Happy Halloween! On Halloween for the past few years we have ordered pizza for dinner, but each year we wait at least an hour to get our pizza. I guess it is one of the most popular nights to order pizza. This year, instead of ordering I decided to make my own. I did not go the way of getting a premade crust and adding toppings. I made the dough from scratch and then added the toppings, etc.
I am giving the credit for this pizza dough recipe to a friend of mine's mom. Sarah is one of my closest friends up here. When I went to her parents' house for the first time, her mom made us pizza using this dough recipe. Me, being the baker, I asked her for the recipe and she very willingly gave it to me. It is so easy anyone can do it. So, in honor of Sarah and her wedding I am dedicating this post to you and your mom's pizza!
Homemade Pizza
Dough
2 c. all purpose flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp sugar
1 package yeast
1 c. warm water
Pizza
1/2 c. pasta sauce
1 1/2 c. shredded italian cheese
1/2 tbsp olive oil
toppings of your choice (we picked italian sausage, green peppers, onions and mushrooms)
Dough
1. mix warm water and yeast together
2. add flours, sugar, and olive oil to water and mix together until it forms a ball.
3. cover dough and put in warm location and let sit for 1/2 hour
Pizza
Preheat oven to 425.
1. Once dough has set, roll it out to approximate 15 in circle, and pinch edges to form a rim for the crust
2. Place dough and cookie sheet or pizza stone that has been sprayed with cooking spray
3. Spread olive oil on dough, then add pizza sauce to the top and cheese
4. Add whatever toppings you want to the pizza. (If you use meat on your pizza, make sure to cook the meat ahead of time)
5. Bake for 15 - 20 mins, or until crust is a golden brown.
6. Let sit for 5 mins, and slice as you desire.
I guess this pizza was so good, that TS asked me if it was actually cheaper to buy the ingredients for the pizza and make it ourselves than to order it. I told him it probably was, but making pizza is time consuming (actually it only took me an hour - including the time that it had to rest for 30 mins, and baking for 15) whereas ordering it is easy. However, on nights like Halloween when it would take you an hour to get a pizza delivered, making it is just as good. We will definitely make this again as the winter goes on.
Enjoy your pizza! Here's too good eating, and a Happy Halloween.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
A Typical Weekend
While Friday night I made a pretty good dinner, Saturday and Sunday night we went out. This is fairly typical. I think it is probably typical of everyone I know. The only thing I really made this weekend was I cooked some tomato-basil soup that I served with cheese-bread for lunch on Sunday.
Sunday afternoons we usually eat at home. It is also typically a fairly easy and quick meal. As it gets more and more into the winter we will turn to soup and sandwiches for lunch on Sundays. I guess we are getting into winter season seeing how I made soup today. Today, I didn't really want a true sandwich to go with the soup, so I made some cheese bread. Yes, I did get the soup premade. If I remembered the brand, I would let you know. All I know is that it comes in this tanish-colored box and it is organic and I can find it at Target. The cheese bread, I made myself. It was pretty good if I do say so, and the perfect accompaniment to the soup.
Cheese Bread
several slices of Italian bread
1/2 c. Italian shredded cheese mix
1 Tbsp hot pepper olive oil
2 tsp dried basil
1. preheat oven to 350.
2. place your Italian bread slices on a cookie sheet
3. drizzle olive oil over each of the slices (distributing the 1 Tbsp evenly among your slices of bread).
4. sprinkle cheese evenly on each slice of bread.
5. sprinkle basil on top of cheese.
6. bake for 10 mins.
At this point, I would like to talk about one of TS's and my favorite local restaurants - Lowbrow. We turn to this restaurant on nights like tonight where we have no plans for dinner and I didn't have anything in the house I wanted to cook. We don't know what Lowbrow is supposed to be, but that is just fine with us. It is a little bit of everything. A few salads, great burgers, sandwiches, a pasta option, etc. It has a great local beer selection, several decent wines and Killebrew root beer. I am not a root beer drinker, but every time we go to Lowbrow TS always will order one, so I guess it is good. It is also a super family-friendly restaurant. They provide mini Etch-A-Sketches for kids to play with while waiting for food. (I love that idea!). I have never had a bad, or even mediocre meal there. It has always been good, no matter what I order and I have tried many things.
