Scallops, Bread and weight loss resolutions

It is New Years once again and this year I will join the many thousands who vow to lose weight.  Although I have dieted many times in my life before, this time the doctor has ordered it with the hopes that it will lower my cholesterol without having to increase my dosage of medication.  Instead of waiting for the ball to drop in order to start, I am starting now.  Armed with a new journal where I will keep track of what I eat, I am prepared to start the Weight Watchers online and I am investigating websites with good recipes. I do not want this diet to control my life or make me think of food all the time so I am going to make a weekly menu, hope to buy only those ingredients and stay away from the store in between to control my impulse purchases.

Last night I made Pan Seared Scallops with Baby Greens and Citrus Mojo Vinaigrette   This is a great recipe that does not taste at all diet, but is a 4 point weight watcher recipe.  The dressing is tangy and citrus laden and is a keeper.  The scallops were fresh diver scallops given as a gift from my son.  I also sliced two small potatoes and sprayed them with cooking spray and cooked in the oven at 400 degrees until brown resulting in unfried potato chips. 

A cookbook that contains many excellent low calorie recipes that I have used since the early 90's is Vegetarian Spa Cuisine from Rancho La Puerta and Deborah Szekely.  The cover states that it contains "live younger/longer recipes."  I can't vouch for that, but the Tecante Ranch Whole Wheat Bread recipe is a definite winner.  


The ingredients are:
3 cups of warm water
1/4 cup wild sage honey
1 packet active dry yeast
1/2 cup cold pressed safflower or sunflower oil
8 1/2 - 9 1/2 stone ground whole wheat flour
1 cup Miller's wheat bran flakes
1 tbsp. poppy or sesame seeds
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 egg white beaten (for glaze)

I used rapid rise yeast, so I put all ingredients (approx 8 cups of flour) but the egg white in the stand kitchen mixer and when incorporated and not too sticky anymore (if the dough is sticky add flour in 1/4 cup amounts until it isn't sticky) I use the dough hook and let the machine knead the bread for 4 - 5 minutes.  When risen I divide the dough and put it into a bread pan that has been sprayed, cover with a towel until risen again and cook for 35 to 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  The result is a wonderful fiber filled bread that will freeze for up to 2 months. If you cut each loaf into 25 slices, or a total of 50 slices, each slice is 107 calories, 2.4 protein grams, 17.9 carbs, 2.6 fat, 0 cholesterol and 60 mg. sodium.

Happy New Year to all of you and I hope that whatever resolutions you make will work out for you.  I wish me lots of luck on my resolution and hope that it lasts until the goal is achieved.

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Home - Welcome to Meandering Maine. Meandering Maine provides information and resources about Maine to the people who love Maine, live in Maine, or want to visit Maine. Love Maine!

Happy Holidays

We still have snow on the ground, the packages are wrapped and we are ready for Christmas.  Paul and I will load the car this morning so that I can finish up packing our clothes and getting ready for tonight.  We will have a chowder I prepared with two pounds of lobster claw and knuckle meat, one pound of shrimp and roasted corn.  Steven is bringing biscuits from Robin Hood Meeting House.  I haven't tasted them yet, but hear they are wonderful.  Susan and Judi are making appetizers and Marcia and Karen are bringing desserts.  On Christmas day we will be having 5 cheese lasagna, soup, antipasto and dessert before Paul and I head down to the Cape to spend a few days with his 90 year old Mom.  

 
On Monday, Karen, Megan and I spent an overnight in Boston while Megan investigated a couple of art schools.  We had use of a wonderful condo on Commonwealth Avenue and went to the North End for a good Italian meal and cannoli. 


The stores in Boston are very festively decorated and there is no shortage of Christmas lights.


We wish you and your families a wonderful holiday and a new year filled with love, good health,  peace and a good amount of bliss.

Cranberries and Dynamite

While searching the web for some interesting new additions to party food, I ran across the Sparkling Cranberry recipe on www.101cookbooks.com .   Those little darlings do sparkle and taste fantastic.  Described differently by guests the other night, I found them to be totally addictive and recommend them highly as a different touch to cocktail party food and they are so very easy to prepare.

