Today is National Oatmeal Cookie Day!

“I'd make oatmeal cookies."
"Cookies?"
"I would. That's just what I would do."
"Why?"
He lifts one hand from the steering wheel and pinches his chin. "Because the world is changing so fast all the time. There's nothing you can do but just say, 'cool,' and roll with it. But some things can stay the same. Flour is still flour. Vanilla still smells like vanilla. Say a giant fireball is motoring toward us right now from Alha Centauri. Okay, universe. You expect us to run and scream and kill one another? Sorry, we're making oatmeal freaking cookies.”

― R.A. Nelson, Breathe My Name

And here are three recipes I have tried and enjoyed.  (I would say my favorite is the Oatmeal Raisin one.  They truly did "vanish" around the house after I made them.)

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Pecan

This is from the December 2007 issue of Cooking Light Magazine - Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip and Pecan Cookies

*The reviews were mixed on this, so I took some, but not all of the advice and followed part but not all of the recipe.  The one thing I did which I regret, was adding Penzeys Cake Spice instead of cinnamon.  Some of my testers liked it, I didn't really.  Perhaps I put too much in, almost 1 teaspoonful.  I've used this in other recipes with great results - especially cinnamon and raisin bread.  But not this one.  I don't think it played nicely with the chocolate chips.   Which I used regular sized as opposed to the mini chips.

I also added an extra egg white, as some others reported the dough as dry.  The one thing I did do was weigh the flour as opposed to just using measuring cups.  That could be a reason why some had a dry dough, perhaps too much flour.  

And I always use unsalted butter.  I skipped the parchment paper, just because I am lucky to have the Williams-Somoma Gold Touch cookie sheets!

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour (about 5 1/2 ounces)*

1 cup regular oats

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup butter, softened*

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 large egg*

1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted

1/4 cup semisweet chocolate mini chips*

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt), stirring with a whisk; set aside.

Place sugars and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add vanilla and egg; beat until blended. Gradually add flour mixture, beating at low speed just until combined. Stir in pecans and minichips. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or until edges of cookies are lightly browned. Cool on pans 2 minutes. Remove cookies from pans; cool on wire racks.

Oatmeal Raisin

These are the Quaker Oats "Vanishing Oatmeal Cookies" recipe found on the underside of the lid. 

Ingredients: 

1/2 Cup (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened

3/4 Cup  firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 Cup granulated sugar

2 Eggs

1 Teaspoon vanilla

1-1/2 Cups all-purpose flour

1 Teaspoon(s) Baking Soda

1 Teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 Teaspoon salt (optional)

3 Cups Quaker® Oats (I used old fashioned, uncooked)

1 Cup raisins

Preparation:  

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

Makes 4-5 dozen

Oatmeal Pecan

And if you like nuts instead, this Oatmeal Pecan cookie recipe also a favorite of ours from Taste of Home's Simple and Delicious magazine.  The secret ingredient is Rice Krispies!

Click here for the December 2, 2007 post.

Cooking Light Cream Cheese Frosted Pumpkin Muffins - & Loaves!

My Pampered Chef stoneware cupcake/muffin pan - the more I use it, the better it gets!

Putting my Williams-Sonoma Gold Touch Loaf pan to good use  - they popped right out!

Page 396!

Pumpkin Muffins (from the November 2006 issue of Cooking Light)  I added the cream cheese frosting and pecans!   And the Fall-colored jimmies for fun.   You can also find the recipe in the Cooking Light 2007 Annual Recipes book.

For the frosting, I used a package of Neufchatel cream cheese and added about a cup of confectioner's sugar and a little bit of skim milk to get a frosting consistency and a bit of sweetness.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (about 10 ounces)

• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup golden raisins
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• Cooking spray
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• Directions:
• Preheat oven to 400
• Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. 
• Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, ginger, and salt in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk.
• Stir in raisins; make a well in center of mixture. 
• Combine brown sugar, canned pumpkin, buttermilk, canola oil, molasses, vanilla extract, and eggs, stirring well with a whisk. 
• Add sugar mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moist.
• Spoon batter into 18 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. 
• Sprinkle with granulated sugar.  (skip if you are going to frost)
• Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove muffins from pans immediately; cool on a wire rack.
• Add frosting and toppings if desired.

