This is absolutely NOT a diet recipe, so be warned. This is rich and fattening. There’s a reason I only make one of these cakes a year.

I know what most people think about fruitcake, but I promise, this is one cake you’ll absolutely love. It also converts easily into a plain applesauce cake (see variations below).

If you’re doing a fruitcake, you’ll need to soak the fruit overnight first. You’ll need about five cups of fruit (yes, I said 5 CUPS). For the cake in the picture, I used 3 cups of green and red cherries and 2 cups of pineapple. Note that this is your typical candied-fruit that’s out this time of year.

Fruit Substitutions:

• Use the fruitcake mix if you like the bitter citrus peel that’s included there. We don’t like that, so I don’t use it.
• Use whatever dried fruits you like. You may have to add a little more juice for soaking it if you go this route.

Put the fruit in a large bowl and add about half a cup of orange or grape juice. For a less sweet flavor, use brandy instead. Let the fruit soak about 10 hours or overnight, covered.

Cake:

Your fruit should have soaked for a few hours now. Make sure there’s no leftover juice in the bowl. Add in 2 cups of walnuts and 2 cups of raisins. Take about half a cup of self rising flour and sprinkle over the fruit and nuts and mix well so that the fruit and nuts are coated well.

Peel and cook a bag of granny smith apples, but don’t add any sweetener. Cut the apples in chunks, but you don’t have to be careful about size. Between cooking and mixing, they’ll be pulverized anyway! Measure out 3 cups of apples into a separate bowl. If you don’t quite have that many, round it out with a little unsweetened appleasauce. (I usually do this step the day before!)

Add your spices to your apples and mix it all thoroughly. Set aside.

• 2 heaping tablespoons of cinnamon
• pinch of cloves
• half teaspoon of allspice
• quarter teaspoon of nutmeg

Now work on the cake batter itself. Soften two sticks of margarine and add those to your mixing bowl (I use a stand mixer — it’s easier). Add in two cups of packed dark brown sugar and begin creaming the mixture.

Add in four eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one.

Add in about half your apple mixture.

You’ll gradually mix in 3 1/2 cups of self-rising flour. When you’ve mixed in about half the flour, add the rest of your apples, and then finish the flour. When the mixture is well mixed, pour it over the fruit and nut mixture and mix well.

Pour into a greased and floured tube pan. Note that you’ll need a LARGE tube pan, not a bundt pan. This cake is huge.

Drop the pan three or four times on the counter to “settle” the batter. It’s thick, and you want to be sure there are no air holes in there.

Bake on 325 degrees for one hour. Increase heat to 350 and bake another half hour. Check the cake — it’s done when a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Tip: You may have to bake the cake as long as 2 hours, so don’t get worried if it goes a bit long. A lot depends on how wet the fruit was going in.

Applesauce cake variation:

Make the cake the same way, but don’t include the 5 cups of dried or candied fruit. Instead, add your 2 cups of walnuts and 2 cups of raisins, and that’s it! Bake at the same temperatures as above.

The cake freezes well, which is a good thing. It’s so big and rich, it’s not something you’ll be able to eat up in a weekend. Everyone who’s tried it has like it, even avowed fruitcake haters!

I talked in my last post about searching for some direction for the blog. I’ve decided to stick with health-related topics here, since it fits in with the domain and the readership I’ve built. I’m considering starting another blog where I can branch out a bit and discuss things that don’t really fit here.

When that’s up, I’ll be sure to provide you the link.

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This is a hearty soup good for summer or winter. Serve by itself or with salads or sandwiches. It goes particularly well with hush-puppies. This recipe uses dried beans, not the canned variety. It’s not much work since you use your crock pot, and it’s well worth it!

• One 16 ounce pack of white beans (northern or navy), pre-soaked or parboiled according to package directions.
• 1 ½ cups cubed ham
• 1 15 ounce can of diced tomatoes, with juice
• Half a stick of margarine
• Small diced onion
• One carrot, finely diced
• 6 cups of water
• Salt and pepper to taste

Put all ingredients in your crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until beans are tender. If you prefer a thicker soup, transfer some or all of it to a pot and boil hard on the stovetop until it thickens – about five minutes. If the soup doesn’t appear to be thickening well, add about a teaspoon of sugar.

This soup reheats well; if fact, it probably tastes even better the second day. Make a big pot and take some for lunch or reheat for leftovers.

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This is a great recipe that’s very versatile. Use whatever meat and vegetables you have on hand, and you can get a unique meal each time.

Cook one cup of dry rice (either brown or white) as you normally would. While that’s boiling, work on your meat and vegetables.

I like to do this dish with chicken or with only vegetables, but you could use beef or pork too. A lean cut of meat works best.

