I made this for breakfast this morning, and served it along with spiffy scrambled eggs (scrambled eggs that I add stuff to, such as shredded cheese; today’s add-in was real bacon bits). It takes less than an hour to make, from the time I turned the oven on to when it graced my table.

Ari’s Favorite Blueberry Cobbler

 
Serves 4
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Baking Time: 45 minutes

4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar substitute (feel free to use sugar if you wish)
3/4 cup milk, 1% lowfat
3/4 cup self-rising flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups blueberries, frozen — thawed
butter flavored cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 1/2 quart or 8″x8″ pan with non-stick cooking spray. Melt butter in baking dish.

Mix other ingredients, except fruit.

Add batter to melted butter; DON’T STIR.

Add fruit; DON’T STIR. Spray the top of everything with the butter flavored cooking spray.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

– - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - –

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 291 Calories; 13g Fat (39.3% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 40g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 33mg Cholesterol; 565mg Sodium.

Exchanges: 1 Grain (Starch); 1/2 Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 2 1/2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Notes: If using sugar, you can omit the baking soda and spraying the top of the batter and fruit with the cooking spray. Those things needed to be done to help the batter rise as it bakes, and to help the top of it brown. You can substitute any unsweetened fruit you wish in this dish; if you use frozen fruit, thaw them before using them.

My recipe is based on Granny’s Quick Cobbler at SparkRecipes.

Speedy Supper Skillet

Serves 4

1 cup diced onion
16 ounces ground turkey
1 1/2 cups cooked whole wheat pasta
1 cup peas and carrots, frozen
16 ounces tomato sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
salt & pepper to taste

Cook the onions in a pan spray with butter-flavored cooking spray until soft, about 10 minutes. Add ground turkey and garlic, and cook until there’s no visible pink left in the meat. Add the remaining ingredients, stir well and let simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, or until everything is hot.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 377 Calories; 10g Fat (23.8% calories from fat); 29g Protein; 46g Carbohydrate; 7g Dietary Fiber; 90mg Cholesterol; 825mg Sodium.

Exchanges: 2 Grain(Starch); 2 1/2 Lean Meat; 2 Vegetable; 0 Fat.

I got the idea for making individual cheesecakes, and did some searching online to get some ideas for how to put them together. So, here’s a cupcake-sized version of my pumpkin cheesecake. It’s got less fat and less sugar than the original, as you don’t make a crust. Of course, if you eat four of them at once, it’ll be almost like eating a slice of the regular cheesecake (almost as many carbs, though a lot less fat), but the smaller portions should make it easier to limit yourself. Right?

Lisa’s Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes

 
Makes 24 mini cheesecakes

24 ounces cream cheese — room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon five-spice powder
3 whole eggs — room temperature
24 whole gingersnap cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl and beat until smooth. Add in pumpkin, five-spice powder and eggs, and beat until thoroughly combined, with no white lumps. Remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl once in a while.

Place a paper liner in the muffin cups. Put a single gingersnap cookie in the bottom of the liner. Divide the cheesecake filling evenly between the 24 muffin cups.

Bake for 15 minutes. Turn your oven off, prop the oven door open and let the cheesecakes cool in the oven until the trays are cool enough to handle bare-handed. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before removing from the muffin tins. Chill before serving.

– - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - –

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 174 Calories; 11g Fat (57.3% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 15g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 58mg Cholesterol; 139mg Sodium.

Exchanges: 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 2 Fat; 1 Other Carbohydrates.

Now, I love chicken marsala, and when I saw the Marsala Chicken-and-Mushroom Casserole recipe, I had to take a look. Wow! No canned soup. I gave it a try, making a couple of modifications to suit my family and the ingredients I had on hand. It’s being added into the rotation. It’s so easy to make too.

Chicken Marsala Casserole

 
Serves 4

2 tablespoons butter
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup marsala wine
1/2 cup half and half
2 cups water
2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley
salt and pepper
1 cup long-grain rice — uncooked!
2 cups cooked chicken — coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350°.

In a large skillet, heat the butter over medium-high heat until just melted. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle the flour on top and stir in for 1 minute. Stir in the marsala and half and half and simmer, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Stir in 2 cups water, the parsley, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

In a greased 9-inch-by-13-inch casserole, spread the rice in an even layer; top with the chicken. Pour the mushroom gravy on top. Cover snugly with foil and bake until bubbly, about 35 minutes. Discard the foil, sprinkle the parmesan on top and bake for 5 minutes more.

Serve with a nice salad or veggies of your choice.

– - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - –

Per Serving: 437 Calories; 14g Fat (30.0% calories from fat); 28g Protein; 44g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 88mg Cholesterol; 182mg Sodium.

