This time we’re going to bake some cookies using no flour or butter.  They are simply melt-in-your-mouth delicious, and the best part is that this is just about the easiest cookie recipe I’ve ever seen.  It definitely passes my “fast recipe test,” and with fewer calories too. 

I‘m always on the hunt for tried and true recipes, and I found such a winner in a box of oldies I got from my mother-in-law.  Over the years she clipped recipes from magazines and newspapers and swapped them with family and friends.  She loved to rummage for old cookbooks in used bookstores, and I was lucky enough to get them all when she left us. 

This recipe especially intrigued me.  It was typed on an old manual typewriter, and the paper was stained and dog-eared.  The ingredients were basic and I was anxious to try it.  Then I would know why it had been held on to for so many years.  Well, the cookies turned out so crispy and delicious, and it’s now a keeper in my recipe file too.

The original called for sugar, and the first time I made it I also used sugar.  However, since I’ve had very good luck in baking with sugar substitutes, I wanted to try one here.  You can decide which you prefer.  The one I used is Splenda, and it’s so similar to sugar in texture and flavor that, to me, in recipes it’s virtually indistinguishable from real sugar. 

Everything in this recipe is actually very healthful—oats, walnuts, raisins, canola oil and egg—and you can make it even more so if you choose the artificial sweetener.  And even if you’re not much of a baker, you can surprise everyone with a plate of freshly baked cookies.  It’s so easy you can whip these up in minutes.

Wacky Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

1 C whole oats

1 C walnuts, chopped

1 C sugar or substitute

1 egg

½ C canola oil

½ C golden raisins

1 t vanilla extract

¼ t baking soda

1 t ground cinnamon

1/8 t salt

Preheat oven to 350º

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Stir together the oil, sugar, egg, vanilla, cinnamon, salt and soda.  Mix in the oats, raisins and walnuts.  There, now they’re ready to bake.  How fast and easy was that?

Drop the dough by teaspoon on the baking sheet.  Flatten a little with the back of a spoon.  Bake 8 to 10 minutes until golden.  Remove and cool before storing to maintain crispness.  Before storing be sure to sample a few with a tall glass of cold milk!

If you prefer a larger cookie, you can use a tablespoon to measure the dough and increase the baking time by a couple of minutes.

Enjoy!

© Pauline Boren 2009

Just as the weather is cooling down and winter is upon us, it’s time to get out your favorite soup recipes.  I know you’re filled to the brim with holiday foods so it’s probably a good time to think about beginning the New Year with some nourishing and low fat foods.  Nothing will warm you up quicker than a bowl of good hot soup.  And since you’re making soup, why not choose a recipe that’s also packed with vegetables and beans.  You’ll not only get warm, but you’ll also get the good protein and fiber that we all need.

Soup doesn’t have to be a whole meal.  You can enjoy a small serving in place of an appetizer before dinner; have a bowl for a quick lunch, or even a cup for a snack on a chilly day.  Take a thermos along on a hike or long walk.  Nothing tastes better than enjoying it outside on a brisk day. 

In addition to the vegetables in my recipe, why not add some of your own favorites—perhaps some corn, turnips, carrots, zucchini or green beans for a bigger soup?   For a complete winter meal, add some chopped potatoes, rice or small pasta.  Another choice is tossing in some dumpling mix during the last few minutes of cooking. 

For a richer flavor, add a pat of fresh butter to each bowl just before setting it on the table.  It’s really delicious.  We also like a generous sprinkling of freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top.

Black Bean and Vegetable Soup

1 14oz can black beans, drained

4 slices bacon, chopped small

1 large onion, chopped

2 T butter

3 stalks celery, chopped

½ green bell pepper, chopped

½ red bell pepper, chopped

1-14oz can diced tomatoes

1 T chicken bouillon

3 C water

Shake red pepper flakes

Shake celery salt

Pepper to taste

In a large pot, cook the bacon pieces until they’re almost crisp.  Add the butter and sauté the onion until soft.

Heat the water in the microwave and stir in the bouillon until completely dissolved.  Then add it to the pot with all the vegetables.  Lower the temperature to simmer, cover and cook the soup for about 30 minutes until all the vegetables are tender.  If you want to add potatoes, rice or pasta, put them in the pot with all the vegetables and simmer until everything is tender.  Of course, dumplings would go in just before serving. 

