Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts

Monday, October 17, 2011

Monday, October 10, 2011

Meal Plan Monday 10/10

Monday: Chipotle-esque burrito bowls with cilantro lime rice, Cuban black beans and salsa chicken

Tuesday: Beer cheese soup

Wednesday: Pasta with meatballs left over from our housewarming party

Thursday: Pulled pork left over from our housewarming party

Friday: Chicken spaghetti

Saturday: Chili

Sunday: Out with friends

Friday, October 7, 2011

Housewarming party menu

Our housewarming party was a success! Unfortch, I was too busy hosting and having fun to take any photos, but it was great. We had over 20 guests check out our casa, including my family, hubby's family, our friends and a neighbor! Here's what I served.

  • Pulled pork (in a crock pot) with buns. I made almost 8 lbs. and 2 or 3 lbs. were left over at the end of the night. I don't mind though - it freezes great and is still delish next time I want some :)
  • Meatballs (in a crock pot). I used this recipe but with 3 lbs. of frozen meatballs.
  • Cheese and meat tray with pepperoni, salami, chipotle jack, gouda and smoked cheeses.
  • Veggie tray with olives, broccoli, carrots, cucumber and hummus.
  • Spinach dip in a sourdough bread bowl.
  • Tortellini salad (the bag mix from Costco).
  • Mini cheesecakes - adorable with cherries on top! I made waaaay too many though.
  • Death by chocolate cookies - my mom provided these!
  • Soda, water bottles, red wine, beer and champagne punch.
I'm so glad that we held this celebration because I just love planning and hosting parties! Next one will be either Thanksgiving or our second annual tacky holiday sweater party!!

Monday, September 26, 2011

Meal Plan Monday 9/26

I finally have time to plan meals around our Farm Fresh To You delivery, which is nice. I'm sad to say that some items have gone to waste in past weeks when I just didn't have time to cook a new meal, but I have plans for each item we received on Friday.

Sunday (Last night - I'm including it because it was super yummy): Goat cheese & arugula over penne

Monday: Homemade pizza


Wednesday: Tilapia & Moroccan carrots

Thursday: Out with friends at Chicago Fire

Friday: Not sure yet

Saturday: Family BBQ

Sunday: Housewarming party!

Monday, August 1, 2011

Meal Plan Monday 8/1

August already?! Housewarming party planning time!

Monday: Out (Groupon that's about to expire!)

Tuesday: Thai style BBQ chicken (We just had this last night but I made a double batch) with summer squash bake

Wednesday: Turkey burgers

Thursday: Chicken salad (Been craving this...)

Friday: Chicken spaghetti (Apparently I'm all about chicken this week)

Saturday: Out (BBQ at our friends' house - I'm planning to bring broccoli salad)

Sunday: Sausage potato burritos OR spicy garlic lime chicken with spicy green beans... it's a lot of chicken but it sounds good and I'm loving those green beans! I think when you crave veggies you have to take advantage.

Spicy green beans

Our Farm Fresh To You delivery included a pound of green beans last Friday. I've never liked fresh green beans. I love the canned ones and their soft texture, but fresh ones are always too crunchy!

But I had to use them (see the trying new things benefit going on here?). And thankfully, the box even came with a few recipe recommendations for the produce we got that week.

One of them was this recipe for spicy green beans, and we loved it! I decided to way over-cook them to attempt to get that soft mushy goodness you get out of the can. It worked, and now I love fresh green beans :)

Ingredients
  • 1 lb. green beans
  • 2 T. soy sauce
  • 1 T. rice vinegar
  • 2 t. sugar
  • 1/4 to 1/2 t. hot pepper flakes (I put almost 1/2 t. and they were pretty much perfect. I like spicy)
  • 1/4 t. white pepper (I have never used or seen white pepper... I used black pepper)
  • 1 T. vegetable oil
  • 2 T. minced garlic
  • 2 T. freshly minced ginger (I skipped this)
  • I also added a dash of sesame oil and a bit of salt for more flavor
Directions
  1. Rinse and drain green beans, and cut off the ends. Cut the beans into 2-3 inch, bite-sized segments.
  2. In a small bowl, mix soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, hot pepper flakes and white pepper.
  3. Set a large frying pan over high heat. Add beans and 1/4 cup water. Cover and cook, stirring once, until beans are as cooked as you want them (I added 1/2 cup water or more. The original directions recommended 3-4 minutes, but I probably did 6-7. For me, this is the key to liking fresh green beans).
  4. Uncover and cook until most of the water has evaporated.
  5. Add vegetable oil, garlic and ginger to the pan. Stir until green beans and garlic are lightly browned - 1 to 2 minutes.
  6. Stir soy mixture and add to pan. Bring to a boil and stir until most of the liquid has evaporated and the sauce thickens and coats the beans - 2 to 3 minutes.
Can be served hot or cool. I kept them covered and warm until the rest of our dinner was ready. Served 2 generous portions.

