Back from the dead…

It has been a solid six months since my last post, and I honestly thought that I would just abandon this site.  I’m still not sure if I want to keep it going or maybe start a non-cooking specific blog about our lives, but I figured I should at least update the site with pictures of our new (now broken-in) kitchen.  

So here goes… Here are some pictures that I took of the kitchen over the summer.  The only real difference is that we have the cover for the hood in place now, and there are a few things on the counter – coffee maker, toaster, knife block, etc.  We still need to install the light above the sink and dining room table, but that’s not pictured below.  Take a look…

So there you have it.  Our updated kitchen, complete with a wall removed, new floors, new appliances, new cabinets… you get the idea.  And I have actually been doing a lot of cooking and baking, but I’ve been too lazy to get my butt moving and post about all the great recipes I’ve tried yesterday.  Who knows, maybe 2009 will bring new inspiration.

Happy New Year!

Christmas in July!

Happy post 4th of July weekend!  We had a great weekend at my family’s huge annual party –  lots of swimming, volleyball, good food, great family and friends, and, of course, fireworks!  

After the fun overload, we headed back home to prime and paint the kitchen.  It’s hard to see the color in the pictures, but it’s called “Light French Gray,” and it’s a light bluish gray color.  For now we just did one quick coat, and we didn’t worry about getting close to the ceiling, because the cabinets will go all the way up to the ceiling with crown molding.  The second coat of paint will come after the cabinets are installed.

We needed to hurry up with the paint job, because the cabinets were delivered today.  Woo!  It feels like Christmas in July.  Check it out:

The contractor is coming tomorrow or Wednesday to start the installation.  I’m beyond excited, as you can imagine.  After the cabinets are installed, we’ll paint again – a second coat for the walls and the dreaded trim work.  We’re also going to paint the built-in cabinet white and change the hardware on it to match the cabinets.

We’re a little tired after doing so many home improvements, but Mia might be the most tuckered out.  Poor puppy… napping on the air conditioning vent is exhausting!

Stay tuned for another update in a few days!

Walls in the kitchen

I haven’t been updating the blog with changes in the kitchen, because it has been a slow process.  Maybe I was in denial or just plain naive (probably the latter), but I didn’t think kitchen renovations took this long.  Updates have been slow, but I’m happy to report that the plumbing and electric work are done, the dry wall is finished, and the next step is to install the cabinets.

Do you want to see how we’ve been living since we moved in?  Actually, let me correct myself.  The kitchen is currently an improvement to what it had been for weeks, because now we actually have walls and can get a feel for the space.

Check out those walls!  The window is new and is larger than what was there previously.

I know it’s hard to see, but this picture sort of shows you the opened space now that the wall is gone. 

Don’t worry!  We still have that built-in.  This picture shows you the room from the other side.

For reasons too complicated for me to discuss (translation: I’m too lazy to type it all), the contractor had to drop the ceiling a bit in the previous existing kitchen area.  That means that the ceiling isn’t the same in the former dining room, but Contractor Don has a remedy for that.  See the dropped-just-a-bit ceiling?

We’ll add some crown molding to that dropped area (or whatever the heck it’s called) to match the crown molding in the previous dining room.  I think it’s going to look great. 

And finally, a little note about dust.  When you drywall and sand, dust is everywhere.  And when you have a new puppy, she gets in the dust and drags it throughout the house.  Want proof?

Dust:

Puppy:

Puppy = super cute

Dust = not cute

Note to self: Do not renovate and bring home a puppy at the same time.

Stay tuned for updates!

Kitchen update

Here’s another update of our kitchen renovation.  My husband and his father have successfully ripped out the entire kitchen, and now we’re ready to completely remove the wall between the kitchen and dining room, extend the hardwood floors into the pre-existing kitchen area, and start bringing in the new cabinets and countertops. 

Until then, here’s what the kitchen looks like:

The hardwood floors will be stained a dark oak color, that ugly chandelier will be replaced, and this whole space will start looking more like a kitchen in the coming weeks.  I am ridiculously excited and am having a difficult time being patient! 

Oh, and here’s a picture of the dining room as it currently looks, separate from the kitchen:

I’ll keep updating as changes are being made…

Goodbye, old kitchen!

We are exhausted these days.  EXHAUSTED.  And it’s all because we bought a house and decided that we wanted to do work in the house before moving into it, and then that “work” turned into gutting the kitchen while simultaneously removing wallpaper (a horrendously tedious, annoying task), ripping up carpet, refinishing hardwood floors, painting, and completely digging out the entire yard to make way for new landscaping. 

And this is all very exciting, but I’m tired, and I’ve been too tired to cook all week because I get to work at 7am and then leave around 4pm, squeeze in a quick workout, and then head to the house to dig into whatever needs to be done that day, only to return home at 10pm and crawl into bed.  And then the vicious cycle continues!  But this won’t last much longer, right??

Anyway, some visuals…

Here’s what the kitchen looked like when we closed on the house:

And the other side:

And we decided that the kitchen was too outdated and too small for our taste, so my wonderful husband and father-in-law got to work and started the kitchen demolition.  Do you see that wall that separates the kitchen and the dining room?  It’s already gone!  Do you see the dated parquet floor?  That’s gone, too. 

So… I probably won’t be cooking much lately and instead will post about the kitchen transformation, because that’s cooking related, too, right?  More soon!

Rosemary garlic chicken

This chicken is not drool-worthy simply by looking at the picture, but let me tell you – it is GOOD.  And did I mention that it’s ridiculously easy?  And really delicious?  And something that you should make very soon? 

Yup – there’s the rosemary garlic chicken with roasted sweet potato slices and slices of cucumber.  I was even too lazy to steam a vegetable or make a salad, so sliced cucumbers it was.  I’ll tell you the recipe, but it will be in my words, because I already packed the cookbook in one of the many boxes ready for the moving truck.  Just dig out your slow cooker, and keep reading…

Here’s the general idea:

Rosemary Garlic Chicken
Healthy Crockery Cooking by Mable Hoffman (or something like that)

DISCLAIMER: This is not the exact directions.  It’s just what I remember doing… (But honestly – this would be tough to mess up.)

Ingredients:

1 roasting chicken (4 1/2 – 5 lbs.)
rosemary
garlic
salt
pepper

Directions:

1. Remove the bag of jibblets/organs (what are those called?!) from the inside of the chicken.  Remove excess fat.  I cut off the neck, too.

2. Carefully push your fingers between the skin and the meat.  Stick some rosemary sprigs and peeled garlic cloves underneath the skin.

3. Make a slit in each wing, and push a rosemary spring and garlic clove into each.  Put some rosemary and garlic in the body cavity, too.

4. You’re supposed to tie the legs and wings closely to the breast at this point, but I just stuck it in the slow cooker breast side down, as the recipe suggested.

5. Cook on LOW for 6 or 7 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut into the breast.

6. At this point, the meat will just fall off the bones.  I used tongs to remove the meat and left the rosemary and garlic behind. 

If you want the real recipe, send me an email (go to the Contacts link at the top of the page), and I’ll locate the box that the cookbook is in.  Don’t worry – it’ll be easy to find, because I’m anal and like to label each moving box with exactly what’s in there.  🙂

Lemon garlic shrimp skewers

This was a super easy meal that’s perfect for a weekday.  There’s not much to say about it, except that I paired the shrimp with brown rice for a healthy meal. 

