Broccoli Quinoa Casserole

One 10 oz can condensed Cream of Broccoli soup (or mushroom)

1/3 cup reduced fat mayonnaise 

2 tablespoons milk

1 1/4 cups reduced fat shredded cheese (cheddar, colby-jack, etc)

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Dash nutmeg

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2 cups cooked broccoli

1 1/2 cups  COOKED quinoa (see note)

Parmesan cheese

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To cook quinoa:

3/4 cup quinoa

1 1/2 cups water

1/4 teaspoon salt

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Rinse quinoa in a fine sieve until water runs clear.  In a small saucepan combine the quinoa, water, and salt.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to low and cover.  Cook for 18-20 minutes, or until fluffy and the white ring/tail is visible.  Fluff with a fork.  I just put the quinoa in my rice cooker and cook it just like I would do rice. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and coat a shallow (8×8 in or 5-6 cups) casserole dish – or individual ramekins – with vegetable cooking spray. *

In a large bowl combine the soup, mayonnaise, milk, shredded cheese, pepper, and nutmeg until well mixed. Stir in the quinoa and broccoli.

Spoon mixture into prepared casserole.  Sprinkle on a couple tablespoons of Parmesan and bake for 35-40 minutes (20-25 minutes for ramekins) or until bubbly on the edges and golden.  Makes 8 generous 1/2-cup servings.

*I doubled the recipe for my family of 6 and baked it in a a 9 X 13 pan.  Everyone liked it so much that there wasn't very much left over!

Apple Pie

Sunday I made an apple pie.  Why, oh why, do I give in to the baking urge on Sundays?  I didn't want to worry about making my own crust though and I had recently purchased pre-made pastry crusts with a coupon I had, so I used those.  I think they taste great and they only cost about $2, so I have a hard time making myself want to make my own crust.  My time is worth more than that, right? I guess you now know I'm not a real cook and you should move on to a more worthy food blog! But first try this apple pie recipe.  It was great!

Apple Pie Filling:

1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling
1/2 tsp nutmeg
7 small/medium apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
Juice of one lemon

Mix together the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl. In another bowl, sprinkle apples with the juice of 1 lemon and toss. Stir in the sugar mixture to evenly coat the apples.Set aside.

Line a pie pan with one of the pie crusts. Mound the apple and sugar mixture into the pie pan lined with dough. Dot with pats of butter. Put second crust on top. Brush the top of the pie with beaten egg (1 egg is enough) and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Trim the overhanging dough and crimp edges.

Bake pie for 1 hour at 350 degrees.  I keep mine covered with foil for about the first 35 minutes so the crust doesn't brown too fast.  Check the pie at about 50 minutes. Let rest 20 minutes before slicing.

Honey Glazed Carrots

These were really good and my husband thought they were dripping in butter.....but they weren't!  They do have some oil but not a whole lot.

Mix Together:

2 Tbs. orange juice
2 Tbs. honey
1 Tbs. oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Cut 1 lb. of carrots into thin strips and then toss will the liquid mixture until coated.  Place as a single layer on a foil covered large jelly roll pan.  Bake at 375 for about 25 minutes or until they are tender.

Cinnamon Syrup

What's this?! A recipe that is not made in the juicer?  That's right folks, my 10 day juice fast is almost over and I am plum out of juicing recipes!  I got to the point where you could pretty much throw anything in together, add an apple, or orange and it would taste just great.  I made the kids waffles with cinnamon syrup for dinner tonight and I admit I did eat a little, but only because I needed to taste this new syrup recipe for myself.  I'm the kind of girl who grew up thinking the only kind of syrup was maple syrup, so discovering in my 30's that this isn't true is quite exciting (thank you Pinterest!)  So for your next breakfast try out this recipe.  It was very tasty and I think would be amazing on French Toast.

1 c. sugar
1/2 c. light corn syrup
1/4 c. water
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 (5 ounce) can evaporated milk

In a saucepan combine all ingredients except the evaporated milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat and stir for 2 minutes.  Remove from heat, let sit for 5 minutes, then stir in evaporated milk.  This made a little less than 2 cups of syrup. 