We had this with Thai style BBQ chicken and it was delish and pretty darn healthy too!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Meal Plan Monday 7/11

I can get back into this now that moving is over!

Monday: Pasta bolognese ( <--- This recipe from Brie was so good last time! I'm going to add even more veggies this time and leave out the pepperoni. I actually should post my recipe soon since I've changed it so much)

Tuesday: Out, or whatever hubby wants (it's his birthday!)

Wednesday: Turkey burgers

Thursday: Veggie lasagna with spinach and mushrooms

Friday: Chicken spaghetti

Saturday: Pepperoncini beef sandwiches

Monday, June 20, 2011

Meal Plan Monday 6/20

Monday: Homemade pizza (we never ended up having this last week. Well, I made the dough and had a little for lunch, but never for dinner)

Tuesday: Fish tacos (baked tilapia) with mango avocado salsa

Wednesday: I have a whole chicken in the freezer that I'll cook in the crockpot. And macaroni salad sounds really good right now so I'll make this one with it :)

Thursday: Chicken enchiladas verde with the leftover chicken from Wednesday, with black bean and corn salad

Friday: Not sure... leftovers or out

Saturday: Out - we're going to a wedding

Sunday: Pasta puttanesca or veggie lasagna. I can't decide this far ahead right now!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Meal Plan Monday 6/13

Monday: Sausage potato burritos that we didn't have last night

Tuesday: Homemade pizza (pepperoni, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, green onions and whatever other veggies I find on Pioneer Woman's dough recipe)

Wednesday: Pasta bolognese Dinner at a friend's house

Thursday: Out with friends (it's my birthday!)

Friday: Homemade pizza again Pasta bolognese

Saturday: Out for my birthday again

Sunday: Maybe out with family for Fathers Day? If not we'll have homemade pizza again.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Meal Plan Monday 6/6

This is probably a super lame post to a lot of people... but I don't have much to say, okay!

For the past few months I've been meal planning each week and it helps a lot to cut down on wasted food. I basically just buy the ingredients we need (which saves money and random grocery store wandering) and then I don't end up staring at the fridge after work saying "There's nothing to eat even though I went shopping yesterday!" That used to happen far too often.

I've also noticed that since I've done this we eat a lot more fresh food - meat, veggies, etc. - and not much processed crap.

I'm going to start sharing Meal Plan Monday and I'll include links to recipes whenever possible.

Monday: Fish tacos (baked tilapia) with mango avocado salsa


Wednesday: Veggie lasagna (with spinach and mushrooms)

Thursday: Leftover turkey burgers


Saturday: Out with friends

Sunday: What I call sausage potato burritos - a tortilla wrapped up with potato, Jennie O turkey sausage and BBQ sauce

Monday, April 18, 2011

Mango avocado salad

Chili season is over! Lately I'm loving light and springy tastes like this yummy salad I found at SkinnyTaste.com. This is my version.


Ingredients
2 mangoes, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 avocados, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 tablespoons chopped red onion
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 lime

Directions
Cut up the mangoes, avocados and red onion. Combine in a large bowl. Squeeze the juice of the lime onto the salad. Toss and serve immediately! I sometimes let it sit in the fridge for half an hour or so, but don't wait too long. It's best fresh and not ice cold.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Recent recipe wins

I love to read cooking blogs, meal plan and cook lately, I think it's something that happens to newlyweds. Here are some the recipes I've tried recently that are definite repeats!

Pizza Dough


Next time I'm going to try it with whole wheat flour, and I'll update this post with the results. Update: I tried it with whole wheat flour - it's fine but much better with white! That's how I'm going to make it from now on.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches
(from my bloggy friend mrsedwardscooks.blogspot.com)


Amazing! That's all I have to say! Everyone loves it.

Healthy Baked Potato Soup


This is almost as good as the recipe I posted a few months ago, but a lot healthier because instead of all potatoes it's half potatoes, half pureed cauliflower.

Cilantro Lime Rice


I made it with brown rice and it was still sooo good, just like Chipotle.

Fresh Salsa


I've realized that salsa freshly made at home far surpasses any prepared salsa I can buy. I like this base recipe, and add to it lime/lemon juice, sometimes cilantro, and I'd like to try corn too. Fresh tomatoes can be used instead of canned, and I keep it chunky instead of blending it.

Bolognese Stuffed Bell Peppers


Pretty and delicious :)

Pepperoncini Beef Sandwiches


I added some BBQ sauce on top of the sandwich.

Friday, December 24, 2010

I don't care what your mama says, Christmas time is here!

Anyone familiar with this song? I woke up singing it this morning. So funny! (It doesn't start until :18 in)



Today I'm working a half day, then will be off for a whole week!! I'm so excited for this "Christmas break" - my first one since my last year of college three years ago!

