Squeaky Gourmet

tractors and tire swings: Review: Squeaky Gourmet (and a Giveaway)

2011-06-10T12:12:00.000-07:00

tractors and tire swings: Review: Squeaky Gourmet (and a Giveaway): "Fifteen years ago I met an amazing woman during the most trying period of my life. We both lost a son within a few months of each other and..."

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2010-01-11T08:53:00.000-08:00

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Basic Veggie Burger

2009-12-07T05:52:00.000-08:00

You can go to the market and pick up veggie burgers for about $2 per burger--complete with soy additives and MSG. I am not interested in eating much soy at all because of the suspected interference with thyroid function and over all hormone balance. If I, as an adult, do not want to eat it I won't feed it to my family either.

So, I got to thinking last week--perhaps I can make a basic veggie burger that I will like and people will also like--novel concept I know. So, I cooked up some brown rice, got out a can of black beans and stared at them--could it really be as simple as I was thinking it could be? Yeah, it was--I do not know why I over think things so much.

Basic Black Bean Veggie Burger

makes 12

16 ounce can black beans rinsed and drained well

1 cup cooked brown rice

5 egg whites

1/4 cup shredded carrots-squeezed to remove excess liquid

1/4 cup frozen corn thawed

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp cumin

pinch of salt

Add all the ingredients aside from the rice to a bowl and blend with a hand blender--or add all ingredients to a food processor. Once the mixture is blended completely stir in rice. Allow to sit for about 30 minutes, I did this in hopes the rice would grab some of the liquid of the mix and firm it up some.

Heat a non stick skillet on medium high heat. Add about 1/2 cup of the burger to the pan and cook on each side for about 3 minutes.

Remove from heat and top with salsa and avocado.

Other Good Ideas:

--Use red beans instead of black

--add any vegetable you want--be sure to remove as much liquid as possible

--cook ahead and store in the fridge for weekly lunches

Wholegrain Pumpkin cookies

2009-12-07T05:42:00.001-08:00

Sometimes we just want to make cookies and we never have the ingredients we want in the house. Other times our children can come home from school and remind you about the cookies they volunteered you to bring to the school--the next morning!

I do not know about you, but I always want to bring something fun and healthy--you know other people will be bringing the artificially flavored junk that kids (OK and parents) really enjoy and it is nice to not add to that and to show that healthy tastes fantastic when you know how to do it!

Jamie Wilson, the co-author to Squeaky Gourmet, has come up with a healthy yummy solution to the cookie conundrum!

Wholegrain Pumpkin cookies

makes 3 dozen

1 package Bob’s Red Mill Spice Apple cake mix
1 c pumpkin
1 egg
Approx ½- ¾ c water
1 c semisweet choc chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients well and drop on lightly sprayed cookie sheet in smallish drops. I used my regular sized spoons for this. Cook for approximately 15 minutes until browned lightly on the edges.

Other Good Ideas:
--use cranberries instead of chocolate chips
--add in some lemon zest and nuts

These are great to bake ahead and freeze--if you can resist eating them all!

Protein Biscotti

2009-11-04T07:18:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I just go to the store with absolutely no planning involved. Well, I PLAN to go to the store but I am, on occasion, shopping on a whim. Yesterday was one of those days. I had been reading about protein bars and how to make them, comparing ingredients in power bars, kashi bars and thinking about my gluten free life and seeing how I could put that all together. I guess it would be similar to when I am drawing or doing a creative writing project. The food items are the canvas and tools and it is up to them to come together to be something--I just hope it is something palatable!

In the organic whole food section of the store I purchased dates, almonds, dried coconut, dried cranberries, and more gluten free oats. At home I knew I had this protein powder in the pantry that was really unfriendly in most of the recipes I had tried with it. I guess I am not a banana creme lover after all--don't tell the monkeys.

So, back at home I go--ingredients in the car and ideas in my head. First I knew I wanted to soak the almonds, oats and dates. The oats to remove some sort of acid a friendly blogger mentioned to me--what acid it was--no idea (details escape my ADHD brain). Perhaps she will be kind enough to chime in to remind me! I had to soak the dates to make them easier to use as a paste and the almonds were to be soaked to make them less flavorful--ok, just kidding, I soaked the nuts because it is the thing to do! ( I forgot why)

I am super glad I did soak all of them because the results were a benefit to the end results. The oats with the dates made a fantastic paste that just blended so well together. The soaked almonds added a different texture to the end result that made it feel more earth like and natural, more wholesome. I liked it! I soaked them all for 30 minutes, however, the dates were soaked in hot water, nuts and oats in cold water.

After the soaking and draining, I removed the pits from the dates and added those along with the soaked oats to the hand blender blender. (Dear Santa if you can see this, please may I have a food processor for the holidays?)The oats were really in no need of draining as they plumped right up and absorbed more water than I thought they even would! Once these were fully blended into a paste I added that paste to the stand mixer. I tossed in some dried cranberries, some dried unsweetened coconut and an egg and let that blend together.

While that was mixing I took out my handy dandy coffee grinder (which has never seen a coffee bean) and ground up those soaked almonds into a chucky meal of sorts. You can see how there are still considerable chunks in the grinder along with tiny little almond fragments. I added this right into the stand mixer as well. Then I threw in the protein powder and some cinnamon then watched as it made the dough. I was apprehensive and curious--like a mad scientist waiting to see if the creature would live. I thought about short circuiting the outlet to give the bowl a charge but thought better of it. I then remembered to add some xanthan gum to the batch to make sure once it was baked it would still all be as one versus a bunch of weird lumps of granola or something.

I lightly greased a pie pan ( do not use a pie pan, use a 9x9 pan) I dumped my new creation into the pan. You can click the image of the blob to see what it looks like. Very, um, blob like with lumps of goodies poking out. I then wet my hands (if you cook gluten free you should know this trick) and began smoothing out the dough with my wet hands. Wet hands do not get the dough stuck to them. Nifty, right?

I then took the pan and placed it in the oven and laughed maniacally while rubbing my hands together. I was alone in the house so this was OK behavior. I baked this for 35 minutes, until the edges were brown and the top golden. When I sliced this up and took some out I thought--hey these look like Biscotti! So, I plated some and took some pictures and then threw them onto a non-stick pan and placed them back in the oven to toast them up.

You could certainly serve these after the first baking, they smelled so wonderful and had great texture--chewy and crunchy. I just wanted to see what they would do if I baked them again. I left them in for 25 minutes with the oven still on 350 degrees and checked them for burning while they cooked.

I was very pleased with the end result, as were the kids and the hubby. This is a keeper for sure and I will be making these in batches to freeze for breakfast bars. These will now be a part of a healthy breakfast in our New Hampshire home!

Biscotti Protein Bars
serves 9
13 whole dates
1 cup oats
1 1/2 cups protein powder
1 cup raw almonds
Zest of 1/2 a lemon
1 cup dried unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 large egg
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 TBL cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla

Calories Per 2 cookies-360
Fat- 14 grams
Carbohydrates- 30 grams
Fiber- 7 grams
Protein - 32 grams

Be a part of Real Food Wednesday! Bring back FOOD!

Gluten Free Apple Cinnamon Buns

2009-11-02T04:24:00.000-08:00

In the winter I love to bake things that warm the house, create an atmosphere with the aroma and of course won't cause the waistline to increase like Jolly Ol' St. Nicks. Granted it is not winter in New Hampshire yet--she is working her cold way here! This past weekend I had all the kids home while my husband was out hunting and I thought--wow cinnamon buns would be so good right now. So I dug through the pantry to see what I could workout. I had some Red Mills bread mix--gluten free whole grain. I had ordered some a while ago to try out but did not like the denseness of the bread in loaf form. I figured I would give it a whirl as a baked pastry and was very happy with the results! You of course do not need to use a prepackaged bread mix--any of your favorite gluten free bread recipes will work!

Gluten Free Apple Cinnamon Buns
serves 12
1 batch of raw GF bread dough + 1 tsp cinnamon added to the dough & 2 tsp vanilla
2 apples washed and chopped
2 tsp vanilla
1 tbls Agave Nectar
1 tsp salt
Topping- 8 ounces Greek yogurt I used no fat vanilla.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees slightly grease a baking dish--I used butter as really it is a scant amount but does add a flavor to the finished product. Add diced apples, cinnamon,vanilla, agave nectar, salt and cinnamon to a bowl and mix. The salt really allows the apples to "sweat it out" and adds a unique twist to the bun when finished. Since this is a lower in fat (naturally) as well as low in sugar recipe--the salt balances out what your taste buds may otherwise feel is missing.Set apples aside. Fill a 1/4 measuring cup about 2/3 full with the bread dough and place in your baking pan--repeat to make sure you have 12 even sized raw lumps of dough.

Next wet a wooden spoon and press out a center for the apples to be placed in the buns. The wet spoon prevents the batter from adhering to the spoon and smooths the dough out perfectly.

After the bread "bowl" is created you want to fill it with the apple mix. After filling all 12 buns you want to cover this and set in a warm area and allow to rise till about double in size--this takes about 45 minutes. I just cover mine and set them on the stove top while the oven preheats. Of course since it takes so long to rise--feel free to toss some potatoes into the oven to bake for your meals later in the day!

You can see here how much the dough has risen--air pockets can be seen and the dough has a "puffy" look to it. Perfect! Go ahead now and place these in the oven and bake for 50 minutes or until they are golden brown on the tops and edges.

These were served with warm so the vanilla yogurt really just melted and filled all the crevices. The apples were caramel like in texture and really flavor filled!

Calories Per Bun- 170
Carbohydrates- 36
Fiber-6 grams
Fat-6 grams
Protein- 2 grams

Other Good Ideas:
--bake large batches for bake sales and to bring to holiday events
--double the batch and freeze half of them so you can pop them in the oven without waiting for all the work to be done.
--try pumpkin filling instead of apples

Just for kicks there are 309 calories in a traditional cinnamon bun with 13 grams of fat, 42 grams of carbs with 2 grams fiber, and 5 grams protein. So we just about halved the calories and added in some more fiber and less fat and carbohydrates.

The Garden’s Not Dead Yet!

2009-10-28T03:48:00.000-07:00

Well not really, we had our first big snowstorm at the beginning of October but I’m still gathering yummies from the garden. I am still able to go dig taters, carrots and onions. I was just tickled to find all this goodness and happy to say the mule deer haven’t figured out how to pull the carrots out of the ground--they got the tops but not the roots.

I wanted to make something by using what I had in the pantry and freezer. I hadn’t had edamame in a while so it turned up in an easy salad.

Edamame corn salad
1 c Organic frozen corn- cook by following directions on bag and let cool
1 c Organic edamame- cook just like the corn and let cool
½ c diced carrots
1 T soy sauce
4 drops sesame oil
1 T flax or olive oil
1 T toasted sesame seeds
2 T rice wine vinegar
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Combine everything together in a small bowl and enjoy.

Other ideas: onion, scallions or bell peppers would be great in here.

Cheers,

Jamie

This recipe is part of Real Food Wednesday--check out more real food tips and ideas by visiting the blog carnival!

You put WHAT in the meatloaf?!?

2009-10-26T06:36:00.001-07:00

Have you seen those Chef Boyardee commercials where the father is reading the can on the counter while the mother is washing the dishes and their son is eating a bowl of heated canned pasta? The father starts to ask his wife if she knows that the can o' noodles has hidden inside a whole serving of vegetables and the wife quickly hushes his astonished declaration as she averts her eyes to her son--who is too busy devouring the pasta to even hear a bomb being dropped let alone the father stating he is eating vegetables. I hate that ad. I hate the implication that there is nutrition rammed inside this $.89 can of junk food and that parents should be encouraged to purchase such a wholesome meal for their kids. Remember that sage expression "If it seems to good to be true it probably is?" Well, count that when you are purchasing a small canned pasta "dish" that claims is has a whole serving of vegetables and protein in it. That is called, playing with words. However, that did get me thinking about how much you could hide in a meal--nutrition wise. Of course Squeaky Gourmet is all about comfort foods with nutrition packed inside of it--real whole foods that you can buy in the store and create at home--not packed into a bar or soup can or frozen dinner. Well--this recipe is one of my favorite ones because in this meatloaf that serves 8 I have 1lb of mushrooms, 2 bell peppers, 1 whole tomato and 1 onion and of course a whole avocado. Yeah--I slammed a damn garden in this dish and your kids will ask for seconds!

Garden Meatloaf
serves 8 (or 4 hungry individuals!)
16 ounces ground turkey breast
16 ounces whole mushrooms
1 large avocado seeded and chopped
1 1/2 cups sweet bell peppers diced fine
1 large red tomato sliced thin
1/2 cup onion chopped fine
1/2 cup raw oatmeal ground into oat flour
1 large egg

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large colander wash the mushrooms. You want to use your hands to wipe these mushrooms off as you gently run water on them--these are like sponges so do not soak them in water. The longer the water runs on them the soggier they will become in the meatloaf itself.

Next you want to add these mushrooms to a large bowl and using your hand blender--kill them all. Smash these little vegetables that are loaded with nutrients from earth into a messy dirty pulp like mixture. It will look and smell like wet earth--which is a very good thing. (Take that Martha!)

Add to the 'mashedrooms' your oat flour, avocado, peppers, onions and egg and blend well. Look how full the bowl is before we even add the meat! Next you of course want to add the turkey meat, have your kids wash their hands and allow them to fully blend this miracle into the raw meatloaf.

Then using a non stick pan of your choice--we like to use the angel food cake pan for our load--add half the mixture to the pan and half the tomato neatly to the top, cover with the remaining meat mixture and add a final covering of the tomato.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 35-45 minutes. We served this with sesame roasted Brussels sprouts because--vegetables do not come from a can! We did not even use any added spices because this dish is really loaded with such good flavor and really, even if your kids did know how much you are hiding in this they won't care--they will love it!

Calories Per Serving- 187
Fat- 5 grams
Carbohydrates- 11 grams
Fiber- 4 grams
Protein- 21 grams

Coconut Chicken Soup with Crusty Gluten free Bread

2009-10-20T08:41:00.001-07:00

You cannot reinvent the wheel--the basic principles will always be the same for it. However, you can invent millions of different variations of the wheel to try and direct it to more specific needs and tastes. Chicken soup is really the same thing--constantly reinvented to be more appeasing to the chef or the diners. I love chicken soup, all of the versions I have made and tried I find to be pleasing. last night I wanted to try something with coconut milk and thought--SOUP! Coconut milk has lost the bad rap it had help previously because of the fat content it has--much like avocado this fruit hold a lot of health benefits in it's flesh. Bone building, immune boosting, weight loss producing benefits all wrapped into the flesh of the coconut make this a revival ingredient for a lot of health food lovers.

I loved the taste of the broth, it was not heavy with tropical sunscreen taste at all, in fact the exact coconut flavor has no distinct act in this play. More that it adds a soft feeling in the mouth and a rich creamy blend to the broth--leaves you fuller longer, too! We like that!

I paired the soup with a delightful gluten free crusty bread that actually stays soft even when left out over night--I know, shocking!

