Best Bean Burritos

BEST BEAN BURRITOS

This was right on the first try!  I was blown away by the balance of flavor and the rapid rate at which I was wall satisfied by this meal.  Two small burritos and I was completely full - and what's more...my husband was full after two as well!

Heat a medium skillet over medium heat.

Spray it with cooking spray and then add 1 tablespoon of oil (I use coconut oil or omega 3 enriched canola).  Add 2/3 to 3/4 cup of chopped onion.  That's about 1/3 of a decent size yellow onion.  Add 1 small can diced green chilies.  Don't try and drain them, just throw it all in. Be sure to stir this frequently, so it turns brown, but does not stick to the pan.  

Brown food, is good food!  My own personal cooking mantra.

Add to the skillet 5 dashes of Frank's Red Hot Sauce.  Note that I do not like food overly spicy.  Feel free to add more if you wish.  My husband adds more hot sauce right before he eats it.  Also add 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin. Keep stirring!!

Now add 1/2 cup of your favorite salsa; this is another place you can turn up the spice of the dish if you want to.  Just add a hotter salsa.  I used Pace picante mild.  

At this point your kitchen smells AMAZING!  Trust me!!  

When the mix is a nice medium brown color and just beginning to stick in the pan, which of course your will not allow, add one can of refried beans.  I always use fat free.  When the beans are heated through it's ready!

Before the dish is hot, go ahead and heat your tortillas.  This recipe makes 5 to 6 burritos, so heat 5 to 6 medium flour tortillas.   I prep mine in the microwave for 60 seconds on a plate paper towel.  

Fill heated tortillas with bean mix.  Optionally, you can then top with shredded cheese (cheddar, cojack, montery jack, or etc.), tomato, and sour cream.  

For a lower Glycemis Index version, just scoop up bites of the filling with celery sticks.  It's delicious!!

Recap of ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon of oil 
• 2/3 to 3/4 cup of chopped onion
• 1 small can diced green chilies
• 5 dashes of Frank's Red Hot Sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 cup of your favorite salsa
• one can of refried beans
• 6 medium flour tortillas

For your listening enjoyment, I present a group of 6 very talented young people playing a traditional Mexican folk song on guitars.  It's really quite lovely and very impressive.

Pumpkin Ice Cream - An easy autumn treat!

 PUMPKIN ICE CREAM

An easy autumn treat!

This one is a bit of a cheat, but that just makes it quick and oh, so easy.  I started with store bought ice cream!!  I know?!?!  It's genius!!  I used Breyers No Sugar Added Vanilla, but any variety of vanilla will work beautifully for you, I'm sure.  I added one scoop of canned pumpkin to 2 scoops of ice cream, sprinkled on 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon, a dash of nutmeg, and one packet of Splenda. (You could use 2 to 3 teaspoon of sugar - whatever tastes best to you.)  I mixed it all together and added a heaping tablespoon of walnuts.  YUM!!

Feel free to experiment if you wish.  Any spices used in pumpkin pie would be marvelous.  Depending on the recipe you use, you might see ginger, allspice, or cloves in addition to cinnamon and nutmeg.  The simplest way to do it would be to use a heaping 1/4 teaspoon of "pumpkin pie spice".

I did notice that the ice cream became less firm as I mixed it with the pumpkin.  I'm sure if you mix it ahead of time it could go in the freezer to firm up again.  I'll experiment and let you know.

PUMPKIN ICE CREAM - Single serving

2 - 3" scoops of vanilla ice cream

1 - 3" scoop of canned pumpkin

1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon

A dash of nutmeg

1 packet of Splenda. (or 2 to 3 teaspoon of sugar)

OPTIONAL - dash of ginger, cloves, allspice 

OPTIONAL - 1 heaping tablespoon chopped walnuts or pecans

Mix!  Place in freezer for an hour if it's not firm enough for your liking.

Here we have an autumn tune from the NEW Loreena McKennitt album "The Wind that Shakes the Barley".  She is astonishing, as usual.

Non-Al Champagne Punch

Non-Al Champagne Punch (also called "Golden Punch")

Yields: 40 servings

INGREDIENTS (full sugar version):

• 1 (2 liter) bottles ginger ale, chilled
• 1 (46 fluid ounce) can pineapple juice, chilled
• 1 (64 fluid ounce) bottle white grape juice, chilled

DIRECTIONS:

In a large punch bowl, combine all!

