Ginger and Licorice

Meal Planning, Time-Planning, Efficiency and Grocery Lists

2015-09-01T00:47:00.002-04:00

I am trying to tweak my meal-planning and shopping list in order to be more efficient, save money, and use things I already have in the house. (And by tweak I mean start making a habit of planning in an organized manner on a routine basis). Up til now I have been just looking at the recipes I wanted to make and adding those items I thought I needed to my shopping list. This got me 3 separate things of parsley from my online direct-to-house grocery order last week. It's time to change how things are done in the grocery/recipe area.

(Note: the grocery list I have been working with for the last 9-10 months will not be changing. I wrote...tried....tweaked...tried...tweaked that particular document several times before I settled on one that works for all members of my family. (Occasionally dad does my grocery shopping when I can't get out of the house, so he was involved in the layout and thought process. It is laid out according to the aisles of my local store)

Step 1. Get the husband involved -check. Sent BGS an appointment for every Saturday afternoon/evening. We will layout the meal plan, check the pantry, and then write the grocery list.

Step 2. Obtain said meal plan template - I went in searching of a weekly meal planner that would work for us (Ok me, because let's face it I'm going to be the better organized of us and I have the better handwriting). I went to pinterest, I asked google, and I found 3 possible candidates.
The layout I like the most doesn't have lines for writing. That doesn't bode well for legibility. The one that does have lines...well, the lines are too close together for legibility....time to make my own. *hrmpf*

Things to make sure are on this meal planner in order for it to be the most versatile and helpful for us me.
1. An area that has the date for this week

2. Days of the week across the horizontal or vertical
3. Meals and 2 snacks across the opposite axes
4. One area at the top or maybe along the side to write reminders for things that should be prepped the night before (putting chicken in marinade) and/or things that can be prepped well in advance (chopping carrots/celery/whatever) on Sunday afternoon
5. LINES for writing - at least 3 lines: protein, starch, veg
6. One area for a writing the reference/resource for a particular recipe if that meal is not ad-hoc
7. Color - I am not color blind, but I almost always do better when the even or odd lines of a spreadsheet-type document is a different color than the others. eg: Sunday light blue, Monday white, Tuesday light blue, etc.

So here's what we have so far: *note this is not the actual size of my template, I had to make it skinnier to fit the formatting of this page*

I will try it this week and post the success and/or needs improvements next week.

This is the meal plan for the week____________
Notes for the week:__________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________
	Brkfast	Morn. Snack	Lunch	Snack	Dinner	Notes
Sun	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________
Mon	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________
Tues	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________
Wed	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________
Thurs	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________
Fri	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________
Tues	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________

Not on the menu for the week.....GF Chicken-Broccoli "Divan" Casserole

2015-03-05T22:34:00.000-05:00

So this recipe was not on the menu for the week, but I am sure am glad I prepped the "wrong" ingredients on Tuesday night.

The night that I should have been prepping the bbq sauce, I prepped the "ingredients" for this meal. Good thing, too, because after shoveling the snow today I really didn't want to make a complicated dinner that I hadn't made before. In fact, I have made this recipe more than a few times and can almost make it from memory. almost.

On Tuesday, I spiced (poultry seasoning, paprika, and garlic powder) and cooked 6 chicken breasts and steamed 2 bags of broccoli. Once the chicken was cooled, I chopped it into bite-size pieces and put it and the cooled broccoli in the fridge.

Tonight, all I had to do was grab the broccoli and chicken from the fridge along with my milk and shredded cheese, and butter. From the pantry I grabbed my GF bread crumbs, and 2 boxes of GF Cream of Chicken soup. From my cupboards I obtained one 9x13 casserole dish. My source recipe uses a 9-inch pie plate, but I have always doubled this recipe, just because that's fewer meals I have to make each week and it's a REALLY easy recipe.

1. Pre-heat the oven to 450.
2. Spray the 9"x13" with non-stick spray (trust me, you want to that with this recipe).
3. Mix together the 2-12 oz boxes of soup with 2/3 cup of the milk of your choice. I have used white wine for this once in the past, it doesn't really do anything, so I just stick with the milk. This time I also spiced it up with the spice mixture on the chicken. I stirred in a couple dashes of paprika and poultry seasoning. I did not add garlic powder to the soup mixture since there is plenty of garlic flavor already in the soups.
4. Melt 4 tbsp of butter (oil of your choice) and mix in 2-3 tbsp of GF bread crumbs.
5. Toss the cooked chicken and cooked broccoli into the greased pan. To be completely honest, when I make this recipe all in one day, I try to under cook the chicken by just a hair so that it doesn't turn out dry in the end product. However, since I knew I wasn't going to be cooking the casserole the day I cooked this batch, I cooked my chicken all the way through.
When I say toss the chicken and broccoli I mean exactly that :) You have to make sure the broccoli and chicken are evenly distributed in the casserole.
6. Pour the soup-milk mixture over the chicken and broccoli and make sure it is evenly covered.
6. The next step is up to you, either you put the breadcrumb mixture on top of the broccoli-chicken or you put the cheese on next. Up to you. I've tried it both ways and I think don't have a preference. Either the cheese melts and the breadcrumbs get toasty, or the breadcrumbs get a little crispy and the cheese gets nice
and toasty. You win either way.
4. Put the casserole in the oven for 20 minutes. The chicken and broccoli are already cooked or mostly cooked, so you really just need to reheat or finish cooking and give time for the flavors to get to know each other. You also want the cheese to get nice and melty and the breadcrumbs to turn a nice golden-brown.

At this point I started to clean up a bit, because I was planning on going back out to shovel the rest of the snow and really didn't like the idea of having to clean up after my arms fall off from shoveling for the second time today.

7. *BEEP* *BEEP* I open the oven to find my golden delicious dinner ready to be pulled. I pull it out of the oven and leave it to cool on top of the oven for about 5 minutes.

Dish of Golden Deliciousness

8. Grab your favorite casserole serving scoop and dive in!

The BEST part of this dish after a tired day is that you don't have to cook anything else. It has chicken and broccoli. DONE!

I think if I didn't live in a GF household, I might have put noodles or rice in the casserole, or cooked some on the stove, and I have done that in the past, but not tonight....definitely too tired to think of anything else tonight.

Tuesday's Dinner Right on Schedule, but...Guess What? Another Change in the menu! - And notes for future reference....IF I remember...3 meals in one post...

2015-03-05T12:02:00.002-05:00

Last night was pork chops because I didn't have to prep anything. Four pork chops seared on the stove and then finished in the oven covered in onions - cause that's what the recipe said to do. They came out extremely dry. Maybe the chops weren't thick enough, but the recipe didn't mention anything about thickness in the ingredient list :(

When I obtained the porkchops from the fridge, I also retrieved a bag of my steam green beans and 2 microwave sweet potatoes. I poke a hole on the back of the bag of beans and set it aside since the potatoes take longer to cook. don't turn the potatoes on yet because I know the chops have to cook for a bit in the oven and I don't want the potatoes to be cold when we sit down to eat.

Once again, I remembered to pre-heat the oven to 425 :) I also remembered to obtain a cookie sheet and aluminum. I placed the cookie sheet topped with the foil next to my cooking pan for easy transfer when the time comes.

The players:
4 boneless pork chops at 4-6 oz each
1 onion, sliced (pre-sliced from store)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp ground thyme
1/4 tsp ground sage

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil

The original recipe called for 2 tbsp of coconut oil, but neither BGS or I are a fan of the coconut flavor for savory dishes.

Mix all the dry spices together and coat both sides of the chops. Melt the butter and mix it with the olive oil. Once the oils are hot enough, add the pork chops
and brown on both sides Lay the pork chops in a row on top of the foil and top with the chopped onion. Pull the foil up around the chops and onions and close tightly.

I placed the chops in the preheated oven and set the timer for 30 minutes.

