Quiet Kids?

Two quiet boys obviously means they are up to no good... or that there's one delish meal happening!

We have a guest for dinner tonight - our neighbor and one of the kid's best friends. And when these two are together (which is pretty much almost every waking moment when they aren't busy) they are not exactly wallflowers.

As I am writing this blog they are finishing up in golden silence, so I will take these precious few moments to breathe deeply and relish in the quiet.

This song actually bores me to tears. You?

Grilled Teriyaki-Glazed Salmon

Source: Every Day with Rachael Ray, June 2012

Ingredients:

• 1/3 c. soy sauce (used low-sodium)
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 3 tbsp mirin or dry sherry (used sherry)
• 1 tbsp finely grated ginger
• 1clove finely chopped garlic (used minced)
• 4 skin-on, boneless salmon fillets at room temp
• Vegetable oil for brushing (used canola)
• 1 scallion, thinly sliced

Directions:

• In a small saucepan, bring the soy sauce, brown sugar, mirin/sherry, ginger and garlic to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat and simmer until the sauce is reduced by about half, about 15 mins. Divide the sauce into two small bowls; reserve one for serving.
• Preheat grill to high. Oil the grate (sprayed it). Pat the salmon dry, brush with oil, then brush flesh side with some of the sauce. Arrange salmon on grill skin side down, cover the grill and cook, occasionally basting with more of the sauce, until the sides are opaque, about 8 mins.
• Transfer salmon to plates and drizzle with reserved sauce. Top with scallions.

Reviews:

Both kids had very, very high praise for this dish. I even got a "best salmon ever" from the buddy. I don't know that I would agree with this assessment. The salmon was good and the glaze was nice - probs too high in sodium and calories (the nutritionals are not provided immediately under the recipe and I am way too lazy to look them up), but this certainly wasn't the best ever, IMO. I didn't drizzle the salmon with the remaining sauce b/c I let it simmer too long and it became a goopy, slightly burned mess. Overall, the meal was super-fast to throw together. We had equally-fast mushroom risotto from Trader Joe's and steamed broccoli.

Update (because I know you are wondering): The boys are still somewhat subdued, most likely because they have rec'd multiple death stares from me and the hubs due to the sleeping babe upstairs.

Ranking:

Three Forks: Easy peasy, especially for a week night.

The salmon was not burned, despite what the picture looks like



Unbelievable

To know me is to know that I love cheese. In fact, I love it so much that I don't keep it in the house unless absolutely necessary for recipes, with the exception of swiss slices (low sodium) and cheese sticks for the kids (low taste).

This unabashed, lifelong love of cheese was going to be fulfilled tonight when shredded Mexican was to serve as a topper to the main event. Except that I forgot to add it. And just realized it as I was sitting down to type this post.

Who forgets the cheese?

Luckily - I pretty much had nothing to say, so this omission served as the jump-start to tonight's post.

In addition to cheese, I love dark chocolate. Luckily I can manage to keep that in the house without shoveling it in by the fistful (thanks to those ingenious pre-packaged individual chocolate squares from Ghiradelli). I don't often bake with dark chocolate, but a few days ago I happened upon an amazingly easy fudge recipe that catered to my dark chocolate needs. So we'll start with that because honestly peeps, it is so so so easy to throw together that you must make it immediately. And bring me some.

Peanut Butter and Dark Chocolate Fudge
Source: Cooking Light (not sure of issue)

Ingredients:

• 1 (14oz) can of fat-free sweetened condensed milk
• 3/4 c. semisweet chocolate chips (used dark chocolate)
• 2 tbsp unsweetened dark cocoa powder (used regular unsweetened)
• 1/4 tsp instant coffee granules
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp peanut butter
• 3/4 c. peanut butter chips
• 1/4 c. salted, dry-roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Directions:

• Line an 8-inch square dish with wax paper.
• Place 9 tbsp milk in a microwave safe bowl. Add chocolate chips, cocoa and coffee. Microwave at high for 1 min or until melted. Stir in 1/2 tsp vanilla. Spread into prepared pan.
• Combine the remaining milk, peanut butter chips and peanut butter in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1 min or until melted. Stir in remaining vanilla. Spread evenly over chocolate layer and sprinkle with peanuts.
• Cover and chill 2 hours (I chilled overnight). Cut into 25 squares.

