Fresh Salsa!

I had seen a lot of different recipes for salsa, and did some modifying/combining and this came out amazing. The key was the fresh plum tomatoes and cilantro. Rob and I don’t like spicy salsa, so I did not use any chili peppers. This was light, refreshing, and delicious!

Fresh Summer Salsa

• 5 large plum tomatoes
• 1/2 chopped red onion
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
• fresh squeezed lime juice from one lime
• pepper to taste
• Optional: sprinkle of Pampered Chef Southwestern Seasonsing and cumin

In a food processor, chop red onion finely and set aside. Cut plum tomatoes into quarters then chop in food processor with cilantro. Add in onions and lime and process. Add in pepper and seasonings and mix to combine. Serve with tortilla chips. ENJOY!

Ginger meatballs with noodles

I got the new issue of Cooking Light last week and wanted something new for Sunday dinner. We love recipes with ginger so this looked great. I made some modifications on the noodles and the flavors of the noodles and the meatballs were perfect! I brought the leftovers on Tuesday and Wednesday and I have to say, they were better the 2nd and 3rd time around!

Ginger Meatballs

• 1/2  cup  chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4  cup  dry breadcrumbs
• 1/4  cup  finely chopped red onion
• 2  tablespoons  lower-sodium soy sauce
• 2  teaspoons ginger
• 3  garlic cloves, minced
• 1  pound  lean ground pork
• 1  large egg, lightly beaten

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl; stir gently just until blended. Cover and chill 30 minutes. Shape pork mixture into meatballs. Arrange meatballs in a single layer on preheated pan. Bake at 450° for 20 minutes or until done.

Noodles

• 8 ounces uncooked wide egg noodles
• 1 red pepper cut into strips
• 1 green pepper cut into strips
• 1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon rice cooking wine
• 1 clove minced garlic
• dash of ginger
• lemon-grass (optional)
• soy sauce to taste

While meatballs are cooking, boil water for noodles. Cook about 7 minutes or until done. While noodles are cooking, heat sesame oil and cooking wine and add in pepper strips. Cook for about 5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add in garlic, lemon grass and ginger. Stir to combine. Once noodles are finished, drain and add into pepper mixture. Serve on the side with 4 ginger meatballs. Add soy sauce to noodles if desired. Enjoy!!

Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter/Cool Whip Frosting

I have always had a sweet tooth, but with my pregnancy I have been enjoying sweets a lot more! Bananas have been going bad much quicker in the heat and I had three in the fridge to make banana bread this weekend but I came home from work yesterday and was craving bananas and peanut butter. One of my new TV obsessions is Cupcake Wars and I was feeling ambitious so I did some research on some recipes and found a few that I modified to make this AMAZING cupcake! I didn’t want a heavy frosting, so I used Cool Whip and it came out great. Next time, I will add some cinnamon and nutmeg into the batter to spice up the cupcakes but overall, these were a perfect summer dessert!!

Banana Cupcakes (makes 12)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shortening + 3 teaspoons water (the original recipe called for 1/2 cup unsalted butter, but I didn’t have any)

3 large ripe bananas

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in center of flour mixture. In a seperate bowl, mix together butter, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla. Pour banana mixture into the well in the flour mixture and  stir to incorporate flour mixture (do not overmix). Spoon batter into muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely on a wire rack.

Peanut Butter/Cool Whip Frosting

• 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
• 3 tablespoons peanut butter
• ~2 teaspoons brown sugar
• ~ 1/2 tub of Cool Whip

Mix together confectioners’ sugar and peanut butter. Sprinkle brown sugar into the mixture to taste and add Cool Whip. Frost the cooled cupcakes. ENJOY!!

Like my Winnie the Pooh cupcake liners?!

Pineapple Bread Pudding

Bread pudding is one of my all-time favorite desserts. I remember going out for a movie (I think it was The Little Mermaid) and dessert with my Nana Core when I was probably around 8 years old and that may have been the first time I had bread pudding. My favorite bread pudding, which maybe I will try someday, is New Orleans Bread Pudding from East Side Grill in Northampton, MA. My favorite day of the year was when they came to the DC. Mmmmmm!

