Happy 2010!!

I can't believe another year is beginning. I guess the old adage is true; the older you get the quicker time passes! It seems like we were just celebrating the new 2009 new year. I am looking forward to a fantastic 2010 though!

This year, my hubby went hunting on New Year's Eve after work, so dinner was just me and the little man. L ended up taking a late nap, so I decided to make something I'd been craving for a while now: dumplings!

I'm not sure if this dish is really redneck or really lazy but I know it is really good! I absolutely love dumplings, but have never made them. I heard of people using canned biscuits to make quick and easy dumplings, but just wasn't sure how they would taste. Since I had some on hand, I decided to try it out. The only chicken I had was frozen and I was just too tired to defrost it and then worry about cooking it. Therefore, this is what I came up with and I will definitely make it again! Not sure if the hubby would like it though. It's not substantial enough for him. Maybe I'll use this recipe and add some chicken next time. I do love chicken and dumplings. :)



Dumpling Soup
Source: Me
Serves 1

1 1/2 cups Low Sodium Chicken Stock
2 canned biscuits
1 dash each of salt, freshly ground black pepper, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, dried Italian herb blend

Combine stock and seasonings in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Pinch off pieces of the biscuits and drop into the stock. Move dumplings around as they cook to make sure they don't stick to the bottom of the pan.

You may not want all the broth as soup, but you need at least a cup and half to get the dumplings to move around while they cook. You can refrigerate the broth and use it again later though. Or just eat all of it. That's what I did. ;)

All in all, Pretty easy, right? No muss, no fuss. I was really surprised at how good this turned out and really enjoyed my dinner!

Baking Again

I know it comes as a shock since I am always bemoaning how much time and measuring it takes to bake. And usually I am a huge failure in this arena. For some reason, most of my adventures in baking have ended badly. However, this December I am 2 for 2! My previous post about cookies was a hit and now I have made bread. This is the second time I have ever even attempted making bread in my entire life, and of course it is another quick bread. No time for yeast and rising and all that for this girl. When I want something, I don't want to wait forever!

This is another recipe I bookmarked a really long time ago and I recently came across it again when looking for a bread recipe to make for one of my family Christmas gatherings. The need was born of necessity since I forgot to get dinner rolls at the store. I am not even a big bread eater, but I do love any kind of garlic cheese bread.

This bread was dense, cheesy and garlicy with a nice crunchy outside. Yum! Everyone loved it and I will definitely make it again. This loaf served 9.

Find the original recipe here. The only changes I made were adding a tbsp of garlic powder and not using the dill. I think the dill would be awesome, but it called for fresh dill and I just didn't think the dried stuff would taste as good.

Best Christmas Cookies Ever!!

I am a bit ridiculous when it comes to cookies. I don't like "brown" cookies. I like them white and soft. For this reason, I don't eat them very often. Which is not really such a bad thing. You know, when you consider the whole trying to lose weight thing.

But alas, it is Christmas time which definitely calls for cookie baking. I had bookmarked this cookie recipe ages ago and came across it again recently. These cookies looked so cute and fun. They would be great to do with kids, but not my kid. At only 18 months, he was a little less than enthused. When I told him we were going to make cookies, he did not understand why we could not eat them right then. There was a lot of waiting involved, which he is not so great at. I did give him some cookie dough while we waited for them to cook. Yes, I gave my child cookie dough with raw eggs in it. Trust me, I am sure it is not the worst thing he has eaten.

I am not even going to try and do this recipe justice. Click here to see the original post from Pioneer Woman. She is awesome. And so are these cookies!

A Healthy Twist

I am mildly obsessed with The Biggest Loser tv show, and now I have the wii game which is one of the hardest work outs I've ever done! On the game, they even have a section of recipes and healthy living tips from the trainers and past contestants. One tip is to take a recipe you love and find a way to make it better for you. I recently did this with my hamburger hash. Click here to get the original version. In this twist, I used ground turkey instead of ground beef and substituted black beans for the potatoes. I would love to tell you that I calculated just how much fat and calories you saved, plus you added fiber by adding the beans, but I can't. I just didn't have time. I was too hungry. Ha!