Lemon Garlic Shrimp Skewers
Cooking Light

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 to 2 1/2 pounds peeled, deveined shrimp (12 to 15 per lb.), rinsed and drained
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
2 or 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground pepper
Lemon wedges

Directions:

1. In a bowl, mix salt and sugar. Add shrimp and stir gently to coat. Cover and chill 45 minutes to 1 hour. Rinse shrimp well and drain; also rinse and dry bowl.

2. Return shrimp to bowl. Add olive oil, parsley, lemon peel, garlic, and pepper. Mix to coat. Thread shrimp on metal or soaked wooden skewers, running skewer through the body once near the tail and once near the head end of each shrimp so it looks like the letter C.

3. Lay shrimp skewers on an oiled barbecue grill over hot coals or high heat on a gas grill (you can hold your hand at grill level only 2 to 3 seconds); close lid on gas grill. Cook, turning once, until shrimp are bright pink and opaque but still moist-looking in center of thickest part (cut to test), 5 to 6 minutes total. Serve with lemon wedges to squeeze over shrimp.

Yield: Makes 6 to 8 servings

Nutritional information: CALORIES 161(47% from fat); FAT 8.3g (sat 1.2g); PROTEIN 19g; CHOLESTEROL 140mg; SODIUM 259mg; FIBER 0.2g; CARBOHYDRATE 1.6g

Chicken, spinach, and mushroom crepes

Yesterday I was finally back in the kitchen!  We needed something yummy to fill out bellies since we spent the day doing work at the house.  We ripped up the carpets, removed hundreds of staples from the floor, took out all the tack strips, and started the kithen demo.  I didn’t realize how much fun doing all that would be.  It’s so exciting to see huge improvements after just one day.

Anyway, I digress… Back to the food!  Here’s what I made last night:

Those are chicken, spinach, and mushroom crepes from Cooking Light.  We both thought they were good, and I thought they were very comfort food-ish without all the calories.  I didn’t realize how easy it was to make crepes, but now I’m ready to make breakfast or dessert with them.  They’re so easy!

Overall, the whole recipe was very easy to make, and I’m sure I’ll make these again sometime.

Chicken, spinach, and mushroom crepes
Cooking Light

Ingredients:

 Cooking spray
1 cup thinly sliced onion
1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms
3 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
1/2 cup sliced green onions
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
10 Basic Crepes (see following recipe)
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeño peppers

Directions:

1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add sliced onion and mushrooms to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until mushrooms release their moisture and darken. Stir in chicken, green onions, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and spinach.

2. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add flour to pan; stir with a whisk until blended. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add milk to pan, stirring constantly with a whisk; cook 5 minutes or until thick. Remove from heat. Stir in remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Pour milk mixture over chicken mixture; stir to combine.

3. Preheat broiler.

4. Spoon about 1/2 cup chicken mixture in the center of each crepe; fold ends and sides over. Place, seam side down, in a 13 x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle crepes evenly with cheese. Broil 2 minutes or until lightly browned.

Yield – 5 servings (serving size: 2 crepes)

Nutritional Information:

CALORIES 411(30% from fat); FAT 13.8g (sat 6.7g,mono 4.1g,poly 1.4g); PROTEIN 40.1g; CHOLESTEROL 164mg; CALCIUM 308mg; SODIUM 719mg; FIBER 3.7g; IRON 3.6mg; CARBOHYDRATE 30.9g

Cynthia Nims , Cooking Light, JUNE 2006

May 4 – May 9

I haven’t been cooking lately, because we’ve been really busy with the house closing and a few sticky events leading up to the closing.  Everything worked out fine, and now we’re the proud owners of our first home.  And now that things have quieted down slightly*, I’m ready to cook! 

*Things have not quieted down.  Things are busier than ever, but I want/need/am craving the relaxation that comes along with cooking.  So even though we’re busy packing, making home improvements, and working, our bellies will be filled with some healthy home cooked meals. 

Here’s the plan for the week:

Sunday – chicken, spinach, and mushroom crepes
Monday – lemon garlic shrimp skewers
Tuesday – rosemary garlic chicken and roasted potatoes
Wednesday – macaroni and cheese (a great lower calorie recipe)
Thursday – tilapia parmesan
Friday – leftovers

Update

Okay, here’s the scoop.  Today is my birthday.  I’m 28!  I had a wonderful day, and now I’m sleepy but still ready to explain my lack of food blogging.  So here goes…

Life is BUSY.  Here’s what my week looks like:

Monday – birthday (yay, yay, yay!)
Tuesday – helping my sister-in-law and her boyfriend move into their new apartment
Wednesday – doing a final walk through of our (almost) house and meeting with our lawyer, aka mother-in-law
Thursday – CLOSING!
Friday – retirement party

…and the weekend is already filling up.  So, as you can see, I don’t have time to cook and blog this week.  Boo.  It makes me grumpy.  But I promise to cook my little heart out very soon, so stay tuned for something yummy to appear on your screen soon.  🙂

Nothing blog worthy…

I haven’t been cooking anything blog worthy these days, because things have been pretty busy.  This is what I ate for dinner tonight.  Enjoy the picture of my almost-finished dinner until I have time to post something more spectacular!

Salmon + pasta + snap peas + garlic + extra virgin olive oil  + a very tired kindergarten teacher = a quick, easy dinner that was just delightful to my waiting belly*

* Belly is a kindergarten term, of course. 

It’s a beautiful Sunday!

Today is just perfect.  The sun is shining, the sky is blue, and the spring flowers are blooming everywhere.  Days like this make me incredibly happy.  I don’t even care that it’s the last day before break!  To celebrate this beautiful day, I decided to finally make this chocolate chip cookie recipe that I’ve been hearing about for months now.  It’s from America’s Test Kitchen, and apparently these are the absolute best. 

Well, first – the recipe called for a lot more chocolate chips than what I’m used to (not a bad thing!).  Second, I usually make much smaller cookies, and third, I’m surprised at how these turned out.  They were a little crispy on the outside but chewy and soft on the inside.  I’m not a fan of the crispiness, and I’m thinking that I might have left them in for a bit too long, even though I watched them like a hawk. 

I think I need to try these again sometime.  I used salted butter instead of unsalted – will that make much of a difference? – and I skipped the salt that the recipe called for because of this.  Hmm.  I’m not complaining, because these cookies were great, but I didn’t like them as much as my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe, which, I have to admit, is the recipe on the back of the Tollhouse semisweet chocolate chips.  Hey, why change a good thing, right?  I’ll try these again sometime and report back…

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
America’s Test Kitchen

Ingredients:

2 cups plus 2 T. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
12 T. (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 yolk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Adjust oven racks to upper and lower middle positions and heat oven to 325 degrees.  Line cookies sheets with parchment paper.

2. Combine dry ingredients; set aside.

3. With electric mixer, or by hand, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly combined. 

4. Beat in egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined.

5. Add dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined.  Stir in chips. 

6. Roll scant 1/2 cup dough into ball.  Holding dough ball in fingertips of both hands, pull into two equal halves.  Rotate halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, place formed dough onto cookie sheet, leaving ample room between each ball.

7. Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are soft and puffy (15-18 minutes). 

8. Cool cookies on sheets until able to lift without breaking and place on wire rack to cool. 

Oatmeal apple cinnamon muffins

Last night I felt like baking, but I didn’t have any butter left in the fridge.  I decided to check out my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, and I found a muffin recipe that called for oil instead of butter.  Then I saw that I could add oatmeal in place of some of the flour (healthier, right?!), and I decided to chop up an apple and throw that in there, too.  I also threw a teaspoon of cinnamon in there for some extra flavor.