Cooking Light Plum Galette

Plum Galette from Cooking Light

This recipe is from the June 2005 issue of Cooking Light.  It also appears in two of their books -- Cooking Light Dessert (ISBN:  0-8487-3066-6), page 86; and Five Star Recipes. (ISBN:  978-0-8487-3242-4), page 392





It was a hit!!  I will definitely be making this again - perhaps with peaches or apples.  Or even combining other fruits together.

I am getting more confident making crust from scratch, especially with the food processor -- easy-peasy!

A galette is a rustic, free-form crust/tart.  We bought plums from Costco, and while you can't beat the price, two people can only eat so many plums per day.  When they started to soften, I decided to turn them into this.  Bonus is the jam leftovers. The jam will keep up to a few weeks in the refrigerator.  And boy, did it taste good on some toasted slices of Central Market's Seedsation bread for Halloween breakfast!

Love the pumpkin and bat sprinkles?

Fair warning, it is a bit time-scheduling intensive, if you are making the jam and starting from scratch.   You may want to make the jam ahead of time.  Then make the crust and allow time for chilling.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup all-purpose flour
3 1/2 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons ice water
1 tablespoon cornmeal - I skipped this
4 medium plums, each cut into 8 wedges
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup Plum Jam*
1 tablespoon Plum Jam*
1 tablespoon sugar

*Plum Jam --
4 1/2 cups chopped ripe red plums (about 8 medium)
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

DIRECTIONS

Dough --
Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, butter, and salt in a food processor; process until mixture resembles coarse meal. With processor on, slowly add ice water through food chute, processing just until combined (do not form a ball). Press mixture gently into a 4-inch circle on plastic wrap. Cover and chill 30 minutes.

Jam --

Combine plums, sugar, and water in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Uncover and simmer 50 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken, skimming foam from surface of mixture occasionally. Cool; pour into an airtight container. (Mixture will thicken as it cools.) Cover and chill.

about 50 minutes later

Note: Refrigerate jam in an airtight container for up to three weeks.

Preheat oven to 425°.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; sprinkle paper with cornmeal (I skipped the cornmeal part). Unwrap dough; roll dough into a 9-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. (I rolled between two sheets of  plastic wrap.) 

Apprehensive moment ahead, will it peel away nicely in one piece?
(It did!)

Place dough on baking sheet on top of parchment paper. Combine plums and cornstarch in a large bowl, tossing to coat. Add 1/4 cup Plum Jam; toss well to coat. Arrange plum mixture on top of dough, leaving a 1 1/2-inch border.

Fold edges of dough over plum mixture. Bake at 425º for 20 minutes.

Remove galette from oven (do not turn oven off). Brush crust with 1 tablespoon Plum Jam; sprinkle galette with sugar. Bake at 425º for 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes before serving.   6 servings

Note: Nutritional analysis includes Plum Jam.

Calories: 208
Calories from fat: 32%
Fat: 7.3g
Saturated fat: 3.4g
Monounsaturated fat: 2.8g
Polyunsaturated fat: 0.3g
Protein: 2.8g
Carbohydrate: 33.8g
Fiber: 1.6g
Cholesterol: 18mg
Iron: 1mg
Sodium: 146mg
Calcium: 5mg

This does not factor in topping with a scoop of Bluebell Homemade Vanilla ice cream while it is still warm...

Mark it with a B -- Baking Books

Costco Two-fer!

First, of course - Cooking Light's newest book "Everyday Baking"
$15.99 (published price $24.95) ISBN 978-0-8487-3441-1

Next, "Betty Crocker Christmas Cookbook"
$11.99 (published price $19.95)
ISBN 978-0-470-874030-5

Besides my legendary Pavlovian response to anything Cooking Light, this book's recipes can be made in 30 minutes or less.  You've got quick breads, muffins, rolls & flatbreads, scones, biscuits, coffee cakes, cookies, cakes, pies, cobblers...  Doesn't the Cranberry Upside-Down Coffee Cake on page 176 sound good for when the bags of cranberries start appearing in the stores (I may even still have a bag in the freezer from last year, I better go check.  I don't think I want to wait to try it.)

