Just a Mom, HA!

Bringing Healthy Back: Navajo Taco

Mmm, navajo tacos are so good.  Warm, buttery fry bread, covered in slimey chili and salad.  When they made these for lunch at my old job I got giddy, I frolicked, I didn’t think about how bad they are.

But, I’ve been thinking about that lately, and have come up with a solution.

Start with a low-cal healthy pita bread such as:

The best part about them:This isn’t a fancy health-food store item, I got it as Super Wal Mart right next to the unhealthy pitas, and the even more unhealthy tortillas.

Warm the pita bread in your microwave for 30 seconds, it becomes warm, soft, and pliable.  Top the pita with vegetarian chili, and every other awesome  taco salad food that you like.  Sticking with the healthy theme of the evening, I left the cheese off and used only fat-free sour cream.

Healthier Navajo Taco

5 pita breads
2 c. vegetarian chili (I used a red bean and lentil that they’re selling in bulk packages at Costco now – Amazing!)
lettuce (I also mixed some fresh cilantro into my lettuce)
black beans, drained rinsed
corn, drained
tomato
cucumber
guacamole
fat free sour cream
a few tortilla chips for crunch, if desired.

*Leave off the sour cream for the lactose-free version.

Happy Cooking!

Challah Bread (Jewish Braided Loaf)

Challah is a traditional Jewish bread that is famous for its braided texture.  Though the shape is truly unique, the texture and flavor is close to a homemade French bread – white and springing with a browned crust.  I felt up for a challenge, so when I found this recipe from Betty Crocker, I thought I’d give it a whirl.

Only there was one problem – this recipe is a Bread Machine recipe.

Bread Machines are not always found in an Average Pantry, so I took Betty’s recipe and messed with the instructions, until I was able to turn my oven into a bread machine.  Hope you enjoy!

*And in case you’re curious, Challah is pronounced like HA-Lah.  Just drop that ‘C’ to call your bread by it’s true and authentic name.

Challah Bread

• 3/4 c. + 1 Tbs warm water
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbs butter or margarine, softened
• 3 1/4 c. flour
• 2 Tbs sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp yeast (I used bread machine yeast, but any would be fine)
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 Tbs cold water
• poppy seeds, optional

Dissolve yeast in warm water for about 10 minutes or until water becomes milky.  Preheat oven to 200 degrees, once it reaches that temp turn the oven off while you finish combining the bread ingredients.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, sugar, salt, and egg.  Stir until well mixed, then add the yeast water.  Next add the flour, cup by cup, stirring between each addition.  Knead dough until it has a smooth consistency.  Remove dough from bowl, spray bowl with cooking spray, return dough to the bowl, cover with a towel and put the whole thing into the warmed oven.  Allow to rise for about 1 hour or until doubled.

Spray a large cookie sheet, or line it with parchment paper.  Remove the dough from the oven, sperate it into 3 equal pieces and roll them into long ropes (about 13 inches).  Place the ropes side-by-side, then gently and loosely braid them, pinching the ends and tucking them under to seal the loaf.  Place loaf on the prepared cookie sheet.

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  While the oven heats, combine the egg yolk and the water in a small bowl.  Beat together until well combined. Brush or spoon the egg mixture onto the loaf, covering it entirely (I didn’t need to use all of my egg wash).  Sprinkle with poppy seeds if using them.  Bake loaf for about 20 minutes, or until well browned and cooked through.

Happy Cooking!

Chocolate Banana Biscotti

Last weekend I posted a link about cutting eggs out of baking.  Since I’d never really thought about taking out eggs I decided to give two of the suggestions a try in one recipe – Chocolate Banana Biscotti.  These turned out 100 times better than I ever imagined!  First out of the oven they have crip outsides, a warm and chewy inside, and a flavor that is sweet, but not too sweet.  I could have eaten them all day, but I stopped myself after two. : )

The best part is the calorie count – I sliced my logs to make 19 cookies, and with a little math I discovered that puts the average sized ones at 93.42 calories.  And with the fat corners I cut, the only fat involved is what comes in the original batter, and what’s in the chocolate chips.  Not a bad treat!

