Chocolate Spiderweb Cookies

Tomorrow is Halloween! If you are like me and have to work, or just don't have plans, stay inside and make these delicious "scaaaary" cookies. If you have kids, than this is a great recipe to let them help out on. These cookies are also called refrigerator cookies, where you make the dough and put it in the fridge or freezer until you are ready to slice and bake. Not only does it help give your cookies a nice shape, it is a great make ahead recipe when you need a little extra time. 

Get that candy ready, turn off the lights and put on the scariest movie you know. I am a wuss and try to avoid scary movies, especially when I'm on my own. I think I will find a semi-scary movie, like I am Legend or 28 Days Later. Well, maybe not that last one. :)

Happy Halloween!!

Chocolate Spiderweb Cookies

Cooking Light Complete Cookbook

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup vegetable shortening

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg white 

Cooking spray

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

3 tablespoons 2% reduced-fat milk

Direction:

1. Lightly spoon flour in to a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stirring well with a whisk. Place shortening in a large mixing bowl; beat with a heavy duty mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually add granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time; beating until well blended. Add vanilla and egg whites; beat well. Add flour mixture; beat until well combined.
2. Turn dough out onto wax paper; shaped into a 6-inch log. Wrap log in wax paper. Freeze for 2 hours or until very firm.
3. Preheat oven to 350'.
4. Cut log into 24 (1/4-inch) slices, and place slices 1 inch apart on baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350' for 10 minutes or until set. Remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack.
5. Combine powdered sugar and milk in a medium bowl; stir with a whisk until smooth. Spoon into a small zip-lock plastic bag; seal. Snip a tiny hole in 1 corner of the bag. Working with one cookie at a time; pipe 3 concentric circles on cookie. Starting at the center circle, pull a wooden pick through other circles at regular intervals to create a "web." 

Makes 2 dozen

Nutrition: (1 cookie) Calories 102; Fat 2.9g; Protein 1g; Carb 19g; Fiber 1g; Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 42mg

How to deseed a pomegranate!

It's fall and that means it's Pomegranate season! Every year I look forward to finding these bright red orbs of deliciousness in the store. Not only are they a great source of fiber and vitamin c, they are utterly delicious. Tangy and tart, yet oh so sweet. 

As much as I love this fruit, it took me a while to master the art of deseeding one. I spent much time watching videos and reading other blogs. So I thought I would share what I have learned!

A few tips before you get started:

When shopping, always go for the ones that are the heaviest! The heavier the fruit, the more juice it has. I spent a good 5 minutes weighing them with my hands, then when I couldn't tell the difference between two, I put them on the scale. I am very serious about my pomegranates. 

Also, try to get ones that are firmer. Avoid ones with bruises and soft spots. 

Make sure you wear something you wouldn't mind getting a few spots on. The juice of a pomegranate stains very easily. 

Make sure your surface is protected. This also goes for when you are eating the seeds. If you have a very light carpet be careful not to drop a seed and then step on it. 

This is all you need! A sharp knife and a bowl deep enough to put your hands in, and of course some pomegranates!

Fill the bowl with luke warm water. The temperature is only for your convenience. You don't want to put your hands in freezing cold water right?

Carefully make evenly spaced deep lacerations around the pomegranate, from the top to the bottom. This particular one had nice lines to follow. 

Look at that beautiful deep red color. Exactly what you want!

With the pomegranate submerged under water, carefully pull apart at the seams.  Gently (still under water) remove the seeds from the membrane, trying not to pop them. You will start to notice the seeds starting to sink and the membrane rising to the surface. 

Continue this process until you have all of the seeds at the bottom of your bowl. With your hands sift the larger pieces of floating membrane from the water and dispose. To get the smaller pieces, I found it easier to slowly pour the water through a mesh colander, stopping just before the seeds fell out. This helps remove those pesky little bits of membrane from getting mixed in with the seeds.  

After a bit of rinsing, you have these juicy red rubies!

To store; put your seeds in an air tight container and keep in the fridge for up to two weeks.
To freeze; spread out the seeds on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and place in the freezer up to two hours. Once frozen, place seeds in a freezer bag or container. Let thaw for an hour or two before eating.

I have actually never used pomegranates in a recipe before (I plan to one day!). The seeds have always been my favorite part, so I just go straight for those. If you are looking for some recipes to use, here are a couple of good places to start looking.

AllRecipes: Best Fresh Pomegranate Recipes 
Martha Stewart: Seasonal Recipe Guide - Pomegranates
About.com: Home Cooking

Crock Pot Turkey White Bean Pumpkin Chili

Pumpkin is one of my favorite ingredients! Every fall I try to make as many pumpkin things as possible.  I have about three pumpkin recipes saved up for this year, but I was craving chili. I am not very good at just grabbing things out of the cupboard and throwing them together, so I thought it was safer to find a good recipe and curb my craving. When I saw that this one had pumpkin, I knew I had to do it. I started around 11:30am and finished other things I had to do while dinner sat in the crock pot. I was in the kitchen for only 15-20 minutes putting things together, the crock pot did the rest!

I found this recipe on one of my favorite food blog sites, Gina's Skinny Recipes. I found it about a year ago and go back for great healthy recipes all the time. The meals aren't just veggies and fruit. No. It's all different kinds of things you have been hoping was lower in fat or calories. Cookies, pasta...chili! I definitely recommend this site! 

