As you can see, I share the kitchen with my husband, Bob.

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Send your favorite recipe or tip to  gail@gailmartin.com 

Kitchens often seem to be the melting pot of the family. At least a couple times a day, we gather round the table and eat a meal, sad to say not always as a family, but kitchen tables and kitchens for centuries have been the center of friendship and hospitality. I’m certain we can all picture our own kitchen tables where we’ve discussed the family joys and sorrows, the successes and failures and just everyday events. My mother’s kitchen holds so many memories for me. Though she had a lovely living room filled with antiques and floral print furniture, we always headed for the table. Visits in the living room seemed unusual. Sitting around her table, we nibbled homemade cookies and drank coffee or soft drinks while talking about everything under the sun. My mom died in July 2002, and I truly miss those visits.

Kitchens also serve as the place we get creative, inventing new recipes or refining old ones, developing luscious desserts or burning the Sunday roast. Most of us have special places for all our kitchen implements and gadgets and I, for one, get very edgy when my husband puts the kitchen scissors in the wrong drawer. (Grinning here) Since cooking and eating are a major form of my way to entertain, I thought I’d share a few favorite recipes, cooking tips, and funny stories about things that happen in my kitchen. I hope you enjoy this new feature.

Cooking Chit Chat

Lemons

If you buy a lemon, turn it into frozen lemon slices. That's a take off on an old cliché - but truly one of the best tips my husband devised. Buy lemons, cut them into 1/4 inch slices, spread them on a cookie sheet and put them in the freezer. When they are frozen, drop them into a small zip-lock bag and return them to the freezer.  They are excellent for dropping into a soft drink, ice tea and water or you can make a notch and hook them to the top of a glass to be fancy. Which ever it is, by freezing them ahead of time, the lemons stay fresh and do not stick together in the zip-lock bag.  You'll love the convenience of always having lemons for your guests or for yourself.

Dangers of the Food Channel Network

The food channel network can be dangerous. While recuperating form my knee revision surgery, I found myself staring at TV far more than I've ever done in my life. Normally our TV doesn't go on until 7:00 PM at night, but in my medicated state, reading made me fall asleep often so watching television became one of my activities. My husband and I have been dieting for three years---following Weight Watcher---and exercising to get our weight down to normal. Side issue: He succeeded, but I didn't and although I'd lost 65 pounds, I still had a ways to go. Being unable to do active exercise and watching the food network was almost my undoing. Food became my focus. I watched 30 Minute Meals, Cooking Semi-Homemade, The Barefoot Contessa, and more while my taste buds longed for food even after I'd just eaten. Needless to say, I now I have more weight to lose. So Warning: Avoid the food channel network.

Don’t Ruin A Good Thing

For Father’s Day this year, I decided to make a low fat potato salad. I used small red potatoes, diced small with green and red onion. I skipped the eggs because of cholesterol, and my husband announced - NO mustard. So I didn’t spice it up with mustard. Thinking of potatoes with no fat mayo and onions just didn’t do it for me, so I mixed the mayo with some no fat ranch dressing, added parsley and then got really creative and added a Sicilian spice. Here’s my advice. DON’T. People were kind, but I hated the stuff. I thought about washing it off adding eggs and low fat mayo with some relish or add the mustard and not tell my husband. Instead after the meal, we threw it down the drain. If you want to make potato salad, just splurge. Do the old-fashioned traditional and make everyone happy—including me. And invite me over. I really miss eating potato salad.

A Dessert Disaster

I belong to a couples group that got together monthly, and we took turns meeting at each other's homes. When the group was coming to my house one autumn, I decided to make something really special---peach cobbler. Since these people enjoy food, I made a big one. Frozen peaches on the bottom, and the cobbler on top dotted with butter. I had vanilla ice cream to serve with it. I wanted it warm so I began the baking a little before they arrived. We also serve hors d' oeuvres and we play games in between nibbling on the food. When it was time for dessert, I took my prize cobbler out of the oven, but when I tried to dish it up, it was still uncooked in the middle and the cobbler was sticky dough. Since it was late and no time to wait, I ran around the house finding an old frozen cheese cake, some leftover cookies, and the ice cream. I've now learned, when something is extra large, it needs a great deal of extra baking time. Or better yet, bake two small and be sure. 

Welch Griddle Scones

If you like scones, you'll receive a bonus when you buy my latest Barbour book, MICHIGAN. The book is an anthology of four of my novels published in the Heartsong Presents Book Club. These are all stories set in various parts of Michigan and in different genre - - suspense, comedy, and lighthearted romance. The bonus is a recipe for Welch Griddle Scones. I love them and I've included a scene in the novel SEASONS which is part of the MICHIGAN collection. When you buy the novel anthology, you will also get a great recipe for wonderful scones.

