Healthy Fettuccine Alfredo - with Cauliflower??

Healthy Fettuccine Alfredo
(Recipe makes 2 Bowl-Fulls)
(And yes, I know I used penne pasta below....)

(Recipe adapted from this link)

Sauce Ingredients: (Double these ingredients for 4-6 people)
3 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 cups cauliflower florets
2-3 cups broth or water (broth tastes better)
1 Tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp salt (to taste)
pinch black pepper (to taste)
1/8 cup Milk (to taste)
Noodles (fettuccine, penne, spaghetti...whatever floats your boat)

(Optional: Serve with added cooked chicken pieces or broccoli florets)

Directions:
1.  Get out your blender (long live the Vitamix!) and drop in the garlic cloves whole (or mince them yourself and drop in)
2. In a saucepan, bring the broth to a boil and drop in the cauliflower florets.  Boil for 7-9 minutes or until fork tender.
3.  In another saucepan, cook your noodles in boiling water for 9 minutes. Drain and set aside.
4.  Once the cauliflower is cooked, use a slotted spoon or small strainer to fish out the florets and drop them into your blender. Add in melted butter.
5.  Add in milk and 1/2 cup of the broth you just boiled (more or less depending on the consistency you'd like)
6.   Blend until smooth.  You can add drops of olive oil or more liquid if the mixture looks dry or thick.
7.  Serve over cooked noodles, and you can also add in cooked chicken pieces and broccoli florets too.

You will not be sorry you tried this. You could have just served this to me and I honestly would not have known it was not alfredo sauce.  I may have asked if it was "light" or something but wow, it tasted like comfort food!  I am going to try this as a pizza sauce next.  Happy tastebuds from cauliflower, who knew?  And happy, healthy body from all the nutrients you're getting from cauliflower :)  

Russian Soup Kick

I've been on a soup kick lately.  My neighbor is from Russia and she's been cooking me some of her homeland recipes. Here's two she's taught me so far.  Oh my goodness they're so delicious!


Russian Borscht (Beet Soup)
Can make in crockpot on or stovetop.

• 2-3 chicken breasts, frozen
• ½ head of cabbage, shredded
• 1 can diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning, with liquid
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 1 onion, diced
• 2-3 white potatoes, peeled, whole
• 1 can pickled beets, shredded with liquid (or can use red beets for a red-colored soup)
• 2 big spoonful’s of kosher salt, pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Add frozen chicken to crockpot, fill pot with water so it covers over chicken about an inch.
2. Add cabbage and potatoes to pot.
3. Saute carrot and onion, then add to pot. Add beets and spices.
4. Cook on high for 6-8 hours (cooking time is estimated, as long as it’s cooked through it’s good to go.  Soup will be better the next day though, so you may want to prepare a day ahead.)
5. Shred chicken and break up potatoes with a spoon.  May need to add 1-2 chicken bouillon cubes if soup is bland.  Add more seasonings to taste.  Top with small dollop of sour cream if you want, for authenticity.



Russian Schi (Cabbage Soup)
Can make in crockpot on or stovetop.

• 2 chicken breasts, frozen
• ½ head of cabbage, shredded
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 1 onion, diced
• 1white potatoes, peeled, whole
• 1 big spoonful of kosher salt, pepper to taste
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste (for color)

Directions:
1. Add frozen chicken to crockpot, fill pot with water so it covers over chicken about an inch.
2. Add cabbage and potatoes to pot.
3. Saute carrot and onion, then add to pot. Add beets and spices.
4. Cook on high for 6-8 hours (cooking time is estimated, as long as it’s cooked through it’s good to go.  Soup will be better the next day though, so you may want to prepare a day ahead.)
5. Shred chicken and break up potatoes with a spoon. Add tomato paste. Very important not to cut up chicken or potatoes.  This added texture helps makes this soup so delicious.
6. May need to add 1-2 chicken bouillon cubes if soup is bland.  Add more seasonings to taste.  7. Top with small dollop of sour cream if you want, for authenticity.

