Turkey Meatloaf

We are trying to eat healthier. Again. :) I adapted this recipe from the Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook. Didn't take any pictures. D and I both liked it. Kade had a few bites and liked it. Sean liked it...with ketchup, lol. Sorry for the lack of witty commentary. I'm tired. ;)

FYI, according to my calculations, it's about 120 calories and 2.25 g fat per serving.

Turkey Meatloaf

1.2 lbs ground turkey breast (that's what size all the packages were in my store)
2 slices whole wheat bread, processed in the food processor into crumbs (or just torn up)
1/2 cup skim or 1% milk
1 large egg
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
3 Tbsp ketchup
1 tsp Italian herb seasoning
1 tsp minced dried onion
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 350'F. Spray an 8x5 inch loaf pan with nonstick spray.

In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well. Shape into a loaf and transfer to the prepared pan. (Mine was too mushy to shape into a loaf; I just poured the mixture into the loaf pan and it baked just fine!) Baked until browned and cooked through, 50-60 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes; cut into 8 slices.

Enjoy!!

Tuesdays with Dorie - Blueberry Crumb Cake

Yum. Yum. Triple yum!! :) I love blueberries, and this week's TWD recipe - Blueberry Crumb Cake - just sounded wonderful. Sihan of Befuddlement chose this recipe. And it was a great choice!


What is really interesting about this week is that I actually baked this recipe last week. As many of you know, I am quite the procrastinator and usually bake on Tuesdays. Well, today was Kade's 1 year checkup and I wasn't sure if I would have time to bake or not, so I baked last week. Go me! I took most of the cake to my mom's office. It was quite the hit. I must agree. I loved it when it was warm, and it was just as good the next day (I saved myself a piece, heehee). I really enjoyed the crunchy crumb topping. The only change I made to the recipe was using pecans instead of walnuts in the topping. I was also able to use fresh blueberries.



I highly recommend trying this recipe if you get a chance. And check out what the other TWD bakers did with this recipe!


Enjoy!!

Chocolate-Chocolate Chunk Muffins

So...as I was perusing my cookbook for Tuesdays with Dorie, I came upon a recipe for Chocolate-Chocolate Chunk Muffins on page 19, complete with a giant picture on the opposite page. They just looked and sounded too good to resist. I checked the completed recipes list of TWD, thinking surely someone had picked this recipe to bake in the past...but no, it hasn't come up on the list yet. Well, I just had to make them, and couldn't pass up blogging about them!

Now, can someone please explain to me how a recipe that says it yields 12 muffins, actually makes 22 when I make it?? I don't understand it. Do I have a misconception of what "regular" muffin tins are? Surely not. I did not pull out my mini muffin pans, I promise! :) It is possible that I didn't fill my muffin cups up enough, but I really think if I'd used all the batter for just 12 muffins, I would have been facing a huge mess... Who knows. Anyway, I wound up with a lot more than it was supposed to make, but that's not entirely a bad thing!

Oh man...the smell while these were baking...torturous! The wait while cooling enough to eat? Even more so. The taste test? Yummy!! Nice and chocolate-y, but not overly sweet. Definitely a muffin, as opposed to a cupcake. And having extras? Definitely not a bad thing!!

Update: D tried one, but didn't like it. Even though I told him it was a muffin, he was still expecting something sweeter, more of a cupcake. Guess I'll have to try the chocolate-chocolate chunk cupcakes next! ;)

Tuesdays with Dorie - French Yogurt Cake with Marmalade Glaze

This week's recipe was French Yogurt Cake with Marmalade Glaze, chosen by Liliana of My Cookbook Addiction. Thank goodness I'm baking again, lol. It was quick and easy to mix together. I chose to use flour instead of ground almonds, although I would like to try it with the almonds at some point. It made a moist, tasty cake, with the lemon adding a very nice flavor. It would be a perfect loaf cake to make to share with good friends...and I had wonderful company today while baking (thank you Christi!!). We forgot to take a picture of it before we cut into it, but that's okay! I couldn't find the lemon marmalade to make the glaze, so my cake went glaze-less, but it was still wonderful! The crust had a nice crispness to it when it was freshly baked, and we both liked that part. :)

Check out what the other TWD Bakers did with this recipe, as there were several "playing around" variations listed with the recipe.

Enjoy!!