Cantaloupe Craze

This morning I tried juicing cantaloupe for the first time.  I was hoping it would be pretty darn good because it is not cantaloupe season and I searched high and low to find a decent looking cantaloupe.  I liked it, but it does have a pretty strong cantaloupe flavor so if you don't love cantaloupe you may want to use less cantaloupe and throw in an apple or orange instead.  I've pretty much come to the conclusion that almost anything will taste fine if you add an apple. 

1/2 medium cantaloupe
5 medium carrots
3 stalks of celery

Calories = ~ 236

Sweet Potato Heaven

I'm not sure I would have considered using sweet potatoes in my juicer all on my own.  However, I had seen a recipe that called for it, but when I wanted to use my sweet potatoes I could no longer find the same recipe. So I just made this one up.  I really liked it.  It was really smooth and actually sweeter than I thought it would be. 

1 sweet potato (about 5 inches long)
4 medium carrots
3 stalks of celery
1 apple

Makes about 24 ounces
Calories = ~ 284

Tomato Carrot Juice

This was really quite yummy.  Almost like a V8 but not as salty, though I did add a touch of sea salt.  It seems like the tomato makes the drink kind of creamy which is nice.  The lime gives it a nice zing too. 

2 large tomatoes
4 medium carrots
1 apple
1/2 lime, peeled

Calories = ~ 231

Peachy Carrot

I LOVED the addition of peaches.  Maybe because it was something I haven't put in my juicer yet and since everything was starting to taste the same it is nice to add a new flavor.  I'm excited to juice some peach juice this fall when my wonderful peach tree is ready to harvest!

3 peaches (pits removed, of course)
1 grapefruit, peeled
4-5 medium carrots

Calories = 336

Celery Sensation

Yeah, I'm probably getting a little too inventive with the naming of my juices but you start to run out of options!  This one actually tastes quite a bit like the Cucumber Lemon drink I posted before.  Celery is a great base for your juices because it is inexpensive and you get a lot of juice out of each stalk.  I'm starting to have my doubts about the leafy greens though.  You can put in tons of spinach or kale and only get a tiny squirt of juice, but I suppose that one squirt is probably loaded with lots of nutrients. 

8 stalks celery
1 cucumber
handful of kale leaves
2 handfuls of spinach leaves
handful of parsley
1 pear
1/2 lemon, without rind
1 inch piece of ginger root

Calories = ~225

Fruity Breakfast

This one was bound to taste good because it's almost all fruit.  But I did tell myself I could have a fruity drink for breakfast and then more veggie based drinks for lunch and dinner.  The calorie count is higher than the other recipes I've tried.  Maybe if I'd known before hand how many it had I would have tried something different.  Nah, it was worth it!

2 oranges
2 apples
1 grapefruit
3 carrots


Calories = ~ 425

Veggie Delight

Yeah, I did make up the name of this drink.  I'm trying to make myself keep going with this by calling the drinks something cute.  Don't get me wrong, the drinks themselves really don't taste bad (though they are starting to taste all the same) but I want something to chew!  A hamburger sounded really good for dinner last night but instead I made this drink.  It was a little like V8.  I couldn't taste the garlic so if you want that flavor you might want to put in more.  The touch of sea salt was a nice addition especially considering I haven't had any salt in 4 days. 

2 Tomatoes
2 cups greens (I used mixed greens)
1 cucumber
3 stalks celery
1 Apple
1/3 small beet
2 carrots
1 clove garlic
1 pinch of sea salt (stir it in after, don't put it in the juicer)

Calories = ~237

Apple Ginger Juice

After 3 days of lots of veggies I decided to go for a little treat.  Plus, I was headed to the gym right after and figured I'd burn off the extra calories anyway.  Fresh apple juice is incredible!