1. Slice one chicken breast thinly and stir fry in olive oil. Remove it from the skillet when it’s done.
2. Add any vegetables you like to the skillet and stir fry those as well. I like to use onions, red and green peppers, corn, celery, broccoli and spinach. If you’re in a hurry, use a bag of frozen vegetables instead.
3. When they’re almost done, add a can of diced tomatoes with the juice. If you like spicy food, use tomatoes with green chilis.
4. Add the cooked rice and chicken.
5. Add a little chicken stock or water with a bullion cube.You’ll want just enough liquid to allow the dish to simmer for a few minutes without boiling dry.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste. I like to also add a bay leaf and parsley and some hot sauce.
7. Cook until everything is heated through and most of the liquid has boiled out.

I like to fix a big batch of this and take if for lunch two or three days. It’s a great way to get plenty of vegetables for lunch, and if you use brown rice, it’s also okay for diabetics to eat.

Take this for lunch, and you’ll have people asking what smells so good!

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This recipe makes great use of pasta, particularly whole wheat pasta. I have an article on whole wheat pasta, if your still hesitant to try it.

This is a great, easy dish. It gets even better if you let it sit a day in the fridge. It’s also a good way to use up extra cooked spaghetti. I know I almost always cook too much.

The amounts are estimates. Stir it up, taste it, and tweak it to your liking.

• 2 cups cooked spaghetti (or any pasta)
• 1 diced cucumber
• 1 diced tomato
• 2  tablespoons of salad supreme seasoning
• 1 quarter cup parmesan cheese
• Italian dressing

Mix everything and then begin adding the italian dressing. We like ours with quite a lot (maybe a quarter of a bottle), but you may like less. This is one of those dishes I literally throw together, taste, add a little of this and that, taste…. You get the point.

If tomatoes or cucumbers don’t do it for you, try celery, sweet peppers, etc. I’m sure it would turn out tasty with lots of different combinations.

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Broccolini over whole wheat pasta

Originally uploaded by MontageMan
If you’re like me, you’ve heard (and read) that whole wheat pasta tastes awful, is hard to get used to, etc. I’m here to tell you that it isn’t so.

Since my husband found out he was diabetic almost a year ago, we’ve been changing a lot of our eating habits. White bread got replaced by high fiber wheat. Potatoes are a rarity. Pasta fell in that category too for a long time.

We bought Dreamfields pasta, which is white, for a while. It didn’t affect his blood sugar, but the cost is a little high, and we have to mail order it.

We decided to try whole wheat pasta, thinking that if whole wheat bread doesn’t bother his blood sugar, then whole wheat pasta shouldn’t either. And you know what? We were right.

To me, whole wheat pasta tastes pretty much the same as white. It may have a bit more of a nutty flavor, but that’s really only noticeable before you put the sauce on. It is a little more chewy, however, but I like my white pasta slightly undercooked, so no problem.

If you’re going to try whole wheat pasta, then splurge for a brand name. We’ve tried name brands and store brands, and I’ve found the store brands to be a bit grainier. It’s well worth the little extra money.

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This is super easy, and very good. By making a couple changes, you can make them much lower in carbs than they normally would be, and you won’t notice the difference.

• Ground beef (about a pound and a half)
• Low-carb flour tortillas
• Canned enchilada sauce
• Mozzarella cheese
• Tobasco sauce (if desired)
• Refried beans (if desired)

Fry your ground beef as you would for tacos. About a pound and a half of lean ground beef is enough to make about eight enchiladas. Add powdered taco seasoning and a little water and allow the meat to simmer until the seasoning cooks through. Add salt and pepper to taste, but be careful. The taco seasoning can be a bit salty. I tend to go light on the taco seasoning since it can be a bit high in carbs.

Choose low-carb flour tortillas. Add two or three spoonfuls of the meat to each enchilada and roll up. You can add cheese inside the enchilada, but I prefer to just put it on top.

Spread some enchilada sauce on the bottom of a baking dish. Place the rolled, filled tortillas in the pan, close together. Spoon more enchilada sauce over the top. If you want to avoid the carbs in the sauce but still add heat, mix in some extra tabasco and then use less enchilada sauce.

Sprinkle liberally with mozzarella cheese.

Bake on 400 degrees until they’re sizzling and the cheese is melted and bubbly.

I serve refried beans on the side rather than adding them to the enchiladas. They’re relatively high in carbs, so we tend to do better by having a small side serving of them rather than putting them inside the tortillas.

Enjoy!

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This is a great breakfast dish. It also reheats well, so make some extra for weekday morning breakfasts.

