one ingredient "ice cream"

the new year is here and so is the "diet" resolution for you, me and probably every other person on the planet. well, if you love ice cream and like bananas, this recipe is for you....banana ice cream! take two or three ripe, but not mushy bananas, slice, place on a plate in your freezer till hard. now then toss the frozen slices into your food processor  pulsing till you have ice cream or a close facsimile. this is actually good, granted that you like bananas. i was thinking that some chocolate syrup drizzled on top would be yummy as would a few chopped nuts or some peanut butter warmed in the micro. now we're talking. enjoy.

ps-i know, i know, way crappy pic, sorry. i didn't really try.

karly's granola bars

so, as many of you know i have been on a granola kick lately. i started making my own to satisfy my need to eat breakfast, but lack of desire to do so. it has been a great help keeping my blood sugar stable with no crashes mid-day. now, i am getting borred, so i started thinking granola bars. i went searching on the internet and found karly, her great blog, "buns in my oven" and her even greater granola bar recipe! what a beautiful blog chock full of delicious recipes and incredible photography. i want to be karly when i grow up. when i originally found her site/recipe, i wrote her telling her i had all, but one ingredient to make these and guess what? she immediately wrote me back, like we were long lost buds. that's what i love about my fellow foodies, we are long lost buds getting (re)acquainted. see, it doesn't even matter if you have a successful site like miss karly or a humble little blog like mine. we all can get along.

anywho, let's get back to the granola bars. they are easy, delicious, moist and full of flavor. move over quaker, there is no need to buy your bars ever again, really. these come together in a snap and bake up beautifully. i did make a couple of changes to karly's original recipe. i used a combo of dark chocolate chips, unsweetened coconut flakes and dried cranberries with a splash of almond extract. i was out of vanilla, oh the horrors! other than that, it is the same. i hope you will go pay "buns in my oven" a visit. i know i need to do some more prowling around there myself. i recall seeing a peanut buttery, chocolaty thingie listed. hmmmm....enjoy.

april's amazing bran muffins

i made the most delicious and easy bran muffins, thanks to my new friend, april. she is the authoress of abby sweets, a blog full of food and fun. april, like myself, is trying hard to eat healthy. it is not easy when you are a food junkie. she shared with me the most delicious bran muffin, yes bran muffin recipe with me. i know, it hard to believe that the word "delicious" and "bran" can be used in the same sentence, but it is true. now, i did make some mistakes due to rushing through the recipe, some good, some not so good. first, i didn't realize i was completely out of all purpose flour, so i subbed self-rising. i think that is why my muffins sunk in the middle, no matter, it was just a place for my brummel and brown to melt. also, i used the full 3 cups of bran flakes, but halved everything else. oops, but no, it worked out great. i will always make them that way. plus, i added some vanilla and cinnamon for extra ump! i am thinking you could take this bran muffin recipe places with additions such as blueberries, flax seed, dark chocolate chips, and so on.... also, i am thinking that you could easily sub the sugar for agave or my new favorite, sun crystals. yummy. i hope you give april's muffin a go and don't forget to pop over at her site to let her now how much you like'em! enjoy.

april's amazing bran muffins adapted from the apple cake tea room- knoxville, tn.

1 cup boiling water

3 cup cheap bran cereal..bran flakes(i used walmart house brand)

1 sticks butter or margarine(i used margarine)

3/4 cup sugar

1 beaten egg

1 cup buttermilk or 1 cup milk soured with 1 tbsp. of vinegar i did this, but next will use low fat buttermilk)

1 tsp. good vanilla

1/2-1 tsp. cinnamon

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

pour boiling water over cereal and let stand. cream together butter and sugar until combined. add the egg and vanilla. sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. add buttermilk to butter mixture, alternating with sifted dry ingredients. add the softened bran mix. bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, depending on your oven, it make take more or even less time, or until done, in a greased muffin tin(i forgot to grease and they came out okay with a little help)

finally, something new...vegetarian lasagna rolls

did i mention that my cholesterol ldl's(the stuff that likes to stick to the walls of you arteries) were wonky, too? according to the doc, given family history, they should be less than 70, mine were 140!! my overall cholesterol number and hdl number was fine though. crazy, huh? so, that means less red meat and limited dairy, dang it.

i love cookbooks and have many, one being diabetic. naturally, it was buried in the back of my pantry, but i dug it out and started to flip through it. i found a few interesting recipes including the vegetarian lasagna rolls. they looked healthy and nutritious, loaded with spinach, mushrooms, and part-skim cheeses. "good for you" generally equals bland, boring and no fun(like exercise). vegetarian lasagna rolls was dinner last night and it was good. the entire family ate. the rolls were satisfying and filling. all seemed fat and happy. admittedly, i thought what made the recipe work was using my homemade pasta sauce rather than jarred. i could eat that stuff with a spoon. anyway, here is my version of last night's supper. enjoy.

beth's vegetarian lasagna rolls

8 lasagna noodles, boiled for ten minutes
8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 150z container of part-skim ricotta( cottage cheese would work, too)
1 10oz thawed, drained frozen chopped spinach
2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella
2 eggs
1 tbsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 28 oz jar of your favorite pasta sauce or make your own
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit.

in a dry saucepan cook over med heat the mushrooms till edges are brown, about 10 minutes.

in a big bowl mix mushrooms, ricotta, spinach, eggs, one cup mozzarella, basil and pepper. mix to combine. now spread about a 1/2 cup of the mixture down the middle of each noodle lengthwise. roll up to form lasagna rolls. place in a casserole, edge side up. tops with pasta sauce, remaining one cup mozzarella and the parmesan. bake 25-30 minutes.

btw, here is a link to my sauce.


p.s. i think next time i will add some chopped fresh parsley to the cheese mixture.

i have a confession

i am a diabetic. i have been for years. i tell folks that i have denyabetes. well, truth is i can not deny it any longer. it is ugly and things are going to have to change including this blog. i still plan on baking and cooking, but attempting to switch up my recipes to healthier ones, not only for me, but for the family, too. i am trying to get motivated, but truly am devastated. it is my own fault. i know better and knew better. my family history of diabetes and heart disease is overwhelming, so i can no longer turn a blind eye. i have to get real, real serious that is, about doing the right things for me and my family, especially my children. i have struggled with my weight for life, failure after failure, up and down, but i can not fail here. failure will result in limb loss, kidney failure or even death. wake up beth!

i am now in the process of scouring for diabetic and heart healthy recipes to share. i am just so depressed that something that i enjoyed so much, reading cookbooks, is torture. the recipes just make my gag reflex kick in. i want sweet, salty and fatty foods. you know the "good" bad stuff. those days are over, now it is time to trick, i mean retrain, my brain and taste buds! it is time to break old habits and start new healthy ones! it is time to embrace a new beginning! it is time to...

oh crap, who am i fooling. this sucks.