Bacon and Cheddar Stuffed Mushrooms

We had a little Christmas get together with our book club group last night to which I brought these little morsels.  Found on the net somewhere, but I can't find the site back to give proper credit.  They went over very well and to anyone on Phase 1 of South Beach, these are also Phase 1 friendly.  I had them all stuffed and ready to go in the fridge and just popped them in the oven when we were ready to eat.  Easy and yummy!

Bacon and Cheddar Stuffed Mushrooms

3 slices bacon (or turkey bacon)j

8 mushrooms

1T butter or oil

1T chopped onion (I used green onion)

3/4c shredded cheddar cheese, divided

Fry bacon, drain, dice and set aside.  Preheat oven to 400*.  Remove mushroom stems.  Set aside caps.  Chop stems.  In a small frying pan, melt butter (or heat oil).  Slowly cook and stir in the chopped stems and onion until they are soft.  Remove from heat.  In a medium bowl, stir together the mushroom mixture, bacon and 1/2c cheese.  Mix well and scoop into the mushroom caps.  Back in preheated oven for 15 min, or until the cheese has melted.  Remove and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Breakfast Bean Cookies

I just made these cookies, found on the Parents Canada site and they are scrumptious!  They don't flatten very much, so do ensure that you do flatten them with your hand. 

Some hints on their directions:
Since I don't own a food processor, I ground up the oats in my blender, which worked really well, but then had to transfer them to a bowl to mix it with the other dry ingredients.  However, when I tried to puree the beans, it didn't work, so I did it with my immersion blender, which worked much better.  Then I mixed the butter, beans, sugar, etc together with my stand mixer and continued with the rest of the instructions using my stand mixer.  So, they were a bit "machine" intensive, but the results were well worth it - and the kids liked them too!

Cheesy Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

I cut this recipe out of the local newspaper back in September and finally made it for the first time a couple weeks ago.  It's different from most Shepherd's pie that I've had, but it was quite tasty and a definite make again.  I halved the recipe to only make one 8" square pan but next time would make two dinners and freeze one.

Big batch cheesy sweet potato shepherd's pie

This twist on a classic offers a colourful and tasty mealtime solution for eight to ten hungry people. Or make two dinners for four and freeze the second pan for a last-minute meal to cook from frozen. Or make eight individual 1 cup (250 mL) servings for later use.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes.

Cooking Time: 15 to 20 minutes

Baking Time: 20 to 45 minutes

Serves: 8 to 10

Topping:

4 lb (2 kg) sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

1-1/2 cups (375 mL) shredded old cheddar cheese

1/2 cup (125 mL) milk

Salt and pepper

In large pot, cook potatoes in boiling water until fork-tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain and mash with Cheddar cheese, milk, and salt and pepper to taste.

Filling:

2 lb (1kg) lean ground beef

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups (500 mL) each shredded carrots and zucchini

1-1/2 cups (375 mL) fresh corn kernels (I used frozen)

3/4 cup (175 mL) minced onion (about 1 medium)

1 tbsp (15 mL) each dried thyme, oregano and dry mustard

1 tbsp (15 mL) all-purpose flour

1 cup (250 mL) milk

Salt and pepper

 In a large frying pan, sauté beef over medium-high heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until no longer pink. Drain off fat. Add garlic, carrots, zucchini, corn and onion; cook for 5 minutes or until vegetables are softened. In small bowl, mix together thyme, oregano, mustard and flour; stir into pan along with milk, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 2 minutes or until slightly thickened. Transfer to two 8-inch (2 L) square baking dishes; top each with half of the potato mixture. (Can be frozen at this point). Bake in 375 F (190 C) oven for 20 minutes, or until heated through and topping is browned. From Frozen: Bake in 350 F (180 C) oven for 45 minutes or until heated through.

Cake Release

Just tried this for 2 round cakes I was making for my husbands upcoming birthday and it worked GREAT!  Got it from an acquaintance who decorates cakes so therefore having them come out of the pan in one piece is important.  And it beats using parchment or wax paper or butter and flour.  Great for muffins too!

Cake Release

Mix equal parts:

flour

oil

shortening/lard

Spread in cake pan using a brush or plastic bag (I used wax paper and that worked too).

Update: You can make a larger amount and keep it in the cupboard for whenever you need it!

Antipasto

I was at an Arbonne party the other evening and the host served a bought Antipasto.  It was new to some of the other guests and while discussing the ingredients, I mentioned that I've made it myself in the past.  I was asked to share the recipe, so here it is.  I got it from my mom and not sure where she got it from.  It makes lots, but freezes well (not sure if you can can it unless perhaps in a pressure canner??).  We usually just eat it with crackers, but this time was served with cream cheese and crackers which was good too.  I'm also sure you can omit the fish, if that's not your thing (though it's not noticeable in the finished product), and add other veggies (ie beans) as long as they are finely chopped.

Antipasto

makes 6 c

1c cauliflower, finely chopped

1/2c pickled onions, chopped

1/4c oil

Put in a large saucepan.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, simmer 10 min.

