Since the beginning of January, I have been allowing myself two sweet treats a day-this cookie should count as two treats I’m sure.  But the heck with it I eat two a day when I make them and don’t blink an eye!  Make it worth it, make the not-so-healthy items you put into your body worth the 1/2 of your sweet intake each day. I really encourage anyone who struggles with a sweet tooth as much as I do, to try this way of kicking the habit.  Now here it is…the most amazing cookie recipe EVER! Please enjoy

recipe adapted from my bakingbakingaddiction.com

2 sticks cold butter, cut into pieces

1 c. sugar

1c. brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 3/4 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. fine sea salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4  tsp. baking soda

1 c. dark chocolate chips

1 1/2 c. milk chocolate chips (I love the Ghiradelli Brand)

-Preaheat oven to 375-degree.  Mix butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, mix in vanilla until well combined.

-Whisk together flour, salt, powder and soda.  Add to butter mixture and mix until almost combined; add chocolate chips and finishing mixing.

-Form into 4 ounce portions (I used a large scoop, like the size for ice cream)  and place on a cookie sheet.  Bake 15-20 minutes.  Start at 15 and if the edges are brown take them out!

-Let cool, if you can resist which I never can!  The cookies are best right out of the oven but pop them in the microwave for a few seconds to heat back up later.

Yields: 10-12 large cookies

buy LOCAL.  cook FRESH. eat PURE.

Amanda

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sweet Potato Soup Shots with Cranberry Cream

Makes 16 Shots

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 granny smith apple—peeled, cored and chopped

1/2 large onion, chopped

2 cups cooked sweet potato, mashed

1/2 cup stuffing (homemade or stovetop)

One 32-ounce container (4 cups) chicken broth

Salt and pepper

3 tablespoons plain greek yogurt

3 tablespoons cranberry sauce (see recipe below)

1. In a dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the apple and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 7 minutes. Stir in the sweet potatoes and stuffing and cook to heat through. Add the broth and bring to a boil; season with salt and pepper.Lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Using a food processor or immersion blender, puree the mixture.
2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the yogurt and cranberry sauce. To serve, dollop the soup with the cranberry cream.

Cranberry Sauce:

½ pound fresh cranberries (2 cups)

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

Rinse cranberries with cool water, and remove any stems or blemished berries.

Heat water and sugar to boiling in 3-quart saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Continue boiling 5 minutes longer, stirring occasionally.Stir in cranberries. Heat to boiling over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Continue boiling about 5 minutes longer, stirring occasionally.  Refrigerate about 1 hour or until chilled

buy local. cook fresh. eat pure,

Amanda

This has to be by far my favorite time of the year; these next few months October, November and December are fully centered around family, friends and cooking.  Almost all of my holiday memories revolve around food and who we enjoy it with, and looking forward into the holidays this year I am already tagging the recipe I would like to make for each event we have planned.  I have said it before and I’ll say it again, NOTHING gives me greater joy than to fill the people I love bellies with delicious and healthy food!

These cool fall evenings have been perfect for the pear, chicken and cheddar turnovers, hot spinach salad, Grandma Monroe’s lasagna and of course lots of chilis and stews-and yes this is only this past weeks menu here at the Leatherman’s, my hubby eats well But this recipe was one I had to play with a little to get it be exactly what I wanted.  Something that with a nice dark beer and a fall salad made the most perfect meal for a cool and windy evening-and it cooked all by itself in my new cadillac of all crock pots….the all clad crock pot! WAHOO!!!!

So please take this simple yet delicious recipe and make it for your family, it’s gluten free with the use of a gluten free sorghum beer (which is sold at most grocery store now) and can easily be made dairy free by using soy sour cream and soy veg shreds for the cheese.  If you’re up here in Grand Rapids like myself..make it and try not to blow away with these crazy winds!!

Blessings & Bon Appetit!

Pork & Pumpkin Chili

Serves 4

1 1/2 # (or one loin of a two pack) pork tenderloin, trimmed and chopped into small chunks

1/2 of a twelve ounce bottle Mexican Lager (or sorghum beer)

kosher salt to taste

2 T. chipotle in adobo sauce, more or less to your tastes

1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano

7 oz canned pumpkin

1 medium tomato chopped

1/2 poblano pepper, chopped

1/2 of a medium sweet onion, chopped

1/8 c. chili powder

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

*Place all ingredients in crock pot and stir ti combine.  Cook on low 8 hours.

*One hour before dinner…..stir in a can of black beans, undrained and 1/3 cup brown minute rice.  Continue cooking on low.

Stir and serve topped with shredded cheddar cheese and a large dollop of pumpkin sour cream.

Pumpkin Sour Cream:

1/2 c. sour cream

7 oz. canned pumpkin

dash salt

*Combine well

*adapted slightly from Food Network Magazine

buy local. cook fresh. eat pure

-Amanda

For all my “faithful followers”……. most of whom who were at the wedding! This is the recipe for the meatloaf that was in Chris’s vow.  We here at the Leathermans, now call it the vow meatloaf.

