Wednesday Meals

Here are today's offerings. Enjoy!

APPLE AND HONEY SCONES

Servings: 10

Find this recipe at: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/226.shtml

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

2/3 cup toasted wheat germ

1/3 cup margarine

1-1/4 cups finely chopped apple

1/2 cup skim milk

1/4 cup honey

Topping

1 tbsp toasted wheat germ

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp sugar

Directions

Preheat oven 400F. Lightly spray a large cookie heet with non-stick cooking spray. Handle the dough gently; overmixing the scones can make them tough.

Combine flour, wheat germ, baking powder, spices, baking soda & optional salt. Cut in the margarine until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add combined apple, milk, and honey, mixing until dry ingredients are moistened.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface; knead gently 5-6 times. Pat dough into a 9-inch circle. Mix together topping ingredients (1 tbsp wheat germ, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, and 1 tbsp sugar). Sprinkle over dough. Cut dough into 10 wedges. Place 1/2-inch apart on prepared cookie sheet. Bake 16-18 minutes, or until golden brown.

Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 223; Protein: 5 g; Fat: 7 g; Sodium: 270 mg; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Carbohydrates: 36 g; Exchanges: 1-1/2 Bread/Starch; 1 Fat

BEEF AND BEAN BURRITOS

This comes from Ree Drummond of The Food Network's The Pioneer Woman. Total time: 55 min; Prep: 35 min; Cook: 20 min; Yield: 6 to 8 servings; Level: Easy

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/beef-and-bean-burritos-recipe.print.html?oc=linkback

Ingredients

1 medium onion, diced

2 pounds ground beef

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon ground oregano

1/4 teaspoon salt

Three 7-ounce cans Mexican tomato sauce (I use El Patobrand) or enchilada sauce

One 28-ounce can refried beans

3/4 cup grated Cheddar, plus extra for sprinkling

12 burrito-size flour tortillas

1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Directions

Preheat the oven to 170 to 180 degrees F.

In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the onions until softened. Then add the ground beef and cook until the beef is cooked through. Add the cumin, chili powder, oregano and salt and stir to combine. Pour 2 cans of the Mexican tomato sauce into the meat and simmer over low heat for 5 minutes. Add a little water if the mixture gets too dry.

Meanwhile, heat the refried beans in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the cheese, and stir it in till it's melted. Remove from the heat.

Heat the tortillas in the microwave for 1 minute, and then spread a small amount of beans on each tortilla. Add a small amount of the meat. Fold over the ends of the tortilla, and then roll them up. Repeat with the rest of the tortillas. Then place them in a large baking dish, cover with foil and keep warm in the oven.

When ready to serve, drizzle the remaining can of tomato sauce over all of the burritos and sprinkle with more grated Cheddar. Return to the oven for a couple of minutes just to melt the cheese.

Sprinkle the tops with the cilantro leaves and serve immediately to the fork-bangers in your life. They'll kiss you and hug you. Repeatedly.

LEMON CAKE WITH STRAWBERRIES

This comes from Rebecca Franklin, About.com's French Food expert. She writes, “This French olive oil cake recipe makes a tangy, simple cake from ingredients already in most kitchens. A little lemon and a bit of olive oil create a lusciously light texture in this recipe, which is derived from a classic pound cake. Serve it with coffee or tea for a simple sweet, or as part of a breakfast buffet. It's guaranteed to be a hit at the dessert table and it's preparation is amazingly effortless.” Prep Time: 720 minutes; Cook Time: 45 minutes; Total Time: 765; Yield: 1 cake.

Yes, I did a double-take, too, on the prep and total times. However, the strawberry sauce has to marinate for up to 24 hours.

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

6 ounces extra light olive oil

2 eggs

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/3 cup plain yogurt

1 2/3 cup granulated sugar

3 cups self-rising flour

Macerated strawberries:

2 pounds strawberries, hulled and sliced or chopped

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Preparation

How to make fresh strawberry sauce: Toss the strawberries with the sugar and lemon juice and allow them to marinate in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

How to make olive oil cake: Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch by 5-inch loaf pan and set it aside.

Whisk the olive oil, eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest, yogurt, and sugar together until the mixture is light and fluffy. Stir in the flour until it is completely incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake the cake for 45 minutes, until the surface is light golden brown and the cake tests done with a wooden pick in the center.

