Favorite Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies

Posted on January 31, 2010 by jgisvold

oatmeal raisin cookies 2

1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
3/4 cup wheat flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup chopped nuts

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 large baking sheets with non stick spray

2. Combine the oats, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. With an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the sugars, butter, and oil in a large bowl until creamy. Beat in the egg, and vanilla until blended. Add the flour mixture and beat just until blended. Stir in the raisins and nuts.

3 Drop dough by level measuring tablespoons, about 1 inch apart. bake until the cokoes are lightly brown, 12-15 minutes.

1 cookie =
75 calories
3 grams of fat
1 gram of fiber

Points value 2

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Another recipe from the Weight Watcher Comfort Classics cook book. These little cookies are addicting. I think it is impossible to eat just one of them a day. I tried one right when they came out of the oven and it was so chewy and gooey. Only 2 points per cookie. When baking, I like using the different sized scoops you can get at a kitchen supply store. I have one small one, which is about a tablespoon in size for cookies. I also have one that is big enough for making muffins and cupcakes. These scoops have been so handy when baking and I’m glad I purchased them.

Don’t worry, I am done posting recipes for awhile. Today I’ve posted 3 different new recipes on my blog all in one day and have had 2 different messes to clean up in my kitchen. One mess is in my kitchen right now, and I really don’t want to clean anymore tonight. Maybe tomorrow.

Bacon-Cheddar Mashed Potatoes

Posted on January 31, 2010 by jgisvold

mashed potatoes, meatloaf, and cookies 004

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds of russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 in pieces
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream (I use Light)
2 tablespoons of Fat free milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup low-fat sharp cheddar
2 slices of center cut bacon, crisp cooked and coarsely crumbled
1 scallion, thinly sliced

1. place the potatoes in a medium saucepan with enough water to cover by 3 inches; bring to boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until fork-tender. 20-25 minutes. Drain and return to sauce pan

2. Add the sour cream, milk, salt, and pepper; mash with a potato masher until the potatoes become creamy. Stir in the cheddar. Sprinkle with the bacon and scallion.

Per Serving (about 1/2 cup)
194 calories
1 gram of fat
3 grams of fiber

Points value : 3

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We had these Bacon-Cheddar mashed potatoes along with the Biggest Loser BBQ meatloaf. It was a great combo together. This recipe was also in the Weight Watcher Comfort classics cook book that I had got for Christmas. So far, I think I’ve tried about 5 recipes from that cook book now and have really liked them all. I will try one or two new recipes a week, because I get bored with the same old stuff.

Biggest Loser BBQ Bacon Meatloaf‏

Posted on January 31, 2010 by jgisvold

mashed potatoes, meatloaf, and cookies 006

Biggest Loser BBQ Bacon Meatloaf

1lb ground turkey
4 slices of turkey bacon cut in half crosswise
1clove garlic chopped
1c chopped red onion
2 egg whites
2/3 cup oats
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup BBQ sauce

Directions
Preheat oven to 350
Spray loaf pan with Pam
heat skillet on medium heat. Add onion and bacon. cook 6-8min. or until bacon is done and onions starting to brown.
In a large bowl mix milk and oats. Let stand 3 min.
Add cooled onion mixture, ground turkey, garlic and egg whites.
Mix with your hands and form into loaf. Place in loaf pan and top with BBQ sauce.
Bake 35-40min.

Number of Servings: 8

Nutritional Info
Servings Per Recipe: 8
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 157.5
Total Fat: 6.4 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.1 g

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This recipe I found surfing the Weight Watcher boards Recipe Review forums. It is from the Biggest Loser cook book. Another recipe I’ve tried from that book that was really really good was the Baked Ziti. That recipe is also on the menu for this week. It makes a lot for two people so we will have a lot of left overs. I didn’t use any turkey bacon at all because I tried it once and didn’t really care for it at all. Turkey bacon is good, but it isn’t Bacon. The recipe ended up being a little bit higher in calories, but oh well. It was worth it.