Exchanges: 2 1/2 Grain(Starch); 3 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 2 Fat.

I did, and was told “make it again please!!”.

Lemon Chicken

 
Serves 4

1 cup sugar free lemon curd
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/3 cup rice vinegar
3 each chicken breast, no skin, no bone, R-T-C — sliced into 1/4″ slices
1 whole red bell pepper — sliced into matchsticks
16 whole scallions — cut into 2″ pieces

Combine the lemon curd and rice vinegar in a small bowl and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok over high heat. Add chicken to the pan and cook, stirring frequently, until no pink is visible on the chicken.

Add the red bell pepper and scallions to the pan and cook, stirring constantly, for two minutes.

Pour the lemon curd mixture over the chicken and veggies and cook for another two or thee minutes, until the sauce is heated through.

Serve with your favorite rice.

– - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - –

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 461 Calories; 27g Fat (54.4% calories from fat); 41g Protein; 10g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 291mg Cholesterol; 301mg Sodium.

Exchanges: 5 1/2 Lean Meat; 1 Vegetable; 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

I found a low carb, sugar free lemon curd recipe, played around with it, and this is what I ended up with. It’s full of lemony deliciousness, though not as sweet as most people might be used to. If you prefer it sweeter, just add more sweetener.

And lemon curd’s not just for desserts anymore! Check out my Lemon Chicken recipe that uses it!

Sugar Free Lemon Curd

Makes 6 (1/4 cup) servings

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup lemon juice
3 whole eggs
1 each egg yolk
1 tablespoon lemon zest — or the zest of one lemon
1 tablespoon sweetener — equivalent to 1/2 cup sugar

Cut the butter into 8 to 10 pieces and put it in the freezer until frozen.

With a blender (either standard or immersion), combine the remaining ingredients. Transfer them to a small saucepan or a double boiler. Cook over medium low heat, stirring with a whisk, until the mixture is thickened. You can tell it’s ready when you can coat the back of a spoon with it and when you draw a line in the curd with your finger and the line stays clear – the curd doesn’t move to try and fill in the empty space.

Remove the thickened mixture from the heat and add in the frozen butter. Whisk until the butter has melted completely.

You can use the curd immediately, or put it in the fridge where it will thicken more. Put a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the curd to prevent a skin from forming.

Makes about 1.5 cups

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 192 Calories; 19g Fat (85.8% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 3g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 183mg Cholesterol; 197mg Sodium.

Exchanges: 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Fruit; 3 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

I decided I’d share with you my favorite way of making chicken broth – and in doing so, my favorite no fail way to roast a chicken.

Roasted Chicken Broth

 
The first thing you need to do is roast a chicken.

one 5-6 lb chicken
your favorite seasoning (we use Montreal Chicken seasoning or seasoned salt and pepper)
2 carrots, cut in half and then cut lengthwise (so they have a flat edge)
2 stalks celery, cut in half
2 medium onions, peeled and quartered
olive oil (optional)
non-stick cooking spray

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Spray a 9×13 baking pan with the non-stick cooking spray. Put the carrots, celery and onions in it, and lightly drizzle with olive oil if you choose. Season your chicken (don’t forget to season the cavity too) and put the chicken on top of the vegetables.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 45 minutes, plus 8 minutes for each pound over 4 lbs (so a 5.5 lb chicken would take 57 minutes to an hour). I honestly don’t remember what temperature you’re supposed to cook chicken to, but if any of it is raw or questionable, I just leave the meat on the carcass and it goes into the soup. When the chicken is cooked, taken it out of the oven and let it rest for at lest ten minutes.

If you’re not going to eat the chicken meat right away, wait for it to be cool enough to handle, then remove most of the meat from the bones. Don’t pick it completely clean, as you’re going to want some meat to go into the soup pot. Oh, and if anyone’s mouth touches a bone, the bone goes into the trash, not the soup pot.

Tip: when removing the meat, keep the chicken in the baking pan. That way if any juices run, they’ll end up in the pan, and not lost.

Once you’ve removed the meat from the bones, put the bones, the roasted veggies and any drippings, fat or whatever is in the baking pan into the pot you’re going to make soup in. Ideally, the pot should be just big enough to fit the intact carcass without having to break it up. Add the following to the pot:

garlic (I use anywhere from a heaping soup spoon to 1/3rd cup of minced garlic)
1 large bay leaf (or two or more smaller ones)
5 to 8 black pepper corns
1 tablespoon white vinegar
enough water to cover everything in the pot, plus 1″ above that

Put the pot on a back burner of your stove, turn the heat to medium low, cover it, and let is simmer for at least an hour or two. Your chicken broth is done when you stir it with a wooden spoon and the carcass falls completely apart into its individual bones.

