Mayo Free Crab Cakes & Asian Turkey Meatballs

I’ve been so bad about posting recipes lately. I’ve just been busy (in the best kind of way)! This week has involved work, teaching at the gym, spending time with the man, taking care of my favorite little lady:

spending time with friends:

trying new (and delicious) foods:

and cooking & baking! I made these crock pot Asian meatballs a while back. They were so good, that I re-made them using turkey (served with quinoa, peas & sesame seeds):

Yesterday, I threw together crab cakes. I despise mayo, and put together a batch without it. I had just finished teaching at the gym, was trying to feed Kaylin, and Josh was walking in the door from work….so this is the only (lame) picture I got. I assure you these are delicious!

 

Mayo-Less Crab Cakes:

Ingredients:

• 8 oz crab meat (canned)
• 1 egg (medium or large not extra large)
• 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 teaspoon old bay

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except crab. Add in crab and mix with your hands. Form into 5 mini cakes. Place (covered) in fridge for a half hour (or longer).

Either spray a skillet  with non-stick spray, or add a little butter or olive oil. Heat over medium heat and cook each cake for ~3-4 minutes each side (they should brown up). Serve with your favorites sides or put on top of a salad.

So good! Love crab.

I fit in my workout this morning, so I am off to finish up work, pickup my Color Me Rad race packet, and meet Mandi for coffee! What are you up to? 

Basic Granola & Birthday Weekend

How is your weekend going? I hope everyone has tomorrow off! Our weekend has been fantastic .  On Friday night, Josh, my parents, Josh’s parents, my Aunt & Uncle & friends went to dinner to celebrate my birthday!! I enjoyed tons of delicious chips and a veggie platter. Awesome!

Saturday, I took Body Step for the first time post partum! It was fantastic and my calves are FEELING it!! I also watched the Penn State game with the peanut:

Saturday night, we had birthday celebration (part 2) with Josh’s parents, brother and sister and her boyfriend.  Josh’s Mom made an incredible spread of food. We had a crab appetizer with tortilla chips (duh ). Mine had crab, black beans, corn off the cob, red pepper and jalapenos (amazing):

Second course was a shrimpy salad. Dessert was individual chocolate mousse in a graham cracker crust! I adore graham cracker crust and could eat it with no filling at all! It was AMAZING:

Today, Josh’s family watched Kaylin and Josh and I had a solo date. It was so awesome to spend time together with no distractions. We went to Triangle for brunch. I got a salad topped with a fried egg (which I am totally doing at home soon):

We also relaxed at home with this guy:

Tonight, another fun dinner! Can’t wait!!

Since I’ve been making the same granola recipe for a while, I decided to switch it up. I came up with a more basic, but still very yummy recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups old fashion oats
• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, raw
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds, raw
• 1/4 cup flax seeds
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 6 tablespoons honey

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In  a large bowl in the microwave, melt the butter and honey. Mix in all other ingredients.

Spread mixture on a cookie sheet. Bake for 25 minutes.

How was your weekend?

Frittata and Gnocchi & Salad Feast

Hooray for Friday!!! This has been a busy week for me, so I feel relieved that the weekend is here and especially because we have some awesome plans (more details to come). What are you up to?

I wanted to share one more blogger inspired meal I made this week, Stephanie’s Pasta Pea Parmesan Frittata. I made a few adjustments (cut the recipe down, used Ditalini instead of spaghetti, took out the onions- Josh isn’t a fan, used a little Mrs. Dash, baked in two mini dishes for 30 minutes and then under the broiler for a minute or two). Here is my ingredient list:

Ingredients:

• 1 serving (2 oz) ditalini pasta
• 1 egg + 3 egg whites
• 1/3 cup 2% milk
• ½ cup frozen peas
• 3 tablespoons parmesan cheese, separated (2 to mix in, 1 to top)
• Mrs. Dash Garlic & herb seasoning

Directions:

See Cooking Fanatic

Prior to the oven:

       

And after baking:

 

This was great! I threw a little ketchup on top and had a big bowl of fruit on the side.

On Wednesday night, we had a random feast at home with Josh’s Mom. I used this gnocchi from TJs:

  

served with ground turkey & marinara sauce, a large salad with lettuce, carrots and salad topper crunchies:

 

and a plate of toppers including cucumber, tomato and lump crab (Josh’s Mom was in charge of the salad and fixings and did an awesome job):

 

I decided to make a mass salad with crab and top it with a few of the gnocchi, olive oil and vinegar, so good:

Enjoy your weekend!!

