Broccoli Salad

I was on a quest for a yummy broccoli recipe. This recipe is always at any family function I go to it seems so I looked into how I go about making it. The recipe's I found called for 1 cup of mayo, 2 tbs vinegar and 1/4 cup of sugar for the dressing. Since I like to boycott recipe's I used a little less than a cup of mayo (because I don't really care for mayo), more than 2 tbs of red wine vinegar (because its yummier) and sugar to taste. Mix your dressing first then add sunflower seeds, craisins, chopped onion and mix together. Instead of just adding broccoli, I also added cauliflower. This makes a great side dish, but if you are me and you're looking for a grab-and-go lunch, add some already cooked chicken breast (I used the leftover baked chicken from dinner last night) and it's a complete meal. Filling, healthy and delicious. 

Spinach Quiche

I actually cooked from a recipe! I will have to post that later, but for now here is a photo recipe of very first Quiche. I'm so glad that it actually ended up tasting good. I wasn't sure if I liked Quiche or not until I made this and it's a keeper.

This first picture is to help demonstrate the consistency of the pie crust. You can see in the bowl it looks dry, but when you press it into the pie tin, its moist enough to stay in place. I used a basic oil-based pie crust recipe but also added a little shortening and water to get it the way I wanted it.

I don't like to roll pie crust out, because I prefer it to be thick. After I press it into a pie tin, I used a fork to stamp the outside edge.

While baking the pie crust, I prepared some grilled chopped onion, added bacon and sliced the spinach for the quiche. I made a mistake and should have lined the pie crust with tin foil when I baked it initially, it got a little too brown. Oh well, next time.

The other half of the recipe was the egg mixture complete with mozzarella and a dash of pepper. I reduced the amount of eggs that the recipe called for. I have had quiche once or twice in my life, and I always though it was too egg-ie. I know that's kind of the point of a quiche, it's an egg dish. However, the recipe I used called for 8 eggs and I only wanted to use 5. I think the taste was MUCH BETTER  this way.

Since I didn't want to burn the edges of the pie crust any further, This time I lined the outside edges with a double layer of tin foil. This makes it so that the crust doesn't burn. After I lined the pie, i mixed all of the ingredients in the bowl and poured it in the tin. I was able to make 1 pie from the recipe.

This is the result! Because I over cooked the crust a little, some of it crumbled off. I baked this for about 45 minutes and the recipe called for 50-60 minutes. I new it was done when I could insert a tooth pick in the center and it came out clean.

The recipe mentioned that a tomato would compliment this well, and it was right. It was so yummy! A little balsamic vinaigrette on the tomato and some rosemary and it was the perfect meal.

The recipe as they cooked it in the book I followed is about 410 calories per serving. With my version, we eliminate some of those calories because I only used 5 eggs instead of 8, but just be aware that this dish is high in calorie, but it also has lots of good spinach and protein.

I think some of the things that are IMPORTANT for this recipe that made it so good was the grilled onions and bacon. I didn't add a whole lot of bacon (only about 5 strips) but the flavor was so good. I also put 1 tbsp of sugar in my pie crust and it made it so yummy. I left the bottom of the pie crust a little thick too. Also, I like that the recipe had me add sour cream to the egg mixture, it gave it a great taste and consistency.

Fried Chicken & Biscuits

I discovered that biscuits are actually super easy to make. I don't know why I didn't know this! I also discovered that if you make too much biscuit dough that it makes an amazing batter for fried chicken with a little modification.

1. Pick a biscuit recipe from your favorite cookbook.

 2. Half of the dough make in to biscuits. The other half add some seasoned salt and parsley to. I also added a dash of milk to make it a little more runny.

 3. Bake the biscuits.

 4. Dip and fry your chicken.

 5. For good measure, I put the chicken in the oven for about 10-15 minutes to crisp them up and make sure they were fully cooked.

 The lovely chicken looks KFC worthy!

And the biscuits and chicken are ready for dinner.

250 Calorie Breakfast Smoothie

1 Banana, cut up
Dash of flaxseed
6-8 leaf's of spinach
Frozen Blueberries
Frozen Peach/Strawberry/Mango blend
1/4 cup milk

Blend with frozen fruit slightly un-thawed, but still frozen enough to make the end result cold. You won't even know there is spinach in it. Approximately 250 calories for the entire mixture, makes about two servings.

