Vegetarian Chickpea Burgers

Hey guys and dolls!

Another Tuesday has rolled around. Before the day gets away from me I figured it was time to peel myself away from reading Fifty Shades Of Grey to meet up with you all here and write his week's blog.

 So it was my pick and sadly the recipe I had planned has to be pushed back to another time due to the fact the cooking time is over 4 hours. Yeah, not something easily made during the week. Fear not, it'll appear on the blog asap. Onto to the new one shall we? So while watching my fave canadian cook she showed this recipe on her show this week that screamed me. It's also is vegetarian friendly, so off the wall, and way way out in left field it fit my kind of blog recipe to a "T". Oh come on, no need to be afraid, trust it's really good.

 Here's what you'll need:

Vegetarian Chickpea Burgers
Servings: 4 Ingredients:
*1 cup (250 mL) vegetable stock
*1/2 cup (125 mL) couscous
*1 tsp (5 mL) dried basil
*3/4 tsp (4 mL) grated lemon rind
*1 can (19 oz/540 mL) chickpeas, drained
*1/3 cup (75 mL) chopped green onions
*1 egg *2 tbsp (25 mL) water
*1 clove garlic, minced
*1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
*1/4 tsp (1 mL) pepper
*1 tsp (5 mL) vegetable oil
*2 whole wheat pita breads
*1/2 cup (125 mL) light sour cream
*2 cups (500 mL) shredded lettuce
*1/2 cup (125 mL) sliced cucumber
*1/4 cup (50 mL) sliced radishes

Directions:

1. In saucepan, bring stock to boil. Remove from heat and stir in couscous, basil and lemon rind; cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with fork.

2. In food processor, chop chickpeas finely. Pulse in couscous mixture, onions, egg, water, garlic, salt and pepper. Shape into four 1/2- inch (1 cm) thick patties. (Can be wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated in airtight container for up to 8 hours or frozen for up to 2 weeks.) In nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat; cook patties, turning once, for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden.

3. Cut each pita bread in half and open to form pouch; spread inside with sour cream. Fill each with patty, lettuce, cucumbers and radishes.

 WW Points: *10 per sandwich


So, these were a winner. Huzzah! Thank you, thank you! I picked another winner. They are really yummy but the only thing is the pita pocket kept falling apart so I might have to use buns next time.


Tid Bits:
*Don't want to use actual eggs? Then try out 1/4 cup of egg substitue.

*Don't have a food processor? Try out a blender or mashing it all together with a potato masher or hand mixer.


Ma's Spot: I always cringe a little when I know it's Dinah's turn to pick the blog recipe. Her recipes always come out of left field. I do have to say though this week's recipe came out of left field and went into right field. This one was delicious! Even my skeptical sister loved it. When I bit into this the combination of the patty, cucumber, and sour cream were fantastic. This was a big big winner in my book. Will I be making this one again? Oh hell yes. Never in my wildest dreams would I think to combine these ingredients and making something that was so delicious. Don't let the list of ingredients scare you off you absolutely must try this.

*SNACK CORNER:* It's time for snack corner! Where we take new snacks in the grocery store and break it down for you. We tell you which are hot and which are not. Let's get to this week's pick:

WW Points: *2 points for a small


Dinah: So tonight we're bringing you a drink. I know that's not really considered a "snack" per say but humor us? We're bringing you the new 7-11 Slurpee light sugar-free mango. While I'm not one for mango's I gotta say I dug this one. It's not over poweringly sweet and it hits the cold yummy spot during the hot days like we've been having. So I say give these a try and besides who doesn't love less calories and no fat?


Ma: I love slurpees and the fact that I can have one within my points then ring a ding ding it's a winner for me. I love mango and then mixed with Pepsi is wow. I would love to try their other new light flavor apple but they didn't have it. I will definitely be heading up to 7-11 soon and getting myself another.




That's it for this week. We'll be back next Tuesday with Ma's pick and it's a first for our blog. Don't miss it! Have a great week guys!

Spoons & Spatula's
~Dinah & Ma

Crab 'n' Penne Casserole

Evening all,
 Tonight we bring you Ma's latest pick and it's featuring an ingredient we haven't really showcased before. Yep, I'm talking about our lovely friend from the sea the crab. Now usually I'm all about crab in the form of say the delicious crab ragoon (mmm....) but this recipe she picked seemed a bit odd. Never had seafood and pasta together and also it's a casserole. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. It could be good right...right?? We shall see.

