How About a Month of Daily Phase One Recipes to Start the New Year!

It's time for Phase One Recipes like these Asian Lettuce Wraps with Spicy Ground Turkey Filling!

When the calendar flips to a new year, lots of us take stock of our lives and decide what needs to change.  I don't talk much about my personal goals on the blog, but pretty much every January they include a return to Phase One of the South Beach Diet for a few weeks.  Every year I post only Phase One recipes during January to help with that.  This year I'm taking it a step farther by making a commitment to feature a tasty Phase One Recipe on Kalyn's Kitchen every day for the month of January.  And I feel like I should talk about one of the reasons I decided to do that. I say "should talk about" because this post is not something I wanted to write.  When you have a blog that helps other people lose weight, it's hard write a post saying you have gained weight yourself.

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The Top Ten Recipes of 2011 from Kalyn's Kitchen (plus Ten Honorable Mentions)

Here are my top ten recipes of the year, plus ten more equally delicious honorable mentions!

I love the "best recipe" lists that pop up on food blogs this time of year, even though every year I have a hard time narrowing down my own list!  I never post any recipe unless I really like it, so this year when I went through the monthly archives saving links for potential favorites I ended up with a list of 32 recipes!  Then I reluctantly eliminated some of those favorites until I narrowed it down to just 20.  Even harder was picking which of those 20 recipes made it into the top ten!  

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Recipe for Comforting Ground Beef and Barley Soup (and Happy Birthday to Rand!)

This Ground Beef and Barley Soup is warm and comforting if you're tired of rich holiday food.

I love this time of year when one year is winding down and another is beckoning with possibilities.  If you're one of the many people thinking about losing a few pounds in 2012, the days between Christmas and New Years may be kind of a planning phase.  By now you've likely had enough rich holiday food, and you could be thinking about getting started on the South Beach Diet or even looking ahead to Phase One, but you're not be quite ready to take that step yet!  I'll be talking more about Phase One in the next few days, but in the meantime I recommend this warm and comforting soup as way to get you thinking about healthier food choices again as you contemplate the new year. 

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Five Fun Things on Friday, and Happy Holidays Everyone! (12-23-11)

No matter how you celebrate, the holidays are about giving.

There are so many things to love about this time of year, but for me the holidays are all about giving, and it's buying presents for the people I care about that really gets me excited during the holidays.  I've had fun getting a few surprises lined up this year, and most of my holiday preparations are done except for a little last-minute cooking.  I'm going to sign off for the next four or five days and spend time with my family, but before I go I wanted to share some fun Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanza things I've spotted around the interwebs this week.  Hopefully at least one of these things will bring you a little holiday joy.

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Recipe for Roasted Red Curry Carrots with Ginger and Garlic (Christmas Carrots)

If you're having a Christmas or New Year's Dinner, this is a lovely side dish idea.

The season of craziness is upon us.  The last few days I've been in a frenzy of shopping, working on my massive Christmas card list, and sending out invitations for the annual soup party I always have on New Year's Day.   Luckily I do have plenty of ideas for South Beach friendly holiday treats and homemade food gifts on the index page for Christmas Recipes, because while other food bloggers are giving you lovely holiday desserts and crafty fun ideas for presents, here I am with nothing to share but roasted carrots.  

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Recipe for Cranberry Salsa Cream Cheese Holiday Appetizer with Baked Whole Wheat Pita Chips

How about a meatless holiday appetizer for Meatless Monday?

I'm not sure if people will consider this Cranberry Salsa Cream Cheese Holiday Appetizer to be a proper Meatless Monday post, but things are about to get hectic around here and I wanted to be sure to get it posted during the holidays.  Someone suggested this idea in a comment on Trina's Low-Sugar Fresh Cranberry Salsa with Cilantro, Lime, and Jalapeno, and then I saw a slightly different version of it at BlogHer.com.  The cranberry salsa recipe has gotten nothing but raves, and if you're looking for a fun holiday appetizer that's meatless and relatively South Beach Diet friendly, I highly recommend this recipe.  I ate it with baked pita chips that I made with Joseph's Reduced Carb Lavash, but you could also serve it with whole wheat crackers, celery sticks, jicama slices, or even tortilla chips.

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Friday Favorites: Ten Favorite Phase One Soups to Help You Get Through December!

Tasty soups in the freezer can help temper indulgent December eating!

We are now officially past the half-way mark of December, and some of you may have been overdoing it a tiny bit on the holiday eating, right?  This post with ten of my favorite Phase One soup recipes is a Public Service Announcement for anyone who's hoping to make it through the rest of the holidays without pants that are uncomfortably tight.  Healthy soups like these are warm and comforting when it's cold outside, and they're all delicious.  Let's start with the Chicken, Black Bean, and Cilantro Soup pictured above, something I'd happily eat for lunch or dinner most any day. 

