I don't think I've mentioned it here before, but I'm training for a 5k race that occurs in just a few short weeks. With that training I've been modifying my diet to help get into a healthier lifestyle. After just one month of running/training, I have lost 7 pounds! Granted, I've given up a lot of my favorite things like potato chips, dips, fast food, okay I'm stopping now...
So on that quest for health and fitness, I have been sneaking in some really lean and satisfying meals into our diet. The most recent? Rainbow kabobs! I've done rainbow in my blog before, but that wasn't nearly as healthy. This recipe is packed with veggies. And the extra bonus? My husband LOVED it.
Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
Marinade of choice (I simply used a store bought marinade that was Garlic and Herb)
VEGGIES!
Red bell peppers, orange bell peppers, yellow squash, green bell peppers, eggplant, and mushrooms (not pictured)
Directions:
Marinate your chicken for approximately 30 minutes (or longer).
Wash and clean your veggies. Cut them into the size pieces that you prefer.
Now cut up your chicken into pieces. Reserve marinade.
Thread veggies on a skewer, alternating each veggie with a piece of chicken.
Place on a pre-heated grill. Cook 5 minutes.
Use reserved marinade to brush over chicken and veggies. Turn skewers over.
Cook on the other side until chicken is cooked through.
Easy. Healthy. DELICIOUS. Why can't all recipes have that criteria?! Regardless, they hit the spot. I served these with brown rice and it made a light, but filling meal for us. Now onward to the big race!
You aren't truly an Iowan unless you attend (and adore) the Iowa State Fair. It is such a great time! From the cattle barns to the food on a stick to the music to the crazy contests and more! It's just an experience you can't explain until you've gone. And oh how we've gone. Every year and multiple times each year. But this year was a little different. After looking over the entertainment information this year, we noticed that Heidi Newfield was playing on one of the free music stages. You see, our wedding first dance song was "Johnny and June" by Miss Newfield.
Drew and I were so excited! So we headed out to the fair early that Sunday. We walked through the various building to check out vendors, headed through the midway, enjoyed a few cold beers as the Steer and Stein, and then (8, yes 8, hours later) we made our way to the stage where she would be playing on.
Her show was AWESOME! The final song of the evening was our song. So we rushed the stage and danced to it! I managed to take a few pictures, but none of them really turn out too well:
Ahh, such a great night. It got me a little sappy about our wedding and what a fabulous day it was. And then it got me thinking about the food. Oh our food was amazing! Allow me just reminisce for a moment...
During cocktail hour we had butler passed appetizers: mini quiche stuffed with sundried tomato, wild mushrooms and gouda, mushroom and proscuitto with pesto on italian baguette, and sundried tomato, basil and brie hyrollers. For dinner we had a salad of baby spinach with mandarin oranges and dried cranberries with balsamic vinigrette and for dinner we served tarragon seared breast of chicken with an herb cream sauce (yes, I am getting to a recipe... hang in there!).
So after dancing to our first dance song again, I decided to give our main entree a try a few days later. I couldn't find an exact recipe, but this one seemed close enough to take me down memory lane!
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped onion
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon (I used a lot more, probably 3 teaspoons)
1/2 cup heavy cream
Directions:
In a medium frying pan, heat the butter over moderate heat. Season the chicken with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and the pepper and add it to the pan. Cook the chicken until brown, about 8 minutes. Turn and cook until just done, 8 minutes longer. Remove the chicken from the pan and put it in a warm spot.
Reduce the heat to moderately low. Stir in the onion and cook until starting to soften, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the onion and stir to combine.
Increase the heat to moderate; whisk in the wine and the tarragon, and cook until the sauce starts to thicken, about 2 minutes.
Stir in the cream, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and any accumulated chicken juices.
I also needed to add a little bit of cornstarch to the sauce because mine was thickening up very well.
Serve the sauce over the chicken.
This dish was good, but definitely did not resemble our wedding food at all. The tarragon wasn't nearly as strong in the sauce as I thought it should be. The sauce was also a little sweet... although I'm certain this is due to using a Chardonnay we had in the fridge. Overall I think this is worth trying but I would have chosen a different wine next time. If you give it a whirl, will you let me know?