Here's what you'll need:

Crab 'n' Penne Casserole Recipe
Prep: 20 min.
 Bake: 40 min.
 Yield: 6 Servings

 Ingredients:
 *1-1/2 cups uncooked penne pasta
*1 jar (15 ounces) Alfredo sauce
*1-1/2 cups imitation crabmeat, chopped
*1 medium yellow summer squash, sliced
*1 medium zucchini, sliced
*1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
*1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
*1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
*2 tablespoons dry bread crumbs
*2 teaspoons butter, melted

 Directions:
*Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the Alfredo sauce, crab, yellow squash, zucchini, parsley and pepper flakes. Drain pasta; add to sauce mixture and toss to coat.

 *Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover and bake at 325° for 35 minutes or until heated through.

 *Toss bread crumbs and butter; sprinkle over casserole. Bake, uncovered, 5-6 minutes longer or until browned.

 WW Points: *9 points per serving

 Oh do I have many bones to pick with this recipe. First off the noodles ended up being soggy. While that could be the oven's doing (all ovens vary) it still messed it up. Second it says yields 6 servings? My fanny it does. More like 4 and they were small (check the pic). Third The baking dish size is completely wrong for this meal. Forth um 9 points per serving? It barely made 3/4 of a cup. I can think of plenty of other things to use 9 points on. Wine anyone? I didn't really care for this recipe at all. I felt it was way too sweet for my taste and I wasn't a fan of actual seafood in my pasta. So note to crab: PLEASE keep your booty in ragoons no jumping ship to pasta anytime soon. XOXO~me.


 Tid Bits: None tonight guys.


 Ma's Spot: I liked tonight's dinner. I would make it again but the only thing I didn't care for was how the noodles were mushy. I'll be adjusting the cooking time from here on out. Other than that I have no complaints about this meal. I enjoyed it and I will definitely be making it again.

 *SNACK CORNER:* It's time for snack corner! Where we take new snacks in the grocery store and break it down for you. We tell you which are hot and which are not. Let's get to this week's pick:

 WW Points: *5 per bar (for both flavors)


 Dinah: Tonight we have the Turkey Hill Strawberry Cheesecake - Limited Edition & Turkey Hill Double Decker sandwich bars. Ma and I tried both and while I enjoy strawberry cheesecake as much as the next gal I actually liked the double decker better. The strawberry is good but there's something about the double decker that was quite epic to my taste buds. So all around keepers for both.


 Ma: I liked tonight's snacks. I didn't find anything new or exciting about them. Would I buy them again? Sure, but only if they were on sale. At regular price? No. So give these a try you might like them too.


 That's all folks for this lovely Tuesday evening. Next week we'll be back with my pick. I have 3 words for you: stew and story. Wanna know more? Come back next Tuesday. Have a great week guys!


 Spoons & Spatula's
~Dinah & Ma

The Rachel Sandwich

Evening everybody!

So tonight's blog is going to hopefully redeem the food networkista Mrs. Rachel Ray who let us down last fall with her pumpkin pasta dish that was suppose to be amazing and easy on the wallet, of course it was neither of those things. So I found another recipe while changing channels last week and saw she was making a sandwich that looked interesting on her show. At first I was hesitant because of the bad outcome last time around with her dish but this looked simple enough and from there I decided to give her a little forgiveness and to make this recipe for the blog tonight. *fingers crossed* hopefully it'll be a good one. Let's all be brave, shall we?

Here's what you'll need:

The Rachel Sandwich

Servings: makes 1 sandwich

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes


Ingredients:
*1 tablespoon butter, room temperature
*2 slices rye, lightly toasted
*1/2 cup swiss cheese, shredded and at room temperature
*1-2 slices roast turkey, warm
*1/4 cup coleslaw or sauerkraut, squeezed, drained and coarsely chopped
*1 tablespoon russian dressing or thousand islands dressing


Directions:
1. Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat.

2. Butter the outside of each slice of bread, sprinkle half of the cheese on the inside of one slice of bread, top with the turkey, coleslaw or sauerkraut, dressing, the remaining cheese and finally the other slice of bread.

3. Add the sandwich and grill until golden brown and the cheese has melted, about 2-4 minutes per side.

WW Points: *9 points per sandwich



So this one was a huge hit! I'm not even a really big fan of koleslaw and I ended up loving it on this. I'd say Mrs. Rachel Ray hasredeemed herself, indeed.



Tid Bits: None tonight guys, the recipe really is spot on.


