Heart Healthy Smoothie

So here I am again, finally finding the time to write about one of my favorite things----FOOD!

I had to take some time away from all things bloggy, The Fly Rod Gawd's mom had open heart surgery and taking care of them took up more time than I had. But, here I am again happily blogging away and with a new found spirit. Through all of the doctors,tests, hospitals and nurses, I realized just what an important part food really plays in our lives.

When I first realized that we were going to have to have some more heart friendly meals I thought we were going to be doomed to unsalted tasteless cardboard with a side of steamed stryfoam. But, what I have realized is that creating heart friendly meals is really not as hard as I thought.

Here is a quick cardio friendly smoothie that is perfect for an on the go breakfast, lunch or snack. Try it and let me know what you think!

Banana Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 very ripe banana

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/2 cup non fat plain yogurt

1/4 cup 1 % milk

2 teaspoons honey

Place all ingriedients in a blender and blend until smooth. Add more milk if you like it thinner and more honey if you like it sweeter!

Sweet Potato Chips with Chili Salt

Can you think of anything more tasty than a thin, crispy french fried potato? How about thin, crispy french fried sweet potato chips?

A few years ago, The Fly Rod Gawd and I were visiting St. Michaels in Maryland and we stopped at this great restaurant whose name I can't remember. It was one of those great evenings that no matter how hard you try, you just can't recreate.

As we were sitting in the dinning room, looking out over the Chesapeake, our waiter brought us a plate of fresh sweet potato chips. We had never had crispy sweet potato chips before, but as soon as we tried them we wondered where they had been all our lives!

Not only were we lovn' the chips, but just as our dessert was being served a Barbershop quartet that was having dinner at the same time broke out in song!

It was such a wonderful night and one that we will never forget.

You will be surprised at how easy these chips are to make and everyone seems to love them. They can take on a lot of different flavors, but we like them with a spicy chili salt and a lime sour creme.

Sweet Potato Chips with Chile Salt

6 cups Canola oil
2 tablespoons sea salt
1 tablespoon chipotle pepper powder
1 lime
8 ounces sour creme
2 large sweet potato

Heat the oil in a heavy bottom pan to 375 degrees.

Mix the salt and chipotle pepper in a small bowl, set aside. Add the sour creme to a small bowl and mix in the juice and zest of the lime, set aside.

Peel and slice the sweet potato very thin. Fry the sweet potato's in batches until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon to drain on paper towels. Immediately season with the chili salt. Serve with the lime sour creme for dipping.

Honey Wheat Pizza Dough

This week, I have been trying to decide what to do for Superbowl Sunday. I need something to serve that is easy and basically self serve, but I didn't want to just do buffet food. Of course I'll have the usually line up of snacks and finger foods but for the main event, I wanted to do something fun. What I came up with is a pizza bar. Everyone loves pizza right?

My challenge is to find a way to make it a little bit healthier but still have a great tasting pizza. This week I have been playing around with whole wheat bread dough and I think I have finally come up with a winner. By adding a little more honey and some garlic to the dough, the result was a hearty dough with a lot of flavor. The best part, is that it also made a really good sandwich roll as well.


I'm not sure who will be playing in the big game, but I do know that the pizza bar at The Saucy Bird will be open for business!

Honey Wheat Pizza Dough

1 1/2 cup water, warmed to 110°F
1 packet active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
3 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup honey
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil

Lightly coat a large bowl with olive oil and set aside. Combine the water, yeast, and sugar in a small bowl and set aside. Combine flours and salt in a large bowl. Add the yeast mixture, honey, oil and garlic, stir until dough begins to form -- it will be slightly sticky. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead until dough is smooth but still tacky -- about 10 minutes. Form the dough into a ball and transfer it to the prepared bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover with a clean, damp kitchen towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until the dough doubles in volume.

Punch the dough down, remove from the bowl, and let dough rest for 5 minutes. Divide the dough in half and turn one piece out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into desired shape and size.

Buttermilk Onion Crisps

Whew!!! The holidays are finally over and this year I can't say that I am sorry. The Fly Rod Gawds Mother has had some pretty serious health issues and adding hospital tests and doctor visits to the already hectic season really wore me out.

I have been trying to get these french fried onions posted since New Year's day but haven't been able to get to it. Well, I probably could have but we had to watch the bowl games. And then, I had to get the Christmas lights down, at least from the front porch. (I was beginning to feel a little Gretchen Wilsonish).

So everything, is finally down and boxed, just waiting for The Fly Rod Gawd to stow the boxes in the shed. I am always surprised at how blah the house looks when the decorations come down.

Anywhoo, these crispy onions are the result of my first experiment with the mandolin Santa brought me for Christmas. I have been wanting one for a long time now and it is one of those things that I just wouldn't buy for myself. Well all I have to say is: THANK YOU SANTA! I LOVE IT.

It made these crispy fried onions sooooo easy. Just zip zip zip and they were sliced perfectly. Now I just have to figure out how to keep from eating them so I have enough for everyone else. They made the perfect football snack and I think they would make the perfect topper for mac and cheese.

Buttermilk Onion Crisps

3 large onions
1 cup self rising flour
1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
1 tablespoon ground sage
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
3 cups canola oil
Kosher salt or Celery Salt

Peel the onions and slice thin on a mandolin. Pat dry with paper towels and place in a large bowl. Mix together the flour, pepper and sage. Spoon some of the flour mixture over the onions and stir to lightly coat. Beat together the egg and butter milk. Pour some of the egg mixture over the onions. Stir to evenly coat. Spoon the remaining flour mixture over the onions and stir to coat.

