Tip for the day: how to avoid spoiled veggies in the fridge

Line the bottom of your vegetable drawer in your fridge with paper towels to help absorb some of that nasty moisture that makes your produce rot faster.  Then if you do leave it in there until it is unrecognizable, just lift the paper towel out and wipe the little bit that's left out.

Fancy Grilled Cheese

Trying to diet is killing me.  I justified indulging in some buttery carbs by watching my portions and adding in a healthy sized meat and veggie serving... don't you judge me. ;)

2 slices 98 calorie bread
Butter --I still won't go margarine
Cheddar
Sliced Avacado, tomato, and lettuce
provalone

Arrange so you have one kind of cheese on each slice of lightly buttered bread and the meat and veggies in between.  Cook on medium heat in a skillet until both sides are golden brown.

I had something similar at Cubby's.  They have cranberries on theirs. SO GOOD.

Turkey Avocado BLT

There is some sort of sacred union in this sandwich.  If you don't want to cook the bacon, you can pay a little extra for the precooked and nuke it.

2 slices of bread
1 slice provolone cheese
sliced avocado to make a layer
Lean deli turkey
2 slices of crispy bacon
Lettuce
sliced tomato
your choice of Mayo, Miracle Whip OR ranch dressing
mustard

Layer, toast if desired and eat!

Leftover Pot Roast Fajitas

Pot roast is on my top five comfort foods.  It makes me think of home.  We do a large roast, and then use leftovers for stew, sandwiches and soups.  Yet, things can get tired after a while.  I decided to stir things up yesterday (literally as you can see) and make our leftovers more exciting.

Not everyone serves a family of eight, so I calculated the ingredients for 2 fajitas per person.  Just multiply by the number of people served.

*1 T Olive Oil
*1 cup (per person) of leftover pot roast pulled apart or cut up
*taco/fajita seasonings to taste
*1/4 bell pepper (per person) cut up
*3 cherry tomatoes
*1 T minced onion
*Favorite shredded cheese to taste
*2 tortillas (I used wheat, but any kind will do.)

 I hate dry fajitas.  If you need more oil or a bit of water while heating the meat up, go for it.
Combine all ingredients and heat. I add the peppers and tomatoes last to avoid mushy veggies.

Place on tortillas in a line, add any extra cheese you'd like and roll.

MMMMMMM.....!

CHEDDAR-POTATO-CARROT SOUP

CHEDDAR-POTATO-CARROT SOUP

6 TBSP butter or olive oil, or 50/50 of each

1 sm. onion, minced

Saute in a small skillet until translucent, more like sweating than sauteing.

Transfer to a big sauce or soup pot, & add:

6 C chicken broth & simmer for a bit.

Shred 8-10 carrots & 3 to 5 peeled potatoes. (I have used thawed hash browns, which work just as well.)

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 bay leaf

2 drops Tabasco

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Simmer until veggies are tender.

Turn heat to low & add 2 C of 1/2 & 1/2 (can use fat free 1/2 & 1/2). 

Bring up to warm. TURN OFF HEAT!

Gently stir in one handful at the time, 2 - 3 C grated cheddar cheese, stirring in between til the cheese melts, otherwise your soup will "break".

Serve immediately!!!

Chinese Fried Rice via the Mayo Clinic

This is directly from the Mayo Clinic website.  you can see this recipe and the nutrition facts HERE

1 1/3 cups water
3/4 cup rice
3 tablespoons peanut oil
4 green onions with tops, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 carrots, finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 egg
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/4 cup chopped parsley

In a saucepan, bring the water and rice to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until the rice is tender and has absorbed all the liquid, about 20 minutes.
In a large heavy skillet or wok, heat the peanut oil over medium-high heat. Add the cooked rice and saute until lightly golden. Add the green onions, salt, carrots, peppers and peas. Stir-fry until the vegetables are tender-crisp, about 5 minutes.
Hollow out a circle in the center of the skillet by pushing the vegetables and rice to the sides. Break the egg into the hollow and cook, lightly scrambling the egg as it cooks. Stir the scrambled egg into the rice mixture. Sprinkle with soy sauce, sesame oil and chopped parsley. Serve immediately.