This soup freezes very well so you can make a pot ahead and have it ready when you need it.  If you freeze it in individual servings, your microwave can have it ready in a very short time.    

Enjoy!

© Pauline Boren 2008

I know you’ll soon be sitting around still another holiday table with many dishes to enjoy with family and friends, or maybe even just with your spouse. It’s always fun to make an old family favorite and share it at Thanksgiving. One simple dish that’s popular in my husband’s family is a cranberry salad.

My mother-in-law made it for holiday family dinners each year as far back as I can remember. It was especially big at Thanksgiving because it had cranberries in it. She would either make it for turkey day at her home, or was asked to bring it whenever she was sharing the holiday with relatives in their homes. They had all grown to love it and expected it each year.

The gelatin and fruits are nice compliments to the cranberries. I like the whole cranberry sauce right out of the can, but once a year this salad tastes pretty good with the turkey. It always brings raves, but since Alice is no longer with us, this year I volunteered to make it in her honor and accept all the raves in her place. As you can see, it’s rather simple, but fit in well with the other dishes. It’s also good served with baked ham.

 Cranberry Apple Salad

 1 can (20 oz.) crushed pineapple, in juice

2 pkg. (3 oz. each) raspberry flavor sugarless gelatin

1 can (16 oz.) whole berry cranberry sauce

3/4 Cchopped walnuts

1 red apple, chopped (skin on) (Gala or Honey Crisp)

Pour the gelatin into a large bowl. Drain the pineapple, strain out and reserve the juice. Add enough water to the juice to measure 2-1/2 cups, and pour into a medium saucepan. Over medium heat, bring the liquid to a full boil. Pour over the gelatin in the bowl. Stir at least 2 minutes until the gelatin has completely dissolved.

Stir in the solid pineapple, cranberry sauce, nuts and apple chunks. Ladle the mixture into one or two serving dishes, and cover with plastic wrap.

Refrigerate at least 6 hours (preferably overnight) until firm. This can be served in a salad plate over a lettuce leaf, or as cranberry sauce with the turkey and other trimmings.

Enjoy!

© Pauline Boren 2008

Who doesn’t enjoy a slice of cheesecake for dessert?  I know I do.  There’s only one drawback.  One slice is full of calories and carbohydrates and not exactly the best dessert to have right after a big meal.  But let me tell you about a terrific substitute.

I found the original recipe in a cookbook that came with our very first microwave oven in 1976.  It was especially helpful to me then since I had no experience with microwave cooking.  It turned out to be a real lifesaver for both desserts and main dishes.   One recipe I’ve made over and over is the lemon cheesecake.

The pencil notes on that page remind me of the different flavors I’ve used in it.  However, lemon remains our favorite.  This time I made it with cherries because they add a bright festive color to an otherwise plain white cheesecake.   No matter what flavor you try, you’ll see that the texture and taste of this simple little pie is hard to beat.  Nowadays, since we’re all watching our waistlines, it was my challenge to make a slimmer version.  

The graham cracker crust and the sugar are the real culprits in cheesecake.  By completely eliminating the crust, using a reduced-calorie cream cheese, and substituting an artificial sweetener for the sugar, I think mine’s a lot slimmer.  Also, baking it in individual ramekins—thereby making smaller portions—was also a big plus.

The total result was a delicious creamy dessert, and when you taste it, you’ll never know it has fewer calories.  If you too are a big cheesecake fan, you’ll want to try this one.

Mini Cherry Cheesecakes

Filling:

1 8-oz package low fat cream cheese

¼ C milk

2 fresh eggs, beaten

½ C sugar substitute (Splenda or Apriva)

1 t almond extract

Topping:

1 C sour cream

1 T sugar substitute

1 can cherry pie filling

Combine the sour cream and sugar and bring to room temperature for easy spreading over the hot cheesecake.

Preheat oven to 350º.  Grease six small ceramic ramekins.

