Delightfully Baked Apples – this is a quick and easy recipe – Apple pie without the crust!

On December 19, 2017December 10, 2017 By Barbara StroudIn Daily Blog, FOOD, HEALTH, Recipe4 Comments

I swear this is apple pie without the crust! I was craving an apple pie – but… make an apple pie, eat an apple pie. Probably not too good for the physique! So I scoured the Internet for recipes that were fairly healthy and this one fit the bill perfectly!

This recipe is by SkinnyTaste.com a great resource for recipes. This recipe comes together quickly, bakes for about 30 minutes (and makes your house smell amazing!) – We serve with a small scoop of ice cream. Really one half of a baked apple is plenty.

Click HERE to print the recipe from the Skinnytaste.com website:

Delightfully Baked Apples

INGREDIENTS:

2 large apples (use whatever you’ve got), cut them in half, remove the core/seeds

2 tablespoons butter (not margarine)

2 tablespoons brown sugar, Unpacked (can use less)

2 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour (can use GLUTEN FREE)

4 tablespoons oats (recipe calls for quick oats, I only had Old Fashioned and they worked fine)

Cinnamon, just a dab (add more if you like, I did)

DIRECTIONS:

Oven to 350℉.

Cut apples in half, remove seeds and core

In a small bowl combing the butter, brown sugar, flour, oats and cinnamon – then spread the mixture on top of the apple halves (I spread with my fingers right to the edges) – sprinkle with more cinnamon if you like.

Place on a cookie sheet (I covered mine in foil for a no-cleanup option) – bake for 30 minutes.

Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream if you like!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Roasted Vegetable and Quinoa Bowl with Dried Cranberries, Walnuts and Bleu Cheese

On December 5, 2017November 28, 2017 By Barbara StroudIn FOOD, HEALTH, Recipe1 Comment

I came up with this “recipe” after I had roasted a lot of veggies for the week. We had them as sides, and I was trying to think of something different to do with them. This was amazing. One note: Bleu cheese goes a long way, so remember, you can always add more! The caramelized taste of the roasted veggies, with the addition of the kale, chewy dried fruit and crunchy walnuts were an amazing combination!

Many of my “recipes” aren’t really recipes, they’re more of a guideline – Feel free to experiment with different ingredients or vary from what I have written. This recipe is also something that can be made (mostly) ahead, then heat and assemble the bowls.

This recipe includes roasted veggies (click HERE for a great guide on roasting veggies), cooked quinoa (Trader Joe’s frozen packet that you microwave is amazing – perfect for 2 with a little left over)! I also sauté the kale, I wash it, dry it, and add to a non-stick pan with a wee bit of olive oil, cover the pan and add a wee bit of water to help it steam – keep taste testing, once it’s at the consistency that you like, turn the burner off and transfer to a bowl. Chop the dried fruit, nuts. Once you have everything ready it’s time to add to a bowl. Add quinoa, roasted veg, cranberries or cherries, nuts, a wee bit of bleu cheese – this is remarkably good AND good for you!

Click HERE to print the recipe as shown below… I can’t wait for you to try it!

Roasted Veggie & Quinoa Bowl

Quick & Healthy Recipe – Serves 2 people

Ingredients

● Roasted Vegetables (see note*)

● Kale, chopped and sautéed

● Blue Cheese, crumbled

● Quinoa, cooked (see note**)

● Walnuts, chopped

● Dried Cranberries or Cherries, chopped

1. Roast vegetables: I used onion, carrots, parsnips, turnips and sweet potato – change it up so it doesn’t get boring!

2. Saute the kale by adding washed/dried kale to a non-stick skillet with a little olive oil. After a few minutes cover the pan and add a little liquid (chicken broth or water is fine) – keep taste testing until it’s to a consistency you like.

3. Cook the quinoa. You can make it according to package directions or buy frozen that you zap in the microwave..

4. Chop walnuts, and dried fruit.

5. Plate – Add quinoa to individual bowls, top with vegetables, dried fruit, walnuts and bleu cheese.

Tips

*Roasted vegetables: see link below for tips on how to roast veggies. I basically cut into pieces (the smaller the pieces the quicker they cook), add a little olive oil, S&P in a 400F oven about 30 minutes (depending upon size).

