Recipe: Spicy V8 filler

I found a recipe like this and it sounded too good, but I couldn't remember where I had seen it at. I never get my daily intake of vegetables, and to tell you the truth, when your on a budget it is hard to buy a whole lot of veggies. I usually buy v8, or store brand tomato juice cocktail to get more veggies, plus it is really filling for a snack! This recipe is like drinking a thick gazpacho shake, and it's so good and filling, and just under 100 calories and less than 1g of fat. If you are watching your sodium as well, you will need to substitute some ingredients, they are included in parenthesis. I hope you enjoy this drink as much as I do!

Spicy V8 filler, makes 1 serving

Ingredients:
8 oz of V8 (or use v8 low sodium)
1/4 cup fat free sour cream
1 tsp soy sauce (or low sodium soy sauce)
1-2 tsp hot sauce

Blend all ingredients until smooth and poor into a cold glass or mug. Drink and enjoy!

Sorry no pictures, of course, my camera is still broken, but hey, we all know what v8 looks like right?

Vinegar for Insulin Resistance/ vinegar tea recipe

So I have been reading so many articles how vinegar has been proven to help diabetics process sugars and such, so I decided to try eating more vinegar. The main article I read was this post found at soulcysters.com Had some good information. I hear about so many people taking a shot of apple cidar vinegar in some water every morning or before meals, but this just didn't sound too good to me, but I like sour things and love salad dressing made from apple cidar vinegar, so I found this recipe and gave it a try. It was sweet yet tangy, and I found it to be pretty good. It wasn't bad at all and I actually enjoyed the tangy, warm taste as I sipped my morning 'tea'. I think next time I will reduce the vinegar by half, it was pretty tangy. I have had good results eating low gi, so I figured, why not add some vinegar to my routine, if it helps my body to absorb sugars so I can lose weight easier, than I would give it a try.

Hot Vinegar Tea:

1 cup or mug of hot water
1-2 pkgs Splenda or other sugar sub.
1 Tbsp vinegar

Stir in the sugar substitute into the hot water, then stir in the vinegar. Sip and enjoy!

Extremely frugal Cooking tip: Saving veggi scraps

I am on an extreme budget for groceries, so I never buy more vegetables than what I need, and I am always looking for ways to stretch my food for recipes. I came up with this tip:

Save your vegetable scraps. Save the tops and ends of carrots, save the tops of onions or bell peppers, and save the tops of celery, and those tiny soft sticks in the center you never eat. Keep them in a zip top bag through the week or two weeks, if your veggies will keep that long. At the end of the week, toss this bag in some water to make a veggie broth for soups. Broths are so low maintenance! I through mine in a crock pot over night with some chicken bones (from chicken breast that I took the bones out myself) add seasonings, and tada! You have a broth to freeze for later or use for a healthy lunch or dinner. Broths don't have to be just for soup! Use them in the place of water when making rice or other savory recipes.

I also like to save the tops of my tomatoes for an at home tomato scrub I saw on youtube!

Recipe Review: Lime and Garlic Chicken Fajitas

This is my own recipe as well. I made my own corn tortillas too, but that was frustrating ha ha, but they turned out yummy! You can just buy any healthy flour tortillas as well, which is what I will do next time cause I'm not too fond of corn tortillas, I am more of a bread person. If you need a recipe for simplicity and taste, this will saute up quick. Pre-marinading the chicken is the key to the flavor, so you can simply chop and saute. This made enough to fill 10-12 6in tortillas, and the left overs were just as good!

Ingredients:
Corn or flour tortillas
2 chicken breast, cubed
2 onions, sliced thin
6-8 button mushrooms, sliced
1 large tomato, diced
1/4 c marinade with lime and garlic
(optional: 1/2 tsp of cumin and 1 tbsp lime juice)

Marinade the cubed chicken either overnight, or at least 1-3 hours. Just place the chicken with the marinade (doesn't have to be lime and garlic, pic something you like) in a ziplock bag in the fridge. When you are ready to cook, place a large skillet and turn on the stove to medium heat. Chop your veggies while the skillet is heating up. Toss in the chicken and cook until no longer pink, tossing with a spatula or spoon occationally. Add in your onions first. Let them saute for about 3-5 mins, then add in your mushrooms. When the mushrooms begin to soften, about 3 mins, add in your tomato, and if desired, season with additional lime juice, cumin, salt and pepper. When the tomatoes look good and roasted and yummy, serve over warm tortillas! To finish off serve with sour cream or guacamole. I have pictures of the whole process below if you want to see!

And the last two photos are my pain-in-the-rear tortillas! Hope you enjoyed the recipe, I had fun with this one!

Recipe Review, Crockpot onion soup

I just kinda winged this one after reading several recipes, so here we go! This recipe fits in a large crockpot, but I am sure you could scale it down. I made mine with tons of onions, so reduce the amount to have more broth and less onions. Sorry the photo of this one is not so good, but it was delicious I promise! It is really low budget, you can buy a bag of onions and beef broth, add seasonings, and tada!

Ingredients:
2 lbs of onions (about 5-6?)
6-8 cups of beef broth
1 stick butter or margarine
(or 6-8 c water with 6-8 beef bouillon cubes)
1-2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
minced garlic or garlic pwdr, to taste
Salt, pepper to taste
(Tip: the best bouillon I have ever tried is called better than bouillon
and it is way better than using beef broth or bouillon cubes, I love it!