Another grocery store mishap this week. On my grocery list I had written down milk. I even walked by the dairy section in the grocery store this weekend, and thought to myself, I want to get the plastic bottle so we can recycle it. I walked by it and totally forgot about it, because I had ricotta cheese on the mind. I really have to stop doing that.

Sherried Sardine Toast

Posted on January 30, 2010 by jgisvold

Burnt Toast

First, I burned the toast. I can see why Rachel Ray always says on her show that she is notorious for doing that.

Sardine Mixture

Then, I made the sardine mixture.

Avocado

After the sardine mixture you mash up the avocados with some salt and a little bit of lemon juice.

Sherried Sardine Toast

And this is the final yummy result (Without the burned toast). Alton Brown, you are genius! I will definitely be making this for lunch again, even Ben liked it. I also hope that he has more healthy recipes like this on his show. Sardines are full of omega 3′s and CoQ10. Sardines are also good for Cardiovascular Health, Memory, Joints, Skin and energy levels.

Ingredients

2 (3.75-ounce 2-layer) tins brisling sardines in olive oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley leaves, divided
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest, reserve the lemon and cut into 4 wedges
Freshly ground black pepper
4 (1/2-inch) thick slices crusty bread, such as sourdough, country loaf or rye
1 ripe Hass avocado
Coarse sea salt

Directions

Drain the oil from 1 tin of sardines into a small bowl and set aside. Drain the oil from the other tin into another small bowl and whisk in 1 tablespoon of parsley, vinegar, lemon zest, and black pepper, to taste. Add the sardines, stir to combine and set aside for up to 1 hour.

After 45 minutes, put a rack 3-inches from the broiler and heat the oven to the broiler setting on high. Brush each slice of bread on 1 side with the reserved oil. Put the bread, oil side up, onto a cooling rack set inside a half sheet pan and broil 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown and crisp.

Halve the avocado and remove the pit. Smash the flesh in each half with a fork.

Spread the avocado evenly onto the toasted bread. Top evenly with the sardines. Pour any remaining dressing on top and garnish with the remaining parsley.

Season lightly with sea salt and serve with lemon wedges.

Pecan Sticky Buns

Posted on January 30, 2010 by jgisvold

sticky buns 003

Ingredients

6 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
36 pecan halves, plus 1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 loaf (1/2 2-pound package) frozen white-bread (not pizza) dough, thawed
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Preparation

To make it…

Coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray. Spoon 1 teaspoon melted butter, 1 teaspoon brown sugar, and 3 pecan halves into each muffin cup; set aside. On a lightly floured surface, roll the bread dough into a 14-by-8-inch rectangle. Brush with the remaining melted butter, then sprinkle with the cinnamon, chopped pecans, and remaining brown sugar. Roll into a 14-inch-long log. Cut into 12 pieces and place each one cut-side down into a muffin cup. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Set aside for 25 minutes or until risen slightly. Heat oven to 325ºF. Remove the wrap and bake 15 minutes or until golden. Place a wire rack over a sheet of wax paper. Turn the muffin tin onto the rack, wait 5 minutes, then remove the tin. Cool completely. (Can be made ahead to this point. Return the buns to the cleaned muffin tin. Cover with foil and freeze up to 1 month. Thaw before reheating at 250º F for 10 to 15 minutes. Cool as above.)

To fake it…and save 55 minutes

Heat oven to 325º F. Coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray. Spoon 1 tablespoon melted butter, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 3 pecan halves into each muffin cup. Open two 11.3-ounce packages brown-and-serve rolls and divide among the muffin cups. Bake 10 minutes or until golden. Place a wire rack over a sheet of wax paper. Turn the muffin tin onto the rack, wait 5 minutes, then remove the tin.
Nutritional Information

Calories:242 (1% from fat)
Fat:15g (sat 4g)
Fiber: 2

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I shouldn’t have made these pecan sticky buns tonight, but I had wanted to get rid of some dough that was leftover. This recipe I found on myrecipes.com and it is from the magazine Real Simple. These sticky buns were REAL SIMPLE to make. Nothing much else to say about the sticky buns.