We also served Dynamite sandwiches at the party (although I have no final pictures).  My husband has been talking up these monster sandwiches up since I met him and finally I procured the recipe to make them.  Based on research I did, these sandwiches are French Canadian blue collar food.  In the proportion of 15 pounds of peppers and onions to 5 pounds of hamburg, they make quite a massive amount and you need a rather large pan.  With the addition of tomato paste, red pepper flakes, and some seasonings, it is recommended that you make this at least one day in advance to make sure the flavors blend and intensify.  You serve this on "hoagie" rolls and accompany it by potato chips.  A real man sandwich. 

It was a fun party with lots of appetizers brought by the guests and a gift exchange that brought lots of laughs.  I just love the holiday season and it is not the food or the gifts that define the season to me, it is the joy and outpouring of generosity and fun.

Trees Down

For over 100 years, three maple trees have edged the property of our home. They have shielded us from the sun and protected this home from the road. They all came down yesterday before they fell down due to disease spreading through them that has caused several branches to fall already. It is amazing how exposed we felt last night. It surprised us at how open the property feels. We will have to appraise the situation and figure out how to provide some privacy either with fencing, shrubbery or more trees. We will surely have to do something and although we discussed how we would feel, we are amazed that our reaction is so intense.

Also amazing is the fact that people will climb into these sick trees and risk their life and limb to cut them down.

Snow and Pork Shoulder

Partially listening and sometimes watching a foodnetwork program last Friday, while cooking dinner, Chef Anne was preparing a pork shoulder roast. From what I saw, she butterflied the roast and coated the inside with 30 cloves of garlic sliced on a mandolin mixed with chopped fresh herbs and olive oil. After she slathered this mixture on the inside, she tied tied the roast and that is where I totally lost track of the program. I have checked on www.foodnetwork.com for any similar recipe and searched under the name of Ann Burnell recipes and I could not come up with the exact recipe.  And, since Hannaford's had pork shoulder roasts for $.99 a pound, I ventured forth to sort of recreate what I saw.

Since the weather was pretty foul yesterday with snow, wind and rain, I stayed in, cooked the pork and invited 5 unsuspecting guests to sample the test dinner.  We were very fortunate, the power didn't go out until 1/2 hour after everyone left, but more so because the pork roast was easy to do, smelled marvelous and everyone agreed that it was great.  Top off those reasons with one really big one, and that is because it was very cheap to prepare.  Served with roasted brussels sprouts, potato lynonnaise and a salad with pomegranate and dressed with French Vinaigrette, the meal was an inexpensive success.

I need to remember to take pictures when foods are completed and to work on my photos.  

 

Snow and Stew

The first snow of the season fell last night and it is truly beautiful.  Kind of puts you into the spirit of the season. 

Yesterday we first visited the Christmas Fair at the Episcopal Church in Thomaston, where they were serving up some of the best lobster stew I have had in a long time.  They had a jazz accompaniment to the meal.   Then we toured the Thomaston Historical Society's Home for the Holidays.  For me, it was a disappointment.  Although the house had some wonderful historical details, the decorating for the season was all faux and the decorating of the home seemed a bit out of touch with the history of the house.  But it was fun to see, but not as nice as the Knox Mansion, which was totally done up for their open house.  Dinner at Lily Bistro rounded out the day.

The End of Thanksgiving Dinner

Yesterday was a great soup day, it was cold and raw outside and I needed to clean out the frig from the decadent food and leftovers from Thanksgiving. 

A few years ago we were invited to an outside party in the Hart's Neck area and since it was chilly that night, among other wonderful foods, there was a big pot of turkey soup, some of the best I thought I had ever had.  Perhaps it was a cool night air, but when I recreated it yesterday, I loved it just as much.  The original recipe came from Leslie, a neighbor, but of course I had to adjust for what I had on hand and what I love.  The turkey carcass was put in a pot with a couple of onions and a head of garlic that had been sliced in half, two carrots and several pieces of celery.  I filled the pot with water and let it come to a boil and simmer for several hours.  Then I strained the stock and reduced it by 1/3rd and added 1 cup of leftover stuffing, 2 cups of chopped cooked turkey, four carrots sliced, two stalks of celery sliced, and one can of cream of chicken soup.  After it had cooked for a while, I added a large handful of egg noodles and cooked the soup until the noodles were done.  Season to taste.  I did not need to add any salt and used a "healthy" low sodium soup.

Yum