Tonight we're having James' mom over for Christmas Eve dinner. It's a simple menu but it's going to be good! I'm making ham, caesar salad, and creme brulee for dessert (which I've never made before)! I also picked up some King's Hawaiian rolls :) I didn't want to go all out because it's only the three of us, and we'd be drowning in leftovers.


Rita's bringing Filipino food - I think fried rice and lumpia.


Tomorrow morning we're off to my parents' house! For the rest of the week I'm thrilled at the idea of relaxing and getting things done around the house. Happy holidays to you and yours!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Baked Potato Soup

You'll love this, I promise. We had it for dinner the last two nights and I already want to make another batch because I love it so!


Image from here. I took a picture of my creation, but it was kind of ugly and not representative of the deliciousness that it truly is.

Ingredients
  • 5 lbs. potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-2 inch pieces
  • 1 small onion, minced
  • 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 2 quarts (64 oz.) chicken broth
    2 (8 oz.) packages of cream cheese (I think low fat tastes the same so I go with that... I'd also like to try fat free sour cream but haven't yet)
Directions
  1. Use a 6 quart slow cooker. Or half it if you only have a 3 quart slow cooker.
  2. Put the diced potatoes, onion, garlic, all seasonings and chicken broth into the stoneware.
  3. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4 hours.
  4. Once the potatoes are tender, mash them in the soup with a potato masher.
  5. Crumble in the cream cheese, stir, and cook on high for 30 minutes (until the cream cheese is dissolved).
  6. Serve and enjoy! Garnish the soup with green onions, and if you want to be really unhealthy/delicious about it - crumbled bacon.
Recipe from here.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Holiday party menu

Here's what we served at our tacky holiday sweater party on Friday. It was way too much food, but oh so good!

Sweets:

Death by chocolate cookies (a recipe from my mom)


Cream puffs... from the freezer section.


My famous fruit dip with strawberries, kiwi and apples.


Apps:

Veggie tray (cucumber, carrots and celery... and no broccoli because I dropped it on the floor) with hummus.


Cheese and meat tray with pepper jack, fontina, gouda and smoked cheese, salami, pepperoni and venison summer sausage


Spinach and artichoke dip (the recipe is in my Make it Fast, Cook it Slow cookbook that was a wedding gift from my sister and brother in law) with tortilla chips




Goat cheese fillo bites - I found this recipe and adapted it a lot. My filling consisted of:
  • 12 oz. cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup goat cheese
  • 1 tablespoon melted butter
  • 3 tablespoons green onions
  • 1.5 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 6 ounches chopped bacon
  • 1/4 cup chopped nuts
  • Honey

On the top I put nuts and honey. They were really good but not good enough to be a favorite!

And I was going to make 7 Layer Dip, but my friend Sabrina offered to bring it.


Drinks:

Champagne punch in this super cute drink dispenser I got at Bed Bath & Beyond


Beer, soda and water


Red and white wine


Sabrina brought red and green Jello shots too!


If I did this menu again I'd cut out the fillo bites and deviled eggs... there was just too much food but I don't think that's the worst problem to have.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Thanksgiving

It's time to plan Thanksgiving! This is the second year James and I are hosting at our home (hopefully the last year we are hosting in such a small house). I'm so happy to be the new Thanksgiving cook - I love planning get-togethers and having people over! My menu includes:

Turkey (hopefully it turns out as delicious as last year)




Cranberry sauce (from a can)





Gravy
(I'll hope that my turkey comes with a packet again - loved that!)


Sweet potatoes (a combination of this recipe & this recipe)








Like last year, my mom will bring several pies

  
and my mother-in-law will bring lumpia!


My parents are going to be in town for the whole weekend, and we're even planning to go wine tasting on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, so I'm really excited!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Pad Thai

This dish turned out so good, especially for my first shot at Thai food! I went to the Asian market by my house after work tonight and found all the ingredients I didn't already have for $12. But that includes the $5 peanut oil that will last me the rest of my life!

The recipe says that it makes 4 servings, but it was more like 8. I'm excited to eat leftovers for lunch tomorrow.


