Recipe Challenge Final Thoughts & Favs

Well, well, well, it's done.  This post is a little late though as I was recovered from the meat coma I've been in since finishing up Street Food Chicago.  Yup, meat every single day.  And I was bringing leftovers for lunch too!  LOL

Anyway, this was a lot of fun.  I loved being prepared each week with my shopping list and bookmarked recipe pages.  Despite having to prepare something each night, it was actually easier.  No thought involved.  This is the one aspect of the challenge that I'm going to continue with each week.  Less money at the grocery store on things we may end up tossing and having to use much less of my brain each evening when meal time rolls around is awesome.

Although there were really only a few recipes I truly disliked over the past month, here are a few of my favs.  I hope you enjoyed all the recipes over the past four weeks and will dust off those magazines and cookbooks on your shelves, open 'em up and give something new a try!

Martha's chili and focaccia

Martha's shrimp pot stickers (probably the one I'm most proud of and the most time consuming)

Coconut pancakes with citrus salsa from Bon Appetit

Rachel Ray's Sausage & Pepper Pizza

Chicago Street Food's Chicken Shawarma

Which week was my favorite?  They were all fun for different reasons.  I will tell you that my body felt the best during the Martha Stewart week.  Probably due to the "light" recipes?  And Bon Appetit was fun because it was new and always so scary for me.  Chicago week was great because it was all kid friendly (at least for my fairly picky kiddos anyway).  Rachel comes in last.  :(  Sorry Rachel, it was just a bit boring now that I'm a fancy cooker lady.  LOL

Chicken Shawarma - RC Week 4

Who doesn't love an easy and wonderfully tasty recipe!!  Doesn't hurt when it's healthy too.  I will say, I never tasted anything like this combo of flavors before.  We will do this again.

4 medium chicken breasts, thin
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 cup non fat yogurt
1 tsp garlic, minced
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp chopped parsley
pinch sea salt, pepper, tabasco

Marinade:
1 cup non fat yogurt
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp garlic puree
2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp all spice

In mixing bowl, combine all marinade ingredients, add chicken and marinate overnight.

Combine all dressing ingredients and refridgerate overnight.  Yup, a make ahead meal.  Woohoo!

Heat grill or grill pan over high heat.  Spray with nonstick spray.  Place chicken on grill and cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side.  Cut cooked pieces into long strips and serve with warm pita, tahini sauce and tomato.

Chicken & Dumplings - RC Week 4

Why does white flour have to taste so good??  Yup, we've permitted a bag of the white stuff back in the house for this challenge.  And wow, the dumplings here were delicious.  White flour + butter + stewy chicken = yummy.

4 tbsp olive oil
4 to 5 lb chicken, quartered
1/2 cup flour

Sauce:
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
6 tbsp flour
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 small onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped (I omitted this because as we all know, celery is gross)
1 leek, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 1/4 tsp Polish spice (no idea what this is so I used herbs de provence)
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup white wine
5 1/2 cups chicken stock
dash of siracha

Dumplings:
2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp parsley, minced
3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup braising liquid from chicken

heat oil in saucepan.  Dredge chicken in flour and saute in oil for 5 minutes until golden brown.  Remove from pot.  Remove excess grease from pot and add butter and flour.  Cook and stir for 1 to 2 minutes.  Now add garlic, onion, carrots, celery (if you must), leek, mushrooms, spice and bay leaf.  Cook for about 2 mintues

Add remaining sauce ingredients.  Bring to boil.  Add chicken.  Reduce heat and simmer with pot slightly covered for 1 hour.  After 45 minutes, remove 3/4 cup of cooking liquid and reserve for dumplings.

After 1 hour, remove lid, turn heat way down.  Place dumplings on top of stewing chicken, cover completely and let cook for another 25 minutes.

Dumplings:
In mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, pepper and parsley.  Cut butter into flour mixture.  Add reserved braising liquid and stir until dry ingredients are just moistened.  Turn out the dough on floured work surface and pat into a 6x6 inch road.  Cut dough into 1 inch squares, roll into a round and place in stew.  Or you can skip all the rolling and just make dough balls which is what I did.  Me and rolling dough just don't work.

Serve piping hot.

Yummy!!

