Artichoke Dip

So I owe this recipe to Sara who has been patiently waiting over a year for this crowd pleaser. It's my grandma Maggie's recipe and I have enjoyed it at many a family get-together. Take it to your holiday party or just stay home and eat a whole bowl yourself. Serve with crackers or chips. Also goes well with football.

Reading labels

I love pineapple and can eat an entire one at once. Granted, it leaves my mouth unhappy later but I generally have a hard time stopping. Unfortunately I just found out that a whole pineapple has almost 500 calories -also 1 gram of fat and 5 grams of protein which is equally surprising! Even one cup of the stuff has 82 calories compared to say, 2 slices of Canadian bacon which has 70 calories and only 1 gram of fat, making the bacon perhaps a better choice for a snack?

I was also looking at the nutritional info on the back of a (large) bag of prewashed spinich and noticed that it only has 3 servings in it. And each serving is 4 cups of raw spinich...and only 20 calories! I can make a bag of spinich into at least 10 servings it seems. The same for prewashed salads. Only 2.5 servings. Which would mean our whole family should eat one bag per sitting. It usually last about 3 meals.

I'm gonna have to start checking out the nutritional info more often instead of going with what I think constitutes healthy or an appropriate serving size. Anyone else surprised by this info?

Note: I just found this site that has pictures of what 200 calories of certain foods looks like. Good for us visual learners! It's pretty cool.

Pumpkin-Gingersnap Pie

This is what I took to Thanksgiving this year. I also made it for my first (hosted, but collaborative) Thanksgiving in Utah 5 years ago. It definitely has a place in my recipe file. It's super easy, and if you do it in a springform pan as suggested it is a thing of beauty. It's much lighter than a traditional pumpkin pie plus sweet and spicy.


Pumpkin-Gingersnap Pie


2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 (3 3/4-ounce) package cook-and-serve vanilla pudding
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup heavy cream 1 cup coarsely crushed gingersnaps
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Graham cracker pie crust, recipe follows
Gingersnap crumbs, for garnish
Whipped cream, for garnish

In a medium saucepan, combine spice and pudding mix and cook as directed, substituting half-and-half for liquid. Remove mixture from heat and stir in pumpkin. Cover surface with plastic wrap and let stand for about 1 1/2 hours, until nearly room temperature. Stir gently when cool. Whip cream. Fold gingersnaps and whipped cream into pudding mixture. Spread half of pecans in bottom of crust. Pour pudding mixture over nuts and chill pie for 4 hours. Sprinkle with remaining pecans and garnish with gingersnap crumbs and whipped cream.

Graham Cracker Pie Crust: 1 1/2 cups (5 ounces) finely ground graham crackers 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 1/3 cup sugar 3/4 teaspoon salt

Stir together crust ingredients and press onto bottom and 1-inch up side of a 8-inch springform pan. Fill right away or chill up to 2 hours.
Recipe courtesy Gourmet Magazine

I'm gearin' up for a bunch of recipes. Seriously.


The only time I ever wish that I were a filthy rich billionaire (for more or less vainglorious reasons) is when I "shop" at Whole Foods (and drool while browsing Anthropologie). Shop is a stretch because I can only afford a few of my favorite things, and then I stock up at Trader Joes at a more reasonable price. Whole Foods is honestly the best grocery store EVER--in the OC, anyway! I prefer the prices of the Co-Ops and similar establishments in Bellingham, WA and Northern California. But back to the glory of Whole Foods, I want all the baby clothes and products (even though I have no babies), organic pj's and shoes, all the deliciously healthy foods I can buy (even though I still need my bag of Doritos--though I am phasing these out and replacing them with Pirate's Booty and cheese flavored rice cakes), and every cool health product in that store--gimmick or not. I want to own that damn store.

I am trying out a few recipes from Whole Foods. I will post at the end of the week what tasted yummy.

Please post if you have anything--Lynn, I know you're holding back!!

Hummus

Hummus is so super easy and nutritious I don't know why I don't make it more often. Anyhow, tonight I did and it was a good batch. I don't measure so all amounts are approximate.


I also made zucchini bread (while I had the food processor out why not) so if that turns out I'll add the recipe tomorrow.

2 cans chickpeas/garbanzo beans

4 cloves of garlic

3 tablespoons tahini

1/4 c. olive oil

red sea salt

juice from half a lime

1/4 red onion

2 tsp fresh oregano

4 tsp fresh parsley

Throw it all in a blender/food processor and mix that puppy till it looks like it's supposed to. Creamy.

So what's fun about hummus is the variations depending on what you have on hand and what you're in the mood for. Tonight I wished I had some jalapeno to toss in. Red pepper would be good and I've heard that using pine nuts instead of garbanzo beans is delicious. I slightly favor lime over lemon in this and of course any type of salt works. Herbs & onion optional, to taste.

Generally it's carrot sticks I'm dipping but pita chips, cucumber, red bell peppers, potato chips, etc. are all great friends of hummus. What I really really like is two slices of good bread (preferably Great Harvest's Spinach Feta) hummus spread thick, sliced red onions, cucumbers, tomatoes (maybe sprouts, carrot coins, peppers) and I'm thinking, who needs meat? Even guys like it (gasp). I tried it out on a few of Ben's colleagues when we went boating one day. Apparently it even goes well with beer.