Yield: 25 servings (1 square)
Per serving: 123 cals; 4.7g fat (3.1g sat, 0.7g mono, 0.1g poly); 3.5g protein; 47mg sodium; 2mg chol

For tonight's (cheese-free) meal, we had:
Charred Corn Chop Salad with Chipotle Cream Dressing
Source: Clean Eating, August/September 2011

Ingredients:

• 2 c. fresh corn kernels (about 4 ears corn)
• 1 med. poblano pepper, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 lb ground turkey
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 15-oz can no-salt added black beans, rinsed
• 1/2 c. low-fat sour cream
• 1/2 c. low-fat buttermilk
• 1/2 tsp chipotle chile powder
• 1 bunch scallions, sliced, white and green parts separated
• lettuce of choice
• 1/2 c. low-fat cheddar cheese

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a medium bowl, toss corn, poblano and potato with oil. Spread mixture onto a 9x13 baking sheet and roast for 30 mins, tossing every 10 mins.
• In a large pan cook turkey until browned. Add 1/4 c. water to pan and scrape browned bits from bottom. Add cumin and beans and stir to combine. Cover, reduce heat to low and keep warm until ready to serve.
• Make dressing: In a small bowl, whisk sour cream, buttermilk, chile powder and white scallions. Cover and chill until ready to use.
• Plate: Divide lettuce among plates and top with turkey, veggies, etc. Sprinkle with remaining scallions and cheese, and top with dressing.

Yield: 4 servings (2 c. lettuce; 1/2 c. turkey-bean mix; 1/2 c. veggies; 3 tbsp dressing)
Per serving: 470 cals; 11g total fat (3.5g sat; 3g mono; 1g poly): 61g carbs; 10g fiber; 31g protein; 220mg sodium; 40mg chol.

Reviews:
Fudge: My family went a little insane about the fudge (it was for a 4th of July gathering) - to the point that I had to fight them to bring some leftovers home for me us. I made the fudge on one of those super-hot nights, and it was so fast and easy, and the results so stellar that this is a must-do for pretty much everyone.

Salad: The kid requested a salad for dinner, so a salad he received. He did not appreciate the sweet potatoes, and the hubs made a nasty face when he saw the veggies sullying his turkey/bean combo. If it wasn't for the annoying chopping associated with this dish, it would be very easy to throw together. I liked it a lot - despite the lack of cheese - and we have enough leftover for lunches this week.

Rankings:
Fudge: Four Forks
Salad: Three Forks

Did you really think I'd use the "clean" version of this song?



Taco Tuesday

Not a particularly creative blog post title, and I know I've used it before, but... my brain is officially turned off until the 5th.

Tonight, the oven was totally turned off too as I continued my salad/grill plan. And I almost completely screwed this one up because it requires an hour of marinating, which I completely forgot about until one of my neighbors asked me about the recipe. She has three kids under 4 (!!) and is more on top of my recipes than me. Awesome.

Luckily, I managed to pull it together and you know what else was awesome? The marinade.

Korean-Style Beef Tacos
Source: Cooking Light, June 2012

Ingredients:

• 1/3 c. sugar
• 5 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
• 1.5 tbsp chile paste
• 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1 tbsp dark sesame oil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 12 oz flank steak, sliced against the grain into thin strips
• 1/8 tsp salt (skip)
• 6-inch corn tortillas

Directions:

• Combine first 6 ingredients (through garlic) in a shallow dish. Add steak, cover. Marinate in fridge for an hour, turning after 30 mins.
• Preheat grill to med-high heat.
• Remove steak from marinade. Thread steak onto skeweres, sprinkle with salt. Place skewers on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Place skewers on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Grill 2 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness.
• Grill tortillas 30 seconds on each side or until lightly charred. Divide steak onto tortillas.