They came out great!  Nice and light and perfect for breakfast.  There’s nothing really special about them, I suppose, but they took me all of 10 minutes to make, which is pretty special all in itself.  😉 

Oatmeal Apple Cinnamon Muffins
adapated from Better Homes and Gardens cookbook 

Ingredients:

1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 beaten egg
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil
1 medium apple, peeled and cored, then diced – I used an Empire apple.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Grease twelve 2-1/2 inch muffin cups or line with paper bake cups; set aside.

3. In a medium bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and oatmeal.  Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.

4. In another bowl, combine egg, milk, and oil.  Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture.  Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy).

5. Fold in the diced apple.

6. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each two-thirds full.  Bake in a 400 degree oven for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden and a wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean.  Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes.  Remove from muffin cups; serve warm.

Blackberry scones

My mom, sister, and niece are coming to visit tonight, and I wanted to make them something special.  My sister has already requested salmon cakes for dinner (see salmon cakes post), and I thought I would whip them up something to snack on and/or have for breakfast. 

I had been eyeing the blueberry scones in Katie’s blog (another food blogger) for awhile now (www.goodthingscatered.blogspot.com), and I thought today would be the perfect day to make them.  I didn’t have any blueberries in the freezer, but I did have blackberries.  Why not, right?  I’ve never baked with blackberries before, and oh my goodness!  They turned the dough a very bright purple/red color.  They taste good though, so no complaints here. 

My pictures aren’t the greatest, but it’s about the taste of the scones, not my photographic abilities!

I recommend you slather on some butter while you’re eating these. 

…but not THAT much!  I scraped some off before I ate that bite.  Don’t worry.

I also recommend that you sweeten them up a bit by dusting on some powdered sugar.

Or just eat them plain with a cup of coffee or a glass of milk.  Heck, or even a glass of wine.  Everyone needs wine!

Here’s the original recipe for blueberry scones:

Oh – and a couple notes…

a) I used whole wheat flour because I was all out of regular flour.

b) I didn’t have half-and-half, so I used 1/2 c. milk and 1/2 c. heavy cream.  I’m not sure how much that affected the recipe.

c) I had to actually post a message asking Katie if the blueberries (blackberries in my case) needed to be frozen or thawed.  She assured me that they needed to be frozen.  So glad I asked.  I was about ready to defrost the whole darn bag before using the blackberries.  (Thanks, Katie!)

d) Click on the link to take you to Katie’s blog and check our her scones.  They look much more delicious than mine do! 

Blueberry Scones
from www.goodthingscatered.blogspot.com

Ingredients:

2 c. flour plus 2 Tbsp, plus 1 Tbsp
1 Tbsp baking powder
3 Tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp salt
6 Tbsp butter, plus 1/2 Tbsp, chilled
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 c. half and half, chilled
2/3 c. frozen Maine wild blueberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment.

2. In small bowl combine frozen blueberries and 1 Tbsp flour and toss to combine.  Place blueberry mixture back into freezer.

3. In large bowl, combine flour (2 cups plus 2 T.), baking powder, sugar and salt.

4. Take butter out of fridge, cut into chunks and add to flour mixture.  Cut butter into flour until pea sized or smaller.

5. Add vanilla and half and half and mix in with a spoon until just barely incorporated.

6. Take blueberries out of fridge and knead into mixture until mixture forms a ball of sticky dough.

7. Turn dough out onto floured surface and pat down into rough 9-10 inch circle.  Cut into 8 triangles and place triangles onto prepared baking sheet at least an inch apart.

8. Take 1/2 Tbsp butter and cut into 8 small pieces.  Place one small piece of butter on top of each scone.  Place in oven and bake for 15 minutes.

 

Oh sweet goodness

I felt like making cookies tonight, and I wanted to try something new.  I also wanted to try a lower calorie cookie recipe since I’m trying to lose a few pounds before race day.  I googled “lower calorie oatmeal cookie recipe” and had low expectations.  I found a recipe at cooks.com and thought I’d try it out for kicks.

And THEN I decided to just sort of wing it.  I used the cooks.com recipe as the base, but I added what I thought would make the recipe even better – Splenda brown sugar blend to sweeten it up a bit (is 1 T. of honey really enough to sweeten an entire batch of cookies?), some Granny Smith apple pieces, and some chocolate chips. 

MIraculously, the cookies came out amazingly good!  They’re soft with just the right amount of sweetness, and the combination of the semisweet chocolate chips with the tart apples is heavenly. 

I didn’t want to take a picture of the outside of this ordinary-looking cookie, so I broke one open and photographed that instead.  DELICIOUS.

Confession: These cookies were so good that I literally couldn’t control myself while I was taking the pictures.  I snuck a bite and decided to just take a picture with my hand in it.  And I am not ashamed, because that bite of cookie was absolutely worth it. 

Oatmeal Cookies with Apple and Chocolate Chips
Adapated from a cooks.com recipe

1-1/2 cups quick cooking oatmeal – I used regular oats.
2/3 cup butter, melted
2 eggs beaten
1 T. honey
1-1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup lowfat milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 cup Splenda brown sugar mix
1/2 cup diced apples – I used Granny Smith.
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

1. Measure oatmeal into mixing bowl.  Stir in melted butter, mixing well.  Blend in combined eggs and honey. 

2. Add sifted dry ingredients.  Add milk and vanilla. 

3. Stir in Splenda brown sugar blend.  Mix in apple pieces and chocolate chips. 

4. Drop the dough onto parchment-lined baking sheet.  Bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

5. Pour yourself a glass of milk and DIG IN. 

A very happy Tuesday with a funny story

Today was a great day at work.  The weather was beautiful – 70 degrees and sunny! – and my kindergarteners were absolutely wonderful.  They worked hard and made me laugh all day.  Here’s a funny kindergarten tidbit for you:

One of my students, we’ll call her “A”, was having trouble pumping her legs on the swings.  The other girls were all soaring, and she jumped off the swing and started wimpering because she felt so defeated.  “A” is incredibly bright, and this is truly the first thing that has been difficult for her all year. 

I went over to her and then encouraged her to get back on the swing so that I could do a little coaching.  She started to get the hang of it a bit, and she was giggling and laughing with glee at her success.  She then said to me, and I quote, “If it’s Sunday or Saturday or even Monday, it doesn’t matter!  Call my mom if you hear that there’s going to be swinging lessons, because I REALLY need them.”  Hahahahahaha!  I sure do love kindergarteners.

I just had to tell this story so that you could get a feel for my day.  It was a fun, happy day at school, and that continued when I got home, went for a run, and then got ready to make salmon.  Remember how I mentioned that we love salmon?  (Check out the salmon cakes recipe.)

I wanted to try something new tonight, so I went to the WC message board (on thenest.com) and asked my fellow food bloggers to post their best recipes.  A few girls came through for me (thank you!), and I decided to make the recipe from the creator of www.bellalately.blogspot.com. 

It was a great recipe, and I loved the sauce.  So much so that I poured it on my rice, too.  So good. 

Salmon with White Wine Mustard Sauce
from previously mentioned blog

1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
4 (6 oz.) salmon fillets
1 T. butter
3 T. minced shallots
2 T. dry white wine
3/4 c. low sodium chicken broth
1 T. dijon mustard
3/4 tsp. corn starch
4 tsp. fresh minced tarragon – I used dried tarragon.

Directions:

1. Season fish with salt and pepper.  Melt 1-1/2 tsp. butter in large nonstick skillet over medium high heat.  Add fish and cook for 7 minutes on each side, or until fish flakes easily with fork.  Remove from skillet.  Keep warm.