Recipes I want to try

I've filed these recipes away to "make at a later date."  I need to go grocery shopping so I'll make sure I get the ingredients to make these.  They make my mouth water looking at them:

Blackened Chicken and Cilantro Lime Quinoa
Ingredients (Serves 2-3)
•    2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
•    ½ Teaspoon of Paprika
•    ¼ Teaspoon of Salt
•    ¼ Teaspoon of Pepper
•    ¼ Teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper
•    ¼ Teaspoon of Onion Powder
•    ¼ Teaspoon of Cumin
•    1 Teaspoon of Olive Oil
•    2 Cups of Low Sodium Chicken Stock
•    1 Cup of Quinoa
•    Juice and Zest from Two Limes
•    A Dash of Salt and Pepper
•    2 Tablespoons of Cilantro, chopped
1.    Combine all the dry seasonings in a small bowl. Mix them together and then season both sides of each chicken breast.
2.    Add the teaspoon of olive oil to a large pan or skillet. Heat the olive oil for a minute over medium/high heat. Add the chicken breasts to the pan. Cook for seven minutes on each side with the lid on.
3.    Add the chicken stock and quinoa to a medium sauce pan. Bring to a simmer over medium/low heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for ten to fifteen minutes with the lid on, until all the stock has been absorbed.
4.    After the chicken breasts have cooked all the way through, remove them from the pan and let them rest for seven minutes before slicing them.
5.    Add the warm quinoa to a large bowl. Toss in the lime zest, lime juice, salt and pepper, and chopped cilantro. Mix to combine.
6.    Serve the sliced chicken breast on top of the quinoa. If you find the blackened seasoning too spicy, you can add a quick and easy avocado cream sauce to cool it down.
7.    Just place the flesh from an avocado along with two tablespoons of Greek yogurt in a food processor and puree until smooth.
8.    Things to love about this meal: low sodium, chicken breast is a lean protein, it is gluten-free, and if you keep eating meals like this you will be ready for beach season in no time!!!

Spicy Skilled Honey Chicken

Ingredients
•    3 Boneless skinless Chicken Breasts
•    1/2 tsp chili
•    1/4 tsp cumin
•    1/2 tsp garlic or garlic salt
•    1/4 cup apple cider
•    1/4 cup Honey
•    salt and pepper
Instructions
1.    Filet your boneless chicken breasts (you don't have to do this, but they will cook faster, if you cut them so they are not so thick)
2.    Drizzle about a Tablespoon of olive oil in a big skillet. Heat on medium heat, and add chicken.
3.    Season with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, combine the chili, cumin, and garlic seasonings.
4.    Sprinkle all of the seasoning over chicken.
5.    Turn chicken over once chicken is nice and brown. (Do NOT turn until the one side is brown).
6.    Once the second side has browned nicely, pour apple cider and honey into the skillet
7.    (Tip: spray the measuring spoon with non-stick spray so the honey falls out nicely).
8.    Cover, and reduce heat.
9.    Cook for 10 minutes (flipping the chicken often) or until chicken is done and sauce has thickened.
10.    Serve with your favorite side. (It would be great with potatoes or rice!)





Crockpot Chicken and Zucchini

Ingredients
•    3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
•    1 onion cut into chunks
•    1 can of dice tomatoes
•    1 can of water
•    1 tablespoon of Italian Seasoning
•    Salt and pepper - Garlic Salt (to taste)
•    3 zucchini coarsely chopped
•   
Instructions
1.    Place chicken in crockpot with onions and seasoning.
2.    Pour tomatoes and water on top.
3.    Cook on low for 6-8 hours on low.
4.    In the last 2 hours, mix in zucchini.
5.    Once Zucchini is soft, cut chicken into smaller pieces.
6.    Serve over Pasta.

Fantastic recipes lately

Blake and I have been doing so good on our life-change lately!  We've incorporated exercise into our lives and healthy eating.  I can't praise Bobay Fitness (www.bobayfitness.com) enough for their great ideas and inspiration.  Here are some yummy recipes we've tried that have worked really well on our meal plans:

Fajitas
-frozen chicken breasts (2)
-1/2 onion, sliced and can use a zucchini and yellow squash or slice bell peppers; brown in skillet on medium high heat, sprinkle with Lawry's season salt
-mostly Defrost the chicken in the microwave, then generously coat both sides with Lawry's seasoning salt.  Then cook on George Foreman grill at 360 for 9 minutes.  Don't use tortillas if you're really wanting to keep your carbs low.