Grilled Potatoes and Carrots

This is by no means an "original" recipe. I have seen variations of it at bar-b-ques and picnics, so I don't really know where the credit for it's tastiness should fall. It is however incredibly quick- incredibly tasty- and incredibly easy to make.

Potatoes
Baby Carrots
(any other veggies you may like)
Ranch Seasoning Packet (or 2!)

Wash and cut raw potatoes. I used approximately 8 medium-smallish Yukon golds, but any type/size will work. Just clean enough for your family. Boil potatoes for a few minutes to soften them. You don't want them mushy, just slightly cooked through so they will cook quicker on the grill. You can even do this ahead of time and have them in the fridge, ready to go whenever you are. (You don't have to pre-boil them, but they will definitely take longer to grill if you don't.)

Combine carrots and potatoes. Mix in 1 Ranch Dips packet (I used Hidden Valley). Sometimes I even throw in some salt and pepper.

Make a foil pouch and dump veggies on it. Roll up tight and take it to the grill.
Flip it a couple times to make sure it cooks evenly.

End result:

 yum

Corned Beef and Cabbage with Potatoes

We have to make this every once in a while for my hubby and kids and their Irish heritage.

This traditional dish is surprisingly one of the easiest to make.

Ready?

You need:

A large pot or crock pot

packaged corned beef with season packet

head of cabbage broken up or chopped

peeled and diced potatoes

water

Dump everything into the pot.  Incluing the juices in the meat package and seasonings from the packet.

This is meant to be boiled, so fill with water to the top of the contents of your pot.

Boil for 4-6 hours in a pot or on high in a crock pot

or on Low in the crock pot over night or for at least 12 hours.

When it is done, the beef will fall apart and be stringy.

the cooked cabbage will blend in with the potatoes.

Corned beef is a great source of Iron.  Corned beef and Cabbage has a ton of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, 1/8 your daily value of calcium,  and Potatoes have potassium.This is a high in sodium meal, but they do have lower sodium Corned beef if you look hard enough.

Better Broccoli, Moister Meat

Cooking tip:
To keep chicken moist- Cook chicken to your skillet just long enough to get a nice sear on it, but not cooked completely through. Then add about 1/2 cup- 1cup of chicken broth to the pan and let it finish cooking.  The broth helps keep the meat moist and tender!

Cooking tip:
At the stage where your meat is seared and you are adding in your broth, throw in your cut or frozen veggies. It adds SO MUCH flavor. Broccoli absorbs the flavor of the chicken and really hardly tastes like broccoli anymore. (It's how I've gotten my kids to eat their veggies!)

Mimi's Corn Chowder

4 Tb Butter
6 chopped onion

Melt and cook till onions are clear

Add 2 1/2 C water
3/4 C celery
2 tsp salt
1 pinch of pepper
2 C cubed, potatoes

Cook until potatoes are softened

Add all but 1 C of 1/2 & 1/2 1 Quart carton
defrost 1 pkg of frozen corn

Mix left over  1 C 1/2& 1/2 with 3 Tb flour.
Whisk in to soup and simmer 30 min.

Chicken, Avacado, and Wild Rice Salad

1  4.3 oz. package mixed white and wild rice
2 ripe avacados, sliced
3 cups cooked chicken cut into bite sized pieces
4 scallions, chopped
1 cup italian dressing
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 toasted pine nuts or sliced almonds
1 cup cherry tomatoes


1. prepare rice according to package directions
2. stir in chicken and scallions; add the dressing and toss well.
3. Pour into a serving dish (and if you want a cold salad, chill up to an hour)
4. Toss avacados with lemon juice.
5. garnish salad with avacados, nuts and tomatoes

Chicken and Asparagus tossed with Penne with a side of Bruchetta

This is a very light and healthy meal.  The kids had seconds and asked me to make it again.  It went well with My husband and my low sodium diet and my parent's low carb diets.  It isn't often we can please the kids, have them get the square meal they need, and everyone's dietary needs  Thanks to the Mayo Clinic and the Recipe. 

