What to do with Leftover Ingredients

I loved reading everyone's ideas for Thanksgiving leftovers: turkey sandwiches, turkey pot pie, turkey soup, etc. But what about leftover ingredients? For the past couple of months Marcs has been selling 29 oz cans of pumpkin for $2.50. And for the past couple of months it seems like I've had a half used can of pumpkin in my refrigerator.  I also found myself with some extra cranberries, so I spent some time this week recreating some of my favorite pumpkin and cranberry treats to be allergy friendly.  So now instead of too many leftover cans of pumpkin and bags of cranberries, we have too many pumpkin and cranberry treats. But at least they taste good :)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 stick butter
1/2 cup raw sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2/3 cup pumpkin
1 t. vanilla
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. allspice
1/2 t. cloves
pinch salt
1 cup Allergy Free chocolate chips (such as Enjoy Life)

Preheat oven to 350

Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add the applesauce, pumpkin and vanilla and beat until incorporated. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and spices with a whisk. Slowly add to the wet mixture and beat until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.  Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet and bake about 10-12 minutes or until browned around the edges.

Cranberry Vanilla Bread
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup raw sugar
2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup melted butter
2 t. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups cranberries
1 T. sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 375. Grease a loaf pan and set aside. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl with a whisk. Set aside. Melt butter in a bowl and add the applesauce, milk and vanilla extract. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and mix until moist. Fold in the cranberries. Spread batter in pan and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes. Turn heat down to 350 and bake 25 minutes longer or until the top begins to brown. Keep an eye on it because oven temperatures may vary.

Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 cup butter
1 cup raw sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 T. orange juice
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. baking soda
1 cup allergy free chocolate chips
2 cups coarsely chopped fresh cranberries

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the milk, orange juice, and applesauce to the mixture and mix thoroughly. In a separate medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda using a whisk. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and blend well. Stir in the chocolate chips and chopped cranberries.

Preheat oven to 375 and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a cookie scooper to place the dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Tired of Turkey?

Between the Thanksgiving meal itself, the seconds you went back for later that evening (we all do it) and the leftovers, you might find yourself feeling a little tired of turkey and in need of a "lighter" meal. This is a great healthy soup that is cheap, filling and easy to make.  It makes for a great lunch or pair it with a grilled cheese sandwich or a salad for dinner.

Tomato-Lentil Soup

4 ½ cups water

2 medium carrots, sliced

1 leek, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2/3 cup dried lentils, rinsed

1 green pepper, chopped

1 can (6 oz) tomato paste

2 T. fresh minced parsley

½ T. brown sugar

1 T. white vinegar

1 clove garlic, minced

½ t. dried thyme

1 t. oregano

1 cup spinach

salt and pepper

mozzarella cheese for garnish

In a large saucepan, combine the water, carrots, leek, pepper, celery and lentils. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes. Stir in the remaining ingredients, return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Add spinach and heat until wilted.  Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over soup before serving. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Last year, my husband and I started what we hope will be a Thanksgiving family tradition in our household for years to come. We decided to keep a list of what we are thankful for throughout the month of November and then, no matter what our holiday plans are, have our own little Thanksgiving dinner the weekend before Thanksgiving where we'll share everything on the list with each other. Last year I just stuck a sheet of paper on the refrigerator and we added to the list as we were led. This year, being motivated by pinterest, I decided to get a little crafty and made a countdown calendar. We wrote one thing we were thankful for on a piece of paper and stuck it in the slot for that day. 

Here were some of the comments

Can you find C's contribution? For some reason "my wife" and "our son" didn't make it in the picture. But don't worry, they where in there :)

For dinner, I decided to do a little southwest spin on the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. We had chili-lime rubbed turkey breast with chipotle cranberry sauce, chipotle mashed sweet potatoes, green beans and cornbread. For dessert we had egg and nut free apple-cranberry crisp. 