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Two-Ingredient Sugar-Free Raspberry Yogurt Pie Recipe for a Phase One Dessert

This Ridiculously Easy Yogurt Pie is a Phase One Dessert.

If you're someone who's busy these days baking holiday treats or making candy let me say right up front that this Sugar-Free Raspberry Yogurt Pie is probably not going to excite you.  This recipe is for those people who write to me begging for a Phase One Dessert option, or anyone who needs to severely limit their intake of sugar at this time of year.  The recipe was sent to me by a reader named Kate, who shared it on Facebook.  Kate used lemon sugar-free jello, which sounded great but I never did find it in any of the stores by me.  Instead I used raspberry flavor, which I thought made it look slightly Christmassy, if you use your imagination.  I thought the yogurt pie was pretty good, but I liked it best layered into a parfait with whipped topping (which admittedly probably makes it less Phase One Friendly.) 

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Kalyn's Kitchen Picks: Triscuits 100% Whole Wheat Crackers for Holiday Parties

These whole-wheat crackers with only 3 ingredients are a healthier holiday nibble.

The season of over-indulgence is upon us, and this year more than ever I'm hoping to enjoy some holiday foods without completely overdoing it on sweets and other treats I'd prefer to avoid.  (I'm guessing lots of you are with me on this, right?)   One way I make things easier on myself during the holidays is by having on hand "diet-legal" foods that are still something of a treat.  I don't normally eat a lot of crackers, but Triscuits crackers made with 100% whole wheat are something that I'd happily munch on at a holiday gathering.

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Friday Night Photos: Look What I Ordered Online!

I'm thrilled that I can now order Joseph's Baker products online!

In the summer of 2005 I visited some friends in Rhode Island, and while I was there I discovered Joseph's Oat Bran and Whole Wheat Flour Pita Bread and wrote about it on my then brand-new food blog.   Then several years later I connected online with Lydia from The Perfect Pantry, and she happened to live in Rhode Island.  When Lydia mentioned in a post that she liked the products from Joseph's Bakery I left a comment saying how much I liked them too, and she generously offered to send me some.  When those arrived in the mail, I made Joseph's Flax, Oat Bran, and Whole Wheat Pitas and Tortillas into an official Kalyn's Kitchen Pick.

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Recipe for Deconstructed Stuffed Cabbage Casserole

This is my kicked-up version of Dolores' Un-Stuffed Cabbage Casserole; thanks Dolores!

Today's my birthday, and even though this is not a milestone birthday I still like to get as much birthday mileage out of the day as I can, so I'm in San Francisco where I'll be attending the BlogHer Holiday Meet-Up and visiting my stepsisters Karyn and Bobbi.  Having a birthday that's close to the end of the year means a double-dose of reflecting on life every December.  One thing I've been thinking for a while now is how ironically it seemed easier to eat healthy meals when I went off to work every day.   In those days I had to take a lunch, and when I got home I had to work on the blog, so there wasn't much time to go out to eat.  Being forced to plan ahead for meals meant I always made diet-friendly casseroles or soups on the weekend to make sure my freezer was well-stocked to get me through the week.  That's a habit I'm going to work on cultivating again, so over the weekend I made this amazing Deconstructed Stuffed Cabbage Casserole and I have six servings of it in the freezer waiting for me at home!

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Recipe for Greek Egg-Lemon-Rice Soup with Thyme (Avgolemono Soup)

My version of this traditional Greek Soup has a little thyme and parsley added to the broth.

(Updated with new photos and slightly easier instructions and added to Recipe Favorites, December 2011)   For years Avgolemono Soup has been one of my favorite things to order in a Greek restaurant so in 2006 I tried making it for my New Year's Day Soup Party and posted it on the blog.  This year for Thanksgiving I had the idea of trying this soup with leftover turkey instead of chicken, but I ran out of turkey before that idea could come to pass.  I couldn't get the thought of Egg-Lemon-Rice Soup out of my mind though, so I made my original recipe again and took some greatly improved photos.  My version of this soup has a little dried parsley and dried thyme added to the stock, plus a little lemon zest in the Avgolemono sauce, which isn't always used in authentically Greek versions.  I love this recipe which produces a flavorful soup that stayed good in the fridge for about five days, with me eating some nearly every day for lunch.

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CrockPot Recipe for Make-Ahead Apple Pie Oatmeal

CrockPot Make-Ahead Apple Pie Oatmeal is a tasty breakfast for Meatless Monday.

I'm still sticking to my promise to post a meatless recipe every Sunday so people who are committing to Meatless Mondays can find an idea for the next day, and this week I'm sharing a very flavorful meatless breakfast option.  This CrockPot recipe for Make-Ahead Apple Pie Oatmeal is something you make in the crockpot in the evening, and the next morning you warm it up in the microwave (or in a pan on the stove.)  I'm a fan of Peanut Butter Oatmeal for breakfast, but I loved this idea for a new oatmeal option that's quick and delicious.  And who doesn't like apple pie?