**Quinoa: Trader Joe’s (or similar) frozen cooked quinoa is a real time saver, and perfect if there are just one or two of you!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

The Secret of Staying Young…

On December 3, 2017December 3, 2017 By Barbara StroudIn Charleston, Daily Blog, FOODLeave a comment

Normally I write my posts ahead of time and schedule them to publish. It’s the only way that I can keep up with a daily blog (next month starts year 8!!!!) – so each morning I’m as surprised as you are as to what my post is about. Well, this morning it really was a surprise since there wasn’t one! Oops!

We had lunch a few times this weekend at a wonderful place that we haven’t been to in years. I’m so glad we did. The food was SO good (which is why we went back the next day). I love that they have half portions. Good people, close by, and really good food! If you’re in the Charleston, SC area, be sure to check them out:

Five Loaves Cafe – here is their MENU, take a peek – daily specials as well!

Happy Sunday! Catch you back here tomorrow!

Greek Salad with White Beans and Pita

On November 28, 2017November 17, 2017 By Barbara StroudIn Daily Blog, FOOD, HEALTH, RecipeLeave a comment

Greek Salad with Cannellini Beans and Pita

Just in the nick of time! After Thanksgiving and maybe being a little overly thankful for all the delicious food – it’s time to take a food holiday – a break… and this recipe puts you back in sync – no meat, tastes great – leaves you feeling like you haven’t stuffed yourself and you still aren’t looking for anything to eat at night – it’s that satisfying.

This is another fabulous recipe from Cooking Light Magazine, what would I do without them? Their recipes are always out of this world good without tasting too healthy! This recipe replaces meat with cannellini beans, it’s tasty and it keeps you full!

Click HERE to print the original recipe from Cooking Light magazine!

What I did differently (for 2 dinner size servings):

I didn’t use red bell pepper. When I mixed up the vinaigrette instead of using garlic powder I took a fresh piece of garlic and made a cut and rubbed it in the small bowl – this gave enough garlic flavor. The only other thing I didn’t do is grill the pita – I don’t have a grill pan, and the first time I made this I heated with a little olive oil in a regular skillet and it really didn’t need all that. Just a quick heat (microwave or in a dry pan for just a minute) worked fine – we used Whole Wheat Pita’s from Trader Joe’s, they have excellent taste.

If you like salad, give this recipe a try, it’s a keeper! Catch you back here tomorrow!

Original recipe via Cooking Light Magazine – Recipe by Adam Dolge

Shrimp Fried Cauliflower Rice – a FAVORITE!

On November 21, 2017February 5, 2025 By Barbara StroudIn FOOD, HEALTH, Recipe2 Comments

What a fabulous recipe! I’ve heard about “riced” cauliflower – wasn’t sure how it would taste. Let me tell you… wonderful!! It has a similar look and feel as rice – the taste… very mild. So it goes nicely with what you pair with it. In this case a stir fry with shrimp, green onions and eggs.

What I did differently: To make it a little more substantial for us, and because we like stir fry with peas and carrots I added those as well. I think maybe I let the cauliflower sit 5 minutes as mentioned above (without stirring) and then added the thawed carrots and peas (however many you like – I used two big handfuls). I also cooked the eggs in a separate small skillet. The first time I made this the egg stuck to the bottom of the “nonstick” pan, therefore the cauliflower rice couldn’t get brown. When you scramble the eggs don’t overcook as they are going back in with the shrimp and “rice” for a minute!

You can make “riced” cauliflower by putting it into a food processor and pulsing until it looks like rice, or you can buy it frozen just about everywhere – I used Trader Joe’s brand and it’s fabulous, perfect for two people!

Click HERE to print the recipe above (my version) the link to print the original Cooking Light version is no longer available…!

