We Heart Birthdays!

Birthdays are a VERY big deal in our house. This is not only because of the (fun fact) that my brother and I share the same exact birthday, two years apart, but I have to imagine the birthday over-celebration started approximately six decades ago with the birthday of my mother.

Peeps, I have never, ever met another person who loves her birthday as much as my mother (GA). Since her big day was yesterday, we decided to have my parents over for a birthday celebration tonight. And of course, I had to pull out of all the stops.

I am not going to write down every single ingredient of every single dish - if you are interested in a specific one, leave me a comment or email me or whatever and I will give it to you. This has nothing to do with the fact that I've been gently asked by a certain magazine to not record their recipes, and everything to do with me being tired and a little lazy and a lot busy after a hectic weekend that is still going strong.

An Overview:
App:
Lima Bean Dip, Food Network Magazine (October 2011)

Green goodness

Main:
Turkey Roulade, Prevention Magazine (November 2011 - huh?!)
Wild Rice with Shitakes & Toasted Almonds, The EatingWell Diabetes Cookbook

Turk-tastic

Dessert:
Chocolate Lover's Dream Cake, Betty Crocker's Super Moist Cakes, April/May 2009 (Note: There is absolutely nothing healthy about this - but the birthday girl really loves chocolate bundt cake.)

That's a lotta chocolate

Reviews:
I was a little concerned about the lima bean dip - it calls for a bacon topping that I skipped (sheer laziness), but it was actually really good - the kid really liked it, as did the 'rents, the hubs, not so much, declaring it "too green."

Everyone (except the kid) loved the turkey and rice. I kind of thought the turkey was a little dry, so the added "gravy" helped. The rice was OK - nothing special - but who doesn't love wild rice with mushrooms and almonds? The dessert was very chocolatey.

I'm not going to provide a ranking of tonight's meal because it was all over the board. As was the conversation - but as usual, we had a lot of fun and kind of ridiculous moments.

Special Note:
Not only was my mother's birthday yesterday, but today marks what would have been John Lennon's 71st birthday. In his honor, one of my favorites:

Carb Loading

The hubs is one of those annoying people who can skip working out for six months, and just roll out of bed and run six miles at a fairly decent clip. So, when he announced he was going to do a half-marathon this fall, I didn't think much of it. Tomorrow is halfie day.

To help him prepare, he requested a meal with "chicken and pasta." After searching through countless cookbooks, we were able to agree on one that isn't too heavy on the sauces, veggies or sodium.

And while I don't have a prediction for his time, my guess is he'll clock some fairly ridiculous pace - all the more the impressive considering he has been sick for almost two straight weeks and has pretty much run only a handful of times and a handful of miles recently.

Go hubs!

Chicken Tetrazzini
Source: 500 Low Sodium Recipes, Dick Logue

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1-3/4 c. skim milk
• 1 c. swiss cheese, shredded
• 1/4 c. grated parm cheese
• 8 oz. spaghetti, broken, cooked and drained (used whole-wheat)
• 1-1/2 c. cooked chicken, cubed
• 4oz. sliced mushrooms
• 1/4 c. red bell pepper, chopped

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Melt butter in a large saucepan on low heat. Stir in flour. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Gradually add the milk, stirring until well-blended. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly.
• Stir in 1/2 c. of swiss cheese and 2 tbsp of parm, stir until cheese is melted.
• Add spaghetti, chicken, mushrooms and bell pepper; mix lightly.
• Spoon into 1-1/2 quart baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes. Top with the remaining 1/2 c. swiss and 2 tbsp parm; continue baking until cheese is melted.

Yield: 6 servings
Per serving: 290 cals; 22g protein; 14g total fat (8g sat, 4g mono, 1g poly); 18g carb; 137mg sodium; 360mg calcium

Reviews:
Although I suppose the official review should come after the hubs completes the halfie tomorrow, as of tonight he was enjoying the pre-race chow and gave it a solid thumbs-up. The kid also enjoyed - no gagging, eye-rolling or other theatrics - but he did manage to pick out all of his mushrooms and red peppers. This dish is a great comfort food meal without all of calories, fat and sodium. My one comment? Next time, I might add some garlic or something for an extra bit of flavor.

Ranking:
Three Forks

If the hubs gets a new PR, I credit the meal

A Pocket Full of Meh

I had a meal planned for last night, but thanks to my darling baby daughter and the hubs, as well as what I can only imagine to be the millions of germs brought home courtesy of the kid, I felt like crap and bowed out of my cooking duties. And tonight, I was supposed to go out with some of my fave chicks, but figured they wouldn't want my snotty, body-achey self bringing the party down, so instead I stayed home, threw on some sweats and a face mask (germs!), and made dinner.