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Low-Sugar and Whole Wheat Brownies with Walnuts (Grandma Willey's Brownie Recipe)

These tasty brownies are only one thing we'll remember about Grandma Willey.

When you see my stack of darkly chocolate brownies with walnuts, you may think I'm posting them as a sweet treat for the holidays, but there's actually a much more heart-warming story behind this stack of brownies.   Just over two weeks ago my sister Pam's mother-in-law passed away.  When I went to the viewing for Grandma Willey there was a table of momentos of her life, along with a stack of printed recipe cards and a little sign that said "Dorothy's favorite recipe, please take one."  On the card was the recipe for Dot's Brownies. 

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Five Things on Friday (12-2-11)

Cooking dried beans in a CrockPot is a good idea for many reasons!

Sometimes on Fridays I like to share news or fun links I've found around the interwebs, and a couple of interesting things caught my attention this week.   Keep reading to see what I found, and if you came across anything fun this week in your travels around the web, please share those links in the comments!

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South Beach Diet Phase One Recipes Round-Up for November 2011 (Low-Glycemic Recipes)

Kalyn's favorite Phase One Recipe for November 2011 would have to be these amazing-tasting Roasted Green Beans and Red Bell Pepper with Garlic and Ginger.

November has been quite a month, with changes on the blog, and some good changes for me personally as well.  It's been a month of reflection, and I've been contemplating the monthly Phase One Recipe Round-ups and how they might work better.  Earlier this year I announced that I'm now focusing on new Phase One Recipe ideas that haven't been featured before, and I think that's been a good change.  But I'm thinking of more changes, and it has to do with how blogging has changed since 2008 when I first started writing these round-ups.   While I loved to follow hundreds of blogs back then, lately scrolling through my feed reader was feeling like a huge infomercial, with sponsored posts, product reviews, and lots of recipes where the blogger was compensated to use a certain ingredient.  I respect the right of everyone to blog in the way that suits their needs, but I don't want to feature commercialized posts like that in my round-ups, and a few weeks ago I did a huge clean-out of my Google Reader account, removing literally hundreds of blogs that are no longer interesting to me. 

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Kalyn's Kitchen Picks: Zout Laundry Stain Remover

I think Zout is a miracle product for messy cooks!

It feels like time for another one of my Kalyn's Kitchen Picks spotlighting a favorite product that I buy over and over, and this is the first time I've ever featured something like Zout Laundry Stain Remover.  You may be wondering how Zout can be considered a kitchen item, especially if you're one of those neat cooks who always wears an apron, keeps the counter completely cleared off, and never spills food on your clothes.  I am completely in awe of cooks like that.   

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Twice-Baked Cauliflower (Low-Carb, Gluten-Free)

I have fond memories of Twice-Baked Potatoes, but now this Twice-Baked Cauliflower would suit me better!

(Updated with better photos and a slightly lightened recipe, November 2011.) I'm one of those people who really like cauliflower, and I especially like this dish, possibly in memory of all those twice baked potatoes I ate before I started eating the lower glycemic index way. I remember my mother making them for special occasions, and I'd help scoop out the potato insides and mix them with sour cream, cheese and butter, and lots of cheese sprinkled on top when the potatoes went back in the oven for the second baking. In those days all the Denny siblings considered twice baked potatoes to be the ultimate gourmet treat, something my mother didn't make very often for the twelve (12!) people she was cooking for.

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Recipe for Easy Penne Pasta with Balsamic Sweet Potatoes, Baby Arugula (or Spinach), and Parmesan

Easy Penne Pasta with Balsamic Sweet Potatoes, Arugula, and Parmesan for Meatless Monday

Sometimes my best recipes happen when I have a certain ingredient I've been infatuated with but suddenly I want to do something different with it.  A few weeks ago that happened with my favorite Baby Arugula Salad.  Oh yes, I love that baby arugula salad, but that day I found myself with half a tub of baby arugula and a yearning for something different than a salad.  I knew arugula was great with pasta, and I always have sweet potatoes on hand, so I ended up creating this meatless dish that combines sweet potatoes sauteed and glazed with balsamic vinegar, wilted baby arugula, and a generous handful of good quality Parmesan cheese.  This was comforting and satisfying on a colder-than-I-might-have-wanted November day.

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Recipe for Turkey (or chicken) Lasagna with Sage and Three Cheeses

Turkey Lasagna with Sage and Three Cheeses is one of my favorite things to make with leftover turkey!

