Hot Mexican Cornbread

This recipe could also be filed under "How to Make Cornbread without Grease". It's a spicier variation on traditional cornbread, with some Jalapeno peppers and Cheddar cheese adding extra flavor. Heart healthy vegetable oil is the main fat source, and the regular sour cream could easily be substituted with reduced fat sour cream. Don't use fat-free sour cream, though, as it won't provide the right texture. Fat-free products also contain extra sugar, which is not any healthier than fat. 
If you make cornbread in an iron skillet, as any Southerner should, you also get the extra benefit of the iron that is absorbed into the food!
 
Ingredients:
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup cream style corn
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup self-rising cornmeal
1 (8 oz.) jar Jalapeno peppers
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. 
Drain Jalapeno peppers, wash, remove seeds, lay on paper towels to drain, and then chop. 
Mix eggs, corn, sour cream, oil, and cornmeal. 
Pour half of batter into a greased and heated 9 inch square pan or a hot large iron skillet. 
Sprinkle peppers and 1/2 cup cheese over batter. 
Pour in remaining batter. 
Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. 
Bake for 1 hour. 


Luscious Jalapeno Cornbread

Biscuits Perfected!

My last biscuit recipe post was still a work in progress, but this one is so good. The dough holds together better, making it possible to roll out and cut. It also has less saturated fat, with just enough butter to be delicious. This recipe yields about 6 biscuits, but it can easily be doubled.

Ingredients:

1 cup self-rising flour

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 Tbsp. butter

1/4 cup buttermilk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. 

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl, cutting in the butter. 

Getnly knead the dough, and place on a floured surface. 

Roll out dough, and cut into biscuits. 

Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. 

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown.

Fresh Fruit

   Sometimes getting your friends and family to eat healthy foods is all about presentation. I recently prepared this fruit plate at a lunch with some friends, and it went over really well. With the ready-to-eat fruit, everyone would just walk by and grab a bite. 
   I used brown and green pears, sliced them longways, and then garnished the plate with blackberries and raspberries. Fresh oranges or apples would also be good, and kiwi or pomegranate for the garnish would taste wonderful.
  

New Series on Biscuits

Biscuits

   This is the first recipe in a series I'm working on with biscuits. It could also be called "How to Make Biscuits Without Shortening". 

   As a Dietitian in the South, one of the questions I get a lot is how to make biscuits that are healthier. Traditionally, shortening is used as the fat source and to add texture and firmness. Shortening, however, contains those yucky artery clogging trans fats that we want to avoid. In this series, I will be exploring different ingredients and methods of preparation, and comparing the tastes of each one. 

   This first recipe for pinch biscuits is kind of a work in progress. The end product tastes amazing, but I may try to refine the preparation as the dough was thin and slightly difficult to work with. 

   These biscuits contain vegetable oil-a healthy fat, and butter, which has no trans fats like shortening. The butter does have cholesterol and saturated fat, though. Plus, there is a whole stick of butter in the recipe! While it is not the healthiest, anything with an entire stick of real butter has got to taste good.

Pinch Biscuits 

Ingredients: 

2 1/2 to 3 cups self-rising flour

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup butter

1 cup buttermilk

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 F. 

Mix ingredients in a large bowl, gradually adding 2 cups flour, and cutting in the butter.

Place dough on a floured surface, and knead in the last 1/2 to 1 cup flour, until dough can be formed with hands.  

Form palm-size biscuits with your hands, and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. 

Bake for 30 minutes.

 

Quick Quiche recipe

  This easy and healthy quiche is one of my mother's favorites. It was originally a Bisquick recipe that she found about 30 years ago. She has continued to use the recipe, with a few adjustments.   
  One of the best things about this quiche is that it can be altered with different vegetables or cheeses to suit everyone's own taste. Tomatoes, chopped ham, spinach, mushrooms, part-skim mozzarella cheese, or pepper jack cheese would all taste great. 
  The fact that the quiche is crustless reduces the calories, saturated fat, and trans fat significantly. It also has only 3 whole eggs in the entire 6 serving dish, but the whole eggs can be replaced with egg substitutes to reduce the cholesterol and saturated fat even more. 

Ingredients: 
2 cups fresh or frozen broccoli
   (Note: Do not cook the frozen broccoli.) 
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup green peppers, chopped
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups skim milk
3/4 cup Bisquick
3 eggs
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Instructions: 
Preheat oven to 400 F (reduce to 375 F for glass bakeware). 
Lightly grease 10 inch pie plate. 
Place broccoli, onion, green pepper, and cheese in pie plate. 
Beat remaining ingredients until smooth. Pour over vegetables. 
Bake 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown and knife inserted in center comes out clean.