Rapture Food!

This past Saturday, in honor of the Rapture, I hosted a Rapture party at our home.  It was a pot luck.  The challenge was to bring some sort of punny food to share. 

The main coarse was build-it-yourself Shish Kabobs (Because during the rapture and the end of the world, how much of a shish kabob you end up is really of your own making.):

I cut up strips of Chicken breast and rubbed then with lemon pepper ahead of time and let them stew in their own juices in the fridge.

Then we had bowls of red and green peppers, fresh mushrooms, pineapple, cucumbers, zuccini, mandarine oranges, and baby red potatoes (pre-boiled.)

Everyone took their pre soaked scewer and built their Kabob the way they liked it.  It saved time and the kids all enjoyed their kabobs.


The other foods brought were:

"Judgement Bars"  AKA Eagle Brand Magic Cookie Bars

Rotisserie Chicken

Angel Food Cake with Straw berry shortcake toppings

Living Watermelon

Pistaccio NUTS

Kool-aid --But we didn't ALL drink it.  LOL

Party games prizes: large bags of Life Savers hard candy to better help survive the Zombie Apocolypse.

Other options I considered were: Chicken Rapture-tore, Roast, Divinity, devil's food cake, etc.

It was so funny to see people's reactions... and unfortunately none of us were raptured. 

Chicken Breast with Salsa

6 boneless skinless chickien breasts
3 lemons squeezed (just use the juice)
3/4 C olive oil
2 Tbsp crushed Garlic
Salt and Pepper
Salsa

Mix lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and salt and pepper in a dish large enought to marinate your chicken in.  Marinate for 15 minutes on each side, then grill.  Top with Salsa.

Tonight I got lazy and actually baked the chicken IN the marinade on 350 till the juices ran clear and it was SUPER moist.  I also cut up the chicken breasts into halves or fourths.  They aren't as pretty, but they cook faster.

We served it with Cous cous and green beans.

Cheesey, Creamy Veggie Soup

Not the best photo but at least there is one right? :)

So I wanted to make something that used a lot of my veggies I got in my bountiful basket. Mostly the broccoli and the cauliflower. I didn't want to make a pasta or anything and because it is still so annoyingly cold here in Utah I had a go with a soup. I wanted to post this recipe while it was fresh in my mind so that when I want to make it again I will know where to look for it. I just made it up as I went. I love doing that!

I chopped up the following:

1 head of cauliflower (from bountiful basket)

1 bunch of broccoli (just the florettes also from the basket)

1 yellow onion (from basket)

4 carrots

4 large yukon gold potatoes

So I steamed the broccoli and cauliflower in my steamer for 30 mins. Meanwhile had the potatoes boiling. I melted a stick of butter with about a tablespoon of olive oil. I threw in the onions and carrots and pressed 4 garlic cloves in and cooked those in the butter for about 10-12 minutes. The I put in about 2/3 cup of flour and stirred that and cooked for a few minutes. Then poured in 32 oz of chicken broth/stock. Stirred to combine then poured in a pint of cream. Stirred that all together and let it come to a boil. It thickened nicely. Then I added the steamed broccoli and cauliflower. At this point the soup seamed to be getting too thick so I added about a cup of water. Then for flavor added salt, pepper, and two big heaping spoonfuls of sour cream. Then I added 2 cups of grated sharp cheddar cheese. Cuz everything is better with cheese ya know. Stirred in the cheese as it melted. Then drained and added the potatoes. Then let the soup simmer for about 10 mins while I fried up some bacon.

Served in bowls with crumbled bacon on top.

It was YUM! Certainly not the healthiest soup, but it was warm and comforting.

Stuffed Butterfly Porkchops with Zuccini Squash

Thanks to my mom for the recipe!

Slice Thick pork chops about 3/4 way through and open making a "butterfly" shape.

Brown in shortening on both the inside and out adding salt and pepper if desired.

Stuff with prepared stuffing (I used stove top) with added mushrooms and close pork chops.