And I've always favorited Betty Crocker..  I have several of her cookbooks, the basic ones which get updated every few years and she changes her hairstyle ones - Some of our favorites don't get carried over from edition to edition.  Of course, there are always new ones added!    But this book helps keep all good and yummy things holiday handy.  Appetizers, candy, bread, breakfast and main courses, desserts.  Even gifts from your kitchen and holiday decorations.

While I hate to push the season, I also like to prepare and plan.  We always try a couple new recipes each year.  I think I may find them in these books.

Reality Bites

What it is supposed to look like!

This is the recipe I saw on page 75 when I bought the new Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast 24/7 cookbook the other day at Costco.

Step 1:  Don't use French bread the recipe calls for and instead bolillo buns.
Trim off tops and bottoms and think this is a good substitute.  Pat self on back for using a couple of whole wheat ones!

Oops!

Step 2:  Quick, think!  BAKED French/Bolillo Toast!
Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, until slightly crunchy on top.

Her heart is in the right place!

Step 3:  Top with remaining apples and sauce.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar (just like the cookbook picture, which is the only resemblance to the pictured recipe) and eat!

Ready to eat!

Overall, a great save.  I will probably purposefully make it this way again.  Especially in the Chantal heart-shaped baker, I think it actually looks pretty.  And delicious!

CINNAMON APPLE STUFFED FRENCH TOAST

Cinnamon apple filling
4 (1 ounce) slices diagonally cut French bread, about 1" thick
1/2 cup fat-free milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
cooking spray
1 tablespoon powdered sugar

1.  Prepare cinnamon apple filling.
2.  Cut a horizontal slit through the side of each bread slice to form a pocket.  Stuff 3 tablespoons cinnamon apple filling into each pocket.
3.  Place milk, vanilla and egg in a shallow dish; stir with a whisk until blended.  Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray.
4.  Dip each side of stuffed bread in egg mixture to coat.  Add stuffed bread to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar, top evenly with remaining filling.

Calories 230, fat 7.9g (sat 4.2g, mono 2.2g, poly 0.7g), protein 6.2g, carb 34.6, fiber 2.2g, chol 69mg, iron 1.4mg, sodium 259mg, calcium 73mg 

Cinnamon Apple Filling

2 tablespoons butter
2 cups chopped unpeeled Gala apple (4 small)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Melt butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat.  Add remaining ingredients, saute' 3 minutes or until apples are golden.
Serving size 5 tablespoons

Calories 115, fat 5.9g (sat 3.7g, mono 1.5g, poly 0.2g), protein 0.2g, carb 16.9g, fiber 1.5g, chol 15mg, iron 0.2mg, sodium 44mg, calcium 16mg

New Cooking Light Cookbook!

Like a moth to a light, I found the newest addition to Cooking Light's Fresh Food Fast series - Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast 24/7 (ISBN:  978-0-8487-3645-3)  Costco's price $15.49, publisher's price $24.95.
It had me at Page 75 - Cinnamon Apple Filled French Toast - only 335 calories! (And if you are doing carb counting like me, only 3 carb servings!)

Happy Pi Day!

In honor of Pi Day, I am making a pie! Chocolate Cream Pie with a graham cracker crust.
From Cooking Light - The Complete Cooking Light Cookbook

Graham Cracker Crust

40 graham crackers (10 full cookie sheets)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 large egg white
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350. Place crackers in a food processor; process until crumbly. Add 2 tablespoons sugar, butter and egg white; pulse 6 times or just until moist. Press crumb mixture into bottom and up sides of a 9" pie plate coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Chocolate Cream Pie

Graham cracker crust
2 cups fat-free milk, divided - 1/2 cup and 1 1/2 cups
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups frozen reduced calorie whipped topping -- NOTE: I hate Cool-Whip so I just use whipped cream around the edge of the pie and a spritz in the center to make it look pretty.
3/4 teaspoon grated semisweet chocolate

Combine 1/2 cup milk, 2/3 cup sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, salt and egg in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk.

