Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Stuffed Red Pepper

We made the Well Dressed Salmon again tonight, but instead of the potatoes I made two stuffed red peppers.

Stuffing:
2 Red Bell Peppers
1/2 can corn
2 green onions diced
1 jalapeno pepper diced (no seeds)
1/3 cup jasmine rice
2 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper

Sauce:
1/2 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 can (small one) tomato paste
3 tbls plus red wine
1/3 cup water
salt and pepper


Pre-heat oven to 350

Cut tops off peppers and clean out. Dice pieces of pepper top. In a bowl, combine the pepper pieces, corn, rice, jalapeno pepper, garlic powder, 1/4 cup of the tomatoes from can, salt and pepper. Pack peppers loosely and place in a loaf pan.

Combine remaining tomatoes (1/4 cup), tomato paste, wine and water and mix. Pour into the loaf pan and cover with tin foil. Bake for approximately 50 minutes.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Update on Spiked French Toast

I ended up making the french toast only with the Amaretto liquor and not the Cointreau the other day and I think it turned out much better. Try it this or the other way, but most importantly --- enjoy!

Butternut Squash Enchiladas

A couple of weeks ago I went to Whole Foods to pick up some lunch and came across Butternut Squash Enchiladas. They were so yummy, I decided to try making them at home. I tried them out on my Dad and his wife and got a lot of thumbs up. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did. They are very easy.

Serving 4
All ingredients from Trader Joe's

Corn Tortillas (8 to 9)
TJ's Enchilada Sauce in glass bottle
Butternut Squash cubed in the bag (found pre-packaged veggie section)
About 2 cups Mexican Blend Cheese
1 can sliced olives
2 green onions diced
1/3 cup low fat sour cream
1/2 yellow onion diced
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 350
Line 9 x 13 glass dish with tin foil for easy clean up.
Cook diced onion in olive oil with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, microwave the squash for 4 minutes in the bag (follow bag directions). Once the onion is translucent (about 4 minutes) add the squash to mixture and mash with a fork or potato smasher.

Pour 1/3 of enchilada sauce into a shallow bowl and dip tortilla in the sauce before filling. Once dipped, put about 2 tablespoons of squash mixture and two big pinches of cheese on the tortilla and roll. Place in glass dish. Continue process. You should have about 8 or 9 enchiladas. Pour remaining sauce over tortillas and top with more cheese and olives.

Bake for about 20 to 30 minutes. Take out of oven and top with green onions and serve with sour cream.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Plan for the Week

1) Asparagus, Leek and Potato Soup
Serves 6

1/4 cup unsalted butter
3 large leeks (white part and only 1 inch of green part) chopped
1/2 tsp thyme (cut if half if using dried)
1 bay leaf
6 cups chicken stock or broth
1 and 1/2 pound small new potatoes, quartered
1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
salt and pepper to taste
red pepper flakes to taste.

Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat. Add leeks, thyme, salt, pepper and bay leaf. Sweat leeks (cook until light in color) about 10 minutes. Add soup, potatoes, and red pepper flakes and simmer until tender. Add asparagus and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Puree soup in blender or use hand held blender. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with toasted bread and salad.

2) Cranberry Pork

Pork Chops (2)
1 cup fresh cranberries
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup orange juice (you may even want to add a dash of orange liquor)
2 tbl maple syrup
dried rosemary - pinch
1 tbl balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

salt and pepper pork chops and cook on skillet - olive oil.

To make the sauce - In a sauce pan, add orange juice, water, cranberries, maple sugar and balsamic vinegar and rosemary. Bring to a boil and cook until cranberries begin to pop. Serve with pork.

Serve with rosemary potatoes and veggie of choice.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Plan for the Week

Another week filled with wonderful holiday festivities!!!! I am going to make some more time consuming meals to make up for the lack of home cooked dinners this coming week.