Chocolate Banana Biscotti

• 1 package banana bread mix (I used Pilsbury)
• 3 Tbs water
• ½ banana, mashed
• 4 oz plain, fat free yogurt
• 2 Tbs natural applesauce
• 2 servings of semi-sweet chocolate chips (I actually counted them so that I could do the calorie math and I used 64)

Combine all wet ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir until combined.  Add wet ingredients to banana bread mix and stir until mixed.  Chop half of the chocolate chip pieces until slivered, then add them and the rest of the chocolate chips to the batter.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with foil or parchment paper.  Since I took all of the oil out of the recipe, I sprayed the foil with cooking spray until well coated for ease of removing logs.  Divide dough in half and form two rectangular logs (about 4.5 inches x 8 inches) – dough will be sticky, but touchable (use wet hands if needed).

Bake logs for 30 minutes, remove from oven and cookie sheet, and allow to cool on wire racks.  Once the logs are cooled cut them into ½  inch strips.  Put strips back on the cookie sheet, cut side down, and bake for another 10 minutes.  Flip strips to other side and bake another 10 minutes.

Kim’s note:  Mine were crisp on the outside with a chewy center using the method described above, but have softened even more as I’ve stored them.  If you want them to be truly crispy throughout like a coffee house biscotti, I’d suggest baking the strips longer, but still doing the 10-minute flip so that the edges don’t have the chance to burn.

Happy Cooking!

Gnocchi (Italian Potato Dumplings)

Gnocchi isn’t a meal that I order – I’m more a pasta girl, but I have seen Jay eat it from time to time and he’s always pleased.  When I saw this recipe I decided to make it to impress my man, but it impressed me too.  This was fun to make and the freshness of homemade gnocchi pleased my palate just as much as my men (even Cee partook).

What’s great about gnocchi is its versatility.  I just went with a simple marinara meat sauce, but these could be made with pesto, alfredo, with primavera veggies, or in soups.  This recipe will be a repeat in our house for sure.

Gnocchi (adapted from AllRecipes.com)

• 1 cup dry potato flakes
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 Tbs shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Homemade Soft Pretzels

Confession time:  When I was pregnant with Cee all I wanted to eat were soft Pretzel Bites from the mall.  I drove by a mall on my commute and had to force myself with all my pregnant-lady rationality (which wasn’t much) not to go there everyday and blow my paycheck.

So, when I saw this recipe over at My Kitchen Cafe (a favorite food blog that I stalk), I got so excited.  Just think of all the money I’ll save if those same cravings come back in my next pregnancy? Woo!

Now, as a connoisseur of soft pretzels, let me say just a couple of things.  First, these pretzels were not like Pretzel Time in the mall – more like soft pretzels at sporting events, which made them a little too pretzely for my liking.  I think that I will lessen the amount of baking soda in the wash next time to see if I can soften them up a touch.

Second – since these pretzels cook very hot (500 degrees!) this recipe has a HIGH SMOKE WARNING! The pretzels were perfect, but the cooking spray that I greased the pan with set my fire alarm off when I opened the oven for the first batch.  I’d suggest making these on parchment paper to save yourself the smokey headache.

Homemade Soft Pretzels

Dough:
2 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons instant or regular yeast
7/8 c. warm water (can use up to a cup in needed)

Topping:
1/2 cup warm water
2 tablespoons baking soda
salt, you can just use plain table salt, or get some coarser salt for a fun look
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Place all of the dough ingredients into a bowl and beat until well combined. Knead the dough, by hand or machine, for about 5 minutes, until it is soft, smooth, and quite slack. Lightly flour the dough and cover it.  Let dough rest for 30 minutes or longer if not using instant yeast (dough should almost double).

Preheat your oven to 500°F. Prepare two baking sheets by spraying them with vegetable oil spray, or lining them with parchment paper (I’d say paper over spray – note my high smoke warning).

Divide dough into eight equal pieces. Allow the pieces to rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes. While the dough is resting, combine the 1/2 cup warm water and the baking soda, and place it in a shallow bowl or pie plate. Make sure the baking soda is thoroughly dissolved; if it isn’t, it will make your pretzels splotchy.

Roll each piece of dough into a long, thin rope (about 28 to 30 inches long), and twist each rope into a pretzel. Dip each pretzel in the baking soda wash (this will give the pretzels a nice, golden-brown color), and place them on the baking sheets. Sprinkle them lightly with salt. Allow them to rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Bake the pretzels for 7 to 8 minutes, or until they’re golden brown. I only baked one baking sheet at a time and let the other rest while the first is in the oven.

Remove the pretzels from the oven, and brush them with the melted butter. Eat the pretzels warm, or reheat them in an oven or microwave.

Happy Cooking!

