Pragmatic Compendium

I LOVE Panera Bread Salads! I was quite distraught when the Orchard Harvest Salad (photo) disappeared from the menu. I’m hoping it will be back next winter.

These days I’m ordering the Fuji Apple Salad or the Fandango with chicken, neither one being my favorite. My FAVORITE is a summer salad, the Strawberry Poppyseed & Chicken Salad. (Ingredients and Nutritional Info)

Problem. These salads are too expensive to buy every day. And I kinda want one EVERY day. So . . .

I’m experimenting and making my own Panera Wannabe Salads! Here’s the latest version:

(Realize the “5 minute” part only works because I clean and prep veggies before I put them away. If I put shrink wrapped and unprepared veggies in the fridge right when I get home from the grocery store, I sacrifice them all to the mold gods a week later and give them an honorable burial in a big, black bag. I’ll write about it in more detail some other day, but what you see in the photo is a good representation of how I store veggies in the fridge. Notice all the containers filled with food are NOT round. I have an aversion to round containers for storage. They waste space! The round container is what I use as a salad shaker to completely coat my salad with a minimal amount of dressing.)

I just layer the salad ingredients in the round bowl. For this salad, I used:

I put the lid on the round container and give it some serious shaking, take off the lid, put a pretty plate on top of the container and FLIP! (That’s why I use a round shaker.) Here’s what I got this time:

If you’re a guy, feel free to eat it directly out of the plastic bowl while leaning over the sink.

This week, the “Spring Mix” lettuce in a bag was on sale, buy one get one free, so I’ll definitely be inventing even more Wannabe Salads! And saving more money!

My kids LOVE this! (and have been nagging me to bake some for two days.)

Ingredients:
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 large)
1/2 cup sugar (I use half brown sugar)
1/3 cup liquid vegetable oil margarine (I use Smart Balance margarine)
2 egg whites
1/3 cup skim milk
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour (I use half whole wheat flour)
1 cup Quaker Oat Bran cereal, uncooked
2 teaspoons backing powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:
Heat oven to 350.
Spray loaf pan with cooking spray or oil lightly.
Combine bananas, sugar, margarine, egg whites and milk and mix well.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, oat bran, baking powder and baking soda.
Slowly pour dry ingredients into the banana mixture and stir just until moistened.
Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake at 55 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool 10 minutes in the pan; remove to wire rack.
Cool completely.

Nutritional Info: (for 1/16 of a loaf)
(before my modifications to the recipe)
Calories 130
Protein 3 g
Carbohydrate 20 g
Fat 4 g
Fiber 1 g

Another tip? When bananas start to get soft in our house, I toss them into the freezer, skin and all. Then, when I make banana bread, I put the frozen bananas in a bowl and fill it with warm water a few times. When the bananas are thawed, I tear off the tip of the skin and “squeeze” the banana out like toothpaste. PERFECT for making banana bread and no wasted bananas!

I almost always make three or four loaves at one time. The mess is already there, the ingredients are already out and the oven is already hot - so why not? It freezes VERY well, sliced or whole!

Our favorite way to eat it? Sliced, topped with “spray butter” and warmed in the microwave for 15 to 30 seconds.

Click HERE for a Print friendly PDF Version!

I stumbled upon a recipe that turned out to be a REAL hit! The fact that it took 5 minutes to prepare made it even better! Seriously. 5 minutes.

Ingredients:
4-5 boneless chicken breasts (we buy them by the bag)
1 (15 1/2 ounce) can black beans (drained)
1 (15 ounce) can corn (drained)
1 (15 ounce) jar salsa, any kind
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

Directions:
Put the FROZEN (yes, FROZEN!) chicken breasts into the crockpot.
Pour in the black beans, the corn and the salsa.
Turn the Crockpot on high and walk away.
Come back in about 4-5 hours.
When it’s done, toss in the cream cheese and put the lid back on for 1/2 hour.

Done. Eaten. Gone.

FirstHusband and FavoriteSon both gave it two thumbs up. Over at www.recipezaar.com it has a total of 480 reviews with a total rating of 4 1/2 stars. Take a look at the reviews to see variations suggested by those who have tried it!

