Fruity Baked Oatmeal

I came about this recipe searching for a crockpot oatmeal recipe.  I found several but all of them said that the oatmeal burned if it cooked past 5 hours.  I don't have a programmable crockpot so I won't be doing crockpot oatmeal anytime soon.

Fortunately, instead, I found this great recipe on Taste of Home's website.  You can view the recipe on their website here.  I was afraid that this recipe would result in a dense gummy oatmeal but it was suprisingly light.  I think the baking powder keeps it from becoming dense.  It is a little dry but I think that makes it perfect for topping with milk.  The leftovers were delicious as well.  The second time I made it I cut back a little on the butter and brown sugar by about 1/3 and I didn't see a noticeable difference.


Fruity Baked Oatmeal

3c quick cooking oates
1c brown sugar
2t baking powder
1t salt
1/2t cinnamon
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1c milk
1 stick butter melted
3/4 c chopped, peeled apple
1/3c chopped peaches
1/3c blueberries

In a large bowl combine the first 5 ingredients.  Add the next 3 and mix well.  Add the fruit and pour into a 8 inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 35-40 mins or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Double Chocolate Filled Strawberries

I get several emails from Kraft with recipes.  One of them has diabetic friendly recipes and that is where I found this little gem.  You can go here to see the recipe posted on their website.  I was looking for a low sugar dessert for Easter that everyone would like.  My boys love strawberries so this looked like a great choice.  We gobbled them up and then I had to buy more strawberries to make more!  You could defintely play with the pudding flavor used in this recipe to change it up too.  I may leave the cream cheese out next time too.  It was such a little amount added that I don't think it would make much of a difference.

Double Chocolate Filled Strawberries

2lbs strawberries
1/4c of 1/3 less fat cream cheese
1c cold milk
1 pkg of sugar free white chocolate pudding
1c sugar free cool whip
1/4 of a chocolate bar or mini chocolate chips

Wash and dry berries.  Cut the stems off and cut an "X" in the end of the strawberries and spread it open to hold the filling. Whisk the cream cheese and a 1/4 of the milk together until well blended.  Whisk in the remaining milk and pudding mix.  Stir in cool whip and fill a ziploc bag with the filling.  Cut of a corner of the bag to create a small opening.  Pipe the mixture into the strawberries.  If you have any filling leftover, just keep it in the fridge till you get more strawberries!  Melt the chocolate bar in a ziploc bag in the microwave.  Just for a few seconds or you will melt your bag!  Cut a corner of to create a small opening to drizzle chocolate over the strawberries.  The second time I made this I just topped the strawberries with mini chocolate chips.  Refrigerate the strawberries till ready to serve.

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

I just love pizza and so does my husband.  The only problem is that he is diabetic and pizza always raises his blood sugar too high.  So I decided to try to find a whole wheat pizza crust recipe that would be simple enough to do and still taste good.  I found it!  This recipe is soooo easy and makes such a delicious pizza...actually two!  I found this recipe in my Fleischmann's Yeast cookbook.  You can find other recipes on their website here.  A little tip...keep your whole wheat flour in the fridge or freezer.  Because it still has the wheat germ in it, it will go rancid quicker than regular flour.

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

1c whole wheat flour
2c AP flour plus a little more for rolling
1 pkg rapid rise yeast
3/4t salt
1c very warm water (120-130 degrees)
2T olive oil

In a large bowl, combine 1c of WW flour and 1c of AP flour.  Add yeast and salt.  Stir very warm water and oil into dry ingredients.  Add enough additional AP flour to make a soft dough.  Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic for about 4-6 mins.  Cover and let rest 10 mins.  Lightly oil two 12 inch pizza pans.  Divide dough in half and roll/stretch dough to cover pans.  Top pizza as desired and bake at 400 for 20-30 mins.  Baking time will depend on toppings and thickness of the crust so keep an eye on it.

Lentil and Sausage Soup

It has taken me a long time to try lentils and I regret that I've missed out on them for so long!  What a great staple to have in your pantry.  Although they are dried, they don't require the lengthy soak that other dried beans require.  In this recipe you just rinse the lentils (make sure you look for little pebbles!) and then cook them in the soup for 2-3 hrs.  I found this recipe on allrecipes.com which is a great resource for recipes. You can find the original recipe here.  Enjoy!

