Onion Popcorn

1 stick margarine  (1/2 cup butter spray)
1 envelope (1 1/4 oz.) onion soup mix
4 quarts popped popcorn

Melt margarine in microwave for around 45 seconds.
Stir in soup mix.
Place popcorn in large bowl.
Pour butter mixture in top and mix well.

The popcorn did taste good. As you can see I used butter spray again as it is a habit when I am cooking popcorn so I didn't think it would make a difference.  Also I am still conscious of calories and fat. When mixing the seasoning and the popcorn, a lot of the seasoning still goes to the bottom of the bowl.  So unless you can handle wasting the soup mix or "recycling" it, I wouldn't recommend this recipe.

See you next posting :)

Lemon Chess Pie

1/2 cup butter or margarine (butter spray)
1 1/2 cups sugar (Splenda)
1 tablespoon cornstarch ( Arrowroot starch)
3 eggs ( 1/3 cup egg whites)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 9-inch pie crust

Beat butter and sugar until smooth.
Add other ingredients and mix well.
Pour into crust.
Bake 45 to 50 minutes in preheated 350 degree oven.

This pie was real good.  Jesse and I ate it all up at once. When this pie was done baking, the crust was slightly burnt around the edges.  Jesse wasn't too happy about the butter spray being used when there is a tub full of Smart Balance in the fridge.  After looking at the ingredients on the tub it seems that I might be able to use it in my recipes after all with it being made with vegetable oil and all.  So in future recipes I will be using Smart Balance.  I do feel stupid about not realizing this about Smart Balance.  I guess when the blood type diet talks about butter I thought it meant all sorts of butter.  Always do research on products to make sure.

Till next time :)

Apple Bread

2 cups of biscuit mix (Pamela's Ultimate Pancake and Baking Mix)
3/4 cup Sugar (Splenda)
1 egg (3 tablespoons egg whites)
3 tablespoons oil (vegetable oil)
3/4 cup milk (soy milk)
1 apple

Combine biscuit mix and sugar in large bowl.
Beat together egg, oil, and milk in another bowl.
Stir together egg and biscuit mixture.
Stir in apples.
Pour into greased loaf pan.
Preheat oven 400 degrees and bake for 35 minutes.

I wish that I made more of this bread because it was so good.  I only had one apple and can't spend anymore money right now.  Finding gluten free biscuit mix was hard not to mention costly but it was worth it.  The bread doesn't get high when baking like other breads do.  Jesse and I had 3 pieces each, it was that good.  I had mine with apple butter and Jesse had butter and honey.  As you can see this recipe is easy and I would highly recommend trying it.

Reuben Sandwich Project:  Since my paycheck went to paying bills I will have to hold off on making the Reuben.  I want to try both recipes of Vegan Reuben from Vegan Dad along with actually making vegan cheese, dressing, etc.  So I hope everyone isn't disappointed too much but I really want to work on this recipe being vegan and blood-type oriented.  For now I will continue to look at other recipes in Rookie Cookie to see what else I can make in the meantime. 

Hope everyone has a good weekend and blog to you soon :)

Cheesy Cucumber Sandwich

3 oz Cream Cheese (Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese)
1 teaspoon milk (Silk Soy Milk)
Onion Salt (powder)
Garlic Salt (powder)
1 Cucumber, peeled and sliced thinly
6 pieces of bread ( 3 pita breads)
Alfalfa sprouts (my addition)

Mix cream cheese with milk to soften. 
Season with onion and garlic.
Spread mixture on bread.
Top spread with cucumbers.

