Tag Archives: healthy

Kumquat & Coconut Cookies {Grain & Sugar-Free}

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Veronica

Whew, two recipe contests in the same week! I don’t know what’s come over me. It must be all that state fair competitive spirit leaking over into my everyday baking life! This one is for Baker Bettie’s Cookie Wars, in which she charged us with a mission to invent a cookie using at least two of the following ingredients:

Avocado
Balsamic Vinegar
Basil
Beer
Coffee
Cranberries
Cream Cheese
Dark Chocolate
Dried Chilies
Dr. Pepper
Fennel Bulb
Garlic
Goat Cheese
Grapefruit
Greek Yogurt
Hazelnut
Honey
Kumquat
Maple Syrup
Marshmallows
Mint
Passion Fruit
Peach
Poppy Seeds
Rosemary
Sour Cherries
Sweet Potato
Tomato

I’m really curious to see how many people are daring and creative enough to use tomato, vinegar (wait, I’ve done that and it’s fabulous! lol), beer, rosemary, etc. I’m thinking there are going to be a few savory cookies in the mix!

But me, well, you know my affinity for sweets, so that’s what I went for. I didn’t intend to make a wholesome cookie, it kinda just happened in the evolution of my creative process. Here’s how it went.

My first inclination was to create a yogurt and honey spice cookie, which I knew would be a cake-like cookie because of the honey, and since I don’t like cakey cookies unless they’re part of a whoopie pie, I figured I’d also make a yogurt and honey filing for them.

Then I remembered the bag of coconut flour in my refrigerator that I won from Nutmeg Nanny’s giveaway several months ago, and thought it would work well here since the honey and yogurt would add a lot of liquid that usually isn’t in cookies, and you need more wet ingredients in any coconut flour recipe–it’s very thirsty and absorbs lots of moisture. (I know this from a previous failure.)

I scanned the list again, trying to see if any other ingredients would pair well with the flavor of coconut and pondered over the kumquats. I’d never had them but had seen them at the grocery store from time to time and always assumed they were miniature oranges. I remember asking Dennis, “What is the point of these? It would take forever to peel enough of these to make them worth eating!” But I Googled kumquats anyway, to see if they might work for me in my cookies.

I found out that the skin is the part that is sweet and delicious, and the inside is very sour. Most people eat them whole to savor the contrast of sweet and sour. (I tried this after buying them, and whoo-ey, even the sweet peel wasn’t enough for me to dig the sour explosion on the inside. But the flavor is very good-very similar to an orange.) I also found a recipe for kumquat chocolate chip cookies that described the kumquat peels as being great after baking because they get chewy like pieces of candy. OK, I was sold. I had to find me some kumquats.

Find them I did, and then I went to work. I’m pretty happy with my creation! These cookies have an exotic flavor profile, with a semi-tropical feel. The honey wasn’t quite enough to balance the sour yogurt and and kumquats (yes, I totally tasted the raw dough. I always do. :) ), but the stevia made them nicely sweet like any good cookie should be. I love the kumquat flavor, it is a perfect match with the coconut. I added the spices because a recipe I have from my friend, Marina, called “Cream Cheese Cookies” uses them, but I honestly can’t say they really pronounce themselves on the palate. They sort of just add a layer of mystery in the background to the overall exotic flavor.

The texture is soft and moist and very tender, which isn’t my usual choice for a cookie (I’m in the crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside camp), but these are so unique that it doesn’t strike me as “wrong.” These cookies are supposed to be different, and it’s actually a nice texture…not unlike shortbread. The one downside is that coconut flour makes them a bit grainy and while they’re not a dry cookie, the flour makes you thirsty after eating one.

All in all, these aren’t the typical American cookie, but I think they’d be perfect with tea. In fact, I think I’m going to enjoy a few with a hot cup right now…

Kumquat & Coconut Cookies

Printable recipe
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½ cup unsalted butter, melted
½ cup raw, local honey
½ cup Greek yogurt (I used nonfat)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup coconut flour
5 packets NuNaturals stevia powder
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon mace
¼ teaspoon salt
½ lb. kumquats
1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Whisk the butter and honey together in a small bowl until combined, then whisk in the yogurt until combined, then the eggs and vanilla. Doing it in this way emulsifies the butter so that it doesn’t harden and get clotted when you add the cold yogurt and eggs.

In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk the coconut flour to get any clumps out, then whisk in the coriander, ginger, mace, and salt. Add the honey & yogurt mixture, and stir with a spoon until mixed. The dough will be thick and will get thicker upon standing. Set aside.

Pick off the small stems from the kumquats, then roughly chop them, removing seeds as you go. I don’t have a great knife, so I sliced each kumquat into four slices, then quartered each slice, otherwise I just would have gone nuts chopping like I do with nuts. Add the chopped kumquats into the cookie dough along with the coconut and mix well with your clean hands.

Scoop the dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets with a tablespoon-sized cookie scoop. You can place them fairly close together as they will not spread. Flatten each ball with the palm of your hand, and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until lightly golden brown around the edges.

Cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container.

Notes: coconut oil can be substituted for the butter to make these dairy-free. If you are using a different brand or form of stevia, add it in to taste. There is no gluten to toughen the cookies, so you can mix and re-mix to your heart’s content as you add ingredients to get the right balance to suit your tastes.

27 Comments

Posted in Cookies, Sugar-Free and tagged coconut, Cookies, English tea, exotic, gluten-free, grain free, healthy, kumquat, Sugar-Free, tea cookies, tea time, wholesome. Bookmark the permalink.

Lemongrass Chicken with Peppers

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Veronica

It’s that time again! Secret Recipe Club time! This is my sixth month with the club, and still having a ball. My favorite part is getting my assignment and then stalking my assigned blog, bookmarking all the recipes I want to try. I really love the secrecy and wonder how far the other members take it. I take it so far as to not even pin the recipes I want to try on Pinterest (how I usually keep track of recipes), for fear that the blog owner will find my bajillion pins and figure out I have their blog this month. That would ruin the surprise. I also don’t subscribe to the blog I’m assigned to, just in case they keep track of their subscribers, and I don’t leave comments. Nothing to let on that I’m the one that has their blog! The secrecy is pretty fun and makes me feel super sneaky. :)

This month, I was assigned to Quick and Easy, Cheap and Healthy, and boy did I have fun scouring Anne’s archives. Although you may not be able to tell it from the amount of buttery, sugary treats I post, I really love healthy food, especially if it’s easy to prepare (kinda helps balance out all the time and calories in my desserts), so this blog was perfect for me! I counted the recipes I bookmarked and know this has got to be a personal record: 44. No joke. Um, Amanda (Amanda started the club), is there a reward for “most recipes bookmarked in a SRC assignment?” ;)

But when I came across Anne’s Lemongrass Chicken, there was little doubt that it was the winning recipe. The grocery store closest to us started carrying lemongrass a couple years ago, and was really happy to have an excuse to buy some! Of course, when I went to buy it, they were out. Of course! So off I went to my trusty Asian market, and I found a big bucket of lemongrass stalks, bundled in bunches of 3 for $1. Can’t beat that!

My friend, Pia, mailed me some vegetable cutters for Christmas and while I was trying to think of what veggies I could add to the chicken (I bulk up most of our meals with as many veggies as I can), I thought of those cutters and knew I’d be adding in some pretty peppers. I know most people will not have these special cutters (I believe you can buy them at Asian markets, though), so just slice your peppers if you don’t–it will still make a very colorful and pretty dish!

Thanks, Anne, for sharing this wonderful recipe! It was the MOST delicious dish I’ve ever made with SRC, hands down. I’ve never had lemongrass before, and I was surprised (though I shouldn’t have been) that it smelled exactly like the lemongrass soap that my sister makes! It has a bright & fresh slightly lemony smell and flavor. It looks like a green onion, and has a fibrous texture similar to ginger. It is very good and I hope that you have an Asian market near you so you can make this chicken.

I do want to mention that I made this sweet, almost as sweet as the sauces you get on Americanized Chinese fare, so if you want a more subtle sweetness, halve the honey. I started with 1/4 cup, which was good but barely sweet. I wanted it sweeter and my recipe reflect the change I made to 1/2 cup honey, but you might want to start with less and taste it once the chicken is cooked. You can always add more!