Soften the cream cheese at room temperature, or place in microwave for 30 seconds.   Blend the cream cheese with the milk.  Beat in the eggs and sugar substitute until fluffy.  Pour batter into the prepared ramekins and bake for 20 or so minutes until filling doesn’t jiggle when moved.  While the filling is baking, combine the sour cream and sugar substitute and set aside. 

Remove from oven and spread on the sour cream topping out to the edges.  Return to oven for 8 more minutes.  Cool completely.  Spread the cherry filling on top.  Chill about two hours.  Now you can go ahead and serve it to satisfy that sweet tooth!

Note:  If you want to make this recipe even lighter—and lemon flavored—omit the cherry topping, substitute fresh lemon juice for the milk in the filling and add one tablespoon lemon rind to the sour cream topping.  And if you want to follow the recipe in my book, use real sugar in place of the substitute and bake it in a graham cracker crust.  Just remember to increase the first baking time to 30 minutes and the second to 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

© Pauline Boren 2008

The next time you want a simple dinner—with big flavor and little work—go buy a couple of steaks and a can of your favorite barbeque beans. And while you’re in the store, pick up a head of romaine, a package of baby spinach and some bacon too. Now you’re ready to whip up a delicious dinner—even though you may be tired and don’t feel like spending a lot of time in the kitchen.

Okay, the meat can go on the grill and the beans just have to be heated up. But what about the salad? What salad would be perfect with barbeque? Well I’m about to tell you. How about a nice big bowl of greens with a tangy bacon vinaigrette dressing? Here’s all you do, and before you know it you’ll have a delicious dinner on the table.

While the grill is warming up, you can prepare the salad—a salad even a novice could turn out perfectly every time. Like I always remind you about my recipes, “easy” is the magic word here. Also, the textures of the romaine lettuce and spinach hold up well to any dressing—even a hot one. However, you could substitute another lettuce if you like. Even arugula would be great with the hot dressing.

The combination of the lettuce, smoky bacon and sweet tang of the vinegar and sugar all come together for a perfect dinner salad, and is especially great with barbeque. If you’re making a nice dinner, don’t spoil the salad with a prepared bottled dressing? Isn’t freshly made a whole lot tastier?

Greens with Bacon Vinaigrette

1 large head romaine lettuce, chopped

2 C baby spinach leaves

5 slices bacon, chopped

2 T granulated sugar

¼ C red wine vinegar

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Place the lettuce in a large serving bowl. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon until crisp. Add the sugar and vinegar and simmer until the sugar is dissolved, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any bits that may cling. Season with salt and pepper.

Pour the hot dressing over the salad and toss well. The salad is ready. I hope the steak and beans are too!

Enjoy!

© Pauline Boren 2008

I’ve been thinking about some hot soup recipes since the weather here has taken a turn for cool. Today was a good soup day, and I wanted to make something creamy, hot and comforting like grandmother used to make for us in the winter. I had some bacon and potatoes, and knew these were the perfect ingredients for my soup base.

I mashed some of the potatoes to thicken the liquid and left some in chunks for a richer texture. The combination of potatoes and bacon created a perfect soup. I served it with some garlic bread. It really hit the spot.

If you like bacon and potatoes, get out your large soup pot and let’s begin.

Potato and Bacon Soup

1/3^rd package bacon, chopped

1 T butter

1 large Spanish onion, peeled and chopped

3 large russet potatoes, peeled and chopped

4 C cold water

1 t chicken soup base or bouillon (dissolved in ¼ C hot water)

1 shake red pepper flakes

1 T dry chives

1 C milk

½ C heavy cream

2 T fresh parsley, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large soup pan, brown the chopped bacon. Remove bacon bits and set aside to add back to the soup later. Add the butter and chopped onion and cook until the onion is soft. Add the potatoes, water, bouillon, pepper flakes and chives. Over high heat, bring pan to boil. Simmer 30 minutes until potatoes are tender. With mashing tool, mash some of the potato chunks to thicken the liquid. Add the milk, cream, parsley and salt and pepper. Bring back to a boil. Add the bacon bits and it’s ready to serve.

This soup is guaranteed to warm you up. Enjoy!