Omelets
1 full egg
3 egg whites
diced onions, bell peppers
1/2 cup chopped spinach (estimated amount)
shredded lunch meat
-Spray your cold pan with olive oil.  Put eggs in it and turn stove on to medium heat.
-As you see the eggs start to become opaque, add your filling ingredients to the lower half of your omelet and generously add salt and pepper and any other spice that sounds good.
-Once the eggs look mostly cooked, use your spatula to fold the omelet on top of itself, cook a little longer on both sides until lightly browned

Chicken Tortilla Soup (without the tortillas)
2 or 3 large frozen chicken breasts (or using unfrozen takes less time)
1 can corn, undrained
1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles, undrained
3 spoonfulls of salt
1 spoonfull of pepper
-Start frozen chicken breasts in crockpot and fill with water until about an inch above the chicken.
-Cook on high for 4 hours
-Check to make sure chicken is cooked through, then shred it in the crockpot.
-Add corn, tomatoes and seasonings to crockpot
-Cook on low another 2 hours.  Taste the broth, dilute with 1/2 cup water at a time if the spices are too strong.  Serve with lowfat cheese. (These are estimated cooktimes...as long as the chicken is completely cooked, you can eat it at any time)

My mom says this one is excellent-->
Maple Glazed Squash Slices(from "Food and Fitness Magazine winter 2011", Serves 4)

1 medium acorn squash (about 1 1/2 lbs)

1 Tbsp unsalted butter (i used less)

3 Tbsp real maple syrup (not pancake syrup)

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp ginger

pinch of nutmeg

 - Preheat oven to 425 degrees

 -Slice ends from squash and halve lengthwise. Use spoon to hollow out seeds. Slice       

     squash into 1/2” slices and transfer the slices to a large bowl.

- In a small saucepan melt butter. Stir in syrup and spices. Pour some over the squash 

     slices and toss to coat.

- Arrange the squash on a baking sheet and pout the remaining syrup mixture over the    

    slices. (I line the pan with foil for easy cleanup).

- Bake the squash slices for 15 min, flip, and bake another 5-10 min until squash is  tender.

(You can also cook it in the crockpot on high for 2 hours, or low for 3 hours)

Turkey Chili
-3 cans tomato paste
-2 lbs ground turkey

-1 can black beans
-1 packet ranch dressing mix
-1 packet taco mix
-1/2 diced onion
-black olives
-add water to desired thickness
-drizzle honey across top as it simmers, to desired sweetness 
-toss all ingredients in crockpot and cook on high 4 hours, or low for 6 or more hours.  Can also just brown the turkey first and simmer on stovetop until it's heated through.

Addictive Sweet Potato Burritos
(Makes over 2 dozen burritos)

4 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes

12-24 (10 inch) flour tortillas, warmed

8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese

6 cups canned refried beans, drained

1 ½ cups frozen corn

2 cups water or less (or chicken bouillon)

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped

2 Tbsp garlic, minced

2 Tbsp chili powder

1 ½ tsp ground cumin

4 tsp prepared mustard

1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste

3 Tbsp soy sauce

DIRECTIONS

--Heat oil in a medium skillet, and saute onion and garlic until soft. Stir in beans, and mash.
--Stir in beans, sweet potatoes and mash.  Add corn.
--Gradually stir in water, and heat until warm. Remove from heat, and stir in the chili powder, cumin, mustard, cayenne pepper and soy sauce.

--Divide mixture evenly between the warm flour tortillas.

--Top with cheese. Fold up tortillas burrito style.
--Heat another skilllet on med-high with olive oil. Add 1-2 burritos at a time and sear each side in the skillet until tortilla is medium brown. 

Healthy Eating

Blake and I have been cooking at home A LOT!!  Unfortunately, for you all who are interested in my recipes, it's been healthy eating and no carbs after 3pm! Yikes! But, I'm happy to say in a month I've lost somewhere around 8 pounds and Blake has lost 15?  We're a little unsure because we bought a scale halfway through, so we both may have lost more.  We are following our dear friends' fitness plan.  They are personal and corporate trainers and I've mentioned them before:  www.facebook.com/bobayfitness  and www.bobayfitness.com

I've outlined their suggestions here:

• 5-6 meals a day total
• Eat every 3-4 hours, never eat within 2 hours of last meal so you can digest completely. Lots of water
• No carbs after 3:00, like breads and pasta because then your body will burn your fat reserves instead of the carbs you just ate while you sleep
• 1 full cheat day a week - eat whatever and however much you want, just be strict the rest of the days of the week
• good protein bar choices are Atkins brand or "Pure Protein" brands
• meat portions should stay in 4-6 oz size, like the palm size of your hand
• aim for meals to be at or under 500 calories, and snacks under 200 calories
• good salad dressings would be light/low sugar vinaigrettes, or light Italian, usually a clear color means healthier option
• you still need moderate carbs at lunchtime - can use mustard or light mayo on your sandwiches
• use your imagination within the rules to decide what you can/can't eat
• splenda is okay to use