Look forward to more posts this weekend and new recipes this next week. I’m looking forward to a new meatloaf recipe from the Biggest Looser cook book. I don’t watch that show at all, but the Baked Ziti recipe from that book is really awesome. I plan on making it along with BBQ Bacon Meatloaf recipe.

Cinnamon Icecream Pie

Posted on January 26, 2010 by jgisvold

cinnamon ice cream pie 004

Ingredients

1 container of cinnamon ice cream
25 ginger snap cookies
4 tablespoons of melted butter
1 container of cool whip
1 can of dulce de leche

Process ginger snap cookies and butter in food processor until well blended and looks likes crumbs. Spread ginger snap crust on pie pan. Scoop ice cream on top of pie crust. About 4 or 5 cups or enough until the ice cream reaches the top of the pie pan. Spread dulce de leche on top of ice cream then some cool whip. Chill in Freezer for 2 hours before serving.

Note: I let my ice cream sit out to make it easier to scoop out.

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They had cinnamon ice cream on sale for 1.28 cents at my local grocery store. Never tried cinnamon ice cream before and I had read somewhere that it was really good. This last week I had made dulce de leche in my crock pot and wondered what cinnamon ice cream and dulce de leche would taste like together so I had a scoop of that. It tasted pretty good. Then I thought this would be really good on top of a pie crust made with ginger snap cookies. So, I put some cool whip on top that and called it a day.

Ben’s mom actually makes something similar to this but in a cake pan. Oreo cookie crust, whatever ice cream you like, fudge and cool whip. It is so good and I look forward to having it every summer at the lake.

Chicken Cheese Hotdish

Posted on January 26, 2010 by jgisvold

chicken hotdish
Ingredients

Rice
2 Chicken breasts (Un-thawed)
2 tablespoons butter
1 can of french-style cut green beans
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup of milk
1 cup of cheddar cheese
1 cup of flour
salt
pepper

Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Mix flour, salt, and pepper in bowl. Coat the chicken in the flour mixture. In a medium skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of butter over medium high heat. Cook chicken until parts of the chicken start to become brown. You don’t have to cook the chicken all the way because it cooks in the oven.

Mix cream of chicken soup and milk in bowl and whisk until blended. The milk is to thin out the cream of chicken soup. Drain can of green beans and pour into an 11 X 8 inch casserole dish. Then pour the cream of chicken soup on top of the green beans. Once the chicken is brown, dump over green beans and soup mixture. You do not need to mix them all around. Bake in oven at 375 for 25 minutes. The last 25 minutes sprinkle cheese on top and return to oven until the cheese is melted. Serve over rice.

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This was my favorite dish growing up as a kid, that I always loved to eat. My Dad would make it the best. I have this recipe memorized because once you make it, it is so easy to remember. If you wish to make this recipe healthier you can use brown rice instead of white rice. 98% reduced fat cream of chicken soup, low fat milk, and reduced fat cheddar cheese.

I haven’t been eating well lately… Lately it’s mostly been crap. This weekend I polished off a whole bag of cheesy chips and a liter of Cherry 7-up. Cherry 7-up is so good! Then I made an ice cream pie dessert on top of that. It was pretty good but a little too sweet for me. My fiance liked. I can finally say that now because it is out in the open. The pie had ginger snap cookies as a pie crust, cinnamon ice cream, dulce de leche on top of that (homemade) and some cool whip. My goal is to start buying healthier food and avoid buying junk food. I’ve done it before and I can do it again.

