Bowl of Berries

I am such a slacker I know, I have no good excuse.  Work is crazy and demanding but it’s a nice change.  I am constantly learning and being challenged, which I appreciate but it leaves me with nothing at the end of the day.  I haven’t had anything creative or fun to say even though dinners have been pretty good….wtf!

I mapped out a marathon plan, even though I am still having some knee/IT band issues.  I hope with diligent foam rolling the issue will subside.  I am really bad at “resting’ and can’t get my fix from swimming so I am just going to have to deal!  I had my longest run post marathon yesterday- 9 miles!  Done entirely on the treadmill since it was cold and rainy but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I anticipated!  I was completely caught up on the news though after 90 minutes :)  I had a sore knee today but the rest of me felt great, I could have continued if it wasn’t for the tightness, which is so frustrating!  I don’t want to lose my endurance.  I know I am stubborn!

I can’t even believe Christmas is next week!  Mom already has the menu planned for most of the weekend and I am not going to lie, I may be most excited about the pumpkin/gingerbread pancakes with cinnamon sugar butter we concocted while on the phone last night…mmmm pancakes!

So what are your plans for the holidays?

I leave you with a super comforting chicken casserole I made a few months ago.  The weather has been cold and rainy for a while in NC so I have been craving food like this, which may be why I have been hitting up the gym more!

Chicken Wild Rice Casserole

1 (6.2 oz.) package Uncle Ben’s Fast Cooking Long Grain & Wild Rice Mix
2 T. Butter
1 medium onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
2-3 cups chopped chicken
2 cups shredded cheddar, divided
1 can cream mushroom soup
8 oz. sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Boil or bake chicken until cooked. Prepare rice directions. Sauté celery and onion in butter for 10 minutes; stir in cooked rice, chicken, 1 cup cheese, soup, sour cream, milk, salt & pepper. Spoon into 2qt dish. Bake at 350º for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cup of cheese and bake 5 minutes. This can be prepared a day ahead and heated – or frozen and reheated.

I heard about this recipe form a cooking forum I peruse for dinner ideas.  I pretty much bow down to Gordon Ramsey, I love his simple cooking style and I agree with his stance on local food and meat.  This recipe aired on the Rachael Ray show, my guess is he was a guest?  So I was excited to see it was easy and included things I had in the pantry.  I went out on a limb and bought organic, free range chicken and I had to take a deep breathe as it was about 4 dollars more then the Harris Teeter brand but I am trying to make a conscious effort to buy meat that has been more humanely raised.  I still have lots to learn about the topic but it is exciting!  We actually don’t eat a ton of meat so I feel better investing in a good quality product.

To be honest I almost went full on pescatarian after seeing an episode of “The F Word” in which they slaughtered 2 calves that they had been raising over the summer.  It just pains me to see that, even though the calves were raised in perfect conditions.  I am such a softy.  So instead of giving up the four legged proteins all together I decided to instead make better choices about what I buy.  I would love to purchased directly from a farmer but I still need to look into that.  I do want to start getting our eggs form the Farmer’s Market because I hear the fresh eggs are far superior to the grocery store eggs.  As I said, this will be a learning process.

This dish took under 45 minutes to prepare, which was great for a weeknight meal!  I should have reduced the sauce to make it thicker and “stickier.” Scottie took the leftover piece and experimented with the sauce and it became very caramelized and smelled even more heavenly.  So I would say, don’t be afraid to let the sauce really reduce down and get a nice dark crust on in.  I made an easy salad with grilled peaches and goat cheese as well as some leftover baked zucchini.  Another easy and healthy meal!

Gordon Ramsay’s Sticky Lemon Chicken
With slight adaptations by me

1 large chicken, cut into 8 to 10 pieces
Sea salt and black pepper
3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
5 large garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
Few thyme sprigs or about 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
Splash of sherry vinegar (I used about 1/4 cup of champagne vinegar)
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
3 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup hot water
1 lemon, finely sliced (ideally with a mandoline)
Bunch of Italian parsley, chopped

Season the chicken with salt and pepper and heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan. Brown the chicken pieces (in batches if necessary) over high heat with the garlic and thyme for 2 to 3 minutes on each side until golden brown. Return all the chicken to the pan, add the sherry vinegar, and bubble until reduced by half. Drizzle over the soy sauce and honey and shake the pan to mix.

