Spinach, green onion and smoked gouda quiche

I really wanted to try this recipe but I knew that my other half doesn't like wilted spinach. Spinach salads are ok but cooked greens, no way. So I reluctantly asked him if he would try it, and surprisingly, he agreed!  Let me just say that I'm glad he did, this is sooooooooooo amazingly good.

I admit, I am a lover of quiche. I was a little worried about this being a CL recipe; would it have the same tasty goodness of a regular quiche? You can see this quiche has a crust, so it's not as healthy as a crustless quiche, but it calls for reduced fat milk.  CL has downsized the portion size, which is not filling enough for a meal. I think instead of the 10 servings this quoted, we ended up making it 6 (341 cals per serving).  Perhaps you could make it 10 servings if you served this with a salad.  I also can't remember if we used 1% as the recipe calls for, or if we used skim (we usually have skim).  If I were you, I'd just try it with 1% instead of experimenting with skim.  I'll just have to make this again using skim and report back right? :)  I also used store-bought crust since I already had it.

So I tagged this with a 'vegetarian' label which the original recipe is, but we made a few non-veg friendly modifications. First of all, we used the Yancey's Fancy Smoked Gouda with Bacon.  It was creamy and delicious and it was the only one we could find at our grocery store.  Secondly, we added in leftover rotisserie chicken (maybe 1/2 C to 1C) to give this even more protein.

This is definitely going in the book. I want to make this again...soon.

As of today's post, 10 people agreed that it's a 5 out of 5!

Recipe by Joanne Wier, Cooking Light, August 2010

Yield: 10 servings (serving size: 1 wedge)

Ingredients

• Crust:
• 6  tablespoons  butter, softened
• 2  tablespoons  1% low-fat milk
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1  large egg yolk
• 5.6  ounces  all-purpose flour (about 1 1/4 cups)
• Filling:
• 1  tablespoon  extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2  cup  thinly sliced green onions
• 3  cups  fresh baby spinach
• 1  cup  1% low-fat milk
• 3/4  cup  (3 ounces) grated smoked Gouda cheese
• 3/4  teaspoon  salt
• Dash of grated nutmeg
• 3  large eggs

Preparation

1. To prepare crust, place butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Combine milk, salt, and egg yolk in a small bowl; stir well with a whisk. Add milk mixture to butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour; beat just until combined. Press mixture into a 4-inch circle on plastic wrap; cover. Chill for 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 350°.
3. Unwrap and place chilled dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll dough into a 10-inch circle. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate. Freeze 15 minutes. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool.
4. To prepare filling, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Add spinach; sauté 2 minutes.
5. Combine 1 cup milk and remaining ingredients in a bowl; stir well with a whisk. Stir in spinach mixture. Pour filling into crust. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes. Cut into 10 wedges.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 205

Fat: 12.9g (sat 6.8g,mono 4.3g,poly 0.8g)

Protein: 7.3g

Carbohydrate: 15.4g

Fiber: 1.1g

Cholesterol: 113mg

Iron: 1.5mg

Sodium: 405mg

Calcium: 120mg

Eggnog!!!

Did you have a white Christmas?? We did, but not because of the snow! We enjoyed this homemade eggnog courtesy of the November issue of CL.  Eggnog is a tasty part of our holiday season but if we can find a way to have a healthier version, we will definitely do so. 

The results? As a scientist, we experimented with this recipe twice. The first time we made the eggnog, we only had skim milk.  I enjoyed the resulting product but the hubs did not. The second time we used 1% and it was enjoyed by all.  It could have been the alcohol used in each iteration of this experiment. The first time we used scotch and brandy and the second time we used rum and brandy.  We both prefer rum over scotch to drink anyway so that may have been the culprit. Either way, this recipe is definitely going in the book!

The serving size is small, we got about 4 servings out of one batch (the recipe says 8).

