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.

Nutrition Tip: BEER

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Tis the one day of the year where it may be celebrated to have a beer mid-day, on a weekday, just because of the country of origin of your grandfather's grandfather. Or your grandmother's grandmother. Or maybe it doesn't really matter.

Since beer cans and bottles do not have nutrition information on them (you need to look at the box for that), I thought I would post some nutrition info on beer..... just so you know. This info is for 12oz of regular beer (not Guinness, or other chewable kinds of draft).

* Calories: 153
* Protein: 1.64 g
* Carbohydrates: 12.64 g
* Calcium: 14 mg
* Magnesium: 21 mg
* Phosphorus: 50 mg
* Potassium: 96 mg
* Sodium: 14 mg
* Zinc: 0.04 mg
* Thiamin: 0.018 mg
* Riboflavin: 0.089 mg
* Niacin: 1.826 mg
* Pantothenic Acid: 0.146 mg
* Vitamin B6: 0.164 mg

There has been researched published stating that one alcoholic beverage per day is good for your heart! The jury is still out on the actual reason why individuals who have this daily drink are at lower risk for heart-related diseases, but some believe that it is the actual ethanol that has an anti-inflammatory effect. Therefore, any alcoholic beverage may offer some protection for your ticker. Just one per day. And avoid green food dyes today. Gross.

80--- Irish Brown Soda Bread

If you are looking for a quick homemade bread that is dense enough to handle being dipped into your Irish stew, this is your recipe!

Soda breads are quick and cheap to make. No yeast! No rise time! This version is for a brown bread with wheat flour and oats. Top your morning and give this a try!

Irish Brown Soda Bread
Serves 8

2 cups wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp rolled oats
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk (or combine 1 cup and 3 Tbsp skim milk with 1 Tbsp white vinegar and allow to sit in refrigerator for one hour)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Form a well in the middle of dry ingredients and add buttermilk (or substitute). Stir mixture, slowly incorporating more flour mixture until a dough is formed. Knead in bowl briefly until a ball is formed (15 seconds should do it). Divide dough in half and roll into 2 round balls. Place balls on a lightly greased baking sheet. Using a sharp knife, scour and X into the top of each loaf. Bake for ~20-25 minutes, until loaves are golden brown. Slice into slices or quarters prior to serving.

Nutrition Info per one quarter of a loaf: 153 calories, 0.8 g fat, 6.5 g protein, 27 g carbohydrates, 4 g fiber

80--- Corned Beef Tri Tip and Sauteed Cabbage

St. Patrick's Day is Thursday! I am not Irish, but my hometown is. And my husband is half Irish, so I think that makes me Irish by osmosis.

Corned beef is quite a process! A traditional recipe calls for curing the meat for 2 weeks prior to cooking! Who has time to plan for that? AND the traditional cut of beef used is a brisket, which can be grisly and tough.

My in-laws and I worked together on this and it turned out marvelous! The tri tip was tender and flavored just right. The cabbage was not the typical stewed version served with an Irish meal, but it was fresh and flavorful.

No luck needed for this one!

Corned Beef Tri Tip and Sauteed Cabbage
Serves 8

Corned Beef Tri -Tip

Marinate

2 cups chicken broth
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp peppercorns
1 Tbsp pickling spices
3 bay leaves
1 Tbsp sugar
1 clove garlic, pressed and minced
2 lb tri-tip roast, trimmed

Mix all ingredients in a large flat pan. Place roast into marinate overnight.

Spice Paste
adapted from "Uncorned Beef" Martha Stewart Living magazine, March 2011

1 Tbsp sugar
3 bay leaves
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
4 garlic cloves, pressed and minced
3 Tbsp cider vinegar
1 Tbsp stone ground mustard

Combine all ingredients into a food processor and puree. Set aside.

Roast

2 tsp olive oil
1 cup beer
1 cup orange juice
1 white onion, sliced thick

Remove roast from marinate and pat dry. In a large nonstick skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Place tri tip into skillet and sear both sides until lightly browned. Remove from heat.

