"Meatless Monday" Recipe of the Week - Chickpea Sandwich Spread

This week's "Meatless Monday" Recipe of the Week is a Chickpea Sandwich Spread. It's from the CooksRecipes website using Chickpeas and Red Bell Peppers among the ingredients. It can be served on Whole Grain Rye Bread or wedges of fresh Pit a Bread. The CooksRecipes website is full of delicious and healthy recipes of all cusines and tastes, check it out soon!   http://www.cooksrecipes.com/index.html

Chickpea Sandwich Spread

This easy preparation is especially tasty when spread on hearty whole-grain rye bread, but it's great spread on wedges of fresh pita bread, too.

Recipe Ingredients:

1 (16-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup minced red bell pepper
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon minced scallion or chives
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons sesame paste (Makes about 2 cups. Recipe provided courtesy of Nava Atlas; www.vegkitchen.com.)
1/2 teaspoon each: dried dill and ground cumin
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Cooking Directions:

1 - Mash the chickpeas well and combine with the remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly and pat into a serving container. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
Makes about 2 cups.

http://www.cooksrecipes.com/mless/chickpea_sandwich_spread_recipe.html

One of America's Favorites - Pepperoni

Pepperoni, also known as pepperoni sausage, is an American variety of salami, usually made from

Packaged pepperoni

cured pork and beef mixed together.
Pepperoni is characteristically soft, slightly smoky, and bright red in color. Thinly sliced pepperoni is a popular pizza topping in American-style pizzerias and is used as filling in the West Virginia pepperoni roll. It is also used to make some varieties of submarine sandwiches.










Pepperoni is a cured dry sausage similar to the spicy salamis of southern Italy, such as salsiccia Napoletana piccante, a spicy dry sausage from Naples, or the soppressata from Calabria. The main differences are that pepperoni has a finer grain (akin to salami of Milan, a spiceless regional variant of salami), is usually softer, and is produced with the use of an artificial casing (instead Italian salami are produced using natural gut for casing). Pepperoni is mass-produced to meet the demand for the sausage.




Pepperoni is usually made from a mixture of pork and beef. Turkey is also commonly used as a substitute, but the use of poultry in pepperoni must be appropriately labeled in the United States. In the Caribbean Islands and other parts of the world, donkey and horse meat are common ingredients. Sodium nitrite (or sometimes saltpeter), usually a part of modern curing agents, protects against botulism and other forms of microbiological decay. Sodium nitrite is white, but reacts with the heme in the myoglobin of the lean to give pepperoni its reddish color. The use of paprika and cayenne also contribute to its reddish color.

Pepperoni sausages are commonly sold in two sizes: an inch or so in diameter for pizza and two to three inches in diameter for sandwiches. Pepperoni is sold whole, chopped, or in slices, and is commonly found in American deli counters.




Ingredients such as peppers, garlic, fennel, or mustard seeds can be included in the production of

Pepperoni atop a pizza

pepperoni to provide different flavors and levels of spiciness. Likewise, the type of meat used to produce pepperoni can vary. Pepperoni may be substituted by similar cured meats like Genoa salami, soppressata, or chorizo.

Pepperoni has a tendency to curl up from the edges in the heat of a pizza oven. Some pepperoni is produced in thicker slices, so that the edges curl intentionally.







According to Convenience Store Decisions, Americans annually consume 251.7 million pounds of pepperoni on 36% of all pizzas produced nationally.

Pepperoni can also be found accompanying different types of cheeses, such as Cheddar or Monterey jack, as a cheap snack food in Canadian and some American convenience stores or gas stations. The portions of pepperoni and cheese are typically at equal lengths for ease of consumption, although it is not unusual to find packages containing small, bite sized pieces of pepperoni and cheese in many super markets across either country. They may be served with a honey mustard sauce for dipping.

Kitchen Hint of the Day!

When buying Asparagus.......

Choose firm, bright green asparagus stalks with plump, tightly closed tips. Fading color is a sign of deterioration. Check the stem ends to make sure they look freshly cut, not shriveled or dried out.

The Kitchen is Closed! It's Domino’s Tonight!

Dinner Tonight: Domino’s Pizza




It was clear and cold morning out, around 9 degrees. For Breakfast I had a Egg Beater's Scrambled
Egg Whites, Simply Potatoes Hash Browns, 1 slice of toasted Healthy Life Whole Grain Bread, and a cup of Bigelow Decaf Green Tea. Outside it was a beautiful Sunny Day out, but cold with a slight breeze. Mom and Dad went on to Church so it gave me a chance to do some house cleaning and I did a load of laundry for Mom. I had planned a dinner for today but as the day went on and I got lazy. I was a victim of the easy chair and remote. So I decided to shut that kitchen down! So tonight it's Domino's!







Mom and Dad had been wanting a Pizza for sometime now so I ordered a Pizza from Domino’s

Pizza. A few more calories and carbs than what I normally like to have for dinner but it had been quite a while since I had one and it sounded good for a Sunday Meal, and love the clean up afterwards! We ordered a Domino’s Hand Tossed Pizza Large with Cheese, Sauce, Pepperoni, Italian Sausage, Mushrooms, Black Olives, and Green Olives. As always the Pizza arrived on time, hot and delicious! Pizza and Football on a Sunday! For dessert later a Jello Sugarless Dark Chocolate Mousse. The kitchen will reopen tomorrow!

