80--- New Year Veggie Breakfast Strata

New Year! 2011 will be the year to eat more vegetables. Start off your year bright and early with this strata.

Stratas are great because you can make (should make) it a day ahead! Therefore, all you need to do is take it out of the fridge and place it in the oven-- breakfast is done!

New Year Veggie Strata

Serves 9

6 oz pita chips

6 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

3/4 lb mushrooms, washed, stemmed and sliced

3 cups raw spinach leaves, chopped

3 green onions, sliced

1 green pepper, seeded and diced

3/4 cup chopped tomatoes

2 cloves garlic, pressed and minced

1 tsp olive oil

3/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella

2 Tbsp yellow mustard

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

In a skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add garlic and green onions and saute ~2 minutes until fragrant. Add mushrooms and green pepper and continue to saute until green pepper softens. Add chopped spinach and reduce heat to medium. Saute until spinach begins to curl. Remove from heat and set aside.

Beat eggs in a medium bowl and add milk, mustard, salt and pepper. Fold in cheese.

In an 8"x 8" baking dish sprayed with cooking spray, add pita chips to the bottom of dish. Place 1/2 vegetable medley onto pita chips. Add 1/2 egg mixture. Again layer vegetable medley and then remainder of egg mixture. Place chopped tomatoes on top. Cover and place in refrigerator overnight.

To cook: preheat oven to 350 degrees. Allow strata to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes prior to cooking. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Slice into 9 even squares.

Nutrition Info per 1 slice (1/9 strata): 168 calories, 6 g fat, 13 g protein, 15 g carbohydrates, 1.5 g fiber

20(ish)--- Champagne Cocktail

This old-fashioned beverage is a nice change from a glass of champagne on New Year's Eve.

AND champagne (dry sparkling wine) is typically lower in calories than other wines. Placing the sugar cube in the bottom of this cocktail allows the champagne to keep bubbling long into the night! Enjoy!

Thank you to my lovely friend Kara for her hand modeling!

Champagne Cocktail
Serves 6


1 bottle dry champagne
6 sugar cubes
~2 oz orange bitters
Candied orange peel (optional)

Place one sugar cube in the bottom of a champagne glass or other cocktail glass. Squeeze 1/4 oz (1 tsp) orange bitters onto sugar cube. Fill glass with champagne and garnish with candied orange peel (if desired).

20(ish)--- Montana Mary Mix

This recipe is named for the stereotype of a typical Montanan. We all raise our own cattle and eat lots of beef, right? AND- we use beef bouillon in our Bloody Marys. Actually I do-- it adds a nice flavor dimension.
If you are going to consume alcohol, why not consume it with vegetables? This mix can also be consumed virgin-style!

Montana Mary Mix
Makes 1 gallon

92 oz HIGH FIBER tomato juice (V8)
2 cups beef broth
2 cups lemon juice
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup black olive juice
1/2 cup pepperoncini juice
2 tsp celery salt
2 Tbsp Tabasco sauce
1 1/2 tsp coarse ground black pepper
1/4 tsp liquid smoke (more if you like smokey)

Combine all ingredients and pour into a large serving container. Allow to sit in refrigerator overnight prior to serving.

For serving with vodka: Add 1 oz vodka of your choice over ice in a 12 oz glass. Fill the remainder of glass with Montana Mary Mix. Garnish with mini pickle, lime wedge, celery stick, olive, and/or pepperoncini.

80--- Tamales

Tamales are a traditional Mexican holiday treat! I decided to give these a try this year for Christmas dinner. They turned out really good AND pretty healthy too.

The wrapping/tying of the tamales is the hardest part. But, I found a very helpful description by Googling "How to Wrap a Tamale" and I have included it below (don't you LOVE Google?).

Tamales

Serves 6-7

18 dried corn husks

Dough

2 cups masa harina

2 cups corn kernels

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup lukewarm water

3 Tbsp olive oil or canola oil

Filling

1 lb pork tenderloin, trimmed of fat

1 red pepper, seeded and diced

1/2 medium white onion, diced

1 Tbsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp paprika

3 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

1 cup chicken broth

1. Place pork tenderloin in a slow cooker with remaining filling ingredients. Cook on low for 4 hours, or until internal temperature reaches 155 degrees. Remove pork and shred, then return to slow cooker while dough is prepared.

2. Soak corn husks in water for 10 minutes. Remove and pat dry.

3. Place corn kernels in a food processor and puree. Add puree to a large mixing bowl and add remaining dough ingredients. Stir to combine, then knead with hands until all ingredients are evenly mixed.