2. Melt 1-1/2 tsp. remaining butter in skillet over medium heat.  Add shallots and saute for 1 minute.  Add wine.  Cook for 30 seconds. 

3. Combine 1/8 tsp. salt, broth, mustard, and corn starch with whisk.  Add to skillet, and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, and simmer until reduced to 3/4 cup (approx. 1 minute). 

4. Spoon sauce over fish and sprinkle with tarragon.

Granola bars/chunks

For some reason, I’ve been avoiding my long run this morning.  I have a 16 miler on my training schedule for today, but I just can’t seem to get myself moving.  I’m giving myself 30 more minutes – just enough time to update my blog and get ready.  Then it’s time to get my butt moving!

Anyway… I saw this granola bar recipe in Every Day With Rachael Ray awhile ago, and I thought they looked quick and easy.  Quick and easy recipes are perfect for procrastinating, don’t you think?  So I threw all the ingredients together and decided that making these granola bars is even easier than making Rice Krispie treats.  Not that I’ve made Rice Krispie treats in the past ten years or so, but I vaguely remember the process. 

And here they are:

They taste good and are a great combination of salty and sweet, but they were a bit crunchier than the recipe suggested.  Also, they were tough to cut into granola bar shapes.  Most of them broke in the pan, but I did get a few decent ones (see picture), although even the granola bars in the picture look like I nimbled them before lining them up.  Oh well.  They’re still tasty and will be a great post-run snack.  Instead of calling them granola bars, I may have to refer to them as granola chunks.  Things could be worse.

No Bake Chewy Granola Bars
Every Day with Rachael Ray

Ingredients:

4 T. (half stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 cups granola
1 cup rice cereal, such as Rice Krispies
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup thin pretzels (I broke mine into smaller pieces)
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the brown sugar with the butter and the honey.  Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, then lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes.  Remove the saucepan from the heat.

2. Add the granola, rice cereal, raisins, and pretzels to the saucepan and fold the ingredients to evenly coat with the sauce.  Transfer the granola mixture to a 9-by-13 inch ungreased baking pan and press firmly to evenly fill.  Gently press the chocolate chips onto the top of the granola.  Let the granola mixture set in the refrigerator until firm, about 15 minutes, then cut into bars.

Fabulous day

I love, love, LOVE Fridays.  There’s something so wonderful about having the whole weekend ahead of you to be productive, have some fun, spend time with the people you love, or just be lazy.  Today did not disappoint me.  I had a great day with my students, and I ended up staying at work until almost 7pm to do some much needed spring cleaning in my classroom.  I’m telling you – there is very little that excites me quite like clean, organized spaces.  Just the thought of returning to my organized classroom on Monday makes me a happy teacher. 

To top off my productive afternoon/evening, I decided to cook one of my favorite things tonight.  CLAMS!  I’m not even sure why I love clams so much, but I do.  And I had been thinking about clams all day.  During my lunch break, I searched Cooking Light’s website to find a healthy and delicious meal, and I found this:

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1072155

And then I just decided to wing it.  YUM.

This is not a pretentious, difficult meal to make.  This is a throw-stuff-together-and-love-it kind of meal. 

The super easy directions? 

1. Throw your favorite spaghetti in a pot.  I used Barilla Plus.

2. In a large pot, bring 1 cup of water to a boil.  Throw in some clams (but be sure you’ve scrubbed them first). 

3. In a small saucepan, sautee 1 clove of garlic and 1 small tomato (seeds removed). 

4. When everything is finished, toss it all together in the same large pot and add some salt and olive oil.

5. Serve the meal in bowls, topped with parsley. 

Yummity yum yum. 

Corn bread

I threw together some chili for a quick midweek meal this week, and Brett wasn’t due to come home for another 30 minutes or so.  I remembered that I had some cornmeal in the pantry – a recent purchase after discovering how much I like pizza dough rolled in cornmeal before baking – and I saw that there was a corn bread recipe on the back.  I’ve never actually made corn bread from scratch, so I figured I’d give it a shot since I had time to kill anyway.

 I ended up being pretty disappointed with this recipe.  The corn bread came out dense and not very flavorful.  I’m surprised it’s the featured recipe on the package.  I definitely won’t make it again, but I’ll be on the hunt for a tastier recipe.

With a review like that, I’m not sure why you would want the recipe, but I’ll include it anyway.  Stay tuned for my second attempt at delicious corn bread!

Easy Corn Bread
Quaker

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup Quaker Enriched Corn Meal
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt (optional)
1 cup skim milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs whites or 1 egg, beaten

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease 8 or 9-inch pan.  Combine dry ingredients.  Stir in milk, oil and egg, mixing just until dry ingredients are moistened.  Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until light golden brown and wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Serve warm. 

9 servings

Biscotti with raisins and almonds = yum

I love biscotti, and I came across this recipe a couple weeks ago and decided I needed to give it a try.  The recipe calls for ingredients that I already had in the pantry, and each serving is supposedly a mere 47 calories (which means that even if I screw up and make each serving triple the size, it’s still not a bad little snack calorie-wise). 

I began by making the dough, which was way too flour-y to form into a ball.  I added an extra egg white, and it was perfect.  Then, I rolled the dough into two logs.  Here’s a shot of one of the logs:

Next, I baked the logs for 25 minutes, and they came out of the oven looking like perfect little loaves of raisin bread!

After letting them cool for 10 minutes, I cut the “loaves” into slices and baked them again, this time for 20 minutes.  The result:

Yum!

Low-Fat Almond Date Biscotti
The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook by Tosca Reno

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
4 T. Olivina or reduced-fat margarine
3 egg whites
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
1/4 cup finely chopped almonds
1/4 cup finely chopped dates or other dried fruit
Cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine dry ingredients.  Stir to mix well.  Use a pastry-cutter to cut in the margarine until the mixture has the texture of coarse oatmeal.  Stir in the egg whites and extracts.  Fold in almonds and dates.

2. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape into two 9″ x 2″ logs.  Coat a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray or line it with parchment paper.  Place the logs on the sheet.  Allow four inches of space between each log for spreading.  Bake for about 25 minutes or until lightly browned.

3. Cool the logs at room temperature for 10 minutes.  Using a serrated knife, slice the logs diagonally into half-inch-thick slices. 

4. Place the slices on an ungreased baking sheet in single layer, cut side down.  Return to 350 degree oven for 18-20 minutes, or until dry and crisp.  Turn the slices over after 10 minutes.  Let cool completely.  Serve or store.

Nutritional Value Per Serving:
Calories: 47 – Calories from fat: 18 – Protein: 1g – Carbs: 6g – Dietary fiber: 0.3g – Sugars: 3g – Fat: 2g – Sodium: 6mg

(My changes: I used 1 extra egg white and butter instead of Olivina/reduced fat margarine.  I also used raisins instead of dates.  Delicious!)

Minestrone Soup

There’s no real story behind this one.  I just felt like making soup, and Sundays are the perfect days to use my slow cooker – I just throw the ingredients in and spend the rest of the day being productive (or lazy, as the case was this past Sunday!).  Some of my wonderful colleagues gave me a slow cooker and recipe book for a bridal shower gift, so this is a huge thank you to them!  I especially loved the cayenne pepper in the recipe, because it gave the soup just a hint of a kick.  (And trust me – I am not a spicy food loving girl.)

(FYI: I had no picture taking patience since Sunday was also the day that the flu crept up on me and then smacked me in the face.  I’m sloooowly recovering.)