Recipe by Ruth Cousineau, Cooking Light, November 2010

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1/2 cup)

Ingredients

• 3 1/2  cups  1% low-fat milk
• 1/2  cup  fat-free sweetened condensed milk
• 1  tablespoon  all-purpose flour
• 1/4  teaspoon  grated whole nutmeg
• 1/8  teaspoon  salt
• 2  large egg yolks
• 1/4  cup  bourbon
• 2  tablespoons  brandy
• 1  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• Additional grated whole nutmeg (optional)

Preparation

1. Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly with a whisk. Place egg yolks in a medium bowl. Gradually whisk one-third of hot milk mixture into egg yolks. Add yolk mixture to remaining hot milk mixture, stirring with a whisk. Cook over medium heat 1 minute or until slightly thickened. Pour into a pitcher; stir in bourbon, brandy, and vanilla.
2. Cover surface of eggnog with wax paper; refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. Garnish with additional nutmeg, if desired.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 147

Fat: 2.3g (sat 1.1g,mono 0.8g,poly 0.2g)

Protein: 5.8g

Carbohydrate: 18.1g

Fiber: 0.0g

Cholesterol: 58mg

Iron: 0.2mg

Sodium: 113mg

Calcium: 187mg

Spicy Coconut Shrimp Soup

This is another recipe that I have wanted to make for a while now.  Most of the ingredients we have on hand, so it was just a matter of getting the mushrooms and shrimp. 

We didn't make any changes to this recipe.  It turned out fantastic; sweet enough with the coconut milk but with a good mix between creamy and broth-y.  We used raw shrimp and added them in until they turned pink, but you could probably use pre-cooked shrimp.  In the future, I think we'll add a bit more red curry paste, since we like it spicy.  This lasted a few days in the fridge--just stir it up because the coconut milk can settle. 

As of today's post, twelve people gave this an average rating of four out of five.

Recipe by David Bonom, Cooking Light, March 2008

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 1 1/2 cups)

Ingredients

• 3 1/2  cups  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1  cup  sliced mushrooms
• 1/4  cup  finely chopped red bell pepper
• 1  tablespoon  light brown sugar
• 1  tablespoon  fish sauce
• 1/2  teaspoon  grated peeled fresh ginger
• 1/4  teaspoon  red curry paste
• 1  cup  light coconut milk
• 1  pound  large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/4  cup  thinly sliced green onions
• 2  tablespoons  thinly sliced fresh basil
• 2  tablespoons  fresh lime juice

Preparation

1. Combine first 7 ingredients in a large saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in coconut milk; cook 2 minutes or until hot. Add shrimp to pan; cook 3 minutes or until shrimp are done. Remove pan from heat; stir in onions, basil, and juice.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 194 (25% from fat)

Fat: 5.3g (sat 3.3g,mono 0.4g,poly 0.9g)

Protein: 26.9g

Carbohydrate: 9.9g

Fiber: 1.4g

Cholesterol: 172mg

Iron: 3.8mg

Sodium: 878mg

Calcium: 85mg

Chicken Salad with Roasted Peppers, or the most random combination of ingredients EVER

As a fan of fancy chicken salad, I was intrigued to try this recipe. However, I should have looked more closely at the ingredients. Talk about the most random mix of items EVER. Craisins with roasted red peppers and soy sauce? Luckily I had most of the ingredients in-house, so it was just a matter of putting it all together.  The end result was sweet and tangy, and a bit odd.  I can't confirm or deny that I liked this, I just know there are better chicken salad recipes out there.  But it was interesting to give it a shot.  If you're feeling adventurous, give it a go!

I am the only one on myrecipes.com to rate this as of this post, and I gave it 3 out of 5.
 I think it has potential but would be better as a chicken salad with roasted red peppers, tomato, and homemade pesto, rather than this hodgepodge of ingredients.