Effortlessly Fancy

To my surprise, I’ve impressed guests by the way I slice carrots. One guest thought I’d spent hours giving my carrots their unusual shape. If you want to wow company, instead of cutting regular carrots in circular slices or nice straight sticks, cut your carrots at angles. I slice the long carrot in half and then cut the pieces in a diagonal. It’s easy, but gives dinner company the illusion that you’ve worked for hours. Don’t tell anyone how easy this is.

A Lesson To Be Learned

Sometimes horrible things happen in the kitchen that we can only laugh about after their over.  I had one of those experiences.  I'd joined a local writers' group and three woman had invited me to share a room with them at a national conference.  Since they didn't know me well, they suggested we get together for an evening. I invited them to my house, and we decided to have snacks.  My husband is a great cook and he makes the best homemade pizza from scratch - crust and all.  He made a luscious pizza and put it in the oven.  My task was to remove and serve it. That sounds easy.  When it was ready to serve, I didn't realize the pan was so heavy and I lifted it with one hand. The weight dropped it down and it flipped back into the oven and on the oven door. I watched with my mouth gaping as the cheese ran over the oven shelves.  I did my best to scoop up what I could, knowing I'd lost most of the cheese and they ate the mess that I served them and graciously said it was delicious.  The next day I found the cheese glopped in the storage drawer beneath the oven, all over my pans. What a mess and an embarrassment. 
Lesson: Use two hands to lift anything from the oven and thank the Lord for kind friends like mine who smiled and ate the pitiful pizza upside down pie without complaint.

Recipes

Pumpkin pie is a holiday tradition, but for someone struggling to lose weight, it’s just another roadblock on the way to a thinner body. My husband and I decided to lose weight two years ago. We’ve both done well, but he’s done better. Bob lost one-hundred and two pounds while I lost sixty-five. Both being lovers of food, we decided to find ways to enjoy our favorites but with fewer calories. We also learned a great deal about portion control.

Low Fat Pumpkin Fluff 

1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup skim milk
1 cup FF cool whip
1 package SF FF instant vanilla pudding mix
Mix together pumpkin, spice and milk until well blended. Add pudding mix and beat by hand 2 minutes. Fold in cool whip. Refrigerate.

We’ve learned to make other delicious desserts using the same idea—Key Lime and Cranberry Fluff. Most are made by adding canned fruit folded into a sugar free pudding and/or flavored low fat yogurt and fat free cool whip. Experiment and see what you can create.  Very low in calories. Serves: 4 

Chocolate Bran Muffins - 1 WW point

One thing dieters miss is bread and carbo-treats. Here's a guilt free muffin that's not only very tasty but good for you. We make these often and enjoy them everytime.

3 Cups All-Bran Extra Fiber or Fiber One Cereal 
2 1/2 Cups water 
1 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Powder 
1 Box low fat Brownie Mix

Soak the All Bran in water for 5 minutes. Add the baking powder and brownie mix to the cereal. Mix well . Drop into muffin pans sprayed with Pam or similar spray. Bake at 350 for 18 min. 
18 muffins, 1 POINT each 

Be sure to use the Extra Fiber if you go with All-Bran otherwise, the muffins are two points. No problem with Fiber One. 

Key Lime Pie

We love to find wonderful desserts that taste great but are low fat. We often take them to potluck parties so we can eat without guilt. Here's a wonderful dessert we've even made for friends and they loved it.

Pie Crust

3/4 Cup Flour
3 Tbl Light Butter - softened tub style
2 Tbl Powdered sugar

Spray 9" pie pan with Pam. Mix ingredients with a fork and press into prepared pie pan.(Sort of like a graham-cracker crust) Bake at 350 for 10-14 minutes until golden brown. Cool crust 10-15 minutes before filling. 

Crust alone is 8 servings at 1 Point per serving.

Key Lime Pie Filling

1 box (4-serving size) sugar-free lime- flavor gelatin.
1/4 Cup boiling water
2 containers (6 oz. Each) key lime flavor light yogurt
1 container (8 oz) fat-free whipped topping, thawed

In a large heat-resistant bowl, dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Stir in yogurt with wire whisk. Fold in whipped topping with wooden spoon. Spread into cooled pie crust. Refrigerate overnight, or at least two hours.

Filling alone is 8 servings at 1 Point per serving. 

Veggie Lasagna

This recipe came from Hungry Girl website. We tried it and it's absolutely delicious -- a huge portion and very low in calories. 