Last week, I was visiting my parents in Kingston and a family friend (Thanks Lynne!) brought over this recipe for Pineapple Bread Pudding so I was looking forward to it all through dinner and it was a perfect summer dessert. I asked for the recipe and made it this weekend, and I’m pleased to say it came out almost as good as Lynne’s 🙂

Pineapple Bread Pudding

• 3/4 stick(6T) butter, unsalted, melted
• 3 large eggs
• 20 oz can crushed pineapple-not drained
• 2 T flour
• 1/2 c sugar
• 6 oz(3c) bread, crusts removed, torn into 1/2″ pieces

Preheat oven 350 dg. Spray 13 by 9 pan liberally with cooking spray. Place eggs, pineapple, flour & sugar in pan. Whisk to combine. Scatter bread over mixture, press bread into pineapple mixture and drizzle with melted butter. Bake until golden brown, about 40 minutes. Let cool slightly. Serve warm or room temp. Serve with whipped cream. Enjoy!

Strawberry Sorbet Pie

So this will be a short post but I found a tip in my June issue of Cooking Light on different ways to serve sorbets so we tried this and it was excellent! I’ve been eating lots of ice cream so this was a refreshing change 🙂 You could use any flavor sorbet, pie crust or fruit but this was one they suggested and I would also recommend it! This was just as good the days after as the first day.

Strawberry Sorbet Pie

• one pint Haagen Daas strawberry all fruit sorbet
• one chocolate graham cracker crust
• Cool Whip topping
• fresh strawberries

Soften sorbet and spread into pie crust. Place back in freezer until frozen. Serve with Cool Whip and fresh strawberries. Enjoy!

Omelette with Summer Vegetables

Breakfast for dinner is a favorite in the Carlson household and I found a recipe for omelettes with summer vegetables which looked tasty and more “dinner” like because of the veggies. It came out great – and was a great quick, healthy, weeknight dinner! I served it with hash browns which I doctored up with some Pampered Chef seasoning and toasted sandwich thins. Yummy!!

Omelette with Summer Vegetables

• 1/2 can of whole kernel corn with no salt added
• 1 cup fresh zuchini chopped
• 3 tablespoons chopped green onions
• pepper
• 6 eggs
• cheese (I had grated Cabot low fat and Rob had two slices of American)

In an omelette pan, saute half the corn, half the zuchini and half the green onions. Sprinkle with pepper. Scramble three of the eggs in a bowl, add in sauteed vegetables and mix in with the eggs. Add back to the pan and cook until eggs are not runny. Flip the omelette over and sprinkle half with cheese. Fold over the other half and heat until cheese melts. Repeat for omelette number 2. Enjoy!

A healthy (and delicious) alternative to Chicken Wings and Potato Salad

After a long day of assembling baby furniture and organizing the nursery, we were looking forward to a relaxing evening watching the Red Sox. I had seen a recipe for Lemongrass and Ginger Potato Salad in the June issue of Cooking Light that I had wanted to try and Rob requested chicken wings. I modified the recipe a bit because we don’t like jalepeno and I used frozen lemongrass and jarred ginger because we had it at home. I served the chicken and potato salad with fresh corn on the cob – it was an excellent alternative to fried chicken wings and heavy potato salad made with mayo.

Oven Baked Chicken Wings

• one package of chicken wings
• prepared BBQ Sauce

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with tin foil. Cook wings for 45 minutes, turning every 15 minutes. Brush on sauce and cook for a few more minutes.

Lemongrass and Ginger Potato Salad

• 2  pounds  red potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2  tablespoons  rice vinegar
• 1 1/2  tablespoons  dark sesame oil
• 4  teaspoons lemongrass
• 1  tablespoon  water
• 2  teaspoons ginger
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• cilantro

Place potatoes in a medium saucepan, and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Drain. Combine rice vinegar, sesame oil, lemongrass, water, ginger and salt in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add potatoes to lemongrass mixture; toss gently to combine and chill.  Sprinkle potato mixture with cilantro; toss well to combine.

Penne with Walnut Pesto

Another successful new recipe tonight! I modified this Cooking Light recipe from the July 2010 issue which called for pistachios. The only reason I used walnuts was because we already had them. I would definitely try this again with pistachios. I omitted the cannelli beans because Rob doesn’t like them and I used baby spinach because I couldn’t find arugula at the grocery store.

