Chewy Raspberry Almond Bars

I got this recipe from my cousin. They were actually supposed to be Chewy CHERRY Almond Bars, but I got raspberry preserves instead.

Ingredients:
1 c butter, softened
2 c packed brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1 tsp almond extract
2 c all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat)
2 c regular rolled oats
1/2 c sliced almonds
1-12 oz jar (1 c) cherry preserves (My jar was 11 oz, raspberry preserves)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 13x9x2" baking pan with foil, extending foil over the edges of the pan. Grease foil; set pan aside.
In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar and baking powder. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg and almond extract until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour, the oats, and almonds.
Remove 1/2 cup of the dough and set aside. Press the reamining dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Spread with preserves. Crumble the remaining dough evenly over preserves layer.
Bake in the preheated oven  about 35 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Using the edges of the foil, life the uncut bars out of the pan. Cut into bars.
Makes 36 bars. (I only cut mine into 20, but they are pretty big. 30 would have been better.)
To store: Place bars in a single layer in an airtight container (mine are in 2 layers separated by wax paper); cover. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days of freeze for up to 1 month.

Nutritional Information: (20 bars first, then 30, b/c next time I make them I'm going to cut them into 30.)

Calories: 290, 193
Fat: 10.9g, 7.3g
Saturated Fat: 5.8g, 3.9g
Carbs: 54.5g, 36.4g
Protein: 3.4g, 2.2g

Ratings:
Kristen: 4
Dave: 4

Easy Vegetarian Collard Greens

Original recipe comes from food.com

Ingredients:
1 lb collard greens (I had -and used- 8.4oz collard greens and 5.5oz beet greens)
2 garlic cloves
1-1/2c vegetable broth
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 c apple cider vinegar
hot sauce and/or red pepper flakes, to taste

Directions:
Wash greens well, submerging in a sink full of cold water to remove any dirt and grit. Drain well. Cut off the stems right where the leaf starts. Stack about 5-8 leaves on top of each other, then roll lengthwise. Cut rolled up leaves into 1" slices widthwise. Repeat until all the greens are done, and add to a large pot.
Add all other ingredients. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes or until greens are extremely tender. Serve hot, using a slotted spoon to drain the liquid from the greens.
Serves 4

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 45
Fat: 0.1g
Carbs: 8.6g
Protein: 2.7g

Ratings:
Dave: 4.5

Quinoa Chard Pilaf

Original recipe is here.

Here's how I made it:
Ingredients:
1/2 T EVOO
onion powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 c uncooked quinoa (Ancient Harvest Inca Red Organic Quinoa)
1/2 c lentils *see note
4 oz baby bella mushrooms, sliced
2 c vegetable broth
1 bunch swiss chard, stems removed, torn into pieces (Mine was a little over 100g after I tore it)

Directions:
Heat the oil in a pot over medium heat. Stir in the garlic and onion powder- saute until garlic is lightly browned. Mix in quinoa, lentils and mushrooms. Pour in the broth. Cover, and cook 20 minutes.
Remove the pot from heat. Gently mix chard into the pot. Cover and allow to sit 5 minutes or until chard is wilted.
Serves 4

Nutritional Information: 
Calories: 254
Fat: 5.7g
Saturated Fat: 0.3g
Carbs: 41.8g
Protein: 9.4g

Ratings:
Kristen: 3.5
Dave: 2

*Note: I found Tasty Bite Lentil Magic in my grocery store in the rice aisle. It's pre-cooked and pre-seasoned lentils in a vacuum packed bag. The original recipe calls for canned lentils, which I didn't find. Of course you could just cook your own lentils, but I did this once with less-than-favorable results and the premium on the price for this one is totally worth it to me!!

Cheesy Turnips and Carrots

Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
3 c diced peeled turnips
2 c sliced carrots
1/4 tsp ground ginger
3/4 c water
1 tsp salt, divided
1/2 c chopped onion (onion powder)
1/2 c diced celery (normally I'd use this but I didn't have any so I used celery seed)
3 T butter
3 T all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp pepper
1-1/2 c milk
1 c shredded cheddar

Directions:
In a saucepan, combine turnips, carrots, ginger, water and 1/2 tsp salt. Cover and cook over medium high heat for 10-15 min or until vegetables are tender; drain and reserve liquid. Set vegetables aside.
In a skillet, saute onion and celery in butter until tender; stir in flour, pepper and remaining salt. Add milk and the vegetable liquid; bring to a boil. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Stir in cheese until melted; stir in the vegetables and heat through.
Makes 4 servings.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 294
Fat: 18.5g
Saturated Fat: 11g
Carbs: 22g
Protein: 12g

Ratings:
Kristen: 3.5
Dave: 3

Harvard Beets

First of all, don't ask me why these are called Harvard beets!! The recipe is from grouprecipes.com.

