Food Blog South 2012

Saturday, January 28, my husband, his daughter (Tina) and I wanted to go to Old Car Heaven to look at some antique cars. We pulled into the parking lot <finally> and the lot was full....and then we saw a guy with a name tag and we asked him if there was a private event going on and he said it was the Food Blog South.....and I got excited!!! We asked him if you needed to know someone to get in and he said he'd get us in. You betcha I was psyched.....considering I'm a new 'blogger'!!!! His name is Ale Sharpton.....he is a Beer Writer. His sites are www.alesharpton.com and www.BeerConnoisseur.com . Once getting inside, we just wandered around like we 'belonged' altho we were the only people without name tags! What a hoot!!! I was in all my glory!!!

The first person I talked to was a very nice lady from www.watermelon.org and we chatted about how thrilled we are that all fresh fruit is 'free' in Weight Watchers world.....and I was so happy she knew about that. I got a recipe from her .... Watermelon Fire and Ice Salsa ... that I WILL be trying as soon as watermelon season gets here. It is 'free'.......pointless!!! Check out their website for recipes, info and creative carving pictures.

The next person I really chatted with ...... I got goosebumps!!! You've all heard of RecipeLion .... at least I hope you have! Well, I 'hob-knobbed' with Matthew Kaplan, the Editor of Prime Publishing LLC's Food Group. The also do FaveDiets and Mr.Food to name a few. I confessed to him that I permanently borrow some of their 'stuff' and tweak it to make it Weight Watchers friendly.......and waited for the lightening bolts to hit me......but he was so cool about it!

Abe and Tina sampled some olives.....not me! I love Olive Oil, but not overly fond of those little green or black things. I didn't get the guy's card and can't remember the name of the company. Abe said they were really good tho.

And then we have www.pecansproject.com ..... and I tasted (literally) one sugar-coated pecan and thought I was in heaven!!!! I also got a little jar of Pecan Butter......I *know* it's not going to be WW friendly.....I'm waiting for them to get back to me with the nutritional info on this.....but it is scrumptious!!!! You can order from their website....if you dare!

And who doesn't remember those GooGoo Clusters? Stuckey's stores always had them. They were there as well.....with samples......that stayed on the table!

Roland Foods was there......check them out at www.rolandfood.com .....they do quinoa, couscous, roasted tomatoes, oils and other things. Check out their products at their website.....and you can order from their site as well.

High Road Sorbet was there. Whole Foods Market was there. There were a bunch of different tables set up with cookbooks.....I had to really control the urge!!!

And then we chatted with a guy about the International Biscuit Festival in Knoxville .... May 17 - 19. There will be a bake-off, Biscuit Boulevard (a stroll of biscuit tasting), Blackberry Farm will prepare a "Foothills Cuisine" fine dining experience and much more. It actually sounds like a fun thing to do!!!

Soooo.......yes, I *crashed* Food Blog South 2012!!!! 

Oh.....we did get to see the cars as well.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES

Makes 20 Cookies

1 Cookie = 1 PointsPlus™

4 TBSP light butter, softened
1/4 cup Splenda granulated
1/3 cup fat-free egg substitute
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup fat-free milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375º.

In a large bowl, mix butter, Splenda and egg substitute. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until combined.

Place cookie dough on ungreased non-stick cookie sheet and flatten a little bit.

Bake at 375º for @14 minutes or until cookies are light brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to wire rack to cool.

MY SPIN: Eat these warm! They're really good after cooling @10 minutes or so. The outside is 'firm' and the inside is kind of chewy.

Now for the 'legal mumbo-jumbo' to keep me out of court! *The PointsPlus™ value for this recipe was calculated by me (Jan Gomes) and is not an endorsement or approval of this recipe by Weight Watchers International, Inc., the owner of the PointsPlus™ registered trademark.*

Later!

Loving Life(time)!

Jan

Chicken with Shallots

CHICKEN WITH SHALLOTS

Makes 4 Servings

1 Serving = 6 PointsPlus™

2 TBSP light butter, divided
1 TBSP Olive Oil
4 (4 oz each) boneless/skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin
salt & pepper to taste
2 shallots, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup fat-free/low-sodium chicken broth

Melt 1 TBSP of the butter and heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Season chicken with salt & pepper and brown on both sides in the skillet. Cover and continue cooking @10 minutes or until juices run clear. Remove from skillet, set aside and keep warm.

Mix shallots and garlic into skillet over medium heat and cook until tender. Stir in wine and cook until heated through. Stir in broth and continue cooking for 5 minutes or until reduced and slightly thickened. Mix in remaining butter until melted.

Plate the chicken and serve with the sauce over the chicken.

MY SPIN: The only thing I would do differently if I was making this for just me and my husband would be to add more garlic.....but we love garlic.

Now for the 'legal mumbo-jumbo' to keep me out of court! *The PointsPlus™ value for this recipe was calculated by me (Jan Gomes) and is not an endorsement or approval of this recipe by Weight Watchers International, Inc., the owner of the PointsPlus™ registered trademark.*

Later!

Loving Life(time)!
Jan

Cinnamon Candy Cookies

CINNAMON CANDY COOKIES

Makes 38 Cookies

2 Cookies = 2 PointsPlus™

3/4 cup Splenda granulated

1/4 cup light butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3//8 cup fat-free egg substitute
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup cinnamon-flavored candy (those little red round ones)
1/3 cup chopped pecans
2 TBSP Splenda granulated
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350º.