The Sunday Pizza - BBQ Pulled Pork Pizza

This week's Sunday Pizza is a BBQ Pulled Pork Pizza. It's the best of both worlds with this week's Sunday Pizza, Pizza and BBQ! Pulled Pork BBQ and BBQ Sauce all topping a home made Pizza Crust! You can find this recipe along with a varied selection of recipes for all cuisines on the CooksRecipes website, Enjoy!  http://www.cooksrecipes.com/index.html

BBQ Pulled Pork Pizza

BBQ Pulled Pork PizzaTo reduce the prep time to about 10 minutes, use your favorite store-bought pizza dough—you’ll need about 3/4 pound. To vary the pizza, try it with different cheeses, or try adding thinly sliced red onion or chopped fresh cilantro.

Recipe Ingredients:

Pizza Dough:
2 tablespoons water, warm (115°F to 120°F)

1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup water, cool (65°F to 70°F)
1 teaspoon salt
Olive oil for the bowl

Toppings for Assembling Pizza:
6 ounces cooked pulled pork
1/4 cup barbecue sauce, purchased or homemade
1/2 cup shredded smoked Gouda, smoked mozzarella, mozzarella, or Monterey Jack cheese
3 green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces

Cooking Directions:

1 - For Pizza Dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the warm water and yeast and set aside 15 minutes (the mixture might not get foamy). Add the flour, cool water, and salt and mix with a dough hook attachment on medium-low speed for 4 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes then mix on medium speed until the dough is smooth, elastic and slightly sticky, about 3 minutes.
2 - Lightly oil a medium bowl. Transfer the dough to the bowl, turning it to coat with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to rise at room temperature for 30 minutes.
3 - Transfer to the refrigerator and chill the dough at least overnight, or up to 2 days.
4 - Transfer the dough to a countertop and return it to room temperature, 1 to 2 hour.
5 - To Assemble Pizza: Preheat an oven, along with a pizza stone if you have one, to 500°F (260°C).
6 - On a lightly floured surface, roll or stretch the dough out to a 12 to 14-inch round. Transfer the dough to a pizza pan or a flour-or-cornmeal dusted pizza paddle.
7 - Top with the barbecue sauce, cheese, pork, and green onions. Transfer the pizza to the oven and bake until golden and crisp, 10 to 12 minutes.
8 - Cut into wedges and serve.
Makes 3 (2-wedge) servings.

Nutritional Information Per Serving (1/3 of recipe): Calories: 400; Total Fat: 10g; Saturated Fat: 3g; Cholesterol: 40mg; Total Carbs: 54g; Fiber: 2g; Protein: 22g; Sodium: 1090mg.

Recipe and photograph courtesy of Pork, Be Inspired®.

http://www.cooksrecipes.com/pizza_recipes/bbq_pulled_pork_pizza_recipe.html

10 Ways to Snack Smarter

From the EatingWell website it's 10 Ways to Snack Smarter. If it's dinner, side dishes, dessert or snacks make it healthy! Check out the EatingWell website for some great eating tips along with delicious and healthy recipes.  http://www.eatingwell.com/

10 Ways to Snack Smarter

Take a smart approach to snacking.

Eating a snack or two between meals can curb hunger so that you don’t inhale the dining room table when you finally sit down to supper. Snacking can also help you get in all the nutrients you need. On the flipside, grazing all day—particularly on foods of little nutritional value—may result in eating too much and packing on extra pounds. The key is taking a smart approach to snacking.


1. Keep Chewing
One study found that people who chewed almonds thoroughly (up to 40 chews) felt full longer than those who chewed the same amount of nuts fewer times....


2. Snack On Citrus
Grapefruit’s “diet food” rep might be justified: one study found that when people simply ate grapefruit with each meal, they lost up to 3 1/2 pounds over three months. Grapefruit may help manage appetite by lowering insulin levels, say researchers.....


* Click the link below to get all 10 Ways to Snack Smarter

http://www.eatingwell.com/nutrition_health/weight_loss_diet_plans/diet_exercise_tips/10_ways_to_snack_smarter

Kitchen Hint of the Day!

Having Diabetes 2 I sneak Cinnamon in my recipes whenever I can because.......


Cinnamon is well known for its blood sugar lowering effects. Apart from the beneficial effects on insulin resistance, cinnamon can lower blood sugar by several other mechanisms. First, cinnamon has been shown to decrease the amount of glucose that enters the bloodstream after a meal. It does this by interfering with numerous digestive enzymes, which slows the breakdown of carbohydrates in the digestive tract. Second, a compound in cinnamon can act on cells by mimicking insulin.

This greatly improves glucose uptake by cells, although it acts much slower than insulin itself. Numerous human trials have confirmed the anti-diabetic effects of cinnamon, showing that it can lower fasting blood sugar levels by up to 10-29%. The effective dose is typically 1-6 grams of cinnamon per day (around 0.5-2 teaspoons). Bottom Line: Cinnamon has been shown to both reduce fasting blood sugar levels, having a potent anti-diabetic effect at 1 to 6 grams per day.  Good to know!