I walked the short distance to the microwave with the sweet potatoes and turned the it on for 14 minutes.

While I wait for the potatoes to cook, I clean the pan and set it in the rack to dry in an effort to prep for what I thought would be tomorrow night's meal.

*Beep* Pull out the taters and throw in the green beans for 4.5 minutes *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* Dinner!

Like I said earlier, the chops came out dry and slightly tough even though they were covered in onions.
I added some applesauce to my plate to help with the dryness while BGS used A1.

Once I finished eating dinner, I set to the task of prepping for the rest of the week....

After dinner I used the same pan in which I cooked the pork to cook the chicken for what I thought would be Wednesday's dinner.

I used almost the same spice mix I have used every other time I make this GF Chicken-Broccoli Casserole. The only hiccup was that I am completely out of poultry seasoning, but that's ok, I have all the ingredients, so I made my own version :) There were some additions to this "homemade" poultry seasoning, because I couldn't locate the dried marjoram. I was pretty sure Herbes de Provence had everything I needed, so I reached for the bottle and compared it to my empty poultry seasoning bottle and sure enough, I was right! SCORE! The chicken mix is poultry seasoning, garlic powder, smoked paprika. salt and pepper, usually, so all I had to do was add the garlic powder and paprika and it worked well.

I combine the spices in this ratio 2 tsp herbes de provence, 1 tsp, smoked paprika, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp fresh cracked pepper. Coat each side of the 6 chicken breasts with the mixture. I added 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter to the pan again and turn on the heat. Once the pan is hot, add 3 of the chicken breasts and cook 3-4 minutes each side. Once the first three are cooked, pull them out and put them on a plate. Make sure there is enough oil in the pan before placing the remaining 3 breasts in the pan to cook. Again, cook the breasts 3-4 minutes each side and pull them out to cool.

After the chicken was cooled enough to touch, I chopped it into bite-sized chunks. As I put the cooked and cooled broccoli into the fridge, I checked the date for the pork roast I purchased over the weekend. To my disappointment, it had to be cooked today, Wednesday.

I woke up this morning and started putting the pork shoulder together. I chopped the onion (boy do I miss my goggles), and placed in the bottom of the crock that I had already lined with one of my slow-cooker liners. Read down a few more lines and instantly realize what I should have prepped last night: the barbecue sauce for the pork. It needs to simmer for 30 minutes. *facepalm*

So all the prep work I did Tuesday night for the chicken should really have been done for the pork, because the pork actually needed WAY more prep than the chicken. If I had bothered to read the recipe Tuesday night, I would not have sat down to watch tv, but actually stayed in the kitchen and prepped for today.

Note to self: read all new recipes at the beginning of the week. If I had done that, I would have actually cooked the bbq sauce Sunday when I made the biscuits..

Time to switch gears!

Pull out a small 2-qt pot and grab the ingredients from the pantry and spice cupboard.

Players for the sauce:
1 1/2 cups of beef stock
2 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
6 oz. can of tomato paste
1/4 cup of raw honey
1 tbs apple cider vinegar
2 tbs dijon mustard
2 tsp smokey paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne

I pour the beef stock into the pot and then add the pressed garlic cloves to the pot. Bring the stock to a simmer and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Once the 5 minutes have elapsed, I added the remaining ingredients and reduced the power to a bare simmer for 30 minutes. It quickly started to sputter and splat, so I quickly grabbed my wire mesh splatter protector thingy and put it on top of the pot. By this point it's noon-ish, so I make my lunch and wait for the *BEEP*

Once it beeps I turn the heat off and let it cool before adding 1 cup of the emergency bbq sauce to the top of the pork shoulder. Once that's done, I set the timer for 7 hours and clean up a bit.

Time to sit and start writing.

Halfway through the time and it smells WONDERFUL!

Time to shovel a little more before the next impending storm tonight. 1.5 hr later. House smells FANTASTIC! And I'm genuinely starving!

Oh crud....what's the appropriate veggie for bbq that I might actually have in the house?? I hope it's green beans, because that's all I have to spare.

Next step was to remove the roast from the crock and set it aside....that process sent bbq sauce splattering across the kitchen - OOPS :) Then scoop out the onions and set them aside. Once you have retrieved all the onions floating in the tasty bbq drippings, you strain the liquid - I used my Oxo gravy separator - and shred the pork.... *SUMMON BGS for shredding* While I wait for him, I pour the onion-less juice back into the crock.

I think I might have chosen the wrong roast, or maybe BGS did it wrong, because he said it wasn't shredding easily. He did his best though. Once he shredded it , we put the pork back the crock, top it with the onions and turn the crock back on set to low for 30 minutes. While the shredded pork was simmering in the juice, I heated two sweet potatoes and green beans in the microwave.

He tried the GF buns on Monday - even though I told him not to touch them - and said he didn't like them. I had planned on making more - this time with GF Bisquick, but the 1.5 hours of snow shoveling shot those plans to kingdom come.

The bbq was beyond tasty and moist and I was just too hungry to pause to take pictures. Sorry. Maybe I will take some with the leftovers.

Maple-Walnut Chicken: doing well so far, but it IS only Monday

2015-03-02T23:54:00.001-05:00

Another late post with no pictures. Sorry about that. Maple-Walnut Chicken with Steamed Green beans.

The players: olive oil, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, and fresh thyme.

BGS walks downstairs and gives me a glare "It's too much sugar. I told you that already. It isn't too much sugar. "What's that green stuff?". "Fresh thyme. I told you I don't like that. Just eat it. hrmpf.
Turns out I added WAY too much thyme :(

And now to finish the grocery list and menu plan for the week. And try some other paleo recipe sites.

I was rather enjoying not having to search for recipes or think about what to eat every week, but I'm getting a little bored and stifled repeating what feels like the same recipe every 3-4 weeks.

Oh and I can't forget to set the Overnight oatmeal.

I got the idea from Alton Brown's episode "Oat Cuisine" but the figs didn't really peak my interest, but the great Google helped me find a wonderfully amazing overnight oatmeal recipe that has apples as the main recipe but she also lists multiple variations. I haven't tried them yet, because well, because I like apples just so darn much. The cherry and pumpkin do look mighty tasty, though. I have a firm stance against pumpkin outside of the fall season, but I just might have to make an exception for the oatmeal.

Ok, back to MY oatmeal.

I use my small 2-qt slow-cooker so that the oatmeal doesn't burn - again. It did burn the first time I made it in my 5-qt. That's why we bought the 3-qt from Cuisinart.

I often think about setting it up before I am ready to turn it on, so I measure the liquids and pour them into a Rubbermaid jug so they are ready to go when I'm ready to turn my breakfast on for cooking. Into the jug I add 1 1/2 cups almond milk, 1 1/2 cups filtered tap water, 2 tablespoons of maple syrup, and my recent addition is 2 tablespoons of Pom Wonderful Blueberry-Pomegranate Juice. I don't notice the taste, but I just know those anti-oxidants are working their magic :)

I first spray the crock with cooking spray so that I can obtain my tasty goodness in the morning. Next step is to measure 1 cup of Bob's Steel-Cut oats into the crock. I then top the oats with 2 tbsp of flax meal, 1/2 tsp of cinnamon, 1/4 tsp of salt, and approximately 1/4 tsp of freshly grated nutmeg, and 2 tbsp of apple sauce. (I know the recipe says butter, but I have always made it with applesauce and it comes out fine - in fact, I often substitute applesauce in my baked good when I know it is a suitable substitute).
After the apple sauce is in, I chop 2 apples, usually gala or fuji, into approximately 1/2 inch pieces and tumble them on top.

The last step is to pour on the liquid, stir the mix and put the lid on. I was setting the timer for 7 hours on low, but every so often...ok...more often than not, I would wake up the warm setting was already active and the oatmeal was starting to burn, so I bought a simple light timer and set it for 7 hours. Problem solved!