Trader Joe's Mandarin Orange Chicken

Posted on January 23, 2010 by jgisvold

Trader Joe's Mandarin Orange Chicken 005

I first read about Trader Joe’s on the Weight Watcher boards. I post there and have found many great recipes on that site. People on that board kept on mentioning all their favorite food that they buy at Trader Joe’s and so I googled the store and the closest one by us was is in Maple Grove, MN. I HAD to go there and see what that place was like. The store was almost 300 miles away.

We travel a lot to Minneapolis because of relatives living there and my mom and I love to go shopping. The stores location is great because we always end up stopping there on the way out of town. Here is my list of items that I like to get when I go there. Every time I go there, I like to get something new. The last time I ended up getting the mac and cheese dinner found in the frozen section and it was really really good. What are some of your favorite foods to get??

My Trader Joe’s List

1. Frozen Mac and Cheese
2. Mandarin Orange Chicken (picture above)
3. Enchilada sauce
4. Fiberful Fruit bars
5. Fruit Jellies
6. Peppermint Joe Joe’s
7. Dried Cranberries
8. Potstickers
9. Caribbean Fruit Floes
10. Peppermint Bark
11. Organic White Rice
12. Blackberry Crush Juice
13. Pumpkin Butter
14. Cranberry-Apple Butter

Canned Biscuit Dough Donuts

Posted on January 21, 2010 by jgisvold

Canned Biscuit donuts

Ingredients

Peanut oil, for frying
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar

Icings:

2 cups confectioners’ sugar, divided
5 tablespoons milk, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 cans large buttermilk biscuits
Colored sprinkles
Chocolate sprinkles

Directions

Heat 2 inches peanut oil in a large pot or Dutch oven to 350 degrees F.

In a shallow bowl, stir together the ground cinnamon and sugar and set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar, 2 tablespoons of milk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, set aside. This is the vanilla icing. In another bowl, whisk together 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar, 1/4 cup of cocoa powder and 3 tablespoons of milk and set aside. This is the chocolate icing.

Lay out the biscuits on a cutting board and with a 1 1/2-inch round cookie or biscuit cutter, cut out a hole from the middle of each biscuit. Fry them in the oil until golden and then flip with tongs to fry the other side. You can even fry the donut holes. Drain on paper towels and then toss in the cinnamon-sugar or ice and decorate with sprinkles, as desired.

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Can you guess who’s recipe this is? She likes to fry everything, and likes butter. You guessed it, it’s Paula Dean! I’ve eaten 3 of these things so far and I know I must stop, but I can’t because they’re so good! I didn’t have any large biscuits, just small ones. So, no little donut holes were made. I sprinkled them with cinnamon and sugar. A perfect little treat after having fish and chips. We normally don’t fry food that much. I prefer to bake it in the oven if I can. My little fry kettle just sits in the cupboard and I’ll take it out maybe like once a year to fry stuff.

Fry Fest

Posted on January 21, 2010 by jgisvold

beer battered walleye

Tonight, we had fish and chips and after that I made canned biscuit donuts with cinnamon and sugar. Probably not the most healthiest thing to eat, but my friend Ben over at guygoesgreen.com caught some walleye at Lake of the Woods this weekend and was kind enough to let Ben and I have some. Thanks Ben!!! I love walleye! I hope to catch one this summer if I can, if not a walleye than a Northern. For the Fish I used Alton Brown’s recipe for Chips and Fish, but halved it since we didn’t have quite that much fish. For the “fries” I preheated the oven to 425 and just cut them into wedges. Sprinkled some Lawry’s Seasoning salt on them and some cayenne pepper and baked for 30 minutes.

For the batter:

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Dash Old Bay Seasoning
1 bottle brown beer, cold
1 1/2 pounds firm-fleshed whitefish (tilapia, pollock, cod), cut into 1-ounce strips
Cornstarch, for dredging

Directions

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cayenne pepper, and Old Bay seasoning. Whisk in the beer until the batter is completely smooth and free of any lumps. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Note: The batter can be made up to 1 hour ahead of time.

