Sourdough Surprises: Peanut Butter Pumpkin Protein bars

I'm all about pumpkin everything. Any squash, for that matter. My breakfast yogurt is sweetened with butternut squash daily. And if you have a glut of zuchinni over the summer, I'll eat it a lot faster than you might think.

However, I don't do much with pumpkin baking wise because I'm generally the only one that eats it. This has already been pretty much the death of this blog...me, the one who behaves around food, eating one piece of cake a day and the rest of the family forgetting it was there.

So how did I get around that for this month's Sourdough Surprises challenge? Make something only I was going to eat anyway – protein bars!

I've mentioned my love of protein and snack bars on this blog before. Getting my protein needs in is especially challenging now as the holidays and family birthdays drag me from one party to the next where I'm pretty much eating snack food. So, I decided to try and make the changes I wanted to my old bar recipe, using pumpkin in place of banana!

The new recipe:

Sourdough Peanut Butter Pumpkin Protein Bars

Makes 9

1 cup sourdough starter

1/2 cup flavored peanut butter (I used Peanut Butter & Co. Cinnamon Raisin Swirl

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1 cup (3 scoops) vanilla whey protein powder

2 cups quick cooking oats

Combine all ingredients. Carefully spread in an 8x8” greased baking pan. Bake at 350 just until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 minutes. Cut into bars and enjoy!

I probably shouldn't have increased the oats by that much...a cup and a half probably would have been sufficient and it cut into the sweetness of the bar. Still, it's another lesson learned and a potential recipe for my other project, Junk Food Fittie.

Check out our other awesome pumpkin creations!

Sourdough Surprises: Lemon Parmesan Squash Oven Fries

I have a confession to make:

I have never deep fried anything.

This has nothing to do with eating healthy – it's not the deep frying that adds calories, it's the batter. Anyone who knows me well knows my love of chicken wings, and I was about to give in to the local food truck that was serving deep fried Cadbury eggs (fortunately or unfortunately, they ran out before I got there). It's the fryer itself. I'm careful in the kitchen, but that does not prevent me from getting grease splatters every time I cook bacon, and then there's the spaghetti squash knife incident that has left me with no feeling in the side of my pinky finger. So a pot full of hot oil is a danger zone. But Sourdough Surprises picked fry batter this month...what was I going to do?

Then one day I was putting chicken wings on a broiler pan, ready to bake...and it hit me: almost everything that is fried can still be done in the oven. And it just so happens to be zucchini/yellow squash season, which is also one of my favorite vegetables. The zucchini selection at the market was a tad picked over, but there was a pretty straight yellow squash that clocked in at a full pound, ready for the taking.

I completely winged this recipe:

Sourdough Lemon Parmesan Yellow Squash Oven Fries

Serves 3-4

Batter:

1/2 cup ripe sourdough starter

2 tblsp mayonnaise

2 tblsp grated Parmesan

2 tblsp flour

2 tsp lemon pepper seasoning

2 tsp salt

1. Cut 1 lb zucchini or summer squash into fry shapes and set aside. Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.
2. Whisk all batter ingredients together. Dredge squash through batter. Place on cookie sheet
3. Bake at 350 until desired level of doneness, about 20-25 minutes (Mine were roasting with chicken and took about 24 minutes)

I can't say these turned out exactly as I hoped (oven squash fries are normally breaded, not battered). But the taste was amazing...the sourdough and Parmesan complemented the gentle squash flavor perfectly. Even my father, the one who prefers familiar food, loved them. I could have eaten the entire batch myself (although, going back to the batter being what adds calories, a mere third of this recipe still clocks in at 132 calories using light mayo).

It was still all the mess of frying (without the danger of hot oil splatters!), and quite a bit of trouble. But the taste was tempting...I just might have to make these again.

Check out our other awesome fried (and oven fried!) delights:

An InLinkz Link-up

Shine Supper Club: Breakfast-in-Bed-Worthy Mocha Oatmeal

When I first saw that the Shine SupperClub was doing “Sexy Dishes” for February, I was at a loss. I'm a single girl, just cooking for family and friends. Romantic dinners for two hasn't been in my repertoire.

