WOAH....a NEW POST!

Ok, so its the new year. As part of the new year, as per 3/4 of the worlds population, we have decided we have let ourselves go for FAR too long and its time to do some weight loss..again...

last year we tried atkins briefly...but i couldn't handle the smell of jackson's breath when he entered the ketoacidosis stage. Also...i can't eat THAT MUCH MEAT. cripes. for the first time in my life i thought i might actually kill someone for an apple. a FREAKING apple.

This year we are going to go "low bad carbs" "yay high fibre ok carbs" its a mix of the old school "core plan" from WW, and a splash of low carb thrown in for fun. (which technically the core plan is...its low carb YAY meat/veg/fruit but unlike atkins they don't love full fat.  But we do LOL! So we are sticking to full fat little to no carbs and lots of veg and meat. The problem for me is...I LOVE BAKING... all the TIME! So i've been scouring the internet for recipes. Low carb bread baking etc.

So far i have found 3 awesome recipes i cannot wait to try. a bread with NO FLOUR..a pumpkin spice smoothie, and a chocolate cake made from almond flour.

Also...i've made a commitment to myself 30 minutes of walking/speed walking every day. unless i am dying from sickness or something...i WILL be on that treadmill.

And...we are going to purchase a sun lamp...so i can have 30mins a day of 10,000 lux of beautiful sun like lighting. Stupid winter this year is REALLY bringing me down. I spent 30minutes this morning sitting in the front window in the sunlight, but as the sun vanished i found myself leaning out of my chair trying to suck every last ray into my skin.

So here i am about to make some peanut butter low carb bread and hop on the treadmill.

2011 you sucked ass.
2012 you're going to make my dreams come true!

easiest peanut butter cookies...EVER

and boy are these bad boys EPIC!
Preheat oven 325F
1 cup Peanut Butter (i use kraft as i was brought up on the bears and its the ONLY kind i love more than life itself.)
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg.

that is all. mix the shit outta those 3 SIMPLE ingredients that i can guess most people have in their homes most of the time.
make 24 balls
place on cookie sheets, press with fork
bake for 15 mins or until golden brown

VOILA! the best PB cookies ever.

if you finish the jar, feel free to share it with your furry kids.

i feel like chicken tonight...

does anyone remember those ridiculous commercials from the 90ies? lord. Anywho i was racking my brain as to what to have for dinner tonight. I had pulled the crock pot out for last nights feast of slowcooker stewing beef in cream of celery soup (do NOT knock it till you try it, its one of my mom's BEST....mmmm) so i thought lets be lazy again tonight and figure something else, something NEW, something FANFUCKINGTASTIC out for the crockpot. So i threw a bunch of stuff together, and now...we wait.

What I Did:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (still frozen...like i said..being lazy)
aprox 1/2 C organic Italian Dressing poured over top
handful of baby/bite size potatoes from our garden harvest
oregano (dry)
basil (dry)
garlic powder
parmasean cheese
ADDITIONS
i also chopped some mushrooms on top
green onion
and added just a splash of balsamic vinegar.

placed it all in the crock pot on high...will check it in a few hours. Oh....i bought mushrooms a couple days ago...ok...throwing a handful of mushrooms on top.

We shall see if this becomes a new favourite or a "do NOT make this again" recipe.

Whats delicious and makes a fabulous lunch wrap?

Pitas of course!

I was racking my brain for a lunch idea today, i didn't want to bake an entire loaf of bread and i thought about making tortillas when i realized, "eh, i can make pitas!" So i went in search of a recipe and found one to my liking, it was SIMPLE and EASY to do!


Note: I replaced HALF of the white flour with organic whole wheat and left the other half white (used unbleached organic flour)

Ingredients

• 1 1/8 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Now the instructions are for use with a bread machine, yes i have one, but i tend to use it less and less unless time is a problem or i'm making just plain white bread (which is not very often)

so i will do the first step the way *I* did it.