Meh. I don't like being sick. I mean - who does, really? But I am not a fan of the mopey, moody, snot-filled peep it turns me into. (One might argue, btw - how is that really different from my every day self? That, I can not answer nor defend.)

On the bright side, my mother gets a new post to read tomorrow morning, my family gets an uber-healthy meal, and I was able to try out a bunch of new things, including... wait for it... my blender!

I am not going to post all of the ingredients in tonight's meal, btw... I don't feel like typing them in AND I don't want to run the risk of the wrath of the Clean Eating gods.

All of tonight's recipes come form the new Eat-Clean Diet Favorites - I just picked it up about a week ago. Because I need more recipes.

Crispy Chicken Bites
This recipe includes a nice mixture of oat bran, wheat germ, flaxseed and coarsely ground almonds (BLENDER ALERT!). I served this with Quinoa with Sundried Tomatoes - we've had quinoa once before, but it's been a really long time. It was pretty much just as it sounds... quinoa with onions, garlic and sundried tomatoes. Oh - I just love sundried tomatoes!

Reviews:
I loved this entire meal - so healthy, so easy, so yummy. The hubs loved it too, and we have plenty of leftovers. The kid thought the chicken bites were "awesome" but did not enjoy the quinoa.

Ranking:
Four Forks - winner all around!

Update: I wrote the first part of the post while the dinner was cooking. The pocket full of meh has a silver lining... I'm now off to join the girls for dessert - with a box full 'o Kleenex. Peer pressure, peeps.

SO healthy I can't stand it!

Sour Cream Issues

I am totally uninspired for tonight's post, so this is about as creative as I can get. No fun alliteration for you. My guess is my brain is on the verge of fried-dom - or I am completely distracted watching Glee with tonight's particularly brillz banter.

Fun fact about me: For the longest time, I had a very strange, almost unreasonable hatred of sour cream. I couldn't touch it, let alone cook with it. Of course, my father's staging of a sour cream fight whilst I was in middle school and shoveling a load of it in my face probs didn't help (I actually threw up). However, my advanced age has also brought a newfound maturity when it comes to the white stuff. I can now cook with it. I still don't like it on its own, and I still get a little skeeved when I see people eat it by the spoonful, but at least I can deal.

Hungarian Pork Chops
Source: American Heart Association Low-Salt Cookbook (3rd Edition, 2006)

Rub Ingredients:

• 1 tsp paprika
• 3/4 tsp dillweed, crumbled (used dill seed - made purchase error)
• 1/2 tsp caraway seeds
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

Other:

• 4 boneless pork loin chops, trimmed (about 4oz each)
• 1/2 c. water
• 1/2 c. fat-free or light sour cream
• 1/4 tsp salt (skip)
• 2 tbsp finely chopped green onions (skip - forgot to buy)

Directions:

• In a small bowl, stir together rub ingredients. Rub half the mixture on one side of the pork.
• Lightly spray a large, heavy nonstick skillet. Heat over medium-high heat. Reduce to medium, add pork and cook with seasoned side down for 4 minutes. Rub the top side with the remaining mixture, turn pork over and cook for 4-5 minutes or until barely pink. Transfer to a plate, cover with foil to keep warm.
• Increase the heat to high. Pour in the water, scraping the skillet to dislodge any browned bits. Boil for 1-2 minutes, or until liquid is reduced to 1/4 c. Reduce heat to low.
• When boiling stops, whisk in the sour cream and salt. Cook for 2-3 minutes, or until heated through, whisking constantly. Don't let it boil.
• To serve: spoon sauce over pork, sprinkle with green onions.

Yield: 4 servings (3oz pork + 3 tbsp sauce)
Per serving: 199 calories; 6.5g fat (2.8g sat, 0.5g poly, 3g mono); 72mg chol; 7g carbs; 26g protein; 221mg sodium

Review:
I was a little concerned with the sauce situation (see note above re: sour cream issues), but I went ahead and loaded on about 2 tbsp (3 was too many for a 3oz portion). Luckily, the sauce didn't really have a strong sour cream flavor. The kid did not like the sauce at all, and the hubs thought it was OK, if used sparingly. In his defense, he's not usually super keen on lots of sauce (vs. me, who loves it). We also had roasted asparagus and butternut squash risotto from Trader Joe's. Neither of the boys liked the risotto, with the hubs proclaiming it to be "too sqaushy" JUST before the kid took his first taste. So, you can obvs imagine how that went down.

Ranking:
Two Forks. Since neither boy really loved the sauce, and since the pork on its own was OK, I don't know that I would make this again. On the other hand, I really liked the risotto.

Saucy

Smells Like Feet

Pretty appetizing way to kick-start tonight's blog, right?

