Mahi-Mahi with Potatoes and Asparagus

I found this recipe on Eating Well. It looked decent but I thought it was missing something. I decided to try it and change it up just slightly but I still wasn't looking forward to it. I added asparagus. To the veggies I added lemon pepper instead of regular pepper. To the fish I added a little bit of garlic powder, lemon pepper instead of regular pepper, and then sliced lemons and placed them on top. After taking my first bite, I quickly changed my opinion on the meal. YUM!! It had so much flavor. I'm glad I added the asparagus. We'll definitely be making this again.

2 servings

Ingredients

• 4-6 red potatoes, scrubbed and thinly sliced
• 1/2 bunch of asparagus tops
• 1 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt to taste
• Lemon pepper, to taste
• 1 1/4 pounds mahi-mahi, or tilapia, cut into 4 portions
• 3 teaspoons lemon juice, plus slices
• Garlic powder to taste
• 1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat a square baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Toss potatoes with garlic, oil, salt and lemon pepper in the prepared pan. Cover with foil and roast for about 15 minutes. Add asparagus and stir. Re-cover pan with foil and roast for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife.
3. Place fish fillets on potatoes; sprinkle with salt, lemon pepper, lemon juice, garlic powder and parsley. Bake until the fish is opaque in the center, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges.

Rice Krispy Treats

I know I know...everyone knows how to make Rice Krispy treats. But this has to be one of my favorite desserts. I could eat a whole plate of these. I like them really gooey. I found a pretty standard recipe and then looked online to see if anyone had any variations that made it even better. Someone adds a dash of milk to the marshmallows. Other people add chocolate or peanut butter. I make something similar but that's another day. I was craving a simple gooey Rice Krispy Treat.

Ingredients

• 11.5 cups Rice Krispies
• 1 whole stick of butter
• 1 16oz bag of mini marshmallows
• 3 teaspoons milk
• splash of vanilla

Directions

1. Melt margarine in large sauce pan over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until melted and well-blended. Add milk and vanilla. Cook 2 minutes longer, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
2. Add cereal. Stir until well coated.
3. Using buttered spatula or waxed paper, press mixture evenly and firmly in buttered 13 x 9 inch pan. Cut into 2 x 2 inch squares when cool.

Pasta Primavera

I adapted this recipe from one on All Recipes. This dish seems to have a lot going on in it. However, I already happened to have many of these ingredients. Plus it had balsamic vinegar and seeing as how I currently am obsessing over balsamic vinegar, I thought this recipe would be perfect. I didn't use peppers or green beans but I did add a little extra asparagus than what the recipe called for. I love that the recipe tells you to roast the veggies because it's so easy and I love the flavor.

The dish turned out good but not amazing. I felt like it was missing something but Matt liked it. He said if I added anything to just add chicken. Maybe I'd add balsamic marinated chicken to bring out more of the balsamic flavor.

Ingredients

• 1 (12 ounce) package whole wheat penne pasta
• 1 yellow squash, chopped
• 1 zucchini, chopped
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 1/2 pint grape tomatoes
• 1/2 cup asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1/4 cup olive oil, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/4 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add penne pasta and cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until al dente; drain.
3. In a bowl, toss squash, zucchini, carrot, red bell pepper, tomatoes, green beans, and asparagus with 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and Italian seasoning. Arrange vegetables on the baking sheet, and roast 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until tender.
4. Heat remaining olive oil and butter in a large skillet. Stir in the onion and garlic, and cook until tender. 
5. Mix in cooked pasta, lemon zest, basil, parsley, and balsamic vinegar. Gently toss and cook until heated through. 
6. Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl. Toss with roasted vegetables and sprinkle with Romano cheese to serve.

Chicken Fried Rice

We had leftover rice from this weekend's meal. While trying to figure out how to use it in a meal, I realized I've never actually made fried rice. It seems so easy. I can't believe I've never made it. I found a recipe on All Recipes for fried rice and also a teriyaki marinade for the chicken. It was good for sure, but nothing amazing. But then again, I haven't really found any fried rice to be amazing. Maybe I'm just not that big of a fried rice person!

Fried Rice
adapted from www.allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups cold, cooked brown rice
• 1-1/3 cups chopped marinated and cooked chicken
• 1/3 cup onion
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1/3 cup shredded carrot
• 2/3 cup frozen green peas, thawed
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce

Directions

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Pour in the eggs; cook and stir until scrambled and firm. Remove from wok, and set aside.
2. Put 1 tablespoon of oil in the wok. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is tender. 
3. Add rice and last 1 tablespoon of oil and turn heat up to high. Stir in rice until each grain is coated with oil. 
4. Stir in chicken, carrot, peas and green onions. Reduce heat to medium, cover and allow to steam for 5 minutes. 
5. Stir in scrambled eggs and soy sauce, and cook until eggs are heated through.