In a large bowl, beat 3/4 cup Splenda granulated, light butter, vanilla and egg substitute with an electric beater on medium speed until creamy. Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Stir in cinnamon-flavored candy and pecans.

In a small bowl, mix 2 TBSP Splenda granulated and 1 tsp cinnamon.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in the cinnamon/Splenda mixture. On ungreased cookie sheet, place balls 1-inch apart.

Bake 10 minutes. IMMEDIATELY remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

MY SPIN: There really isn't one! I made these bigger than the recipe said because I didn't want/need a bunch of these at my house because I would eat them all!!! Remember, I try to bake around my WW meetings and everyone at my Friday meeting liked them. So I hope you do as well!!!

Now for the 'legal mumbo-jumbo' to keep me out of court! *The PointsPlus™ value for this recipe was calculated by me (Jan Gomes) and is not an endorsement or approval of this recipe by Weight Watchers International, Inc., the owner of the PointsPlus™ registered trademark.*

Later!

Loving Life(time)!
Jan

Hoison Pork and Mushrooms

HOISON PORK & MUSHROOMS

Makes 4 Servings

1 Serving = 5 PointsPlus™

4 boneless center cut pork chops (@4 oz each), all visible fat removed
8 oz package of sliced mushrooms (I used baby portabello mushrooms)
¼ cup Hoison sauce
minced garlic, to taste
ground black pepper, to taste
olive oil (in a mister, not Pam)

Spray the bottom of a non-stick skillet (I used my electric skillet). Pour in the Hoison sauce. Place the pork chops and mushrooms in skillet. Sprinkle with minced garlic and pepper to your own taste. Cook on medium for @ 20 minutes, turning once, until brownish.

This is one of those recipes where you have to 'eyeball' it.....so I guess it's good I have a picture of it. It's really tasty!!

Now for the 'legal mumbo-jumbo' to keep me out of court! *The PointsPlus™ value for this recipe was calculated by me (Jan Gomes) and is not an endorsement or approval of this recipe by Weight Watchers International, Inc., the owner of the PointsPlus™ registered trademark.*

Later!

Loving Life(time)!
Jan

Garden Veggie Stew

GARDEN VEGGIE STEW

Makes Alot!!!

This is an unofficial recipe by me......only because I can't really tell how many servings it makes unless I measure out the HUGE pot full of this yumminess......therefore I will only tell you that *my* pot of Garden Veggie Stew came out to @1 PointsPlus™ for a 1 cup serving ONLY because I put some veggies in it that are not 'free'. Those veggies will have an asterisk (*) after them. These are the ingredients that I used:

1 32-oz container of 99% fat-free chicken broth (I used WalMart brand)
1 little container of Knorr Homestyle Chicken Stock (to give a little more flavor)
1 28-oz can of crushed tomatoes (save the can to add water and get all the tomatoes out of the can)
1 28-oz can of whole tomatoes (quarter the tomatoes and discard the 'juice' in the can)
1 6-oz can of tomato paste
1 head of cabbage
5 carrots
2 ribs of celery, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 can of corn, drained*
1 pkg of frozen snow peas
1 small bag of frozen brussel sprouts
3 yams, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks*

The spices I used: minced garlic, fresh ground black pepper and Italian seasoning......to taste.

I put all this in a big stock pot and added just enough water to cover the veggies. I simmered it all day and after a few hours I did a BLT (bite, lick & taste) to see if it 'needed' any more seasonings.

The only reason I'm counting a cup as 1 PointsPlus™ is because I always say to 'err on the high side'.

Now for the 'legal mumbo-jumbo' to keep me out of court! *The PointsPlus™ value for this recipe was calculated by me (Jan Gomes) and is not an endorsement or approval of this recipe by Weight Watchers International, Inc., the owner of the PointsPlus™ registered trademark.*

 

Later!

Loving Life(time)!

Jan

Blueberry Muffins

Another gloomy, damp day.....with the threat of that nasty white stuff later tonight! I can remember snowy mornings when I was a kid.......and they came out with box mixes of muffins and my Mom would make them alot! Well, they still have the box mixes but I'm sure they're way too high in PointsPlus™ (and calories for those not counting P+). I came across this recipe and tweaked it down to 2 P+.....and they're good!! Really good!!! And yes, these were made in my new muffin pan that I got from Santa (aka my cousin Cathie.....143)!

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

Makes 12 Muffins

1 Muffin = 2 PointsPlus™

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup oats (quick or old fashioned)
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup egg whites
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup fat-free milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 400º. Spray muffin pan with cooking spray OR line with muffin/cupcake papers.

In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder and cinnamon; mix well. Stir in all remaining ingredients EXCEPT blueberries just until moistened. Gently stir in blueberries.

Fill muffin pan 3/4 full.

Bake 20 minutes or until tops are light golden brown.

Enjoy!!!

Now for the 'legal mumbo-jumbo' to keep me out of court! *The PointsPlus™ value for this recipe was calculated by me (Jan Gomes) and is not an endorsement or approval of this recipe by Weight Watchers International, Inc., the owner of the PointsPlus™ registered trademark.*

Later!

Loving Life(time)!
Jan