Split Peas

I found this site about split pea nutritional facts: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=56

I like it because it tells you all about what is in these green pea's. I've never been a huge pea fan but they are a power food and especially healthy for all of you that are looking for non fatty filled protein. The fiber helps you feel satisfied after eating (like those naughty carbs do) but you don't have to feel guilty about the "full" feeling from eating a hardy meal with split peas. But that's not all! It also helps balance your blood sugar and lower your cholesterol too.

I'm going to eat the rest of my split pea with tomato soup and rice lunch :)

.... and yes i just took that picture, I'm a nerd.

My FAVORITE Snack!

Hands down, best snack--- ever.
Tomato, Avocado, Onion, Cilantro, Garlic, Lemon (Squeezed in)
Add a tortilla chip and eat up!

Black Bean/ Split Pea Soup

This is a combination of a few different recipe's that I've found on the inter-web for chili/soup. First just let me say that I am still learning the ways of cooking real split peas and black beans (as opposed to the fake canned ones - wink wink).

When you cook split peas or black beans, measure the about that you want to use and soak them over night. I work all day so I even soaked mine while I was at work too. 

Slice up your veggies, I like to add celery and a bay leaf first for flavor and let it simmer on medium heat for 10-15 minutes. This is usually just enough time to finish cutting the rest of the veggies and doing some prep work. 

 Add your split peas and black beans and veggies to the water, bay leaf and celery stock. You can also add a couple cloves of garlic for an extra kick. I let this simmer on low-medium heat for about 30-40 minutes. You'll want to test a carrot out and make sure its cooked to your liking.

Season with your favorite seasonings. Go light on the salt so that you don't overdo the sodium intake. I used some parsley, season all, chili powder, dry basil and pepper. I also have used ginger powder in soups like this before. Ginger is a healthy addition- good for digestion.

 Since hubby and I work full time, this pot made 2 lunches for us, I leave the bay leaf in each portion until after I re-heat and then take it out. That way all the veggies have time to soak up the flavor.

If you want a more hardy dinner, just add brown rice. Split peas and black beans are an excellent source of fiber and protein. This will fill you up with out fattening you up- always a good combination that I look for.

Another spin on this recipe would be to add a can of tomato soup to the broth and diced tomato. Healthy variety!

How to make SUSHI at home

This has to be one of my ALL TIME favorite meals EVER. And just like I promised in my last post, it is definitely more healthy. However, the technical skill required and equipment makes it just a touch difficult, so that's why I was sure to record all the steps with photos.

Here is your photo recipe for SUSHI:

To start, you will need white sticky rice prepared, an avocado that is sliced thin, a lemon sliced really thin and cucumber cut length wise. The rolling sticks are wrapped in plastic wrap to prevent sticking and the seaweed is placed on top of the rolling sticks (I don't know the real name for that thing... I should probably look it up!)
The last ingredient is your fish. If you are scared of fresh fish, imitation crab or cooked shrimp would work as well.

 Take your rice and using a non-stick spoon spread the rice in a layer over the seaweed covering the entire surface.

 Carefully flip the seaweed over so that the rice is facing down against the rolling sticks.

 Line up your thinly sliced lemon across the middle of the seaweed.

 Layer your avocado, cucumber and (we used) tuna.

 Carefully fold over the rolling sticks pressing lightly enough to bond the wrap but not too hard. You don't want to flatten it, just roll.

 This is what it should look like when you are done! We sprinkled the outside with sesame seeds.

 All you need is some wasabi, pickled ginger and soy sauce and you have a DELICIOUS meal.

 Here are a few tips to make you sushi rolls work. Ancient Chinese secrets, everyone:

SECRET #1: This RICE VINEGAR is also something that you will want to help your rice be more workable. Add a table spoon at a time as needed to help the rice separate.

SECRET #2: You want to rinse your knife in water before cutting the rolls, this makes it so the knife doesn't stick. We are working with REALLY STICKY white rice, so there are lots of tricks to make this go as smoothly as possible.

 SECRET #3: Cover your rolls with plastic wrap before cutting them into bit size circles. This will make it easier to keep the roll from smashing up and un-rolling.

Last but not least, eating raw fish is delicious and I encourage it as a healthy meal, HOWEVER - if you don't live somewhere with fresh SALTWATER fish, be very careful about eating raw fish. Only fresh fish of a safe variety should be eaten raw.

