Pastrami Parmesan Spread

• 
  6-8 thin, narrow slices of turkey pastrami
• ⅔c fresh grated parmesan cheese
• 1oz. grated dill havarti cheese
• 1 clove garlic
• 1-2t dry dill
• a pinch of cayenne pepper
• fresh ground black pepper
• ½-⅔c sour cream
• a little water if needed 

Slice the pastrami, then cross-cut, then chop it as fine as possible. Smash, peel, and mince the garlic. Combine all the ingredients in a glass bowl, adding a little more sour cream or water if needed so everything holds together, but is spreadable. This is great on seedy-grainy Norwegian crispbread. It would also be good spread on rye bread, maybe add a little sauerkraut for a quick version of a Rueben! . .Lin

Popper Dip

2 8oz pkgs. cream cheese – softened

1c mayonnaise or ½c each mayo and sour cream

1½c shredded hot pepper cheese

1c shredded parmesan cheese

½c Panko bread crumbs

Mix together the first three ingredients. Check flavors and heat and make any necessary additions. Put in an ungreased 9” pie pan. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. Bake at 375° for 25-30 minutes.

Serve with crackers, Fritos or sliced fresh vegetables.

This was another recipe from our girl's group dinner a week ago. Sandy got this recipe from a friend and made several changes. It was great. Thank you Sandy!

Corn and Bean con Queso Dip

1 can light red kidney beans

1 can black beans

1 can corn

1 can Rotel Tomatoes

1# Velveeta or regular American Cheese

In a medium size bowl chop the (drained and well rinsed) red kidney beans. Add black beans and corn, also drained and well rinsed. In a medium saucepan combine tomatoes and cheese. Heat and stir until mixture is homogenous. Pour over beans and corn, mix well, serve warm with some sturdy tortilla chips. . .Lin

A "Go-To" Sweet Thing

In the past I've been able to completely give up desserts and most carbs to lose weight. After a few days it becomes a non-issue since it takes that long for the cravings to disappear. However, when the carb habit is deeply ingrained it may be good to have SOMETHING you can feel a little good about eating if going cold turkey isn't an option. It beats the alternative = going to the grocery store for a gallon of vanilla ice cream and special hot fudge sauce in your jammies and bunny slippers at midnight. . . !

Recently there has been a lot of press about honey and cinnamon being a winning 1-2-punch against many health issues. You can read about it here while having a little snack:

http://fatalfacts.com/index.php?/topic/1308-facts-on-honey-and-cinnamon-it-is-found-that-a-mixture-of-honey-and-cinnamon-cures-most-diseases/

1 rice cake

2T± fresh almond butter

1/2-1t ground cinnamon

1-2T fresh Farmer's Market honey

Spread the rice cake with almond butter. Sprinkle with a generous amount of ground cinnamon. Drizzle with honey. Savor it with a big steaming mug of hot green tea. . .Lin

Almond Butter - Raisin Bars

When I cook, I just have a 'feel' for what goes together. That doesn't work for me with baking. When I get an idea, I Google all the main ingredients I want to use and spend a lot of time noticing the proportions of the leavening agents of several recipes. Salt, baking powder and baking soda are still very mysterious to me. When using them I feel a bit like an Alchemist! Eventually I decide on the correct amounts of everything and then – I proceed with caution. Things have to turn out well before I'll post anything I've baked – it's all just a wild ride until I try the finished product. This turned out very well as bars. I'm thinking I wouldn't change any of it, but next time will bake it as cookies.

1½c flour – for this recipe I used ½c each of these
organic flours: sprouted whole grain wheat flour,
unbleached white flour & oat flour)

¾t baking soda

¾t baking powder

1t sea salt

2t pumpkin pie spice

¾c golden raisins

2T water

1c sugar: all brown or half & half white & brown

½c (1 stick) butter at room temperature

¾c almond butter

1T good quality vanilla

1 lg or jumbo egg

Check and separate the raisins, picking off any stems you find. Put these in a ceramic bowl and drizzle the water on top. Cover and microwave on 70% power for about a minute and a half – or just use 2T boiling water. Cover to keep the steam and heat in. Let stand a while to rehydrate the raisins.

Stir dry ingredients together. In a medium size mixing bowl, beat butter, sugar(s), almond butter, egg and vanilla until smooth and a little bit fluffy. Add the dry ingredients, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the raisins.

Bake in a greased 9”x13” pan at 325° for 25 minutes±, then let baking pan cool before cutting. - OR - drop balls of dough on cookie sheets, flatten a little with a fork and bake at 325° until the edges dry and brown a little. Let cool on a platter. . .Lin

Vegetable Chip - Snack Attack

Oh boy. . .we are so lucky in this area, to have a couple places we can get organic fruit, vegetables, garden plants, herbs, artisan bread, vitamins, spices, etc.