Dinner tonight was great and just what we were in the mood for. We had hamburgers and fries. They make their own hamburger patties and serve it on a fresh bun (not one of those mass produced commercial buns that you get at most burger joints). I love that one of their cheese options for a cheeseburger is chipotle gouda. Adding this to a hamburger adds a spicy hint to the burger. I love a "spicy" cheese option that is not pepperjack. You do have the option of getting a pretty hot burger if you go with the chipotle gouda, sauteed jalapenos and spicy mayo. I have not had that burger yet, but that does not mean I will not try it in the near future. Mmm. Just thinking about this meal makes me want to go back soon.
Here's to good eating out!
Sunday afternoons we usually eat at home. It is also typically a fairly easy and quick meal. As it gets more and more into the winter we will turn to soup and sandwiches for lunch on Sundays. I guess we are getting into winter season seeing how I made soup today. Today, I didn't really want a true sandwich to go with the soup, so I made some cheese bread. Yes, I did get the soup premade. If I remembered the brand, I would let you know. All I know is that it comes in this tanish-colored box and it is organic and I can find it at Target. The cheese bread, I made myself. It was pretty good if I do say so, and the perfect accompaniment to the soup.
Cheese Bread
several slices of Italian bread
1/2 c. Italian shredded cheese mix
1 Tbsp hot pepper olive oil
2 tsp dried basil
1. preheat oven to 350.
2. place your Italian bread slices on a cookie sheet
3. drizzle olive oil over each of the slices (distributing the 1 Tbsp evenly among your slices of bread).
4. sprinkle cheese evenly on each slice of bread.
5. sprinkle basil on top of cheese.
6. bake for 10 mins.
At this point, I would like to talk about one of TS's and my favorite local restaurants - Lowbrow. We turn to this restaurant on nights like tonight where we have no plans for dinner and I didn't have anything in the house I wanted to cook. We don't know what Lowbrow is supposed to be, but that is just fine with us. It is a little bit of everything. A few salads, great burgers, sandwiches, a pasta option, etc. It has a great local beer selection, several decent wines and Killebrew root beer. I am not a root beer drinker, but every time we go to Lowbrow TS always will order one, so I guess it is good. It is also a super family-friendly restaurant. They provide mini Etch-A-Sketches for kids to play with while waiting for food. (I love that idea!). I have never had a bad, or even mediocre meal there. It has always been good, no matter what I order and I have tried many things.
Dinner tonight was great and just what we were in the mood for. We had hamburgers and fries. They make their own hamburger patties and serve it on a fresh bun (not one of those mass produced commercial buns that you get at most burger joints). I love that one of their cheese options for a cheeseburger is chipotle gouda. Adding this to a hamburger adds a spicy hint to the burger. I love a "spicy" cheese option that is not pepperjack. You do have the option of getting a pretty hot burger if you go with the chipotle gouda, sauteed jalapenos and spicy mayo. I have not had that burger yet, but that does not mean I will not try it in the near future. Mmm. Just thinking about this meal makes me want to go back soon.
Here's to good eating out!
Friday, October 28, 2011
A Special Dinner
Tonight I thought I would make a meal that I had never made before - homemade gnocchi. TS and I love gnocchi and I have a cooking magazine which had a recipe for homemade gnocchi with pesto sauce. Well, my mom sent me a jar of her homemade pesto, so that part of the recipe was taken care of and all I had to do was make the gnocchi.
I have so many gnocchi recipes, but I always buy pre-made gnocchi. This was my first attempt at making this potato pasta. Yes, you did read that correctly - another meal with potatoes as a base. But, this one I turned into a pasta. I would not recommend trying this recipe out on a weeknight unless you are (1) not working that day or (2) do not mind eating dinner late. I did not know this when I started preparing dinner at 630. We did not sit down to eat until 815. TS and I normally do not eat until late (I think I have said this before), so eating at 815 isn't that big of a deal, but I wish I had known this tidbit in advance. While it took some time, the results were very good. TS said it was "delicious!"
