20(ish)--- Frozen Hot Cocoa

I am never sad about the transition from winter into spring. Except for leaving behind hot cocoa. With this frosty beverage, you can carry your hot chocolate experience into summer! Enjoy!

Frozen Hot Cocoa

Serves 4-6 (depending on serving size)

11 oz dark chocolate chips

3 Tbsp hot chocolate mix (I used my homemade version)

1/3 cup white sugar

6 cups skim milk

10 cups ice

In a double boiler, melt chocolate chips over low boiling water, stirring until melted. Whisk in cocoa and sugar until blended. Remove from heat and add 2 cups milk, whisking until smooth. Cool mixture to room temperature.

In a blender, add mixture, remaining milk and ice (you may need to make 2 batches, depending on the size of your blender!). Blend on a high speed until smooth in consistency. Serve in glasses and top with whipped cream if desired!

80--- Rustic Rosemary Breadsticks

I'm starting to get adventurous with yeast now. Yes-- this is pretty wild for me. Crispy wheat breadsticks with a kick. Easy! If I can do it, you can do it. I have everything against me. High altitude, lack of patience, lack of time, one oven........ I could go on.

I really do not think that you can mess these up!! But then you will be snacking on them all day. They are a health-ified breadstick, but they add up. So make them, eat some, then give the rest away as a gift. Unless you have willpower, which I do not. Put that on my list of things against me.


Rustic Rosemary Breadsticks


Makes 32


1 package dry active yeast


1 cup warm water (100-110 degrees)


1/2 tsp table salt


2 Tbsp olive oil


1 1/2 cups wheat flour


~1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour


1 large egg, beaten


2 Tbsp fresh rosemary leaves


1 tsp sea salt


2 tsp coarse ground black pepper

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast into warm water. Allow to sit for 5 minutes.



Add table salt, olive oil, and wheat flour. Stir with a large spatula until well-mixed and dough is stretchy (dough will still be very moist). Add all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup at a time until a soft dough is formed (I used 1 cup total). Place dough on lightly floured work surface and knead for 7-8 minutes, adding flour to prevent sticking, until dough is smooth and springy.



Lightly flour a large cutting board. Place dough on board and pat and stretch dough into 8x10" square. Sprinkle rosemary leaves onto dough and press into dough with damp fingertips. Cover loosely with a towel and allow to rise for 45 minutes.



Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a sharp flour-dusted knife, divide dough in half length-wise. Continue to divide sections in half, until 32 sticks are formed. Place each stick onto baking sheets, close together, pulling each lightly to lengthen. Use a pastry brush to lightly brush each breadstick with beaten egg (you will only use ~1 Tbsp of egg). Combine sea salt and ground pepper in a bowl, then sprinkle each breadstick lightly with mixture.



Bake for ~25-30 minutes. At 10 minutes into cooking, remove each sheet from the oven and use sharp knife to separate any breadsticks that have "grown together". Return to oven and bake until crisp and lightly browned. Remove and allow to cool before storing in airtight container.



Nutrition Info per breadstick: 44 calories, 2 g fat, 2 g protein, 15 g carbohydrates

80--- Minestrone Stew

One last stew to send out winter! This stew is not for those who dislike vegetables. Minestrone is Italian for "one with many ingredients". But don't let the ingredient list scare you!


It's really easy! The flavors of all of these veggies combine into absolute perfection in a minestrone. I call it a stew because of the large chunks of veggies (~1" cubes). I matched the size of my veggies with a larger pasta so that everything blended nicely. I used gnocchi shells (durum wheat pasta shells, not potato), but you could use penne, rotini, or another larger pasta.



Minestrone Stew
Serves 8
12 cups low sodium vegetable broth
2- 14oz cans diced tomatoes, with juice
3 garlic cloves, pressed and finely minced
2 medium zucchini, cubed
2 medium yellow squash, cubed
1 white onion, coarsely chopped
8 medium white mushrooms, stemmed and cubed
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 medium carrots, chopped
3 ribs celery, sliced
2 cups baby spinach leaves, stemmed
1- 14oz can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 lb package pasta of your choice (I used gnocchi shells- not potato), prepared al dente
3 Tbsp fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
3 large fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp celery salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine zucchini, squash, onion, sage, garlic, and mushrooms in a large bowl and toss with olive oil. Place vegetable chunks onto a large baking sheet and bake for ~12-15 minutes, until softened. Remove from oven and place back into large bowl. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and set aside.

On the stovetop in a large nonstick skillet, add celery and carrots. Saute over medium heat until softened. Add spinach leaves and continue to saute until leaves have wilted. Add softened celery, carrots and spinach to a large stock pot and add broth, canned tomatoes, beans, basil, red pepper, black pepper, rosemary, and celery salt. Bring to a boil, then add zucchini mixture and reduce to a simmer. Heat through for 5 minutes, add cooked pasta, then serve immediately.

Nutrition Info per 1 1/2 cup serving: 309 calories, 2 g fat, 13 g protein, 55 g carbohydrates, 11 g fiber

80--- Thai Tuna Salad with Chickpeas

Tuna fish is a great lean source of protein. Nutritionally, there s not a lot of difference between fresh or frozen and canned tuna..... if you make the right choice. But there are so many choices in canned tuna, it's easy to make the wrong choice. Here's a little breakdown:

Chunk Light Tuna vs. Solid Albacore: Chunk light tuna comes from a slightly smaller fish than albacore tuna, may be light pink in color. Solid albacore may have higher mercury levels than chunk light tuna fish.

