Bowl of Berries

That’s how long I have until my next beer, glass of wine or cocktail.  Yep, I have decided to give up alcohol for Lent.  It was that or meat and with the workouts I have been doing I feel my body isn’t quite ready to go without that but I figured cutting out alcohol for a bit wouldn’t be a bad thing for my training.

So in typical Shrove Tuesday fashion, I made pumpkin waffles for dinner with sausage, eggs and fruit and one massive oatmeal stout.

Yes the egg is on the waffle and it was fantastic!

I will let you know how this little experiement goes!

I really like to think I have time on a Sunday night to make an elaborate and delicious meal, reminiscent of Mom’s home cooking but let’s face it…Sunday’s are crazy!  Usually we are trying to cram in the last few things we didn’t get to because we were 1.  too busy being lazy or 2. too busy doing some insanely long workout.  And with it getting dark at oh 3:30pm we try to squeeze every second of outdoor time as we can, especially when the temperature was as perfect as it was this past Sunday.

To keep things simple, I planned to make an easy corn chowder for dinner.  To “Scottie-fy” it, I added bacon  We made the mistake of having an appetizer of spicy salami and manchego cheese so neither of us were very hungry for soup but we each had a ladle full just to try it.  I really liked it. This is what Scottie thought about it:

He prefers some texture ;)

Then we were left with quite a bit of soup, so into the tupperware it went for a later date.

Tuesday rolls around and I needed a quick dinner so I decided to clean out the fridge and re-heat the corn chowder.  I had cooked some black beans on Sunday to be used in rice and beans for lunch but we had some leftover chicken casserole that I was eating for lunch instead so I decided to add the beans to the chowder.  It worked out quite well and added some much needed texture!  I then decided to get “gourmet” and make an avocado cream as a soup topper.  I blended the meat of an avocado, an equal amount of lowfat sour cream, some lemon juice (I wanted lime juice but didn’t have any) some milk to thin it out and some hot sauce for kick.  On the side I made a couple cheese quesadillas and dinner was served!

I thought this was pretty good!  I was proud of myself for throwing together a pretty easy meal with minimal dishes  I think I will still play around with this recipe, maybe keep it chunkier so it isn’t like baby food but I do think the black beans were a perfect addition!

Basic Corn Chowder

3 slices of bacon, sliced into chunks

2 quarts of chicken broth

1 small onion

1 red pepper

1 peeled and chopped carrot

2 (16-ounce) bags frozen corn

2 medium potatoes

1/2-1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

Directions:

Brown the bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crispy.  Drain bacon on paper towel.

Add the onion, pepper and carrot and brown in the bacon fat. Ok you could use EVOO and eliminate the bacon but that would be no fun!

Add the bags of frozen corn, potates, broth and spices. Brig to a boil then reduce to a simmer and allow to cook for about 30-45 minutes.

Puree in a blender or use a hand blender right in the pot!

Taste and add extra seasoning as desired. Top with crispy bacon or mix in about 2 cups cooked black beans.

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.

Ask and you shall receive!  My friend Tracy asked me to post the Halibut Stick recipe, so here ya go pretty lady!

This was a super fast meal, perfect for a busy Wednesday night.  I thawed the halibut filet the day before and then the night before I cut the fish into “sticks.”  I am a firm believer that food is more fun to eat with your fingers :)  When we came home from our swim last night I preheated the oven to 425 degrees.  The I pulled out one egg, some almond meal (I get it from Trader Joe’s, I think it is near the baking stuff, or you could just pulverize some whole almonds) panko crumbs, seasoning of your choice (I used garlic herb) salt, and PAM spray.  Whip up the egg in one bowl, in another bowl add about 1/4 cup almond meal and 1/4 cup panko crumbs, then season to your liking.  Dunk the fish in the egg, then roll around in the crumb mixture and make sure to press the breading into the fish so it sticks well.  Place on a sprayed baking sheet and lightly spray the top of the sticks with PAM to help them crisp. Bake for about 15-20 minutes depending on how thick your fish is.  I over cooked mine accidentally but once dipped in some fry sauce (ketchup and mayo mixture- don’t diss it!) it was fine.  Scottie actually really liked these so I consider that a huge success! Perfectly crispy!

