March 13th, 2011

I love Sunday evenings.  I love having a mellow Sunday night just our family at home, I love hosting a family dinner party, I love going to someone’s house for a family dinner.  Sometimes I go all out and make a big or time consuming dinner and sometimes it’s leftover/clean out the frig night.  Whatever the occasion, it’s a great family night.

When I was a kid I hated Sunday nights because it meant I had to go back to school and probably catch up on a ton of homework I procrastinated doing over the weekend.  When I was working I dreaded the alarm clock to rudely awake me too early the next morning and start the work week again.  But as a stay at home mom, Sundays are a family night and I cherish it. 

Lauren had a pottery birthday party that afternoon and we got home around 3 pm.  I was in the mood to cook and try something new.  It was just us at home for the night.  Trent likes to make Skinnygirl Margaritas on Sunday nights, so I decided to match the cuisine to the drink. 

I decided to make Cooking Light's Chicken Enchilada Casserole.  I have a bad habit of not reading the recipe before I decide to make it.  I normally just look at the picture and if it looks yummy, I put it on my list of things to try.  So when I started to get out the ingredients and read the recipe it was a little more step intensive than I like, but it was Sunday and I had the time.  I’m glad I tried this recipe, it was delicious and worth it.  I normally like flour tortillas better than corn, but in this recipe, it totally worked.  It would also be a great make ahead recipe to entertain with.  Last, but not least, it went perfectly with my margarita!

March 9th, 2011

So it’s Ash Wednesday and I have high hopes for a recipe I found in my last Cooking Light magazine.

Artichoke and Goat Cheese Strata

Two of Lauren’s favorite foods is goat cheese and artichokes (well, stuffed artichokes).  So I had me a meat free possibly Lauren loved recipe, I am going to be a popular gal tonight! 

There’s my version (I snuck in a package of frozen chopped spinach).  Lauren was excited and dug into the strata.  Then it came, the stinky sock face accompanied with her vocal critique. “Not. Good.”  Darn it, I was so confident I found a new family favorite (well, at least 3 out of the 4 members of the family).  But 5 year old pickiness aside, definitely a great lent dinner, easy side dish, potluck contribution, or just a regular dinner recipe.  This 35 year old would hit like if the recipe had a facebook page.

March 6th, 2011

We are due at Julie’s house for dinner at 5 pm.  But until then, exciting things are happening around the house.  Well, exciting to me. 

Our microwave caught on fire in late January and it’s been a process to get a new one, but I was one determined girl.  I was on a first name basis with 3 people in different departments at LG.  In all honesty, the customer service at LG was fantastic, but there were many steps to getting a new microwave.  Backdating our warranty, approving the backdating, approving a replacement free of charge, pictures of the burnt microwave, images of our receipt, a visit from LG repairman to determine the unit officially dead, taking the serial number and ID sticker off and mailing it to LG, official decree from LG we were bestowed a new unit, and last but not least confirmation of said unit traveling via Fed Ex to our home.

So for a couple of weeks after we had to remove the microwave, I got to look at this fun hole above our stove.  I actually probably missed the light under the microwave more than the actual function of the microwave. 

Thankfully I’m a happily married woman, otherwise, I might have kissed this man when he brought me this.

Hola horno microondas!

I did happily kiss the man that put in the microwave this morning!

And that’s not all the hubby did.  My dad bought me 2 new grow lights to start our seeds indoors this spring.  My parents illegally smuggled brought back some seeds packets from their trip to Italy and Germany and I spent some time (and money) on heirloom seed company websites in January.   I had some special seeds and my dad wanted confirmation their newborn/toddler phase would be a productive one. 

Trent assembled the grow lights and then I quickly got to work planting and labeling.

I can’t wait to see how all this turns out!  So we have a microwave again and I got to play with dirt, both great things.  At Julie and Ben’s house we had delicious tortellini with pesto and my mind fast forwarded to the day I hopefully get to harvest the illegal special Italian basil in the garden for freshly made pesto to go with my unlawful Italian tomatoes.  Fingers and toes crossed!