Pour in the hot water and add the lemon slices. Let the liquid bubble and reduce down until syrupy, which will take about 10 minutes or so. By now the chicken should be cooked through.

I am the type of person that will crave random foods during inopportune times.  What I mean is that I will crave soup when it is 95 degrees outside.  We have had  a bit of a hot and humid streak in NC, making it rather sauna like when you walk outside, it’s not a pleasant thing.  I should say, I don’t feel that this summer has been as bad as previous summers, though now I am sure the Humidity Gods are going to bless us with 100+ degrees days next week but for the most part the heat has been management this year.

I guess I can blame the container of shredded chicken that resulted from my chicken broth making this weekend but I had a strong craving for tortilla soup this week.  I had planned to make it on Wednesday but after a day with a sick puppy and a choppy swim I was not in the mood to cook, so I pushed it back to Thursday.  Scottie then told me later he was really excited about the soup on Wednesday….oops!  So I made a point to start the soup as soon as I got home on Thursday. The soup comes together in no time, it was great.  Having the chicken already cooked obviously helps and I had cooked the black beans earlier in the week.  Dinner was ready in under 30 minutes and that even included some cheese quesadillas.

I used the Ina recipe for Chicken Mexican Soup as a guide but halved it and added in the beans and corn.  It seemed heartier to me with these additions.  My recipe made enough for two healthy servings with about a quart leftover, enough for two lunches.  I topped mine with a squeeze of lime and a bit of cheddar cheese.  Scottie’s looked like this:

Then he added about a cup of tortilla chips and a bit more sour cream, it looked like a layered bean dip!  Oh well, to each his own!  On it’s own this is a super healthy soup.  Add toppings at your own risk but it does make it a bit more fun to personalize your bowl, almost like what you would do with chili.  Bookmark the recipe and try it when it is a bit more fall-like, hopefully it isn’t too far away!

Chicken Tortilla Soup
Inspired by Ina

2 T. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 jalapeno peppers
1 quart chicken stock
14 oz can crushed tomatoes
1/2 t. cumin
1/2 t. coriander
1/2 t. pepper
1/2 t. salt
2 cups chicken, cooked and shredded or chopped
1 1/2 cups black beans, cooked and drained
1 cup corn frozen or canned
cilantro (optional)-I added in 2 cubes of those frozen cilantro squares you see in the freezer section

In a medium saucepan/stockpot heat olive oil over medium high heat.  Add onion and carrot and cook until soft, about 7 minutes.  Add garlic and jalapenos and cook until just soft.  Add in broth, tomatoes, spices and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes.  Add in chicken, beans, and corn and allow to cook another 10 minutes or so. Add cilantro, if desired. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

Top with cheese, sour cream, diced avocado, tortilla chips, lime and/or hot sauce!

I haven’t taken a day to just cook in who knows how long.  I seriously can not even remember the last time.  But with our tri out of the way, the grocery shopping done, no laundry and a relatively clean house I set out to cook and prep for the week ahead.  I actually started the night before.  I bookmarked Bridget’s crockpot chicken broth recipe and since chicken leg quarters were on sale this week I bought a pack to make some broth.  So Saturday night I pulled out the crockpot and threw in 4 massive leg quarters, a quartered onion, some salt, bay leaves and topped it all with water and set the timer to high for 2 hours, after the two hours I set it to low for 20 hours (only as long as it would allow me to go!)  Yes the whole house smelled of chicken when we woke up Sunday morning but the end results were well worth it.  I cooled the broth for a few hours in the pot then strained it over a bowl of ice to cool it down immediately.

Then I covered it and let it cool more in the fridge overnight.  So tonight I will skim the fat off and portion out the broth in freezer containers.  I am so excited!  For the price of one box of broth I got probably 8 cups of broth as well as the shredded chicken!  Yep, the chicken is still usuable and we will be making chicken divan with it tonight- how exciting!  I will never buy broth again, for real!

