1st batch of hair pins, made & taken to Karma Hair Studio just in time for Prom

quick yummy rice noodles & sauce

boil rice noodles (for this recipe I like the wide ones)
drain
in hot empty pan whisk pumpkin & Trader Joes Asian peanut vinaigrette (in refrigerated salad/dressing/ dept by produce) & low sodium veggie or chicken broth.
add noodles back to pan & mix.
add Broccoli or veggie(s) of choice

I served it with these
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2879390/aidells_chicken_meatballs_teriyaki.html?cat=22

Lemon Merangue Minis - NEW by Joelyn & Mya, inspired by Cindy

Cindy (my sister) made Lemon Merangues for Thanksgiving and put Lemon Curd between 2 of them. So I wanted to take that and make something similar with a "pie" taste to it.

So Mya & I came up with these and they ROCK!

preheat oven to 325

beat 2 egg whites until foamy
(I use powdered egg whites + water because they ALWAYS work perfectly)

add pinch of salt
2 pinch cream of tarter

beat until stiff (lifting the beater up should result in peak holding its shape)

slowly add 2/3 Cups + 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar while beating the mixture (don't over beat)

turn oven OFF

drop teaspoon size (or small cookie scoop size) onto parchment paper
put in the warm oven for a few hours.

once cooled
spread Lemon Curd (Trader Joes makes a good one)
on the bottom of the merangues
dip bottoms in graham cracker crumbs to keep curd from sticking to things

YUM YUM YUM TART AND WONDERFUL

Christmas Poofs - Classic Mint Chocolate Chip

My favorite Christmas treat:

preheat oven to 325

beat 2 egg whites until foamy
(I use powdered egg whites + water because they ALWAYS work perfectly)

add pinch of salt
2 pinch cream of tarter

beat until stiff (lifting the beater up should result in peak holding its shape)

slowly add 2/3 Cups + 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar while beating the mixture (don't over beat)

gently add/stir mint extract (we used to dye green to make them look festive)
carefully stir in mini chocolate chips or slivers of chocolate

turn oven OFF

drop teaspoon size (or small cookie scoop size) onto parchment paper
put in the warn oven for a few hours.

Roasted Veggie Subs

Caramelize Sliced Onions while doing the following other tasks

Roast in oven with a little olive oil:
halved Red Peppers
thin slices of Butternut Squash
grape tomatoes

Saute sliced Mushrooms

Lightly toast whole wheat sub buns (any hearty bread would be good).

Add Goat cheese (or any of your choice)
place back in toaster oven to melt cheese

Assemble YUM YUM YUM

Impromptu Creamy Pasta (w/out the cream)

Boil pasta (I use wheat fettuccini)

• Quickly put some frozen Chicken sausage into a pan w/ a little water. When they started to thaw I used scissors to cut them into pieces. Let cook covered so the juices and flavor stayed in the pan with the meat.

*don’t feel like you have to use the meat, this dish would be great without meat and you could add broiled portabellas!

Drained pasta

Pulled out left over veggie broth from fridge. (Any broth you have would be fine)
Heated broth as I added reduced fat cream cheese
It wasn’t thick enough so I tossed in my leftover baked sweat potatoes and mashed them to make a smooth thick sauce.
Added Pesto & meat with the juices.
Topped with a little parmesan asiago blend.

YUM YUM YUM

Pasta & Sauce - QUICK, easy, yummy

I keep frozen pasta on hand for those rushed nights. Stuffed with whatever you like: cheese, ricotta, mushrooms, chicken, spinach, sausage....

So tonight I tossed some in boiling water, moved to drain.
add balsamic vinegar to hot empty panto reduce
Tossed equal parts of the following in the pan to heat:
tomato sauce, pumpkin puree, pesto
added pasta back in

YUM
(actually tasted very similar to Trader Joes Vodka Sauce oddly enough...)

Stuffed Red Peppers

This made 6 stuffed peppers (12 halves)

put 1 cup of Quinoa or Couscous in the rice maker with 2 cups of low sodium vegetable broth (love ya Trader Joes ; ) –sub if needed, any broth or water would be fine to cook the grain….

Sauté minced garlic
Add diced onions until they start to brown on the edges
Add diced mushrooms
Cook down

Combine mixture w/ grain
Add spinach
Add feta cheese
Add Greek seasoning
(optional) add diced cooked chicken &/or chick peas

Cut red peppers in half, remove seeds.
Fill with mixture
Top w/ a little feta

Bake at 400

Steak Salad

mmmmm


Marinade steak Overnight. Here's Joes steak marinade recipe.

Marinade Portobello mushrooms in Balsamic Vinegar & Olive Oil for 15 min

Grill the mushrooms and steak (or just have 1 or the other)

Make Salad:
Spinach
Grape Tomatoes
Caramelized Onions
Blue Cheese (Mya doesn't like blue cheese, so she had goat cheese)
Pecans
Grilled Steak
Grilled Portobello mushrooms

Dressing: any balsamic would be great. We used Briannas American dressing tonight which was great. This kind would also be good.

Salad: Perfect Summer Dinner!

Grill marinated Chicken breasts (I used Trader Joes Tuscan Italian dressing, or any Balsamic Vinaigrette)
Slice & cool

Red leaf lettuce &/or Spinach
Green Onions
Fresh Blueberries
Goat Cheese
Pecans

dressing: Trader Joes Tuscan Italian or any Balsamic Vinaigrette