Trader Joe's Eggplant Cutlets

These things are amazing!!!!!!! I don't really buy eggplant because I find the salting and removing moisture to be a pain in the butt. My Trader Joe's is not that close to my house, so I just recently started venturing and during my first trip I came across these frozen breaded eggplant cutlets and a lightbulb went off in my head.






So the first thing I decided to try was eggplant lasagna because I had some fat-free ricotta and some shredded mozzarella on hand from earlier in the week when I tried to make calzones (they're not in my blog for a reason, lol). This was absolutely delicious!!! And low-fat! I only used about a half cup of ricotta, a 1/2 cup of shredded cheese, and just a light sprinkling of parmesan/romano to make 2 servings. I used enough eggplant cutlets to make 2 layers and lightly fried them in a little EVOO. For someone who is a convenience cook (that's me, by the way) this totally worked. This will definitely be something I make on a regular basis when the hubby is on night work (cuz yeah, I married the kind of guy who hates vegetables).

WC Recipe Exchange

Well, my experience with the WC holiday recipe exchange wasn't that great - it wasn't anybody's fault, but it just seemed that there was always something working against me. I couldn't meet the deadline because my dad passed away, then it was one thing after another, until finally, today, I was able to get it done. But then........... I don't know what I did but the batter for my recipe never really set up - the directions said to bake for 20-30 minutes. I baked it for 20 and it wasn't done. I baked it up to 30 minutes and took it out. I should've checked it again before taking it out but I figured the extra 10 minutes should cover it. Then while it was cooling I realized that the top crust seemed to be totally separate from the rest of it and so basically I totally botched the recipe, and to the WC nestie who submitted Walnut Bars, I apologize from the bottom of my heart!! Both for the extreme lateness, and for botching it royally. And so, now I present my disaster...

Italian Wedding Soup

aka Little Meatball Soup

My paternal grandmother is pure Italian. When we would visit her for Thanksgiving she would always serve this soup with dinner. I remember always looking forward to it, and if she didn't have it I would be disappointed.

When my mom and I finally learned how to make it, Progresso used to make an escarole soup and that was the only way we knew how to make the soup (well, the basis for it anyway). Then one day I could never find the canned escarole soup so I was at a loss for what to do and so we went a few years without this fabulous soup (because we stopped visiting this grandma because she wasn't exactly local anymore) until, one day I got up the guts to face the fact that escarole is a fresh leafy green available in my grocery store and that it wasn't gross to boil what, to me, was "lettuce." So I gave it a shot and it turned out fabulous so all was right in the world again. And so I shall share the basis of this recipe with you

about 1 pound of ground beef, seasoned as meatballs to your liking (I season mine with garlic, italian bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper, mixed with 1 egg)

2 chicken breasts (or you can use canned chicken)

1 head of escarole, chopped and rinsed

1 large can of chicken broth plus a carton of chicken broth

chopped celery and carrots

1 small onion, minced

salt/pepper to taste

about 1 cup orzo pasta

1. In stockpot add broth, escarole, celery, carrots and onion. Set pot to simmer.

2. Begin forming meatball mix into tiny meatballs, dropping in the pot as you form them.

3. Once soup is simmering, season with salt/pepper and add chicken breasts.

4. Cover and simmer on low for several hours.

5. When meatballs are cooked through, boil water separately and cook orzo pasta according to package directions (approx. 9 minutes).

6. Drain and rinse orzo and add to soup.

(Note: the broth is not an exact science. Add more water/chicken broth to your liking. And keep an eye on it while the soup is simmering to make sure it doesn't evaporate.)

Enjoy with a sprinkling of cheese, and some buttered crusty bread!

Holiday: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Over the years I've tried every single chocolate chip recipe I've seen that anybody said was the best. Thank you, again, Katie, for sharing this America's Test Kitchen recipe! Everybody loved them!!

I did want to add my notes because I messed up an entire batch by not chilling the dough enough. The trick I found that worked best for me was to go all the way up to the forming dough ball part, and twist to get 2 halves, as instructed. But then what I did was I put each dough ball onto some parchment paper and stuck them in the fridge for about an hour. It helped the dough chill quickly enough for me to not have to wait too long to bake them and resulted in a PERFECT cookie. I even made a batch with NO chocolate chips because my friend Jess and I really just love the dough sans chips. They were also a hit!

Holiday: Cream Puffs

Thank you, Katie, for inspiring me to give these a shot! They were a hit! And SO easy!

Basic Cream Puff Dough

1/2 cup butter
1 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs





1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a large pot, bring water and butter to a rolling boil.
3. Stir in flor and salt until the mixture forms into a ball.
4. Transfer the dough to a large mixing bowl.
5. Using stand mixer, beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well.
6. Pipe onto prepared baking sheet in Tbsp size.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes in preheated oven until golden brown. Centers should be dry.
8. When shells are cool, pipe the cream into the shells.
9. Dust with powdered sugar.