© Pauline Boren 2008

When you read the recipe for this pork, you’ll probably say, “Yuk!”  That’s what I said when I heard about this dish called “adobo.”  Who ever heard of cooking anything in soy sauce and vinegar?  The very thought of it turned my taste buds off when my sister told me about it.  She gave me this recipe a few years ago when she got it from a Filipino friend of hers.  I told my sister I would give it a try because I knew what a good cook she was, and if she made it and liked it, we probably would too. 

When the recipe arrived in the mail, I tried it right away.  Well, it was an instant hit with my husband.  He still begs me to prepare it.  We’ve made it with both chicken and pork, but pork is my favorite so I’m sharing that one with you today.

It’s probably the vinegar and soy sauce that penetrate the meat and even tenderize it some.  The recipe has plenty of garlic (which makes anything taste good) and, of course, the tender pork chunks.  To say this one is easy is definitely an understatement.  Even if you think it’s a weird combination of ingredients, if you like to cook and experiment with new recipes, you’ll want to try this one.

Pork Adobo

2 lb. pork shoulder, cut into 2” chunks

10 garlic cloves, crushed

1 dry bay leaf

¼ C soy sauce

1/8 C water

1/2 C white vinegar

1/8 t ground black pepper

1-1/2 T cornstarch, dissolved in 1 T cold water

Preheat oven to 350º

Mix the marinating ingredients together.  Arrange the meat in a glass baking dish and pour the mixture evenly over the top.  Tuck the bay leaf down in the center between the meat.  Cover and chill for at least two hours.

Place the dish in on the middle rack of your oven and cook about an hour or 45 minutes, or until the meat is tender when tested with a skewer.  When it’s done, remove the meat to a plate, and pour the liquid into a skillet.  Heat over medium heat until the liquid it reaches a gentle boil.  Dissolve the cornstarch in a little cold water and add it to the boiling liquid.  Simmer a minute or two until thick.  Return the meat to the pan and stir it around until it’s coated in the sauce.  It’s ready to serve.   

We like it over steamed jasmine rice, but it would be just as tasty over cooked egg noodles or next to a scoop of creamy mashed potatoes.  After you taste pork prepared this way, I know you will be an adobo fan too.

Enjoy!

© Pauline Boren 2008

We love peanut butter cookies, and when I found this recipe, I wanted to try it right away. When I noticed it was low-cal, and even suitable for diabetics, it really got my attention. I changed it around a bit, but didn’t alter the main ingredients. The cookies turned out very light and crispy—and every bit as good as my traditional recipe—but with just four ingredients that I always keep in my cupboard. The texture is buttery, and when you taste some, I know you’ll be sold on them too.

I prefer to use natural peanut butter because it has no additives. If you’re industrious and have a food processor, you may even want to make your own with fresh peanuts. If you do, you should add a dash of salt to the recipe. For the sugar substitute, I use either Apriva or Splenda—whichever one I find on sale! These both measure out easily, and I think they act more like real sugar than other sweeteners.

There’s no reason to deny yourself or your family the sweet pleasure of some fresh baked cookies if you can make them with fewer calories and no sugar. And if you have children, I know they will like them too, and be better for them.

These cookies are so quick to make, that the next time you crave something sweet why don’t you mix up a batch? In fact, the clean up is so easy that you won’t even need to get your mixer out. You can stir the batter with a spoon. The recipe has only one cup each of peanut butter and sweetener, and only makes about 20 cookies. If you make them larger you’ll get about 12 or 15. If you plan on serving a crowd though, you’ll need to double or even triple the recipe. With a glass of cold milk, real cookie lovers can make them quickly disappear.

 Peanut Butter Cookies

1 C peanut butter

1 C sugar replacement

1 whole egg, slightly eaten

1 t vanilla extract

(If you substitute almond butter, then add almond extract.)

Preheat oven to 350º

In a mixing bowl combine the sugar substitute, egg and vanilla, and stir well with a spoon. Add the peanut butter and stir until it’s completely incorporated. Roll the dough into balls the size of a small walnut and place them on an ungreased cookie sheet. With the palm of your hand, flatten the balls. You can place them close together because they don’t spread while baking.

Bake about 10 or 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool slightly. Cool completely before storing.