5 Apples
1/2 lemon
1 inch ginger root
dash of cinnamon (stir in after, do not put it in the juicer)

Calories = ~283

Beet-le Juice

I was a little hesitant to try using beets in my juice, but I decided to go for it anyway. I ate lots of beets growing up (my parents always raised a MASSIVE garden) and I had forgotten that I actually like them.  Plus, the color of this juice was really pretty.  I'm starting to think that it makes it easier to drink your veggies if the juice is an appealing color.  Once again though, my husband chose to make something different because he doesn't like beets.  I'm starting to wonder if he likes vegetables at all (aside from celery and spinach!)  Beware though!  Beets are stainy little suckers, especially on my light colored counter tops!

2 apples
1 small lemon
3 celery stalks
1 small to medium sized beet
3 cups spinach or other leafy green
1 cucumber

Calories = ~ 240

Orange Carrot Juice

I really liked this juice!  The orange color is so much more appetizing too. 

2 Oranges, peeled
5 Medium Carrots
3 Stalks of Celery

Calories = 211

Spinach Carrot Ginger Juice

So I tried a recipe for lunch today that was entirely veggies.  Bad idea! I could barely choke it down.  I've decided you need at least one fruit in each recipe.  Even if fruit does have more calories you're still looking at less than 300 for the entire recipe (~20 ounces.) If you're juice fasting then three meals at 300 calories is still only 900 per day.  Add in some exercise and you're definitely going to lose weight.....or at least I'd better!  This was my dinner drink and it was probably my favorite so far. I really liked the hint of parsley.  And I'm starting to think you can't go wrong with carrots and celery.  They don't really have strong enough flavors to take over the whole drink.

1 Apple
1 Orange
4 Medium Carrots
3 Cups Spinach (recipe called for Kale but I didn't have any)
1/2 lemon, peeled
3 stalks celery
1 inch ginger root
Several sprigs of parsley

Calories = ~246 (by the way these are the calorie counts if you consumed the whole fruit/veggies.  So just the juice will come out to less because there is some pulp that's not eaten.)

Grapefruit Sunrise Juice

1 Apple
1 Grapefruit
5 medium carrots
3 stalks of celery

Calorie Count = 290

We are trying to do a juice in the morning that contains more fruit.  Then more vegetable based drinks for lunch and dinner.  I really liked this drink.  I actually put 2 grapefruits in this drink this morning. It was too much, but I think one would be perfect.  My husband didn't care too much for this juice because he doesn't like grapefruit.  But I'll make it again with only one and see if he likes that better.  I was surprised that even with 5 carrots it didn't tasty "carroty".  You could probably add more carrots if you wanted to.

Cucumber Lemon Juice

My husband and I recently watched the documentaries Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead and Hungry for Change.  They both talked about the benefits of juicing fruits and vegetables as a way of getting more nutrients in a concentrated form.  I was a little hesitant but my husband was all for it.  So we purchased a fancy pants juicer and are starting on a 10 day juice fast. We both would like to lose just that last 10 pounds and we're hoping this is just the ticket! We don't believe in all the "nutritional supplement" type diets but this seems like a good natural option. So here's to 10 days of no solid foods, no soda (yikes!) and lots of produce shopping! Wish me luck!

Cucumber Lemon Juice (Juice #1)
2 Apples
4 Stalks Celery
1 Cucumber
2 handfuls baby spinach
1/2 lemon, peeled

***This recipe is a total of 231 calories according to the calorie calculator at myfitnesspal.com

Most of us (we made the kids try it too!) really liked this one.  My two youngest boys didn't care for it too much but they did drink a small glass.  This recipe makes about 20 ounces of juice.  We did three rounds of this recipe.  I drank one whole recipe myself and then the kids shared most of the second recipe, and my husband drank the rest of theirs and a whole recipe of his own! The cucumber and lemon flavors really dominate in this one.  My husband doesn't like cucumbers but he was really going to town on this stuff!  Honestly, it was kind of like drinking summer.  Kind of nice on a cold January night!

Oreo Pudding Poke Cake

I had pinned this recipe on Pinterest almost a year ago and am just now getting around to making it.  It was really easy (next time I'll have my 10 year old do it) and turned out great.  Very moist and yummy.  And with pudding instead of frosting I was able to convince myself that it's a lower calorie dessert....though I'm sure it's still loaded with sugar and calories!

