Another recipe for you

I don't want this to turn into a recipe blog, but eating healthy is my focus right now so....

I had some broccoli that I needed to use the other night so I googled some recipes for it. It's amazing that hardly any recipes for broccoli don't contain cheese! I found tons of different recipes for broccoli casserole. It was discouraging because I started to think that's the only way you can fix it. Then, I found this recipe on allrecipes.com.

Broccoli with Garlic Butter and Cashews

1 1/2 pounds fresh broccoli, cut into bite size pieces
1/3 c. butter (I used less than this. I'm thinking you may not have to use at all)
1 T brown sugar
3 T soy sauce (I used low sodium soy sauce)
2 teaspoons white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 c chopped salted cashews (optional. I didn't use because I didn't have any)
corn starch

Place the broccoli into a large pot with about 1 inch fo water in the bottom. Bring to a boil and cook for 7 minutes or until tender but still crips. Drain and arrange on a serving platter.

While the broccoli is cooking, melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Mix in the brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, pepper and garlic. Bring to a boil. You may need to use a little corn starch to thicken. Remove from heat. Mix in the cashews and pour the sauce over the broccoli. Serve immediately.

Because of the soy sauce, it tasted very oriental so I'm thinking it might be good with chicken stirred into the sauce mixture next time. Regardless, it's nice to find a recipe for broccoli that doesn't have cheese in it! If you all know of any others--other than boil and put a little butter on it--please let me know.

Two New Recipes For You!

I tried 2 new recipes last night and I wanted to share them with you.

Applesauce Pork Chops

4-5 boneless pork chops
1 T oil
2-3 apples, peeled, cored and chopped (I didn't use these)
1 1/2 cups applesauce
1 cup water
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 T worcestershire
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tsp cornstarch
2 T water

Heat the oil and brown the pork chops on both sides. Drain excess oil then add the apples, applesauce, water, onion, worcestershire, garlic, and pepper. Stir, bring to a simmer, cover and simmer 30 minutes. Take the pork chops out onto a platter. Stir together the cornstarch and water and add that to the apple mixture. Stir and simmer a few minutes then put the pork chops back in and heat through.

This was very good and very healthy. I used natural applesauce and since you drain the oil, there's virtually no grease. Of course, I use olive oil for all cooking anyway. It's a nice way to jazz up ordinary pork chops. I love pork, by the way. I think I could eat it every night. Mr likes it too, which is a good thing since I've been buying pork chops in bulk!

This next recipe is unbelievably easy since you do it in the crockpot.

Zesty New Potatoes

3 pounds (small) new potatoes, unpeeled (I only used a 1 lb. bag or else we'd have been eating these for weeks)
1 T olive oil
1 envelope zesty Italian dressing mix

**Potatoes should be the size of golf balls. If not, cut in half or quarter.**

Pour the oil in a plastic bag and add the potatoes. Shake well to coat. Add the salad dressing mix and shake well until all the potatoes are coated. Place potatoes in crock. Cook and cover. Low: 7 to 8 hours OR High: 4 hours

I would add, I think next time I will spray the crock with nonstick spray. Even though none of the potatoes stuck, I think they might have if I hadn't been here to stir them. It's unbelievable that they cook with no water, but they are super soft and yummy. Again, very nutritious because new potatoes are better for you than white potatoes.

Try one or both tonight for dinner. You won't be disappointed!

Flax seed and Photo Friday

Why flax seed and photos? I just discovered the wonders of flax seed and I have been working on my first photo homework for class.

The flax seed thing I just kinda stumbled over. I remember my grandma talking about how she sprinkles some every day on her cereal and yesterday I just happened to be in the aisle where it was so I picked some up. After reading about it on the internet, it is like a wonder food. It's good for so many things. I put some in my yogurt this morning and it didn't even have a taste. You can't beat that. If you just put it on something you're already eating, easy peezy. You know me, I'm all about easy and pain-free. Research it yourself. It's good stuff.

I did end up going to my class last night. I'm glad I did because, as I said yesterday, I would've hated to miss a night. Our first assignment is to take 10 pictures of something we like to take pictures of. Well, you know my first choice is a cute, little, chubby baby or toddler, but since neither one of those is available, you know what that means...more pictures of Daisy, my sometimes reluctant, but ever available, subject:

As you can see, I was experimenting with a lot of different angles--some I even shot with the camera sitting on the floor and me not even looking through the lens--and different kinds of light.

What really caught my eye to start out the day was how the sun was shining off the ice in the trees:

Here's the big icicle that's hanging outside on our deck. Now that could put your eye out!

Food Friday

I hate to be one of those people who talk about the weather. You know who I'm talking about--"Is it hot enough for ya?" when it's 98 degrees outside. Nevertheless, when I woke up this morning it was -6. I took out the garbage this morning and thought my face was going to freeze off in just the walk from the house to the curb. Unbelievable.

Anyway, I wanted to share a recipe I cooked for myself a couple of nights ago. Mr has been out of town since Tuesday morning so I've been on my own most of the week. I decided to try out this recipe while he was gone. I do that sometimes. One time when he was gone I tried out a recipe and it wasn't any good so that one won't make the light of day for him. This one, however, is a do-over. I got it off Kraft.com under the healthy recipes since I'm trying to cook and eat healthier. Mr and I both need the extra nutrition.

Creamy Chicken Spaghetti

1/2 lb. spaghetti, uncooked
1/4 cup KRAFT Light Zesty Italian Dressing
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 zucchini, cut in half lengthwise, then sliced crosswise
2 cups spaghetti sauce
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, cubed
2 Tbsp. KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese

COOK spaghetti as directed on package.

