Turkey Lettuce Wraps

Mmm, I love these. They are kind of messy to eat, but they are a great lunch or mid-day snack, and you can put whatever you want on them. Here is my favorite way to make them:

2 Romaine Lettuce leaves (washed and dried)
4 slices turkey deli slices (2 for each)
2 tablespoons hummus (1 for each, my favorite is the rosted pine nut or the red pepper)
2 Swiss cheese slices (1 each)
sliced tomato
sliced green bell pepper
salt, pepper and Italian seasoning

Roll them up or fold them up any way you can. Two wraps are only about 233 calories. 2 fill me up, but I usually end up eating a third one 2 hours later because I get hungry pretty quick after them. But that is ok, because it is a healthy snack choice that is full of what my body really needs, and not a lot of sugar. Ah, one day of good healthy choices and I'm already feeling better!

Spiced Oatmeal Cookies

Here is a healthy cookie that I tried last week. It is actually more like a drop muffin if you will than a cookie. It is made with whole wheat flour! I found that these make a great morning pre-run fuel up. I can eat two of them and have the energy to go for my run without feeling blechy.

At first I wasn't sure if I liked them, but the more of them I ate the more I liked them. They are a good healthy choice for a sweet snack. They are not too sweet, but just sweet enough to feel like a treat. They are also filling in their own way. My kids like them too, and that is the kicker! I made a dozen to take to play group, but my kids ate all of them that night so I only had two left! Just don't tell your kids they are healthy.

• ¾ cup oil
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 2 eggs
• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 12-ounce can evaporated skimmed milk
• 3 cups quick oats
• 1 cup raisins (I substituted 1 cup dehydrated apple slices that I rehydrated and chopped up)

1. Mix oil, sugar, molasses and eggs in your mixer. In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients except the oats and raisins. Slowly add a little of the dry ingredients, then some of the milk. Keep repeating until all of the dry ingredients and all of the milk has been added to the mixer. Mix well. Blend in oats and raisins

2. Drop dough from a spoon onto nonstick baking sheet. Bake in a 350 oven for 10-12 minutes or until light brown.

Tip: You can use one tablespoon apple pie spice in place of the cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.

Yield: 84 small cookies/muffins

62 Calories, 2g Fat, 1g Protein, 9g Carbs, 45mg Sodium

From Set for Life Cookbook page 243.

Hat cookies!

I just had to share this link to some adorable cookies on one of the sites I like to read. So, click here for Hat Cookies.

Walnuts and Chicken and Rice Quiche

This week has been crazy busy, but on Monday I found the time to make this yummy treat.

Spiced Walnuts

* 5 cups walnuts
* 1 1/2 cups sugar
* 1/2 cup water
* 1/4 cup honey
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
* dash of cinnamon

In a large saucepan over medium heat, place the walnuts, sugar, water, honey and cinnamon. Bring mixture to a low boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add vanilla, stirring until creamy. Cover counter top with waxed paper. Pour walnut mixture onto waxed paper and using two forks, pull nuts apart. Let harden; break into pieces to serve.

That is what the recipe says. It didn't work for me. For one thing, it doesn't say how long to cook the mixture and when I finally dumped it, it was very thin and nothing was sticking together. So, I figured I must have done something wrong. I fixed it by heating my oven to 250, spreading the mixture on a pan and baking it for 30 minutes. I took them out and stirred the nuts every 30 minutes and finally let them cool on the pan. They were yummy!

Then last night I tried another new recipe. It was supposed to be turkey and rice, but since we didn't have Thanksgiving here at home, I didn't have any left over turkey. Chicken worked really well though. My husband even liked it and he didn't get to eat it fresh out of the oven, so it reheats well.

Chicken and Rice Quiche

* 3 cups cooked rice, cooled to room temperature

* 1 1/2 cups chopped cooked turkey (or chicken)
* 1 medium tomato, seeded and finely diced
* 1/4 cup sliced green onion (I used a yellow onion because that is what I had)
* 1/4 cup finely diced green bell pepper
* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves, crushed

* 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt

* 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
* 1/2 cup skim milk
* 3 eggs, beaten
* 1/2 cup shredded cheddar
* 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

1. Combine everything but the cheese in a bowl and then poor into a 13x9 inch pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Top with the cheeses.

2. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean.

Makes 8 servings, 231 calories, 7g fat, 111mg cholesterol, and 527mg sodium. (From Light Cooking, pg 201.)

Healthy Cinnamon rolls?

Mmmm, you bet! It is possible to have some of your favorite things and make them "healthier" choices. You can make them better and still keep the great taste. I love cinnamon rolls and have two or three different recipes. They are different levels of work and levels of fat/sugar/calories. This recipe is healthy and is the middle ground of work. It does take time, but it isn't hard.

The main reason I am posting this recipe today is because it is on the menu for breakfast next week. I am doing the first week of meals in Dana Thornock's Lean and Free 2000 Plus Cookbook (see link on right sidebar). I know I will not have time to get up and cook them in the morning, but they freeze wonderfully! This recipe made 30 rolls and I can freeze them and pull them out one or two at a time and warm them in the microwave for a super quick breakfast.

Super Cinnamon Rolls

* 1 12 oz. can evaporated milk, nonfat

* 1 1/2 cups water, warm
* 1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
* 1/2 cup "good" oil (see end of post)
* 1 tablespoon lemon juice
* 3/4 cup honey (or 1/3 cup apple-juice concentrate and 1/3 cup pineapple juice concentrate for a diabetic friendlier version)
* 1 egg white
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 8 cups wheat flour (I used 5 cups wheat and 2 1/2 cups white all-purpose flour)
* 2-3 tablespoons butter, melted
* cinnamon

* brown sugar

* whatever else you may want to add to the filling (raisins, diced apples, etc.)

1. Warm the milk and add the warm water. Dissolve the yeast in the liquid mixture. Mix the remaining ingredients into the liquid and add just enough flour to make a soft dough. (If you want light rolls, make sure the dough is soft and not stiff. The flour is the ingredients that determines the dough texture.)

2. Knead the dough for 10 minutes and let it relax for 15 minutes.

One lump of dough looks pretty much like every other lump of dough. :)

3. Take half of the dough and roll it out with a rolling pin to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness. Brush the surface lightly with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and a thin amount of brown sugar. (sprinkle with any other additions you like.)
4. Roll up the dough like a jelly roll and cut into 1" slices. I use dental floss; you can also use string. Put them on a nonstick cookie sheet and allow them to rise until they are double.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until lightly brown. Remove and eat as is, or frost lightly with powdered sugar and water. (You really don't need to frost them because they are so yummy!)

***Tip: For faster raising, place in the oven set at 150 degrees for 15 minutes and then bake.***

Dana's Cookbook, pg 161. 218 calories, 5 grams fat--can you imagine what the ones you buy at the store are?!?

Dana's Definition of "good" oils (pg. 279-80)--Your best bet is to look for the words "expeller-pressed" or "crude" on the label to ensure the most natural, unrefined type of oil you can buy. These oils should be refrigerated. [They] do not store well for long periods of time. For long-term storage, I buy partially hydrogenated corn oils. The Best Expeller-Pressed oils to purchase:

1. Olive oil

2. peanut oil

3. safflower oil

4. sunflower oil

5. corn oil

6. soybean oil

Friday check in and Cracker Jacks

Well, I've had a pretty good week. I feel like I am getting back into the routine of exercise. I've logged 7miles running this week, and will run a 5k race tomorrow bringing my count up to 10miles since Monday. I also had my day at the gym. Let me tell you I could FEEL every muscle in my upper arms and chest when I woke up this morning. Wow! My goal next week is to run on 3 days and go to the gym on 3 other days for cross training and strength training. One step at a time. :)

Ok, fall is officially here. The nights and mornings are crisp and cool and the days are wonderfully pleasant. I love this time of year. It always means the beginning of all the wonderful holiday cooking that I love! Yesterday I made one of my favorite fall treats, Cracker Jacks. I got this recipe in 2001 from a friend in Utah. It is easy to make but it does take about an hour and 15 minutes to finish, and you have to pay attention. So, save it for a day when you have the time. I had pictures of the topping syrup cooking but once again my camera showed that it was an unknown format. How can it be an unknown format when I took it with that camera? Anyway, here it is.

