Food in Review

I may have played it a bit safe this week, considering last week’s epic failure.  I still think we had some nice dinners though.  I did one thing different this week.  I went to Sprouts.  I hardly EVER go there.  My first experience was…..off putting.  Now that I know what to expect, my second trip was fantastic.  I actually plan to go back this weekend.

Saturday:  I like to make meals that my husband would consider a treat when I feel like maybe I haven’t been the best at being a wife.  Enter burgers.  Real beef burgers.  Wait, correction, real ORGANIC beef STUFFED burgers!  (Organic ground beef was on special at Sprouts.)  Stuffed with what?  Oh, just local, organic white cheddar!   I mixed the beef with half a can of diced green chili peppers then made four very thin patties.  Shredded cheese topped two of the patties.  Then the remaining patties topped the cheese.  I pressed the edges to seal the burgers, but they managed to ooze nonetheless.  Who cares?!  It’s a cheese-filled burger?!  Topped with avocado and served with sweet potato fries.  He was in burger heaven.  

Sunday:  I wanted chicken and dumplings again before the weather grew too warm to eat it!  I made it exactly the same as last time, except I had 2% milk instead of whole.  It was sort of a fail.  The difference in milk made the texture and consistency of this pot less appealing than my chicken and dumplings of last month.  Still, it was totally edible and we went through two bowlfuls each.  I believe that’s where the issue in texture comes in.  Last time we each only ate one bowl.  

Monday:  I found chicken bratwurst and Sprouts, and I had to try them!  I love brats.  The traditional pork ones are great.  And I’ve had turkeys, which are an okay, healthier substitute.  So, I was intrigued by the chicken ones, and from a real meat counter no less.  Per the butcher’s suggestion, I broiled them in the over on a rack for 30 minutes at 350.  To finish them, I simply seared the skins in a very hot skillet.  While the brats were in the oven, I glazed baby organic carrots in butter and brown sugar and simmered sauerkraut until nearly dry.  The mustard was a bit odd.  I had a waning container of Dijon and brown mustards.  Not enough in either, and both were entirely stuck to the sides of the jars!  Enter a little water and a sauce pan!  I rinsed and shook each container into the pan, set it to simmer, and added brown mustard seeds, pepper, and a little extra horseradish to the mix.  Then I just whisked it occasionally until it thickened back up.  It made and excellent dipper.  And the chicken brats?  They were perfection!  Juicy and bursting with flavor.  Delish!

Tuesday:  I had about 1/3 pound of ground beef left from the burgers that I’d reserved for taco night!   I browned the beef, drained it, and added all the usual “taco” spices: garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, chili powder, cumin, and salt.  I don’t like seasoning packets for this.  I want to control the level of each spice.  Just add water and let it simmer till thickened.  I added the same spices to a jar of refried black beans and nuked them till warm.  The refried beans and seasoned ground beef were stuffed inside La Tortilla Factory wheat corn tortillas topped with a pinch of shredded jack and sliced avocado.  One the side, I pan-fried some sweet potatoes that I’d diced and roasted when the brats were in the oven the day before.  Might as well multi-task right??  I’d coated the potatoes with sunflower oil when roasting them, and since the pan was non-stick, they didn’t require any additional oil to pan-fry.  Tacos are comfort food for me!  I just loved the combo on these.  I sprinkled chili powder and cayenne on the pan-fried sweet potatoes.  They were sweet and spicy, crispy and gooey all at once.  Perfection.   

Wednesday:  Dinner started with a gigantic glass of wine.  For me, not for the dinner.  To say I had a hard day wouldn’t cover it.  So, dinner was desperately simple: jarred sauce, frozen ravioli, garlic bread.  The jarred sauce was left over from last week’s eggplant pizza: Mezzetta’s Artichoke Parmesan Marinara.  This sauce is fantastic.  So thick, more the consistency of a pesto than a marinara.  The frozen ravis were my favorite: Central Market’s organic ricotta and goat cheese.  I boiled the ravioli, laid them on a bed of spinach, heated the sauce in the pasta pot, and spooned it on top.  Totally lazy right?  Yes, but also totally delicious.  I made garlic bread on the side out of Nature’s Pride potato bread.  Num.  

Thursday:  This is a "clean out the fridge" meal.  I soaked wheat berries over night then cooked in broth.  To the side, I sauteed onion, red bell pepper, garlic, and quartered frozen sprouts.  Once things looked lovely and caramelized, I added pinches of flour until the veggies were lightly coated. Then I poured the wheat berries into the veggies, broth and all.  The two cooked together until a nice, thick sauce formed.  Finally, I added a can of Starkist Roasted Garlic marinated yellowfin tuna.  The tuna was too strong for me.  Don't think I'll be using it again....but we ate it for dinner anyhow.  Live and learn?  Everything else was so good together.  So, either leave out the tuna and have a veggie meal or perhaps chicken would be better. 