It turned out awesome though! And, I didn't even miss the ground beef or potatoes. The ground turkey tasted almost the same. I just bumped up the seasonings a little more. And I love black beans, so that was an easy swap. Logan also loves beans or peas of any kind, so he was all over this dinner. Plus, this fed all 3 of us for dinner, plus it fed Logan and I for lunch for 2 or 3 more days!! It re-heats perfectly.

Ground Turkey Hash
Source: Me

1.25 lbs ground turkey (Make sure they didn't grind the skin up too. Jenni O makes a great one!)
1.5 tbsp chili powder
1.5 tbsp paprika
.5 tbsp cumin
1/2 onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can corn
1 can black beans
1 can stewed tomatoes

Brown turkey over medium high heat. Once almost cooked through, add spices and garlic/onion. Cook a few more minutes, then add corn, black beans and tomatoes. Stir and turn heat down to low. Let simmer about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally and breaking up the tomatoes. The longer it simmers, the better it tastes!!

This Breakfast Should Be Illegal!

I'm not really even sure it counts as a true breakfast item except for the fact that we ate it in the morning and used the word pancake. ;) I have mentioned before that I love the store Aldi. You can really get a lot for your money there without worrying about coupons or anything. Right now they have a seasonal item called Pumpkin Quick Bread or Muffin Mix. Props to my sister for turning me onto to this yumminess! In our house, we tend to use muffin mix to make pancakes because it is so much quicker. Breakfast time needs to be quick and easy when you have a toddler.


This is probably the best and easiest breakfast trick in my arsenal. Open a bag of any kind of muffin mix, add milk until it is a pancake batter consistency (usually about 1/2 a cup depending on the size of the package, but I honestly don't measure it.)

That is exactly what I did this morning, and then I made it even better. I made a cream cheese topping to play on the idea of adding syrup. It was just a basic cream cheese icing thinned out a little. Cream cheese, powdered sugar and milk. I am really not a measurer. I just go by consistency.

Fall is Calling My Name!

Here in Alabama our seasons tend to turn on us quickly. We went from 80 degree weather to 50 degree weather last weekend. It was COLD! And it did NOT feel like fall. However, this week has been great fall weather, low 70's/high 60's. We have had a great time playing outside.

Last night, we finally carved our pumpkin. This year Taylor carved a pumpkin fit for our toddler...Tigger!

I saved the seeds and roasted them in the oven with a little olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and salt. What a great fall snack! So, if you haven't carved your pumpkin yet, save those seeds and roast away. :)

It's That Time of Year Again!

And by that time, I mean hunting season. The husband is determined he will get a buck this year, so with a promise of more venison to fill my freezer I need to clean out what I have left. At the end of the season earlier in 2009, my father-in-law gave us a good bit of venison. We haven't eaten much, just every now and then, because it requires at least an couple of hours marinating to taste really good to me. And I don't always prep for dinner that early.

The good news is that venison is a very lean meat, and works great for my new weight loss plan! We had some tenderloin medallions and I decided to do them in a Korean BBQ style. They were SO good! Best way I've had venison yet!


I also tried a weight watchers recipe for mashed cauliflower and potatoes. These were pretty good, and a lot less points than traditional mashed potatoes. And Taylor even liked them. He ate seconds!!

Venison, Korean BBQ Style
Source: Me
Serves: 3-4 people
4 WW points per serving

1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp teriyaki sauce
3 green onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
10-12, 1 oz. venison tenderloin medallions

Mix all ingredients except medallions. Reserve 1/2 cup marinade. Add medallions to the rest of the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Grill medalions until medium/medium-well. Pour reserved marinade over medallions once they are on the serving dish.

Mashed "Potatoes"
Source: Weight Watchers
Serves: 4
2 WW points per serving

8 oz. cauliflower florets
3 small yukon gold potatoes
2 medium garlic cloves, peeled
1 tsp salt, divided
1/4 cup 1% milk (I used skim because that's what we have)
2 tsp butter
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp chives, freshly snipped (I omited because I didn't have)

Place cauliflower, potatoes, garlic and 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a medium saucepan. Add enough water to cover ingredients and bring to a boil. Boil until vegetables are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes; drain and return to saucepan.Stir in milk, butter, remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper; mash with a potato masher until smooth. Stir in chives and serve. Yields about 1/2 cup per serving.

This whole plate? 6 Points!!!