Peanut Butter Frozen Yogurt

1/2 cup chunky peanut butter

1 cup lowfat plain yogurt

1 cup plain milk kefir (or just use more yogurt)

1 cup lowfat 1% milk

1/3 cup agave nectar

I am experimenting with sweeteners.

This turned out pretty well. It was very tart (due to the kefir). It would have been great with swirls of chocolate sauce, or with choc chips or something.

Stir-Fried Beef, Broccoli, and Yams

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Stir-Fried-Beef-Broccoli-and-Yams-352549

This was good. I only used 1/2 tsp brown sugar and swapped oyster sauce for fish sauce. DH liked it a lot. But he'll give high ratings to anything with beef in it, I swear.

Vanilla Soymilk Ice Cream

2 cups soymilk (unsweetened whole fat)

1 cup heavy cream

2/3 cup brown sugar (not packed)

2 tsp vanilla

Mix and put in ice cream maker.

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I got an ice cream maker for my birthday. I wanted to make ice cream soon afterward but had run out of milk and white sugar. Hence was born the above creation. It turned out pretty well, considering. The texture after being frozen was not very creamy. It upset my stomach too (but most ice cream does). I am going to experiment with using different sweetners.

Chicken Curry

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Kai-Kang-Dang-Chicken-Curry-with-Coconut-Milk/Detail.aspx

This was really good. Of course, it is fattening so it had better be. I made some brown basmati rice to go with it.

I used one can coconut milk in this recipe. I don't think it was 2.5 cups (maybe 14 or 15 oz though), but it was plenty. The bamboo shoots added a nice crunch. I found a can of them at the store but could not find Thai basil. I used regular basil instead and it tasted great. I left out the sugar since DH doesn't like sugar in his food. Instead of frozen veges, I used a head of broccoli. I thinly sliced the broccoli stem and added it to the sauté pan a few minutes after the broccoli florets so that the stem pieces would be a touch crunchy.

Irish Soda Bread

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/irish_soda_bread/

I've made this at least 3 times and it is fantastic. It makes a lot of bread though, so unless you have a large family then halve the recipe.

Cranberry Scones

http://www.gelskitchen.com/blog/recipe-archive/breakfast-cranberry-scones/

These were not as good as I'd hoped, but still ok. Definitely serve with jam to add sweetness. The dough was difficult to work with and I wasn't able to separate the wedges easily so the edges baked together. I much prefer Irish Soda bread.

Red Bean Chili

http://lululuathome.com/2010/06/red-bean-chili.html

This chili was good. It had a lot of flavor, but I think there is still room for improvement. Serving it with the red onion garnish was a good idea. It added some nice crunch. I didn't let is simmer for 2 hours (was like 1.25 hrs) and I didn't have carrots or corn, so I left those out. You could probably sub beef broth for the beer if you prefer. I've kept a bottle of dark lager beer in the cupboard for a while since I see it every now and then in recipes. Like this one.

Tarragon Egg Salad

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/tarragon_egg_salad/

This recipe turned out great! I love tarragon. So should you.

DH ate it on toast and I ate it on salad. No dressing necessary! It was a great combination.

Note: The leftovers are not that great. This recipe serves like 6 people, so adjust accordingly so it all gets eaten up right away.

Mexican Quesadillas

I did not make this recipe, but rather watched a friend from Mexico make it last night.

3 lb masa dough (lime treated corn meal mixed with water)

1 cup white flour

water

Knead ingredients together until you get a soft pliable dough.

Use a cast iron tortilla press (which is lined with plastic from a cut apart zip lock bag) to press dough into rounds. Then put a small amount of filling into the center of the pressed dough (but to the side of the place where you will fold) and fold the dough over (which is still sticking to the zip lock bag). Through the plastic, seal the edges of the dough together. Then peel off the plastic and drop quesadilla into boiling hot oil. Deep fry until medium brown and crispy on both sides.

"Picadillo" Filling:

ground beef

chopped carrot

peas

white onion, chopped,

tomatoes, chopped

She sauteed the vegetables with raw ground beef for at least 30 minutes until everything was cooked.

Chicken Filling:

Shred the chicken from four chicken breasts. She boiled the chicken breasts (still on the bone) in water that was salted and had a large clove of garlic in the water as well as half an onion. After it is cooked, remove from water and let cool enough to touch. Shred the chicken. Mix chicken with chopped white onion and chopped tomato. Sauté mixture until onions are cooked.