I'd like to give a shout out to my hand models: Thanks Mom & Dad :)

Steak Stroganoff

I promise to repent of my evil, naughty, unhealthy recipe's very shortly. But we can't ALWAYS eat super healthy, right? Well, this is one of my all time favorites. Stroganoff is a sour cream based sauce usually served over rice or pasta with beef.

 All you need for a quick and easy stroganoff is your favorite brown gravy recipe, sour cream, pasta, left over steak that has been thrown in a skillet and a side of greens to balance it out.

I like to add sourcream in a layer on top, you can add it to the brown gravy before and stir it in if you prefer.

String Bean Casserole

This is my trademark Thanksgiving side dish that I bring with me to family functions, I know this isn't really the holiday season, but we'll reminisce. 

All your ingredients are in the picture above, with the exception of onion. Depending on who I am cooking for I either use powdered onion or fresh diced onion. You can leave it out too if you aren't a fan.

Preheat oven to 350 and prepare your noodles. I used egg noodles here, but you can make this recipe a little more healthy by using wheat. I warmed some frozen carrots and peas in a sauce pan to accompany the green beans. Layer the noodles on the bottom of a casserole dish (make sure to spray some Pam in the bottom so they don't stick) then add the thawed and slightly cooked veggies, then top off with green beans. If you like onions, add those before your beans, as well as any other relevant spices (salt and pepper) . The next layer is your "Cream of" layer. In the picture, I used cream of celery but I've also used cream of chicken or cream of mushroom with much success. I like my casserole sauce to be thick and delicious so just add the soup to the top of the beans straight from the can. Work the cream into the beans a little bit so that when you bake it the flavor make its way through all the layers.

Top it all off with some delicious cheeses (I used mozzarella and cheddar) and bake for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted and the dish is warm all the way through.

Scrum-diddlie-umptious!

Deep Fried Mushrooms & Steak

Sometimes karma is good to you and you find something so heavenly by accident. Enter tempura batter. If I was a real professional cook I would give you the recipe, but I'm not. I'm just a girl that takes picture of dinner ideas so that I don't forget them. Instead, go to the store and find "tempura batter". Then, do this:

WARNING: Cooking with hot oil and batter can be dangerous. I used a small sauce pan that was then covered by a wire screen. Since I did mushrooms in the tempura, they cooked really fast - so it was a pretty easy "dip" in the oil and then onto a paper towel to blot out some of the oil.

All in all, a good way to work those veggies into a meal.

Smothered Mt. Dew Chicken Burrito

I married a man with a bit of a drinking problem, he's hooked on Mt Dew! (I call him a "Mounty")
SO that inspired a marinade for cooking chicken with Mt. Dew. I know it sounds super weird, but try it! It was actually REALLY good!

I try to be diligent about the process and making it honest by showing of my mess of ingredients. I have a visual memory, so this is more for me than you. Here's what you need:
Canned Chicken Breast
Onion
Cilantro
Mission Tortilla's
Canned Whole Green Chiles
Beans (Black or Pinto would work)
Rice
Cheese

Blend green chilies with a bit of onion and cilantro.  Blend together to make the sauce for the top. Chop approximately 1/4 cup of onion and simmer over medium. Add canned chicken breast and separate with a fork. Slowly add the Mt. Dew in 1/2 cup increments so that the flavor is steamed into the chicken. The chicken should slowly cook for about 20 minutes.

I used instant white rice to fill the tortilla's beans and then added in the chicken. Add cheese and a little bit of the chile sauce to the inside before rolling. Top with the rest of the sauce and cheese and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

This isn't the quickest recipe, but it sure was pretty and DELICIOUS!

 Fresh out of the oven, the burrito's will look a little brown on the ends and the cheese should be melted.

 Can you guess which place setting is Levi's? If you guess the one with the Mt. Dew can, you would be correct.

I love food! I ended up only eating half, because my portions were a little large, but it made a great lunch the next day at work.

Eggs in a Toastie

This is the only way my husband will eat an egg for breakfast. Thank goodness its not poached, that's just too hard!

 It makes this process easier if you have a round cookie cutter that is just small enough to fit inside a piece  of bread. Butter both sides, and cookie cutter out the middle. Spray your frying pan and place the toast and the circles on medium heat, crack an egg inside each and add salt and pepper to taste.

Make sure you don't burn the circles, they will toast pretty quickly. Flip your egg in the toast and cook as much or as little as you like. I like mine over-easy for this recipe.

And there you have it! Super easy, effortless and husband approved.