shopping

I was SUPER lazy last week in regards to food... I feel like this week might be the same =$ Husband is out of town, so no worries about dinner tonight (sandwiches for lunch tomorrow lol)


Monday- Salmon, asparagus & creamed spinach
Tuesday- Chicken tenders
Wednesday- Meatball subs
Thursday- french dips


Ground turkey
beef
chicken breast
salmon
sub rolls
pizza sauce

broccoli & cheese sauce

asparagus
spinach

Recovering from turkey-comas

Sunday- Beef Stroganauff
Monday- skillet lasagna
Tuesday- ginger garlic chicken & rice
Wednesday- this chicken http://modernmommeals.com/2012/05/omg-chicken/
Thursday-

I'm having issues figuring it out...

Beef
Ground beef
Egg noodles
Chicken thighs
Sour cream
Funky pasta

Chicken gloria thing

Eh. Not bad, but not going into rotation. 
It ends up tasting like canned mushrooms...  which I don't enjoy.

Ah well.

planning!

I'm just full of being ahead on things.

I really like the blog Seasaltwithfood it's quite unique and interesting, check it out! the ginger soy chicken is what's got me planning ahead of time this week:

Sunday- stewed chicken http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/04/chicken-with-tomatoes-and-garlic/

Monday- Chinese roasted chicken- http://www.seasaltwithfood.com/2012/11/chinese-roasted-soy-sauce-chicken-with.html
 I'll probably even make rice!

Tuesday- http://www.cookingwithsugar.com/moms-chicken-a-la-gloria-a-family-favorite-chicken-recipe/#

Wednesday- chicken tacos and pico de gallo

Thursday- simple pasta


Groceries:

10   chicken breasts 8 chicken legs or thighs rice 1/2 cup of sherry wine 1/2 cup White Wine (or Red Wine) 1 small can of condensed cream of mushroom soup 2 Tbsp Honey 2 Tablespoons (Heaping) Tomato Paste 2 tablespoons of butter 1/2 cup whole milk 6 slices of Muenster cheese cheddar cheese Grated Parmesan Cheese 1 (8 oz) container of sliced fresh mushrooms tomatoes jalapeno   tortillias
	rice

Living and learning

I learned 2 things tonight:

1. BROCCOLI RABE TASTES NOTHING LIKE BROCCOLI REGULAR.

2. I do not like Broccoli Rabe!

So here's dinner instead-

Egg noodles
1/2 lb ground chicken
4 cloves of garlic
2 tblspn Butter
2 tblspn olive oil
Red pepper flakes
Salt
Parmasean cheese

Cook noodles, drain and mix with 1tblspn butter. Brown up garlic and chicken with half of the olive oil. Mix w butter noodles.
Rest of olive oil and butter melted up with garlic and red pepper flakes until sizzly and delicious. Mix with noodle/chicken, add parm. I also chopped up some green onions

surprisingly satisfying and delicious!

Chicken croissants

Ok- bear (grr!) With me for this. 

2 Chicken breast
One roll of large croissant rolls
Cheddar

Ok.. ready....
Cup of water, Italian dressing, rooster sauce and Worcestershire sauce.

Boil.

Add chicken

Boil for abt 30 mins until cooked through

Shred chicken into sauce

Spoon mixture onto each croissant

Top with cheese and roll

Bake 20 mins until golden

Ranch for dipping

Seriously. Freaky good. Who'd a thought 'chicken boiled in water and hot sauce' would be this good!??!

the early bird

I'm menu planning for next week already BISHES!!!!

I'm also making some nummy apps for a board game get-together on Friday,
Friday:  healthy loaf http://beersandbeans.com/2012/02/29/rtw-travelers-dinner-party-rtwdinnerparty/
caprese dip http://www.thefoodgospelaccordingtoruth.com/2012/04/caprese-dip.html

Sunday-
Monday-POT ROAST! http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/02/slow-cooker-three-envelope-pot-roast.html
Tues- Italian chicken http://aaronandjillw.blogspot.com/2011/08/italian-chicken.html
Wed- Garlic, broccoli pasta http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2012/04/pasta-with-garlicky-broccoli-rabe/
Thurs-Chicken bacon cheddar burgers (home made)


Shopping:

1 unsliced loaf sourdough bread

 

 

Ground chickenChicken breast

3-4 lb beef roast

big block of mozzarella cheese

Broccoli (rabe if can find it!)

green onion

basil

tomatoes

 

fun shaped pasta

1 envelope onion soup mix
1 envelope Italian dressing mix
1 envelope Au Jus mix

Stewed chicken

Chicken thighs
Canned tomatoes
Celery
Carrots
Onion
Garlic
White wine
Chicken broth
Corn starch

Sautee carrots, celery, onions, and garlic in oil until soft. Sey aside

Brown chicken on both sides

Deglaze w wine, add chicken stock, and tomatos- stir and add veg back in.

