Roasted chickpeas

Roasted Chickpeas from Christie's Corner


I've been seeing roasted chickpeas on a few different sites, and I finally got around to trying them. Instead of making them garlic, chili-flavored I just seasoned them with salt, olive oil, and tons of pepper. Yum. I was lazy, so I didn't saute them, I just dumped the can onto on a pan and went from there.

Doing it the lazy way makes the chickpeas less crunchy, and more chewy, so they taste like tiny potatoes. To me they taste like cracked-pepper potato chips, in mini size. They're really good. I totally recommend them.

One thing I would say is I didn't need that much olive oil. According to my calculations, a 15 oz can of chickpeas with 2 TB olive oil makes about 4 servings, with 165 calories a piece. I made these again, and I halved the olive oil, and I still felt like it was too much. So I'll have to do some tweaking to figure out the perfect amount.

Honey-nut biscotti

Nut and Seed Biscotti from 101 Cookbooks
approx. 26 pieces, with 130 calories and 2.5g protein a piece


Biscotti takes practice. Let me tell you. I don't think I baked it long enough before cutting, so the loaf wasn't hard enough, and it was crumbling. Then I thought it was ruined because the thick pieces weren't getting crispy. But in the end, they crisped up fairly well and they tasted good. Slightly sweet, crunchy, and nutty.

I made the following variations to the recipe:
I used a mixture of sunflower seeds, walnuts, almonds, and poppy seeds. Instead of natural cane sugar, I used 1/3 c honey and 1/3 c granulated sugar. The calories listed above are based on these variations.

Creamy chicken caliente

Creamy Chicken Caliente

Ok so I couldn't think of a good name for this. Haha... I made this for dinner the other night, and I was basically just grabbing random things and throwing them on the stove. It turned out decently tasty. So here it is.

Quite frankly, I can't remember the exact quantities of everything I put in, so I'm not going to risk listing a recipe here. However I will describe it generally, so if it strikes your fancy, it should be very easy to replicate it according to your taste.

I took frozen chicken fajita strips and put them in a pan on low-medium heat. After a few minutes I added about 3/4 c low-fat sour cream, and about 1/2 c Pace picante sauce. I chopped up a jalapeño and threw that in there, along with a small can of shoepeg corn. I just warmed it enough so the chicken got hot...can't overheat it or the sour cream mixture will get too soupy.

In the meantime, I toasted whole-wheat tortillas in a skillet on high-heat. No oil needed....just toast each side for a few minutes, and they should get browned and crispy. I also used some corn tortillas. To serve, I spooned the chicken mixture over the tortilla, and added some chopped tomatoes, onions, and more jalapeños.

As for how to eat it, it's up to you. You can spoon the sauce over the tortilla and roll it up, or you can break up the tortilla, mix it all up and eat it with a fork.

Hummadilla

Part hummus, part quesadilla. And you get the hummadilla.

This concoction is a ripoff of a menu item at the Magnolia Cafe in Austin, Texas. And it is SOOOOOO GOOOOOOD. Yum. Yum yum.

Yum.


Hummadilla
(serves 1)

2 whole-wheat flour tortillas
1/4 c to 1/2 c hummus (depending how much you love it)
1/4 c black beans
chopped up tomatoes and onions and/or red salsa to your liking

To crisp up the tortillas without using oil, heat them on a med-high to high heat skillet for a few minutes each side. They should become crisp and firmer, almost like a tostada. Slather a tortilla with hummus, then top with black beans and salsa. Put the other tortilla on top, and put it all back in the skillet to warm it up. Then just slice it in half. And you're done.

Mmm.. I also think this would be so awesome with some black olives, and also some jalapeños, so I'll have to try that next time. The hummus I used was made with chickpeas, walnuts, and hot sauce. Yum!

Good Morning muffins

Good Morning Muffins from Recipezaar
144 calories each when you make a batch of 17

The batter for these muffins smelled.....so good. Heavenly. Yum. They smelled really good when they were baking too. Now, my last attempt at muffins wasn't that great. Actually, it was really disappointing. So I was hoping for the best.



The verdict: they are good! Hallelujah. My sister said they taste like Christmas. That's because of the yummy spices in them. I would also compare them to a little carrot cake in muffin form. Except better, since I don't like carrot cake. I did use white-wheat flour in these, so they are extra healthy, don't worry. ;)

I had a heck of a time trying to photograph these. I think I finally got some decent pictures. Oh! One more tidbit...from my experience the last time I made fruit-y muffins, you should probably keep them refrigerated (if you have leftovers).

Bananaberry crumble

Upside-Down Bananaberry Crumble from Hungry Girl
140 calories for half recipe

The Hungry Girl site doesn't have the recipe listed, but basically it's chopped up bananas and strawberries, mixed with Splenda, rum extract and cornstarch; covered in crushed graham crackers, and baked.


Of course, mine is not upside down. I did make a few changes to the recipe, mainly that I used part Sweet-n-Low and part regular sugar because we didn't have Splenda. I also used frozen strawberries instead of fresh.

I think it was a little more gushy rather than crispy because of the extra liquid from the frozen berries. But still pretty good. This would be good with some Cool Whip but we didn't have any.

Turkey panini on sourdough

Chicken burgers by Jill

Apparently my sister Jill is now obsessed with chicken and turkey burgers. So here are some that she made for lunch today. Chicken patty with avocado, tomato, and red onion. Side of potato salad.