Wednesday, November 30, 2011

WeightWatcher Points - Baking & Desserts

More Than Your First Cookbook

Baking and Desserts

My calculations for WeightWatcher Points

Remember that you can take a smaller portion and reduce your points used.


Basic Bran Muffin - 4 pts.

Creamed Scones - 5 pts.

Dilly Bread - 2 pts.

Homemade Buns - 5 pts.

Matt's Oatmeal Bread - 2 pts.

White Bread - 3 pts.

Cherry Delight - 9 pts.

Cinnamon Cake - 10 pts.

Connie's Peach Dessert - 9 pts.

Crazy Chocolate Cake - 10 pts.

Frosting for Cake - See Below

Chocolate Frosting - 49 pts.
Caramel Frosting - 42 pts.  (These are for the total amount of frosting - divide by number of pieces to get frosting points per piece)

Rhubarb Dessert - 10 pts.

Rhubarb Pudding - 8 pts.

Time-Saving Doughnut Holes - 2 pts.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Getting into the Holiday Season

Thanksgiving is over and the end of the year holidays are closing in on everyone.  Gift buying & wrapping, holiday parties and making holiday treats as well as planning the holiday meals will all make December a very busy month.  It is best to take a moment and make lists, mark calendars and start the planning before it becomes overwhelming to you.  Don't get so busy that you forget the meaning of the season or not enjoy all that makes this a truly wonderful time of the year.

I'm starting today with the cookie making as our four children are spread out and care packages will need to be sent early.  On Friday, I will have one of my favorite holiday cookies for the recipe.  I hope you will enjoy them.

Slow-cooker Buffet
In getting ready for the season, there are a few items that I thought should be brought to your attention.  As I'm looking at ads, catalogs and shopping the hot item this season is slow-cooker buffets.  I've seen them from 2 to 5 crocks and in various sizes.  I'm sure you can find the one that is just right for your needs at one of my favorite shopping places, Kohl'sFood Network or QVC.  I believe I have a couple of photos of them.

Electric Roaster
The other item you should look at is an Electric Roaster.  If you don't have one, you need to get one.  It freed up my oven for all the other dishes as the turkey cooked to perfection in it.  They are not only great for the holidays that we have in November and December but for those big family get-together events in the summer.  Look in to one and see if it might not be a good idea for your family.

Since we didn't do the WeightWatcher points the last couple of weeks, I'm putting the last two in this week.  Wednesday will be for the points in the Baking & Desserts chapter.  Then on Thursday, we will finish it up with the Odds & Ends chapter of the cookbook.  Thank you for being patient with me as we got them all out to you.

Barry Rd. Hy-Vee in KC
I now have cookbooks at the Hy-Vee just off of Barry Road in Kansas City, Missouri.  Here is a photo of them in their book area.  If you are near there, please check them out.  Thanks.

I wish all of you a "Happy, Holy and Merry Holiday Season" and a great year to come.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Turkey Soup.

Turkey (Carcass) Soup
(little over a gallon of soup)


Ingredients:

Turkey Carcass (see note)
Water, enough to cover carcass
1 Bay Leaf
2 Carrots, small dice
2 Celery Stalks, small dice
1 Yellow Onion (small), small dice
1 tsp. Dry Rosemary
1 tsp. Dry Thyme
½ tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Black Pepper
2 cups Turkey meat, bite size
6 oz. Egg Noodles (half of a 12 oz. pkg.)
¼ cup Parsley
Chicken Base (if needed for more flavor)

Directions:

In a 6 to 8 quart Dutch oven or stock pot, place the turkey carcass, bay leaf and cover with water.  Heat this over medium-high heat until it comes to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium and continue cooking for 45 to 60 minutes.  At this point remove the turkey carcass and any other pieces to a large bowl to cool.  While the carcass is cooling, add the carrots, celery and onion to the pot and return to a boil.  Continue this for 30 minutes and start picking all the meat away from the turkey carcass when it is cool enough to handle.  If you don’t have 2 cups of turkey and stuffing from the carcass, add enough turkey from what you removed earlier to make the 2 cups needed.  After the vegetables have cooked their 30 minutes, add the seasonings, turkey meat and noodles.  Continue to cook until noodles are tender and done.  You may need to add more water during this cooking process to bring the mixture up to around one gallon total.  Now add the parsley and check seasoning to see if an adjustment is needed.  If so, add the needed seasoning and chicken base to give you the desired flavor you want.

Note:               You will want to take as much turkey off the carcass as possible
                           and then break the carcass into natural smaller pieces.  Please
                           don’t put any large pieces of turkey skin in the pot.  If you
                           stuffed the turkey, don’t worry about getting all the stuffing out
                           from between bones and such.  The remaining dressing will just
                           help flavor the soup.

Note:               Because you have boiled the carcass, the soup will gel on you
                           when it is refrigerated.  It will liquefy upon reheating.

Note:               You can make this soup a vegetable one instead of a noodle one
                           by increasing the amount and size of the vegetables used and not
                           using the noodles.  Other vegetables can be used so you meet
                           your flavor profile.