Yield: 4 (2 tacos/serving)
Per serving: 270 cals; 6.3g fat (1.6g sat; 2g mono; 1.4g poly); 18.1g protein; 37.1g carb; 21mg chol; 568mg sodium; 3g fiber

We also had brown rice tossed with a tablespoon of sesame oil, per the suggestion of Cooking Light.

Reviews:
No chopping. No oven. No stove. Chef Hubs once again manning the grill. Great! We all really liked the marinade. I can't necessarily comment on how "Korean" these tacos truly were, but they were pretty delish. I found the grilling of the tortillas pretty pointless and in fact they ended up a little chewy. I would probs just use my whole-wheat low carb wraps next time (or no-salt hard taco shells). The sesame oil added to the rice was a waste of calories. I don't know that the boys even noticed.

Ranking:
Three forks because the main event - the steak - was really good. The rest was meh.

Hello, It's Me

Channeling a little Todd Rundgren for you.

(BTW - my spellcheck isn't working tonight. Go ahead and judge. I would.)

So, I've been totally MIA for a while. Mostly because of the same old excuse - schedules haven't allowed for much cooking here. Partly because I'm getting a little bit bored of the blog. But mostly the schedule thing. As I've noted before, I'm not tired of the challenge or the cooking in and of itself, but the whole documenting all of the meals thing is feeling a little tired.

Luckily for you (ha) I'm in the mood to post tonight, and I have a feeling that there might be a bunch of posts in the next week before we hit the beach. Plus, as of tomorrow night, all of our travel sports will be done for at least a few weeks. Woo!

Now let's get on with the task at hand.

Unless you are reading this from some faraway locale, you are experiencing the same heatwave we are. I am not going to complain about it because I prefer to reserve my weather-related complaints for the winter/snow/ice/gray, and I think it would be a bit hypocritical on my part. I despise the winter and will always take 100 degrees and humidity (and bad hair) over snow any day.

The heat inspired me to focus on salads and grilled items this week. Peeps, we don't have air in this old house, so the last thing I want to do is stand over a hot stove or fire up the oven for an extended period of time. Plus, it gives me a fun theme for these posts.

Chicken and Wild Rice Salad with Almonds
Source: Cooking Light, December 2009

Dressing:

• 1/4 c. fig vinegar or white wine vinegar (used white wine)
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp dijon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tbsp canola oil

Remaining ingredients:

• 2 c. chicken broth (used no-salt added)
• 1.5 c. uncooked wild rice
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 lbs boneless, chicken breast
• salt/pepper to taste
• 1 c. chopped celery
• 1/2 c. shredded carrots
• 1/3 c. dried cranberries
• 1/4 c. chopped almonds
• 2 tbsp minced red onion (skip)

Directions:

• Prepare dressing: Combine first 5 ingredients in medium bowl. Add oil, stirring with a whisk until well blended. Cover and chill.
• Combine broth, rice and butter in a med saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 45 mins or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed. Remove rice from heat and cool.
• Grill chicken; cool; cut into cubes.
• Combine rice, chicken, celery, carrots, cranberries, almonds and onion in a large bowl. Add dressing, toss to coat. Cover and chill.

Yield: 6 servings (1-1/3 c./serving)
Per serving: 352 cals; 10.3g fat (2g sat, 5g mono, 2.5g poly); 25g protein; 40.6g carb; 4g fiber; 49mg chol; 357mg sodium

Reviews:
My laziness overpowered my budget-consciousness, so I bought pre-chopped celery, pre-shredded carrots and pre-sliced almonds. This resulted in a super-easy-to-throw-together meal. Chef Hubs pitched in and grilled (and cut up) the chicken, so the most time-consuming portion of this recipe was the sitting around and waiting for the rice to cook. I only wish I had more time (patience) to let the salad cool down more (I stuck it in the freezer for 10 minutes), but we all really enjoyed the chow.

Ranking:
Four Forks

Wonky Wackiness

Let's make a list for tonight's post.

1. I was going to blog on Sunday night, but we lost power for almost 14 hours. Luckily I had just finished making our Father's Day Feast (chicken fingers from EatingWell... the hubs has simple taste); unfortunately I spent the rest of the night either fretting about all of our food spoiling or calling First Energy and yelling at them. I may or may not have been the crazy 1:30a and 5a caller. Just sayin.'