Riley has been a BEAST this week.  She's decided I don't matter, so she's not minding me.  I certainly hope that she's better next week.

Yeah, you puppy!  Cuteness does not make up for being bad!

I hope you have a great weekend!  I have exciting news tomorrow!!!

Granola - Attempt #7

I asked my hubby what kind of granola he wanted this week.  He said something with a berry.  Okay, that's doable, but I don't really like dried fruit in my granola.  A little is okay, but I'm not a fan of heavily fruited granolas.

My solution?  Leave the dried fruit out!  There are other ways to incorporate fruit if you don't mind purple-tinged granola.

Blackberry granola

1/4 c brown rice syrup
1/4 c unsweetened applesauce
1/4 c blackberry jam
3 c rolled oats
1/4 c milled flax
1/2 c almonds
1/4 c pepitas
1/4 c sunflower seeds
1/4 t salt

I started out by toasting my nuts and seeds because they are all raw.  10 minutes at 325 was plenty to get just a little color and aroma out of them.

Meanwhile, the first three ingredients were heated slowly over a low heat until well incorporated and very pourable.

The remaining ingredients including the pre-toasted nuts and seeds were combined and the syrup pour over.  Fold until everything is a lovely purple color and evenly coated.

I baked the granola at 325, stirring every 10 minutes till dry.  This batch took 40 minutes.

Unfortunately, the granola isn't nearly as purple as I'd hoped, but the berry taste is still there.  I think next time I'll up the jam a bit but leave everything else the same.

What crazy flavors would you like to see worked into a granola recipe?

First scones

I happen to be head over heels with scones.  I live the biscuit quality they have while incorporating more intriguing flavors like a muffin.
 
I knew I wanted something with blueberries and the two over-ripe bananas on my cabinet.  I set out in search of a muffin recipe.  Then I was tempted by a scone recipe.  Torn and too tired to make a decision between the two, I went with both, naturally.

Blueberry banana scone
(Inspired by Mama Pea)

2 beyond-ripe bananas
1/4 c plus 1 T milk (I used Good Karma's Whole Grain Unsweetened Rice Milk)
1/2 t apple cider vinegar
1/2 t baking soda
1 t vanilla extract
2 c whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 c sugar
1/4 c brown sugar
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t cream of tartar
1/2 t fine sea salt
1/2 c vegan shortening (I used Earth Balance Shortening Sticks)
1/2 c blueberries

As with Mama Pea's pumpkin version, combine the first 5 ingredients and set aside.  I added the vanilla since I left out all of the pumpkin pie-type spices.

In a larger bowl, add flour through sea salt and stir well.

Then add shortening, cut into small bits.  I used a cheese grater.  WAY easier than trying to cut that slick stuff with a knife!

Add the shortening to the flour mixture and cut it in with two forks (I have a pastry cutter coming in my next
Pampered Chef order!).

Once crumbly, I added the banana and milk mixture to the flour and folded it in.  This is where I discovered that a half cup of milk is just a tad shy.  I needed an extra tablespoon for the mixture to form a ball.

At this point, I added my blueberries and folded them in by hand.  I didn't want to crush the little blue beauties.

This meant I couldn't roll my dough out.  I'd have squashed every single berry.  So, instead, I scooped them out like cookies.  What....you've seen round scones before, right?  Okay....so the shape is less than typical, but I will say that it made getting them out of the bowl and into the oven way faster and easier.

20 minutes later.....golden tops and soft insides.  The blueberries burst with every bite.  Tender and delicious.  Quite the winner!

Do you have a favorite scone?  Mine is this one the bakery at Scarborough Faire makes with candied ginger!

Food in Review

Okay, so you all know of my tragic brisket on Sunday.  Thankfully, one bad meal did not define the week's meals as a whole.

Sunday:  I used the recipe described here.  The flavor was great.  The cooking time should probably be adjusted, or the temp, as I have been informed by someone I trust that I did not cook it long enough.  The sweet potato was amazing...cooked for over an hour in the stove with the brisket.

 

 

Monday: We test drove cars, so we did the $1 pulled pork sandwich deal at Dickey's.  Delicious.