Heat the oil in a heavy bottom pan to 375 degrees. Place the onions a little at a time in the hot oil, sitr with a fork to break apart and fry 3 to 4 minutes turning occasilnally until golden brown. Season with kosher salt or celery salt and serve warm.

Try not to eat too many!

Cinnamon Raisin Crisps

Dear Santa:

Please don't forget to stop by our house tonight. I have made your favorite cookies and promise that I won't let The Fly Rod Gawd eat all of them before you arrive. They turned out really good this year. They are crispy and have lots of cinnamon, just the way you like them.

I'll even have some "Jolly" Java waiting for you, and since Rudolph is your designated driver I know you can indulge without reservation.

Drive carefull and I hope you have a lot of good boys and girls to deliver to this year, and I hope you will bring lots of toys.

Love

The Saucy Bird

Cinnamon Raisin Crisps

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 Egg yolk
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup natural raisins
1/3 cup crispy rice cereal

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in yolk and salt. Mix in flour and cinnamon just to blend thoroughly. Mix in raisins and cereal to distribute evenly. On lightly floured surface, roll into a 12" long. Wrap securely and refrigerate at least 1 hour

With sharp knife, cut 1/3" thick slices, and place 1" apart on baking sheets.

Bake in preheated 350 degree oven 15 to 20 minutes until cookies are set and bottoms are lightly browned. Remove to racks to cool completely.

Express Lane 3 Bean with Bacon Soup

Nothing seems to satisfy like a steaming hot bowl of homemade bean with bacon soup. The problem is that it takes so long to make. I mean, you have to soak the beans overnight and then simmer them for 2 hours to get those tasty little beans soft. The result for me is pure heaven but I rarely have enough time to get a pot together.

Well, not anymore! I am taking a lot of help from the store but the result is a delicious, mouth watering pot of the most soul satisfying soup you have ever had. And the great part is that it only takes as long as the cornbread takes to bake. Really----- I'm not kidding.

I know that there are plenty of good quality condensed soups on the market today, but nothing beats homemade soup. And, with the help of your local market and a quick trip through the express lane you can have this soup quicker than you can say: "Bob's your Uncle!" Not only is it a great stick to your ribs kind of meal, it's really economical, nutitious, it feeds a crowd and I haven't met anyone who doesn't enjoy a nice hot cup of soup, and frankly if I do I'm not sure I would want to know them.

Express Lane 3 Bean with Bacon Soup

1 box Corn Bread mix
12 ounces peppered bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 large white onion, peeled and diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
1 ham steak, diced
2 quarts low sodium chicken stock
1 (15 ounce) can Pinto Beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 ounce) can Great Northern Beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 ounce) can Red Beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 ounce) can Diced flavored Tomatoes

Prepare the Corn Bread according to package directions.

Meanwhile, Heat a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until light brown. With a slotted spoon remove the bacon to paper towels. Leave about 2 tablespoons of fat in the bottom of the pan and discard the rest. Add the onions, carrots and diced ham. Saute until onions are translucent. Add the chicken stock and reduce heat to medium low. Add the all of the beans and the tomatoes to a large bowl, stir to combine. Reserve one cup of the mixture and add the rest to the pot. With a fork or potato masher, mash the reserved bean mixture until mashed but still chunky. Add to the pot, stir well and simmer until ready to serve.

Serve hot over fresh cornbread and enjoy!

Crispy Crumb Coated Broccoli

I know that this is the time of year that everyone is making those deliciously gooey, sweet decadent treats that we only get once a year, so I thought I would share something that is a little bit on the healthy side.

A few years ago, the Fly Rod Gawd's doctor put him on a diet and it was up to me to figure out ways to get him to eat healthier foods. We all now that if I'd let him he would have chocolate cake for breakfast, pound cake for lunch and cookies for dinner, so my challenge was to get him to "like" green things. Thankfully he was a willing participant and would cheerfully try anything, so my job was a bit easier. But still, getting someone to actually like fruits and vegetables that weren't soaked in sugar or fat wasn't easy.

One day I was watching Lydia's Italian Kitchen and she was making crumb coated vegetables as a side dish and they looked really quick and easy. (I'm all about quick and easy!) I don't remember her exact recipe but this is my interpretation of the recipe I saw her making.

Well, it was a big hit! Not long after I began making his broccoli this way we had to go out of town on business. To my surprise, after eating every meal in a restaurant for a week, The Fly Rod Gawd actually said: "I can't wait to get home, I'm craving broccoli!" I almost fell off my chair.

Since then, I've tried this technique on every vegetable I could think of and it has worked on every thing I have tried. My favorites are broccoli, cauliflower and mushrooms and now I make them to put out as snacks or appetizers with a honey mustard dipping sauce.

Crispy Crumb Coated Broccoli

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper (more if you like it hot)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 (10 ounce) box frozen broccoli florets, thawed and patted dry
1/3 cup seasoned Italian bread crumbs

Heat the olive oil in a large non stick pan over medium high heat. Add the red pepper and garlic. Swirl the pepper and garlic in the oil until you begin to smell the garlic, about 1 minute. Add the broccoli florets and saute until tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Reduce the heat and add the Italian bread crumbs. Toss to evenly coat all of the florets and continue cooking until the crumbs are golden brown.

Remove from the pan and serve as a side dish or arrange on a platter with honey mustard dipping sauce for a hot appetizer.