So far so good, after a change of course

2015-03-01T22:55:00.002-05:00

Prepping for the week, I made the biscuits for my pulled pork today. I used the recipe from paleonewbie.com. New recipe to me, and I didn't have all flours listed, so I used what I had on hand.
At this point, I did think of using GF Bisquick, but then realized that there is already leavening in the Bisquik, so I put that right back in the fridge.

I didn't have coconut or tapioca flour, so I substituted an all-purpose flour that I always keep on hand.

The recipe directions are straightforward and simple.
The players for my version of the biscuits are 1 1/4 Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Flour, 1/3 cup Bob's Red Mill Almond Meal, 1 tsp salt, 2 tbsp Ground Flax, and 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp raw honey, 1/4 cup almond milk, 2 whisked eggs, and 1/4 cup melted butter.

Score 1 pt for me. I actually remembered to turn the oven on to 350 F before I started mixing! SCORE!!
1 More point for grabbing the cookie sheet and lining it with the parchment paper! So far, I'm 2-0!!

I then grab two bowls from the cupboard for mixing the wet and dry separately. I also grab and a small glass dish for cracking eggs and one of my soup bowls for melting the butter.

In one bowl I measure the 1 1/4 cup of general purpose flour, 1/3 cup almond flour, 1 tsp salt, 2 tbsp ground flax seeds, and 1 tsp baking soda (yes, I am well aware that the baking soda is one of the boxes for keeping your refrigerator, but that was the only box I could locate.) I grab a whisk to combine the dry ingredients and make sure everything is well blended.

In my microwave bowl, I drop 1/4 cup of butter, stick it in the microwave. Heat it for 20 seconds. Then 15. And another 15. Perfectly melted with no explosions! While the butter is melting, I crack the eggs in the small glass dish. Are there shell bits? No. Good! Add them to the empty bowl for the wet ingredients. Measure 1/4 cup of almond milk and add it to the eggs. Next step is to spray my measuring spoon with non-stick spray and squeeze the honey bear's stomach for the golden sweetness that is preferred in paleo cooking. Grab the butter from the microwave and add it to the eggs, honey, and milk. Mix all the wet ingredients together with a small whisk.

Since the dry ingredient bowl is the larger bowl, I add the wet to the dry and then use one of my many wooden spoons to mix my biscuits. At this point I look at the recipe and realize I messed up by adding the butter to the wet ingredients. I was supposed to add the butter after the other wet ingredients. Not sure why, but it's too late now. Following the directions, I let the batter rest for 5 minutes (pour a glass of juice). Return to mixing for a few minutes (at this point the batter is a LOT too stiff and dry so I add a splash of almond milk. Mix twice and add another splash. Once it is nice an moist I use my ice cream disher to scoop the biscuit dough into 6 relatively even sized biscuits and place the cookie tray in the oven and set the timer to 13 minutes.

While they are baking, I clean the prep station and turn my attention to tonight's dinner. I planned on salmon and asparagus, but.......

Somebody (probably me) forgot to get the rosemary for the salmon, but luckily I used my brain and some pantry staples to make a compound butter of 1/2 stick of butter, 1 shallot, zest of 3/4 lemon, and 1/2 tsp of a dried dill spice mixture.

Get out the mini electric chopper and whiz the shallot to a large mince. add the garlic and whiz again. Bzzzzzz. Add the semi-softened butter, bzzzzzz. Add the lemon zest. bzzzzz

By this point, the biscuits are done and I turn the oven off.

Obtain the salmon and asparagus for dinner from the fridge. After removing the woody stems from the asparagus, I place the asparagus on a cookie sheet lined with tinfoil and drizzle olive oil over the green stalks of goodness.

Pause here to take the buns/biscuits out of the oven and then turn the oven back on and set it to 425 for the roasting of the asparagus.

Then I grind a little salt and black pepper over the asparagus and proceed to toss the olive oil, salt and pepper to make sure every stalk is coated for roasting. I place the salmon filet inside a tinfoil lined pyrex dish and dot the compound butter on the top. I say dot, because the butter isn't quite soft enough for spreading and attempting to do so would most likely break the flesh of the salmon. I proceed to tent the tinfoil around and over the salmon. *BEEP* Place the salmon on the lower rack and set the timer for 10 minutes..*tidy up a little* *BEEP* Place the asparagus cookie tray on the top rack and set the timer again. This time for 15 minutes. I obtain 2 microwave sweet potatoes from the fridge and place them in the microwave and nuke them for 12 minutes.

set myself down on the couch for some well-earned rest between beeps

*BEEP* *BEEP *BEEP*

BGS!!! DINNER!!!

Overall the taste was good. Not remarkable, but not as horrendous as last month when I cooked the salmon with the lemon slices on top of the salmon. That version came out sour as all get out and inedible.

Sorry there are no pictures of tonight's dinner, I was so focused on just making it and creating a recipe, I forgot about pictures altogether.

This Week's Menu - Well, this week's planned menu

2015-03-01T10:30:00.000-05:00

I'm sure we all know that life gets in the way of most things so here's my plan for the week:

Sunday - Salmon with Rosemary and Pecans and mixed veggies

Monday - Maple-Walnut Chicken with Green beans

Tuesday - Frittata served with soup and salad (Maybe meatless Tuesday if I can get BGS on board...*fingers crossed*)

Wednesday - Caribbean Jerk Chicken - yeah...there will be NO jalepenos...

Thursday - Paleo Pulled Pork BBQ Sliders - not sure if I'll have time to make the buns or not...

Friday - remake of the Chinese Shrimp and Broccoli mess from this week with the changes I mentioned in the post

Saturday - not sure yet :)

That's the dinner plan - For breakfast it's gonna be a zucchini, sausage, egg casserole for BGS and a crockpot oatmeal for me - more on that later.

I was serving the fritatta every Monday for a couple weeks- different ingredients of course-....ok, maybe a cpl months...BGS finally cried out and said STOP with the fritatta every Monday. So while I search for a meatless Monday of which he will approve, I will rotate the frittata to other days of the week.

If you have suggestions for which meatless meals have met your family's approval, please, please share!!

At Home Chinese Dinner - Revisited again - with Shrimp -too much salt :(

2015-02-28T16:05:00.002-05:00

The menu BGS had this week had a beef and ginger meal that we had 2 weeks ago, so I substituted the Shrimp Noodle dinner I made a couple years back - because I felt like it :)

The players

Sad part is I didn't read my recipe early enough to help myself this time. Case in point, I forgot to defrost my 1 lb of shrimp. And now begins the peeling and de-tailing of frozen shrimp. Cue frozen fingers. *sigh* Oh well, we move on.

The players have changed up this time around so pay attention: 1 lb shrimp, 1 10 oz bag of broccoli, 2 tbsp sesame oil 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken stock, 1/2 cup GF Soy sauce, 1 garlic clove smashed, 2 tsp fresh grated ginger, 2 tsp cornstarch, 4 tsp room temp water, 1/4 tsp five-spice (again, this five spice has seven spices), and rice noodles.

Last time I made this BGS was not yet GF, so I used egg noodles. I also used low-sodium soy sauce (one of my pantry staples). This time signals got mixed and the GF soy sauce that was purchased was most definitely not low sodium. With the soy sauce being 1/2 of the sauce for this dish, the meal came out much saltier than BGS or I liked. And he doesn't usually mind extra salt.

Before I started documenting tonight's meal, I ran to Amazon.com to add some low-sodium GF soy to my cart. I think I will also add a different style rice noodle. Tonight's noodle worked, but I think I would prefer noodles that were thinner and/or shorter. Maybe something like this soba noodle (a BGS request).

Honey Ginger Apple Shredded Pork - Revisited

2015-02-20T20:22:00.000-05:00

Last week's attempt at this recipe came out dry and flavorless, so I decided to try it again with the recommended cut of pork and more liquid. I also rearranged the order of operations/layers. My camera batteries are still dead, so I took a few pictures with my phone.