(Republished with updated photos and a lighter version of the recipe, November 2011.)  Five years ago I posted this fabulous lasagna recipe that I created using leftover turkey from Thanksgiving and the last of the sage from my garden.  This has been one of my favorite post-Thanksgiving dishes to make with leftover turkey, turkey gravy, and turkey stock all adding a lot of flavor.  But the original recipe made a huge dish of lasagna, and it was a pretty rich dish.  (My brother Mark jokingly asked if this was phase five for South Beach when I made it the first time.)  For Thanksgiving 2011 I thought I'd give this recipe a little makeover, and the new recipe makes a smaller dish of lasagna with less cheese for a lighter version that's still quite delish.  (I'll keep the printer-friendly link for the original version as well, in case anyone has enjoyed that version and has it bookmarked.)

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Recipe for Easy Leftover Turkey Pita Sandwiches with Fresh Cranberry Salsa

Trina's Fresh Cranberry Salsa made these pita sandwiches into a real treat!

Yes, I realize you probably don't have any leftover turkey yet, and you might even still be looking for diet-friendly Thanksgiving Recipes if you haven't decided what you're making for the big day.  But in that funny world of food blogging, I cooked a turkey breast and a whole turkey last week so I'd have leftover turkey for recipe experiments.  That way I can get them posted before Thanksgiving for people to consider when they *do* have leftover turkey.  And although I've made a lot of good things through the years using leftover turkey, these tasty little pita sandwiches with Trina's Fresh Cranberry Salsa may have just gone to the front of the line for this year.  I made my leftover turkey into a turkey salad mixture to go in the pitas, but if you didn't want to bother with that turkey + cranberry salsa + pita bread would also taste pretty fantastic!

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Recipe for American Greek Salad

I'd never get tired of American Greek Salad for a meatless lunch or dinner!

(Republished with new photos and updated recipe, November 2011.)  Here in the U.S. we're just about to head into what can be the most indulgent food week of the entire year.  Although I try to encourage healthier holiday eating with my Low-Glycemic Thanksgiving Recipes, I know this is a time when making good choices can be a challenge.  Personally I think it's okay to splurge a little on a holiday meal, because over the long haul healthy eating is all about balance.  This long-time favorite recipe for American Greek Salad is something I first posted when I was a teacher about to go on summer vacation, but it's also a good choice when you need to balance out some heavier meals.  I recommend this salad at my pick for Meatless Monday this week if you'd like to start the week with something that's tasty and fresh.

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Recipe for Kalyn's Favorite Baby Arugula Salad with Lemon, Balsamic Vinegar, Parmesan, and Pine Nuts

For arugula lovers, this simple salad would be a perfect new flavor for the Thanksgiving table.

It was about three years ago that I noticed salads with baby arugula, lemon, and Parmesan showing up on the menu at several of my favorite restaurants.  I'm a huge fan of arugula, so I happily sampled the various arugula salads everywhere I saw one.  Then a few weeks ago I decided to try to actually write down a recipe for my take on the perfect combination of ingredients for an arugula salad like this.  It took a little experimenting to find the exact mix that made my tastebuds happy, but the one I'm sharing here (with just a touch of white balsamic vinegar added to the lemony dressing) is the arugula salad I would happily eat over and over.  Not everyone will want arugula for Thanksgiving, but I'm adding this to my list of Low Glycemic Thanksgiving Recipes because I know arugula lovers like myself will love the sharp flavor of arugula and lemon along with our turkey, stuffing, and cranberry salsa!  Truthfully, I could happily eat this salad any time of year and I doubt if I'd ever get tired of it.

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Recipe for Spinach and Feta Casserole with Brown Rice and Parmesan

Pam and I both gave this Spinach and Feta Casserole with Brown Rice and Parmesan two thumbs up!

Yesterday my sister Pam and brother-in-law Kelly came over, and Kelly replaced my broken garbage disposal (thanks Kelly!)  While he worked on that I showed Pam some of the new features on the blog, including the new Recipe Box option where you can save recipes with Ziplist.  Then Pam and I raided the fridge where there were some leftovers of this Spinach and Feta Casserole with Brown Rice and Parmesan.  A few hours later Pam called me. saying she had set up her Ziplist account and wanted to save the spinach and feta casserole, but couldn't find it on the blog. I had to tell her I was sorry that I hadn't posted the recipe yet, but I was very happy that she liked it so much!

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Recipe for Trina's Low-Sugar Fresh Cranberry Salsa with Cilantro, Lime, and Jalapeno

I loved everything about this Low-Sugar Fresh Cranberry Salsa with Cilantro, Lime, and Jalapeno!

When my friend Trina started to talk about the fresh cranberry salsa she's been making every Thanksgiving for years, I was a bit skeptical until she told me the ingredients list.  I'm not someone who loves all things cranberry, but the combination of fresh cranberries with cilantro, green onion, lime juice, and jalapeno had so many of my favorite flavors, it was pretty much a given that I'd like it.  As soon as I tasted this (and loved it!) my brain started imagining ways to eat it.  Of course, this cranberry salsa would be fantastic on your Thanksgiving dinner plate next to the turkey, but I'd also love it spread on a turkey sandwich, layered into a turkey casserole, dipped up with celery or pita chips, or eaten as a pan-sauce over sauteed pork or chicken.  I can already tell this is one of those recipes I'll be making over and over, so thanks for sharing Trina!