Add spices to your liking- I went with paprika, onion powder, red pepper flakes and a bay leaf

Simmer covered for 1 hr

Add corn starch &water to thicken- stir.

Simmer uncovered until ready to eat!

Serve over egg noodles.

Frakenstorm!!!

So... apparently there's a hurricane on the way!

Sunday- stewed chicken
Monday- chicken, bacon, Cheddar burgers
Tuesday- tips and asparagus
Wednesday- shredded chicken croissants
Thursday- ginget garlic chicken thighs

shredded chicken

is awesome.
I am actually quite sad at that hole in my life that existed before J introduced me to this simple and delicious concept. Don't worry, I've been working hard since to remedy.

Here's the drill:
chicken breast (3 large breasts are enough to serve 4ppl and have lunches for 2, if you do as I've done; make salads or tacos/sandwiches)
wet sauce (this is the same way that I made buffalo chicken ages ago. This time I used a container of salsa)
garlic, onions, spices

toss everyone into the crock pot and cook on low until after work (about 9-10hrs)

take two forks and pull apart the meat, last night I ended up adding in a can of tomatoes at this point, because I wanted more juice, but that could have been done in the morning or not at all.

I'm all about choices people.

I think I'm going to fill-it-up-again next week, only this time with totally different flavors. Stay tuned!

I hate naming posts

Seriously I hate it.

Anyway.

2 things I'd like to discuss:

1. HotMess dinners
2. Halloween Party dish

1. I end up with at least one hotmess of a dinner every week. That's ok. People, myself included, are TERRIFIED of screwing up food. I figure that's part of learning!

This week, my mess was Sunday. You'd think breakfast for dinner would be idiot-proof. Not for this idiot!
I ended up with mushy AND burned hashbrowns (figure that one out!) AND the worst eggs ever created.
I found a post online about 'soft boiled eggs' which are in theory hard boiled eggs just not cooked totally, so you still get gooey yolk. it was so bad I can't even describe. So I won't. Suffice it to say it was not one of my finer culinary moments. 


2. I'm gonna make and bring these to a Halloween party this weekend: http://iowagirleats.com/2012/10/16/mini-blt-quinoa-cups/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IowaGirlEats+%28Iowa+Girl+Eats%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

BALLS I hope peeps will eat them.

Oh Trader Joes aka menu making on the fly

Sunday- breakfast for dinner
Monday- stir fry
Tuesday- pizza
Wed- pulled chicken
Thurs- pesto alfredo linguini

Reasons why you should never use 'Sausage sandwich' as a conversation segue

So Tuesday changed a bit, with the all of the budgetary nonsense that we're dealing with- I tried to be EXTRA thrifty this week and looked at the sale section of the grocery store website and planned accordingly with my menues... That was where the inspiration for the steak came from, it was on sale and it's good (clearly I'm a genius). Alas, it was not meant to be, upon arrival there was no sale-steak to be found, but there was quite a nice looking package of mild Italian sausage just hanging around, so I snagged that. Tuesday became sausage and asparagus.

I took a gamble and grilled it. Or rather should I say charred the outsides and didn't cook it all the way through. In my laziness, I just tossed it in the microwave and convinced myself that I'd seen it done that was on tv a million times (so what if it was Kitchen Nightmares?!)  Anyway it was delicious, and provided lunch leftovers for the next day, which were packed as sandwiches.

I'm still so new at 'bringing my lunch to work' so when it's a sandwich I assemble everything there. Everybody gets wrapped separately and assembled right before eating. I toast the bread, broil the cheese (oh yeah, we've got a toaster oven) and generally make it as cook-y as possible. I have a problem. The whole side of the office smelled like meat but damn it was good.

Last night was meatball subs. Seriously look at the recipe I used (posted with the menu) it's crazy but I guarantee that they'll be the moistest, tastiest meatballs you'll have. IM even watched me grating the zucchini into the meat and ate them! THAT's progress.

Tonight it's dinner at M &J's (who, though she's the only person that follows this stupidblog, has started her own foray into logging her kitchen time over HERE- she's hilariously more classy than I am in this mess, maybe that's the secret? We'll see... She's awesome, so's her food!! :) 

An Ode to Tuna Casserole

Seriously, is anything else better on a chilly fall night than tuna casserole?

