Marissa's Menu

Spicy Veggie Soup

2013-01-25T13:35:00.000-08:00

You're lookin' at an accidental surprise dish, here. You see, Mr. Wonderful is doing a cleanse diet thingy and I just couldn't make him another green smoothie or salad. It's just SO COLD OUT! We recently started getting organic produce from a weekly co-op and it was heavy on the bell peppers this time. So, naturally, we've been having lots of veggie omelets and fajitas. But I STILL wasn't using them fast enough. So, this pot of yumminess was a little on the spicy side with 1 1/2 large red bell peppers and 1 or 2 large yellow peppers. But it was surprisingly good! Especially when you throw in every other vegetable you have lyin' 'round, "stone soup" style! (One of my favorite childhood stories, by the way.) I would have liked to have put cabbage in here as well, but I didn't have any to speak of and a random experiment soup such as this didn't warrant a whole trip to the store. And experiment it was, and not a planned meal to blog, which is why I don't have an ingredient shot, but I did take this picture (below) of everything before it cooked down, because it was just so colorful and purty.

What you need:

2 onions, sliced
1 1/2 large red bell peppers, diced
2 large yellow bell peppers, diced
1 medium leek, sliced
10-12 baby carrots or maybe about 3 large carrots, sliced
1 can of diced tomatoes, with juice
2 kale leaves, chopped
2 collard greens leaves, chopped
2 celery stalks, sliced
3-4 T. dry onion soup mix (watch out for MSG. Bad news. Every brand at every store that I've tried has it. Even the ever-popular Lipton. The only one that I've found that doesn't is in the Winco bulk section. So check labels. It won't flat out say, MSG, by the way. It will say monosodium glutamate. Sneaky little devils.)
5 C. water

How you make it:

Toss everything in a pot or dutch oven. Bring to boil and cover and simmer for 30 minutes or more. Stirring occasionally. (I probably let this cook down for a couple hours because I was busy doing other slave, er, I mean, mom duties.)

Ladle out 1/2 to 2/3 of the soup into a blender and purée. Pour back into the pot and mix together.

Of course, if you don't like things spicy, there's no reason this has to be. Go very easy on the peppers, and you're good to go!

Now I think there are MANY variation possibilities with this one. You could add some lime juice and cilantro, any sort of beans, chicken, shrimp, you name it. But if you want to stay cheap and all veggie, this "stone soup" was a nice surprise success.

Quinoa Pizza Bites

2013-01-24T12:00:00.000-08:00

I had been dying to try this recipe for weeks now ever since I ran across it on Frugal Living NW, who got it from Fit Sugar. Pizza doesn't happen around here much anymore since we have 3 (sometimes 4) out of 5 people who avoid dairy. Plus, these were so tempting because I'm always looking for new ways to incorporate quinoa and these looked so healthy and full of protein. I made some changes by adding italian sausage (because I had 1/2 pound leftover from making soup), sun dried tomatoes, and sautéing the onion (I have a weird problem with eating onion that hasn't been sautéed. And don't get me started on raw onion!! That's been a major obstacle in my enjoyment of meatloaves and the like....)

(Marinara sauce not pictured.)

What you need:

1/2 pound italian sausage, or you could use pepperoni or any other meat topping if you prefer. (or leave out the meat altogether, for vegetarian.)
1 C. uncooked quinoa
2 large eggs
1 C. chopped onion
1 C. shredded mozzarella cheese (I used 1/2 C. real mozzarella and 1/2 C. non-dairy Daiya brand and split the mixture into two batches, making half non-dairy, which actually came out quite good!)
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 C. fresh basil, chopped or 2 T. dried
1/2 C. sun dried tomatoes, diced
1/4 tsp. salt (could use 1/2 tsp if not adding sausage or pepperoni)
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. oregano
Pizza sauce for dipping. (One of my favorite, funny, and adorable, I might add, chefs, Chef Fabio, has a fabulous and easy marinara sauce recipe.

How you make it:

Cook the quinoa (rinsing it first!) by boiling it with 2 C water in a covered pot. Once it's boiling, simmer for 15 minutes and then take it off the heat and keep it covered for another 5-10 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Brown the sausage in a skillet then add the onion and sauté with it, till the onion is cooked down and tender.
In a medium size bowl, mix the sausage mixture together with the quinoa and the rest of the ingredients, except the pizza sauce.
Spoon into mini muffin tin (greased if not using sausage), filling each cup to the top and press down to compact.
Bake for 30-35 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan. The original recipe says to cook for 15-20 minutes, but mine were not even close to done at that point and went longer. Probably because of the added weight and fat of the meat. And actually, the non-dairy cheese ones took even longer at 40-45 minutes. But I had heaped those pretty big in the tins.
Serve warm with sauce for dipping.

THESE.WERE.FABULOUS. No joke. What a great snack or meal combined with a salad!

You could easily make these with any pizza topping ingredients you prefer. I want to add mushrooms and bell peppers next time, for sure!

Golden Winter Soup

2013-01-23T15:38:00.001-08:00

I'm Baaaaaaaack!!! Aren't you so excited?!? Wow! No new recipes in over a year. Well, sorry. 2012 was full of hospitalizations and surgeries and new food allergies, oh my! All recipes will be dairy-free in addition to gluten-free! Yahoooooo! I will soon be updating the archives with adjustments to recipes to reflect dairy-free substitutions. Well, except maybe the cheesy chickeny chicken enchiladas. I can't imagine those being ANY good with dairy-free "cheese" and the like.
But anyway, let's get things rolling again, with THE BEST winter-y soup you'll ever eat. Full of hearty vegetables with a hint of sweetness from the butternut squash. And so fast and easy, you won't even believe the awesomeness of yourself when you make it.

(Sorry, no ingredient picture. I misplaced my planning-ahead-blogging-groove and didn't get a shot in.)