Because of the peanut butter texture, this recipe doesn’t allow for substitutes; however, I think that almond or another nut butter might work just as well. Even cashews or filberts would be good choices. Since the texture and oil content of other nuts are similar, I think they would work out as well, and adding some chopped nuts might also be good.

Enjoy!

© Pauline Boren 2008

However, if you prefer a lighter alternative, then read on for a pumpkin dessert without all those needless calories. I came up with this way to bake the filling, and it’s just as delicious and satisfying as a slice of pie. After all, it’s really the creamy pumpkin and whipped cream topping that you mostly taste. The piecrust is just there to hold in the filling. In this recipe, we’re holding it in by using individual ramekins.

The filling recipe is enough for two 9” pumpkin pies. If you choose to use the individual ramekins like I have, you may not need to bake the whole recipe at one time. You can bake as much of the filling as you need to serve, and refrigerate or even freeze the rest for another meal.

Pumpkin Delights

Preheat oven to 350º

Butter as many individual serving ramekins as you are serving.

1-1/2 C sugar

4 large eggs

1 t salt

3 t cinnamon

2 t ginger

2 t ground cloves

1-29oz can pumpkin

2-12oz cans evaporated milk

Measure the spices with the sugar. In a mixer set on the medium speed, beat the eggs and add the sugar mixture. Add both the pumpkin and milk—each a little at a time—and mix well to combine all the ingredients.

Pour the mixture into buttered individual ramekins. Fill each to ¼” from the top. Set the ramekins on a baking sheet and bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick or skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Your pumpkin treats are ready. Remove them from the oven and cool, or serve while still warm. Top with a small scoop of light whipped cream, and if you wish a light sprinkle of nutmeg.

If you want to serve them warm, mix up the filling the day before and refrigerate until ready to bake. Bring the filling to room temperature and bake them. After all, on a busy holiday morning, you probably have lots of other dishes to get ready for the big meal, and you don’t want to bother with the dessert. If it’s all ready mixed up and ready to bake, it will save precious time.

Enjoy!

© Pauline Boren 2008

I’m used to buying a couple of bunches of fresh spinach and cooking them with garlic and butter. Because they cook up so fast, they make a quick dinner side dish. This past weekend I was planning some sandwiches and a salad for a light lunch. Instead of a lettuce salad, I had some fresh spinach and thought I’d try a salad with that instead. I checked out a few cookbooks and found one that looked pretty good and easy.

The book I found it in is The Silver Spoon. That book is crammed with wonderful recipes for just about any dish you’d ever crave or want to make. It was a gift to me from my dear friend, Geri, who lives in California. She and I share a love of cooking and are always looking for interesting recipes to try. Whenever either of us finds an especially good one, we share it. The next time I see her I’ll tell her about this one.

With just a few ingredients, this spinach recipe was quite simple and also turned out to be delicious. I only modified it by increasing a couple of the ingredients in order to serve more people. In a salad, this is easy to do and does not alter the flavors in any way. My recipe below makes enough to serve six people.

Spinach and Mushroom Salad

2-1/2 C small white mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 lemon, juice only

2 packages prepared baby spinach

½ C pine nuts, lightly toasted

5 T extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

In a small skillet, place the pine nuts and toss over medium heat until they are golden and toasted. Place the spinach in a large bowl.

Toss in the mushrooms. Whisk together the lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper. Pour over the greens and toss well. That’s it! It’s ready. I like to toss it just before serving it so the pine nuts are crisp.

If you’d also like to try my quick cooking version for sautéed spinach, you can prepare them like this instead. However, because spinach cooks down so much, even for four people you’ll probably want to use at least 4 bags of the spinach.

Sautéed Spinach With Garlic

4 packages prepared baby spinach

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

3 T butter

Salt and pepper to taste

4 T water

Melt the butter in a large pan. Add the garlic and sauté just until it is a little soft and golden. Reduce the heat to simmer and add the spinach, water and salt and pepper. As it cooks, with a pair of tongs, toss the leaves so the top ones touch the bottom and the garlic is distributed throughout. Cover and simmer about 5 minutes until the spinach is tender. Serve immediately. You can still get your calcium in this one if you prefer a hot vegetable to a cold salad.

Enjoy!

© Pauline Boren 2008