INGREDIENTS (less sugar version):

• 10 (12oz) cans white grape diet rite, chilled
• 1 (46 fluid ounce) can pineapple juice, chilled

The directions are the same!

If you like, you can serve it with an easy ice ring. Just pour some of all ingredients into a bundt pan and freeze overnight. For added color, only fill the ring 1/2 full and add a dozen maraschino cherries. Once it has frozen fill the pan with more liquid and freeze again.

Another chilling option is to serve with sorbet. I love it with lime sorbet, but orange is good, too.

Gotta love it when grown-ups put on a flash mob!

Homemade Graham Crackers

These are the best graham crackers ever! 100% natural and the flavor is outstanding. They are easy to make and truly amazing.

Homemade Graham Crackers

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups whole-wheat flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoon molasses
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a food processor, mix together the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

Add the cold butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 30 seconds or so. Add the honey, molasses, water, and vanilla. Mix until the dough startes to come together in a ball, another 30 seconds.

Scrape dough out of the mixer.

Between 2 sheets of waxed or parchment paper, roll the dough 1/8-inch thick.

Chill for at least 1 hour, until firm (I chilled for several hours).

Preheat oven to 350F. Retrieve dough and roll it a bit more if it is not yet 1/8-inch thick. With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut into 2-inch squares. Arrange the crackers on parchment lined baking sheets. With a toothpick or fork, prick several holes in each cracker.

Bake for 15 minutes, until lightly browned at the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool on the pan.

Yield: 48 crackers

Note: If you cut the dough through but leave the squares together, you can break them up after they're baked, just like a store-bought graham!

You can also roll them into a 1/2" thick cylinder and then cut them into 1" sections for a great bit size snack.

Caleb's Boneless Buffalo Wings

These are quite frankly as close to the Applebee's hot boneless wings as I could get. Caleb loves them and even though they take time to make, they are very worth it! These are tongue numbing, scalp sweating, sinus searing deliciousness smothered in cool and tangy blue cheese sauce.

BTW, these are not low cal or low fat. The hot oil won't soak into the wings as much as you would think, but still these are eat with restraint. I don't believe in banishing any foods entirely from the diet, but have some common sense. Eat these from just time to time and with share them friends.

BONELESS BUFFALO WINGS

Core Ingredients:

- 4-5 Boneless and skinless chicken breasts

- 4-6 cups of canola oil

- 1-2 eggs

- 1 cup milk

Breading Ingredients:

- 1 cup flour

- 2 teaspoons salt

- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

- 1/4 teaspoon paprika

Sauce Ingredients:

- 12 oz. Louisiana Hot Sauce

- 6 tablespoon butter (or butter sub without trans fats)

- 3 tablespoon white vinegar

- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

- 1 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

- 1 1/4 tablespoon flour

Additional Ingredients:

- Bleu Cheese dipping sauce (see recipe below)

- 4-5 stalks of celery, sliced

Directions:

1. Combine the breading ingredients in a medium bowl or plastic bag. I prefer the plastic bag, it makes coating it a lot easier and I highly suggest doing it this way.

2. In another bowl, whisk together milk and eggs.

3. Cut the chicken into the size desired and place into the milk and egg mixture. Coat each piece well and place into the breading mixture. Again, make sure each piece is well coated and take each piece out and put them onto a plate.

4. Place the pieces into the fridge for 15 minutes and begin to work on the sauce mixture.

5. Mix all of the sauce ingredients together in a saucepan on the stove. Cook over medium to low heat. You’ll come back to this sauce in a minute, just keep an eye on it.

6. After about 5-10 minutes have elapsed, begin heating up the oil for frying. Place enough oil to cover the bottom surface of the wok or pan, and add just a little extra. To test when it’s ready, cut off a thin piece of celery, long enough that you can dip it in and hold it. The oil will bubble around it when it’s hot enough. I usually do this on a burner set to medium heat.

7. Usually once the oil is hot enough to use, the wings have been in the fridge long enough. Take them out and drop in each piece carefully so as not to splash up any hot oil!

9. Now come back to the sauce. Once everything is homogenous, add the flour to thicken the sauce. Stir frequently.

10. Keep an eye on the wings, stirring often to make sure they don’t burn. There should be enough oil to prevent any burning. However, they will begin to get crispier and this is what you want. The wings will be done once they’re golden brown. When they are, make sure you’re ready for them. Place a few paper towels on a plate to soak up the excess oil. Place the wings onto the paper towels for a couple of minutes and then put them into whatever you will be serving them in.