What you need:

2 T. non-dairy butter or olive oil
5 C. cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)
2 C. cubed peeled russet potato
1 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
2 C. sliced leek (about 2 medium) Leeks are the bomb, yo. If you're new to purchasing them, they basically look like huge scallions/green onions. And have a similar smell/taste.
4 C. low sodium, fat-free chicken broth
1 C. coconut milk (canned)
Fresh chopped chives for garnish, optional

How you make it:

Melt butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add squash, potato, salt, and pepper to pan; sauté 3 minutes. Add leek; sauté 1 minute. Stir in broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until potato is tender, stirring occasionally. Place half of potato mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Pour into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining potato mixture. Stir in coconut milk. Cover and keep warm.

I used my Ninja blender and it was large enough to handle blending the whole pot in one batch, so you may not need to do it in two batches depending on what you're using.

Garnish with chives. We like to eat this alone as a whole meal itself, but you could serve it with some sort of bread and/or salad as well.

Well, hope you enjoyed my return to the blog! And hopefully we'll be seeing some more to come. I already have some great recipes lined up!

Ginger Citrus Roast Chicken

2011-11-20T15:41:00.000-08:00

What can I say about this refreshing roasted chicken dish?? I love it so so so so much. So super juicy, light and flavorful and easy and inexpensive to make. I can't remember where I acquired it. But here you go.

(Ingredient picture MIA. Weird.)

What you need:

5 T. oil or butter, melted
3 lemons or 4 limes
2 oranges
3 T. grated fresh ginger
salt and pepper
1 whole chicken (about 4-5 pounds)

How you make it:

Preheat oven to 425 F. Grate the zest of 1 orange and lemon and then quarter them. Pat the chicken dry and place in roasting pan. Mix 1 T. grated ginger with the citrus zest. Rub the mixture in the chicken cavity with some added salt and pepper if wanted. (Remember to pull out the weird chicken parts they throw in the cavity. Ew, I hate those.) Add the quartered lemon and orange inside.
Juice the remaining lemons and orange and add to the remaining 2 T. ginger and also the oil/butter. Brush the mixture over the chicken.
Cook in oven for 15 min., breast side up.
Baste the chicken and reduce heat to 375 F and continue cooking for 30 min.
Turn the chicken over on its breast and baste again and cook for another 30 min.
Verify that's it's done by checking for the juices to run clear when you cut into the thickest part of the breast. Or with a meat thermometer that it's reached 170 F.
Remove from oven and let the chicken rest for 15 min.

Great over a bed of spinach!! With some sort of potato dish on the side. :) There you have it. It's my go-to whole chicken recipe. Bam. Delicious.

Easy As Anything Homemade BBQ

2011-11-14T15:30:00.000-08:00

Whoa. I'll be updating this pic the next time I make it. It's so dark down there in the crockpot, I guess. I hope this isn't too unappetizing!

Now this is a recipe for BBQ meat and the sauce. We've used it for pork or beef in the crockpot. I personally like pork a little better, but it's so so so yummy either way. You have to plan ahead a little bit as you'll see if you read on. But it's so low-maintenance once you get it going, it's worth planning ahead for. Oh, how I hate that I ended that sentence in a preposition! But I'm leaving it since that's how I would have said it, if I were talking.

The meat's in the crockpot already here and the onion is chopped. I forgot to take a pic the night before.

What you need:

These amounts make a a lot. You could use a 2.5 pound piece of meat and half the sauce recipe. But I'd just make the whole amount of sauce and freeze half for another time, if it were me.

5 pounds of pork or beef roast (I used some pork "Country-Style Ribs" 'cause it was on sale, so just had to pull out some bones after it cooked and before the sauce.)

1 C. chopped onion

1/3 C. oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 C. sugar

3 tsp. salt

1 tsp. dry mustard

1/4 tsp. pepper

3 C. ketchup

1 C. water

1/2 C. lemon juice

2 tsp. Worchestershire sauce

1 tsp. liquid smoke

How you make it:

The night before, cut roast into halves or quarters to fit it all in a crock pot. Cover and cook on high for one hour. Reduce to low and continue cooking throughout the night.

In the morning, remove meat from pot and discard juices. Remove unwanted fat (and bones if using country style ribs, like I did).
Break meat into somewhat smaller chunks, but DO NOT SHRED.
Return meat to crock pot and pour in about 3 C. of barbeque sauce. (*See below for sauce making instructions)
Cover with lid and cook on low for the rest of the day.

Before serving, add remaining barbeque sauce, if meat is too dry. Stir thoroughly.

To make the sauce: (makes about 4.5 C.)
Sauté onions in the oil until golden. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes.
For a thicker sauce, reduce or omit the water.

Everyone has different ways they like to eat this sort of thing. On a bun, for a sandwich, or just as a main dish with sides. We had it as a main dish with roasted potatoes and a veggie I can't remember. Probably green beans or peas or a salad. Oh wait, maybe it was broccoli. Three kids have killed all my brain power. Oh well, I'm not sure what it was! Clearly, I was focused on the yummy BBQ meat and not the sides.
This is so great for a busy fall day when there's not time in the evening to be in the kitchen cooking. That, I like.

The Whole Enchilada (Chicken Enchiladas)

2011-11-11T17:20:00.000-08:00

Massive tragedy, indeed.

The second time. Stayed in tact, thank goodness!

If you wanna know where the phrase "the whole enchilada" originated, I *think* it was from this incident in my kitchen just the other night. No? Well, it seemed appropriate, anyway. Important note: when deciding between the life of your 18-month-old toddler and the pan of lovingly prepared cheesy, chicken-y heaven, you must sacrifice the pan. It's that simple. (translation: the little one was fastly approaching in his zombie-like toddler walk/run toward the open, hot oven as I was pulling out the pan. As I looked over, juggling the pan in one hand, trying to close the oven with the other and shooting my leg up in the air towards him as a blocking device, down the pan went. And so it goes.) I thought it was still worth blogging, since I know I'm not the only one who's been there. Having put effort into something that just gets instantly destroyed before you get to reap the rewards. That devestation can apply to more than just dinner-making, though. All sorts of life events can seem like that. But I digress....