Inside-Out Carrot Cake Cookies

I'll just cut to the chase -- these are good!! LOL Inside-Out Carrot Cake Cookies are the recipe of the month for the Cookie Carnival. Man, what a choice!! I have been told to get these out of the house; D loves carrot cake, and these are that good! He's afraid he's going to eat them all, heehee. These are technically sandwich cookies. I wound up with an odd number of cookies, so of course I had to eat the extra. They are darn good without the filling, for the record. The filling is simple - cream cheese and honey blended together (I admit, I added some cinnamon) and the honey adds an interesting touch. If you are making these for a crowd, I would recommend making at least two batches -- one only makes about 12-14 sandwich cookies. As I mentioned before, they are quite delicious even without the filling. Excuse my while I wipe the crumbs off my chin...

Also, if you haven't checked out the February Round-Up from the Cookie Carnival, you should!!

INSIDE-OUT CARROT CAKE COOKIES
Gourmet | April 2004

Yield: Makes about 13 cookies

INGREDIENTS

1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup coarsely grated carrots (2 medium)
1 scant cup walnuts (3 ounces), chopped (Katy's notes: I used chopped pecans)
1/2 cup raisins (2 1/2 ounces)
8 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup honey


PREPARATION

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 2 baking sheets.

Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.

Beat together butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in carrots, nuts, and raisins at low speed, then add flour mixture and beat until just combined.

Drop 1 1/2 tablespoons batter per cookie 2 inches apart on baking sheets and bake, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are lightly browned and springy to the touch, 12 to 16 minutes total. Cool cookies on sheets on racks 1 minute, then transfer cookies to racks to cool completely.

While cookies are baking, blend cream cheese and honey in a food processor until smooth.

Sandwich flat sides of cookies together with a generous tablespoon of cream cheese filling in between.

Enjoy!!

No TWD for me this week

I know I've missed the last few weeks of baking with the Tuesdays with Dorie group, however I'm not going to be baking this week either. I'm just getting over a rough bout of either stomach flu or food poisoning. Today is the first day I actually feel back to (mostly) normal! I need to hit the grocery store (for our very bare pantry!!) and am probably not going to have time to make this week's recipe. Bridget of The Way the Cookie Crumbles picked Lemon Cup Custard. Next week is Spring Break for us, and Kade's birthday party is on Sunday, but hopefully I'll be back to baking with the girls next week!! In the meantime, check out what the other TWD bakers did this week!!

No Cook Banana Pudding

This is for those days when you need banana pudding, and you need it now. It's not made from scratch. But that means there is no sweating over the stove, stirring your precious pudding...waiting...waiting. This is for those days when the baby wouldn't sleep the night before, when your head is absolutely pounding, and you need that banana pudding!! :)

Ingredients:
1 large box (5.1 oz) instant vanilla or banana pudding (I use vanilla)
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 carton (8 oz) cool whip
1 box vanilla wafers
3-4 ripe bananas

Directions:
Start by mixing the pudding according to the package directions. You'll want a large bowl for this. Next, make a mess while opening the condensed milk. Don't cuss too loudly, or you might wake the napping baby, and lord knows he needs that sleep. Add the condensed milk and cool whip to the pudding you've already mixed up. Using your finger, scrape the last bits of cool whip out of the carton and eat. Go wash hands. Grab your banana pudding bowl. You know, the one your grandmother always made banana pudding in, and that you were lucky enough that she gave not only that bowl, but the whole set of colored Pyrex bowls to you when you got married. Open the vanilla wafers. Test them to make sure they are fresh. Layer the vanilla wafers, pudding mixture, and bananas in the bowl. Use as many or as few vanilla wafers and bananas as you'd like. Eat the rest of the pudding in the mixing bowl. Wash hands again. Clear off one end of your dining room table so that you can take a picture of the banana pudding for your blog. Realize you should have put more vanilla wafers on top...it looks a bit sparse. Take picture anyway. Go to kitchen, realize you have to clear out the refrigerator so that you'll have space for the banana pudding to chill, which it needs to do for at least a couple of hours. Go take more Advil for that pounding headache. Count down the minutes until you can grab a spoon and dig in.

Realize it's Tuesday, and there's no way you're going to get your Tuesdays with Dorie recipe made today. But at least there's Banana Pudding!!! :)

Katy