Chicken Curry

Curried Chicken
1tsp. oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into bite size pieces)
1/2 cup of chopped onion
2 teaspoons of hot curry paste (I used curry powder)
1 glove of galic minced
1/2 tsp. of grated ginger root
salt/pepper
1/2 cup of applesauce
1/3 cup of plain yogurt
1tsp. of cilantro or parsley (I used dried cilantro)

Fry the chicken in the cooking oil on medium heat and season with salt and pepper, until done. Transfer the chicken to a plate and cover to keep warm.

Add next 6 ingredients to the same frying pan. Cook for about 5 mins, until onion is softened.

Add the applesauce. Stir, Add chicken, stir until coated. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, covered, for about 5 mins. Remove from heat, add yogurt, stir. Sprinkle with cilantro.

Makes enough for two.

Egg Rolls

I made these with the left over phyllo pastry I had laying around. We ate them with some rice and stir fry veggies. I'm going to call them egg rolls because they have the same filling as an egg roll but you can easily make them into spring rolls using bean sprouts and other spring rollish ingredients. And since they baked, not fried they are low in fat. I don't have a formal recipe, I just kind a threw things together. I'll try my best to tell you how I made them...

Egg Rolls

Makes 6
1/4 of a medium size cabbage grated
1 carrot grated
1/4 of a small onion grated
-1 stalk of celery grated
-2 cloves of garlic minced finely
-1/2 cup of frozen shrimp (tails removed)
-pinch of tumeric (optional) but it gives it a lovely color and tumeric is an anti-inflammatory!)
-1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes (optional) We love hot food
-pinch of salt
-1/2 teaspoon of soya sauce (optional) I am the salt police so I didn't add this but I do suggest that you do)
-ground black pepper
-4 sheets of phyllo pastry

Saute the shrimp with non-stick cooking spray or a small amount of oil and add a bit of tumeric. Remove the shrimp from the pan. Grate the cabbage, carrot (you can skip this step by buying a coleslaw mix), and celery. Add all the the cabbage mixture into the same pan you used to fry the shrimp then add the minced garlic, salt, soya sauce and crushed red pepper flakes (if desired). Continue to fry until it is soft and transparent. Mix the cabbage mixture and shrimp together and set aside and allow to cool a bit. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.


Cut two layers of phyllo pastry into three long strips and then pile 1/6 of a portion onto the middle of the long strips. Fold of the ends over to meet with the other end. Then roll the filling and pastry, tucking the ends in to cover the filling and prevent it from falling out. Continue to do so until you reach the end of the pastry. You can seal the end with some egg whites if you like. Then place the roll seal side down on the greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 F for 10-15 mins (or until the pastry is golden brown). You could also make these vegetarian by simply omitting the shrimp.

These are virtually fat free I think other than the phyllo pastry that has just 1 gram of fat/sheet.

Sunday Morning Blueberry/Banana Pancakes with Blueberry Sauce

Blueberry/Banana Pancakes
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (I omitted this)
1 egg, lightly beaten (I used 1/2 cup of egg whites instead)
1-1/4 cup fat free milk
3 medium ripe bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
Maple syrup, optional

In a large bowl, combine the flours, sugar, baking powder and salt. Combine the egg, milk, bananas, blueberries and vanilla. I used a non stick pan and Pam cooking spray to fry them. I used a quarter cup measuring spoon to ladle the pancake batter onto the pan.

Nutritional information per 2 pancake serving (without syrup):
Calories: 195; Fat: 2g(would be less with the egg whites rather with the whole egg) Cholesterol: 31mg; Sodium: 317mg (less if you omit the salt like I did); Carbohydrate: 41g; Fiber: 4g; Protein: 6g
I found the recipe and nutritional information here

Blueberry Sauce
1/2 cup of frozen blueberries
1 tsp. corn starch
1-2 tbs. sugar
1 tbs. water
cinnamon

Throw all of the ingredients in a sauce pan and bring a boil on medium heat and wait until the sauce thickens. Double the recipe if you are making a full batch of pancakes. There is only the two of us here, so I halved the pancake recipe. This sauce is easy peasy to make and better than syrup.

I always try to use local produce if possible. The frozen berries I used were wild ones from Oxford, NS. You can see a photo of the bag below. You can also see my newly finished kitchen back splash, it was a DYI project that we are very proud of.

Corn Chowder and Crusty Onion Bread

This meal reminds me of my grandmother because she can make even the most simple meal taste delicious. If you tasted my grandmother's corn chowder, I'm sure you would say it's the best you've ever eaten. Make the meal count and make it taste good, I think that's what my grandmother has instilled in me.