Everything turned out great and we had a wonderful time looking through our thankful list and comparing it to last year's. I'm really looking forward to when C can write out his own comments :) Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Below are the recipes for the turkey, cranberry sauce, potatoes and crisp. The green beans were just sprinkled with lemon juice and salt and the cornbread I have listed in a post called "The First Flavors of Fall". 

Chili-Lime Rubbed Turkey Breast

1 skinless turkey breast (about 2 - 2.5 lbs)

1 t. chili powder

1 T. lime juice

salt

1/2 t. cumin

Place turkey breast in a roasting pan and rub the spices over the top. Drizzle lime juice over turkey. Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 1.5 - 2 hours or until done. Top with cranberry sauce (except for your toddler's).

Chipotle Cranberry Sauce

1 T. canola oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup port wine (or grape juice)

1/4 t. ginger

1 (12 ounce) package fresh cranberries

1 t. grated lime rind

1 minced chipotle chile, canned in adobo sauce

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté for 4 minutes. Add sugar, water, wine (or juice), ginger and cranberries. Bring to a boil . Reduce heat and simmer for 8 minutes or until cranberries are popped. Remove from heat and stir in lime rind and chile. 

Chipotle Mashed Sweet Potatoes  (the only way I've ever gotten my husband to eat sweet potatoes!)

6 medium sweet potatoes (unpeeled)

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 T. finely chopped chipotle chilies, canned in adobo sauce

1 t. adobo sauce

1/2 t. salt

3 green onions

 Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pierce potatoes with a fork and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until done. Cool slightly. Cut each potato in half lengthwise and scoop out pulp. Combine the pulp, butter, chilies, adobo, salt and green onions in a food processor. Reheat to serve. 

Cranberry-Apple Crisp

6-7 large apples, peeled and cut into 6 wedges

1 t. grated lemon zest

2 t. fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup sugar

2 1/2 t. ground cinnamon

1/2 cup fresh cranberries

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup quick-cooking oats

1/3 cup honey

1 t. ground cinnamon

1/8 t. salt

1/2 cup butter, melted

Spray an oval 14 x 9-inch casserole dish with baking spray. Combine the apples with lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, cranberries and cinnamon in a large bowl, and pour the mixture into the prepared dish. 

To make the topping, in a medium bowl, combine the flour, oats, honey, cinnamon, salt and melted butter. Stir until crumbly. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sprinkle the topping all over the apple-cranberry mixture and place the dish on a baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling. Serve hot with ice cream. 

Chicken Parmesan Take 2

I revised my chicken parmesan recipe because C had a reaction the the "flax egg" coating that I tried to substitute for egg in the breading. Apparently it is now nuts, eggs, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and flax seeds. (and possibly coconut?) The list seems to be expanding. His reaction was just a rash though so nothing big, but we will be staying away from all things flax from now on. Here's the new recipe. It's definitely worth trying!

Chicken Parmesan

4 Chicken breasts

1 cup bread crumbs

3 parts olive oil to 1 part red wine vinegar

1/4 t. basil

1/4 t. oregano

1/4 t. garlic powder

salt and pepper

1 cup flour

1 cup tomato sauce

¼ cup parmesan cheese

4 slices mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Set up 3 medium-sized bowls on countertop. In first bowl, place 1 cup flour. In second bowl, mix 3 parts olive oil to 1 part red wine vinegar. Stir in your spices and salt and pepper. In third bowl, place 1 cup breadcrumbs. Bread your chicken by first coating with flour, then with the olive oil mix and lastly with the breadcrumbs. Brown the chicken for a few minutes on both sides in a pan with 2 T. olive oil over medium heat. In a 9 x 13 inch baking dish, place 1 cup tomato sauce and sprinkle parmesan cheese over the sauce. Place the 4 chicken breasts on top of sauce and top each one with a slice of mozzarella cheese. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. 