This recipe is just another reminder as why nothing will ever compare to our wedding day :)
Do you have an Aldi's near you? If so, I highly suggest you go check it out. I lived in this city for years before I finally decided to go check it out. Oh the things I was missing out on! Just like any store, you have your good deals and your not so good deals. But if you really go in with a mission, you can get some great buys! They have a brand called Fit and Active that I just adore. I purchase their whole wheat pasta, fat free/low sodium broths, and some of their treats too! In fact, I just picked up a box of gummis that were only 45 calories per bag, 0 grams of fat, and $1.50. Now to me, that's worth the trip!
Okay I'm sure you don't care about my grocery lists, but while I was at Aldi's getting a few staple items I saw that they had packages of whole Baby Bella mushrooms for $1.59. I threw them in my bag and while I was checking out, I knew exactly how I was going to use them...
As an appetizer for date night dinner!
Ingredients:
1 package of Baby Bella mushrooms (there were about 10 total in mine, varying sizes)
4 oz (half block) of cream cheese
5 legs of imitation crab legs. I'm sure you could easily sub canned crab but this is what I had on hand. They look like this:
Chives
Garlic powder
Black pepper
About two TBSP shredded cheese
Bread crumbs
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350
Cut out the stem and a little bit more of the mushroom to creat a little hole to fill
Chop up the crab into pretty small pieces and throw into a bowl with softened cream cheese. Mix well.
Now add in some chives. I believe I used about 1 TBSP.
Also add in some garlic powder. Garlic powder is pretty potent, so start with just a few shakes, mix well, taste it, and decide for yourself.
Throw in some black pepper and some shredded cheese too. I always have packaged, shredded "pizza" cheese on hand so that's what I used.
After really mixing this all up, scoop and place into your mushroom caps.
Sprinkle a little bit of bread crumbs on the top and transfer to a glass baking dish.
Bake for 15 minutes or until mixture is heated through.
For the very quick couple of minutes that these took, they turned out delicious! Rich and creamy... but look out, we gobbled up almost all of these and barely had room for dinner!
This ended up making about enough for 11 or 12 mushrooms but I only had 10. But I didn't let this go to waste! While the mushrooms were baking away in the oven, I slapped the remaining crab mix on a piece of French bread, topped with a little shredded cheese and threw it in the toaster oven for a few minutes. It was fantastic! In fact, I might make this crab bread again this week...
Most Tuesday nights I am on my own for dinner so I usually take that opportunity to experiment with new flavors and recipes. I've been having really strong cravings lately (no Mom, I'm not pregnant) and I think I've been doing a good job of jumping in and tackling them! The latest craving? Chicken Satay. So what better time to give these a whirl than on Tuesday when I'm flying solo?!
Ingredients:
1 boneless chicken breasts (remember, this was just for me! So increase as necessary to reach the number of servings you want)
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 garlic clove, pressed
salt and pepper
red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon cilantro**
3 spoonfuls of creamy peanut butter
1 TBSP rice vinegar
Vegetable oil
Directions:
Cut chicken into strips
In a medium bowl, mix sesame oil, soy sauce, cilantro, garlic, and red pepper flakes together.
Add chicken strips and let marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes
Thread each slice onto a skewer.
Before turning on your grill, put a little vegetable oil on a paper town and wipe down the grill. This will prevent your chicken from sticking.
Heat grill to high heat cook chicken for about 5-7 minutes per side.
For sauce, blend peanut butter and vinegar, add water if necessary for desired flavor and consistency.
Holy smokes, friends. This was delicious and easy! The chicken had a delightful mix of sweet and heat. This recipe made just enough for two skewers which ended up being perfect for just one person. I do believe that this recipe is going to make an appearance at our next get together. It's quick, it's tasty, and it's on a stick so you know it has to be fun! Increasing this recipe and creating a marinade beforehand would allow you to turn this into an excellent party appetizers. Who knew chicken satay could be so simple?
