Cooking: Apple carrot Latkes

Apple-Carrot Potato Pancakes

Ingredients:

Pancakes

1 carrot

1 apple (gala or empire)

1 - 2 cups frozen hash browns or grated potato (amount should be equal to the amount of grated carrot and apple combined)

¼ - ½ of a large white onion

1 tsp salt

1/8 – ¼ tsp black pepper

2 – 4 tbs flour

2 – 3 tbs non-fat plain yogurt

¼ - ½ cup low sugar maple syrup

(yogurt/maple combo can be substituted for 1 egg for a more savory/less sweet pancake)

Vegetable Oil

Sour Cream

½ cup sour cream

½ cup non-fat plain yogurt

¼ cup low sugar maple syrup

Pancakes

Peel and grate carrot and apple into a large bowl. Chop onion and add to bowl. Add hash browns, yogurt, syrup, flour, salt and pepper. Mix until combined. Form 2” balls with mixture. In large skillet or pan heat oil over a medium flame. Pan should have ¼ - ½” oil in it (enough so that pancakes are ½ immersed when cooking). Place balls in oil. Use a spatula or small glass to flatten balls into pancakes. Cook for 2 minutes or until golden brown then flip and cook for another 2 minutes. Transfer pancakes to a paper towel covered plate.

Sour Cream

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Stir until combined.

Cooking: Salmon with Pineapple Salsa

At least this wasn't a failure. This was AMAZING. I'll post pictures soon when I get around to it. The only modification I made was Cilantro instead of Basil, which I believe lead to what I find to be a near perfect meal! I paired it with a bread from Berkeley Bowl!

Cooking: Jacket Potatoes

When I was in England, I had these things called Jacket Potatoes. Essentially they cook the potato to make the outside nearly leathery(although it tastes amazing) and then fill other things in it. I had this several times in these pubs, with tuna and corn. So mildly referring to a recipe of sorts, I went into action.

I first washed the potato and then covered it with olive oil and salt. Threw it in the oven on 375 for 1.75 hours(agonizing time when you are hungry). I then prepared the tuna with mayonaise and threw the corn in. Finally, when it was done I threw some butter on it after I cut it open. THen put the tuna on one side, and had to have sour cream on the other :) I ate a spinach/tomato/almond/cheese salad with lemon when I first put it in the oven.

I think I may have eaten too much salt and cream.

Cooking: Risotto

I got this idea from my friend Deb. I went to the store and found this box which already had the recipie on it, so I didn't find another. I pretty much followed this recipie. Started with browning onions in oil. Then browned the Risotto(like you would with rice a roni) with some butter. Then, I poured in chicken stock to cover, and let it cook for a bit, continually adding in chicken stock until I had none left and left to cook for a bit longer. I fried up the zucchini and mushrooms separately.

I ate the meal with a spinach/tomato/almond/cheese salad(lemon dressing) and I also had some cooked chard.

Cooking: Ratatouille

So I did it, I made ratatouille, in the spirit of the movie and the pixar exhibit. And well, its baked vegetables. Amy came over to have some, until she realized that most of the vegetables she didn't like. SO she ate a tomato. Hah! Used the allrecipies.com recipie.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley
• 1 eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• salt to taste
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 zucchini, sliced
• 1 large onion, sliced into rings
• 2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced
• 2 large tomatoes, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat bottom and sides of a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
2. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic until lightly browned. Mix in parsley and eggplant. Saute until eggplant is soft, about 10 minutes. Season with salt to taste.
3. Spread eggplant mixture evenly across bottom of prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle with a few tablespoons of Parmesan cheese. Spread zucchini in an even layer over top. Lightly salt and sprinkle with a little more cheese. Continue layering in this fashion, with onion, mushrooms, bell pepper, and tomatoes, covering each layer with a sprinkling of salt and cheese.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 273 | Total Fat: 14.9g | Cholesterol: 22mg

Cooking: Salmon

Not a whole lot to tell here. Was driving home from work and knew I needed to buy something to eat. Since I may not get to this another time, I decided to try something new. I called up Adrianna who had recently called and she suggested Salmon. I threw some spices and lemon juice on it and put it in the oven for about 20 minutes. I paired it with a spinach/tomato salad, and skinny asparagus.

Cooking: Aoli

I don't actually have the recipie and that's probably a good thing. I went over to Miquilas with the idea of making something for dinner. Todd was there as well(that's his hand, not mine!) and we decided on a salad, and pasta with aoli. Well we were all super grumpy because we hadn't eaten so Todd went out to get some pizza to satisfy a bit, while I worked on the Aoli. The aoli wound up being essentailly semi minced garlic cloves, corn and olive oil, salt/pepper and an egg yolk. We drizzled it on our pasta but heavily relied on cheese, butter and other things to liven it up!

Cooking: Quinoa

While not a major cooking expedition, I did cook a brand new thing Quinoa! It's supposedly super healthy for you and something you would only find in Berkeley or on space stations apparently, as its a complete protein!

I might have ate 4 servings of it, but it was super good!! I ate it with a stirfry of beef and vegetables, with a spinach and tomato salad proceeding it!

Cooking: Butternut Squash Soup

I wanted to make something different tonight, but had no idea what. I decided to look up "healthy food" in google to see what came up. Somehow I stumbled on a butternut squash recipe with pears and such that sounded pretty good. I consulted my Israel friend Aimee and my roommate Dennis and found a good recipe on allrecipies.com, where I stockpile. I didn't fully follow the recipie, as it called for other vegetables. Never having tasted or cooked this soup I wanted to try it naked first, so I did. I did however, pair it with a pear/apple/raspberry salad!