After my 8 mile run on Sunday I started on some foccacia bread.  I haven’t made bread in months and it was nice to pull out the bread flour and yeast and get to a batch of some of my favorite bread.  The recipe is from an old Good Housekeeping cookbook I got in college and I have made it too many times to count.  I planned to make muffalettas for dinner and thought this bread would be perfect!  And it was.  I may start experimenting with some whole wheat flour next time to see if I can make a slightly healthier version.

Finally I tried my hand at making almond butter.  I have seen a couple people in the blog world make this so in an attempt to be frugal I bought 3 pounds of almonds a few weeks ago with plans to make it into butter.  Out came another machine, the food processor this time. and in went two cups of raw almonds.  Then I started pulsing.  And pulsing.  And pulsing. For about 20 minutes.  Luckily Scottie was outside or he would not have been happy.  Finally it started coming together in a paste form.  I got the idea from Courtney a while back for a Maple Cinnamon Almond Butter so I added in about a tablespoon of real maple syrup and about a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon.  I started to whirl it up and found that it almost started to become less paste like?  It was weird.  I added in a touch of olive oil to try and smooth it out as it started to almost seize up.  Courtney roasted her almonds whereas I used raw almonds so not sure if that made a difference.  Finally I got tired of pulsing so I transferred the butter into a jelly jar and a leftover artichoke jar.

It was quite hot from all of the pulsing so I let it “rest” on the counter for a bit.  Then it seemed to soften a bit.  So I screwed on the top and let them be.  Not sure if I should be refrigerated it as it has oil in it and not sure if it will make it less spreadable.  So this morning I made a Green Monster Smoothie and toasted up a whole wheat english muffin.  I topped one side with homemade strawberry jam and the other side with homemade almond butter.  It was SO GOOD!  I should have added more cinnamon and maple because it was VERY subtle but overall I was super happy with the results.  I wonder if I can do this with regular peanuts?  My Mom gave me a big bag of them and figured it could make some mighty tasty peanut butter, maybe with some honey?  Oooo someone stop me!

I recently found this awesome site Healthy Yum.  This site is like Tastespotting for healthy food, awesome!  I was perusing the drool worthy pictures and found this recipe from Cookin Canuck.  I love anything with soy sauce.  I crave it.  I am a salty girl, much prefer a salty snack over a sweet one and don’t get me started on mixing the two (hello Salted Caramel Cupcakes!)  I was also intrgued/slightly scared by the addition of curry powder but thought the picture was just too good pass up, it was going on the menu.

Scottie put the marinade together around lunchtime, so I marinated mine for about 6 hours.  I also used one package of chicken which resulted in 3 chicken breasts, plenty for dinner and my lunch the next day.  Let me also state that I did not read the entire recipe and left out the chicken broth for the sauce, even though I bought chicken broth specifically for this recipe, oh well.  So I boiled the marinade (which kinda freaked me out, next time I may just make a double batch of marinade- sans chicken juices) and then noticed how thick it got, so I added more soy sauce and some water.  I figured all was ok until I tasted it.  Holy salt!  I love salt but not that much!  I pour it into creamer pitcher and let Scottie use it as his own descretion.  Even he found it to be salty.  So yeah, I know know why it was salty!  Nonetheless, I didn’t miss the sauce because the chicken had AMAZING flavor.  I made up some brown basmati rice and stir fried some red pepper, snow peas, and zucchini for a well rounded meal.

Definitely give this recipe a go, and make sure to read the entire recipe.

Grilled Chicken with Soy-Curry Sauce
From Cookin Canuck

Serves 6.

Dinner last night’s was super easy to whip together which I enjoyed since I decided to go for an impromptu run last night and Scottie was vacuuming my car- both made me VERY happy!

The inspiration for the meal was this Avocado and Grapefruit salad that RhodeyGirl made a few months ago.  I had two avocados and a few grapefruits in the fridge so I figured this would be perfect!  Since this was a refreshing salad I thought a simple grilled lemon chicken would be perfect.  And I was right!  Sadly the avocados I was ready to use up were past their prime but I added the grapefruit to a bowl of romaine, some tomatoes and cukes and topped it with lemon juice, EVOO…and some bleu cheese.  YUM!  I mean how bad can it be with bleu cheese!?

