Supper-Time Sunday!

Homemade Ketchup

Rating: A

I have a hard time with ketchup because it almost always has high fructose corn syrup in it. Since I react badly to HFCS I usually just avoid ketchup altogether; however, I have some recipes that call for ketchup and wanted to have an option. Now I know that they make ketchup without HFCS but I wanted to try my hand at making my own. It was surprisingly easy and I had all of the ingredients on hand. It was really tasty too. I even omitted the extra tsp of sugar and just went with the agave/honey. I didn't think it made very much so I will probably double or triple the recipe next time around but I would definitely like to make it again!

LINK:  http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/06/homemade-ketchup.html

One Minute Paleo Flax Muffin

Rating: F

I'm sorry... I have made microwave flax muffins before that I liked but this one was terrible. The bread part had an awful flavor and called for WAY too much flax seed. I tried to stir it really well before baking and still had a bunch of leftover flax at the bottom of my cup. I will definitely NOT be making this recipe again. Maybe you will have better luck?

LINK: http://preppypaleo.blogspot.com/2012/08/one-minute-paleo-flax-muffin.html

Egg White Crust

Rating: A

I have made this recipe twice now in two different ways. I have no egg protein on hand so the first time I just used whole wheat flour and flax seed. I mixed it up with some garlic and italian spices and topped it with hummus, cottage cheese and a bunch of veggies. VERY delicious! The second time I used my vanilla whey protein powder in place of the egg protein and topped it with cottage cheese, mashed blueberries and peach slices. ALSO very delicious! This recipe is a keeper for sure.

LINK: http://www.oatmealafterspinning.com/2012/08/15/my-very-first-wiaw-egg-white-crust-veggie-pizza/

Healthy Homemade Graham Crackers

Rating: B-

These were fun to make but I probably wouldn't make them again. They aren't the easiest things in the world to put together and they aren't as tasty as boxed grahams. Now, I think that this can be easily fixed with a few tweaks - you can up the amount of sugar that it calls for or add other things to it like cocoa. When you cook it make sure to not overcook. I overcooked one batch and they crumbled like crazy. The second batch was much softer and tastier, especially with milk, but still lacking in something. Also, make sure you roll out the dough REALLY thin because they do rise in the oven and my second batch was more like soft cookies than crunchy grahams. Good luck if you try it!

LINK: http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/desserts/healthy-homemade-graham-crackers/

Quinoa Fruit Parfait

Rating: B+

This was a tasty idea and I loved the cinnamon/vanilla/greek yogurt layer. I actually made mine with raw oatmeal and cooked oatmeal for my mom and sister. I haven't tried the quinoa but I would be willing to. It isn't the best thing that I have ever had but it was decent.

LINK: http://www.edibleperspective.com/home/2011/7/20/why-you-make-extra-quinoa.html

Greek Yogurt Ranch Dressing

I will admit that when I first saw this pin on Pinterest that I was really skeptical of how it would taste but I always like to try new things! I got out an old jar that I saved from having banana peppers one time and mixed all the ingredients together and let it chill. When it was "finished" an hour later I tasted it and was really surprised that it tasted really good! It is a little bit more tart than a lot of the bottled ranch dressings that I have tried but I like it better. It tastes like a mix between salad dressing and ranch dip.

And guess what? The ENTIRE jar has just over 270 calories and no fat. Wow.

No more buying ranch dressing for us! This is our go to from now on. I even used fat free milk instead of the 1% milk that the normal recipe called for and it still turned out perfectly well!

Just ignore the pesto and feta in my picture... I was making a variation on the pizzas that I posted yesterday. Whole wheat pita with a mix of this ranch and a little pesto for the sauce, covered in fresh spinach leaves, just a sprinkle of feta, sliced leftover grilled chicken and freshly cracked pepper - wow. Bake at 400 for 5 minutes.

This recipe is courtesy of The Caffeinated Chronicles of Supermom and can be found at this site HERE.

