Caramelized Onion Dip

I think few recipes are more useful than a dip that goes with just about anything. A good, versatile dip will go with chips, veggies, crackers or any other socially acceptable method of spooning it into your mouth.

It would probably not be wise to only use your fingers to eat this dip…well in public anyway. At midnight, alone and in front of your fridge while the dog goes outside to pee? Sure, why not! Not that I have ANY experience with that scenario. Ever. 

Caramelized Onion Dip

* Makes 2 ½ cups

(printable recipe)

What you need:

-          16oz Sour Cream or Plain Greek Yogurt

-          1 large red onion

-          1 large yellow onion

-          3 tablespoons butter*

-          1 teaspoon garlic powder

-          1.5 teaspoons onion powder

-          1 teaspoon soy sauce

-          1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

-          Black pepper

-          Salt

-          Scallions, optional as a garnish

-          Chips or veggies for serving

*more if needed

What you’ll do:

1. In a large sauté pan melt the butter over medium-low heat. Slice the onions evenly and add to the pan. Cover and simmer 25-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.  If the pan gets too dry, add more butter as needed.
2. Once the onions are completely caramelized, remove from heat. Drain off any excess butter and allow to cool completely.  
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine sour cream, garlic powder, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Stir in onions and let sit in the refrigerator for approx 4 hours.
4. When ready to serve, stir dip and taste for flavor. Add salt and pepper if needed. 

Enjoy!

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Berry Green Breakfast Smoothie - Start your day with one!

About 5 years ago I became pretty obsessed with yogurt. I started eating it every day for breakfast and haven’t stopped since. I do change it up to keep from getting bored though. Some weeks I eat flavored yogurt and other weeks I’ll use plain yogurt and mix in fresh fruit and granola. And then there are other weeks when I make smoothies.

I think the smoothies are my favorite.

Smoothies have gotten a bit of a bad rap over the last couple of years. I view them like I do any other meal or dish – if you make it at home it will be better for you. Most chains use loads of sugar in their smoothies, and I’m not sure why because fruit is pretty sweet by itself to me.

I personally believe that there is nothing “bad” for me in this smoothie. The ingredients are healthy and have loads of nutritional benefits. This recipe is my go-to smoothie in the morning, and you probably can’t tell by the color but it has spinach in it. I also promise you that you can’t taste the spinach either. Don’t let the oats or flaxseed scare you either! The oats grind up and all that’s left are little bits here and there no bigger than the seeds from the berries. And they really make the smoothie much thicker and filling if you ask me.

One little tip about the berries. I have a firm belief that if you’re adding fruit to a smoothie then you should never need ice cubes, so go ahead and buy fresh whole frozen berries. They are just as good for you as fresh and cheaper usually. Just be sure that the only ingredient is the fruit and no added sugar. If you do buy fresh, prep them by washing and cutting the larger berries in half. Then freeze them on a cookie sheet in a single layer before tossing them in a freezer bag. This will keep them from sticking together once frozen. 

Berry Green Breakfast Smoothie

*Serves 1

(printable recipe)

Ingredients:

-          heaping ½ cup mixed frozen berries, such as strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries

-          ¼ cup uncooked old fashioned whole grain oats

-          ¾ cup low fat milk (1% in cow’s milk)

-          5-6oz Greek 0% fat yogurt, vanilla or  plain*

-          1 tablespoon ground flaxseed

-          ½ cup packed fresh baby spinach

*Most single servings of yogurt are between 5 and 6oz, mine for example is 5.3oz.  Choose plain or vanilla based on your desire for sweetness. You could also use plain yogurt and add a squeeze of honey too.

Directions:

1. In a blender layer the ingredients in this order: spinach, yogurt, flaxseed, oats, milk, and berries. If using a machine where the cup is inverted (such as a magic bullet) reverse the order. When you start to blend you want the heavier items (the berries) on top and the lightest (the spinach) on the bottom at the blades.

2. Blend together for 1-2 minutes or until mixture is smooth and berries are fully blended. Enjoy immediately.

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A Healthier Snack: Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Balls

If I had one wish I could make – and have it actually come true – it would be that I could eat whatever I want and not have to worry about gaining weight or having to exercise to keep it off. I don’t need to be supermodel thin, but I don’t want to be overweight either.

Generally, I stick to a pretty simple “regimen” (I hate the word diet) during the work week. Some yogurt and fresh fruit for breakfast, a small lunch with protein, veggies, maybe some healthy carbs, and then I try to not eat a lot at dinner. Many times when I come home from work, I’m starving so I eat a spoonful of peanut butter to hold me over.

One day I saw these balls on Pinterest and it got me thinking. So I went ahead and used a calorie calculator to see how they would compare to the peanut butter calorie-wise. Based on the calculations, I could eat 2 of them and it would be less calories and fat – with the chocolate! I've been making them ever since.

I made some adjustments to the original recipe (from gimmesomeoven.com), and I've played around with other variations but this one is the basic one I use most often. Even Brent likes them and he is not a peanut butter chocolate combination fan.

