Good evening, wheebles! I hope you're emerging from the week in good shape and have something good to look forward to this weekend. Last night on a impulse my husband decided to try a recipe he ran across that involved pasta, sardines, capers, parsley and a few other things. Surprisingly good! And certainly easy and good for us. So tonight I thought I would share a few of our good to eat/good for you recipes and invite you to share yours as well. And of course feel free to share your triumphs or ask for support!
WHEE (Weight, Health, Eating and Exercise) is a community support diary for Kossacks who are currently or planning to start losing, gaining or maintaining their weight through diet and exercise or fitness. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are working on your weight or fitness, please -- join us! You can also click the WHEE tag to view all diary posts.
Join me over the fold ---
Waffles, raised
Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 1/3 cups wheat bran
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated yeast
Mix dries together and add:
- 2 cups skim milk
Mix and let rest at room temperature overnight.
In the morning add:
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 2 eggs
- 1-2 oz chopped walnuts or toasted chopped almonds (optional but good)
Pre-heat waffle iron to 425 ◦ F.
Treat waffle iron with no-stick spray and bake at 425 ◦ F until brown (about 8 min).
Serves three.
And if you make extra, freeze them - they make lovely mid-week breakfasts. Thaw in the microwave and toast until warm and crisp.
Pumpkin bread
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 c. oat flour
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 3/4 c. Splenda (the equal volume for baking kind)
- 11/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 c. pumpkin puree
- 2 T. vegetable oil
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 1/4 tsp. Nutmeg
- 1 tsp. Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. allspice
- 1/4 tsp. cloves
- 2 T honey
- 1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)
Preheat your oven to 350 ◦ F. Sift (or vigorously whisk) together the flour, salt, sugar and baking soda. In a separate bowl, combine the pumpkin, oil, eggs, honey and spices. For a single batch I use a hand-held beater that beats in a lot of air; this may help it rise.
Pour into the bowl with dry ingredients. Mix just until all are combined - don’t stir too much! Stir in the nuts, if you’re using
them. Pour into a well-buttered 9×5×3 inch loaf pan. Bake 40 minutes or so until done in the middle. Remove from pan, cool on a rack.
Keep wrapped in the refrigerator. This is really good with cream cheese, or chopped walnuts in cream cheese.
If you are making a triple batch, the large cans of pumpkin (29 oz) hold 3 cups plus 2 T of pumpkin. It is easier to take out the 2 T than to measure 3 cups. The glycemic index can be reduced a little more by eliminating the honey, but that will change the texture. The honey also seems to block an aftertaste from the Splenda.
This also freezes nicely if you want to eat it over a period of time. Satisfying enough to be a breakfast or most of a lunch.
Salad, Lentil Blue Cheese
Lentils:
- 1 cup dry lentils
- 13/4 cup water
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled but not crushed
- 2 boullion cubes
Bring water and lentils to a boil, add garlic and boullion cubes. Simmer for 20 minutes. Lentils should be cooked but firm.
Drain. Chill in refrigerator before use. You can freeze for much later use.
Salad:
- 2-3 cups finely chopped green curly leaf endive. Very finely chopped
parsley is also excellent. A somewhat bitter green is best.
- 2 oz blue cheese crumbles
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Put half of the chilled lentils in a large bowl (save the remainder in the refrigerator or freezer for another day). Mash two of the cooked garlic cloves and add to bowl along with blue cheese. Add oil and vinegar. Mix well.
Add chopped greens and mix completely
We are lucky that Maytag blue is local and not too expensive at the coop but any good blue will work.
Cauliflower (broccoli, other veggie) soup
Ingredients:
- 1 large head of cauliflower, about 1 kg, broken up.
- 2 onions, chopped
- 1 liter chicken broth (two 10 oz cans diluted cambells is OK)
- 1/2 liter left over mashed potatoes (optional)
- 250 gm cheddar cheese, shredded
Saute onions in a tablespoon of canola oil in a large pot. Add broth and bring to a boil. Add cauliflower and return to a boil. Simmer for 1/2 hour. Add mashed potatoes and return to boil (if you want to skip the potatoes just add more veggie or less broth). Turn off heat. Mix with a hand held electric blender until smooth. Mix in cheese. Salt to taste.
Total cooking time 45 min.
Serves 8-12.
Broccoli makes an excellent alternative to cauliflower.
This is just as nice two or four nights later so it makes a handy midweek soup if you make it originally on a weekend.
Share your favorites!
And of course, there are opportunities to share more than recipes - just volunteer for a diary in the tip jar.
Scheduled WHEE diaries:
April 10
Sat AM - bloomin (?)
Sat PM - Edward Spurlock (Wansink, Ch. 5)
April 11
Sun AM - louisev
Sun PM - WHEE Open
April 12
Mon AM - NC Dem
Mon PM - WHEE Open
April 13
Tues AM - WHEE Open
Tues PM - WHEE Open
April 14
Weds AM - WHEE Open
Weds PM - Edward Spurlock (Kolata, Ch. 6)
April 15
Thur AM - WHEE Open
Thur PM - WHEE Open
April 16
Friday AM - WHEE Open
Friday PM - Wee Mama (weekly diary)