Anyway, wanna make it?? Here's how. (It really is delicious. After I got over the heartbreak from this attempt, we had a re-do about a week later. So we eventually got to partake.)

This pic shows plain greek yogurt and milk in place of the half and half or evaporated milk.

What you need:

2 T. onion, chopped
1/4 C. butter or olive oil
2 fresh tomatoes, diced (I cheated and used a can, drained.)
2 C. chicken, cooked, diced
1 dozen corn tortillas
1 (4 oz.) can diced green chiles (I omitted, since Mr. Wonderful doesn't like them. Oh, how accomodating, I am.)
1 pint half and half (can use canned evaporated milk instead, which I did on the re-do)
4 tsp. chicken bouillon (I used Organic Better Than Bouillon)
1 lb. shredded cheese (Monterey Jack, Cheddar, whatever kind you like.)

How you make it:

Dissolve bouillon in half and half for about 30 min.

Sauté onion and tomato in butter or oil, until tender. Mix in chicken and salt and pepper to taste. (I tend to think everything is too salty, so I only add pepper here. Depending on what chicken and bouillon you're using, it might be enough salt as is, but it's subjective.)

Soften tortillas by placing a stack of six or so on a med/hot skillet. Press down on the stack till the bottom one is warm and pliable. You don't want them to break and crack open when you fill and roll them. I just take the bottom one each time to fill. Then I start another stack of six and so on.
Put 2 T. of chicken mixture in center of tortillas and roll. Put rolled tortillas in greased 9 X 13 pan.

Sprinkle green chiles (optional) and cheese over the top. Pour cream mixture over all. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 min. or until top is golden and bubbly.

You might think it's weird that there's no traditional enchilada sauce in this. I don't know what to tell ya. It's just how I grew up with it. I suppose if you must have it, you could use less cream and add in some canned enchilada sauce.

We had this with a green salad, peas and sliced watermelon and cantelope on the side. Of course, this was the re-do night. On "the whole enchilada"-on-the-floor-night....I got mad and pouted. I think the kids and hubby fended for themselves with hot dogs or something. I, actually, (at the insistence of Mr. Wonderful) went out to a Mexican restaurant when the tots were in bed and ordered enchiladas and fresh chips and salsa! And ate it all by myself!! If that's what it takes to get a quiet meal all to myself, I might throw the pan on the floor more often!

Grocery List for Last Week's Menu

2011-10-28T17:25:00.000-07:00

YAY!! For a new menu, FINALLY!!! I have to say, I really liked this variety for the week. Nice mix of things. Nothing too similar or repetitive. Happy shopping!

Shopping List for Menu:

Veggie Loaded Lasagna

Hawaiian Teriyaki Beef Kebabs

Shrimp Noodle Soup

Chickety-Chicken Fried Rice

Broccoli Tomato Fettucine

1-2 links (or up to half a pound if bulk sausage) Italian sausage
1 C. diced cooked chicken
3 eggs
1.5 pounds of steak
1 pound tail-on peeled and deveined medium shrimp
1/2-1 pound ground beef

ricotta cheese
shredded parmesan cheese
shredded mozzarella cheese

3 onion
3-4 cloves garlic
2 cups frozen broccoli florets, or fresh broccoli
green pepper
celery
peas
Chinese (napa) cabbage
red bell pepper
sugar snap peas
Lime
broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, mushrooms, spinach (Or any veggie combo you want for the lasagna)
20-ounce can of pineapple slices (or fresh pineapple)
1 (16 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
jar of pasta/marinara sauce

8 oz. uncooked fettuccine
rice
uncooked rice sticks (aka, Asian rice noodles)

box of lasagna noodles or any other noodles you like

dried basil
dried oregano
ginger
soy sauce (La Choy is gluten-free)
oil
3 - 3.5 C. chicken broth
1 (8 oz.) bottle of clam juice
brown sugar
chili garlic sauce or crushed red pepper
salt
fresh cilantro leaves

Skewers

Hawaiian Teriyaki Beef Kebabs

2011-10-26T07:08:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, our oldest son was begging to make this, as it came from his very own kids' cookbook by Paula Deen. But I'm confused about how a Paula Deen recipe could be lacking a stick of butter.

What you need:

Skewers

1.5 pounds of steak

3/4 C. soy sauce (La Choy is gluten-free, so that's what I use.)

1 tsp. of minced ginger (Mr. Wonderful is sensitive to ginger, so he mentioned he would have liked it with half that amount.)

1/2 tsp. minced garlic (that's about 1 clove)

1.5 tsp. brown sugar

20-ounce can of pineapple slices (or fresh pineapple is my preference, but we had a can handy.)

1/2 C. water

How you make it:

Cut steak into 1/4 inch strips, cutting away fat and gristle.

Mix together the soy sauce, ginger, garlic, brown sugar, and 1/2 C. water. Put it in a plastic bag along with the steak. Refrigerate overnight.

Soak the skewers in a pan of water about 30 min prior to grilling.

Thread the meat on the skewers and grill along with the pineapple on high or broil in the oven . Turn the meat and pineapple about halfway through cooking, about 5 minutes each side. (The pineapple might take longer, so you can start them 5 or 10 min before the meat.)

This was delicious over brown rice served with a salad! Way to go, Paula Deen. No butter.

Technical Difficulties

2011-09-27T13:02:00.000-07:00

UPDATE!! SO sorry for the complete neglect since the spring of this awesome blog! ;) I hope readers have been able to use the existing recipes to manage their own dinner menus in their home. I got up and running for weekly menus when school started and my hard drive crashed. I'm still working on it. Until then, I can't really blog without pictures. And my laptop has my pics. I'll see about getting new pictures, but until then, please enjoy the existing recipes. I think there's still lots to choose from and not get bored or in a rut. Stay tuned! I WILL get this sorted out and we'll be cooking together soon!
Tonight is a repeat, if you care to revisit it or need an idea:

Broccoli Tomato Fettuccine

Yours Truly,
The Mom Who Doesn't Love to Cook But Does it Anyway (Marissa)

Grocery List for Last Week's Menu

2011-07-08T11:19:00.000-07:00

Shopping List for Menu:

Tender-ist Pork Chops

Yummy Chicken

Sweet Potato Chorizo Soup

Flippin' Omelets

(Yes, we have these almost every week!)