Lentil and Sausage Soup

1/2 lb italian sausage
1 onion chopped
1T garlic chopped
16oz package of dried lentils, rinsed & checked for pebbles
1c chopped carrots
8c water
two 14.5oz cans of chicken broth
28oz can diced tomatoes
1T garlic powder
1T chopped parsley
2 bay leaves
1/2 t dried oregano
1/4t dried thyme
1/4 dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

Cook sausage in large pot until browned.  Add onion and garlic and saute until tender.  Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until lentils are tender about 2-3 hrs.

Middle Eastern Rice with Black Beans & Chickpeas

My friend Kristi found this recipe on the All Recipes site.  It is great website to search for recipes.  This is a nice one-pot dish.  It calls for several spices that may seem intimidating but once you try them you'll probably go looking for more recipes to use them in!  You can find All Recipes' original recipe here.  I cut the recipe in half and adjusted some of the ingredients.  I also thought it was even better the next day.

I have another little tip for you too.  I don't frequently buy fresh parsley because once I use it for a recipe the rest goes bad before I can use it again.  Solution: I found these tubes in the organic section of the produce area that have 3 bunches of chopped parsley in one tube.  You just squeeze out the amount you need and put the rest in the fridge.  It worked great and doesn't cost much more than the fresh parsley especially considering that you don't have to do the chopping and there is no waste!  They also had other herbs, ginger, and chili peppers.  A real find!

Middle Eastern Rice with Black Beans and Chickpeas

1lb ground turkey, browned

1T olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1c instant brown rice

1t ground cumin

1t ground coriander

1/2 t ground turmeric
1/4t ground cayenne pepper
1c chicken broth
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1T chopped parsley
salt and pepper

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over med heat.  Stir in garlic and cook 1 min.  Stir in rice and spices and cook for 5 mins.  Add broth, bring to a boil and cook for 10 mins.  Add cooked turkey, beans, and parsley to rice.  Cook for 5 more mins and add salt & pepper to taste.

Orange Delight

Remember those congealed salads that show up at family get togethers and potlucks?  Well, this is a good one to show up with!  I know that it sounds like something your grandmother might make but I think its time to bring back some more old recipes.  This can be made sugar free too.

Orange Delight

1 lg orange jello

20oz crushed pineapple, drained reserving the juice

8oz cool whip

8oz cream cheese, softened

2T lemon juice

3/4c sugar

2T AP flour

2 eggs beaten

1/2c chopped pecans

Make jello according to package instructions and add the drained pineapple.  Pour into 9x13 pan and sprinkle with 1/4c chopped pecans.  Congeal in refrigerator.  Combine cream cheese and cool whip and layer on top of jello.  Add water to pineapple juice to equal 1 cup of liquid.  To juice add lemon, sugar, flour, and eggs.  Microwave until thick stirring every 2 mins then allow to cool.  Once cooled, layer on top of cream cheese mixture and top with remaining pecans.  Refrigerate 1hr before serving.

Sweet Potato Pie

This is such a delicious and simple recipe.  If you don't like pumpkin pie you should give sweet potato a try.  The recipe creates a nice light, almost fluffy, pie.  I made mine sugar free by substituting Splenda and it did great.  It was a lot prettier in person than in this picture!  My photography stinks!!

Sweet Potato Pie

1lb sweet potatoes (2-3)

1 stick butter softened

3/4c sugar/Splenda

1/2c milk

2 eggs

1/2 t nutmeg

1/2 t cinnamon

1t vanilla

1 pie crust shell

Microwave sweet potatoes (pricked with holes) until soft.  Mix potatoes in bowl with butter until well blended.  Add remaining ingredients and mix until smooth.  Pour into crust and bake at 350 for 50-60 mins until knife inserted into center comes out clean.

Pumpkin Pie

My favorite pumpkin pie recipe is the one on the can of Libby's canned pumpkin puree.  It is so simple and always turns out great.  Here is their recipe.  The only change I make is I use pumpkin pie spice blend instead of the individual spices listed.  Custard style pies, like pumpkin pie, are also very easy to make sugar free and it doesn't affect the texture or taste.  Just substitute the sugar with an equal amount of Splenda.  I thought I would share this tip because you may have a diabetic out there you are cooking for this Thanksgiving.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pie

3/4 c sugar or Splenda

1 t pumpkin pie spice blend

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 can (15 oz ) canned pumpkin puree

1 can (12 fl. oz.) Evaporated Milk

1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell

Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin, sugar, salt, and spice blend. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.  POUR into pie shell.  BAKE in preheated 425° F oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Homemade Pudding

This is my mom's recipe that she uses when making banana pudding.  I'm definitely a fan of banana pudding with homemade pudding and a meringue topping.  You can also make this with Splenda and it turns out great.