Allow oil to get to 350 degrees. Lightly dredge fish strips in cornstarch. Working in small batches, dip the fish into batter and immerse into hot oil. When the batter is set, turn the pieces of fish over and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Drain the fish on the roasting rack. Serve with malt vinegar.

Raspberry Creamcheese Muffins

Posted on January 20, 2010 by jgisvold

raspberry cream cheese muffins 002

Ingredients

2/3 cup (5 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large egg whites
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
Combine cream cheese and butter in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at high speed until well blended. Add sugar; beat until fluffy. Add vanilla, egg whites, and egg; beat well.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and buttermilk to cream cheese mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Gently fold in raspberries and walnuts.
Place 24 foil cup liners in muffin cups. Spoon batter evenly into liners. Bake at 350° 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pans; cool on a wire rack.
Nutritional Information

Calories:142 (32% from fat)
Fat: 4.7g (sat 2.4g,mono 1.3g,poly 0.7g)
Fiber:1.1g

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Here is a really good muffin recipe I just recently tried. If you are at all familiar with Hungry Girl she sells and has deals for vitatops. A really EXPENSIVE muffin, oh wait it’s just the top part of the muffin, that you have to pay $31.00 for 40 muffin tops!!! I can’t believe that!? Why pay that much money for a muffin top when you can make these delicious muffins in your own home for less! You can even get them delivered to your front door in 25 minutes, because that is how long it takes to wait. Not 2 or 5 days to get here.

Also, if you can’t bake or don’t bake just go to the store and purchase a package of muffin mix. That is even faster than making these. But, I strongly recommend these muffins. They are great and you could probably sub apple sauce for the butter to make them a bit healthier. I think I might have to start a business selling my own muffins and charging an arm and a leg for them. Would anybody be interested?

Baked Shrimp Scampi

Posted on January 17, 2010 by jgisvold

roasted shrimp

Baked Shrimp Scampi

Ingredients

2 pounds (12 to 15 per pound) shrimp in the shell
3 tablespoons good olive oil
2 tablespoons dry white wine
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 teaspoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
1/4 cup minced shallots
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 extra-large egg yolk
2/3 cup panko (Japanese dried bread flakes)
Lemon wedges, for serving

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Peel, devein, and butterfly the shrimp, leaving the tails on. Place the shrimp in a mixing bowl and toss gently with the olive oil, wine, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Allow to sit at room temperature while you make the butter and garlic mixture.

In a small bowl, mash the softened butter with the garlic, shallots, parsley, rosemary, red pepper flakes, lemon zest, lemon juice, egg yolk, panko, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper until combined.

Starting from the outer edge of a 14-inch oval gratin dish, arrange the shrimp in a single layer cut side down with the tails curling up and towards the center of the dish. Pour the remaining marinade over the shrimp. Spread the butter mixture evenly over the shrimp. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until hot and bubbly. If you like the top browned, place under a broiler for 1 minute. Serve with lemon wedges.

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As you can tell, I am Shrimp Scampi freak. I’ve tried a lot of recipes but I think this one is by far the best one I’ve tried. It is another Ina Garten recipe and it is in her Back to Basics cook book. It is so easy and super simple to make, and it was so good I ate the whole thing. Shrimp Scampi is normally served with noodles, but this recipe really doesn’t need the noodles. I think one of the reasons why it so good is because the shrimp are roasted in the oven. I’ve never roasted shrimp in the oven before and this was the first time trying it. If you haven’t roasted shrimp in the oven before please do try it and this recipe.

Somehow, a box of panko bread crumbs has mysteriously disappeared the last time we went to the grocery store. I looked all over for that box, because I remember taking it off the shelf and putting it in my cart. Can’t find it anywhere, and I was going to coat some fish with it tonight. Hopefully it reappears before tonight.