GREEK YOGURT RANCH DRESSING
From The Caffeinated Chronicles of Supermom

Nutritional Information for the WHOLE jar (calculated on MyFitnessPal.com): Calories 273, Carbs 34, Fat grams 0, Protein 28 (Calculated based on skim milk)

1 cup plain, nonfat Greek yogurt
1 packet ranch dressing dry mix (not dip ~ I found online that this is 3 Tbsp equivalent)
1/2 cup skim or 1% milk

Mix all ingredients together in a jar and refrigerate for 1 hour before use.

Green Enchilada Sauce and Pico de Gallo

We had a huge family dinner tonight to celebrate the blessing of our beautiful nieces Serenthia Skye and Zakiya Mae. My responsibility for the dinner was these two dishes. Classic Mexican, right? We love these additions to burritos, tacos, or with well seasoned meat. When we got home with the leftovers (because I made enough to feed several armies...) my cute hubby announced that he wanted to eat it with rice sometime this week. Yes, they were that good.

So enjoy! And get someone to help you cut things up... otherwise these are easy dishes to make!

PICO DE GALLO
From.... somewhere on the internet? The picture is mine. (*I multiplied this recipe by 4. Yes, 4.)

3 vine ripe tomatoes, chopped
1/2 white onion, diced
1/4 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp fresh lime juice
Salt & Pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together and keep cold until ready to serve.

GREEN ENCHILADA SAUCE
From Our Best Bites
(recipe and picture source: http://www.ourbestbites.com/2010/03/green-enchilada-sauce/)

2-3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, minced
5-6 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 green peppers, chopped
1-2 jalapenos, seeded and membranes removed if desired
1 1/2 lb. tomatillos, husked and quartered or halved
1/2 bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
4 c. chicken broth
2-3 Tbsp. sugar (optional and to taste; I leave it out.)

In a large saucepan or stock pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Saute onions and garlic until tender and fragrant.

While onions are sauteeing, combine tomatillos, green peppers, jalapeno peppers, and cilantro in your blender. Process until smooth; you may have to do it in batches and/or add some chicken broth to make things blendable.

Pour the tomatillo mixture over the onions and garlic and add chicken broth, salt, pepper, and cumin. Simmer 15 minutes-1 hour, depending on the consistency you want. You can turn the heat to high and boil it uncovered until you reach the consistency you want; it makes things go a lot faster. The sauce can also be simmered in a slow cooker all day.

Serve over tacos, as an enchilada sauce, inside burritos, or as a dip for chips.

Kneaders Chunky Cinnamon French Toast

Let me add my disclaimer from the very beginning here: I love Kneaders and I adore their sandwiches but I have never actually had their french toast. So do I know that this is exactly like it? No. BUT! I am pretty sure. Why? Because Kneaders divulged the recipe on Good Things Utah in 2005 and this is that recipe.

Disclaimer out of the way... this was delicious! I was very pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't as sweet as I thought it was going to be. I don't deal well with too much sweetness but the caramel sauce was a perfect compliment to the toast. We just bought generic cinnamon bread from Smith's and doubled up the slices so that they would be thick. When they sit overnight they "gel" together from the egg mixture so we didn't have any problems with them falling apart. We also used an 11x17" pan instead of a 9x13".

Even though this recipe has to sit for at least an hour I would definitely recommend doing it overnight. It was super easy to throw together after dinner was over and you just stick it in the oven the next day. This one is one that we will DEFINITELY be repeating at our house!

This picture and recipe are courtesy of The Sisters Cafe and can be found at this site here: http://www.thesisterscafe.com/2011/04/kneaders-chunky-cinnamon-french-toast

Kneaders Chunky Cinnamon French Toast

Submitted by Mindy ~ The Sisters Cafe

Printer Friendly Version

1 loaf Kneaders Chunky Cinnamon Bread cut in 8 slices (You could use any store bought cinnamon swirl bread but no raisins!)

8 eggs
3 cups milk
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons butter

Butter an 11/17" glass baking dish generously. Place the bread flat in the baking dish. Mix all remaining ingredients, reserving the butter and pour over the bread. Cut butter into pieces and dot over the top. Refrigerate over night or at least one hour (I think an hour is plenty, and I didn't need quite all the egg mixture). Bake 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees. Serves 8. Serve with Kneaders Caramel Syrup.