Heat 1 1/2 cups milk over medium-high heat in a heavy saucepan to 180 or until tiny bubbles form around edge (do not boil). Remove from heat. Gradually add hot milk to sugar mixture; stir constantly with a whisk. Return milk mixture to pan. Add chopped chocolate, cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (about 5 minutes), stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low, cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.

Pour into prepared piecrust; cover surface of filling with plastic wrap. Chill 3 hours or until cold. Remove plastic wrap; spread whipped topping evenly over filling (or whipped cream around edges). Sprinkle with grated chocolate. Yield 10 servings

Oh, Lighten Up!

Whee! The 2012 Cooking Light AND Everyday Food Light books are now at Costco!

The Cooking Light 2012 publisher's price is $34.95 (ouch!); Costco is $21.99 (whew!)

Everyday Food is a paperback, $24.99 (really, for a paperback?!); Costco - $13.59

I'm not too thrilled that once again Everyday Food is organized by the season. I think it makes it harder to find the recipes you want to try. I also noticed it is available as an ebook.

Can't catch me...

Here's the gingerbread man from the Chantal ceramic baking dish! (click here)

And here's the Cooking Light recipe - it filled two gingerbread molds.

GINGERBREAD
1 1/4 cups flour...1 teaspoon ground ginger...1 teaspoon ground cinnamon*...1/2 teaspoon baking soda...1/2 cup sugar...1/2 cup low fat buttermilk...1/2 cup dark molasses...1/3 cup butter, melted...1 large egg, lightly beaten...1 tablespoon powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour, ginger, cinnamon and baking soda, stirring with a whisk. Combine sugar and next four ingredients in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Stir in flour mixture. Pour batter into 9" square baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Sprinkle gingerbread with powdered sugar. Yield 25 servings (!) Serving size is 1 3/4" square. Good luck with that.
84 calories (30% from fat), 2.8g fat (1.6g sat, 0.8g mono, 0.2g poly) 1.1g protein, 14g carb, 0.2g fiber, 15mg chol, 0.7mg iron, 61mg sodium, 22mg calcium
*I now use Penzeys new Cinnamon Blend - Love!

(If you can bear to stand the graphics - click here for the Gingerbread Man story)

Chantal Finds! Get thee over there tomorrow, Houston peeps!

First, I found and bought four of these little guys for $5 each. The 2 cup size. They also had two more larger sizes for $10 and $15. I plan to use these to bake my gingerbread in and to give as gifts...and use as a holiday decoration!

If you donated four canned goods to the Houston Food Bank at the Chantal Warehouse entrance, they gave you a 20% off coupon. Which I used on this $10 tea and teapot set, so I paid $8 for tea and a teapot and an infuser! I found this in the back warehouse section, on the shelves -- not in the front of the store. Bloomingdale's is currently selling this set for $50!

Shoot, I'd pay $8 for the tin alone! I love the embossed flowers and the cool yoga girl on the label! Wow! I just checked -- This tea alone is worth $19.50 on the Kusmi website!

The outlet is open tomorrow from 12-5 PM. And also for the next two weekends. Click here for directions and times.

Cooking Light Way To Bake

The latest offering from Cooking Light. It was just published October 4. And Costco's price is $18.99! (listed at $29.95) ISBN 0848734750

424 pages. Lots of tips and recipes, well worth the leap into your shopping cart. While some of the recipes look familiar, others seem new to me. Chai Latte Brownies? How did that escape me till now? And sometimes seeing the others reappear helps remind you to give them another try!
P.S. The pictures are delicious!

Corn Bread Muffins - Cooking Light

These are from the All New Complete Cooking Light Cookbook (2006, ISBN 0-8487-3023-2) Page 76
I was trying to find a low-carb cornbread muffin for a good friend and tried these. The recipe says it makes 6, but they must be huge! I was able to get 10 "cupcake" sized (and one was plenty big enough!) muffins, reducing the carb count to 19.2g (my friend did the math, so it's right!). Because they are smaller, start checking for doneness around 15 minutes.
My new go-to cornbread muffin recipe!