Because I pulled a switch last night and did Meatless Sunday, tonight I went with what I hope will be a "trainer-approved" meal, since I will be hitting the weights tomorrow.

Little did I know, when planning tonight's main event, that the kid was also going to have a big test of some sort tomorrow. Now, I completely trust his natural smarts, but because he thinks of salmon as "brain food" and feels smarter after eating it, this little boost of confidence can't hurt. And, as we all know, it actually is brain food - there are so many positive benefits to salmon, it would take me all night to list them. (OK - not really, I'm just lazy.)

Side note - tonight's fight with the kid included his begging for gum to chew while taking the test. This gem was obviously planted by his teacher, and despite the fact that my kid never really chews gum and I think it would distract him, he got pretty annoyed when I offered up my minty Extra instead of stopping for some kind of nasty sugary-grape-concoction.

Salmon with Balsamic Reduction
Source: Weight Watchers Four Ingredient, 10 Minute Recipes (Fall 2011)
Yes I just bought this. No, I can't resist a pretty cover picture calling me from the grocery check-out.

Ingredients:

• 4 (6oz) salmon fillets
• 1.5 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
• 1/2 tsp salt (skip)
• 1/4 tsp pepper (skip)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3/4 c. balsamic vinegar

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees
• Line a baking sheet with foil; coat with cooking spray. Place fillets, skin side down, on foil, sprinkle evenly with rosemary, salt and pepper. Drizzle fillets with olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes or until fish reaches desired level of doneness.
• While salmon cooks, bring vinegar to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook uncovered for 15 minutes or until vinegar is reduced to 2 tbsp. Drizzle balsamic reduction over salmon.

Yield: 4 servings
Per serving: 345 calories; 16.4g fat (3.6 sat; 8.1 mono; 3.5 poly); 36.4g protein; 8.3g carb; 87mg chol; 386mg sodium; 35mg calcium

We also had Rice Select Red Rice & Lentils (nominal sodium - I don't add the salt or butter) and steamed broccoli. I love Rice Select products, by the way. Not only do they taste good, but they come in kind of cool, easy-to-store canisters that seem to last forever. Here in the NEO, I think Miles Market has the most complete selection of Rice Select options. In case you are wondering.

Reviews:
So - let's bring it back to the "smells like feet" title that kicked off this post. When I was reducing the balsamic, it made the kitchen smell like sweaty feet. Seriously. So that was kind of unpleasant. However, the actual taste was pleasing, so we were all able to move past the foot odor issue. The kid did not like the rosemary and picked it off, but otherwise ate almost all of his salmon.

Ranking:
Three Forks: Tasty, healthy and as promised, super fast to prepare.

Feet-tastic!

Switcheroo

Much to the dismay of the hubs and the kid, I like to plan a "Meatless Monday" dish each week. Honestly, while I had heard about Meatless Monday for a while, and then actually went with it, I didn't realize there was an entire movement around it... I thought it was simply a fun, alliterative thing created by foodies or magazines or whatever somewhere along the way.

In fact, after visiting the Meatless Monday website, I learned not only about the health benefits of going meatless (reducing all sorts of nasty disease-y risk factors), but also about the science behind behaviors and Mondays. Interesting.

However, today is Sunday. And we're going meatless. Not for any particularly altruistic reason, but simply because the recipe seemed a little complicated, it needed a longer baking time than I usually can manage during the week, and tonight's rainy weather deemed it an ideal choice.

Truffled Wild Mushroom Lasagna
Source: Cooking Light, December 2010

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 c. thinly sliced leek
• 8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 3/8 tsp salt (skip)
• 7 c. cremini mushrooms (about 1.5 lbs)
• 4 c. shitake mushrooms (about 1 lbs)
• 2/3 cup fruity red wine
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme (didn't use fresh)
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano (didn't use fresh)
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh sage (ditto)
• 3 tbsp white truffle oil
• 1 tsp pepper (skip)
• 2-1/2 c. low fat milk
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tbsp butter
• 3.5 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 c. fat-free ricotta
• 1/4 c. fresh parsley (didn't use fresh)
• 1 tbsp grated lemon rind (used lemon juice)
• 8oz pre-cooked lasagna noodles
• 1 c. mozzarella cheese
• 1 c. parm cheese

Directions:

• Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat-high heat. Add leek, garlic and 1/4 tsp salt; saute 2 minutes. Add 4 c. cremini mushrooms and shitake mushrooms, saute 10 minutes or until mushrooms release moisture and begin to brown. Stir in wine; cook 3 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; stir in thyme, oregano, sage, truffle oil, and 2/3 tsp pepper.
• Combine milk and bay leaf in a heavy saucepan; cook over medium heat to 180 degrees or until tiny bubbles form around edge (do not boil). Remove from heat; cover and let stand 10 minutes. Strain mixture through a sieve in a bowl, discard by leaf. Set aside.
• Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add remaining 3 c. cremini mushrooms; saute 4 minutes or until tender. Add flour, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook 1 minutes, stirring constantly; gradually add milk. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 8 minutes or until thick. Stir in remaining salt, pepper and nutmeg.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Combine ricotta, parsley, lemon and remaining black pepper in a bowl. Spread 1/2 c. milk mixture in bottom of 11x7-inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 3 noodles over sauce; top with 2 c. mushroom mixture. Sprinkle with 1/4 c. mozzarella and 1/4 c. parm. Arrange 3 noodles over cheese. Top with 1 c. ricotta mixture. Repeat layers once with 3 noodles, 2 c. mushroom mixture, 1/4 c. mozzarella, 1/4 c. parm, 3 noodles and 1 c. ricotta. Cover with foil; place baking dish on baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.
• Remove from oven, increase temp to 450 degrees. Uncover lasagna and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 c. mozzarella and 1/2 c. parm; bake an additional 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1 piece)
Per serving: 424 calories; 17.7g fat (6.4 sat; 2.2 mono; 8.1 poly); 23.7g protein; 41.3 carb; 31mg chol; 455mg sodium; 393mg calcium

Reviews:
Am I glad I made this on a Sunday. It took me about an hour to prepare - from chopping to assembly - and then another 40 minutes to bake. I was pretty geeked out to be able to use my truffle oil again. It's very expensive, I've used it just once, and I hate to let ingredients like that just sit on the shelf. All that being said, while I thought the lasagna was tasty and it includes some of my very fave foods (mushrooms, cheese and garlic), I'm not sure it was worth all of the effort. Both boys liked it, although the kid didn't really eat any of the mushrooms (um, isn't that the point?). And, there are a ton of leftovers, something I'm sure will make my parents happy.

BTW: Goodbye Andy Rooney. Even as you sign off, I still don't get your appeal, but the hubs has enjoyed your pointless commentary for years.

Ranking:
Two forks - I didn't think it was that special for all of the time and effort.

I didn't use extra cheese - I swear!

Special Guest Blogger

Tonight, my super-control freak self relented and gave up both my kitchen and my blog to the hubs. Enjoy!

This is a special day. My loving wife and chef extraordinaire has bequeathed this space to me tonight. Much like when Johnny Carson used to have guest hosts, it will probably not live up to the quality of the innovator of this blog, but here goes...

Since my parents are in town, my wife decided to make a crock pot full of chili due in part to the "gloomy, March-like weather." After standing in the 45 degree rain watching my son's flag football game (in which he caught a long TD pass!), this sounded like a splendid idea.

Since the chef had a bunch of errands to run, I ended up making the chili. As previously mentioned in the blog, I won over my wife's heart on our second date with my award-winning beef stroganoff. Outside of that, however, I don't usually make too many forays into the kitchen except to make a bowl of cereal. Today though, I happily took up the charge of making the chili before settling in for an afternoon of watching my beloved Buckeyes.

Fortunately for our stomachs, I think the chili was much more of a winner than OSU on this Saturday. In fact, the Buckeyes were downright vomit-inducing. 

Thanks for letting me fill in, I'm guessing this might be the first and last time it happens.

No-Bean Chili
Source: Taste of Home Heartwarming Soups (2011)

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lbs lean ground beef
• 1 can stewed tomatoes, undrained
• 1 can (8oz) tomato sauce (we used no-salt added)
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 small green pepper, chopped
• 1 can chopped green chiles
• 1/2 c. minced fresh parsley (skip)
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1-1/4 tsp salt (skip)
• 1/4 tsp pepper (skip)

We added 2 cans no-salt added pinto beans and a can of no-salt added diced tomatoes.

Directions:

• Combine in slow cooker, mix well and cook on high 4-6 hours.

Yield: 6 servings (1c/serving)
Per serving (original recipe, not our no-salt, with beans version): 217 calories; 9g fat (3g sat); 56mg choles; 954mg sodium (ugh); 11g carbs; 24g protein

Reviews:
The OC (original chef) said that it was OK, nothing special :(  Chef Hubs thought it was pretty good, although maybe a little too heavy on ground beef. I usually like my chili with more bean & tomato feel to it.  My parents both approved and were members of the clean-plate/bowl club. In his usual protest to all things ground beef, the kid took maybe a half bite before shaking his head and refusing to eat any more.

Ranking:
Three forks (although I fear the OC would probs only give it 2 forks)

Note from HF: I really like the name "OC" and think that all of my peeps should start referring to me by that name. Esp since OG probs doesn't really fit my suburban-raised self.