Coconut Chicken Soup
serves 6
6 complete chicken legs
8 ounces coconut milk
2 cups gluten free chicken broth
1 onion
1 medium winter squash
2 cloves garlic diced
2 tsp cumin
2 bay leaves

Heat a large saute pan on medium high heat. Skin the chicken legs and remove all visible fat then using a sharp knife separate the thigh from the drum stick. Place the chicken legs in the hot pan while you prepare the rest of the ingredients, make sure to not over lap the chicken pieces. Peel and slice your onion and add to the cooking chicken. Slowly pour in the 2 cups or broth, once the broth has been added you can slowly pour the coconut milk in. Stir the soup to blend the milk with the broth and coat all the the chicken pieces. Next add the diced garlic, cumin and bay leaves.

Peel your squash, remove the seeds and chunk it up, add this to the cooking chicken. Cover and and lower heat to just below medium and simmer for 40 minutes.

Serve hot with a nice crusty bread.
Calories Per Serving: 260
Carbohydrates- 1 gram
Protein-26 grams
Fat-16 grams

Other Good Ideas:
--add in all the vegetables you want
-- add some chili powder to make this hotter on the inside

Now bread has the same approach as the soup--bread was invented and now can be modified a million times and still be interesting and really a comfort food to many. With my daughter having an allergy to gluten we have been trying different brands of gluten free bread as well as making our own. It is like finding the holy grail for us! Well, I was looking over the book, The Gluten Connection that was lent to me by a friend and decided to modify the Basic White Bread recipe the author has. The result was surprising and pleasing! You can see, if you click the image of the bread how airy and light it looks--it was not dry at all and had a great feel in the mouth as well as a traditional "yeast bread" flavor to it. The crust reminded me of the stone baked breads you can get in real bakeries. Winner winner--yeah exactly--chicken dinner!

Gluten Free Crusty Bread
serves the masses
3 large eggs
1/4 coconut oil
1 1/3 cup water
2 tbls Agave nectar
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup Brown Rice Flour
1 cup Tapioca Flour
1 cup Arrowroot Flour
2 tsp xanthan gum
2/3 powdered milk
2 packets yeast

In a stand mixer place the liquid ingredients and set on the low. In a separate bowl blend the dry ingredients and mix well to ensure the xanthan gum is well blended.

Add the flour mixture a 1/2 cup at a time to the liquid mix--be sure to stop and scrape down the sides so that all the flour mixture is incorporated.

Mix the batter for about 7 minutes on low speed to really convince this dough it wants to get along really well and will become the bread you know it can become--think positive right now, this is gluten free bread in the making!
Once it is fully blended it will look like cake batter, not the traditional bread dough you are use to creating. It will be gooey and sticky and that is OK--better than OK it is what we want!

Place this mess into a slightly greased bowl and set in a warm place for an hour to allow it to double in size. I always put mine in the oven on the lowest temp which is 170 degrees. I am not a professional baker--but this has always allowed the yeast to survive and thrive.
Then beat the dough back down and tell it who the real boss of the kitchen is--place back in the warm place and allow to rise again. Look at all the air and activity it had from the second rise! (seriously click the image of the side view and be amazed!)

Now, I left mine in this bowl to bake as well--thank you Pyrex for your miracle glass! I baked it on 375 degrees for 35 minutes.

I wanted to snap a picture of the finished bread but my family was too hungry to wait for me to get my camera. So they sliced it while I was camera hunting.
However, you can just see how great this bread came out--it did not even remotely hint at being a gluten free product at all!

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday! Check out More REAL FOOD ideas and stories!

Roasted Butternut and Parmesan

2009-10-19T06:30:00.000-07:00

Squash is so plentiful this time of year, isn't it? I look at it on my counter and think "Squash again? Really Maureen--again!?" So I try and recreate this winter delight as much as I can when I make it for the family--as for my own self I can eat it the same way day after day.
I am a firm believer in nature providing our body with a lot of the nutrients we need during the times our body will be needing it. Squash is a seasonal vegetable rich with potassium, vitamin A, B vitamins omega fats--all crucial for helping us remain healthy during the cold and flu season. Native Americans values the winter squashes so much they buried them with their dead to provide them with sustenance in the journey to the afterlife.

As for the second ingredients in this dish--really who does not like cheese? If you have no dairy issues that is. (emails will float in now about the lactose intolerance people and my own intolerance to them)

So without further delay:

Roasted Butternut and Parmesan
serves all who arrive to the table in time

1 large butternut Squash
1 cup Parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 350 degrees and lightly oil a 9x9 baking dish. Peel, cut open and seed the squash--the easiest way i do this is I seperate the stem from the belly (rounded bottom) , the top you can just peel and chop. The belly you can scoop out the seeds easily if you slice it in half then peel the bottom and dice it up--(I should have taken pictures of how I did this, sorry)

Cube the squash up into 1" cubes and toss them into the baking pan and cover with the cheese and bake on the middle shelf in the oven until the squash is tender--about 35 minutes. We served ours with pork roast but this would be great with any bird as well!

Simple and so different than the mashed or boiled squash you have been use to!

My Fridge is Full but there’s Nothing to Eat

2009-10-16T11:06:00.000-07:00

Have you ever gone to make dinner, opened the fridge and just stared. I know I’m gonna cook tonight, sounds like a good idea, but where do I start? That was me last night…just staring blankly at the cold food. Nope, still nothing. Where is that spark of food creativity that I really enjoy? I know I’m cooking venison that has been marinating for a day but what else. Then it hit me. I have a pot of leftover cooked Kashi grains. Yeah-- I love this stuff but what to do with it. At that point I was on a roll and just started pulling veggies out. Here is the end result.

Spicy Kashi with Veggies

1 small tomato diced

½ onion diced

½ bell pepper (any color) diced

½ c no salt canned corn or frozen

2 c cooked Kashi grains

½ c broth – chicken or veggie

2 cloves garlic chopped

2 t cumin

6-8 shakes Cholula hot sauce or your favorite brand

¼ t smoked paprika

Sea salt and pepper to taste

1 T olive oil

In a med sauce pan sauté the garlic and onion in the oil for a few minutes, add the pepper and tomato and cook for 5 minutes. Now, add the corn and all of the seasonings and simmer for 10 minutes or so. Mix in the grains and cook until heated thru and serve hot.

Other ideas—any grain will work in this, barley, rice, quinoa

- Use your favorite veggies

- Want more heat, add a diced jalapeno

Eggs to Go

2009-10-15T06:24:00.000-07:00

This is a South Beach inspired breakfast that I thought I should reconsider--I am glad I did! You can make these ahead of time and freeze them--then pop in the microwave for 20 seconds and give that Jimmy Dean company a run for their money! (they could use a run by now I am sure!)
The calories in each one depend on what you decide to fill it with- each muffin is just one egg plus your own additions. Here is what I did:

12 large eggs in my stand mixer set on medium speed with 1/4 cup water added. I used water instead of milk because 1 million years ago when I worked in a diner we used water to make the eggs fluffier. ( Yes, there were diners 1 million years ago in Moe World) While the eggs were blending I cooked 3 pieces of natural smoked bacon. This bacon has such a great taste to it and really incorporates it's power of taste into the entire dish. No need to panic those who are still in fear of bacon, it is only 3 pieces added to 12 eggs. I then prepped my vegetables; sweet onions, seeded plum tomatoes, fresh parsley, Portabella caps, and of course chooped up the crispy (cooled)bacon.

Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Take a muffin pan and line with muffin cups (or use silicon muffin cups if you have them) and add eggs without the vegetables evenly into each muffin cup--they should all be about 3/4 full. Then evenly distribute the ingredients that you have chosen into the raw muffins. Set in the oven and allow to bake until they are golden brown and puffy--about 35 minutes.

Other Good Ideas:
--Add feta, tomato and chives
--smoked Gouda and sweet peppers
--salsa and spicy jack cheese
--great to bring to a brunch
--great with some reheated Savory Sweet Potatoes

Cheese and Sweet Potato Crisp

2009-10-13T06:12:00.000-07:00

Sweet Crisps--yummy! I found a version of these while surfing sweet potato recipes on Epicurious. These were chewy and crunchy and reminded me of the home-fried potato patties I would eat as a little girl. Only--these are better for you. Making these by hand proved to be more tedious than I would have expected--so if you have a hand grater--please note you will be adding some good muscular work to your dinner preparation. You will be finely grating 2 good sized sweet potatoes--which sounds easy--but I have 4 words that make it difficult for me A-D-H-D. While I was shredding them my mind wanted me to check my email, go fold laundry, look out the window, check the sale status of our books, water plants, reorganize closets--you get the picture, and if you do not--then you probably also have ADHD and are now checking your email because I suggested it to you! ;-)

So, I of course enlisted a bit more help with the grating of the tuber--in the form of my lovely assistant and 7 year old daughter. She was once again super excited to help out and to know she would be added to the Squeaky Gourmet blog--special thanks to her as she kept me more focused on the task at hand!

Next you have to squeeze out the juice of the potato, now I was thinking it would be pretty basic as they seem to be pretty dry root vegetables--wrong! I did use the screen I have for making Greek yogurt and it was an easy task as well as fascinating that it holds as much water as it does. No wonder these are so good for you! Side point, also interesting, when you poor out the liquid oyu are left with what looks like wet corn starch. OK, yes it is potato starch--I was fascinated. This picture shows the amount of liquid in one potato--just under 1/4 cup! Crazy--so now we have worked out arms and our grip strength in just making this appetizer/side dish. It is like chopping firewood since it warms you twice, good for the body to prepare and to consume!

After you squeeze out the juice they look like chewed up paper, lacking the life luster they held prior to the abuse they underwent to get to this state. Poor cousin to Mr. Potato!

Ok so let's assemble this mess into the glorious snack delight they are destined to become!

Sweet Potato Crisps
makes about a dozen
2 medium sized sweet potatoes--peeled shredded and water forced out
1 ounce Romano cheese --shredded
1 ounce Parmesan cheese--shredded
1 egg white
2 tsp fresh sage chopped finely

Heat oven to 425 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Mix all the ingredients together and form them into 2" diameter circles onto the parchment paper. ( I had no parchment paper for making mine so I oiled the pan with 1tsp olive oil)

Cook until the edges are browned and they are a deep orange in colors--about 15 minutes. Serve Warm!

Calories Per Crisp
Calories: 48
Carbohydrates- 6 grams
Fat- 1 gram
Protein- 2 grams

Other good ideas:
--add different spices garlic, lemon you name it you try it!
-- use as an appetizer for a party

also, if you click any image in this blog you will explode--err I mean you can see a larger size of the images shared.

This post is now part of Real Food Wednesdays--check it out!

Humming along to the tune of Hummus

2009-10-12T11:36:00.000-07:00

I do not think I have had salad dressing since sometime in the 1990's when Susan Powter screamed through my television screen demanding me to "Stop the Insanity!" Looking back, I am sure she should have taken a page from her own book, so to speak. Those many years ago i made an adjustment that I am fortunate enough to have stuck with me--small adjustments in diet which eventually build up into you becoming a healthy eater. Hey, that is what Squeaky Gourmet is all about! So, while looking for things to dip veggies in and add to salads I stumbled on hummus. What a fantastic healthy addition to your diet!

Just look at the wonderful value garbanzo beans bring to your clean eating. Worlds Healthy Foods site provided this image and also tells us that these little legumes are filled with cholesterol lowering fiber. I wonder if they worry that the FDA will ban that claim like they did to Cheerios--I digress. You can see from this chart that this as a vegetable dip or salad topping would offer to you far more than a goopy dressing would. So--why not whip up some hummus! This is a clean food staple and is much less expensive to make than to purchase pre-made.

1 can garbanzo beans (also called chickpeas) rinsed and drained

3 cloves garlic

1 T olive oil

Juice from 1 lemon

2T toasted sesame seeds

2 T water

Throw everything in a food processor and mix until the right consistency. Add a little water until it’s the right texture.

Other good ideas:
--Add different seasoning to change the notes of the beans, chili powder, cumin, lemongrass, chives
--Add in some chopped peppers and mushrooms, increase the water a bit and top with Parmesan cheese for a party platter dip

An Apple a Day

2009-10-11T06:04:00.001-07:00

Apples are yummy this time of year. You can find fresh apples in every store as well as the opportunity to go pick apples right from the tree around NH right now. How many recipes can you think of for apples? How many are healthy? Ok probably a lot, right? Well, this one is so easy and so versatile! I like to make mine over a bonfire or campfire but you can make them right in the oven as well. All you need is fresh apples, some honey and some raw sugar--oh and a source of heat!

First you want to wash the apples and make sure they are free from inhabitants--of course the marketplace should have already done that for you but if you picked your own you may want to double check. After washing them you can place them onto your roasting stick--look for a good thick stick because apples do outweigh marshmallows. You want to keep it out of the actual fire so you are not just creating apple coals, roll the apple slowly in the heat of the flames.

Once you see the skin begin to crack and the apple juice bubbling out you know the apple is ready!

Roasted Apples
Serves 2
1 tbls raw honey
1 tsp raw sugar
2 pinches Apple Pie Spice

In a small bowl add honey and sugar along with apple pie spice, or cinnamon and nutmeg, or even pumpkin pie spice--whatever spices you like--heck add in a small pinch of cayenne pepper spice for something totally delicious and different.

Place your very hot apple onto a plate (use caution, please note I said VERY HOT) and then spoon the spiced honey mixture onto the top center of the apple and allow it to melt with the heat of the fruit until it coats almost the entire apple.
Share with a friend!

You can bake the apples in an over, without the seasoning , at about 350 degrees. Once the apples are done the skin will begin to wrinkle ad pop and juice will bubble out, remove from the over. Then apple the topping as directed above.

There are really tasty and warming to the soul as well as the belly!

Savory Sweet Potatoes

2009-10-08T10:08:00.001-07:00

I love me my orange vegetables--don't you? You can read tons of healthy food blogs and see "sweet potato" favored over regular white potatoes. These root vegetables are very high in beta-carotene (vitamin A anyone? yes please!), a great source of vitamin C and is rated very high in studies done for antioxidant powers. They are anti-inflammatory, inflammation is the leading cause of aging of the body ( you thought it was your birthday didn't you?)so perhaps these should be added to a fountain of soup recipe--I will work on that ASAP! Since this is a root vegetable it grows in the earth, where it can draw into it the minerals we need like maganese, copper, potassium and iron. Not to mention they are low in calorie and high in fiber.

Oh, I should add they are also delicious! No need to hide from the bright color or the health benefits of this one. Since they are coming into season right now, what a great time to offer you an alternative way to serve them aside from the traditional glop of butter and marshmallows.

From page 92 of our book, Squeaky Gourmet:

Savory Sweet Potatoes
serves 4
2 medium sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes
2 tbls Olive Oil
pinch cumin
pinch ground ginger
pinch salt
pinch pepper
pinch paprika
juice of one lemon*

Heat a non-stick skillet with the oil on medium heat, cook potato and spices for approximately 15 minutes, stirring to blend. Turn the heat up to medium high and cook until they are golden brown and crisp on the outside, stirring frequently now to prevent burning. Squirt with lemon juice just before serving.