Old-World Minestrone with Shell Pasta
Complete Slow Cooker Cookbook by Carol Heding Munson

 Ingredients:

1 carrot, shredded
1 celery stalk, sliced
1/4 cup frozen peas
1 medium potato, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2/3 sliced scallions
2 cans (14 oz. each) fat free chicken or vegetable broth
1 tsp. Italian herb seasoning or marjoram
1 can (28 oz.) Italian plum tomatoes, cut up
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 T. red wine vinegar
1 cup chopped escarole
1/2 cup shell pasta
1/2 cup snipped fresh parsley
Parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:

1. Combine the carrots, celery, peas, potatoes, scallions, broth, seasoning, tomatoes, pepper, and vinegar in the crockery pot.  Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 4 to 5 hours.

2. During the last 20 minutes of cooking, stir in the escarole and pasta.  Divide the soup among four bowls and top each serving with the parsley and cheese, if you wish.

*** My take: Honestly, I didn’t measure things very carefully when I made this.  I just added what felt right to me, and I used what we had in the pantry already.  It came out perfectly. Gotta love foolproof recipes. ***

French toast casserole

Today was the St. Patrick’s Day parade, and it’s the last year that we’ll live within walking distance.  (Sad to be leaving our little city apartment, but exciting to move into our new house in the ‘burbs!)  Of course we needed to take full advantage and invite our friends over to drink some mimosas and fill our bellies with food before braving the chilly air, puddles, and hordes or green clad parade-goers! 

My plan was to research recipes and expertly (ha!) put together the perfect spread of delicious brunch food.  Well… this week was a brutal one, because I squeezed in 38 parent teacher conferences in 4 days, and all that planning time that I thought I had went right out the window.  And then I had to fit in a 12 mile run this morning before everyone came over at 11am.  I should mention that I got back from the run at 10am, leaving me 1 hour to shower, throw on my green shirt, and get my butt in gear in the kitchen. 

Instead of having a lovely array of delicious food ready when everyone arrived, I had a few St. Patrick’s Day plates and napkins out, a husband still in the shower, and French toast casserole just making it into the oven.  Forget about the quiche that I thought I’d have time for, too.  Once the first champagne bottle was opened, I prioritized.  Friends and mimosas beat out slaving in the kitchen any day! 

The moral of the story?  I’m not sure, but I have a few ideas:

1. When you’re entertaining, make sure you have more time to plan things out rather than thinking things will magically all come together in the morning.

2. Don’t plan to get back from a 12 mile run one hour before guests arrive.  Showering and cooking and doing last minute cleaning do not fit into a mere 60 minutes!

3. Know when to give up on the quiche and grab a mimosa with friends instead!

 What about the French toast casserole, you ask?  (If you managed to read this far, that is!)  It turned out fabulously, and it received a hearty thumbs-up from everyone… which could have been a result of the mimosas and Guinness, but I prefer to think that it really was that tasty!  I didn’t take a picture while everyone was here, but I did manage to snap a shot of some cold leftovers from the fridge.  Better than nothing, I guess! 

(P.S. Don’t you just want to reach into the picture and grab that stray pecan?!)

Baked French Toast Casserole with Maple Syrup
foodnetwork.com

1 loaf French bread (13 to 16 ounces)
8 large eggs
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup milk
2 T. granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
Dash salt
Praline topping
Maple syrupDirections:

1. Slice French bread into 20 slices, 1-inch each.  Arrange slices in a generously buttered 9 x 13 inch flat baking dish in two rows, overlapping the slices. 

2. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt, and beat with a rotary beater or whisk into blended but not bubbly. 

3. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered with the egg-milk mixture.  Spoon some of the mixture between the slices.  Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight. 

The next day, preheat the over to 350 degrees.  Spread the praline topping over the bread and bake for 40 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden.  Serve with maple syrup.

 Praline Topping

1/2 lb. (2 sticks) butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
2 T. light corn syrup
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and blend well. 

*** My changes: I used a sliced baguette instead of larger pieces of French bread, because I told Brett to get the wrong kind of bread at the store!  It worked out perfectly though.  I just didn’t use all of the egg mixture since there was less bread involved.  Same goes for the praline mixture.  ***

Peanut butter banana muffins

After making two Eat Clean recipes today, I decided that I needed to make some muffins, too.  I mean, come on, when you have two over-ripe bananas staring back at you from the kitchen counter, you only have limited options: 1. Toss them, 2. Mash them and freeze for later, or 3. Make banana bread or muffins.  I chose the latter, obviously, and I think it was a happy coincidence that I came across this recipe for banana bread with peanut butter.  Two of my favorite things in one baked good?  Heaven. 

I made mine into muffins, and they came out pretty tasty.

Peanut Butter Banana Bread
Source unknown (my apologies!)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup peanut butter
2 bananas, mashed
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking sodaDirections:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Lightly grease a 5 x 9 inch loaf pan.

2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar.  Add eggs; beat well.  Stir in peanut butter, bananas, flour and baking soda until blended.  Pour into prepared pan.

3. Bake at 325 degrees for 60 minutes.  Cover with foil (to avoid overbrowning) and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.  Remove to a wire rack to cool.

* My changes: I made mine into muffins, and I baked them for ~25 minutes.  I kept checking them in the final minutes, so I can’t remember the exact time that they were in there.*

Turkey meatballs

Brett and I really like spaghetti and meatballs, mostly because it’s one of those quick go-to weeknight meals.  I decided that the frozen turkey meatballs that we usually buy could be improved upon for sure – as in, if I make my own, they’re bound to be much better than something that has been frozen for x amount of time.

When I was flipping through my Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook, I came across a yummy sounding turkey meatball recipe.  I premade this for a weeknight meal this week, so we haven’t technically had them as a meal yet, but YUM!  The one that I snagged right out of the oven was fantastic!  The best part?  They’re healthy and low cal.  Fabulous.

The recipe also suggests that you slice them when they’re cold and put them in a pita for lunch.  Sounds good to me!

Meatballs
Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook by Tosca Reno

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs. lean ground turkey or chicken
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup breadcrumbs
2 T. fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 T. fresh basil, finely chopped
2 T. fresh oregano, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, passed through a garlic press
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, place egg and breadcrumbs or oat bran.  Add spices and mix well.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well.  Using an ice cream scoop make meatballs and place on prepared cookie sheet.  Place in hot oven and bake for 20 minutes or until golden.

Nutritional facts per serving:

Calories: 170 – Calories from fat: 24 – Protein: 30g – Carbs: 11g – Dietary fiber: 2g – Sugars: 0.8g – Fat: 2g – Sodium: 327mg

* My changes: I skipped the onions and used dried oregano instead of fresh, but I reduced it to 1 tablespoon.  Also, I reduced the amount of pepper to 1/2 tsp. *

Beef Stew

I feel like I’ve been eating a lot of sugar lately, and I’m usually pretty good at making/eating low calorie meals and avoiding too much white flour and sugar.  Needless to say, my body can feel it, and I’ve been a bit more sluggish than usual.  I decided to search for some healthy recipes, because:

1. My body/mind function much better when I eat healthy foods.
2. The Vermont City Marathon is rapidly approaching, and I need to fuel my body appropriately – all the time, but for those long runs especially. 
3. I have parent-teacher conferences all week long, and I need all the energy I can get to get through 39 kindergarten conferences in 4 days.  Eek! 

My friend Niki has been following the Eat Clean diet, and I bought The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook by Tosca Reno a few weeks ago.  I figured this was the perfect time to dig into some of her recipes, and today I tackled two!  The first?  Stew!