(Note: Pipe cream into shells before serving. We piped the night before and the next day they were not as good as when we first piped them that night. And piping takes no time at all so it's really no big deal. Lesson learned!)

For the cream, we used this Williams-Sonoma recipe.

Holiday: Chewy Coconut Cookies

My friend Dana and I wanted to try something new this year. We came across this recipe. We both agree that it was an easy, likable recipe and we would both make them again. I'm linking you directly to the allrecipes recipe so you can view the comments left by others who tried the recipe (can I say "recipe" one more time?). We followed the recipe exactly, but would definitely add some toasted coconut for a little extra coconut flavor. Enjoy!

Holiday: Butter Cookies

My FAVORITE holiday cookie by far is the butter cookie. I'm loyal to my grandmother's recipe and I have no idea where it originates from. I just know that when grandmom came over to visit on Christmas Eve that she said, "Are those my cookies?" And so, without further adieu, here is the recipe!

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp almond extract

2 1/3 cups flour

DIRECTIONS

1. Cream butter.

2. Gradually add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.

3. Beat in eggs and almond extract.

4. Gradually blend in flour.

COOKIE PRESS DIRECTIONS

Fill press with dough. Form desired shapes on ungreased cookie sheet (Note: this will not work on parchment paper or on a silicone baking mat - cookies must be pressed directly onto the cookie sheet). Decorate cookies to your liking with sprinkles (my fave is colored sugar). Bake in pre-heated 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Remove immediately to wire rack to cool.

ROLLED DIRECTIONS

Chill dough. Roll dough thin (this dough does not spread or puff). Use desired small scale cookie cutter (I just used a small round measuring cup I had). Transfer cut dough shapes to cookie sheet and decorate. Bake in pre-heated 350 degree oven for 8-12 minutes - depending on how thick you rolled the dough out.

(Note: I've also used a small cookie scoop and jus flattened with my fingers, decorated and baked. This is helpful if you don't like to roll out dough.)

I hope that someone else is able to get as much joy out of this recipe that my family does :)

Sunday Morning Breakfast

It's a tradition (of the Polish variety) in my family. Every Christmas morning we have kielbasa and eggs. One day I got to talking with my friend Jess about how much I can't wait for Christmas to come because it's one of the few times we indulge in the fatty goodness which is kielbasa. She was intrigued and wanted to know how to make it for breakfast Thanksgiving morning since she would be spending the holiday with family.

The only thing is that you can't just buy any old kielbasa. No, ladies - Hillshire Farms DOES NOT CUT IT. You have to go to the polish deli. Fortunately there are a number of those in Philadelphia. The one my family always goes to is in a part of the city called Bridesburg. The deli: Lachowicz. I bought 3 pounds. It's good stuff. But make sure you buy the SMOKED kielbasa.

So I took Jess there, and we each bought some, along with the traditional super fresh loaf of rye bread. I brought her back to my house to show her our method of cooking it.

And so I shall share it with you!

KIELBASA AND EGGS

Slice your smoked kielbasa into thin coins. Stack them up and then cut them into half circles. Lay them flat in your pan. Cook over medium heat until browned. Flip and brown the other side.



Add your scrambled eggs to the kielbasa in the pan. Scramble the eggs, trying to keep it in sections. Here are some pictures of the stages from runny eggs to ready to eat eggs.








When serving it for breakfast this Sunday morning, I also wanted to make some home fries because my husband always likes potatoes with his eggs. I wanted to bake them because I hate frying in oil. So here's what I threw together.



BAKED HOME FRIES

3 white potatoes, scrubbed and diced

2 Tbsp canola oil

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp paprika

1 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese
salt & pepper to taste



1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Line a baking sheet with foil and sprayed with Pam.
3. In a ziploc bag, add your diced potatoes, oil and spices. Shake to coat.
4. Spread the seasoned potatoes flat on the baking sheet.
5. Bake 15 minutes. Flip and bake an additional 15 minutes (30 minutes total).
6. Season with salt and pepper to taste.



And so here's a complete breakfast. Serve with a tall glass of OJ!

Beef Stew

Who doesn't love a big bowl of beef stew? Well, my husband, but he doesn't count. So I was on my own for dinner this week, again, and had some beef cubes in the freezer, so I figured it was about time to make the stew.

1 package beef cubes

1/2 bag potatoes, peeled, cut into large chunks

1 small bag baby carrots

1 can of baby peas

beef broth

salt & pepper to taste

cornstarch for thickening

1. Place potatoes, beef cubes and carrots into crockpot.

2. Cover with beef broth.

3. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

4. Thicken with cornstarch and add peas.

5. Season with salt and pepper - a little onion powder is also good.

Nothing special, but always good, and I like it with a few splashes of hot sauce and soft buttered bread. I use fake butter of course.

