Recipe of the week: Cranberry-Chipotle Country-Style Ribs

This recipe was made forChristmas for my family.  It’s not spicy or overly sweet as you may think.  It gives the ribs a slightly sweet smoky flavor I’m sure you’ll enjoy. It's also a very easy and quick recipe to make. 

When this recipe was first attempted for Christmas the whole can of chipotle peppers was used.  There was no use trying to find something else to do with the peppers right?  An additional can of cranberry sauce was used too.  Also the ribs used weren't boneless and there were twice as many as the recipe required. They were fantastic.  If you are so moved to alter this recipe go for it!

It also may seem there isn't enough liquid in the crock pot when you start out.  Don't worry.  The ribs will definitely make their own gravy during cooking.  You don't need to use a crock pot too. Just cook them on a low setting in a pot on top of the stove.

A nice fresh salad and a baked potato or rice could be served with the sauce. 


Recipe from Better Homes & Garden website.

Cranberry-Chipotle Country-Style Ribs

Makes 6 to 8 servings
Prep 15 minutes
Cook 7 to 8 hours low or 3 1/2 to 4 hours (high)

Ingredients

2 1/2 to 3 pounds boneless pork country-style ribs
Salt and ground black pepper
1 16-ounce can whole cranberry sauce
1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)
3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced

Directions

1.  Trim fat from ribs. Sprinkle with salt and pepper

2.  Place ribs in a 3 1/2 to 4 quart slow cooker.  

 In a medium bowl, stir together cranberry sauce, onion, chipotle pepper, and garlic.



Pour cranberry mixture over ribs.

3.  Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 7 to 8 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 1/2 to 4 hours.  Transfer ribs to a serving platter.  Stir sauce.  Drizzle some of the sauce over the ribs.  If desired, serve remaining sauce.

Tip: Because hot chile peppers, such as chipotle peppers, contain volatile oils that can burn your skin and eyes, avoid direct contact with chiles as much as possible.  When working with chile peppers, wear plastic or rubber gloves.  If your bare hands do touch the chile peppers, wash your hands well with soap and water.

Nutrition
Servings Per Recipe 6 to 8 servings
Calories 395
Total Fat (g) 10
Saturated Fat (g)4
Monounsaturated Fat (g)5
Polyunsaturated Fat (g)1
Cholesterol (mg)139
Sodium (mg)247
Carbohydrate (g)32
Total Sugar (g)25
Fiber (g)2
Protein (g)40
Vitamin C (DV%)4
Calcium (DV%)5
Iron (DV%)10
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Banana Cookies: A recipe faux pas…

Well not all recipes go the way you want them.  This is one of them.  This recipe appealed to me because banana is my favorite fruit of all.  So when I found this recipe to make cookies I couldn’t resist! 

But for some reason the recipe didn’t work out.  The cookies have a wonderful taste but they were hard!  Before eating them I had to microwave them to soften them.  What went wrong you may ask.  Who knows.  By chance I noticed that the salt was left out, but the master cook (my mom of course) didn’t think that was the issue.  She though the cookies tasted good it they were hard.  They were kept in an air tight container and after baking they were cooled but not left out for too long.  So what happened?  Not sure! 
But another attempt at these cookies will be made soon. I’m not a fan of nuts in my cookies and the flavor of them was just awesome.  My determination to master them is too strong!  Of course the master (mom) will be included in the baking of them to see what went wrong. LOL
Here’s the recipe. 

Banana Cookies

• Butter
• Granulated Sugar
• Vanilla extract
• Fully ripe bananas, mashed 1 cup
• All purpose flour 3 1/2 cup
• Baking Powder 2 tsp
• Salt 1/2 tsp

Instructions

Cream together  butter, sugar and vanilla extract.  Add bananas, and beat until well mixed.

Stir together flour, baking powder and salt.

dd a little of the banana mixture to the flour mixture, beating well.  Continue to gradually add all of the banana mixture, beating well after each addition.  At this point, you can bake cookies or refrigerate dough for later baking.  (Note: Dough will be sticky.)



To bake, place small balls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes, or until edges begin to brown.  (Note: Lift the edge of the cookie to be sure they don’t get too brown on the bottom.)

 

Remove cookies to wire rack to cool.

(As you can see some of the cookies were had a little more color than the others)

Store in an airtight container to ensure cookies do not dry out.