This recipe calls for a Dutch Oven, and mine is packed away until we move into the new house.  I decided to turn this into a slow cooker recipe instead.  It’s still cooking away, but it looks great so far.  I’ll pop this in the fridge when it’s done cooking, and we’ll reheat it this week for a quick weeknight meal. 

This isn’t a great picture, but here’s the stew:

(It looks blurry because of the steam rising.)

And on a fun and RIDICULOUS note, here’s a funny story… As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I HATE chopping onions.  Burning, watery eyes are not fun.  I’ve tried all those tricks that people tell you about, like lighting a vanilla scented candle and splashing water under your eyes. Those helpful tips just don’t work for me. 

Well, today I started to dread chopping up the onion for the stew, and then a brilliant idea occurred to me!  I decided that I needed some eye protection, and I remembered that my ski googles were just steps away from the kitchen.  Yup.  I wore my goggles to chop the onions, and my eyes stayed tear-free and burn-free.  Ha! 

Canadian Stew
The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook by Tosca Reno

Ingredients:

 1 1/2 lbs. lean beef tenderloin, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 leeks, whites and light green only, cut into chunks and well rinsed
3 or 4 medium sized cooking onions, peeled and cut into chunks
3 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
3 parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
1 – 10 oz. can whole plum tomatoes
1 – 10 oz. can small potatoes
Several cloves garlic
4 T. olive oil
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
Sea salt and black pepper
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
1 cup low-sodium, low-fat chicken stock
1 cup light beer

Directions:

1. Cut meat into 1-inch cubes.  Place whole-wheat flour, salt, ground black pepper, oregano, and basil in a large plastic container with a tight-fitting lid.  Shake the contents so they mix.  Now place the cubed meat in the container and shake until coated. 

2. Meanwhile, in a large Dutch oven heat the oil and saute the garlic and onions until soft.  Add remaining vegetables, except canned potatoes, and cook 5 minutes longer. 

3. Gently remove cubed and seasoned meat from container and add to the cooking vegetables.  Cook until meat is browed.  You will notice the mixture is getting sticky.  This is caused by the flour seasoning on the meat.  When it gets too sticky, add the chicken stock and the light beer.

4. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer.  Stir the stew until the sauce becomes evenly smooth.  Now add canned, drained potatoes.  Cook over low heat for another 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Nutritional Value Per Serving:

Calories: 315 – Calories from fat: 95 – Protein: 20g – Carbs: 35g – Dietary fiber: 6g – Sugars: 8g – Fat: 10g – Sodium: 314mg

*** I used my slow cooker for this recipe and just threw everything in after I browned the meat first. ***

Buttermilk Biscuits

I had a lot of leftover buttermilk in the fridge after making cookies last week, and it occurred to me that buttermilk biscuits would be the perfect thing to make.  I searched online for buttermilk biscuit recipes, and most that I found required shortening, but I don’t have any.  A storm was raging outside today (still is!), and I didn’t feel like braving the snow, freezing rain, sleet, and ice for the third time today.  Ah, upstate NY.  If this is the lion part of March, I am realllllly looking forward to the lamb.  🙂 

Anyway… I kept searching and ultimately came across a recipe on epicurious.com.  I had all the ingredients, so I whipped them up and hoped for the best.  We ended up loving them, and I think this will be a great go-to recipe to accompany lots of different meals. 

Buttermilk Biscuits
epicurious.com

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 cup buttermilk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in large bowl to blend. 

2. Using fingertips, rub 3/4 cup chilled butter into dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add buttermilk and stir until evenly moistened.

3. Using 1/4 cup dough for each biscuit, drop biscuits onto baking sheet, spacing 2 inches apart.  Bake until biscuits are golden brown on top, about 15 minutes.  Cool slightly.  Serve warm. 

Makes 12 servings.

Old-Fashioned Chicken ‘N’ Noodles

My fabulous teaching-partner-in-crime (and very good friend), Laura, gave me Mable Hoffman’s Healthy Crockery Cookery cookbook for Christmas this year.  I made Roasted Chicken with Garlic and Rosemary awhile ago, and we loved it.   I figured it was time to make another healthy, easy crockpot recipe, especially since I planned to spend the day cleaning but wanted to have a good hot meal for tonight. 

As most (all?) crockpot recipes go, this one was super easy, and the hardest part was chopping the onion.  Why, why, why do onions always make my eyes burn and water uncontrollably?!  Once I got past that less-than-desireable part of the prep work, everything else was simple. 

We liked this recipe, but I probably wouldn’t make it again.  It was one of those meals that was good, but it wasn’t anything that really blew us away.  The meal wasn’t too pretty to photograph (a ridiculously important part of blogging and attempting to entice someone else to try the recipe!), but here it is:

Old Fashioned Chicken ‘N’ Noodles
Mable Hoffman’s Healthy Crockery Cookery

Makes 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

2 1/2 to 3 lbs. chicken pieces
1 small onions, finely chopped
1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
1 (10 1/2-oz.) can condensed chicken broth
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/3 cup cold water
8 to 12 ounces medium egg noodles
Chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

1. Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels.  Combine chicken, onion, celery, garlic, salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, and thyme in a 3 1/2-quart slow cooker.  Add chicken broth.  Cover and cook on low 4 to 5 hours or until chicken is tender. 

2. Remove chicken from slow cooker.  Discard skin and bones; cut chicken into bite-size pieces and set aside.

3. Turn control to HIGH.  Dissolve cornstarch in cold water.  Stir into juices in slow cooker.  Cover and cook on HIGH 15 to 20 minutes or until slightly thickened.  Stir in chicken.

4. Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions and drain.  Spoon mixture over cooked noodles.  Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Per serving: Cal 477 – Carb 35g – Prot 45g – Total fat 16g – Sat fat 4g – Cal from fat 144 – Chol 83 mg – Sodium 638 mg

Apple upside down cake

I was cleaning the other day, and I came across an old copy of Everyday Food.  I flipped through the September 2006 issue, and there were a lot of plum recipes.  One recipe caught my eye – Plum Upside Down Cake – but I’m not a huge fan of plums, so I wondered if I could substitute apples instead.  I did just that, and the cake looks like it came out perfectly, although I need to wait to try it.  I’m going to bring it to Erin’s (Brett’s sister) house tomorrow night, and then I’ll report back.  Fingers crossed for a successful cake!

Here are some work-in-progress pictures:

…and the finished product:

Plum (Apple, in this case) Upside-Down Cake
Everyday Food, September 2006

Ingredients:

9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed light brown sugar
4 red plums (about 1 lb.), halved and pitted, each cut into 12 wedges
1 large egg
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin-pie spice
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
whipped cream (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Place 3 tablespoons butter in an 8-inch round cake pan; melt in preheating oven, about 4 minutes.  Sprinkle melted butter with 1/2 cup brown sugar.  Arrange overlapping plum wedges in a circle around edge of pan; repeat in center, covering bottom of pan.  Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, beat together remaining 6 tablespoons butter, remaining 6 tablespoons butter, remaining 1/2 cup sugar, and egg.  Beat in sour cream until blended.  Set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, salt, pumpkin-pie spice, and walnuts.  Stir flour mixture into sour cream mixture until just combined (batter will be thick).

4. Spread batter evenly over plums.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, about 50 minutes.  Cool in pan 5 minutes.  Run a knife around edge of pan; invert onto a serving plate.  Serve warm or at room temperature, with whipped cream if desired.

Serves 8. 