Individual Meat Loaves - Ina Garten (oh Ina - how I love thee!!!!)
This makes six servings, so I am going to cut it down in half. Brian and I are terrible when it comes to eatting left overs.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon good olive oil
3 cups chopped yellow onions (3 onions) (Brian isn't a huge fan of onions so I cut back on these)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves (or 1/2 tsb dried thyme)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup canned chicken stock or broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 1/2 pounds ground chuck (81 percent lean)
1/2 cup plain dry bread crumbs (recommended: Progresso)
2 extra-large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup ketchup (recommended: Heinz)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan. Add the onions, thyme, salt, and pepper and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes, until the onions are translucent but not brown. Off the heat, add the Worcestershire sauce, chicken stock, and tomato paste. Allow to cool slightly. In a large bowl, combine the ground chuck, onion mixture, bread crumbs, and eggs, and mix lightly with a fork. Don't mash or the meatloaf will be dense. Divide the mixture into 6 (10 to 11-ounce) portions and shape each portion into a small loaf on a sheet pan. Spread about a tablespoon of ketchup on the top of each portion. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the internal temperature is 155 to 160degrees F and the meat loaves are cooked through. Serve hot.

This is a pretty heavy meal, so I will only be serving with veggies (no starch). While the meat loaves are in the oven - steam some green veggies of your choice.

Lady and Sons' Chicken in Wine Sauce - Paula Deen
So not healthy, but oh so yummy and very easy to make!!!! This serves 4, so I cut this in half also.

Ingredients
4 large skinless boneless chicken breasts
4 tablespoons butter, melted, plus more for casserole
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 ounces (about 8 slices) Swiss cheese
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup white wine
1 cup herb-flavored stuffing mix, crushed

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Add the chicken to a shallow buttered casserole and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Layer the cheese slices on top.

In a medium bowl, add the soup and the wine, season with salt and pepper and pour over the cheese. Sprinkle stuffing mix on top and drizzle with melted butter. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve.

No starch needed here since there is the stuffing mix. Balance this with another green healthy veggie steamed.

What's for Breakfast? Spiked French Toast

Brian requested some French toast this morning, and I was feeling a tad bit creative so I created this new French toast recipe. Enjoy.


Spiked French Toast

1/2 tbl of cinnamon
1/2 tbl of nutmeg
1 tbl vanilla
1 tbl Cointreau
1 tbl Amaretto
1 dash of milk
2 eggs
4 slices of bread
powder sugar for garnish

Mix first 7 ingredients - whisk good. Soak bread and cook up on griddle or frying pan. Garnish with powdered sugar.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Plan for the Week

Only three meals for this week since the Holiday festivities are starting. These three are some of our favorites. Enjoy.

1)Smoked Gouda Mac and Cheese - Cooking Light

2 cups elbow pasta
1 tbl butter
1/4 cup fat-free milk
2 tbl flour
1 tsp bottled minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup shredded smoked Gouda cheese
1/3 cup grated fresh parmesan cheese
5 cups chopped bagged pre-washed fresh spinach

Cook pasta according to the package
While pasta cooks, melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and garlic; cook 1 minute. Add flour, and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add milk, salt, and pepper, stirring constantly with a whisk until blended. Bring to a boil; cook until thick (about 2 minutes). I add some red pepper flakes.
Add cheeses; stir until melted.

Add fresh spinach and pasta to cheese sauce, stirring until blended.

(The cooking light recipe adds bread crumbs and bakes in the oven. I found this not to be necessary and just added time. Brian and I enjoy this right off the stove.)


2. Mustard Parm Chicken

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 stick of butter
1-2 cloves of fresh garlic
1/2 Tbl dry mustard
A few shakes of worchestire sauce
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Melt butter in frying pan and add garlic, dry mustard and worchestire sauce. Bring to a simmer.

In a bowl combine bread crumbs with parmesan cheese.

Coat the chicken in the butter sauce and roll in the dry mixture. Place in baking pan and pur any remaining butter over the chicken. Bake for 30-40 minutes in a covered dish - check chicken.

Serve with steamed broccoli and rice pilaf (trader joes). Start rice when you put the chicken in the oven.


3. Mexican Lasagna (derived from Rachel Ray)

1 lb ground turkey meat (or beef)
taco seasoning package (I like Lawry's)
1 14 oz can of stewed tomatoes
1 can black beans, drained
1 cup canned corn
4 spinach flour tortillas
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese or Mexican cheese blend

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Cook turkey on stove and follow instructions on taco seasoning package.
Once done, add tomatoes, black beans and corn. Heat for another 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt.

