Baked Ziti from The Perfect Diabetes Comfort Food Collection by Robyn Webb

Posted on September 25, 2016 by kelleychisholm

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I was recently invited to participate in a virtual blog book tour for bestselling author, Robyn Webb’s new cookbook, The Perfect Diabetes Comfort Food Collection: 9 Essential Recipes You Need to Create 90 Amazing Complete Meals (American Diabetes Association, October, 2016). I was thrilled to be asked to review this book and try out a recipe since many of my family members are diabetic or pre-diabetic, and it’s always great to have another cookbook dedicated to diabetes in my collection.

In The Perfect Diabetes Comfort Food Collection, Chef Robyn concentrates on nine favorite comfort foods: lasagna, meatloaf, burgers, stir-frys, tacos, main-dish stews and soups, entree salads, chicken, and pasta. She then offers 10 variations of each of the favorites for new, healthy twists on meals your family craves.

In addition to the recipes, this book also give pointers on stocking the perfect pantry and choosing the perfect equipment. It features a meal-planning section that helps complement a favorite comfort food dish with simple sides to create hundreds of complete, nutritionally balanced meals designed to help control blood glucose levels and promote heart health. I am excited to add this cookbook to my collection and look forward to mastering the nine essential recipes as a base to many comfort meals to come!

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Kel’s Quick and Easy Shrimp Stir Fry

Posted on September 20, 2016 by kelleychisholm

shrimp-stir-fry-is-served

Here’s a quick and easy stir fry recipe that will please the shrimp lovers in your home. Use large shrimp and, to save even more time, buy them already peeled and deveined.

For this version, I used Ponzu sauce, which, according to Wikipedia, is “a citrus-based sauce commonly used in Japanese cuisine. It is tart, with a thin, watery consistency and a dark brown color.” I like it for its tangy, citrusy flavor, but regular soy sauce will also work.

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Kel’s Best Bacon Cheeseburger Stuffed Bell Peppers

Posted on September 11, 2016 by kelleychisholm

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Each year I try to create at least one new stuffed pepper recipe, as I truly love how quick and easy they are to assemble and how wonderful they taste. They also reheat well, which is another big plus. This recipe is truly for the carnivores out there and, as an extra bonus, I’ve included hash browns in the mix for a hearty meat and potatoes meal. Not a meat eater? I’ve got you covered with some tasty vegetarian stuffed pepper recipes, with links  at the bottom of this post.

For this batch, I used red bell peppers since they are riper than green bell peppers, making them sweeter. Plus, they were the nicest looking peppers at the Farmer’s Market. Next time I would add some hot sauce to the mix, because Brad and I both like the extra spice. Also, I had enough of the “stuffing” to fill three large peppers or four medium-sized ones, so plan accordingly, although you can always freeze any of the leftover beef mixture to use later.

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Kel’s Fresh Tomato Soup in Cheddar-Lined Bread Bowls

Posted on September 1, 2016 by kelleychisholm

Kel's homemade tomato soup in cheddar-lined bread bowl

Hello, All! I’m finally back and feeling refreshed after taking a much needed break, the first one in more than five years since I started this blog. I’m really looking forward to fall and cooler weather, and want to share a great basic recipe for fresh tomato soup to make now (while you still can get fresh tomatoes) and enjoy later. And, as an added bonus, I’ll show you a great serving suggestion that not only tastes delicious but makes you look like a gourmet cook as well – a rustic, cheddar-lined bread bowl to fill with your homemade soup. Talk about classic comfort food – it’s tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich all in one!

Bruised but tasty

I recently went to the farmer’s market and bought a box of canning tomatoes. These tomatoes were a bit banged up or bruised, but perfectly fine to use in soups and homemade sauces. I purchased ¾ of a big box for a whopping $7.00 – what a deal! First, I made a large pot of fresh tomato soup, freezing most of it for later. Since I still had lots of tomatoes left, I whipped up some of my famous Marinara sauce, which I also froze for later use. I just love a great bargain, especially one that I’ll be able to appreciate several times this fall and winter!

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My Fat Dad’s Cheese Fondue, Book Blog Tour, and Giveaway!

Posted on July 17, 2016 by kelleychisholm

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When asked to participate in the My Fat Dad: A Memoir of Food, Love, and Family, with Recipes blog tour, I jumped at the chance. This book received fantastic reviews, and it also gave me the chance to recreate one of its many tasty recipes for this post. Plus I get to give away a copy of this wonderful book to one of my lucky readers! But more about that later.

My Fat Dad is a poignant, heartwarming memoir about how food shaped Dawn Lerman’s “connection to her family, her Jewish heritage, and herself.” Dawn’s Dad, an iconic adman who created slogans such as “Fly the Friendly Skies of United,” “Coke Is It,” “This Bud’s for You,” and “Leggo My Eggo,” battled with his weight all of his life, topping the scales at a whopping 450 pounds at his heaviest. Dad tried every diet on the planet and made his family do the same (they were not thrilled, to say the least.) From Atkins to Pritikin to the Rice Diet at Duke to Weight Watchers, etc., he had limited successes, and most were short-lived. Dieting was truly a rollercoaster ride for him, as it is for many.