Recipe from Cooking Light, Fresh Food Fast, Oxmoor House April 2009

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

Ingredients

• 2  cups  chopped cooked chicken breast (about 3/4 pound)
• 1/2  cup  refrigerated prechopped green bell pepper
• 1/2  cup  refrigerated prediced celery
• 1/2  cup  dried cranberries
• 1/2  cup  chopped bottled roasted red bell peppers
• 1/4  cup  refrigerated prechopped red onion
• 1/4  cup  chopped pecans, toasted
• 1/4  cup  light mayonnaise
• 2  teaspoons  low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/4  teaspoon  crushed red pepper

Preparation

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl; toss well. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 280 (43% from fat)

Fat: 13g (sat 2.2g,mono 4.1g,poly 2.4g)

Protein: 23g

Carbohydrate: 17.5g

Fiber: 2.3g

Cholesterol: 65mg

Iron: 1.1mg

Sodium: 333mg

Calcium: 26mg

French Onion Soup

It is a historic day for the SWTSIH blog, we finally found a good SOUP!  The french onion soup from cooking light is divine--so close to the original (trust me, we've had it in Paris)!  The recipe is very easy to follow but takes a few hours, so plan accordingly.  I made this when the hubs was sick with a nasty cold, and he sure felt better afterward! Its a soup that warms the soul on cold winter nights. I really don't see any reason why you shouldn't make this right now.

This recipe is so easy you can even screw it up as horribly as I did and it still turns out fantastic. I miscalculated the amount of beef broth needed and had to supplement with chicken broth.  So really I used half beef broth and half chicken broth and added 2 beef bullion cubes.  If you can screw it up that much and it's delicious, then it's a keeper. I may have added a little more onion but it was difficult to measure them into cups.

For servings, we used 2x the soup but only 1x the bread and cheese.

As of today's post 53 people gave this an average rating of 4 out of 5.

Recipe by Cooking Light, January 2005

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 2  teaspoons  olive oil
• 4  cups  thinly vertically sliced Walla Walla or other sweet onion
• 4  cups  thinly vertically sliced red onion
• 1/2  teaspoon  sugar
• 1/2  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  cup  dry white wine
• 8  cups  less-sodium beef broth
• 1/4  teaspoon  chopped fresh thyme
• 8  (1-ounce) slices French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 8  (1-ounce) slices reduced-fat, reduced-sodium Swiss cheese (such as Alpine Lace)

Preparation

Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions to pan; sauté for 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in sugar, pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Reduce heat to medium; cook 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Increase heat to medium-high, and sauté for 5 minutes or until onion is golden brown. Stir in wine, and cook for 1 minute. Add broth and thyme; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 2 hours.
Preheat broiler.
Place bread in a single layer on a baking sheet; broil 2 minutes or until toasted, turning after 1 minute.
Place 8 ovenproof bowls on a jelly-roll pan. Ladle 1 cup soup into each bowl. Divide bread evenly among bowls; top each serving with 1 cheese slice. Broil 3 minutes or until cheese begins to brown.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 290 (30% from fat)

Fat: 9.6g (sat 4.8g,mono 1.9g,poly 0.7g)

Protein: 16.8g

Carbohydrate: 33.4g

Fiber: 3.1g

Cholesterol: 20mg

Iron: 1.6mg

Sodium: 359mg

Calcium: 317mg

Brown Sugar Cheesecake with Cherry Compote

This looks delish right?? It's soooooo delicious!!!  I've been dying to make this ever since I saw it in my CL and I finally had a chance! We hosted a dinner party around the holidays and this was the perfect opportunity to make this cheesecake.  The gingersnap crust is so tasty and it was great to use up the leftover gingersnaps I had from the apple crisp.

We didn't make any changes to this recipe but you should know--it's tough to make 16 servings, so we had about 10.

The compote made a lot more than you need for the cheesecake. I would suggest using the leftovers on meat (save it for your turkey perhaps??), or put it atop of ice cream (this gal would recommend the oatmeal raisin homemade ice cream a la David Lebovitz).  