Ideas for Future Efforts
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Thursday, November 24, 2011

Turkey Tetrazzini

Turkey Tetrazzini
(8-12 servings)


Ingredients:

1 large Yellow Onion, medium dice
1 large Green Pepper, medium dice
8 tbsp. Butter, divided
½ tbsp. Pressed Garlic
1 lb. Sliced Mushrooms
6 tbsp. All Purpose Flour
2 cups Chicken Broth
½ cup Dry White Wine
1 ½ cups Heavy Whipping Cream
1 pkg. (12 oz.) Egg Noodles, cooked al dente
3 cups Leftover Turkey, bite-size
1 tbsp. Dry Parsley
1 ½ tsp. Salt
¾ tsp. Black Pepper
½ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 cup Panko Bread Crumbs

Directions:

In a 4 to 5 quart sauté pan, place 6 tbsp. of butter, the diced onions and green peppers over medium-high heat for 5 to 10 minutes.  Add and cook the garlic for a couple of minutes before adding the sliced mushrooms.  Continue to cook this mixture for another 5 to 10 minutes remembering to stir often.  Slowly add the flour stirring constantly for about 2 minutes.  While still stirring, slowly add the chicken broth and cook another 2 minutes.  Then add the wine as you continue to stir.  Mixture should be thickening.  To this add the cream and continue heating to a boil while stirring.  Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking until mixture has thickened enough to coat a spoon.  Take a 9x13 baking dish and use 1 tbsp. to coat.  Now add the cooked noodles through Parmesan cheese to the hot mixture and combine before pouring into the baking dish.  In a small sauce pan, melt the last tbsp. of butter; add the cup of bread crumbs and mix.  Top the casserole with the bread crumbs and place in a pre-heated 375 degree oven uncovered for 30 to 35 minutes or until hot, bubbly and nicely browned.  Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Note:               If you are not into mushrooms, try adding some vegetable of
                           your liking.  Frozen mixed vegetables would be an easy 
                           substitute for the mushrooms.  Just cook them about 2 minutes
                           less than the package recommends before you add them to the
                           mixture.

Ideas for Future Efforts
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Wednesday, November 23, 2011

My Favorite Turkey Sandwich

My Favorite Turkey Sandwich
(1 serving)


Ingredients:

2 slices Potato Bread
¼ cup Cranberry Sauce
½ cup Leftover Stuffing
4 oz. Sliced Leftover Turkey
Lettuce (optional)

Directions:

Lay down your two slices of bread and spread the cranberry sauce over each slice.  Then top one slice with the leftover stuffing, followed by the leftover turkey.  Top this with lettuce, if using, finish sandwich by placing second slice of bread on top.  It is an easy sandwich to make but has all the flavor of your original “Thanksgiving” feast.  Enjoy.

Note:               Some people like to put cheese on their sandwich.  Change it
                           anyway you like to make it your favorite sandwich, but this
                           is mine.

Ideas for Future Efforts
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Tuesday, November 22, 2011

New Events & Activities

It's Thanksgiving week and I'm sure everyone is going crazy getting ready.  Take a deep breath and just take it one item at a time.  You'll get done and be able to enjoy all the commotion (family & friends).

I've been busy and now have my cookbook in a few more locations.  It is available at 3 Hy-Vee stores now (Maryville, MO; St. Joseph, MO; and Kansas City, MO-just off Barry Rd.), the Bearcat Bookstore on the campus of Northwest Missouri State University and at the Nodaway News Leader office in Maryville, MO.

There will be some more locations coming and book signings too.  I'm in Sioux City, IA on Friday (Dec. 2) and Saturday (Dec. 3) for signings at 2 Hy-Vee stores.  Then I'm in Kansas City (just off Barry Rd.) at another Hy-Vee on Saturday, December 10th.  The last one that is set as of now is January 7th in St. Joseph, MO at Hazel's Gourmet Coffee & Tea Co.  More about these as they get closer.

I did my second TV cooking segment yesterday for KQ2 in St. Joseph, MO.  I made the Spicy Creamed Corn from this blog.  It was a big hit and the link to watch it is below.  They do the segment in two pieces with commercials in between.  The link only has the first part but it gives you an idea of how easy a recipe it is to make. Here is the link KQ2

I will be doing 3 recipes this week for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  They will all have to do with leftover turkey; My Favorite Turkey Sandwich, Turkey Carcass Soup and Turkey Tetrazzini.  Enjoy and "Happy Thanksgiving" from "Cabana Boy Cooks."

Friday, November 18, 2011

Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Pie
(8 servings)


Ingredients:

1 – 15 oz. can Pumpkin
1 – 14 oz. can Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 – large Fresh Eggs
1 – tsp. Ground Cinnamon
½ – tsp. Ground Nutmeg
½ - tsp. Salt
1 – 9 inch unbaked Pie Crust (see note)

Directions:

Whisk all the ingredients (except pie shell) together in a mixing bowl.  Pour the mixture into the pie shell placed on a cookie pan.  Put this in a pre-heated 425 degree oven to bake for 15 minutes.  Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking for an additional 35 to 40 minutes or until a knife inserted 1 inch from crust comes out clean.  The pie can be baked the day before and refrigerated.  Have either whipped cream or cool whip (thawed) on hand when pie is served.

Note:               You can find frozen pie crust in a disposable pan in the freezer
section.  You can also use the refrigerated dough, but then
                        you will need a pie pan.  In either case, be sure to let the pie
                       dough come to room temperature before filling and baking.

Ideas for Future Efforts
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