CORN BREAD MUFFINS

1 cup yellow cornmeal
3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 400. Lightly spoon cornmeal and flour into measuring cups, level with a knife. Combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine buttermilk, butter and egg. Pour buttermilk mixture into cornmeal mixture, stir just until moist. Spoon batter evenly into cupcake paper-lined muffin tin. Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes (20 minutes if going for 6 in paperless muffin pan) or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pan immediately, cool on wire rack.

You can also use this recipe for corn sticks or a pan (mini loaves, too!) of corn bread.

Kooky for Kuchen! Plum edition

This is from the July 2011 issue of Cooking Light - (click here for the recipe, nutrition details and reviews)
I liked the cardamon flavor in the dough and the allspice in the topping. They worked really well together. I left out the lemon rind.

PLUM KUCHEN

6 3/4 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 cups)
2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/8 teaspoon salt, divided
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
7 tablespoons butter, divided
1/2 cup fat-free milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
Cooking spray
1 1/2 pounds plums, quartered and pitted, about 6-8
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and cardamom in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Cut in 4 tablespoons butter with a pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse meal.
3. Combine milk, vanilla, and egg in a bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add milk mixture to flour mixture, and stir until just combined.
4. Spoon batter into a 9-inch round metal cake pan coated with cooking spray. Arrange plums in a circular pattern over batter.
5. Combine remaining 2/3 cup granulated sugar, remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt, lemon rind, and allspice in a small bowl, stirring well. Place remaining 3 tablespoons butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH 30 seconds or until butter melts. Stir into sugar mixture. Sprinkle plums evenly with sugar mixture. Bake at 425° for 35 minutes or until browned and bubbling. Cool in pan 1 hour on a wire rack, if you can wait that long. Cut into wedges.

Ready, set, bake!

Good Egg Peg

My Dad would always say, "You're a good egg, Peg!"

And now after all these years, I finally can boil an egg!

The back page of the July 2011 issue of Cooking Light covers Mistake #34 "Your Hard-Cooked Eggs are Icky" Their direction correction clicked and worked for me. I had already done the first step all along -- placing the eggs in the saucepan filled with water and then bring to a boil, and then removing from the heat and letting it stand. It was the part afterwards, which always threw me for a loop. Different sources said different times. Cooking Light says 10 minutes and then run under cold water. But I'm in the throws of a hot Texas summer, and that cold water faucet gives you lukewarm water at best, no matter how long you run it. Their suggestion of putting it in an ice water bath - I just drained, refilled the water and added ice - cooled them ricky-ick. For the first time, I had that pretty yellow hardboiled egg!

Chai Pistachio Muffins

Cooking Light's Pistachio Chai Muffins from the May 2011 issue
I used Numi Golden Chai tea bags -- the perfect blend of spices and taste. These were so good, they've become an immediate family favorite!

Ingredients:
7 9/10 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 3/4 cups)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 chai blend tea bags, opened
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Cooking spray
1/3 cup shelled dry-roasted pistachios, chopped
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon water

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Cut open tea bags; add tea to flour mixture, stirring well. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine buttermilk, butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and egg in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.
3. Place 12 muffin-cup liners in muffin cups; coat liners with cooking spray. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle nuts evenly over batter. Bake at 375° for 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in pan on a wire rack.
4. Combine remaining 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, powdered sugar, and 1 tablespoon water, stirring until smooth. Drizzle evenly over muffins.

Enjoy!

Whole Foods 365 Everyday Value Linguine - Yeah, yeah but read anyways, there's a recipe in this post!

I just had to blog about this - normally I don't sing the praises of pasta, but this Whole Foods 365 Everyday Value linguine was really, really good. And affordable - $1.39 for one pound. I used it to make Cooking Light's Spaghetti Aglio e Olio from Cooking Light Secrets - Grains & Pasta on page 268.