March 4th, 2011

Trent LOVES buffalo chicken wings.  Actually, he loves boneless buffalo chicken wings strips.  I have to admit, I love them too.  Spicy saucy breaded chicken dipped in cold blue cheese dressing, heaven!  I was on the treadmill at the Y last week trying to think about anything but running. I started thinking about meal planning and making something Trent would like (he puts up with alot of Jenny serving what Jenny likes) and my mind went to Buffalo Chicken wings and trying to make a healthy twist on it.  I’ve done various meals doing this, buffalo chicken sandwiches, Rachel Ray’s Buffalo Chicken Chili, buffalo chicken salads, etc.  The buffalo wing sauce you buy at the grocery store is fat free, so as long as you curb the blue cheese and don’t fry the chicken, it’s fairly easy to lighten up. Then it came to me, Buffalo Chicken Blue Cheese Stuffed Meatloaf. 

Whenever you order wings, they come with carrot and celery sticks.  So I sautéed them with onions and garlic.

Half of the meatloaf mixture on the baking sheet, sprinkle blue cheese crumbles and top with the other half of meat.

I put wing sauce in the meat mixture and then mix honey and more wing sauce to glaze the meatloaf.  I can’t look at this picture without thinking about Charlie Sheen’s favorite “drink.”  Gross.

I had no idea if this concoction would work or be disastrous.  It worked.  I did something I never do.  I wrote out the recipe.  Here you go:

Buffalo Chicken Bleu Cheese Stuffed Meatloaf
1 pound ground chicken breast
1 onion, finely chopped
4 celery stalks, finely chopped
3 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely diced
1 teaspoon olive oil
3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 1/4 cup buffalo wing sauce, divided
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup honey
Cooking spray
salt
pepper
Prebake oven at 375 degrees. Preheat skillet on medium high heat, add olive oil, then add the onion, celery, and carrots, cook for 5-8 minutes until translucent.  Add garlic and cook 2 more minutes.  Remove from heat and cool.  In a medium bowl add ground chicken, 3/4 cup of wing sauce, egg, bread crumbs, salt, and pepper.  When veggies are slightly cooled, add to bowl and combine without overworking the meat mixture.  Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and add half of the meat mixture in a loaf shape.  Then add the blue cheese on top of the meat and cover it with other half of the meat.  Make sure to seal all sides of meat to encase the blue cheese inside.  Mix together the other half of wing sauce and honey and brush all over the meatloaf.  Place in preheated oven for 1 hour.  Let cool slightly before slicing. 

March 2nd, 2011

A couple years ago Rachel Ray was talking about how when she was little her favorite pasta dish was Pasta With Trees.  I tried it a year or so ago and now make it almost once a month. 

Here are the recipe’s selling points:

1. It can be made in the time it takes to boil the pasta

2. It’s meat free

3. The whole family will eat it and Sydney will actually tolerate broccoli on her plate (and some makes it in her belly)

4. No need for a side dish or salad.

5. Costs under $10 to make for a family of 4 and there is leftovers for lunch the next day

Also I have FINALLY found a great low fat ricotta cheese, it’s delicious!  The texture and taste are almost as good as fresh whole milk ricotta.  I’ve been through so many brands and am ready to commit to my Frigo for all future ricotta needs.  Ricotta monogamy for me!

March 1st, 2011

Cooking Light's Spicy Tortilla Soup with Shrimp and Avocado is the perfect way to celebrate MARCH!!!!  Get here already spring!  I am officially DONE with being cold, wearing a coat, and being stuck inside.  Love that it is finally March and the spring bulbs are peaking out, so so ready!

February 27th, 2011

For a couple of years in the 80’s my Grandma Coco, who was an incredible cook, was having culinary issues with jello.  Yep, I’m officially outting her battle.  She couldn’t get her jello to jell….ever.  It was actually quite comical, but I couldn’t have told her that, she had the anger for her non-jelling jello.  She came out of her slump eventually, but I still think the soupy jello era spooked her a bit.  Why talk about this now?  Well I am having a bit of a slump lately myself.  I have officially pushed the envelope too far and need to regroup.  My pasta sauce is getting bland.  There, I said it.  I have messed around with my go to recipe too much, cutting back on the meat, adding too many veggies, skipping tomato paste, not buying fresh herbs in the winter, and trying to go light on the salt.  My last 3 pasta sauces have been watery and bland.  And tonight was no exception.  It was the night of the Oscars and I wanted to make a Bolognese type pasta sauce…..and added too many veggies, not enough meat, no tomato paste, and resulted in no flavor.   The buck stops here.  My next sauce it going to be a good one or I’ll have to remove my italian tattoo on my back and that costs more money than extra meat and herbs at the grocery store, so that would be dumb.