Last Minute Garlic Breadsticks

I made these to go with my crock pot lasagna and they were awesome!  We used whole wheat english muffins, but any flavor should work fine (well, except for cinnamon raisin). : )

Last Minute Garlic Breadsticks

• 3 english muffin halves (so 1 and 1/2 muffins total)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 Tbs olive oil
• ¼ tsp Italian spices

Cut the English muffin halves into 3 parts making 9 total breadsticks.  Combine all other ingredients and mix together.  Use the ¼ tsp measuring spoon to ladle the flavored oil on to the bread and smear around.  I had the perfect amount for all of the breadsticks, and it keeps the calories down by not over oiling some of the pieces.

Place muffins on an ungreased cookie sheet, set oven to broil at a very hot temp.  Put the sheet of muffins in the oven for about 4 minutes or until toasted.

Happy Cooking!

Naan (and its many uses)

Jay and I love Indian food.  LOVE IT!  Naan, Indian flat bread, is one dish that we really enjoy, so when I saw what a simple recipe it is I had to give it a go. 

Even though the consistency wasn’t identical to what we’ve had in restaurants, we both loved it and are already planning to make it again (I especially loved that I could make it without oil or butter).

I made Naan to go with Black Bean Chili (that recipe to come soon):

Then for dessert we sprinkled it with cinnamon-sugar and honey, which was outstanding.

Then my friend told me that she makes naan and uses the dough to make little personal pizzas.  I’m crazy about the idea and will be trying it next week!

It would also make a killer base for navajo tacos.

Basically with this recipe I’m giving you a gift with endless possibilities.

No, no need to thank me, I do it cuz I love ya.

Naan
Adapted from Allrecipes.com

• 2 1/4 tsp. (1 package) fast acting active dry yeast (regular would be okay, just watch it while it rises)
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3 TB milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 cups bread flour, (plus more for kneading if needed – ha!)

Turn oven on to 200 degrees.  When it clicks, turn the oven off immediately, then proceed with the recipe.

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Meanwhile, add sugar, milk, egg, and salt, to a large mixing bowl.  Add frothy yeast-water to bowl.  Add flour, 1 cup at a time, stirring between each addition.

Knead the dough with your hands in the bowl until smooth. The dough should grip your fingers, but not stick.  Remove dough from bowl, spray bowl well with cooking spray, form dough into a soft ball, then place back in the bowl. Cover bowl with a damp cloth, and place in the warmed oven.  Let dough rise 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in volume.

Push down dough. Pinch off small handfuls of dough, roll into balls, and place on a tray (tray should be sprayed or have a non-stick surface added to it (I used wax paper, but it still stuck just a little). Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled; about 30 minutes.

After the 2nd rising, preheat pancake griddle to high heat (400+ degrees).  No griddle?  Just us a non-stick frying pan on your stove top.

Roll balls out into a thin circle – the thinner the better. Place dough on grill and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until puffy and light brown, then flip the naan and cook until the opposite side is browned, another 2-4 minutes.

Finish these steps for all of the dough.  Serve the naan warm and plain, with butter, with garlic sauce, with curry, with cinnamon sugar and honey, with marinara dipping sauce, whatever you love. : )

Happy Cooking!

Naan Revisited – “Healthy” Pizza & Cinnamon Rolls

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post for naan, Indian flat bread.  I fell in LOVE with this recipe and was inspired by a friend’s comment to try it in new ways.

#1 Pizza:

Naan pizza was fantastic and is a great way to “healthify” a favorite comfort food of mine.  Naan is oil free, I used turkey pepperoni, and went light on the cheese, giving me ALL of the glorious taste without grease puddles to mop up.  Heaven!

To try this: Make naan as directed, but break it up only into 3 sections.  Roll them out, place on a sprayed cookie sheet for the second rising.  After the second rising, top dough with your favorite pizza ingredients, and bake at 350 degrees for 11 minutes (or as long as it takes to cook through and lightly brown the edges).

#2 Cinnamon Rolls.  Again, heaven (and easier than I thought)!

To try this: Make naan as directed, but break it only into three pieces. Roll pieces out into as even a rectangle as possible.  Cover dough with melted butter, then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.  Roll the dough until you have formed a long ‘log’ and pinch the edges to seal it up.  It’s okay if some of the cinnamon slime squeezes out, I spooned the extra over the tops when they were all placed.