You can pair this dish with corn bread, or as I did, pita chips!

Turkey White Bean Pumpkin Chili 
Gina's Skinny Recipes


Ingredients:

Cooking spray
2 lb 99% lean ground Turkey
1/2 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp chili powder, to taste
2 bay leaves
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
2 (15 oz cans) of white northern or navy beans, rinsed and drained
15 oz can of pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
4.5 oz canned chopped green chile
2 cups low sodium, fat free chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

Optional:
chopped cilantro and chives for topping
fat free sour cream for topping

Directions:

1. Heat a large heavy saute pan over high heat and lightly spray with oil. Add meat and cook, breaking up until white, about 5 minutes. Add to crock pot. (Do not over cook as it will continue to cook in pot.)
2. Add oil to the saute pan, then onions and garlic, saute about 3-4 minutes; add cumin and saute another minute.
3. Add to crock pot. Add beans, pumpkin puree, green chiles, broth, chili powder, oregano and bay leaves. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours. 
4. Remove bay leaves and adjust seasoning to taste before serving. Garnish and enjoy!

Makes 9 servings

Nutrition: (1 cup) Calories 182.6; Fat 2.3g; Protein 23.3g; Carb 10.9g; Fiber 8.8g

If you have noticed I added a new printer friendly application to the bottom of each post. When you click the green button a small window will come up and allow you to edit the page to how you like. You can remove my ramblings in the beginning or remove pictures to save ink. Hope it works better for everyone!

Quick Praline Bars

Once again I was off visiting my soldier all the way across the country. Probably one of the best weekends ever, as I became a Mrs! Of course the week or so before I was stressing and worry about plans, so I had a couple recipes stocked up. I knew I wouldn't be able to get into the kitchen the week before, or even the week after. Thankfully everything went just as I had imagined it! After looking at all of the 300+ pictures I am surprised my cheeks didn't fall off from all the smiling. They definitely hurt after the long photo session afterwards. 

Now when I look up recipes I won't be thinking, "My boyfriend will love this!"...nope I can say, "My husband will love this!" Still sounds strange to me! These next two months, before he comes home, I will be stocking up on my repertoire of recipes. From whole turkeys, to layered chocolate cakes. I need to have a brain full of good foods to cook when he gets home!

These bars really passed my expectation. I was so surprised at how sweet they were. It's just the right amount of sweet really. When I looked at the recipe I thought it would taste more nutty or cracker like. Nope. These were sweet and salty, and everything your taste buds could desire! My bowl of them were used for a tailgating party, but I made sure to bring plenty home for me. That bowl was gone in two days. I couldn't stop going back for more! :)  

P.S. Again this was a day that I cooked three recipes, and spent hours in the kitchen, so my camera got pushed to the side and was forgotten till the end. One of the most simple recipes though!

I would like to have used regular brown sugar, but all I had was Splenda. It worked just fine.

 

Quick Praline Bars (printer friendly version)
Betty Crocker's Healthy New Choices


Ingredients:
24 graham cracker squares
1/2 cup pack brown sugar
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped pecans (chopped almonds or cashews may also be used)


Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350'. Arrange graham crackers in single layer in ungreased jelly roll pan, 15 1/2x 10 1/2x 1 inch. 
2. Heat brown sugar and margarine to boiling in 2-quart saucepan. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly; remove from heat. Stir in vanilla
3. Pour sugar mixture over crackers; spread evenly. Sprinkle with pecans. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until bubble; cool slightly. 

Makes 2 dozen bars

Nutrition: (serving size: 1 bar) Calories 95; Fat 6g; Chol 0mg; Carb 10g; Protein 0g

Barbecued Turkey Pizza

Every now and then you have to splurge a little right? When I splurge I always have nutrition in the back of my mind; "Are there some kind of vegetables included?" "How much protein is there?" "Good fats or bad?" So even though pizza is a comfort food, I like to stay a little more on the healthy side. Instead of pepperonis covering the entire pizza, I go for a little chicken or turkey. Whole dough, if possible. Yes cheese, but not pounds of it!

This pizza was covered in toppings! Even though every piece was under 400 calories, the toppings really filled me up so I didn't need more than two slices. (I budgeted my calories throughout the day knowing I was going to splurge.) 

Enjoy your southwestern style pizza!!

If you don't have a bread machine than you can easily go with store made dough. Trader Joes whole wheat dough is a life saver!

Barbecued Turkey Pizza (printer friendly version)
tasteofhome Guilt Free Cooking


Ingredients:

For the dough:
1 cup water (70' to 80')
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons active dry yeast

For the toppings:
3/4 barbecue sauce
1 1/2 cups cubed turkey breast
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn, thawed
1 small red onion, juienned
1 small green pepper, julienned
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup (4 oz) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Direction:

1. In bread machine pan, place the first six ingredients in order suggested by manufacturer. Select dough setting (check dough after 5 minutes of mixing; add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water or flour if needed).
2. When cycle is complete, turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Punch down; cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Roll dough into a 14-in circle. Transfer to a 14-in pizza pan coated with cooking spray; build up edges slightly. 
3. Spread barbecue sauce over crust. Layer with half of the turkey, corn, onion, green pepper, garlic and cheese. Repeat layers. Bake at 400' for 25-30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. 

Makes 8 servings
Nutrition: (one slice) Calories 366; Fat 9g; Chol 38mg; Carb 52g; Fiber 2g; Protein 20g