Estimated Meal times
-6:00am  Breakfast ideas:
 Omelet (can use 4 egg whites, 1 full egg, spices, lowfat cheese, veggies, chicken pieces)/ or 1 bowl oatmeal and 1 fruit/ or cereal (no more than 5g sugar per serving)/ or 2 pieces toast with peanut butter/ or slimfast shake if in a hurry
-9:00  Snack 1 ideas:
 1 piece of fruit/ or protein bar/ or protein shake/ or handful of almonds or walnuts (not peanuts)/ or can of tuna
-12:00pm  Lunch ideas:
 a sandwich and piece of fruit/ chicken strip salad and a sweet potato/ grilled chicken and brown rice and veggies/ or tuna fish sandwich and fruit, veggies
-3:00pm  Snack 2 Ideas:
deli meat wrap/ or handful of nuts/ or protein bar or shake (fruit is best choice for the morning because it has carbs and sugar)
-6:00pm  Dinner Ideas:
 grilled chicken/fish and veggies (like fajitas or stirfry)/ or lean red meat and veggies/ or omelet again like with chicken and spinach in it/ or big salad/ or turkey burger wrapped in big lettuce piece with veggies/ or vegetable beef stew
-8:00pm Snack 3 (if you need it):
handful of almonds or cashews or walnuts

Gooey Popcorn

To my knowledge, this is not a protected Bolerjack family secret recipe.  But it might be.  If so, don't tell anyone! ;)

Bolerjack Gooey Popcorn

-Raw, plain popcorn kernels (cook using instructions on bag)

-vegetable oil, enough to thinly cover bottom of big pot
Sauce:

-1 cup sugar

-1/3 cup corn syrup (like Karo)

-1/3 cup water

-1/4 cup butter

-3/4 tsp salt

-3/4 tsp vanilla, to add at end

1. cook popcorn kernels according to instructions on bag, enough to make big, big bowl-full

2. in small saucepan over medium high heat, dissolve other sauce ingredients except vanilla

3. bring sauce to a low boil

4. boil sauce until when you stir it, the syrup looks thicker, dripping off your spoon in strings. maybe about 15 min?

5. Add vanilla to sauce at this point, stir

6. Drizzle sauce over cooked, plain, popcorn

Orange Chicken (Take Out-FakeOut)

Wow, has it really been almost a month since I've posted?  Goodness. I think I announced it, but in case I didn't, this month of January is my very first month to be working officially from home.  At first I was concerned I'd be easily distracted so I've purposefully stayed off my blog (which I used to compose while at work).  But I've discovered I tend to lean more towards the "workaholic" side and so even phone calls to my family this month have been non-existent (sorry Mom!)  While I don't necessarily intend to cut back on my zeal for letting my work consume my day, I will have to find a happy balance between doing a lot of good and hard work, and having recoup time.  I've been heavily into couponing and am reaping good results.  I only allow $200 a month for groceries at our house (including household cleaners and makeup/beauty items as well).  It's tight, but I've been sticking to it!  Coupons have helped. I mainly follow this site and it's been wonderful: http://www.couponcloset.net/   It's been fun watching the register total almost $100, and then walk away only paying $40 or less because I had coupons.  Some week's shopping trips are better than others and I'm learning along the way.

Last night I made a good meal, it was a version of "Fake takeout Orange Chicken".  I really liked it.  Blake and I both thought it needed more sugar though, but I'd start with the amount listed here and slowly add to taste at the end if you don't think it's sweet enough.


Chinese Orange Chicken-"Fake Take Out"

• 1 and a half lbs thawed chicken
• 1/2 cup flour (to just coat chicken pieces)
• 1 T kosher salt, (use less if you're using table salt)
• 6 oz (1/2 can) frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed (can also use lemonade concentrate!)
• 3 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 3 Tbsp ketchup
• olive oil or pam for browning chicken
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes

The Directions:

--cut chicken into medium sized chunks

--put flour and salt in a bowl, dredge chicken and shake off excess

--brown chicken in a skillet with a bit of olive oil (you are not trying to cook the chicken--just lightly brown the outside to give it texture).