11. Coat the wings with as much sauce as you’d like, and if you want, set some on the side to dip into. Also, add some Bleu cheese dipping sauce or other dressing to a bowl for dipping. Place the celery alongside the wings and enjoy!!

Bleu cheese dipping sauce

1 cup mayonnaise (I love mayo made with olive oil!)

1 cup sour cream (reg., light, or fat free)

4 green onions, finely chopped or 1 teaspoon dried minced onion

2 tablespoons dried parsley

4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled

garlic salt to taste

In a medium bowl, mix mayonnaise, sour cream, green onions, dried parsley, blue cheese and garlic salt. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 2 hours until serving.

Snack Recipes

Strawberry Smash

130 Cal, no fat, no sugar...delicious!

• 10oz of frozen strawberries (just shy of 2 cups)
• Buy frozen strawberries, or buy fresh berries, cut off tops, wash and freeze whole
• 2 packets splenda
• 3 T. fat free whipped topping

Microwave berries for 1:30 - 2:00 minutes, just until soft enough to smash with a fork.
Smash them!
Mix in sweetener and add whipped topping.

Surprisingly satisfying and so yummy!

Old Fashioned Hot Chocolate
This hot chocolate, when combined with espresso, makes a wonderful latte!

For one:

• 1 1/3 cups milk (skim, whole, 2% - whatever!)
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon sugar or splenda
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Mini marshmallows or whipped cream for serving

1. Warm the milk
2. In a small saucepan over low heat, warm the milk until tiny bubbles appear around the edges of the pan. Remove from the heat.
3. Blend the cocoa
4. Put the cocoa, sugar and vanilla in a mug and stir to combine.
5. Add 1 tablespoon of the hot milk to the cocoa mixture and stir until it is smooth with no visible lumps. Ask an adult to help you pour the remaining hot milk into the mug. Stir well, top with the marshmallows or whipped cream, and serve immediately. Serves

For a crowd:

• 1 gallon milk (skim, whole, 2% - whatever!)
• 1 ½ c. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 ½ c. sugar or splenda
• 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• Mini marshmallows or whipped cream for serving

When adding hot milk into cocoa, add 1 ½ cup milk – slowly!

Classic Scones
Makes 12

• 1 c. + 1 T. flour
• 1 T sugar
• 1 t baking soda
• ¼ baking powder
• ¼ t salt
• ½ c plain fat free yogurt
• 1 lg egg
• 1 T butter melted and cooled

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray baking sheet.
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, & salt. In a small bowl, mix yogurt, egg, and butter. Add to dry mix and stir until just combined.
3. On lightly floured counter, roll out ¼ inch thick circle and cut 12 wedges for scones. Dough will be sticky, but that's fine!
4. Reduce oven temp to 400 degrees. Bake until golden, 12-15 minutes.

1 scone: 64 cal, 2 g fat, 0 g fiber
1 pt. each

Mock Devonshire Cream (Mix the following)

• 3 T. Powdered Sugar (or 2 T Splenda)
• 1/4 c. Fat Free Sour Cream

Cinnamon Date Scones:
Add 2 t. cinnamon & ½ dried, chopped dates

Snacking Right Made Easy

So - ever want to have a snack, but nothing sounds good? At just 150 or 200 calories, all of these snack options sounds amazing!

After recently hearing about nutrition Professor Mark Haub's Twinkie diet (see here) I started thinking: Maybe there is something to just counting calories. Maybe it's more about what goes in than how much exercise I put out.

I still cannot bring myself to consume high fructose corn syrup, MSG, or trans fats, but this guy's cholesterol actually went down while eating junk food! It is coming to the attention of many nutritionists and doctors (you know, the "experts") that fat intake does not necessarily lead to fat stored in the body. Sugar is far more influential on ballooning hips and protruding abdomens than fat, and high cholesterol foods do not necessarily raise your cholesterol level. Not to mention that raising your good cholesterol is, well, good!

Confused yet? You have the right to be. In a day and age when there are more "health" foods, "low fat", "non fat", "reduced sugar" and "sugar free" foods on the market why is this country experiencing an obesity issue?

Ever wonder what goes into food to replace the fat and sugar that is removed? Additives may be at the root of weight gain. They can mess with you liver (a filtering organ), overwork your pancreas (type II diabetes), feed and encourage cancer cells, as well as generally confusing your body that was not designed to cope with artificial ingredients.

