Category Archives: Holidays

Chocolate, Desserts, Holidays, Pudding, Recipes, Valentine's Day

Delicious Puddings for Valentines Day

Valentine Puddings for Your Sweetheart

Image by LenM
Image by LenM

Valentine’s Day is only a few days away. I know, I know…. my focus is primarily on healthy foods, but there are a few occasions when sweets are appropriate – and Valentine’s Day is one.  Make your Valentine dinner especially romantic with a delicious homemade Valentine’s Day Pudding.

To make it easy for you, I have collected six yummy recipes. Choose one, or make several and have a pudding feast.

HONEY PUDDING

Ingredients

  • ½ cup honey
  • 6 ounces bread crumbs
  • ½ cup milk
  • ½ teaspoon ginger
  • 1 whole lemon rind (grated)
  • 2 eggs (separated)
  • 2 tablespoons butter (melted)

Directions

    1. Separate the eggs.
    2. Place the egg whites in a small bowl and set aside.
    3. Place all ingredients except butter and egg whites in a mixing bowl.
    4. Whip until thoroughly mixed.
    5. Stir in the softened butter.
    6. Beat the egg whites until frothy.
    7. Gently blend egg whites into the mixture.
    8. Pour a little honey in the bottom of the pudding mold.
    9. Gently transfer the pudding into the mold (should be no more than ¾ full).
    10. Cover and seal with a piece of foil.
    11. Using a large lidded saucepan, bring water to a boil and carefully set pudding dish in the pan.
    12. Cover and steam it for about 2 hours, check occasionally to make sure it does not boil dry.
    13. For more detailed directions, go to: How to Steam a Pudding

BAKED CHOCOLATE MERINGUE PUDDING

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 3 eggs, separated (set whites aside for meringue)
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 tablespoons butter (not margarine)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F
  2. Mix together: sugar, cocoa, flour and salt in a medium saucepan, stir until well blended.
  3. Separate the eggs, reserving whites for meringue.
  4. Whisk egg yolks into the milk in a separate bowl.
  5. Add milk and egg mixture to dry ingredients and whisk to blend until smooth.
  6. Place saucepan over medium heat.
  7. Bring to a simmer, stirring continuously as mixture thickens.
  8. When mixture is thick enough to coat a spoon, remove from heat.
  9. Add vanilla and butter – stir to blend.
  10. Pour into casserole (or soufflé) dish.
  11. Bake for 20 minutes – or until pudding is set.
  12. During last few minutes of baking, make the meringue.
  13. Remove pudding from the oven and increase temperature to 400° F.
  14. Top with meringue (directions below).

Meringue Ingredients

  • 3 egg whites (from above)
  • ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar (optional)
  • 6 tablespoons sugar

Directions

  1. Stir cream of tartar into the sugar – set aside
  2. Place egg whites in mixing bowl.
  3. With an electric mixer, beat at high speed until stiff peaks form.
  4. Using medium speed, add one spoonful of sugar at a time to the beaten egg whites.
  5. Increase mixture speed to high and continue to beat until sugar is completely dissolved.
  6. Spread meringue carefully over the top of the pudding.
  7. Bake in pre-heated oven (400° F) for ten minutes, or until meringue is golden brown.
  8. Serve warm or chilled.

Serves 4 – 6

JELLY PUDDING

Ingredients

  • 2 cups of fine stale English biscuit or bread crumbs
  • 1 cup rich milk (add a little half-and-half to make it richer)
  • 5 eggs (separated) and both beaten very lightly
  • ½ teaspoon soda stirred in small amount of boiling water
  • 1 cup sweet jelly, jam or marmalade.

Directions

  1. Scald the milk and pour over the crumbs
  2. Beat until cool.
  3. Stir in the beaten yolks – then, add the whites.
  4. Stir in the soda/water mixture.
  5. Fill large pudding cups half full with the batter.
  6. Bake in a quick oven (375° – 4.00°) for 30 minutes.
  7. When done, turn out quickly and carefully.
  8. With a sharp knife make an incision in the side of each pudding.
  9. Pull each one partly open, and put a liberal spoonful of the conserve inside.
  10. Close the opening by pinching the edges with your fingers.
  11. Eat warm with lightly sweetened whipped cream.

APPLE CUSTARD PUDDING

Ingredients

  • 1 quart apples (pared and quartered)
  • ½ cup water
  • ½ cup sugar (white or brown)
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 whole lemon rind (grated and juiced)
  • 2 cups fine bread crumbs
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 2 eggs (well-beaten)
  • Hard Sauce (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
  2. Generously butter a pudding baking dish.
  3. Place apples and water in a large heavy saucepan.
  4. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until soft.
  5. Remove from heat and add sugar, butter and the grated rind and lemon juice.
  6. Stir in the bread crumbs and flour.
  7. Stir in the two well-beaten eggs.
  8. Scoop batter into the buttered baking dish,
  9. Bake for 45 minutes in the preheated oven.
  10. Serve with sugar and heavy cream or hard sauce.