Personally I did some revisions to the recipe. I deleted the mushrooms (not a fan) and I used only one layer of eggplant since I'm not a fan of that either. I also dropped the ricotta cheese and replaced it with 1/4 cup of mozzarella to mix with the spinach. Otherwise this is it and it's probably as good with the original recipe. I hope you enjoy this as much as we did.

Ingredients: 
1 lb. (about 3 medium-sized) zucchini; ends removed and sliced lengthwise into wide, flat strips 
1 large portabella mushroom; sliced into strips 
1 large eggplant; ends removed and sliced lengthwise into wide, flat strips 
15 oz. frozen chopped spinach; thawed, thoroughly drained and patted dry 
16 oz. canned tomato sauce with garlic flavoring 
1 cup frozen ground-beef-style soy crumbles 
1 egg white 
1 cup fat-free ricotta cheese 
1/2 cup shredded fat-free mozzarella cheese 
1 tbsp. reduced-fat parmesan-style grated topping 
1 tbsp. chopped basil 
1/4 tsp. salt 
pinch nutmeg 

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 
Heat soy crumbles in the microwave for 30 seconds, and set aside. 

Set out a row of several paper towels (as you cook the veggies, transfer them to the paper towels to drain excess moisture). Spritz a large pan evenly with nonstick spray, and bring to high heat. Once hot, lay as many zucchini and mushroom slices as you can fit flat in the pan, and cook for about 2 minutes per side. Continue until all slices are cooked, removing the pan from heat and re-spraying it between batches. 

Cook eggplant slices for about 3 minutes per side, continuing to work in batches (removing and re-spraying pan each time). 

Next, in a large bowl, mix the spinach, egg white, ricotta cheese, basil, salt and nutmeg. Stir well and set aside. Spray a deep 8" X 8" pan with nonstick spray. 

Pour half (8 oz.) of the tomato sauce into the bottom of the pan. Then, layer half of the veggie slices on top in assorted order. Spread half of the spinach mixture on top. Next, sprinkle the soy crumbles evenly into the pan. Layer with remaining veggies, and then spread the rest of the spinach mixture on top. Cover with the remaining tomato sauce. Then, evenly top the lasagna with the mozzarella and grated cheese. Finally, bake uncovered for 30 minutes (or until the cheese on top starts to brown). Let cool, cut into 4 pieces, and dig in! 
Serving Size: 1/4th of recipe (1 SUPER-LARGE portion) 

Calories: 238 
Fat: 2g 
Sodium: 1,218mg 
Carbs: 33g 
Fiber: 11g 
Sugars: 14g 
Protein: 25g

*4 Points!

Baked Crispy Onion Rings

I received this recipe from a fellow author who's also watching her weight. My husband and I always chuckle knowing that when we see people order a "bloomin' onion" or a stack of onion rings, they're eating at least two days of calories in that one dish. So I was thrilled to receive this recipe and wanted to share it with you. Instead of eating those greasy, cholesterol-filled onion rings, you can enjoy these crispy, delicious and healthy treats.

Ingredients:
1 large onion 
1/4 cup original Egg Beaters**
1/2 cup crushed Fiber One

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut edges off onion, and remove outer layer. Cut onion into 1/2 inch wide slices, and separate into rings. Next, fill a small bowl (just large enough for onion rings to fit in) with Egg Beaters. Using a blender or food processor, grind Fiber One cereal to a breadcrumb-like consistency. Pour crumbs onto a small dish. One by one, coat each ring in egg and then crumbs (give each ring a shake after the egg bath). Place on an oven-safe baking dish sprayed with nonstick spray. Cook for 20-25 minutes, flipping rings over about halfway through. Serves one! 

Serving Size: 15 rings; one recipe
Calories: 153
Fat: 1g
Sodium: 225mg
Carbs: 41g
Fiber: 16g
Sugars: 7g
Protein: 9g

*2 Points!

Winning Lemon Bars

My sister makes wonderful Lemon Bars and I usually asked her to bring them to our family gatherings. I don't know what there is about this sweet/sour dessert, but it's sort of a melt-in-your-mouth experience.

