We had an absolutely beautiful morning for our Altzheimer’s Walk!
we walked around a park district's recreational area
It was in Lake in the Hills - I've lived out this way almost 10 years, but had never been in this area before
Hannah on the left and our neighbor on the right - Caitlin is 2 years older than Hannah
Thanks to you guys, I raised $230!
It was a wonderful way to start the day!
Over the summer I bought a baked donut pan. It quickly got lost in my sea of kitchen accessories, but I saw it the other day and since it was a rainy, dark morning yesterday, decided to give it a try.
even though its non-stick, I decided to use Pam anyway
the dough was really fluffy
I wasn’t exactly sure how to get the batter in the mold – I ended up just plopping a tablespoon of dough in each mold, and then with my pinky found the middle and just pressed the dough down.
I baked these for 12 minutes – the recipe I followed said “bake until golden brown.” The second batch I baked for 20 minutes, and they never got brown.
My topping? Simple chocolate ganache. Take 1/4 cup heavy cream, bring to a slight boil, add 2 ounces of chopped chocolate and stir until chocolate melts.
the last of the chocolate from Hannah's trip to Germany!
how cute does that look?
you see I put too much batter in a few of them!
The verdict? Kind of tasted like ass. The batter was not sweet enough, it is hard to describe the texture – almost like a biscuit? The chocolate topping was the best part – so I am not posting this recipe – I don’t want you to waste your time!
When I was going through my freezer, I found that I had 1 pound of black beans that had already soaked and were ready to go. I did a quick search on Tastespotting, and zeroed in on this recipe – love this girls site – tons of WW recipes!
I did make some changes though – I used all chicken broth, not water with bouillon. I also left out the onion and used green pepper instead of red. And I am also somewhat lazy when it comes to making soup. I just threw everything in the pool at the same time, simmered for one hour, came back and . . .my soup looked like dirty dishwater. 😦
It was really thin too, even after I used the stick blender, so I added 3 peeled potatoes, a can of Rotel tomatoes with chile, simmered for another hour, and it came out delicious!
Black Bean Soup
Makes 8, 1.5 cup servings (311 calories, 2.8 fat, 52 carbs, 11 fiber and 20 protein)
Ingredients
| 1 | pound dry black beans |
| 1 | cup green pepper |
| 2 | medium carrots |
| 5 | cloves garlic |
| 3 | medium potatoes, peeled and diced |
| 1 | tablespoon red wine vinegar |
| 2 | ounces white wine |
| 1 | teaspoon cumin |
| 1 | teaspoon Mexican oregano |
| 10 | cups chicken broth |
| 1 | can Rotel tomatoes with chiles |
Directions
- Soak beans overnight. Rinse and add to pan with remaining ingredients.
- Bring to a boil, then simmer until the beans are tender. Using a stick blender, blend until smooth.
- Serve with fresh cilantro and queso fresco.
My dinner 😀
With a grilled ham and swiss on Vienna bread:
And since Tony suffered through my baked donuts and light sesame chicken earlier in the week, I rewarded him with bacon wrapped meatloaf.
Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf
- 1.25 pounds meatloaf mix (a blend of ground pork, veal and beef)
- 3 tablespoons A-1 steak sauce
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup Italian bread crumbs
- salt and pepper
- 3 slices of bacon
Mix everything but the bacon together – not too much though – if you overwork the meat (that’s what she said!) the meat gets tough. Bake at 350 for one hour on a rack above a jelly roll pan. Finish off under the broiler to crisp up the bacon.
this is a winner!
I sprinkled the top with crack pepper too before it baked. I forgot to add the ketchup layer before the bacon though!
So today is the first Sunday of me being a football widow! I am allowed to bring snacks and drinks, but I can only talk during commercial breaks! I don’t mind though – he loves football so much – so our first Sunday football eats – you’ll have to come back tomorrow for the recipes:
- Guacamole with bacon, blue cheese and sage
- Homemade steak taquitos!
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!
My Bizzy Kitchen 