I love these dehydrated vegetable chips.

Chips, a big glass of water, a handful of almonds, and I'm good for several hours.

A Fruity Carb Blast

1/2c   jumbo flame raisins

2T      citrus (etc.) marmalade

1T      white balsamic vinegar

1/4c   slivered almonds

1 ea.  apple, clementine

           and red grapefruit

Combine raisins, marmalade and vinegar in a medium bowl.  Heat for 15 second bursts in the microwave (3-4 times)  Stir, then let stand to rehydrate the raisins.  Meanwhile, wash, peel clementine and grapefruit fixing the segments as you like them.  Cut the apple in small pieces and drop in a little salted water to prevent browning.  Drain, rinse and dry them, then mix all the fruits and almonds together in the bowl.

You can also add a grind or two of fresh pepper.  Other interesting additions would be some good quality flaked coconut also some cubes of strong flavored, dry textured cheese such as real Swiss or Gruyere. This is perfect when you really, absolutely HAVE to have some sweet carbs.  Makes 2-4 servings, or just have-at-it with a big spoon. . .all by yourself :o) . . . Lin

Frozen Grapes

This was something my mom used to do.  Eating a frozen grape is like taking a bite of a Popsicle!  It's hardly the season for anything like this, here in ICY cold north central Wisconsin, USA, however, I found some wonderful grapes at the store and decided to freeze some.

The most important thing with these is to be sure the red, green or black grapes you buy are seedless and very flavorful - not just watery and bland.

Wash them well, dry on a paper towel.  Place in a bowl and freeze.  Easy as that!  :o)

Fruit, Cheese and Nuts

~ Cheddar, Swiss and Northern Wisconsin Cheese Curds!  Just what I had however.  Be creative!

~ Nuts - Macadamias shown here.  (almonds, pecans, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, etc. are all great choices.)

~ Craisins, raisins, or any dried fruit mix

Combine a little of each and. . .

your energy will stabilize once again, until lunch or dinner. . .Lin

Lots-Of-Food-Groups Snacky-Thing

Sometime you're hungry - but not.  A quick, snacky-thing is all you really need.  This one is so easy.



1  mini English cucumber
sliced cheddar, Swiss cheese, etc.
2  slices of turkey pastrami
1  Clementine



Put it all together, as shown and you're good to go for several hours until dinner! . . . Lin

Yogurt Fruit Smoothie

In a blender jar combine fresh or frozen fruit:
5 strawberries
10 dark cherries or 20 blueberries
15 cranberries
1/2 banana
1/2 c plain Greek yogurt - Athenos is best
1/2 - 1 c water or fruit juice
a drizzle of real Maple syrup

Combine and blend. You can add protein powder, but with the right yogurt, this recipe contains 6gm of protein. Makes about 3 cups. . .Lin

Toasted Sesame-Almond Granola

1/2 C slivered almonds
1/4 C black (or regular) sesame seeds
1 T butter
2 T TOASTED sesame oil (dark brown)
2 T pure Maple syrup
1 T real vanilla
1/4 C roasted pumpkin seeds
1/4 C roasted, salted sunflower seeds
1/4 C coconut
2 C old fashioned oats

In a large frying pan, dry-roast almonds until light brown. Add sesame seeds, shake, stir and continue to brown until the seeds are snap-snap-snapping :o) Pour into a glass bowl. Add butter and stir until melted. Combine all remaining ingredients - except the oats. Put the oats into the frying pan, heat and stir with a wooden spoon until they're lightly browned. Add the mixture in the bowl to the oats in the frying pan. Stir, then spoon into a 9x13" glass pan.


Bake at 300* 20-30 minutes, stirring every 5-10 minutes. Cool and store in a Ziplock bag in the refrigerator or freezer. My favorite way to have granola is with some plain Greek yogurt and dried fruit, all mixed together then heated briefly in the microwave. . .Lin

Ham and Turkey Salad

Today 'frugality is the mother of invention.' Not that I've ever been accused of being frugal, but I do hate to throw away anything good. So when I was scrounging for lunch, I discovered about 6 oz. of ham and turkey deli meat I bought a week ago. It looked and tasted good, so I made 'salad.' Then. . .how to eat ...this? It sounded good over mixed greens as well as a rice cake. Being the Queen of Excess, I opted for both :o)



6 oz. deli meat - chopped
2 green onions - chopped (white and greens)
2 miniature sweet peppers - chopped
2 middle ribs of celery wih tops - chopped
2 T plain Greek yogurt
2 T light sour cream
1/8 t pepper
1/2 t dill weed

Mix together and serve - - however you want! Makes enough for 2 lunches. . .Lin