Italian Sausage Soup

1 pound pork chops
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
7 ounces chorizo sausage
cooked ham, 1 C. diced
1-1.5 pounds mild italian sausage

garlic salt
pepper
salt
thyme
curry powder
crushed red pepper flakes
basil
oregano
parsley

oil
dijon mustard
lemon juice
chicken broth, 7 cups
red wine vinegar

onion, 4
carrots, 2 large
sweet potatoes, 3 large
garlic, 4 cloves
potatoes, 2
diced tomatoes, 1-2 cans
zucchini, 3

sour cream
eggs, 5
cheddar cheese

bowtie or any short noodle (I use TJ's brown rice fusilli for GF.)

Sweet Potato and Chorizo Soup

2011-05-16T14:22:00.000-07:00

Oh my, with the sour cream all swirled in, this was beyond yummy.

Baseball season is upon us. Heaven help me. Which means, traditional dinner-time has gone out the window. After a nail-biting TWO HOUR game of little league bball (yes, that was indeed sarcasm) it's all about the crock pot. Once again, I turn to my favorite slow-cooker blog for help. And I found this recipe and had some chorizo sausage I needed to use.

What you need:

7 cups chicken broth
7 ounces chorizo sausage, sliced (pork, beef, turkey, veggie; your choice)
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped (or a handful of baby carrots)
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
8 tablespoons sour cream (optional for serving)
salt (optional to taste)

How you make it:

Put the broth and chorizo in the crock pot. Add in the carrots, sweet potatoes, onion, garlic, curry powder and red pepper flakes. (If you're worried about spice/heat, omit the red pepper flakes and just have them at the table for those to add to their individual servings.) Also, don't worry about how you chop the veggies since it's all going to be blended in the end.
Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Use an immersible hand-held stick blender to blend completely. Serve with a dollop of sour cream.

I kinda think some sliced avocado would be nice to add in with the sour cream for serving as well. I think I'll do that next time. Also, I didn't add salt to it before cooking because I wasn't sure how salty the sausage would already be. I felt it needed some salt in the end, so we just added what we needed to our servings.

Now, if we can just hold it together through the end of this month, baseball season will be over and we can move on with our lives...and back to normal dinner time together at the table.

Grocery List for Last Week's Menu

2011-05-09T21:00:00.000-07:00

Shopping List for Menu:

Split Pea and Ham Soup

Kids' Favorite Maple Syrup Salmon and The Three B's: Broccoli with Bacon Balsamic Sauce

Chicken Adobo

Marinatin' Some Shrimp

Sunday Roast with Carrots and Potatoes

1 beef roast, 2-4 pounds, depending # of people
cooked ham, enough for 1-2 C. diced
salmon fillets, 1-2 pounds
8-10 chicken legs
bacon, 2 slices, or bacon bits
uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined, 1 ½ - 2 pounds
3½ cups dried green split peas
potatoes, 4
broccoli, 1-2 crowns
onion, 4
celery, 6-8
carrots, enough for 1 C.
lime, 1-2
lemon, 2
shallot, 1
garlic, 6 cloves, might as well get a whole bulb
fresh chives or 2 tsp. dried chives
marjoram, dried crushed
ginger root, large piece (or jarred crushed is fine)
bay leaves, 3
basil
cayenne pepper
butter, 2 T.
soy sauce (La Choy or other wheat-free kind if avoiding gluten)
white vinegar
balsamic vinegar
red wine vinegar
Dijon mustard
olive oil
salt
pepper
tomato sauce
flour (gluten-free flour used here)
beef bouillon, optional
maple syrup
skewers

Sunday Roast with Carrots and Potatoes

2011-05-09T14:54:00.000-07:00

Confession: Didn't make it on a Sunday. I believe it was Thursday. It was cold and dreary, and it just felt like a comfort food kinda day. I love the perfectly seared edges and the fall-apart-goodness. It never turns out dry or bland. It may just be the kids' favorite too. And that's always a good thing. Zero complaining is refreshing, n'est pas?

What you need:

1 beef roast, this one was 2.5 pounds (top or bottom round, chuck, whatever)
1 small onion, peeled and sliced into rings
4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
4 potatoes, peeled and quartered
salt
pepper
oil
1/4 C. flour (gluten-free flour used here)
1 T. beef bouillon, optional

How you make it:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Generously salt and pepper roast. Heat 3 T. oil in roaster over medium high heat on a stovetop. Carefully add roast and brown on both sides (3-5 minutes each side). Remove from burner.

Arrange carrots and potatoes around roast. Lay onion rings over the top of the roast. Add enough water to almost cover the veggies. Cover with lid of roasting pan or with tin foil, tightly.

Roast in oven for 2-3 hours. I aim for at least 2.5 hours. (The longer cooking time will make it more tender. And know your oven. Oven temps are not always accurate. If your roast cooks too quickly or is overcooked, your oven may be too hot. Next time try lowering the temp setting by 25 degrees.)

Remove meat and veggies to heat-proof dish, cover with foil or lid and keep warm in 250 degree oven, while making gravy with the remaining juice.

GRAVY: In small bowl, whisk together 1 C. water and 1/4 C. flour. Pour into meat juice and whisk together, season with salt and pepper. The beef bouillon can be added to deepen the color and flavor of the gravy. (I don't always add that, as I like it more thin/clear, as pictured. So, I also maybe use only 1/8 C. flour instead of 1/4 C. But it's however you like it.) Cook quickly over medium high heat, until gravy bubbles and thickens.

Feel free to enjoy on a weekday, like I did too! Oh, it makes the house smell so yummy. And pot roast, as you can see, is totally not difficult or complicated at all!