Which I changed up, directions are just "suggestions" in my mind -

I used the linguine, boiled and drained. Added 1/4 cup chicken broth. Separately I saute'd fresh mushrooms with 2 cloves of garlic and little bit of olive oil, sliced some black olives, added some fresh oregano from my garden and tossed all of the above together. Sprinkled some parmesan cheese on top and served with a salad. A light, easy, fast dinner.

Here's the original recipe --

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
4 large garlic cloves, minced
4 quarts water
8 ounces uncooked spaghetti
1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Combine the olive oil, oregano, and minced garlic in a small microwave-safe bowl. Cover with wax paper, and microwave at HIGH for 1 minute.
Bring water to a boil in a large stockpot. Add spaghetti; return to a boil. Cook, uncovered, 10 minutes or until al dente, stirring occasionally. Drain. Return to pot. Stir in the garlic mixture and broth. Cook over medium heat 4 minutes or until broth is absorbed, stirring constantly. Stir in parsley.

Cooking Light Mix & Match Low-Calorie Cookbook

Just in at Costco - Cooking Light's Mix & Match Low Calorie Cookbook. $14.99 versus the $24.95 publisher's price.

This had me at Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies, page 264 - only 83 calories!

I also like how the page edges are color tabbed to make each section (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snacks) easier to find.

Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2011

A Pavlovian response as soon as I see the Cooking Light type face, the new Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2011 quickly moved from the table to my cart at Costco the other day. Costco's price of $20.99 is a considerable savings over the publisher's price of $34.95. But well worth every penny, even though I subscribe to the magazine, too. I rip out the recipes I want to try, and then the ones we liked are put in my recipe binder. Now my tearable (sic) magazine folly during the year has been made whole again into a book.

Sigh, I counted my Cooking Light cookbooks the other day. I have 31. Not counting the 17 special issues they publish during the year. Obsessed. Yes.

The Grilled Chicken (sorta) from the Grilled Chicken and Spinach Salad with Spicy Pineapple Dressing from Cooking Light

Inspired by the July 2010 issue Cooking Light Grilled Chicken and Spinach Salad with Spicy Pineapple Dressing, at least these directions --

"1. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Place chicken between 2 sheets of plastic wrap, and pound to an even thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet. Sprinkle both sides of chicken evenly with chili powder and salt. Lightly coat chicken with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan; cook for 3 minutes on each side or until done. Remove from pan; set aside."

Only I used Penzeys California Style Seasoned Pepper and Smoky 4/S Special Seasoned Sea Salt. (I almost grabbed the Chili Con Carne and I think that would be a great less fiery substitute from the straight chili powder next time.)

My original intent was to make this salad, and I will eventually. However, comfort food combinations were needed that night (cheesy rice and green beans).

I liked the idea of using a package of Costco boneless chicken breasts, my meat hammer, grill pan and a great combination of Penzeys spices to cook up some chicken. Easy-peasy. And yummy!

Spinach, Tomato and Fresh Mozzarella Pasta Salad

From the Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast Weeknight Meals, page 123. I found my copy at Costco for $14.99

All the recipes are 5 ingredient, 15 minutes!

This one is a perfectly yummy combination for hot summer days. Great Italian vinaigrette recipe, too. While fresh herbs would be best, I made do with dried (eyeballing it) and it was probably just as tasty.

Ingredients --

2 1/2 cups multigrain rotini pasta...2 cups grape tomatoes...6 ounces baby spinach...4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, cubed.

Dressing - 1/4 cup red wine vinegar...2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leafed parsley...1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano or basil...2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil...1/4 teaspoon salt...1/4 teaspoon black pepper...2 garlic cloves, minced.

Cook pasta according to directions, omitting salt and fat. Rinse with cold water and drain. Combine dressing ingredients and stir with a whisk. Combine dressing and tomatoes in a large bowl. Add pasta and spinach, toss well and top with cheese.

4 servings - serving size is 1 1/2 cups salad, 2 tablespoons dressing.

As you can see, it is easy to substitute and play with the ingredients - bow tie for rotini, regular tomatoes for grape tomatoes, dried herbs for fresh. Even use bottled fat-free Italian dressing.