Anyone else have a variation they like? Feel free to add on.

That's what a hamburger's all about.

While looking for delicious pictures of fries for the last post...because I think that the recipe tastes like In-N-Out fries (and yes, I do serve them in a paper boat) I got real hungry for some In-N-Out and I thought it'd be fun to post their "secret", not-so-secret because most people are well aware of these possibilities (although some were new to me) AND some are on their website menu.

"3-by-3" = three meat patties and three slices of cheese.
"4-by-4" = four meat patties and four slices of cheese.
"2-by-4" = two meat patties and four slices of cheese.

*Note: You can get a burger with as many meat patties or cheese slices as you want. Just tell the In-N-Out Burger cashier how many meat patties and how much cheese you want and that is what you'll get! For instance, if you want 6 pieces of meat and 10 pieces of cheese tell them you want a "6-by-10."

"Animal Style" = the meat is cooked and fried with mustard and then pickles are added, extra spread and grilled onions are added.
"Animal Style Fries" = fries with cheese, spread, grilled onions and pickles (if you ask for them).
"Protein Style" = for all you low-carbohydrate dieters, this is a burger with no bun (wrapped in lettuce).
"Flying Dutchman" = two meat patties, two slices of melted cheese and nothing else - not even a bun!
Fries "Well-Done" = extra crispy fries . . . even better than the regular!
Fries "Light" = opposite of fries well-done, more raw than most people like 'em
"Grilled Cheese" = no meat, just melted cheese, tomato, lettuce and spread on a bun.
"Veggie Burger" = burger without the patty or cheese.
"Neapolitan" Shake = strawberry, vanilla and chocolate blended together.

+photos from http://www.blogadilla.com/2007/07/04/urban-non-legend-in-n-out-burger/

French Fries

Fries –

3 lbs. of Baking Potatoes
4 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Tsp of Sea/Kosher Salt


Peel potatoes and slice into ¼ inch strips. After cutting submerge in ice bath while oven pre-heats to 400 F. Put all ingredients into zip-loc bag and toss to coat. Arrange on baking sheet coated with additional olive oil or spray. Bake until tender and golden approximately 50 minutes. Turn after 20 minutes to prevent sticking and for even color.

(Don’t have to use these exact amounts, you may wing it by using enough oil to coat the amount of potatoes you use, same with salt. Trader Joes Red Hawaiian Sea Salt is great on these)


Options –

After cooking you can toss with chopped parsley, garlic, garlic salt, butter, paprika or any other spices or combination of herbs and spices that sound good. I like mine straight out of the oven with some Heinz!

Yields 6 servings
5 g. fat per serving compared to 22 g. fat for fast food large fry.

My go-to food.

I love healthy food, or the idea of it. Don't we all. I don't always plan enough ahead of time to have the meals and snacks that would be delicious and nutritious for me and my kids. By the time I get around to feeding us (hunger comes around so frequently!) we will eat whatever is quickest. And often I need things that travel well and can be eaten on the go to make sure we don't have to make too many pit stops during our days spent out and about. When I say pit stops, I mean anything with a drive-through so that I don't have to get two kids out of the car, thus usually narrowing it down to the big three - Mickey D's, Burger King and Wendy's. I don't like their food. Only their ice cream, but that's another post.

So what are the old-faithfuls that I keep stocked for snacks on the go?
(Foods below contain no HFCS, TF/H or AC)

- Apples (I always wash them when I get home from the store so they are ready to eat)

- Stonyfield Farms Yo-Kids Squeezers (stick yogurt, we love it frozen, so good!)

- String Cheese

- Z-Bars Energy Bars for Kids

- Natural PB (it has come so far in taste and texture!) & Raw Honey Sandwich (I make a couple the night before for Ben's lunch and keep them in the fridge. They can last a few days and the honey gets nice and crunchy over time!)

- Beef Jerky

- Raisins (which I personally hate SO much but the kids like them so I keep a few small boxes in the car)

- Baby Mum-Mums (easy for babes with no teeth)

Quick snacks/meals at home include:

- Any of the above mentioned items

- Fruit - Pineapple, Grapes, Bananas, Tangerines etc.

- Mrs. May's Nut & Seed mixes (or nut and fruit mixes if you like dried fruit)(Found at Costco or health Food stores)

-Wild Salmon Burgers (also from Costco, can be pan-grilled or microwave in no time at all, thrown on a salad or a bun)

- Eggs (scrambled, over-easy, omelets, etc.)

- Whole Wheat Quesadillas

- Whole Wheat Crust Pizza

These are just what the kids and I usually end up eating during the day. I could definitely stand to have some more variety. What are your go-to foods? And don't tell me doughnuts... health-promoting foods...we'll get to the treats soon enough I'm sure :)

HFCS - High Fructose Corn Syrup
AC - Artificial Color
TF/H - Trans Fat, Hydorgenated Oils