Slide a thread (or dental floss could work) just under one end of the log until you reach about an inch and a half, then cross the thread over the log and pull ends until you make a slice through the dough.  Remove the now cut roll and place cut side down in a lightly sprayed cake pan.  Repeat this for the entire log.  Allow rolls to rise the second time.  Bake rolls at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until tops are lightly browned like in the picture.  Top with a simple glaze and serve warm.

Simple glazes can be made with powdered sugar, a little melted butter, a little vanilla and a little milk. Happy Cooking!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Bread

I’ve mentioned now a few times that I’m no baker.  7 out of 10 things that I bake seriously fail.  But today I’m proud… I’m oh so proud that I baked something that I made up and it was a success!

The flavor combo of banana, Peanut Butter, and chocolate has got to be one of my favorites of all time.  So I looked over some banana bread recipes that I know, made some adjustments, broke the batter down and made chocolate-peanut butter-banana STRATA!

Can you see the three strata?  Chocolate, PB, and then plain banana on top.  Delish!

This bread is fab, but I’ll also let it slip that I have more in store for this bread, but that is to come on another post. : )

The banana and peanut butter flavors are the strongest by far, so I may try adding chocolate chips next time to bring in more chocolate.*

Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Bread

• 2 c. flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 ripe bananas (mashed)
• 2 Tbs natural applesauce (you could use oil or softened butter here, but applesauce worked fine)
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1/4 c. peanut butter
• 1 Tbs cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, prepare pan with cooking spray and a light dusting of flour (I used an 8×8 square glass dish, but you could use a loaf pan).  In a bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Stir until evenly combined.  In another bowl stir together the sugars, eggs, applesauce, vanilla, milk, and mashed bananas.  Add half of the powder mixture to the wet ingredients, stir to combine, then add the remaining powder and continue to stir until evenly combined.

Distribute the batter evenly into 3 bowls.  To one bowl add the peanut butter and stir until combined.  To another bowl add the cocoa powder and stir until combined.*  Now layer the batter starting with the chocolate into the prepared baking dish.  Turn or shake the dish until the batter lays evenly.  Next add the PB batter – this will be thicker than the last, so you will need to help it disperse.  Next add the plain banana batter and again shake dish until the batter lays evenly.

Bake at 350 for 50 minutes or until bread passes the toothpick test.

*In the future, I will try adding 1/4 c. of semi-sweet chocolate chips to both the PB and banana batters to help boost the chocolate flavor.

Happy Cooking!

Peanut Butter Feather Pancakes and Fruit Parfait

I’ve got to hand it to my sidebar ads, sometimes they’ve got some great suggestions.  As the site owner, I’m not allowed to click on my own ads and I stand by that since it would be a horribly dishonest thing to do, but sometimes a few of them grab my interest and I type in the URL myself so that I can see what all of the fuss is about.

These pancakes caught my interest over on the Jiff website.  Jay loves PB, and since breakfast is HIS specialty in our house and not mine, I thought I’d suggest these to him.

We measured, we flipped, we ate.

While Jay did like these served up the traditional way with maple syrup, I preferred going with fruit toppings – bananas, jams, jellies, fruit syrup, honey that kind of thing.  Thanks for the adventure Jiff!

Peanut Butter Feather Pancakes
•    1 cup  All Purpose Flour
•    2 tablespoons sugar
•    1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
•    1 large egg
•    1/3 cup Peanut Butter
•    1 cup milk
•    2 tablespoons  Canola Oil (I used applesauce instead)

STIR together flour, sugar and baking powder in large bowl. BEAT egg with peanut butter in small bowl until blended. Stir in milk and oil. Add all at once to the dry ingredients, beating until blended. HEAT skillet over medium-high heat or griddle to 375ºF. Spray with no-stick cooking spray. Pour 2 tablespoons batter for each pancake onto skillet. Cook until bubbles break the surface. Turn and brown the other side. SERVE with syrup, fresh fruit or powdered sugar. Yield: 16 (3-inch) pancakes.

Pictured with the pancakes is a simple fruit parfait which makes a great breakfast side or snack, and is a healthier alternative to bacon, eggs, ham, etc.

Easy Fruit Parfait

• 2-3 c. fresh fruit, cut into bite sizes (in the picture I used 1 apple, 2 bananas, and 2 kiwis)
• 1 container of low-cal yogurt (berry flavors work best, or you could try a lemon)
• Something for a bit of crunch – cereal pieces, granola (I used a Nature Valley granola bar that I crunched up).

Mix all ingredients together, refrigerate until time to serve.