Lemongrass Chicken with Peppers

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

3 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
½ cup honey
½ cup soy sauce, divided
1 teaspoon (1 clove) minced garlic
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons canola oil
½ cup (about 1 large stalk) minced fresh lemongrass
3 green onions, chopped
½ of a red pepper, cut into strips or shapes
½ of a green pepper, cut into strips or shapes
½ of a yellow pepper, cut into strips or shapes
¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

In a gallon-sized Ziploc bag or in a large bowl, combine chicken, honey, ¼ cup of the soy sauce, and garlic, and allow to marinate 10-15 minutes (this is a good time to prep your veggies). Mix the remaining ¼ cup soy sauce with the cornstarch and set aside.

Heat an extra-large skillet over medium-high heat and add the oil. Add lemongrass and stir-fry for about 15 seconds, until fragrant but not brown. Add the chicken, and continue to stir-fry until the pieces are cooked through, about ten minutes. Stir the soy sauce & cornstarch mixture, and add it to the skillet along with the green onions and peppers. Stir-fry until sauce is thickened and serve hot over rice, topped with a sprinkle of cilantro.

Makes 6-8 servings

I have to pimp my Tupperware lady, Stacy, because I just got a rice maker from her and used it to prepare my brown rice for this dish. There are only instructions for white rice and a few other quick-cooking grains on the insert, so here’s how I did mine if you get one and want to make brown rice (the insert does say it can be used for brown rice, but doesn’t give instructions): 1 cup brown rice, 2 1/4 cups water. 5 minutes on high, 30 minutes on 50% power in a 1000 watt microwave. (The rice cooker is BPA-free, in case you are worried about cooking your rice in plastic.) Perfect brown rice, and a little faster than it takes on the stove! Get your own rice cooker here.

24 Comments

Posted in Asian, Lighter Fare, Meats, Secret Recipe Club and tagged easy, healthy, lemongrass chicken, peppers, secret recipe club. Bookmark the permalink.

Honey Whole Wheat Beer Bread

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Veronica

Sheesh, I know what you guys are thinking. That with all the alcohol-laden recipes I’ve been posting lately, I must be a secret raging alcoholic! Well, I promise I’m not. While I will take a sip once in a while, I generally dislike it on several levels. Besides the taste, and abstaining for scriptural reasons like not wanting to cause a brother to sin against their conscience (1 Corinthians 8:9-13), I’ve seen firsthand the effect it can have on a person’s health and on a family if abused, and I steer clear of alcohol so that I don’t continue that legacy.

However, while I have a personal distaste for it in its pure state, I do have quite a fondness for adding it to my baked goods. A little bit can really intensify the flavor in a recipe, and the baking (and cooking) process eliminates the alcohol content so that it will not have an intoxicating effect on your body. Win-win!

Because of my fondness for baking with it, you really might think I had an alcohol problem if you took a look in my cupboard! I’ve got rum, bourbon, and brandy upstairs (great for so many things, including a fantastic fruit cake recipe I’ll be sharing come October–it takes two months to make), and I keep a few beers in the basement. Beer is my least favorite alcohol, but I make sure I always have a few on hand because one of my favorite breads happens to be beer bread. Go figure.

Beer creates magic when you put it in a quick bread, supplanting a yeasty flavor that quick breads lack, and it’s just so delicious! I’m very excited about my newest variation on beer bread (I can not believe this is my fourth beer bread post! Stop the madness!) because it is not only delicious, but healthy!

My favorite beer bread has white flour, butter, and white sugar in it, but I wanted something more wholesome this time so I used white whole wheat flour, canola oil, and honey. I was so delighted when I sliced into this loaf and took my first bite! I couldn’t believe how soft, tender and moist it was, and the flavor was incredible. Very yeasty, with a mild sweetness. I think that honey and beer were meant to come together in bread!

You may remember the leftover Guiness I was going to throw out because I’d already made cupcakes and brownies and couldn’t take it any more. I’m so glad I decided to use the last of it to make this bread because it added a much more intense yeasty flavor to the bread than what I usually get from the lighter colored beers I use and it was quite lovely! But if you have a lighter beer, don’t make a special trip to the store, it will work just fine here and your bread will be much lighter in color (if you use white whole wheat flour like I did), and you might fool healthy-phobic people into thinking it’s white bread.

And lest you think that the beer-haters in your family won’t dig this, just remember I hate beer, and it literally makes my husband gag to even smell it. (Remember when he threw up after I served him vodka sauce on his spaghetti? Yeah, alcohol and him do not mix!) But we both love this bread. I think you will too.