WW Friendly Baked Ziti

I'm trying to eat healthier (if you're reading this, please pay no attention to all of the baking that I do) so when I came across the Foodie Fashionista Blog I was inspired. I found Dori's baked ziti to be the perfect meal for a week where I would be eating dinner by myself. I couldn't find fat-free ricotta, so I used part-skim ricotta, which brought the points value to 7 WW points per serving.

You can find the recipe here. Enjoy!

Meet my pride and joy...

I love her. She's 2 years old, but I just thought I should introduce her :)

Peanut Butter Cookies

My husband loves all things peanut butter. So I decided to make a treat for him. But since we're trying to eat healthier, I decided to halve the recipe and make a small batch. But here's the recipe for the full batch.

1 cup sugar

1 stick butter, at room temperature

1 egg

1 cup smooth peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 cups flour

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

3. Cream together the sugar and the butter.

4. Beat in egg.

5. Mix in peanut butter and vanilla until smooth and creamy.

6. Stir in dry ingredients until well combined.

7. Drop balls onto cookie sheet and flatten with fork (I dipped the fork in flour before each press).

8. Bake 12-15 minutes.

Chicken Noodle Soup

There's not much to say about homemade chicken noodle soup, except that it's comforting and delicious. And there's no way you can mess it up. So here's my version:

2 large cans of reduced sodium low-fat chicken broth

1/2 bag baby carrots

5-6 stalks of celery

small onion

2 trimmed, boneless, skinless chicken breasts

bag of yolk-free egg noodles

Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Pour broth into soup pot. Set over medium-low heat.

2. Cut up the baby carrots and celery stalks into desired size. Dice up the onion. Add to the pot.

3. Drop in the chicken breasts.

4. Cover and simmer for a few hours.

5. Remove chicken breasts and cut up into small pieces.

6. Season soup with salt and pepper.

7. Cook egg noodles according to package directions. When done, drain and rinse under cold water.

8. Add noodles and chicken to soup pot. Stir.

So easy, so simple, so good.

Oh my deliciousness...

I used to enjoy a great white chicken chili at Good Dog, a bar/restaurant on 15th Street in the city. Since I haven't worked in the city for over a year, my wicked craving for it pressed me to find a recipe to try. Thankfully, FutureMrsWagner on the WC message board had a recipe in her blog which was delicious, loved by both me and the picky husband! I served mini-corn bread loaves with the chili - a la the cheap little box of Jiffy (1 box made with skim milk yields 4 mini loaves - 5 points per loaf)

WHITE CHICKEN CHILI

Source: Buon Appetito!: White Chicken Chili

3 cooked and shredded chicken breasts (I used 1 pound of ground chicken)
2 cans chicken broth (I used low-sodium)
2 cans White Northern Beans
1 4 oz. can chopped green chilis (next time I would use 2 cans)

1 packet Country Gravy Mix
2 tsp cumin
1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil (I used canola oil)
1 onion, chopped

1. Cook the ground chicken until no longer pink. Drain and move to a clean bowl.

2. Add and heat the oil. Add chopped onion to oil, stirring until translucent. To further cook the onions until tender, I added a bit of the chicken broth and simmered for a few minutes.

3. Add chicken broth and stir in the cumin, gravy mix and chili peppers.

4. Add beans and return ground chicken to pan.

5. Simmer 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve with a dollop of sour cream.

Yield: 6-1 cup servings, or 4-1.5 cup servings

Weight Watchers Points Value: 5 points/1 cup or 8 points/1.5 cups

points values do not include sour cream

Guiltless Mac & Cheese

And so some Nesties were talking about mac & cheese one day - so I searched for a guilt-free mac & cheese recipe - here's what I found:

MACARONI AND CHEESE
Source: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=332681

Here is MY rendition:

4 cups cooked elbow macaroni (about 2 cups uncooked)
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese (I used a bag of shredded cheese - next time I will grate my own cheese)
1 cup 1% low-fat cottage cheese
3/4 cup nonfat sour cream
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
Vegetable cooking spray
Paprika

Combine first 8 ingredients and spoon into a greased 2-quart casserole dish coated with the cooking spray. Sprinkle lightly with paprike. Cover and bake in preheated 350 oven for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 5 - 15 minutes.

Yield: 6 servings
Serving size: 1 cup
Calories: 356
Fat: 11.2 g
Protein: 24.9 g
Fiber: 1.2 g

Picky Husband Rating: "We'll definitely eat this again."

I had a hamslice I intended to cube up and mix in, but I forgot! I'll definitely remember to do that next time!

Chocolate cures all....