As of today's post, 4 people gave this an average rating of 5 out of 5.  I would give it a 5 as well.

Definitely going in the recipe book!

Recipe by Bruce Weinstein, Cooking Light, December 2009

Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1 slice cheesecake and about 2 tablespoons compote)

Ingredients

• Cheesecake:
• 1 3/4  cups  gingersnap crumbs (about 30 cookies, finely crushed)
• 2  tablespoons  butter, melted
• 1  tablespoon  fat-free milk
• Cooking spray
• 2  cups  (1 pound) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
• 1  cup  (8 ounces) fat-free cream cheese
• 1/2  cup  packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4  cup  granulated sugar
• 1.3  ounces  cake flour (about 1/3 cup)
• 2  large eggs
• 1/2  cup  reduced-fat sour cream
• 2  tablespoons  maple syrup
• 1  tablespoon  vanilla extract
• Compote:
• 2  cups  fresh cranberries (about 8 ounces)
• 1  cup  shredded peeled ripe pear (1 medium)
• 1/2  cup  packed dark brown sugar
• 3/4  cup  fresh orange juice (about 3 oranges)
• 1/4  teaspoon  ground cinnamon

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. To prepare cheesecake, combine gingersnap crumbs, butter, and milk in a medium bowl; stir with a fork. Firmly press mixture into bottom of a 9-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 3 minutes; cool on a wire rack. Reduce oven temperature to 325°.
3. Place cheeses in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until smooth. Add sugars, beating until well combined. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Add flour to cheese mixture; beat well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add sour cream, syrup, and vanilla; beat well. Pour cheese mixture into crust. Bake at 325° for 40 minutes or until cheesecake center barely moves when pan is touched. Turn oven off. Remove cheesecake; run a knife around outside edge. Return cheesecake to oven, and partially open oven door. Cool cheesecake 1 hour in oven. Remove from oven; cool completely on a wire rack. Cover and chill at least 8 hours.
4. To prepare compote, combine cranberries and remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until the cranberries pop, stirring frequently. Cool to room temperature, and serve over cheesecake.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 272

Fat:10.6g (sat 6.2g,mono 3.1g,poly 0.5g)

Protein: 7.4g

Carbohydrate:37.2g

Fiber: 1.4g

Cholesterol: 55mg

Iron: 1.5mg

Sodium: 320mg

Calcium: 92mg

Triple feature: ham, mac n' cheese and veggies

So we had a dinner party with some friends to celebrate the holiday season and as part of our dinner party circuit and made this triple feature.  Fire and spice ham, smoked gouda macaroni and cheese and braised zucchini and leeks. 

If you have two people, these were easy to make all at once.  The ham just needed basting while we prepared the mac n' cheese. The zucchini and leeks only needed 20 minutes to braise.

The ham had a sweet and spicy flavor to it.  It was great to have a switch up from the regular chicken or pork. 

The macaroni and cheese called for a surprising 5 cups of spinach!  Based on the reviews, we decided to cut back to 3 cups of spinach.  This was good, it was an easy way to get a little spinach in your diet while still enjoying the guilty pleasures.

The zucchini and leeks were so simple to make. I would highly recommend this side dish for any meal.  If you like zucchini then you'll probably like it as it is.  If you like zucchini but don't love it, I think this would be great with a little addition. Perhaps some red pepper flakes, or additional herbs like oregano and thyme. 

Fire and Spice Ham

Recipe by Cooking Light, 2002

Yield: 18 servings (serving size: about 3 ounces)

Ingredients

• 1  (5 1/2- to 6-pound) 33%-less-sodium smoked, fully cooked ham half
• Cooking spray
• 1/2  cup  red pepper jelly
• 1/2  cup  pineapple preserves
• 1/4  cup  packed brown sugar
• 1/4  teaspoon  ground cloves

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425°.
Trim fat and rind from ham half. Score outside of ham in a diamond pattern. Place ham on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Combine jelly and remaining ingredients, stirring with a whisk until well blended. Brush about one-third of jelly mixture over ham.
Bake at 425° for 5 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325° (do not remove ham from oven); bake an additional 45 minutes, basting ham with jelly mixture every 15 minutes. Transfer ham to a serving platter; let stand 15 minutes before slicing.