These are very easy to make and the best part about them is they taste good and not really “healthy”. You can’t really beat that in my opinion. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Balls Recipe

*Makes about 30 balls

(printable recipe)

Ingredients:

-          1 ¼ cups whole grain old fashioned oats

-          ½ cup slivered almonds, roughly chopped

-          ½ cup peanut butter

-          ¾ cup ground flaxseed

-          ½ cup dark chocolate chips, room temperature

-          1/3 cup honey

-          1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Banana Black Walnut Bread

I like bananas. I also like banana bread or banana nut muffins. But I can't stand banana flavored things or adding a banana to a smoothie.

Like strawberry-banana smoothies? Yuck. I love strawberry smoothies and as I said above, I like bananas. Just please don't put them together. The banana just overpowers it. And banana flavored candies and such are just too sweet.

This banana bread? 

Out of this world. 

Maybe even the universe. It's that good. Brent and I ate the whole thing in less than 48 hours.

The original plan was to make it and take it to his family's Thanksgiving. We were headed up the night before and I thought it would be a great late morning snack while the turkey was cooking.

But the bananas didn't ripen fast enough. Which is the opposite of what happens when I buy them and want to eat them whole. They seem to spoil in like 1.5 days no matter how green they are when they hit my counter.

Anyway, we came back a home a few days later and my bananas were finally perfect for making banana bread.

This banana bread is dense, moist, flavorful and delicious. I don't think I'll ever need another Banana Bread recipe again...well except maybe a "healthier" version. 

I used black walnuts which have a bolder walnut flavor but feel free to use regular or english walnuts, which are more readily available and cheaper. Also, if you'd like the bread to be a bit less sweet, you can reduce the granulated sugar to 3/4 cup instead of a full. 

Black Walnut Banana Bread Recipe

*Makes 1 loaf

(printable recipe)

Ingredients:

-          4 very ripe bananas

-          4 tbls softened butter

-          ¼ cup light brown sugar

-          1 cup granulated sugar*

-          1 tea vanilla extract

-          1 large egg

-          ¼ tea salt

-          ¼ tea baking powder

-          ½ tea baking soda

-          ½ tea cinnamon

-          1 ½ cups flour

-          Heaping ½ cup chopped black walnuts or plain walnuts

• You can reduce the white sugar amount to ¾ a cup if you prefer less sweet bread.

Make-At-Home Frozen Burritos

I have a dirty little secret.

But before I tell you what it is, here is the thing…I get burnt out on cooking some nights. As much as I love trying to come up with interesting new things to eat for dinner, there are days when I have no inspiration. Or maybe it was a crazy stressful day and all I really want is a margarita.

Either way, there are nights were I will eat frozen burritos for dinner.

Brent and I try to keep some frozen items stocked up for when we want a quick snack or lunch on the weekend. We try and mix it up most of the time, but recently Brent has developed a deep love for the frozen burrito, so they are almost always on hand. They are usually his “second dinner”. That is if he isn’t having a late night bowl of ice cream.

Side note: How is it that boys can eat whatever they want and not gain a pound? I swear if I had his eating habits, I’d double in size in less than a month.

Back to burritos! So this past weekend we ran out, and Brent asked me to put them on the grocery list. Instead, I decided that it was time to make them at home and see how it goes.

My personal belief is that anything you make at home will be healthier, and better for you, than what you may get in a restaurant or buying it pre-made. This does not mean by any means that I won’t get down with that stuff every so often; I just try to keep it to a minimum. To me, it’s all about balance and moderation.

I’m happy to say that I think these worked out perfectly. They froze fine and heated up without a problem. And they tasted pretty good too!

My favorite thing to do when I have a frozen burrito (or two) for dinner is to load it up with fresh veggies on top. After I heat them up and melt some cheese on top, I chop up whatever produce I happen to have on hand and toss it on. Add a little sour cream, salsa or my favorite Cholula and it’s ready to be devoured.


In this picture, I used radicchio, tomatoes, cilantro, scallions and Cholula. I’ve also topped them with mixed greens, spinach, arugula, red onions, and avocados to name a few. I will say that adding the veggies make me feel a little less guilty, and actually make it a more satisfying meal. And it’s ready in no time, so that is a definite plus on a busy or exhausting night!

Homemade Dark Russet Potato Chips

Growing up my mom called these “Home Fries” and would serve them if we had hamburgers for dinner on the weekend. I always thought of them more like potato chips but a little more substantial since they are thicker. This is actually going to be a two part post because while you can certainly enjoy these by themselves, I actually made them for a really guilty pleasure.

First things first.

Homemade Potato Chips

*Serves 4
(printable recipe)

Ingredients:

- 2 large russet potatoes
- 1.5 tablespoons oil – veggie, olive, canola – whatever you prefer (I used olive oil)
- Salt and pepper


Directions:
1. Clean your potatoes well. Peel off the skin if you wish, I leave them on. Slice your potatoes thin and evenly. No more than 1/8 of an inch, but a little thinner is better. A mandolin is perfect for this, but not necessary.

2. You will probably have to do this in a couple of batches or using more than one baking sheet at once. So take a portion of the oil and brush a good amount on the sheet. Then take the potatoes and swipe them in the oil on one side and set them down on the other. Similar to how you would dredge chicken or fish in flour. Keep them in a single layer.