Other Good Ideas:
--Great cooked in the oven as well. Be sure to add oil and spices to a bowl and stir the potatoes to coat them evenly before baking.

Calories Per Serving:
Fat-7 grams
Protein- 1 gram
Carbohydrates- 14 grams

*the book calls for lime juice but in my house lime is the official flavor of the devil. So I use lemon instead :)

Potato--Say Cheese!

2009-10-06T06:22:00.001-07:00

OK--I cannot convey to you the delight of these potatoes and have you fully grasp the fantastic flavor these had. We have a restaurant I cannot venture into because they make the best dirty martinis on the planet as well as the best cheesy fries. Cheesy fries and dirty martinis are like magic--oh I mean are bad for you--yes that is what I meant, bad for you.

Well, recently we had a lot of potatoes from the farm stand and I wanted to use up a good portion of them before they went bad and started a gang or something in our pantry. So, I thought--who doesn't like potato and cheese mixtures? (Now I will get emails from all the people who do not.)

Potato Say Cheese
serves 12
10 large potatoes, washed well
1 large onion chopped
3 cloves of fresh garlic minced
1 cup your favorite hard cheese-shredded
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1 tbls dried parsley flakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Thinly slice the potatoes and place in a large bowl. Mix the eggs and milk together fully and pour over the sliced tubers. Add in the onion and garlic and stir, let sit for about 10 minutes.
Next place this mixture into a glass baking dish and cover with the shredded cheese.

I made sure to really shred mine on the thinnest shredding to make sure it covers and blends with the potato--one cup can go a long way if you do this.

Bake the potatoes for about 45 minutes or until they are fork tender. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Other Good Ideas:
--add in various seasonings to change the experience -chili powder, cumin, paprika
--add to a crock pot and allow to cook all day while you salivate waiting for them

Just a bit of advice from a die hard traveler

2009-10-05T04:32:00.000-07:00

Good Morning from a remote location in the desert of Southern Utah. This is Jamie, Moe and I both post to this blog as we are co-authors to our new cookbook “Squeaky Gourmet.” I’m also a Geologist in my other life (which brings me to Utah) but I thought the collision of my two lives might make for some entertaining and hopefully helpful reading.

How do you eat healthfully while traveling? Let me be the first to tell you that it can be REALLY DIFFICULT for me to maintain healthy choices. First, I’m staying in a motel in a very small town. I’m in the friendly town of Green River, Utah just 70 miles North of Moab. My room has a microwave and a small fridge so that is really helpful. I also usually have a cooler with me but since it’s not too warm outside this trip I left it at home. It’s working for me so far. I’m not quite sure where to start so I guess I’ll start with breakfast.

Breakfast--I’m really lucky my motel serves a good hot breakfast. I really love this place, they know me by now as I’ve been here many times for work and they go out of their way to help me eat really good stuff. So I usually have a veggie omelet and oatmeal or some of the locally grown melons. This week we had an Israeli melon—delicious. However, if you don’t have a really nice guy cooking you breakfast it’s still easy to make old fashioned oats in a microwave and you can cook eggs there too. Add some fresh fruit and you are ready for the day.

Lunch--I’m in my truck all day watching drilling rigs so lunch is made in the am before I leave. Here is a picture of the salad I’ve been eating for a few days. It’s pretty basic but yummy and I bought all of the ingredients here at the little grocery store. It’s just greens with black beans, baby carrots, 3 oz canned chicken, ¼ c shredded cheese and some Italian dressing. To get 3 days of salads I buy 2 bags lettuce, bag carrots, 1 can beans, 3 small cans chicken w/ pull tops, cheese, and some dressing. I would have loved to buy organic but it doesn’t seem to exist here yet so I do my best.

Snacks--This week I bought some string cheese and some really great apples. I knew I would want something crunchy so I brought a mixed nut trail mix and also some dry roasted soybeans. I really like the soybeans and a ¼ c of them really cuts the "hungries". Oh and I almost forgot I have a tub of local melon all cut up that the breakfast guy gave me. Nice huh?

Dinner--This is the hardest meal of the day for me. I am usually exhausted and starving so my mind typically drifts to a cheeseburger and fries. I will have a meal equivalent to that maybe twice a week but I get a homemade burger from the restaurant next door. Can’t do much about the fries but to enjoy them. I’ll also go to that same restaurant and get the salad bar and soup. If I’m too pooped to leave the room I usually have some tuna with Italian dressing, a cut up cucumber and some whole wheat crackers. Kashi makes some great ones.

The biggest challenge to this whole travel thing is not buying junk at the gas station everyday when I fill up. Stay out of the junk food isles when you are dragging and needing to eat. Just a bit of advice from a die hard traveler.

Everybody likes cookies

2009-09-23T06:05:00.000-07:00

It is officially fall--leaves are changing, weather is cooling down and the days are shorter. So, to celebrate, lets bake some cookies! Apple spice cookies with oatmeal just screams fall to me, really I can hear it, can't you? Oh, and of course these are gluten free!!

Apple Spice Cookies
1 dozen
1/4 cup fresh butter
2 cups fresh apple sauce
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup raw sugar

1 cup GF flour mix*
1 cup old fashioned oats
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbls orange zest

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a cookie sheet. In a bowl add all the wet ingredients and blend using an electric mixer until the mixture is fully blended. In a separate bowl add all the dry ingredients together and mix well. Slowly add the dry mix to the wet mix blending on medium speed until it is all the dry is added and well mixed.
Place large spoon fulls on cookie sheet and bake for 25 minutes or until the edges are browned.

* you can use whole wheat flour if you do not need gluten free cookies

Other Good Ideas:
--add in nuts
--add in dried fruit
--make extra because these are really good

Calories per Cookie- 164
Fat- 5 grams
Carbohydrate- 26 grams
Fiber- 3 grams
Protein- 4 grams

Check out More Real food!

Qunioa and Roasted Butternut Stuffing --gluten free

2009-09-22T06:31:00.000-07:00

We eat chicken a lot in our home--it is affordable, it is lower in calories than other meats and it is very versatile. We also are a stuffing kinda household but now with the recent emergence of Celiac disease in the family I am looking for gluten free answers to all of our life dilemmas. Well, OK only the food dilemmas because no matter how hard you try, gluten free cookie dough will not find missing socks.

Recently I was staring at a raw chicken, some raw quinoa and a freshly picked butter nut squash and thinking--I will mash you all together in harmony! So I did and it was a big hit (figuratively of course).

Quinoa Stuffing w/ Roasted Squash
2 cups cooked quinoa, cooled
1 large butter nut squash peeled and chunked
1 fresh onion
1 bunch of fresh sage chopped finely.
1 tb. Olive Oil
1 large clove fresh garlic minced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash and prepare bird for stuffing. In a bowl add all the ingredients together aside from the quinoa and mix well. Add to a baking pan, cover and roast for about 20-25 minutes, you want to just stick a fork into the squash but not have it fall apart under pressure(it has a job to do and now is not the time to crumble!)

Remove from oven and place in a cool dish and set in the fridge to chill out.

When the vegetables have cooled enough to handle mix the quinoa in and blend well. Return to the ice box to let the flavors get to know one another, hope for marriage here! This will only take about 30 minutes--during all this cool down time you can bake some potatoes in the already heated oven to save for double stuffed taters later in the week.

Stuff the bird with the cooled stuffing and bake until the bird is done. The time will vary depending on the size of the bird. This stuffing was so delicious, I loved the outside of the stuffing that had browned in the oven by my husband preferred the softer stuffing from inside the bird. I prefer this now over bread stuffing, the texture is more rewarding and the aroma and taste far fresher than stale bread!

Other good ideas:
--bake stuffing in a baking pan and use to serve with a meal if you prefer out of the bird stuffing
--stuff peppers or even squash with this stuffing
--add dried cranberries and walnuts for a more seasonal stuffing

What’s For Lunch?

2009-09-17T13:19:00.000-07:00

After much fussing and fidgeting and not really wanting to cook every day I decided a cold salad would perfectly fit my needs. It’s full of veggies and hearty whole grains with just a bit of tofu for extra protein and creamy texture. This recipe would work well with both quinoa and barley if you are gluten sensitive.

Wheat Berry Salad

Serves 4

2 c cooked wheat berries

To cook the wheat you will need 2 ½ c water in a med sized pot, bring it to a boil. To it add 1 c wheat berries. Turn the heat down to med low and cover until the wheat is tender. This takes about 60 minutes depending on your type of wheat. The wheat is chewy and all of the water should be gone.

2 T olive oil

1 t lemon zest

Juice from 1 lemon

¼ c fresh parsley - chopped

¼ c fresh basil- chopped fine

6 oz diced firm tofu

2 t Cholula hot sauce

½ t sea salt

Lots of pepper to taste

2 t cumin

½ c carrots – chopped

1 medium zucchini – chopped

½ c sprouts (radish works well)

1 T flax oil

1 T balsamic vinegar

2 T red wine vinegar

After the wheat cools, toss everything together and refrigerate for about an hour.

Other good ideas:

Most any whole grain would be good in this

Serve in ½ an avocado with lots more sprouts

Kohlrabi Quick Pickles

2009-09-17T04:09:00.000-07:00

Now for a vegetable you rarely see in your local grocery, kohlrabi. This vegetable is in the cabbage family but really has a mild flavor and is really crunchy. I usually eat them raw but thought this would be fun. Hopefully you can find some at your local Farmer’s market.

Kohlrabi Quick Pickles

3-4 peeled and sliced kohlrabi

2 t pickling salt

Combine the kohlrabi and the salt in a bowl and let sit out for 1 hour. Now drain and put in a quart jar or something similar.

In a small pot combine-

1 c water

1 c seasoned rice wine vinegar

3 t chopped garlic

Zest from 1 lemon

2 T sugar

1 t coarse ground black pepper

½ t crushed red pepper flakes

1 small slice peeled fresh ginger

Bring to a boil and then pour over the drained vegetables. Let cool then refrigerate for 3 days before serving. These will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks. These are crunchy, fresh and gingery.

Dilly Quick Pickles

2009-09-15T06:01:00.001-07:00

Dilly Quick Pickles

1 pound cucumbers ( I used the little lemon cukes from my garden but any will work)

1 T pickling salt or 1.5 T sea salt

Cut up the cukes into bite sized chunks , place into a bowl and sprinkle with the salt. Let this sit out for 2 hours.

Now rinse and drain well and put back into the bowl.

Add:

1 t chopped garlic

3 T chopped fresh dill

¼ t red pepper flakes

¼ c cider vinegar

¼ t black pepper

Combine well, cover and let sit in fridge for a few hours before serving. Stir at least once in that time.

These are really good with BBQ beef and chicken

Other good ideas:

1. Add in red peppers or your favorite veg

2. Experiment with flavored vinegars

3. Add other seasonings

Veggies, Veggies everywhere and Fall is approaching Fast.

2009-09-14T07:35:00.000-07:00

My garden is now overflowing with fresh produce but the nights are getting cooler and we have come close to a frosty night a couple of times all ready. So with that being said, I am starting to think of new things to do with all of this produce besides sell it Saturday mornings at the local Farmer’s Market. I live in a rural community which values the availability of fresh produce. People around here really do a lot of canning and preserving. It’s impressive really, this is my first summer to try my hand at any sort of pickles but I’m pretty happy with the quick ones I did so I know you will like them too. I mean, what better way to insure you are giving your family the best produce into the winter months but to ‘put it up’ (preserve, pickle, can….) yourself.

If you don’t all ready eat beets, please try them. These are by far my favorite vegetable so if you haven’t tried a fresh boiled or roasted beet in ages, DO.

Here is another good thing to do with beets and it’s easy and really pretty.

Simple Marinated Beet Salad

5 medium sized whole beets

Clean the beets and put them to boil in a large pot of water until they are fork tender. This takes about 25-30 minutes for 2” beets.

When the beets are done, drain and run under cool water until they are cool enough to handle. Hold a beet in your hand and squeeze the skin off. It peels off very easy and is fun to do. Slice the beets into thin slices and put into a med sized bowl.

½ of a sweet onion – sliced thinly

3 T olive oil

5 T cider vinegar

Pinch sea salt

Pepper to taste

½ t Dijon mustard

Combine everything in with the beets and refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving.

Quinoa Cakes With Fresh Salsa

2009-08-26T05:56:00.000-07:00

I was thrilled with how this recipe turned out. The cakes are very versatile and could be seasoned with most anything. The cakes are very fresh tasting due to the wonderful salsa and have a nice satisfying crunch. Enjoy.

Quinoa Cakes With Fresh Salsa
Serves 4 ( 8 cakes total)

CAKES

½ c quinoa rinsed and drained (red or white varieties work)
1 c water
1 egg beaten
½ c corn kernels
2 scallions finely chopped
¼ c cheddar (Mexican) shredded cheese or any cheese you like
¼ c whole wheat flour
2 T 1% milk
¼ t sea salt
3 shakes hot sauce
1/8 t pepper
2 T canola oil

In a medium sauce pan bring water to a boil then add the quinoa, reduce heat and simmer for 15mins. Allow to cool when done. Combine quinoa and the rest of the cake ingredients except the oil. Set aside while you prepare the salsa.

Use a ¼ c measuring cup to scoop the mix into the oil. (I could make 4 cakes at a time) Flatten with a spatula. Cook approximately 3-5 minutes per side making sure it is browned before flipping. If you are using a red quinoa, it doesn’t change color much when it browns. The color just deepens a little bit

SALSA

1 c pinto or black beans or substitute 1 diced avocado
1 c chopped tomato
2 T green chilies (hot or mild, you pick)or a fresh jalapeno is great too
3 T finely chopped basil or parsley
4 scallions finely chopped
1 T olive oil
½ lemon- juice only
1 T white wine vinegar
Dash garlic powder
1 t honey
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all of the salsa ingredients in a medium bowl. While it is marrying flavors you can cook the quinoa cakes. Heat canola oil in a large skillet on medium heat.

Serve cakes topped with salsa YUM!

Other good ideas:

--add slice avocado

-- cook cakes a head of time and use all week

Black Brownie

2009-08-24T07:37:00.001-07:00

Ok I have heard the hype about the black bean brownies. There are recipes all over the internet about this "secret ingredient" brownie. All have declared it delicious, amazing, rich, glorious--I do not need to go on, right? We all know how people describe chocolate and frankly, it is a little embarrassing!

Though in my desire to open the door of gluten free possibilities to my daughter I decided --Why Not, let's give this brownie a go!

Black Brownie
serves 12
modified from Whole Foods Black Bean Brownie
15 ounces canned black beans-rinsed and drained
3 eggs
3 tbl butter-melted
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 raw sugar
1 1/2 tsp instant coffee
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp vanilla
dash of salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 8x8 pan.Blend beans into a paste using a blender or food processor. Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix thoroughly. Pour brownie batter into pan and bake for 30 minutes or until the sides start to pull away from the pan.