In my kitchen aid (or in a bowl) place the warm water , yeast and sugar. Let it proof for at least 10 minutes or until frothy. Then add the oil (i used olive) and then add the flour with the salt premixed in (i use 2 grinds from my seasalt grinder)

then complete as follows:

1. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently roll and stretch dough into a 12 inch rope. With a sharp knife, divide dough into 8 pieces. Roll each into a smooth ball. With a rolling pin, roll each ball into a 6 to 7 inch circle. Set aside on a lightly floured countertop. cover with a towel. Let pitas rise about 30 minutes until slightly puffy.
2. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). Place 2 or 3 pitas on a wire cake rack. Place cake rack directly on oven rack. Bake pitas 4 to 5 minutes until puffed and tops begin to brown. Remove from oven and immediately place pitas in a sealed brown paper bag or cover them with a damp kitchen towel until soft. Once pitas are softened, either cut in half or split top edge for half or whole pitas. They can be stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for 1 or 2 months.

Now, MY pita circles once rolled out and covered for 30 minutes did not really seem to rise...at all. I thought ohhhh wonderful they are going to be flat as heck...boy, was I wrong or what?!

Raspberry Almond Torte

Ok the recipe calls it a tart...but i prefer the fancy name of Torte :)


this was the dessert i made for Jackson's birthday/homecoming from his surgery trip to Toronto. It was DELICIOUS!
it was moist and chewy on the inside with a bit of a crunch on the upper crust. the flavour was wonderfully sinful.  AND it gave me an excuse to buy a set of tart pans with removable bottoms which i did not own previously.

my whipped cream placement was a wee bit off oops.

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup sugar, divided
• 1 cup butter or margarine, divided
• 3 eggs, divided
• 1/2 cup raspberry jam, divided
• 1 cup ground almonds
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder and 1/3 cup sugar. Cut in 1/2 cup butter until fine crumbs form. Beat 1 egg; add to mixing bowl and stir until dry ingredients are moistened. Press dough evenly into bottom and up the sides of 9-in. x 1-1/2-in. tart pan with removable bottom. Spread 1/4 cup of jam over dough. Cover with plastic wrap and chill.
2. Meanwhile, cream together remaining sugar and butter; stir in almonds and extract. Add remaining eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition; spoon filling over jam. Bake at 350 degrees F for 50 minutes. Cool in pan, then carefully remove sides from pan. Spread remaining jam on top. Combine confectioners' sugar and lemon juice; drizzle over the top.

This is where I add that I did NOT use a drizzle on top, and I used a LOT more jam. 

Boston Baked Beans....Northwestern Ontario Style

I was sitting here the other morning thinking to myself, gee what can I make from scratch that I know Jackson loves and will enjoy muchly? Then it dawned on me. BAKED BEANS. That boy eats more canned beans than you can shake a stick at. So I went hunting online until I found a recipe and instructions that I thought best suited the style of beans we will both enjoy. They are currently getting awesome epic in the slow cooker. So here is the recipe I used along with the instructions. I also have pictures of the prepping process.

Slow Cooked Boston Baked Beans Recipe

• Cook time: 8 hours

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound (2 to 2 1/4 cups) dry white beans such as Navy beans or Great Northern beans (can also use kidney beans)
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 3-4 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 3 cups hot water
• 1/2 pound salt pork (can sub bacon), cut into 1/2-inch to 1-inch pieces
• 1 medium onion, (1 1/2 cups) chopped

METHOD

1 Place beans in a large pot and cover with 2 inches of water. Soak overnight and drain. Alternatively, bring a pot with the beans covered with 2 inches of water to a boil, remove from heat and let soak for a hour, then drain.

2 Mix the molasses, brown sugar, mustard, and ground cloves with 3 cups of hot water.


3 Line the bottom of a slow-cooker (or a Dutch oven if you are cooking in the oven) with half of the salt pork (pick the fattiest pieces). Layer over with half of the drained beans. Add all of the onions in a layer, then top with another layer of beans and the remaining salt pork. Pour the molasses water mixture over the beans to just cover the beans.

Everything set up and ready!!

 layering the bacon (thick cut)

second layer, the beans go in!

Third layer, the onions go in!!

Layers finished, bacon on top

Liquid is poured on top, yum!

4 Cover and cook in a slow-cooker on the low setting for 8 hours (or in a 250°F oven), until the beans are tender. Check the water level a few hours in, and if the beans need more water, add some. Add additional salt to taste if needed. Note that fresher beans will cook faster than older beans. Your beans may be ready in less than 8 hours, or they may take longer. Best the next day.