Nutritional Information

Calories:188 (23% from fat)

Fat: 4.9g (sat 1.6g,mono 2.3g,poly 0.5g)

Protein: 18.4g

Carbohydrate: 16.8g

Fiber 0.0g

Cholesterol: 47mg

Iron: 1.4mg

Sodium: 865mg

Calcium: 10mg

 

 

Smoked Gouda Macaroni and Cheese

Cooking Light, March 2003

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 1/4 cups)

Ingredients

• 1  (1-ounce) slice whole wheat bread
• 1  tablespoon  butter
• 1/4  cup  thinly sliced green onions
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 2  tablespoons  all-purpose flour
• 2  cups  fat-free milk
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
• 1/2  cup  (2 ounces) shredded smoked Gouda cheese
• 1/3  cup  (about 1 1/2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• 5  cups  coarsely chopped fresh spinach
• 4  cups  hot cooked elbow macaroni (about 2 cups uncooked)
• Cooking spray

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.
Place bread in a food processor, and pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs measure 1/2 cup.
Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and garlic; cook 1 minute. Add flour; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add milk, salt, and pepper, stirring constantly with a whisk until blended. Bring to a boil; cook until thick (about 2 minutes). Add cheeses; stir until melted.
Add spinach and macaroni to cheese sauce, stirring until well blended. Spoon mixture into a 2-quart baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until bubbly.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 399 (25% from fat)

Fat: 10.9g (sat 6.2g,mono 3g,poly 0.8g)

Protein: 20.1g

Carbohydrate: 54.9g

Fiber: 3.7g

Cholesterol: 33mg

Iron: 3.6mg

Sodium: 725mg

Calcium: 421mg

 

Braised Zucchini and Leeks

Recipe by Lorrie Hulston Corvin, Cooking Light September 2001

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 2/3 cup)

Ingredients

• 1  tablespoon  butter
• 2  cups  finely chopped leek (about 2 large)
• 6  cups  finely chopped zucchini (about 5 small)
• 1  teaspoon  salt
• 2  garlic cloves, minced

Preparation

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add leek; sauté for 2 minutes. Add zucchini, salt, and garlic. Cover; reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and cook over medium-high heat 10 minutes or until most of liquid evaporates. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Information

Calories:52 (26% from fat)

Fat: 1.5g (sat 0.9g,mono 0.4g,poly 0.1g)

Protein: 1.7g

Carbohydrate: 8.4g

Fiber: 2.9g

Cholesterol: 4mg

Iron: 0.9mg

Sodium: 313mg

Calcium: 40mg

Jack Quesadillas with Cranberry Salsa

After 3 days of turkey sandwiches and Thanksgiving dinner x3, it's time for something a little different.  This is such a great recipe for that leftover turkey, you just have to try it.  The flavors are completely different with jalapenos and cilantro and lime juice.  This recipe takes care of your turkey and cranberry sauce. 

So as you can tell from the picture, our cranberry salsa is a little less pink than it should be. This is because we devoured the cranberry sauce and didn't have as much as the recipe called for.  I think we may have had about 1/4 cup left and you need about 1 cup.  Anyway, if you have enough pear and lime juice to cut the spice, then it's all good. 

Otherwise we didn't make any changes to the recipe except to include the seeds from the jalapeno. 

As of today's post, 17 people gave this an average rating of 5 out of 5! GOOOOOOOOOOOOO Leftovers!

