THE COOKING BLOG

Honey Refrigerator Cookies

Esperanza Dodge — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:18:36 +0000

(From Gourmet.com)

They specialize in creating recipes that are from the 1940’s.

Cream together 1/2 cup each of honey, brown sugar, and shortening. Beat in 1 egg; then add 2 1/2 cups flour sifted with 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 cup nut meats. Shape the dough into a roll or loaf, or press it into refrigerator cookie molds. Allow the dough to ripen for a day or twp in the refrigerator before you slice and bake it in a hot oven (400°F.) for 10 to 12 minutes.

http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/1940s/1942/06/honey-refrigerator

Easy Salad

Esperanza Dodge — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:18:10 +0000

Next time you’re at the grocery store and you want to make an easy salad that doesn’t take a lot to prepare, buy these foods:

A premade hot rotesserie chicken, straight from the deli.
A bag of baby greens.
A tub of grape tomatoes.
Italian dressing with real olive oil.
Sunflower seeds.
Shredded cheese (2%)
Alfalfa sprouts

Take all the veggies and put in a bowl. Tear chicken off the chicken and add to the salad. Top with cheese, seeds and dressing.

That’s it! No chopping or anything.

Low sugar dessert

Esperanza Dodge — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 08:49:00 +0000

This is a recipe that would probably be safe for both Southbeach dieters and Adkin-ers.

In a bowl, combine frozen raspberries, blueberries, cherries, blackberries and strawberries.
Defrost for 30 seconds only.
Sprinkle Splenda on top.
Mix thoroughly.
Fold in Cool Whip (with the southbeach logo on it) into the berries.
Serve in chilled martini glasses.
Sprinkle cocoa powder on top.

Pomegranate Iced Tea

Esperanza Dodge — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 08:34:01 +0000

Start my making a sun tea in your backyard. Fill a large jar with several green tea bags and water. Leave in the sun all day. Bring it inside, take out the bags and pour in a pitcher. Put in the fridge.

When chilled, take 100% pomegranate juice and add it to the tea. Mix.

To serve, serve in tall iced tea glasses with a fruit on the rim of the glass.

This would go well paired with cucumber sandwiches or scones.

Yummy Salad

Esperanza Dodge — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 08:18:10 +0000

Marinate chicken breasts in lemon juice, melted butter, sea salt, pepper and parsley
Simmer on the stove in 100% extra virgin olive oil
Prepare a salad of romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes, shredded carrot and chopped cucumbers
When the chicken is cooken, slice and top on top of the salad
Pour your favorite dressing on top
Sprinkle with shredded cheese and sunflower seeds
Top with slices of avacado

Chow down!

Spike Seasoning

Esperanza Dodge — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 07:30:52 +0000

A blog I’ve read, called Kaitlan’s Kitchen has some yummy ideas on how to incorporate Southbeach friendly foods into your family’s diet. I like her ideas and her savory recipes. She kept suggesting Spike Seasoning for everything. I couldn’t find it anywhere.
Finally, last month I was in Sunflower Market, a natural health food store and found it! It costed nearly $5 but Kaitlyn said it was good so I had to try it.

I got to admit, it is good. I put it in every omelet. I like the taste of the sea salt inside, however, I would buy it next time without the salt (if available) so that I can add my own lite salt and add even more spike, not having to worry about the sodium.

New Mexicans: Red or Green?

Esperanza Dodge — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 07:20:10 +0000

Here in New Mexico, we know what that means. It means the person is asking you, do you want red or green chile with your meal? I don’t think I could live without my red and green chile from Hatch, NM. There is nothing like putting green chile in your omelet in the morning or a burrito smothered in red chile.

It is NOT like Mexican chile or Asian chiles or Texan chilI for that matter. This is real, authentic, delicious New Mexican chile. If you’re not from NM, try looking in your grocer’s freezer for the Bueno brand. Or visit bueno.com for lots of ideas on how to incorporate chile into everything. Here, we put it on every meal, from eggs to sandwiches, to the tamales.

It’s so good and life wouldn’t be the same without it

Mexican food meets Greek food!

Esperanza Dodge — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 04:49:58 +0000

I had leftovers from two night. One night we had burritos, the other we had chicken ceasar wraps. What did I do today? I combined the two. Sure, it was an experiment and I chanced it turning out really awful. But I was hungry and needed to finish those leftovers away, so I made something different.

Here’s the ingredients I used:
Whole wheat tortilla
Three-blend cheese of asiago, parmesan and another aged cheese
refried beans
grilled chicken
tomatoes
avacado
ceasar dressing.

I combined all of them into a burrito/wrap, warmed it up, poured dressing on it and ate it. Did it turn out delicious? Absolutely! I ended up having two of them. Yum!

Silcon Muffin Pans!

Esperanza Dodge — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 18:04:11 +0000

What a difference these babies have made in my life! Before, I was using those cupcake foils, sprayed with Pam inside so things wouldn’t stick. Guess what, they still stuck! Big time. I tried making quiches in those things and everything stuck inside so all I was left with was the middle of the quiche. What fun is that? I missed 3/4 of my meal!

Then I saw on another blog “Kaylan’s Kitchen” that she uses silicon muffin pans for her quiches. I thought, hmm, I gotta try this. So I looked in Wal-mart and none were to be found. I asked ChaCha and they didn’t know either. I thought I’d just suck it up and buy some expensive ones at Linen ‘n Things in the future with my 25% off coupon. Well, turns out they are going out of business, so I’ll have to stop by sometime for a silicon cake pan. Why? Because I love the muffin pans I bought so much.

I ended up finding my silicon muffin pans at Wal-mart in the craft section, in the shape of footballs, for an “Autumn” theme? Yeah, I don’t get it either. So, they were on clearance, I bought two, and made mini pineapple upside down cakes in there. They turned out so good, I love silicon baking products now!

Late Night Snack

Esperanza Dodge — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 06:36:37 +0000

In the middle of the night, when you are craving something filling but not too much, and are not in the mood to cook, try this out and see if you like it:

Pop a bread or two in the toaster (whole wheat preferred)
Butter it up while still hot
Sprinkle on cinnamon
Sprinkle Splenda (or sugar)

Grab a string cheese

And there you go. It’s a simple snack that gives you a little sweet and a little salty taste and its fufilling at the same time.