2. Due to an unfortunate eye infection, I am functioning with one contact lens. No I don't own glasses. Yes I am dealing with that. Therefore you can't hold whatever I type here with my wonky eye (new fave word, stolen directly from Andy Cohen and his wonky crossed-eyes) against me.

3. This recipe is a continuation of the Waste Not Week. So note the asterisks for those ingredients I had on hand.

4. Nick Cannon annoys me on AGT. Yes?

Turkey and Black Bean Chimichangas
Source: HeartHealthyOnline.com - from a magazine that doesn't exist anymore

Ingredients:

• 6 10-inch whole wheat, low carb tortillas*
• 8 oz turkey meat*
• 1/2 c. chopped onion*
• 1 15-oz can no-salt added black beans, drained
• 1 14.5-oz can no-salt diced tomatoes, drained*
• 1/4 c. bottled salsa (Newman's Own)*
• 1/4 c. fresh cilantro (skip)
• 1 tbsp lime juice*
• 1/2 tsp cumin*
• 1/2 c. shredded cheese

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with spray, set aside. Heat tortillas in oven for 5 mins (I did not heat mine).
• In a large skillet, cook turkey and onion. Add black beans and mash slightly. Add tomatoes, salsa, 1/4 c. cilantro, lime juice and cumin. Heat through.
• To assemble, scoop about 1/2 c. of turkey mix into each tortilla, fold up. Place on baking sheet, spray tops and sides with cooking spray. Bake 10-12 mins or until golden brown.

Yield: 6 servings (1 chimichanga per serving)
Per serving: 206 cals; 4g fat (0g sat); 25mg chol; 424mg sodium; 33g carb; 23g protein; 18g fiber

Reviews:
I made this while the boys were at soccer (tourney time!) so once I rec'd the call that they were on the way home, I popped it into the oven and voila - dinner was served (with brown rice - yum). I actually got 8 chimichangas out of this, so we have some leftovers. The kid did not like the black beans, despite my best superfood pitch.

Ranking:
Three Forks

More Meatless (Operation Waste Not, #2)

Because I have high hopes of cooking more this week, I decided to torture the boys with tofu tonight. In addition to the meatless, this recipe met several of my criteria for the week:

• Salad (Summer salad!)
• Bunch of ingredients I had on hand
• Lettuce Wraps

I have a bunch of lettuce wrap recipes floating around, but have never gotten around to making one. In fact, I have never, ever eaten lettuce wraps.

Huh?

They always look really good on menus, but so does about a million other things, so I have never ordered them. Obviously I get the concept of lettuce wraps, but nary a wrap has passed these lips.

Lettuce Wraps with Hoisin-Peanut Sauce
Source: Cooking Light, June 2012

(For your reading pleasure, I am going to star all of the fun ingredients I have in my cupboard.)

Ingredients:
Sauce:

• 1 tsp canola*
• 1 tbsp minced shallot*
• 1/3 c. water
• 2 tbsp creamy peanut butter*
• 4 tsp hoisin sauce*
• 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper*
• 1 tbsp fresh lime juice* (used bottled)

Filling:

• 1 (14oz) package extra-firm tofu, drained and crumbled
• 1 tbsp dark sesame oil*
• 6 thinly sliced green onions
• 1/2 c. plus 2 tbsp cilantro (skip)
• 3 tbsp low sodium soy sauce*
• 1 tsp grated fresh ginger* (used refrigerated)
• 2 tsp sugar*
• 1/2 tsp Sriracha*
• 1 c. matchstick-cut carrots
• 1 c. matchstick-cut cucumbers
• 2 c. hot sticky rice
• Bibb lettuce

Directions:

• To prepare sauce, heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Add canola oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add shallot and saute for 2 mins. Add 1/3 c. water and next 3 ingredients (through red pepper), and stir with a whisk. Bring to a boil, cook 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in lime juice.
• To prepare filling, spread crumbled tofu in a single layer on several layers of paper towels; cover with additional paper towels. Let stand 20 mins, pressing down occasionally.
• Heat a large nonstick skillet over med-high heat. Add sesame oil and swirl to coat pan. Add 1/3 c. green onions, saute 1 min. Add tofu, saute for 4 mins. Add 2 tbsp cilantro, soy sauce, ginger, sugar and Sriracha; saute 1 min. Remove from heat, stir in cucumbers, carrots and remaining green onions.
• Spoon 1/4 c. rice into each lettuce leaf. Top with 1/2 c. tofu mixture; sprinkle with 1 tbsp cilantro. Serve with sauce.