INGREDIENTS:
2 sticks (8 ounces) butter 
2 cups flour 
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar 
4 beaten eggs 
2 cups sugar 
4 tablespoons flour 
1/4 cup lemon juice 
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel 
sifted confectioners' sugar


PREPARATION:
Heat oven to 325°. Blend butter, 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar. Pat into un-greased 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. For filling, blend together eggs, sugar, 4 tablespoons flour, lemon juice, and lemon peel. Pour over first layer. Return to oven and bake at 325° for 20 minutes. Loosen around edges, cut into bars and sift confectioners' sugar over the top while warm

Microwave Brownie Pudding Cake

When I met my husband, I thought a microwave was used to defrost food or heat up leftovers. I didn't own one and never thought I would. I was amazed to learn that Bob actually used a microwave to cook homemade dishes. After twenty years of marriage, I've come to a first name basis with the microwave. It's now known as Mikey. This dessert is luscious, and if you are a chocolate lover, trust me. You will serve this to friends, family, and when you're depressed, you might even make it for yourself.

Pudding:
1 c brown sugar
1/4 c cocoa
1-½ c hot water
1/4 c butter

In a 1 quart glass measure, stir sugar, cocoa and water. 
Add butter and microwave on High 4 minutes until bubbly.

Cake
1 c unsifted flour
1 c sugar
1/4 c cocoa
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 c milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 c chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)

In a 2 quart casserole stir together dry ingredients. Add milk and vanilla and stir until smooth.

Pour pudding mixture over batter (it will sink through). Do not mix. Sprinkle with chopped nuts. Microwave on High 9 to 12 minutes. (If your microwave doesn’t have a turntable, rotate the bowl ½ turn after 5 minutes.)

Enjoy warm or cold topped with a dollop of Cool Whip.

Fiesta Cheese Spread

For any special event, a cheese ball is always a pleasing tradition. I've made this numerous times for parties and potluck events when I'm asked to bring an appetizer. People always ask for the recipe. It's not only delicious, but it looks good, too, with all the colorful ingredients. It makes a large igloo shaped cheese ball or two smaller ones. If low fat cheese and cream cheese is used, calories can be cut to make a low fat appetizer.

2 pkg (8 oz. each) softened cream cheese
1 Tbsp. Southwestern or Tex-Mex seasoning
2 garlic cloves, pressed.
1 cup (4 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
2 green onions with tops, thinly sliced
1/4 cup snipped fresh cilantro

Layers:
1 plum tomato, seeded and diced
½ cup pitted and chopped ripe olives

Mix well cream cheese, seasoning, garlic, cheddar cheese,
green onions, and cilantro until smooth.
Place ½ mixture into a rounded bowl lined with plastic wrap.
Add layer of tomatoes, Use 1/4 of creamed mixture and cover the tomatoes.
Add layer of chopped olives. Spread the last 1/4 mixture over
the olives. Let ingredients stand for 30 minutes to meld flavors.

Unmold spread, invert bowl onto plate. Use cilantro for garnish
if desired and serve with assorted crackers or tortilla chips.

Yields: 20 servings

Cornish Pasties

Chicken Divan

Here’s a twist on a fancy dish that really works as a low-cal meal. It’s good enough for guests and they’ll never guess you’ve cut some calories. Serve with a fresh salad, and some lovely orange sherbet or a low cal dessert. Sounds divine doesn't it?

2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen broccoli, cooked but firm, OR 2 large stalks of fresh broccoli, steamed
4 chicken breast halves, cooked and boned, cut into pieces
1 can (10.75 ounces) lower fat cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup fat free mayonnaise
1 to 2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon curry powder1 cup shredded fat free Cheddar cheese
1 cup bread crumbs or stuffing mix

Preheat oven to 350 º. Arrange cooked or steamed broccoli in greased 7- by 11-inch or 9- by 13-inch pan, with crowns facing edges of pan. Place chicken on top. In a small bowl, combine soup, mayonnaise, lemon juice and curry powder and pour on top of chicken. Sprinkle with cheese. Combine bread crumbs and margarine and sprinkle over all. Bake 30 minutes.
Makes 8 servings. A 4 POINT meal for Weight Watchers.
201.28 Cal (12.60% from Fat, 63.30% from Protein, 24.10% from Carb); 30.84 g Protein; 2.74 g Tot Fat; 11.73 g Carb; 0.39 g Fiber; 44.65 mg Calcium; 1.36 mg Iron; 450.37 mg Sodium; 697.58 IU Vit A; 24.19 mg Vit C; 67.28 mg Cholesterol


Creamy Coleslaw

3/4 pound packaged coleslaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrots)
1 med. red onion, thinly sliced
½ cup fat free mayonnaise
2 Tbls fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tsp dark sesame oil
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and toss until thoroughly combined.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Yields 4 servings at about 1 cup per serving
Serving is 1 POINT for Weight Watchers

Drunken Sailor Potatoes 

This potato dish is easy to prepare but very delicious. By using low fat cheese and margarine products, this can be kept at lower calories. These go well with ham or any dish. 

