Thursday, January 28, 2010

Kale and Sweet Potato Soup

Recently I've been trying to cut back on certain high caloric foods. Soups are not something that I'm particularly fond of, but they happen to be an easy way to incorporate lots of veggies and healthy proteins, such as lean meats and beans so I've been trying to add some more soups to our weekly menu. I found a similar recipe to this in Martha Stewart's recipes and thought that sweet potato seemed like a great alternative to the typical white potato in soups. I changed a few things and this is what I came up with. It ended up working out quite well. We will be repeating it, probably even after I've given up on my mission to cut calories.. er... I mean, I'll be making it forever because I'm going to eat healthy for the rest of my life. Yeah. That's it. Definitely...
But seriously, try the soup. It's good.
Kale and Sweet Potato soup
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
Salt
2 cans of cannellini beans, drained
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 small green onions, rinsed, white and light-green parts thinly sliced
2 large sweet potato/yams, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 bunch kale, (3/4 pound) washed and chopped
6 cups homemade chicken stock, or canned low-sodium chicken broth, skimmed of fat
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
pinch of dried rosemary or a tablespoon of chopped fresh rosemary
In a large soup pot saute the green onions, garlic, onion and kale, until the kale wilts slightly. Add the beans, sweet potato, rosemary and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the sweet potato is fork-tender. Salt and pepper to taste.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Lemon Cheesecake Pie with Blueberry Sauce

I like to make this when fresh blueberries are in season but I do make it for special occasions sometime and make a double batch of both the recipes and make it in a 9 by 13 pan. I'm sure it would be good with strawberries as well.

8 oz. cream cheese , softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
2 tsp.s grated lemon peel
1 lg. egg
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 Tbsp. butter

Cream cheese and butter together.
Add sugar and egg and beat.
Add flour and milk and beat again.
Stir in the lemon juice and peel.
Pour into prepared crust below;

Graham cracker crust;
1 + 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup melted butter
1/3 cup sugar

Blend well and press into a pie dish.
Pour in the filling and bake for 35 minutes
until set in a 350 degree oven. Chill.

Serve with Blueberry topping;

1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 cups blueberries
1/2 cup cold water
1 + 1/2 tsp.s lemon juice
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest

Mix everything but blueberries well in a small saucepan.
Add the berries and bring to a boil
stirring gently until it thickens.
If it seems too thick add a drop or two of water.

Chill and serve over pie.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Orange Glazed Spiral Ham

Hello everyone and Happy New Year ! Please stop by and say hello to us this year won't you? Thanks for checking out our blog and God Bless all of you in the coming year! It's been a busy season for everyone so I apologize for not posting as frequently as I normally do. Here is my new favorite holiday ham recipe I use. I'm not fond of the spicy glazes so I decided one day to make something different.
Everyone seems to like it and I use it for chicken tender dipping also after I add some garlic powder and a tiny dash of cayenne pepper to it and cook it in a small pan for a few minutes.


1 12 lb. fully cooked spiral sliced ham
1 cup bottled orange juice
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. orange flavoring extract


Optional garnish ;
1 thinly sliced orange
marachino cherries speared with
toothpicks and poked through orange slices
into ham before baking.



Score your ham cross ways.
Mix all 3 ingredients together until sugar is dissolved.
Pour half the mixture over top of the ham dripping
it down over the sides.
Bake for about 50 minutes.
Remove ham from oven and brush remaining glaze all
over again and continue to bake until
ham is heated through another 20 minutes
or so according to package directions.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Apple Coffee Cake

I found a similar recipe for coffee cake from
Taste of Home and changed it up a
bit and was so happy with the results.
This is not your typical dry coffee cake.
The first time I took it to church
people were surprised at how moist it was.
It's the lightest crumbly coffee
cake I have ever made and I think you
will really enjoy this.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Butter 9 x 13 inch pan.

Cream till fluffy;
1/2 cup soft butter
1 cup sugar

Add:
2 lg. eggs
1 tsp .vanilla

Combine :
2 cups flour
2 + 3/4 tsp.s baking powder
1 tsp baking soda


Next add dry ingredients to
butter mixture alternately with
1 cup sour cream and beat.

Stir in 1+3/4 cups chopped Macintosh apples


Prepare topping by blending;
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbls. cold butter
1/2 cup pecans

Crumble topping evenly over the batter
and bake for 35 to 45 minutes
until toothpick comes out clean.

Serves 12.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Crack (Sweet Snack Mix)

Michael's cousin shared this recipe with me at a Christmas get-together and it was so easy and delicious that I think I've become obsessed with it. Just keep in mind that I said it was delicious, not healthy, lol!

Sweet Snack Mix
1 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
8 c. chex cereal
3 c. nuts (I prefer pecans)
Combine chex mix and nuts and spread on 2 greased cookie sheets with sides. Boil the butter and brown sugar for a few minutes. Pour over chex mix and stir through to coat well. Place in a 375* oven for 8 minutes. Let cool and enjoy. Store in an air tight covered container.