Yield: 4 servings (2 lettuce wraps and 2 tbsp sauce)
Per serving: 355 cals; 15g fat (2.1g sat, 8.5g mono, 3.7g poly); 16.2g protein; 42.6g carb; 3.9 fiber; 0mg chol; 568mg sodium

Reviews:
Despite the hubs asking :"Where do I need to put this crap?" in reference to the tofu when he was putting away groceries, he did a pretty good job of eating most of the crap on his plate. The kid really enjoyed the peanut sauce, asked for seconds, and ate almost his entire portion. I thought it was very flavorful. Unfortunately, I don't know if I can truly call these "wraps" as the lettuce leaves I bought were kind of tiny, so it turned out more like a salad.

Ranking:
Three Forks

Ha ha ha - get it? At least I amuse myself 

Operation Waste Not, Night 1

I know I'm not the only one out there who buys a random ingredient here and there only to find I don't have any other uses for it. This has resulted in a very nice little collection of sauces, oils, spices, etc.

That's why I decided to - with the help of a somewhat willing Chef Hubs - to make a master list of what I have stockpiled and build this week's meals around them.

Truth be told - I came to this idea when I noticed I had two bottles of marsala wine sitting around. This obviously means I needed to include chicken marsala on my list. I searched through my chicken recipe binder, pulled a Clean Eating marsala recipe, and was well on my way to recipe blissdom.

Except for the fact that upon further inspection before starting tonight's meal I realized that this recipe in fact doesn't call for even a smidgen of marsala wine. Um. Oh. Hm. I guess Operation "Waste Not" was not a success.

Side note: For the millions of readers out there wondering, I DID NOT save any money on my grocery bill, and in fact spent $20 more than usual. WTF?

Chicken Marsala
Source: Clean Eating, October 2011

Ingredients:

• 1/4 c. flour (used 1/2 c.)
• 1 tsp dried oregano (used 2 tsp)
• Two 5oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin (used a pound of thin-sliced, which is why I increased the flour and oregano)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 4 c. chopped mushrooms
• 2 c. 100 percent apple juice
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley

Directions:

• In a small bowl, combine flour, oregano and pepper. Spread on a plate, dredge chicken through mixture to coat and set aside.
• In a large skillet, heat oil on med. Add mushrooms and saute until soft, about 5 mins. Remove from skillet and set aside on a plate.
• Add chicken to skillet and brown on med heat about 5 mins per side. Remove chicken and transfer to a plate. Add 1/4 c. apple juice and deglaze skillet by scraping any browned bits from the bottom. Increase heat to med-high and add parsley and remaining 1-3/4 c. apple juice. Cook until juice is reduced by half, about 20 mins.
• Return chicken and mushrooms to skillet and cook for 5 more mins, until heated through.

Yield: 2 servings (4.5oz chicken, 1/2 c. mushrooms, 1/2 c. sauce). Per serving: 370 cals; 11g fat (2g sat; 7g mono); 33g carbs; 95mg sodium; 3g fiber; 35g protein

Reviews:
Honestly, I was more than a little annoyed that Operation Waste Not was not incorporating the marsala, and I actually kind of searched through my chicken binder for another recipe. I then decided this was stupid and stuck with the original recipe. Sometimes I get too anal for my own good, peeps.

Anyway, I'm glad I did. Despite the kid giving it a "mediocre" (didn't like the sauce) both the hubs and I liked this a lot, and it did taste marsala-y. It was also a snap to pull together. One note: The serving supposedly includes mushrooms AND sauce, but - at least the way I cooked it - it was one in the same.

Ranking:
Three Forks