            Avocado Stuffed Eggs 

My niece who lives in California introduced us to this recipe when she was visiting this Easter. If you like guacamole and deviled eggs, you'll love this recipe. 

4 hard boiled eggs
1/3 cup mashed avocado
1 Tbl minced green onion
1 Tbl minced cilantro
½ tsp lime juice
salt to taste
2 tsp minced jalapeno 

Slice boiled eggs in half and remove yolk.
Mash yolk and combine with all other ingredients. (No mayo is needed.) 
If it needs to be more creamy add a little more avocado.
Fill eggs whites and decorate with cilantro. 

Great for St Patrick's Day, or garnish with a piece of pimento for Christmas. 

Serves 4
3 POINTS

Pork Creole

This dish is one of my husband's favorites and one my sister gave me. One thing we love about it is that it's low cal if served over a half cup of brown rice. If you like it hotter, add the hot sauce, and the meal can be stretched by adding more veggies like green beans and carrots. No reason why you can't be creative and try the same recipe with chicken or beef. 

Pork Creole
Serves 4 

2 lean pork chops ( 9 oz total)
1 small onion chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1 can Mexican style stewed tomatoes or diced tomatoes and green chilies (hot) 14.5 oz.
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
salt/pepper to taste
dash red hot sauce (optional)
1 can green beans (optional) 

Cut the chops into 1" pieces, spray pan with Pam, cook pork until browned, add onions & peppers cook about 5 minutes. Add other ingredients except green beans, cover and cook 20-30 minutes. Add drained green beans the last 5 minutes.

Easy English Trifle

Easy English Trifle is one of my favorite desserts—so easy, yet so scrumptious. Trifle came into being centuries ago when people used left over cake and puddings to make a new dessert. Placing the trifle in a clear glass bowl allows the guests to enjoy the luscious layers of cake, fruit, pudding and toppings before enjoying its great flavor.  Trifle is perfect for a cool summer dessert, but it makes an attractive dessert for any time of year.  And best of all, it's so easy to make---no cooking.

Easy English Trifle
Serves 10

12 ounce packaged pound cake
4 Tbsp raspberry jam (or flavor to blend with berries)
1 C ground nuts (walnuts, pecans or almonds)
1 C medium-dry sherry (or any fruit juice)
1/4 C brandy
2 cups heavy cream (or Cool Whip)
1 package of instant vanilla pudding
2 C fresh raspberries (or any other berry)

Cut the pound cake into 1-inch-thick slices and coat with the jam. Place the jam-covered cake slices around the bottom of the glass trifle bowl, then dice the rest into cubes and scatter them over the slices. Sprinkle with the ½ C ground nuts, then pour the brandy and sherry (or fruit juice) over the cake and nuts and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Follow the package directions to make the pudding, then whip the cream with a sprinkle of sugar until stiff or in place of real whipped cream, bring out a container of cool whip.

To assemble, set aside 10 the best berries for the top and scatter the rest over the marinated pound cake and nuts. With a spatula, spread the pudding over the surface, then top with the whipped topping. Garnish the top with the reserved berries and the remaining ½ C of nuts.

The Trifle is best served immediately, but it will keep one or two hours in the refrigerator so you can prepare it before your guests arrive.

Chicken Casserole

4 Cups Tortilla chips
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Cup chopped onion
1 Can cream of chicken soup
2/3 Cup tomato with chilies (I use Salsa)
1-1/3 Cup chicken broth
4 Cups cooked chicken
2 Cups grated American cheese

Sauté onion in oil. Add soup, tomatoes and
broth. Simmer 5 mins.

In casserole layer 1/2 chicken, 1/2 chips,
1/2 sauce and 1/2 cheese. Repeat

Bake 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Serves 6 - 8

My husband, Bob, is half German, half Italian, but I think the Italian wins out when it comes to food. He loves pasta, and this tortellini salad is something he create, and now every potluck we go to, people ask us to bring his wonderful tortellini salad whether stuffed with meat or cheese. This is a wonderful dish.

Tortellini Salad

9 oz Tortellini, cooked and drained
Red onion
Zucchini, green and yellow
Artichoke hearts
Black olives, sliced
Fresh mushrooms, sliced
Garbanzo beans (Chick peas)

Use as much or as little of each item to your own taste
Toss above items with an oil and vinegar Italian Dressing (not creamy)
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 hours or over night

Easy Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, and cut the corner tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.  Rosalind

Reheating refrigerated bread
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.  Rosalind

Measuring Cups
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill it with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry the cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.  Rosalind

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