CHEESE PUDDING

Ingredients

  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 5 tablespoons butter
  • 3½ cups bread crumbs
  • ½ pound cheese, grated
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 4 eggs, well beaten

Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 375° F.
  2. Place milk and butter in a sauce pan over medium heat until butter is melted.
  3. Place bread crumbs and grated cheese in large bowl
  4. Pour milk/butter mixture over breads crumbs and cheese – soak for twenty minutes
  5. Add the well-beaten eggs and a pinch of salt – stir until well mixed.
  6. Pour the mixture into a well-buttered dish.
  7. Bake up to 40 Minutes – until set.

DATE PUDDING

Ingredients

  • 1½  cup chopped dates
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 tablespoons milk
  • ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • Dash salt
  • 2 tablespoons butter

Directions

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 325° F.
  2. Sift all dry ingredients together and set aside.
  3. Chop the dates and the nuts.
  4. Place both in large mixing bowl.
  5. Stir in the sugar and mix well.
  6. In a separate bowl, whip together the egg, milk and vanilla.
  7. Add to the date/nut mixture.
  8. Stir in the dry ingredients
  9. Pour batter into a generously-buttered 2-quart baking dish.
  10. Dot with the 2 tablespoons of butter.
  11. Bake in pre-heated oven for ~30 minutes, until knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
  12. Serve with whipped cream, ice cream or hard sauce.

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Serves 4 – can easily be cut in half for two servings.

ENJOY! Happy Valentine’s Day!

Christmas, Hanukkah, Health and Fitness, Healthy Living, Holidays

Tis the Season to Be Jolly (and Stressed)

Tis the season to be jolly . . .  yet, you may be asking, “Why am I not feeling great?” The holiday season is upon us – in full force. Everyone is looking forward to the festivities – and your stress level increases with every passing day The joy factor seems to be elusive.

It is an undeniable fact that stress has an impact on people and their lives. Most people are aware (at least to some degree) that stress can affect you emotionally and physically; but, are you aware that it can also affect your behavior.

Since you may be struggling with heavy stress right now, it would be wise to review the effects that stress can have on you and your life.

Emotional Effects

There are a variety of ways stress can impact your emotions, but the most common include:
•    Increased mood swings
•    Easily irritated
•    Easily angered
•    High anxiety, or worry
•    Constantly feeling overwhelmed
•    Depressed

Do any of those sound familiar?

When you consider the emotional reactions to stress described above it should be no surprise that stress can cause people to over-react to small issues. This also explains why tempers are short and family dissension is not uncommon during the holiday season.

Physical Effects

Physical effects of stress can be immediate and short-lived or develop into chronic conditions if the stress if not alleviated or at least managed.

With seasonal stress the most common effects would be:

  • Headaches – These are most commonly referred to as “tension headaches,” or TTH. They are thought to be the result of muscle tension and circulatory fluctuations within the body.
  • Digestive Disorders – When stressed out, people often say their stomach is “in knots.” If this goes on for long periods of time it can cause anything from abdominal pain and discomfort – and eventually to much worse with problems such as irritable bowel syndrome.
  • Sleep Disruption – This can create ongoing fatigue that contributes to more stress.

Longer term physical effects of chronic stress include:

  • Weight Gain – People deal with stress differently and while some people don’t eat when they are stressed, many people tend to eat and eat and eat, which can easily lead to weight gain.  The long-term consequence of this is unsightly fat around the abdominal area commonly referred to as “stress fat” that can be difficult to lose.
  • Insomnia – Stress can often lead to a lack of sleep, or insomnia, for many people.
  • Hair Loss – Believe it or not, chronic stress can lead to hair loss.
  • Heart Disease – The body’s heart and circulatory system can easily be disrupted by chronic stress. In extreme cases, it can cause dysfunction and even disease.
  • Chronic Pain – In addition to headaches mentioned above, common forms of stress-related chronic pain include: joint pain, back pain, and neck pain.
  • Weakened Immune System – Constant stress takes a huge toll on your body. It wears it out and can result in a weakened immune system, leaving you vulnerable to disease and multiple health problems.

Behavioral Effects

Most often, stress causes individuals to act differently, or change their normal behavior. This is true for both children and adults.

The most common changes include:

  • Verbal or physical abuse (toward humans and/or animals)
  • Excessive anger
  • Gambling
  • Drinking alcohol
  • Smoking
  • Increased spending
  • Secluding oneself
  • Withdrawal from activities previously enjoyed
  • Staying up/Sleeping late

Stress is ever-present in our lives and during the holiday season it tends to increase. However, if you pay attention to how you are feeling (emotionally and physically) and how you are behaving, you can manage the effects of stress – if you choose to.

Don’t let it manage you and ruin the holidays for you and your family.

Happy Holidays!