{EWE} Picnic Day!

Summer is the perfect time for a picnic – unless you live in Louisiana.  But picnicing we went – down to the pond with the kids and a fan. And it was a perfect time because Gaye’s theme this week was Picnic Day.

Hamburgers, hotdogs, and cookies.  That was all we needed.  The cookies were Ellie’s Chocolate Chunk Cookies.  

And they were so good.  I could have eaten all 2 dozen.  Sweet but not as sweet as usual because the chocolate in them was only 60% – 70% chocolate.  Just a hint of sweet.  The brown sugar added a great flavor and texture to the cookie.

There are none left.  Wonder why?  Because they were great cookies.  Crispy on the outside.  Soft in the middle.

The recipe is from Ellie’s Comfort Food Fix (page 257).  If you want to try them, I found the recipe on Kitchen Flavours.

For more picnic treats visit Eating wit Ellie.

 

{EwE} It’s a Garden Party!

This week, thanks to Peggy, we are having a Garden Party at Eating with Ellie.  And what better time than late Spring before it gets rather warm for the summer.

A Garden Party doesn’t have to be fancy.  It can be just good  food shared with friends outdoors.  In light of that I brought a simple Apple Crisp for dessert.

Not bad.  I used Fugi, Golden Delicious, and Pink Lady Apples.  The topping is supposed to be a dough of sorts but, since I wasn’t totally focused when I made it, it turned out to be a sweet oatmeal topping.  How on earth I forgot the butter and oil and water is beyond me.  I didn’t have my mis en place ready I supposed. But it was still good.  It was especially good with some Vanilla Ice Cream melting on top of the warm crisp.

I bet some blueberries would be good in this….

I will make this again – with ALL the ingredients next time.

The recipe is from Ellie’s Comfort Food Fix. {page 280} Also HERE!

More dishes for the Garden Party?  Visit Eating with Ellie.

 

{EwE} SHRIMP!

This week’s theme, thank you, Kayte,  is Mom’s Favorite because Mother’s Day is Sunday.

I thought about what my Mom’s and my Grandmothers’ s favorite dishes were and I honestly don’t think they had one.  Any of them.  Maybe back in those day’s , pre- WWII and the early 1950s people didn’t think of a FAVORITE food as long as they HAD food.  Unlike today cooking and eating was just something you did.  Not something you really thought about.

As for me,  I would have to say I do have a favorite food – seafood – specifically SHRIMP with a good rib-eye coming in second.  With that in mind when I went for MOM”S Favorite I went for mine – I am a Mom!

Ellie’s OVEN-FRIED SHRIMP

DELICIOUS!!  And easy to make.  The peeled shrimp are dipped in flour, then eggwhites, then rolled in whole-wheat breadcrumbs seasoned with thyme, .emon zest, salt and cayenne.  A little bit of bite with ton’s of flavor.  They were super crunchy without all the mess of frying and the calories of the oil.  Thank You, Ellie!!!

The recipe is from Ellie’s Comfort Food Fix.  page 185.

More Mom dishes -> Mom’s Favorite

Like to join in with us cooking with Ellie Krieger’s recipes.  Just click over to Eating with Ellie.  The weekly themes are on the right.  We don’t publish Ellie’s recipes but know you would love to have her books.  And lots of her recipes are on line.

 

{EwE} “Fowl” Weather

Today, it was FOUL weather.  It rained and thundered and the wind blew and it was wonderful!  We haven’t had any measurable rain in about two months.  It was so dry and brown and ugly outside.  Now it’s wet and beautiful again.

But that’s not the FOUL Kayte was thinking about when she came up with this week’s theme – FOWL Weather. And FOWL weather is always welcome.  Like this dish.

Chicken Marsala

I have made this before but not a lower calorie version.  This one has much less butter but it is just as good.  In fact, it was delicious.  I could definitely eat this again and again and again.  Just as Ellie described it – sauteed chicken in a full-bodied mushroom-wine sauce.  I wish I had made more sauce because it was sooooo good.  Tons of flavor.  Thanks, Ellie, for this one!

The recipe is from Ellie’s Comfort Food Fix (page 167)  {You can also find it HERE.}

Want more FOWL recipes?  Eating with Ellie!

 

{EwE} Eat your Veggies!

I love the summer.  NOT the heat!  NOT the humidity!  For me, Summer is all about the garden and the fresh veggies we pick from it.  Tomatoes.  Zucchini.  Cucumbers. Eggplant. Corn.  It’s all good!

It wasn’t hard to pick this week’s theme.  VEGGIES!!  But it was hard picking a recipe.  Ellie has so many good healthy veggie recipes.  I finally settled on the

Crispy Baked Zucchini-Potato Pancakes.

This is a riff on everyday Potato Pancakes.  Most of the time we fry little patties of shredded potatoes.  Ellie bakes hers and mixes zucchini in for a healthier riff.

Shredded potatoes, zucchini, and sauteed onions in a light batter make a crispy, tasty side.  And they were good.  I did think they needed a little more seasoning.

I could make these a lot.  A LOT!!

The recipe is from Ellie’s Comfort Food Fix (page 236).  I also found the recipe over on Chaya’s Site. {And like she says, the recipe doesn’t list where to add the onions so I just added them to the batter.}

You can find more veggies over at Eating with Ellie!

 

{EwE}Celebrating the Forth with Cheesecake

And not just any cheese cake.  Ellie’s Mini Cheesecakes with Strawberries.  And Blueberries.