We've all got very particular recipes, I know. It wasn't until I met Mishkit that I even realized that you could have anything but peas and breadcrumbs in it! We've developed our own family recipe, below if you're interested in switching it up :)

wide egg noodles (2 small bags)
frozen broccoli
tuna (3 cans)
 cream of mushroom soup (2 cans)
chicken stock
onion
cheese (I used chopped up string cheese this time cause I had it lol)

butter
panko

Cook the noodles until almost done then add broccoli until warmed.
drain
add tuna, soup and onion and mix, add chicken stock until moist enough
dump into greased baking dish
sprinkle cheese on top
melt butter, mix in panko until absorbed, sprinkle onto top of cheese
bake until brown and hot.

=)

Sun- tuna noodle casserole

Mon- turkey meatball subs
http://iowagirleats.com/2012/06/06/sneaky-meatball-subs-freezer-friendly-recipe/

Tues- steak tips and asparagus

Wed- chicken cordon bleu
http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Italian-Chicken-Roll-Ups

Thurs- crock pot bolognese
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/01/crock-pot-bolognese-sauce.html?m=1

Asparagus
Zucchini
Ground turkey
Steak tips
Boiled ham
Provolone
Canned tuna
Sub rolls

this week

I'm not feeling super hot today, so it's a get up, go shopping, start soup and go back to bed sort of day.


Sunday Dinner:
 Panera broccoli cheddar soup (Only kind of soup Mishkit will eat)
http://www.food.com/recipe/panera-broccoli-cheese-soup-150384#

Monday Dinner:
 Italian Chicken (subbing spinach for artichokes... again Mishkit won't eat them sigh.)
http://aaronandjillw.blogspot.com/2011/08/italian-chicken.html

Tuesday Dinner:
Hasselback potato bar
http://www.seasaltwithfood.com/2009/05/hasselback-potatoes.html

Wed Dinner:
 Pepperoni Rolls! add ham!
http://whataboutpie.blogspot.com/2010/10/pepperoni-rolls.html

Thurs Dinner:
Stuffed Chicken Parm
http://www.recipe.com/chicken-parmesan-bundles/?socsrc=recfb08225123

Garlic Cheddar Cheese

Seriously kids.
I promise this is easy to do. And SO GOOD. Please attempt it!!

2 lb Bag of frozen large or jumbo shrimp
Garlic. Seriously almost a whole bulb
1/4 cup butter
Salt (flavored is better!)
Cup sharp cheddar cheese. The sharpest you can stand

Thaw and peel and devain the shrimp if it's not done and toss onto tin-foiled cookie sheet big enough to lay out all the shrimp in one layer

Melt butter mix w 1/2 of the chopped garlic (when you think you have enough, chop another bulb

Toss just garlic w shrimp then pour the garlic butter over

Salt the HELL out of it

Mix

Oven @ 425 until cooked

Pull out, PILE with cheese, hit with the broiler until bubbly and brown.

Feel free to name your first born after me

Tonight- Shramp

Here's the thing: once upon a time I went to Stratford Canada. Any good theatre dork knows that it's the Shakespeare-Capital of Canada. A big deal. We saw Macbeth...  half way through my dad turned to me and said "are they speaking English? " ANYWAY, after the show we went to a random restaurant maybe called something like Gargoyles?  I ordered shrimp.  It came out sizzling and garlicky and cheesy and WONDERFUL. It's one of those foods I dream about.

..nbd that's what I'm aiming for tonight.

This week

So, since it's Sunday night at almost 6pm, clearly I'm not making dinner tonight... woops.

Had some delicious Weathervane Fish n Chips.... which were originally on my menu list so it sort of counts, right?

Here goes:

Monday: delicious fresh-made hot italian sausages... let's make sandwiches, why not?
Tuesday: baked garlic/cheddar shrimp
Wed: Boursin stuffed chicken breasts
Thurs: tofu burgers and cheese sticks.

A word on Stromboli

awesome.


That's the word... that or Sussudio.

I'm not huge into pizza sauce anyway, so it's pretty great for me. Plus I love me some ham. and cheese. and pepperoni.

I've been having some dough issues lately, but those are my problems, nothign to concern yourselves with.

They were delicious, but I didn't end up with enough for leftovers.

Such is life.

drip beef

Let's take a moment to talk about drip beef.

It's the greatest.

It's like if a roast and a french dip sandwich had a bit too much to drink on a Saturday and made some bad decisions... 9 months later... drip beef.

it's so tender and moist and tasty and just so good.

If you haven't yet fallen head-over-heels in love with The Pioneer Woman, this recipe should be the kicker.

Seriously try it.