E: Spicy Salsa, Jalapeno and Corn Crab Cakes & Giveaway

Hope your week is going well!! Mine has been nice so far :). Monday=Taught pump & walked, worked, ran errands, cooked & baked. Tuesday= AM workout, work, met up with my Mama for coffee:

& cooked.

On Monday night, I decided that I wanted to switch up my usual crab cake recipe and add salsa, jalapeno, corn and spice!! I loved the flavor, but they were a little crumbly. The recipe below is the one I followed (this serves ~3 people (2 cakes each)), but I put suggested adjustments next to the measurements:

Ingredients:

• 8 oz lump crab meat, drained
• 1 egg white  (next time I would use 1 whole egg)
• 1/2 tbsp. lime juice
• 3 tbsps. salsa or tomato sauce
• 1/2 jalapeno, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup corn (frozen, defrosted or fresh)
• 1/8-1/4 teaspoon chili powder (up to you!)
• 3 tablespoons (next time I would use 1/4 cup) + 1/2 cup panko or regular bread crumbs or crumbled crackers
• Olive oil or non-stick spray

Directions:

Gently mix all the above ingredients in a mixing bowl, leaving out the panko and crab meat for now. Mix in three tablespoons (or 1/4 cup) panko. Next, gently fold in crab (being careful not to break it apart too much). Place mixture in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes to firm up.

  

Spread remaining panko on a plate. Remove crab mixture from fridge and drain off any excess liquid. Form crab mixture into thick patties (slightly smaller than hamburgers) and lightly coat them using the panko. Place patties onto a skillet lightly coated with olive oil or sprayed with non-stick spray (I used non-stick spray). Cook on medium for ~ 3 minutes on each side. Place on top of a salad, on a bun, or eat alone with a side of veggies.  J’s plate with potato & cauliflower/broccoli mix:

 

Closer shot of the cakes:

 

My plate:

Giveaway time! Since enough people showed interest, I’ve decided to do a guess the babies sex giveaway!! To enter, simply leave a comment below letting me know if you think its going to be a boy or a girl. Based on the correct answer (which I do not know yet ;)), I will use a random number generator to pick the winner. You do not need to have a blog to enter and the contest is open to US residents only. The winner will be able to pick their desired home baked goodie (vegan almond butter chocolate chunk cookies, vegan chocolate, chocolate chip pumpkin muffins, peanut butter flour chocolate chip cookies or you can choose to be surprised!). The contest is open until Saturday, March 5 at noon.

E: Lightened Up Crab Bisque

The weather in Charleston on Monday was crazzzzy (for the South). We got rain, freezing rain & sleet. Most of the bridges (VERY important in the low country) shut down. I was happy to work from home in sweat pants :) I did brave the weather for the gym and a quick stop at the food store. Other than those two trips, I was home!

When it came time for dinner, I knew it was time for soup! When we lived in Maryland, Josh loved eating crabs and crab soup. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been a lot of crab eating since our move to SC. I thought this lightened up bisque from cooking light would be perfect. I didn’t make the relish, halved the recipe, and made just a few ingredient adjustments

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup fresh corn kernels (about 1 large ear; see Tips) or frozen, thawed
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup diced carrots
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 3/4 cup diced red potatoes
• 1/4 teaspoon sweet or hot smoked paprika, plus more for garnish
• 1/8 teaspoon dried ground red pepper (remove if you don’t like heat)
• 1/2 cup dry sherry
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1 cup low-fat milk
• 8 ounces crabmeat, drained if necessary

Directions:

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add corn, onion, carrots, and celery and cook, stirring often, until the onion, carrots & celery have softened, about 5 minutes. Add potato, paprika and red pepper and cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes. Add sherry and cook, scraping up any browned bits, until the liquid has reduced slightly, about 5 minutes. Add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are very tender, about 15 minutes.

Utilize a blender to puree the mixture. Stir in milk and crab. Cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, 3 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle with additional paprika, if desired.

The result (note: I need to make a light box!!):

    

How is the weather where you are?

M: Old Village Post House and the Best Snickerdoodle Recipe

How was everyone’s weekend? Any fun holiday parties or get-togethers? Any baking? Our weekend was busy, as usual. But, I am happy that I got in some crazy baking time yesterday!

One really awesome thing we did was go to a fancy shmancy dinner on Friday night. We’ve had a pretty stressful holiday season this year and we just decided we really needed a nice dinner together. Now, this is actually my first personal restaurant review – mainly because since I’ve been blogging I haven’t really felt anything extraordinary (good or bad) about any places we’ve been to.

