A New Diet

The middle of August found my wife and myself checking into a new diet, well actually an old diet just not one we had done. It's called counting calories. Well needless to say I just had to have a new cookbook (any excuse I can find) we looked and settled on the "Weight Watchers in 20 minutes" following is just a few recipes that I have used and have found to be wonderful. Since "Weight Watchers" included the nutritional values I thought I would pass them along as well. Some of the recipes I do as is and some I change after I have made it at least once their way.

Feel free to experiment with them as you see fit,I am sure you will enjoy.

NORTH AFRICAN-STYLE BURGERS

1 pound lean ground beef (7% fat or less)
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
4 whole wheat hamburger buns (split)
4 tomato slices
4 sweet onion slices
4 green lettuce leaves

1. Combine the beef, tomato paste, cumin, cinnamon, salt, and pepper in a bowl. With damp hands shape the mixture into 4 (½-inch-thick) patties.
2. Spray a large nonstick skillet with nonstick spray and set over medium heat. Add the patties and cook until an instant read thermometer inserted into the side of a burger registers 160 degrees, about 4 minutes each side.
3. Put a burger on the bottom half of each bun and top with 1 tomato slice, and 1 lettuce leaf. Cover with the tops of the buns.

Per Serving (1 garnished burger): 280 calories, 8 g Fat, 3 g sat fat, 1 g trans fat, 64 mg chol, 735 mg sod, 22 g carbs, 4 g fib, 29 g prot, 79 mg calc.

We enjoy the burgers as is but have found that if you add a few chopped mushrooms and a little chopped onion to the mixture, it adds a whole new dimension. Hope you enjoy


BUFFALO-STYLE CHICKEN STRIPS

1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
¼ cup Louisiana-style hot sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 pound skinless boneless chicken breast halves, cut on the diagonal into 1-inch wide strips
3 carrots cut into ¼ inch matchsticks
4 celery stalks cut into ¼ inch matchsticks
½ cup fat- free blue cheese dressing

1. Combine the pepper sauce, hot sauce, and Worcestershire sauce in a small saucepan and set over medium heat. Bring to a boil; reduce the heat and simmer 1 minute. Remove from the heat and add 1 teaspoon of the butter, stirring until melted.
2. Melt the remaining 2 teaspoons of butter in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook, stirring, until browned and cooked through, 8 – 10 minutes. Add the hot sauce mixture and cook, tossing, about 1 minute longer. Transfer the chicken to a serving bowl and serve with the carrots, celery, and blue cheese dressing.

Per serving (1 chicken breast half, about 1/3 cup carrot sticks, and ½ cup celery sticks, and 2 tablespoons dressing); 231 cal, 7 g Fat, 3 g sat fat, 0 g trans fat, 77 mg chol, 805 mg sod, 15 g carb, 3 g fiber, 26 g prot, 71 mg calc.

We enjoy as is but feel free to adjust for yourself.


FRUIT AND CHEESE- STUFFED FRENCH TOAST

2 tablespoons light cream cheese (Neufchatel), softened
4 slices whole wheat bread
2 tablespoons strawberry or raspberry all-fruit spread
1 large egg
2 egg whites
3 tablespoons fat free milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch nutmeg
1 cup hulled and sliced strawberries

1. Spread the cream cheese evenly on 2 slices of the bread, leaving a 1/8 inch border. Spread the strawberry spread on the remaining slices of bread, leaving 1/8 inch border. Put the slices of bread together to make 2 cream cheese-fruit sandwiches.
2. Beat the egg and egg whites in a large shallow bowl or pie plate; whisk in the milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add 1 sandwich to the egg mixture; let stand until evenly soaked, about 20 seconds each side. Repeat with the other sandwich
3. Spray a large nonstick skillet with nonstick spray and set over medium high heat. Add the sandwiches to the skillet and cook until browned, 2-3 minutes on each side. Serve with the berries.

Per serving (1 sandwich and ½ cup strawberries) 321 cal, 96 g fat, 0 g trans fat, 118 mg chol, 427 mg sod, 44 g carb, 7 g fib, 17 g prot, 141 mg cal.

My wife and I love this, and I am not a big fan of French toast, we do not even have the strawberries with it and it is great as is. Be sure to experiment with other flavors of fruit spread.

Peach & Blueberry Galette

One of my favorite parts of the the hot, humid and miserable summer is glorious fresh berries! We had the most perfect day (only in the upper 70's while we were out in the fields and the bushes were full of big, fat, sweet, delicious (Okay, I'll stop) blueberries.

With a bucket full of fresh blueberries on my counter, I began to plan what I was going to make over the next couple of days. First thing that came to mind was homemade cottage cheese (Oh, how I love homemade cottage cheese and fresh blueberries...it may be the most perfect summer meal). Next was this peach and blueberry galette! I happened to see peaches on the counter beside the blueberries and I thought they would make a perfect pair.