Here's the link again and blow are all of the ways that I don't really follow it :)
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/02/drip-beef-two-ways/

pour the beef consomme and the italian seasonings into a dutch oven (I've done this in crock pot before too, works the same

slice an onion up into thin rings, toss it in

smash two cloves of garlic, also toss in

couple of squirts of siracha

some worchestershire

bit of red wine if you've got it

stir then add the beef

add chicken or beef or even veggie stock to cover

cover and toss into a 275 oven until tender (it was only about 4.5 hrs for my 2.5lb roast)

shred and then taste. ADD WHATEVER YOU THINK IT NEEDS. very importatnt

and toss back into the oven at 250 covered until you're ready to eat.

So. so good.

We have so much leftover that I think I'm going to roast up some carrots and potatoes later this week and pretend that it's a real roast.

This week

Sunday- Drip beef
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/02/drip-beef-two-ways/
Monday- Stromboli
http://burnmenot.blogspot.com/2011/02/stromboli.html
Tues- 'Sour Cream Noodle Bake' sounds ridiculous but looks REALLY good
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/03/sour-cream-noodle-bake/
Wed- M &J
Thurs- Stuffed chicken breasts

Shopping:

• 1 whole Beef Chuck Roast, 2.5 To 4 Pounds
• 1 can Beef Consomme Or Beef Broth
• Buttered, Toasted Deli Rolls
• Portland Pie pizza dough
•  1/4 lb thinly sliced ham
• 1/4 lb reduced fat pepperoni
• 4 slices provolone cheese
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1-1/4 pound Ground Chuck
• 8 ounces, weight Egg Noodles
• 1/2 cup Sour Cream
• 1-1/4 cup Small Curd Cottage Cheese
• 1/2 cup Sliced Green Onions (less To Taste)
• 1 cup Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
•  bone-in chicken breasts
•  boursin cheese

ermahgad

This week's food has been pretty uneventful.
I haven't gotten super excited about it...
I think that it's because (turns out) 1.5hr for roasting a beer can chicken isn't NEARLY enough. lol
We ate breast and save the rest (mostly uncooked) and cooked the next night for biscuits and gravy.

Salmon was good. Just the norm.

Tonight will be fine- beef skewers and Greek Salad

Next week I'll put in some pizazz. I swear... suggestions?

Dinners only- lunches are leftovers

Sunday- Beer can chicken
Monday- Chicken 'n biscuits
Tuesday- salmon &veg
Wednesday- M&Js
Thursday- Beef skewers and Greek Salads


Shopping:
Yogurt
whole chicken
can o' beer
salmon
beef
lettuce
roll of rolls
... easy!

deep thoughts with Jack Handy.

My grandmother has a recipe called 'Untidy Joses'

It's Sloppy Joe's with taco mix.... food racism?

bananas

and by bananas I mean holyshitfuck that stuff was good.

I'm talking about Buffalo Mac n cheese kiddies.

Fact: SO not ok with my new healthy eating habits
Fact: I ate it like a honey badger... I didn't give a shit


Ingrediants
 leftover buffalo chicken from yesterday's recipie like .75 lb
 cellentani pasta (SO MUCH BETTER THAN elbows. Elbows can suck my wang.)
 1/2 cup shredded gouda
1/2 cup shredded SHARP cheddar
 blue cheese crumbles
 2 cups milk
 4 tblspns flour
 4 tblspns butter
 worchestershire sauce
 1/2 tspn ground mustard seed

cook pasta

heat butter on low until melty, stir in flour and stir constantly until 1 shade darker and bubbly

slowly stir in milk and bring to boil, ocnsistantly stirring

add worchestershire sauce, mustard and other spices to milk mixture

add cheeses

KEEP STIRRING it's going to become a melty, cheesy mess! mmm

mix cooked, drained pasta with cheesy chickeny mess

pour into baking dish

bake at 350 for 20 mins

add blue cheese crumbles to top

bake another 10-15 until blue cheese is melted and everyone is bubbly

serve with a squirt of blue cheese dressing.

You're welcome world. You. Are. Welcome.
toss in chicken and stir to combine

fatty fat strikes again

So the buffalo wings on Sunday were rockin. I decided to throw caution to the wind (along with the green beans) and make twice-baked potatoes to go with them.

They were the proverbial tits.

Try it.

Potatos
dry ranch pkg
butter
salt
sour cream
cheese

Pierce the potatos and bake in a 400* oven for about 1-1.5hrs until tender but not busting.
Pull out and let cool

cut in half long ways (so they look like boats!) and scoop out the 'good stuff' with a big spoon
                 ~side note, I REALLY don't' like when potato skins/ twice baked have a layer of good stuff still  in them, it feels wasteful.

bake the skins for another 5/10 mins to get crispy

while skins are baking, mash the good stuff with some (ie however much/little you want) butter and sour cream. DON"T whip, it takes away all the character. add spices, garlic, whatever you like, AND (some of the) ranch packet (SO GOOD)

pull the skins out and refill with the good stuff mixture, pile on some cheese and bake again until hot, then put under broiler for a few to brown up the cheese.