Packed in Oil vs. Packed in Water: for 1 cup serving; 289 -331 calories (12-14 g fat) for oil-packed vs. 179 -220 calories (1 -4 g fat) for water packed. Also, in tuna packed in oil, some of the omega-3 fatty acids from the tuna may be leached out by the oil. When you drain the oil from the can, you may lose some of these precious nutrients. Omega-3 fatty acids will not be leached out into water, since water and oil do not mix. Therefore, you can drain the water from a can and not lose omega-3's.

I served this Thai Tuna Salad with Chickpeas over baby spinach leaves. It was a lovely, filling spring meal!

Thai Tuna Salad with Chickpeas

Serves 5

12 oz chunk light tuna in water, drained

2 cups cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed if canned

2 medium carrots, shredded

1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped coarsely

3 green onions, sliced

1/2 cup red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

DRESSING

1 clove garlic, pressed and finely minced

2 Tbsp sweet Thai chili sauce

1 Tbsp rice vinegar

2 tsp lite soy sauce

2 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp creamy peanut butter, reduced fat

2 Tbsp lime juice

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground coriander

Combine salad ingredients into a medium bowl and toss until mixed. Whisk dressing ingredients together and add to salad. Mix well. Place in refrigerator for 1-3 hours prior to serving.

Nutrition Info per 1 cup serving: 241 calories, 5 g fat, 22 g protein, 20 g carbohydrates, 7 g fiber

80--- Zucchini Cakes

While planning my garden this week, I had remembered that I still had frozen zucchini in the freezer from LAST year! Ooops! You know me, nothing goes to waste. I thawed it in the fridge, but it wasn't looking too appetizing. What's a girl to do with soggy zucchini? Make zucchini bread!




These are actually better than zucchini bread. As individual little cakes you get the moist yummy outside all to yourself!




Micronutrients such as folate, vitamin C, manganese, and potassium are found in zucchini. It also contains minimal calories and significant amounts of heart-healthy fiber! In baked goods such as muffins or cookies, the fat can be replaced with ingredients such as applesauce, pumpkin, mashed banana or ................ zucchini!




Zucchini Cakes
Makes 18


1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups zucchini, pureed (mine was previously frozen, thawed, then chopped in a food processor)
1 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine butter, sugars, egg and vanilla in a large bowl and beat until smooth. Combine flours, oats, spices, baking soda and baking powder. Beat flour mixture into wet ingredients. Fold in zucchini and walnuts.


Refrigerate mixture for ~30 minutes.


Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Drop mixture onto sheets, 2 Tbsp at a time, placing each drop 2" apart. Bake for 13-15 minutes, until cakes are set and slightly golden around edges. Slide parchment paper and cakes off of baking sheets and allow to cool.


Store in an airtight container.

 Nutrition Info per 1 cake: 99 calories, 4 g fat, 2 g protein, 12 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber
Recipe adapted and health-ified from Zucchini-Nut-Bread Cookie Sandwiches in Martha Stewart Living Magazine, March 2011

80--- Poached Pears

Poached pears are a beautiful, elegant dessert. One would think that they are complicated. Not so.

These are wonderful served with a side of vanilla frozen yogurt, or by themselves! They should be prepared at least 1-2 hours ahead of time.

Poached Pears

Serves 4

2 large firm Bosc pears, peeled, halved, stemmed and cored

2 cups dry white wine

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup white sugar

Fresh mint leaves to garnish (optional)

Vanilla frozen yogurt (optional)

In a large wide saucepan, bring wine, water and sugar to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and place pears, sliced side down, into simmering liquid. Cover and cook for ~30 minutes, flipping pears over halfway through cooking. Remove pears when they are tender. Place in refrigerator.

Bring liquid to a boil over high heat and for ~25 minutes, until ~2/3 cup of syrup remains. Place liquid in a glass container in the refrigerator for 1-3 hours.

To serve: place 1/2 poached pear in a serving dish and spoon 3 Tbsp syrup over pear. Garnish with fresh mint sprigs and serve with vanilla frozen yogurt if desired.

Nutrition Info per one serving: 202 calories, 0 fat, 28 g carbohydrates, 15 g sugar

Moose's Peanut Butter Biscuits

Moose loves biscuits. He gets really excited and does a wonderful dance when biscuits are around.

Moose is my 9-year-old chocolate lab. If you do not own dogs, no need to read any further. I'm not even sure that Moose's biscuits should be on my Eighty Twenty blog. But I made him dog cookies and I thought some might be interested. This is not something that I do regularly. I have actually never done it before. But I was curious. My dogs typically get Milkbones.

I admit that Moose was not any more excited to eat these than he is to eat a Milkbone. But in the end, my house smelled like peanut butter cookies and I did NOT want to eat these cookies (I guess you could if you really wanted to)!!

Moose's Peanut Butter Biscuits

Makes 20 - 1 x 3/4" discs

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup wheat flour

Combine peanut butter and milk with an electric mixer. Add flour, a little at a time, until all is moistened. Add baking powder and continue to mix. Lightly flour a work surface. Remove dough from bowl and knead until a solid ball is formed. Roll into a tube form and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for one hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove roll from refrigerator and slice into 3/4" discs. Place discs onto a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for ~15-20 minutes, until discs are firm. Remove and cool.