Ingredients:

1 Box Chocolate Cake Mix

Ingredients needed to make cake (usually eggs, oil and water)

2 (4 oz.)packages of Instant Oreo pudding

4 cups milk (2% or higher)

Crushed Oreo Cookies, about 10 (optional)

Directions: 

1) Make and bake the chocolate cake according to the instructions on the box.  

2) Just before the cake is done mix the 2 packages of Oreo pudding and the milk.  You want it to sit for just a few minutes so it is set up a bit but still runny enough to pour.  

3) Take the cake out of the oven and, while it's still hot, poke holes all over the cake with the stick end of a wooden spoon.  

4) Then pour the pudding over the cake, aiming for the holes, and use a spoon to press the pudding down into the holes and then spread the pudding evenly across the whole cake.  

5) Refrigerate for one hour, sprinkle crushed Oreos on top, and then you can eat it!  Any leftovers need to be kept in the refrigerator.  

Original recipe (with much better instructions and pictures!) found here: http://www.thecountrycook.net/2011/07/puddin-poke-cake.html 

This website also has a Boston Creme Poke Cake that looks yummy too.  I'm going to have to try that one sometime soon....or at least sometime within the next year.  That's just the way I roll!

Salisbury Steak with Onion Gravy

I found this recipe via Pinterest.  It's from Martha Stewart.  http://www.marthastewart.com/870103/salisbury-steak-onion-gravy  I may not be a Martha but I made this recipe just fine and it was delicious!   I did change it just a bit but it's essentially the same thing.

 

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 large onion, diced (about 1 1/3 cups)
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 2 pounds ground sirloin
• 2 garlic cloves, minced (1 1/4 teaspoons)
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 2 teaspoons plus a dash of Worcestershire sauce
• Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch, plus 1/4 cup for dusting
• 1 1/2 cups beef broth

Directions

1. Heat a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil and 1 cup onion. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are golden brown and caramelized. Set aside.
   
2.  In a large bowl, combine the remaining 1/3 cup onions, bread crumbs, the sirloin, garlic cloves, bread, egg, parsley, 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Mix with your hands to combine. Divide meat mixture into 6 oblong patties (about 5 inches long and 3/4 inch thick). Dust with cornstarch.
   
3. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add remaining oil, and reduce heat to medium. Cook patties, 3 at a time, for 6 minutes, without moving them. Flip, and cook until cooked through, about 9 minutes. Set aside on a plate. Repeat with remaining patties. (I just used two pans...more dishes but all the patties were done at the same time)
   
4. Make the gravy: Add cooked onions and 1 teaspoon cornstarch to same skillet, and stir for 1 minute. Raise heat to medium-high. Pour in broth and a dash of Worcestershire sauce, and whisk until broth is clear and slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Remove pan from heat, and return patties and juices to skillet, spooning sauce on top. I'm going to double the gravy recipe next time so there's enough for our mashed potatoes too.
   

Honey Popcorn

This is a recipe I found in one of those community cookbooks where everyone submits their favorite recipes and someone compiles it all and sells it for a fundraiser.  You know the type.  Some of my favorite recipes come from these types of cookbooks.  This particular recipe was submitted by an elderly woman (Ida Winter) who lived on my street and was the secretary at my high school.  Secretly, I was always a wee bit scared of her....but she has some great recipes!

Ingredients:
1 c. sugar
1 c. honey
1/2 c. margarine

Stir these ingredients (constantly) over medium heat until it reaches a soft ball stage.  Definition of Soft Ball - "Begins at 234 degrees if you have a candy thermometer, or when a small amount of syrup dropped into chilled water forms a ball, but flattens when picked up with fingers."  It's not as complicated as it seems.  I don't have a candy thermometer and I was able to figure out soft ball just fine.  Then you slowly pour the candy over popcorn (I used 2 full sized bags of light butter microwave popcorn, but you could air pop it too) while stirring to coat the popcorn evenly.  It's best if you have another adult to help with this step.  So yummy and easy too!