My variation? I had to leave the house after two hours, so I cooked it 2 hours on high, 6 hours on low. Also, my serving didn’t have the cream cheese in it and I still liked it! The chicken was SO moist!

Click Here for a print friendly version in PDF!

This goes out to the next mom whose child says: “Oh! Mom! I forgot to tell you. I need to take in some food to school tomorrow.”

“Food? What kind of food?“

“Laos food.”

“Laos food? As in ‘food often eaten by the people of Laos?’ (I pay attention. I saw the PowerPoint show he already turned in. over. and over. and over. again.)“

“uh huh.”

(I just stare at him.)

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t talk, I’m thinking about how you are going to make this up to me.”

So I participate in the internet search because I know I’ve got to go to Publix later and I would like to actually FIND the ingredients for the “Laos food.”

I just have one thing to say: YUM!

Check this out:

6 bananas, sliced
2 1/2 cups of coconut milk (look in the ethnic food section of your grocery store)
4 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of salt (I just sprinkled in a tiny bit)

Pour the milk in a pan and add the brown sugar and salt.
Heat till warm and the sugar dissolves.
Add the bananas and cook over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes.
Serve warm.

And again. YUM!

The coconut milk and brown sugar thicken and the results are . . . almost good enough to let FormerFavoriteSon off the hook for doing the “oh yeah, I need it tomorrow” thing.

Almost.

Click Here for a print friendly version of this recipe in PDF,

I’m adding this to Kitchen Tip Tuesdays over at Tammy’s Recipes!

I didn’t drink coffee until I was 30. Now, I drink at least 2 cups every morning. Sometimes I make a pot of decaf hazelnut in the middle of the afternoon, just for me! When I was pregnant, I drank decaf in the morning too and . . . it just didn’t work for me, so over time, we’ve modified the morning coffee routine in two ways:

First, we brew half caf, half decaf. Still great taste, still a little perk from the caffeine, but not too much.

Secondly, we drink “suicide” coffee. Ever see a kid (or maybe you do this) go to the soda fountain dispenser at a restaurant and put a little bit of every kind of soda in the same glass? I’ve heard that drink called a “suicide” since my high school days working at McDonalds. Kids used to order it.

So, what is “suicide” coffee? Well, when we brew our haf caf, half decalf, we use two different flavors of coffee, See, we drink coffee made with flavored beans in this house (it’s one of our few luxuries), and whenever we open a new bag of coffee, we never know what flavors will emerge. We’ve gotten into a routine of using Barnie’s Santa’s White Christmas as a decaf “base” coffee, but we switch out the caffeinated coffee flavors every time.

Also, we don’t buy a cup of coffee every morning, we brew our own. Even after buying the flavored coffees and the 500 count box of Dixie hot cups and lids at Sam’s Club, we still spend less than everyone at Starbucks. Besides, Starbucks doesn’t have flavored beans. And we LOVE our flavored beans.

Click here to enter this week’s book drawing!

(Thanks to Tammy for hosting Kitchen Tip Tuesdays at tammysrecipes.com)

When I make these, it’s usually on a Sunday afternoon. Then I store them in quart size Ziplock bags or Rubbermaid containers in the fridge. Weekday mornings, we just pop a few into the microwave for 30 to 60 seconds.

Prep Time: About a half an hour.
Bake Time: 20 to 30 minutes

Ingredients: (makes 24 muffins)
12 eggs (we use Eggland’s Best)
12 servings of egg whites (1 serving = 1/4 cup)
12 ounces of ground Healthy Choice sausage
1 box of chopped frozen spinach (thawed and drained)
12 ounces of shredded cheese (we use 2% sharp cheddar)