Homemade Gnocchi
1lb potato (peeled and cut into quarters)
1 1/4 c. semolina flour (plus more for dusting)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1. Set potato in a large pot to boil. Once boiling, turn heat down and simmer for 25-30 mins, until potato is very soft.
2. Remove potato from water and set in a bowl and mash thoroughly, you do not want any chunks of potato.
3. Let potato cool so you can comfortably touch it.
4. Once cool, add flour and eggs to potato and mix until it forms a dough.
5. Turn dough onto a floured surface (use semolina flour) and knead a few times.
6. Separate dough into 6 balls and roll each ball into a "rope" about 1/2 inch in diameter
7. Using kitchen shears, cut 1/2 inch pieces of dough from rope and set on plate. Repeat until all your dough has been cut. (I put parchment paper/wax paper between layers of cut up dough).
8. Set pot of salted water to boil. Once boiling add 1/3 of the dough pieces to the boiling water and cook for 5 mins (your gnocchi should be floating at the top). Remove from water with slotted spoon and place in a bowl. Repeat process until all dough has been cooked.
At this point I added my mom's pesto sauce and some freshly grated Parmesan cheese to the gnocchi. Serve with a vegetable and you have a good meal.
I will definitely try this recipe again later on in the winter. If I have hours to kill one night, I may even try to make homemade gnocchi to go into the gnocchi mac n' cheese recipe I have. Mmm. You'll get that recipe one night this winter.
Until then, good eating!
I have so many gnocchi recipes, but I always buy pre-made gnocchi. This was my first attempt at making this potato pasta. Yes, you did read that correctly - another meal with potatoes as a base. But, this one I turned into a pasta. I would not recommend trying this recipe out on a weeknight unless you are (1) not working that day or (2) do not mind eating dinner late. I did not know this when I started preparing dinner at 630. We did not sit down to eat until 815. TS and I normally do not eat until late (I think I have said this before), so eating at 815 isn't that big of a deal, but I wish I had known this tidbit in advance. While it took some time, the results were very good. TS said it was "delicious!"
Homemade Gnocchi
1lb potato (peeled and cut into quarters)
1 1/4 c. semolina flour (plus more for dusting)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1. Set potato in a large pot to boil. Once boiling, turn heat down and simmer for 25-30 mins, until potato is very soft.
2. Remove potato from water and set in a bowl and mash thoroughly, you do not want any chunks of potato.
3. Let potato cool so you can comfortably touch it.
4. Once cool, add flour and eggs to potato and mix until it forms a dough.
5. Turn dough onto a floured surface (use semolina flour) and knead a few times.
6. Separate dough into 6 balls and roll each ball into a "rope" about 1/2 inch in diameter
7. Using kitchen shears, cut 1/2 inch pieces of dough from rope and set on plate. Repeat until all your dough has been cut. (I put parchment paper/wax paper between layers of cut up dough).
8. Set pot of salted water to boil. Once boiling add 1/3 of the dough pieces to the boiling water and cook for 5 mins (your gnocchi should be floating at the top). Remove from water with slotted spoon and place in a bowl. Repeat process until all dough has been cooked.
At this point I added my mom's pesto sauce and some freshly grated Parmesan cheese to the gnocchi. Serve with a vegetable and you have a good meal.
I will definitely try this recipe again later on in the winter. If I have hours to kill one night, I may even try to make homemade gnocchi to go into the gnocchi mac n' cheese recipe I have. Mmm. You'll get that recipe one night this winter.
Until then, good eating!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
McDonald's Meats
For several years when we have driven up to TS's best-friend's cabin we have passed by this little butcher shop called McDonald's Meats in Clear Lake, MN. This summer, during a torrential downpour TS and I stopped in to buy Italian sausages and beef jerky. Once we tried the Italian sausage, we were hooked. Now, whenever we drive through Clear Lake, we always stop. During TS's last trip through Clear Lake he stopped and bought salsa brats. We decided since it was "warm" enough tonight for grilling, we would grill these brats.
All day I was trying to think about what would go with salsa brats. Something along the "Mexican" line of cooking, but what? I had some red potatoes (if you haven't figured out already, I always seem to have small red potatoes in my house) and I had half an onion from last night and I had a green pepper. I realized if I combined these three ingredients I would have a perfect side to our salsa brats. Here is my take on "Mexican Potatoes."
