Corn with Spicy Butter and Lime

Anything with lime and cilantro has got to qualify as a favorite of mine. So when I found this recipe, I just knew it had to be a good one and I was right. Again, I didn't get to enjoy it because corn is no longer on my eating plan, but I did try a bite and was thrilled with the result. The hubby loved it too! This is super quick and easy to make and I'm not sure you could really do it wrong.

Adapted from: http://eatdrinkdaily.com/bbq-corn-mexican-spicy-butter-lime-recipe/

1 (16 oz) bag frozen corn
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 lime, juiced
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (use less if you don't like your food too spicy)
1/2 tsp cumin
1 garlic clove, chopped
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp coriander
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

For garnish:
1/2- 1 lime, juiced
Chopped cilantro

Heat oven to 400°
Thaw out corn on countertop or in microwave. Set aside. In a medium bowl, place the melted butter, lime juice, paprika, red pepper flakes, cumin, garlic, sugar, coriander, salt and pepper.  Put the corn into the butter mixture and stir, making sure all the corn is coated with the butter mixture. Pour out the corn into a greased 9x11 pan. (You could also use a square pan) Bake at 400° for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and top with chopped cilantro and lime juice.

Sausage Enchilada Stuffed Zucchini

Sometimes I just sit back and wonder why I do things like this to myself? What did I do you ask? Well I made these wonderful stuffed zucchini and I can't even enjoy them! *sigh*
I am sure shootin positive they don't qualify as a healthy whole food that my nutrition doctor would be excited about me eating. They are generally healthy, but since I am on a whole foods only program, with no dairy, the cheese and a few other ingredients disqualified these for me!

As the hubby was giving them the "thumbs up" at dinner, I couldn't help myself. I got a fork and tasted the smallest amount I could place on the end of the fork. Trust me it was microscopic, but it was enough for me to know that they tasted wonderful. So now I feel like I can give you a tried and true opinion. So gather up the ingredients, put on that old apron that's gathering dust and get cooking!

P.S. Don't be like me and forget to add the chopped green onion to the top after it's finished.  I found them sitting on my countertop after we had already cut into them.

Recipe adapted from: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/08/chicken-enchilada-stuffed-zucchini-boats.html

For  the sauce:

1 tsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 chipotle chilis, chopped (canned chipotle chili) (use only 1 tsp if you don't like spicy food)
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
2/3 cup chicken broth
salt/pepper to taste

For the Zucchini:

4 zucchini
1 tsp canola oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
8-12 oz pork sausage, cooked(I used pork green chili sausage from Sprouts market)
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp chili powder
3 Tbsp chicken broth
1 Tbsp tomato paste
salt/pepper to taste

For  topping:

1 cup cheddar cheese, grated (you can substitute your favorite...mozzarella, jack, pepper jack etc)
 1 (3.8 oz) can sliced olives, drained

For garnish:

Chopped cilantro
Green onions



In a medium saucepan, saute the garlic in the olive oil for about 2 minutes. Add the chipotle chilis, tomato sauce, chili powder, cumin, chicken broth, salt and pepper. . Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5- 10 minutes. Adjust the salt and pepper to suit your taste. Set the sauce aside until later.

Preheat oven to 400 °. Cut zucchini in half lengthwise and use a spoon or melon baller to scoop out the flesh, leaving about a 1/4 inch thickness to the zucchini boat. Chop the scooped out flesh of the zucchini into small pieces and set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Drop the zucchini boats into the boiling water and cook for 1 minute, then immediately remove from the water to stop the cooking process. Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the canola oil and add the onion, garlic and red bell pepper. Cook on medium heat for about 3 minutes. Ad chopped zucchini and cilantro and season with salt and pepper. Cook about 4 minutes then add the cooked sausage, cumin, Italian seasoning, chili powder, chicken broth, and tomato paste. Cook for 3 more minutes. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed.

Place 1/4 cup enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish that has been sprayed with Pam. Place zucchini halves in the dish, cut side up. Fill each zucchini boat with 1/3 cup sausage mixture. If there is extra, just scoop it on in to any that look like they could use some extra. Push the mixture down into the zucchini with the back of your spoon. 

Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the zucchini boats. Top with 1 cup grated cheese and sliced olives. Cover with foil and bake at 400 ° for 35 minutes. Top with chopped cilantro and sliced green onions.

Chocolate Orange Banana Bread with White Chocolate Chunks

Kudos to Barry C. Parsons for creating this amazing bread recipe.If you get a chance, head on over to his original recipe at this link: http://www.nlrockrecipes.com/2012/03/chocolate-orange-banana-bread-with.html
and check out some of his other recipes. They all look wonderful.

This is now my most favorite banana bread recipe. Sure, sometimes plain old banana bread sounds great, (as long as there are no nuts in it), but trust me when I tell you that this bread has such a fantastic  array of flavors and they all work together beautifully. I wish I was a better photographer, so you could genuinely see how great this bread looks, but I guess cooking and baking shall remain my only talents for now! So if you are looking for a new way to jazz up that old banana bread, this is definitely it!

*My white chocolate was in an enormous block, so I had trouble chopping it. Mine came out more "shaved" and that's why you can't see the white chocolate chunks in my sliced bread as much.The shavings were small and somewhat "melted" into the bread as it was cooking.

1 cup white sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten
3 medium ripe bananas, mashed

zest of one orange

1 3/4 cups flour

1/2 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt

juice of one orange
1/2 pound white chocolate, roughly chopped into chunks

Preheat oven to 325°.

Beat sugar and oil in a bowl. Add eggs, orange zest and mashed banana. Mix well.
Sift together dry ingredients and fold into banana mixture alternately with orange juice.
Fold in the white chocolate chunks. Pour batter into 1 large or two small greased loaf pans. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour depending upon pan size. Mine took well over an hour since I used a large loaf pan. Bake  until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Caramel Apple Pie

Having company over is the best excuse for me to bake something. So when we decided to have friends over on Saturday evening, I scoured my Pinterest boards to find a great dessert recipe. I found a recipe for Candy Apple Pie that looked like a winner. After a quick trip to the grocery store, I started putting this pie together. This was a great dessert choice for me because I don't like apple pie, so I knew I would not be tempted by this one at all. I was dead wrong! While it was baking, I  had a moment of insanity, where I thought about waiting for it to cool off and taking it into a closet and consuming the entire thing by myself.  Then it dawned on me that the hubby would probably find a pecan and caramel trail down the hall, and also, if company arrived and there was no dessert, someone would figure out what I had done, so I left it alone. I was a good girl and didn't eat any, but company, and the hubby, did enjoy it! If you like caramel apples and you can handle a pretty sweet dessert, you just  might like this one. There is a very thin "almost cheesecake like" layer in it also.

This is where you can find the original recipe:
http://www.thekitchn.com/-best-pie-bakeoff-2008-entry-1-10-69632
*The only adaptation I made is that I used Richardson brand butterscotch caramel instead of plain caramel.

Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 c butter, melted
3/4 c Richardson's Butterscotch Caramel ice cream topping
1 c chopped pecans

Apple Filling:
5 Granny Smith apples (peeled, cored, sliced very thin)
5 Tbsp butter
1/2 c brown sugar (lightly packed)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Cream Cheese Topping:
8 oz. cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 c sugar

Topping:
3/4 c heavy cream, whipped
2 Tbsp sugar


Garnish:
1/2 c Richardson's Butterscotch Caramel ice cream topping
1/4 c pecans, chopped
 
Preheat oven to 375°

In a medium bowl, combine the crumbs, sugar, cinnamon and melted butter. Mix well and press into a 10-inch pie plate and up the sides. Bake for 6 to 7 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and cool completely. Pour 3/4 cup caramel into pie shell and sprinkle with 1 cup of chopped pecans. Refrigerate the pie shell while you are making the apple filling.

In a large skilet, over medium heat, melt butter and add brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. Stir. Add apples and stir again until they are coated well. Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes or until apples are softened and tender. Let cool for 10 minutes and pour into the  pie shell.

Reduce oven to 350°

In a mixer, combine cream cheese and sugar for about 1 minute until smooth. Add egg, lemon juice and vanilla and beat for 1 minute or until fully blended. Pour over apple filling in pie shell. Bake for 30 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean. Remove pie from oven and let cool. Refrigerate for 4 hours.