Place in baking dish with any remaining stuffing and cover with foil.

Bake at 375 for about 30 min. or until chops are cooked through completely.

Rinse and slice green zuccini squash and boil until desired texture.  (I like mine a little firm still.)  Drain water and stir in softened butter (I go a bit over board with the butter.  I'm a glutton).  Salt and pepper to taste.

I served this with a side of prepared candied apples.

Ham and Guacamole Sandwhiches

I was at a loss for lunch today.  So I hopped on Allrecipes.com and searched for ingredients in my fridge and pantry.  I found this little bit of lunch heaven.

 Cream Cheese Spread, softened


 honey and mustard

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

45 calorie whole wheat bread (toasted, if desired)

leafy green lettuce leaves

tomato slices

honey ham slices Or Turkey

prepared guacamole

Dash crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

1.In a small bowl, stir cream cheese until smooth. Gradually stir in mustard and honey until smooth and well blended. stir in pepper. Spread 1 tablespoon mixture on each slice of bread. Top each with a lettuce leaf, 2 tomato slices and 3 slices of ham.


2.Spread 1-1/2 Tbsp. prepared guacamole onto each of the remaining slice of bread; sprinkle with red pepper flakes, if desired, place guacamole side down on the ham. Serve immediately.

 
Oh, my goodness it has a lot of flavor.  I don't think my kids would love it, but the adults over here sure did!

Lemon Pepper Chicken Breast with Garlic Asparagus

Being inside so much this month, I decided to make things a bit 

"Fancier" But honestly this meal is so EASY!

The Chicken breast is simply sprinkled with Lemon Pepper, in a baking dish with a small amount of water to keep from drying out.  Then bake, covered at 350 until juices run clear when poked.

The asparagus is rinsed, snapped, placed in a pot with water just even with the spears and brought just to a boil with about a tsp of fresh minced garlic.  When just to a boil, place in a dish and top with butter allowing it to melt.

We also had Chicken Rice-a-roni, peas and carrots, and fresh fruit.

Hungry man's breakfast

 I stopped to watch a show on the Travel channel a while back.  Man vs. Food.  It take this Joe Schmoe guy and has him going all over the country eating all kinds of food in HUGE quantities.  There was once episode that had me drooling.  I did my best to recreate it with what we had and it turned out really well.

I was adding quantities at random, so here are the ingredients and you can eyeball it.


Dice up potatoes and brown them in butter
Season the potatoes with chilipowder and Pepper with a hint of Tobasco
Scramble eggs with milk, onion, green peppers and ham or bacon and Pico de gallo/salsa
Dump eggs onto potatoes and layer with shreeded cheese
cover and let sit until cheese melts.

Serve!

Sausage Soup

1. Brown your sausage. I used about three links of the mild italian sausage, cut into bite sized pieces. Cook more or less depending on how many people you're serving. Drain any grease off.

2. While your meat is browning, take a large saucepan and add about a cup of diced carrots, one finely chopped celery stalk, minced onion and one clove diced garlic to the pan. I also add a few tablespoons of chicken broth to keep veggies from sticking. Saute on medium heat until veggies are tender, normally a few minutes.









3. To the veggies add one container chicken broth ( I used the 48 oz one)
Also add in one can tomato sauce (or 1 can pureed diced tomatoes)
and about 1 heaping tablespoon of basil pesto (I like the Classico brand)
Also, if you have it on hand add in the puree of 1 eggplant (for directions on how to make eggplant puree, see my previous post- it's really quick and easy and can be baking while you're preparing this soup if you put it in the oven before you start the meat and veggies...plus it is tasty and adds extra nutrients to the soup!) 
Salt and pepper to taste.

4. Add sausage to the soup mixture and bring to a boil. When boiling add in your favorite "fresh" pasta. The mini ravioli or tortellini from Buitoni work really well. When the noodles are done, they will float to the top. This normally takes about 5 minutes.

5. Your soup should look something like this by now.

6. Serve with your favorite bread or salad and garnish with a little bit of grated Parmesan cheese, if you've got it.

Eat!