The Scintilla Project - Day 9

The menu du jour: We'll attempt to list 23 recipes, doing #2. (Or maybe we'll do 10 recipes. Or whatever...)

1. Talk about the ways in which your body is awesome.

2. Write a list of 23. (23 things to do, 23 people you owe apologies to, 23 books you've lied about reading, 23 things you can see from where you're sitting, 23 ten-word hooks for stories you want to tell....)

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In no particular order, here are some recipes (and links to them) that I love making, including, if applicable, my adaptations. I'm all about lower fat, lower carb these days, and little sugar, although some of these do NOT fit any of those, but I've included them because they're so good.

1. Easy No-Rise Pizza Crust. This has been my go-to recipe for homemade pizza for some time, but last night I figured out how to make it diabetic-friendly! Cut the recipe in half, using whole wheat flour, and stir in two cups of grated zucchini, well-drained. Let it rise at least 10 minutes. Pat the crust onto a pizza stone, or a cookiie sheet, and bake it 5 minutes. Top with a homemade (sugar-free) sauce and all the healthy veggies you want -- I added some sliced turkey sausage, grated Parmesan cheese, and maybe 3/4 cup of grated mozzarella. Bake about 15 minutes or until brown. Nice, thin, good-for-you crust!


2. Hearty Vegetable Soup. My standard veggie soup recipe, and my, oh, my, it is GOOD and freezes well. Resist the urge to add additional spices, although I love adding a can of diced tomatoes with green chilis to zip it up. I also make a smaller quantity for just us. Like so many veggie soups, this gets better as it sits.


3.Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread Muffins. I halved this recipe too, and used sour non-fat milk (because I had no buttermilk) and omitted the raisins when I made them to serve with our St. Patrick's Day corned beef and cabbage. Satisfying and healthy.


4. Crustless Cranberry Pie. Okay, so this isn't something that's necessarily all that carb-friendly, but it is good. I made it sometime in December and probably used half to two-thirds the sugar and at least half whole wheat flour. Especially with a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of whipping cream, this makes a tangy, nice sweet treat.


5. Crockpot Lasagna. Especially when it is way too hot to light the oven but you're tired of salads, this recipe gives you some good lasagna taste without heating up the kitchen. I always use low or no-fat cheese options when I can, including the cottage cheese, and whole wheat lasagna noodles.


6. Bread Machine Focaccia with Sundried Tomatoes. Not low-carb, but great to take to a potluck or for an appetizer. I've got jars of dried tomatoes in my pantry from past gardens, so I use those, reconstituted, and substitute half whole wheat flour. Works really well with a bread dipper too.


7. Hot Sour Chicken and Noodles. I cut this out of Family Circle decades ago and it is our family's preferred home remedy for colds, especially with extra vinegar and hot sauce. We call it Spicy Chicken Soup. I often use leftover rotisserie chicken in it, and boil the carcass and skin for the broth. I omit the miso, mainly because it's not an ingredient that I can easily find in the grocery store. It always makes the sickie feel better.


8. Apple Pie by Grandma Opie. NOT, so NOT, a low anything recipe. But it is an amazing apple pie. I spice the apples with cinnamon and nutmeg because I like a spicy pie, and I pile 'em high. The caramel sauce makes it wonderfully rich and different.


9. Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie. So while we're on rich desserts, this one came from my friend Melissa, and I made it for a couple of Christmas gifts last year, in addition to keeping one for ourselves. Big yum. No healthifying this one, I'm afraid.

10. Whole Wheat Zucchini Herb Bread. Love my Zojirushi bread machine! And this is a great way to use up some of those surplus summer zucchinis in a healthy bread that tastes great. If I don't have the sesame seed, I omit it.


11. Ice Cream Sandwich Dessert. Oh, another not-healthy recipe, but fun and easy. The hardest part is unwrapping all those ice cream sandwiches. Sort of like a Dairy Queen Peanut Buster Parfait in a cake pan.


12. Layered Ice Cream "Cake". Better than Baskin Robbins, and you can customize the flavors! I made this for my friend Maureen's birthday -- she wanted an ice cream cake with lots of chocolate, so I used chocolate chip, triple chocolate, and fudge tracks ice creams, layered with hot fudge and caramel toppings. Sent big chunks home with the honoree and guests, too!(Clearly I refused to even look at the sugar, carbs, and fat content.)


13. Copycat Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup. We like the spicy hot Italian sausage in this, and red potatoes, and I usually use fat-free half and half instead of the heavy cream just because. But it's a delicious soup.

14. Garlic Bubble Bread. Fun and easy to take to a potluck! I used the frozen rolls (thawed) rather than bread dough, but I'll bet you could do this like the ever-popular overnight monkey bread recipe and leave it to rise for several hours. This is comfort food, not health food.


15. Mediterranean Kale and White Bean Soup. This is a non-creamy soup with tremendous flavor. I also used a can of diced tomatoes, and you could substitute swiss chard or spinach for the kale. We prefer the hot Italian sausage.This is a good low-fat and lower carb recipe, as long as the sausage is well-drained. I usually cut that amount in half -- still get the flavor, but not all the fat.


16. Pimiento Cheese Spread. Nobody can live in the South and not taste pimiento cheese. This is pretty close to what I make, although I do NOT use Miracle Whip, and certainly not that much mayo either. I've been known to use some Velveeta if I have it, or to use up odds and ends of cheese too, but it is best with the sharp cheddar. This is also yummy on party rye for an appetizer, or as a sandwich on regular rye. Not especially low calorie or carb, however.


17.  Grapefruit Pie. My mother first served us this pie when we visited my folks in the Rio Grande Valley over the Christmas holidays back in the mid-1990s. They wintered there and tremendously enjoyed the citrus orchards and fresh veggies that were available at the famer's markets. The grapefruit take some time to peel and pith, but the results are delicious. I've successfully used sugar-free jello and Splenda in this recipe. If you use a nut crust, you can limit the carbs.

18. Spinach-Apple Salad with Almonds. The sugary almonds really make this salad special. I've used either agave or stevia in the dressing to sweeten without the sugar. Love the Honeycrisp apples in this.

Okayyyyy. My Internet connection is not doing well at the moment -- too many gusty winds blowing our next storm in, so we're going to call it a post at 18.