Ingredients

  • 1 pound bean sprouts
  • 6 oz. pad thai rice noodles
  • 4 eggs
  • pinch of salt
  • 3 tablespoons lime juice (I had a lemon so I used that)
  • 3 tablespoons ketchup
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup fish sauce (Doesn't smell like fish at all! I was so scared but it's not gross)
  • 3 tablespoons peanut oil
  • 1-1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 2 cups grated carrots
  • 1 cup chopped peanuts
  • 1 cup chopped green onions (Which I just learned are also called scallions, FYI :)
Directions
  1. Have all your ingredients chopped/grated and close to you before starting, because you have to cook them pretty quickly.
  2. Blanch the bean sprouts for 30 seconds. Now, I'm not going to claim that this is correct, but this is what I did based on my Google search results... never before had I blanched anything! I used my pot that has a steamer built in (a la picture on the right), but if you just put the sprouts in boiling water I bet that would work.
    • Put enough water to cover the sprouts in the pot, and bring to a boil.
    • Put the sprouts in the steamer (or directly in the water?), close the lid and leave it on for 30 seconds.
    • Remove the sprouts and rinse well, then set aside.
  3. Bring the water that was already used to a boil. Cook the noodles for 3 to 5 minutes.
  4. Drain the noodles and rinse with cold water.
  5. Beat the eggs in a bowl with a pinch of salt.
  6. In another bowl, make the sauce: Combine lime/lemon juice, ketchup, brown sugar and fish sauce.
  7. Heat the peanut oil in a large wok or frying pan. Add the garlic and cook for a few seconds.
  8. Add the pepper flakes and carrot, and cook for one minute. Set the carrot mixture aside.
  9. Put the eggs in the same pan that was just used, and scramble them.
  10. Add in the carrot mixture, sauce, bean sprouts, noodles, peanuts and green onion. Mix well and cook until heated through.

James and I both loved this, and I even think it would be great to make a few hours before people come over for dinner, then just heat up on the stove when they arrive. It was a lot more work and ingredients than I usually prefer but I'm going to make it again anyway.

For dessert I also picked up mochi!

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

Yummy recipe alert! Last week I had a craving for BBQ chicken sandwiches, so I googled that exact term and found this little gem. Love love love!


Here's my version of the recipe, which is a bit different than the Food Network's original one.

Makes 6 smaller sandwiches or 4 large sandwiches.

Ingredients:
- 3 chicken breasts (You can also just buy a rotisserie chicken already cooked)
- 3/4 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 an onion, chopped (Or a whole onion if you like them a lot)
- 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 14-oz. can tomato sauce
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- 5 tablespoons molasses
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 1 tablespoon worcheshire sauce (This wasn't in the recipe but I added it)
- red pepper flakes to taste (My addition, which I think made the meal! I put in about 3/4 teaspoon and it was pretty darn spicy)
- hamburger buns or rolls
- lettuce

Directions:
Boil the chicken breasts -
1. Place the chicken breasts in a pot and cover with water.
2. Bring to a boil.
3. Once the water is boiling, cook for about 15 minutes. This isn't exact - just cut it open after a while and check to see if it's cooked through. It should be white in the center.
4. After the chicken is fully cooked, shred it with a fork. Set aside.

Make the sauce -
5. Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium heat.
6. Add the onions and cook until they're clear - about 4 or 5 minutes.
7. Add the garlic, then cook for 1 more minute.
8. Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, vinegar, molasses, pepper, liquid smoke, worcheshire sauce and red pepper flakes.
9. Bring to a boil.
10. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes.
11. Add the chicken, then simmer for 10 more minutes.

Toast your hamburger buns and serve! Yummm!

Nutrition per serving:
Calories 440
Total Fat 12 grams
Saturated Fat 2.5 grams
Protein 36 grams
Fiber 5 grams

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Healthy chicken parmesan

A while ago my mom emailed me to say that she was wanting to make my chicken parmesan and looked on my blog to find it. Unfortunately, it wasn't there yet. It should have been though, since this is super good. It's only 310 calories and 8 grams of fat per serving.

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups bread crumbs
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/2 cup flour
1-1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste
3 large egg whites (I just use one whole egg)
1 tablespoon water
cooking spray
3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half to make cutlets
2 cups tomato sauce
1 tablespoon fresh basil

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 475.

2. Combine bread crumbs and oil in skillet and toast over medium heat until darkened. Put in dish. Once cool, add in the parmesan.

3. In another dish, combine flour, garlic powder, 1 Tbsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.

4. In a third dish, whisk the eggs and water together.

5. Line a baking sheet with foil.

6. Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel.

7. Dip the chicken in flour, then eggs, then bread crumbs. Lay flat on baking sheet.

8. Bake for about 15 minutes. Check that the inside isn't pink.

9. Put 2 Tbsp sauce on each cutlet and 2 Tbsp cheese over it. Put them back in the oven until the cheese melts (about 5 minutes).

10. Sprinkle with basil and serve.

310 calories and 8 grams of fat per serving. Makes 6 servings.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Chardonnay's Favorite Things: Diet food edition

Welcome to the second edition of Chardonnay's Favorite Things! My first edition was back in July, and I haven't been able to think of enough faves to write about since then. But now that I've started Weight Watchers (still at about 10 lbs. lost, by the way) I thought I'd share some of my favorite healthy foods.

Hummus

Hard boiled eggs


Fresh Express complete salad kits

Lemon water

Skinny Cow ice cream

Soup