On the topic of dumb…..tornado sirens are dumb.  They go off too soon, turn off too quickly, then start up again, and again, and again.  Tornado sirens were not told the tale of The Boy who cried Wolf as a child.  That said, when they went off at 11:30 pm and we double checked the news, we took the kids to the basement.  While we were in the basement, our power went out.

Because our tree fell on our power lines. 

Something that is a bigger bummer than bland tomato sauce is no power in February…..or any month for that matter. 

February 25th, 2011

For most everything, I am a fan of “the works.”  When I order a pizza, the more toppings, the better.  My favorite pizza is veggie pizza and it’s not because I don’t like meat on my pizza, but if you order veggie, you get the most toppings for the best price.  If I get a hot dog, burger, order of nachos, bowl of chili, the more condiments on it, the better.  Onions? Yes. Ketchup? Yes. Cheese? Yes. Relish? Yes. Mustard? Yes. Salsa? Yes. Lettuce? Yes. Tomato? Yes. Jalapenos? Yes. Which brings me to one of my favorite condiments that is too rarely offered.  Sauerkraut!  I love me some sauerkraut and thankfully so does Trent (don’t tell him it’s made from cabbage because apparently he doesn’t like cabbage, which I learned the hard way in September…).  I was trying to assess our deep freezer situation and figuring out meals when I found a package of bratwurst.  My brain immediately went to sauerkraut.

That is Trent’s plate, he’s a big mustard guy.  Mine is too embarrassing to display.  Basically it looks like that, minus bread and add mounds of bbq sauce and relish.  A big hot mess on top of a bratwurst, aka the works!

After dinner we took the girls to see Lindbergh High School’s production of Wizard of Oz.  I was shocked at how good it was!  A great family night of culture and condiments.

February 24th, 2011

I’m a huge cooking magazine and book junkie.  I especially like pictures of the food.  I want to know what I’m aiming for.  When using a recipe from a magazine or book where there is a picture I find myself usually bummed what’s on my plate doesn’t look as pretty.  Exhibit A:

Cooking Light’s Asian Glazed Chicken Thighs.

Jenny’s version.  Definitely not as pretty.  But I would recommend the recipe, it was yummy, just not as pretty.

February 23rd, 2011

When I plan dinners I find I like to go old school and do a protein, carb, and veggie.  I mix it up with different combinations and sometime don’t do a protein and sometimes skip the carb.  But I normally like 2-3 things on the plate and always a vegetable or salad.  Keeping that formula in mind, I have to admit something.  I absolutely LOVE breaded fish and chicken.  Absolutely love it.  I blame both of my grandmas, they both loved to bread and fry things and the result was always delicious. There are 3 downsides to this. 

#1 Not the healthiest thing and I don’t like buying new, bigger clothes.

#2 It’s time consuming and causes the kitchen to be a mess setting up a flour, egg, and breadcrumb assembly line.

#3 It makes the house smell like a greasy pit for 36 hours.

Don’t get me wrong, I will still bread things.  To combat #1 and #3 I normally will bread chicken or fish and put on a baking sheet in the oven and spray with cooking spray.  It does the trick.  But I think I found a trick to combat #2.  I had a bunch of tilapia filets and was in the mood to bread them, but not in the mood for counter mess and egg and breadcrumb caked hands.  I laid the fish all out on a cutting board, slathered them with mustard, then sprinkled whole wheat panko bread crumbs.  The breadcrumbs stuck to the fish.  I then transferred to my baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray and did the same thing on the other side and baked in the oven.  The only mess was the cutting board.  Loved it and they tasted great with slathered Dijon mustard as the base.

Out of the oven.  Of course keeping with my meal formula, there’s the carb and veggies!

Wheatberries with herbs, craisins, white raisins, and pistachios.

Arugula salad with roasted zucchini and edamame.

Dinner!