You're welcome.

gottcha!

You thought I bailed again, yeah?
too bad so sad- I'm back.
Last week was a whirlwind of stuff- my mom came in for my bday! and we threw abandon to the wind, but today, I'm back on track.
Here's this week:

Sunday diner- buffalo wings
 (Alton Brown, how I love thee- http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/good-eats/buffalo-wings-recipe/index.html) with roasted green beans

Monday Lunch-
Monday Dinner- Chicken tetrazinni (I skipped it last time)
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-tetrazzini-iv/

Tuesday lunch- leftovers
Tuesday dinner- Pizza cups!
http://quick-dish.tablespoon.com/2011/12/21/deep-dish-pizza-cups/

Wed lunch- leftovers
Wed dinner- buffalo chicken mac & cheese
(seriously this recipe is AWESOME- J makes it all the time! http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=748803)

Thurs lunch- leftovers
Thurs dinner- buffalo chicken lettuce wraps
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/04/crock-pot-buffalo-chicken-lettuce-wraps.html

Let's do this.

Shopping list:
chicken chicken chicken chicken
chicken wings
crescent rolls
blue cheese

mozzerella cheese
cheddar cheese
milk
head-a-lettuce
BIG bottle of Franks Red Hot
dry ranch packets
spaghetti noodles
mac 'n cheese noodles

loco taco wednesday

SO those Chicken ranch tacos were legit.
I had to take a minute post-eating to pat myself on the back, because I ate two appropriately sized ones and then walked away.
Trust me this was a feat.

Easy as can be:
brown chicken
add pkg of taco mix and a LITTLE bit of water (like a tblspn)
cook chicken through
one BIG squirt of ranch

the end.

I also made a little salsa for myself that I'm pretty geeked about, it's fresh and spicy and SUPER easy.

Chop 2 tomatoes
tsp of garlic
couple of squeezes of lime juice
salt
onion powder
rooster sauce

done. spicy and delicious and no chunks of onion or jalapeno in your bites :)

For the morning used a bit of the chicken, and some egg whites to make breakfast wraps. delicious!

LIES

Anyone who tells you that ground turkey in the slow cooker is a good idea should be facepunched. Immediately... unless they're a cat, in which case it makes total sense, because it ends up looking and tasting like cat food.

gross.

Praise JEeeeeeasus for Trader Joe's Orange Chicken.

Meatball subs!

Bros!

SO. GOOD.

1 lb Turkey
1/2 squash pureed
Panko
Spices

Mix. Ball. Bake 15 mins @ 400
Broil to crisp

Toast sub rolls, add cheese & marinara  

The meatballs. Theeeeee meatballs!

Make em. So good.

sigh

So shocker- I punked out on Pad Thai last night.
We ended up being in MA far longer than planned- a 3hour show and then the furniture store and it was 630 already, so we ate out (bad savers! BAD)

Pretty geeked for meatball subs tonight- though as anyone who knows me is aware, I'm not really a fan of meatballs...

Here's my beef with meatballs (bahahahhaah beef!)
 they're generally dense dry balls of meat. Nothing about that sounds good to me. they're just like dead weight on a plate.

I'll get around this with the recipe I posted the other day which uses summer squash in and panko rather than breadcrumbs- that will give them not only texture, but moisture and lightness which they so desperately need.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Wish me luck.

Week 3

Sunday dinner- Pad thai!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pad-thai-recipe/index.html
Monday lunch- leftovers
Monday Dinner- meatball subs
http://iowagirleats.com/recipes/?recipe_id=6026070
Tuesday Lunch- leftovers
Tues Dinner- turkey stroganoff
http://skinnyms.com/turkey-stroganoff/
Wed lunch- leftovers
Wed Dinner- chicken ranch tacos
http://pedersenfood.blogspot.com/2011/05/chicken-ranch-tacos.html
Thurs Lunch- leftovers
Thurs Dinner- chicken tetrazini
Fri lunch- leftovers






Shopping:
tamarind paste
palm sugar
rice stick noodles
peanut oil
eggs
roasted salted peanuts
bean sprouts
frzn chicken breasts
2 cans cream of mush soup
grnd turkey (2lbs)
panko
sub rolls
taco seasoning
tortillas (x2)
sour cream
egg noodles
chicken broth
egg beaters
1 jalapeno

laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaast night

J made some AWESOME grilled chicken thighs- sometimes I forget how awesome chicken thighs are what with being a tit-man myself... by damn they were good.
I think this is the recipe:
 http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/dirty-ps-garlic-ginger-chicken-thighs-recipe/index.html

Also some CSA corn-on-the-cob, next time you cotc (hahaha) go spray-'butter' onion powder and salt. Change yo life.