Use 8x8 baking dish, spray with cooking spray. Cut tortillas into even squares (like lasagna noodles). Start layering. Tortillas first, then meat mixture, then cheese. Repeat.
Bake for 12-15 minutes until cheese is brown.

Add hot sauce if you like.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Feedback on Salmon

The salmon was delicious! Easy/yummy sauce and we would make it again. The potato cakes...not as great. It was hard to get the moisture out of them which made frying up difficult. Maybe next time, I would stick to a baked potato or roasted red potatoes with lemon pepper.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Well Dressed Salmon - Rachel Ray

I will be making Rachel Ray's Well Dressed Salmon tonight. While I was home sick, I watched her make it (I'm a food network junkie)and it looked really good. I have never made it before and will let you know tomorrow how it turned out. Below is the recipe. Let's make it together - feel free to post your thoughts.

Well-Dressed Salmon
Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 15 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 4 servings (I will cut it in half for just two)
Ingredients
• 1/2 seedless cucumber
• 2 small plum tomatoes
• 1 shallot or 1/4 red onion, finely chopped, divided
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus a drizzle
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh dill
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 (6-ounce) skinless salmon fillets
• Seafood seasoning (recommended: Old Bay)
Directions
On a cutting board, dice cucumber into 1/4-inch pieces - to peel or not to peel is up to you. Seed and dice the tomatoes into 1/4-inch pieces. Combine the cucumber, tomatoes and half of the shallots or red onion in bowl and reserve.
In a small bowl, whisk together mustard, sugar, and white wine vinegar and remaining half of the shallots. Stream in extra-virgin olive oil while continuing to whisk. Stir in dill and season dressing with salt and pepper, to taste.
Season the salmon with seafood seasoning and a little black pepper. Heat a nonstick skillet with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil over medium-high heat. Place salmon rounded side down and cook until golden and a little crispy at edges, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip and cook 2 minutes more for a pink center, 4 minutes for opaque fish.
Transfer salmon to dinner or serving plates, top with the cucumber-tomato relish and cover with a liberal amount of dill dressing.

Crispy Mashed Potato Cakes
Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 15 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 4 servings
Ingredients
• 2 large Idaho potatoes, 2 pounds total weight
• 3 to 4 ounces cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 2 scallions, very finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
Directions
Peel and dice potatoes and add to a large pot. Cover with water and salt the water. Bring to boil over medium heat, and cook until tender. Drain the potatoes and return to hot pot to dry. Transfer potatoes to a bowl. Soften cream cheese in a microwavable bowl and microwave the cream cheese for 20 seconds on high. Add to the potatoes along with sour cream, scallions, zest, egg, salt and pepper, to taste. Mash potatoes to combine mixture.
Heat the oil and butter in nonstick skillet over medium heat. Drop 2-inch mounds of potatoes into skillet and gently press down to flatten a bit. Crisp potatoes until deeply golden on each side, about 7 to 8 minutes total. Mixture makes 8 golden cakes.

Monday, November 30, 2009

No Shopping List This Week - Sorry!

Hi Readers,

I was under the weather yesterday, so did not post a list. Turkey soup for me (see recipe below). I'll post recipes this week and a shopping list on Sunday.

-Adrienne

Turkey Soup

Too much turkey left over? Make soup!

Do you have a crock-pot and don't know what to do with it? If so, I say .... make soup, especially if there is still turkey left over.



Left over turkey diced
2 cans of chicken broth (14 oz cans)
24 oz of Water - fill empty chicken broth cans
Carrot
1/2 onion diced
3 ribs of celery diced
5 red potatoes diced
Turkey bones
Red pepper flakes (not a lot)
Salt/pepper (to taste)
Bay Leaf

Place all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for 5 hours or so. Take out bay leaf and bones - serve.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Orange Roughy, Broccoli, Rice

Frozen Orange Roughy from TJ's - thawed
Lemon
Paprika
olive oil
broccoli
Mushroom rice from TJ's (or rice of your choice)

Preheat oven to 375 (start the rice)
Rinse fish and place on foil lined baking sheet
Drizzle olive oil, squeeze lemon over it and dust with paprika
Cook for approximately 15 minutes (depending on size of fish)

Make rice according to package. The rice takes about 20 minutes so I start it while the oven is preheating.


