Liwovien

I made crab soup for the first time ever. I found a recipe and tried to follow what I could and then add replacement items for stuff I didn’t have. I purchased crab meat in the grocery store about a week or so ago in hopes to make something with crab and all of the cold weather made soup seem like the perfect option.

Substitutions (that worked well) since we didn’t have certain items :

• Edamame for the lima beans
• Lemon juice and ground pepper for the lemon-pepper seasoning

Maryland Crab Soup Recipe

It was awesome. A little spicy and good flavor. And it made about 8 2cup servings.

I had never made scalloped potatoes before today. I looked at over 5 recipes and wasn’t happy with any of them. So, I took bits and pieces of different recipes and added an idea of my own. Below is the result of the concoction. It is not the typical scalloped potatoes but all of the major ingredients are there and it tastes great. Plus, 4 out of the 5 ingredients are organic. The only ingredient I haven’t found in an organic variety is cream cheese… one day.

Ingredients

• 4 oz – Neufchâtel cheese (1/3 less fat than regular cream cheese)
• 1/2 c – sour cream
• 1 1/2 c – half and half
• 3 lbs – red potatoes
• 8 oz – shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350°F.
2. Mix cream cheese, sour cream, and half and half in a bowl.
3. Thinly slice potatoes, place in bowl with cheese mixture, and gently mix to coat potatoes.
4. Spoon into 9″ x 13″ baking dish and scatter 2 oz of shredded cheddar cheese on top.
5. Bake for about 1 hour until cooked through.

Nutritional Information
Serving size 8oz

• Calories: 278
• Fat: 15.7g
• Cholesterol: 45mg
• Sodium: 548mg
• Carbohydrates: 26.6g
• Fiber: 2.7g
• Sugar: 4.7g
• Protein: 11g

Makes 10 servings

Recently, we have been making our original Trail Mix recipe on the lighter granola side (maybe a winter thing) and since I make our granola from this blog every time, I thought I would update the recipe. There are only 2 modifications: double all of the non-granola ingredients (or cut the granola in half with respect to the other ingredients) and remove the dates (we were not enjoying them) and replace them with 1/2 raisins and 1/2 cranberries.

In a large bowl, mix the following ingredients:

• Raisins (45 grams/1.6 oz/4.5 Tbsp)
• Dried Cranberries (45 grams/1.6 oz/3.5 Tbsp)
• Almonds (28 grams/1 oz/4 Tbsp)
• Peanuts (28 grams/1 oz/4 Tbsp)
• Cashews (22 grams/0.8 oz/4 Tbsp)
• Walnuts (28 grams/1 oz/4 Tbsp)
• Pepitas (aka. Pumpkins seeds without shells) (30 grams/1.1 oz/4 Tbsp)
• Chocolate Chips (60 grams/2.1 oz/4 Tbsp)
• Granola (110 grams/3.9 oz/1-1/3 cups)

Note: All ingredients are listed in grams, ounces, and measuring device depending on how specific you want to be and what your scale reads. If you want something more exact with a closer repeatability, use the grams/oz measurements. If you want something a little bit more random or want to put it together really fast, use the Tbsp/cup measurements.

Store in an air tight container and enjoy. We store the bulk of it in a large air tight container and then put small 30 g servings in small air tight containers that we can take to work or throw in our bags when we have to run out the door quickly. It gives a whole new meaning to fast food.

Nutritional Information… coming soon
Serving size 30 grams/1.1 oz

• Calories: –
• Fat: –
• Carbohydrates: –
• Protein: –

There are lots of substitutions that can be made. Some substitutions are:

• use one type or other types of nuts
• use one type or other types of fruit
• use sunflower seeds or pretzels in place of pepitas
• use M&M’s or peanut butter chips in place of chocolate chips

If there are any allergies, remove those foods and either add more of something already in the recipe or something else. The trick is to keep a preferred ratio of granola to the additional ingredients. If you like it more on the granola side, then add more of it and if you don’t, then add less. Trail mix is so easy to make and it relatively good for you in small quantities when not exercising; and, it is a great energy food when hiking or such. Just remember to write down what you do end up making so you can make it the same way or know what to increase or decrease next time. Just remember, trail mix is supposed to be an energy food not junk food.