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Fun Friday News: Blog Updates and New Features for Kalyn's Kitchen!

Kalyn's Kitchen has changed a lot through the years!

Do you know there's a site called The Wayback Machine where you can enter the url of a website and see how it looked in the past?  I love seeing how my site has changed through the years, and please repeat after me: Change is Good!  I do try to embrace that motto, and for a few months now I've been making a series of little changes to Kalyn's Kitchen, adding features designed to make the blog more user-friendly.  It started in the summer with social media buttons at the top of the post to help people share recipes using Twitter, Facebook, or StumbleUpon, something I resisted for quite a while until I saw how many people used them on the blogs I visited.   Now I'm used to that row of buttons, and I greatly appreciate readers who use them to share my recipes with friends.

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Recipe for Steamed Green Beans and Carrots with Charmoula Sauce

Adding Charmoula Sauce turns plain steamed green beans and carrots into a gourmet treat!

I don't think there are any awards for Thanksgiving side dishes, but if there were I'd nominate this dish of Steamed Green Beans and Carrots as the Most Interesting New Side Dish.  And when I say interesting, what I mean is we couldn't stop eating it, all the while remarking how plain steamed green beans and carrots had been transferred into something amazing by the sauce.   Charmoula is sometimes referred to as cilantro pesto, and it's a North African sauce made of chopped herbs and spices.  It's often used as a sauce on fish, which is probably the next way I'll trying using it.  Charmoula is also fairly similar to Chimichurri Sauce, which is a South American sauce served on meat.   If you're not a cilantro fan, I think you could adapt this recipe to use more parsley and less cilantro and get a good result, but I'm not sure how it would work with no cilantro at all.

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Recipe for Curried Rice and Red Lentils

This nutritious combination of Curried Rice and Red Lentils is perfect for Meatless Monday.

(Updated with new photos and added to Recipe Favorites November 2011)  This dish combining Curried Rice and Red Lentils is an old favorite that I recently I made with Jake, and we both loved how the simple combination of ingredients creates so much flavor in this recipe.  I don't know that I was thinking about Meatless Monday when we decided to make this, but since the combination of lentils (or beans) and rice are famous in vegetarian cooking for the way they create a complete protein, it really is a recipe that's perfect for meatless meals.  And I'm happy I have new photos to update the post and stick to my pledge to try to have a meatless recipe on the blog every Monday, since I ended up spending the weekend at the house of my sister Valerie (Jake's mom) and just got home a few hours ago.

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Recipe for Ground Turkey and Quinoa Patties with Mint, Cumin, and Yogurt-Tahini Sauce

These Turkey and Quinoa Patties with Yogurt Sauce were amazing!

Before we launch into new ideas for South Beach Friendly Thanksgiving Recipes, I really want to share this recipe I tried a few weeks ago with my nephew Jake.  I'll tell you that honestly the entire time we were making these ground turkey and quinoa patties, we were more than a little skeptical about whether they would turn out to be anything special.  In particular we thought there was going to be far too much quinoa compared to the amount of meat, but we shouldn't have worried.  Once we had the mixture combined and Jake was frying the patties, we sampled one with a little bit of the yogurt sauce on it.  I took one little piece, walked into the office, and when I walked back a minute or two later, Jake had eaten the entire patty.  Yes, we both thought they were amazingly good!

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South Beach Diet Phase One Recipes Round-Up for October 2011 (Low-Glycemic Recipes)

Kalyn's favorite Phase One Recipe from October 2001 was definitely Kale and Romaine Caesar Salad!

I'm not quite sure how it happened, but it's November!  I don't know if people think about Phase One Recipes once the winter holidays are approaching, but my theory is that if you're trying to lose weight or maintain your weight it never hurts to rotate a generous selection of Phase One Recipes into your meals all year round, and I spotted a few interesting ideas fin this monthly round-up of Phase One Recipes that I'm sure will be on my menu soon.  Other than that, most people are probably in countdown mode for Thanksgiving for the next few weeks.  I've been trying some new recipes that I'll be posting soon and adding to my index page for Low-Glycemic Thanksgiving Recipes.  Those are all recipes designed to help you celebrate without straying too far.  There are plenty of good ideas there from other years, so take a peek if you're one of those people who starts early thinking about the Thanksgiving menu.  And Happy November everyone!

(You can use the label Low-Glycemic Recipe Round-Ups to see all the posts like this one.)

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Recipe for Easy Guacamole Tostadas

Easy Guacamole Tostadas could be a quick meatless dinner idea!

