Apple Pie Filling

I know that everyone probably knows the reason this blog doesn't get updated very often is because I've thrown healthy cooking to the wind. I am all about comfort foods (which aren't ALL bad) holiday treats, and well, more comfort food. As soon as I have this baby I will be all gung-ho about weight-watching again, when there will be recipes-a-plenty to share. . . but until then -- just to keep things interesting -- I will try to post my new efforts. My goals in eating nowadays are just to try my darndest NOT to overeat. OH how uncomfortable that makes me. and it's hard not to. I need to eat 6 small snacks a day instead of trying to get in square meals etc. I'm not ever even that hungry when I start eating, it's after I start that I think -- "oh this tastes so good" and can't stop after 4 bites, when i SHOULD.

so, NEW EFFORT #1: Apple Pie Filling -- ahh the ease that will be in 5 months when I'll need to throw together a quick crisp for unexpected company.

Delish!

I have never had something so yummy -- as good as (but very different than) pear jelly bellies. The chunks of pear have a bite to them -- so you think they're fresh and not mushy canned pears. I don't know what else to say -- I got them on sale for .33 and stocked up (all pear flavor) and they are almost gone. I don't know what will happen after that. . .

Pork Potstickers

These are a favorite of ours to make -- thanks to Ryan who served his mission in Japan. He calls them Gyoza. Since they are steamed dumplings, doesn't that make them healthier than say, an egg roll? I'll stop trying to justify. I'm pregnant and they're good.

Ingredients:

4 med dried shitake mushrooms (I use any mushroom I have)

1 lb lean ground pork

1/3 c finely chopped cabbage (I like Napa)

1/4 c green onions, chopped

1 T wine (or vinegar)

1 T water

1 t cornstarch

1 t salt

dash white pepper

1 t sesame oil

(we've also been playing around with adding garlic, no cabbage, but more onions, silken tofu, and hoisen sauce -- we're still perfecting to our taste but this is still a good combo) moral: don't be afraid to add and subtract whatever you want, sometimes I feel like putting shredded carrots in!

Mix and put a small spoonful in gyoza wrappers (we like the round ones but you can use the square ones too) Line egde of wrap with water, squish out the extra air and fold edges so they are pretty.

Traditionally: here's where you heat 2 T oil in wok, place dumplings in single layer (will probably have to do in batches) Fry 2 min. 'til bottoms are golden. Add 1/2 c. water and cover. Cook another 6-7 min 'til absorbed.

We saw something interesting on the food network -- a restaurant prepares their dumplings this way: Here are the dumplings all folded and ready to cook:

Then we boiled them in water, for just a few minutes -- until they float or look a little transparent

then we browned the bottoms in a tiny bit of oil -- to give them the potsticker look, feel, taste.

Such cute little bundles:

Even though this isn't the traditional way potstickers are done -- it went much faster and it seemed less tempermental. You can also do them in larger batches (hence the faster-ness)


Ingredients for dipping sauce:

1/4 c sugar

1/2 c water

2 T soy sauce

2 T rice wine vinegar

2 T ketchup

1 T lemon juice

1/8 t sesame oil

1-2 t garlic and red chile paste (can add more for more heat)

or you can just dip in soy if you'd rather, or a mixture of soy, brown sugar and vinegar. But we like this copy of PF Chang's the best

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

or should I call it "homemade noodle chicken soup" since that's the goodness of it. I will admit, this isn't the most low-carb-friendly dish, but it sure is comforting when you sure don't want to eat all the other garbage out there. (food aversion issues) AND i know what's in it 'cause i made it so I know it's all pure and simple ingredients that won't upset my system. of course the instructions from my mom include boiling a whole chicken all day, removing the meat from it and adding it back to the broth, putting it in the fridge overnight (to really get the flavors in there) and then doing what i did -- but i'm not one to deal with whole chickens and such -- so i am just putting the instructions that I always do:

Chicken Noodle Soup

Boil one chicken breast in as much water as you want soup (i maybe did 6 c.? you can do more chicken than that but i don't like TONS of chicken in mine)

add chopped onions, carrots, celery to the simmering pot

add spices: chicken broth or boullion, salt and pepper, parsley, garlic pwd, curry, whatever else sounds good

let simmer until veggies are tender, and sometime during all that, remove the chicken, shred it and return it to the pot

meanwhile: make noodles (recipe below) and add them. They only have to cook a few minutes and the soup's ON! *I wouldn't be faithful to my roots unless I mentioned that this is swell served over mashed potatoes -- but I like it alone too.

Homemade Noodles

2 c. flour

1/2 t. salt

1/3 c water

1 t oil

2 eggs

Mix together and knead 5 min, adding more flour if needed -- Roll out into noodles (this is where the pasta machine is handy, but I HAVE done it by hand before in desperation for some home cookin') All that's left is to add them to the soup -- yum yum!

*this serves around 6

Jello Parfait

When it's hot out, and you need a cool low-cal summer treat, or just a fun side dish/dessert for dinner when your 3 year old needs a project, make these -- they never disappoint:
For these I used sugar-free peach jello and sliced strawberries, with a dollop of light whipped cream. of course you can be creative with all kinds of flavors and fruit -- but I just forget sometimes that jello exists -- so I thought I'd remind everyone else too.

flax

I made this Pineapple Almost Heaven Cake (which is truly almost Heaven) -- actually Ryan made the cake part because I wasn't feeling well but as he gathered ingredients, found we were short an egg. So I tried the flax substitute -- which I've been wanting to try for a while now but have just been too lazy? Well, you put 1 T ground flaxseed in a small bowl -- whisk in 3 T water and let sit for a minute. This equals an egg in things like cakes, muffins, cookies etc. Worked great! Granted, there was so much goodness on top of the cake I doubt anyone would've noticed if we subbed sand in for the egg, but for all purposes -- I will do this again. Maybe even if I've still got eggs in the fridge. Gotta try to improve that health, you know.

Steamed Chicken

Maybe this is a common concept to a lot of people -- but it never has been for me so I thought I'd share. This is the problem -- lots of recipes call for cooked, shredded chicken, and as far as I know -- you boil it to get it cooked. I actually really don't like boiled chicken -- I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but it's always on the rubbery side and sort of stinky to me. If I've thought ahead -- my prefered method would be to slow-cook chicken breasts in the crock pot to have nice juicy tender chicken for my recipes. But I hardly ever think that ahead: so this is the solution: I've been steaming it in my veggie steamer -- and as long as you get it out in time, it's nice and juicy still, and easier to work with -- AND I LIKE IT!

I'm sure it would also work in one of these types: in fact a friend from Ohio is the one who planted the idea in my head and she always used this on all chicken she ever ate.