Tuesday:  I had chopped brisket on the mind.  I thought it was the only way to save a tough brisket, which was backed by others.  I chopped most of the remaining brisket and simmered it in the remainder of a dwindling jar of salsa.  Meanwhile, I played with something new!  I've eaten plantains in Brazilian restaurants before, but never cooked with them.  I decided to go with baked plantain chips.  I tossed the sliced plantain in sunflower oil, salt, pepper, and hot smoked paprika then baked at 375 for about 18 minutes, turning once.  The result was might crisp and filling.  I do believe another good glug of oil would have been good though.  They were a bit dry.  I served the chopped beef in La Tortilla Factory half wheat/half corn whole grain tortillas.  Oh man, those tortillas were killer.  If you find them (these were at my local Kroger and very affordable), try them.  Great texture and flavor.  No compromise needed for going healthy on these. 

Wednesday:  I wanted stuffed acorn squash.  I know, typical.  About every third week, I crave roasted squash.  This one was very similar to all my others.  I baked the squash at 400 for almost an hour and cooked up some kamut the night before.  So, when it came dinner Wednesday, I just reheated the squash and made the filling.  This filling started with sauteed garlic and onions.  I added these amazing chicken sausages I found at Central Market.  They were orange cranberry walnut with actual segments of orange, whole cranberries, and chunks of walnut.  Oh my goodness.  Must have more.  I went with the citrus theme and added the juice of an entire lemon and two teaspoon of tahini with some veggie stock to flavor the kamut.  I threw in a little kale for something green and let it simmer till all of the stock was gone.  This was heaven.  

Thursday:  Pizza time.  Pizza Melanzana!  Okay, I made that up.  But I bet the Italians like eggplant on pizza....wouldn't you think?  I used the same crust as last time the night before.  When I got home, I peeled and roasted an eggplant at 350 with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and red pepper flake till gooey.  I topped my pizza with a sauce I found on sale that looked great....Artichoke Parmesan Marinara by Mezzetta who make the giardiniera that I love.  The whole thing was covered in shredded jack and parm then baked till GBD (sorry, channeled my inner Alton there...that's Golden Brown and Delicious).  The crust was SPOT ON this time, just the right amount of chewiness, fluffy, and light.  The eggplant melted into the pizza.  I cannot wait to eat this again! 

And a little view from my evening on the floor with Ri. 

Happy Friday!

Challenge accepted

I was issued a bit of a challenge by one little PurpleBird regarding kale and nutritional yeast.  I've never had either.  She basically told me to stop being a chicken and eat the darn stuff!  And well, that's exactly what I did.

I went on a hunt for a baked kale chip recipe and the first one that popped up was Smitten Kitchen's version.  Well, that blog makes me drool so I didn't bother to look any further. 

I used her method, but added some flare of my own. 

Spicy sesame kale chips
3 large leaves of kale
1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil
1 teaspoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
sprinkling of smoked hot pakrika

Tossed together and baked for 18 minutes at 300.

The verdict?  Well the smell is unique.  Green and stinky akin brussel sprouts.  The kale will literally shatter it's so crisp.  The flavor though, hmm, yeah......I have to be honest.  I don't like it.  I gave a piece to my husband, he wrinkled his entire face and loudly proclaimed "Eeeewwwwww!!!" and gave the other half of the piece back.  I'll be trying them again after they've cooled to see if that makes all the difference.

I feel like a bad blogger.  I'm supposed to love these, right?  ;)  Maybe I'd like it better if I did the hummus trick that Christin does? 

Pancake redemption

Last Sunday, my husband asked for pancakes.  I searched a couple of my favorite blogs, picked one, and made pancakes.  We had guests, so I made a LOT of pancakes.  Our guests arose, not realizing the time, and rushed out the door in order to make it home in time for prior obligations.  No worries, I don't mind re-toasting a pancake during the week.  My husband and I sat down to with our steamy, maple drizzled cakes and dug in.....and immediately threw the entire batch in the trash!  Worst pancake ever.

So, this Sunday, I was determined to redeem myself in the pancake department.  I wanted them to be wheat and contain oatmeal.  After about an hour of searching (my hubby doesn't eat until he's been awake for quite some time), I found a recipe that I had all the ingredients for that looked very promising.

These Golden Oat Pancakes from The Kitchn were very simple to make with simple ingredients.  I made two swaps: molasses for brown sugar and whole wheat flour for "flour" (it didn't specify).  

The batter got bubbly, just like it was supposed to.

The cakes pumped and turned golden.

The texture of these simple, fluffy cakes were spot on.  Nice and tender.  My husband said they had an after taste, but I couldn't detect it.  I served mine with a slather of homemade PB and maple.  My hubby is a purist....just syrup.

Pancake craving pulverized!  Huzzah!  Victory really does taste sweet....or maybe that was the maple syrup.

