Sugar Cookies

These are super easy and so good. So take a stand and say 'no' to Pillsbury refrigerated cookie dough this holiday season.

Unlike other sugar cookie recipes I found, this one doesn't require the dough to be refrigerated before using - which is good, because I generally want cookies now. I used cookie cutters to make little Christmas trees, stars and candy canes. Then I put red and green sugar sprinkles on. And then I ate a whole spoonful of cookie dough (because I'm a grown up now and no one can tell me not to!).

One note: I rolled out the dough to about 1/4" (with a soda can) and I think that was too thick. The dough spread when it baked and my trees and candy canes looked fat and bloated - just like I felt after eating 500 of them... (really, they're that good).

Merry Christmas!


Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 10 Minutes
Ready In: 25 Minutes
Yields: 48 servings

INGREDIENTS:

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups white sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
2.	In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3.	Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

source: allrecipes.com

Chicken Veggie Soup

I know, I make a lot of soup. But it's so good - and relatively easy. This is one of my favorites yet - there aren't any overpowering spices and the vegetables blend together well to create a really natural, genuine flavor. The hot pepper sauce adds just the right amount of seasoning.

Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 25 Minutes

Ready In: 45 Minutes Yields: 8 servings

INGREDIENTS:

2 tablespoons olive oil 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast meat - cut into bite-size pieces 2 onions, chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 cups sliced carrots 2 cups broccoli florets

2 cups chopped cauliflower 2 cups chopped celery 4 cups whole peeled tomatoes with liquid, chopped 8 cups fat free chicken broth 2 cups chopped fresh spinach 12 drops hot pepper sauce salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. add the chicken and saute for 5 to 10 minutes, or until browned; set aside.
2.	To the same saucepan add the onion, garlic and carrots and saute for about 3 to 5 minutes. Then add the broccoli, cauliflower, celery, tomatoes, chicken broth and reserved chicken.
3.	Stir together well, bring to a slow boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes. Stir in the spinach, hot pepper sauce and salt and pepper to taste.

Notes:
I used...
-carrots and zucchini instead of broccoli, cauliflower, celery (not my favorite vegetables)
-2 cans kidney beans (just for fun, and because they're healthy)
-a whole bag of spinach
-not 8 cups of chicken broth (I supplemented with water)
-lots more than 12 drops of hot pepper sauce.

Source: allrecipes.com

Curried Mustard Greens & Garbanzo Beans with Sweet Potatoes

Oh my yum. I am so in love with what I just ate - another 5-star dish from the World's Healthiest Foods website. Who knew that eating well could be so ridiculously tasty?

The texture of this dish is just amazing... and the color is exciting... and the flavor of the sweet potatoes (I know, not again... but they're so good), curry and tomatoes blends together well.

You wouldn't guess that mustard leaves would be at all enjoyable, but surprise, they are! Greens are highly underrated. My family makes endive soup at Christmastime and when I was little they told me it was made with grass clippings - because that's pretty much what cooked greens look like. I couldn't get past that for a while and it wasn't until just recently that I realized endive soup is one of my favorites. We just don't usually cook with greens and I'm not sure why. This recipe is a good reason to start changing that (oh, and also they're really good for you).

Notes (i.e. the boring stuff):
I used 3 big sweet potatoes and a almost a whole can of broth (the sauteing method seems to use up much more than just a tablespoon - maybe it's just me). I doubled the turmeric and curry powder. For more protein, I would recommend using another can of garbanzos. I thought I would need an electric mixer for the sweet potatoes but you can easily mash them with a spoon. Also, I have no steamer. So I just put 2" or so of water in a pot and cooked them for about 15 minutes - then let them sit until I finished everything else. Use a deeper skillet - the greens take up a lot of room until they start to wilt.

Prep and Cook Time: 30 minutes Ingredients: 2 medium sweet potatoes peeled and sliced thin 1 medium onion cut in half and sliced thin 3 medium cloves garlic, sliced 1 TBS + 1/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth ½ tsp curry powder ¼ tsp turmeric 1 bunch mustard greens, rinse, remove stems and chop 1 15oz can diced tomatoes 1 15oz can garbanzo beans, drained 3 TBS extra virgin olive oil salt and white pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Bring water to a boil in a steamer with a tight fitting lid. Peel and slice sweet potatoes in fairly thin slices so they will steam quickly, 5-10 minutes.
2. While steaming potatoes, slice onion and garlic. Heat 1 TBS broth in 12inch skillet. Sauté onion in broth over medium heat for about 4-5 minutes stirring frequently, until translucent. Add 1/4 cup broth, garlic, curry powder, turmeric, and mustard greens. Cook stirring occasionally until mustard greens are wilted, about 5 minutes. Add garbanzo beans, diced tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cook for another 5 minutes.
3. Mash sweet potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper. If you need to thin potatoes more you can add a little broth. Serve mustard greens with mashed sweet potatoes.

   Serves 4

Healthy Cooking Tips:

When sweet potatoes are steamed, they pick up some moisture from the water. You should only need a little olive oil when mashing them. Mash well with the oil before adding any more liquid, otherwise they may be soggy.

Nutritional Profile

Kidney Beans & Sweet Potatoes

I found a new website for recipes and I'm so excited about it.

World's Healthiest Foods

I have been leaning toward eating more wholesome, natural foods for a while and I think this is a good starting point. Oh, and they actually have useful information for non-cooks like,

"Chopping your vegetables into the size recommended gives them a chance to cook slowly without over cooking. This allows the flavors of the vegetables and spices to blend together. Allow it to simmer on low heat, and don't rush it. It will taste much better. By uncovering it toward the end and continuing to simmer for a little longer reduces the sauce and intensifies the flavor."