Aunt Marion’s Pumpkin Bread

I grew up eating Aunt Marion’s delicious pumpkin bread.  She used to wrap her loaves in foil and give them to family members, all of whom would gobble them up in a day or two.  We used to hide the last piece or two or call dibs on the final bites, because we never knew when we would be spoiled with another loaf! 

Tonight I attempted to make the famous pumpkin bread for the first time, but I stupidly forgot to set the timer when I slid them into the oven.  Ugh!  I think I ended up leaving them in for just a few minutes too long, even though I obsessively checked them in the final minutes (or so I thought).  The outside has the slightest crisp to it, and I like the bread the way Aunt Marion makes it – moist throughout without a crisp spot to be found.  I’ll definitely try the recipe again, but I’ll be more careful and actually set the timer next time!

My results weren’t awful, but I want to try again soon. 

Aunt Marion’s Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:3 1/2 cups flour
3 cups sugar
30 oz. can of pumpkin pie mix
1 cup oil
1 tsp. cinnamon
4 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup nuts
1/2 cup raisins

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.  Let rise 30 minutes.

2. Grease container (coffee cans, small or large loaf pans) and fill 3/4 way.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Broken lasagna with pesto and walnuts

A couple months ago, Brett found a Food and Wine recipe called, Broken Lasagna with Walnut Pesto.  We adapted it and turned it into a super-easy-no-brainer-weeknight meal.  Here’s the result:

The real recipe can be found on the Food and Wine website.  Here’s my super simple version:  Break lasagna noodles into bite-sized pieces and cook.  When they’re al dente, toss together the lasagna noodles, pesto (you could make your own, but buy the store-bought version to fully give yourself a break!), toasted walnuts, and cooked chicken.  Then, dig in.  As my kindergarteners would say, “Easy peasy lemon squeezy!”

Red Velvet Black & White Cookies

I love black and white cookies, and my absolute favorite are from a bakery in my hometown – Bella Napoli.  Yuuuum.  I love how they’re a cross between a piece of cake and a cookie.  Soft and sweet and a treat that I rarely indulge in.  So, when I found the Red Velvet Black & White Cookie recipe in Everyday with Rachael Ray, I knew that I had to make them.   They didn’t disappoint me. At all.  I’ll definitely be making these again, but I want to make smaller ones next time.  These were huge!

P.S. The recipe isn’t all that clear, but you need to measure out the batter and then swirl it around with the back of a spoon to spread it out on the parchment paper, like this:

Red Velvet Black & White Cookies
Everyday with Rachael Ray

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups flour
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon red food coloring
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup
4 oz. semisweet chocolate

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.

2. Using a mixer, beat 5 tablespoons butter with the granulated sugar until fluffy, 3 minutes.  Beat in the egg, food coloring, and 1 teaspoon vanilla.  Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk until smooth.

3. Place 1/4-cup scoops of batter 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet; spread out.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry, 12-15 minutes.  Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool. 

4. In a bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, remaining 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 1 tablespoon corn syrup and 2 tablespoons hot water until smooth.  In another bowl, combine the chocolate, remaining 3 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon corn syrup; microwave until melted, about 1 minute.

5. Coat the cookies with the vanilla, then the chocolate icing.  Refrigerate until set, about 20 minutes.

Salmon cakes

We eat salmon about once a week, and we usually end up preparing it the same way every time.  We rub some spices or garlic on it and broil it, and then we pair it with some rice –  a quick and easy weeknight dinner.  We’ve tried some actual salmon recipes that we use when we want to change things up a bit, but we’re usually too uninspired to try something new on, say, a Wednesday night.

Well, today I decided that I wanted to make salmon, but I wanted to make something new and semi-special since… Our offer was accepted on our first home today!  WOOOO! 

Enter Rachael Ray.  On my lunch break, I quickly went to www.rachaelraymag.com and typed “salmon” into the search feature on her site.  I found the recipe for salmon cakes and decided they would be perfect for tonight.  (P.S. I LOVE crab cakes but had never had salmon cakes.)

I made the recipe in two parts, and it worked out perfectly.  After work, I prepped the salmon and then refrigerated it until later (it ended up being 3 hours later!), because we were off to work out and then sign some paperwork for the house.  (YAY for our new house!!!)  When I got home, I formed the patties, followed the rest of the recipe, and pan seared them in our cast iron skillet. 

The result?  A new favorite recipe!  I can’t wait to try this for guests soon.

 

I did tweak the recipe a bit by skipping the scallions and celery and using regular bread crumbs instead of the Japanese version.  I also used fresh salmon instead of pre-made, because I wanted to use the salmon that we already had in the fridge.   I cut the recipe in half, and I didn’t make the sauce.  Instead, I served our salmon cakes on rice with some salad greens on the side. 

Fun note: Brett said these salmon cakes were “fantastic.”  We both loved them = double success!

Salmon cakes
Everyday with Rachael Ray

Serves 4

1 1/2 pounds store-bought cooked salmon fillet, chilled and skinned
3 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
6 scallions, green and white parts chopped separately
2 small ribs celery, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
2/3 cup mayonnaise plus 1/2 cup mayonnaise
salt and black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 large eggs, beaten
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1. Flake the salmon into a large bowl.  Using a fork, mix in half cup panko, the scallion whites, the celery, the parsley, 2/3 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 teaspoon salt, a pinch black pepper, and the cayenne.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

2. Form the mixture into 8 patties about 1 inch thick.  In a bowl, mix the remaining 2 1/2 cups panko with 1 teaspoon salt.  Coat the patties with the panko, then the eggs, then the panko again.

3. In a skillet, heat half of the olive oil over medium heat.  Add 4 salmon patties and cook until golden, about 3 minutes on each side.  Drain on paper towels.  Repeat with the remaining oil and patties. 

4. Combine the remaining 1/2 cup mayonnaise, the vinegar and 1/3 cup scallion greens; season with salt and pepper.  Serve two cakes per person with the sauce alongside.

My first lasagna!

I was flipping through recipes and searching for inspiration online this morning, and I came across more than one picture of lasagna. My mouth started watering, and I knew that lasagna should be my next recipe-to-be-blogged!

As I searched for the perfect lasagna recipe, I started reminiscing about my mom’s cooking from when I was a little girl. I used to hate ricotta cheese, and she used to make me my own separate lasagna with just mozzarella cheese instead. That’s love!

As I got older, I grew to love Mom’s original version of lasagna, complete with ricotta, mozzarella, and her homemade meatballs, sliced between the layers. Yum.

I would have loved to attempt Mom’s recipe, but I didn’t want to spend hours in the kitchen today. Still, my lasagna craving ensued. After reading another food blog (Annie’s Eats), I decided to try her recipe from allrecipes.com. The recipe didn’t look too complicated, and I figured I could whip up the lasagna without a problem. With some Italian bread with oil for dipping, I thought it sounded like the perfect Sunday meal.

I didn’t want to have to eat lasagna for the next week, so I cut the recipe in half and did a little improvising along the way. I ended up using a lot less mozzarella and more spinach than what the recipe called for. I also skipped the onions and added some garlic powder to the sauce.

Here are some pictures:

Overall: Lasagna success! I’m not sure why I was intimidated to make it, because I figured out that lasagna is pretty easy and very forgiving. I think I’ll play around with some of the layers next time and try some more veggies if Brett will let me get away with it!