The chicken was equally yum.  I find that I prefer chicken that has been pounded thin, not only does it cook faster but the flavors of a marinade or rub get more surface area.  So I proceeded to pound out three chicken breasts and marinated them in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the zest and juice of one lemon, and a sprinkling of salt and pepper…that’s it!  They marinaded for about 20 minutes while I prepped the salad and sliced up some zucchini.

These only took about 3-4 minutes per side on the grill to cook through, I think the zucchini took longer to cook!  The chicken was nicely charred and still juicy on the instead.  This meal was perfect for a summer night, easy to put together and really bright and flavorful.  And there were enough leftovers for me to have a salad today for lunch!  Even better!

Every Friday after receiving my Papa Spud’s email I get the menu together for the next week.  I pencil in any after work meetings or activities so that I know if dinner needs to be quick or if I have more time to prepare.  This is a meal that can be put together quite easily and if you prep your veggies when you buy them (Like I do- and Rachael Ray too I guess) it takes even less time.  I actually marinated this chicken then Scottie and I went for an hour run and it was ready to grill when we returned.

I chose to make mine into a salad with a half a pita on the side but as you can see Scottie loaded up two pitas.  The whole wheat pitas cracked a bit though, and I don’t  know if they were a bit dried our if this is just the nature of the product.  I haven’t had this problem with white pitas.  Regardless, they were still tasty.  I need to work on my tzatziki sauce as I added WAY too much garlic and it was almost  bit unpleasant., so I won’t post that recipe. The leftover chicken was great on a salad for lunch the next day and you could even use the marinade alone and grill them up with some veggies for a healthy dinner.

Thanks to Elly for the recipe!

Chicken Gyros

1.25 lbs. chicken breasts
4 cloves garlic, smashed
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 heaping Tbsp. plain yogurt
1 Tbsp. dried oregano
salt and pepper

tzatziki
sliced tomatoes
shredded lettuce
sliced red onions
4 pocketless  Whole Wheat pitas

Whisk together the garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, oil, yogurt, and oregano in a bowl. Add the chicken and rub the marinade in. Cover and refrigerate for about an hour.

Preheat the grill.  Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides, and then grill until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side, depending  what size chicken you are using. Allow the chicken to rest for a few minutes before slicing into strips.

Meanwhile, heat your pitas, I threw them on the grill for a few seconds to soften them up. Top the pita with the chicken, tzatziki, tomatoes, lettuce, onions and enjoy!

I have been stumped for new recipes but I happened upon this idea through some random recipe searches.  I am trying to branch out into new cuisines with Indian being at the top of the list.  I even mentioned to Scottie that I wanted to go an Indian restaurant.  (hint hint) I have not had this type of dish before so I don’t have anything to compare it to but I really like the flavors going on.  The cayenne definitely lends a major kick  but the sauce does tone down the heat.  You could certainly reduce the cayenne to suit your taste.  I simmered about half the chicken in the sauce for Scottie (he likes sauce a lot!) and left the other half plain for me (saves some calories.)  I didn’t feel at all deprived though because the chicken has amazing flavor and was wonderful in a wrap for lunch today! I also didn’t use all of the heavy cream because I felt a whole cup would dilute the tomato spice flavor.

The recipe was super simple to prepare and I actually prepped it in stages.  Chicken cut up and spices mixed in the morning.  After work I threw the spices and yogurt in with the chicken to marinate while I got my hair cut and worked out.  After the gym, Scottie fired up the grill while I started the rice and the sauce.  By the time the chicken was cooked through the sauce , rice and sauteed spinach were done.  Easy and fast week night dinner!

Chicken Tikka Masala

Ingredients:
1 cup yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
long skewers, soaked in water so they don’t disintegrate on the grill

1 tablespoon butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cup heavy cream (I used just under half a cup)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

In a large bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, 2 teaspoons cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, black pepper, ginger, and 4 teaspoons salt. Stir in chicken, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat a grill for high heat.

Lightly oil the grill grate. Thread chicken onto skewers, and discard marinade. Grill until juices run clear, about 5 minutes on each side.

Melt butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic and jalapeno for 1 minute. Season with 2 teaspoons cumin, paprika, and 3 teaspoons salt. Stir in tomato sauce and cream. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Add grilled chicken, and simmer for 10 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter, and garnish with fresh cilantro.