Marinatin' Some Shrimp

2011-05-05T22:17:00.000-07:00

Feeling like some shrimp? We were, so we ate some! It happened to be our last baby's 1st birthday, and he was only into the side dishes, which was great! More shrimp for the rest of us! (Aren't there some rules about how young you can serve shellfish to kids, anyway? I dunno, but either way, he didn't get any. Too bad. But he stuffed his face with carrot cake later. And the pictures for that are pretty much the cutest thing on the planet.) Wow, what a side-track.

Yes, I didn't notice till I got done marinating these that I had pulled out and used the frozen cooked shrimp instead of the frozen uncooked. So, it still worked. Basically just warmed them up on the broiler rather than actually cooking them. Still delish!

What you need:

1 ½ - 2 pounds uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
¼ C. tomato sauce
2 T. red wine vinegar
1/3 C. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. basil, dried/crushed or 2 T. fresh chopped
½ - 1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
skewers

How you make it:

Wisk together all the ingredients except for the shrimp in a bowl. Add in the shrimp and stir to coat. Cover and marinate in frig for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Stirring once.
Thread shrimp onto skewers. Discard marinade. Grill or broil for 2-3 minutes per side. (Make sure you brush your grill plates or broiler pan before with a little oil so they don't stick.)

You can see in the picture, our side dishes this time, in case you were interested, were baked potatoes and tomato avocado salad.

Voila. Bon appetit! (For some reason, my 4 year-old has taken to busting out this french phrase right after the blessing on the food and before we eat. I think it has something to do with an episode of Blue's Clues.)

The Three B's: Broccoli with Bacon Balsamic Sauce

2011-04-28T20:54:00.000-07:00

This picture doesn't capture the gloss of the dressing, therefore it looks kinda dry, but it really wasn't. I promise.

When you've got a moment while waiting for your dinner to finish cooking, this is a really nice extra addition to the regular old steamed broccoli side dish. And let's face it, most nights I DO NOT have an extra minute to whip up something fancy for the broccoli while waiting for dinner to cook. I'm most definitely gonna take those minutes to fold a load of laundry or give the baby a bath or yell at the two older kids to stop trying to kill each other....you get the picture. Luck had it that the boys were busy terrorizing the neighbor kids on the other side of the fence outside and the baby was most-cooperatively napping. :)

What you need:

2 slices of bacon, diced (I cheated and used bacon bits)
1 small shallot, minced
1 ½ T. balsamic vinegar
1 T. fresh lemon juice
¼ tsp. Dijon mustard
3 T. olive oil
salt
pepper
1 to 1 ¼ lb. steamed broccoli or any other vegetable

How you make it:

In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook the bacon, stirring occasionally, until crisp and golden, about 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a dish lined with paper towels, leaving the bacon fat in the pan. Add the shallot to the bacon fat and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Add 1 T. of the vinegar and scrape the bottom of the pan with a spoon to dissolve the browned bits stuck to the pan bottom. Off the heat, stir in the remaining ½ T. vinegar, the lemon juice, and the mustard. Gradually whisk in the olive oil. Season with ¼ tsp. salt and some fresh ground pepper to taste.
Drizzle sauce over the steamed veggies and sprinkle with the cooked bacon bits.

Since I used already cooked bacon bits this time, I just heated up some oil in the pan, started sautéing the bacon bits and the shallots together, and went from there, adding the vinegar and so on, without removing the bacon. Hope that makes sense. Sometimes you gotta improvise. And you could most certainly make this sauce ahead of time and just reheat if needed.

This is a great vinaigrette sauce for any steamed vegetable. Potatoes, cauliflower, carrots...whatever. Of course, it's got bacon in it. As, Jim Gaffigan says, "Bacon is the fairy dust of the food world". And he would be 100% correct in that statement.

Split Pea and Ham Soup (or Green Soup for the kids)

2011-04-27T10:25:00.000-07:00

You gotta call it green soup for the kids. Somtimes I add meaningless extra adjectives to it too, like "Amazing green soup" or something like that, just for good measure. Those darn picky kids....anyway, I can understand why "split pea" doesn't exactly sound like something that makes them race to the table. But I love this soup so much. It's also great for gluten-free cooking, because there's no added thickeners to worry about. Peas are a natural starch. The ingredients are simple and easy. As is how you make it, however you do need to allow time for the peas to soak. Read on and I'll explain.

What you need:
3½ cups dried green split peas
1½ cups sliced onion
1 cup celery, chopped a bit
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoon dried marjoram, crushed
1 cup diced carrots
1-2 cups diced ham

How you make it:

In large stock pot or Dutch oven, cover peas with 2 quarts cold water; bring to a boil and simmer gently 2 minutes; remove from heat; cover and let stand 1 hour.

Add onion, celery, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper and marjoram. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer (don’t boil) 1½ hours. Stir occasionally. If water has evaporated, you may need to add more water as the soup continues to cook.

Let mixture cool a bit, then purée using a blender. Be careful, it will be somewhat hot!

Return mixture to pot, add meat and carrots. Cook slowly, covered, 30 minutes or so – until carrots are tender.

Serves 6-8.

Note: Since you're puréeing the whole thing in the end, you don't need to worry about chopping the celery and onion too uniformly or very small. Any sort of chunks will do.

Serve with bread and fruit salad, if desired.

Grocery List for Last Week's Menu

2011-04-04T09:21:00.000-07:00

Shopping List for Menu:

Shrimp Noodle Soup

Feta Mushroom Burgers

Tender-ist Pork Chops

Yummy Chicken and Tomato Avocado Salad

Taco Night

1/2-1 pound tail-on peeled and deveined medium shrimp
Frozen hamburger patties, or fresh ground beef/sirloin
1 pound pork chops
1-2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast
1 lb. ground beef

chicken broth, check ingredients for gluten-free
clam juice, 8 oz. bottle
lemon juice
dijon mustard
tomato sauce, 8 oz. can
chili garlic sauce or crushed red pepper
olive oil
canola oil

ginger
red bell pepper
yellow onion, 2
garlic
sugar snap peas
cilantro
Lime
mushrooms, 1 package
tomatoes, 2 medium or 1 package grape or cherry tomatoes
avocado, 3
lemons, 1-2
spinach leaves

garlic salt
pepper
thyme
cumin
chili powder
salt

Feta cheese

Hamburger buns
Taco shells
rice sticks (aka, Asian rice noodles)

Your crowd's fave taco toppings (cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, sour cream, etc.)