Allow the olive oil cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, and then loosen the sides and remove the cake from the pan. Allow the cake to continue cooling on a wire rack. Serve it with the macerated strawberries.

CHOCOLATE SHORTBREAD COOKIES

A cookie that is quite simply - heavenly!

Yield: 24 servings

Serving size: 1 cookie

View online with photo: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/1156.shtml

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener, Granulated

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons Dutch cocoa powder

1 3/4 cups flour

2 tablespoons flour

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet or jellyroll pan with parchment paper. Set aside.

Place the butter, Splenda Granulated Sweetener, sugar, vanilla and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Mix, using the paddle attachment of an electric mixer until the mixture is light and creamy (approx. 1-1 1/2 minutes). Add cocoa powder and all the flour. Mix until just blended.

Remove dough from bowl and form into a ball. Place the ball of dough on the parchment lined pan. Roll the dough into a rectangle approx. 6 1/2 inches wide by 11 inches long and 1/4 inch thick. Pierce the surface of the dough with a fork all over. This allows the air to escape during baking preventing air pockets from forming.

Bake in preheated 375 degrees F oven 20-25 minutes, rotating the pan after 10 minutes of baking. Remove shortbread from oven after 20-25 minutes and immediately cut into 24 fingers or rectangles while the shortbread is still warm. If allowed to cool, shortbread will not slice well.

Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 120; Calories from Fat: 5; Protein: 1 g; Fat: 8 g; Sodium: 25 mg; Cholesterol: 20 mg; Saturated Fat: 5 g; Dietary Fiber: 1 g ; Sugars: 2 g ; Carbohydrates: 10 g

BAKED ZITI

This was originally posted on April 2, 2010. Great for a yummy, easy meal.

What to fix when you've just gotten home from work and you want something good, hot and with a minimum amount of effort? Baked Ziti fits the bill on all three counts. And if you're like me, chances are you have all the makings in your cupboard and fridge.

Here's what it takes:

16 ounce box of ziti
26 ounce jar of spaghetti sauce
1 jar-full of water
2 C shredded cheese

Okay, I can hear you asking, "What brand of spaghetti sauce? What type of sauce? And the cheese...Cheddar? Mozzarella? Can it be the stuff already shredded and in a bag or does it have to be a block of cheese that I grate and measure?" Here's the good part: Use what you have.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Take a 9 X 13 inch baking pan. Dump the dried ziti into the pan. (No, no, do NOT cook the ziti first. Dump the ziti uncooked straight from the box.) Pour the spaghetti sauce into the pan and add one jar-full of water into the pan. Stir to mix. Add most of the shredded cheese, reserving 1/4-1/2 cup of cheese. Stir to mix. Bake in pre-heated oven for 35 minutes. Top with remaining cheese and bake for another 5 minutes for a total time of 40 minutes.

Serve with a salad and possibly garlic bread.

See? Simple, hot, good and with at minimum amount of energy. What could be better for an after-work dinner?

JASON'S B-B-Q GLUTEN

One of the recipes originally posted on January 16, 2013. This is from my oldest son. Rather than reword any of this, the recipe is included exactly as he wrote it out for me, with one slight omission. (This stuff is definitely good.)

Ingredients:

5 lb. whole wheat flour

2 onions

1/2 creamy peanut butter

2 bottles of B-B-Q sauce

1 stick butter

2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons paprika

Huge bowl

Take whole wheat flour, empty into Big Bowl. Add enough water to knead into dough ball. Knead really well. I repeat, knead really well. For at least 10 minutes. Fill huge ass bowl with water, put dough ball under water for 2 hours. Pour off water and drowned roaches. Knead doughball under cold running water for 10 minutes or more. Water should be clear. You are washing out the starch and bran. You know it’s ready when stringy and it sticks together and is bouncy. Melt 1 stick butter and fry 2 chopped onions until clear. Dump onto Gluten. Add salt, paprika, and peanut butter. Mix with hands completely. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray cooking pan with non-stick spray. Pinch off pieces bigger than a golf ball. Take piece and fold it and twist it and lay it down in pan. Bake for 10 minutes, then flip over and bake for 10 more. Pour B-B-Q sauce and bake 10 more minutes, then flip and pour more B-B-Q sauce and bake 10 more minutes. It’s done—enjoy.

(Xtra note—be careful when you first mix wheat and water. Don’t add too much water. Make a hard dough ball. It might take 20 minutes to knead it.)