This galette is so pleasing because you're indulging in excellent pie crust and lots of it (my favorite part!) but you also get to truly enjoy the sweet and delicate flavors of the fresh fruit without being overpowered with sugar or cornstarch that you find in the filling of traditional pies.

I used my favorite pie dough from Cook's Illustrated. I rolled it out thin and then placed it on a buttered cookie sheet.

I cut 2 peaches in half, removed the pit and then made very thin slices, I would say thinner than an 1/8 of an inch. I fanned the peaches in a single layer then piled on the blueberries, leaving an inch or two of crust to fold up. I worked the crust up and over the edge of the fruit and brushed the crust and fruit with melted butter. I then sprinkled 1/4 cup of vanilla sugar (I keep a container of sugar with a used vanilla bean ---I removed the inner bits for making ice cream and then dried the outer bean and stored it with the white sugar) over the fruit and pie crust.

Baked at 400 degrees for 35 minutes and then cooled for 15-20.

The only thing I would change...I would sprinkle 2 tblsp of the sugar directly onto the peaches before piling on the blueberries then finish with the rest of the sugar on the crust and blueberries.

I take that back...I would change one more thing. I would sprinkle the tiniest bit of salt over the top of the peaches to contrast the sugar and maybe even add a touch more salt to the crust since there is sugar on top of the crust. I don't care for sugary sweets, but when nicely balance with a bit of salt then I'm a happy camper :)

Cherry Coulis

My wonderful husband often runs errands for me and often brings back surprises that make me smile...usually food related :) One evening he brought home 6lbs of cherries. My children suddenly decided they did not like cherries and so I had to think quick! Cherry coulis came to mind. I first thought it would be nice over vanilla ice cream, then I was faced with planning a dish to take to cultural cooking with an Italian theme and Panna Cotta came to mind! I made this cherry coulis for a lovely sweet and tart resting place for the cold, creamy panna cotta.


1 cup fresh cherries
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons sugar


Cook fresh cherries in water to cover over medium heat until they are falling off the pits; drain.

Place in a small saucepan with water; add orange and lemon juices. Heat until warmed through.

Press through a fine sieve into a bowl. Stir in sugar while still hot. Stir until dissolved.

Layered Fruit Salad

I know I'm being a slacker with my recipe posts lately but it's the summer and I'm barely cooking these days. However, I've been using some delicious recipes and felt I should be sharing them so you can get great reviews at your summer parties, too.

I made this fruit salad for 2 cook outs in the month of July and it was a hit at both. Once again, my father-in-law is dieting so I wanted to make a fruit salad he could eat but allow other people to dress it up a bit if they weren't watching the scale. So here is my layered fruit salad:

Seasonal fruits and berries of your choice cut into bite size pieces
I used different fruits for each salad, but cantaloupe was a favorite in both

Creamy topping
8oz cream cheese softened
2 cups vanilla, low-fat yogurt
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tblsp brown sugar

Crunchy Topping
2 1/2 cups crispy rice cereal
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the cereal and nuts onto a baking pan. Stir in the brown sugar and butter. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until toasty. Stir occasionally. Set aside to cool.

Mix cream cheese, yogurt, brown sugar and flavorings in food processor until thoroughly combined. (I was never able to get it completely lump free, but was not a big deal).

When preparing fruit, be sure to coat apples and pears in a little lemon juice or pineapple juice to prevent browning and add sliced bananas just before serving.

To serve place cut up fruit into individual serving bowl, top with cream then sprinkle with crunchy granola like topping.

NOTE: I used a plain puffed rice cereal for one batch of the crunchy topping and although it was tasty, the airy cereal soaked up a lot of butter. I would suggest sticking with the crispy rice (such as Rice Krispies brand).

Strawberry Cheesecake Trifle

2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese
2 C. powdered sugar
1C. sour cream
1 1/2 t. vanilla extract (divided use)
2 T. plus 1/4 t. almond extract (divided use)
1/2 pint whipping cream
4 T. sugar (divided use)
1 angel food cake, torn into bite-size pieces
2 quarts fresh strawberries, cleaned, stemmed and thinly sliced

In a large bowl, cream together cream cheese and powdered sugar. Add sour cream, 1/2 teaspoon of the vanilla and 1/4 teaspoon of the almond extract. Set aside.

In a small, deep bowl, whip the whipping cream, 1 teaspoon of the vanilla and 1 tablespoon of the sugar. Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture. Fold in cake pieces and set aside.

Combine strawberries, remaining 3 tablespoons sugar and remaining 2 tablespoons almond extract.

In a large glass serving bowl, layer ingredients in this order: one-third of the strawberries, one-half of the cake mixture, another third of the berries, remaining cake mixture, remaining strawberries.

Cover and chill well before serving.