3 Sandwiches

This turned out excellent!  I only had garlic and onion powders so I used those instead.  The powders were good for lower sodium intake anyway which I feel is important.  I am always finding ways to reduce salt intake so my blood pressure isn't up.  However I got to admit that I love salty snacks :).  Cream cheese and milk were nondairy.  The cream cheese was actually made with tofu and it tastes the same as regular cheese to me.  I used pita bread even though it is not be good for my blood type with the wheat flour :(   Next time I vow to use bread that is I should eating (gluten free, Ezekiel, etc).  Since cream cheese can be tough to soften with the milk (or I 'm impatient) use the blender or mixer to combine the ingredients.   I did once toast the pita bread too long in the toaster oven ( or it was overheated) which made it hard to fold over.  I add alfalfa sprouts to the recipe since I had them in my fridge and did not want them to go to waste. Jesse tried a sandwich and totally loved it!  He said, "It just like a Greek gyro without the meat."  I am so happy when he loves the food I make!  Together for over ten years I can't believe how much I love him and how lucky I am to find a kindred spirit in him.
Upcoming Challenge:  Vegan Reuben Sandwich 
This coming weekend I hope to make this thanks to a recipe from Vegan Dad.  This recipe will make Rookie Cookie's easy recipe complicated.  Remember my challenge is to make the recipes at least vegetarian. 

Wish me luck!!!!!

Update: I tried this sandwich on gluten free bread recently. It was good but not as good as the pita bread. I have to find gluten free pita bread or pita bread made with the type of flour my blood type can have.

Beginning RCVP - Bull's-Eye Eggs

This is the my first blog and I have no idea what I am doing.  I was inspired by Julie Powell of the Julie/Julia Project.  I know that once I get the hang of this that I will have to go back and make changes to my profile and other stuff on this blog.  But for now be patient with me. 
My love for cooking came from as a child every Sunday reading The Mini Page which had Rookie Cookie recipes in it.  These are easy recipes that kids can do with adults.  I loved trying these recipes. 

I still look for The Mini Page every Sunday in the newspaper.   Recently my boyfriend, Jesse, gave me as a present The Rookie Cookie Cook Book.  After watching the movie Julie/Julia with Meryl Streep, I developed the inspiration to do my own cooking project.  I am in no way trying to copyright the works of Julie Powell, Betty Debman, and Dr. D'Adamo.  Just using them as a guide and inspiration for my project.

My Challenge:  To use the Rookie Cookie Cook Book (RCCB) as a basis for developing recipes as part of my vegetarian diet.  Also I will be using the Eat Right 4 Your Type book to help me with using the right foods that fit my Type A blood diet.  Lastly to let you know that my budget is limited so I may have to use what is on hand while trying to use the food from BTD.

I don't like the word diet because it sounds so temporary which being a vegetarian is not a temporary thing.  This is for life!  I started eating more vegetarian beginning February 2010.  Once in a while I will eat seafood, especially Escargots, because of recommendation that Escargots keeping the breast cancer away according to the Blood Type Diet (BTD).  I struggle with this because of the controversy of wanting to call myself a vegetarian but still eating fish meat.  I call myself a Pescatarian or Flexatarian at times but wonder am I still being a hypocrite.  Some of the recipes in Rookie Cookie have tuna.  Tuna is okay for the BTD but what about vegetarian side? I hope this project will help me sort out my dilemma of conflicting feelings of being a vegetarian with the help and support of people on and off-line. 

Now lets get started on this project. 

Bull's-Eye Eggs
1 slice bread per serving (Ezekiel 4:9 bread)
1 egg per serving (3 tablespoons of egg whites)
1 tablespoon margarine per serving (butter spray)

Cut a hole in each bread slice using a glass.
Melt margarine in frying pan over medium heat.
Brown bread on both sides.
Put bread in shallow, greased baking dish.
Break an egg in each hole.
Put dab of butter on each egg.
Bake in preheated 300 degree Fahrenheit for 10 minutes or until eggs get hard.

Now when made this recipe I used Ezekiel bread, egg whites, and butter cooking spray.  Butter spray I used to reduce calories and is a method I learned from Weight Watchers.  Egg whites I used because of reducing cholesterol from the egg yolks.  I would like to go to egg alternatives someday but like I said I have use what I have for now.  The egg whites ran underneath the bread and mostly cooked outside of the bread instead of the holes.  The result ended up being good despite the egg whites.  Jesse said that using an ordinary egg, the yolk would have kept in the hole better.  I would still like to to see if using the egg whiles or alternatives could still work.  Maybe browning the bread better and making sure it is as flat as it can be.  Any other ideas??  Also in place of butter trying Ghee (clarified butter) or olive oil for the browning and dabbing on top.  I want to try this recipe again soon using these different ideas.
If there is anyone reading this please give me your comments and ideas about the recipes as I go along.  See you tomorrow.