--place into crockpot

--mix the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl and pour over the top of chicken pieces

--cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours, low for 6-7hours

--Serve over rice, drizzle with remaining sauce.

I will make this again!  I didn't like the preparation time, about 20 min or more, but, it was worth it and gave me a fix for my Chinese Food cravings.  It was good as leftovers for lunch also.

Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin

Wow! This recipe was really really good.  Blake actually made it :)

Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin
5 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tsp garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
2 (1 pound) pork tenderloins

We made it in the crockpot, set to high for 5 hours.  It still tastes wonderful, but that was too long.  I would say 4 hours on high plus 1 hour on low would work.  Or a total of 6 hours on low.

The original recipe tells you how to make it in the oven.  But we all know I don't use the oven. :)  This was really good, the flavor was strong and spicy and the flavors kept morphing as you tasted it.  This might go on my Christmas menu.

Spinach Velveeta Dip

 I took this over to my friend's house the other night and both our husbands went crazy over it :)

So, this amount made enough for 2 men and two ladies - you might want to double it if you expect more men around...


Spinach Velveeta Dip (serves 3-4)
-1/2 pkg. frozen spinach (thawed and drained)
-8 oz Velveeta Cheese, cut into cubes
-1/2 can  Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, drained
-1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional, i liked it)


-I used a 2qt crockpot, set to low - cook for 1-2 hours.
-Cut velveeta up into cubes
-thaw and drain spinach
-drain and stir in diced tomatoes, add pepper flakes if you like it spicy
-Toss into crockpot (or stovetop would be fine, on medium)

Chicken Enchilada Chili

I made some awesome chili last night!  Hit the spot.  I was craving chili, but wanted to try something different.  I was gonna do this Bush Beans recipe, and then I saw this one and I could use the enchilada sauce that had been in my pantry for months.

I got it from my favorite crockpot cooking site:  A Year of Slow Cooking


Chicken Enchilada Chili

• 1 1/2 pounds chicken (or 3 frozen chicken breasts)
• 1 1/2 cups prepared enchilada sauce (all I had was a small 10oz can and it was fine)
• 2 chopped celery stalks (I didn't have any celery)
• 2 (14.5 oz) cans tomatoes with seasoning 
• 2 (15 oz) cans pinto or white northern beans, undrained
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
  1 tsp cumin

Dump everything in crockpot and stir.  Plop chicken on top. Cook on low 8 hours.  Shred chicken with a fork before serving, stir again.  Top with shredded cheese.

We ate a lot of it, then I froze some of it.  We'll see if it freezes well.  It should since it doesn't have rice or potatoes in it.

I do have Thanksgiving pictures to post, and some new decorating accomplishments to post, but the pics are on my iPhone.  And the computer room is under construction at the moment so I don't have a place to conveniently plug my iPhone in to retrieve the many pictures I have to post.  So hold your horses and I'll get to it!

Fitness Blog Site

2 of my most favorite people in the world, are married and are both personal trainers. They know SO much stuff!  They have a blog with their recommendations and fitness tips and meal suggestions.  It's pretty awesome. 

Check it out: http://www.bobayfitness.com/

Beef Stew and Press-On Nails

This beef stew was awesome. I tweaked the original recipe, of course, to accommodate for what I had onhand.

Crockpot Beef Stew

• 1-2lbs beef stew meat
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 4-6 new potatoes, quartered (or can used canned potatoes)
• carrots, about a cup
• green beans (1 can)
• 2 cans beef broth (or 28 oz)
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp black pepper (if you don't like spice, only use 1/2 tsp)
• 1 tsp seasoning blend (whatever you have on hand for bbqing, stir-frying, etc. I used "Garlic and Herb" last night)
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup flour (to coat beef chunks in)

The Directions:
--wash and chop all of your vegetables.
--plop them into your biggest crockpot.
--put the flour in a bowl, and toss your meat in it to fully coat.
--put the meat into the crock (throw away the rest of the flour. don't add it in.)
--add dry seasoning and worcestershire sauce.
--pour in the beef broth.
--cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

What's even more exciting than fantastic beef stew?  My press-on nails I just bought.  Yep.  My brother's wedding is coming up and all my life I've bitten my nails.  They are awful.  So, I thought getting some fake nails might prevent me from biting them until the wedding so they can heal!  To my excitement, the nails actually look really good.  They stick on with super glue, so hopefully they last a few days.  The box said a maximum of 7 days, so we'll see.  I'm just really excited to have nails that aren't so ugly for a while. :) Who knows, this may be a new way of life for me!  Buying press-on nails each week.  Can't beat it for $6 and you get 2 sets!  But maybe I can just break my habit and have my real nails look good.