I added a bit to this Cooking Light (link now goes to Eating Well) recipe via their magazine – I always find treasures there! The inspiration came from the magazine.

I miss Cooking Light and Eating Well (print magazines)…

Links updated 2/5/25

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Pork Medallions with Fennel Apple & Sweet Potato Slaw – recipe by Cooking Light!

On November 14, 2017November 2, 2017 By Barbara StroudIn Daily Blog, FOOD, HEALTH, Recipe2 Comments

Pork Medallions with Fennel, Apple & Sweet Potato Slaw is a fabulous (and dare I say beautiful) recipe from Cooking Light Magazine. It’s the perfect recipe for fall. I thought the Fennel, Apple & Sweet Potato Slaw (pictured above) was just beautiful alongside the pork medallions! (In my haste I forgot to garnish with fennel fronds, so mine may look a bit bare, but believe me, it’s FULL of taste!).

I always thought I didn’t care for fennel (never having had it) because I heard it tastes like licorice. Let me say. I love it! It does taste a bit like licorice, but it’s different, and the texture is wonderful (similar to celery), especially combined with apples – what a treat! The slices of baked sweet potato add such color to this dish!

Click HERE to print this recipe (via the Cooking Light website – click on the green printer icon) – it’s a keeper for sure! QUICK to put together as well – the recipe shows a total of 35 minutes to put this together.

I made a few changes for the slaw: I only used one (1/2#) pork tenderloin, since there are just two of us. I used 1 medium fennel bulb, 1 large apple, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1 Tablespoon shallots for the slaw –

And a few changes for the pork: I didn’t have grainy mustard (for the pork) so I used a total of 3 tablespoons of dijon – I also used the full 1/2 cup of cider and omitted the butter (initially by mistake – but it was so fabulous I decided not to add the next time I made it).

EXCELLENT recipe!

This recipe is via CookingLight magazine (CookingLight.com) – I made some changes as we all do, but the recipe comes from Cooking Light – my all time favorite magazine for healthy recipes!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Curry Chicken Salad with Walnuts and Dried Cherries- Healthy & Outstanding!!

On November 7, 2017October 31, 2017 By Barbara StroudIn Daily Blog, FOOD, HEALTH, Recipe8 Comments

Chicken salad. A tasty lunch, served alone, on top of lettuce, inside a pita or between two pieces of bread. However you like it – this is a fabulous recipe. It’s so quick and easy, especially if you bake an extra chicken breast. One night a week we have baked/roasted chicken, we split one chicken breast and make another for a recipe, such as Quick Green Chicken Chili or Chicken Salad.

This is a curry chicken salad – which adds a nice sweetness. I shred one large chicken breast with two forks. Add celery, green onion, walnuts, dried cherries or cranberries, several shakes of curry powder, salt, pepper, about a tablespoon of canola mayonnaise and a big blob of Greek yogurt.

That’s it! Stir it around – it will taste like something you got at a nice restaurant for lunch! This day I had it on one half of a whole wheat pita with apple slices (apple slices were good tucked into the pita too)! Make it your own, add more of what you like and don’t add what you don’t like. This is so flexible. I have omitted the mayo entirely and it was still good, just a little less creamy and a wee bit more tart. Having a teeny bit of mayo seemed to take care of that!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Baked Chicken to the rescue!

On October 24, 2017October 24, 2017 By Barbara StroudIn Daily Blog, FOOD, HEALTH, Recipe2 Comments

Baked Chicken. So easy. So delicious. So many sides to serve it with AND recipes for any that may be leftover (I always bake extra). One weekend night we usually have baked chicken, the sides vary – then I use the leftover chicken for chicken salad, soups, salads, Quick Green Chicken Chili that I’ve posted here before.

I use chicken breasts with bone and skin. Chicken skin used to be touted as unhealthy, but studies now show that it’s pretty good for you (in moderation!) – We buy chicken breasts (no hormones/no antibiotics) from Whole Foods. It’s our preference… They are large. We split one for dinner, save one for soup (and it’s plenty after you pull off the skin, pull off the bones and shred) or chicken salad, or another recipe…

To make baked chicken…

Oil, S&P

Perfection!