• Six large eggs, beaten
• 2 tb margarine or butter
• Half a large onion
• Two stalks of celery
• Half a green pepper
• About 1/3 cup of frozen spinach
• 1 cup Shredded cheddar (or any other cheese you like)
• hot sauce, to taste

Dice all the vegetables and stir fry them in the margarine or butter until they’re just starting to get tender. Set them aside to let them cool a bit.

Spray your baking dish with cooking spray. A deep dish pie plate works fine, as does a 9×9 square dish. You can also use muffin tins for egg bites.

Beat your eggs in a mixing bowl. Add the vegetables, hot sauce and cheese and stir well. Pour into the baking dish. Bake on 450 degrees until the eggs are set, about 20 minutes. The muffin tins take a little less time.

Substitutions

You could use something like Egg Beaters if you don’t want real eggs. Likewise, any vegetables should work. I’ve used mushrooms in the past. I’ve even put a couple spoonfuls of salsa in. Use whatever you like and what you have on hand. Obviously, you could add meat if you want. We just prefer it with vegetables and cheese only.

This recipe is very vegetable-dense. If you’d rather have a recipe with fewer vegetables and more egg, add a couple eggs to the recipe and don’t use as many vegetables. This is a great way to “sneak” vegetables into your day, and they really are delicious.

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Put the ingredients in the bread machine in this order.

• 1 1/2 cups of warm water
• two tablespoons of butter or margarine, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• four tablespoons of molasses
• 3 cups of whole wheat flour
• 4 teaspoons of vital wheat gluten
• two tablespoons of bread machine yeast

Bake on your bread machine’s whole wheat cycle.

Note that this is a pretty generic whole wheat recipe, so if you have one you like already, simply substitute the molasses for either the sugar or honey (whichever your recipe calls for).

If the whole wheat is a bit dense for you, try substituting one cup of regular bread flour for one cup of the whole wheat. If you go with this option, then cut the amount of wheat gluten. If you don’t, your bread is likely to rise too much and overflow the pan (ask me how I know that…)

I haven’t tried letting this sit overnight in the bread machine’s timed cycle, so I can’t speak to how well that works. If any of you try it, let me know how it goes.

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Meatballs:

• One pound of hamburger (lean)
• quarter cup of plain bread crumbs
• two large eggs
• half  a cup of parmesan cheese
• salt,  black pepper, red pepper to taste

Gradually add about one half to three fourths of a 15 ounce can of tomato sauce as you mix the meat mixture. You want it wet enough to allow you to form the meat into balls, but not so wet that it falls apart. Work the tomato sauce in gradually so you don’t get too much.

Pinch off small amounts of the meat mixture — about enough to form a one inch meatball. Work each meatball in your hands before forming into a ball and setting aside. Kneading the meat will help the meatballs stay together in the soup.

Soup:

Add the following vegetables to your soup pot, with a little margarine or olive oil.

• One large carrot, diced
• Two celery stalks, diced
• One large onion, diced
• One half of a green or red bell pepper, diced
• One potato, peeled and diced
• One quarter of a cabbage, cut into chunks

Stir fry the vegetables just until they begin to get translucent. If you’re using a crock pot or in a hurry, you can skip the stir frying step, but it does add a lot of flavor.

Add

• four cups of water
• one can of diced tomatoes, with juice
• one can of whole kernel corn, drained
• salt, black pepper and red pepper to taste
• dried basil, to taste

Bring the soup to a rapid boil and drop the meatballs in one at a time. When all the meatballs have been added, reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Don’t stir the soup for at least thirty minutes to avoid breaking up the meatballs.

Simmer for about 45 minutes or until vegetables and meatballs are cooked through.  This is a great hearty soup that does well on its own or with rolls or sandwiches.

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If you’re watching your sugar or carbs, then you know that traditional cranberry sauce is loaded in sugar. Here’s an alternate recipe you can use. I tried it for Thanksgiving, and it turned out great.

1 bag fresh cranberries

1 cup splenda

capful of lemon juice

1 packet of unflavored Knox gelatin

Put the cranberries in a pot with a splash of water and the lemon juice. Cook them, stirring constantly, until most of the berries have burst. Add the splenda and stir in. Depending on the thickness you want, you may need to add another quarter cup of water at this point. While it’s still hot, stir in the Knox gelatin and continue to stir until it’s dissolved.

You can allow this to cool in a bowl, or in a mold. Once it sets up, it will be pretty stiff. This amount of splenda gives it a nice combination of sweet and tart. If you like your cranberry sauce really sweet, then you’ll probably want to stir in another half cup. You can taste it, or course, before you add the gelatin, to be sure you’ve gotten it right.

This will make a great Christmas recipe.

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