I never chop/dice/slice as a recipe suggests because no one ever gave me a logical explanation for it. But this makes sense. I still didn't follow the recipe exactly - and I probably should have. After my recent over-seasoned soup episode I was cautious about adding too much seasoning, even though I used at least three times as many vegetables (what am I going to do with leftover mushrooms? - might as well put them all in) so this probably wasn't as great as it could have been, but it was still really, really good - fresh ginger, sweet potatoes, cinnamon, yum.

Prep and Cook Time: prep time: 20 minutes; cooking time: 45 minutes Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 medium cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 TBS fresh ginger, chopped
• 1 medium carrot, sliced thin
• 1 medium green bell pepper, cut in 1 inch squares
• 2 cups sweet potatoes, cut in 1 inch cubes
• 2 cups crimini mushrooms, sliced medium thick
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 TBS tomato paste
• 2 cups + 1 TBS vegetable broth
• 15 oz can kidney beans, drained
• salt & black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Prepare first 6 ingredients by chopping and slicing.
   
2. Heat 1 TBS broth in a medium to large soup or braising pot. Sauté onion in broth over medium heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently, until translucent. Add garlic, ginger, carrot, pepper, sweet potatoes, and mushrooms. Continue to sauté for another 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
   
3. Add spices and mix thoroughly. Mix tomato paste and broth together and add. Cover and simmer on low for about 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Add beans, salt, pepper, and continue to cook for another 5 minutes on medium heat uncovered, or until vegetables are tender.
   Serves 4

Nutritional Profile

Italian Vegetable Soup with Beans, Spinach (& Pesto)

I learned a very important lesson today - you CAN have too much of a good thing, especially when that thing is garlic. Who knew? The sad news is that I think this soup probably would have been great had I not over-garliced it. But I did. And it's pretty bad. It kind of burns - but not in a spicy way.

You might notice that garlic is not on the list of original ingredients. But I have a great fear of bland soup - so I added a lot of garlic and basil. Oh, and I skipped the pesto because a little tiny container of it was $4.50 at the co-op (where I stopped after work). I topped it with Kraft parmesan instead - high class all the way. I also skipped the bell peppers, celery, and potatoes - and substituted green beans for peas.

So try this one and let me know how it is without the overpowering taste of garlic. I'm off to find some parsley.

Submitted by: USA WEEKEND columnist Pam Anderson Rated: 5 out of 5 by 11 members

Yields: 10 servings

"Cannellini beans and a plethora of vegetables - bell peppers, carrots, celery, potatoes, peas, and spinach - make this healthy soup hearty and satisfying."

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil 1 large onion, cut into small dice 3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick 3 medium celery stalks, sliced 1/4-inch thick 1 medium bell pepper (red or yellow), stemmed, seeded and cut into medium dice 1 pound all-purpose potatoes, unpeeled and cut into medium dice

1 (16 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes 2 (15.5 ounce) cans cannellini or other white beans, undrained 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth in can or carton 7 ounces loosely packed baby spinach 1 cup frozen green peas Salt and ground black pepper Prepared pesto (found in grocer's refrigerated section)

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oil in a soup kettle over medium-high flame. Add onions, and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add carrots, celery, peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, bean and chicken broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until vegetables are just tender, about 15 minutes. Add spinach and peas; continue to simmer until spinach wilts, 3 to 4 minutes longer. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls, adding a spoonful of pesto to each serving of soup.

Salsa

This was my first time making salsa. I didn't know what I was doing but it actually turned out alright. I think that's the beauty of salsa - add pretty much anything in any ratio and it's still fresh salsa and, therefore, inherently wonderful.

I used a food processor, which I think is key. And FYI (because that's what this blog is for), jalepenos can burn your skin, I found out after the fact. The salt, pepper, and tabasco are "to taste" so that's what I did - add and taste, add and taste. This recipe makes a lot (a mixing bowl full, or so).

1 onion (or more)
3 tomatoes (not sure if these are really necessary)
3 jalepenos
1 bunch cilantro
7 1/2 cloves of garlic (approximately, I used the stuff in the jar)
juice from half a lime
salt
pepper
tabasco sauce
3 - 14.5 oz. cans petite diced tomatoes

Put everything but the canned tomatoes in the food processor. Mix. Pour it in a bowl, stir in the canned tomatoes, refrigerate.

Tuna Pasta Salad

Nothing says 'summer' like tuna pasta salad. It's the only thing I want to eat on hot days - best with watermelon and a Blue Moon. My previous concoction was a little bland (tuna, pasta, mayo, salt, pepper) and had no veggies so I did some research and came up with this - a combination of two allrecipes.com recipes, kind of.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (16 ounce) package rotini (my mom pointed out that the shape works well for holding the goo)
  
• 2 yellow squash, chopped
• 2 zucchini, chopped
• 2 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tuna, drained

This is where I freestyled a bit and it probably could use some tweaking. Let me know if you come up with something better. Alternatively, you can use a bottle of Italian dressing.

• 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• a lot of mayo (2 big scoops)
  
• black pepper
  
• garlic salt
• a lot of dill weed (3 tablespoons?)
  
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (maybe leave this out - I'm not sure what the purpose is)
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Stir in pasta and return pot to boil. Cook until al dente. Drain well.
2. Place squash and zucchini in a medium saucepan with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine pasta, squash, zucchini, kidney beans and tuna. Stir in dressing. Mix well and chill for at least 30 minutes.