Holiday Brie Bites

We ended up making another recipe from Lauren Miyashiro on the delish.com.  This recipe was requested by my sister-in-law and we used the recipe for Cranberry Brie Bites as an inspiration.  These are super easy to make and taste fantastic.  You can adjust the recipe a great deal and I am sure that it will come out well.  These are really nice and look pretty on a tray.

Ingredients (makes 24 brie bites)
Cooking spray, for pan & parchment paper
1 (8-oz.) tube crescent dough (low fat works fine here)
1/2 (8-oz.) wheel of brie or slicing brie (around 4 oz)
1/2 cup Cranberry sauce, whole berry (24 tsp)
1/2 cup Nuts, chopped (can mix or match - I used pecans and almonds)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375° and grease a mini muffin tin with cooking spray.
2. On parchment paper, roll out crescent dough, and pinch together seams. Cut into 24 squares. Place squares into muffin tin slots.
3. Cut brie into equal sized pieces (around the size of a quarter and a 1/4" thick) and place in the muffin tins.
4. Top each piece of brie with 1 tsp of cranberry sauce and around 1 tsp chopped nuts (almonds or pecans).
5. Bake until the crescent pastry is golden, about 13-15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Holiday Antipasto Sandwiches

Pam found this great recipe from Lauren Miyashiro from the delish.com website for Antipasto Squares.  We were cooking for our big holiday party and we were looking for an easy crowd pleaser  So we tried these and they were a hit.  We played with the recipe and used a lower-fat crescent roll (so it was a bit better).  Not only did they heat up well for leftovers, but they were great cold.  We will definitely make these again.  The recipe is fairly flexible, so you can add or subtract items as you see fit.  Or more appropriately, if it fits within the sandwich.  We made it in half-portions than were originally called for - and it worked out well. 

Ingredients (each recipe makes one set of 8 sandwiches)
Parchment paper
1 (8-oz.) tube Crescent dough (can be low-calorie)
4 thin slices Ham (from the deli)
10-15 thin slices Pepperoni (or turkey pepperoni)
2-3 thin slices Turkey (from the deli)
2 slices, Provolone cheese
2 slices or 1/4 lbs shredded, Mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup Pepperoncini, sliced and drained (adjust to taste)
Olive oil spray
1 tbs Grated Parmesan
1 tsp Oregano, dried

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Place one unrolled can of crescents on prepared baking sheet and pinch together seams. Layer ingredients on one half of the crescent roll (below the center seam).  Layer ham, half the pepperoni, turkey, the other half of pepperoni, provolone cheese, mozzarella cheese, and the drained pepperoncini.
3. Fold the top half (without ingredients) down towards the bottom to make the contents covered with dough.  Pinch the seal at the edges of to make a good seal (it does not have to be perfect).
4. Lightly spray the top with olive oil (or brush).  Then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and oregano.
5. Bake for 32-35 minutes (until dough is golden and cooked through).  Let cool for 15 minutes before slicing into 8 squares.  A pizza cutter here works well.

Enjoy with marinara sauce for dipping the edges.

Chicken Barley Soup

I have always loved beef barley soup.  So with the days getting colder, I thought it would be a good time to work up a few new recipes for soups to warm me up after a Michigan Fall or Winter day.  I adapted this recipe from the Skinny Taste recipe for Chicken Barley Soup.  I modified this for my ingredients and taste.  It was fantastic!  It made for a fairly dense soup - so if you want a more liquidy soup - add a total of 8 cups of chicken broth.