Cooking: Red Rock Cod

I went to Berkeley Bowl and headed straight to the fish counter. I told the guy I'm not into fishy fish and told him to pick something out for me. He had me get Red Rock Cod and told me I just needed to pan fry it for a few and voila! I added in a bed of spinach, yellow tomatoes and some asparagus that my old roommate Jessica always made, and topped it all off with some lemon! Super yummy! and the best part is I have the same thing for another night!!

Cooking: Self made creation

Using the fajitas that Miquila and I made on Sunday, I reheated them, threw a bed of spinach on the bottom and sunny side up eggs on the top!

Cooking: Fajitas

Also cheating on this one. Miquila and I hadn't had 1:1 time in forever(about a week), so we decided after my sojurn to Daly City that I would come over and we would cook. We decided to cook Fajitas, which I technically have never cooked before, and technically still haven't really. After cutting a few of the vegetables, I got involved in something else on the computer, and before I knew it, cooking was done and I had an excellent meal with Miquila!

Cooking: Ginger Orange Chicken

I was desperate for vegetables, so I stuck to my "classic" salad but wanted to add a little twist. After unsuccessfully navigating allrecipies.com, I decided to check out some of my cookbooks, and found this recipie in "The Everything Healthy Meals in Minutes Cookbook", which it looks like I, (or more likely my mother) purchased at Christmas Tree Shops.

So as I said I started with my basic salad and made the chicken, which essentially called for cooking it through first. Then grating garlic, orange zest and ginger and mixing it with some orange juice and throwing the chicken back in. I then cut up the chicken and threw it in my salad for a protein, and vegetable meal that satisfied and was fairly quick(1.5 hours from leafing through the cookbooks, going to the store, cooking, eating and cleaning!!)

Cooking: Sourdough Strata with Tomatos and Greens

Stolen, as a camera pic from some magazine at the grocery store. We'll see how this turns out. I've done the prep work, but it needs to cool overnight. We'll see if I wake up early enough to even make it for tomorrow?

Cooking: Chili and Cornbread

Knowing I stressed myself out a bit by waiting until the last minute, I decided to try to get at least one category done a day, knowing I'm planning to do two on Sunday. So I went to my friend Peter and asked him what he would make. He said cornbread, so cornbread I made. I also found that Chili went well with Cornbread, so I figured I'd do a 2-fer.

I wound up getting a chili packet of spices instead which made it take about half as long. I also didn't use any beans, but otherwise it was pretty much the same recipie. And now I have enough for days....

Prep Time:
15 Min

Cook Time:
40 Min

Ready In:
55 Min

Servings (Help)

USMetricCalculate

Original Recipe Yield 9 servings

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8 inch square pan.
2. Melt butter in large skillet. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Quickly add eggs and beat until well blended. Combine buttermilk with baking soda and stir into mixture in pan. Stir in cornmeal, flour, and salt until well blended and few lumps remain. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Prep Time:
15 Min

Cook Time:
45 Min

Ready In:
1 Hr

Servings (Help)

USMetricCalculate

Original Recipe Yield 8 servings

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cups water
• 1 (28 ounce) can canned crushed tomatoes
• 1 (16 ounce) can canned kidney beans - drained, rinsed, and mashed
• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Place turkey in the pot, and cook until evenly brown. Stir in onion, and cook until tender.
2. Pour water into the pot. Mix in tomatoes, kidney beans, and garlic. Season chili powder, paprika, oregano, cayenne pepper, cumin, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 30 minutes.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 198 | Total Fat: 7.2g | Cholesterol: 42mg

Cooking: Almond Cookies

Kathryn and I, have both made it a goal to be cooking. Kathryn has devoted herself to three days a week. I'm not as much into cooking, as I am into cooking new things. So this week we decided to join forces and make a classic for her: Almond Cookies or as I know them as Mexican Wedding cookies. They were super easy to make and fabulous. Sorry pictures aren't of great quality ,they are taken with my camera phone and then copied off of facebook!

Cooking: Peanut Butter Bars

Probably the most ridiculously unhealthy thing in the world, but super delicious. Also from All recipies.com

Prep Time:
25 Min

Ready In:
1 Hr 25 Min

Servings (Help)

USMetricCalculate

Original Recipe Yield 1 - 9x13 inch pan

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter or margarine, melted
• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 4 tablespoons peanut butter

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the butter or margarine, graham cracker crumbs, confectioners' sugar, and 1 cup peanut butter until well blended. Press evenly into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a metal bowl over simmering water, or in the microwave, melt the chocolate chips with the peanut butter, stirring occasionally until smooth. Spread over the prepared crust. Refrigerate for at least one hour before cutting into squares.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 532 | Total Fat: 36.6g | Cholesterol: 41mg

Cooking: Stuffed Tomatos

Thanks to two different recipes from allrecipes.com and the mind of Miquila, we wound up making some delicious Stuffed Tomatoes. Not only did it not take super long, but it was also fairly cheap(we probably could have fed 6 people with the meal), really filling and super healthy!! What more can you ask for right??

We adapted two recipes from allrecipes. One called Baked Stuffed Tomatoes by AJRHODES3 and another one called Stuffed Tomatoes by Stephanie Burr. Super creative titles I know. So I started hallowing out the tomatoes(I bought 6 big ones), which was alot easier then I thought, as Miquila chopped the mushrooms, green pepper, and Zucchini. We then mixed those three things with 1/3 of the tomato pulp, waaaaaaaay too much cheese, and some spices. Then we put the mixture back in the tomatoes and covered it with more cheese. We popped it in the oven for about 15-20 minutes on 375, and put it on a bed of Spinach greens and some lemon from the lemon tree down the block and Viola, perfection!!