We had an absolutely beautiful morning for our Altzheimer’s Walk!
It was a wonderful way to start the day!
Over the summer I bought a baked donut pan. It quickly got lost in my sea of kitchen accessories, but I saw it the other day and since it was a rainy, dark morning yesterday, decided to give it a try.
I wasn’t exactly sure how to get the batter in the mold – I ended up just plopping a tablespoon of dough in each mold, and then with my pinky found the middle and just pressed the dough down.
I baked these for 12 minutes – the recipe I followed said “bake until golden brown.” The second batch I baked for 20 minutes, and they never got brown.
My topping? Simple chocolate ganache. Take 1/4 cup heavy cream, bring to a slight boil, add 2 ounces of chopped chocolate and stir until chocolate melts.
The verdict? Kind of tasted like ass. The batter was not sweet enough, it is hard to describe the texture – almost like a biscuit? The chocolate topping was the best part – so I am not posting this recipe – I don’t want you to waste your time!
When I was going through my freezer, I found that I had 1 pound of black beans that had already soaked and were ready to go. I did a quick search on Tastespotting, and zeroed in on this recipe – love this girls site – tons of WW recipes!
I did make some changes though – I used all chicken broth, not water with bouillon. I also left out the onion and used green pepper instead of red. And I am also somewhat lazy when it comes to making soup. I just threw everything in the pool at the same time, simmered for one hour, came back and . . .my soup looked like dirty dishwater. 🙁
It was really thin too, even after I used the stick blender, so I added 3 peeled potatoes, a can of Rotel tomatoes with chile, simmered for another hour, and it came out delicious!
Black Bean Soup
Makes 8, 1.5 cup servings (311 calories, 2.8 fat, 52 carbs, 11 fiber and 20 protein)
Ingredients
| 1 | pound dry black beans |
| 1 | cup green pepper |
| 2 | medium carrots |
| 5 | cloves garlic |
| 3 | medium potatoes, peeled and diced |
| 1 | tablespoon red wine vinegar |
| 2 | ounces white wine |
| 1 | teaspoon cumin |
| 1 | teaspoon Mexican oregano |
| 10 | cups chicken broth |
| 1 | can Rotel tomatoes with chiles |
Directions
- Soak beans overnight. Rinse and add to pan with remaining ingredients.
- Bring to a boil, then simmer until the beans are tender. Using a stick blender, blend until smooth.
- Serve with fresh cilantro and queso fresco.
With a grilled ham and swiss on Vienna bread:
And since Tony suffered through my baked donuts and light sesame chicken earlier in the week, I rewarded him with bacon wrapped meatloaf.
Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf
- 1.25 pounds meatloaf mix (a blend of ground pork, veal and beef)
- 3 tablespoons A-1 steak sauce
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup Italian bread crumbs
- salt and pepper
- 3 slices of bacon
Mix everything but the bacon together – not too much though – if you overwork the meat (that’s what she said!) the meat gets tough. Bake at 350 for one hour on a rack above a jelly roll pan. Finish off under the broiler to crisp up the bacon.
I sprinkled the top with crack pepper too before it baked. I forgot to add the ketchup layer before the bacon though!
So today is the first Sunday of me being a football widow! I am allowed to bring snacks and drinks, but I can only talk during commercial breaks! I don’t mind though – he loves football so much – so our first Sunday football eats – you’ll have to come back tomorrow for the recipes:
- Guacamole with bacon, blue cheese and sage
- Homemade steak taquitos!
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!
That bacon wrapped meatloaf is seriously making my mouth water right now!
To bad the doughnuts did not taste good 🙁 They looked good. I have to admit, I almost fell out of my chair laughing when you said what they taste like….lol….The bacon wrapped meatloaf looks awesome!!
Too bad the donuts didn’t taste good… they looked great! That black bean soup sounds great. I love bean soups… so filling!
I always laugh when you write that something “tasted like ass,” or “looked like ass, but tasted good” (which is an apt description for most of my cooking).
Better football widow than hockey widow – your season is shorter! My poor Mr. is a reluctant Lions fan, though…guess they’re “yang” to the Detroit Red Wings’ “yin,” and therefore are doing their bumbling part to maintain balance in the universe….
And congrats on the walk! Glad you had nice weather for it and made your fundraising goal! 🙂
I love Gina’s recipes too!
And glad the weather was good for your walk!
Dang! I was getting all excited about the idea of baked donuts!!
Good for you on the Alzheimer’s Walk–what a great thing to raise money for.
Too bad about the donuts! They LOOK good!
Meatloaf was the best looking meal today…you just had to add bacon and it was a winner in my books.
Thanks for the late night laugh – good thing I wasn’t drinking anything 🙂
Congratulations on the Alzheimer’s Walk. What a lovely day, and a great cause.
That’s a bummer that the recipe didn’t turn out. I hate when that happens.
That black bean soup does look amazing though. This will be perfect to make especially when it starts to cool down.
Aww, sorry they were disappointing – you have inspired me to get a donut pan though, how fun! Nice job on the Alzheimer’s walk!
Too bad those baked donuts didn’t turn out – they look pretty 🙂
You cracked me up with the “kind of tastes like ass” lol Sorry they didn’t turn out the way you hoped.
Hey, Biz, great job on the Alzheimer’s walk. Such a great cause. I laughed at your losing your donut pan soon after purchase–we must be long-lost siblings. Sorry the recipe wasn’t a keeper. I make bean soup and use fat-free refried beans as a thickener–it comes out great. I haven’t gone the dried bean route in a while, maybe as the weather gets cooler. I’m making a great WW osso bucco in the crock pot for tonight’s dinner. I’ll post the recipe tonight.
Did you use the same amount of liquid that was called for in the original recipe? That could be why it was so thin since unsoaked beans would have absorbed much more water. Maybe??
Her recipe said between 8 to 10 cups of water, so I went for the 10 cups – but when I added the potato, it thickened up really well!
You are your sister are on the same wavelength – what a connection! Too bad your donuts didn’t turn out (and I’m not EVEN going to ask you how you know what ass tastes like, LOL!), but you know where you can get a good recipe!
Glad the walk went so well – congratulations on raising so much money!!!
Oh, and your black bean soup looks fantastic – I’m like you, I’d rather just throw everything in the pot all at once.
Is it bad that I would still eat donuts that taste like ass? I know… I have issues 😉
I want that meatloaf!!!
That looks like an awesome day for a walk!
Donuts that taste like azz just aren’t a good thing LOL.
I hate when I work hard on a recipe and it comes out tasting like ass! LOL! I was going to ask you if you knew your sister did a baked donut post today but I see she told you already. Geez, you’d think you two were twins or something.
Glad the walk went so well. It was gorgeous here yesterday, but has been cloudy and cold all day today, which kept me inside but also meant I got a lot of cooking for the week done.
My poor football loving Mr. is on a schedule where he has to work every Sunday now. I feel bad for him so I try to get out of his way before the evening game comes on!
Those donuts look great, so thats a bummer they didn’t taste as good as they look.
Also, bacon wrapped meat is fundamentally awesome. Amanda and I will have to try this ASAP. Possibly sooner.
When you said the baked donuts tasted like ass I spit tea all over my computer and out my nose. It was so funny! They looked so good that I totally was not expecting that. And I have never been a fan of meatloaf, but your bacon wrapped meatloaf looks and sounds delicious, so I’ll be giving it a try! Thanks for the recipe and the laugh!
Sorry the donuts didn’t turn out good. Mine turned out really good….and besides some I gave to Mom, they are all gone already!
Glad you did the walk! What an awesome day for it!