Recipes

Sesame Chicken with Brown Rice

So remember when I said I like chinese food? Well, to be more specific, I LOVE chicken and broccoli. It is the only chinese food I order when getting take-out. Sometimes, if we are ordering for a larger group of people, I get the crab wonton's too. But I know how fattening and addicting asian food can be. And eating it more than once a week is not a good idea. So I went in search of recipes to make it healthier at home. And this is what I found. From Everyday Food on Martha Stewart's website comes Sesame Chicken. The recipe cuts back on some fat and calories but keeps it flavorful with fresh ingredients and natural not artifical means.

Here's the cast of characters. Chicken, Green onions, Eggs (only whites will be used), garlic, soy sauce, honey, sesame seeds and corn starch.



I started by mixing the sauce. Honey, soy sauce, garlic and sesame seeds. Set aside.




Then mix the egg whites and cornstarch together. I put them in a plastic ziplock bag and then added the chicken. Less mess for me to clean up. And belive me, that is what I am all about. LESS MESS FOR ME!




Then I heated the oil and added the chicken from the egg white/cornstarch mixture, but only half at a time, and fried it till golden. I removed it from the pan and added the second half and fried it the same way.



Put the first batch back in the pan and add the green onions and the sauce I made earlier. And just a note: I steamed broccoli in a steamer bag in the microwave while the chicken was cooking.



So I added it here and tossed to coat everything.



Ta da! All done. From beginning to end this took me about 20 min. It will depend on how big the chicken pieces are cut, but it should take about 6-8 min per batch for them to brown. Then everything else is just thrown in. Oh, and BTW, I used Birds Eye Brown Rice Steamer Bags. I popped one in the microwave after the broccoli was done and it finished cooking by the time the chicken was done. One more way to make my life easier. I'm all for that! This had great flavor and was very filling. And I felt better for eating this version than the regular take out kind. Try it, you'll like it.

A little cheat

Ok, so the last recipe I gave you was better for you than this one. Still on the calorie laden scale this one isn't the worst there is. And cutting the sugar back helps ALOT. I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen website while looking for Christmas gift ideas and KNEW I had to make them today. So after safely tucking baby boy into bed for his daily nap, I stole away to the kitchen as quickly as humanly possible. I found all the ingredients and got to work. It was insanely easy with only 8 ingredients for the cookie part. The dough came together quickly in my food processor and in less than 10 min I was scooping them out onto parchment covered pans. I was able to make 37 cookies which made 18 sandwiches. It probably would have made 19 sandwiched cookies, but someone snuck in and nibbled on the dough while I wasn't looking. I swear, it wasn't me! Anyway, let me show you some of what I did.

Here are the ingredients. Dutch-process cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, an egg, butter and salt.



I placed all the dry ingredients in my food processor and whirled them around for a few seconds till they were all incorporated.



I added the butter and egg and blended it till a dough formed.



Then I scooped them out with a Tbls scoop and put them onto wax paper then flattened them down with my hand.



After they baked off in a 375 degree oven for about 9 min. I pulled them out and let them cool while I made the filling. Which I didn't get any pictures of cause my baby boy was running around the kitchen pulling everything out of my measuring cup drawer!



After I had pinned him down in the high chair I started filling the cookies.



Then I pressed another on top and voila! Homemade oreo cookies. Now, I feel like with my oven I coulda took them out at 7 or 8 min and they would have been chewier. Now, mind you, they weren't crispy. They were more inbetween crispy and chewy. Nonetheless they were still very good. I am adding them to my list of cookies I will be making for Christmas. I hope you try them soon.

Homemade Oreos
Adapted from SmittenKitchen
Makes 25 to 30 sandwich cookies

For the chocolate wafers:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar*
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg

For the filling:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375 degrees.
2. In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then
add the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
3. Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately 2 inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9
minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.
4. To make the cream, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2-3 minutes until
filling is light and fluffy.
5. To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first,
on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream. Dunk
generously in a large glass of milk.

* Let’s talk about the sugar for a minute, shall we? This is a sweet cookie. A good, sweet cookie. Yet, if you think of an actual Oreos, the wafers are fairly un-sweet and actually on the lightly salty side, which contrasts with the super-sweetness of the filling bringing harmony, happiness, yada yada. If you want your cookie closer to that original, you can take out a full half-cup of the sugar. I usually do.

Healthier Chocolate Cheesecake Squares

Are you tired of turkey? Crying over cranberries? Disgusted with dressing? Well so am I! I am so glad that the chaotic Thanksgiving frenzy is over. Ok, maybe the frenzy was only at our holiday table. What with all the turkey, potatoes, corn, cranberry sauce, dressing, and gravy it's any wonder someone didn't blow a gasket. Thankfully we all survived, bloated, but happy. And with it all being over I can now concentrate on Christmas and the chaotic frenzy that is going to entail. But before I get there I need to take off some of this extra gravy off my hips. So I am going to start incorporating more healthy items into my diet. More veggies and fruit, chicken and pork, and less red meat, fats and sugars. I'm not saying I am going to forgo bacon fat forever, God forbid, but I am making a conscious decision to substitute healthy for unhealthy and make smarter choices.



So starting today is the first recipe I am going to try. I found it on Martha Stewart's website (long live our queen). And what better way to start eating healthier than to start with chocolate! Yes, you can have chocolate and not pack on the pounds.

These cheesecake squares are made healthier by replacing some of the calories with reduce fat cream cheese and reduce fat sour cream. I also used Dark Chocolate cocoa powder instead of just the regular Hershey variety. And dark chocolate has some heart healthy benefits as well.  So while these indulgent treats won't be considered "good for you" they are at least better than the full fat version. So lets get started and you'll see how easy, and delicious they are.

Here's the ingredients. Mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, eggs, reduce fat cream cheese, sugar, chocolate wafers (not oreo's), dark cocoa powder, corn starch and reduce fat sour cream.



To start I greased a 8 x 8 inch pan and then crisscrossed two rectangles of parchment paper and greased them as well. Then I processed the chocolate wafers in my food processor till they were fine crumbs. I put them in the bottom of the pan then pressed them into the bottom evenly. The recipe calls for 8 wafers, but I used 14.



Then add the softened cream cheese and sour cream to the processer bowl and blend till smooth and mixed.



Then I added the cocoa powder, sugar, and eggs. Actually my big girl added them, it was her turn to help momma "cooker" something. And she actually pushed the button on the food processor, which to you may not seem like such a big deal but to her (a girl who HATES loud sounds) it was a milestone achievement! Anyway, just blend those ingredients till throughly mixed. Then pour into the pan on top of the crumbs.



To make it look purty, you sprinkle some chocolate chips on top. I used mini so that you could get some in every bite and they would kinda melt a little. And it was all I had on hand.
After you pop them in the oven for 35-40 min (mine took 35 min) ya gotta let them cool for about an hour. Then I put them in the fridge for about 1 1/2 hours to set completely. It also makes them easier to cut. This is after it has set up in the fridge.



See how beautiful they are? And my goodness were they good. Just one was enough to need a large glass of milk. Skim, of'course!



Chocolate Cheescake Squares

Ingredients:
Makes 9