Then, after a hard workout, I was exhausted and looking for some carbohydrates. I turned to one of my quick and easy favorites: oatmeal. When I'm as tired as I was, I sometimes just make an instant oatmeal packet with hot brewed coffee. When it's plain, one of my favorite sweeteners is a packet of hot cocoa mix. At this point, I was so tired I wanted someone to just bring it to me.

And then it hit me: it's the perfect breakfast-in-bed food. And what's sexier than breakfast-in-bed and chocolate?

Of course, instant oatmeal and hot cocoa are easy enough to throw together. So for my next post-workout oatmeal dish, I set out to make a more from-scratch version.

So, a little coffee, a little sugar, a lot of cocoa powder (I like it dark!) and a coffee creamer and voilia!

Breakfast-in-Bed Mocha Oatmeal

Serves 1...but easily doubled

1/2 cup quick cooking oats

2/3 cup cold coffee (oatmeal will be on the thick side, use more or less to taste)

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon sugar (use more or less to taste)

1 half-and-half coffee creamer, or flavor of choice

Splash of vanilla extract

Mix oats, cocoa, and sugar in a bowl, stir to prevent clumping when wet ingredients are added. Add coffee and vanilla, stir.

Microwave 1 1/2 minutes, or amount of time specified on oatmeal container.

Add coffee creamer, stir until well mixed.

I think this on a tray, maybe with a side of strawberries, would make anybody's sexy meal list. It's also a perfect breakfast food – get your caffeine fix in your morning oatmeal!

I'm not making any promises if you serve this to your sweetie. But I think it ups your chances. Now if someone would just make it for me...

Sweet Potato and Broccoli Shepard's Pie

They say that necessity is the mother of all invention. The same might as well be said of creating new recipes.

Like I said, my father's out of town. That's when my mother and I normally treat ourselves to everything that he won't eat – things like spinach, sweet potatoes, and broccoli. This time, though, we have to work around my sister's birthday and my work schedule. Sure, he'll be gone for five dinners, but only two of them can my mother and I choose what we eat and eat together. And we have to squeeze in one of his least favorite restaurants while we're at it.

I was browsing recipes a couple of weeks ago on Food52, looking for a creative non-pasta ground beef dish. After seeing not much besides pasta, stuffed peppers and Shepard's Pie, I came across this Sweet Potato Cottage Pie.

I'm not a huge fan of Shepard's Pie or Cottage Pie, typically, and it's not just that I don't really care for ground beef. I think it's the fact that it was one of the few meals my father felt comfortable cooking, meaning back when my mother worked retail when I was a kid, we'd eat it for days on end. Still, it got me thinking. And it kind of took off.

I found a few Sweet Potato Shepard's Pie recipes on the internet – here and here – but when I realized the limited time we'd have to squeeze our favorite foods in, I started taking inspiration from each, adding the broccoli, and making it into something new:

Sweet Potato and Broccoli Shepard's Pie

Inspired by this and this and this recipe

Serves 6

Ingredients

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped

2 oz cream cheese

1 pound lean ground beef

1 small onion

1 cup tomato sauce

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cumin

2 oz cream cheese

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

2 cups chopped broccoli

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350. In a medium size pot, boil sweet potato until tender.
• In a large skillet, cook beef and onion until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add tomato sauce and spices. Spread in a baking dish. Top with broccoli and set aside.
• Mash sweet potato with cream cheese, salt and pepper with a potato masher or electric mixer. Spread over meat and broccoli
• Bake for 30 minutes or until heated through.

Dare I say I think I actually created something original here? And you know what, it was good. Darn good, in fact. I had to resist eating seconds. Plus, my mother even told me to freeze a helping to save for my aunt.

It's kind of sad that my father won't eat it. For as much effort as it was, I want to make it again. Two thumbs up, easily. Only because I only have two thumbs.

