Cookie Basics 101

Ever wonder what makes cookies turn out the way they do? I was an instructor at a children's cooking school a few years back and one of our month's curriculum was on just that, Cookie basics. It was actually one of the most fun classes I taught especially with my 5&6 yr old class. We went through the first 3 weeks focusing on each part of what makes a cookie a cookie. Then the 4th week they had to create their own recipe using this method. Can I tell you they were delicious cookies!

Progress of My Sourdough starter!

I have been feeding my Sourdough Starter for almost 2 months now. I am happy to say that it is really getting that great sour taste! Below are the loaves I made of Whole Wheat Sourdough & the recipe. My Husband said these are the best so far with texture & taste. Previously I had either one or the other.

Spinach Tomato Linguini

In my quest to incorporate healthier meals & more veggies, I found & modified this recipe. This is such a wonderful side dish! And it's pretty healthy. You can omit the half & half and sour cream in exchange for plain yogurt or just add part of the juice from the canned tomatoes instead it just won't be creamy.

I served this side dish with roasted Pork Tenderloin & Lentils. It was a hit.

Salsa Variations

Salsa is a great snack when trying to eat healthy (minus the tortilla chips; add whole wheat crackers or even better celery to scoop it up). A good friend of ours made this great Southern Salsa my husband just loves. Of course right now corn is not on our menu so I have made a modified version of it. I have posted both recipes (Southern Salsa Recipe - thanks to Lindsey Staton).

Bean Salsa

If you can't find these specific peas, buy  a can of field peas & add chopped jalapeno peppers to taste. That way you control the level of heat in the salsa. Field peas have a great flavor & are very tiny.

January = Healthy Eating

Healthy Eating

OK so I have once again cleared cabinets & fridge of all the sweets made over the holidays. Seems to have been an annual thing for us. So this year can we do it different? My sister-in-law inspired me to loose 50 before age 50! She is almost there for both, and I must say she looks FAB!

So this blog will be a part of the healthy transformation. Seems like Healthy = no taste, but I know this is not true. . .I have been a fan of the SouthBeach diet & it really opened my eyes to the healthy alternatives. . .now if I can just stick to it! I love bread and seems most diets delete bread. SouthBeach you can have whole grain bread & of course my fav sourdough. It is such a doable life change of eating. . .so here we go with "50 before 50" at least I have a year & a couple months! Maybe I can do 50 before the Hubs turns 50 in May! If you don't set goals, you will never try for them!

I think when you "diet" you deprive yourself & then binge. So healthy eating & getting active needs to be a change in complete lifestyle. I've been very successful with SouthBeach at times, but again it is the "Sticking to it" that I fail at miserably. Going to try it again!!

So, fridge is stalked with celery & veggies, I will be scouring for good healthy recipes. I am pumped! There are so many options now a days with whole wheat pasta & such that you aren't so limited. I will be posting a couple times a week, more if I can, but hopefully I will have a job this month! So, my goal will be twice a week. Thanks for joining me in this journey! 

What are some goals you are setting? (I'm not into resolutions, but I guess that is the same thing LOL!)

Happy Healthy eating!

Happy New Year!!

Hope all of you have a safe & enjoyable time this evening however you ring in 2012!

A couple of ideas for last minute appetisers:

Spinach dip in a bread bowl - buy a bread mound at your local bakery; cut out the middle making sure not to go through the bottom of the mound; scoop spinach dip into the bowl and cut up the bread into bite size pieces. Buy a couple of different kinds of bread to cut up for dipping in it as well makes a beautiful table display!

Rotel Cheese Dip - Velveeta cheese & a can of Rotel tomatoes; put in microwave and melt stirring every minute or so. Serve with tortilla chips!

Lentil & Ham Soup

We love smoked ham. . .it is a favorite for Christmas. Normally I get a spiral cut, this year to save some money I just bought a bone in smoked ham butt. It was so good. I have always heard soup from a Ham bone is amazing. If you know me by now, I had to try it. We were not disappointed. The broth you get from boiling it is very tasty and useful for many different recipes.

So off I went to find a great recipe. I am really liking www.allrecipes.com AND they have an app for my phone. Found a few recipes and settled on one, but in the midst of making it, decided to not add the tomatoes it called for & changed the spices a bit. So, below is my modified version of Lentil & Ham Soup.

Lentils are a wonderful dried bean & source of protein, you don't have to soak them and they cook very fast. If you are not a fan of beans, this is a great one to try as it does not have as much of the bean texture.