To the baking sheet I also added some sweet potato fries, which I am in love with.  I also made a side salad of romaine, fresh peaches, lemon juice, S&P and the yummiest, stinkiest bleu cheese ever.  It was divine.  Bleu cheese and peaches make a fab combo and I think if you have a wonderful creamy cheese like bleu,  salad dressing is not needed.  Scottie would argue that but this is my blog, so there.

Overall a filling and healthy meal that was super easy to put together.  Please enjoy!

The last thing I wanted to do Sunday night was cook.  But since Scottie and I are watching our spending (I mean come on races and toys DO NOT pay for themselves, sadly) I decided to just get up off the couch and the Bizarre Foods marathon and make dinner.  I had ground turkey thawing so I took a recipe from Bon Appetit for turkey meatballs and tweaked it a bit.  The tweaking kinda worked, I splashed some milk on the fresh breadcrumbs, which was not necessary and ended up making a very wet meatball.  So Scottie helped me add some panko crumbs to firm them up.  I made some pesto last week using some basil from a co-worker and I frozen it in an ice cube tray for future use.  I thawed out two cubes and threw them in the mix, along with the egg white and salt.  Next time I will add another cube or two of pesto for more flavor, though I do think it helped to keep the meat moist.  You could also add minced garlic, red pepper flakes, oregano…whatever floats your boat. Instead of cooking the meatballs in the sauce as the original directions indicated I decided to bake them, which worked out perfectly.  Once they were cooked I put half of them in a pot with about 8 ounces of cooked whole wheat spaghetti and most of a jar of marinara sauce.  In about 45 minutes dinner was done!

I made a salad for myself with some leftover lettuce and marinated tomatoes and cucumbers and put some spinach in a bowl for Scottie to douse in dressing :)  We also cracked open a bottle of red wine from our Napa trip.

Yes we drank wine out of Harpoon tasting glasses

A delicious way to end another busy weekend!

Turkey Meatballs and Whole Wheat Spaghetti

1 jar purchased chunky tomato pasta sauce, I like Newman’s Own Marinara
1 pound ground turkey
1 1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs made from crustless Italian bread
4-5 tablespoons purchased or prepared pesto
1 egg white
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 ounces whole wheat spaghetti
Parmesan cheese

Mix turkey, breadcrumbs, pesto, egg white and salt in medium bowl. Using moistened hands, form mixture into walnut sized meatballs. Place meatballs on a lined cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until no longer pink in the middle.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain pasta, add back to pot along with a jar of sauce (or about 4 cups of homemade sauce) and the meatballs (I put about half the meatballs in and saved the rest for leftovers).  Stir and allow to warm through on low heat. Serve in bowls and top with parmesan cheese.

Monday night’s dinner was sort of a hodge podge of random things I needed to use up, one of them being two zucchini’s that were on the road to becoming inedible and ofcourse I saved them!  Scottie always says I keep things way to long, and truthfully I probably do (I blame my Mom) but I have made an attempt to clean out things promptly and not leave pickles in the fridge that had a sell by date of November 2008 I have become a bit bored with zucchini and I think I buy it now because I have bought it all summer without thinking twice, so I needed a new cooking method besides steaming it in the microwaving it or pan sauteing it so I decided to make fries out of them!

I wedged up the zukes into a steak fry shape, then whipped up an egg in one bowl and some seasoned bread crumbs and flour in another bowl.  Then I just dredged the sticks in the egg, then the crumbs and arranged them on a sprayed baking sheet.  These baked at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes until I they became slightly browned. When they came out I sprinkled some parmesan cheese on them, though you could also add the cheese to the crumb mixture.

These were delish!  Even Scottie ate some and he doesn’t really like zucchini, so I would call this a success.  I may just be buying zucchini for a few more weeks

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!

Such a bad blogger I am, we had a dinner party over a week ago and I am just getting around to posting about it! We invited two other couples over for a simple dinner party last Thursday.  I love cooking for people and even though the week was crazy, it was nice to relax and enjoy friends in a non-bar atmosphere.  One of our guests does not eat animals with 4 legs so I figured I would pull out some salmon, which would help put a dent in our supply and would make for a pretty frugal party.  I think I spent less then $25 for the whole dinner- score! I decided to also tap into my pecan supply in the freezer so I went with a simple Honey Mustard Salmon with a Pecan Crust.  I used some of the Emeril’s Horseradish Dijon Mustard that I got a few days before from Foodbuzz, great timing!