That is, until Friday =) Old Village Post House is probably my favorite restaurant in Charleston…yes, I said it…Charleston is chock-full of award winning restaurants and don’t get me wrong, we have some AMAZING places downtown. But, each time we go to Old Village Post House it’s always better than the last - it has so much character and just really fits my tastes (literally!)

Needless to say, the place is beautiful – inside of a restored 19^th century building – the dining room is small and quaint with whimsical works of art on the walls and lit by candles and a completely open kitchen. The service is amazing and can we please talk about the food?! First, we started with a “grown up” hot spiced apple cider. So warm and tasty (please excuse my dark and grainy pictures)!

I got the lump crab cake with sautéed spinach and yellow squash and goat cheese casserole. Now I usually don’t go with crab cakes here in Charleston because I’ve experienced them in Maryland, but this crab cake rivaled any of the crab cakes I’ve had up north. No filler…sweet crab meat. And the casserole with the goat cheese? So good.

Bryan went with the shrimp and grits and loved every bite. It isn’t thick and creamy like some can be, which was good for Bryan. He likes his shrimp and grits more tomato-ey and spicy.

Seriously, if you live in the area or are coming to visit at any point in time, make it a point to go here. You won’t be disappointed!

Before I go, I must share with you my mother-in-law’s recipe for the best snickerdoodle in the world (well at least in my opinion) =) I’ve used this recipe several times and each time they turn out great.

I actually ended up putting these into a bunch of goodie boxes I put together for friends at work, and I will clue you in on all the other baked goods that went into these boxes of heaven tomorrow =)

Let’s do this…

The best snickerdoodle recipe

½ cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

¼ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp cream of tartar

1 egg

½ tsp vanilla

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

3 TB sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl beat butter, sugar, baking soda, and cream of tartar until light and fluffy. Beat in your egg and vanilla until well combined. Gradually add the flour to the butter mixture until well mixed. Note: if your mixer starts to give out on you (because this dough gets pretty thick), then just finish up mixing in all of the flour using a good old wooden spoon!

Cover and chill dough for about 1-2 hours.

Mix the remaining sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Shape your dough into about 1 inch balls and roll in the sugar/cinnamon mixture. Place dough balls about 2 inches apart on a non-greased baking sheet. Bake 9-10 minutes (I bake mine for 9 minutes – it makes them sort of crispy/buttery on the outside but slightly chewy on the inside). Allow to cool on the sheet for a couple of minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

Reduced Sugar Cupcakes, Crab cakes

Hope you're having a good week so far!

Reduced Sugar Cupcakes:
Last weekend I tried the new Pillsbury Reduced Sugar Cake Mix in the Devils Food flavor and it was awesome! I used the cake mix to make cupcakes and topped them with the reduced sugar icing! We brought them over a friends house and the kids seemed to love them, not even noticing all the missing sugar!

Crab Cakes:
I found this recipe online when searching for a crab cake recipe without any mayo (yuck!). I tried it out last week and love it! It is a little tough to get the cakes to stay together when placing them in the pan, but once they start cooking-they're good to go!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. lump crab meat, drained (or three 6 oz. tins of commercial crab meat, drained)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tbsp. Worcestershire
• 1/2 tsp. Old Bay_TM seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. dill weed
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper
• 12 Club_TM or Ritz_TM crackers, finely crushed (Don't even THINK of using saltines!)

Gently mix all the above ingredients in a mixing bowl, leaving out the cracker crumbs and crab meat for now. Mix in 2 tablespoons of the crushed crackers, saving the remainder of the crumbs on a plate for coating the crab cakes. Finally, add in the crab meat, and gently mix it in using a fork or spatula -- or better yet, your hands, coating the lumps with the mixture. Be careful not to pulverize the lumps when mixing - the idea is to keep the mixture chunky. After all, you didn't plunk down top dollar for super lump crab meat only to turn it into mush.

Place the mixing bowl and contents in the refrigerator for about 15-20 minutes to firm it up. After refrigeration, drain off any excess liquid.

Gently press mixture into thick patties (slightly smaller than hamburgers) and lightly coat them using the remaining cracker crumbs. Don't compact the cakes like you would hamburger; keep them a bit loose. Just enough pressure to make the mixture hold together. Fry the cakes slowly in butter at low heat in an uncovered fry pan or griddle, turning when the first side is brown.

Salt lightly and enjoy. You can eat them plain, or serve them with Old Bay Seasoning or a remoulade sauce. If you need more kick, serve with a good hot sauce. Makes about 6 - 8 cakes.

Original Recipe: http://users.goldengate.net/~kbrady/CrabCake.html