The players - same as before, mostly: 2lb pork shoulder roast, 2 apples, cored and sliced, 1 onion sliced (thanks again to the grocery store for not making me cry), 1 bay leaf, 2 tsp dried ginger, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp salt,

It's important to note the change in the ginger measurement. I forgot to pick up fresh ginger at the store and I can't even imagine 2 tablespoons of dried ginger in one dish....

The recipe says that I should I add the onion first, then broth, then pork, then apples, then spices. I decided to mix it up a bit. I put most of the spices on top of the pork this time instead of adding the spices on top of the apples and rubbed them in to the pork a bit, then I put the apples on top and tossed on the rest of the spice mixture. I put some of the spices on top of the pork in an effort to infuse the pork with some flavor that I noted was lacking last week. I just hope I didn't end up overdoing the spice.

*Enter BGS stage left* "You didn't add more liquid this time. We talked about this..."

Commence measuring and adding an additional 2/3 cup of chicken broth.....

*BGS commentary - I bet it would taste good with beef broth* "Yes, hon. The recipe said I could use beef broth, but I refuse to mix chicken and beef broth...."

Set the timer for 7 hours.....

And now we wait....

Halfway through cook time....it smells flipping amazing (again) ...almost drooling...almost.....MUST NOT LIFT LID.....

3hrs left -

*ENTER BGS stage left

"Do you want me to lift the lid and flip it? If I don't it will dry out again*

No. Absolutely do NOT lift that lid. "But...." No. "Ok. don't blame me if it fails"

*Exit BGS stage left*

*BEEP* *BEEP *BEEP*

SMELLS DIVINE!!!

Lift the lid - apples are perfectly wilted across the top of the pork. The liquid appears to have doubled in amount. I call BGS. He lifts the pork..well....he tries to lift it. It falls apart in the tongs. *SCORE*. Scoop out some apples and sit down to dinner. Have to admit I cheated on the veggie tonight - I forgot to grab a veggie for tonight and there is no way I am leaving the house in this weather. Thank goodness for backups - aka frozen steam veggies :)

I forgot to take a picture of the finished plate. I just couldn't wait to eat the wonderful smelling meal.

I can confirm that the change from pork tenderloin to pork roast did indeed aid to the success of this recipe revisit. The pork is moist, mildly tasty with strong hits of cinnamon on the top of the pork in certain areas.

at this point in the evening, BGS informs me that he is not a fan of cinnamon with pork.....*sigh* I thought about smacking him, but decided against it.

He cleans his plate, though, and said he enjoyed the meal :)

Cook's notes - I didn't notice the ginger, but maybe it's because the cinnamon was so strong this time. Time to tweak this recipe for my house.

Crockpot Cranberry,Chicken, Quinoa, and Green Beans - almost a "dump dinner"

2015-02-18T19:37:00.000-05:00

My camera battery is dead :( I started charging it after last week's post and it still isn't charged. *sigh* Looks like it's time to get a new battery. So you will have to settle for my description of the prep (really wasn't much) and the ingredients. Sorry :(

The players: 1 box of Ancient Harvest Quinoa, 6 chicken breasts(2 lbs), 1 pound of (12 oz fresh, 4 oz frozen) green beans, 1 15-oz can of whole berry cranberry sauce, 1/4 cup of Vogue Cuisine GF Onion Soup Base, 1/4 tsp of Smoked Paprika, and 1/4 tsp of freshly ground black pepper.

Oh and since the recipe suggested using either pork or chicken, I decided to prep and make dinner for tonight and prep dinner for another night. The recipe site actually wrote the recipes for prepping and freezing. I just didn't feel like prepping it last night, so I made one today and prepped one for another night. I prepped the second one with 2 lbs of pork tenderloin (instead of chicken breasts) in the freezer.

At the advice of the recipe author, I label the freezer bag first. (Good thing they said that as the first instruction, because labeling the filled bag would be pretty dang tough) What was my label? "Cranberry, Green bean, pork tenderloin 2-18-15," of course. I place the green beans in the bag first, then the onion soup mix, then the cranberry sauce, and the pork tenderloins last. That way the meat will go in the crock pot first. I will need to get a bag of green beans (fresh or frozen) before I make the tenderloin meal. I only had 1 12-oz bag of fresh beans today, so I added in approximately 4 oz of frozen green beans to today's chicken dinner, resulting in 4 oz less in the bag of frozen green beans intended for the pork meal.

Speaking of which...things that drive me a little nuts- when a recipe calls for ingredients in amounts that don't match the amounts sold in stores. Spices, flour, sugar, oils, and flavorings of any kind are the only things that are ok to not match ;) *shrug*

Darnit! I forgot to get all the air out of the pork dinner bag....be right back. Ok. now we wait 4 hours. The recipe said 4-6 hours for chicken. I set the timer for 5 hours, but I had to get myself some lunch before I sat back down....so we wait...

*more hold music. different station this time, I promise* While we wait, I work on my other endeavor at Red's Stitch Niche

*BEEEEP* BEEEEEP *BEEEEP* Hrmmm - doesn't smell like much....it should smell awesome. Time to see how I did or what I need to tweak for next time......

*hold music*

Ok, so apparently I put the quinoa on the wrong layer. silly me. it needed water to cook...i put it on top of the green beans...so they were the top layer. next time i will put the quinoa between the chicken and the cranberry sauce.

Pretty darn good, except for the crunchy quinoa. "Tastes like Thanksgiving dinner," says BGS. SCORE!! For for those us lucky enough to live near a Capriotti's, it tastes a bit like a Bobbie®. Double Score!

The chicken had little flavor and was a tiny bit dry. So I think the next I make this meal the layers will be chicken on the bottom, 1/4 cup unsalted broth, soup mix, then quinoa, then cranberry sauce, then green beans.

I apologize in advance if Capriotti's is copyrighted or registered by the subshop and I didn't note it here. I searched the website and couldn't find out anything. If someone knows the proper notation, please let me know and I will correct this post.

(Almost Overnight) Ginger Honey Apple Pork Tenderloin

2015-02-12T19:04:00.000-05:00

First, I apologize for the lack of prep photos. I completely forgot :(

Tomorrow night's dinner is going to be Honey Ginger Apple Pork Tenderloin.

Knowing that I have to leave tomorrow morning - usually before I finish my first cup of coffee..mmmm coffee....wait....where was I? Oh right, leave early and not return until noon-ish..... I prepped everything tonight. Including putting a slow cooker liner in the crock and putting the lid on.

As many of you know I do my best to not alter a recipe or substitute ingredients until after I have made the dish once or twice. That said....
Notes on the pork - the original recipe found on PaleoOMG's site called for pork roast. My dad did my shopping for me this week, thanks dad :) Out of habit I wrote pork tenderloin on my list....not roast. So guess what he purchased....a tenderloin. I hope it turns out just as well.....

The players: 2 lb porkloin
1 yellow onion, sliced
2 apples, cored and sliced
2/3 cup low-sodium chicken stock
1 tablespoon raw honey
2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 bay leaf

I grated the ginger, smashed the garlic, measured out the spices, and opened the pork. I put the pork in baggie number one, the honey in a small container 1 (with cooking spray), measured and poured the low-sodium chicken stock in container 2, measured and placed the spices and put them in baggie 2, grated the ginger (baggie 3), smashed the garlic (baggie 4), sliced the apple and put it in baggie 5(with lemon juice), and saved myself some time by buying pre-sliced onion (THANK YOU, GROCERY STORE!!) Stash the pork, the apple, the chicken stock, the ginger, and the garlic in the fridge and head off to bed.
. . . *insert sleepy music here*...