One of my earliest memories of Mexican food is visiting a tiny little restaurant called Tampico's in downtown Salt Lake City.  I went there with some high school friends, and we tried exotic-to-us dishes like guacamole, enchiladas, and refried beans, which none of us had ever eaten before!  The restaurant is now long gone, but my fondness for the guacamole tostadas I first had at Tampico's remains to this day, and they're something I'll splurge on occasionally if I'm eating in a Mexican restaurant.  My version of this traditional Mexican specialty switches the usual corn tortillas for toasted low-carb flour tortillas for a low-glycemic version of this favorite dish that's perfect for Meatless Monday.

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Friday Night Photos: Caputos on 15th and 15th in Salt Lake City

This photo shows some of the amazing meats and cheese at Caputos on 15th and 15th.

A few months ago I went to lunch at Caputos new location on 15th and 15th with a few foodie friends.   This was back when we could enjoy sitting outside on the patio and soaking up the late summer sunshine.  I loved the food when I visited Caputo's by Night, so I was excited to give their new place a try.

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Recipe for Low-Sugar and Whole Wheat Pumpkin Cookies with Almonds and Coconut Oil

These delicious Low-Sugar and Whole Wheat Pumpkin Cookies are my kind of Halloween Cookies!

Everywhere I look on the internet these days I'm seeing Halloween cookies.  I'm talking about those traditional frosting covered, nicely-decorated, Jack-O-Lantern or goblin-shaped sugar cookies that moms bring to school on Halloween day.  Halloween-themed sugar cookies may be fun for kids but they've never really been my thing, and for something tasty to eat on Halloween I'd choose these Low-Sugar and Whole Wheat Pumpkin Cookies with Almonds and Coconut Oil over traditional sugar cookies every time.

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Kalyn's Kitchen Picks: Kroger CARBmaster Yogurt

If you live near a Kroger store, this is a great low-sugar yogurt!

Are you a label reader? I'm a committed label reader, and the first thing I look for on a label is how many grams of sugar the product has.  This tasty yogurt has only 3 grams of sugar in 6 ounces of yogurt (and only four total carbs.)  I've been eating this for years and it's one of those things that are always in my fridge, so I think it deserves a spot on my list of Kalyn's Kitchen Picks, where I feature food products I'd happily buy over and over.  

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Recipe for Vegetarian Lasagna with Kale and Mushroom-Tomato Sauce

This vegetarian lasagna with kale may not be that photogenic, but it was delicious!

Recently I was having lunch with some blogging friends and we started talking about casseroles.  We all agreed that casseroles can be delicious and family-friendly, but they're also very hard to photograph!  I think lasagna may be at the top of the hard-to-photograph list, but this Vegetarian Lasagna with Kale and Mushroom-Tomato Sauce was so delicious I had to put some in the freezer right away so I didn't eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner until it was gone.  You may think I'm turning into the Kale Whisperer, because this year I've used kale in a Kale and  Feta Breakfast Casserole, my new favorite pasta dish, and Kale and Romaine Caesar Salad.  Yes, I do love kale, but if you're not a kale fan you can try this lasagna recipe with Swiss chard, collard greens, or spinach substituted for the kale. 

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Friday Night Photos: The Garden in Fall (2011 Garden Update #11)

The vines that grow along my garden fence are beautiful in the fall.

In the mornings I have a little window of opportunity for taking garden photos before the sun starts to peek over the east fence and the garden has too many light and dark spots to get a good photo.  This morning I barely made it out in time, but I'm glad I managed to get one shot of the beautiful Fall color on the vines that grow along my garden fence.  Truth is, I don't especially like those vines, but they do redeem themselves every fall.  It's getting pretty cold here, but every year I always have a hard time completely saying goodbye to the garden.

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CrockPot Recipe for Sweet and Spicy Ground Turkey and Sweet Potato Stew with Coconut Milk

This Turkey and Sweet Potato Stew with Coconut Milk was made in the crockpot.

I'm the kind of cook who has a hard time following a recipe without changing it up a bit.  In this case, the recipe started out as a sweet and spicy pork stew I spotted in Real Simple Magazine, and ended up as this Sweet and Spicy Ground Turkey and Sweet Potato Stew with Coconut Milk.  I confess, I changed just about everything, except the idea of using the CrockPot to make a sweet and spicy stew!  I ate this over brown rice for a delicious one-dish meal, but you could also eat the stew plain, with a salad or some bread on the side.

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Recipe for Indian-Style Red Lentils with Ginger (Red Lentil Dal)

I'm not claiming this recipe for Red Lentil Dal is 100% authentically Indian, but it's easy and delicious.

One of the classic dishes in Indian cuisine is dal (also spelled dahl, daal, or dhal.)  There are endless variations of this dish of split legumes or dried beans, simmered with spices until they are falling-apart soft and then often combined with a mixture of oil or ghee, fried onions, peppers and more spices.   The world dal refers to the cooked dish and also the split legumes or beans it's made of and in various parts of India different types of dal are eaten with rice, vegetables, or Indian flatbreads such as Roti.   I suppose the Mexican dish of refried beans is something you could compare this to if you're completely unfamiliar with Indian food, although that's an enormous simplification of something that's such a vital part of Indian cuisine.