Family feed back: My husband thinks he hates black beans, he tasted the brownie and said they were very good, rich in texture and he asked me if the secret ingredient was coffee. However, the coffee in this is no secret! The taste to me was like those \dark chocolate covered espresso beans you can get in gourmet candy stores. For me the flavor was a good combination because I do not like chocolate but I love coffee which made them tolerable for me.
My children who love chocolate were asked to rate the brownies by a 5 star rating system--one declared 19,000 stars--but she really loves chocolate. The other children all gave the brownies 4 stars.

You cannot taste the bean in this at all--but they add a texture which pleases the palate much like dove chocolate does. These are a rich dessert with some added fiber.

Calories per brownie-146
Fa- 6 grams
Carbohydrate- 18 grams
Fiber- 2 grams
Protein- 4 grams

Other good ideas:
-- shave off some calories and substitute butter for applesauce
-- cut sugar in half by using stevia
-- serve hot with a tablespoon of peanut butter and sliced bananas

The Good or Pork Stew

2009-08-19T06:01:00.000-07:00

Several years ago while at a county fair here in NH my son and I were looking at a large pig that was being auctioned off. My son, who is now almost 19, was a young child learning about life and death had asked me if we could try and win the pig. I told him that winning the pig meant food not pet--I showed him the diagram by the pig that explained the cuts of meat you would win if you were the lucky number holder. My son was shocked and saddened--he knelt next to the large animals pen and looked through the wires with tears in his eyes. He then stood up and declared himself a "porkatarian" His denial of pork lasted maybe a month--or at least till we had pork for dinner.

Pork--the other white meat. It is so rich in flavor and texture--honestly overlooked for the beef, fish and chicken meal options. Recently our local market had pork loin at an astonishing price of $0.79 a pound. My husband, thrilled with his find and insistent that the price was a mistake loaded the cart with several roasts. So--we have pork!

I was looking over the foods in my pantry and fridge to see what I could do with one of the roasts, as we have already had it marinated, BBQ'd , smoked etc. So, I took out all the vegetables that I purchased at a local farm, added them along with thew pork to a large stew pan and boiled it all day yesterday. I served it in large bowls with large spoons and it was delish! I asked my former porkatarian what we should call this dish and his response was "Good!" So here it is, the Good!
The Good
3lb pork loin still on the bone.
6 large tomatoes
1 pound carrots chunked-I used white carrots
1 large onion-chunked
2 small head cabbage, chunked
1 cup Mung Beans
Paprika
Cumin
In a large stew pot place all the ingredients aside from the cabbage and beans, cook covered on medium heat for about 3 hours. You can cook this even longer if you like. About an hour before dinner, add the cabbage and beans to the pot. Serve warm. I added some chili powder to a few bowls for those of us who like it hot.
This really was an easy, wonderful dish that uses all the inexpensive ingredients that you can find this time of year at Farmer's markets.

3 ounces of pork loin has about 178 calories, 8 grams fat and 24 grams protein. The vegetables are a bonus :)

Enjoy!

Zucchini Banana Bites- Gluten Free

2009-08-18T08:20:00.000-07:00

OK, harvest is here as well as school starting. So let's keep those lunch box snack ideas rolling in! Here is a modified version of our Zucchini Apple Muffins we have in Squeaky Gourmet. These were so wonderful and delicious--we shared them with athletes at the NAS Nationals and received rave reviews on the flavor, texture and the fact they did not weigh you down!

Zucchini Banana Bites
makes 12 small muffins
1 cup oat flour
1/2 cup old fashioned oatmeal
1 large egg
5 large egg whites
1 medium banana-mashed
3/4 cup shredded zucchini
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon zest
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray your Muffin pan with non-stick spray. Add all the ingredients to the mixer and blend thoroughly. Fill each muffin tin about 2/3 full and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Other Good Ideas-
--use pumpkin instead of banana
--add in raisins or other dried fruits
--add in walnuts

These are so good and so easy to prepare you can make them ahead of time and freeze for the winter snacks. Also makes an excellent zucchini loaf!

Calories Per Muffin- 60
Carbohydrates- 9 grams
Fat- 1 gram
Protein- 4 grams

Dark Chocolate Nut Butter Rice Crispy Treats--

2009-08-10T10:57:00.000-07:00

I was actually an adult before I had a rice crispy treat. My mother was a lentil bean feeding hippie throw back when I was little. We did not have a lot of the junk food treats like Twinkies, ho hos or rice crispy treats. Different world out there today, less people prepare their kids snacks and more people purchase fast food. When I pack my kids lunches I always wonder if they will be looking over at what the other kids are eating and wish they could have it, too. I know I did, no one when they are little likes to be left out. Though--a lot of school peers loved to trade some of their food for my mothers Zucchini muffins--bonus for me!

Anyway, school is about to begin here in NH and with the foods schools are offering I try to make sure I have a variety of healthier choices at home to be packed into the lunch pail. This week we tried out some gluten free organic rice cakes. Now, I will admit just because it is organic does not make it healthy for the body. What it does do though is provide a better advantage to the body in processing the foods and allocating the nutrients to where they belong. our body is not looking at the artificially created food product and wondering just what the heck it should do with it. So--this is a good reason to even make treats organic. In this recipe we include the fats of peanut butter to fill the child up longer and of course help they remain focused at school. Slow down that food fuse to allow for a nice burn rather than an energy surge and a crash of fatigue 60 minutes after snack. I also used brown puffed rice cereal since it is gluten free and has more fiber.

Puffed Rice Bars
serves 16
3 cups Organic Puffed Rice Cereal
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
8 marshmallows OR 1/4 cup Marshmallow Fluff
1/2 cup raisins
1 ounce dark chocolate

Combined peanut butter and marshmallows and heat in a microwave for 2 minutes. Stir the mixture until smooth--you want to make sure the marshmallow has melted and melded with the peanut butter. Then add in the puffed rice and raisins--blending so the cereal is coated. When I did this it did not look at all like it would form bars, it looked like the cereal was barely coated at all but when you press this into your pan it will stick wonderfully--trust me!
So--press firmly into a pie plate or a 9x9 baking dish. Melt the chocolate in the microwave and spread evenly on top of the newly created treat and cut into even pieces before the chocolate cools. I made palm sized pieces, or 1.5"x1.5" which ended up being about 100 calories each.
My kids devoured these....DEVOURED--so I plan on making them on Sundays and quickly putting them into containers for the lunch bags so they won't be gone by Monday.

Per Serving
Calories- 98
Fat- 4 grams
Carbohydrates- 13 grams
Protein- 3 grams

Fat is flavor!

2009-08-05T07:39:00.000-07:00

Did you know mayonnaise is over 250 years old--created in 1756 by the French. It was introduced to the United States in 1905 by a German Immigrant and was branded by Hellman's first. We like mayonnaise here in NH in the summer, on salads like potato, macaroni or even on our loved BLT. As a foodie and a fitness lover it is hard to marry mayonnaise with such foods unless it is a "free meal" or something. However, we can use the benefit of the fat on our low fat meals to add that wonderful flavor and full feeling we seem to miss out when we are eating clean.

I do not like the mayo you can purchase in the stores, canola oil is most often times from a genetically engineered plant--corn syrups and artificial colors litter a few brands. Plus, I like my food fresh, don't you? So--I made my own mayonnaise and despite what food bloggers say--it was actually pretty easy and took me maybe 10 minutes to complete! I then added some spice to it and served it up on our Tuna Cakes.

Squeaky Mayonnaise
1 cup organic olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 organic egg yolk
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp water

Add the egg yolk, salt, water and lemon juice to your blender and blend on medium-high speed. Start to s-l-o-w-l-y drip some of the oil into the egg mixture as it is blending. This is where you will begin to form an emulsion and the protein and oil particles will fall in love, hold hands and spin around the bowl in blessed union. In this picture you can see the slow, delicate stream of oil on the side of the bowl. I used a spoon to touch the side of the bowl and tip it so the oil drizzled down the side of the bowl into the eggs.

As the egg and oil fall in love and bind together you can begin adding slightly more oil to the "oil slide" on the side of the bowl. If you look at this picture you can see the increased oil pooling above the emulsified egg mixture.

The advice from many recipes is to slowly add the oil with a dropper, a spoon, a funnel or some other hands on slow adding way. I am lazy and did not want to mess this up by getting too much oil in the bowl--so I just kept the oil pouring onto the side of the bowl while using a simple liquid measuring cup.
Then suddenly--I had a mass of oil and egg in a completely new way--I had mayonnaise!
It felt more glamorous to me than this picture can depict of course. If your mayo turns out too thick you can add more water (slowly of course). Also if you miss the emulsion by adding too much oil or add the oil too fast--you will know as it will be bits of yellow floating in oil. You can repair this by removing the mixture and removing it from the bowl and starting the egg blend again and add this "missed mayo" slowly as if it were the oil.

So--next I decided to add some cilantro and fresh garlic to this beauty and was amazed at the wonderful taste! My husband loved the dish as well! Normally he is not a big tuna cake fan--see what a little fat can do to a dish?

Oh and a tip on the garlic--do you still peel your garlic? I do not, I smash it on the counter and scare the peeling right off the bulb. It is an easy tip to try:Place your garlic bulb on a cutting board and use the flat side of a butcher knife and smash the bulb. The peelings separate very easy from the flesh and saves time from trying to actually peel the skin. I then pressed the garlic rather than chopping it because I wanted the juice to really permeate the mayonnaise.

The cilantro was fresh and I just diced it up finely and stirred it in. However, this is what I chose to add: this is your sauce! Think outside the box--what flavor are you adding this too? Fish--try some dill--chicken--basil and sun dried tomato--it has endless choices as the mayonnaise is the blank canvas for your dish to be created on!

Check out more real food here: http://www.cheeseslave.com/2009/08/11/real-food-wednesday-august-12-2009/

Strawberry Mousse Low Carb Delite!

2009-08-04T05:03:00.000-07:00

Surfing around the blogs for healthy foods I found one called "Healthy Indulgences" which ended up being a super cool landing page for those of you doing Atkins style dieting( Hi Marvin!) or for others who have joined the bandwagon who feel sugar in all forms are forms of the devil herself. The recipe on her page called for sugar alcohols or splenda--but that is not how we want to prepare our recipes so I decided to try her recipes with a Squeaky adaptions to it. I added more fruit, more lemon and more gelatin to make up for it being less "sweet". Kids loved it!

Strawberry Mousse
1 lb fresh strawberries-hulled and chopped
1 cup heavy cream
3 tbls lemon juice
2 tsp lemon zest
1 tbls Vanilla
2 tbls unflavored gelatin
1/4 warm water

Set gelatin in a bowl and add the warm water and allow it to melt. In a food processor or blender add strawberries lemon juice and zest and blend thoroughly. Add this fruit puree to a sauce pan and heat until warm--adding in the gelatin stir to let it full dissolve. Cook for 5 minutes--then remove from heat to cool. While the strawberry mixture is cooling add 1 cup light whipping cream and vanilla to a bowl and whip on high heat until very stiff peaks are formed. Fold in the cream with the now cooled off berry mixture. Once the berries and cream are fully incorporated set in the fridge for 2 hours which allows the gelatin to do its job.
Other good ideas:
--Serve over Angel Food Cake
--Serve with our Protein Waffles as a dessert
--Serve with fruit compote

Calories Per 1 cup Serving: 94
Carbohydrate: 6 grams
Fiber: 2 grams
Fat: 7 grams
Protein: 2 grams

Go eat Dirt Balls! Only 100 calories a pop.

2009-07-31T04:32:00.000-07:00

When I was a little girl I would play in the sand box for hours on end. I would create mud pies, mud cakes--6 course mud meals even! Sadly, no one would eat them for me but that did not stop my creations!

In our book , Squeaky Gourmet, we have a recipe called "Dirt Balls" which pulls on the little girl heart strings--reminding me of the sand box and all those hours wasted on mud food when I could have been making dirt balls that everyone would eat. (This recipe was recently mentioned on the NPR show on KAXE--listen here to the interview) So I enlisted the help of my own little girls to help me make Dirt Balls as a wonderful gluten free snack for the kids (and adults who long for the days of mud pies!) These were devoured by all of the kids soon after we made them.

Dirt Balls
serves 14
1/4 cup toasted oatmeal(old fashioned)
2 tbls sunflower seeds
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
2 tbls unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chopped fine
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbls roasted almonds chopped fine
1 pack stevia or 3 tbls raw honey

Toast the oatmeal in a non-stick skillet set on medium heat until they are browned. This was a great job for my 6 year old to work on since it is not highly explosive or flammable or anything and she felt like a big girl using the stove with me.

Setting the almonds aside; use your kitchen mixer add the remaining ingredients and blend well. We used raw honey in our mix because we have some allergy sufferers in the family and raw local honey helps build your own immunity to allergy triggers--but it has to be local honey to get the benefit. Once the oats are toasted to your liking you can add them to your coffee grinder or food processor to chop them up a bit before adding to the mud like mixture on the mixing bowl.

Make small balls about 3/4 in diameter , roll in your hands and then roll in the almonds. Now, this is where the fun came in for my 5 year old daughter as she was enlisted to create the dirt balls from the mud/mortar like substance we had created. Of course she did not want to roll them in the almonds, she preferred sprinkling the almonds on so they lost a bit of the rock effect.

Other Good Ideas:
--Add in dried cherries, coconut, puffed rice, crushed bran flakes,powdered milk or even protein powder
--roll in cocoa powder or cinnamon
--use different nut butters

Calories Per Serving: 92
Fat: 7 grams
Protein: 3 grams
Carbohydrates: 7 grams

Check out Fight Back Friday for more Real Food tips, recipes and more!

Summer Frittata

2009-07-29T05:22:00.000-07:00

OK, let's face it--eggs are really underrated in their versatility and they still have such a bad reputation thanks to the "anti-egg" campaign of the 1990's. I am not sure how we came about degrading such a natural wholesome goodness of the egg--which is full of good fats, good vitamins and rich in proteins. We think of eggs as boring, additive ingredients made to make a dish more cohesive. So I wanted to rethink the egg and rethink breakfast, but in my genius rethinking of the egg I ended up with an old classic--a Fritatta. A frittata is basically an open faced omelette--once again making the egg the background scene for a main dish. Let me just emphasise, though, that the egg in this dish is as much a benefit to this dish as a 400 small block engine is to the Camaro.

Summer Frittata
serves 2
4 whole large eggs
1/2 cup shredded zucchini
1/4 cup shredded peppers
2 cloves garlic pressed
1/2 small onion shredded
1/2 sweet red pepper shredded
1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped finely
2 fresh basil leaves chopped finely
2 ounces feta crumbled

Preheat a non stick skillet on medium heat. In a mixing bowl beat eggs until frothy. Add in the rest of the ingredients except the feta. Pour the Frittata batter into the pan, moving the mixture around to ensure there is no pan showing. Cover and cook until egg is firm--about 7 minutes.
Invert egg onto a serving platter and top with feta cheese. Serve warm.