Chi Town Chili - RC Week 4

Another week, another chili.  Happy to say this one was very, very good.  Different from Martha's a few weeks ago which was nice (although I'm still claiming Martha's as my fav for now).

2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 lb ground beef
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
2 tsp paprika
1 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
Dash sea salt & red pepper flakes
4 cups beef stock
1 cup tomato puree

Thickener:
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp cornmeal
1/3 cup warm water
15 ounces beans, rinsed & drained

In non-stick saucepot, heat oil and brown your beef.  Drain the meat then return to pot.  Add all remaining ingredients (but not the thickener ones).  Bring to boil then reduce to slow simmer for 45 minutes.  Mix the flour and cornmeal with warm water until it forms a smooth paste.  Add to the pot and stir to combine.  Add beans and let chili cook for another 15 mintues.  Serve.

I used some whole wheat egg noodles as a base so I wouldn't get strange looks from the kids when I passed them a bowl of wet meat.

Garnish thief!

You know it's good chili when you eat it all even though the dog probably licked a bit of it when he stole the cilantro.

Fried Pork is Never Bad - RC Week 4

Even better - it was hubby's night to cook.  He did a pretty bang up job here.

4 boneless pork cutlets
1/2 cup flour
2 large eggs
1 cup breadcrumbs
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp sweet paprika
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
oil for frying

Heat oven to 400.  Flatten pork cutlets with mallet and dredge in flour.  Beat eggs in separate bowl and set aside.  Combine the remaining ingredients into another bowl and mix.  Heat oil in skillet and when hot, dip flour coated cutlets into the egg, then into breadcrumbs.  Gently saute for 2 to 3 minutes per side until crisp and golden.  Place skillet in oven for 10 minutes.  Serve with gravy if desired.

My husband whipped up this mushroom gravy to use with this dish.  I have no idea what he used other than mushrooms.

Go ahead, take a bite.  You know you want to.

Banana Cream Pie - RC Week 4

Oh yeah, you know this dessert immediately followed the deep dish pizza.  Thankfully, I was scheduled to re-start P90X the next day - if I could move.

I have to admit here, I've been way off my game in the cooking department.  Actually, in every department.  Mid-winter-is-this-ever-going-to-end depression has taken over.  I'm making mindless mistakes and just generally not caring when I do.  So, this pie contains mistakes.  Thankfully, it was still extremely delicious.  We'll call it an extra protein banana pie (I'll explain later).  Oh yeah, and there is rum in the whipped cream topping!  Hello!

Chicago's Banana Cream Pie - I halved the recipe since there was no way we NEEDED two banana cream pies in the house.  To make two pies, just double the ingredients.

Graham cracker pie crust
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/8 tsp sea salt
2 cups milk
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
1 large banana, peeled and sliced
1 tbsp lemon juice

Topping:
1 cup whipping cream
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp rum

Combine sugar, cornstarch and salt in heave saucepan.  Stir to mix.  Add milk, egg yolks and vanilla.  Whisk to combine.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.  After it comes to a boil, continue to cook for 1 minute and then remove from heat.  Should be thickened at this point.

Sprinkle banana slices with lemon juice and toss to combine.  Place 1/2 of the custard mixture into the pie shell, top with banana slices and repeat this process.  Please filled shells in fridge for at least 4 hours before serving.

To serve, whisk topping ingredients until stiff peaks form.  Spread on pie. Or pipe into beautiful decorations - which I cannot do.  Then eat and try to stop at just one slice.  Good luck!

So where did I screw this one up?  Well, with the recipe directly in front of me, I read two egg yolks but proceeded to drop in only the whites and toss the yolks.  After discovering my mistake, I went ahead and added two egg yolks as well.  Perhaps it changed the texture a bit, but otherwise, it was still delicious!

Deep Dish Pizza - RC Week 4

Awww, say it ain't so.  Last week of my self-imposed recipe challenge.  If we make it through this week with five recipes, it will be a success.  Gee, maybe I can stick with things?

This week will require some tweaking here and there as I am using Street Food Chicagoas my guide and let me tell ya, there's a whole lotta calories going on in Chicago.  Whew!  But wow, yummy stuff in this book.  Had trouble narrowing it down to just five, so we may have six this week as well.  My thanks goes out to Pam for hosting the giveaway where I won this fabulous cookbook!  I'm so happy to finally use it.

