Saturday, September 22, 2007

Oatmeal Caramelitas

My mom makes these and they are so yummy.


3/4 c. butter (melted)
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 c. flour
1 tsp. soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. oatmeal
32 light candy caramels, melted with 5 T. cream
1 c. chocolate chips
1/2 c. chopped pecans (opt.)

combine sugar, flour, soda, salt and oatmeal in a bowl. Stir in melted butter. Pat 1/2 of the crumb mixture into 9x9 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 min or until lightly browned. Remove from oven. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top, then nuts, then pour melted caramel over. Sprinkle the rest of the crumb mizture over the top, bake 10 more minutes until lightly browned. Let set up and cut into small pieces.

Here is a conversion chart for that last recipe. Sorry we use the metric system over here...bleh!


Conversion Table for Cooking


U.S. to Metric
Capacity
1/5 teaspoon = 1 ml
1 teaspoon = 5 ml
1 tablespoon = 15 ml
1 fluid oz. = 30 ml
1/5 cup = 50 ml
1 cup = 240 ml
2 cups (1 pint) = 470 ml
4 cups (1 quart) = .95 liter
4 quarts (1 gal.) = 3.8 liters
Weight

1 oz. = 28 grams
1 pound = 454 grams
[Top]
Metric to U.S.
Capacity
1 militers = 1/5 teaspoon
5 ml = 1 teaspoon
15 ml = 1 tablespoon
30 ml = 1 fluid oz.
100 ml = 3.4 fluid oz.
240 ml = 1 cup
1 liter = 34 fluid oz.
1 liter = 4.2 cups
1 liter = 2.1 pints
1 liter = 1.06 quarts
1 liter = .26 gallon
Weight
1 gram = .035 ounce
100 grams = 3.5 ounces
500 grams = 1.10 pounds
1 kilogram = 2.205 pounds
1 kilogram = 35 oz.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Skinny lasagna

There is this cooking show here called "Cook Yourself Thin" and they have the most delicious recipes for at least half the calories if not MORE! This one is one of my absolute FAVS! I didnt use the redwine I found that the juice in the tomato can was plenty and I also used turkey mince which is even lower in fat! Check out the website for more recipes!

http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/C/cook-yourself-thin/recipes.html

Ingredients

  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 sticks of celery, finely chopped
  • 1 carrot, finely chopped
  • 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
  • 400g lean beef mince (must be the best quality, or you could try and get a butcher to mince it for you)
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 315ml red wine
  • 400g tin plum tomatoes
  • 1 tablespoon tomato purée
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 zuccinis, thinly sliced lengthways
  • 4 sheets of lasagne
  • For the cheese sauce

  • 500ml semi-skimmed milk
  • A good grating of whole nutmeg
  • Salt and pepper
  • 3 tablespoons cornflour
  • 1 teaspoon English mustard
  • 80g mature cheddar cheese

  • Heat up a big saucepan and add the olive oil. Sweat the onion, celery, carrot and garlic for around five minutes over a medium heat.

    Heat a frying pan up until very hot and cook the seasoned beef, without any oil, in batches. Then add the beef to the saucepan.

    The point of cooking the beef in batches is to get a good colour on it because this adds more flavour.

    When all the beef is in the saucepan, turn up the heat and add the wine.

    Cook until the wine has all been absorbed and then add the tinned tomatoes, tomato purée, bay leaf and oregano.

    Season and simmer for 30 minutes or until rich and tasty.

    Preheat a conventional oven to 180ºC, or a fan-assisted one to 160ºC.

    Heat a griddle pan. Season the zuccinis and lightly chargrill or sear on each side, then leave on a plate until assembling time.

    Now make the cheese sauce.

    Heat the milk up gently with a good grating of nutmeg, some salt and pepper. Mix the cornflour with 50ml of the milk and whisk back into the milk, continuing to cook for two to three minutes until thickened.

    Add the mustard and half the cheese. Check the seasoning and set aside.

    Now for the fun part.

    Take a baking dish and start layering up the ingredients. Start with a layer of meat, then meat, then zuccinis, then meat, then pasta and finally cheese sauce.

    Top with the rest of the cheese and bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until bubbling.

    Monday, September 10, 2007

    crumbly chicken

    So, I went looking for some recipes and I combined a no fuss recipe with a more complicated recipe and it turned out yummy.1. cut boneless chicken in half (so that you can fold it over into 2 identical halves, make sense?)2. dip chicken in butter3. dip chicken in crushed Ritz crackers (i added Parmesan cheese and garlic from the more complicated recipe)4. roll chicken like crescent roll and hold with tooth pick. (put more crumbs and butter on top if you want)5. Recipe says cook at 400 for first 10 min. and then 350 for 30 min. I just did 350 for 30 minutes because I only had 4 halves in the oven. That was plenty of time.

    Thursday, September 6, 2007

    Coconut Banana Bread

    I found this on another blog and thought it looked yummy! I am going to try it this weekend...

    2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
    3/4 teaspoon baking powder
    1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    1 teaspoon salt
    1/4 sticks butter, softened
    1/2 cup applesauce
    1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
    1/2 cup granulated sugar
    1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
    3 large eggs (I used egg substitute)
    1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest (I used 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract) optional
    4 mashed ripe banana 3 tablespoons sour cream (I used light)
    3/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts (Did not use) optional
    1 cup sweetened flaked coconut

    Preheat oven 350. Into a bowl sift together the flour, the baking powder, the baking soda, and the salt. In a large bowl with an electric mixer cream the butter with the sugar, applesauce, beat in the vanilla, the eggs, the zest, the banana, and the sour cream. Add the flour mixture, beat the batter until it is just combined, and stir in the macadamia nuts and the coconut. Pour the batter into greased muffin tin, Bake 15-18 mins or bread pan, Bake 40-50 mins