Tomato Avocado Salad

2011-04-01T20:37:00.000-07:00

Totally busted. Me. That's right. By the Mom Who Loves to Cook and Mr. Wonderful; both. The first, when she found out I had been totally short-cutting and just tossing this in store-bought italian dressing; and the latter, when I served this (the real way, as seen below) for dinner, and he couldn't believe how good it was and that I had been cheating by using lame-o italian dressing the other times. Now, all is well. I hope I have redeemed myself. And, I am sorry to all I may have offended in the family by not sticking to the best (and easy, so what was my problem??) recipe. Here you go. Make it, and be ready for your tastebuds to jump out of your mouth in jubilation.

What you need:

2 large avocados
2 medium size, ripe tomatoes, diced or a large handful or two of grape or cherry tomatoes, quartered
1-2 T. fresh lemon juice
2-3 T. canola or olive oil
garlic salt
fresh ground pepper, (it really is better with fresh ground, but I'm saddened to say, I've never splurged and bought a basic pepper grinder. Wow, that is truly sad.)

How you make it:

Peel and slice or dice avocado. Dice tomato. Toss with lemon juice and oil. Sprinkle to taste with garlic salt and pepper. Generously with both.

The end.
And let the record show that I regret my past salad faux-pas and vow to stick to what's best.

*Make it a meal: I think this would make a tasty meal by adding in some cooked, chilled, diced chicken, and cooked, chilled pasta noodles like bow-tie or fusilli. Oh, also some jarred artichoke hearts. Oh yeah.
My mother, the aforementioned, Mom Who Loves to Cook, loves it just as is, with a whole grain baguette from Panera. I admit, the former eater-of-gluten in me agrees.

Shrimp Noodle Soup (Spicy Shrimp Noodle Bowl, Cooking Light Magazine)

2011-03-28T22:21:00.000-07:00

Brand new recipe here. Tried it for the first time tonight. And we were all in heaven! I can't believe how easy and quick it was. Even our oldest, who's only 8, had a second and third bowl of it. This is definitely going to be a new family favorite. It is considered spicy, but only as much as you use of the red chili flakes or chili sauce. Yes, it's another steal from Cooking Light magazine. They never disappoint. While it's not exactly the most inexpensive dish, (with the shrimp coming to about 8 bucks a pound, on sale) we all concurred that there was more than enough shrimp, and it could easily be made with ½ pound shrimp instead and still be plenty to go around. Of course, the gluten-free part of me loved that it wasn't a recipe specifically made to be GF, but was since it's made with traditional Asian rice noodles.

What you need: Don't be alarmed with all my little "notes" in italics. It really is fast and easy; I'm just wordy.

1 pound tail-on peeled and deveined medium shrimp (but like I said, could easily get away with half that.) It didn't specify raw or cooked. I went with the cooked.
1½ C. water
1 C. lower-sodium chicken broth, read labels for gluten-free
1 (8 oz.) bottle of clam juice ("CLAM JUICE??" you say? I admit, I'd never heard of, used, let alone PURCHASED such a thing. But apparently it is a must in these sort of dishes, and I am a believer now. This soup is amazing. I found the jar of this stuff in the aisle with the canned tuna. Up on a top shelf. It was cheap. $1.85)
2 (¼-inch-thick) slices of peeled ginger (ginger root is found in the produce aisle near the garlic, usually, I think.)
1 tsp. olive oil
¾ C. red bell pepper, thinly sliced
¼ C. yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced (I used a press)
1/2 C. sugar snap peas (I couldn't find any bags of frozen sugar snap peas only; they seemed to only carry them in a "stir-fry" mix of them with carrots, onion, and mushrooms. I thought that sounded just wonderful for this soup, so I used that. It didn't disappoint to use those added veggies. YUM! So it was about a cup of total veggies.)
2 tsp. chili garlic sauce or ½ tsp. crushed red pepper (Warning! If you or those you are serving might be sensitive to heat/spice, I would HIGHLY recommend using half this amount. I used 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, and I admit, the broth still had quite a kick. I'm not sure I would have liked it as much with any more heat.)
¼ tsp. salt
3 ounces uncooked rice sticks (aka, Asian rice noodles, again, easy to find and cheap, found on the bottom shelf in the Asian food aisle.)
2 T. fresh cilantro leaves
Lime wedges, not pictured with ingredients, but we did use.

How you make it:

Remove shrimp tails; set shrimp aside. Combine shrimp tails, water, broth, clam juice, and ginger in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes. Strain broth mixture through a sieve into a bowl; discard solids.

Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper, yellow onion, and garlic; sauté 3 minutes. Add reserved broth; bring to a simmer. Add shrimp, peas, chili garlic sauce (or crushed red pepper), salt, and noodles; cook 5 minutes or until noodles are done.

Top each serving with cilantro and serve with lime wedges. Makes 4 servings.

Served with a green salad. The recipe noted a cucumber/radish salad recipe to go with this, which sounded awesome. I couldn't find a link, but I'll put it below. I like radishes, but seem to never have them or think to buy them. Guess that should go in our new garden this year...

Cucumber Salad:
Combine 4 tsp. rice vinegar, 2 tsp. dark sesame oil, ¼ tsp. black pepper, and 1/8 tsp. salt in a medium bowl. Add 2 C. thinly sliced cucumber, ½ C. thinly sliced radishes, and 3 T. thinly sliced green onions; toss well to combine. 4 servings.

Grocery List for Last Week's Menu

2011-03-28T07:21:00.000-07:00

1 new recipe and 3 repeats (we had a leftover night, a waffle night, and a date night for the other 3)

Shopping List for Menu:

eggs, 5-8

turkey or chicken legs (or any other pieces like thighs or breasts)

boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 2

cooked ham

3 bacon slices or bacon bits

potatoes, 6-12

lime

green pepper

onion, 2

tomato (optional for fajitas)

green onions

poultry seasoning

cumin

chili powder

garlic salt

oil

salt

pepper

olive oil

low sodium chicken broth

3 T. flour (GF all-purpose or rice flour for gluten-free)

milk

sour cream, reduced-fat

shredded cheddar cheese

tortillas, corn or flour. (corn of course, for gluten-free)

taco sauce and/or sour cream, (optional for fajitas)

Loaded Potato Soup

2011-03-25T07:45:00.000-07:00

Now that I look at this again, I'm thinking, this might be my best "food photography" attempt yet!

I was reminded of a potato soup recipe I had from Cooking Light magazine, that I wanted to try because it was olive oil-based instead of butter. I wasn't sure how you make a creamy soup without producing the traditional base of a butter and flour roux. But you can. It's easy. And lower cal. And deliciously satisfying. Kids loved it. Without the "weird green things" of course. I would never try and "torture" them with such flavor enhanced goodness...

This shows doubled ingredients. Recipe as written below serves 4. We needed extra.

What you need:
4 red or any kind of potatoes
2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 C. onions, chopped
1 ¼ C. low sodium chicken broth
3 T. flour (GF all-purpose or rice flour for gluten-free)
2 C. milk*, divided (recipe calls for 1%, which I used)
1/4 C. sour cream, reduced-fat
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
3 bacon slices, halved (I had bacon bits that I used instead)
1/3 C. shredded cheddar cheese
4 tsp. green onions, sliced thinly
*you can use rice milk or unsweetened almond/coconut milk as well.

How you make it:

If you don't use leftover baked potatoes: Wash and scrub potatoes. Pierce potatoes with a fork. Microwave on high 13 minutes or until tender. Cut in half; cool slightly.

While potatoes cook, heat oil in a saucepan or large stock pot over medium high heat. Add onion; sauté 3 minutes. Add broth. Combine flour and 1/2 C. milk. Add to pan with 1 ½ C. milk. Bring to boil, stirring often. Cook 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in sour cream, salt and pepper.

If you aren't using pre-cooked bacon bits: Arrange bacon on a paper towel on a microwave safe plate. Cover with a paper towel; microwave on high for 4 min. Crumble bacon.

Discard potato skins. (I like some skins in the soup, so I kept half of them on.)
Coarsely mash potatoes into soup. Top with cheese, green onions, and bacon.
4 servings at about 1 ¼ C. each.

Served with a green salad. And some crusty french bread would be wonderful too. But this woman wasn't that ambitious to bake up some gluten-free bread of her own this time. Truth be told, the starchiness of the potatoes was enough for me.

Grocery List for Last Week's Menu

2011-03-21T15:05:00.000-07:00

There were only 3 new recipe posts this past week, so the menu has 2 repeats.

Shopping List for Menu:

Tin Foil Dinners

Signature Salad #1

Baked Chicken Parmesan

Broccoli Tomato Fettucine

Easy Stir-Fry Chicken

1/4 pound ground beef per person, (or individual frozen hamburger patties, 1 per person)

3-4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast

canned chicken breast, for salad, if don't want to cook fresh chicken.

1-2 links Italian sausage, casing removed (or up to half a pound bulk sausage)

broccoli, enough for 3 C.

onion, 2

potatoes, 4

green beans, enough for 2 C.

cauliflower, 1 bunch

romaine lettuce

grape tomatoes

mushrooms, 6-8

yellow bell pepper

green bell pepper

avocado

garlic

green onions

carrots

Garlic salt

Seasoned salt

Chili powder

Pepper

basil

oregano

Olive oil

cornstarch

soy sauce (again, La Choy brand is gluten-free)

lemon juice

canola oil

Lighthouse Organic Caesar dressing, or any dressing you prefer, homemade dressing recipe here

Aluminum foil

canned or frozen/fresh corn

diced tomatoes, 16 oz. can

tomato paste, 6 oz. can

black beans

marinara sauce, optional for baked parm chicken

tortilla chips

seasoned bread crumbs, 1/3 C (For gluten-free, I just toasted two pieces of Trader Joe's Brown Rice bread, and pulsed to crumb in the food processor.)

8 oz. uncooked fettucine, or desired pasta. (Here used brown rice penne, for gluten-free)

rice

eggs, 2

shredded mexican blend cheese

shredded parmesan cheese, 1/4 C

shredded mozzarella cheese, 1/2 C., optional for baked parm chicken

Broccoli Tomato Fettuccine

2011-03-19T22:42:00.000-07:00

We had a guest for dinner, so I completely forgot to take a picture until clean-up when the leftovers were already cozy in their storage container...

I remember making this for the first time, 11 or 12 years ago as a newlywed, thinking I was serving my new Mr. Wonderful (I wonder if he cares that that is his moniker on this here blog) something really fancy and he'd be impressed with his young bride! HA! I SO don't think of this as fancy at this point. It's a quick go-to regular that makes the whole dinner table happy; kids and adults alike. In fact, our guest tonight was one of the kids' friends, and I worried because you never know about the palettes of young guests---if your cooking will be too weird for them...but it was a hit!

You could make this without the italian sausage for a more vegetarian dish and add other things like mushrooms, etc, and if you're really not doing a ton of carbs or grains, you could serve it over spaghetti squash instead of noodles. I've heard that's really yummy.

