Book Review: Dollar Tree Cookbooks

Ok, so it's confession time... I may have gone to the Dollar Tree today and I may have bought three ridiculously thin cookbooks... but in my defense, they have pictures. 

Gorgeous pictures. 

On every page. 

Honestly, I did look at the recipes themselves before purchasing the books, but to be equally honest, the pictures were a deciding factor. I'm a very visual person, and to be able to see a picture of what a recipe makes really does help.

Well played, Dollar Tree... well played.

Anyway, these three little cookbooks really did have a number of delicious- sounding recipes I am excited to try. The books on salads and smoothies are probably going to be the most helpful; Any way I can motivate myself to actually eat leafy greens is a good thing, and if I can disguise them in a smoothie, then so much the better!

The smoothie book has a good variety of smoothie recipes, ranging from dessert smoothies to breakfast smoothies, to protein smoothies and green smoothies. There are only 11 recipes, but they are diverse enough to make quite a useful little collection.

The appetizer book is probably the least useful to me, but I bought it because, like the other two, it has a good variety of recipes... and it had recipes for Baked Crab Dip and Spinach Artichoke Dip, both of which I greatly enjoy eating, but haven't tried making yet. Later in the summer if we have a good pea harvest, I want to try the Green Pea Hummus recipe. It sounds quite interesting.

Each book also has one of these helpful measurement equivalents pages

As I have mentioned, the third book I purchased contains salad recipes. Like the others, it also has only 11 recipes, but very diverse ones. For example, the book starts out with a Chili Lime Southwest Chicken Salad (reminiscent of the one I love to get at Panera), but also contains a recipe for Fruit Salad, several pasta salad recipes, and a yummy-looking Lentil Salad recipe.

Lots of bang for your buck... and maybe not such a bad impulse purchase after all!

To find these books, you can go to the Dollar Tree website here to find location near you, or you could order online... they only let you buy a case of 36, though...

Oh, and I was reminded as I looked these up on the website --there's also one about grilling.

Immune-Boosting Chicken Soup

Sniffles and coughs have invaded our house thus weekend, so I decided to make chicken soup. I have heard that onion and garlic are immune-boosting foods, so I put in as much as I thought my family could stand. When I went to buy the chicken, there was only one chicken breast that was the right size, so I bought some chicken sausage, too, which turned out to be a really yummy addition! Then I added avocado at the end, and that made it even more yummy! This may have been the most delicious (and healthy) soup I have ever made!

Chicken Soup
1 medium chicken breast
1 lb. chicken sausage (or another chicken breast)
1 onion
4 (or more) cloves of garlic
4 ribs of celery
4c chicken stock, (or enough to cover the meat while it cooks)
1/2 Avocado per bowl (add just before devouring)

Dump all ingredients into a soup pot and boil until the meat is cooked and the vegtables are mushy. I added all the ingredients in whole or in large pieces, and when it was all cooked, I shredded the meats in our KitchenAid mixer and used our immersion blender (a very useful thrift store find!) to take care of the veggies. This made the soup very creamy, and it was pretty quick to make. If you do not have an immersion blender or a KitchenAid, the soup may not be as creamy, but it will still taste yummy!

Chicken Alfredo

Tonight I made a delicious low-carb version of my homemade pasta alfredo, which I have been missing lately. Basically, I substituted chicken for the pasta and served it over fresh spinach.

It turned out looking like this:

Mommy liked it, and so did I! The sauce gave the dish a "comfort food" feel, while the spinach added freshness and did not become slimy at all. It was also fairly fast to make. If one was in a hurry, It would be possible to use store-bought sauce, but homemade is always yummier.

Low-Carb Chicken Alfredo

Three chicken breasts, cut into small-ish pieces to cook quicker

4Tbsp. Butter
4Tbsp. Flour
2c. Milk

1tsp. dried Basil
1tsp. onion powder
1tsp. garlic powder
1c. Shredded Parmesan
1c. Shredded Mozzerella

Salt and pepper to taste. (I use lots of pepper)

1 bag fresh Spinach

Start cooking the chicken however you choose. (I fried it, and it took about as long as the sauce did to cook.)

Melt butter in a saucepan, then add flour and stir constantly until the mixture bubbles. Add milk extremely slowly, stirring well between each addition. Add seasonings and cook over medium heat until the sauce begins to thicken. (Don't forget to check the chicken!)