Recipe from  http://www.recipegoldmine.com/ 

If you try these cookies let me know what you think.  Let me know if they are as hard as mine! ROFLMAO!

Enjoy and Bon Appetit!

Savory Sunday - Lentil Soup with Spicy Yogurt Topping – Recipe

OK I’m back and I’m hungry! LOL! So it’s time to start something different this year.  Every Sunday I’m going to post one of my tested recipes for everyone to enjoy.  The name of this post will be Savory Sundays! 

This Sunday a vegetarian dish of a delicious Lentil Soup with Spicy Yogurt Topping will be featured.  It was found in a magazine (maybe Family Circle or Woman’s Day) and it’s easy enough to make.
This soup I usually make and then freeze in zip loc bags for easy dinners later.  Since I’m a working woman I find these recipes to be perfect for a quick dinner after working late and fighting traffic. 

So here we go!

Lentil Soup with Spicy Yogurt Topping
Makes 4 servings plus another 4 servings for second meal at 60 cents each serving

Prep: 15 minutes

Cook: 1 hour

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 large onions, coarsely chopped (2 cups)
• 8 carrots, cut into 1/2 inch-thick slices
• 2 cans (13 3/4 ounces each) chicken broth
• 1 package (1 pound) dried lentils, washed and picked over (2 1/2 cups)
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 small jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped

Spicy Yogurt Topping (recipe follows)

1.  Heat oil in Dutch oven.  Add onion and carrot; sauté for 10 minutes or until onions are slightly softened.

2.  Add water to broth to make 8 cups.  Add to pot along with lentils, cumin, salt, oregano, pepper and bay leaves.  Bring to boiling, skimming occasionally.  Reduce heat to low; cover; simmer 45 minutes. Discard bay leaves.

3. Puree 1 cup soup mixture in food processor or blender.  Return to pot.  Stir in jalapeno pepper.  If soup is too thick, stir in additional chicken broth if desired

.

4. Remove mixture from heat.  To freeze for 4 servings;  Remove half of soup from pot; cool slightly.  Spoon into freezer proof container; seal; label; freeze.

5. To serve 4 immediately: Spoon remaining half into soup bowls. Top with half of the Spicy Yogurt Topping.

6.  To prepare frozen soup for 4: Thaw overnight in refrigerator. Reheat. Garnish with remaining topping.
Spicy Yogurt Topping: Combine 1 container (8 ounces) plain low-fat yogurt, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper and 1/8 teaspoon salt. This makes enough for 8 servings. Refrigerate for up to 1 week.


Nutrient Value Per Servings:
288 calories
17g protein
6 g fat
43 g carbohydrate,
1030 mg sodium
4 mg cholesterol
Exchanges: 1 1/2 starch/bread, 3/4 meat, 1/5 milk, 1 1/2 vegetable, 3/4 fat

Enjoy and Be Encouraged!

Recipe: Weight Watchers Potato-Salmon Cakes

Some co-workers and I decided to do a weight loss challenge.  We all wanted to lose around 25lbs and I knew we all had a Wii game and balance board.  Since we can compete over WiFi I thought why don't we support each other and make it a challenge to lose weight together as a competition. 

So I started my diet this Monday (after a Saturday binge of cheesecake) and I wanted to find some nice recipes to try. 

This recipe has been written down in one of my notebooks forever.  Where did I find it is a mystery but I do know it's a weight watchers recipe and it's only 3 points.  It's very quick and easy.  It was pulled out when I realized I still had mashed potatoes in my freezer I needed to use and there was a can of salmon in my pantry. 

I ate one of the cakes with steamed zucchini, yellow squash and onion with garlic.  It was delicious as well as healthy.  I highly recommend!

WEIGHT WATCHERS POTATO-SALMON CAKES

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2 cups mashed potatoes
1 14 3/4 oz can of salmon drained and flaked
2 scallions, chopped                ( I used onion.  I couldn't find scallions anywhere!)
1 tbsp mustard                        (I used stone ground mustard.  The recipe didn't say what type)
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup dried bread crumbs

Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray.  Combine all ingredients except the bread crumbs together.  Form into 8 patties (these will be large so make sure you use a cookie sheet).  Coat with bread crumbs.  Place on the baking sheet.  Spray with nonstick spray and bake until hot 15 minutes. (I baked mine a bit longer and turned them so they would brown on each side.  I also didn't spray with the nonstick spray)

Serves 8
Per serving (1 cake)
Point Value 3