Dawn’s mother was the exact opposite, limiting herself to one small meal a day, “usually a can of StarKist light tuna right out of the can with a plastic fork — while standing up and chatting on the phone.” There were rarely any meals together as a family and Dawn felt lonely and disconnected. Luckily, she had her grandmother, Beauty, to turn to for love. friendship and inspiration in the kitchen. Beauty doted on Dawn and taught her how to make, appreciate, and savor fresh, delicious food. When the family moved from Chicago to New York, Beauty sent Dawn $20, a recipe and shopping list each week, to keep Dawn’s culinary interests and their close bond intact.

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Kel’s Old-School Moscow Mule, Perfect for Summer

Posted on July 10, 2016 by kelleychisholm

Kel's refreshing Moscow Mule

During our last time in Manhattan, we went to the Russian Tea Room and I was intrigued by what was served in the beautiful, shiny copper mugs. Let’s be honest, even though I bartended for several years, I had never heard of a Moscow Mule – it just isn’t on most cocktail menus in Raleigh. After researching Moscow Mule recipes, I learned the copper mugs helped brand the drink (like martini and margarita glasses do for their respective liquors), plus they helped keep it icy cold.

Something attracts me to copper and I’m not exactly sure what. Maybe it’s the warm, reddish-orange color, or perhaps its brilliant shine when highly polished. Regardless, I’ve been eyeing copper mugs since my visit to New York, but couldn’t reconcile the price of most of them until I found these two on clearance at a home goods store. Yaaay!

Moscow Mule Mugs

 

 

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Kel’s Asian Inspired Bowtie Pasta Salad

Posted on July 3, 2016 by kelleychisholm

Garnish with sesame seeds

I receive daily recipes from Allrecipes.com, and when this one appeared in my email, I knew I was going to have to give it a try. I’m always looking for new ways to make pasta salad and this one sounded nice and refreshing for the summer. Although this recipe calls for chicken, you could easily eliminate it and still have a wonderful and filling salad.

Of course I had to tinker with the ingredients some and used more mandarins, pasta and garlic than originally called for. I substituted grape tomatoes for the Roma tomatoes and increased the amount to a cup, and replaced the toasted sesame oil with hot chili sesame oil for an extra kick. I added sesame seeds as a final garnish. Here’s a link to the original recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/143555/mandarin-chicken-pasta-salad/

This pasta salad keeps well in the fridge for a few days after making it.

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Kel’s Copycat Version of P.F. Chang’s Most Delicious Mongolian Beef

Posted on June 9, 2016 by kelleychisholm

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Okay, break out your woks – this Mongolian Beef is a keeper! My sister-in-law, Karen, recently sent me this recipe, and since everything she sends me is usually so yummy, I couldn’t wait to try it. This recipe is a copycat version of the Mongolian beef from the restaurant chain Pei Wei, whose parent company is P.F. Chang’s.  I basically took ingredients from both recipes, based what I already had in my pantry, and was extremely pleased with the results. And I took Karen’s suggestion and added an extra veggie, in this case snow peas, for extra crunch and color.

Since Brad and I like food with some heat, I used hot chili sesame oil and added crushed red pepper flakes for an extra kick. If you like milder dishes, use regular sesame oil and regular black pepper instead.

Sesame oil

If you don’t have a wok, use a large skillet instead, and heat the oil to medium-high (you don’t want the oil to be too hot, though.)

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Kel’s Semi-Boozy Banana Pudding from Scratch

Posted on May 19, 2016 by kelleychisholm

Kel's Boozy banana pudding

When I crave comfort food, it usually involves cheese and/or meat and/or some sort of rich sauce — rarely do I lean toward a dessert. But a few weeks ago I was at a potluck and there were three (yaaay) banana puddings. If you’re from the South, you know the banana pudding of which I speak. Yeah, the one with vanilla wafers, lots of bananas and vanilla custard, topped with a bunch of yummy meringue. I have to admit I felt obligated to try all three of the puddings and all were great, but each was missing one special ingredient — bourbon.

The best banana pudding I ever ate was at the 3rd Annual YMCA Chili Cook-off (which I won for my black bean chili, BTW, but I digress.) This pudding won the best dessert at the Cook-off and I found out the secret ingredient was bourbon.

banana pudding at YMCA chili cook off

It was delectable, and after a few tries of replicating it, I think I’ve found a recipe that comes close. Maybe one day if anyone gifts me a cooking torch, my dessert may look like this fancy-pants one. At least mine tastes great, even without the staging!

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Party On with Kel’s Prickly Pear Margaritas

Posted on April 30, 2016 by kelleychisholm

Pretty in Pink

This past Christmas while Brad and I were in Phoenix, I started thinking about what kind of margaritas I’d be making this year for Cinco de Mayo. Quite the little planner, aren’t I? Only for important stuff, though. Anyway, what actually happened is I ran across some prickly pear cactus syrup at one of the gift shops we visited and thought about Bobby Flay’s wonderful cactus pear margaritas, which I get every time we visit his Mesa restaurant in Vegas. Here’s a picture of the last one I drank:

Mesa Grill Cactus pear margarita

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