Mexican Potatoes
5 large red potatoes, sliced into thin disks
1/4 large onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
hot pepper olive oil (my mom makes this stuff and it is fantastic!)
shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 400. Coat bottom of 9x9 pan with a drizzle of hot pepper olive oil.
2. place sliced potatoes, chopped onion and chopped green pepper in pan and mix together.
3. sprinkle salt, cumin and cayenne pepper over potato mixture, then mix together.
4. cover pan with foil and cook for 15 mins.
5. remove foil from pan and stir mixture, place back in oven, uncovered, for 20 mins.
6. when ready to serve, sprinkle a little cheddar cheese on each portion.
It turned out to be a tasty side dish to go along with the salsa brats, which by the way were really good. We will be buying them the next time we drive through Clear Lake.
On a different note, we are having a Halloween party at work tomorrow. I decided to make "brain" treats for my co-workers. How do you make brain treats? It involves, popcorn, marshmallows and red food dye.
Popcorn Brains
1/2 c. unpopped popcorn
3 tbsp oil
5 c. mini marshmallows
3 tbsp butter
red food dye
cooking spray
1. pour oil into large pot and add unpopped popcorn and cover pot.
2. constantly shake pot over the heat until all popcorn is popped (this will prevent your popcorn from burning.
3. pour popcorn into a large bowl.
4. Clean out pot, if necessary, and melt butter in pot.
5. Add marshmallows and stir until melted. Once melted add one drop of red food dye to marshmallows.
6. Pour melted, dyed marshmallows over popcorn and stir together with a spoon coated in cooking spray until cool enough for you to touch the popcorn mixture. (Be careful, the top may be cool, but the bottom of the mixture could still be really hot - I learned the hard way).
7. Once mixture is cool enough to touch (it will still be really warm though), spray hands with cooking spray and being to form the popcorn mixture into a ball.
8. Place balls on cookie sheet to cool completely.
Enjoy eating your brains! I don't know if eating brains is good eating - wait I do. I once ate fried lambs brains. It tasted liked fried oysters - Yum! But eating popcorn ball brains are good too! So, here's to good, creepy eating!
All day I was trying to think about what would go with salsa brats. Something along the "Mexican" line of cooking, but what? I had some red potatoes (if you haven't figured out already, I always seem to have small red potatoes in my house) and I had half an onion from last night and I had a green pepper. I realized if I combined these three ingredients I would have a perfect side to our salsa brats. Here is my take on "Mexican Potatoes."
Mexican Potatoes
5 large red potatoes, sliced into thin disks
1/4 large onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
hot pepper olive oil (my mom makes this stuff and it is fantastic!)
shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 400. Coat bottom of 9x9 pan with a drizzle of hot pepper olive oil.
2. place sliced potatoes, chopped onion and chopped green pepper in pan and mix together.
3. sprinkle salt, cumin and cayenne pepper over potato mixture, then mix together.
4. cover pan with foil and cook for 15 mins.
5. remove foil from pan and stir mixture, place back in oven, uncovered, for 20 mins.
6. when ready to serve, sprinkle a little cheddar cheese on each portion.
It turned out to be a tasty side dish to go along with the salsa brats, which by the way were really good. We will be buying them the next time we drive through Clear Lake.
On a different note, we are having a Halloween party at work tomorrow. I decided to make "brain" treats for my co-workers. How do you make brain treats? It involves, popcorn, marshmallows and red food dye.
Popcorn Brains
1/2 c. unpopped popcorn
3 tbsp oil
5 c. mini marshmallows
3 tbsp butter
red food dye
cooking spray
1. pour oil into large pot and add unpopped popcorn and cover pot.
2. constantly shake pot over the heat until all popcorn is popped (this will prevent your popcorn from burning.
3. pour popcorn into a large bowl.
4. Clean out pot, if necessary, and melt butter in pot.
5. Add marshmallows and stir until melted. Once melted add one drop of red food dye to marshmallows.
6. Pour melted, dyed marshmallows over popcorn and stir together with a spoon coated in cooking spray until cool enough for you to touch the popcorn mixture. (Be careful, the top may be cool, but the bottom of the mixture could still be really hot - I learned the hard way).