Add:

10oz mushroom pieces, drained and chopped

1 small green pepper, finely chopped

1/4c red peper, finely chopped (optional)

2 1/4c ketchup

12oz dill pickle (or sweet mixed), finely chopped, keep juice

3T pickle juice

Return to a boil, simmer 10 min, stirring often

Add:

7oz drained tuna

4oz tiny or broken shrimp, drained

Stir and chill.

Blended Iced Coffee

Friends of ours introduced us to homemade blended iced coffees and when we are South Beaching it has become our evening "something sweet".  You can adjust the sweetness to your taste, as we are finding that we like things on the "not to sweet" side.

Blended Iced Coffee

1 serving

Put in blender:

1c milk (we use skim)

1T cocoa powder

1t instant coffee

splash vanilla

2 drops liquid stevia (or 1 pouch of sweetener or 1T sugar)

4-5 ice cubes

Process in blender until ice is all chopped up.  Pour into a large glass as this makes a generous serving.

Note: To make an Iced Vanilla Latte add 1T of vanilla instant pudding mix (sugar free for SB) and omit cocoa powder and sweetener/sugar.

Light New York Cheesecake

Recently our church hosted a Dine n Dash event, where you go to someone's house for appetizers, someone else's for dinner and yet some else's for dessert.  Your hosts don't know who to expect, just how many, and you meet different people at each place.  It's quite fun and a great way to visit with people you may not necessarily talk to on a regular basis.  This year we hosted dessert and our guests were impressed that I made this cheesecake from scratch.  Then, as my cousin T was celebrating her birthday the next day, another friend and I surprised her and I brought the left overs to share and they have been consistently asking for the recipe.  As I promised I would add it when my blog was up to date, I am now fulfilling that promise.  It was profiled on "The Shopping Bags" and on the episode the ladies had a full fat and this lower fat cheesecake to see if the professional chef could tell the difference and he liked this one better.  I didn't get the cookbook, but found the recipe here.  I will include the recipe below as well, as I changed the directions somewhat and clarified the ingredient amounts.  If you give it a try, please leave a comment and let me know how you liked it.

Light New York Cheesecake

Serves 12

Crust:

1 1/4c graham cracker crumbs (approx 9 whole crackers, broken and processed to fine crumbs)

1/4c butter, melted

1T sugar

Filling:

1lb (~2c) 1% cottage cheese

1lb (2x250g) light cream cheese at room temperature

8oz low fat yogurt cheese (recipe below) or some stores carry it

1 1/2c sugar

1/4t salt

1/2-1t grated lemon zest (opt)

1T vanilla extract

3 large eggs at room temperature

Line a medium bowl with a clean dish towel on several layers of paper towels.  Spoon the cottage cheese into the bowl and let drain for 30 min.

Put oven rack at the middle position and heat oven to 325*.  Grease a 8 or 9" spring form pan.  In a medium bowl, stir together the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar until combined.  Press into prepared pan bottom.  Bake in preheated oven 10-15 min until crust begins to brown.  Cool on wire rack.  Increase oven to 500*.

Process the drained cottage cheese in a food processor, blender or in a large bowl with an immersion blender until smooth and no visible lumps remain, about 1 min, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.  Add the cream cheese and yogurt cheese and continue to process until smooth, 1-2 min, scraping down the sides as needed.  I needed to process in a large bowl with my immersion blender as it didn't all fit in my blender.

Add the sugar, salt, lemon zest and vanilla and continue to process until smooth, about 1 min, scraping down the sides as needed.  While blending, add the eggs, one at a time, and continue to process until smooth.  Note: To prevent cracks, you should not over process but treat it like a custard as opposed to a cake.

Set the pan on a rimmed baking sheet and pour the cheese mixture onto the cooled crust.

Bake for 10 min.  Without opening the oven door, reduce the oven to 200* and continue to bake until an inserted instant read thermometer inserted into the center of the cheesecake reads 150*, about 1 1/2hours.  (Or until a toothpick comes out slightly moist, or until sides are brown and firm and middle is slightly jiggly).  Really, nothing works better then a thermometer.  I had to cook my cake and extra 20-30 minutes to finally get to 150*

Transfer cake to a  wire rack and run a paring knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it.  Cook the cake at room temperature until barely warm, about 2 1/2 - 3 hours, running a paring knife around the edge to loosen the cake every hour or so.  (not sure if this is completely necessary if you have a non-stick pan as I didn't do it and it was fine).

Wrap the pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold, at least 3 hours.  Unmold the cake and blot any excess moisture from the top of the cake with paper towels.  Let the cheesecake stand at room temperature for about 30 min before slicing.

Yogurt Cheese:

Fine mesh strainer

3 paper coffee filters

16oz plain low-fat yogurt (not vanilla)

Line a fine mesh strainer set over a deep container with 3 paper coffee filters (or a double layer of cheesecloth).  Spoon the yogurt into the lined strainer; cover and refrigerate.  After 10-12 hours, about 1 cup of the liquid will have drained off the yogurt and the yogurt will have a creamy, cream cheese-like consistency.  Transfer the yogurt to a covered container and refrigerate.  It will keep for about a week.