In addition to the taste and the fact that this was another healthy recipe, there were two additional things I liked about this recipe: it was from the “Enlightened Chef” portion section which focused this month on feeding on a budget (saving money while saving for a baby is always a good thing!!) and it was also very easy and quick to prepare. I served with leftover french bread slices from Sunday’s French Onion Soup.

Penne with Walnut Pesto

• Box of penne pasta (I used Ronzoni smart taste white penne)
• 1/4 cup of shelled walnuts
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves (I used some from my herb garden!)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 /2 container of cherry tomatoes cut into quarters
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 5 oz baby spinach

Cook pasta according to package, drain and set aside. Combine walnuts, garlic and basil in a food processor. Heat up olive oil and heat garlic mixture for 2 minutes. Add in pasta, tomatoes, pepper and salt and cook for an additional two minutes. Remove from heat and add in spinach. Toss to combine. Enjoy!

Rob had his with a Sam Summer. I had water 🙂

French Onion Soup (Low Sodium!)

So along with my pregnancy, I have acquired new “favorite foods”. Although it’s the summer time, French Onion Soup has been one of my favorites. Weird, I know! I have had Panera Bread’s French Onion soup 6 or 7 times since March – it’s so good! Last weekend, despite the 90+ degree weather, I really wanted it. I bought all the ingredients, but forgot the beef broth. When we went to the store, I couldn’t find any low-sodium and since I’m trying to limit my sodium intake due to the fact that even without salt, my hand/fingers and feet/toes are already swelling, I decided against making the soup.

I had all the ingredients this week and while at the grocery store Rob found a great product – sodium free Beef Flavored Bouillon packets. I was beyond excited to have one of my favorite pregnancy foods without all the sodium!!

I combined two recipes (one that I found online last week, but don’t remember the source and Joy of Cooking) and made some modifications from both and below was the final product. Not as good as Panera’s, but a lot healthier and definitely a good substitute!

Low Sodium French Onion Soup

• 2 vidalia onions sliced thin
• 2 red onion sliced thin
• 2 tablespoons butter spread
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons sherry cooking wine
• pinch of dried thyme
• 5 packets of beef bouillon dissolved in 5 cups hot water
• french bread
• deli sliced swiss cheese
• pepper to taste

Slice onions, set aside.  Heat medium sized pot over medium and add butter spread and olive oil until butter is melted. Add in all the sliced onions and heat uncovered while stirring until lightly browned (about 15 minutes).  Add in pinch of thyme and reduce heat to low and cover, stir occasionally until onions are a dark brown (about 40 minutes). While onions are cooking, dissolve beef bouillon in hot water. Once onions are done, add in sherry cooking wine and turn to high and stir until dissolved. Add in beef broth and bring to a boil. Turn to low and simmer for 20 minutes. While soup is simmering,  slice french bread and toast in oven. Once soup is done, add pepper to taste. Ladle soup into oven-proof bowls and place two slices of french bread in the soup and cover with a 1/2 slice of swiss cheese. Heat in oven until cheese is melted. Enjoy!

Strawberry Summer Salad

So, as most of you probably know – Rob and I are expecting a baby in November! Because of this, I have been very tired when I get home and haven’t been cooking much, at all, and certainly nothing that was blog-worthy. I truly enjoy cooking (and blogging about it), so I’m going to try to keep up with it as much as I can (at least until Baby C. comes).

In addition to the lovely bundle of joy that will come after my pregnancy, it has also brought some pleasant surprises. For the last ten or so years, I have been lactose intolerant – but that has all but disappeared with the baby on board, hopefully this continues. I also became allergic to strawberries last year, which has also disappeared. I have been to Panera Bread a few times in the last few weeks and saw ads for their new strawberry salad and decided to try my own summer salad. I took some short-cuts, using a bag of mixed green salads and Tyson grilled chicken (similar to Purdue short cuts), I put links to the products I used. It was the perfect dish for a warm summer evening!!

Strawberry Summer Salad

Romaine lettuce or mix of green lettuces
1/2 pound of strawberries
1 cup grilled chicken, cooled
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup white cheddar cheese, cubed
Raspberry walnut vinagerette

Wash, cut off tops and slice strawberries. Cube cheddar cheese. Put lettuce on plates, sprinkle with chicken, cheese, strawberries and walnuts. Drizzle dressing over the top. Enjoy!