Thursday, November 24, 2011

Gobble Gobble



Happy Thanksgiving! These have a cheese factor of 100, but they're kid-pleasers :)



Instructions here and here and here.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Roasted Broccoli


So a nice friend would give you, on this week of Thanksgiving, a great recipe that was easy, could be made in advance, would economize on oven space, and would become a new favorite at your Thanksgiving table (we are not even going to get into how hard it is to introduce new foods at the Thanksgiving table. I'd rather perform a root canal on a cat).

But, no, I'm not going to give you any of those things. I'm going to tell you about roasted broccoli.

I roast probably 75% of the vegetables I make and I have the blackened pans to show for it. I love this method because it's really tasty, really easy, usually goes along with whatever else is going in the oven, and works great with a lot of different vegetables. I have made converts out of vegetable haters with this method.

Roasted Broccoli

About 1 pound Broccoli (You can use the entire piece of broccoli: stem, leaves, and florets. When broccoli is in season at my local farmstand, it comes with lots of leaves attached which is my favorite part. The leaves get all crispy and crunchy)


2 Tbls. olive oil

1 tsp. finely minced garlic (1/2 tsp. of the jar stuff) (optional)*

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450'. Chop the florets into bite-size pieces. Peel the tough part of the stem and cut into 1/2 inch thick circles. Place on baking sheet with leaves and drizzle the olive oil over the broccoli and toss to coat completely. Season with salt and pepper. Shake the pan to make a single layer. Roast 10 minutes, then stir. Roast another 5-10 minutes until done. Serves 4.

*I see a lot of recipes that call for tossing the garlic in at the begining but I can never keep mine from burning, so I either throw the garlic in during the last 5 minutes or wait until it comes out of the oven and sprinkle it with a little garlic salt.

Monday, November 14, 2011

On the Menu this Week

Thai Chicken Sates in Lettuce Leaves, Noodles

Sweet and Spicy Salmon with Pineapple, Rice, Sauteed Spinach

Thanksgiving Dinner #1

Roasted Chicken Sausages with Roasted Potatoes and Broccoli

Slow-Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage, Buttered Bread

Pork Chops, Stewed Brussel Greens, Cornbread

Grilled Cheese and Soup

Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Slow Cooker Chicken Burritos


I want to like my slow cooker (actually, slow cookers, I have three of them in various sizes). The slow cooker has all the possibility of being a workhorse in the deep trenches of  the daily war against fast food. It gives the promise of a complete meal with merely a dump of ingredients and a quick flick of the On switch.

Except...Um...Well...Do you know what I mean if I say that everything that comes out of it tastes "slow-cookery"? Everything comes out soupy or all tastes the same. I love a good roast but I don't want overcooked beef juice carrots and potatoes with it (I know this is exactly what some people love about it).

I have my handful of things I make in the slow cooker which are in the meal rotation every week or two so when I find a new one I am tinkled pink! This is a recipe that my friend Alicia created and it is the bomb! So easy. No pre-cooking and just out-of-this world tasty. We had these with avocado and sour cream and they would have been so good with Monterey Jack cheese. 

With 3 chicken breasts we got 8 burritos and leftovers for 4 enchiladas. I made enchiladas by rolling up the filling and monterey jack cheese inside of 4 flour tortillas (you could also use corn) then pouring about 1/2 can of green enchilada sauce over the top, toppping with more cheese and baking at 350 for about 30 minutes.

The leftover filling froze very well and if you make enchiladas you can freeze those too just increase the cooking time to 1 hour if still frozen or 45 minutes if defrosted.

Slow Cooker Green Chile Burritos

2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 4-5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
4 oz. can chopped green chilies
1 cup salsa (I used Herdez)
1 cup chopped onion (I used frozen pre-chopped)
1 chicken bouillon cube (Alicia uses chipotle cubes but I couldn't find those at my store)
1 clove garlic (1/2 tsp of the pre-chopped stuff)
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp ancho chile powder or regular chili powder
15 oz. can green enchilada sauce

Combine everything except the enchilada sauce in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on Low for 4-6 hours until chicken is cooked through. Drain everything into a colander, remove chicken. Place contents of colander back in slow cooker, shred chicken, add back to slow cooker and pour in can of enchilada sauce, Stir, cover, and cook until just warmed through. Serve wrapped in tortillas with avocado, sour cream, and cheese.


Sunday, November 06, 2011

On the Menu this Week

Radishes, Broccoli, Spinach, Lettuce mix, Green Tomatoes, Squash, Napa Cabbage, Green Onions

Menu planning is a lot easier when I can cast off my parental shackles responsibilities for two seconds and get to my local farmstand. I buy whatever looks really great and then search for ways to cook it. Thank you Farmer Jo and Farmer John for growing these awesome vegetables!

Oven Fried Shrimp, Salad, Roasted Broccoli
Green Chile Enchiladas, Squash, Spanish Rice
Mushroom and Cheese Omelets, Oven Fries, Sauteed Spinach

What's on your table this week?

Friday, November 04, 2011

Detox Green Smoothie


Maybe you've heard of a little thing called Pinterest? If not, then good for you because you probably have time for your loved ones still! But, if not for Pinterest, I would not have found this little gem of a recipe.

I have tried a lot of lackluster smoothie recipes but this is a keeper, even the spinach hater asked to have his spinach made like this from now on.


Detox Green Smoothie

Makes 2 smoothies

1 cup baby spinach
1 cup kale, torn in pieces
1 pear, cut-up
1 ½ cup of orange juice
1 frozen banana (I advise you to peel it before freezing)

Puree in a blender and enjoy. I covered the second glass of smoothie and drank it the next day, just stir it up because it will separate.

Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Baked Chicken Oreganato with Potatoes and Tomatoes


One bowl. One pan. Almost everything came from the freezer or pantry. No stirring or attending. That's my kind of dinner! This was really good for something so easy and was well received by everyone in the fam and even a couple of other people from someone else's fam ;)


Baked Chicken Oreganato with Potatoes and Tomatoes
from Parenting magazine

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl, combine 1 small thinly sliced red onion, 5 small thinly sliced red-skin potatoes, one 15 oz can stewed tomatoes, drained, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 Tbsp oregano, 2 Tbsp olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.


Mix well, and arrange in a shallow baking dish or on a cookie sheet. In the same bowl, add 1 1/2 lb chicken tenders, 3 Tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp oregano, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss well to season chicken. Arrange the chicken on top of the tomato and potato mixture, and sprinkle with 2 Tbsp store-bought seasoned bread crumbs. Drizzle with 1 Tbsp olive oil. Bake for 30 minutes, or until chicken is golden brown. (Serves 4).

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

On the Menu this Week

I'm going to change the way I list the weekly menu. I am still going to post it over on the side there but I am going to make it a post as well so that I can link to recipes (I'm sure there is a way to do this in the sidebar but I am not that fancy when it comes to web design). This will also allow me to search past menus for ideas because every week I feel like making a menu plan is like pulling a rabbit out of a hat.

At the end of the week I'll try to update what I did (or didn't) make and if it was good. I'm also going to ask you to comment on what you are making because I need to mine your brains for dinner ideas am interested in what's going in your kitchen.

Pizza
Slow Cooker Chicken Burritos
Chicken Oreganato
Cube Steaks, Oven Fries, Roasted Carrots
Slow Cooker Bean Soup with Spinach, Garlic Bread
Pan-Seared Salmon with Bulgur, Broccoli Pizza