A few weeks ago I defrosted a whole chicken with the hopes of making a nice traditional roasted chicken with potatoes but life got in the way and I was faced with a chicken on a Tuesday night that needed to be cooked.  Luckily I remembered a recipe from ages ago that I found on Good Things Catered and knew this would work out perfectly.  The recipe calls for the chicken to be cooked in a cast iron dutch oven which resulted in a roasted chicken in half the time!  Perfect!  I prepped the chicken and placed it in the oven to cook while Scottie and I went for a run.  By the time we came back, the chicken was close to being done and I made some quick potatoes and a beautiful salad and dinner was ready!  I altered the flavorings a bit with this recipe and used Chinese 5 Spice and oranges because I had an abundance of oranges to use up and didn’t have any fresh herbs.  Regardless, this is a great base recipe and you can flavor the chicken however you like.

I made a beautiful salad with some mixed greens, orange segments, sunflower seeds and chopped figs.  YUM!  I have been integrating different salads into our menus because I have been completely inspired by Kath and KathEatRealFood who makes some amazing slaads and makes oatmeal interesting!  Seriously, check her site out if you haven’t already…she has me hooked on oatmeal

Slashed Chicken with Orange and 5 Spice
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma

Ingredients:
4 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 Tbsp of Chinese 5 spice
1 tsp salt, plus more, to taste
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper, plus more, to taste
1 chicken, 3 to 4 lb.
2 oranges
2 garlic cloves, sliced

Directions:
-Put a 5-quart oval Dutch oven in a cold oven and preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
-After the oven has preheated, heat the pan for 20 to 25 minutes.
-Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the butter, 5 spice, orange zest, the 1 tsp salt and the 1/2 tsp pepper and stir until well blended.
-Set the compound butter aside.
-Rinse the chicken with cold water and pat dry.
-Set the chicken, breast side up.
-Using a sharp knife, cut 3 slashes, each 4 inches long and 1/2 inch deep, in each breast.
-Cut 2 slashes, each 3 inches long and 1/2 inch deep, in each leg.
-Rub the compound butter all over the chicken, pushing the butter into the slashes and under the skin.

-Push the garlic slices into all the slashes.
-Squeeze the juice of the oranges over the chicken and place rinds in the pot
-Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
-Carefully place the chicken, breast side up, in the hot pan.
-Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, away from the bone, registers 170 degrees, 50 to 60 minutes.
-Transfer the chicken to a cutting board, cover loosely with aluminum foil and let rest for 15 to 25 minutes.
-Carve the chicken and arrange on a warmed platter.

Oh sweet mother of all things good, how I love the buffalo wings. Monday night at Lynnwood Grill is a favorite pastime but alas, work has kept me from participating. In comes Martha Stewart, of all people, with a buffalo chicken tender recipe that has been riding on my mind for some time. It was in a Good Food magazine that I found laying around the house- I do love that mag, I may need a subscription. </mental note>

Anywho, the recipe calls for pan frying of the tenders, well I was recently informed that Scottie had a deep fryer that I needed to try so we were going full grease on this recipe- yes my heart stopped their for a minute too. Friday after work seemed to be a perfect time, a 12 hour day means fried food! I had a package of chicken tenders, a fresh bottle of Frank’s, and some Naturally Fresh Bleu Cheese- we were ready for frying!

I dredged the tenders in flour and then a couple eggs, let them sit a minute then then fried them in the vat of bubbling, golden goodness for about 10 minutes until they were golden and done on the inside.

In a large glass bowl I melted a couple tablespoons of butter and added about 1/4-1/3 of a cup of Franks Hot Sauce (depending on your level of desired hotness) and mixed. As soon as the tenders were done frying I dropped them in the hot sauce and gave them a nice bath. Served them up on some beautiful Crate and Barrel plates with a side of creamy bleu cheese- classy, pure classy. I kept a few tenders naked and dunked them in some honey mustard, pure bliss, I could eat these daily. Seriously, imma just order the extra large fat pants now cause I can feel the grease going to the hips. But it so worth it. Life is too short for crap food. Fry yourself some tenders today.