Recipe by Elizabeth Taliaferro, Cooking Light, November 2004

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 3 wedges, about 1/4 cup salsa, and 1 tablespoon sour cream)

Ingredients

• Salsa:
• 1  cup  whole-berry cranberry sauce
• 1/4  cup  chopped fresh cilantro
• 2  tablespoons  chopped green onions
• 1  tablespoon  fresh lime juice
• 1/2  teaspoon  ground cumin
• 1  Anjou pear, cored and finely diced
• 1  jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
• Quesadillas:
• Cooking spray
• 1/4  cup  (2-inch-thick) slices green onions
• 1  cup  (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeño peppers
• 8  (8-inch) flour tortillas
• 2  cups  chopped cooked turkey
• 1/2  cup  fat-free sour cream

Preparation

To prepare salsa, combine first 7 ingredients. Cover and chill.
To prepare quesadillas, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add 1/4 cup sliced onions to pan; sauté 3 minutes or until tender. Remove onions from pan; reduce heat to medium. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons cheese over each of 4 tortillas. Top each cheese-covered tortilla with one-fourth of onions, 1/2 cup turkey, 2 tablespoons cheese, and 1 tortilla.
Recoat pan with cooking spray. Add 1 quesadilla to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until lightly browned and cheese melts. Repeat with remaining quesadillas. Cut each quesadilla into 6 wedges. Serve with cranberry salsa and sour cream.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 356 (25% from fat)

Fat: 9.7g (sat 4.2g,mono 3.5g,poly 1.2g)

Protein: 19.4g

Carbohydrate:47.8g

Fiber:3g

Cholesterol:42mg

Iron: 2.7mg

Sodium: 372mg

Calcium: 218mg

Cranberry Sauce with Apple Cider

Ok, so the picture isn't great.  This is another one of those recipes that was so good we devoured it quickly.  I can show you a picture of the victim.

YUM!

This was our first time making thanksgiving. My family came up from Atlanta to show us the special way to cook the turkey and stuff it with the stuffing to get it just right.  We also made the butternut squash and blue cheese gratin for Thanksgiving (so good).  It was of course, a hit.  But this is about the cranberry sauce. 

We happen to love apple cider in this house. Every week we go through a gallon of apple cider (mostly Brian, but I enjoy it too).  We get apple cider from August-ish through late Spring.  When our farm store closes for the season, we defer to Wegman's cider, which is not as good as the farm kind but the best grocery store brand.  So once I saw this recipe for cranberry sauce using apple cider, I knew it would be a winner for us.  This was my first time making cranberry sauce and it was super easy!  We made it the day before so that it could sit overnight. 

To this recipe, I added a bit of orange zest and orange juice and used only 3/4 C of sugar. It took a bit longer than 10 minutes, so just make sure that the cranberries are all mushy. 

Fifteen people gave this an average rating of 5 out of 5.  Since Thanksgiving has passed, if you've already eaten up all those leftovers, then just plan to make this next year. :)

Recipe by Cooking Light, November 2002

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1/4 cup)

Ingredients

• 1  cup  sugar
• 1  cup  apple cider or apple juice
• 1  (12-ounce) package fresh cranberries

Preparation

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat; simmer 10 minutes or until cranberries pop, stirring occasionally. Chill.

Nutritional Information

Calories:135 (0.0% from fat)

Fat: 0.0g (sat 0.0g,mono 0.0g,poly 0.0g)

Protein: 0.3g

Carbohydrate: 35g

Fiber: 1.8g

Cholesterol: 0.0mg

Iron: 0.1mg

Sodium: 1mg

Calcium: 3mg

Spicy Autumn Crisp

I was looking through myrecipes at their 5 star recipe section and found this recipe during the month of October.  The ingredients sounded interesting--pear, granny smith apples, pitted dates and molasses.

Let me tell you this is GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD. I would make it every week if I had a rabbit metabolism. It is just that good.

I didn't make any changes to this recipe, oh wait I did. I used allspice instead of ground cloves because I didn't have any ground cloves.

Only 5 people gave this an average rating of 5 out of 5 but if you try it, trust me, you'll like it.