Another party meal

My friends decided I needed to hold another Pampered Chef party, to which, I happily complied.  I love hosting parties.  To me, party = good food.  Right?  I get the chance to feed far more people than I usually get to.  Feeding people is a bit of a thrill for me.  Being that it was sooooo cold this week, I went with chili.  I know, right, I just had chili.  Exactly.  So I changed it up.  This is my first vegetarian chili!

I used a huge organic sweet potato, peeled and cubed, for the bulk of the chili.  I also added an entire onion, an organic zucchini a can of black beans, Muir Glen fire-roasted diced tomatoes (instead of the kidneys in the photo....seemed too beany), roasted pablanos, tomato sauce, and a chili kit. 

The onion was first up!  I let it sweat then added the sweet potatoes, tomato sauce, two cans of water, and all the seasonings from the kit.  As a note, next time I'll only use 3/4 of the chili powder.  It was a little overwhelming at first bite, but then it tasted perfect a couple bites in. Still, I wouldn't want anyone turning it away because of the strong chili bite at the beginning of the dish. 

While that simmered away for 30 minutes, these bad boys were roasting away.  Look how black they get! 

After 30 minutes, I mixed the masa with water and added all the other ingredients.  I let this simmer another half hour then put it away for serving at the party.  The chili had the change to chill in the fridge for a couple days.  I honestly feel that chili is best after a day or two, just like lasagna.  So, this was intentional.

The day of the party, I warmed in on the stove while I made this cornbread, only I made it in muffin form for easy serving so I nixed the melty butter step.  That seemed like too much work for each muffin cup! 

Somehow I managed not to get one single photo of the finished goods, but let me just say that everyone gobbled it up and no one missed the meat.  The sweet potatoes melted upon contact with your tongue creating a creamy sweet pillow against the spice.  The combination is phenomenal!  I would make this again in a heartbeat and serve it to even the meatiest of eaters. 

The best part (other than it being ridiculously good)?  Feeding a crowd on just a few bucks!  The whole pot (and it was a huge pot, the net was probably 10-12 cups) was roughly $6....and I made the cornbread out of pantry staples.  Ah, how I love a well stocked pantry! 

What's your favorite crowd pleasing dish?!  Chili is always one of mine, but this was a nice twist!

Food in Review

You’d think from the fact that we got over 10” of snow last winter, that snow wouldn’t be quite the big deal when we get 3” the next year.  Not so!  I think it would have to get up to 10” regularly before we DFW area Texans stop marveling at this crazy thing called snow.  

The snow set the pace for a the week, which is basically to say that it was colder than a witch’s, um, toe this week and required warm, comforting food!  Seriously, most nights were in the teens here.  That’s cold.  Period.  

Sunday:  Well, I think we can all agree that chilly weather calls for......chili!  I realize this is FAR from original, and you’ve seen my chili before.  But wanted to show you what goes into my process.  I tend to let my chili cook for hours to get all the flavors nice and acquainted.  The other tidbit about this week is that all the dinners had to be really quick because I intended to do the 10 day unlimited yoga trial after work every day.  So, yes, our meals revolved around the chili.

First up, brown some meat (or don’t, vegetarian is good too.....I’m doing that soon).  This was the last pound of the ground beef I got from the farmers’ market.  Once it was browned, I drained the fat and added a diced onion to sweat until translucent.  The meat went back in, along with a can of tomato sauce, two cans of water and all the seasonings from the chili kit.  Yes, I own all of these spices.  But I love this kit and how it turns out, so I just buy the kit.  I only use half of the “red pepper”, as an FYI.  I love spice, but I also like to feel my tongue.  So, I guess technically, I make one alarm chili.  That simmers away for 30 minutes.

 

Meanwhile, roast a couple pablanos.  You can either stick them under the broiler, turning until blackened, or stick them straight on an electric burner.  The result is extremely similar, except that I find the skin is easier to feel using the broiler method.  Once black, pop into a zip bag or a bowl sealed tightly with plastic wrap.  The key is just to allow the peppers to steam.  Again, this is helpful in removing the skin. 

 

Once 30 minutes are up, mix the masa from the kit (another reason I buy the kit) with water, pour it into the chili and allow to simmer for another 20 minutes.  At this point, add any fun stuff you want.  My typical chili gets the roasted pablanos (de-skinned, de-seeded, and chopped), a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes, and a drained can of dark red kidney beans.  Really though....the door is wide open to add whatever suits your palette!  Once I stir my add-ins thoroughly, I let it simmer till we’re ready to eat, however long that might be.  

 

Sunday’s dinner was a simple bowl of chili with a dollop of organic sour cream, grated sharp cheddar and multigrain tortilla chips on the side.  Perfection on a snowy night.