So here it is, it’s simple and a pretty basic meatloaf recipe.  We had it last night over pumpkin risotto and it was delish!  Thanks to my dear friend Audrey who sent me the recipe two years ago, and I haven’t changed it at all….classic and tasty! I do like to make it with buffalo was well, just add a touch more milk to keep it moist.

“VOW” Meatloaf

1 egg

3/4c. milk

1 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese

½ c. quick oats

½ c. finely chopped yellow onion

1 t. salt

½ t. pepper

1 # ground sirloin

-Mix all briefly and place into an 8×8 inch pan.

2/3 c. ketchup

½ c. brown sugar

1T Guldens Spicy Mustard

-Mix together and pour overtop meatloaf.  Bake in a 350-degree oven for 1 hour or until done.

Buy Local.Cook Fresh. Eat Pure

-Amanda

Where has this summer gone?  Seems that between, moving, working and wedding planning the past three months have flown by in a whirlwind of hot muggy days and paperwork filled evenings.  That is why right now, even one week before the truly “crazy” wedding time approaches for me, I am committing to slowing down a bit.  I am going to put my computer away, turn my cell phone off and just enjoy summer once in awhile.

This afternoon while Chris and I were out picking blackberries and just cruising around the golf course, I looked over at him and asked him to promise me that we wouldn’t let life get to busy to enjoy times like this.  Getting out just soaking up the sunshine, and each others company; we have let our jobs, and out long to do lists take up enough of this summer.

So, our planned dinner at home, and bike ride to Sundaes at the cottage for this evening is exactly what the doctored ordered!  I will embrace the rest of this summers bounty, I will embrace the beautiful family, friends and clients I am surrounded by and enjoy each moment of this season with them and I will embrace being Amanda Maichele for two more months!

So in honor of the beautiful blackberries we picked, and the fact that I am so excited that will get to a few more of my “to make” stack of recipes sitting on my desk, I want to share this delicious recipe with you.  I made it at work last week for one of my clients, and it is just simple, pure and straightforward.  A great recipe to compliment the fresh picked berries and not over power them with sweetness or a heavy cake batter.  Garnish this sweet, earthy, custardy cake with powdered sugar, Chantilly cream, greek yogurt or even vanilla ice cream.

Blackberry Thyme Clafoutis

½ c. all purpose flour

¼ tsp salt

2 large eggs

4 T sugar

1 c. whole milk

½ tsp. vanilla

1 T unsalted butter

12 0z fresh blackberries

1 T fresh thyme

powdered sugar for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 425-degrees.  In a food processor place flour, salt, eggs,  2 T sugar, milk, and vanilla.  Pulse until smooth.
2. In a heavy cast iron skillet melt butter over medium heat and add blackberries, shake and coat with butter.  Sprinkle the other 2 tablespoons of sugar over top and cook 2-3 minutes.
3. Pour batter over berries and pop in over, DO NOT OPEN DOOR, to check on it it may cause the clafoutis to collapse.
4. Slice and serve immediately, dusted with powdered sugar.

Serves 6-8

Recipe from: in style magazine, june 2010

buy local. cook fresh. eat pure,

Amanda

Quinoa is something that I play with all the time. You can add almost anything to it and make a delicious meal (we call it hippie bowl around here) because I do this a lot. Adding black beans, lime, cilantro, and hot peppers and having mexican quinoa.  Feta, chick peas, oregano, basil, and black olive for Greek flavors, really the possibilities are endless.

I adapted this recipe from one of my favorite gluten free blogs, http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/and changed it around a bit to suit my palate-or what client I am working for.  I really depends, some like some cilantro and basil addded as well as the mint, or just the lime juice not the zest, but this is my favorite way.  Feel free to add whatever you like; beans, grilled chicken, tofu, fresh veggies, greens…go crazy!!!

Photo credit to Karina Allrich @ gluten free goddess.

Quinoa with Lime & Mint (4 servings)

1 cup dry quinoa

2 tablespoons fruity extra virgin olive oil

Juice of 2 limes, zest of 1

¼ c. fresh mint , chopped

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

A handful of sweet and ripe cherry or grape tomatoes, quartered

2 chopped scallions

Bring quinoa and 2 c. water to a boil, cover and let simmer or medium low heat until quinoa has “tails” and all water is absorbed.

Scoop the cooked quinoa into a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients, tossing lightly with a fork until combined.

Taste test and adjust seasonings. Cover and chill- the longer, the better.

buy Local. cook Fresh. eat Pure.