7. Once mixture is cool enough to touch (it will still be really warm though), spray hands with cooking spray and being to form the popcorn mixture into a ball.
8. Place balls on cookie sheet to cool completely.
Enjoy eating your brains! I don't know if eating brains is good eating - wait I do. I once ate fried lambs brains. It tasted liked fried oysters - Yum! But eating popcorn ball brains are good too! So, here's to good, creepy eating!
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Its A Soup Day
I looked at the weather forecast this afternoon and saw snow is predicted for overnight and tomorrow morning, nothing accumulating, but still there is the chance of snow. To me, this calls for soup for dinner. An easy soup recipe that I turn to on nights like this, when I want to make soup from scratch, is broccoli-cheese soup. This is a soup I used to eat in the fall and winter when I went over my friend Marisa's house. Her mom made the best broccoli-cheese soup. We would sit at her kitchen table, eat broccoli-cheese soup, drink diet Dr. Pepper and hang out. I don't have that recipe, but my recipe isn't all that bad. Serve it with warm bread and you have a great dinner.
Broccoli-Cheese Soup
1 16oz bag frozen broccoli
3 c. chicken broth
1 c. fat-free half and half'
1.5 c. shredding sharp cheddar cheese (I prefer to buy a block of cheddar and grated it myself, but you can use the preshredded stuff)
1/2 large yellow onion finely chopped
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
3 Tbsp flour
3 Tbsp butter
Tabasco sauce (if you like a kick)
1. In a large soup pot, melt 2 Tbsp butter.
2. Add chopped onion and garlic to the melted butter and cook until fragrant (about 2 mins), stirring so as to not brown the onions.
3. Add salt, pepper, thyme to the onion and garlic and stir together. Cook about another 1-2 mins.
4. Turn heat down to medium-low and add the flour, stirring constantly until all mixed together, then continue stirring for another 2 minutes making sure to not brown the flour.
5. Turn heat up to medium-high and slowly pour chicken broth into onion mixture, whisking constantly until boils.
6. Turn heat down and let simmer for 5 mins, whisk every minute or two.
7. Add bag of broccoli to soup along with a pinch of salt and let cook for 10 mins, stirring every now and then.
8. If you have an immersion blender then take the soup off heat and use your immersion blender to blend the majority of the broccoli into the soup (be careful for splattering). If you do not have an immersion blender, then pour 1/2 soup (with a large amount of broccoli) into a blender and blend the broccoli, then add back to the soup.
9. Put soup back on the heat and add half-and-half to to mixture, stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes.
10. Add 5-6 drops of Tabasco sauce if you like a bit of heat to your soup and stir until blended.
11. Add cheese and 1 Tbsp cold butter to soup and stir until all cheese is mixed in and butter has melted.
12. Serve with warm bread
NOTE: if you have left-overs it will only really be good for a day or two.
TS and I enjoyed our broccoli-cheese soup with warm bread, followed by apple crisp. What a great fall meal! Here's to good eating!
Broccoli-Cheese Soup
1 16oz bag frozen broccoli
3 c. chicken broth
1 c. fat-free half and half'
1.5 c. shredding sharp cheddar cheese (I prefer to buy a block of cheddar and grated it myself, but you can use the preshredded stuff)
1/2 large yellow onion finely chopped
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
3 Tbsp flour
3 Tbsp butter
Tabasco sauce (if you like a kick)
1. In a large soup pot, melt 2 Tbsp butter.
2. Add chopped onion and garlic to the melted butter and cook until fragrant (about 2 mins), stirring so as to not brown the onions.
3. Add salt, pepper, thyme to the onion and garlic and stir together. Cook about another 1-2 mins.
4. Turn heat down to medium-low and add the flour, stirring constantly until all mixed together, then continue stirring for another 2 minutes making sure to not brown the flour.
5. Turn heat up to medium-high and slowly pour chicken broth into onion mixture, whisking constantly until boils.
6. Turn heat down and let simmer for 5 mins, whisk every minute or two.
7. Add bag of broccoli to soup along with a pinch of salt and let cook for 10 mins, stirring every now and then.
8. If you have an immersion blender then take the soup off heat and use your immersion blender to blend the majority of the broccoli into the soup (be careful for splattering). If you do not have an immersion blender, then pour 1/2 soup (with a large amount of broccoli) into a blender and blend the broccoli, then add back to the soup.