Our 1/2 of the CSA haul for the week- tomatoes, Boston lettuce, green onions, cucumbers

Tonight- grilled chicken breasts
they've been in the fridge all day with a bottle of beer (Stellaaaaaaaaaaaaa) and some dressing... I think it was Cesar but it was REALLY early this morning when I put it together, so who knows...

and mashed garlic cauliflower

grill baby grill

2 fun facts:
 1. grilled pizza is DELICIOUS
 2. making it on your own for hte first time is slightly terrifying

I say terrifying b/c there's a moment of total doubt right after you throw raw dough onto the grill where 10 scenarios rapidly flip through your head- it's catching on fire, it doesn't cook, it melts (yep, seriously), it falls through the grates and on and on.

Then it starts to get brown and tasty smelling and you hold your breath and give it a nudge with your fingers crossed praying to a 12 headed god that it worked and you can tell that it did. the underside is crispy and awesome. sigh.

back to the beginning:
I made the dough with the pizza dough recipe that came with my Kitchen aid- it's great, and makes a ton, I used some from months ago that I'd frozen.

roll it out into personal sized pizzas- spices on one side and then a little bit of olive oil- toss it on a really hot grill and panic for about 3 mins- pull it off

ingrediant the cooked side- I like that squeezy pizza sauce amazingly, some sausage and chesse, more spices

Toss it back onthe grill (now you're cooking the other side of hte dough and melting the ingredients)

Give it a few and then eat.

simple and SO GOOD.

Two for Tuesday

So we cleaned the SHIT out of that bathroom last night- if you've never magic erasered your bathroom, you've never cleaned it. Those things are... magic.

In addition to bathroom cleaning (appetizing!) we also fired up the grill for the first time, and- HORRAY!- no death or destruction!

Let's talk about grilled salmon-
1. I love it
2. I really love it

I have the fish guy cut 6 oz cuts, yeah 4 is recommended, but like we've talked about I don't do sides, so the extra ounces aren't gonna kill you. Skin on. Skin on. Skin on. Skin on. Skin on. Skin on. Skin on. Skin on.

Did I mention skin on?

I find that keeping the skin on, in addition to keeping all the bits and pieces in the right place, gives the fish more flavor- you don't get rid of that delicious layer of fat between the fish and skin, that gets cooked  down and tasty. Plus the flaky fish comes off of the skin so easily when it's cooked right that you never have to see the damned thing anyway.

Anywho- poached salmon on the grill is my favorite, Weird I know!

make a little foil packet, schlap down the fish and spice, veg, flavor to your hearts content (remember some liquid!) and wrap it up and throw it down. 10 minutes later, flaky tasty fish.

Personally I go for chopped garlic, spices, salt and soy sauce. Goddamn soy sauce on salmon is awesome.

Tonight we're grilling pizzas (thanks Jenny for the awesome idea- I even bought the same squeezy sauce, because it really is good!)

non-standard deviation

I just need a place to get organized for some cleaning (gasp!)
Tonight's menu:
The Bathroom

soak shower curtain in bathtub- hot water baking soda, vinegar
Spray down floor- vinegar/water

Magic erase mirror
Organize cupboard/sink/shower area 
Magic erase Sink

Magic erase floor
drain and hang shower curtain
magic erase bathtub

week dos

sunday- seriously finally making beef/broccoli
monday lunch- bb
monday dinner- grilled salmon and fennel
tuesday lunch- sandwiches
tuesday dinner- grilled pizzas
wed lunch- leftover pizzas
wed dinnert- m&js
thurs lunch- grilled chicken salads
thurs dinner- grilled chicken & mashed cauliflower
fri lunch- leftovers

shopping list

salmon
lunch meats
cheese
pizza sauce (that squeezy stuff is surprisingly tasty)
mozzerella shredded
italian sausage
frzn spinach
chicken breasts
cauliflower
half/half

EERIE!

SO remember yesterday when I was internet-dreaming about a grill?

GUESS what was waiting for me at home when I got there!? no joke. My dad sent me a grill for my birthday (almost 3 weeks early, but whateves =p)

So hells yes bitches this next weeks menu will be a grill-a-palooza!

also skipped the beef/broccoli yesrday (sigh) and when to seafood instead- there was grill all over the kitchen!
  In case anyone was wondering Weathervane is FAR FAR FAAAAAAAAR superior to Newicks. Just sayin.

So tonight I portion and freeze some beefs.

and start a planning for grill-a-palooza. Get psyched.

grilling

Why is grilling so awesome?
I mean scientifically I get it everybody loves a quicky with Milliard, but it's also so easy and quick to clean up... sigh. I want a grill.