When sauce reaches desired thickness, add cheese and stir well. By now, your chicken should be done cooking as well, so you're all set!

Serve over fresh Spinach and enjoy!

Low-Carb, High Protein Breakfast Bundles

Mommy and I have recently decided to challenge ourselves to a low-carb, high protein diet. Our focus isn't solely on losing weight, though. It is more on changing our eating habits so we ca be more healthy.

Breakfast has been quite the challenge, since both of us love our morning carbs, but we have been finding lots of good, delicious recipies on Pinterest. This morning, however, I was home alone, and was having trouble finding anything to eat that wasn't full of carbs. I looked in the refrigerator, and there I found a few simple ingredients that made a delicious and filling high-protein breakfast.

Ham and Cheese Breakfast Bundles:
(For 1 person)

4 slices of thin ham (or any other deli meat)
2 tsp. of Greek yogurt
1 cheese stick
2 tsp. crumbled bacon (we get the big bag from Costco).

Layer two slices of meat together for each bundle (so the filling won't leak out) and spread evenly with the yogurt.

Then add half a cheese stick to each bundle. Sprinkle liberally with bacon.

Then roll the bundles up like burritos and microwave for about a minute.

~Enjoy!

Healthy Pumpkin Spice Cookies

This morning I tried a recipe from Pinterest that used banannas, peanut butter, applesauce, and quick oats to make a fairly balanced breakfast cookie. They turned out to be quite delicious, but had a strong bananna taste, which I did not particularly care for. One of the comments on the recipe mentioned using pumpkin instead of bananna, so I decided to try that. I added some spices, some chopped walnuts, and some crystallized ginger. In spite of not having any sugar except the ginger, these turned out quite well. If they are not quite sweet enough for your taste, you could add some honey to the batter, or just drizzle some on top of the baked cookies.



Pumpkin-Oat Cookies:

1 small can pumpkin
1/3 cup peanut butter
2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 1/2 cups quick oats (uncooked)
1 tsp. ground cloves
2 tsp. cinnamon
4 medium-sized chunks of crystallized ginger, chopped
1/3 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350.
Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Mix well, then let rest for 10 minutes. (This allows the oats to soften.) Then drop by spoonfuls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and flatten into circles.

Bake for 20-30 minutes, until cookies have reached desired consistancy.

Enjoy!

Glamorgan Sausage Recipe

I made these today, and found them delicious! I must warn you, however, there is no actual sausage in this recipe!

Selsig Sir Forgannwg (Glamorgan Sausages, a traditional Welsh recipe)

2 eggs, separated
1/3 cup grated cheddar
1 T. grated onion
1/2 tsp. mixed herbs (equal amounts of basil, oregano, thyme, and marjoram.)
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar or a strong hard cheese
3 cups fresh bread crumbs
Salt and pepper
flour for coating
dry bread crumbs for coating

Mix together cheese, bread crumbs, mustard, herbs, and onion. Season well with salt and pepper. Add well beaten egg yolks, mix thoroughly. Whip egg whites until frothy. With floured hands and board, form into sausage shapes. Roll in egg white then in dry bread crumbs. Fry in oil or pork fat, turning frequently until golden all over, 8 to 10 minutes.

From: Collected Recipes of Bryn Seion Welsh Church

Recipies!

For those of you who like to try new recipies, my brother-in-law has a blog with some delicious recipies. My mom and I recently made the Red Pepper Carrot Soup, which was amazing! It's one of those rare things that is good for you, but tastes good too!

Amazing Chocolate Peanutbutter Fudge...

So, in getting ready for a party I'm having, I decided to make some of my favorite chocolate peanutbutter fudge. It's so easy and quite delicious, so I thought I'd post the recipe:

1 (8 oz.) package of semi-sweet chocolate chips (One package is about two cups)
1 cup of peanutbutter

Melt the chocolate chips, then add the peanutbutter and stir. Pour fudge into a cake pan, or pipe into mini muffin cups for a fancier presentation.

*On a side note, I recently discovered that a simple ziplock-type bag can be used instead of a pastry bag. Just cut off one corner to make the tip the size you need. Having the top of the bag closed keeps it from getting too messy. : )