Shine Supper Club: Kitchen Sink Pasta Salad

I had one semester in college where I attempted to work nearly full time hours while maintaining a full time school schedule. I think I had all of four days where I didn't have school or work. Meals were usually either at the mall food court or the campus cafe. It got expensive quick. One day, I found a little bit of time and threw together a pasta salad with a bunch of ingredients I found laying around. I had a portable meal that was cheaper (and healthier) than fast food, and it could keep a couple days. I started doing this whenever life got hectic: the same basic dressing recipe, a protein, a vegetable, some pasta – and I freed up some time.

Life is seldom that hectic anymore (especially when you work for an NHL team right now...). However, the Shine Supper Club is doing favorite pasta recipes this month, and I happened to have some leftover Miracle Noodles from last night's dinner. So lunch was set.

When I can plan for this (it's a pot luck favorite, in fact), I have a set recipe:

Secret Mustard Dressing

~1/2 cup Ranch Dressing

~1/2 cup Mustard (I use about half yellow and half brown)

Hot sauce, to taste

1. Mix ingredients. This recipe is forgiving and adaptable – adjust it according to your tastes. (Personally, I like it sinus-clearing spicy, but this is the pot luck version!)

Kitchen Sink Pasta Salad

1 Box Pasta, preferably elbow noodles

2 medium zucchini, shredded

1 medium tomato, diced

1 cup shredded Jack cheese

Secret Mustard dressing (see above)

1. Prepare pasta to al dente. Drain, rinse and allow to cool
2. Toss with dressing. Mix in other ingredients
3. Serve. If this is a pot luck, it goes fast!

Now, that's the pot luck version. Obviously, zucchini is out of season, and I didn't have a tomato handy. Besides, I was making a single serving. I had a couple of baby carrots from feeding the bird and turtles, and some leftover bacon. So I chopped up some carrot and tore up some bacon to throw together this version. Plus, I used a packet of Chinese mustard and quite a bit of chili powder in the dressing. And the Miracle Noodles. If you're expecting these to taste like regular pasta, you will be disappointed, but they work for me.  However, this recipe works just as well with regular pasta.

I do wish I had bought a shape other than fettuccine, but that's what makes it the “Kitchen Sink”. It's less of a recipe and more of a technique. Use what you have and what you like, and you can't be disappointed.

Easy Weeknight Chicken: Baked Mango Chipotle Chicken Tenders With Avocado Tomato Rice

I love to cook. My mother doesn't. Her mantra on cooking is “I like meals with three ingredients that I already have.” Which is one reason why if I'm not the one cooking, a homemade dinner is almost always either spaghetti and meat sauce, pancakes with bacon or sausage, or baked chicken with a boxed starch and a can of veggies.

Having learned from her, I do make baked chicken, but I put my own spin on it. After finding a bottle of 

Mango Chipotle Vinaigrette from Kraft (it's so new that there's not even a link to it on their website yet)

at the grocery store this week, I had to try it with something. And with the Shine Supper Club doing “Weeknight Chicken Dinners” this month, it was a perfect time to put a new spine on Mom's classic. I've used this technique with bottled mojo marinade as well, so you can use just about any marinade that you want.

So, here is my recipe:

Baked Mango Chipotle Chicken Tenders

Ingredients

1lb Chicken Tenders

~1/4 Cup Kraft Mango Chipotle Vinaigrette

1. Preheat oven to 350 and spray a 9x13” glass baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Trim fat off of chicken tenders. Arrange in a single layer in baking dish. Drizzle with vinaigrette and brush with a silicone basting brush
3. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until done.

Avocado Tomato Rice

Ingredients

1 medium green skin avocado (or 1 large hass avocado)

1-8-oz can tomato sauce

2 cups cooked white rice.

Salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste

1. Prepare rice
2. While rice is preparing, roughly dice avocado. Immediately toss with tomato sauce and salt, pepper and hot sauce, adjusting seasoning as necessary.
3. Serve over rice

I have to say I wish that the dressing lived up to the “Chipotle” in its name. It was good, just not very spicy, so if you're looking for that, you might want to sprinkle your tenders with a little chili powder as well. But hey, even my fruit-hating father enjoyed this one. It was quite good, it's healthy, and, on the table in under 30 minutes, is definitely one to keep in the arsenal as a change of pace.

As an added benefit, it might just be simple enough to make Mom proud.