White Chocolate Chai biscotti

"An intensely aromatic cookie, baked to crispy perfection..."

Whether you are starting your day or ending it, these little biscotti are something to look forward to. Biscotti is an italian invention, meaning "twice baked". Although they have a very impressive appearance, they are quite easy to make-- if you can make cookies, you can make biscotti. Flavored with real chai tea, the smell of them baking will have whomever is in your house wandering into the kitchen. They are terrific dunking companions to both hot coffee or chai tea, or enjoyed just warm out of the oven.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup raw sugar

1/4 cup splenda

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 (vanilla) chai tea bags

or

1 tbsp black tea

1 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cardamom

1/2 tsp allspice

(spice to taste)

and

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degress. Grease a cookie sheet.

1. Soften butter, and cream with sugar.

2. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.

3. Sift flour, baking powder, and spiced tea (cut open tea bags) into wet ingredients.

4. Work the dough, which should be rather stiff, together.

5. Add in chocolate chips.

6. Divide dough in half. With clean hands, roll each loaf into a log and then flatten into a mounded shape on the baking sheet. The logs should be roughly 1 1/2 inches wide and 10 inches long, and spaced a few inches apart on the baking sheet.

7. Bake 25 minutes, until fragrant and lightly browned.

8. Remove from oven, let cool 10 minutes.

8. With a sharp serrated knife, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices.

9. Return to oven and bake for 15 minutes. Should resemble a very dry cookie.

10. Serve with hot beverage to dunk in!

* Regular or dark chocolate chips can be substituted. I prefer the creaminess of white chocolate, as traditional chai is served with sweetened milk.

* Regular chai tea bags will work as well

* If you don't have any granulated splenda on hand, or prefer not to use it, sub it out for all natural sugar. I don't recommend using honey or agave for this recipe as it will alter the consistency and prevent the cookies from drying out properly.

Whole Grain Coffee Cake

"Sweet, moist cake, topped with a crunchy nut crust..."

... melts in your mouth. The kitchen is dark, house quiet, and outside the light of dawn is cresting the horizon. The reassuring sound of freshly percolating coffee is met by its delicious aroma. Its time to wake up! Be grateful for a new day, the beauty of it, the preciousness of each life in your family. Pour yourself a cup of hot coffee, give the Lord your thanks, and take a deep breath to settle your heart before the hustle-bustle begins.

Draw your hibernating bears out of their dens with the aroma of freshly made coffee cake wafting through the house. If you're going to treat your family and your self to a sweet breakfast, you might as well be getting some wholesome nutrition. They don't have to be empty calories- make them count! So often I have been lured into having a piece of that coffee cake that looks so beautiful and light, and then immediately disappointed when it winds up tasting like an overly dry, puffed up, pasty, pointless thing. Not so with this! Meet the day with a smile (and moist crumbs) on your face.

Coffee Cake

1 cup white whole wheat flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup splenda (1/2 cup brown sugar)

1/4 cup egg, or 1 egg

1/2 cup skim milk

1 large apple, cored, sliced

Pecan Crust

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup cane sugar, or brown sugar

1 Tbsp flour

2 Tbsp oats

2 Tbsp heart healthy butter spread

1/2 cup pecans

preheat oven to 350, lightly coat baking pan of choice

*this makes two beautiful mini cakes, or one nice bundt

1. Start with pecan crust: Combine cinnamon, sugar, 1 tbsp flour, 2 tbsp oats, butter spread and nuts in blender or food processor and pulse until chunky. Pour into bottom of pan.

2. Rinse blender. Set aside to dry slightly.

3. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

4. In blender/food processor, add egg white, milk, and apple, and sugar. Puree until apple chunks are gone or close to it. (nobody will mind an apple chunk here and there)

5. Combine wet apple mixture to dry flour. Stir to incorporate. Pour cake batter over top of nut mixture.

6. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until cake springs back to touch.

7. Let cool, and invert over platter. Nuts will be on top...

Makes 16 small servings, or 8 wedges. Enjoy!