Calories Per Serving: 235
Protien: 17 grams
Carbohydrates: 7 grams
Fat: 15 grams

Other Good Ideas:
- You can vary the vegetables in this depending on the season. Shredded potato, squash, peas, brocolli etc
-You can serve this cold making it an excellent ( I wanted to say egcelent I admit it) luch box menu item

A Sorbet Day

2009-07-28T06:36:00.001-07:00

I went out to the garden this morning and found that the local mule deer herd had visited my well fenced veggie patch and cleaned me out of squash and green tomatoes. I was going to do something with my little yellow patty pan squash but--No! It was not to be.

But I had fresh blueberries calling out so I made some sorbet.

Peach Berry Sorbet
Serves-4
1 c water

1/3 c natural sugar
Combine water and sugar in a microwave bowl and bring to a boil ( 3 minutes or so). Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Let cool in refrigerator.

2 c fresh blueberries
1 c frozen peaches or 1 large fresh peach
1 c frozen or fresh strawberries
2 limes or lemons – juice only
Pinch sea salt

Combine sugar mix and all other ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Spread mix into a 8x8 cooking pan, cover, and place in freezer until frozen. 3-4 hours.

Remove the frozen mix, break into chunks and place in a food processor. Blend until smooth and creamy. If you have a smallish food processor, you may have to do the blending in 2 batches. Place the creamy mix into a freezer container and re-freeze until solid.

Other Good Ideas:

Place the liquid in Popsicle molds and freeze--makes perfect vitamin rich Popsicle for the kids..yeah for the kids!

Another Garden Fresh Day

2009-07-27T09:52:00.000-07:00

I love it when I walk out to the garden early in the morning and I get inspired to create something new in the kitchen. Today was one of those days. My heirloom beans (2 kinds shown) were going crazy and I really wanted to know what the tiger stripe ones were going to taste like. I intended to let those grow and dry on the stalk for dry soup beans but I tasted one of them fresh and thought they were great so I added a few for color.

Lemon Basil gives a wonderful extra flavor to the beans so try to find some or better yet, grow your own. Herbs are quite easy to grow and can usually take heat and low water conditions of the late summer. Enjoy!

Lemon Basil Green Beans

1 pound clean and trimmed fresh green beans
1 T olive oil
½ lemon – juice
Pinch lemon zest
2 T fresh Lemon Basil – minced- or any fresh basil you can get
Pinch sea salt
Pepper to taste

Boil beans for 5-10 minutes until fork tender. Different variety of green beans cook faster than others. When beans are cooked drain off water and place in a medium sized bowl. Add rest of the ingredients and toss well. Serve warm.

Another cooking option is mix everything together with the raw beans and throw on the grill. That’s what I did.

If you want a cold dish or salad, add about ¼ cup cider vinegar and more lemon juice then refrigerate until chilled tossing a few times before serving.

Squeaky Gourmet author Maureen Jeanson interviews on KAXE

2009-07-27T05:36:00.001-07:00

Click to listen to KAXE interview with co-author Maureen Jeanson from July 24th 2009.

I was pretty excited and nervous about this interview but feel I represented our book pretty well!
I will be posting today's recipe later on, so if you came here looking for a recipe but were distracted by the interview--stay tuned ;)

Angie from Fatburningtips4women.com gave us a nice review!

2009-07-23T07:04:00.000-07:00

I remember Angie from back in the BFFM Yahoo group days--wow what a long strange trip it has been for both of us. Hey--what have you done in the last 6 yrs to increase your health? You know--since you are reading this blog and all--I was wondering what you have done--or better still what will you be doing for your health and fitness over the NEXT 6 years?
Check out the world of fitness and health Angie has created--oh yeah and check out the review of Squeaky Gourmet while you are there ;)

What is your story Morning Glory?

2009-07-22T06:08:00.000-07:00

When I was a younger woman I worked at a deli and we sold muffins called "Morning Glory" muffins. Wow-were they ever tasty! They had carrot pieces, zucchini chunks, walnuts, raisins--they had delicious goodness in them. At the time I did not realize the fact that they gave me heart burn and coated my hands with a shiny film was a bad thing. I just loved the taste of them. So, I was inspired by that love when I picked up the fresh Zucchini from a local farmer--hence my lovely pancakes with dots of green and orange in them this morning.

A few new cool things I tried with these little flat cakes I thought were so great they needed to be shared with you. First, I used rice flour to keep them gluten free, but this time I soaked the rice flour in warm water for 30 minutes. You see, a few weeks ago a woman asked me how to make gluten free items not have the texture of corn bread because her husband did not like that. (Hi Marci!) So yesterday while surfing new recipes I saw a blog post about soaking the rice flour overnight and I thought CRAZY-I must try this! Given that I have low attention span and lack of impulse control, I managed to soak them for 30 minutes. As an aside--I do have some more soaking right now and will wait to prepare perhaps some biscuits or something at a later time.

I also used coconut cream in the batter, just 2 tablespoons so no one needs to close the page and run from the computer. Little tidbit about coconut cream--like avocado fat--this is good for you fat. This is the stuff which helps your body work, smoother skin, faster brain functioning etc. You can purchase it at your local market or pick it up at your Asian marketplace--where I buy mine.

Zucchini Carrot Pancakes
Serves 10
1 1/2 cups rice flour soaked in 3/4 warm water
1/2 cup finely grated zucchini squash
1/2 cup finely grated carrots
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 Agave or Honey
2 fresh eggs
1 tbls Vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of Salt

Soak the rice flour in warm water for at least 30 minutes. It reminded me of the recipe for making slime with water and cornstarch. When you moved the fork around the flour had a firm texture but when you let it sit, it appeared to be liquid. It was magic flour!

While the flour is soaking you can shred the vegetables (fruit?) into a glass bowl. Then add the rest of the ingredients aside from the sodas.

Set a pan on medium heat and grease lightly with butter. While that is heating blend the wet ingredients with the wet flour and add in the sodas. I let this sit for about 5 minutes so everything could meet and meld and agree to taste fantastic.

Adding one ladle of mixture to the hot pan allow to cook until the edges are dry--then flip and cook for a few more minutes. Serve while hot!

Calories Per Serving-145
Fat-3 grams
Carbohydrates- 26
Protein-4

Other good ideas--
- add chopped cranberries and orange zest
- omit sweetener and serve with a savory dish
-make ahead and freeze

Cool Avocado Blueberry Dip

2009-07-21T04:00:00.001-07:00

Blueberries should be falling off your bushes now--right? I took a walk out in the woods behind my house the other day ( OK I was looking for my dog which had managed to run off while I was staring at my pumpkin plant) and there were still so many blueberries on the bushes! I was thrilled that we could have another go with more blueberry recipes from the fresh wild fruits. Of course my excitement wore off when I was walking back to my house and was stung by a bee--but my dog had arrived back home before me so it was a mix of emotions--mostly burning pain.

This recipe brings blueberries outside of the box and into a new light. My kids really enjoyed the dip with the fruit--my pickiest eater even loved it. Blending things like yogurt which has fantastic properties for balancing digestion, blueberries which are flooded with antioxidants, and avocado which is such a good source of heart disease prevention was a delicious reward.

Cool Blueberry Avocado Dip

8-ounces low fat plain yogurt
1 rip Avocado peeled and cored
1 cup ripe blueberries rinsed
1tsp Lemon Zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Dash of Cinnamon
Dash of Salt
Stevia to taste

Add the fruit, yogurt & vanilla to your blender and blend until the blueberries are fully mixed in. Add the salt, cinnamon and stevia tasting to assure it pleases your own taste buds--as some people enjoy it sweeter than others. Serve with fruit immediately or keep covered and refrigerated.

Other good ideas:

-use this as a topping for granola
-use this as a dressing for fruit salad
- a wonderful addition to a salmon dish

This recipe is adapted from Squeaky Gourmet www.squeakygourmet.com by Maureen Jeanson and Jamie C. Wilson

Today From Jamie's Garden!

2009-07-17T03:40:00.000-07:00

Another good day in the Wilson’s garden. I picked scallions, broccoli, a pepperocini pepper, English peas, basil and curly parsley. I’ll use the herbs tonight for dinner.

Broccoli Salad
Serves 2
3 c chopped fresh broccoli including stems
3 scallions finely chopped whites and some green
3 T toasted sunflower seeds
¼ c organic raisins
2 T organic Mayonnaise
3 T apple cider vinegar
1 t honey
Pinch sea salt

Chop up and combine the top 4 ingredients in a med sized bowl. In a small bowl mix the honey and the vinegar and put mixture in the microwave for 10 seconds to heat the honey. Now add the mayo and mix well. Toss together with the broccoli and salt if you like and now refrigerate for at least an hour before eating.

Paneer for the People!

2009-07-15T07:08:00.000-07:00

Paneer adds an interesting element to a dish and has varied uses. All you have to do is google Paneer and you will find a plethora of recipes! For those of you who do not know what this even is: Paneer is a common Persian non melting famer's cheese. There, feel better knowing? Just like any fat added to0 a meal you will feel sated longer and it won't leave you wandering the kitchen looking for that "something" you may be left craving after a low fat meal. We can use avocado, nuts, butters, coconut cream all for the same affect in a low fat meat dish to balance the dish and feel full without adding in large amounts of calories. Since fat takes longer to digest the full feeling is left with us longer than the low fat meals we think we are suppose to eat--in fact this is where the success lies in diet plans like Atkins!

So--here is a very basic paneer--or farmer's cheese recipe for you!

Paneer
1/2 gallon Whole Milk ( I used raw milk)
2 TBLS Lemon Juice

Heat milk on the stove, stirring constantly so it won't burn to the bottom of the pan. ( I have memories of pudding burns when I was a little girl)You want to heat it till it boils--do not under heat it or you just wasted milk.

I used a flat bottom spatula to be sure I was scraping the pan while stirring. Once milk heats up it boils fast so you do not want to walk away from this. It will boil up and over and be everywhere!

Once the milk has boiled remove immediately from the heat and add in the lemon juice, still stirring. After about 3 minutes curds will form--you want to set this aside for 10 to 15 minutes to let the curds set up.

After the curds have fallen in love with one another and formed a tighter bond you want to pour them into a cheese cloth over a strainer to pour out the whey. Do not discard this whey as you can use it for chowders, gravy, baking, bathing--yes you can use it in soap making even. Oh and I use a muslin cloth instead of the cheese cloth you can buy in the stores because the curds tend to fall into the small holes. Some recipes suggest doubling up the cheese cloth but even then I felt I lost to many little curd babies.

Once the cheese has drained you can wrap it up in the cloth and press out more of the whey by hand. Just wrap it and squeeze--making sure it is cool enough to handle of course. Once that is done you can lay the ball of wrapped up cheese on a plate and press another plate on
top of it. I added several heavy books to make sure the cheese was going to give up the last bits of the whey to me.

After about 20 minutes you can unwrap the paneer and behold your creation--You, my friend, have created CHEESE! Isn't it beautiful?
Now, remember this is a fat to add to meals or something to create meals with on those low activity days where you are craving something but are not sure what it is.

Calories per 1 ounce Serving: 100
Fat: 8 grams
Carbohydrates: 1 grams
Protein: 7 grams

Other good ideas:
-serve diced with fruit
-pan fry to give a crispy texture
-drizzle with honey
-use as a salad topper
-CURRY!

Blueberry Salsa

2009-07-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

Keeping with the theme of July and more ideas for that wonderful antioxidant rich fruit--try something savory and outside the box!

This salsa is tangy and savory and is excellent over grilled chicken or a sliced avocado. For something extra special, grill some fresh pineapple and top with this beautiful salsa. Spicy!

Blueberry Salsa

--serves 2

1/3 c fresh blueberries chopped
3 scallions- white part only- chopped finely
1/3 c diced tomato
2 dashes smoked paprika
Pinch salt
Dash cayenne pepper or more is you want heat
Juice from ½ lime
¼ t cumin

Mix all ingredients together well and let sit for 15 minutes to let the flavors mingle.

Other good ideas:
-Use as a topping for fish
-serve on cottage cheese

Blueberry Apple Crumble

2009-07-10T05:34:00.000-07:00

Keeping with the season of blueberries--here is a variation to the Apple Crumble featured on Squeaky Gourmet that we know you will love!

Blueberry Apple Crumble
Serves 2
1 c Fresh Blueberries
2 Apples ( Granny Smith or Fuji are great choices)
Juice from 2 limes
2 T Succunat (this is a raw unprocessed sugar)
¼ c Old Fashioned Oats
¼ t Cinnamon
Pinch salt
2 t cold butter

Use a pie plate sized dish for this.Preheat oven to 275 degrees.Peel, halve and core apples then slice thinly and put in bowl with lime juice, blueberries and 1 T Succunat. Toss all together and then spread mix on bottom of dish. Bake for 20 minutes. Meanwhile…While the apples are cooking, combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl and smush well with fingers or a fork trying to evenly distribute the butter.When the apple mixture is done, sprinkle with the topping and bake until the oats are golden, approximately 30 minutes. Serve warm or room temperature.

Other good ideas…
Add dried cranberries or apricots to the apple mixture
Top with a dollop of vanilla yogurt

Calories Per Serving: 257
Fat: 5 grams
Carbohydrates: 55 grams
Fiber: 6 grams
Protein: 2 grams

Oatmeal Apple Blueberry Muffins- yeah another Gluten Free as well!

2009-06-26T10:09:00.001-07:00

It is blueberry season! Did you know blueberries have their own organization supporting their health benefit message across the planet? They do- Blueberries Health check that link out to read up on the benefits of this berry added to your diet. I try and include seasonal vegetables and fruits into our menus anytime I can--right now it is blueberry time!

Here is a fantastic alternative to the fast food, over processed crappy muffins that have been over marketed to us. You can make these up ahead of time and freeze them for those winter months when the berry bushes are dormant and so is the sun.

Oatmeal Apple Blueberry Muffins

Serves 3

1 ½ c old fashioned oats
1 c applesauce- I use natural no sugar
1 c blueberries
3 eggs
4 egg whites
1 t cinnamon

Mix everything in a bowl and let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes to let the oats swell a little. Preheat oven to 400 deg. Spray regular size muffin tin with no-stick spray or better yet use a no stick tin. Fill holes almost full as these don’t rise much at all. Cook for 25 minutes. If you want the tops browned, put under the broiler for a minute or less. Voila! This makes 12 muffins which is 3 servings.

Calories Per Serving: 308
Carbohydrate: 44 grams (6 grams fiber)
Fats: 8 grams
Protein: 16 gams

Other good ideas: try this with other seasonal fruits like raspberries or peaches! You can also substiture the blueberries for a cup of diced apple.

Asian Turkey Wrap-all natural and gluten free

2009-06-24T08:02:00.000-07:00

A lot of times when we venture out into the "healthy eating" world we look for foods that are clean but recreate the same old flavors we are addicted to eating. We look for the low carb pre-packaged food products or the low fat pre-made dinners that sit for months on end in the grocery store shelves--we do this simply because we have little knowledge on what healthy eating means. I know, I have seen it countless times with clients asking if eating carrots or onions are ok because they read somewhere on some tabloid which was selling the "fastest and easiest way to shed 30lbs in 30 days" that those carrots or ontions--or even tomatoes--were what was keeping them over weight. All that sugar in those--vegetables? Come on! My response is always the same--Have you ever met a person who is obese who can realistically state it is from eating too many vegetables? No--you have not and you never will.