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Friday Favorites: Five Favorite Pumpkin Recipes

For Halloween or Thanksgiving, here are my five favorite pumpkin recipes!

This morning I was at the grocery store and a nice woman behind me in line had the most perfect pumpkin I'd ever seen.  Suddenly I was seized with a serious attack of blogger guilt.  Here it's already October 14 and lots of blogs are going into pumpkin recipe overdrive, and I haven't made one single thing this year using pumpkin.  The truth is, I'm not the biggest pumpkin fan in the food blogging world, but I have made a few things with pumpkin through the years that turned out to be winners.  If I'm not a big pumpkin fan and I'm telling you I love all five of these recipes, you know they have to be good!  Let's start the pumpkin recipes with the Low-Sugar and Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins with with Pecans shown above that I made last October.

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Recipe for Pop-Eye Eggs with Cheese and Salsa

This recipe is my grown-up and diet-friendly version of what my mother called "Pop-Eye Eggs."

I had the kind of mother who always sent her kids to school with a hot breakfast in their tummies, even though she was cooking for twelve!  Most of the time it was an easy-to-make hot cereal like oatmeal, but sometimes mom would cook things like pancakes or French toast.  And when it was a very special breakfast, we'd have Pop-Eye Eggs.  We called them Pop-Eye Eggs because the yolk of the egg looked like an eye popping out, but eggs fried inside a hole cut in a piece of bread are called by a large variety of names including Toad in a Hole, Eggs in a Basket, Eggs in the Hole, Eggs in a Blanket, Bird's Nest Eggs, Cowboy Eggs, Bull's Eye Eggs, Gas House Eggs, and Sunshine Toast.  If your mom used to make something like this, I'd love to hear in the comments about what you called it.

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Kalyn's Kitchen Picks: Williams-Sonoma Garlic Chopper

Thanks to my friend Margarethe who gave me this garlic chopper that I've come to love!

 When I posted the recipe for Julienned Zucchini Spaghetti with Quick Sausage, Tomato, and Basil Sauce I showed some minced garlic and hinted at a handy garlic chopper I'd gotten as a gift from my friend Margarethe.  Now that I've had the chopper a bit longer, I am completely in love with this little tool, so I decided to officially make it one of my Kalyn's Kitchen Picks.  Of course, chopping garlic by hand is no big deal and it's something I never minded doing before I had this handy gadget.  But this little chopper goes from garlic clove to perfectly chopped or sliced garlic in about two seconds!

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Recipe for Curried Sauteed Cauliflower

This Curried Sauteed Cauliflower is called Gobi TakTakin in India, where it's sold on the street.

(Updated with new photos and better instructions, October 2011.)   Back in the early days of my blog I did a whole series of recipes adapted from Mark Bittman's The Best Recipes in the World.  This international cookbook has dishes that Bittman traveled around the world to sample, and I think I've liked every recipe I've made from the book.   This dish of chopped cauliflower sauteed with red onions, cumin seeds, and curry powder is called Gobi Taktakin in India, suppposedly because of the "tak-tak" sound made by knives of the street vendors when they chop up the cauliflower as it cooks.

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Recipe for Kale and Romaine Caesar Salad

I would make an entire meal of this Kale and Romaine Caesar Salad

I promised I'd try to have meatless dishes on the blog for Meatless Monday mornings, and when I made that promise I was thinking about meatless main dishes like the Mediterranean Tostadas I featured last week.  But then I made this Kale and Romaine Caesar Salad with my nephew Jake, and we absolutely could not stop eating it.  The idea of combining kale and Caesar dressing came from Tuscan Kale Caesar Slaw from Bon Appetit Magazine, and it wasn't until we were about to make it that I thought of combining thinly-sliced romaine lettuce with sliced kale in the salad.  I loved the way the romaine toned the kale down just a bit and the combination of dark-green kale and lighter romaine was pretty too.  I'd consider this a meatless recipe but it's not vegan because the dressing has a tiny bit of anchovy paste and the salad has Parmesan.  (If you prefer you can substititute soy sauce for the anchovy paste.)   I loved this Caesar dressing recipe with no raw eggs, but Jake and I both agreed that even if you cheat and use my favorite bottled Caesar Dressing (or your own favorite vegan Caesar dressing) this will still be an amazingly delicious salad.  And when I make this again (soon!) I'll just eat a huge bowl of it for a meal, which I've decided entitles it to be in the spotlight for Meatless Monday.

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Five Things on Friday (10-7-11)

Photo of Flower Power Eggs from Apron Strings

It's been a while since I've shared a Friday collection of internet wanderings and this was definitely an emotional week on the web, with the loss of a true American genius making many of us reflect on just how computers have impacted our lives.  Keep reading for the latest collections of links I think are worth a click sometime this weekend.