We made pizzas the other night with M&J- SO GOOD. had em again for leftovers for dinner yesterday.

Thrilling food stuff, eh kiddies?

Tonight is beef/broccoli and I'm going to toss in some CSA-fresh green beans as well.

Now- WTF do I do with this fennel?

Tue Tue Tuesday

SO I swear that I did take and attempt to post an enchilada picture last night, but the Blogger app on my phone kept shitting the bed.
 Bottom line they were delicious, but not pretty. Not pretty at all.

Regardless of some of my recipes, I swear that I'm cooking health consciously- I'm sticking pretty regimental to a 1400 calorie diet (which may not seem like a lot, but when you go from housing an entire order of crab rangoon THEN eating a full meal, it's a big deal... BTW I REALLY like crab rangoons)

The Enchiladas ended up at about 180 calories each, which when you eat two is a pretty kind meal calorie-wise.

Also I've never really been into side dishes, I feel like they just encourage you to eat more not necessarily better. Growing up, when I was learning to cook, I have VERY vivid memories of my mom shouting 'but what are you making with it!?! You can't JUST make chicken!!!' to that I now say 'what the hell not!?!' and that's how I cook. (back then I would brattily take out a can of corn, schlop it into a pan until luke warm and then passively aggressively serve my 'side' with a look that anyone DARE challenge me.... ah childhood)

Now I've just (for the most part) eliminated them. I cook food rather than a meal I guess. But If I make enchiladas and side... let's say rice... you're not eating the rice because your hungry, nor will you necessarily eat less enchiladas... you're just eating rice because it's served to you.

*quick digression, Beef/Broccoli is moved to tomorrow- goign to M&Js tonight

I mean a lot of times I'll make side by side dishes, like chicken breast and veggies, that's cool I think of them as a unit.... ANYWAY

that's, I think all for today.

Tomorrow is lunch out for Pho (delicious delicious Pho) and beef/broccoli for dinner (I think I'm going to skip crab rangoons, NOT because I love them any less, but a. They're time consuming, b. they're shockingly bad for you when eaten in massive quantities)

Cha cha cha

Pulled pork enchiladas
Leftover pulled pork (no bbq sauce)
Can of tomatoes
Tortillas
Shredded Cheese (whatever you like- i had Colby Jack)
Onion
Garlic
Spices (the usual suspects plus some Cajun spice mix and blackened seasoning)
hot sauce (I went with Franks and some siracha)

puree tomatoes with garlic & onions- everybody into the pot & to a simmer
add spices and hot sauce
bring to a little boil
Reserve 1/2 of sauce
Add pork to pan with remaining sauce, heat pork through

microwave individual tortillas for 10 seconds just to make them pliable, fill with cheese and meat mixture and line up in a baking dish- My amount of leftovers made 7 roll-ups

Spray with a bit of cooking oil and bake at 425 for 10 or so minutes until a bit crispy.
Reduce heat to 400, toss on remaining sauce and some cheese i also threw on a handful of feta... cause I dig it
get melty and gooey

eat- I'm probably gonna add some sour cream


Pictures if I don't house them too quickly... otherwise picture an enchilada... they looked like that

Stop. Hammer time.

Two changes (so far) to this week's menu:
1. I made SO. MUCH. Pork yesterday. so the chicken casserole is turning into pulled pork enchiladas (mmm) for tonight
2. Wed- M&J are in Vegas this week so no Wed dinner- Le gasp! BUT we're getting the full set of CSA veggies so I'll figure it out from there.

3. Did you not notice- Pulled. Pork. Enchiladas. Get excited party people. Definitely info to follow on that.

Oink oink

Pulled pork

Pork (shoulder, butt... whatevs)
Beer
Onion
Garlic
Spices (your choice- guess which mine were)
Siracha aka rooster sauce

Cut some slits into the fatty side of the pork. Stuff with garlic (I made 6 slices)

Put pork fatty-garlic side down in a crock pot

Pour on beer

Couple of swirls of rooster sauce

Spice

Refrigerate overnight

In the am cut up and toss in the onion

Cook on low (about 6-7 hours)

Pull and eat

*personally I haaaaate bbq sauce so I made a sandwich with more siracha and ranch. Gold star.

Dinnah

So someday I'll cook thinking about presentation...  for now you'll have to take my word that it's tasty:

Vegetable ESPLOSION!!!

Ingredients
A portabello mushroom
An egg
Some summer squash
Some feta
Spices you like (I went with onion powder,  paprika, garlic,  red pepper flakes, black truffle salt (yeah seriously))

Slice,  season and sautee squash (set aside)

Clean and cut a whole out of the center of the mushroom

Chop the middle part up and set aside

Spice and sautee holey mushroom

Crack egg into the center- cook to your liking. set aside

Toss center of mushroom and some feta into pan and cool high and quick until juicy and melty, spice.