This first round was definitely practice.  I got the glue all over the nails because I used too much glue. And you can see the glue bubbles underneath if you look really closely.  But, I'll do better the next time!

BBQ Shredded Chicken

I had 2 lone chicken breasts in my fridge that I needed to use up.  I've been craving some BBQ Chicken sandwiches, so I thought it'd be easy to make in the crockpot.

Even better was that I could use my little 2 qt. size crockpot!  Yes...I have a 1.5 qt, a 2 qt, a 5 qt and a 7qt.  I did have an awesome red 4 qt one from Target that cracked and I miss terribly.  Hint hint for Christmas...

I tweaked the original recipe and came up with this:

Shredded BBQ Chicken
2 thawed chicken breasts
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup warm water
1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp  Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp liquid smoke (optional)

Toss all in a crockpot, cook on high 3 hours, or low 4-6 hours. Take chicken out, put in a Tupperware and shred it with 2 forks. Then top with remaining sauce, stir.

It was tangy and sweet! I am not usually a fan of vinegar based BBQ, but this was mild and tasty, and not your normal BBQ out of a can.  The vinegar made the chicken shred easily and make it really tender and moist.

I'm going to use it to put on hamburger buns tonight for dinner. It will probably make about 3 sandwiches worth, maybe 4.  So perfect for 2 people with a little leftovers.  You could also serve it over rice.

Meal Plan Monday and "Bacon, Egg, and Toast Cups"

Monday: French Onion Soup Pork Chops, Mashed Potatoes and Canned green beans
(Awesome recipe - just brown some pork chops, throw in a crockpot, cover with French Onion Soup. Cook high 4-6 hours, or low 6-8 hours.)
Tuesday:  Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese
Wednesday: BBQ chicken
Thursday: Meatless Spaghetti
Friday: Lemonade Pie (for a work party, will post recipe then), Sandwiches at home and any work leftovers people will share
Saturday: Breakfast stuff* - eggs, toast, bacon, cereal

*Try these Breakfast cups, they're pretty terrific. I think I'll nickname them "Breakfast Duck Cups". :)  I forgot to oil my custard cups, so Blake and I ate these straight out of the dishes, using a hotpad to hold them. Blake noisily exclaimed his delight with this dish, after me reassuring him the egg was, indeed, cooked.

Bacon, Egg, and Toast Cups:

Adapted by For the Love of Cooking.net

(Original recipe by Martha Stewart)

• Cooking spray
• 1 egg
• 1 piece of whole wheat bread
• 1 piece of bacon
• salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat the Pyrex custard cup with cooking spray.

2. Cook the bacon in a skillet over medium heat for a minute on each side to get rid of some of the grease.

3. Take a rolling pin and roll out the piece of bread until thin. Turn the Pyrex custard cup over and use it to cut the crust away from the bread. Slice the bread round in half then press the halves into the cup overlapping the pieces. Use extra bread to patch any holes.

4. Place the bacon slice in the cup then crack an egg over the bacon. Season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste.

5. Place on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the whites are cooked but the yolk is still soft. Remove from the oven, run a knife around the edges of the toast to remove from cup and serve immediately. Enjoy.

Crockpot Inside-Out Chicken Pot Pie

I cooked again! What has gotten into me?  Maybe it's because I'm tired of having no money because I spent it on eating out.  Maybe.  Maybe it's because the weather is changing and winter makes me want to cook.  Maybe it's because Blake has been hanging around the house and was available to start the Crockpot this morning.  I'll let you deduce my most inspiring reason.

Crockpot Chicken Pot Pie

• 2 large boneless chicken breasts frozen (no need to thaw)
• 1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
• 1 can of water/Milk (fill soup can with half water, half milk)
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 3-4 small potatoes, quartered
• Frozen vegetables (1 mixed bag)
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Pepper
• 1 tsp Garlic Salt
• 1 tsp Poultry (or Rotisserie) Seasoning
• 1 tube biscuits, to bake before serving

Literally toss everything in the crockpot. Cook on low 6-8 hours. Shred chicken with a fork right before serving and this will thicken up your soup. Bake your biscuits and serve!