First this week, and you probably knew I'd have to do it, pizza.  Chicago style deep dish pizza.  Believe it or not, I have never had the pleasure.  Although I did eat at a Pizzeria Uno once or twice in my life.  :)

This recipe required a trip to Chef Central to pick up a deep dish pan which I've been wanting anyway (for super big cakes) so it wasn't too much of an inconvenience.  And if you are ever in New Jersey, I highly recommend a visit to Chef Central.  It's the most awesomest cooking store ever!

Ok, on to the pizza.  I took a dough short cut and made some slight modifications which will be noted below.

2 lbs whole wheat pizza dough
1 lb chicken sausage, casings removed
1 lb part skim mozzarella
1 cup sauce
1/3 cup pecorino romano, grated

Heat oven to 475.  Brush deep dish pan with olive oil to coat evenly.  Spread dough and crimp 1 1/2 to 2 inches up the sides.  Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for 15 minutes.  Prick the bottom of dough with a fork about every 1/2 inch and back on bottom rack for 5 minutes.

Remove from oven and drizzle more olive oil over dough.  Cover with mozzarella cheese, then tomato pulp.  Sprinkle with romano cheese and top with quarter sized pieces of sausage meat.  Bake on lower rack for 45-50 minutes.  Let rest for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.
* Modifications
Recipe calls for a white flour dough and has a corresponding recipe in the book.
Recipe called for 1/2 lb. pork sausage but I'm saving my pork fat allowance for another recipe this week and wanted more sausage on the pie.
Recipe calls for a tomato pulp but I used my usual homemade version.  I highly suggest doing the pulp though because my sauce gave off a bit too much liquid.  The book's sauce indicates draining the tomatoes and two different stages during prep.

A hot (and yummy) mess

I think this would be a great meal to make for your sweetie this Valentine's Day.  Nothing says love like sauce and cheese dripping down your chin.  Enjoy!

RC Week 3 Thoughts

Ah, Bon Appetit.  For most of my adult life you have taunted me from the magazine rack.  Telling me I was in no way sophisticated enough for you, that I wasn't a good enough cook or baker.  I just knew you were full of expensive, out of my budget ingredients which would be used to prepare rich, complicated dishes that my simple palette just couldn't appreciate and involving fancy culinary techniques that I definitely did not possess.

But alas, I was wrong.  This week I grabbed the Bon Appetit by the horns and dove right in.  Six recipes (well, two were drinks, but ya know we gotta start somewhere) done!  All were delicious!  All were cooked by lil ole me!  So ok, I did spend more on ingredients this week, but not as bad as I thought.  $30 for those fabulous pork loins and $30 for those buttery delicious steaks were very well worth every penny.  The ingredients weren't that hard to find (although the miso took a few minutes).  And you weren't overly fattening or rich!!  Even better, no fancy techniques (although cutting the top off a coconut without making a huge coconut mess is apparently an acquired skill) or unrecognizable terms.

And now the week of BA is done and I'm a little sad that I won't have the chance to get back to you for a few weeks.  But this is just a see ya later because you will now appear in my measly little mailbox every month for the next year.  Soon enough we will again be snuggled up on the couch flagging "must do" pages and compiling a shopping list for the week.  Until then, it's been fun.  XOXO

Do I dare now pick up a copy of Gourmet??!!

Energy Shake - RC Week 3

Goodness knows I could use some energy these days.  Thankfully, Bon Appetit comes to the rescue with this frothy little green concoction.  Green drinks have NEVER appealed to me.  Perhaps it's my aversion to veggies and most things green. I always feel it's going to taste like cut grass or something - and I'm pretty sure some of them do.  But, since this one contains some of my fav, I figured we'd give it a try.  And I didn't like it.  It smelled "green" and the kale bits grossed me out.  My husband however drank both servings this made (minus my sip).

1 1/2 cups fresh orange juice
1 banana, peeled, cut into 2-inch pieces
1/2 cup (packed) coarsely chopped kale leaves
1/2 kiwi, peeled
2 pitted Medjool dates, coarsely chopped

Combine orange juice, banana, chopped kale, kiwi, and chopped dates in blender. Puree until smooth, stopping and scraping down sides of blender as needed. Divide between two glasses and serve.  I guess this would be a pretty healthy breakfast.