The theme this week for Eating with Ellie was Red, White, Or Blue.  But since it was the Fourth –  our most important American holiday celebration – I just couldn’t pass up the chance to go  Red, White, AND Blue!!

 

This is a no-bake cheesecake with  a graham cracker crust. The little cheesecakes are made in muffin cups so 1 is just perfect for a quick sweet bite.  And since Cheesecake is one of my fave desserts it wasn’t hard to make this one.

Since there are no eggs in this recipe you just have to mix up the ingredients and pour the batter into the cups over the baked crusts.  Easy Peasy!

Ellie tops her cheesecakes with sliced strawberries.  There weren’t any decent ones in the store so I mixed in some home-made strawberry jam and topped with some blueberries instead.  And on some I just topped with strawberry jam and blueberries.  You can never have enough red white and blue.

The only thing wrong with these – the crust gets soggy after a couple of days in the fridge.

The recipe is from Ellie’s Comfort Food Fix  {page 266) .  Each cheese cake is only 250 calories. {And since I used Splenda instead of sugar you can take off 43 calories.  But hten I added in about 1/4 cup of strawberry jam, so maybe it evened out…..}

Check out the rest of Red, White, or Blue on Eating with Ellie!

 

{EwE} Where’s the Beef? Shepherd’s Pie

I don’t know about you but Shepherd’s Pie is a common occurrence in our kitchen. Whenever I need something easy and filling I usually turn to Shepherd’s pie. And there is not much difference between one recipe and another.  Except years ago I stopped using any kind of canned soup and started making my own filling.  SOOOOO much better.  But I was still unhappy because of all the potato topping the pie.

I don’t have to worry about that any more because of Ellie.  This topping is made with potatoes and cauliflower.  A new twist on your every day Shepherd’s Pie.  And a good one.  Even The Man liked it and he is NOT a cauliflower fan.  The steamed cauliflower mixes in very well with the potatoes so that the taste is more potato.  And although Ellie doesn’t add the cheese on top it just wouldn’t be Shepherd’s Pie with out a little cheese.

The filling is lean ground beef mixed with onions, carrots, mushrooms (which I left out), peas, and seasonings.  Very tasty.

The recipe is from Ellie’s Comfort Food Fix (page 131) but it is also HERE!

More Beef recipes are on Eating with Ellie.

While you are there check out the schedule of Themes for Eating with Ellie.  Won’t you join us?

 

{EwE} Indy 500: What’s in your Lunchbox?

I figured if I’m going to the Indy I am going in style.  Maybe a box seat!  Maybe the camper in the pits.  I’m going to need that because my lunchbox had a rather messy meal in it.

Ellie’s Open-Face PHILLY Cheese Steak Sandwich

When ever I try out a new place for lunch, if they have the Philly, I will try it.  I’ve had one from about 20 different places.  Most are good.  Some not so much.  The one from The Huddle House isn’t bad.  Neither is the one at IHOP.  I haven’t found one that blows me away yet.  Guess I will just have to keep trying.

Meanwhile Ellie’s will do nicely for a make-at-home Philly.  A toasted whole whet Italian roll (I used a WW English muffin instead) covered with nicely browned beef, sauteed onions and bells (Ellie said red and green but I am not a fan of green so I used orange instead.  Great Color!), and a lovely cheese sauce made with REAL cheese – extra sharp cheddar.  It was quite tasty, but quite messy as well.  Which is just fine with me.  Definitely a repeat, maybe NOT for the INDY, but any other lunch.

The recipe is from Ellie’s Comfort Food Fix (page 112) .  I also found it on my friend Tracy’s blog.

Check out what else is our Lunchboxes.

 

 

{EwE} Divine Desserts

Gaye’s choice for this week was DESSERT!  We haven’t made dessert with Ellie in a while and that’s a shame because her’s are tasty AND healthy!!

I chose to make the Rustic Pear Tart.   Mainly because it’s easy but also because The Man does love pears. 

This tart is super easy because you make the whole wheat crust and just fill it and fold it up around the pears.  No pie plate.  No trimming.  No patching.

Ellie suggested 3 medium pears but I had some canned pears from the orchard and chose to use those instead.  I had canned them with very little sugar but I cut down on the brown sugar from 3 Tbl to 2 Tbl just in case.  I had also canned some pears with cinnamon but figured I would use the plain instead.  The filling also has cinnamon, cornstarch, brown sugar and lemon juice. I forgot the lemon juice, but….ah, well!!  The tart is brushed with a mix of honey and water after baking to give it a nice sweet taste.

The recipe is from Ellie’s Comfort Food Fix  {page 284} but you can also find it HERE!

Check out more desserts on Divine Desserts at Eating with Ellie.

 

{EwE} Breakfast?

Peggy likes to eat Breakfast for Dinner. And since it was her turn to pick the weekly theme for Eating with Ellie we are all eating Breakfast for Dinner.

I also like the comfort of breakfast foods on some nights.  Nights where it is cold out side and a nice big breakfast is just the thing.  Or if lunch was big.  Or just because.  We do it often.

This night we had Ellie’s Banana-Walnut Pecan Multigrain Pancakes.

I have always liked toasted pecans in waffles and pancakes so I subbed those in instead of the walnuts.  I had never thought of adding banana slices in as well.  Good idea.  What you end up with is a nice, sweet, healthy (multigrain) slice of yum.  The maple syrup adds just he right amount of sweet.  Definitely doing this again.  Although, I think I will cut the banana into smaller pieces so they are more evenly distributed through the batter.

The recipe is on page 37 of Ellie’s Comfort Food Fix.  And it’s HERE, too.

Check out more Breakfast for Dinner.