*For the above recipe, 1/16 of cake: 77 calories, 1/8 of cake: 152 calories

** For a more decadent cake, double the pecan topping.

For that cake: 1/16 cake is 110 calories, 1/8 cake is 220 calories

Tender Turkey Meatloaf

"Tender, moist bites of savory meatloaf, topped with sweet and tangy tomato sauce..."

Mom's meatloaf on a Sunday afternoon... I've heard that story told and retold, as he reminisces of the joys of childhood and his mother's kitchen comforts, with a wistful smile on his face. I can see the emotion and pleasure those thoughts evoke as he's speaking--- he's almost in a trance, remembering how many times his hungry belly was satisfied with this classic comfort food. I love to let him go there...

And as much as I love to hear him remember how his mom's cooking pulled their family together, I don't necessarily love remembering how heavy and fattening that beautiful meatloaf recipe is. I want him to be able to enjoy a good meatloaf, and I really want to have a warm kitchen that has as much nourishing influence on our children as the one he grew up with. So, here's a lightened version of this old favorite, in honor of Pam Barber.

Ingredients:

Celery

Bell peppers

Onion

Garlic

Spinach

Carrot, grated *optional

Olive Oil

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup ketchup

1 egg

Lean ground turkey (or beef)

1/2 pack saltines, crushed

Lowrey's seasoning salt

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Brown turkey (or lean ground beef) in sautee pan. Transfer to a bowl to cool.

2. Sautee vegetables in the same pan with a drizzle of olive oil, over medium heat.

3. Puree softened vegetables in a blender with 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup ketchup, and egg.

4. Add puree to cooked meat. Crush the saltines and stir them in.

5. With clean hands, shape meat mixture into loaf and put in loaf pan or a foil lined baking dish.

6. Spread 1/4 cup ketchup over top

7. Bake for 1 hour.

Let loaf cool a bit before slicing.

Veggie loaded Chicken soup

"a hearty, steaming mug of chicken soup..."

... makes me want to curl up and enjoy a good book, or a nap. It's therapy for a cold. It's perfect for hot meal cravings. It's a wonderful recipe staple for your warm kitchen. Chicken broth- its the little black dress of cooking. And when made fresh, you infuse flavor into any number of dishes. I adore this multi-functional soup for multiple reasons: it's classic comfort food, it's filling, it's cheap, it's deliciously flavorful, and it's absolutely loaded with nourishing veggies.

The cast of characters...

Basic ingredients:

Rotisserie chicken leftovers

1 quart water

salt and pepper to taste

bay leaves

celery, chopped

carrots, chopped

Helpful suggestions:

Rosemary sprigs

garlic powder or minced garlic

oregano

basil

rice, noodles, grains, potatoes, or *beans

vegetables such as:

onions

bell pepper

corn

okra

peas

edamame (soybeans)

green beans

mushrooms

broccoli**

chopped spinach***

1. Put your chicken leftovers in a large pot and cover with water. Add salt and pepper and bay

leaves. Boil for at least 20 minutes for a lovely broth.

2. Using a slotted spoon, ladle and strain out chicken bits, and put on a cutting board to cool.

3. While chicken cools, add rice, noodles, potatoes, or beans, and all vegetables except spinach, if using. Season and spice to preference.

(as you can see from the heaps of veggies on my cutting board, you can pile a substantial amount of goodness into that pot)

4. With clean fingers, separate cooled chicken bits from skin, bones, and bits. Add chicken pieces back to soup, discard refuse.

Serve in a big mug or soup bowl with a hearty piece of bread. Pat yourself on the back and congratulate yourself for getting your family to eat their veggies.

* If adding dry beans, be sure to soak them overnight beforehand.

** Broccoli should wind up steamed but not mushy.

*** If using spinach, add before serving and watch. Spinach wilts quickly, and if cooked too long, becomes grey and lifeless.