Calamari & Pasta - RC Week 3

Words cannot describe how much this dish does NOT fit in with my whole attempt at healthy eating, but it looked and sounded so good in the magazine that I just HAD to try it.  So glad I did.  What a fun and tasty recipe that was also surprisingly easy.  And hey, did you know how cheap squid is?  I had no idea.  $7.50 a pound at Whole Foods!  I bet it's like $3 at Shoprite then.  LOL

Here's the wonderful Amalfi Calamari Pasta recipe from Bon Appetit (Warning - one serving clocks in at just over 600 delicious calories):

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 pound cleaned squid (bodies only), cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick rings
2 cups olive oil
1 cup canola oil
1 pound spaghetti
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, diced
3 to 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
Lemon wedges

Line rimmed baking sheet with several layers of paper towels. Whisk flour, cornstarch, 1 teaspoon coarse salt, baking powder, and cayenne pepper in medium bowl to blend. Working in batches, toss squid rings in flour mixture to coat, then place rings in single layer on sheet of foil.

Pour both oils into large skillet; lean deep-fry thermometer on side of skillet, submerging bulb in oil. Heat oil over medium-high heat until thermometer registers 350°F to 360°F. Working in several batches, add squid rings to hot oil and cook until light golden and crisp around edges, 2 to 3 minutes per batch. Using slotted spoon, transfer squid to paper-towel-lined baking sheet to drain.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking liquid. Return pasta to pot. Add butter and 3 tablespoons lemon juice and toss to coat pasta. Add 3/4 cup pasta cooking liquid and toss. Mix in 1/3 cup parsley. Season to taste with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, adding more lemon juice and pasta cooking liquid, if desired.

Transfer pasta to large bowl; top with calamari. Sprinkle with remaining parsley. Serve with lemon wedges.  I also added just a small bit of freshly grated Parm to the calamari.

Never would've thought to put fried calamari over pasta.  It worked well.  I love the butter lemon sauce that coats the pasta.  Very refreshing flavors here.

Oh, and if you are lucky enough to have leftovers (we had a bit), don't worry about the calamari getting soggy. I tossed what was left with a few cups of arabiatta (too lazy to check my spelling on that one)sauce and reheated.  This was about two days later and OMG, so wonderfully delicious.  Gotta love when the leftovers taste better than (or just as good as) the original!

Miso Glazed Pork - RC Week 3

Yet another first this week.  Miso.  I knew there was such a thing as Miso soup, but that's really all I knew.  From the What's New at the Market section of Bon Appetit, here's a Miso Apricot Glazed Pork Loin.  Mmm, pork!

I doubled up on the garlic because, well, you can never have too much garlic.

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
5 tablespoons apricot preserves
1/4 cup red miso
1/4 cup Champagne vinegar (I used white wine)
2 teaspoons finely grated orange peel
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
2 pork tenderloins
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth

Preheat oven to 425°F. Coat large rimmed baking sheet with oil spray. Combine preserves, miso, vinegar, orange peel, and garlic in small pot over medium heat. Cook until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Reserve.

Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper. Place on prepared baking sheet, tucking thin end under to ensure even cooking. Brush with 2 tablespoons apricot glaze; roast 12 to 15 minutes. Turn pork over with tongs and brush with 3 more tablespoons glaze. Continue to roast until instant-read thermometer inserted into center of pork registers 150°F, 8 to 10 minutes longer.  Mine actually took an additional 15 but I know my husband would've been happy with this less well done.

Add chicken broth to remaining apricot glaze. Bring to simmer and cook until reduced to 2/3 cup, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Slice pork crosswise into 1/2- to 3/4- inch-thick slices and arrange on platter. Spoon sauce over and serve.

Now, this was a delicious dish.  I love me some pork loin.  For me, a little salt, pepper and garlic is all a good loin needs.  The fact that the miso glaze was quite a powerful flavor made me miss the goodness that is just simple pork loin.  So while I enjoyed it today, I don't think it will make another appearance in my kitchen.

The kids?  Well, I had to cut off the sauce covered edges to get them to eat it.  Oh well, it was fun.  And I have quite a bit of miso left to play with.  Recipe suggestions?