The only issue is that I had to buy a whole box of gingersnaps to make this. However, to remedy this, we're having friends over for dinner this week and I'm making brown sugar cheesecake with cranberry compote.

YUUUUM, I wish I had more right now.

Recipe by Cooking Light, October 2000

Yield: 9 servings

Ingredients

• Topping:
• 9  gingersnap cookies (such as Nabisco)
• 1/4  cup  granulated sugar
• 1/4  cup  packed light brown sugar
• 2  tablespoons  all-purpose flour
• 1/4  cup  chilled butter or stick margarine, cut into small pieces
• Filling:
• 3 1/2  cups  chopped peeled Granny Smith apple (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 3 1/2  cups  coarsely chopped peeled Bartlett pear (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 1/2  cup  chopped pitted dates or golden raisins
• 1/4  cup  molasses
• 3/4  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
• 1/2  teaspoon  ground ginger
• 1/8  teaspoon  ground nutmeg
• 1/8  teaspoon  ground cloves

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°.
To prepare topping, place cookies in a food processor; pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs form to measure 1/2 cup. Combine cookie crumbs, sugars, and flour in a medium bowl; cut in the butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture is crumbly.
To prepare filling, combine apple and remaining ingredients in a large bowl; toss well. Spoon apple mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish or a 1 1/2-quart casserole. Sprinkle with topping. Bake at 375° for 45 minutes or until bubbly.

Nutritional Information

Calories:246 (25% from fat)

Fat: 6.9g (sat 3.6g,mono 2.1g,poly 0.6g)

Protein: 1.3g

Carbohydrate:47.9g

Fiber: 2.7g

Cholesterol: 17mg

Iron: 1.4mg

Sodium: 69mg

Calcium: 54mg

Bacon, ranch and chicken mac n' cheese

yummy comfort food? Yes please!  Ever since I saw this recipe I knew that the hubs was going to make it. In fact, I told him about it and he was like 'we're making it next week'. Unfortunately, given the wedding and all we didn't end up making it until two weeks ago.

If you have your hopes up for a traditional macaroni and cheese, you will be disappointed.  This one is creamy in the middle due to the can of cream of mushroom and a bit crispy on the top from the additional cheese.  It came together so quickly, I can't even tell you.

I think the only change we made was to use dried dill instead of fresh (they were all out at Wegmans; it happens sometimes when you go at night during the week). 

Clearly we're not the only ones who liked it. As of today's post, 27 people gave it an average rating of 4 out of 5.  I also felt like this portion size was adequate.

Recipe by SaBrina Bone, Cooking Light, March 2010

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 2 cups)

Ingredients

• 8  ounces  uncooked elbow macaroni
• 1  slice applewood-smoked bacon
• 8  ounces  skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1  tablespoon  butter
• 1  tablespoon  all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2  cups  fat-free milk
• 1/3  cup  condensed 45% reduced-sodium 98% fat-free cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
• 3/4  cup  (3 ounces) shredded six-cheese Italian blend (such as Sargento)
• 1/2  teaspoon  onion powder
• 1/2  teaspoon  garlic powder
• 1/2  teaspoon  chopped fresh dill
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• Cooking spray
• 1/2  cup  (2 ounces) shredded colby-Jack cheese

Preparation

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain.
2. Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving drippings in pan. Finely chop bacon; set aside. Increase heat to medium-high. Add chicken to drippings in pan; sauté 6 minutes or until done.
3. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat; sprinkle flour evenly into pan. Cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk. Combine milk and soup, stirring with a whisk; gradually add milk mixture to saucepan, stirring with a whisk. Bring to a boil; cook 2 minutes or until thick. Remove from heat; let stand 4 minutes or until sauce cools to 155°. Add Italian cheese blend, onion powder, garlic powder, dill, and salt, stirring until cheese melts. Stir in pasta and chicken.
4. Preheat broiler.
5. Spoon mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with reserved bacon and colby-Jack cheese. Broil 3 minutes or until cheese melts.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 497