Directions:
Slice onions thinly to make nice rings, and place in crock pot on top of butter. Add broth and seasonings and stir lightly just to combine. Cook all day on low heat or for 4-5 hours on high heat, until the onions are soft.

Serving suggestions:
Serve with garlic bread or to really wow the crowd, place soup in an oven proof bowl. Place a thick slice of bread on top, and cover with shredded cheese. Place in an oven on 250-300 deg F just until the cheese melts. This way is delicious, and my favorite way to serve this! If you are worried about health, use whole grain bread and low fat cheese.

Whole Wheat Pita Pockets, Recipe Review

I made these pita pockets the other day for dinner, and my husband said it was a keeper. I only had one that didn't puff up enough for me to cut open, but it was only because I rolled it out too thin. I filled mine with chicken breast that I marinated, cut into cubes, and sauted until done. Then I chopped up tomatoes, bell pepper, and cucumber, green onion, and tossed together with the chicken. I tossed mine with mayo, but my hubby chose to toss his with some lime and garlic dressing, the same that I marinated the chicken with. I think ranch would be the best for the chicken and veggies, but anything will do. Sometimes I just want a nice filling sandwhich for dinner, but these would be great for lunch too! It would be easier to just buy pitas, but making them is fun, plus the whole wheat is a bonus for those who are Insulin Resistant. So here is the recipe, I found this one on about.com. Go to the link to find the original recipe and reviews. I did not have any honey so I just used sugar, and I added more salt, cause it seems to me every time I make bread it is bland to my taste.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 cups wheat flour
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Preparation:

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add honey and stir until dissolved. Let sit for 10-15 minutes until water is frothy.

Combine white flour, wheat flour, and salt in large bowl.

Make a small depression in the middle of flour and pour yeast water in depression.

Slowly add warm yeast water, and stir with wooden spoon or rubber spatula until dough becomes elastic.

Place dough on floured surface and knead for 10-15 minutes. When the dough is no longer sticky and is smooth and elastic, it has been successfully kneaded.

Coat large bowl with vegetable oil and place dough in bowl. Turn dough upside down so all of the dough is coated with oil. Allow to sit, covered, in a warm place for about 3 hours, or until it has doubled in size.

Once doubled, roll out in a rope, and pinch off 10-12 small pieces. Place balls on floured surface. Let sit covered for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 500 deg F. and make sure rack is at the very bottom of oven. Be sure to preheat your baking sheet also.

Roll out each ball of dough with a rolling pin into circles. Each should be about 5-6 inches across and 1/4 inch thick.

Bake each circle for 4 minutes until the bread puffs up. Turn over and bake for 2 minutes.

Remove each pita with a spatula from the baking sheet and add additional pitas for baking.

Take spatula and gently push down puff. Immediately place in storage bags.

Storing Pita Bread

Pita bread can be stored for up to a week in a pantry or bread box, and up to a month in the freezer. Be sure to use freezer bags when storing in the freezer.

Pita bread dough can also be refrigerated for up to one week in the refrigerator.

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust Recipe Review

Recipe review on whole wheat pizza crust

Ok, so I found this recipe on allrecipes and I loved it! The recipe has gotten 4 1/2 stars out of 5, and been reviewed by 313 people. This recipe will make 2 thin crust pizzas, or 1 thick crust. I made the two thin crust. The less bread I eat the better, because I love love bread and it does dangers to my diet, lol. The recipe is as follows, and here -->(pizza crust) is the original link so you can see all the nutrition and reviews

Amazing Whole Wheat Pizza Crust
submitted by: Marla

• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top, and let stand for about 10 minutes, until foamy.
2. Stir the olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture, then mix in the whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour until dough starts to come together. Tip dough out onto a surface floured with the remaining all-purpose flour, and knead until all of the flour has been absorbed, and the ball of dough becomes smooth, about 10 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover loosely with a towel, and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. When the dough is doubled, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 2 pieces for 2 thin crust, or leave whole to make one thick crust. Form into a tight ball. Let rise for about 45 minutes, until doubled.
4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Roll a ball of dough with a rolling pin until it will not stretch any further. Then, drape it over both of your fists, and gently pull the edges outward, while rotating the crust. When the circle has reached the desired size, place on a well oiled pizza pan. Top pizza with your favorite toppings, such as sauce, cheese, meats, or vegetables.
5. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes (depending on thickness) in the preheated oven, until the crust is crisp and golden at the edges, and cheese is melted on the top.

So I followed the recipe how it said, and even set my timer for 10 mins to make sure it was kneaded enough. I let it rise and all that, and it was easy enough to work with that I rolled it with a rolling pin, and rolled up the edges a little to make an outside lip. The only thing is I think it needed more salt or seasonings, because it was a little bland for my taste. I baked it on some aluminum foil, because I have no pizza stone, and when it was set and halfway through I shoud have baked it on the rack to make the bottom more crisp. So, do that or use a pizza stone, or the bottom will not be crisp like it is supposed to. I topped mine with cheese, lean hamburger, onions, and green bell pepper, but use whatever you like! This recipe was easy enough for a beginner I think. Just make sure your yeast is not out of date and it froths when you let it sit for the 10 mins or it will not rise. Other than that I have no more tips! OH and hubby liked it enough for me to keep this as my main pizza crust recipe, he didn't even mind that it had wheat flour in it.

I am making whole wheat pitta bread tonight so of course that will be my next review, along with some french onion soup I made the other day that was awesome!!