*Yawn* While my favorite Keurig ®pod is brewing, I grab my oatmeal, creamer, and my mise en place (ingredients) out of the fridge (except the honey, since honey and refrigerators do not make for easy pouring). Heat oatmeal here.

First, layer the onions on the bottom of the lined crock, then pour the chicken stock on top of the onions. Toss the loin, ok maybe not toss...place the loin on top of the onions. add cream to coffee here Top the loin with the lemon-tossed apple slices, then empty the ginger baggie, the garlic baggie, and the spice baggie on top of the the apples. Put the lid on and start the crock. I set it for 9 hours and sat down to gobble up breakfast and coffee before dashing out the door. ........*insert nice hold music here*....

Come back 4 hours later...walk up to the kitchen and almost fall over from the amazing smell coming from the crock pot. It's BEYOND tempting to lift the lid, but I resist temptation. I don't want any moisture to escape. Now I just have to wait. *sigh* Had to warn BGS against opening the lid, also - just because I know he has a tendency to do exactly that...routinely....

*more hold music while I work on my passion of digitizing. You can follow that passion here - Red's Stitch Niche*

Smelled fantastic, but I think I must have executed the recipe wrong(besides using the wrong cut of pork)...even though I followed the steps exactly, because it came out tasting like none of the flavors....and dry.

Note: when I pulled up the lid, I noticed that all the spices were sitting on top of the apples

I plan on trying the recipe again next week with the right cut of pork. And maybe this time I will remember to buy and prep a vegetable and starch to go alongside the meal :)

Notes on the website from another person who also ended up with a dry roast - the author said to add more water next time. Author said to make sure the liquid of choice comes up slightly higher than halfway up the roast. I will try that and let you know.

Don't Care What the Calendar Says

2013-11-12T15:28:00.004-05:00

I don't care what the calendar says. The first day of winter for ME is the day that it is 35 degrees F or below outside at 3 in the afternoon. To warm myself up on my first day of my winter I made myself a cup of Ghiradelli®Double Chocolate Hot Cocoa plus a teaspoon of Medaglia D'Oro® Instant Espresso Coffee. Add a dash of cinnamon and it's the perfect chocolatey afternoon pick-me-up.

All Prepped and Ready to Go!

2013-11-04T23:11:00.000-05:00

BGS didn't seem to mind Meatless Monday's meatless factor. Aside from the fact that it was late and the salad dressing I went with was just plain *blech*, he enjoyed it, I believe. That said, the slicing for the fruit salad took WAY too much time. I actually timed it. 40 minutes start to finish for chopping 2 apples and 2 pears into slices. Looking back at the recipe it DID say half-moons so I probably made more work for myself by slicing them top-to-bottom.

A friend asked for pictures next time so I will try to take pictures tomorrow as I make the Burgundy Pot Roast (I think that's what it's called)

I started tonight by pre-chopping the carrots and celery so all I have to do is add them to the slow cooker when I start it up around ...oh heck the book is downstairs and I'm not going to go get it after the day I had....I'll tell everyone tomorrow....

GNight :)

Ooooh baby it's getting cold outside - mostly

2013-11-03T22:29:00.000-05:00

As it gets a bit colder and half the leaves are gone from the trees in our yards I think most of us start thinking of stews and soups and pot roast and welll...the list goes on. I am no exception. As a lot of you are aware, I ALWAYS feel cold. So this week is a week to keep warm.

Both the walnuts and salad dressing for this menu can be done ahead of time.

Starting with a #Meatless Monday of Cheddar Broccoli Fritatta based on Alton Brown's Asparagus Fritatta, Jamie Oliver's Pear and Apple Salad, a squash soup (from a box) with a rice added by me. I did a similar frittata this past Friday and BGS was still hungry even though I had added cubed ham and cheddar to the version I made Friday. Here's hoping that adding some soup and salad will fill him up :)

Meatless Monday includes a Cheddar, Broccoli Fritatta, Apple-Pear Salad, and Squash soup (with rice)

Meatless Monday ingredient list
Fritatta: 6 eggs, 1/2 cup shredded cheese, 1/2 - 3/4 cup green veggie of your choice( I'll be using broccoli this time), and 3 oz of greek yogurt (to make the frittata a bit lighter).

Apple and Pear Salad (i'm adding walnuts to mine and removing the endive)
2 apples, 2 pears, a handful of herbs roughly chopped, 2 oz blue cheese, 1/4 cup creme friche, 4 tbsp cider vinegar, 5 tbsp olive oil and 1/4 cup maple syrup for the optional walnuts. (I got the recipe for my walnuts from Vegan Chef cause it just sounds tasty hehe)

1. Earlier in the day if you can or on the weekend if you don't work from home - toast 1 cup of walnuts in a pan about 4-5 minutes until fragrant and toasted, Drizzle the 1/4 cup maple syrup over the walnuts and stir. Cook an additional 2-3 minutes until the syrup begins to harden on the nuts. Transfer the walnuts to parchment-lined cookie sheet and separate them. Set them aside to cool.

2. Core your apples and pears and cut them into half-moon slices. Place them in a bowl and toss with your selection of chopped herbage.

3. Dressing for your salad: blend the blue cheese, creme fraiche, olive oil, vinegar, and 6 tbsp water into a blender until it comes out smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.

4. Toss the salad with half of the dressing and then sprinkle the walnuts on top.

Start the frittata by turning your oven broiler on. Melt some butter in an OVEN-SAFE skillet/frying pan.
Then start mixing your eggs like you would for scrambled eggs or a quiche. Stir in some salt and pepper and the Greek yogurt. Pour the mixture into the skillet and add your mix-ins (except the cheese). Stir the eggs a little with a rubber spatula over medium heat until the eggs are set on the bottom and just starting to set on the top. Sprinkle the cheese on top and put the pan on the top rack of your oven for 3 to 4 minutes until just brown on top. Pull the pan from your oven and the frittata should just slide right out of the pan...if not, get clean spatula and loosen the frittata and slide it out onto your cutting board and cut into 6 or 8 slices.

Serve immediately.

The soup is a squash soup of your choice with a cup or two or instant rice mixed in for some added carry-over starches :)

Take-it-Easy-Tuesday will be Burgundy Stew with Herbed Dumplings from my Betty Crocker's Slow Cooker Cookbook and Wednesday will have another crock-pot meal of Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice.

A week in REview - One word...DISAPPOINTED

2013-10-11T15:46:00.000-04:00

I had planned on doing a Mostly Meatless Monday with Curried Potatoes and Chick Peas, but by the time I got home from the store with a prescription I was too pooped to want to do anything...thank goodness I had purchased a rotisserie chicken!

Maybe I was setting my expectations too high, but I didn't think a meal based on a recipe from that is actually VERY similar to the McCormick Recipe Inspirations Roasted Rosemary Chicken & Potatoes I have used previously and a recipe from Rachael Ray (yes I had to go back and fix her name after typing it my way 3 times in a row) could disappoint.

Take It Easy Tuesday - I was wrong. The chicken was delicious. A little on the greasy side for my taste, but very tender and very flavorful. The disappointment comes in that the recipe said it would feed 4....It fed 2.....with lots of extra potatoes. Granted, maybe BGS could have eaten less the night I made it, but to have no leftovers? BOOOOO!

The second and most egregious disappointment of the week was the recipe from Rachael Ray's show. It took me 4 HOURS to prep the meal! FOUR HOURS! WITH A MANDOLIN! Then when all was said and done we could't eat it that night because it came out of the oven at 9pm. We had to order take-out in the mean time. So we tried it last night instead....BONE DRY. So that wrecks my plans for the leftovers with the butternut squash and risotto *sob*

Mom suggested cubing the meat and soaking it in a combo of red wine and beef broth and then making stew.....BGS is convinced the beef is beyond repair.