Corn Chowder
5 large potatoes
1 large onion
1 large can of cream of corn
1 can of 2% can milk
2 bay leafs
pot herbs
a chunk of cheddar (optional) I didn't add this as my husband is following a low fat diet)

Peel the potatoes (I leave the skins on some) and dice. Boil the potatoes until tender but not mushy then drain. Saute onions in a small amount of oil until they're soft and transparent. Add the onions, creamed corn, can milk, pot herbs, bay leaves into the pot with the potatoes and warm on stove. If your using cheddar, add to the pot a few minutes before serving to allow for it to melt. Stir often because canned milk burns easily.

Crusty Onion Bread
2 1/4 cups of water
1/2 package of onion soup mix
2 tablespoons of shortening or oil ( I used only 1 tbs of olive oil)
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt (I omitted this as there is already lots of salt in the soup mix)
5 1/2 cups - 6 cups of flour (will vary depending how humid the day is, it was more like 4 1/2 cups the day I made it.)
1 package active dry yeast
cornmeal
1 slightly beaten egg white
1 tablespoon of water.

In saucepan combine the water and soup mix, cover and simmer for 10 mins. Stir in oil, sugar, and salt. Allow it to cool ( I waited until it was lukewarm because if your water is too hot it will kill the yeast).

In a large bowl combine 2 1/2 cups of the flour, the yeast, and onion mixture. Beat it hard until it smooth- you may use an electric mixer. Stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can using a spoon. Then turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead in more of the remaining flour and knead the dough until it is elastic (about 6-8 mins). Shape the dough into a ball, it should look like the second photo at this point).
Place it in a lightly greased bowl and cover the bowl with a damp tea towel. Allow it to rise until it's doubled in size (about an hour). Punch down, and cut dough in half and allow it to rest for 10 mins. Shape the dough into 2 round loaves and place on a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with cornmeal. Let it rise again until it is almost double in size (keep it covered with the tea towel. With a sharp knife, make diagonal cuts across the bread. Bake it in a 375 degree oven for 20 mins. Then brush it with the egg/water mixture and continue to bake for 10 more minutes. The egg mixture gives the bread the shinny coating.

Apple Strudel

Ingredients

* 6 medium-size apples, such as Northern Spy or Gala (I used local cortlands)
* 3 wide strips lemon or orange peel
* 1 cup (250 mL) apple cider or juice
* 1/3 cup (75 mL) raisins
* 2 tbsp (30 mL) granulated sugar (I reduced the sugar in half to make it a little more healthful)
* 1/2 tsp (2 mL) cinnamon
* 1/4 tsp (1 mL) ground nutmeg
* 2 tbsp (30 mL) brown sugar
* 1 tbsp (15 mL) store-bought fine dry bread crumbs
* 6 sheets phyllo pastry
* Cold water
* 1 to 2 tsp (5 to 10 mL) butter, melted
* 2 tsp (10 mL) icing sugar (optional)

1. Peel apples. Slice into halves. Cut out and discard cores. Thinly slice. They should measure about 8 cups (2 L). Place in a large frying pan with lemon peel, apple cider, raisins, granulated sugar and 1/4 tsp (1 mL) each cinnamon and nutmeg. Place over high heat and boil, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until apples are tender and all of liquid is evaporated, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir often for last few minutes of cooking. Turn mixture onto a baking sheet and refrigerate to quickly cool, at least 10 minutes. If making ahead, cover mixture with plastic wrap and keep in refrigerator overnight.

2. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400F (200C). In a small bowl, stir brown sugar with bread crumbs and remaining 1/4 tsp (1 mL) cinnamon. Lay 1 sheet of phyllo on counter with long edge of pastry facing you. Lightly brush with water, then sprinkle with a scant 2 tsp (10 mL) sugar mixture. Repeat process, adding 4 more sheets of phyllo and using all of sugar mixture. It's OK if some of pastry rips or has holes. Top with remaining phyllo sheet, but don't add crumb mixture.

3. Discard lemon peel from apples. Mound filling lengthwise in centre of phyllo, leaving about 2 inches (5 cm) uncovered at both ends. Lightly brush edges of phyllo with a little melted butter. Fold 1 long edge over filling, then fold in both shorter ends to enclose filling. Roll tightly into a log. Place seam side down on an ungreased baking sheet. Brush with remaining butter. Cut diagonal slashes about 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart on top of strudel. Bake in centre of preheated 400F (200C) oven until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes before slicing with a serrated knife. Dust with icing sugar. Delicious warm or at room temperature. Great with caramel ice cream or frozen yogurt.

This is a low fat dessert but it is very tasty.

Serves 6
Nutrients per serving
* 2.5 g protein
* 2.7 g fat
* 58 g carbohydrates
* 4.2 g fiber
* 252 calories
I found the recipe here: