It freezes & thaws well, so she keeps a supply on hand. My BIL, her SIL, cooks it in his home too. It's the SOLE food he makes, btw.
Re. Tomato Pie. I have a similar one but it calls for fresh basil, so i usually only make it in summer. It's funny how easily i forget to make it any other time of year.
And bottom crusts have been a problem for a long time. Generally i do what you do, pre-bake a bit. It's hard to figure out how much, though, particularly when i use my own crust. Why i didn't do that for the chicken pot pie, i do not know.
deb
JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Santa Fe Soup Food----from Food for Thought, a cookbook put out by the Junior League of Birmingham.
2 lbs. ground beef or turkey
1 large onion, chopped
2 (.5 ounce) pkgs. Ranch-style dressing m..."
This sounds so good! Will print and make soon.
Donna
This recipe looks so good! We love Black Beans, Sweet Potatoes, and Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Sauce. Copied it off their web site. Barbecued Black Beans With Sweet Potatoes
February 2, 2011Recipe of the Week
This recipe smells delicious as it cooks. So good, in fact, that when we made it the other day in the office, our co-workers kept stopping by to see what we had slow cooking. The smoky barbeque stew tastes as fantastic as it smells. Even our co-workers who don’t like sweet potatoes had a bite and liked it!
Barbecued Black Beans with Sweet Potatoes
Prep. Time: 10-15 minutes
Cooking Time: 2-4 hours
Ideal slow cooker size: 3-qt.
4 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 8 chunks each
15-oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 medium onion, diced
2 ribs celery, sliced
9 oz. Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue Sauce
1. Place sweet potatoes in slow cooker.
2. Stir in additional ingredients.
3. Cover. Cook on High 2-3 hours, or on Low 4 hours.
Donna in Southern Maryland wrote: "This recipe looks so good! We love Black Beans, Sweet Potatoes, and Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Sauce. Copied it off their web site. Barbecued Black Beans With Sweet Potatoes
February 2, 2011Recipe..."
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Thanks, Donna. I passed it on my family/friends. I don't think I can make it because I would think barbecue sauce has too much salt in it for me. I'll keep an eye out for a brand that doesn't.
Interesting! And great timing. I'm making chili with beans today, and I was trying to decide whether to serve it with sweet potato fries. If barbecued black beans tastes good with sweet potatoes, then chili with sweet potato fries should work just fine!
Sounds good, Donna. Thanks. Lately i've been subbing sweet 'taters for potatoes in everything, all to the improvement of the dish. Maybe it's the novelty or maybe just shaking things up a bit but it works. AND sweet 'taters seem to store longer than others here.
I've read that sweet potatoes are also much better for one's blood sugar. They don't make it spike like white potatoes do. This is important not only for diabetics but also for people trying to lose weight.
Alias, this one looks pretty good!Salt-Free Barbecue Sauce by Leslie Bilderback
MAKES ABOUT 3 CUPS
1,550 calories
39 g fat
314 g carbohydrates
13 g protein
100 mg sodium
15 g fiber
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup honey
½ cup molasses
½ cup cider vinegar
¼ cup powdered red chilies
2 tablespoons powdered mustard
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon celery seed
2 cups water
This sauce can go toe to toe with any salty barbecue sauce. It’s sweet and tangy, just like the best barbeque chefs’ recipes.
1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring, until golden brown.
2. Add honey, molasses, and vinegar and stir to warm through.
3. Add powdered chilies, mustard, cayenne pepper, celery seed, and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 14–20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until flavors are well blended and sauce is reduced to desired thickness. Use immediately or store refrigerated for up to a week.
Thank you, Donna ! That looks easy and the ingredients are commonplace. Though I don't see where the 15 grams of fiber is coming from.
Alias Reader wrote: "Thank you, Donna ! That looks easy and the ingredients are commonplace. Though I don't see where the 15 grams of fiber is coming from."
peanut oil, onion
peanut oil doesn't have fiber Peanut oil, 1 Tbsp peanut oil (15mL)
Calories: 119
Protein: 0.0g
Carbohydrate: 0.0g
Total Fat: 13.5g
Fiber: 0.0g
http://www.truestarhealth.com/Notes/1...
http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/pean...
a 1/2 cup onion has 1.4 grams
I'm thinking there was a misplaced or omitted decimal concerning the fiber in this recipe.
Alias Reader wrote: "peanut oil doesn't have fiber "It did where I looked it up. Of course, I have no idea where that was!