Time to start from scratch and find recipes for next week

A week in PREview

2013-10-06T20:29:00.000-04:00

Since groceries will be delivered tomorrow by Peapod.com, I went through my cookbooks (old and new) and recipes I've seen during the week to see what sounds good (and easy) since I'm trying to get more work done for my new "job" at www.redstitchniche.com. Tomorrow (Monday) is still undecided but Tuesday will be (to take inspiration from a site I found while looking for a recipe today) Crockpot Tuesday with Italian Herb Chicken and Potatoes ....since no days start with C I'll have to come up with something clever. Wednesday and Friday will be recipes I saw on Rachael Ray's show last week. Wednesday will be Rachael's Grandpa's Braised Beef. Thursday will be well...I'm not sure yet, but it will probably involve my leftover chicken from Tuesday. Friday will be Josh Capon's Risotto with Braised Beef using leftovers from the Braised Beef on Wednesday.

At some point this week I will be making a Apple and Pear Cobbler - Gluten-free version by using gluten-free oats and a cobbler "flour" mix I put together last year for the Nectarine-Blueberry cobbler.

Even longer absence this time...

2013-09-24T13:26:00.001-04:00

I broke my arm...on my birthday no less ....last year....then I found in the fall out my cat had lymphoma . We lost the battle in June of this year and he is now romping with my cat from my folks house who passed in May. Needless to say I have been injured, busy, and very very distracted from all things blog-related.

I apologize. I made chicken-rice SOUP today. I emphasize the word soup because last year when I went looking for gluten-free chicken rice soup recipes, it was difficult to find one that was appealing. I ended up making chicken bacon corn chowder instead. Not today.....today I made SOUP!

I will post the picture, recipe and the taste-test/rating by my in-house critic tomorrow.

Mushroom and Burgundy Stew - Hearty and Tasty

2012-02-25T21:05:00.001-05:00

Another tasty meal from Rachael Ray's "Week in a Day" show. I bookmarked this a WHILE ago and just got around to making it. It was cold this week, so I decided to give it a shot. The original recipe
Mushroom and Burgundy Stew, didn't have any protein in it, so I decided to try it with beef tenderloin tips - they were on sale this week - YEAH! Don't get me wrong, the ratio of mushrooms to beef cubes was 2 mushroom : 1 beef cube, plus I used baby bellas (aka cremini), so the mushroom mouth-feel was a bit meatier.

My start time: 4pm; My end time 7:30pm

Rachael Ray's Prep Time: 20-30 mins; Cook time: 45 mins

1. I started by cutting 4 oz pancetta slices into pieces appx 3/4 inch squares - hrmmm wonder where I can get the pancetta in chunks like I see on Giada's show - it was a little difficult to separate the pieces after I had stacked and sliced them. Add 1/4 cup olive oil to your dutch oven and warm to medium-high heat and add the pancetta pieces.
2. After the pancetta was browned and had rendered some fat into my Lodge Color 3-Quart Dutch Oven, I added appx 8 oz beef tips and browned them on all sides.
3. While the beef tips were browning, I wiped 16 oz baby bellas, and then halved them. Some of the beef tips were a little larger than "bite size", so I pulled them out after they were par-cooked and cut them into 2-3 pieces.
Switch cutting boards.
4. Add the mushrooms to the pot and let cook until until brown and tender - about 15 minutes or so.
5. Add the carrots, onions, celery, garlic, bay leaves, salt, pepper, marjoram, and thyme.

The mushroom-beef stew players

6. Cover and cook/simmer until vegetables are tender - about 10 minutes
7. Stir in 3 tbsp flour for 1 minute to incorporate.
8. Add 2 tbsp tomato paste and 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
9. Add 2 1/2 cups dry red wine (always use wine you would drink - none of that "cooking wine" you buy in the grocery store) and reduce by half - this took me maybe 20 minutes
10. Add 4 cups beef stock. BGS purchased Mushroom Base for me to use with this recipe, so I added 4 tsp of the base to the beef stock and dissolved it the best I could before adding it to the pot. Simmer to thicken.
11. Cool completely on the stove and then store in the fridge for your make ahead-meal.

As you can see by my start and end times, I was in the kitchen longer than my tv counterpart. I chock that up to me not chopping often and not having a great deal of counter space. *shakes fist at the horrible kitchen arrangement*

12. On the day you want to serve your stew, take it out of the fridge and bring it to a simmer in the dutch oven while you boil water for your noodles. I chose whole wheat egg noodles. Cook your chosen noodles according to the directions on the package and then drain. Put the noodles back in the pot; add 2 tbsp butter and a handful of fresh parsley, chopped.

To serve, dish noodles into a soup plate or shallow dish and then ladle stew over the noodles.

All in all I LOVE this meal! BGS said it was too rich, so he only ate it twice. That's fine. More for me :)
We got four servings from this meal - so he ate it once and I ate it 3 times. YUM!! BGS also said it was "ruined" by the whole wheat noodles hehe - I wasn't phased by them.

Orange-Walnut Muffins with Cream Cheese Icing and Filling

2012-02-14T15:24:00.000-05:00

I had originally planned to make Coffee Cake Muffins Melissa's Born to Cook blog, but then I remembered I had promised BGS that I would make some orange cupcakes/muffins with cheesecake icing, so I sought out recipes and resources. I found Orange Muffins, Fresh Orange Muffins. and Orange Muffins.

I'm not a fan of overly sweet icings - never have been - even as a kid -, so I found two resources for cream cheese icing that balanced the sweetness. I found Cream Cheese Filling and All Recipe Cheese Filling and once again felt the need to improvise based on the ingredients.

For the cupcake/muffin:
2 oranges, peel on, but seeds removed
3/4 cup orange juice or mango nectar
2 cups All Purpose (AP) flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

For the muffin topping: For the filling/icing
1 tbsp melted butter/margarine 16 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup brown sugar 3/4 pound powdered sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 10 oz mango nectar
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg zest and juice of one orange
1/8 tsp ground cloves 2 oz orange liqueur like Triple Sec
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional) 2 oz dark rum
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Spray your muffin pans with non-stick spray or or place muffin liners and set aside. Place the orange quarters and orange juice/mango nectar in your food processor or blender and pulse until pureed. Add the eggs and oil and blend/pulse until incorporated.
In a separate large bowl mix the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar,nuts, and spices. Add the orange mixture all at once and stir to combine. Fill the muffin cups until 2/3 full.

Combine the melted butter, brown sugar, and spices and sprinkle on top of the muffins. Put the muffins in the preheated muffins for 20-25 minutes.

While the muffins are cooking, combine the mango nectar and orange juice and orange zest to a pot and reduce to a thick syrup. Whip the softened cheese until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar, mango syrup, rum, and triple sec until combined.

My plan was to put the icing inside and on top of the cupcakes, but I didn't have of those spiffy cake decorating tips, so I had to settle for just putting the icing on top. The Icing is deliciously non-sweet, but my cupcake/muffins are dense and moist (not in a good way). I spose that's what I get for improving on a baking recipe......BGS likes them, though. That's what REALLY matters :)

Trying to get the blog more read - Techorati - GSEJN4AHRRTN

2012-02-09T12:48:00.001-05:00

I'm trying to get more people to read my blog. I've turned to Techorati to help - GSEJN4AHRRTN

Super Bowl Dinner: Tofu-Cheese Stuffed Shells, Homemade Oregano Bread, and Salad

2012-02-08T13:42:00.001-05:00

Since BGS is trying to eat healthier - again - he found some tofu recipes for us to try. This one sounded like the "easiest" and also the one that was the mostly likely to please his anti-tofu palette. So I made Tofu Stuffed Shells, which is mildly impressive since I've never made stuffed anything before, let alone stuffed shells! I tried to get him to agree to using whole-grain pasta shells, but that was a no-go. I figured I would let it slide since he was inviting tofu back into his life :) What goes better with pasta than bread to sop up the sauce? Homemade sauce at that! That's where the second part of our meal comes in.... I made yeast bread for the first time ever!! I made salad, too, but that's I've made it tons of times before. BGS' latest diet suggests, logically, that he should eat a medium-large salad before starting his entree. It's been about a week since starting this latest urge to lose weight and so far I think I have seen him follow the "rules" a grand total of once....1/7....not the best ratio, but I suppose everything takes time...that's what my doctors keep telling me at least.