Deep Dish Lasagna
From allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

12 lasagna noodles
1 lb. Italian sausage
2/3 cup chopped onion
½ tbsp. minced garlic
2/3 cup chopped parsley
3 cans tomato paste
15 oz. tomato sauce
2 cups water
1 ½ tsp. Italian seasoning
1 ½ tsp. basil
1 ½ tsp. oregano
1 lb. part-skim ricotta
10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
½ cup parmesan cheese
3 eggs
2 tsp. garlic salt
¼ tsp. pepper
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions. Brown sausage with onions, garlic and half the parsley. Add tomato paste, tomato sauce, water, Italian seasoning, oregano and basil. Simmer for 5 minutes. In a bowl, combine remaining parsley, ricotta, spinach, parmesan, eggs, garlic, S&P. In a 9×13” baking dish, spread 2 cups of sauce. Begin layering with 4 noodles, half of the cheese mixture, a third of the remaining sauce and one cup of mozzarella. Repeat. The last layer will be noodles, sauce and mozzarella. Bake, covered at 350° for 45 minutes and then uncovered for 10 minutes.

Chocolate Rocks

I saw a picture of these cookies in O Magazine before I actually read the name of the recipe.  The picture of the cookies looked super yummy, but the name?!  Chocolate rocks?  They sound like something that would break your teeth and/or sink to the bottom of your belly if you ate one.  Name aside, I decided to try the recipe because: a) I love cookies, b) I especially love oatmeal in cookies, and c) I thought these would be quick and easy (I was right).

On to making the dough!  First, I realized that I should have read through the entire recipe before beginning.  It says to preheat your oven to 375 degrees and prepare the dough, and then it says to refrigerate the dough for 30-60 minutes before baking.  Needless to say, I wish I hadn’t started the oven, turned it off, and then started it all over again 40 minutes later.  Oh well.  Lesson learned – read the entire recipe before beginning!

 The recipe was super easy, and the dough came out incredibly hearty, as I suspected, and super tasty.  Here’s a picture:

 

I kept the dough in the fridge between batches, and I think they turned out pretty well.  They may not look pretty, but they sure do taste good.  They’re definitely heartier than your average chocolate chip cookies thanks to the mix of chocolate chips, oatmeal, and raisins.  I also subbed pecans for walnuts and used white flour instead of whole wheat flour, only because that’s what was already in the pantry. 

The result:

And an extreme close-up:

Verdict: The cookies were really good when they first came out of the oven and were warm and gooey, but they weren’t as good when they cooled down.  I think a quick pop in the microwave prior to eating might make these a bit better. 

Chocolate “Rocks”
O Magazine, March 2008

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
8 Tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup apple butter
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup walnut pieces
3/4 cup raisins

 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Position racks in upper and lower thirds of oven.  In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.  In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.  Remove from heat; stir in brown sugar.  Stir in apple butter, eggs, and vanilla.  Add flour mixture; stir until well combined.  Stir in chocolate chips, walnuts, and raisins.  Return dough to bowl, cover, and refrigerate until firm, 30 minutes to an hour.

2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.  Drop dough by rounded soup-spoonfuls about 1 inch apart.  Back 13 to 15 minutes, rotating pans halfway through cooking, until bottoms of cookies are golden brown.  Immediately transfer cookies to racks to cool.  Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Lemon gnocchi – Part II: The cooking begins!

After hanging out in the fridge all afternoon, my gnocchi were ready to be cooked – or at least I hoped so! I started the lemon butter sauce – super easy – and started boiling some salt water in a large pot. When the water was boiling and ready, I was actually excited to dump the pasta in, but then I started to worry!

The recipe said that I needed to drop the gnocchi into the boiling water, wait until they rose to the top, and then cook them for one more minute. This is where I started to panic a bit. What would I do if they didn’t rise? Was I supposed to wait one minute after the last gnocchi rose to the top? I ultimately decided to just plop them all in and hope for the best.

As I hovered over the pot, the gnocchi miraculously started popping to the top!  I was thrilled that they were doing what they were supposed to do. I decided to relax a bit and wait until the majority of the gnocchi rose to the top, and then wait one more minute, as suggested by the recipe.

Here are my little beauties rising to the top:

After I drained the pasta, I pan seared them a bit and then gently tossed them in the lemon butter sauce. I couldn’t help myself, and I snuck a taste before Brett tried them – you know, just in case they were horrendous tasting.

The finished product:

Overall, I thought they were tasty – soft but a little crisp thanks to the pan searing. The lemon butter sauce was rich, so I was glad I didn’t use it all, and I skipped the scallions and topped my gnocchi with some romano pecorino cheese. Yum!

Meyer Lemon Gnocchi

Food & Wine, March 2008

Ingredients:

1 pound baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks

3 large egg yolks

Finely grated zest of 2 lemons, preferably Meyer lemons

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1 stick plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces and chilled

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Salt

Snipped chives, for garnish

Bottarga, for garnish (optional)

Directions:

– In a medium saucepan, cover the potatoes and bring to a boil. Simmer over moderately high heat until the potatoes are tender, about 8 minutes. Drain the potatoes, then return them to the pan; shake over moderately high heat until dry.

– Working over a large rimmed baking sheet, rice the hot potatoes in an even layer. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the lemon zest, 1 teaspoon of olive oil and the salt and pour over the potatoes. Sprinkle the flour over the potatoes and stir gently just until a dough forms.- Gently roll the dough into four 1/2 inch thick ropes. Using a sharp knife, cut each rope into 1/2 inch pieces. Roll each piece against the tines of a fork to make ridges. Transfer the gnocchi to the baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

– In a small saucepan, bring the chicken broth to a simmer. Remove from the heat and whisk in the 1 stick of butter, a few pieces at a time, until the sauce is creamy. Warm the sauce on low heat if necessary. Stir in the lemon juice and season with salt.

– In a large pot of salted water, cook the gnocchi until they rise to the surface, then cook them for 1 mintue longer. Gently drain the gnocchi, toss with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and transfer to a baking sheet until cool.

– In a large nonstick skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter. Add half of the gnocchi and cook in a single layer over high heat until browned on the bottom, 2 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and repeat with the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and gnocchi.

– Reheat the sauce; pour it over the gnocchi and fold gently with a rubber spatula until they are evenly coated. Transfer to a platter and garnish with chives. Grate the bottarga on top, if desired. Serve.

Lemon gnocchi – Part I: The prep work

Today I attempted the Food and Wine Meyer lemon gnocchi recipe, although I’ll just call my recipe lemon gnocchi since I didn’t use Meyer lemons.

It was a little tricky to make the recipe, because I didn’t really have any idea of what the dough should look like. I followed the directions carefully and had to improvise occassionally (example: I don’t have a potato ricer, so I used a fork to get a similar consistency).

Making the dough was actually easier than I anticipated, and the only challenging part was getting that gnocchi shape. I think I did a decent job; I’m just hoping they don’t all unroll when I pop them in the boiling water tonight!

The Food and Wine recipe wasn’t really clear on how to get the ridges in the pasta. They simply said to, “Roll each piece against the tines of a fork to make ridges.” Huh? I had to do a quick Google search to find some pictures on how exactly to do that, and I think my attempts were pretty good for my first try.

Here are a couple pictures of the raw gnocchi before their plunge into the bubbling water.

The adventure begins!

Brett and I just got back from skiing in Bromont, and now I have the rest of my February break to rest, relax, rejuvenate, and cook!  I’m ready to take full advantage of my days off and get started on my quest to try new recipes and write about them in my new blog. I found some recipes in various magazines and cookbooks, and I can’t wait to get started. The problem is deciding which recipe to make first!  Since it’s sitting in front of me right now, I guess my first new recipe will be Meyer lemon gnocchi from the March 2008 issue of Food & Wine.  I love gnocchi, the picture looks delicious, and the recipe doesn’t sound too difficult, so here goes!