The sauce did leave me a little empty though. Anyone have a good suggestion for a chicken satay sauce I could try for the next time? It was good, but pretty basic. I think I need to spice it up a bit!
Oh and did you see the ** above by cilantro? I just wanted to share a little secret with you. I don't use cilantro in very many dishes. With that being said, it can get a little expensive buying fresh for just one meal. So instead, I turn to this little bottle of goodness! It's from Penzey's Spices and it's amazing. Just add however much you want to a little water to rehydrate and ta-da! Delicious cilantro anytime you need it.
Some of my most delicious creations are made when I'm not really trying hard. Go figure, right? Well this just happened to be the case one weekday lunch.
Most days I head home over my lunch hour to let out the dog, have a bite to eat, and put my feet up for a little while. I usually dig into a turkey or tuna sandwich, sometimes a frozen Lean Pocket, or leftovers from last nights dinner. I remembered that Drew made burgers the night before while I was at softball so there was some leftover ground beef in the fridge that needed to be used up. I also remembered that I had been craving Morningstar Asian Veggie Patties. Seriously, if you've never tried these they are a must! So delicious, even for you meat lovers out there.
And that was it. I was inspired! Since this was a burger for one, there are no true measurements, but it ended up being exactly what I was looking for!
Ingredients:
1/4 lb ground beef (just enough for me!)
Ground ginger
Garlic powder
Red pepper flakes
Soy sauce
Carrots
Celery
One hamburger bun
Directions:
Get out the grater. Shred some carrots.
Chop some celery into small little pieces too. Set both veggies aside.
Squish (technical term??) your ground beef flat so that it can all be seasoned.
Now give it a few shakes of ginger, few shakes of garlic powder, and a few shakes of red pepper.
Also give a few dashes of soy sauce to keep the burger moist.
Mix the beef in your hand a few times to make sure that the flavors have gone throughout.
Squish it down again and add your shredded carrots and celery. Mix it up!
Now you are ready to grill! It was beastly hot out that day and I didn't feel like hovering over a grill just for lunch so I simply made this burger stove top in a skillet.
After you've grilled/cooked to your desired degree of done, place burger on a lightly toasted bun and top with more shredded carrots and celery.
This burger was JUST what I was looking for! It definitely mimicked the delicious flavors found in the Morningstar variety and took just minutes to throw together. The celery and carrots gave the burger a nice crunch while the soy sauce added just an extra hint of flavor and kept the burger moist.
Drew and I have been making a strong effort to eat better. Well, at least a little bit. We still splurge on some dinners and have a few adult libations here and there... but for the most part, we're trying to make healthy decisions by keeping most 'normal' snack foods out of the house. That means no devil's food cookies (sorry Drew) and no potato chips (sorry ME!). But sometimes you just can't get away from it. C'mon, we're human. We all have sudden cravings for wonderful, delicious, so-bad-it's-good junk food. Sometimes sweet, sometimes salty. I've already found my miracle worker for sweet cravings, but I had yet to tackle the salty.
Until now.
Not only were they quick and easy... but actually good! In fact, it totally tackled my salty potato chip craving without leaving me wishing they were something more. Cheap, simple and the perfect snack. If you're a chip fan, give these a try!
Ingredients:
2 potatoes, sliced thin (you can, of course, increase this... but it was 10 pm and just me munching so I had to be a little sensible. Okay fine, ONE would have been sensible but I was seriously craving)
Olive oil, just enough to drizzle and coat
Seasonings of choice - mine was Lawry's Seasoning and a few shakes of garlic powder
Directions:
Wash and scrub potatoes. Slice thin!
Throw your "chips" into a bowl and drizzle on some olive oil. Now use your hands to toss them around so every chip is coated.
Add as much or as little seasoning/salt/pepper as you like. Toss again to cover them all.
Lightly grease a 9x9 glass dish with Pam spray.
Now add just one layer of "chips"
Nuke 'em in the microwave for 5 minutes until crispy. No need to turn them!
Continue with the rest of your "chips" until finished. You do not need to re-grease the dish.