Ma's Spot: First off I wanna say that I have never really been a reuben fan. I have to say though tonight's sandwich changed my mind. I had a taste of both sandwiches (one with coleslaw and one with sauerkraut) and I really liked them both. I confess though that I had mozzarella cheese with my sandwich instead of swiss (not a fan at all). I've always thought that I didn't like pumpernickel bread but tonight having it toasted changed my mind. So for this recipe I give it 8 fingers and two thumbs up, A definite keeper for me.



*SNACK CORNER:* It's time for snack corner! Where we take new snacks in the grocery store and break it down for you. We tell you which are hot and which are not. Let's get to this week's pick:

WW Points: *3 per cookie



Dinah: Tonight we have Soft Paws which are the newest and might I add the cutest snack from the lovely people who bring us Teddy Grahams (An all-time fave of mine). These oatmeal raisin cookies come in the shape of an adorable paw and they taste pretty amazing. Not too overboard with the cinnamon and super soft. Yeah, get these asap. No need to go on.



Ma: OMG it was freaking delicious! One of the best oatmeal raisin cookies I've ever had. It was soft and chewy with just the right amount of raisins and why are you still reading this? Run now and get these!



Okie guys that's it for tonight. We'll be back next week with Ma's pick. Have a great week guys!



Spoons & Spatula's
~Dinah and Ma

Hungry Girl Go Greek Chicken Salad

Time for more food goodness lovely readers!
Tonight we bring you another recipe from "friend in our head" Hungry Girl. Most of you have become familiar with Lisa Lillian AKA: Hungry Girl but incase you didn't move that rock here's a pic of one of her amazing cookbooks for your eyes:

Cannot express how awesome her cookbooks are and if you're looking for new recipes then check out her books! This week's recipe was Ma's pick and she went with a sandwich since the weather is getting warmer outside each day. Who doesn't love an easy dinner where there is no oven to be turned on nor baking time? Especially when it's 75 degrees and over outside? Yeah, us too. :].
So let's get to it shall we? Here's what you'll need:


 Hungry Girl Go Greek Chicken Salad

Total Preparation Time: Less than 15 minutes
Servings: 2
 Ingredients:
 *6 ounces Cooked skinless lean chicken breast chopped
*1/2 cup Choppd cucumber *1/3 cup Cherry tomatoes quartered
*1/4 cup Crumbled fat-free feta cheese with Mediterranean herbs (plain will do)
*1/4 cup Plain fat free yogurt
*2 t Fat-free mayonaise
*2 t Canned sliced black olives
*optional: salt, Black pepper,
*Lemon juice

 Preparation:
*In medium bowl, combine yogurt and mayo till mixed well.
 *Add remaining ingredients and stir till coated.
 *Add optional ingredients, to taste if you like
 *Once completely mixed, refrigerate for 30 minutes.

 WW Points: *4 per serving

These were pretty yummy, my only thing was it had black olives in it (BLEH.) and for me it needs to chill a few hours in the fridge to be extra cold.


 Tid Bits: *Not a fan of cherry tomato's? Use any tomato you'd like but be sure to chop them up finely.


Ma's Spot: I love sandwiches on a nice warm night. It's always a good meal. When I picked this out of my new Hungry Girl cookbook I was a little hesitant because I'm not a feta cheese girl. I have to say though this was fantastic. I loved the combination of the yogurt, the mayo, and even surprisingly the feta cheese. Oh hell, let's be honest I love the whole thing. So will I be making this again? Oh yes. You would never know this dish is under 200 calories because the flavors are robust and bold. You can pair it with anything you want. With our dinner tonight we had veggie chips and they paired nicely with the sandwich. Make it a greek night all around and have a greek salad with it. You can't go wrong. So like I always say I encourage you to try it I know you'll like it.

 *SNACK CORNER:* It's time for snack corner! Where we take new snacks in the grocery store and break it down for you. We tell you which are hot and which are not. Let's get to this week's pick:

WW Points: *2 points for 5 pieces


 Dinah: So ladies and gents we have a candy on board for tonight's snack corner. Werther's Original's Caramel Apple. These are pretty good but I'm not jumping out of my seat about them. I think it's because for me it needs more apple flavor. It doesn't have that KA POW! flavor I thought it would have from what's displayed on packaging. I'd still say to pick these guys up but find your KA POW! somewhere else.

 Ma: I loved tonight's snack corner. Werther's has a sentimental value with me. My grandma always had coffee beans (yes, I said coffee beans lol) in her pocket to snack on and Werther's in her purse. So I love all type of Werther's from the hard candy to the soft chews. When I saw that they had come out with the caramel apple I knew I had to try it. I love the suckers that are the apple flavored with the caramel over them so I wanted to try these thinking they would give me the same flavor I love and I'm glad I did. They were good to me though they could've used just a bit more apple flavoring but if you like Werther's like I do and you're a fan of apples then try these. You won't be disappointed.