Notes from the kitchen:

• This soup transforms into healthy, hearty, chicken pot pie when you use celery, carrots, onion, peas/greenbeans, 1% milk, and 1/2 cup wheat flour sifted into the broth. While soup is boiling, prepare a whole wheat drop biscuit mix. Drop spoonfuls of biscuit right on top of soup, and bake in the oven till golden brown. So easy!
• No rotisserie chicken? Use the leftovers from when you order wings for take out- it'll have a delicious spice added to it from the wing sauce. And don't throw away that uneaten celery!
• No time to cook? Do it in a crock pot and its ready when you get home!

Herbed Sole

"flaky, white fish fillets- deliciously seasoned and perfectly steamed atop a bed of sweet balsalmic wilted greens and crispy bacon."

This little fishy just checked into herbal therapy. The result? "Mmmmmmm!" That's the sound I got upon first bite of this little combo. We are expanding our fish horizons over here, and I wanted to do that without boring everyone with bland fish or overusing the same old recipes. Sole isn't terribly expensive and freezes wonderfully, but it is a very light, white, and lean fish. A wax paper "pocket" steams the fish evenly, keeps your flavors in the food, and makes clean up a snap. This recipe is uncomplicated and totally versatile, so if you're looking to add more fish to your diet- read on. "Its like a flavor explosion in my mouth!"

Herbed Sole Fillets

2 sole fillets per person (I used 4 total)

drizzle olive oil

2 Tbs drained capers

1 tbs drained roasted red pepper

1 garlic clove, sliced

1/2 large red onion

fresh dill

fresh rosemary sprigs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. On a baking sheet, stack 2 sheets wax paper on top of each other, and fold them into a little pocket that will hold your fish.

2. Put your fish in the wax paper pocket, drizzle your fish fillets with a little olive oil.

3. Then layer the flavor!

Chop onion and garlic, then add red peppers, capers, dill, rosemary, and whatever else you like

4. Bake in oven at 350 for 10 minutes

...while fishy is enjoying aromatherapy

Maple Bacon wilted salad

4 cups spinach greens (or whatever greens you prefer)

2 Tbs maple syrup

2 slices turkey bacon- or the real thing

1/2 red onion

drizzles of balsalmic vinegar

2 Tbs crumbled pecans

*optional topping of feta cheese crumbles

1. Cook bacon in pan until crispy. Remove and drain bacon from the pan, but leave the drippings in it. (Chop bacon when cooled enough to handle.)

2. Add chopped onions to drippings and sautee, about one minute.

3. Drizzle maple syrup in, and turn to coat leaves. (if you used turkey bacon like me, you may need to add a little olive oil to your pan to get enough dressing to lightly coat everything) That big pile of greens will wilt down to less than you think!

4. Make a little space in the corner of your pan, and toss in crumbled pecans. Add a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, throw bacon back in, and heat everything until warmed and greens wilted, about 3-5 minutes.

Plate your wilted green salad and immediately top with hot steamed fish. Serve immediately and enjoy.

Fruit and Granola Parfaits

Thick, creamy sweet yogurt with fruit and crunchy granola...

I didn't reinvent the wheel here- parfaits are not a novel idea. And for good reason! As Donkey says on Shrek, "ain't nobody who doesn't like parfait!" I'm glad fast food joints are trying to provide healthy alternatives. But most commercially sold parfaits, like Starbucks, McDonalds (page 6), Einstein Brothers (page3), and Chick Fil-A versions, have whopping amounts of calories and as much sugar as a soda in them- pretty frustrating when you're thinking your eating healthy on the go. And, the numbers on their nutrition information may not reflect what's actually being given to you- numbers are per serving. Yikes.

The culprit is the addition of sugars and sweeteners in the yogurt, fruit, and granola. Yogurt's claim to fame nutritionally is calcium, protein, and probiotics. But sweetened yogurts, which is what is in most pre-made parfaits, are loaded with sugar or sugary byproducts. Granola has this health halo, when many versions are far less innocent their appealing organic looking packaging claims, thanks to added oil and (you guessed it) sugar. In spite of this, there's no reason why you can't have your parfait and eat it too. Swap out a few ingredients, and your in the honey hole. I reclaim parfait for health food!

