New Recipe Night

I've decided to continue to feed my current culinary obsessions and try a new meal once a week. The whole meal has to be something I haven't made yet. Tonight's meal included Stuffed Mushrooms (From Allrecipes.com), Roast Cornish Hen (From the Today Show), Baked Vegetables (From a new show on Lifetime called Moms Cooking), and Mint Joe Joe pudding (My own personal invention).

Click HERE for the mushroom recipe. It was very easy, relatively low in fat, and yummy. I used skim cheeses...makes a big difference on the calorie scale!






Roast Cornish Hen draped in bacon with acorn squash, chestnuts (which I omitted due to allergies), and radicchio. This recipe was very involved, so I don't think I'll do it again, but it was very delicious. I think turkey with stuffing is much easier to make, but it just takes longer than hens.


Melt 2 tbsp of butter on the bottom of a large roasting pan. Add 2 pears, cored, 2 seeded acorn squash, sliced, 3 cinnamon sticks, and 4 pieces star anise. Broil in oven for about 15 minutes, or until they start to soften.

Meanwhile, prepare cornish hens. Salt and pepper them generously inside and out. Lay them on top of the broiled squash, pears, etc. Drape 2 pieces of bacon over each one. Broil for 25-30 minutes or until juices run clear. Here's the finished product. I don't think my oven is working properly. The door won't stay shut, and the top heating element didn't come on when I set it to broil. Maybe the birthday fairy will bring me a new one in March!....hint hint.


Baked Vegetables

2 bunches of broccoli, cut into florets
1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
3 yellow zucchini, sliced into rounds
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp olive oil
1-2 tbsp onion powder (I recommend 1!)
1/2 tbsp garlic powder (I recommend 1!)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups cracker meal ( I only used 3/4 cup) I couldn't find cracker meal, so I just used my food processor and "processed" crackers. I figured it was about the same thing.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Place veggies in large bowl
Add soy sauce, oil, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Toss and mix well, making sure all veggies are covered with seasoning.
Place in a large baking dish, Sprinkle with cracker meal.
Place in the over for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

I will definitely make this again. It was easy and very tasty, but I'll "half" the recipe next time.


Dessert was also super yummy.

1 pkg fat free sugar free white chocolate pudding, made according to pkg directions
1 pkg fat free sugar free chocolate pudding, made according to pkg directions
10 Trader Joes Pepper Mint Joe Joes, puree 5 of the cookies

Mix the pureed Joe Joes into the white chocolate pudding mix. Divide among 5 single serving dishes; allow to set for a few minutes.
Pour chocolate pudding on top.
Top off with one Mint Joe Joe and a candy cane piece.

If you don't live near a Trader Joes and can't but the mint Joe Joes, use Grasshopper cookies. You could even use regular oreos and a tsp of mint extract. They might even make mint oreos...I'm not sure. This dessert was very easy, and since I made it with skim milk, it was relatively low in fat and calories. Each dish had the equivalent of 2 mint Joe Joes in it, which isn't too bad!

We had some friends come over for dinner tonight, and that's why I made so much food. Everything was yummy and I really enjoyed trying it all out! Trust me, I don't normally cook like this every night.