Yum! These really hit the spot. Although some might not call them healthy, they're certainly a better option than buying a bag of Lays or Ruffles.
This is such a busy time of year for the two of us. Monday nights we play softball, Wednesday nights we play volleyball, we go to the gym everyday after work and our weekends are filled with weddings, birthdays, golf outings, etc. Don't get me wrong, I'm having an awesome summer! But since we're such an on-the-go couple, it is hard to always find time to make interesting and delicious meals that don't keep me in the kitchen for hours.
Last night was a good example of our wild schedules. I stayed late at the office to finish up some things I had been working on and then met up with Drew at the gym. After the gym we headed home to change into our volleyball shirts and get a bite to eat. We had about an hour between getting home and leaving for our game. Amazingly enough, this beautiful and delicious dinner was easy to prepare and left us without feeling rushed!
Ingredients:
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
salt
pepper
1 TBSP vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1/2 of a 10 oz package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained
1/3 cup of ricotta cheese
Directions:
Place chicken breasts between two pieces of wax paper. Pound until thin and even with a meat mallet.
Sprinkle both size with salt and pepper, set aside.
Heat oven to 350 degrees
In a large skillet, heat oil. Add onion and mushrooms; sautee until onion is transparent. Stir in spinach and cheese to form stuffing. Heat through.
Spread stuffing evenly over each chicken breast. Roll up chicken. I tried to make it roll up like this meal but there was just too much stuffing! That's a good thing though.
Now stick a skewer through it to hold it all together.
Place chicken in a lightly greased 9 x 9 pan. Cover with tin foil and bake 15 minutes; uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes.
Remove the skewer and enjoy!
That's it! In about 30 minutes you have a GORGEOUS and satisfying meal that won't put a damper in your schedule.
Yep, that's right. With just three packets of dry mix you can have a delicious pot roast dinner that everyone will love! I didn't believe it either. But trust me, I tried it and it's terrific. Although I think it's strange that I've been using my crockpot making roasts more during the summer than I did all of last fall and winter. Perhaps it was because I was so new to cooking last fall that I had yet to explore all that my crockpot has to offer. Now I know and I'm addicted! So if you're looking for a new and easy way to become acclimated with your crockpot, try this out.
Ingredients:
No, I'm not kidding. That's it. Well, and two cups of water. But I thought a photo of water would be a little boring for your tastes.
And a roast too. That would be helpful. Ours was 4.5 pounds.
Okay and I used some mushrooms (optional)
Directions:
Trim extra fat off of your roast first. If you don't, it will cook off into your gravy and float around. Blech!
In a bowl, empty three the three packets (dry ranch dressing mix, dry Italian dressing mix, dry brown gravy mix) and stir to combine.
Take a some of the dry mix and rub down your roast.
Place the roast in your crockpot. Not that you care, but I use a 4 quart crockpot. It's perfect for dinner with just two people. I have a larger one, but I rarely use it.
Add two cups of water around the roast in the crockpot. Stir in the rest of the dry mix into the water.
I also added two cans (yes, you can use fresh also) of mushrooms.
Heat on high for 6 hours. Slice roast, spoon mushrooms and gravy over the top and enjoy!
You can absolutely do the "low and slow" method (8 to 10 hours on low) which is recommended for most crockpots/roasts. But I threw this together over my lunch hour one day and wanted it to be done by the time we both came home from work.
Turned out fabulous! The meat was tender and the flavor was exceptional. My only issue? The 'gravy'. The water/dry mix doesn't really turn out thick like gravy, more like a drizzle or good dipping sauce. It was still delicious, but just not gravy-like. Don't let that stop you though. This roast was fantastic and the leftovers made great sandwiches the next day! In fact, this would be a yummy roast for psuedo-French-dips!
Just as the name suggests, I am a complete rookie in the kitchen. Prior to getting married, my idea of a home cooked meal was preheating the oven for frozen pizza. Since then, I have challenged myself to attempt all types of new recipes from cooking to baking, easy to difficult!
therookiechef @ hotmail.com
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