Kneaders Caramel Syrup

From The Sister’s Café

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup heavy whipping cream 

1 cup light Karo syrup

Blend together and heat on stove top until sugar is smooth. Serve warm.

Best Marinara Sauce Yet

I love the taste of fresh ingredients and this sauce was definitely no exception. I don't know if I would go so far as to say it was the "best" marinara sauce I have ever had but it was definitely good. And it is so easy to throw together that it is well worth making the sauce from scratch. Now all I need is some good mozzarella sticks to dip in this sauce...

The recipe is courtesy of Allrecipes.com and can be found at this site: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/best-marinara-sauce-yet/detail.aspx (picture courtesy of Soup Loving Nicole)

BEST MARINARA SAUCE YET

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

2 (14.5 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes (you can also used diced tomatoes)
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (or 4 tsp. dried)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 tablespoons olive oil (we cut this back to 3-4 Tbsp.)
1/3 cup finely diced onion
1/2 cup white wine (we substituted chicken broth)

In a food processor place Italian tomatoes, tomato paste, chopped parsley, minced garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. Blend until smooth.

In a large skillet over medium heat sauté the finely chopped onion in olive oil for 2 minutes. Add the blended tomato sauce and white wine/chicken broth.

Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Blackberry Sauce

What more could you want in life than breakfast for your birthday dinner? I contest there is nothing else you could want! And since it is my birthday today I get to have whatever I want to. I have so many wonderful breakfast recipes that I want to try that it was hard to decide which one I wanted the most, but I cannot kick my lemon craving this pregnancy so this recipe ultimately won out. And it was AMAZING! Don't be afraid of the amount of lemon juice this calls for - it is the perfect amount and they are divine. And the blackberry sauce is a perfect compliment. Serve them up with some sausage and hashbrowns and you may as well die and go to heaven!!!! This is one we will do in our home again and again!

The recipe and picture are courtesy of Real Mom Kitchen and can be found here.

LEMON RICOTTA PANCAKES
From Real Mom Kitchen

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 large egg
• 2 large egg whites
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon canola oil

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
2. In another bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, egg, egg whites, lemon juice, lemon zest, and canola oil.
3. Gently fold the ricotta mixture into the dry ingredients just until combined. Do not over mix. This batter will be thick.
4. Heat a griddle or a nonstick skillet over medium heat and coat with canola oil. Drop about 1/3 cup of batter onto the hot griddle or skillet. Cook the pancakes until browned on the underside and beginning to set, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook the pancakes on the other side, about two minutes longer. Continue making pancakes until batter is gone. Serve warm with blackberry sauce. Makes about 10 pancakes.

BLACKBERRY SAUCE
From Real Mom Kitchen

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 tsp cornstarch
• 2 cup frozen blackberries

1. In a small sauce pan, whisk together the sugar and cornstarch. Whisk the water into the sugar mixture until well blended. Cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens.
2. Remove from heat and gently stir in blackberries. Allow the mixture to cool slightly. Serve warm over the lemon ricotta pancakes.

Pancake recipe adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod, Blackberry Sauce recipe a Real Mom Kitchen original

Marinated Manti Turkey (Or Chicken!)

This recipe is one that I grew up with. My mom does it all the time and it is HIGHLY requested. The longer you let the turkey, or chicken, marinate the better it gets. Super easy, super delicious, what could be better than that? The picture isn't exactly the same recipe but it looks a lot like it and is courtesy of Taste of Home found here.

TURKEY MARINADE

1 cup soy sauce
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups Sprite
1 tsp. horseradish sauce

Marinate overnight. Keep in sauce until ready to barbecue. While cooking pour sauce over the top.

*This is for a basic amount of chicken or turkey (probably about 4 breasts cut up.) Make sure that the amount of meat you use can be covered completely. Double the recipe if you have to.