So, recently I was watching "Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmerns" on TV, he was visiting Japan and eating some really interesting fare! I love that show--so I was looking at the people he was surrounded by and I thought to myself how no one there really even seemed to have much of a weight issue let alone appear obese. He was not in an impoverished area where food was hard to come by, they were dining on seafood and rice dishes in upper end restaurants even. The key was they were not eating any of the prepackaged garbage the FDA seems to prescribe to the American people as healthy choices. They were eating food closest to how it is found in nature. If we ourselves are a carbon life forms, just as animals are etc--why do we insist on putting into our body artificially created food "products" and expect good health to be the result? No, really--I am asking you to think about that right now--why? We are the obese carbon life forms--not the Squirells eating the nuts and berries--not the beast of the field allowed to roam and graze the way they were designed to be. In fact, house pets are fat--why? How are we feeding them? Chemically engineered food products--go say sorry to Rover.

In this respect we need to consider what we are eating--once again. Is the tomato pretty close to how it was created by nature? Yeah, usually--but that is a whole other article to rant about. The onion, the carrots, the potato and even the wild rice--all the way it was intended. Now, how about that sandwich wrap with an ingredient list 25 items long--but clearly labeled that it is "low fat, low carb, low calorie" low in benefits to your human body as well!

These thoughts were the long drawn out basis for the newest recipe I created. I went to my favorite Asian market and looked over their food items. I picked up a package of rice paper and read the ingredients: rice flour (just ground up rice) water, (as close to nature as we can get without drowning!) salt--perfect! Next I picked up some chutney-which means "to crush". This chutney was coconut and it listed: coconut meat (ok sans shell this is good!)hot peppers, spices. Perfect, again! So, with those 2 items I decided to try to make a sandwich we can prepare and keep in the fridge--for snacking or for work or travel, parties--you name it!

Asian Turkey Wrap
serves 1

3 ounces ground turkey breast
1 tbls Coconut Chutney
1 tbls Soy sauce
1/2 cup Red Cabbage
3 rice wraps

In a non-stick pan on medium high heat brown the ground turkey. Add in the chutney, soy saice and cabbage and cook for about another 5 minutes. You want crunch to the cabbage so don't over cook this.

Take the rice paper and place in warm water for about 30 seconds, the paper will become pliable and easy to roll. Place 1/3 of the turkey mixture into the center of the wrap, fold the left and rigt sides towards the middle and roll. Do this to all 3 wraps and allow place in the refrigerator. I ate mine cold. If you serve them right away they are a bit --weird. Spongy and gummy--however you can bake them in the oven for about 10 minutes to crisp up the rice paper. Again, I preferred mine cold because the flavors really married.

Calories Per Serving: 288
Carbohydrates: 29 grams
Fat: 7 grams
Protein: 26 grams

Other good ideas: You can easily switch out the flavor here to make it a totally different dish. Try cayenne pepper, cumin and salsa to replace the chutney and soy sauce.
These can make great party appetizers as well!

Stop trying to replace you comfort foods with artificial creations of food. Sometimes the best find is something you have never even tasted before! Think outside the FDA approved "food product "box"!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread? Wait--and it tastes good too!?!?

2009-06-10T15:41:00.001-07:00

It is June here in New England but the weather has been reflecting cool autumn days rather than the hints of summer heat. Rather than actually turn on the heat in June I decided to do some baking. I was rewarded with the reminder that baking is wholesome and that the scent of cinnamon and pumpkin is as soothing as the summer nights. Keeping with the trend in here of baked goods being gluten free i decided to look around at some bread recipes and see what I came up with. I am very pleased with the results--even the husband and kids asked for more--MORE--MORE!

You can see in the image that the bread has a delicate texture with plenty of air holes resulting from the chemistry of ingredients melding to form the goodness that was this bread.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread
(serves 30 because I made 2 big loaves)
1 1/2 cups Rice Flour
3/4 cup Tapioca Starch
3/4 cup Potato Starch
1 tsp Cinnamon
3 tsp Xantham Gum
2 tsp Baking Soda
1 cup cream ( I used this instead of oil-you can use soy milk even!)
1/2 cup Agave Syrup
4 whole eggs
2 cups pureed Pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly oilk 2 loaf pans then dust them with flour to prevent sticking. Mix dry ingredients together and set aside. In a mixing bowl add all the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly. Slowly add dry mixture to the wet mixture--I did this 1/2 cup at a time to ensure even blending. Split batter evenly into the prepared pans and bake for 60 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pans. Allow to fully cool before slicing.

Calories Per Serving-140
Carbohydrates- 24 grams
Protein- 2 grams
Fats- 4 grams

Other Good Ideas-
You can serve this with some Greek Yogurt spread over the top.
Great for toast!

A mouth full of Peanutbutter and Jelly!

2009-06-08T10:33:00.000-07:00

Remember those school days of our youth when we have mom pack our lunches with a gooey PB&J? The peanut butter so thick and dry going together perfectly with the sweet juicy jam. That white bread was so malleable you could form balls with it and chew them right up--giving us the sensation of YUMMY! I am not sure about you but every once in a while I want that same flavor and texture but don't want that white bread (who still eats wonder bread--anyone know?) I also would rather have a more balanced trio than that mixture of youth that so many Americans can look back on warmly. So--I got to thinking and creating!
Here for your eating pleasure we present to you:

A Mouth Full of PB&J
Serves 12
5 tbls chunky natural peanut butter
1/2 cup coconut flour*
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
6 scoops protein powder ( I used banana for this recipe but use your imagination!)
1 tsp Vanilla
1 cup powdered milk
1 1/2 cups water

Mix the dry ingredients with the peanut butter and blend till a meal like texture is formed. If you have made pastry dough before you know what I am talking about here. Slowly add the water while the mixer is on low allowing a dough to form.

.
Pack dough firmly into a 1/4 cup measuring cup and tap out onto a clean plate. While these "rest" you can prepare the topping.

Topping:
1 tbls peanut butter
2 marshmallows
1 tbls Agave syrup
1tbls paraffin (canning wax-food grade of course)

Microwave on high until the wax has melted. Don't be worried about the wax as this is the same technique used to make those chocolate covered treats you are always tempted to buy! Blend the mixture till the marshmallows are swirled but not completely blended into the mix. Flip the measured out rounds over and add 1 teaspoon of the topping to each peanut butter round.
Add 1 tsp of your favorite sugar free jam to the top of when you serve them.

*I chose coconut flour because of the fiber rich content of this flour. You can substitute it with Oat flour just as easily.

Calories Per Serving- 150
Fat- 8 grams
Protein- 16 grams
Carbohydrate- 12 grams
Fiber- 3 grams

You can have a CLEAN BBQ Sauce now! (no more dirty meat)

2009-05-27T07:49:00.000-07:00

Warm days spent outside chasing rays of sunshine and drinking ice tea--ahh, summer. The smell of the grill cooking up your favorite BBQ treats is something to look forward to--unless you are eating clean. Have you seen the calories in those BBQ sauces? WOW! Sugar laden empty calories just to add a different flavor to your meal is ridiculous. Granted when you look at the portion size they seem like a low affordable number but who do you know who measures out 1 tablespoon of sauce onto their grilled chicken? So-let Squeaky Gourmet share with you the Sweet and Tangy BBQ sauce which you can slather onto your chicken without it laying fat layers to your ribs!

Sweet Apricot BBQ Sauce
serves approximately 20
1/2 cup dried apricots
1/2 cup water
3 raw garlic cloves diced
2 tbls soy sauce
2 tbls dark molasses
1 tsp dried cumin
1 tsp liquid smoke

In a sauce pan combine apricots, water and molasses cooking on medium heat for about 10 minutes. (apricots should be very tender) In a blender blend raw garlic with the liquid smoke, soy sauce and cumin. Slowly add in cooled apricot mix and blend on high speed until it becomes the consistency you like for BBQ sauce. Brush over grilled meat and serve.

Serving Size-4 tbls
Calories-16
Carbohydrates-4
Protein-0
Fat-0

Um, yeah this is cake and I am on a diet--do you have any carrot sticks?

2009-05-11T06:26:00.001-07:00

So many people love chocolate cake to a level some may deem--unnatural--comfort food, libido enhancer, symbol of love and affection etc. Chocolate cake--just those words can send a dieter into thoughts of cheating and remorse. You can also find numerous "healthy" versions of chocolate cake on many recipe sites. Recently I was surfing the web and found a recipe that looked decent enough for me to try and prepare for my family. It had real chocolate, real sugar and such a wonderful blend of espresso with it that I had to try it out. Well, I was rewarded with the same let down many of the dieters of the world have shared when trying out a recipe which has removed the love from the food. I mean, eating a healthy chocolate cake still has to have the same sensuous experience to it or what would be the point? We already know where the carrot sticks are in the fridge, right? Why do we want a "carrot stick" version of a lusted after comfort food like cake? We don't. So--I modified the recipe with so much success I would like to report this as " A chocolate cake your husband would even request you make. Your kids won't even know and they will be licking the frosting off the plates and begging you for just one more piece!" The average slice of a frosted piece of chocolate cake has over 600 calories. The same size portion of this rich cake is less than half of those calories! (Yeah, that means you can have 2 pieces!) Yes, we even included the gluten free recipe alterations!

Rich Mocha Cake with Creamy Cheesecake Frosting
Serves 12

Dry Ingredients:
3/4 cup flour (sub in rice flour for gluten free)
1/2 cup pastry flour (sub in coconut flour for gluten free)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Wet Ingredients:
2 Whole eggs
2 Egg whites
2 tbs melted butter
1 tbs canola oil
1 1/2 cups non-fat Vanilla yogurt
1 tbs espresso powder melted in 2 tbs hot water
2 Oz. dark chocolate melted
1/3 cup Agave syrup

Heat over to 350 degrees and spray a 9x9 pan with cooking spray. Combined dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl whip eggs, whites, butter, oil, vanilla and syrup on medium speed. Add in the yogurt and espresso to the wet mixture blend thoroughly. Slowly add in melted chocolate until fully incorporated. Begin adding the dry mix 1/2 cup at a time while blending on medium speed. Pour blended batter into the greased cake pan and bake for 40 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean. Allow cake to fully cool before frosting.

Cheesecake Frosting

1 package low fat cream cheese at room temp.
1/3 cup confectioners sugar
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients and whip on medium high speed until the rich frosting texture is accomplished. Frost this bad boy and serve it up!

Calories per serving: 255
Carbohydrates- 33 grams
Fats- 9 grams
Protein- 6 grams

Chasing the Ice Cream Truck is Not Cardio

2009-04-28T10:11:00.000-07:00

Well, we are having quiet a wave of heat right now in New Hampshire. this heat has actually causes the Ice Cream trucks to drive up and down my street in the afternoons--it's melody calling out to the world "Summer is Here--Enjoy a Treat!" and of course many of us on a fitness journey are rarely satisfied with a serving portion of ice cream. For those of you not in-the-know; a serving portion is 1/2 a cup worth. How small is a that you may be wondering? Do you remember those Dixie paper cups we used to rinse our mouths out with after brushing? Yeah--not quit that much. So, I got to thinking about ice cream and how to make it Squeaky. A good friend of mine and someone who is a quoted review in our book told me about using xanthan gum in her protein shakes to thicken it. I decided to experiment and was more than thrilled with the results! The texture is ice cream--smooth, rich and creamy.

Ladies and gents--we give you:

Squeaky Gourmet Ice Cream
Serves 2

8 fluid ounces chilled skim milk
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 average sized FROZEN banana (roughly 4 ounces peeled)
1 tbls Xanthan gum

In a blender on high speed blend the milk, protein powder and gum until a smooth, rich consistency is reached. Chop frozen banana and add slowly to the ice cream as it is being blended. Poor into 2 goblets and chill in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
You can top this with DaVinci sugar free syrups, chopped nuts, fruits--I added hemp hearts to mine!

Calories per Serving: 169
Carbohydrates: 24 grams
Fiber: 5 grams
Fats: 1 gram
Protein: 16 grams

OH EMM GEE!! Tuna AGAIN!??!

2009-04-27T08:39:00.000-07:00

I grew up on classic American foods for the poor. Macaroni adds to any dish--extending the life and the amount of anything. Tuna fish was also the magic addition to foods when I was growing up. Now of course Tuna is far less affordable than even chicken breast, pound for pound. I am not sure if it is because of the mercury scare or the fact less and less people want to even take the time to prepare something other than a tuna sandwich with this magical canned goodness.

I will not go on and on about the dangers of the content of this tuna, at all. Hype and propaganda should not govern common sense choices of menu items, right? I will however direct you to this one article to help you make a choice : Not Eating Tuna Causes More Risk .

So, allow Squeaky Gourmet to reintroduce to you Tuna Fish!

Squeaky Gourmet's Tuna Cakes
Serves 4

12 oz canned tuna- drained
2 egg whites
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup raw onion diced
1 tbls low sodium soy sauce
2 tbls olive oil

Blend the oats in a coffee grinder until they are a course flour. Mix the tuna with the onions, soy sauce and egg whites. Add enough oat flour until a pasty ball can be formed. Heat olive oil in a skillet on medium high heat. Flatten the formed tuna ball into a patty shape and place in the hot oil. Take care not to burn yourself with the hot oil as it may splatter a bit when the cake is put in the pan. Serve on a bed of fresh peas.

Calories Per Cake- 224
Carbohydrates- 9 grams
Fats- 10 grams
Protein- 27 grams

These are excellent served cold as well, so you can make these ahead of time and use for lunches or picnics!

"I want chicken nuggests and french fries Mom!"

2009-04-13T08:10:00.000-07:00

Ah, yes--familiar words to any mother in this era of fast food and happy meals. I can't think of one child who does not like french fries or those golden deep fried chicken parts. Remember the commercial about chicken parts back when people were wondering just what the heck IS a chicken nugget? Now they advertise they are made of white meat and we have forgotten the importance of asking--how much white meat?

Well, here is a squeaky clean version of the fast food meal we seem to be unable to escape. These are very easy to make ahead and reheat later as well! Oh and yeah we did not forget the french fries either!

Chicken Nuggets-Squeakified!
serves 12
1/4 cup GF flour mix
5 Egg whites
2lbs chicken breast-trimmed of all visible fat
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
Ice water

Soak chicken breast in ice water and salt for 1 hour. Chunk up the chicken into "nugget' size pieces (2 lbs makes about 48 nuggets each about the size of a half dollar) . Mix flour with egg whites and garlic powder to make a batter. Heat a non stick skillet on medium high heat. Toss the chicken nuggets with the batter to fully coat the chicken. Place chicken into skillet heating on each side for about 6 minutes or until deep golden brown. The trick here is getting the pan hot enough to really cook it without burning it. You will need a good pan for this as well as being free from distractions so you can keep checking the chicken to ensure even cooking.

Calories Per 4 piece Serving-167
Carbohydrates- 8 grams
Protein- 25 grams
Fats- 3 grams

Easy French Fries
serves 8
4 Clean potatoes about 3" in diameter or 7.5 ounces each
1 egg white
1 tbls Olive Oil
1 tsp liquid smoke
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
Ice Water

Heat Oven to 375 degrees. Place non stick baking sheet in the oven while it preheats. Slice each potato into french fry chunks and soak in ice water for 1 hour, replacing the water each time it becomes cloudy. Mix oil, liquid smoke, egg white and salt and garlic together and coat the potatoes with the mixture. Place the fries on the hot baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, stir the fries and place back in the oven for another 15 minutes or until they are soft.
The key here for the flavor we find is the liquid smoke, it gives the fry a taste that you cannot match without it.

Calories per Serving- 100
Carbohydrates- 18 grams
Proteins- 3 grams
Fats-2 grams

The average nugget and french fry meal is 420 calories with 23 grams of fat. Our meal is under 270 calories with only 5 grams of fat-- you can see how easy this was to clean up and I know my kids devoured it!

Hope you enjoy it!

Orange Beef Stir-Fry

2009-04-08T07:43:00.000-07:00

This dish is so full of flavor and color! I enjoyed the contrast of the sweet orange and soy sauce-a healthy Asian dish to share!
While eating red meat is not condoned by a lot of health professionals, lean cuts of beef are a great source of vitamins and minerals.

Orange Beef Stir-Fry
serves 4

1/2 lb boneless lean sirloin steak cut into strips
2 cups fresh broccoli heads trimmed of stems and leaves
zest of 1 orange
2 large garlic gloves minced
2 tbls minced fresh ginger
2 tbls low sodium soy sauce
2 tbls sesame oil
2 tbls cornstarch mixed with 1 tbls warm water

Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over medium high heat. Add in garlic, ginger and orange zest and stir quickly. Cook for 60 seconds then add the beef strips. Brown the beef on all sides and add the broccoli florets. Cook for about 2 minutes then add the soy sauce and cornstarch and allow to boil. Remove from heat and let stand for a minute or two, allowing the liquid to set.

Serve with soy sauce and fresh oranges.

Calories Per Serving- 176
Carbohydrates- 9 grams
Fats- 6 grams
Protein- 21 grams

We can eat WAFFLES!! (protein packed and another GF recipe)

2009-04-06T04:51:00.001-07:00

A good friend of mine as well as a successful weight loss coach and fitness expert, MariAnne a.k.a "Built" shared her wonderful protein waffle recipe with me years ago. I decided I would try it out this weekend on the kids with a slight modification of substituting the artificial sweetener with Sucanat. Success!

The best part was handing this plate of food (as pictured here) to my son and his delight with it. Marianne shares that these waffles also freeze and toast up well--so you can make a few batches and store in a container in your freezer for a great on the go breakfast--lunch--dinner--snack food!

Protein Packed Waffles
serves 8
1 cup Gluten Free flour
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup low fat cottage cheese, drained of the whey
5 egg whites
1/2 tbls Vanilla extract
1 heaping tsp baking powder
1 tbls butter

Blend all ingredients with a stick blender until a batter consistency is formed.Lightly butter the waffle iron. Cook on medium high until the waffle is done. Garnish with fruit and serve.

Calories Per Serving- 188
Carbohydrates- 33 grams
Fats- 2 grams
Protein- 8 grams

Seen in the photo above served with 2 slices of low fat turkey bacon, fresh fruit and 1 slivered almonds:
Total Calories- 296
Carbohydrates- 52 grams
Fats- 6 grams
Protein- 16 grams

So, thank you MariAnne for your wonderful addition to the Squeaky Gourmet blog! To read more about MariAnne, her own success as well as see her advice on dieting and fitness please check her out here: Got Built?

Gluten Free Blueberry Sponge Coffee Cake

2009-04-04T11:14:00.000-07:00

Wow--another gluten free recipe! This was also another hit with the family and made the entire house smell like warm cinnamon happiness--we like that!

First let's cover the gluten free flour recipe that was given to my by my cousin Anne who suffers from Celiac's disease as well as a self proclaimed "Foodie" If you read Squeaky Gourmet's blog or own our cookbook, rest assured you are also a "Foodie".

Gluten Free Flour
2 Cups rice flour (brown or white rice)
2/3 cups Potato Starch
1/3 Cup Tapioca Starch
2 tsp Xanthan Gum

Sift together and store in an air tight container. Now when a recipe calls for flour, you can use this for the gluten free version of that recipe.

Blueberry Sponge Coffee Cake
Serves 12
2 cups Gluten free flour mix
4 large eggs
1/3 cup warm water
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbs honey
2 cups frozen unsweetened blueberries
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 teaspoon liquid Stevia

Topping:
1 tbls cinnamon
2 tbls Sucanat

Preheat oven to 350 degree. In a stand mixer add the eggs and whip until thick and pale yellow. Mix the warm water with the honey and then add to the eggs. Add in the vanilla, stevia and almond extract to the egg mixture continuing to mix on medium speed. Add flour and fully blend. Fold in the blueberries.

Place in a lightly buttered glass pie plate. Sprinkle topping over entire batter and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Calories per Serving-190
Carbohydrates- 38 grams
Fats- 2 grams
Protein- 4 grams

What's for dinner tonight? House Goulash was a HIT!

2009-04-03T07:50:00.000-07:00

We all see the new commercials out now with Choof Boyardoodle extolling the virtues of his canned meat and pasta dish. Twisting reality to meet the marketing claims of its wholesome goodness of vegetables and meat and magic in each serving. I ask you--who buys canned meat products and then actually thinks it is wholesome goodness?
With our creamy pasta dish--House Goulash-- you will be delighted to know it IS wholesome and the kids DO love it. My pickiest eater even asked for a second helping when we prepared this dish. The recipe I am about to share is a different version of the House Goulash we have in our book, Squeaky Gourmet.

House Goulash II
Serves 12
2lbs ground chicken or turkey breast
2 28-ounce cans low sodium crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup of low fat sour cream
2 tbls Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp each dried oregano, basil, marjoram
2 tsp garlic powder
1 pound box of large pasta shells-cooked

Cook the ground chicken breast with the Worcestershire sauce and half the garlic powder in a non-stick skillet until browned. Add in all the spices,the 2 cans of crushed tomatoes and the sour cream stirring until well blended and heated throughout. Add in the cooked shells and serve with love.

Calories Per Serving -299
Carbohydrates- 35 grams
Fats- 4 grams
Protein- 28 grams

Brownie Bites--WAIT! They are GLUTEN FREE!!

2009-04-03T07:25:00.001-07:00

These brownies were surprisingly welcomed by my 5 and 6 year old daughters. The texture was rich and dense without being overly heavy or sweet. The hint of almonds in it adds a chocolate cherry flavor that should please young and old at your own house! We decided to try to do a gluten free version because, after all, we are scientists in the kitchen.

Gluten Free Brownie Bites
Serves 12

1 cup White Rice Flour
1/2 cup Tapioca Flour
1 cup Sucanat
1/2 cup Cocoa Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
Few Dashes of Salt
2 Whole Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 teaspoons Almond Extract
4 tablespoons Water

Preheat over to 350 degrees. In a stand mixer om medium speed add the eggs,vanilla, almond extract and sugar until well blended,slowly add in cocoa powder. Mix in rice flour, tapioca flour, baking soda and salt. Continue to blend on medium speed adding in the water slowly until a rich fudge like texture is formed. It is important to note that when you use Sucanat as a sweetener you need to allow time for the sugar to mix in with the liquids.
Add to a non-stick 9 inch cake pan and bake for 25 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean.
Frost with 1 tablespoon Ricemellow cream and dust with cinnamon.

Calories Per Serving-140
Carbohydrates - 25 grams
Fat-1 gram
Protein- 2 grams

Coconut Cherry Granola

2009-03-31T09:37:00.000-07:00

In Keeping with the kids theme here is a snack my kids love, especially the teenagers! I like it over yogurt or even in a protein pudding.

2 1/2 cups old fashion oats
2/3 cup Pomegranate juice
1/3 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup shaved almonds
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/3 cup honey

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with non stick cooking spray or lightly butter it. Heat the juice and honey together and stir well. Add all the ingredients except the cherries to the juice mixture and blend. Spread evenly on cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes, stir the granola well and add cherries. Continue cooking for another 20 minutes. Allow granola to dry after cookie. The juice makes it a wet mess and once dried it forms wonderful granola chunks of goodness. Serves 12

Calories 133
Carbohydrates 23 grams
Fats 4 grams
Protein 3 grams

Let them eat FRUIT!

2009-03-30T07:08:00.000-07:00

I am doing a presentation at the end of April to a near by health food store. This presentation is to offer parents healthy food choices to their kids in a fast food and sugar laden marketing world. I know how hard it is to even get through the local market without my kids asking me to purchase something they have seen on TV or in a kids magazine because of the FUN FUN FUN feeling the advertisers place on the food product. For our children, they cannot separate the wonderful world of fantasy and the foods being marketed to them. We as parents have to battle that same child like excitement and innocence when we just drive past McDonald's or wander through the cereal isle at the grocery store. We also have to keep in mind, kids are programmed just like we are. There cannot be a negative to represent a positive. Meaning, we cannot simply say, we do not eat those foods (negative) and not offer a solution of what they CAN eat (positive). All that will do is offer resistance to our desires and we already have enough resistance from the kids as it is, right? So, I am on a quest to offer delicious alternatives to my own five test subjects, one of which DOES cry when I suggest she eat fruit as a snack. My work is cut out for me, I assure you!

Today I want to share with you 2 recipes, one which is so easy you will be thrilled! Let's share the easy one first. My youngest daughters love this recipe. The dip tastes like a rich luscious frosting because we use a low fat sour cream versus a low fat yogurt.

Fresh Fruit and Vanilla Dip
2 pounds fresh strawberries-washed and hulled
2 pounds seedless grapes-washed
1/2 cup low fat sour cream
2 tbls sucanat
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
1 tbls honey

Wash the fruit and set aside on a paper towel to dry. Mix the sour cream with the vanilla and sugar until well blended. It may take a bit for the sucanat to blend with the sour cream so I let it sit after the first blending and then mix again before serving.

Arrange the fruit on a plate with a dollop of the dip and a drizzle of the honey on top of the dip.

The second recipe tastes better the next day. However, it is also fantastic served warm with some of the vanilla dip from the above recipe!

Raspberry Oat Bars
2 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup gluten free pancake mix
1 Stick Butter
3 tbls honey
1/2 cup sucanat
1lb frozen raspberries-thawed
2-3 tbls ice water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a mixer add the pancake mix and oats and blend well.
Melt the butter and honey in a pan when the butter is fully melted add the sucanat to the liquid and blend.

When the butter and sugar are mixed into a dark liquid add slowly to the oat mixture while blending on low speed adding just enough ice water to create a meal like texture to the mix. This will look like a pie crust dough, crumbly but holds form when pinched together. Press half the mixture firmly into a parchment lined 9"cake pan.

In a separate bowl add the raspberries and blend with a hand mixer until pureed. Add the berried evenly to the "pastry dough" . Make sure that it is evenly spread since there is a lot of liquid which you do not want pooling on the dough causing it to lose its firmness. Cover the berries with the remaining crust and bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes and then cut into bars but do not remove from the pan until they are cooled.

Boredom is in the eye of the beholder

2009-03-24T13:29:00.000-07:00

Veggies and brown rice, brown rice and veggies. We hear it and we roll our eyes and dream about a time when we could eat richer foods with more flavor--but now we are on some sort of health kick. So--veggies and brown rice--brown rice and veggies. Then we get bored.
I mean who wants to eat like this EVERYDAY? Well, I do. However, I think that spices are the variety of life! The basic recipe for brown rice is simple: 2 parts water to 1 part rice. From there we can move on. Rice is like an artists canvas waiting to be created. You can add chopped garlic,onions and green peppers for a traditional rice dish. You can add different seasonings like cumin and paprika or even spicy treats like dried hot peppers with some diced tomatoes. Really, any flavor you can think of can be put into a rice dish with no added calories. Next time you are at the market take a slower walk through the spice isle and try out some new flavors. You may discover something you had no idea you would love!

As for veggies--yes, they can get boring as well. We can get stuck in the steamed veggie train and not see a way off. However, I LOVE roasted vegetables. They are rich in texture and taste. You can use any vegetable you want, toss it with some olive oil and seasonings of your choice and bake them at 350 degrees until cooked. When are they done cooking you ask? When you want to eat them. I prefer my vegetables with more of a crunch but you may like yours cooked a little bit longer.

Last night I took a full head of cabbage and chopped it into big chucks and then tossed it with olive oil, Mexican chili powder and garlic powder and baked it for about 30 minutes. YUM! SO next time you want to create a new flavor try roasting the vegetables and enjoy the new adventure in the produce isle as well!

Hawt and Spicy Nuts

2009-03-19T08:56:00.000-07:00

These sweet and crunch almonds have just enough kick to them to make your eyes light up but not have you dialing 9-1-1 to put out the fire!

Hot and Sweet Almond Slivers (serves 6)
2 cups raw almond slivers
1/2 tablespoon Olive Oil
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Mexican Chili powder
1 teaspoon green Habanero sauce (red if you like it HOTTER!)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place all ingredients in a bowl and stir till the slivers are evenly coated. Lay nuts out evenly on a non-stick baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes stirring them a few times to prevent burning.

Allow nuts to fully cool before serving.

Calories- 279
Fat- 25 grams
Protein- 3 grams
Carbohydrate- 11 grams

Sweet Potato Fries with Applesauce dip

2009-03-19T08:40:00.000-07:00

Sick of hearing your kids say they want french fries and ONLY french fries when you ask them what it is they want to eat? I can relate to that since 4 of my 5 children have preferred potatoes over any other food source known to man thus far. However, I am sure you are aware of the toxic levels of garbage that is ingested with a fast food small fry. So, let us offer you this alternative!

Sweet Potato Fries (serves 4)
2 medium sweet potatoes- peeled and cut into thick fry size
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tsp salt

seasoning of choices for savory: garlic, cumin, paprika, curry, Chinese five spice
Seasoning choices for sweet: cinnamon, ginger, apple pie spice

You can really think outside the box here for seasonings!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place spices and oil in a large bowl and stir till completely blended. Add in uncooked fries and stir till the potato slices are evenly coated. Lay the fries out in an even layer on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Turn each fry over carefully and return to the oven for another 20 minutes or until the fries are fork tender.

Allow to cool slightly before placing on a plate with a small serving of unsweetened apple sauce.

Another fun idea is to have the kids help you with these by placing the oil, potatoes and seasoning in a zip locked bag and let the kids shake the fries to coat them.