Monday:  When there is a vat of chili in the fridge, chili dogs are irresistible!  Especially when I happen to know my husband loves them.  I used Applegate Farms organic uncured beef franks for our chili dogs.  These guys were out of this world good!  Seriously one of the most flavorful dogs I’ve ever eaten.  I didn’t feel like committing to an entire bag of buns, so I used my newest obsession under the dogs: sea salt ciabatta from the WF bakery.  (Go out and get this!  Put it in a breakfast casserole.  Thank me later.)  I was leery about the ciabatta, but it was a foolish worry!  It held up beautifully!  No sogginess.  No tearing.  Just thick, chewy bread in every bite.  I tried a little experiment and split a dog down the middle.  I’ll be doing the rest this way when I cook them.  Great for stability since we weren’t using traditional buns.  The ciabatta and wieners were doused in chili, onion, and cheese, of course.  More multigrain tortilla chips on the side.  Dinner was done in 15 minutes.  Gotta love that!  

 

Tuesday:  Another quick and easy pleaser: chili topped taters.  I “baked” the russets in the microwave, split them, filled them with chili cheese, and sour cream.  Dinner.  Done.  
 

Wednesday:  I had another chili recipe planned out, but lacked the cheese to bring it to fruition.  So, I changed the focus from chili to chowder.  I had a box of Pacific Natural Foods rosemary potato chowder, and I wanted to make it into dinner for two.  So, I diced up a russet and a half (left over from the Tuesday.....I bought extras).  I added a pat of organic butter and some olive oil to my pan with a little diced onion (left over from the chili dogs) and the diced potatoes.  They sauteed until the potatoes were just a starting to get color and the onion was soft.  Then I got a little weird, with the husband’s blessing.  I split two of the Applegate Farms beef dogs down the middle, sliced them thin, and added them to the potatoes.  In went the box of chowder and some veggie stock to thin it out.  It simmered, covered for about 15 minutes while more sea salt ciabatta reheated at 350 in the oven.  The resulting chowder was extra thick, warm, and utterly DE-licious!  I know the hot dogs are probably a little ghetto, but they worked.  Oh man did they work.  These might be the best dogs I’ve ever eaten.  The texture is strictly hot dog , but the flavor is far more like kielbasa or smoked sausage: hearty and noticeable.  And I’ll hand it to the Pacific soups.  So far, I’ve had two and both have been rich, thick, and full of flavor with excellent ingredients lists.  

 

Thursday:  Hot dog alert!  Yeah, two days in a row.  I know.  Nothing right about me. And on nachos.  Really?  Yeah, I went there.  The package says to use them within 4 days of opening.  I got a little creative.  Sue me.  Okay, well, the husband was quite fond.  I found it meh....I wouldn't recommend it, personally.  But that's really the great part of cooking: you get to try it and see for yourself!

And some Riley for the road....thought she's bounced between sweet, sickly pup to hellhound this week!  Lord give me strength.

Lesson learned

Roughly four hours were spent correcting my stupidity in order for me to continue posting photos on my blog.  Basically, I didn't realize that my camera took HUGE, MASSIVE photos.  I'd naively been pulling photos off of the camera and posting them directly onto the blog.  Tuesday, Blogger let me know that I had no more space available for photos.  It did not take my husband long to figure out what I'd done wrong.  (Whaaa, whaaa!)

I'm happy to say that all of the photos have been resized, and I have lots of space left. As a matter of fact, I went from 99.9% full to 10.29%.  Huzzah!  Yeah, I know, I'm a dunce.  That's something I really should have known.  Lesson learned, right??  Another thing I learned, Picasa's editor Picnik is really cool.  I find photo editors too complex, mostly because I haven't taken the time to learn how each function works.  So, until I get more serious and take a class, I think I'll definitely be putting Picnik to use!

For today, I wanted to share a delicious and embarrassingly simple lunch.  I made this for us on Sunday with the snow falling, and I am so pleased with it.

I'd picked up this box of Annie's mac and cheese on a whim when I saw it on sale.  It's been in the pantry for weeks.  I'd forgotten about it until I reorganized the pantry and discovered it.  I prefer to make my own cheese sauce, but sometimes you just want easy, right?  I was intrigued by the fact that Annie's was at least healthier than the usual box of mac.  This was the organic 5-grain elbows and white cheddar, and according to their nutritionals,  there are 10 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber! 

I cooked it according to box directions, added a pack of Starkist smoked tuna, a bunch of frozen peas, and a handful of parm.  This was a seriously delicious and filling lunch, done in 10 minutes!  I'm good with that.