MEANWHILE, heat dressing in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook and stir 2 min. Add zucchini; cook an additional 2 min., stirring frequently. Stir in spaghetti sauce. Bring just to boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 5 min. or until chicken is cooked through. Add Neufchatel cheese; cook 1 min. or until cheese is melted and mixture is well blended, stirring occasionally.

DRAIN spaghetti; place on serving plate. Top with the chicken mixture; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

It's a very yummy dinner. I'm always reluctant to try "healthy" meals because they lack the flavor of calorie-dense foods, but this one is yummy. You could make it even lower calorie by using fat-free cream cheese. I usually don't like fat-free stuff because it has a weird flavor, namely, no flavor, but I think you could get away with it in this recipe because there's enough other flavors to enhance the dish. I would also add mushrooms since Mr and I love them. Anywhere I can sneak vegetables in, I do because I don't like to just sit and eat a bowlful of vegetables. Additionally, I used whole wheat pasta instead of regular pasta. If you've never tried whole wheat pasta, it's definitely an acquired taste. The texture is denser than regular pasta. Once you get used to it, it's hard to go back to regular, but don't expect to love it the first time you try it. It's worth it, though, because it's so much healthier for you.

Here's a couple pictures of the dish.

Another obsession

Well, I've found yet another obsession for myself...I think I need an intervention. I worked off and on all weekend on Mr and my Christmas cards. I found this awesome website--scrapblog.com--where you can create your own. I found this site a while back--remember the cute little announcement I had for the last giveaway? That was from scrapblog. Well, I uploaded some of our wedding pictures and had them printed at Walgreen's with a super cheap deal I got sent via email and wah la, Christmas cards! Of course you know me and my anal retentive side. I got them printed and I don't like them. Because I am still learning about the site's features, I created another one that I like way better so now I'm going to have to get those printed. Still, we will save significant money on our cards versus going through any other site. Plus, we will be able to share 4 of our wedding pictures with our card recipients. I'm excited and can't wait for Christmas. I may be sending them out Dec. 1st!


I also was playing around with some pictures of J & B's little boy and created a birth announcement for him. It's so cute! I printed out a copy for Mr to give to B since he works with him. I hope I got his birth date and weight right. For some reason, I didn't write down the date he was born. Anyway, it was a lot of fun.


It was freezing cold and nasty here yesterday so you know what that means...cooking! For some reason this year I am really into soups. I've never liked soups in my life. They're just not filling enough for me, but this year, I've become the soup nazi. Last night's smorgasbord consisted of minestrone soup. You know I took pictures.




The recipe had me make the pasta noodles in a separate pan and then put the noodles in the bowl and spoon the soup over them. That's actually a really good idea because then the noodles don't get all soggy and fall apart. It was super yummy. Plus, it was really healthy, other than the pasta. As you can see, it was full of veggies--zucchini, green beans, onions, garlic, olive oil (only a little bit), carrots, spinach, celery. Mr and I need to start eating healthier so I thought this was a step in the right direction.

Soup's done

Since it was so cold yesterday, I decided to try out a couple of my new recipes. One of them I got from the Recipe Exchange I did recently. It was for potato soup. Here is a picture of the finished product:

It was actually pretty good, especially when I added the green onions and bacon bits. Mr put cheese in his, but I didn't because I also made these:

These are the cheese biscuits that were submitted in Pioneer Woman's dairy contest recently. If you're interested in the recipe, click here

Next time I make them, I am going to add some garlic and only use cheddar cheese in them and I think they'll be just like Red Lobster's. Mr said the potato soup tasted like Rafferty's so maybe I can just re-create all of the restaurants right here in my own kitchen. Yeah, right.

New Recipe Tuesday

I don't know if I'll do this every Tuesday, but it sounded like a good title for today. Last night I made Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops. It's a fancy name for fried pork chops. I think they had to be healthier than the ones most of us are used to from our childhood. I fried them in olive oil and they had parmesan cheese and bread crumbs as the coating. Of course, I took pictures.

Those are the crash potatoes from PW, also. This time I didn't put as much salt on them so they were better, but they needed more salt this time! The pork chops were super yummo. These are a definite make over.

Also, because I apparently have WAY too much time on my hands, here's another few pictures for your viewing pleasure.

And that's all I have to say about that.

P.S. Please don't call the humane society on me. I'm returning it. I just wanted to have some fun at Daisy's expense.

Saturday morning cooking

As if I didn't have enough to do, I decided to make the "Sleepin' in Omelette" from the Pioneer Woman. In actuality, it's a casserole. I don't know why she calls it an omelette. Anyway, I put it together last night and then just popped it in the oven this morning. Here's a picture after Mr and I hit it hard.

If you try this recipe, here's Mr's and my suggestions for changes to the recipe. 1. it needs some meat. Next time I will cook sausage and put that in there. 2. less cream cheese, although, maybe if you add the sausage, it won't be so rich. The whole pack of cream cheese makes it very rich and I even used the low-fat cream cheese. I think the sausage might counteract that so next time I will just add sausage with the same amt. of cream cheese. If you make it with no meat, though, definitely cut back the cream cheese to maybe 1/2 package. It's very good, but very rich. All in all, Mr and I decided this was a keeper.

Now onto cooking stuff for the shower!

My baking talents have no end

Today's delicacy--about-to-go-bad Easter bunny sugar cookies. Yum, yum! They also go with our wedding colors. Who knew?