Vegan Coconut Pancakes & Tropical Salsa - RC Week 3

Having heard great things about Mr. Mark Bittman and his fabulous healthy eats, I was so happy to see one of his pancake recipes in this month's Bon Appetit.  In addition, the fact that they are made with whole wheat flour made them a must try.  The tropical salsa here is the true star of the show.  It was a fabulous breakfast!

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 13 1/2-ounce can light unsweetened coconut milk (about 1 2/3 cups)
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Vegetable oil (I used coconut oil)
Tropical Fruit Salad (recipe to follow)
Additional pure maple syrup
Chopped natural unsalted pistachios (for garnish)

Preheat oven to 250°F. Whisk first 6 ingredients and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl. Whisk coconut milk, 11/4 cups warm water, 2 tablespoons maple syrup, and vanilla in medium bowl. Whisk coconut milk mixture into dry ingredients until batter is pourable.

Heat griddle or skillet over medium-high heat; brush with vegetable oil. Working in batches, add batter by 1/4 cupfuls. Working quickly and using back of spoon, spread each pancake to about 4-inch round. Cook until small bubbles appear on surface and bottoms of pancakes are golden, reducing heat if browning too quickly, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn over; cook until golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to baking sheet. Keep warm in oven.

Place 2 to 3 pancakes on each plate. Top with Tropical Fruit Salad, maple syrup, and chopped pistachios.

For Tropical Salsa, mix the following ingredients up to 2 hours ahead of breakfast (or lunch, or dinner, or snack...)

1 cup diced peeled pitted mango
1 cup diced peeled cored pineapple
1 cup diced peeled banana
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

The result?  Holy yumminess!!  And enough batter leftover for several more fabulous mornings with less work.

And my husband got to christen one of his Christmas gifts.  Oh yeah, I totally wanted this and bought it for him since Christmas was a good excuse to make the purchase.  :-D

3 days later with nanners and nuts.  Still stinkin' yummy:

I gotta say, I feel so sophisticated in my eating this week.  Bon Appetit subscription ordered.

Stout Steak - RC Week 3

Yet another first today.  Never before have I prepared a recipe from a cookbook or magazine that did not have a corresponding picture.  In fact, one of my pet peeves are cookbooks with no pictures.  But, reading this recipe in Bon Appetit's What's New the Supermarket section, I had to give it a try despite the fact that is wasn't pictured in the magazine.  And, it sounded easy enough which is always great.

Rogue stout and two gorgeous strip steaks in hand (thank you Whole Foods), I gave it a whirl.

NY Strip with Stout Pan Sauce.  Oh yeah, I made a pan sauce.  And it was Eeee-z!

5 teaspoons Dijon mustard, divided
2 12-ounce New York strip steaks
2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 tablespoon butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons all purpose flour
1 large garlic clove, pressed
1/2 cup low-salt beef broth
1/2 cup stout
1 tablespoon (packed) dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Spread 1 teaspoon mustard over steaks; sprinkle with salt and ground black pepper. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook meat about 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer to plate; tent with foil. Wipe out skillet.

Mash butter and flour in small bowl; set aside. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in same skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic; sauté 15 to 20 seconds. Add broth; bring to boil. Whisk in stout, brown sugar, soy sauce, 3 teaspoons mustard, and butter mixture. Boil until reduced to 2/3 cup, 2 to 3 minutes.

Thinly slice steaks; divide among plates. Drizzle sauce over and serve.

Notice those potato poppers from Rachel Ray last week?  They are very good as leftovers.
My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed this meal.  I mean, it was sinfully delicious.  Didn't hurt that it was a kidless night, it immediately followed the tiki coconut drinks I posted yesterday, and we ate it at the coffee table while watching HGTV.  Ahhh, romance!  But seriously, this is a delicious pan sauce to serve over a high quality (or not) cut of meat.  My husband used the leftover sauce to pour over meatloaf the following day too.

Bring on the Alcohol - Coconut Drinks! RC Week 3

What better way to start out week three, during yet another impending snow storm, than with a little tropical rum drink served in a coconut??  I say there is nothing better!  And this did not disappoint.

Oh, and I hope you don't mind, but my titles were getting a little lengthy, so I am now calling the Recipe Challenge RC.

Our first "recipe" from Bon Appetit is the Luau Coconut.