Steam Broccoli, sprinkle with salt and lemon juice (start broccoli when there is 5 minutes left on fish)


This fish is very light and full of flavor. Enjoy.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Roasted Vegetable & Smoked Gouda Pasta

This is derived from Giada's recipe.

Bell peppers of choice (I like red, yellow and orange) sliced into strips
Sliced Zucchini
Sliced mushrooms
(use vegetables you have in the fridge)
Penne Pasta (I make half the box)
Jar tomato sauce
Smoked Gouda grated (about a cup)
salt, pepper, olive oil

Preheat oven to 450
Cut up veggies and place in a glass 9x13 dish. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast for about 20 minutes.

Start pasta. While the water boils, grate cheese.

Cook pasta al dente

Once veggies are done, turn down oven to 350ish.

Combine cooked pasta, sauce, roasted veggie and cheese together in the same 9x13 dish you cooked veggies in. Place back in oven so sauce gets warm and cheese melts, about 10 minutes.

Serve and enjoy.
Time: approx 30 minutes.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Plan for the Week

Hi Everyone,

I am going to do my best on Sundays to post what the plan for the week is so you can shop accordingly and like us and be prepared for the week. I hate going to the grocery store last minute, so by planning out the week I get everything I need on one shop at TJ's. I have only planned out three dinners for this week due to the Holiday. I will post the how to on Monday.

1) TJ's Orange Roughy found in the frozen fish section
Lemon, paprika, olive oil
*Broccoli (TJ's has prewashed and cut in the bag)
*TJ's mushroom rice from the box

2) Horseradish Burgers
Ground beef, white horseradish in the jar, chives, garlic paste from the jar
*Frozen french fries
*Asparagus

3) Roasted Vegetable and Smoked Gouda Pasta
Penne pasta
Red, yellow, orange bell pepper (one each)
Zucchini (one)
(any other veggies you have in the fridge that you need to use before they go bad - mushrooms, asparagus, onions, etc.)
Canned tomato sauce of your choice
Smoked Gouda

Thursday, November 19, 2009

BBQ Chicken, Rosemary Potatoes, Veggies


Brian fired up the BBQ last night and made some BBQ Chicken. I made my famous rosemary potatoes and microwavable TJ's fire roasted balsamic vegetables.

BBQ Chicken
Marinate chicken in your favorite BBQ sauce (we used Simmie J's)
BBQ chicken

Rosemary Potatoes
red potatoes (2 per person)
olive oil
dried rosemary
salt

Preheat oven to 425
Line a baking sheet with tin foil (makes clean up easy)
Wash and slice potatoes into little discs (the thinner you slice the crispier the potato will be)
Place potatoes out on the pan in a single layer, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle salt and dried rosemary
Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until desired crispiness

Fire Roasted Balsamic Vegetables
Follow directions on package
This is a great mix of peppers, green beans, pearl onions, carrots and tomatoes

Time: 30 minutes

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Taco Tuesday

What better way to enjoy a Tuesday than with Tacos?! I heart Taco Tuesdays and I heart alliterations. Back in college we had White Trash Wednesday parties and Thirsty Thursday keg nights. Oh, the good ol' days.

Last night Brian and I used the Trader Joe's Frozen Pork Al Pastor. It took 5 minutes to sizzle that up on the stove. Brian made guacamole, cut up cilantro and cooked a can of Trader Joe's black beans. Plop that on some corn tortillas with store bought salsa and voilĂ ! Dinner.

It was so good, Brian had to go back for seconds.

Prep/cook time: 15-20 minutes

What's for dinner

Hi Everyone,


After a long day at work, the question I hate the most is,"What's for dinner?" I am sure I'm not alone, so I thought I would post what we had for dinner in hopes that it will inspire you to cook at home stress-free. I hope you enjoy my blog.