Wednesday, July 17, 2013

You could have had a V-8! Homemade V-8 Juice

I love V-8 juice!  I love anything with tomatoes.  Bloody Mary, tomato sandwich, spaghetti sauce, you name it!

Now that I'm on a low sodium regiment, I decided to make my own V-8.
This is made in a juicer without any salt at all.
Once you get used to things without adding salt, everyday foods will taste "too" salty after a while.


This has all the ingredients in the processed V-8 juice except that this is fresh.
This can be made without a juicer by cooking all the veggies and putting them through a food mill, but cooking the vegetables is also removing the nutrients.

You will need:

5-6 ripe tomatoes
Carrots (small bunch)
3-4 stalks celery
1-2 small beets (peeled)
1 handful fresh parsley
1/4 head chopped lettuce
1 handful watercress
1 handful fresh spinach
1/4 fresh lemon (optional)


Experiment by using more or less of the ingredients in the recipe or create your own by using your favorite vegetables.

Run a piece of fresh lemon around the rim of your glass.
Dip into Mrs. Dash Original and serve ice cold.

ENJOY!

Reduced-Fat Icebox Key Lime Pie

Key lime pie tastes light and bright, but surprisingly the light part isn't true.  
Traditional recipes can include raw egg yolks, fatty whipped cream and clock in at about 450 calories per slice.

Greek yogurt gives this pie a creamy texture and I would eat this pie over the full-fat version any day - or at least more often.


1 reduced fat graham pie crust
4 ounces 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup juice and 1 Tbsp. grated zest from 6 limes
1/4 cup sugar
1-1/4 tsp. unflavored gelatin
1 (14-ounce) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fat-free Greek yogurt
1/3 cup instant vanilla pudding mix
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Process sugar and zest in food processor until sugar turns bright green, about 30 seconds.

Combine 3 Tbsp. lime juice and gelatin in a small bowl and let sit until gelatin softens, about 5 minutes.  Microwave until mixture is bubbling around edges and gelatin dissolved, about 30 seconds.  In a stand mixer, combine sugar with lime zest, condensed milk, yogurt, vanilla pudding mix and cream cheese and blend until smooth.  With machine running, pour in gelatin mixture, remaining lime juice, and vanilla and beat until thoroughly combined.

Scrape mixture into pie shell and smooth top.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 3 hours.

Traditional Icebox Pie
Calories:445
Fat 22g
Saturated Fat 14g

Reduced-Fat Icebox Pie
Calories 307
Fat 9g
Saturated Fat 5g

~Cook's Country

Foodie Friends Friday

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Small Batch Bang!'s Homemade Ketchup

Bang! is a trendy place in Denver, Colorado that was featured recently on Diners, Drive-in and Dives.
This signature ketchup was served on top of homemade meatloaf.
It's in-between a ketchup and a BBQ sauce and very tasty.
This would be amazing with sweet potato fries!

This only makes about a pint, put you might find yourself whipping up batches of this again and again~

2 Plum Tomatoes
3/4 cup raisins
1 dried guajillo chili, stemmed and seeds removed
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 whole garlic clove
1/4 cup onion
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 cup water

Place all ingredients into a medium pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 45 minutes.  The vegetables, raisins and chili should be very soft, and the liquids should be reduced.  Cool.  Blend until very smooth.  Chill and serve with meatloaf or fries!
Next time you make meatloaf, simmer the ketchup ingredients while the meatloaf is baking and liven up a boring meatloaf dinner!

~Slightly adapted from Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
Sharing with: Weekend Potluck

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