1/4 cup sugar
2 fresh young coconuts (green skin cut away)
1/4 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
1/4 cup light rum
1/4 cup gold rum
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons pineapple juice
Ice cubes
2 lime slices (for garnish)
2 maraschino cherries (for garnish)

Bring sugar and 1/4 cup water to boil in small saucepan over medium- high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Cool simple syrup.  Or, you can use ready made simple syrup from Trader Joe's like me!

Cut off top 2 inches of coconuts (wow, this was not easy and I made a good sized mess); reserve coconut water. Mix 1/4 cup simple syrup, coconut milk, light rum, gold rum, lime juice, pineapple juice, and 1/2 cup reserved coconut water in large cocktail shaker. Fill with ice; cover and shake vigorously 20 times. Pour contents of shaker into coconuts, dividing equally (do not strain). Garnish each with lime slice and maraschino cherry. Serve with straw and spoon for scraping out fresh coconut from inside of shell.

Hard to photograph these as they weren't all that pretty.  But, I promise, they tasted pretty damn good!

Recipe Challenge Week 2 Thoughts

No offense to Rachel, but I am so glad this week is over!  I honestly feel like I've put on close to five pounds eating from her magazine.  We enjoyed all but one of the recipes and they were very "homey" and comfortable which is nice.  Nothing too crazy for the working mom or beginner cook.

Again, it was so nice to have a plan everyday.  I didn't run to the store several times this week, we only went once, list in hand.  There are also several tupperwares of leftovers still in the fridge that will get us through the weekend and lunch all week.

Best thing about the past two weeks?  We did not order a pizza even once!  Not even when the kids had friends over.  Everybody ate what I made or chose a leftover from a previous night.  Gotta love that.  No wasted groceries and no extra spending on take out.

The kids' favorite from this week was definitely the Chicken Mac & Cheese.  For my husband and I, it was the Sausage & Pepper Pizza.  Actually, everything was very tasty with the exception of the Turkey "Chili".  Another good experience.

So we are at the half way point and moving on.  Next up is Bon Appetit.  Oh, that one makes me nervous.  But we are starting out easy and I have high hopes for the entire week.  Best part - nothing is overly fattening.  We won't see a lot of cheese this week!

Hope everyone enjoyed the week of Rachel Ray.  See you tomorrow with a little glimpse of the beach.  hint hint

Just One More - Recipe Challenge Week 2

Ok, ok.  I had to do just one more from Rachel Ray this weekend.  The craving for an egg on toast took over and I recalled seeing an egg dish in the mag.  Not in the mood for meat, I cut the prosciutto from this recipe and used an everything bagel instead of white bread.

Croque Madames

Four 1-inch-thick slices good-quality white bread (or a bagel which works out lovely)
Fig spread
2 tablespoons butter
1 rounded tablespoon flour
1 cup skim milk
Salt and pepper
Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
1 tablespoon grainy mustard
8 slices prosciutto cotto with rosemary, if desired
8 ounces fontina cheese, grated
4 large organic eggs

Preheat the oven to 375. Arrange the bread on a baking sheet and spread a thin layer of fig spread on each slice. In a small skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour for half a minute, then whisk in the milk. Season the sauce with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Turn off the heat and stir in the mustard.  Sauce will thicken.

Divide the sauce among the bread slices. Top each slice with 2 folded prosciutto slices and a small mound of fontina, scattering the cheese all the way to the edges of the bread. Bake until golden, 10 to 12 minutes.

When the sandwiches are done, cook the eggs to order in pats of melted butter. Top each sandwich with an egg and serve.

Can ya tell I was too lazy to whip out my cheese grater?  Instead I just tore off clumps of cheese and tossed them onto the bagel.

Despite my shortcuts, this was so, so good.  This is also my first time using Fontina and it will not be the last.  What a delightful combination of flavors!  Never would've thought to combine these ingredients.  I can see us having this with ham on Sunday mornings or as a lazy weeknight dinner.

Light Stuffed Taters - Recipe Challenge Week 2

Another week down!  We have successfully completed two weeks of the month-long recipe challenge.  After today, I will bid farewell to Rachel Ray and move on to the next mag, Bon Appetit.  I will admit, I'm nervous about that one.  It's fancy (pronounced fun-sea, of course).  :)

Ok, back to this week.  After a week of cheesy, fattening goodness, I chose one of the "light" recipes in the magazine.  There were only two so it was an easy choice.  Rachel doesn't do too many diet-friendly dishes.  And, I had some broccoli that needed to be used up anyway.