9. Put soup back on the heat and add half-and-half to to mixture, stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes.
10. Add 5-6 drops of Tabasco sauce if you like a bit of heat to your soup and stir until blended.
11. Add cheese and 1 Tbsp cold butter to soup and stir until all cheese is mixed in and butter has melted.
12. Serve with warm bread
NOTE: if you have left-overs it will only really be good for a day or two.
TS and I enjoyed our broccoli-cheese soup with warm bread, followed by apple crisp. What a great fall meal! Here's to good eating!
Monday, October 24, 2011
Monday Night Quick Meal
Sometimes even I surprise myself with how quickly a healthy dinner can be made. Tonight was one of those nights. I had a Junior League meeting until 745p which meant that dinner would not be started until at least 8p. TS and I are used to eating dinner around 745/8 so eating at 830 isn't that big of a deal. With a little planning, I was able to get dinner on the table in 20 mins.
Sunday night I put chicken in the fridge to thaw. I always have chicken or shrimp in my freezer for nights like tonight. Normally, I turn to shrimp but I only have enough for one portion in my freezer right now. (Guess I will be going to Sam's soon to buy shrimp). Anyway, when I ran home after work to let the dog out I took 2 chicken breasts which were thawed and set them to marinate. The beginning of Chicken & Spinach Pasta
Here is the recipe for chicken & spinach pasta:
2 chicken breasts
2 cups fresh/frozen spinach
1 1/2 c. pasta sauce
120 grams pasta
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
salt
olive oil
Parmesan cheese
1. Marinate 2 chicken breasts:
a. put 2 chicken breasts in a ziplock bag with 1/2 c. pasta sauce (we use Newman's All Natural Tomato & Basil), 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 3/4 tsp dried basil, 1/4 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
b. let marinate in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours.
2. When chicken has finished marinating, set a pot of water on to boil and drizzle olive oil in a pan and heat olive oil for 1-2 mins on medium high heat.
3. slice chicken into strips and place in pan with olive oil.
4. cook chicken on each side for 4-5 mins.
5. add pasta when water starts to boil and cook for 7-8 mins.
6. after cooking chicken, leave chicken in pan and add 2 cups fresh or frozen spinach on top of the chicken and cover the pan. Add 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes and a pinch of salt to spinach. Let steam until spinach is cooked (about 3-4 mins).
7. When spinach is finished cooking add 1 cup pasta sauce to chicken and toss together.
8. serve chicken mixture over pasta and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
The whole meal takes about 20 mins, at the most. So easy, healthy and good. On a Monday night, when I don't get home until late, this is the perfect meal. No take out for us! And it makes dinner a success.
Here's to good eating!
Sunday night I put chicken in the fridge to thaw. I always have chicken or shrimp in my freezer for nights like tonight. Normally, I turn to shrimp but I only have enough for one portion in my freezer right now. (Guess I will be going to Sam's soon to buy shrimp). Anyway, when I ran home after work to let the dog out I took 2 chicken breasts which were thawed and set them to marinate. The beginning of Chicken & Spinach Pasta
Here is the recipe for chicken & spinach pasta:
2 chicken breasts
2 cups fresh/frozen spinach
1 1/2 c. pasta sauce
120 grams pasta
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
salt
olive oil
Parmesan cheese
1. Marinate 2 chicken breasts:
a. put 2 chicken breasts in a ziplock bag with 1/2 c. pasta sauce (we use Newman's All Natural Tomato & Basil), 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 3/4 tsp dried basil, 1/4 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
b. let marinate in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours.
2. When chicken has finished marinating, set a pot of water on to boil and drizzle olive oil in a pan and heat olive oil for 1-2 mins on medium high heat.
3. slice chicken into strips and place in pan with olive oil.
4. cook chicken on each side for 4-5 mins.
5. add pasta when water starts to boil and cook for 7-8 mins.