4. Lay a husk on a flat surface. Place 3 tablespoons of dough onto the husk. When spreading the dough, leave a space of about 4 inches from the narrow end of the husk and about 2 inches from the other end. Spread the dough to the edge of one of the long sides and 2 inches away from the other long side. Try to keep the dough approximately 1/4 to a 1/2 inch thick.

5. Spread about a tablespoon of filling (drained of juice) down the center of the dough. Locate the long side of husk with a 2 inch space with no dough. Fold that over, slightly overlapping the other side so the edges of the dough meet. Wrap the extra husk around the back. Then fold the broad end over the top and then the longer narrow end over the broad end.

6. Create strips of husk by cutting or tearing 1/4 inch lengths off of some of the smaller or unusable husks. Use these to tie across the middle of the tamale to hold the flaps down (I used twine).

7. Place tamales on a steam rack in a large pot. Steam over boiling water (medium heat) for one hour, checking and filling water level occasionally.

8. Serve with salsa!

Nutrition Info per 3 tamales: 303 calories, 4.5 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 25 g protein, 37 g carbohydrates, 5 g fiber

80--- Crab Cakes

These crab cakes are perfect for the holidays! They have a decadent taste without the calories and fat! I topped mine with an avocado yogurt green goddess dressing, but you can use salsa, caramelized onions, or cocktail sauce also!

Crab meat, like most crustacean meat, is high in cholesterol (85 mg per 3 oz serving-- American Heart Association recommends no more than 300 mg per day). However it is an excellent source of phosphorus, zinc, copper, calcium, and iron and is very low in fat, especially saturated fat. Therefore, moderation is key!

Crab Cakes

Serves 6

1 lb lump crab meat (I used a pasteurized meat from Costco)

2 egg whites
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

1 Tbsp light mayonnaise

1/4 cup lowfat greek yogurt

2 Tbsp minced green onions

1 tsp ground mustard

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp celery seed

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning (seafood seasoning)

1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1 Tbsp fresh chopped dill

2 tsp unsalted butter

2 tsp olive oil

Combine crab, egg whites, breadcrumbs, yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, dill, ground mustard, celery seed, garlic powder, pepper, and Old Bay seasoning in a large bowl. Mix well. Press mixture into 12- 3" patties.

Heat butter and olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook patties ~ 4 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.

Serve with your favorite crab cake condiment!

Nutrition Info per 2 crab cakes: 163 calories, 8 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 86 mg cholesterol, 6 g carbohydrates, 16 g protein

My Sous Chef-- Kind of

I'm prepping like crazy for our holiday celebration meals that will take place over the next few days..... dinner with friends, Christmas brunch, Christmas dinner (tamales...mmmm), and our big family dinner on Monday. More recipes are coming soon--- I promise!



In the mean time I thought I would share my little kitchen buddy with you. This is Friday. He knows that I am not a neat cook-- I will drop things. He's OK with that. He's always there just in case I need him for a quick clean-up job. The other two dogs get bored with this game. Not Friday. He's never in the way-- he's just there. This is what I see when I look down:

20(ish)--- Homemade Peppermint Cocoa

Hot chocolate is a winter classic, especially for kids. And, it is not a bad choice nutritionally when compared to other treats (brownies, cookies, Fruit Loops). However, it should still be a SOMEDAY food, not an EVERYDAY food and we do not want it to take the place of other healthy beverages (water).

Have you ever looked at the ingredients on a package of cocoa mix? It looks something like this (not naming names):

INGREDIENTS:Sugar, corn syrup, vegetable oil (partially hydrogenated coconut or palm kernel and canola hydrogenated plam, soybean, cottonseed and/or safflower), dairy product solids, cocoa processed with alkali, salt, cellulose gum, sodium caseinate (from milk), dipotassium phosphate, sodium aluminosilicate, mono- and diglycerides, guar gum, artificial flavors, sucralose.

YIKES!

Making your own is SO inexpensive, and you know EXACTLY what's in it! This also makes a great gift!

Homemade Peppermint Cocoa

Makes ~22 - 8oz servings

2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup cocoa (Dutch is best)
2 1/2 cups powdered milk (non-fat dry milk)
1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cornstarch

* 1/8 tsp pure peppermint extract- per serving (optional)

Combine all ingredients (except for peppermint extract) and place into airtight containers.

To prepare cocoa, place 1 Tbsp per 2 oz boiling water into a mug and stir.

*Add 1/8 peppermint extract to each 8 oz mug for a minty addition!

Nutrition Info per 8 oz mug made with water: 95 calories, 0.6 g fat, 6 g protein, 17 g carbohydrates