After you pie has been refrigerated, combine the heavy whipping cream and the sugar in a mixer. Whip until it is a whipped cream consistency. Spread this onto your pie.

Top with 1/2 cup Richardson's Butterscotch Caramel and 1/4 cup chopped pecans.
It's best to take this pie out of the refrigerator at least a half hour before serving. 

Chicken Caliente Sausage Skillet

Those who know me, know that I am not a big fan of sausage. Don't get me wrong, I'll eat it, but it's definitely not one of my favorites. I think all that changed when I discovered Southwest Chicken Caliente Sausage from Sprouts Market. It's got a perfect amount of spices and jalapeno to give it a nice spicy flavor. Plus it's made from chicken  and it's rare that I find a chicken dish that I truly don't like.

So tonight when I decided to make this meal, I had the idea that I wanted to try something different using this sausage. I searched for a recipe that I could use, but I must have been in a picky mood because nothing struck my fancy.  So it was time to let the creative juices loose again. I used the liquid measurements from a previous skillet mac recipe I had made, and blended that with the flavors I knew I wanted this dinner to have. It turned out to be a great combo. Since I am not eating grains or pasta these days, I took one small, and boy oh boy, I do mean small, bite just to try it so I could give you a legitimate opinion. I REALLY liked it!! I wish I could have eaten more, but alas, it's time  to continue on my wellness journey with only organic whole foods. So it was a separate dinner for me.
The hubby did give it rave reviews though.

*If you don't  have a Sprouts market nearby to purchase the kind of sausage used in this recipe, then just use your favorite sausage (Sweet Italian, Polsa Kielbasa  etc) If you want it spicy like the caliente sausage used in the recipe, add one fresh chopped jalapeno and some fresh chopped cilantro when you cook the sausage. 

1 Tbsp olive oil
3 Southwest Chicken Caliente Sausage from Sprouts Market, removed from casings

1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced

1 sweet red bell pepper, diced
2 cups chicken broth
1 can S&W Chili Beans (Pinto beans, chili peppers, onion and garlic in a zesty tomato sauce) 

1 (3.8 oz) can sliced olives, drained
1/2 milk
8 oz bowtie pasta (you can use your favorite pasta instead)
1/2 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp pepper

2 cups cheddar cheese

2 green onions, sliced

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Add sausage, onions, garlic and red pepper. Cook about 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth, chili beans, olives, milk, pastas, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then cover the skillet, and reduce heat to medium. Cook for 15 minutes until the pasta is tender. Remove the skillet from the heat and mix in 1 1/2 cups of the cheese. Mix well. Top with remaining 1/2 cup of cheese and sprinkle with green onions. Put the lid back on for about 2 minutes to allow the cheese on the top to melt. Serve hot and enjoy. 

Roasted Red Peppers

I think that roasted red peppers have become my new favorite snack foods. They are nutritious, have an almost sweet like quality when they are roasted, and they are super easy to make.  Since there are only approximately 51 calories in a large red pepper, and the olive oil only adds a few calories, these make the perfect low cal, high nutrition snack or side dish to a lunch or dinner.

 Sweet red bell peppers
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Any seasonings of your choice
*There are no exact measurements for this recipe. It's just "to taste"

Preheat the oven to 400°
Cut the peppers into 1/4's or just slice the pieces as thin as you would like them. Place them into a bowl and drizzle olive oil over the top of them. Use your hands to mix the peppers and olive oil, being sure to coat all sides of the peppers. Spray a cookie sheet or broiler pan with Pam. Place the oiled peppers onto the greased pan. Sprinkle both sides of the peppers with salt and pepper, and any other of your favorite seasonings. Bake at 400° for 25 min. Turn the peppers over and continue to bake for 25-30 more minutes or until completely soft and just beginning to turn dark around the edges of the peppers.

Chocolate Coconut Rolls

Waking up super early  has it's benefits, but it also has it's drawbacks. One of the drawbacks is that I tend to want to bake when there is nothing else to do and I still have HOURS to get ready for work. Unfortunately, with me being on a whole foods eating plan, these bad boys were not on my food list of "can have" foods. Big bummer, cause they certainly looked and smelled delicious. Judging from reactions at work, I would have to guess they were pretty darn good. They got eaten right up and there was none left to bring home. So if you have a little bit of extra time on your hands and want something super quick and very easy to satisfy a sweet tooth, then this just  might be the recipe you are looking for!