Speaking of doctors, I've already consulted mine about adding more leafy greens and soy/tofu to my diet so they can adjust my meds accordingly. As long as I eat a consistent amount of the vitamin K foods - consistent from one week to the next - I shouldn't have any problems. I will be checking more often as I gradually increase the quantity back into my diet. Ok, enough with the verbiage! On with the food!!

I actually started making this meal Friday night...yes Friday. I knew I wanted to make bread on Sunday, so I wanted plenty of time to work through that learning process rather try and do two new things all in one day.
Today's players for the stuffed shells: whole milk ricotta, zucchini, carrot, onion, tofu, Monterey Jack cheese
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add your shells and cook 8-10 minutes until al dente and drain. While those are cooking ...
Let's start the filling:
1/2 cup whole milk ricotta
1/3 cup shredded carrot
1/4 cup shredded zucchini
3 Tbsp chopped onion
8 oz container firm tofu
1/2 cup shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese*
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 egg white
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs
3. In a small saucepan mix the carrot, zucchini, and onion. Pour in just enough water to cover the veggies and cook over medium heat until tender. Once cooked, drain.

Sorry for the blur -
the camera couldn't decide what to focus on

4. In a large bowl, mash the tofu with a fork. You want it to have the same texture/size as cottage cheese or ricotta cheese. Stir in the drained carrot-zucchini-onion mix, Monterey Jack, 1/2 cup mozzarella, ricotta cheese, egg white, salt, pepper ,1/2 tsp dried oregano, 1/2 tsp dried basil flakes, 1 tsp minced garlic. Mix well and set aside

Pre-bake

Now the ingredients for the sauce:
2 (8 oz) cans diced tomatoes
1/3 cup tomato paste
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp minced garlic
5. Mix these ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring the sauce to a boil then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.
6. Scoop 1 Tbsp of the filling into each of your cooked shells and place them in an un greased 2 qt casserole. I ended up with 2 layers in my CorningWare French White 2-1/2-Quart Oval Dish, so I spooned about 4 tbsp of the sauce on top of the first layer. After placing the second layer of shells, pour the remaining sauce over the shells.
7. Mix the breadcrumbs and remaining 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella and sprinkle over the top of the sauce.
8. Cover and bake 25 minutes or until heated through.

I cooled the finished dish on the stovetop to avoid extra condensation when I put it in the refrigerator

Flash forward to Sunday. Bread day!

Today's Players: - this dough can be made in a bread maker or in a stand mixer with the bread hook attachment, which is what I did.
1 cup warm water
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups bread flour
2 teaspoons granulated sugar (yes, it does come ungranulated)
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp active dry yeast - I used 1 whole packet of Fleischmann's yeast, which is
cornmeal for dusting the bread stone
1 egg white, slightly beaten

1. Add flour, oil, water, sugar, salt, oregano and yeast to your work bowl - set your bread machine to the dough setting or turn your stand mixer on low
2. Mix until a dough ball forms around the hook or until your bread machine stops mixing
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
4. Sprinkle cornflour/cornmeal onto a baking sheet
5. Punch the dough down and form into an oval or long loaf
6. Cover with a tea/clean kitchen towel and cover for 25 minutes
7. After the 25 minutes are over, the dough should be doubled - mine wasn't, so I left for another 25 minutes....still nothing :(
I looked at the yeast packet and it said if the room was below 85 degrees (my house is never above 73 degrees) to place the dough on a cookie sheet and place a pan of 85+ degree water underneath the cookie sheet.....I did.... I even covered the setup with 2 tea towels to keep the steam in....left for abt 10 minutes....came back and the dough was dripping/falling through the cookie sheet into the pan of water *sigh*...extract the oozing dough from the cookie sheet/water and put it on a different with tiny squares instead of slats...recover and walk away for 15 minutes.....still nothing...*sigh*
I give up....I put the bread in the oven and set the timer for 30 minutes.
You are supposed to bake it until you hear a hollow sound when you knock on the bottom....I was too hungry to knock, so I pulled the bread and sliced it. It tasted good. A bit doughy, but still tasty.

Round out the meal with a salad and you have a tasty homemade Italian supper.

*the recipe said shredded Monterey, but I couldn't find it on it's own and was too lazy to shred it myself;)

Quinoa Plus Carrot-Apple-Pear Juice

2012-01-28T21:55:00.000-05:00

I used the same basic recipe for the quinoa as yesterday, but today, I added 1 tbsp of Brewer's Yeast for the extra energy and complex B-vitamins.(nutritional info). Diabetics or people with Hypoglycemia should consult their doctors before using brewer's yeast, because the yeast contains chromium, which may enhance sensitivity to insulin and affect glucose levels.

Turns out I really should have purchased Nutritional Yeast Powder to avoid tipping BGS' sugars. He isn't diabetic, but we are trying to stave it off. I prepared it the same as I did previously, but sprinkled the yeast on with the brown sugar. He didn't taste the difference :)

Today's juice, however, was a different story. even though he "approved" the recipe from Spark People, he was http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=514217 very outspoken about the fact that he didn't like it. Oh well, I got some good pulp from it and plan on making carrot "cake" muffins this weekend.

Breakfast Quinoa and Vitamin C Juice - it's what's for breakfast

2012-01-25T13:58:00.000-05:00

I don't remember where or when, but I read somewhere recently that quinoa (properties and benefits) was an excellent source of nutrition. So I set out looking for recipes that used it. The first one I found was to cook the quinoa in pomegranate-green tea. I wasn't allowed to try it because my numbers were way off the week before (both pomegranate and green tea affect my numbers). BGS did try it and wasn't fond of it. He said all he could taste was the tea. He finished his serving that night, but asked if he could toss out the rest. Ok...one recipe done...time to search for more...to the internet!

I found a recipe for a lunch/side dish that uses pistachios and dried pineapple....a savory dish that uses scallions, raisins, and chicken broth (2 savory lunch/side dish recipes now)...a main course/lunch dish that uses chopped chicken breast, scallions, cumin (3 savory dishes)...and then I found a quinoa rice pudding that even has the rum and raisins and today's breakfast dish that sounded delicious!

Quinoa Players

Prep time: 5-6 minutes. Cook time: appx 20 minutes
Today's Breakfast Main Dish Players (for 1 serving): 2% milk, water, quinoa, rolled oats, oat bran, walnuts, cinnamon,salt, vanilla extract, brown sugar, and dried cranberries.

I got smart...I got the ingredients gathered and prepped last night, including putting the sauce pan on the stove last night after I cleaned up dinner. This included putting 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of milk in a container and storing it in the fridge. Next I measured 3 tablespoons rolled oats (I didn't have rolled oats in my pantry, so I used instant - more on this later), 2 tablespoons oat bran, 1 pinch of salt, 1 pinch ground cinnamon, and 1 handful - appx 1/4 cup dried cranberries). I also retrieved a bag of frozen mixed fruit from the freezer that included strawberries, mangoes, peaches, and pineapple chunks and set it on the counter to defrost for the morning juice

*Yawn* -*stumble down stairs* *let dog out* *rub eyes* *stretch* "brew" Donut Shop coffee and retrieve my milk/water mix from the fridge when I get out my creamer.

1. Pour the milk/water into the pot already on the stove and add 2 tablespoons quinoa and bring to a gentle boil....do not walk away like I did. I nearly had the whole thing boil over on me.
2. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the cranberries, rolled oats, oat bran, salt, and cinnamon.
4. Cook, stirring frequently over low heat for 2-5 minutes or until the mixture begins to thicken.
5. Remove from heat and stir in 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts (or nut of your choice), 2 tsp brown sugar, and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.