Serve with Boston brown bread.

Yield: Serves 5-6 as a main dish or 10-12 as a side.

Apple Pork Chops and Pumpkin Cheese Cake

Earlier this week someone on my FB was asking about slow cooker recipes. I gave her my patented Apple Pork Chops Recipe. I thought "hmm maybe I should also post this recipe on my foodblog. I should also note, I have contemplated talking about other things in life on this blog, but I know I have posted the address on both my FB accounts. So for the time being, it shall remain all about food/crafts and food. 


Apple Chops
I like to use boneless...bones creep me out. 

Use anywhere from 1-6+ chops. Today I did a flat of 6 boneless chops from Metro. We have a friend coming for dinner :)
You will need at least 1-4+ apples, depending on number of chops. I used 3 today for the 6 chops. Type of Apple depends on your tastes when it comes to apples. My husband prefers Empire, and I prefer Mac's or Granny Smith. We had organic grannies, so I used 3 of those.
Peel and slice apples. (I have this wonderful do-dad that spins the apples, peels and cores and slices them all at once! Best thing I ever bought!)
Now I actually pulled the chops out of the freezer last night and let them sit in the slow cooker "pot" overnight in the fridge with pumpkin pie spice sprinkled on them. Remove the chops from the pot if you also do this. Place the first layer of apples on the bottom of the pot and then place the first layer of chops. Place another layer of apple slices and then sprinkle the whole sha-bang with either cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice  etc. Repeat until you have no chops left and there are apples on top of everything. At this point I like to pull out my whole nutmeg and fresh grate nutmeg on top of everything. Yum! Place lid on slow cooker and turn on high. Today we are having dinner late-ish and I was up bright and early prepping at 730am. So I am going to leave it on high until about 11 or 12pm and then set to low for the remainder of the day. The entire thing is done when the chops basically fall apart and the apples are apple sauce. Perfect for serving ON the chops! As per usual I will add pictures. So far I only have one. This is a recipe I have made about a million times in my life, and apparently is the recipe that won my now husband over. Awesome Possum.


As for side dishes...tonight's menu will be Oven roasted baby red potatoes (from the garden), Ontario grown Cauliflower with shredded cheese, honey glazed carrots (the last from the garden) and Pumpkin Cheese Cake. 


I've never done this cheesecake recipe, it's from the Kraft Living magazine that the previous house owners still get in our mailbox :) 
Here is the recipe and directions as per the Kraft Website.

Cheesecake

3/4 cup Honey Maid Graham Crumbs

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

3/4 cup packed brown sugar, divided

3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided

1/4 cup butter, melted

1-1/2 cups canned pumpkin

3 eggs

1-1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

3 pkg. (250 g each) Philadelphia Brick Cream Cheese, softened

1 Tbsp. cornstarch

Praline

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 Tbsp. water

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping

CHEESECAKE: 
MIX graham crumbs, nuts, 1/4 cup each brown and granulated sugar, and butter; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Refrigerate 1 hour.

HEAT oven to 350ºF. Whisk pumpkin, remaining brown sugar, eggs and spices until well blended. Beat cream cheese, remaining granulated sugar and cornstarch in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Add pumpkin mixture; mix just until blended. Pour over crust.

BAKE 45 to 50 min. or until centre is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool completely before removing rim. Refrigerate 4 hours. Meanwhile, prepare Praline.

PRALINE:
BRING sugar and water to boil in small saucepan on medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Continue boiling, without stirring, 5 to 7 min. or until syrup is thickened and golden brown. Remove from heat. Stir in nuts. Spread onto parchment-covered baking sheet. Cool. Break into bite-size pieces.

 TopCheesecake with Cool Whip  and Praline just before serving.
 Variation:
Today I am attempting a variation on this recipe. I loved the crust so much (the cake btw was AMAZING) that I am attempting to use the same crust and make a pumpkin pie with the left over pumpkin. 

EDIT: the pie was ALSO a huge success. I am never making a pumpkin pie in a traditional pie crust again.

Sláinte!