OVEN 350 degrees F. (Use convection setting if you have it – makes the skin like fried chicken, no lie!)

Pat the chicken dry and then spread a little olive oil on the chicken, S&P.

Pop into the oven approximately 1 hour – insert meat thermometer – 180 degrees F and it’s done! Let it get nice and golden.

That’s it. End of “recipe”… How can you beat it? When I store the leftover chicken breast we do take it off the bone, seems to come of easier when warm, but we leave the skin on to keep the meat moist.

In this photo we had the chicken with a baked sweet potato (wrapped in foil baked along with the chicken right on the rack, not next to the chicken) and a bunch of lacinato kale, sautéed very briefly, and then left to steam with lid on.

We also have chicken with roasted vegetables (this is what we usually have) – then we can reheat veggies for the week! There is nothing better than roasted veggies!

A few minutes of prep and you have a good bit of your meals for during the week!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Quick Green Chicken Chili – My version…

On October 10, 2017February 9, 2022 By Barbara StroudIn Daily Blog, FOOD, RecipeLeave a comment

This flavorful chicken chili recipe originated from Cooking Light magazine. I’ve been a subscriber of CL for decades, it’s a great magazine full of healthy recipes that actually taste fabulous! This is a favorite recipe – I don’t think I’ll be making beef chili ever again!

We like our soups and chili’s on the brothier side – so I added more chicken broth and less flour (matter of fact I used so little that you could just leave it out entirely). I also forgot to drain the green chiles – it was pretty spicy, but so excellent – not sure that I would change it next time! A happy mistake!

I was leary of cold radishes and fresh avocado on top of hot chili – seemed a bit odd. It’s so wonderful, especially the crunch from the radishes!! I will be (and have been) making this recipe often!

Click HERE to print my version of the Cooking Light recipe for Quick Green Chicken Chili as shown below:

Catch you back here tomorrow!!

This dog loves the sun…

On October 9, 2017September 29, 2017 By Barbara StroudIn Daily Blog, FOOD, Recipe2 Comments

Charlie – he loves the sun, even when it’s hotter than H-E-!-! outside! I snapped this photo of Charlie and was trying to capture the fern but not the house so I tilted my phone slightly and the result was a black background WHICH I LOVE – it looks so mysterious. Not sure I could duplicate, but hey, I’ll take it!

Happy Columbus Day! If you have today off, ENJOY!

Tomorrow’s feature is a FABULOUS, life changing recipe! Woohoo! I love to find something new!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

A quick and tasty dinner – all on the grill!

On September 26, 2017September 5, 2017 By Barbara StroudIn Daily Blog, FOOD, HOME2 Comments

Fred brought this plate in after grilling it outside. Oh does it ever smell good!

This is a fabulous dinner on a hot day, or a day that you don’t want to clean up in the kitchen… I zapped the potatoes in the microwave for a few minutes until almost done, then wrapped in foil and put on the grill with the chicken and corn.

Fred cooks the chicken almost entirely, then he slathers the BBQ sauce (homemade makes all the difference) leaves it on the grill for a few minutes and then takes it off – oh! Is this ever tasty! Check out the link to the BBQ Sauce – so quick and easy. I freeze the sauce in an ice cube tray and once frozen quickly toss into a ziplock and put back in the freezer. When I need it I pull out a few “cubes” and tada!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

GUEST POST: Mini Nachos by Brennen McElhaney!

On September 19, 2017September 1, 2017 By Barbara StroudIn ART, Daily Blog, FOOD, RecipeLeave a comment

Today I’m featuring a guest post written by an artist I have featured in the past. He sent me this tasty sounding recipe – and what a perfect idea – to have those of you with good ideas – recipes, art, thoughts, etc. submit something to be featured.

If interested, contact me via my blog (or click on the CONTACT ME page at the top of my website) – send me what you would like to say, include an original image if you like…

For those of you who give this recipe a whirl – be sure to comment on this blog!