Honey Whole Wheat Beer Bread

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3 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon aluminum-free baking powder, such as Rumford
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
¼ cup canola oil
1/3 cup honey
12 oz. (1 1/2 cups) beer

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter or oil a loaf pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a smaller bowl, beat the egg until uniform in color, then whisk in the oil, honey, and beer. Pour into the larger bowl and whisk well to combine. Pour into prepared pan, smooth the top, and bake for 50-55 minutes, or until golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool for at least 15 minutes prior to cutting. Wrap leftovers in plastic wrap or keep in a Ziploc bag with the air pressed out. This bread freezes well too, just slice it before you freeze it and you can take it out slice by slice, as you need it.

A Veronica’s Cornucopia Original

23 Comments

Posted in Bread and tagged beer bread, healthy, honey, natural, whole wheat, wholesome. Bookmark the permalink.

Baba Ghanoush Two Ways: Classic & Tahini-Free

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Veronica

After last week’s sugar & booze fest, I thought it was time to break out a beautifully healthy AND delicious recipe. I’m feeling the need to cleanse my system after indulging in a few too many “tastes” of my creations and this is a perfect way to do it: with baba ghanoush!

Never heard of it? Baba ghanoush is a Middle Eastern roasted eggplant dip that is similar to hummus, but eggplant stands in for chickpeas. All other ingredients are pretty much the same!

I’ve always loved hummus but was never impressed with the baba ghanoush I ordered at restaurants. It was either too smoky or too bland, but I’m stubborn and I had it in my head that if it was prepared properly, I would love it. So when Jenna posted a recipe for it, and her beautiful pictures mesmerized and dazzled me, convincing me that indeed, I would love it if I made it myself, I ventured forth.

Behold, the baba ghanoush.

There was much jubilation in my kitchen upon the first bite, proof that baba ghanoush is delicious!!

I made the first batch and ate it within a week, then made a tahini-free batch the following week (I ran out of tahini, plus, leaving it out made the recipe 17 Day Diet-friendly). I actually liked the tahini-free version better, but that is more likely due to me roasting the eggplant longer (the first batch was a little undercooked) than the lack of tahini. I definitely recommend roasting your eggplants thoroughly (like Jenna says, when you think they’re done roasting, roast them a little more), because it makes a great difference in taste.

I tell you I can’t get enough of this stuff. I have half a jar in my fridge right now and I had to get up and take a spoonful as I was writing this blog. And that’s my favorite way to eat it, by the way. Straight from the jar (or the food processor) with a spoon. I use it more like a side dish than a dip, but it’s really good with pita chips too!

Baba Ghanoush

Printable recipe
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3 medium eggplants
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup tahini
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/3 cup parsley, minced
Chips or bread, to serve

Prick each eggplant with a fork until the surface is covered with holes. Place the eggplants under a broiler (or on a grill) and cook for about 40 minutes, until blackened and slightly shrunken, turning occasionally. When they’re very tender, let them cool.

When cool enough to handle, scoop the eggplant flesh into a the bowl of a food processor with a spoon, discarding the skins. Add the lemon juice, tahini, olive oil, minced garlic, salt, and cumin. Process until desired texture, then add the parsley and pulse to combine. Serve with chips, pita bread, a baguette, crackers, etc.

Tahini-Free Baba Ghanoush

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3 medium eggplants
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cumin
1/3 cup parsley, minced
Pita chips, crackers, or vegetables, to serve

When cool enough to handle, scoop the eggplant flesh into a the bowl of a food processor with a spoon, discarding the skins. Add the lemon juice, olive oil, minced garlic, salt, and cumin. Process until desired texture, then add the parsley and pulse to combine. Serve with chips, pita bread, a baguette, crackers, etc.

Recipes source: adapted from Jenna’s Everything Blog

29 Comments

Posted in Lighter Fare, Manicures/Nail Art, Mediterranean, Snacks & Appetizers and tagged baba ganoush, baba ghanoush, dip, Greek, healthy, party appetizer, roasted eggplant. Bookmark the permalink.

Cauliflower Colcannon

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Veronica

I’m linking this post with the GreensLove bloghop. If you are posting a recipe with any sort of greens this month, check it out and join the party!