Gyro-Sized Love

I love my husband this much:

Well, more than that. For the past two months, E has been asking me to make homemade gyros. It all started over Labor Day weekend when we were in New Jersey visiting my grandparents. We took them out to a Greek Diner for lunch and I told him that if he wanted to order a gyro (pronounced year-o) at a Greek Diner in front of my Yiayia and Papou, he would need to pronounce it correctly. He was quiet in the car on the way there (perhaps he was practicing?), but when we got there he ordered a gyro with bold confidence and smooth articulation. Perhaps that confidence was a bad thing, because he has not stopped talking about gyros and asking for gyros since he learned how to say the word.  

So, tonight I finally gave in and made gyros for dinner. Perhaps it was because I didn't feel like tackling the mess in the family room, so I decided to make a mess in the kitchen. Or I was just getting sick of him asking so I was hoping they would turn out bad and he wouldn't ask again. Or maybe I was just up for the challenge.  Whatever it was, it ended up being a lot easier than I thought. I didn't need some fancy spinning pile of meat in the kitchen or any strange spices. Typically gyros are made with lamb, but I made ours with ground beef because I'm not a huge fan of lamb.  So, here it is.

Homemade Gyros

1 pound ground beef (not too lean)

2 t. kosher salt

1/2 t. ground black pepper

1/2 t. dried oregano

1/2 onion, cut into chunks

1 clove garlic, sliced

1 cup greek yogurt

1 T. olive oil

1 clove garlic, finely minced

1/4 t. salt

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced

pita bread

chopped tomatoes

sliced onions

Combine beef, salt, pepper and oregano in a bowl. Mix with hands until homogenous. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour. 

Adjust oven rack to middle and preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place meat mixture in food processor with onion and 1 clove of garlic. Process until smooth. (I could have used a bigger food processor here)

Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Form meat into a rectangle on baking sheet about 1 1/2 inches high, 8 inches long and 5 inches wide (or your best guess).  Bake about 30 minutes. Allow loaf to rest for about 15 minutes or refrigerate until you're ready to eat. 

Meanwhile, make sauce. Combine yogurt, cucumber, finely minced garlic, salt and olive oil. Stir until mixed. 

Adjust broiler rack to highest position and preheat broiler. Thinly slice the meat, place on baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and broil until edges are brown and crispy (about 5 minutes but keep an eye on it). Warm pita bread in the oven while the broiler is on. 

Now you're read to eat. Spread the yogurt on the pita and top with a few slices of meat, tomatoes, and onions. Fold the pita up and wrap the bottom half with aluminum foil to hold. Enjoy. 

Looks just like the restaurants, doesn't it? 

Breakfast with The C-Man

Recently C has been refusing to eat his oatmeal for breakfast.  It ends up on his tray, on the floor, on my lap, in his hair, but not in his mouth.  This leaves me with very few options for what to feed him for breakfast because he can't have eggs or store-bought waffles, breakfast bars, etc. Since oatmeal is rather sticky and I don't like wearing it on my clothes, I started to work on a few breakfast options for him. Here's one that's similar to a chocolate chip oatmeal bar. You can substitute the chocolate chips for raisins or add nuts if you can eat them. To make your own oat flour, just grind 1 cup oats in a food processor.

Happy C-Man, happy Mommy!

Banana-Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Breakfast Bars

1 cup oat flour

3/4 cup rolled oats

1/2 t. baking powder

1/4 baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1/2 cup raw sugar

1/3 cup melted coconut oil

1/3 cup milk

1/2 t. vanilla extract

1/2 ripe banana, cut into small pieces

1/4 cup semisweet allergy-friendly chocolate chips (such as Enjoy Life)

Preheat oven to 350. Combine the first 6 ingredients (through sugar) in a bowl. 

Whisk together oil, milk and vanilla in a separate bowl. 

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir to combine. Fold in banana and chocolate chips.

Grease an 8x8 inch glass baking dish and spread batter into pan. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until golden brown.