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Rub spice paste over tri tip and place onto a wire rack in a 9x13" baking dish. Place sliced onions onto meat, then combine beer and orange juice and pour over the roast. Cover with parchment-lined foil and bake, basting occasionally, for ~2 hours, until internal temperature has reached 140 degrees. Remove from oven and allow to sit for 20 minutes prior to slicing. Return slices to juice and serve.


Sauteed Cabbage

2 heads savoy cabbage, sliced
2 white onions, sliced thin
1/2 cup fresh flat parsley, chopped
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp lite soy sauce
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter

In a large nonstick skillet, heat butter and olive oil over medium high heat until butter becomes foamy. Add sliced onion and saute for ~ 2 minutes, or until onion is softened. Add cabbage, stirring occasionally. Cook until cabbage becomes limp, ~5 minutes. Reduce heat to low.

Quickly combine vinegar, salt, sugar, soy sauce, and chicken broth. Add mixture to pan, then remove pan from heat. Stir in parsley and allow to sit for 2 minutes. Stir and transfer to a serving bowl. Serve immediately.

Nutrition Info per 3 oz tri tip with 1/2 cup cabbage: 364 calories, 16 g fat, 36 g protein, 6 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber

80(ish)--- Homemade Chai Tea Concentrate

I know that everywhere else in the world spring is here (I know, I know, I'm exaggerating). It's still winter here in Montana..... still the season of warm beverages! This concentrate will make this "in between" season a bit more pleasant.

I love to have a chai tea in the afternoon. But at 170 calories and 34 g sugar (for 12 oz with nonfat milk), it doesn't fit into my food plan everyday. But this homemade concentrate makes it a much nicer fit! It also reduces the cost by about $3 per beverage! If you shop in the bulk section of your grocery for the spices, they will cost you about $1 for all 8 servings.

The best part? It tastes INCREDIBLE! And your house will smell of the spices all day.


Homemade Chai Tea Concentrate
Serves 8

6 cups water
10 black tea bags
1/2 whole orange
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 cinnamon stick
10-12 whole cloves
1- 4" piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract

Bring water to a boil in a saucepan. Remove from heat and add tea bags and spices. Squeeze 1/2 orange into water, then place the orange into the steeping tea, peel and all. Allow to steep for 20 minutes.

Whisk in sugar, honey and vanilla. Pour mixture through a fine strainer (to remove ginger, cloves, cinnamon stick and orange) into a glass beverage container for storage. Refrigerate until used.

To prepare beverages, combine 3/4 cup concentrate with 1/2 -3/4 cup skim milk, depending on desired concentration. Serve hot or cold!!

Nutrition Info per 10 oz beverage (3/4 cup concentrate with 1/2 cup skim milk): 67 calories, 0.1 g fat, 6.5 g sugar

80--- Migas

My hubby LOVES salsa. Naturally, we go through quite a few tortilla chips in my house. We typically go for the multigrain variety. But what do you do with all of those crumbs that accumulate in the bottom of the bag?

I was looking for an answer to this question online the other day and I found this: MIGAS (pronouonced mee-haas). Come again? MIGAS. It's this wonderful scrambled egg dish mixed with veggies. And the crumbled tortilla chips? They soak up the lovely egg mixture and add another dimension!

This is a must have. I lightened up traditional migas up a bit using egg whites and a TON of veggies.


Migas
Serves 6

4 large eggs
10 egg whites
1 tsp olive oil
1 white onion, chopped
4 oz mushrooms, chopped
1 red pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 anaheim chile, seeded and chopped
3 cups baby spinach leaves
4 vine-ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup skim milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 cups crushed tortilla chips (bonus points for multigrain)
1/2 cup shredded cojita cheese


Whisk together eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions, mushrooms, and peppers and saute until softened. Stir in spinach, cilantro, and tomatoes. Cook until spinach leaves soften. Stir in crushed tortilla chips. Reduce heat to medium.

Add egg mixture to vegetables. Fold mixture gently as eggs cook. When eggs reach desired consistency, remove from heat and serve immediately, garnish with shredded cheese as desired.

Nutrition Info per ~ 1 cup mixture: 198 calories, 6.5 g fat, 19 g protein, 15 g carbohydrates, 4 g fiber