Fat: 17g (sat 9.2g,mono 4.7g,poly 1.4g)

Protein: 33.3g

Carbohydrate:51.7g

Fiber: 2g

Cholesterol:74mg

Iron: 2.4mg

Sodium:767mg

Calcium:368mg

Pumpkin-Cinnamon Streusel Buns

What the?????? Where are the pumpkin cinnamon buns?!?!?!?! Unfortunately, they went so fast that I didn't have an opportunity to take a picture of them. So you get a nice picture of my Christmas kitties instead (an elf and a very disgruntled Mrs. Claus).

I can tell you that they were gooey and delicious.  The pumpkin gave them a bit of a yellow-y color but it wasn't off putting.  To be honest, I didn't taste a lot of pumpkin, but let's face it, any kind of cinnamon bun coated in glaze is going to be delicious.  Next time (and there will be a next time), I will probably throw a little pumpkin pie spice into the dough to make it more pumpkin-y.  This was my first time making cinnamon buns and I must say it was pretty easy. You have to make sure to roll the dough tightly; if you don't then then when you slice it into rolls the middle will spill out.

As the recipe suggests, I used canned pumpkin and added the extra cup of flour. Instead of mixing by hand and kneading, I let the dough hook on my kitchen aid mixer do this all for me. :)

OH! I also made these the night before and baked them in the morning (well, I should say the hubs baked and glazed them while I was at the gym).  They turned out fine. I gave them about 30 minutes to sit on the counter top to warm to room temperature.

As of today's post, 17 people gave it an average rating of 5 out of 5!

Recipe by Cooking Light, October 2001

To make these year-round, substitute canned pumpkin puree and add an extra cup of all-purpose flour.

Yield: 12 servings (serving size: 1 bun)

Ingredients

• Buns:
• 1  package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
• 1/4  cup  warm water (100° to 110°)
• 2 3/4  cups  all-purpose flour, divided
• 1/2  cup  Pumpkin Puree
• 1/2  cup  1% low-fat milk
• 1/4  cup  butter, melted
• 1  tablespoon  granulated sugar
• 1 1/4  teaspoons  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  ground nutmeg
• Cooking spray
• 3  tablespoons  granulated sugar
• 3  tablespoons  brown sugar
• 2  tablespoons  all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  ground cinnamon
• 2  tablespoons  chilled butter, cut into small pieces
• Glaze:
• 3/4  cup  sifted powdered sugar
• 1  tablespoon  hot water
• 1/4  teaspoon  vanilla extract

Preparation

To prepare the buns, dissolve yeast in warm water in a large bowl; let stand for 5 minutes. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Add 2 cups flour, pumpkin, and next 5 ingredients (pumpkin through nutmeg); beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes); add enough of the remaining 3/4 cup flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel tacky).
Place the dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, for 45 minutes or until doubled in size. (Press two fingers into the dough. If an indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.)
Combine 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal.
Punch dough down; cover and let rest for 5 minutes. Roll the dough into a 12 x 10-inch rectangle on a floured surface. Sprinkle with brown sugar mixture. Roll up the rectangle tightly, starting with a long edge, pressing firmly to eliminate air pockets; pinch seam and ends to seal. Cut roll into 12 (1-inch) slices. Place slices in a 9-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise 25 minutes or until doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 375°.
Bake the rolls at 375° for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 15 minutes in pan on a wire rack.
To prepare the glaze, combine the powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon water, and vanilla extract in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Drizzle glaze over buns. Serve warm.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 219 (25% from fat)

Fat: 6.2g (sat 3.7g,mono 1.8g,poly 0.3g)

Protein: 3.8g

Carbohydrate: 36.9g

Fiber: 1.2g

Cholesterol: 16mg

Iron: 1.6mg

Sodium: 311mg

Calcium: 24mg