This looks easy and good...but I would only use breasts.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl3tjy...
I do not know how many of you have Wegmans (no apostrophe LOL) - the closest one to me is inconvenient to get to at best. But it is a GREAT grocery store.
Another vote for Wegmans here. We also have Tops. Wegmans is a little pricey but for some things totally worth it.
Looks good. I was surprised to see several crock pot recipes i've not noticed elsewhere. YouTube, who knew?
Madrano wrote: "Looks good. I was surprised to see several crock pot recipes i've not noticed elsewhere. YouTube, who knew?"You will find things on You Tube that you can't even IMAGINE! :o)
Donna
This is slow cooker week on the Rachel Ray show.I am guessing she will also put the recipes on her web site.
I just posted a new recipe to my blog: Spicy Manchurian Cauliflower. It's realllllly good. I made it with half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper, and that was a little too hot for me. Next time, I'll probably use a quarter teaspoon. The most surprising thing to me was how little it made. A full head of cauliflower florets doesn't come to much after roasting. Made me wish I had smaller serving dishes so it looked more abundant in the bowl.Donna, that barbecue sauce looks amazing! You know, it never occurred to me that peanut oil would have fiber in it.
The spices in that sound wonderful! I love roasted cauliflower so will have to give this a try. Unfortunately, there is no cauliflower living in my refrigerator at the moment.
Let me know how you like it, Susan! It is definitely very savory. My only disappointment was that there weren't enough leftovers. Next time, I'll double it. A head of cauliflower doesn't go as far as you think it will.
I have an advantage -- only two people in my household and my husband doesn't like vegetables (gasp!).
Susan, love the recipe and will try soon. We all like cauliflower here. I went to your link for your blog. Very nice.... and hit the "like " button on FB.
This is now officially my favorite way to cook cauliflower - delicious. Thank you, Susan! I cut down the amount of catsup a bit so mine was probably a little drier than yours. I used 1/4 t cayenne, and it was just the right heat level for me, might still be spicy if the cayenne is especially hot or if people don't like hot-spicy. And I completely forgot the green onions, even though I had some in the refrigerator. The combination of spices is perfect. Yum!!
I am making New England Butternut Squash tonight. It calls for maple syrup, but I did not want to buy a bottle of that for just 2 teaspoons, so I am using pomegranate molasses, which is really a syrup. So maybe I should call this Middle-East Butternut squash???GWP is my "good cooking" friend in CA
New England Style Butternut Squash
1 medium Butternut Squash
2 cups water (approx.)
3/4 teaspoon CInnamon
1/4 teaspoon Ground Cloves
1/4 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
1 to 2 Tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 to 2 teaspoons maple syrup. (dark preferably)
Salt and Pepper, to taste
1) Peel and cut squash into inch pieces. Discard any seeds
2) Place in pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil. SImmer loosely covered for 20 minutes, or until soft. Drain.
3) Add Butter, Cinnamon, Cloves, Nutmeg, Brown Sugar, Maple Syrup/.
4) Mash to desired consistency. Stir in salt and pepper to taste.
Adapted from a Yankee Books “Hometown Cooking in New England” GWP 11/4/09
additional notes 1/15/11: I now use a steamer instead of boiling. Just steam until pieces are soft. Use your potato masher. But every time I make this I wonder if I shouldn’t be using my stick blender but by that time I’ve got the masher mashing so mark it up to “next time.” If you want to make this less sweet, feel free to omit the one teaspoon of sugar!
My note: pomegranate molasses is a bit bitter, so I used all of the sugar but decreased the molasses to 1 t. It was still a bit bitter, so I added more sugar but that did not make much difference. I am wondering of one of the spices caused this....the pom molasses is not THAT bitter.
Pomegranate molasses sounds very interesting, I've never seen it. The main difference , imo, is that the dark or dark amber maple syrup (my personal favorite) is very rich and kind of buttery in flavor on it's own. I should say,the dark amber one that I stock up on when we go to Vermont is.
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Books mentioned in this topic
Onions and Roses (other topics)The Joy of Cooking (other topics)
Sink Reflections (other topics)
The School of Essential Ingredients (other topics)
Irish Traditional Cooking: Over 300 Recipes from Ireland's Heritage (other topics)
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Vassar Miller (other topics)Robin Miller (other topics)
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Lorraine Bodger (other topics)
David A. Kessler (other topics)
This sounds interesting. Do you mind posting the recipe?