Fruit & Granola Parfaits

Ingredients:

0% Fage plain greek yogurt

Fruit(s) of choice, fresh or frozen

splash of vanilla

honey, agave, stevia, or Splenda

healthy granola, such as Nature's Path, Bear Naked fit, or Bob's Red Mill. Kashi GoLean also has a nice crunch.

1. Make your yogurt flavor.

• flavor ideas:
• vanilla yogurt (splash of vanilla+ stevia+ yogurt)
• strawberry (microwave frozen strawberries, smash + stevia+ yogurt)
• blueberry (microwave frozen blueberries, smash + stevia + yogurt)
• honey (honey + yogurt)
• lemon (lemon zest and juice + stevia/honey+ yogurt
• peach, pineapple, etc...

2. Add your fruit

• fresh or frozen berries- any kind

3. Sprinkle with granola

• don't go overboard here, be aware of your serving size

When you heat fruit, especially frozen, the natural juices run out, which flavor and color your yogurt base. Layer your yogurt, fruit, and granola in a pretty glass, and feel like your being spoiled!

The cup pictured above has about 4 oz yogurt, 2 tbs blueberry pomegranate juice, 1/2 cup blueberries, and 1/4 cup granola

207 cal, 4 g fat (3.5 unsaturated), 28.5 g carbs, 3.5 g fiber, 17.5 g sugar, 15.5 g protein

high inVitamin C and Calcium, good source of Vitamin K and Iron

Slow Baked Citrus Salmon

hot, tender, flaky salmon baked

with a sweet citrus sauce...

I do miss living in Florida. Hot sunshine, breezy lake beaches, palm trees, trees in general, grass... friends of my heart, and family. And fresh seafood. My childhood was spent in and around water- lots of water. We skiied, wakeboarded, tubed, swam, and played marco polo in the lake, rough housed and flipped in the pool, ran in the rain, slip and slided in the sprinklers, and horse-played our little hearts out. And we fished. My family are anglers, and serious ones. When we weren't in fresh water, we were in salt water, casting lines, scouting bait, and backlashing with the best of them. Oh the fresh fish... (cue sentimental homesick feelings now)

Days like this I console myself with the flavors of home. This recipe is inspired by Florida citrus and seafood. Slow baked salmon simmers in a punchy citrus butter while bright green broccoli steams to crispy soft perfection. Buen provencho.

Sorry, these pictures are uninspiring... best I could do before this was completely inhaled. We had just worked out, it was late, dark... The fish you see in the top left was salmon topped with a raspberry chipotle sauce, his favorite. Another post...

Slow Baked Citrus Salmon

Fresh cut of salmon fillet (4-6 oz per person)

Cooking spray

3 tbsp butter (or alternative), softened

1/2 lemon, zested

1/4 lime, zested

1/4 orange zested

1. Zest lemon, lime, and orange into small bowl. Reserve 2 tsp for later.

2. Add butter. Zap in microwave if needed.

3. Squeeze juice of fruits into butter mixture.

4. Line a small contain with plastic wrap, pour in butter, and refrigerate till firm.

preheat oven to 200

5. *Lightly spray a baking dish or foil pouch with cooking spray. (Salmon makes its own oil, so this is an optional step to ease clean-up)

6. Place salmon in dish or pouch. Cut cooled citrus butter and sprinkle all over top of fish.

7. Sprinkle reserved citrus zest over top.

8. Bake in oven for 30+ minutes, until fish flakes with fork.

9. At the end of 30 minutes, switch oven from bake to broil for 10 minutes to get a crispier and hotter fish.

10. While broiling fish, steam the broccoli, drain, and season to taste.

*Any side of greens will do! Use what you have...

• Just 3 oz of salmon provides almost half a day's protein requirements. Its one of the highest sources of heart defending, brain boosting, blood enriching Omega 3 fatty acids. Plus, its also a terrific source of niacin, B12, and selenium, and a good source of magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium.