Apple Dip

I love apples with dip, but most store-bought fruit dips are loaded up with high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, and other junk. Here's a healthy apple dip recipe, just in time for fall!

Ingredients

• 1 cup Greek yogurt, preferably the full-fat kind
• 2 spoonfuls almond butter (or peanut butter)
• 1 spoonful honey
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom

Stir together and enjoy!

Correct Food Pyramids

The government still can't figure out that high-carb, low-fat eating is NOT healthy... Or perhaps more accurate is they don't care. The government's recommendations are based on business and politics, not health.

Here are a couple better food pyramids!

Source: MarksDailyApple.com

Source: Unknown

Cooking: Portabella Pizzas

Another Pinterest find, portabella pizzas!

4 portabella mushrooms, 4 roma tomatoes, 1 onion, 1 leek,
1 lemon (juice), garlic, parsley, basil, parmesan cheese,
olive oil, salt

Chop and saute the onion in olive oil

Chop the leek and roma tomatoes, mince the garlic, add to the pan with the onion.

Saute until soft. Then add basil and lemon juice.

Split the mixture between the 4 mushrooms. Top with fresh-grated parmesan.

Bake for 12 minutes at 400°.

Top with parsley before serving.

These were excellent! And I never would have thought to use leeks on pizza! You have to eat them with a fork though, they aren't easily picked up.

Cooking: Chicken Enchilada Soup

I wasn't quite sold on any of the chicken enchilada soups I found recipes for, so I made my own recipe!

Ingredients:

• 1 package boneless chicken thighs
• 1 package boneless chicken breasts
• 1 can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
• 1 can diced green chiles
• 1 onion
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 poblano pepper
• 1 jalapeno pepper
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 4 cups shredded cheese (cheddar and pepper jack)
• 2 cups enchilada sauce
• ½ stick butter
• 2-3 tablespoons flour
• chipotle chile powder
• ancho chile powder
• garlic powder
• salt
• pepper

Part 1: Chick N Veg

Chicken (I used a mix of thighs and breasts), onion,
can of diced fire-roasted tomatoes, can of diced green chiles,
red bell pepper, poblano pepper, jalapeno pepper, salt & pepper.

Chop the onion and fresh peppers. Put all ingredients into the crock pot for 3-4 hrs on high (or 6-8 hours on low).

Into the crock pot

After cooking for allotted time

Remove the chicken and use 2 forks to shred it

Part 2: Let's get cheesy!

Heavy cream (2 cups), butter (1/2 stick),  flour (2-3 T),
shredded cheddar & pepper jack (4 cups),
enchilada sauce (2 cups, not pictured)

Melt better in a pot over medium heat. Then stir in flour.

Slowly whisk in cream. Keep whisking until all cream has been added and the mixture has thickened.

Add cheese, melting it in as you go. It will be very thick at this point.

Add the the enchilada sauce, vegetables (including liquid) from the crock pot, and the shredded chicken. If the soup is still too thick, add a little bit of chicken stock until it's the desired consistency.

Part 3: Spice it up!

I used 2 different chile powders (ancho & chipotle) to add depth.
I also added garlic and pepper. Add spices to your taste.

I froze this soup to take to Day-After-Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' house. It froze and thawed very well!

Ready to freeze

Reheated and ready to eat!

Things to do different next time:

• Add a can of black beans. (I actually meant to do this, but forgot!)
• Add another jalapeno and some cayenne pepper (I was making this mild because some of my family members don't do spicy food.)

Cooking: Spicy Peppered Jerky

This is my husband's recipe!
And the first "Husband Feature" on my blog, keep your eyes out for more in the future!

Ingredients: Beef eye of round, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce,
Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, granulated garlic,
onion powder, smoked paprika, chili powder, cayenne pepper
salt, pepper 

Trim all the fat off the beef.

Our dogs love this part, they get the scraps :)

This is what it should look like when you're done:

Slice the meat into ¼ inch slices.

Mix together the can of chipotle adobo peppers (diced), 2 teaspoons granulated garlic, 2 teaspoons onion power, 4 teaspoons salt, 2 teaspoons smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper, 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce.

Marinate the meat in this mixture overnight in the fridge.

Pat the meat dry with paper towels (else you'll have wet clumps of spices on your finished product).

Put meat in food dehydrator and pat with fresh ground pepper.

Dry for 8 hours in the food dehydrator. Don't dry it for too long, else it will be too dry and brittle, it should have a slight chewiness to it.

Finished product:

Cooking: Swai Fish Wrapped Asparagus

Found this recipe idea from the Youtube user "quotidianlight":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-aGcW9MFgU

The original recipe called for Sole fish fillets. My grocery store didn't have any, so I got Swai fish fillets instead. And they were on sale, yay!

2 pounds Swai fish, 2 bunches asparagus, heavy cream,
garlic, lemons, olive oil, vermouth, dill, salt, pepper.

Saute asparagus in olive oil and minced garlic. Sprinkle with salt while cooking.

Use the Swai fillets to wrap the asparagus. Add 1/2 cup vermouth, juice of 1 lemon, and drizzle with olive oil.

Juicing the lemon! Yes, I know you all know how to juice a lemon, I just want to show off my juicer! I looked for a reasonably-priced old-fashion juicer for a while at various antique stores, then my mom gave me the one that was my late grandma's on my dad's side.

Then cover with foil and bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes. When you remove it from the oven, drain the juices into a pan. (I used the pan I sauteed the asparagus in so the garlic left behind wouldn't go to waste.) Recover the fish & asparagus with the foil so it stays warm.

Add dill, salt, pepper, juice of the other lemon, and heavy cream. I used 1 cup of heavy cream. (By accident actually... the original recipe called for 1/4 cup, but I ended up liking the creaminess of 1 cup, so I'll re-do my "mistake" next time I make this.)

Reduce for 30-45 minutes, whisking frequently. The longer you reduce, the thicker the sauce.

Pour over the fish and asparagus.

Plated picture:

I will make this again, tasty!

Cooking: Creamy Cajun Chicken With Zucchini Noodles

I just [finally] joined Pinterest, so I've been collecting all sorts of new ideas to try!

I always try to give credit where credit is due. My inspiration for tonight's meal came from 2 different blog posts I found on Pinterest:

• Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta on "Plain Chicken"
• Zucchini Noodles with Chicken and Tangy Peanut Sauce on "Kitchen Confidante"

The mats:

Chicken thighs, sun-dried tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash,
butter, heavy cream, parmesan cheese, garlic, basil,
Cajun seasoning, pepper, salt, green onion (not pictured),
and cayenne pepper (not pictured)

I started by using the shoe-string blade on my mandolin to cut up the zucchini and yellow squash.

And also cutting the chicken thighs into strips with kitchen shears. The chicken was then tossed with the Cajun seasoning, about 2 tablespoons.

The easiest way to "toss" the chicken with the spices
is going Alton Brown style and using your hands!

In a large pan, saute the chicken with a couple tablespoons of butter until it's done.

While the chicken is cooking, blanch the zucchini and yellow squash in boiling water for about a minute. Drain well. I gave it a rinse in cool water to stop the cooking process so it wouldn't get mushy.

When the chicken is done, add the heavy cream (I ended up only using 1 cup), minced garlic, diced green onions, diced sun-dried tomatoes (easiest to cut-up with kitchen shears), basil, salt, and pepper. I also wanted a little more heat, so I added some cayenne pepper. Heat a few minutes until everything is warm.

Toss in the "noodles".

Serve topped with fresh-grated parmasan cheese.

Husband Approved! The husband said this was definitely a "repeat" meal! He was skeptical at first (and even tried to talk me out of it) when I told him I was using zucchini and yellow squash instead of traditional noodles, but he was pleasantly surprised!

Cooking: Waldorf Salad

Ok, not really "cooking", more just "mixing". But Waldorf Salad is awesome! I always add pomegranate seeds to mine because they are so pretty and tasty.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of recipes out there for Waldorf Salad. Here's mine:

Salad parts:
Apples (I used 2 of each: braeburn, pink lady, honeycrisp, and granny smith)
Grapes, whatever kind are your favorite
2-3 stalks of celery
Pomegranate seeds
Walnuts

Dressing:
1 cup mayo
lemon juice, to taste
sugar, to taste

Chop up a few stalks of celery.

Cube the apples. Give them a quick dip in lemon juice to prevent browning!

A little trick I learned from Alton Brown, seed the pomegranates in a bowl of water.
1. You don't get squirted by red juice.
2. The seeds sink, the pith floats. Much easier to separate them that way!

I missed getting a photo of the dressing!

Mix everything together.

Final step: Put the yummy in the tummy!

This picture was taken 2 days after the salad was made.
Note that the apples are still almost their original
color, thanks to the lemon-juice bath!