Be sure to check out Brennen’s fabulous paintings:

Website | Facebook

Here is the post by Brennen – catch you back here tomorrow!

GUEST POST by BRENNEN McELHANEY

Nothing beats a big plate of nachos (and margaritas) shared with friends. But sometimes a smaller “fiesta” is more appropriate. Here is a scaled-back version of the traditional Mexican appetizer.

Nacho chips (10)
Refried beans (heated)
Shredded cheddar cheese
Chopped lettuce
Minced fresh onion
Diced tomatoes
Sour cream
Fresh guacamole
Fresh cilantro
Lime wedge

Spoon a small portion of heated refried beans onto each chip and line the chips up in a row. Add toppings (in this order): Shredded cheddar cheese, chopped lettuce, minced onions, tomatoes. Top with sour cream, guacamole and garnish with freshly chopped cilantro and lime wedge. (Best served with margaritas or your favorite Mexican beer!)

The Conference On The Front Porch at Plein Air 2017

On August 20, 2017August 18, 2017 By Barbara StroudIn ART, FOOD, HOMELeave a comment

Recently I heard about a very “Art, Food, Home” type event. It’s called “The Conference on the Front Porch” and it’s being held at The Mill at Plein Air – in Taylor, MS – so if you are anywhere near Mississippi and want to be part of something really cool, you may want to check this out. This event is October 18-19, 2017.

Here’s a quick summation from Campbell McCool:

Our conference focuses on the significance of what the front porch represents. What forces drove it out of popularity after WWII. What brought it roaring back. How communities changed as a result.

This year John T. Edge is keynote speaker – head of Southern Foodways Symposium. Bill Dunlap is speaking on the front porch and art. Scott Baretta on how the blues came to be as a result of the front porch. Cooter Ramsay, (from Beaufort), on the resurgence of front porch communities.

As you’ll see from their website, this event celebrates the front porch – music & food, but even more than that – there are going to be some great speakers including:
John T Edge (writer and more), Scott Barretta (blue’s historian), William Dunlap (artist and sculptor), John Maxwell (theater), Cooter Ramsey (architect with Allison Ramsey Architects), Jay Watson (Professor of Faulkner Studies), Curtis Wilkie (journalist, college professor and historian), Tricia Walker (singer/songwriter), Garlan Gudger, JR (owner of Southern Accents – the South’s largest collection of architectural antiques), Michael Dolan (journalist, television writer/producer and author) and Ralph Eubanks (author). Read more about each of these speakers on their website!

This conference is open to architects, developers, planners, social historians and everyone who loves a porch. I usually try to feature house plans with at least one porch. Porches are vital living spaces – a place to congregate with friends or neighbors, a place to have your morning coffee and read the paper, or a place to spend the day. I grew up with a house with a porch overlooking the river in Michigan. In the summer it seems watching the river, the boats, the activity is much more fun than being inside watching the television.

Registration for this unique event include six meals, an evening porch concert and a porch play. This is so creative and sounds like such a good time!

Click HERE to register – this is the second year of this conference and it’s a hit! Registration is limited to the first 180 people who sign up.

Wondering where to stay – oh, so beautiful!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Image via TheConferenceOnTheFrontPorch.com, used with permission…

Brown Rice with Tomato, Feta, Spinach

On August 1, 2017August 1, 2017 By Barbara StroudIn Daily Blog, FOOD, RecipeLeave a comment

Sometimes you need to whip up a quick side dish. Fred was grilling chicken, so I tossed together this little side dish.

I started with a pack of Trader Joe’s Organic Brown Rice (freezer section)- zap it in the microwave 3 minutes. Then put into a bowl on top of a few handfuls of grape tomatoes sliced, and some chopped spinach. Let the heat from the rice wilt the spinach a bit as well as the tomatoes. Then add feta and pepper, drizzle some olive oil (can also add a little red wine vinegar) and give it a stir… This takes virtually no time, yet is quite heavenly!

Catch you back here tomorrow!