Here's an easy peasy recipe for cute little stuffed potatoes.  These were yummy!

7 small yellow-fleshed potatoes, such as yukon gold
1 cup broccoli florets
2 ounces monterey jack cheese, shredded
3 tablespoons reduced-fat plain yogurt
2 tablespoons finely chopped pickled jalapeño chile
Salt and pepper
Olive oil cooking spray
Chili powder, for sprinkling

Place the potatoes in a large saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer until fork-tender, about 25 minutes. Drain and let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan of boiling water, cook the broccoli until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes; drain. Finely chop the broccoli and place in a medium bowl.

Slice 6 potatoes in half. Scoop out half of the flesh from each piece and add to the broccoli. Peel and finely chop the remaining potato and add to the mixture. Add the cheese, yogurt and the jalapeño; mash coarsely and season with salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 425. Arrange the potato halves cut side down on a baking sheet and lightly coat them with cooking spray; invert and season with salt and pepper. Divide the stuffing among the potato halves. Lightly coat with cooking spray and sprinkle with chili powder. Bake until golden, about 20 minutes. Garnish chili powder.

Trying to scoop out the middle of these teeny guys was no picnic, but the end result was a fun little appetizer popper. The tangy bite from the yogurt paired well with the broccoli and chili powder.  I would make these again.

Turkey Chili - Recipe Challenge Week 2

When I saw Rachel Ray had a chili recipe in this month's issue, I knew I had to do it in order to compare it to Martha's we did last week.  In keeping with our one flop per week, this was it.  Sorry Rach, Martha kicked your butt big time in the chili round.  This came out like a oddly flavored ground turkey soup.  Thankfully my husband will eat anything, or this would've gone right in the trash.  The kids picked out the turkey on this one and then dipped chips in the "broth" so not a total loss.

Easy Turkey Chili

2 lbs ground turkey
1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
One 2-inch piece fresh ginger, grated

2 scotch bonnet chile peppers, finely chopped
3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
1 scant palmful sweet smoked paprika or sweet paprika
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Salt and pepper
2 cups chicken stock
One 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes with chiles
One 12-ounce bottle lager beer
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons cider vinegar 

Heat the oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the turkey and cook until browned, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and chile peppers. Stir in the thyme, paprika, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Cook for 10 minutes. Stir in the chicken stock, tomatoes, beer, worcestershire, brown sugar and vinegar; simmer to combine the flavors, about 5 minutes. Serve.

I just looked up the reviews for this one on the Rachel Ray site.  Not good.  Should've checked there before trying this one.  Oh well.

Chicken Mac & Cheese - Recipe Challenge Week 2

As mentioned before, this is in no way a diet friendly week.  My girl Rachel likes her cheeses and butter.  To make my waistline a little happier, I did cut a bit of the butter, bacon and cheese from the original recipe and adjusted a few other minor things.

4 slices low sodium bacon, cooked to crisp
1 lb whole wheat penne or elbows
2 pieces skinless, boneless chicken breast
EVOO
1/2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
3 tbsp butter
1 large onion, quartered & thinly sliced
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp thyme
freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup shredded x-tra sharp cheddar
3/4 cup shredded gruyere cheese
salt & pepper

Heat broiler.

In a large pot, cook pasta to one minute shy of al dente.  Drain and return to pot.

Heat grill pan.  Drizzle chicken with EVOO and season evenly with paprika, salt & pepper.  Grill chicken for about 10 minutes, turning occasionally, until done.  Transfer to cutting board, halve and thinly slice.

Melt butter in medium saucepan.  Add onion and cook until very soft, 15 or 20 minutes.  Sprinkle with flour and whisk for 1 minute.  Add stock and then milk.  Bring to boil and cook, whisking, until sauce coats the back of a spoon.  Add thyme and season with salt, pepper & nutmeg.  Stir in cheeses until completely melted.

Add chicken, bacon and sauce to pasta and transfer to a casserole dish.  Broil until bubbly and browned.  About 5 minutes.

Although this dish left me craving a low cal salad, it was very yummy.  Needless to say, the kids devoured it.