Switching Gears

OK, so for those of you that know me in real life, you know that since my last post here my life has changed a bit. 

More specifically, my eating has changed.  A lot. 

I'm now pretty firmly into eating whole foods instead of processed, which is in large part why this blog has floundered. 

But it hit me recently...why not just switch gears so it reflects where I'm at now?

I'll leave the older recipes as they are some family favorites, but moving forward I'm going to mostly put healthy alternatives.

As per before, this will be a collection of recipes.  Where known, I'll give credit where credit is due if I know the source. 

Oatmeal Banana Coconut Cookies

So the other day I needed to use up some banana's and didn't have chocolate chips handy to make my standby Oatmeal Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies (http://attempsatedible.blogspot.com/2013/02/banana-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies.html)..so I improvised.  The result came out so well that the kids (and I, if I'm being honest)at the whole batch within 24 hours.  I figured that was worthy of a share here.

 

 

What you will need:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 brown sugar
• 3 very ripe bananas
• 3/4 cup softened salted butter
• 1 egg
• 1 3/4 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup shredded sweetened coconut

Beat sugars with butter, cream until smooth and creamy, add in mashed bananas and egg in a large bowl. Sift together the dry ingredients, I just add it all to a bowl and stir it with a whisk. Pour into butter mixture, mix till combined and add in coconut. Drop by spoonfulls onto un-greased parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake 10 mins or until light brown at 400 degrees. Remove cool on wire rack, and enjoy!:)

The original Oatmeal Banana Chocolate Chip cookie recipe was from  www.momwhats4dinner.com. 
 

Marinated Baked Pork Chops

This recipe and the photo are from allrecipes.com. 

These were pretty good.  I like the balance of tangy and sweet. 

Ingredients

Original recipe makes 6 servings.        

Makes servings USMetricAdjust Recipe (Help)

1 tablespoon soy sauce                                                                     

2 tablespoons vegetable oil                                                                     

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce                                                                     

1 teaspoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons ketchup

6 pork chops

 

 Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a small bowl, thoroughly blend soy sauce, vegetable oil, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar, and ketchup.
3. Place pork chops in a medium baking dish, and spread with 1/2 the sauce.
4. Bake pork chops 30 minutes* in the preheated oven. Turn, and spread with remaining sauce. Continue baking 30 minutes, or until internal temperature of the chops has reached 145 degrees F (63 degrees C).

 

*I amended the baking times to suit the thickness of my chops.

Shepherd's Pie

I'm finally posting again...and it's for shepherd's pie.  My teenage self would find that comical as I loathed Shepherds Pie growing up.  I like it more now (acquired taste?), and as a mom I also like that it recycles leftover mashed potatoes and is made with things I typically keep on hand.

This recipe and photo are from About.com and can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/lhgg4yb

Both the image and (most) of the text will be borrowed from there.

Ingredients:

1 lb. lean ground beef

1 onion, chopped

2 cups frozen mixed vegetables

10 oz. can cream of mushroom soup with roasted garlic

1 tsp. dried marjoram leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

3 cups refrigerated mashed potatoes

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In heavy skillet cook ground beef and onion until beef is brown and onion is tender, stirring to break up meat, about 10 minutes. Drain well. Stir in vegetables and soup and cook until hot, about 4 minutes, then add marjoram and salt and pepper to taste.
Place in 9 inch pie plate. Spoon mashed potatoes over hot meat mixture.

Bake at 375 degrees for 35-45 minutes until potatoes are golden brown and pie is bubbling.

Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

My SIL made these when they came over one holiday and they earned their name.  They will be one of Cookie Monsters cookies at the upcoming birthday party my husband loved them so much.

The recipe and photo are straight off the package of Quaker Oats and can also be found here: http://www.quakeroats.com/cooking-and-recipes/content/recipes/recipe-detail.aspx?recipeid=474

Ingredients:

1/2  cup (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened

3/4  cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2  cup granulated sugar

2  eggs

1  teaspoon vanilla

1-1/2  cups all-purpose flour

1  teaspoon baking soda

1  teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2  teaspoon salt (optional)

3  cups Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)

1  cup raisins

Preparation:

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well.

 

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

• Prep Time: 20 min
• Cook Time Time: 8 min

Variations:

Bar Cookies: Press dough onto bottom of ungreased 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Store tightly covered. 24 BARS.

VARIATIONS: Stir in 1 cup chopped nuts. Substitute 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or candy-coated chocolate pieces for raisins; omit cinnamon. Substitute 1 cup diced dried mixed fruit. HIGH

ALTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: Increase flour to 1-3/4 cups and bake as directed.

Ordered his birthday cake!

The cake was ordered from the Second Street Baking Co in Turners Falls, MA.  It will basically be this cake, except with Grover and blue writing. 

Link to the FB page where I got this from: https://www.facebook.com/pages/2nd-Street-Baking-Co/114697713555

Easy Sesame Chicken

photo and recipe from
http://oneorganicmama.blogspot.com/2013/07/easy-sesame-chicken.html?showComment=1373970853394#c8418702116586923226
 

Chicken: 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs 1 cup of flour ½ tsp paprika Salt and pepper 1 tsp sesame oil Olive oil to coat the pan Sauce: ¼ cup of honey 1 tsp sesame oil 2 tsp sesame seeds ½ tsp paprika Sprinkle of red pepper flake Salt and pepper

Chop up chicken thighs into even small, half inch pieces.  Mix flour with paprika and salt and pepper.  Coat chicken.  Fry in pan with oil at medium heat.  When chicken is browned and deliciously crispy, drain oil from pan and set pan aside. Mix up the sauce. Scrape sauce into pan, put back on the burner, and just heat through and coat chicken. Serve sprinkled with a bit more sesame seeds. No MSG, no mystery meat, just delicious sesame chicken!