Ingredients:
15 oz can of sliced beets, drained, reserve juice (I used 2 fresh beets, boiled until tender)
2 T sugar
1 T cornstarch
3 T vinegar
1 T butter
1/4 tsp salt, if desired (I omitted this)

Directions:
In a medium saucepan combine the sugar and cornstarch. Measure the beet liquid- you need 3/4 c- add water if necessary to bring the amount of liquid to this level. (I reserved cooking water for this.) Gradually stir the liquid into the saucepan, stirring to dissolve the cornstarch. Add the vinegar. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring often. When the mixture boils, add the drained beets and the butter. Simmer for about 5 minutes to tone down the vinegar, and blend the flavors. Serve hot.
Makes 4 servings.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 74
Fat: 2.8 g
Saturated Fat: 1.8 g
Carbs: 12 g
Protein: 0.7g

Ratings:
Kristen: 2 (I'm not a fan of beets)
Dave: 3

Braised Kale, Potatoes and Mushrooms

This recipe is from food.com (formerly recipezaar).
Here's the original recipe (halved), with my amounts noted.

Ingredients:
1/8 c water
1/2 lb kale, stemmed and torn into large pieces (5.5 oz)
1/2 c diced uncooked red potatoes, with skin (4.9 oz idaho potatoes)
1/2 T EVOO
1/2 c portabella mushrooms, sliced (2.2 oz baby bellas)
1 medium shallots, minced (8 g red onion, chopped)
1 garlic clove, minced
salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:
Place potatoes in medium saucepan of salted water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and summer until tender, 7-10 minutes. Drain well and set aside.
Meanwhile, in a large, wide skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add mushrooms, shallots and garlic and cook, stirring often, until shallots are soft and mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Add kale to mushroom mixture and cook, stirring often, 1 minute. Add water and cooked potatoes. Cover and cook until kale is bright green, about 5 minutes. Serve warm.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 115
Fat: 4 g
Saturated Fat: 0.5 g
Carbs: 19 g
Protein: 4 g

Ratings:
Kristen: 4
Dave: 2 (He thought it was bland.)

Baked Chard Stems

Original Recipe

Ingredients:
Stems from one bunch of chard (mine was red chard)
Salt
2-1/2 T butter
3/4 c shredded mozzarella cheese (I used this instead of the parmesan in the original recipe)

Directions:
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil while you wash and trim the chard stems. Boil the stems for 8 minutes while the oven preheats to 400F.
Layer the chard stems in a small casserole dish- one layer of chard, dotted with butter, sprinkled with cheese. Repeat until all the ingredients are used up. *Place the chard in the dish in opposite directions with each layer.
Bake at 400F for 25 minutes.
I'm going to call this 3 servings- could be more or less!

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 175
Fat: 14 g
Saturated Fat: 9 g
Carbs: 2.5 g
Protein: 9g

Ratings:
Kristen: 4
Dave: 4

Swiss Chard & Mushroom Squares

Had some swiss chard in our produce box this week and made this recipe.

Ingredients:
1 bunch swiss chard, stems cut out and cut into thin ribbons and then chopped (mine was 126g after stemming) (can also use other greens)
*don't throw away the stems!! I should have a recipe on here in the next day or two for those.*
dash of salt
dash of red pepper flakes
onion powder, to taste
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 lb mushrooms, diced into small pieces
1/2 T EVOO
1/2 tsp reduced sodium soy sauce
1/2 c shredded mozzarella
1/4 c bread crumbs
4 eggs, beaten


Directions:
Bring a pot of water to a boil while you stem the chard. Wash and chop the chard. Add the chard, salt and red pepper flakes to the boiling water. Boil about 10 minutes, until chard is softened and cooked through. Drain and rinse with cold water.

Preheat oven  to 350 F.

Heat olive oil in a small skillet. Saute garlic over medium heat about 2 minutes; add mushrooms and soy sauce and saute 5-7 minutes, or until mushrooms are softened and liquid is evaporated.

Squeeze water from drained chard and place into large plastic bowl. Add mushroom mixture, shredded cheese, bread crumbs, and beaten eggs, and mix together. Spray 9 X 9" casserole dish or pie plate with non-stick spray. Pour in egg mixture.

Bake 20-25 minutes, until firmly set but not hard, and slightly browned.

Serves 4, or can be cut into 9 squares for appetizers.  

Nutritional Information:

Calories: 168

Fat: 9.3g

Saturated Fat: 3.1g

Carbs: 9g

Protein: 12.3g

Ratings:

Kristen: 4

Dave: 4

Fruit Smoothie

Made this smoothie tonight!

