at home with ann

Homemade mac and cheese is one of the best comfort foods of all time.  However, you need to be in a particular mood to consume huge amounts of pasta and creamy cheese sauce.  That mood being one which involves yoga pants.  These days my mood always involves yoga pants, but I wanted to add a few healthy features to this mac and cheese so I could get away with serving it for dinner without a side of running on the treadmill.  In addition to your usual pasta and cheese, this recipe includes roasted butternut squash puree, as well as steamed broccoli and kale.  The butternut squash thickens the sauce and brings that lovely orange color reminiscent of the blue box we all grew up with.  Butternut Mac & Cheese 1 cup cooked butternut squash (I roasted a 4 pound squash, and reserved the rest.  You can also substitute frozen butternut squash puree.) 3/4 -1 cup milk (I used unsweetened almond milk) 1/2-1 cup shredded cheddar cheese 2 tsp dijon mustard ...

I'm going to do something kind of mean today, so I apologize in advance.  I'm going to tell you about a dinner I made, but I can't share the recipe.  Due to pesky things like copyright laws, it would be stealing to publish the recipe online.  However, I will tell you that the Peas and Thank You cookbook is worth every penny.  I've already bookmarked nearly every page, which sort of negates the need for bookmarking, and am so excited to try all the recipes.  Plus, it's full of funny stories and anecdotes, so I actually sat down and read it cover to cover like a book.   In any case, the Thai Veggie Burgers caught my eye.  They are bean based, like all the veggie burgers I've made, and have some really interesting flavors.  While I can't share the ingredient list, I will tell you that the toppings include pineapple slices and teriyaki sauce.  Good stuff.  We ate them with roasted sweet potato fries and kale chips.  It's easy to coo...

I had a couple of bananas on the counter just begging to be baked this weekend.  I made banana muffins last week and we had no trouble polishing them off in a few days, but I wanted to try something a little different, and marginally healthier.  A little internet searching and I came across a couple of good ideas.  These snack bars are a great alternative to store-bought cereal bars, and you can even get away with eating one for a sweet breakfast. Banana Oat Bars Ingredients: 1 1/3 cups old fashioned oats 1/4 cup white sugar (Mushy bananas are pretty sweet to start with, so I would try cutting this out next time) 1/4 cup brown sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 2 medium mashed bananas (about one cup) 1/4 cup milk 1 whole egg plus 1 egg white 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish with parchment paper and coat with cooking spray. Whisk together oats, sugars, bakin...

This week got away from me!  Between birthday celebrations, a wedding and family stuff, it's suddenly Friday and I have no blog posts to show for myself.  I will tell you that some of the highlight foods of the week were Red Beans and Rice and Carrot Apple Ginger Soup .  The lowlight was the night I was so tired I couldn't muster the energy to make anything more interesting than pasta.  In my 30+ week pregnancy fog, I thought to myself that I would jazz up the pasta with some goat cheese, sun dried tomatoes and olive oil.  I had the brilliant idea of softening the sun dried tomatoes in the microwave, so I put them in a bowl with a little olive oil, turned it on, and promptly wandered away and got distracted by Facebook.  I was jolted back to reality by the smell of burning sun dried tomatoes.  They went in the trash, I substituted fresh tomatoes, and opened all the windows to air out the kitchen. Last Saturday we attended the wedding of our wonderfu...

Jon will frequently request food by lamenting out loud that I never make him __________ (fill in the blank with tacos, swedish meatballs, muffins, banana bread, cookies, pie, etc.).  In the case of peanut butter cookies, he was right.  I'm not sure I've ever made them, and given that peanut butter has been a major food group for me during the last 6 months, I can't imagine why.  There is no shortage of recipes out there and between my own cookbooks and the internet, I pieced together what I consider to be a pretty good one. Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies Ingredients: 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter (I used Skippy Natural, it worked well) 1 cup white sugar 1 cup brown sugar 2 eggs 2 1/2-3 cups flour (I used three and had a little extra flour in the bottom of my mixer) 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda In a mixer, or a bowl using a hand mixer, cream together butter, peanut but...