Homemade Pudding

2c sugar or Splenda
4T cornstarch
4c milk
4 egg yolks
2T butter
2t vanilla

Blend sugar & cornstarch.  Beat in egg yolks then gradually add milk.  Microwave 2 mins at a time, stirring in between until mixture becomes thick.  This takes about 10 mins total cook time.  Add butter and vanilla.

Apple and Granola Salad with Grilled Chicken

One of my favorite salads is one with apples, craisins, feta, candied pecans, and a raspberry vinaigrette.  I just love the sweet with the feta and it makes a great meal if you add some chicken.  Well, I tried an adaption to it.  I took a crunchy granola bar and crushed it into small chunks and added it.  Yum!  It works kinda like sweet croutons.  Give it a try!

Chicken Breast Stuffed with Spinach and Feta

I adapted this recipe from Cooking Light.  It is one of my favorite magazines that I receive.  The recipe below is for 2 chicken breasts so just adapt it for as many as you need.  You could even prepare the chicken ahead and then just cook them when you were ready if you were doing these for company.  Also, this is a basic recipe that I think you could adapt an endless number of ways.  How about broccoli and cheddar?  You'll also notice that I use garlic oil to saute my spinach.  I think this is such a great flavor booster ingredient and it saves me an extra step when cooking which is always great.  It has become a must-have in my kitchen.

Chicken Breast Stuffed with Spinach and Feta

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1T olive oil

salt/pepper

1/3 c chicken broth

2 c fresh spinach

1T garlic oil (or you could use olive oil and add a little garlic)
1/4 crumbled feta
toothpicks

In an oven proof skillet (not non-stick) saute the spinach with a little salt and pepper in the garlic oil.  Once wilted and cooled, squeeze out as much water as you can.  Chop the spinach and add the feta.  Take your chicken breasts and cut a pocket into the side of the thickest end.  Fill the pocket with the spinach mixture.  Use the toothpicks to skewer the pocket closed and salt and pepper the chicken.  Reheat your skillet over med-hi heat and add olive oil.  Brown the chicken 3 minutes on each side.  Preheat your oven to 350.  Once the chicken is browned, add the chicken broth to the skillet and place the skillet in the oven for 15 mins or until done.  Let the chicken rest about 5 mins before serving.

Beef Stroganoff

This is a recipe I found on the back of a bag of Ronzoni Healthy Harvest pasta.  I really didn't alter the recipe at all except for leaving out the mushrooms.  I love them but my family doesn't so I just saute them on the side and add them to my plate.  Sorry I don't have a picture.  I'll have to add that next time!

Beef Stroganoff

1 lb gr beef
1/2 c chopped onion
1 1/2 c water
2 beef bouillon cubes
1 T Worcestershire sauce
3 T AP flour
12 oz whole wheat egg noodles
16 oz sour cream
salt/pepper
Sauted mushrooms

Brown gr beef with onions in a large skillet.  Meanwhile, boil pasta according to package directions and drain.  Drain gr beef and add back to skillet.  Add water, bouillon, and Worcestshire and bring to a boil.  You can add the mushrooms here if you want them.  Add flour to sour cream and then add to skillet.  Bring mixture to a simmer but don't boil.  Add pasta and mix thoroughly coat.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Splenda Apple Pie

I have had a really hard time finding No Sugar Added apple pies in the freezer section or bakery at my grocery stores.  It is my husband's favorite dessert but he is diabetic so we have to go for the no sugar added variety.  This is Splenda's recipe that I've modified a little.  Here is their original recipe.  I don't think anyone can tell that it's made with Splenda.  Sorry there's no picture.  I'll add it the next time a bake one.

Splenda Apple Pie

2 refrigerated pie crusts
7 c peeled and sliced apples (I use Granny Smiths)
1t lemon juice
1 c Splenda
3 T cornstarch
1 t apple pie spice blend (I use a Cinnamon Blend from Pampered Chef)
1/4 t salt

Combine apples and lemon juice.  Add remaining ingredients and toss to thoroughly coat.  Fill pie crust and top with remaining pie crust.  Crimp edges and cut a few slits in the top for venting.  I lightly spray the top of my pie with butter cooking spray.  Bake at 425 for 40-50 mins.