 Recipe adapted from:
http://www.bakerella.com/chocolate-swirl-biscuits/

For the dough:

2 cups flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
5 Tbsp cold butter, cut into very small pieces
3/4 cup coconut milk

1/2 tsp almond extract

For the filling:

3 Tbsp butter, softened (not melted)
2 Tbsp sugar
3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup toasted coconut

1 cup almonds, chopped (you can substitute your favorite nut)

 

For the topping:

 
1 egg yolk
1 Tbsp coconut milk
sugar (for sprinkling on the top of the rolls) 

Preheat oven to 400°

Spray a cookie sheet with Pam. 

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt until blended. 

Use a pastry blender (or you can use your fingers) and work the butter into the dry ingredients until it is a crumbly texture. 

Add the coconut milk and almond extract and stir with a fork until a sticky dough forms. 

Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Flour your hands and shape the dough into a ball. Gently knead it 10 times. 

Lightly flour the counter that you kneaded the dough on and use a floured rolling pin to roll the dough into a 13 x 11 rectangle.  

Now toast your coconut by placing 3/4 cup coconut on a cookie sheet. Place the cookie sheet in your preheated oven and monitor it carefully. It should only take a few minutes for the coconut to become a nice toasty golden brown. Remove from the  oven when it's golden brown. Set aside.

Spread softened butter completely over the surface of the dough. Sprinkle sugar, chocolate chips,  toasted coconut, and chopped almonds, all over the buttered dough. 

Roll the dough up in a jelly roll fashion, from the long side, and cut the roll into 12 equal sections. 

Place the cut sections 2 inches apart on your greased cookie sheet. 

To make the topping: Mix together 1 egg yolk and coconut milk in a small bowl. Brush onto the tops of the rolls. Sprinkle sugar all over the tops. 

Bake for about 18 minutes or until golden.

Chocolate Dump Cake (or better known as "death by chocolate" cake)

I grew up loving my mom's pineapple cherry dump cake. Just the thought of it brings back some great memories. So when I stumbled upon this recipe for chocolate dump cake, I could not resist. The best thing about this recipe is that it is amazingly simple. Seriously....anyone could do this. Even if you are not a baker, just trust me on this one, you can do this!! So go gather up your whole whopping, 4 ingredients and get to baking.

 This is the link to the original recipe! Chocolate Pudding Dump Cake

Ingredients:
1 chocolate cake mix ( I used triple fudge cake mix)
1 small package instant chocolate pudding
1 1/2 cups cold milk
1 1/2 cups semi sweeet chocolate chips


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°
Prepare the pudding with the milk according to the directions on the package. Add the dry cake mix and stir well to combine. This will produce a thick batter consistency. Pour the batter into a greased
9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle the chocolate chips onto the top of the batter. Bake for approx 22-26 minutes (depending on how gooey you like your chocolate cake). If you don't like your cake gooey, just cook it until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
I like to leave mine a bit gooey as it continues to cook a bit in the hot pan after you remove it from the oven.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cookies

There is not much I can say about these cookies except OH MY! I'm not quite sure if I'm super happy that I found this recipe online, or if I'm scared to have found it because they are so incredibly good that I can almost hear them calling out to  me from the kitchen, even as I'm typing this. I made these for my beautiful mom for her birthday. She LOVED them!! In fact, she asked for the recipe so she can make them for her church group. So be warned before you make these that it will be impossible to stop at one two three four....ok TEN cookies. Yes, they are that yummy! Then again, with chocolate and peanut butter, what could possibly go wrong? Perfect marriage of flavors!

I am so thankful to have stumbled onto the original recipe on Pinterest.
It can be found here:
http://easybaked.net/2011/04/01/black-bottom-peanut-butter-cookies/
This is a great site and if you get a chance you should check out some of the wonderful recipes on her blog!