This was really good.  Like an inside out Chicken Pot Pie.  Without the nasty crust part.  The broth thickened up nicely after we shredded the chicken and let it sit a few minutes with the lid off.  We cut a couple biscuits in half, put them in each bowl and poured the pot pie filling over them.  It was delicious.  Blake had seconds and devoured them faster than I could finish my first bowl.  He contemplated going for thirds, but must have deciphered my look of horror and decided to call it an evening.  This will definitely be a meal to enter our rotation for winter.  It was cheap and easy and healthy in my opinion.  Probably enough to serve 4-5 people if they don't have thirds.  I put some in the freezer and will see in a few days if it is good as leftovers.
**Update**: 10.25.10- Don't freeze the soup. It's great as normal leftovers, but don't freeze them because the potatoes will get weird on you and the broth evaporates.

Crispy Herb Chicken

Finally cooked something again last night that wasn't sandwiches, cereal, or spaghettios.  I pulled out my mom's stash of recipes she gave me when I got married and I remembered this one being good. And easy.

Crispy Herb Chicken

-Chicken Breasts, thawed (2-4 pieces)

-2/3 cup potato flakes
-1/3 cup parmesan cheese
-1 tsp garlic salt
-1/2 tsp basil
- dish of melted butter for coating (half a stick?)

1. Preheat oven to 375. In 13x9 pan, line with foil, set aside.
2. Melt about half a stick of butter in microwave in a bowl. Set aside.
3. In another bowl, combine potato flakes, parmesan cheese, garlic salt, basil and mix together
4. Dredge chicken pieces in butter, then dry mixture. Make sure to get a thick coat of the dry mix.
5. Place pieces in pan and cook for apprx. 30 min


This was yummy!! I made it with mashed potatoes and green beans.  Best part is that leftovers are good too. Some meals don't taste good the next day.  This one still does :)

Breakfast Casserole

 New favorite casserole!!  I'm so glad I found this recipe.  I really liked it.  I got compliments on it from the girls, and Blake liked it, too.  I tweaked the original recipe a lot since the comments on the recipe all agreed on how to change it.  Here's what I did:

Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground turkey (sage-flavored*, see directions for seasonings)
• 1 bag (or 4 cups) frozen hash browns with onion and pepper in it (Ore-Ida brand)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted - (or use spray butter over the hash browns)
• 12 ounces mild Cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 (16 ounce) container small curd cottage cheese, reduced fat
• 8 large eggs

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch square baking dish.
2.  Place ground turkey in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown.  To make the turkey *sage-flavored* add these spices, then drain, and set aside:

• 2 tsp. ground ginger, 
• 2tsp ground sage
• 3/4tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• Pinch of cayenne pepper, or Red Pepper flakes

3.  In the prepared baking dish, stir together the shredded potatoes and butter. Line the bottom and sides of the baking dish with the mixture. Bake for 30-40 min, or until potatoes are cooked.
4.   In a separate bowl, mix the turkey, Cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, and eggs.
5.  Pour over the potato mixture. Sprinkle some more cheese lightly on top.
6.  Bake another 30 minutes, or until firm
7.  Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Verdict: I give it 4 out of 5 stars!!  I'll say, the sage flavor really makes the turkey taste like sausage but it's a whole lot better for you.  I loved the potatoes and all the flavors.  I think if you salt and pepper the eggs that would also help add some more taste to the egg part.  I liked that this casserole was mild, but flavorful.  And it didn't have to have real sausage-Yuck.

Tea Party Recap

So my tea party was so fun!  I highly recommend having one if you have a couple of girlfriends you'd like to have over for some "girl time".  The girls were good sports and wore their sundresses and brought their teapots and tea cups.  I did a good job on the food - but I have to admit, I made too many different options to sanely pull off.  I had to call Blake in the kitchen to help a lot and he was not happy about that.  He normally helps really good, but this time he griped the whole time.  Oh well.  So, note for next time: only make a doable amount of choices!  It was specifically the 3 different tea sandwiches, they were more time consuming to make than I anticipated.  Here was what my menu ended up being:

-Muffins
-no bake cookies
-spinach pinwheels
-Cucumber Tea Sandwiches
-Almond Chicken Tea Sandwiches
-Pineapple Cream Cheese Tea Sandwiches
-Bacon-wrapped Water Chestnuts appetizers
-Turkey Sausage Breakfast Casserole 
 -fruit plate of apples and bananas