6. after cooking chicken, leave chicken in pan and add 2 cups fresh or frozen spinach on top of the chicken and cover the pan. Add 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes and a pinch of salt to spinach. Let steam until spinach is cooked (about 3-4 mins).
7. When spinach is finished cooking add 1 cup pasta sauce to chicken and toss together.
8. serve chicken mixture over pasta and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
The whole meal takes about 20 mins, at the most. So easy, healthy and good. On a Monday night, when I don't get home until late, this is the perfect meal. No take out for us! And it makes dinner a success.
Here's to good eating!
Friday, October 21, 2011
Those Darn Red Potatoes
I left work today at 530p (which by the way is late for me since I start at 7/715). I then had to come home, drop some stuff off then go out to pick up a bridesmaid dress and parts of my Halloween costume. Needless to say, when TS and I got in the car after picking up the Halloween stuff it was 630 and we had no clue what to do for dinner. We literally sat in the car for 10 mins debating if we should go out or pick something up and go home and eat. Finally, after realizing it would be 7p by the time we got anywhere and we would wait an hour to get a table, we should just go home. Since all my protein was in the freezer still we stopped at Kowalski's (our local grocery store) to pick up some type of protein.
We walked to the back counter of Kowalskis with the intention of buying fish, but for some reason we were drawn to the meatloaf. It just looked so good and so different from what we have been having recently. You will come to find out, as you read this blog more and more, we rarely eat red meat here. We eat a lot of seafood. We did take a stroll down the rest of the meat/fish counter and came back to the prepared meatloaf. The bonus: I had the red potatoes at home that I could use to supplement the meatloaf.
I put the meatloaf in the oven and opened my Joy of Cooking (aka the world's best cookbook) to potatoes and decided to make homemade mashed potatoes. I didn't really need a recipe for this, but the JoC was more for ideas with what to do with the potatoes. Here is homemade mashed potatoes:
Homemade Mashed Potatoes
6 red potatoes diced
2 cloves garlic thinly sliced
2 large pinches of salt
water
garlic olive oil
milk
1. put the potatoes, salt and garlic in a pot and cover the potatoes with water
2. boil the potatoes until they mash easily with a spoon (about 10-15 mins).
3. drain the potatoes well, then shake them in the pot to start breaking them up
4. mash the potatoes with a fork or potato masher adding about 3 tsp olive oil while mashing
5. pour about 1/2 c. milk in with the potatoes (or more depending on how creamy you want them) and mash the potatoes more
6. add salt and pepper if desired
It was quite a good dinner: meatloaf, mashed potatoes, broccoli . With 2 glasses of wine and ending with chocolate-strawberry cake, I cannot complain at all. We didn't need to go out after all!
Here's to good eating at home!!
We walked to the back counter of Kowalskis with the intention of buying fish, but for some reason we were drawn to the meatloaf. It just looked so good and so different from what we have been having recently. You will come to find out, as you read this blog more and more, we rarely eat red meat here. We eat a lot of seafood. We did take a stroll down the rest of the meat/fish counter and came back to the prepared meatloaf. The bonus: I had the red potatoes at home that I could use to supplement the meatloaf.
I put the meatloaf in the oven and opened my Joy of Cooking (aka the world's best cookbook) to potatoes and decided to make homemade mashed potatoes. I didn't really need a recipe for this, but the JoC was more for ideas with what to do with the potatoes. Here is homemade mashed potatoes:
Homemade Mashed Potatoes
6 red potatoes diced
2 cloves garlic thinly sliced
2 large pinches of salt
water
garlic olive oil
milk
1. put the potatoes, salt and garlic in a pot and cover the potatoes with water
2. boil the potatoes until they mash easily with a spoon (about 10-15 mins).
3. drain the potatoes well, then shake them in the pot to start breaking them up
4. mash the potatoes with a fork or potato masher adding about 3 tsp olive oil while mashing
5. pour about 1/2 c. milk in with the potatoes (or more depending on how creamy you want them) and mash the potatoes more
6. add salt and pepper if desired
It was quite a good dinner: meatloaf, mashed potatoes, broccoli . With 2 glasses of wine and ending with chocolate-strawberry cake, I cannot complain at all. We didn't need to go out after all!
Here's to good eating at home!!
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