Remove the pot from the heat and let cool for 1 hour. Strain the broth into another pot through a colander or sieve to remove all the bones and mushy vegetables. Cover the pot and put it in the fridge to chill overnight. The next day, use a spoon to skim all the fat off the soup, then package the soup up for freezing (or use it to make something delicious immediately!).

Why do I cook the broth so long? Doing so extracts everything out of the cartilage and connective tissue and creates (I think) a better tasting soup. I also find the best soups are the ones that, when they’ve chilled completely, have the consistency of jello.

Why the vinegar? You won’t taste that small amount of it in the broth, but it helps draw out all the yummy goodness (especially the calcium) from the bones and makes for a better soup.

You may have noticed I didn’t list salt as an ingredient. I find there’s enough salt left over from the innitial seasoning of the chicken, so I don’t need to add any. Feel free to add salt if you wish. The point of this is to get chicken broth you love the taste of.

If you make chicken broth and you find it tastes rather bland, try adding a bit of salt. If that doesn’t work, bring the broth to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer and let it reduce for a while, checking every 15 minutes until you like the taste.

Sugar Free Slow Cooker Apple Butter

 
Makes 36 – 1 tbsp servings

4 pounds apples
1 cup apple cider
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves

Spray your slow cooker liner with non-stick cooking spray.

Peel and core the apples, and cut them into large chunks. Pour apple cider over top. Cover the slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 10 hours.

Mash up the apples, or puree them with an immersion blender. Stir in cinnamon and ground cloves. If you want your apple butter thicker, let cook for another hour on high, or until it reaches the thickness you like.

– - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - –

Per Serving (1 tablespoon): 31 Calories; trace Fat (4.9% calories from fat); trace Protein; 8g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; trace Sodium.

Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Fruit; 0 Fat.

Curried Chicken and Cider Soup

Serves 4

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 whole onion — chopped
1 tablespoon fresh ginger — grated
salt and pepper
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 cup apple cider
4 cups chicken broth
1 large sweet potato — peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
3 cups mirepoix (carrot, onion and celery), Kroger brand (frozen)
2 cups cooked chicken — shredded

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, mirepoix and ginger and 1 tsp salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until softened. Add curry powder and cumin and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Stir in cider, scraping the bottom of the pan. Add the chicken broth and the sweet potato and bring to a boil. simmer until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.

Using an immersion blender, puree the soup. If you’ve got a regular blender, puree the soup in batches and return it to the pot. Stir in the chicken and warm it through over medium heat. Season with salt and pepper, then serve.

– - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - –

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 294 Calories; 8g Fat (26.2% calories from fat); 28g Protein; 25g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 60mg Cholesterol; 876mg Sodium. (I’m not so sure about this Sodium count. I used home made stock, and I’m pretty sure the sodium content is lower that stuff purchased from the store.)

Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 3 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 1/2 Fruit; 1/2 Fat.

NOTES : Based on the Curried Chicken-and-Chowder Soup recipe at www.rachaelraymagazine.com

Before you move on to the recipe (which is after the break), I’d like to thank my dad for sharing these recipes with me. Expect more phone calls as I remember and want to try my childhood favorites!

Tick Tock Oma’s Szekely Goulash

 
Serves 6

3 slices bacon — chopped
1 large onion — chopped
2 cloves garlic — minced fine
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
3 tablespoons paprika — preferably Hungarian
28 ounces sauerkraut — drained and rinsed, reserve the liquid
1 pound pork loin, center, R-T-C — cubed
16 ounces sour cream, light — optional

Brown the bacon in a large skillet until almost cripsy. Add in onion and cook until soft. Put in garlic, caraway seeds and paprika and cook an additional 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add sauerkraut to the pan and stir until well combined, then remove from heat.

Add cubed pork, combine well, then transfer to a slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH for 3 – 4 hours or until meat is cooked and sauerkraut is tender.

Just before serving, stir in the sour cream, or serve the sour cream on the side for people to add as they wish.

– - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - –

Per Serving : 216 Calories; 12g Fat (49.3% calories from fat); 16g Protein; 13g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 36mg Cholesterol; 973mg Sodium.

Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 2 Lean Meat; 1 1/2 Vegetable; 1 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

Per Serving (without sour cream): 189 Calories; 11g Fat (50.4% calories from fat); 14g Protein; 10g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 30mg Cholesterol; 955mg Sodium.

Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 1 1/2 Lean Meat; 1 1/2 Vegetable; 1 Fat.