What you need:

1-2 links (or up to half a pound if bulk sausage) Italian sausage, casing removed if links
1 small onion, chopped small
1 (16 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
2 cups frozen broccoli florets, thawed or fresh broccoli, chopped
8 oz. uncooked fettuccine, or desired pasta. (Here used brown rice penne, for gluten-free)

How you make it:
In medium saucepan, sauté (brown) the italian sausage breaking up with a wooden spoon as it cooks. When browned, add chopped onion and cook until onion is tender. Drain excess fat. (Hint: mine's not usually drowning in fat, so I don't really drain it. And it tastes better, probably.)
Add tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic, spices, and broccoli. Stir until smooth and thin to desired thickness with hot water. (Approx. 1/3 to 1/2 cup)
Cook fettuccine according to package directions. Drain. Top with tomato/broccoli sauce and add any sort of italian cheese like fresh romano or parmesan on top as well.

Makes 4 servings. So double this, for sure, for a larger group! Or freeze extra for use for a later, busy night when cooking just isn't in the cards; 'cause we all know that circumstance arises all too often some weeks.

Baked Chicken Parmesan

2011-03-18T13:55:00.000-07:00

Not long ago; last month, to be exact, I posted my basic parm chicken recipe. Every once in a while I like to do it a little different by baking it instead of pan-frying. It seems lighter and it is easier to make since you just throw it in the oven instead of monitoring it over the stove.
So, here's a mostly-the-same, but slightly-altered way to make a golden, encrusted, 8X13 pan of baked chicken parmesan.

What you need:

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1-2 eggs, beaten. You could probably get away with using just 1
1/4 C. shredded parmesan cheese
1 T. olive oil
1/3 C. seasoned bread crumbs (For gluten-free, I just toasted two pieces of Trader Joe's Brown Rice bread, and pulsed to crumb in the food processor. Add some fresh basil sprigs or 1/4 tsp. dried basil for added seasoning)

1/2 C. shredded mozzarella cheese and 1 C. marinara sauce for topping, optional

How you make it:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray baking pan/dish with non-stick spray or lightly grease.

Pat dry and pound chicken till flat/thinner or slice in half to make cutlets (place chicken on cutting board. Place hand on top of chicken. With a sharp, large knife, slice through middle with your knife parallel to the cutting board)

Dip chicken in eggs, then parmesan. Lay chicken in prepared baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes till chicken is nearly done. Sprinkle on the bread crumbs (I like the homemade kind as mentioned above, so it's got big chunks of breading.) Drizzle the whole thing with olive oil. Continue baking for another 10 minutes or so till golden and crusty. Yum-O. :)

You can sprinkle on some mozzarella cheese at the very end and let melt, and serve with marinara sauce on the side. Or, some people like to toss the sauce with some noodles and serve the chicken over that. We opted out of the noodle thing this time. Just had a green salad on the side.

On a side note, our 4-year-old, said while gobbling his cut-up chicken pieces, "These are yummy chicken nuggets!" Love it. At least I know what these "nuggets" were made out of...

Tin Foil Dinners and Frugal Living NW

2011-03-16T22:59:00.000-07:00

First off, what fun to have been the featured menu on Menu Plan Monday this week on the Frugal Living NW website! That was so exciting to see all the activity on my little blog from seemingly out of nowhere! I welcome any new readers who may have found me via that post. It's fun to reach new people. Feel free to comment or ask questions on any recipe or topic!

Now, for dinner this week, there have been/will be a couple of repeats that I will just include at the end of the week in the menu/shopping list with the link to the original post. No sense in reposting it or anything. This is the first time I've even approached repeats since starting this blog back in January! So, 3 months straight of dinners without a repeat is pretty darn amazing, I think!

The old tried and true tin foil dinners are what's on the table this time. NOT just for camping! Did ya know that? There's a couple of easy additions to making dinner in a tin foil packet that give it an extra "oomph" of yumminess and enhance flavors. Without them, it can be a little bland and you end up having to smear ketchup all over the finished product. Of which, I am not a fan. Ketchup smells. Or stinks, rather, in my humble opinion. So, what are those easy additions?? Well, you gotta read on, of course!

What you need: These are for our family of 2 adults and 3 small children. Adjust to your numbers.

Whoops, again. Cauliflower and seasoning salt, not pictured. But whatev....it's hard to remember everything when you've got a 10-month-old throwing all the tupperware at you from the bottom drawer, a 4-year-old shooting you from across the room with foam darts, and an 8-year-old reciting spelling words looking for approval...

1/4 pound ground beef per person, (or individual frozen hamburger patties, 1 per person)
1 onion, sliced
(Any old veggies you like. Today was as follows):
4 potatoes, peeled and sliced or diced
frozen green beans, 1/3 C. per person
cauliflower, sliced
Garlic salt
Seasoned salt
Olive oil
Pepper
Aluminum foil

How you make it:

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Place large piece of aluminum foil on the counter and put your piece of meat in the center. Still frozen is fine. Sprinkle with pepper and garlic salt.

Place onion pieces on top of meat. Then add in any other remaining veggies you have prepared. Sprinkle the whole heap with seasoned salt and pepper. Then drizzle on some olive oil.

The garlic salt, pepper, seasoned salt, if used, and olive oil are the little additions I was talking about. They may not seem important, but they really help infuse all the flavors and make it awesome.

Now, fold over the right side, then crease closed the top and bottom sides to make a sort of packet almost. Then bring the left side over the whole thing and seal down as best as you can. You will probably want to do another whole wrapping with a another piece of foil for an extra layer to seal in the steam and heat and juices.
I like to make 3 packets for our crew. One for each adult and one for the kids that they share. But you can do one per person or whatever. It's fun because people can get involved and customize it to whatever combos of veggies they want. Carrots are good in there, but we were out. Also, broccoli, green onions, bell peppers, zucchini or squash too. The possibilities are endless and flexible.

Place the packets on a large baking tray or pan and put in oven for about 30 minutes, depending on how stuffed they are. Just peel one open and pierce the veggies to see how soft. And try and cut through the meat to see if it's cooked through as well, with no pink.
There you have it. You could serve it with bread or rolls and some fruit. We just had some extra watermelon lying around that we munched on while we waited for dinner to cook. And that was that! Enjoy 'em! No campfire or tent-putting-up required! Oh, and the best part---no pots and pans to clean, of course!!