~Amanda

For about a year or so now, I have struggled with digestive issues.  With the issues getting closer together, and my wedding fastly approaching I decided to take care of it.  After my first consultation and finding report I was put on a dairy free diet. This didn’t seem to be to hard to do for one month, to rid my body of whatever it is fighting against digesting.  But for someone who doesn’t eat meat very often-this put me in the “vegan” category when it came to most of my cooking.  Honestly, I have enjoyed it so far!  This week consisted of banana chocolate cream pie with raw almond crust, vegan broccoli fettucini alfredo, cinnamon bun pancakes and green chicken sammies.  See it’s not so bad

For a chef, this isn’t a lifestyle I am going to chose to have for the rest of my life, I strongly believe in everything in moderation, and following a flexatarain diet (one that consists of little meat).  But following this diet for one month has already given me a better understanding of what some of my clients have to do everyday.  It has made me create dairy free, lactose free, and meat free options in my own kitchen, instead of just in their homes.  And after feeling better already, I will be watching my dairy intake closely from now on.

The recipe I wanted to share with you is so easy, and sooo tasty! It’s a great recipe to cook inside on a skillet if you cant cook it outside on the grill.  And for me, it was accompanied by a black bean, lime, cilantro and mango salsa that was scooped up with corn chips.

The protein in this recipe is called “Quorn” a meat substitute found at most health food stores in the freezer section. There are believed to be over 600,000 varieties of fungi in the world,  like varieties of mushrooms, truffles and morels. The principal ingredient in all Quorn products is mycoprotein (“myco” is Greek for “fungi”). You can learn more about it here http://www.quorn.us/About-Us/

Green “Chix” Sammies

2 T. olive oil

1/3 c. chopped cilantro

2 T. fresh thyme

zest of 1 lime

juice of 3 limes

3 tsp. hot sauce (I really love chalula hot sauce)

salt and pepper

4 Quorn, “chicken” cutlets

Avocado Mash:

2 avocados

1 jalepano, finely diced

1 tsp hot sauce

salt and pepper

juice of 1 lemon

4 crusty dinner rolls

chopped lettuce

-Place cutlets in a gallon ziplock bag with all  ingredients before avocado mash and let marinade 2-4 hours.  Remove from marinade and cook on a hot grill or hot saute pan until warmed through.  Place on a crusty roll with avocado mash and fresh lettuce.

You see it’s so tasty, and super easy! Try it with chicken cutlets if you’re a meat eater its good that way to I’m sure!

buy local. cook fresh. eat pure,

Amanda

1 2/3 c. quick oats

1/3 c. sugar

¼ c. soy flour

½ t. salt

¼ t. ground cinnamon

2 ½-3 c. mixed nuts and fruit of your choice (I used almonds, cherries, raisins, peanuts dark chocolate chips and walnuts)

3/4 c. natural peanut butter

6 T coconut oil

¼ c. plus 2 T. honey or maple syrup

1 T water

-Combine all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl while you preheat the over to 350 degrees.  Line a 8×8 inch baking pan with parchment paper allowing edges to hang over (this makes them really easy to remove from the pan but you don’t have to do it) spray the parchment with cooking spray and set aside.

-Combine all wet ingredients together and mix well, pour over dry ingredients and mix well.

-Press firmly into parchment lined baking pan, press down hand to make sure they  are molded into the pan.

-Bake 25-35 minutes until they are browned on the edges, and make your whole kitchen smell like peanut butter! YUMMY

-Cool completely, cover and place in fridge for a few hours to make them easier to cut into bars.  Wrap individually and store in fridge.  Or I just keep them in the pan and eat right outta the pan J

They also freeze really well!

Good mix ins: coconut, cranberries, peanut butter chips, sunflower seeds, or pecans.

Thanks Caroline for the wonderful “make it your own” recipe!!

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen.com

I don’t ever want to get to the point of cooking that I don’t enjoy it.  I don’t ever want to not be a “foodie” because I left it overtake my whole life!  I guess this is where I would insert my excuse for running for those of you who don’t understand J  Running has given me a way to release and let go; it gives me an hour or so a day to not think about food, and work.  And it has been teaching me slowly but surely how to better feed my body, how to nourish it.  Enough rambeling…….

I made this recipe for dinner last night, along side my beautiful and fresh Vertical Paradise basil, jicama, cucumber & lettuce Salad, dressed with a bit of Jalapeño Vinegar from Fustini’s in Traverse City.  Nourishing, delicious, and super easy!

Black Bean & Avocado Burritos (serves 2)

-2 Large whole wheat tortillas, burrito size if you can find them

-1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

-Swirl EVOO

-3 cloves garlic, chopped roughly

-dash or five Franks red hot sauce

-I avocado, sliced

-KRAFT All Natural, White Mexican Blend Cheese

Swirl medium saucepan with olive oil and add chopped garlic.  Cook 3-5 minutes or until fragrant and tender, add black beans and ¼ can water.  Add franks red hot to your liking, reduce heat to low and let simmer.  I let mine simmer long enough to enjoy a beer out on the deck….so maybe 20-30 minutes.  Mash beans with potato masher while heating tortillas in microwave.  Spread half the bean mixture onto each tortilla, top with cheese blend and pop in the microwave to melt cheese.  Top with sliced avocado and more franks if you’d like and roll on up.  Cut in half and enjoy over a fresh salad and with another cold beer.

*adapted from Rachel Ray Magazine

Buy local. Cook fresh. Eat pure