Cracker Jacks

You will need:

*1 cup butter

*2 cups brown sugar, packed

*1/2 cup light or dark corn syrup

*1 teaspoon salt

*1/2 teaspoon baking soda

*1 teaspoon vanilla

*6 quarts popped popcorn
*1 cup roasted peanuts (I left out to save money, and my kids don't like them anyway)

1. Pop your popcorn and set aside. I don't think this is 6 quarts, but after I pulled everything out I realized that our air popper didn't make it through the last move. So this beautiful bowl of popped corn came straight off the stove after popping in a little oil. I have to say I felt quite proud that I didn't burn it. So, this can be done on the stove (directions are on the bag), but an air popper is WAY easier.

2. Ok. Here is where my pictures are missing. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring it to a boil, stirring constantly. Once it starts boiling, let it boil for 5 minutes without stirring.

3. Remove from heat; stir in soda and vanilla. The pictures were cool because you could see how it starts this nice dark rich color. Then when you add the soda and vanilla the reaction makes it lighter and "fluffier" or "foamier". Science is cool! Wish those pictures had not been the ones messed up.

4. Gradually pour over the popped corn, mixing well. I drizzle some, stir, drizzle, stir, just like that. The great part about this step is you can coat the popcorn as lightly or heavily as you want. If you coat it lighter, just make more popcorn to use up the syrup.

5. Dump into two large shallow baking pans and bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. The stirring is important because the heat will cause the syrup to melt off a bit and the stirring re-coats everything. Tip: don't use your pizza pan with holes in it. Yeah, I wasn't thinking very well yesterday and now I have to clean out my oven.

6. After the hour is up, remove and cool completely. Break apart and store in tightly covered container. I actually dumped mine onto the counter onto wax paper so they would cool very quickly. Within 5 minutes the kids and I were munching the yummy treat. I went to book club last night and the whole bowl was gone when I returned. Good thing I filled a baggy and hid it in my hidey hole!

Avocado Salsa

Well, I need to apologize for the lack of recipes this week. Life is crazy trying to get ready for the new school year (which starts next Monday!!!!) and I've been throwing myself back into my running schedule. This Saturday I am running a 5k with my sister. It is her first one and I am so excited for her! I really hope she can feel the same exhilaration that I do by just being there. I also do our neighborhood newsletter which eats up a lot of my time the 3rd week of each month, so we have been eating our normal "stand-by" meals.

For instance, last night we had tacos. I did however, dress it up with my favorite salsa. I love avocados and they are the main ingredient, so what's not to love? My husband likes to tell me that I should not eat as many as I do because they are a higher fat fruit. I always think they are better than eating a candy bar though, and now I have the info to prove it. For a complete information sheet on avocado nutrition visit this Healthy Living site. Here are some tips for picking out good ones from the grocery. I still get yucky ones, but my chance are better now that I know what to look for.

First, if you don't need them right away, get a slightly greener and firmer avocado. They ripen best off the tree, so this does not affect the taste. To speed up the ripening process, place the avocado in a paper bag with an apple. Put a few holes in the bag and store at room temperature. If you need an avocado for that day--look for one that is purple-black in color and yields to gentle pressure but that is not mushy. Once ripe, you can keep avocados in the fridge for about a week, then they turn brown inside and get stringy--yuck! Tip: to keep them from turning brown when slicing, dicing or whatever, rub lemon juice on the surface of them.

California Avocado Salsa (no picture, sorry)

• 3 large ripe avocados, peeled and cubed
• 2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1 chopped sweet red pepper
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro or parsley
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• (I add a pinch of dried red chili flakes)

In a bowl, combine all the ingredients. EASY! You can serve these with chips, they are great on fajitas, tacos, taco salad and in burritos. (Ok, here is my normal "I didn't have...so I used..." moment. I didn't have lime juice, so I used 2 tablespoons of pineapple concentrate with enough water to make it 1/4 cup. It is all I had! But it was really good. It gave the salsa a slight sweet taste that reminded me of Paul Newman's pineapple salsa.)