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Recipe for Sausage and Lentils with Fried Sage

This classic dish of Sausage and Lentils with Fried Sage is a meal I'd always find comforting!

(Updated with better photos and added to Recipe Favorites, October 2011)  I first made this comforting dish of Sausage and Lentils with Fried Sage back in 2006.  That recipe definitely needed an update, so recently Jake and I made it again to take new photos and we also enjoyed eating it!  The recipe was inspired by one in The Silver Spoon, a classic Italian cookbook that I think every serious cook should own.  The addition of fried sage was my idea after seeing it on restaurant menus, and the fried sage was a wonderful addition to this dish.  Sage is something I have growing abundantly for most of the year, and when you fry it the sage flavor intensifies just a bit as the leaves are transformed into crispy morsels of sage-flavored goodness.  But if you like Italian Sausage and Lentils but don't have fresh sage, this dish would still be very good without the sage. 

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Recipe for Mediterranean Tostadas with Hummus, Feta, and Kalamata Olives

I've decided this Mediterranean Tostada is my new favorite thing to have for lunch!

Earlier this year I served hummus at a wedding shower, and it quickly become evident that we have both hummus lovers and hummus haters in the same family.  Of course I love hummus, so I'm the biggest cheerleader for the hummus lovers.  I can't imagine a hummus variation I wouldn't like, but most often I just have my favorite hummus from Costco, and I can easily make a lunch out of a generous scoop of hummus, some pita bread, and a green salad.  When I'm infatuated with ingredients like I am with hummus, sometimes recipe ideas swirl around in my head and a good one comes out, and I think these Mediterranean Tostadas with Hummus, Feta, and Kalamata Olives are one of my best recipe ideas ever!

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South Beach Diet Phase One Recipes Round-Up for September 2011 (Low-Glycemic Recipes)

Kalyn's favorite Phase One Recipe for September 2011 was Julienned Zucchini "Spaghetti" with Quick Sausage, Basil, and Tomato Sauce.

Every month I do this round-up of the Phase One Recipes I've posted or spotted on other blogs during the month, and every month it seems hard to believe a whole month has already gone by.  That feeling is even stronger this time as the calendar switches from September (the month of perfect weather in Utah) to October (which seems just a little too close to the actual arrival of winter.)  I trust I am not the only one who has this feeling of life zipping by too quickly?

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Friday Night Photos: Fall Brings Changes to the Garden (2011 Garden Update #10)

Thanks to beautiful September weather, the garden is still hanging on for a few more weeks!

This year Utah has had one of those gorgeous Septembers, hot weather with just a slight crisp feel to the air.  I love this time of year, especially when it stays mild enough that the garden keeps producing vegetables and herbs.  A few of my garden plants are gone and some are only producing at half-speed, but I'm always happy for whatever fall produce I can get.  This is the time of year when I start evaluating what I grew and thinking about what I'll change for next year's garden, so here are a few of the things I noticed when I went out and wandered around last night.

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Recipe for Chicken Adobo (Chicken Cooked in Soy Sauce and Vinegar)

Authentic Chicken Adobo would use bone-in chicken thighs, but this version was still very tasty.

(Updated September 2011)  Chicken Adobo is the national dish of the Philipines, and it's traditionally made with a whole chicken or bone-in chicken legs and thighs.  The chicken is simmered in the Adobo mixture of soy sauce, vinegar, water, garlic, bay leaves, onions, and pepper, and then usually broiled or pan-fried. Back in 2005 I tried my hand at making Chicken Adobo, using the recipe from Mark Bittman's The Best Recipes in the World and some advice I'd gotten from other food bloggers. That recipe was long overdue for a photo make-over, and I wanted to see if I could make this dish a little more diet legal for South Beach Dieters, so I tried making it with skinless, boneless chicken breasts. If you make this with chicken breasts, definitely you need to be careful not to cook it too long or use heat that's too high, but the new version was really quite tasty.

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Kalyn's Kitchen Picks: Adams 100% Natural Peanut Butter

Adams 100% Natural Peanut Butter has been my favorite for years!

I never have liked peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  I also wasn't excited about peanut butter and honey, which was my mom's version of the famous American sandwich for kids.  In those days no one had ever heard of "natural" peanut butter, and with ten kids to feed my mom bought the "in store" brand that was loaded with sugar.   In 2004 when I went on the South Beach Diet, I cleaned out my cupboards and gave away foods with white flour, sugar, or other processed carbs, and I'm pretty sure that's the first time I ever bought a natural type of peanut butter without added sugar.  Maybe it's because I'd never been a big consumer of high-sugar peanut butters, but I loved this Adams 100% Natural Peanut Butter from the first time I tried it.  Now the chunky and smooth varieties are something I always have in my fridge. 

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