Category Archives: Recipes

December 18, 2011 · 5:27 pm

A Regular Breakfast Shake

Does your busy schedule occasionally upset your digestive tract? Sure, you’ve seen those TV commercials about probiotics, but have you priced any of those products? I have. According to Dr. Oz (and countless other medical and nutritional authorities), you’re dollars ahead if you follow Grandma’s advice and eat your prunes.

You don’t like the taste of prunes? I certainly don’t. But here’s a suggestion: hide them in your fruit smoothies. I add 5 (one serving, according to the package) prunes to the following recipe, which serves 2. Tastes sweet and keeps your plumbing running smooth, too.

RECIPE

Breakfast Shake

Ingredients:

1 cup milk or soy milk
1 orange, quartered and peeled
1 apple, quartered and cored
5 prunes
1 cup frozen peaches or assorted frozen fruit

Directions:

Add ingedients in the oder in which they are listed to the Vitamix container. Secure lid. Set to Variable Speed 1 and turn on the machine. Gradually increase to Speed 10 then flip switch to High. Process for 1 minutes.

Makes 2 servings.

No added sweetener is necessary because the prunes are very sweet. If prunes still are a turn off for you, think of them as dried plums. 🙂

You don’t have a Vitamix? Ask Santa for one now. Click through the ad in the sidebar and get free shipping. You won’t regret owning a Vitamix. The more you use it, the healthier you’ll be!

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November 25, 2011 · 5:46 pm

Turkey leftovers? No problem!

For the holidays, I’m recapping some of our favorite turkey leftover recipes. Remember, it’s easy to shred leftover meat in the Vitamix, food processor, or mixer. I use shredded leftover turkey to make turkey salad, turkey burritos, and turkey barbecue sandwiches.

RECIPE

Turkey BBQ Sandwiches
Serves 2
(I serve these with Cole Slaw made using the Vitamix)

Ingredients:
1 cup shredded turkey dark meat
1 cup prepared barbecue sauce of choice
2 whole wheat burger buns

Directions:
Combine turkey and barbecue sauce in a one quart pan. Cover and place over low heat for gentle heating. After mixture is completely warmed through, remove pan from heat and serve on the burger buns.

RECIPE

Turkey Tetrazzini
Serves 4-5

(I use a Kitchen Craft covered skillet, but this recipe can be baked in a conventional oven. I prefer the electric skillet because the entire dish is prepared in one pot, reducing clean-up time in the kitchen. Also, a quality liquid core electric skillet uses less energy than an oven):

Dry sauté in the skillet:

1 cup sliced, fresh mushrooms
1 small yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced

After the mushrooms have browned, add:

1½ cups cooked turkey, cubed
4 oz. uncooked angel hair pasta, spread evenly across vegetables and chicken in skillet (or 1½ quart baking dish)

In a 1 pint measuring pitcher, blend:

1 10 ¾ oz. can Campbell’s® 98% Fat Free Cream of Mushroom Soup
½ cup milk
ÂĽ cup water
ÂĽ cup sour cream
ÂĽ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Pour soup mixture over turkey and pasta. Be sure all pasta is covered.

If using a skillet, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Do NOT remove lid to peek. If baking, cover casserole with foil and cook in a pre-heated 375°F oven for 30 minutes.

Garnish with finely chopped fresh parsley and additional parmesan cheese if desired. Serve with a garden salad and whole grain bread. Serves 4.

With the rising cost of canned goods, I’ve started canning my own turkey stock, which is easy using the pressure cooker and freezer-safe, pint canning jars.  But whether you make your own stock or buy it, you’ll enjoy making soup from leftover turkey.  Here’s one suggestion, Turkey Noodle Soup:

RECIPE

Turkey Noodle Soup

Makes 4 servings

In a 3 quart pot over medium heat, add

2 teaspoons olive oil
brown for 5 minutes:
1 clove garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
4 stalks celery (including the leaves), sliced
1 bell pepper (any color, but I use red), seeded and chopped

Add:

1 quart turkey stock or chicken broth
1 cup water
Seasonings – your choice
1 ½ cups cooked turkey, cubed

Bring to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer and cover. Don’t remove the lid and you’ll be able to cook on the lowest setting.

About 10 minutes before serving, add:

1 cup dry whole wheat noodles, or any whole wheat pasta

Taste test for seasonings. You may want to add salt or pepper. When the noodles are al dente, serve the soup.

The beauty of this recipe is the cooking time is flexible. The soup can simmer for 20 minutes or a couple of hours because the starchy pasta isn’t added until the last 10 minutes. It’s a light, healthy meal for those days following the overindulgence of a holiday meal. Double or triple the recipe and feed a crowd on a cold night.

One more tip: You can adapt this for the slow cooker. Add the pasta in during the last hour and turn to Low.

Here’s one I modified from a GE recipe.  Theirs is baked in a casserole dish, but I use the electric skillet.