Ingredients
2 tbsp Olive oil
3 tsp Garlic (or cloves), chopped
1 cup Carrots, chopped
1 cup Onions, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
2 Skinless bone-in chicken breast
7 cups Chicken broth
2 tbsp Parsley, dried
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp Sage, dried
1/4 tsp Black pepper
2/3 cup Barley (quick or instant)

Directions:
1. Heat oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add the garlic and stir for around one minute.  Add the carrots, onion, and celery to the pot and saute for around 10 minutes.
2. Add chicken, broth, dried parsley, Kosher salt, sage, and black pepper and raise heat to bring to a boil (this will take a few minutes).
3. Reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer covered over low heat for 30 minutes.
4. Remove the chicken from the pot and shred the meat while discarding the bones.  Return the chicken to the pot along with barley and simmer for an additional 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Coconut Chocolate Cookies

I was given a simple task, find a recipe for a cookie or dessert that was healthier than the normal fare that we might get at a grocery store or, let alone, out at an ice cream place.  Something to enjoy after dinner that is satisfying as a dessert.  Well, I did not have a great deal in the house, but I found an amazing recipe at Cooking Light for Toasted Coconut Chocolate Chunk Cookies.  Using the coconut really was fantastic.  I will play with this recipe some more - but I love the flavor that the toasted coconut gives to the cookie.  This is definitely a keeper and you likely have all the ingredients right now in your kitchen (maybe you will have to pickup the coconut).  Very easy and delicious.  The batch is around 20 large cookies - with my guess that each has around 100 calories.

Ingredients (Makes around 20 large cookies)

1 cup Flaked sweetened coconut
1 cup All-purpose flour
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/4 tsp Baking soda
1/8 tsp Table salt
3/4 cup Light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup Unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup Semi-sweet Chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Arrange coconut in a single layer in a small baking pan. Bake at 350° for 7 minutes or until lightly toasted, stirring after four minutes. Set aside to cool.
3. Into a mixing bowl, add flour, baking powder, baking soda and table salt.  Stir with a whisk until blended.
4. Place sugar and butter in a mixing bowl or mixer.  Beat at medium speed until well blended. Add  vanilla and egg and mix until blended. Slowly add flour mixture, beating at low speed, until combined. Then add the toasted coconut and chocolate also at low speed.
5. Drop mix by rounded tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets covered with parchment paper. 6. Bake at 350° for 11 minutes or until bottoms of cookies just begin to brown (one sheet at a time).  Remove from pan, and cool completely on wire racks.

Enjoy!

Baked Shrimp Egg Rolls

This fall, I tried out a recipe for Baked Apple Pie Rolls that used egg roll wrappers as a crust.  These were so excellent, that I started digging around and looking for a lower calorie egg roll that uses the same basic steps.  I also drew inspiration from a few other recipes including one from the Spruce on making low calorie baked egg rolls and one from Dashing Dish. I loved, loved, loved the way these came out and they are very simple to use, especially if you start with a Asian Chopped Salad.  I am not sure how many calories are here - but they are way better than restaurant egg rolls - so we can start with that.  I probably need to get a picture of them open!  But these are really great.

Ingredients (makes 8 pie rolls)

Olive oil spray
4 oz Mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 cup Shrimp, cooked and chopped into 1/4" pieces
10.5 oz Asian chopped salad (around 3 1/2 cups)
1 tbsp Soy sauce
8 egg roll wrappers

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Spray pan with olive oil spray and place over medium-high heat.  Add sliced mushrooms and saute for 7-8 minutes.
3. Add chopped shrimp and Asian chopped salad to the pan.  Mix thoroughly and saute for 1-2 additional minutes.
4. Add soy sauce and saute for one minute more.  Remove from heat.
5. Place a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet - and lightly spray with olive oil.
6. Place an egg roll wrapper on a clean work surface with one corner facing you. Brush the edges of the egg roll wrapper with water. Using a large slotted spoon, place around 1/3 cup of the egg roll filling in the center of the wrapper. Take the corner facing you and fold it over the filling.  Then fold both sides of the wrapper over the filling, then roll up as tightly as possible. Place on the prepared baking sheet.  Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.
7. Lightly spray the top of the egg rolls with olive oil.
8. Bake for 15 minutes.  Turn over and bake for 10 more minutes.

Enjoy with plum sauce or Chinese hot mustard.