Awe yeah, i splashed in some red wine vinegar

Then everything into the plate- cheesy and crispy and spicy and tangy and juicy. 

Hell yeah.

Week 1 (2.0)

We're gonna try this again... I think I'm going to start the week with Sunday b/c that's when I REALLY like to cook


Sunday
   Dinner- Pulled Pork
Monday
   Lunch- Leftover Pulled Pork
   Dinner- Chicken casserole (that I didn't make last week)
Tuesday
   Lunch- Leftover Chicken Casserole
   Dinner- Beef & Broccoli and Crab Rangoons (one night of unhealthy is ok, right?)
Wed
   Lunch- Leftover B&B and CRs
   Dinner- M&Js!
Thurs
   Lunch- Go out! (I already know I'm going to Pho... Oh Pho, thou art so delicious)
   Dinner- Rooster Chicken Panini's
Friday-
  Lunch- HOPEFULLY leftover dinner from the night before :)


I might take pictures of some of this, I'll probably even come up with recipes.

Rooster Chicken

OK. So it could have been worst!
I think that I was mildly, marginally successful in this week's endeavor.

Last night I made one of my new favorite recipies (a hybrid of about 47 ideas I found) I call it:
Rooster-sauce-oven-fried-chicken (still a working title)

ingredients:
Chicken boobs
ranch
milk (or half/half or cream or whatever you have)
Siracha (aka Rooster Sauce)
Worchestershire sauce
Panko
choice of spices (I like garlic, onion powder and paprika)

*Preheat oven to 475
*Cut your chicken into thin 'tender' or 'nugget' sized pieces. The smaller they are the quicker they cook

*mix liquid ingredients in one bowl- everything is to taste. You want enough final product to dredge all of your chicken that is like a cream consistancy

*mix panko and spices in a seperate bowl

*dredge chicken in liquid mixture, then into panko

*spread out onto cooking sheet

*bake at 475 for apprx 5-8mins until a bit brown/crispy

*turn heat down to 375 and bake until cooked

Delicious, crispy and a LOT healthier than fried!

alright alright

So... SHOCKER- we strayed from plans last night =$
I went to Sam's with a list of 4 items... we ended up dropping two-hundo. woops.
By the time we were done at Sam's the idea of then also going to the grocery store THEN going home to eat sounded like madness, so clearly, we decided to go out to eat.

Sigh... Rome wasn't built in a day, right?

The lack of groceries/cooking have pushed this week's menu back into oblivion- I've decided that the best reason (read: Excuse) is that trying to start a radical new way of meal-ing (it's a word!) in the middle of the week was just setting myself up for failure. SO while if/when it might work I'll try to stick to the plan... Let's be honest.

Next week will start the reboot.


I swear.


No Really...

Round 1: FIGHT!

Week 1 (well partial week 1, but as earlier established, who's counting?)

[This post will (fingers crossed) happen on Sat/Sun the week before]

• Tuesday- 
• Lunch- leftovers from Olive Garden
• Dinner- Salmon and roasted broccoli
• Wednesday-
• Lunch- Spicy Chicken Panini
• chicken
• leafy green
• mozzerella

• Dinner  Matt and Jens

• Thursday-
• Lunch- Spicy Chicken Panini
• Dinner- 
• http://www.wwrecipes.net/bruschetta-chicken-bake.html  
• http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2010/06/poppy-seed-chicken.html 
  
• 1 cup 2% milk shredded mozzarella cheese
• 5 cups chicken breasts, cooked and cubed 
• 2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup
•  2 cups crushed Ritz crackers (about 1 1/2 rolls of crackers)
• Friday- 
• Lunch- leftovers
• Sunday-
• Dinner-Pulled Pork
• http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/easy-crockpot-pulled-pork-recipe/# 

• 1 large Vidalia onion,
• 1 (4-6 lb) boneless pork butt or shoulder

the reincarnation of Blog

Ugh. No one even imagines reading this anymore.... even my imaginary friend was all- f that mess.

So- since this blog treated others so well in its last life it is reincarnated into a food-planning diary *oooo* *aaaahhh*

We're trying to save up for a condo so that means cutting back on superfluous spending. For us that really means eating out- especially for lunches.

So I'm going to try to be more proactive in lunch and dinner making (and therefore grocery shopping) to try to help with this.

Also, hopefully I'll get to try lots of fun new recipies and stuff.

OK GO!

Ok. I realize this is the 3rd time I'm back again and that not a single person pays attention... BUT I'm back. Let's do this,  bitches.