Instructions:
1. Start defrosting the frozen spinach (we use the microwave).
2. In a BIG bowl, crack the 12 eggs and whisk (I use a fork).
3. Add the egg whites and whisk even more.
4. Add the Healthy Choice sausage (I cut up the sausage into chunks which will fit in my food processor, chop/grind the sausage (whatever consistency I prefer) and then I stir the sausage into the egg mixture.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
6. Drain the spinach (I squeeze it between two colanders).
7. Thoroughly stir the spinach into the egg/sausage mixture.
8. Stir in the shredded cheese (I add a little at a time - it gets sticky).
9. Spray two 12 cup muffin tins with vegetable spray, if needed.
10. Pour mixture into muffin cups.
11. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes (they’re done when an inserted knife or toothpick comes out clean)

Variations:
I add different hot sauces for FirstHusband and FavoriteSon. You can add any spices your family likes, switch out ingredients, make a smaller number of larger muffins, bake in a large pan to cut into serving sizes - this recipe has LOTS of possibilities!

Click here for a print friendly version: Bake Ahead Egg Muffins

Lysa at Proverbs 31 Ministries is hosting a recipe exchange. Check out my contribution and then go on over and pick up a few more!

This is one of my “aak! It’s 5:30! What am I going to make for dinner!?!” recipes.

FAST and EASY! And because I chop onions in bulk with my Chop Wizard and then freeze them in zip lock bags, it doesn’t require any fresh ingredients. (Feel free to use fresh ingredients if you want.) I’ve included a print friendly version in pdf at the end of the post.

Ingredients Needed:

vegetable cooking spray
1 medium onion, chopped (about ½ cup)
3 cloves garlic, minced (I use minced garlic sold in a jar)
1 tsp italian seasoning, crushed
1 can (campbell’s) cream of celery soup
1/8 tsp pepper
1 package frozen chopped spinach (about 10 oz)
1 cup plain yogurt
1 medium tomato (or one can diced tomatoes, drained)
1 box of hot cooked spaghetti (about 4 cups cooked or 8 oz dry)
parmesan cheese
____________________

spray medium saucepan with cooking spray and heat over medium heat 1 minute.

Add onion, garlic and italian seasoning and cook until tender, stirring often.

add soup, pepper and spinach. Heat to a boil. reduce heat to low. cover and cook 10 minutes or until spinach is tender, breaking apart spinach with fork and stirring occasionally.

add yogurt and tomato and heat through.

toss with spaghetti.

sprinkle with cheese.

If desired, garnish with fresh basil.

Click here for a print friendly version: spaghetti florentine

1 lb. hot sausage
2 c. grated sharp Cheddar cheese
3 c. Bisquick (biscuit mix)

allow cheese to come to room temperature.
combine all ingredients (just get your hands dirty, it’s easier).
roll into 1 inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet.
bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.
serve immediately (or keep them under lock and key until ready to serve).

makes 40-50 sausage balls when served immediately.
makes 3 sausage balls if served later (if you’re lucky).

(hey Isaac, what happened to the) sausage balls? (print friendly version)

1 cup butter (we use Smart Balance)
1 cup onion (chopped)
1 clove garlic (minced)
1 scant tsp curry powder
½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp coriander
½ tsp red pepper
3 cups chicken broth
1 16 oz can pumkin (or 16 ounces of jack-o-lantern puree)
1 cup half/half (or ½ cup evaporated skim and ½ cup skim)
sour cream
chives

melt butter, saute onion and garlic.
add spices and cook one minute.
add broth and simmer uncovered 15 to 20 minutes.
add pumpkin and milk and cook 5 minutes.
puree in blender.  (BE CAREFUL.  Start on a slow speed.  It can burst out of the top even when you are holding the lid.  REALLY.  Start Slow!)

garnish with sour cream and chives.

Serves 6

barbara’s pumpkin soup (print friendly version)

This was invented by my daughter one lazy Sunday afternoon :

Saute chopped mushrooms and minced garlic in olive oil

Add some diced ham

Season with Mrs. Dash Basil, Tomato and Oregano

Add 1 can of tomatoes and juice

Cook for a while, stirring occasionally

Add three cups chicken broth

Add two cups water

Add ½ can of chick peas

Puree the other half of the chick peas and stir it in.

Add one can drained peas

Add cooked pasta

cook for a while.

Top with shredded cheese.

mmmmmmmmm.

Sarah’s Six Year Old Soup (printer friendly version)