A couple years ago I made lasagna and garlic bread for dinner on St. Patrick’s Day and happened to mention it in my Facebook status. I don’t really celebrate the holiday, so it wasn’t on my radar, but one of my Facebook friends was like, “Hey! Where’s the corned beef and cabbage???” I’d never made any sort of Irish-type food whether on St. Patrick’s Day or otherwise, and thought I just might try it the following year.

And so I purchased my first beef brisket last year. It turned out to be the worst brisket in the history of briskets. It. was. horrid. I still shudder just thinking about it. (80% fat, with a foul flavor.) But, I also made this cauliflower colcannon, which was very good and ended up being the main course rather than our side dish.

The pureed cauliflower serves as a lower-carb, more nutritious replacement for the mashed potatoes that colcannon is usually made with. I opted for kale instead of cabbage in my colcannon, but it would be good either way. This made a mighty tasty dish, and a good alternative to traditional colcannon if you are going to be eating a high-calorie dessert afterward. Kinda helps balance things out. And I’m a Libra, so I’m all about balance. Cauliflower Colcannon + 1 dozen Andes Mint Cupcakes = balance. Right? Right. Let’s do this.

Cauliflower Colcannon

Printable recipe
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1 medium head cauliflower
1 tablespoon cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided, plus more for serving
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 lightly packed cups kale, cabbage, or other greens
½ cup chopped green onions
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic (1 clove)
Milk or heavy cream for thinning, if necessary

Set a stockpot of water to boil over high heat. Meanwhile, clean and cut the cauliflower into small pieces. Cook in boiling water for about 6 minutes, or until very tender. Drain the cauliflower well and pat it very dry between several layers of paper towels, not allowing it to cool.

In the bowl of a food processor, puree the hot cauliflower with the cream cheese, Parmesan, 1 tablespoon of the butter, salt, and pepper until almost smooth. Set aside.

Melt the remaining 3 tablespoons butter in a skillet and add the greens. Cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, until greens have wilted and given off some of their water. Add the onions and garlic and cook one minute more. Stir in the cauliflower mixture and thin with milk or cream, if necessary. Serve hot with a pat of butter, if desired.

11 Comments

Posted in Lighter Fare, Side Dishes and tagged Atkins, cauliflower colcannon, healthy, kale, low carb. Bookmark the permalink.

Crockpot Chicken Cacciatore

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Veronica

It’s Secret Recipe Club time again! I can’t tell you how thankful I am to Amanda for starting this club. The amount of fun I have with it is a little ridiculous. My favorite part is getting my blog assignment and stealthily stalking that blog, hunting down recipes that I want to make and post for reveal day. I always bookmark a million and it takes me an entire week to narrow down my choice to one recipe.

{You can find my past Secret Recipe Club posts here.}

This month I was assigned to A Little Nosh and unlike previous assignments, I knew which recipe I was going to make within a minute of clicking on her blog. I still went through Amy’s archives and bookmarked half her recipes, but did eventually return to the original that caught my eye and knew I couldn’t fight it. I had to make the crockpot chicken cacciatore because:

1) It’s beautiful and I like pretty food.

2) I’d never eaten or made it and thought it would be fun to try something new.

3) It fit perfectly in our diet plan while we were in the 2nd cycle of the 17 Day Diet.

4) I noticed the recipe originally came from one of my blogging buddies, Renee of My Kitchen Adventures, and it tickled me to think that I’d be making Amy’s and Renee’s recipe at the same time.

I changed the recipe to make it on a slightly larger scale with a higher ratio of veggies, and it completely filled my 6-quart crockpot to the brim. The leftovers were enough to last us all week, and what beautiful lunches we were bringing to work! The vegetables and sauce were such a tasty compliment to the tender chicken breast meat, which pretty much fell apart as soon as you touched it with a fork. So delicious.

Thanks, Amy, for sharing this great recipe. I never even saw it on Renee’s blog, so I’m glad to have gotten the opportunity through you and the SRC to try it!

Crockpot Garden Chicken Cacciatore

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6 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 yellow or orange bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 large ribs of celery, diced
3 large carrots, diced
2 (4 oz) cans sliced mushrooms, drained
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 (14.5 oz) cans of diced tomatoes with basil, oregano and garlic
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
½ cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
¼ cup cornstarch
1-2 tablespoons water or chicken broth
Additional salt and pepper, to taste

Place chicken breasts inside the bottom of a 6-quart crockpot. Add in the bell peppers, onion, celery, carrots, mushrooms, and garlic. Pour the juice from the tomatoes into a medium bowl, then put the tomatoes into the crockpot.

Into the bowl with the tomato juice, add the tomato paste, chicken stock, and balsamic vinegar. Mix well, then pour on top of the tomatoes and vegetables. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours, or high for 4 hours, or until the chicken is tender.

Mix the cornstarch and water together until no lumps remain, then pour over the top of the vegetables. Stir, turn the crockpot to high, and allow to cook for another 20 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over brown rice or your choice of starch.

Recipe source: adapted from A Little Nosh, originally from My Kitchen Adventures

To check out the other submissions in Group A for The Secret Recipe Club, click on the Mr. Linky below!

18 Comments

Posted in Italian, Lighter Fare, Meats, Secret Recipe Club, Slow-Cooker/Crockpot and tagged chicken cacciatore, crockpot, diet-friendly, garden vegetables, healthy, low calorie, low carb, slow cooker. Bookmark the permalink.

Skinny Dark Hot Cocoa

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Veronica

Hot cocoa? Hot chocolate? I’ve always said hot chocolate, no matter if it’s made with real chocolate or cocoa powder or a mix. I also have always said pop, not soda or soda pop. Potato, potahto I guess. What about you?

Anyway, remember how Dennis and I weren’t planning on having sugar on Valentine’s Day? Well, it would be just be unAmerican not to have any chocolate on the day when the rest of the country is eating 58 million pounds of it. (I know, right?) So, inspired by Faith’s delicious Skinny Caramel Hot Cocoa, I made this plain version for our Valentine’s Day dinner dessert, only changing the basic recipe a smidge to deepen the chocolate flavor (had to make up for our lack of chocolate candy, you know). We like our chocolate dark in this house.

This hot cocoa is so sweet, so chocolatey and delicious, creamy even, that you wouldn’t guess that it’s fat and sugar free. That it’s actually healthy. Protein and calcium-rich milk? Check. The antioxidant power of cocoa powder? Check. Totally natural with no chemical sweeteners? You got it.

I’m usually semi-opposed to healthifying sweet treats because, in my opinion, they’re called treats because they are meant to be enjoyed. Mostly what cutting out fat and sugar does is make them less enjoyable (although I hope to prove my own theory wrong because I’m going to be experimenting soon, given that we’ve nixed sugar in our house!). But when you can do it with such a satisfying result, I’m all for feeling great about drinking something that tastes so sinful.

*A note about stevia: I’m a huge advocate of using stevia to sweeten things, versus chemical sweeteners and even real sugar. This is the ONLY completely natural sweetener out there that is also calorie free. It is taken from the leaves of a plant and it is tremendously sweet so you need much less of it than sugar. I was blessed to win a bunch of NuNaturals products through a giveaway from Renee of My Kitchen Adventures (thank you so much Renee!), and hope to do a review soon with comparisons to other sugar substitutes. NuNaturals products are by far the best I’ve tried and I highly recommend them.

Since I’m not counting calories on the 17 Day Diet, I didn’t calculate them for this cocoa when we drank it, but just going from the labels on the milk and the cocoa (the only things that have calories in the recipe), I can tell you that there is 120 calories, 1 g fat, 22 g carbohydrates, and 2 grams fiber. Not to shabby, and I think you’ll agree that this hot cocoa is totally worth every healthy & delicious calorie.

Skinny Dark Hot Cocoa

Printable recipe
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1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 tablespoon Dutch process cocoa powder
2 packets NuNaturals NuStevia
Pinch fleur de sel or kosher salt
1 ¼ cups nonfat milk
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Whisk together the cocoa powders, stevia powder, and salt in a small saucepan. Add half the milk and whisk vigorously until the cocoa powder is dissolved. Turn the heat to medium, and whisk in the remaining milk. Heat until the hot cocoa starts to steam (do not boil), and pour into a mug. Enjoy!

For a caramel hot cocoa: stir in ¼ teaspoon caramel extract along with the vanilla at the end.

Serves 1

Recipe source: adapted from An Edible Mosaic

Yummy either way!