Calories-90
Fat- 3.5 grams
Protein- 1 gram
Carbohydrates- 14 grams

*Calories without the Applesauce

Chocolate is the Vegetable of Love

2009-02-10T08:35:00.000-08:00

Well, something like that anyway. For St Valentine's day you may be looking for something chocolaty but less sinful than the traditional chocolate shaped love. So, we offer to you:

Liquid Love err I mean --Chocolate
Makes 4 servings

Chocolate is such a satisfying scent for most people. Add to this drink peppermint extract for a more invigorating scent and a pleasing taste or something more exotic like coconut extract to bring you to an island paradise. Adding cinnamon to it can increase the warm feeling of the drink as well as increase libido--or add a splash of coffee extract if you may need to stay awake longer than normal.

Prep time: 5 minutes

Ingredients
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
About 10 drops stevia (add more or less depending on taste) Pinch salt
3 cups 1 percent low-fat milk
1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions
Slowly warm milk on low heat stirring constantly to prevent scalding.
In a medium bowl, stir together cocoa powder, stevia, and salt. Slowly pour in 1 cup of the milk and whisk until smooth. Whisk in remaining 2 cups milk and vanilla.

Fill 4 (8-ounce) mugs with Liquid Chocolate and serve immediately.

Nutritional information
90 calories
2.5 g total fat (1.5 g sat)
12 g carbohydrate
7 g protein
1 g fiber
95 mg sodium

I GOTTA HAVE COOKIES

2009-01-20T05:50:00.000-08:00

On these cold winter days you may just feel like baking a treat, and why not! This recipe is a great before or after workout fuel as well! You can buy your protein powder at your local market in the health food section. I like to use EAS brand vanilla that I can pick up at my local Albertson's chain store. I also have Optimum Nutrition Apple Pie and Eggnog protein powder which adds a seasonal flare to the baked goodness! There are so many different possibilities with these cookies, using some cocoa powder and chocolate protein can add a rich brownie YUMMINESS!

1 egg
1/4c. applesauce, unsweetened
1tsp vanilla extract
2 cups quick oats
1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Mix wet ingredients in small bowl. Mix dry ingredients in medium bowl. Add wet to dry. It is a sticky wet dough. Drop by spoonfuls on greased cookie sheet or non-stick cookie sheet. Makes 20 cookies. Bake 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees

Nutritional Info PER cookie:
Calories: 39
Fat: 1g
Carbs: 6g
Protein: 2g

ENJOY!!!

Burger king WHAT?

2009-01-09T10:00:00.000-08:00

Burger King says..who needs friends and family or real connections when you can have 670 calories with 41 grams of fat, 44 grams of carbs and 30 grams of protein slither down your throat and into your arteries? Real love is pressure on the arteries not that warm fuzzy feeling you get when someone comments on your facebook photo! Join burger king and ditch 10 people on your facebook friend list for fat saturated death! Maybe if we ditch 30 they will help us pay for the angioplasty!

Click the beef to read the article.

This seems very aggressive and counter productive in the whole SAVE AMERICAN FROM OBESITY that we need to be on. Not sure how encouraging even sublte disconnection with people and replacing it with food is going to make mankind better but I guess when we have a need for the almighty dollar so high....something has to give. So, what we give up is humanity, right? "Sorry casual acquaintance, I appreciate your supportive comments on my pages. I loved the jokes you shared that made me laugh....but i am going to have to let you go. " While laughter and human companionship has been shown in studies to even increase our life expectancy nothing is more important than saving $1.99....right?

Perhaps if they offered to give a free whopper for adding 10 people of common interest there would be a bit more love for the King from me. However, to me this is an obvious ploy to target sales back to the fast food industry when everyone right now is lining up at the gym hoping to finally stick to their new year resolutions. Hhhmm..I wonder how many will drop entire diet groups in order to get that free 670 calorie burden into their belly.....

As for me, I will keep my facebook friends..maybe I will send them all a note today thanking them for being on my friends list in fact......

how about a real burger recipe that you will be OK with serving to all your friends?

Mexican Burgers W/ Onions and Peppers
Servings 7

1 Pound lean ground beef
1 Pound lean ground turkey
5 shakes Worcestershire sauce
5 shakes hot sauce
1 T garlic powder
½ T onion powder
2 t cumin
1 t chili powder
pinch salt
pepper to taste
1 onion sliced thinly
1 red pepper sliced
1 T olive oil
½ t cumin

Mix all ingredients together well in a large bowl. Form 6 patties and season outsides with salt and pepper. Cook on medium heat in a large skillet approximately 15 minutes or until they reach the level of doneness you prefer. Or you can grill the burgers outside. While the burgers are cooking, heat the olive oil in another skillet over med heat and sauté the onion, pepper and the cumin until tender approximately 5 minutes.
Serve the burgers with the veggies piled on top.

Other Good Ideas:
-Smooth on some avocado butter for a really special burger
-Serve with some sweet potato oven fries for an excellent meal
Per Serving
Calories- 289
Fat –17 g
Protein – 30 g
Carbohydrates –3 g

Hear what experts are saying about us!

2009-01-08T09:36:00.000-08:00

Recently I was a guest on JR Smith's (Obesity Rehab specialist) new podcast series "When Fat Attacks- How to Fight Back" Why not tune in and listen to the fantastic things he has to say about Squeaky Gourmet!

When Fat Attacks Part I

Thanks for listening!!

Sweet Potato, Apple and Cranberry Hash Browns

2009-01-06T15:16:00.000-08:00

Serves: 4 person(s)

Preparation Time: 20 mins
Cooking Time: 35 mins

This two-potato, apple and cranberry hash spices up a seasonal breakfast - good for supper too!

Ingredients:

1 large orange-flesh sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

2 medium yellow-flesh potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

2 Tbsp canola oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 green onions, white and green parts, thinly sliced

1/4 Granny Smith apple, finely chopped

1/4 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, coarsely chopped

1/2 tsp Bell's stuffing seasoning (or 1/8 tsp. each of ground thyme, sage and ginger)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Directions:

Boil the peeled sweet potato and yellow potato pieces in large pot of water until tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Drain. When cool enough to handle, place in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Sautï¿½ the onion, green onions and apple until the onions are translucent, about 4 minutes. Add them to the potatoes. Add the cranberries, stuffing seasoning (or thyme, sage and ginger), salt and pepper.

Using a fork, gently mix, slightly mashing the potatoes to help the mixture hold together a bit. Carefully wipe out the hot pan with a paper towel.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in the pan over medium-high heat. Add the hash brown mixture to the pan, forming eight mounds. Press lightly with the back of a fork.

Cook until the hash is dark brown on the bottom, 6 to 8 minutes. Using a wide spatula, turn the patties over, pressing them back together if they crumble. Continue cooking for an additional 6 to 8 minutes. Serve immediately.
Variations:

Garnish with low-fat sour cream, if desired. Can serve topped with a poached egg for breakfast, or for brunch, serve alongside a light omelet. Makes a nice supper side dish too.

180 cals
7 g fat
28 g carbs
2 g protein

FREE SHIPPING!

2008-11-30T11:11:00.000-08:00

Ok maybe I should say FRE E or FR EE ....you know those guys who send out those emails announcing products and want to hide it from the spam bots...but that is actually NOT my point with this blog post today.
i wanted to let the readers know Squeaky Gourmet can be purchased all through December at regular price and we will not charge you any shipping! Saves you money for the holidays and helps take away ANY EXCUSE to not be prepared for your new year resolutions.

In 2009 decide to eat healthy and eat well!
Buy Now!

Chicken Flu Soup

2008-11-17T12:28:00.000-08:00

Are you kidding me? The flu and cold season is already here!?!? COME ON!!! Well, one true recipe to fight the flu is honestly chicken soup. We have tweaked the traditional to give you a more holistic recipe to warm you deep into your bones and help the body fight that flu virus hard!

Set up that crock pot and let this simmer day and night. You can add more broth and vegetables as the pot diminishes. You can also make up a batch for a sick friend. I am sure once the soup works it's magic they will be thanking you! Just remember it is a bit spicy but the spice is for a purpose!

3 pounds of skinless chicken breast that had been roasted on the bone.
1 large onion (about 5 ounces) chunked not chopped
3 large carrots sliced into bite size pieces.
3 cups chicken stock or low sodium canned broth
3 ounces Japanese seaweed sliced thin (think noodles)
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp cayenne pepper
3 cloves raw garlic diced fine

Add all ingredients aside from the garlic to the crock pot to simmer. Allow to cook for several hours. Directly before serving add a half of a clove of diced garlic to the bowl.

300 calories per serving
6 grams fat
8 grams carbohydrate
2 grams fiber
51 grams protein

Pumpkin Custard

2008-11-11T10:53:00.000-08:00

Easy to prepare and bring to any party. You get the warmth and comfort with a delightful texture that will remind you of pumpkin pie and holiday cheer. Yes PLEASE!

1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree solid packed*
1 cup evaporated skim milk
3/4 cup liquid egg substitute such as egg beaters
2 T real maple syrup
1 t maple flavor
1 t vanilla extract
1 t pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whip all ingredients together until smooth and creamy in texture. Place 1 cup of uncooked custard into 6 separate ramekin dishes.
Place dishes on a cookie sheet and bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes. The custard will jiggle when you shake the cookie sheet; PERFECT! Cool it on a wire rack for 15 minutes and the custard will set and the family will gather wondering when they can eat it all up.
Dollop each with 2 T whipped cream and serve or chill safely for up to 3 days in the fridge.

Each 1 cup serving is:
114 calories
3 gram of fat
16 grams carbohydrates
8 grams protein

*do not use pumpkin pie filling.
For more recipes like this please check out our book Squeaky Gourmet at your local bookstore. If your store does not carry the book on the shelf let them know you want it!

Pumpkin Pancakes with Coconut and warm Cinnamon Apples

2008-10-31T11:54:00.000-07:00

The crisp autumn air carries the smell of dried leaves and ripe apples. Pumpkins are sitting on almost every porch in my neighborhood street right now and the cool night air covers our lawns at just about dinner time now. It is Fall in New England.
When I think of comfort foods for fall i think of pumpkin pie, baked apples, and roasted turkey. This recipe is perfect comfort food for the fall. great for Sunday breakfast or a warm dessert after dinner.

2 c. Old Fashioned Oats -- Put into food processor to make smaller but not till texture of flour.

4 Eggs

8 Egg Whites

1 c Pumpkin Puree

2 t Cinnamon

½ t Nutmeg

½ c Vanilla Rice Milk or Skim Milk

1 t Vanilla

Combine all ingredients and blend well. If your batter is too thin for your liking, let it just sit for 5-10 minutes and the oats will soak up some of the liquid. Heat a large nonstick skillet to med heat, coat pan lightly with no stick oil spray and add ¼ of the batter. Spread the batter out with the back of a spoon if it’s thick to make a big pancake. Cook pancake on both sides until golden brown. While the cakes are cooking make the topping.

2 Apples cored and thinly sliced (I use a crispy tart apple for this like a Fuji, Braeburn or Honeycrisp)

3 T Honey

2 T Shredded or Flaked Coconut

1 t Cinnamon

2 T Orange Juice, Apple Juice or Water

Mix all together and cook in microwave for 2-3 minutes. Use as the syrup for the pancakes. Put ¼ of the apple mixture on each cake. You can also add a little maple syrup or sugar free syrup.

Per Serving:

Calories-- 388

Fat-- 10 g

Protein— 20 g

Carbohydrates-- 58 g

20% protein/ 23% fat/ 56% carbs

If you want less fat, substitute two egg whites for a whole egg and for a little variety, substitute ½ of the pumpkin with mashed sweet potato, applesauce, or banana. This meal is so flexible as far as flavors and additions. Use your imagination and make it your own. Enjoy the season and the comforting flavors that come with it.

Buffalo Tenders

2008-10-28T07:40:00.000-07:00

From this to DELISH!!!

Recipe Serves 12

3/4 cup white vinegar

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1/4 cup hot sauce (vinegar based)

1 Tbsp. minced garlic

1 dry Italian dressing packet

3 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast

In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine 1/4 cup water with vinegar, oil, hot sauce, and garlic. Add the packet of salad dressing and black pepper. Whisk or stir with a fork until well combined and set aside.

Cut chicken breasts into 1 inch strips and place in large, gallon sized, zipper bag. Pour half of the dressing mixture over meat and lightly toss, reserving remaining sauce. Seal well and place in refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Overnight works best.

Place meat strips onto hot grill*, being careful not to drip excess marinade as it will flare up. Cook over medium-high heat, turning often, until internal temperature of the thickest part of the strips reads 170 degrees.

Remove from grill and serve in a baking dish or crock-style warming dish. Drizzle the reserved dressing mixture over meat and lightly toss until coated.

Serve with Cool Cucumber dressing and celery sticks.

* Alternately, arrange in one layer in a baking dish and bake at 350 degrees, turning once, for 25-30 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 170 degrees.

Per serving:

Calories - 132

Fat - 4.5g

Carbohydrates: 2g

Protein - 20g

Hi there and Welcome to our Blog!

2008-10-28T07:17:00.000-07:00

I am excited to begin sharing food tips and ideas with you! Let me begin by telling you a little bit about our book, Squeaky Gourmet.
Jamie and I met when she hired me as a trainer to help her reach a higher level of health and fitness. During that time Jamie shared with me some fantastic recipes that she herself was creating in order to remain focused on her goals as well as interest her family and friends in eating healthy BUT great flavored foods.
Since both Jamie and I have been over weight you can trust these recipes do come from true foodies. I love my candy corn and full fat cheesecake and of course my love for white frosting in unprecedented. I KNOW how to be fat ;)
However, you can't eat those foods every day and remain healthy, can you? Nope. So there has to be an alternative and Jamie and I found it and are sharing it with the world with Squeaky Gourmet.

What is being said about the book:
"Just received my copy of Squeaky Gourmet and am thrilled! Clean, crisp, easy to follow. Great writeups on eating healthy, and not the same old boring recipes. They are quick, easy and use ingredients we tend to forget about; quinoa, sweet potatoes, using meats from chicken to wild game. Also gives ideas for side dishes and leftovers. It is a full-size book, so it's not going to get lost in a drawer. The nutritional values for each recipe are very nice, takes out the guesswork, and helps to show that eating tastefully, does not have to ruin a days work of so called dieting. Everyone on my Christmas list is getting one this year! "

In our first week on the shelves we hit in the top 100 Hot New Releases in 2 categories on Amazon.com. During this same time we have almost sold out; Squeaky Gourmet is flying off the shelves!

So, let us share some food and some laughs and some diet health with you in our blog. Check out our book and buy 10 or 15 for your friends! ;)

"Squeaky Gourmet is a colorful and well written cookbook intended to educate and encourage the reader towards a healthy diet. Food knowledge coupled with exciting recipes makes this book a must have for anyone on any fitness level. There is no need for boredom in the kitchen or dead taste buds in order to eat healthy. Squeaky Gourmet offers delicious recipes for every meal, snack or even office party. Author Maureen Jeanson holds certifications in fitness from ACSM, ISSA and the US Navy. Jamie Wilson offers her experience in the struggle with being healthy and NOT sacrificing flavor and comfort at the same time. Together they offer you over 140 pages of wellness education, tasty food ideas and the exact steps you can take to achieve your own fitness goals."