Half and Half Because Variety is the Spice of Life

Cooking over the last couple of weeks has bee a mix of healthy foods and treats.  As I thought about it I realized that my cooking has reflected my real life.  While I'm fairly strict with myself Sunday through Friday, usually one day a week,  I look forward to some sort of splurge.

Here's a breakfast I had recently that was super simple yet so delicious! I halved and seeded an avocado then pushed the half into a small ramekin.  I then dropped a raw egg into the hole that was left by the seed, salted and peppered everything and threw it into a 350 degree oven and baked it for about 20 minutes.  Oh my goodness this was terrific!  The avocado was creamy and buttery and the egg was, well, an egg. But so good.  The only thing I'll do different next time is to go ahead and peel the avocado all the way.

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I tried a couple of recipes over the weekend on my treat day.  Both were absolutely terrific. No nutrition information on these because I don't calculate treats, nor do I track on my treat meal/day.

The first was Pecan Pie Muffins.  I can't explain it but this recipe works - a muffin that tastes like pecan pie.  We actually ate them as dessert on Saturday evening. Mr. Helen plopped some whipped cream on the top of his and declaired, "You can make these every weekend!"  Well no, I won't but still there were simply hand-held heaven!

The other recipe I tried was BLT Pasta Salad.  We really enjoyed this.  I did change things up in the recipe as I decided I didn't want to saute the tomatoes in bacon grease.  I simply cut grape tomatoes in half and added them into the pasta before dressing it and we only added the lettuce to our individual portions.  I just think if lettuce was to sit in that pasta it would get soggy.  I think next time I make this I'm going to increase the dressing a bit, it didn't seem creamy enough to me. Also, I only made a half recipe.  I like bacon and pasta too much to have a bunch of that leftover!

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Finally here's a good, healthy veggie recipe that came about because I had a bag of pre-washed and prepped kale that I needed to use up.    I wanted to do something different with it other than the usual cook with ham hock Southern style. When I looked at the bag there was a recipe on the bacl that sounded good.  It really is delicious - as a side dish or you could even have it over rice for a heartier meal.  This one goes into my regular repetoire.

Sweet and Sour Kale

2 T olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 T Dijon mustard
2 T apple cider vinegar
1 T sugar
2 cups organic vegetable broth
16 oz bag prepared kale (~12 packed cups kale)
1/3 cup craisins

In a large stockpot, heat the 2 T olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute about 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in the mustard, vinegar, sugar and vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Add kale and lower heat to medium. Cover the pan and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the craisins and cook for 5 more minutes until most of the liquid is absorbed.

Makes 6 one cup servings, 168 calories, 5.6g fat, 26g carbohydrate, 6.3g fiber, 5.5g protein.

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The trend of some super healthy and some treats will continue over this upcoming weekend because of the Superbowl.  Mr. Helen has already told me what he'd like to have as it's "his" Giants playing against some other team. Do you watch the Superbowl, even if it's just for the commercial and half-time show?  Are you making anything special?