I was a little disappointed with the mustard as I expected it to have more of a kick to it but I can better judge it when I have it plain on a hot dog…mmm hot dogs!

I used up the rest of some orzo we had and made a simple spring veggie orzo with the organic veggie broth I also got in my package.

Twas a lovely addition to the dish!  Finally I made  a simple salad of romaine, juicy peaches, red onions and crumbled goat cheese with a simple dressing of EVOO, lemon juice, salt and pepper.  It must have all been good as the plates were cleaned!

For dessert I took this idea from Poor Girl Eats Well and made cheesecake parfaits for dessert.  I used up a lonely bar of cream cheese and a can of sweetened condensed milk and then added in lemon zest and juice.  I actually only used about a half a can of the milk as I found that to be sweet enough without making it too runny.  I made the cheesecake before everyone arrived,  so when it was dessert time I just sliced up some strawberries and layered everything in a wine glass and topped each glass with some crumbled ginger snaps.  The recipe made 5 perfect portions and all of the glasses were practically licked clean.  I loved getting that cheesecake flavor so easily and cheaply.

No party is complete without some good wine and we went through 6 bottles!

Needless to say it was a success and clean up was a snap.  Hopefully we can have many more of these get togethers!

Honey Mustard Salmon with Pecan Crust
From Allrecipes.com

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons butter, melted
5 teaspoons honey
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

3 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
6 (4 ounce) fillets salmon
salt and pepper to taste
6 lemon wedges

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). In a small bowl, mix together the mustard, butter, and honey. In another bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, pecans, and parsley.

Season each salmon fillet with salt and pepper. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush with mustard-honey mixture. Cover the top of each fillet with bread crumb mixture.

Bake for 10 minutes per inch of thickness, measured at thickest part, or until salmon just flakes when tested with a fork. Serve garnished with lemon wedges.

Sunday nights can be tricky when you are  coming home from a weekend away.  I am usually frantic to unpack, tidy up the house (because I never get a chance to before leaving) get groceries for the week, prep lunch for the next day and maybe do a couple loads of laundry.  Somewhere in there dinner needs to be made and I always try to start the week off on a good foot and make a really yummy meal.  Luckily all of the ingrediants for this meal were already in the house (love that!) including some mushrooms that I was so hoping would still be good after the weekend since I decided not to use them in last week’s stir fry.  I have the paper bag they were stored in to thank.  I also used the last cup of arborio rice, one less box in the pantry I was so excited!

I have honestly never made risotto on the stove top, I have made it a couple times in the microwave, yes sacreligious I know!  I don’t know why I was freaked out, maybe it was all of the stirring.  And yes this does involve a bit of stirring and I was a bit tired from our morning 9 mile run but I whipped out my kitchen step stool to sit on and that made life a bit easier.  I also always thought of risotto as a rich and calorie laden dish but it doesn’t have to be!  I found a recipe on About.com that was for a low fat mushroom risotto so I used that as a guide.  I tweaked it a bit based on what I had on hand and was very happy with the results.  Even more ingenious was the addition of the bleu cheese, and while not low fat/calorie it added great flavor and complimented the earthy mushrooms so well!

This risotto had a very clean taste too, wasn’t too salty or cloying, it was quite perfect if I do say so myself.  Scottie even liked it!  We paired this with some grilled beef tenderloin steaks we had in the freezer and dinner was served!  I would certainly entertain with this or serve it as a main dish, it has such great flavor and is quite impressive on the plate.

Bleu Cheese and Mushroom Risotto
Adapted from About.com

3 1/2 cups fat-free chicken or vegetable broth
2 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp Herbes de Provence
8 ounces baby bella mushroom, sliced
1 cup Arborio rice
1/2 cup marsala wine
2 cups fresh baby spinach
1/4 cup crumbled bleu chees

Empty broth into a 2 quart saucepan and heat until simmering. Keep warm.

Heat oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Sauté onions and garlic until softened and fragrant. Sprinkle dried herbs, followed by mushrooms; sauté until they release their juices.

Add rice and stir quickly to prevent sticking. Add marsala and stir. Once the wine has been mostly absorbed, add the broth, one cup at a time, waiting until each cup of broth has been absorbed before adding the next. Before adding the last one and half cups, add the spinach. Sprinkle bleu cheese before serving.