 Okie guys, that's all for this week. We'll see you here next week with more goodies. It's my pick next week and let me leave you with 2 words turkey reuben. Indeed. Have a great week guys!


 Spoons & Spatula's ~Dinah and Ma

Homemade Chicken Soup

Oh blog readers recipes and I are in a funk. Everytime we go to make a recipe it always end up being cooking murphy's law. Sad but true. Fear not though the original recipe for tonight will be saved for another day when the sun is shining. Stupid rain ruined my grilling venture.

Anywho it was onto another pick.I was a shuffling my feet at this one. It was at the last hour when I needed to pull a rabbit out of my hat or a recipe as it may. Nothing was ringing with me. I always go for something out of the box but I wasn't finding anything that caught my eye...until I realized we've never done a chicken noodle soup before. So it was comfort food for the win.

Who doesn't love chicken noodle soup? Whenever you're a fan of the Campbell's variety or homemade this stuff is killer. Now most people only eat this when they are feeling less than 100% but I say give this soup the year round treatment. Besides if you were a soup would you want to be known as the go to food for when you're sick? I'd think not. Indeed.
I think I found a good one so let's get this rolling. Here's what you'll need:


Homemade Chicken Soup
Ingredients:
*1 (3 pound) whole chicken
*4 carrots, halved
*4 stalks celery, halved
*1 large onion, halved
*water to cover
*salt and pepper to taste
*1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules (optional)


Directions:
*Put the chicken, carrots, celery and onion in a large soup pot and cover with cold water. Heat and simmer, uncovered, until the chicken meat falls off of the bones (skim off foam every so often).

*Take everything out of the pot. Strain the broth. Pick the meat off of the bones and chop the carrots, celery and onion. Season the broth with salt, pepper and chicken bouillon to taste, if desired. Return the chicken, carrots, celery and onion to the pot, stir together, and serve.

NOTE: Add the noodles (whatever kind you like) to make this a chicken noodle soup!

AND...we have Heart Smart recipe: Cheddar Beer Biscuits to go with it!
(CLICK ON THE NAME TO GET TO THE RECIPE!)

The Soup
WW Points: *4 points per serving

The Biscuits:
WW Points: *3 points each biscuit


The soup was good. Would I make it again? Probably not. I just like Ma's chicken soup a lot better.




Tid Bits:
*As mentioned above to turn this into chicken noodle soup just add your fave noodles.




Ma's Spot:
The Soup: If you're looking for a quick and easy dinner this is it. For me when I have soup it should be warm, comforting, and homely. When I make my chicken noodle soup it's an all day process so for me I prefer the long slow cooking process. There is no quick fix for the taste of home.  So if you're in a hurry and lets face it that's the way we all are these days then this soup is for you.

The Biscuits: I had this recipe in my coupon book for over a year and kept saying I'm gonna make this. So tonight we did and they were great! They're so easy to make it literally took 15 minutes (besides baking time). To me opening a can of Pillsbury isn't needed anymore I'll just make these from now on. Don't let the fact that it has beer in it freak you out. The foam in the beer helped them rise and become fluffy. There is no strong beer taste in it. Coming from me (who isn't a big fan of cheese) the cheese in these biscuits really set them off. The onion butter on top really did just that and topped these off. Usually I say that I encourage you to make these but tonight I beg you please make these biscuits. They are delicious!





*SNACK CORNER:* It's time for snack corner! Where we take new snacks in the grocery store and break it down for you. We tell you which are hot and which are not. Let's get to this week's pick:

For all three types  WW Points: *4 points for 16 chips


Dinah: So tonight we have the 3 new Pringles. Cheez Ummms Mild Jalapeno Cheddar, Cheddar and Sour Cream, and 4 Cheese. I tried each and out of the three I liked the Mild Jalapeno Cheddar best. Actually unless you're a huge Pringles fan (which I only like one flavor) these new flavors are kind of a bust. Although it may be due to me having to wash my mouth out every hour from my new piercing. Eh, who can tell? Try them out, you just may like them.


Ma: I love Pringles and even though I'm not a big fan of cheese I tried these anyways (except for the mild jalapeno cheddar). Let's just say I won't be purchasing these again. The only one I cared for a bit was the 4 cheese. I can only do a little bit of those. So when it comes down to them I'm just not a fan.




Alrighty guys that's it for this week. We'll see you back here next Tuesday. Have a great week guys!




Spoons & Spatula's
~Dinah & Ma