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
12 oz semi sweet chocolate chips (you can substitute dark or milk chocolate chips)

*This will make about 18 cookies. You can double the recipe if you wish to  make more!

Preheat oven to 350°
In a bowl, mix together the peanut butter sugar and egg. Mix until combined well. Roll the dough into medium size balls and place on cookie sheet. Use a fork to make the criss cross design on the top of the cookie. Bake at 350° for 12-14 minutes. Cool completely.

Melt the chocolate chips in the top of a double boiler or in the microwave. Lay out a sheet of wax paper. On the wax paper, dollop a "puddle" of 2 teaspoons of melted chocolate. Push a cooled cookie into the puddle of chocolate until it seeps out the edges evenly on all sides. Do this with all the cookies. Take the extra melted chocolate and scoop it into a baggie. Cut off one teeny tiny corner of the baggie. Squeeze the chocolate out while making back and forth motions over the cookies. This will drizzle the melted chocolate over the tops of the cookies. Let them sit for about an hour or until the chocolate has completely lost all it's gloss and has firmed up completely.

Asian Chicken Wings

I need to start with a confession here. These are made from last night's leftover baked chicken wings. So I only made the sauce tonight and "re-baked" them. Since I like my chicken wings, super crispy, I tend to bake them for quite awhile and then they have that "fried" kind of texture on the outside without all the unhealthiness of fried wings. So if you want to start with raw chicken wings, I assume you could just put the sauce on them and bake them until they are done, but I can't guarantee the outcome since this is the first time I have created these. I'm sure it would work just fine, but for the purpose of this recipe I will tell you how I made them with already baked wings.

Tonight I wondered what I could do with leftover baked wings. I contemplated BBQ sauce of some kind, but then  my creative juices really started flowing. I made a mad dash around my pantry and refrigerator collecting anything I thought might come together to make a good wing sauce. Ok so it wasn't really a mad dash as I was actually really happy about creating these, so it was more like a
"happy dash." The hubby and I were both pleasantly surprised at how great this tasted. I can't wait to make them again!!

For the chicken:
12 Chicken wings
salt/pepper

Season the wings with salt and pepper. Bake in a 375° oven for approx. 1 hour or until crispy, brown and cooked through.  Set aside. (While the chicken is cooking, prepare your wing sauce)

Asian wing sauce:
1 lg garlic clove, chopped finely
1 Tbsp canola oil

1 cup water


1/4 tsp pepper
 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp finely diced, fresh ginger
1 tsp sesame oil
 2 1/2 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
1 Tbsp fish sauce (sold in the Asian section at the grocery store)

1 Thai chili pepper, chopped finely
1 Tbsp chili garlic sauce (sold in the Asian section at the grocery store)

2 Tbsp corn starch
2 Tbsp water

2-3 Green onions, chopped (for garnish)
Toasted sesame seeds (for garnish)

Heat oven to 375°
In a medium saucepan, heat the 1 Tbsp canola oil. When it's hot, add the garlic and saute until the garlic is golden and tender. Add the water, pepper, salt, ginger, sesame oil sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, fish sauce, Thai pepper and chili garlic sauce. Combine thoroughly. Bring to a slow boil.

In a very small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water. This will be your thickening agent for your sauce. After it's stirred well together it should resemble watered down milk. Add  this starch mixture to your sauce. Continue to heat until the sauce thickens. When you think it's thick enough to stick to your wings, remove from heat.
Place all the wings in a large bowl. Pour the sauce over them and mix thoroughly to coat each wing with sauce on all sides. You can also use a spoon to spoon more sauce over each one. Place the "sauced" wings onto a broiler pan or baking pan. Place the wings into the oven and "re-bake" them for 30 minutes.
When wings come out of the oven, garnish them with chopped green onions and toasted sesame seeds.

Loaded Brown Rice and Chili Beans

I am pretty sure that this dish has all my favorite ingredients. Ok...so it doesn't have chocolate! As I was gathering fixins to make dinner tonight, I was struck by a thought. Why not put all of the great things I can find in my kitchen together to make a wonderful side dish? I'm so glad the thought evolved as this dish turned out to be scrumptious. I may have just created my new favorite brown rice side dish. If you love brown rice, chili beans, olives, jalapenos, onions and cilantro, then you will love this! Next time I might even add some diced tomatoes. I guess you can add just about anything you like that goes with this. Enjoy!!