I ended up not making the muffins because I forgot about the spinach pinwheels with the oven time - so I had to choose between them.   The no bake cookies, the spinach pinwheels, and the casserole were my favorite!  The casserole was a hit out of the park.  I'll post a second blog about it after this, all to itself.  The tea sandwiches were okay, the cucumber one was actually the best.  Blake said it was his favorite out of the 3.  I think the pineapple cream cheese one would have been better had I measured out the ingredients, same with the almond chicken ones.  I just eyeballed them because I was trying to get everything done, and so the flavors weren't balanced right.  But, they were good choices if you want to throw your own tea party.  The cucumber ones were pretty darn good, but they don't keep well.  I had a couple leftover and blech.  Soggy.

Here are some pictures!

My teaset from Craigslist :)  I had splenda, sugar, and milk available.

This is the blue teaset Blake got me for my birthday one year :) I begged for it.

I wish I'd gotten a picture of the layout without the stupid foil. Oh well!

The foil was covering the bacon waterchestnuts :)

The girls' teasets

Talking, waiting on my neighbor to come over :) You can see the layout better here.

Everyone is here!

My girls :)

Tea Party

I'm so excited!  I'm hosting a Tea Party tomorrow at my house :)  A while ago a friend and I had been talking about girlie things and I said I wanted to have a tea party.  She said she'd come if I did - so I planned one!!  I just invited a couple friends nearby and my neighbors - didn't want it to be too overwhelming for me for my first one :)

I am having each guest bring a cute teapot, a teacup, and at least one bag of flavored tea they want to try.  Oh, and to wear a sundress for the occasion.

This is my fare I'm preparing:

-Muffins
-no bake cookies
-spinach pinwheels
-Cucumber Tea Sandwiches
-Almond Chicken Tea Sandwiches
-Pineapple Cream Cheese Tea Sandwiches
-Bacon-wrapped Water Chestnuts appetizers
-Turkey Sausage Breakfast Casserole

I'll be sure to blog about what was good - and hopefully nothing will not be good :)  I made sure to try to a sweet thing, tea-ish party things, a hearty thing, and a salty thing.  Not a lot of each, just a little.

One key tip I've discovered to having a successful food event that doesn't stress me out because I'm making so many different foods, is to write down a "timeline" of the foods I'm preparing so I can see exactly at what time I need to be preparing things, and at what time to stick foods in the oven.  This also helps you notice if you're planning dishes that will conflict in cooking times -especially at Thanksgiving! You can see what foods you need to pick something else to make sure your oven schedule all works out.

I'll blog about it next week how it went!

Cowboy Pie

I posted on Facebook yesterday that I had 1 pound of ground beef so what should I make?  I got several comments, like the yummy taco cornbread casserole (but I didn't have the right ingredients on hand), meatloaf, tacos, "a cow" (thanks to my little brother). But I had one post that seemed interesting to make a gr. beef/bean mix and then cook it in crescent rolls.  So I went home and decided to come up with something.

So this is what I made:

Cowboy Pie

-1 lb ground beef

-1-2 cans ranch style beans (lightly drained)
-1 can fire roasted tomatoes (lightly drained)
-1 can green chiles (lightly drained)
-1/2 cup ranch dressing (light)
-salt and pepper to taste
-1 tsp paprika
-1 Tbsp onion flakes
-dash red pepper flakes
-1 can biscuits (reduced fat)
-shredded cheese (optional)

1. Brown ground beef in skillet on medium high, adding onion flakes to meat.
2. Preheat oven to 400.  Add remaining ingredients to skillet (except for biscuits). Heat through.
3. Once oven is ready, place biscuits in 13x9 baking dish.  Cover biscuits with meat/bean mix. Sprinkle top with cheese.  (I didn't use cheese and it was still really good.)
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until biscuits are cooked through.

My observations:
-This dish was really good. Filling and hearty.  Blake had 3 helpings. I'm looking forward to leftovers for lunch today.
-I think in retrospect I will cook the biscuits by themselves first, then top with the heated meat/bean mix so the biscuits are more like biscuits and gravy texture.  But Blake liked that the biscuits were cooked with the bean mix because the biscuits absorbed the ranch flavor.  So it's up to you.
-I also next time might put black beans in the mix, they'd probably help add more nutrition and texture.  Maybe even a can of corn. You can also just use 1 can of diced tomatoes with chiles already in them. I just didn't have one of those cans on hand.