Ingredients:
6 oz Meijer Organics strawberry low fat yogurt
1/2 c Almond Breeze Milk, Original
1 c frozen berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries & blackberries)

Directions
Combine ingredients in blender and blend.

Nutritional Information: (whole recipe, but Dave and I split it)
Calories: 300
Fat: 3.5g
Saturated Fat: 0g
Carbs: 62g
Protein: 8g

Ratings:
Kristen: 4.5

Baked Kale Chips

I've seen this recipe online several places. Here is a nice website with pictures. Just scale the recipe to however much kale you have.

Ingredients:
6 oz kale
1 T EVOO
salt to taste

Directions:
Wash and dry kale. Tear into pieces and toss with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt. Lay the pieces out in a single layer on a baking sheet. (I line mine with foil.) Bake at 300F for 15-20 minutes or until crisp.

Nutritional Information: (per ounce)
Calories: 28
Fat: 2.5g
Saturated Fat: 0.3g
Carbs: 1.5g
Protein: 0.5g

Ratings:
Kristen: 3.5
Dave: 3.5

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

I have no idea where this recipe came from- I've been making it a long time.

Ingredients:
2 c uncooked elbow macaroni
1/4 c butter
1/4 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp ground mustard
1/4 tsp worcestershire sauce
2 c milk
2 c shredded cheddar

Directions:
Heat oven to 350F. Cook macaroni according to package directions. While macaroni is cooking, melt butter in saucepan over low heat. Stir in next 5 ingredients. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth & bubbly.
Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil & stir 1 minute; remove from heat. Stir in cheese until melted.
Drain macaroni. Stir macaroni into cheese sauce. Pour into ungreased 2 qt casserole. Bake uncovered 20-25 min or until bubbly.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 300
Fat: 15.5g
Saturated Fat: 9g
Carbs: 27g
Protein: 13g

Ratings:
Kristen: 4.5

Simply Lasagna

I got this out of a Kraft Food & Family magazine.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
2-1/2 c mozzarella, shredded
15 oz ricotta
1/2 c grated parmesan
1/4 c chopped fresh parsley
1 egg, lightly beaten
26 oz spaghetti sauce
1 c water
12 lasagna noodles, uncooked

Directions:
 Preheat oven to 350F. Brown meat in large skillet on medium high heat.
Meanwhile, mix 1-1/4 c of mozzarella cheese, the ricotta cheese, 1/4 c of the parmesan cheese, the parsley and egg until well blended; set aside.
Drain meat; return to skillet. Stir in spaghetti sauce. Pour water into empty sauce jar; cover and shake well. Add to skillet; stir until well-blended. Adding water to the sauce helps cook traditional noodles during baking, so you don't have to cook them beforehand. This saves you 15-20 min of prep time.
Spread 1 c of the meat sauce onto the bottom of a 13x9" baking dish; top with a layer of 3 uncooked lasagna noodles. Noodles will expand to fit the dish during baking.
Spread 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture and 1 c of the meat sauce over noodles. Repeat layers two more times. Top with remaining 3 noodles and the remaining meat sauce.
Sprinkle with remaining 1-1/4 c mozzarella cheese and remaining 1/4 c parmesan. Cover tightly with foil. Bake 45 min. Remove foil; continue baking 15 min or until heated through. Let stand 15 min before cutting to serve.
Makes 12 servings.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 280
Fat: 9g
Saturated Fat: 5g
Carbs: 27g
Protein: 21g

Ratings:
Dave: 4

Blueberry Muffins

This is from my Betty Crocker cookbook. They are topped with streusel. I've made them that way before and they're really good!! I decided to make them without this time, but I'll give you the recipe with the streusel included. (Calorie information from Betty Crocker.)

Ingredients:
Streusel Topping, if desired
3/4 c milk
1/4 c vegetable oil
1 large egg
2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c fresh, canned (drained) or frozen blueberries

Streusel Topping:
1/4 c all-purpose flour
1/4 c packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 T firm butter or stick margarine

Directions:
Heat oven to 400F. Grease bottoms only of 12 medium muffin cups or line with paper baking cups.
Make Streusel Topping: Mix flour, brown sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl. Cut in butter, using pastry blender or crisscrossing 2 knives, until crumbly. Set aside.
Beat milk, oil and eggs in large bowl with fork or wire whisk. Stir in flour, sugar, baking powder and salt all at once just until flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy). Fold in blueberries. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Sprinkle each with about 1 T topping.
Bake 20-25 min or until golden brown. If baked in greased pan, let stand about 5 min in pan, then remove from pan to wire rack; if baked in paper baking cups, immediately remove from pan to wire rack.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 170
Fat: 6g
Saturated Fat: 1g
Carbs: 27g
Protein: 3g

Ratings:
Kristen: 4
Dave: 4