1 cup brown rice, uncooked
3 cups water

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 (16 oz) can chili beans in mild sauce (do not drain)
2 oz diced jalapenos
4 oz sliced olives, drained

1 med onion, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
Salt to taste

Bring 3 cups water and olive oil to a boil. Add the brown rice. Cover with a lid and put the fire on very low and leave it for 45 min.

While the rice is cooking, saute  your onion in olive oil over low heat until golden brown and tender.
Get all your other ingredients ready.

After the rice is done cooking, add in the sauteed onion and all the other ingredients except  the cilantro. Stir to mix together. Reheat on low flame until everything is heated through. This shouldn't take but just a couple of minutes. Take off the fire and stir in chopped cilantro. Salt it to taste and serve!

Spiced Brussels

Recently, I have enjoyed making a lot of brussel sprouts. I really like the flavor of them and they are so easy to "spruce up." I even got my grand daughter to eat a bite of one. Granted, it was only a bite, but that's pretty miraculous for a 2 year old. I'm not sure she was a fan, but the hubby and I sure were.

15-20 brussel sprouts
1 lg garlic clove, finely chopped
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp Old Bay seasoning
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp Ancho chili powder (you can use regular chili powder if you don't have this)
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp cumin

1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
juice of 1/2 a lime

Preheat oven to 350°. Wash and dry your brussel sprouts. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine garlic, salt, Old Bay seasoning, coriander, chili powder, crushed red pepper  flakes, and cumin. Stir in the olive oil and then put your brussel sprouts into the bowl with this mixture. Use your hand or a large spoon and make sure the brussel sprouts are thoroughly coated with this mixture. Spread the spiced brussels onto a broiler pan or baking pan. Roast for 25 min. (Mine only took 25 min because my brussel sprouts were fairly small.) Adjust your cooking time as needed if your sprouts are larger and you find they are not tender after 25 min. Serve warm.

Hawaiian Coconut and Macadamia Nut Salmon with Coconut Lime Sauce

Well it's been awhile since I posted any regular meals. The whole foods,  natural eating plan is going wonderful, but boy oh boy do I miss cooking things like this. This meal didn't quite fit into my doctors eating plan for me, so tonight when I knew my daughter would be here for dinner, I decided to make something special for her and my hubby. I'm glad I did, because they both thoroughly enjoyed this. I will "fess" up that I took a very small bite just to see if it tasted good. Yes it sure did!! It felt so amazing to let my creative juices flow and put together a great meal again, as it's been quite awhile since I have cooked anything very fancy, beyond basic meats, veggies etc. So be patient with me and I will try to post every once in awhile when I make something special for visiting family members and friends.

I know this picture is not very great. But it will have to do, as hungry family members are not to be kept waiting just to get a decent shot of dinner ;)

For the Salmon:
1 ex. lg Salmon fillet
1/4 cup macadamia nuts, chopped
10 wheat thins, crushed
1/8 cup Panko (Japanese bread crumbs, sold at most grocery stores)
3 Tbsp flour
1 egg, beaten

1/8 cup vegetable oil or cooking the fish 

For the Lime Sauce:
 1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp flour
Zest of medium lime
1 large lime, juiced
1/8 tsp lemon pepper
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp sugar
* 1 1/2 Tbsp unsweetened, shredded, coconut (see note at bottom of recipe)
7 ounces coconut milk ( I used the canned as it's a little thicker than the one from the deli department)

 Be sure to have the lime sauce ingredients all ready to go as you will be making the sauce while the fish is cooking and it doesn't take very long to cook the salmon.

For the Salmon:
In a medium bowl, mix together the macadamia nuts, wheat thins and panko bread crumbs. Mix them together well. Pour out onto a plate ( I would suggest a paper plate for less dish washing later on). Set aside.

On another plate (again paper plates work well here) place your flour and set aside.

In a small bowl, beat the egg. Pout into a shallow dish that you will be able to dip the salmon into. Set aside.