Sometimes I just get a chocolate craving like none other. The only way to make it go away is to EAT some CHOCOLATE!

I came across this recipe in Cara's blog [http://carascravings.blogspot.com/2007/05/choco-gasm.html]

I'm pretty sure this recipe originated from another WC Nestie/Blogger, so if it's you, let me know and I'll credit you! Anyway, I knew immediately I had to try it.

I was home alone, my husband was working nights, and went to the grocery store specifically for the ingredients - the fabulous thing is that now that I have them, there's plenty to go around for at least another impromptu batch!

And so here is this most fabulous recipe!!

2 1/4 cups confectioner's sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp espresso powder

1 cup cocoa powder (I used regular ol' Hershey's)

3 large egg whites

2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Whisk together the sugar, salt, espresso powder and cocoa.

2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, stir together the egg whites and the vanilla (I used my KA mixer on STIR).

3. Add the dry ingredients to the egg whites and mix at low speed for 2 minutes (I stopped halfway thru to scrape the sides of the bowl). The batter will seem dry at first, but will become shiny and smooth as it mixes. The dough is not your typical cookie dough, but actually resembles store-bought cake frosting.

4. Cover and refrigerate the batter for 3 hours. This process can be sped up by placing in the freezer for 1 hour, and then in the fridge for 1 hour.

5. Preheat oven to 350. Grease or line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Drop dough in ping-pong sized balls onto baking sheet a few inches apart. I used my mechanical cookie scoop thingee - if you don't have one, make sure you grease whatever spoon you use.

6. Bake for 12 minutes, reversing pans halfway thru.

7. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

8. Enjoy the rich, decadent goodness.

About 100 calories and 2 g fat each

Yield: varies - I got about 12 cookies out of the batter.

bacon, Bacon, BACON!

Who doesn't love a BLT? Well, honestly, I never craved them until not too long ago. And, well, I'm not a fan of tomatoes. But I've learned to like them on my sandwiches. And the perfect time for a BLT is when is Jersey Tomato season! Oh, yeah, and I've been craving bacon all week. So I made extra last night with my jellyroll pancakes so that I could have my BLT tonight!

Today is a good day!

I have achieved foodie status! I am officially a member of the Foodie Blog Roll!

Eating alone...

So my husband works shift work. 2 weeks out of the month I'm eating dinner alone. And he doesn't eat leftovers so I can't make an actual meal and save some for him. So, I take this opportunity to make dinners that I normally wouldn't make with him around.

The other day I caught a craving for a cheap meal from my childhood... Jellyroll Pancakes! And since I can never fight my cravings, I decided to make it, along with some bacon. It's pretty simple and very filling.

JELLYROLL PANCAKES

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

1 egg (edit - Grandmom says it's 2 eggs for 1 cup of flour)

Jelly

(edit- Grandmom also says you need to add a splash of vanilla extract or orange juice - my mom must've forgot to tell me this part when I asked how to make them, but I think they're great without it, so don't sweat it if you forget or dont have it to use)

1. Heat a non-stick skillet (I used my square skillet with no sides for ease) over low-med heat.

2. Mix first 3 ingredients together.

3. When the pan is hot, ladle some batter onto the pan and spread into a thin pancake. These cook pretty quickly are not not to be browned. Flip after about 30-60 seconds (you'll notice steam begin to rise). Continue to cook other side.

4. Transfer to a plate.

5. Spread a small amount of jelly over the pancake and roll up. Serve :)

Makes about 6 pancakes

Serves 2-3

Don't be alarmed if your first one gets screwed up. Serve with plenty of breakfast meat!

CHICKEN PAPRIKASH

I swear I didn't make up the name! I found this recipe in my most recent Woman's Day magazine. As soon as I saw it I knew I had to try it as my husband and I really do like paprika. Before I post the recipe, I will warn you that even though we are paprika fans, we felt the recipe called for too much paprika, for our tastes anyway. So, here it is!

CHICKEN PAPRIKASH

Source: Woman's Day Magazine

4 each skinless chicken drumsticks and thighs

1 can low-sodium cream of mushroom soup

2 Tbsp paprika (I would definitely use only 1 Tbsp)

1/2 nonfat sour cream

1. Place chicken in bottom of crockpot. Stir soup and paprika in small bowl until blended. Spoon soup mixture over chicken to cover.

2. Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours. Remove chicken with slotted spoon. Whisk sour cream into the cooking liquid. Serve sauce over chicken.

Makes 4 servings

297 calories

35 g protein

12 g carbs

2 g fiber

12 g fat

(does not include noodles)

We served this over whole wheat egg noodles. It was good, but we definitely would have enjoyed it more with less paprika. Also, I'm a breast kind of gal - I will definitely be using regular boneless, skinless chicken breasts next time.