Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus

This is a hit at my husband's workplace potlucks. I don't know why; maybe it's the bacon???

Ingredients:
2 bunches asparagus
1 package bacon
Toothpicks

Directions:
1. Cut the ends off the bottom of the asparagus.
2. Wrap the bacon around 3 stalks of asparagus. (You can do more or less, I just find this seems to kinda, sorta help cancel the calories in the bacon by having a few more greens)

3. Secure the bacon with toothpicks.
4. Grill bacon-wrapped asparagus on medium heat until the bacon is done.

Wheat-Free Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:
3 1/4 cups Bob's Redmill Biscuit and Baking Mix (pictured)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten or 4 egg replacement equivalent (pictured)
1/3 cup water
2 cups grated zucchini
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans





Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon, and sugar.

3. In a separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, water, zucchini, and lemon juice.
4. Mix wet ingredients into dry, add nuts and fold in.

5. Bake in 2 standard loaf pans, sprayed with nonstick spray for 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Alternately, bake in 5 mini loaf pans for about 45 minutes.

Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust

This recipe is from http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/blogs/fitstop/2011/10/21/health...

Crust:
1.5 cups organic vegan gingersnap cookies (about 24)
1/4 cup almonds
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated
2 tablespoons neutral tasting oil
1/4 cup brown sugar or palm sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon sea salt


Pumpkin Filling
2 (8 ounce) containers vegan cream cheese (pictured)
3/4 cup evaporated cane juice
1 (15 ounce) can organic pumpkin, or pumpkin pie filling
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon gluten-free flour
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon neutral tasting oil
1/8 teaspoon sea salt


For the crust:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Place cookies, almonds, ginger, oil, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract and sea salt in a food processor and pulse until uniform, about 20 to 25 times. Mixture should be a crumbly, even consistency that pulls away from the walls of the food processor.
3. Grease a springform pan. Use damp hands to firmly press mixture into pan to form crust. Be sure to evenly distribute mixture and use thumbs to press crust into corners of pan. Bake for 7 minutes, to help crust stick together.

For the filling:
1. In a food processor, add cream cheese, sugar, pumpkin, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, flour, lemon juice, oil and sea salt. Blend until uniform.

2. Pour filling into baked crust and gently tap mixture on counter to release any trapped bubbles. Bake for about 40 minutes or until mixture is slightly browned on top and feels firm when pan is slightly shaken.
3. Remove from oven and allow cheesecake to cool on counter for at least 20 minutes, then refrigerate for 4 hours to overnight before serving to firm up.

Mexican Chili

After browsing a number of chili recipes, I took all the ideas into consideration and created my own recipe. I made this dish for a potluck.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground meat (turkey, chicken, beef, pork, etc)
1 lg onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 cans black beans
1 can corn
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 cup chicken stock
2-3 hot peppers, finely diced (jalapeno, habanero, Thai chili, whatever you want!)
8-10 cloves roasted garlic
1 bunch cilantro, divided
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp cayenne
Salt and Pepper
1 Lime

Ingredient Photo Shoot...

1. Brown the meat with a sprinkle of chili powder and garlic powder. Set aside.
2. Saute onion and bell peppers until slightly soft. Set aside.
3. In crock pot or stove top pot, combine black beans, corn, tomatoes, chicken stock garlic cloves, hot peppers 3/4 of the cilantro and spices. 
4. Add browned meat and sauteed vegetables. Stir to combine.
5. Simmer for about 2 hours.

**Be sure to taste it, then adjust your seasonings if desired.
6. Garnish with cilantro and sliced lime