P.S. Happy leap day! I know this is crazy, but this is the first year I’ve actually been aware that it’s a leap year. How did I miss the other seven I lived through? Queen Oblivious here! I know I’m getting random here but did anyone else used to watch the show Quantum Leap? I honestly can’t remember a thing about it except I think I liked it (I was pretty young so maybe it was too mature for me), and I always associated the name with leap year. Did it even have anything to do with a leap year? OK, seriously, I’ll shut up now.

16 Comments

Posted in Beverages, Sugar-Free and tagged diet-friendly, fat free, healthy, hot chocolate, hot cocoa, low calorie, Sugar-Free. Bookmark the permalink.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Dog Treats

Posted on February 28, 2012 by Veronica

It has been way too long since I’ve shared a recipe for our furry friends! This recipe is similar to the other biscuit recipe I have on my blog, except the liquid is chicken broth instead of milk, and it bakes up a bit softer, even if you go the route of leaving them in the oven overnight to dry out, and perhaps it is both those reasons combined that my Jessie loves them even more than the Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits.

These bake up soft like cookies, but you can leave them in the oven overnight to make them crunchy.

Full disclosure: I totally tried one of these in the soft-baked state, and I even thought it was pretty tasty! :)

Another advantage, at least for those of us with…shall we say “husky” dogs, is that there is less than half as much peanut butter in this recipe, therefore it is lower in calories. There are also more oats (more fiber) and less sweetener, which helps the calories as well. A treat that Jessie loves, and that is lower in calories than her former beloved treats is a win-win in our house.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Dog Treats

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1 cup whole wheat flour (I used WW pastry flour)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup quick oats
¼ cup wheat germ
2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder, such as Rumford
1 cup chicken broth
½ cup peanut butter
¼ cup honey
1 tablespoon olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line two large cookie sheets with parchment. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, oats, wheat germ, and baking powder. In a small bowl, whisk together the chicken broth, peanut butter, honey, and olive oil. Stir the wet mixture into the dry mixture until incorporated. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes or up to an hour. This gives the flour and oats time to absorb moisture and it will become thicker and easier to work with as it stands. Roll out to ¼ inch thick on a floured surface and cut into shapes. Place treats on prepared baking sheet. You can pop the first one in the oven as you cut out shapes and place them on the second sheet. Bake cookies for 15 minutes.

If your dog prefers softer cookie-type treats, cool the treats at this point and package in airtight containers. If you want to bake them into hard biscuits, which stores better and has the added benefit of helping clean your dog’s teeth, simply turn off the oven with the cookies still inside and leave them in overnight, or until the oven is cool. If you bake them in batches, remove each tray as they finish, and let them sit on the sheet until all the batches are baked, then turn off the oven and return all baking sheets to the oven to sit overnight, or until the oven is cool.

Recipe source: Shared Sugar

So I’m trying not to use my voice right now, and Dennis is loving it. I’m recovering from the flu (yeah, that’s what I get for bragging on Friday night that I’ve never had it before…guess what I woke up with?) and my throat hurts too much to talk any more, so I am communicating mainly in gestures. He helped me choose the photos for this blog in the usual way, except that I asked him to help me with pointing and shoulder shrugging to indicate I couldn’t decide between two photos. Since I couldn’t argue vocally with his choice, I did a lot of fist-shaking and going back to the one that I preferred and he just laughed and asserted that his choice was the right one. Well, I went with the one I liked, the one right before the recipe, but I’ll let you guys decide. He like this fancier one. But I liked the former because it was easier to read and more simple. But now you get them both since I had to share our antics with you. :)

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Posted in Dog Treats and tagged dog biscuits, dog treats, healthy, naturally sweetened, oatmeal, peanut butter. Bookmark the permalink.

White Wheat Bread

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Veronica

I’ve been posting a lot of soup recipes lately, so I figured a good bread recipe was in order. After all, that’s why we make soup in the first place, right? To go with our bread?

Dennis and I actually haven’t had any bread for the last 22 days, and won’t have any again for the next twelve. We started the 17 Day Diet at the end of January, and this bread was the last thing I made as a temporary farewell to high-carbohydrate foods, knowing our mouths would not enjoy it for another month or so. This diet cycles in 17-day increments and during the first two, there is no bread. We are eating so good that I don’t miss it, but perhaps this spectacular recipe helped with the separation anxiety. It was so delicious that recalling it makes me smile even a month later! It also helps that I got the original recipe, which I adapted to the one I’m sharing here, from a friend (thank you, Tracy!), so it gives me the warm fuzzies all around. You just can’t beat the combination of friendship and warm bread.