I got these adorable mini eggplant at the CSA last week.  They are so mini and tender that you don't need to peel them, the skin is easy to eat.  Not like eating regular eggplant skin where you have to tear through it dinosaur-style with your teeth.  Anyway, while brainstorming ideas for how to use these mini eggplant, I happened on a recipe for crispy baked zucchini fries.  Using the classic breadcrumb technique, I came up with crispy baked eggplant.  I served these along caprese salad with pesto and drizzled with balsamic.  I'm thinking the leftovers will make a great hot wrap for lunch if I ever finish eating the corn soup.  Crispy Baked Eggplant 4-5 mini eggplant, or one full size 1/2 cup flour 2 eggs 1/2-1 cup breadcrumbs 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1 teaspoon dried oregano Cooking spray Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Chop eggplant into bite size pieces (about half an inch).  If you have time, put eggplant pieces on a colander...

This is just a variation on the quinoa recipes I've shared before, but it's so good.  Plus, the addition of the roasted butternut squash is great and fall-ish.  I'll give rough estimates for the quanities of the ingredients, but really I just added until the ratios looked good.  I have a whole bunch of leftover butternut squash, which I've been eating on salads with apples all week.  Of course, you could always make the best risotto with it, too.  Fall Quinoa Olive oil 1 onion, chopped 1 garlic clove, chopped 1 cup quinoa, rinsed 2 cups vegetable broth or water 2 cups (or one can) chickpeas 2 cups roasted butternut squash 1 apple, chopped 1/2 cup dried cranberries goat cheese In a saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Saute onion for about 3 minutes until softened. Add garlic, cook for one minute more. Stir in quinoa, cook for one minute, stirring. Pour in broth or water, reduce to simmer and cover for 20-25 minutes, or until liquid is ab...

This is a super fast, super healthy recipe.  Aside from the time to cook rice, it takes about 10 minutes total.  And, it's made from ingredients you can keep stocked in your pantry, so you can throw it together on nights when you have absolutely no idea what to make. I had absolutely zero ideas on what to make for dinner at the beginning of this week.  I knew I was going to cook a batch of dried chickpeas because Jon kept asking when I was going to make more hummus.  As a side note, said hummus contained the hottest jalapenos I have ever come in contact with, and we can barely eat it without chugging milk.  I'm currently brainstorming ideas for what to serve it with to cool it down a bit.  I'm thinking something along the lines of a yogurt feta spread.  More to come on that.  Anyway, a whole batch of chickpeas is a lot of chickpeas, so I used some in this meal, and the rest in a quinoa dish I'll share tomorrow.  Chickpea and Spinach Curry...

So, you have some leftover salmon.  Perhaps from Maple Glazed Salmon , perhaps not.  Maybe you just think this sounds good and bought salmon for this recipe in particular.  Good for you.  Salmon is great.  I was a big fan of this dish.  Since I did use leftovers from Maple Glazed Salmon, my fish was already spiced.  I thought that added a nice flavor dimension, but of course, it's not necessary. Creamy Salmon Pasta with Peas slightly modified from Self Cooking spray 1 lb salmon fillet, skin removed salt pepper 6 ounces pasta (I used whole wheat rotini) 1 1/2 cups peas (fresh or frozen) 1 1/2 cups milk (I used unsweetened almond milk) 3 Tablespoons flour 3 ounces Neufchatel (reduced fat cream cheese) 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh dill (I used 1/2-1 teaspoon dried) 1 Tablespoon lemon juice 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest If you are using precooked salmon, heat it slightly in a 350 degree oven just so you aren't mixing cold fish into hot pa...

There are a lot of reasons I love salmon.  It's all kinds of good for you, full of omega-3s and all that.  Plus, it's delicious and high in protein, so you feel great after eating it.  Cooked either on the grill or under the broiler, it takes less than 20 minutes total, so a great quick dinner.  Additionally, this spice rub can be used on anything from fish to meat, poultry or vegetables, so make extra if you like, it will keep in a sealed container.  Maple-Glazed Salmon recipe from Cooking Light 1 teaspoon paprika 1 teaspoon chili powder 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin 1/4 teaspoon brown sugar 1 teaspoon kosher salt 4 (6 ounce) salmon fillets (I used one 1 1/4 pound fillet) Cooking spray 2 Tablespoons maple syrup Preheat broiler.  I put mine on low, but if you only have high, that's ok. Spray broiler pan with cooking spray and put salmon on, skin side down. Combine spice mixture (paprika through salt) and sprinkle onto fillets. Broil 6-10 minute...