Clean your salmon and pat dry with a paper towel. Dredge the salmon in the flour, making sure to coat all sides, then into the egg wash, again coating all sides of the salmon, then into the macadamia mixture, coating all sides with the mixture. Set the fish on a plate while you are heating your oil.

Heat 1/8 cup canola or vegetable oil in a skillet. Make sure it's good and hot before you add the salmon. Place the salmon in the hot oil and cook on both sides, until it's cooked all the way through. It's hard to give a time for this because the size and thickness of salmon fillets differ so much. When you think it's done, test the edge with a fork. If it flakes away easily, your salmon is cooked through.
While the salmon is cooking, prepare your lime sauce.


For the Lime Sauce:
In a small or med saucepan, melt butter. Add the flour and stir. This will look lumpy and clumpy, that's ok. You are basically making a roux (pronounced ROO, which is a thickening agent for sauces).
After that's stirred together, stir in the lime zest, lime juice, lemon pepper, salt, onion powder, sugar and shredded coconut. Stir together. Don't worry this will still be super thick and clumpy. Now add the coconut milk. Stir together and press out any lumps, with the back of the spoon, as you stir. Cook until thick and bubbly. Cook for one additional minute.
Pour the heated sauce over the salmon and enjoy!!

 *You can substitute sweetened, shredded, coconut if you would like, I think it actually would taste good, but I stuck with the unsweetened for this attempt.

Snickers Brownies

It truly is a good thing that I am still on a natural eating plan and can't consume any of these brownies,  because I know for sure that I would not stop at one! Let me tell you though, it was certainly tough not to taste this recipe! Just the fact that brownies, caramel and peanut butter are all together in this recipe just about makes my head swirl with delight.

Just so you know I am not posting an untasted recipe.....the family gave them a "thumbs up" but they also commented that they were so rich that I needed to cut them much smaller. So be forewarned, they are yummy but rich.

And in the words of Dr. Suess.....well...mostly his words, I added a few ;)

Would you eat them here or there? I would eat these ANYWHERE!
Would you, could you in a house?  Yes as long as I hide them from my spouse!
I will eat them in the rain. In the dark. On a train.
In a car. In a tree. They are SO GOOD, SO GOOD you see!
 Would you? Could you? In a car?
Eat them! Eat them! Here they are!

Original recipe can be found at: http://www.jaseyscrazydaisy.com/2012/02/snickers-brownies.html
*Check out her blog, it's got some great recipes on it!

For the brownie layer
1 box of brownie mix
1/4 cup hot fudge topping

For the nougat layer
1/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1 1//2 jars marshmallow creme
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cups salted peanuts, lightly chopped
1 tsp vanilla

For the caramel layer
  one 17 oz jar of caramel ice cream topping

For the chocolate topping
1 1/4 cups chocolate chips
1/4 cup peanut butter.

For the brownie layer:
Prepare brownie batter according to package directions, but also add the 1/4 cup hot fudge topping, to the batter. Bake in a 9X13 pan at the temperature stated on the box and then cool the brownies completely.

For the nougat layer:
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add sugar and evaporated milk, stirring until all the sugar is dissolved. Bring it to a slow boil. Stir in the marshmallow creme, peanut butter, vanilla and peanuts. Stir until smooth. Pour the mixture evenly over cooled brownies. Let the brownies cool again. You can place them in the refrigerator for a while or place them for a few minutes in the freezer to speed up this process.


For the caramel layer: 
If your caramel is thin enough straight out of the jar, you can pour it directly onto the nougat layer on the brownies. If it is too thick, then heat it slightly on the stovetop until it is pourable. Pour it as evenly as you can onto the nougat layer and use a spatula to even it out the rest of the way. Let it cool down again. (You can put them in the fridge or freezer again)

For the chocolate topping:
Melt chocolate chips and peanut butter together in a saucepan over low heat, or in the microwave, stirring occasionally, until smooth. (If you use the microwave, do NOT overcook and make sure to stir frequently and only cook it for a few seconds at a time until  it's melted together.) Pour the chocolate layer over the caramel layer. Place the brownies into the refrigerator to allow the chocolate to set completely. (The original recipe states that these are better served out of the fridge, allowing just a few minutes to set them out at room temp. The chocolate begins to soften too much if they are left out of the fridge like most brownies)