While putting filling in the quesadillas, she would use either filling. Sometimes when she used the chicken filling she would also add some mozzarella cheese.

The amount of dough made about 16 quesadillas. (They looked like empanadas.)

To eat, cut open the quesadillas and put sour cream, grated fresh cheese (queso fresco), avocado, and salsa.

Chicken Marsala

https://web.archive.org/web/20140110054056/http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/chicken-marsala-recipe/index.html

This was really good with a touch of sweetness to it. I attempted to double the recipe (for leftovers) but the sauce didn't thicken very well. This might have also been because I used almond meal instead of regular flour to "dredge" the chicken in. I don't think the almond meal works nearly as well as a thickening agent as flour. Next time I make this I will just make one recipe and actually follow the directions this time. Instead of making the "essence" I just put a few pinches of spices into the flour mixture.

10/26/2010 update:

I made this again tonight and followed the recipe. It turned out really delicious. I had some flour left over after "dredging" and put some of it in the liquid to help thicken, but it probably wasn't necessary. Marsala has a really unique flavor. David and I both really like it. We ate it over brown rice with asparagus.

Stir-Fried Beef with garlic, eggplant, scallions, and cashews

I took a recipe from Cook's Illustrated July/Aug 2010 issue and altered it slightly. The original is here: http://www.angelfire.com/games4/pyramidclub/EggplantGarlicShrimp.txt (basically swap shrimp for beef and add 2 T oyster sauce). DH doesn't like shrimp so I used beef. Also, I decreased the sugar from 2 T to 1 tsp. We both really loved it. It stands well on its own without rice. The eggplant adds a lot to the dish.

Serves 4
Serve this stir-fry with steamed white rice.

6 medium garlic cloves, peeled
1 pound skirt or flank steak, cut in strips against grain
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons dry sherry or Xiaoshing wine
1 teapoon sugar
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons cornstarch
6 large scallions, greens cut into 1-inch pieces and whites sliced thin
1/2 cup unsalted cashews
1 medium eggplant (about 3/4 pound), peeled and cut into 3/4-inch dice

1. Mince 1 garlic clove and combine with beef, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, and salt in medium bowl. Let beef marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, whisk soy sauce, sherry, sugar, sesame oil, vinegar, red pepper flakes, and cornstarch in small bowl. Thinly slice remaining 5 garlic cloves and combine with scallion whites and cashews in small bowl.

3. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add eggplant cook, stirring frequently, lightly browned, 3 to 6 minutes. Add scallion greens and continue to cook until scallion greens begin to brown and eggplant is fully tender, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Transfer vegetables to medium bowl.

4. Add remaining tablespoon oil to now-empty skillet and heat until just smoking.
Add sliced garlic mixture and cook, stirring frequently, until just beginning to brown, about 30 seconds. Reduce heat to medium-low, add beef, and cook, stirring frequently, until beef is no longer pink on outside, 2 or 3 minutes. Whisk sauce to recombine, add to skillet; return to high heat and cook, stirring constantly, until sauce is thickened and beef is cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes. Return vegetables to skillet, toss to combine, and serve.

Thin-Crust Pizza Dough

1/4 cup hot water

1 package yeast (1 scant tablespoon)

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup + 2 T whole almond meal

1/4 cup wheat bran (unprocessed if possible)

1 T oil

1-2 T water (to get consistency right)

Preheat oven to 425 F. Use large heavy-gauge pizza pan of cookie sheet.

Combine hot water (not too hot to touch) with yeast and let proof for a few minutes.

Combine the rest of the ingredients (except for the 1-2 T water) in a bowl using a rubber spatula. Add the yeast mixture. Add 1-2 T water if there are some dry bits.

Roll out the dough. It won't fill up the whole cookie sheet, but maybe a 12x15 inch area. It works best to put the dough directly onto the pan and then cover with greased wax paper or silicon and roll out that way, then peel off the paper (carefully). Pre-bake crust for 8 minutes (until edges begin to darken. Then put on toppings and bake another 10. The pizza did not stick at all.

It turned out as thin as a cracker, but was really good. DH loves thin crust and this was the thinnest ever and crunchy around the edges.

This recipe has almond meal in it because I am trying to increase the amount of protein I eat each day and decrease the amount of carbohydrates. My diet previously has been mainly carbohydrates and I would like to tip that balance somewhat. So you'll begin to see a few recipes on here that have the tag "l-c," which stands for low-carbohydrate. This recipe is a modified version of the thin crust pizza recipe in "The Low-Carb Comfort Food Cookbook."