Stolen Treasures

found a few AWESOME-sounding recipes while lurking around itstwinsanity.com... and a suggestion for this Cream of Leek and Potato Soup recipe (substitute greek yoghurt for the cream to get more protein!).

Runza Casserole

1 lb ground beef
1/2 head of cabbage, finely chopped
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 package of 8 crescent rolls (or you can use your own pastry dough recipe)
1 1/2 cups of cheddar cheese, shredded (or any cheese)

Brown the beef, onion, and garlic in a skillet and drain the grease. Add cabbage and cook on low heat until cabbage is soft. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Put half of cabbage mixture into a casserole dish (8x11) and sprinkle with half of the cheese. Place 4 crescent rolls (or dough) on top so that they cover the dish. Add remaining cabbage and top with the rest of the crescent rolls (or dough.) Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

(The author says she always doubles this recipe and adjust it a little to taste, in a 9x13 casserole dish.)

Red Cabbage
Dice cabbage
1/2 to 3/4 cup red onion
one fuji apple peeled n diced
2 or 3 tbsp japanese rice vinegar
2 to 3 tbsp maple syrup

Cook in a couple of tsps oil and a couple of tbsps water.
Add vegesal (vegetable salt) to taste not even half a tsp.

Cook with lid on so it steams five to ten minutes.

Sticky Pecan Caramel Rolls

BOULE DOUGH (full recipe, makes about 4 1-poundloaves)

3 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast 
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
6 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Mix the yeast and salt with the water in a 5-quart bowl, or lidded (not airtight) food container.

Mix in the flour, using a stand mixer w/ dough hook (or you can just use a spoon) until mixture is uniform.

Cover (not airtight), and let rise at room temperature for about 2 hours or until dough begins to collapse. Then refrigerate.

STICKY PECAN CARAMEL ROLLS

Makes 8 rolls.

1 1/2 lb. premixed boule dough

Caramel topping:

6 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1/2 tsp. salt 
1/2 c. brown sugar 
30 pecan halves

For filling: 
4 tbsp. salted butter, softened
1/4 c. sugar 
1 tsp. ground cinnamon 
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg 
1/2 c. chopped and toasted pecans
Pinch of ground black pepper

To make caramel topping: Cream together butter, salt and brown sugar. Spread evenly over bottom of a 9-inch round cake pan. Scatter pecan halves over butter-sugar mixture and set aside.

To make rolls: Dust surface of refrigerated dough with flour and cut off 1 1/2-pound piece. Dust piece with more flour and quickly shape into a ball by stretching surface of dough around to bottom on all four sides, rotating ball a quarter-turn as you go. Using a rolling pin, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thick rectangle.

To make filling: Cream together butter, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Spread mixture evenly over rolled dough and sprinkle with chopped pecans. Starting with long end, roll dough into a log, jelly-roll fashion. Using a serrated knife, cut log into 8 equal pieces and arrange rolls over pecans in cake pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest and rise 1 hour at room temperature. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake about 40 minutes, or until golden brown and set well in center. Remove to a wire rack. While still hot, run a knife around inside of pan to release rolls and invert rolls immediately to a serving dish.

Chicken Fried Rice

so last night, we were in a scramble to make something that tasted fresh, but was still within our rather limiting macros - high protein, high complex carbs, no added fats, no added sugars.  we've loosened up a bit at parties the last few weekends (still looking for protein and carbs and limiting but not eliminating fats/sugars... a couple glasses of wine won't undo all this hard work single-handedly), so we're really trying to clean it up during the week.  that said, i absolutely refuse to give up fresh fruits and vegetables, even though they have fructose - so we just choose the ones that are naturally lower in fats.

that was way too much intro.

anyway, we had chicken, broccoli and some bell peppers to use up, so fried rice fit the bill.  and it actually turned out pretty amazing if you consider the amount of guess-work that went into it.

brown rice can pretty much take care of itself and takes a while to cook, so start that first.

chicken
2-3 medium chicken breasts, trimmed and cut into bite-size chunks
olive oil to spray pan lightly
a splash or two of rice vinegar
orange extract + a sprinkle of Truvia to really make the citrus flavor pop
soy sauce to taste

because we drain the fat from our meat after cooking it, i like to replace the moisture with a few tablespoons low-fat or fat-free chicken broth and keep a lid on the meat except when i'm stirring something in.  just turn the heat down when it's done to keep everything warm.

veggies
chopped bell peppers in assorted colors
edamame (shelled, frozen) - adds a nice crunch, but is also a great source of protein
chopped broccoli

if i had planned a little further ahead, there would probably be carrots, too.

add the veggies in with the chicken and replace the lid.  this steam will help cook the frozen edamame.  when the rice is done, add it in with the chicken and veggies.  raise the temperature and remove the lid, but stir frequently - we want to brown everything evenly without burning anything.  add more soy sauce to flavor.

ordinarily i would also add an egg or two after the rice and scramble it in, but i wasn't sure egg whites would give it the same flavor i was expecting.  meh.  live and learn.... i'll probably try it with some of the leftovers.

it took a little bit of time, but it turned out great and kept us on track.  pretty easy, too.  just a lot of standing around, waiting for rice to cook!

best green juice ever.

i wish i would have thought to take a picture of the ingredients and/or final product, but... it looked like every other green juice you've ever seen.  it just tastes wayyy better.

kale (1/2 head)
red leaf lettuce (1/3 head)
kiwi (2 small-medium)
ginger (1 tablespoon)
green apple (2 medium-large)
cucumber (1/2 medium-large)

quite spicy, but definitely a keeper.

idea time.

going to try stuffed sweet peppers for brunch on sunday, and since i couldn't find a recipe that i liked (possibly the first time pinterest has failed me), i decided to make one up.  if it works, you'll get pictures and details.  all you get for now is a promise that it will include crunchy bacon crumbles.

because if there is one thing in life that evokes the word ecstasy, it is the taste of bacon, combined with that subtle crunch.... oh dang.  this is not going to wait until sunday.

need.  bacon.  now.

chocolate-covered bacon?