Serve immediately. The recipe said that it should make two servings, given the fact that I doubled the recipe *all measurements above are 2x the original recipe at http://allrecipes.com/recipe/good-morning-banana-nut-cereal/detail.aspx*, but it seemed like barely enough for 1 person, so I gave the whole thing to BGS for breakfast.

I don't know if it's because I used instant oats or if there wasn't enough liquid after the water/milk almost boiled over. It's probably a combination of the two. Who knows. Either way, he enjoyed it and from the tablespoon I saved for myself, it was mighty tasty. We will definitively try this again with other "additives".

The Juice: I put the defrosted 16 oz bag of strawberries, peach slices, mango chunks and pineapple chunks in the juicer. Big Mistake: I only got 4 ozs of juice out. Apparently our Breville juicer

doesn't handle soft fruits - like blueberries, strawberries, etc all that efficiently. Next time I will put it in the blender...who knew we would need a juicer and a blender to make juices....oh well....good thing I have my Cuisinart Smart Stick Hand Blender so I won't have to wash the blender pitcher every time.

The juice tasted great anyway. Just wish we had more of it :(

The photo is from today's juice has more chunks and bits in it, because I used the immersion blender instead of the juicer. BGS was in a hurry to get to work, so I didn't pulse it all the way through. BGS wasn't fond of the bits, but drank it anyway.

Too hungry to take pictures - Chicken Saltimbocca and Lemon-Basil Orzotto

2012-01-24T22:38:00.000-05:00

I got distracted by something today and didn't realize it was dinner time until 6pm...so I hurriedly fed the pets and started with the cooking....sorry, no pictures today :(
Today's Main Dish Players: chicken breasts, ricotta, sage, and prosciutto for the main dish.

1. I preheated the oven to 400 degrees and set about trying to butterfly (unsuccessfully) 3 Perdue Fit-n-Easy chicken breasts....have you ever tried to split something in half that is already thin?
2. I then mixed together 1/2 cup ricotta cheese, 6 sage leaves that I had cut into ribbons, and the zest of 1/2 lemon.
3. Next step was to put the ricotta-sage mixture inside the "butterflied" chicken breasts. This didn't work out so well because I had difficulty butterflying the breasts in the first place...some of the filling was more under the breast than inside.
4. Wrap the chicken breasts - filling and all - with the 2-3 slices of prosciutto, overlapping the slices as you wrap.
5. Place the chicken breasts in an oven-safe dish and cook for 20-25 minutes.

*things I changed from the original recipe provided by Rachael Ray Stuffed Chicken Saltimbocca with Arugula and Tomato Salad a. I didn't include the Parmesan in the filling; b. I didn't prepare yesterday; c. I forgot to drizzle with extra virgin olive oil; d. I didn't make the panko-garlic topping*

Today's Side Dish Players: : olive oil, onion, orzo pasta, 1 lemon, frozen peas, half-and-half, white wine, chicken broth.
1. Put 2 Tbsp in the bottom of a heavy-bottom stockpot and turn heat to medium-high.
2. Add 1 cup diced onion to the olive oil and cook until just translucent.
3. Add 1 1/2 cups orzo pasta to the pot and cook til just toasted - about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally
4. Stir in 1/2 cup white wine and cook until absorbed
5. Gradually add 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth, stirring frequently.
6. Bring to a simmer, lower the heat and cook, covered, 8-10 minutes until the liquid is almost all absorbed.
7. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup petite frozen peas, 2 tablespoons chiffonade (cut into ribbons) fresh basil, 1 tsp lemon zest, 1/4 half-and-half, 2-3 Tbsp lemon juice.

*things I changed from the original recipe provided by Kelsey Nixon Lemon-Basil Orzotto a.I didn't include Parmesan cheese; b. I used half-and-half instead of heavy cream.*

BGS and I really enjoyed these recipes. They are very very tasty. Hopefully they will be a jumping off point for me to put together my own pairings.

Orange-Berry Bread and Muffins

2012-01-22T00:25:00.002-05:00

Before I started making the juice this week I researched what to do with the pulp: you can compost it or you can bake with it casseroles, baked goods, "fruit leathers" aka fruit roll-up things, or soup. With all the juice I made this week using our Breville juicer, I had almost 3 cups of orange/blueberry/strawberry pulp in the fridge. So I looked for a substitution guide....you know..what do I take out of a regular bread/muffin recipe in exchange for the pulp. I knew I couldn't just add the pulp to a recipe; there's still a lot of water in the pulp. I was unable to find a substitution guide on the internet. I did find, however, find some muffin recipes that used pulp.

BGS asked why there was so much honey, but when I told him there's usually more sugar in baked goods...not to mention the added sugar from the fruit pulp, he understood.

Orange-Berry Muffin Players

Starting with the dry ingredients - today's players are: 2 cups whole wheat flour, 1 cup all purpose flour (You can use all whole wheat or all all-purpose, the recipes I found used one or the other), 1 tbsp baking soda, 2 tbsp cinnamon, 1 tsp nutmeg. The wet ingredients are: 3 cups juicing pulp, 1 cup oil, 1 cup honey, and 6 egg whites, and 1 tbsp vanilla. Optional: 1 cup blueberries (or other berry) and 1/2 cup sliced almonds (or your favorite nut)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Dry ingredients before sifting.

2. Put the juice pulp, egg whites, honey, vanilla , and oil in a mixing bowl and stir.
3. Sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg together and gradually add to the liquids; stir until blended.
4. Fold in the almonds and blueberries
5. Pour or scoop the batter into lined muffin pans. Make sure to leave some room at the top for expansion.
6. Bake 45 minutes

The recipe I found on the net said the recipe makes 1 dozen muffins, but I still had batter left, so I made a loaf, also.

For the vast majority of you that don't have a juicer, you interchange the pulp with ...well, I'm not sure...One site said flour, but this recipe has 3 cups of pulp and 3 cups of flour....that would be 6 cups of flour which I KNOW can't be right....

I am usually looking for the obvious substitutions - like applesauce for oil or yogurt for eggs....this one I'm not sure about...I will keep looking. Maybe I'll make this recipe next week without the pulp and see how it goes.....

Look for another baking recipe next weekend....we best get to noshing on those tasty muffins :)

Quiche and Orange-Berry Juice - it's what's for breakfast

2012-01-17T18:01:00.001-05:00

Cooked last night: I started with the Crustless Quiche recipe from Joy of Cooking. I started by cutting 2 Jimmy Dean® Turkey Sausage Patties into bite-size pieces and placed them into my ungreased pie plate. I then broke up and cut 2/3 cup of frozen broccoli into bite size pieces and scattered the pieces on top of the sausage. On top of the sausage I layered 1 cup of 2% extra sharp shredded cheddar cheese.

In a bowl I mix 4 eggs, 1 1/2 light cream (aka half-&-half), 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper. Once mixed, I pour the mixture over the sausage, cheese, and broccoli. Some of the cheese and sausage was sticking up above the the egg mixture, so I used a spoon to push as much of the ingredients below the egg mixture.

I cooked the quiche at 350 for 30 minutes. While it was cooking, I prepped the ingredients for the juice. I started with 2 oranges and 1 cup of strawberries. It didn't seem balanced, so I searched for a recipe that incorporated more flavors and I found Healthy Juicing Recipes. I didn't have 4 oranges; I only had 2 so I'll make do and see how it tastes.

The juice is FANTASTIC. BGS got mono somehow and has been requesting it for the vitamin C.
He did ask if I could make the quiche "taller"....The quiche pan is only so tall...It was full to the top when I put it in the oven, it settled a little in the cooking process. Do they make taller quiche/pie pans?