Want to be healthy and/or lose weight? Become a label reader and calorie counter. It's that easy.

I went to an online site (here) to figure out how many calories I should be having a day. I know It's just before the holidays, which may sound like an odd time of year to become more calorie conscience, but on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, I shall take a holiday from this new way of eating as well. ("Diet" is just another foul, four-letter word.) Smaller portions will suffice.

I should have 1520 calories a day, while my husband should have 2100. Our meal breakdown of calories is like this:

1500/day 2100/day

160 breakfast 320 breakfast

455 lunch 682 lunch

455 dinner 455 dinner

150 snack x3 200 snack x3

To make thing s as simple as possible, I researched nutritional info on our favorite foods and made lists of snacks that will work easily for us.

(Be sure to double check the calories in the products you buy to make sure they are the same as listed below. For instance, pineapple is heavy syrup in twice the calories of pineapple in juice. Obviously, you can have more of the pineapple in juice than pineapple in heavy syrup.)

Several of these items are easy to make, see links to recipes.

Snack Options

150 calorie snacks

90 cal. granola bar, 2/3c. milk

14g almonds, 22g dried cherries

1 1/4 c. pineapple

1/2 c. fat free cottage cheese, 1/2 c. pineapple

2 hotdogs (70 cal each), no bread

1 hot dog (70 cal)w/ bread (70 cal)

28g tortilla chips, 1/4 cup. Salsa

5 stalks celery, 1 heaping c. salsa

1 apple, 1 T. peanut butter or 1 oz cheese

3 cups air popped popcorn(3T kernals), 1/2 oz cheese

2 cups air popped popcorn(2T kernals), 1 oz cheese

2 cups air popped popcorn(2T kernals), 1 apple

1/3 c. dried cherries

1 T. peanut butter, 11 baby carrots

1.5 oz cheese

1 oz cheese, 6 Toasted 12 grain crackers (40 cal)

1.5 cup grapes

3/4c NSA (no sugar added) pears, 1/2 oz cheese

3.5 oz lowfat eggnog, 3 oz skim milk

2 cups strawberry smash (-20)

1 sm baked potato (138g), 2t ICBINB light

3T chicken pate, 6 Toasted 12 grain crackers (40 cal)

2 scones, 1T Jam

16oz Non-fat Cafe Latte, 2 T sugar free whipped topping

11oz (1 1/3 c.) sugar free hot cocoa, 2 T sf whipped topping or 10 minis

5-6 strawberries 1oz dk chocolate chips, melted

3 oz tuna, 6 Toasted 12 grain crackers (40 cal)

2 low fat string cheese (75 cal)

3 laughing cow wedges, 2-3 stalks celery (-20)

1/2 c. fat free veg dip (70 cal), 16 baby carrots

6 slices turkey breast

200 calorie snacks

2 - 90 cal granola bars (-20)

25g almonds, 20 g dried cherries

1 1/2 c. pineapple

1/2 c. fat free cottage cheese, 3/4 c. pineapple

2 hotdogs(70 cal each), no bread, 1/2 oz. cheese

1 hot dog (70 cal) w/ bread, 1/2 oz. cheese

35g tortilla chips, 1/3 cup. Salsa

1 90 cal bar, 1 apple (-30)

3 cups air popped popcorn (3T kernals), 1 oz cheese

2 cups air popped popcorn(2T kernals), 1.5 oz cheese

3 cups air popped popcorn(3T kernals), 1 apple

2 T peanut butter, 1-12" stalk celery

8 Toasted 12 grain crackers (54 cal), 1.5 oz cheese

2 cups grapes

3" orange (84), 90 cal bar (-26)

1 banana (7-9 inches), 90 caloris ban

14oz (1 3/4 c.) sugar free hot cocoa, 3 T sf whipped topping or 15 minis

2 scones, 3t mock cream (2t sc, 2t p.sugar). 1T Jam

20oz Non fat Cafe Latte, 3 T sf whipped topping

8 reduced fat Ritz Crackers, 1T peanut butter (4 sandwiches)

67g raisins (about 1/2 cup)

8-9 strawberries 1.5oz dk chocolate chips, melted

21 almonds

3 laughing cow wedges, 10 Toasted 12 grain crackers (80 cal) (-15)

1 oz cheese, 3 slices turkey breast