Black Bean Brownies

In honor of April fools I decided to try to fool Bubba into eating "brownies" that are healthy. Lately someone has gotten picky about certain foods, proteins especially. And these brownies are packed with protein, gluten free and only 79 calories a piece! 

I know what you are thinking, "Since when do I count calories in my recipes?" 

Most of my favorite recipes are highly caloric and not meant for daily consumption. There is a time and place for them and that time is Cheat Day! But these brownies are for every day :)

When you need some cheat day food, but it is still days til that magical day. 

3/4 cup dry black beans, rinsed well (or 16 oz can drained and rinsed)

3 eggs

1/2 cup apple sauce

1/4 cup cocoa powder

3/4 cup white sugar

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Simmer the beans (covered) on low with enough water to cover them by an inch or so for 2 hours. Then take of the heat and allow to cool still covered. (to save some time just use a can of black beans, rinsed and drain, I only had dry beans though)

Drain and rinse then puree the beans with the apple sauce. 

And I mean really puree the heck out of them. Any chunky texture will give away the secret.

Then add the eggs and continue to puree.

Then add the sugar, baking powder and cayenne.

Then blend and pour into muffin tins. 

Bake at 325 for 50 minutes.

Now I will warn you. DO NOT USE SILICONE PANS. This recipe made 14 muffins. So I used my two silicon baking pans and 2 cups in a muffin tin, one with a paper muffin wrapper, and one with a metal one.

This was the muffin I test tasted. The one from the foil wrapper in the muffin tin. 

It came out perfectly! 

The silicon tins however did not come out very cleanly. They still taste good though :)

Overall I was very pleased with the result, but next time I will be adding 1 teaspoon on cinnamon and 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips. They had a tiny hint of bean flavor and I think it would be completely covered up with these additions. 

And my trick worked! Bubba loved them! He ate two and even did a happy dance while he ate :)

More fun with Won Ton Wrappers

These are the easiest wonton wrapper appetizer I have come up with.
And they are only 70 calories a piece.

You need 1 package of wonton wrappers and some Laughing Cow cheese wedges. I prefer the French Onion, but the Garlic herb or Mozzarella Sun dried Tomato Basil wedges have been just as popular. I cut the wedge in half and fill one wrapper with it.

Then brush the wrapper with water to seal and paint with vegetable oil.

And bake at 325 for about 10 minutes each side.

Pi Day Orange Glazed Pound Cake

I know everyone is jumping on the Pi day band wagon with special recipes but I have a good reason to. 5 years ago my husband and I got married, on Pi day. At the time he worked as a physics professor and we had dated for several years before and wanted to pick a new anniversary date we would remember since we had our old one for so long. And we decided on Pi day.

So today Bubba and I made a Pi cake. (I don't really like pie as much as I like cake so I made it Pi shaped to keep in theme) I have been using this pound cake recipe since I began baking, I have no idea where it came from but it remains my favorite.

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

5 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat the butter til smooth then add the sugar. 

Continue to beat til smooth and almost fluffy.

Add the vanilla and the eggs one at a time, mixing between each one.

Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix well. Then pour into a greased pan. 

Bake at 325 for 45 min. 

(Traditionally pound cake is cooked in a loaf pan but I wanted to cut this into a Pi shape 

so I used a larger plan.)

Once it is cool you can mix up the glaze.

3 tablespoons melted butter

3 tablespoons powdered sugar

3 tablespoons orange juice

Mix together with a whisk then cover the cake and refrigerate.

Happy Pi day to everyone :)

Chicken Bacon Quiche in a Potato Crust

I love quiches! In the past I have made several for my blog, including an Asian inspired one and toaster oven quiches which I made for a while when we discovered the stove in the house we bought was not quite functional. Mostly my quiche routine is the same, I switch around fillings here and there but nothing new, til now. I came up with the brilliant idea to use thinly sliced potatoes as a crust for my latest quiche.

2 chicken breast (pre cooked)

6 slices of bacon

2 small potatoes

chives

generous sprinkles of:

minced onion

oregano

black pepper

garlic powder

parsley

quiche base:

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup flour

1 cup milk

5 eggs

5 pieces swiss cheese

1/4 cup parmesean cheese

I use a mandolin to slice the potatoes. It is so fast. I have had one in my drawer for years and not used it til very recently. I have no idea why I resisted using it, but I was mistaken. That thing is amazing!

Layer then in a greased pan

All of my ingredients prepared

Melt the butter

Mix in the flour

Whisk in the milk

Stir on medium low heat until it thinckens and add the spices

Take off the heat and melt in the cheese

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing between each one

Add the bacon chicken and chives

Pour over potatoes

And sprinkle with parmesean cheese

Bake at 325 for about and hour or so

Pea Soup

After smoking such a large ham for Christmas we had a little bit of leftovers. The best leftover recipe I know of for smoked ham is pea soup (but cassoulet isn't too shabby either). I only just started eating pea soup recently and with a nice large ham bone left over and a hankering to use my Christmas present (a Cuisinart hand blender) I decided it was just the thing to do with my leftovers.

Pretty isn't it!

1 stalk celery

1 carrot

1 potato (peeled)

1/2 yellow onion

3 green onions

1 clove garlic

1 ham bone with some meat on it

1/2 package of dry split peas

3 chicken bullion cubes

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 teaspoon of curry, black pepper, and smoked paprika

4 cups water

In a sauce pan add the peas and just enough water to cover them a bit and bring to a simmer. Let simmer for 5 minutes.

Then take off the heat and cover for a half hour. Drain the remaining water and add to the crock pot

Along with the chopped veggies, spices and the ham bone

Then add the water and the wine

Cover and let cook 6 or more hours

Then take your hand stick blender and puree til smooth.

(Please excuess the amount of blender pics, I got a little excited)

Served with popovers it is a delicious way to enjoy the smokey ham another day.