RECIPE

Turkey Cashew Casserole
Serves 6

In a pre-heated electric skillet, melt:

1 Tablespoon butter

Sauté for five minutes:

2 cups chopped celery
1 large onion, chopped

Add:

5 cups cubed cooked turkey

Mix together in a large mixing pitcher or bowl:

1 cup turkey or chicken broth
2 cans reduced-sodium condensed cream of mushroom soup
dash of hot sauce

Pour over chicken and cover.  Simmer (220°) for 20-25 minutes (or bake in a casserole dish at 350° for 30 minutes in a traditional oven).

Sprinkle cooked casserole with:

1 cup cashews
10 oz. chow-mein noodles

Serve and enjoy!

I saved my favorite for last, turkey burritos!  This recipe can be adjusted according to how much leftover turkey you have.

RECIPE

Turkey Burritos
Makes 6

Preheat oven to 375°.  In a medium bowl combine:

1 cup shredded cooked turkey
1 can Rotel® tomatoes and green chiles
1 cup reduced-fat shredded Mexican blend cheese
1 small onion, diced
1 Tbsp. Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle seasoning (or your choice)

Mix together and divide into six equal portions.  Fill each of the:

6 whole wheat tortillas

with a portion of the mixture.  Wrap tortilla around mixture into a roll.  Place burritos in a 9×13 casserole dish.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and uncover.  After 5 minutes, remove each burrito from the casserole dish and serve.

Happy Holidays and Happy Cooking!

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October 29, 2011 · 8:30 am

Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread with a Secret Ingredient

A common complaint I hear about making sandwiches with 100% whole wheat bread is the toughness of the bread. Whole wheat bread can be dense and chewy, and what most people want for a sandwich is light and tender. Yet there is little nutrition in white bread, and almost no fiber.

After experimenting in the Hasty Tasty Meals Kitchen, I’ve found a way to make whole wheat bread with the right texture for sandwiches. Whether you have a bread machine or you use a Vitamix or your hands, try this recipe. You’ll need a 12 oz. can of beer (and no, it’s not for the cook! :D)

RECIPE

Whole Wheat Beer Bread

Ingredients:

  • 12 oz can beer, room temperature (pull the tab so it goes flat)
  • 2 Tbsp. honey
  • 2 Tbsp. molasses
  • ½ stick unsalted butter, cut into cubes
  • 3 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 3 Tbsp. wheat germ
  • ½ cup gluten
  • 2½ tsp. yeast

Directions:

Add all ingredients in order listed to the bread machine pan. Select “Wheat” setting and hit “Start.” Approximately three and a half hours later, you’ll have tasty whole wheat bread. Remove immediately from the bread pan and allow to cool before slicing.

If you don’t use a bread machine, make the dough (I’ve omitted dough making instructions, but if you have a Vitamix, follow the directions in your Vitamix book) and let it rise. Knead and let it rise again. Bake in a buttered loaf pan at 350° for about 40 minutes or until done. Loaf is fully baked when you thump it and it sounds hollow. Remove loaf from pan and allow it to cool at least 20 minutes before slicing.

You will be delighted with the airy softness of this whole wheat bread. Enjoy!

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October 9, 2011 · 1:50 pm

The Gentle Cook

Have you tried making hasty tasty meals with disappointing results? Try the opposite, what I call GENTLE cooking. The difference in a hasty tasty meal and a gently cooked meal is planning. No rushed last minute meals allowed.

The concept is simple, one our great-grandmothers and grandmothers knew well: low and slow. When you cook over low heat for a long time, you give food the chance to develop its natural flavors. You don’t risk burning or toughening food when you gently cook. Unlike hasty tasty meals, a gently cooked meal takes time. (Not to be confused with slow-cooker cooking, which takes hours)

The upside of low and slow is multi-tasking. If you start your meal gently cooking, you don’t need to stand and tend to it. You can put pots on the range or in the oven to start cooking gently then go on to other chores like laundry, checking e-mails, or cleaning the kitchen. You can set the table at your leisure. In a way, it’s more relaxed cooking.

Here is a gently cooked meal as an example. Prep produce for carrots and broccoli. Place the carrots in a 1½ quart pan (carrots have a longer cooking time than broccoli), cover, and turn the burner on low. If your range is gas, this is the lowest setting; electric range setting would be one notch higher than warm.

Take frozen fish fillets, season, and place in a dry 10” skillet. Cover and turn heat to its lowest setting as you did the carrots.

Do not lift the lids on the pans. You can check for steam by spinning the lids. If they spin freely, you have vapor seal. This is what you want. If the lid rattles and steam spews around the edges, lower the heat or use a flame-tamer.

After about twenty minutes, add the broccoli to the 1½ quart pan on top the carrots. Replace the lid and allow broccoli to steam at least twenty minutes for firm. Add time if you like broccoli super tender, taking care not to overcook. Broccoli cooked gently will not turn an ugly brownish color, even if it overcooks a bit.

After about forty-five minutes, dinner is ready to serve. You will get nothing but compliments on your delicious meal, and you can relax and enjoy dinner, too. Gentle cooking makes cleanup easy, especially if you use quality heavy-gauge cookware that evenly distributes the heat. No hot spots means no burned on food. Best of all, slow cooking requires little to no fat, which means healthier meals!

Gently cooked fish dinner

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