While this bread still does not beat out my number one favorite to date, Honey Oatmeal Bread, it is a very close second. I was very impressed with how soft and tender the bread is, and the flavor, as with all homemade bread, is of course incredible. It goes very well with soup, or just slathered with butter as a meal. Not that I speak from experience or anything.

White Wheat Bread

To ensure success, make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature before you start. Cold will inhibit the yeast’s growth. If you’re in a hurry, you can quickly bring the egg to room temperature by placing in a bowl of hot tap water for five minutes before cracking, and can warm the milk by zapping it in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until lukewarm.

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) dry yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)
1 cup milk, room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 egg, beaten, room temperature
1 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 – 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

Combine yeast, sugar, and water in a large bowl; let stand five minutes. Add milk, oil, honey & egg; stir well. Stir white whole wheat flour and salt into yeast mixture. Gradually stir in enough all-purpose flour to make a soft dough.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface & knead until smooth & elastic (about 8-10 minutes.) (Tracy says it will only take a few minutes to do this if you use a bread hook on your Kitchenaid.) Place in a well-greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85 degrees), free from drafts, for 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.

Punch dough down, and divide in half; shape each half into a loaf. Place in 2 greased 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 by 3 inch loaf pans (I used 9×5 which seemed to work well, but they’ll probably be higher with the smaller pans). Cover and let rise in a warm place (85 degrees), free from drafts, 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until loaves sound hollow when tapped. Remove from pans and cool on wire racks.

Makes 2 loaves.

Recipe source: adapted from a 1986 Southern Living Magazine, shared with my by Tracy R.

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Posted in Bread and tagged best, delicious, healthy, white whole wheat bread, wholesome. Bookmark the permalink.

Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Veronica

I don’t think there is anything else to say. Although this is the first chicken tortilla soup I’ve ever made, I’ve had many versions in restaurants and deli’s, and this is so much better than any of them. If you couldn’t tell from the above exchange, I kinda get excited about food, and I’m pretty sure I moaned and squealed simultaneously when I took my first bite of this soup. It is so bangin’ with flavor. I just love it.

Now, I know my pictures aren’t portraying a creamy-type soup. The day I made it, it looked super creamy like I had poured real cream into the soup, but then the leftovers betrayed me when I reheated them the next day for lunch and a photo, and it just looked like regular chicken tortilla soup. Well, my pictures may be misleading, but I promise you this is one soup worth trying.

Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 (16 oz) carton chicken broth
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes (I used roasted)
1 (7 oz) can green chiles, or 2 (4 oz) cans
1 large onion, chopped
1 green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
6 corn tortilla, cut into thin strips
1 (15.25 oz ) can corn, drained
½ cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
Optional toppings: Tortilla strips*, sour cream or Greek yogurt, cheddar cheese or avocado

Add chicken breasts, broth, tomatoes, green chiles, onion, green pepper, garlic, bay leaf, and spices to a large stock pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 1 ½-2 hours, or until the chicken is very tender. Add the tortillas during the last fifteen minutes of cooking. Remove chicken to a cutting board and let rest ten minutes, or until it is cool enough to touch without burning your fingers. If your tortillas haven’t completely broken down yet, continue simmering the soup while the chicken rests. Shred or chop the chicken and return to the pot, along with the corn, Greek yogurt, and cilantro. Heat through and serve with optional toppings.

Crockpot directions: Add everything but the Greek yogurt and cilantro to the crockpot and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 – 8 hours, until chicken is tender. Shred chicken, return to crock. Add yogurt and cilantro. Cook an additional half hour. Garnish as desired.

*Tortilla Strips: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and pour 1-2 teaspoons of vegetable oil on it. Cut 3 corn tortillas into strips, then put on the baking sheet and use your hands to toss them with the oil until coated. Spread out, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake until crispy, about 10 minutes.I made my tortilla strips super thin and burnt most of them, so if yours are thin, keep an eye on them–they may only need five minutes.

Recipe source: Debbi Does Dinner Healthy