Teriyaki Sauce
from www.allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine)
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 4 1/2 teaspoons rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 7 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 1 dash red pepper flakes
• black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Bring mirin to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 10 minutes. 
2. Pour in soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and sugar. Season with garlic, ginger, pepper flakes, and black pepper; simmer an additional 5 minutes. 
3. Store in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.

Beef Kabobs and the Best Ice Cream Ever!

We had friends over last night for dinner. Matt made beef and veggie kabobs. I made brown rice and ice cream. It all turned out really well and we were STUFFED afterwards (didn't stop us from demolishing the ice cream though!)

Marinated Kabobs
from www.allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds flank steak

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, mix the oil, soy sauce, vinegar, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic, and ground black pepper. Place meat in a shallow glass dish. Pour marinade over the steak, turning meat to coat thoroughly. Cover, and refrigerate.

We used top sirloin, baby bellas, onion, red and orange bell peppers, red potatoes, and pineapple. Everything was marinated most of the day except the mushrooms. They were only marinated for a couple of hours. Then Matt grilled everything. When making kabobs, we have learned (thanks to Alton Brown) that they come out best when each ingredient is kept on seperate skewers. So do all the meat together, potatoes together, and so on. Each ingredient cooks differently and need to be on the grill different amounts of time. YUM!


Baked Brown Rice
from Alton Brown

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups brown rice, medium or short grain
• 2 1/2 cups water Chicken Broth
  
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Place the rice into an 8-inch square glass baking dish.
3. Bring the water broth, butter, and salt just to a boil in a kettle or covered saucepan. 
4. Once the water broth boils, pour it over the rice, stir to combine, and cover the dish tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 1 hour.
5. After 1 hour, remove cover and fluff the rice with a fork. Serve immediately.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream
from Annie Eats

Ingredients
For the cookie dough:

• 5 tbsp. salted butter, melted (or unsalted butter plus ¼ tsp. salt)
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• ¼ cup flour*
• ½ tsp. vanilla extract
• ¾ cup chocolate chips (I used mini chips)

For the ice cream:

• 3 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
• 4 large egg yolks
• Pinch of coarse salt
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1½ cups whole milk
• 1 cup chocolate chips (semisweet or bittersweet)

Directions
To make the cookie dough:

1. Stir together the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until smooth.  
2. Mix in the flour, then the vanilla and chocolate chips.  
3. Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm.

To make the ice cream:

1. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.  Continue heating, stirring often, until the butter is a deep golden brown color, being careful not to burn it.  Whisk in the heavy cream and heat until simmering.  
2. Meanwhile in a medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar and the egg yolks until pale and fluffy.  
3. Once the cream mixture is warm, add a small amount to the bowl with the egg yolks, whisking constantly.  Slowly whisk in the rest of the cream.  Mix in the salt.  
4. Return the egg-cream mixture to the saucepan and heat until just slightly thickened, and the temperature reads 170-175˚ F on an instant-read thermometer.  Immediately remove the mixture from the heat and pour through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl.  
5. Stir in the vanilla extract and the whole milk.  
6. Cover and chill thoroughly in the refrigerator.
7. Once the mixture is chilled, freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. 
8. Chop the disk of cookie dough into small chunks.  
9. As soon as the mixture is done churning, transfer to a bowl or airtight container and stir in the chocolate chips and the chunks of cookie dough.  Store in the freezer until firm.

*1/4 cup flour for the cookie dough did not seem like much. I actually added slightly extra but didn't need to. Once it's refrigerated, it's fine. The flavor of this ice cream is absolutely amazing.

Seared Steak Salad with Edamame & Cilantro

This recipe also came from Eating Well. It called for shredded red cabbage and red pepper. I don't like peppers and wasn't in the mood for cabbage. So to add some color, I added a handful of shredded carrots. The original recipe didn't call for green onions or garlic powder. But I had some green onions and figured they'd go well. Also, for the meat, I wanted to add more flavor so I sprinkled the garlic powder on and it turned out well! This was SO good!!! It was really easy to make. The steak was yummy and the dressing was amazing. I'll definitely be making this again.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces top round steak, 3/4 inch thick, trimmed of fat
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 4 cups mixed greens
• 1 cup snow peas, sliced
• 1/2 cup shredded or thin carrots
• 1/2 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
• 1/3 cup shelled edamame, thawed
• 1/4 cup Sesame Tamari Vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Directions

1. Sprinkle steak with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Coat a small nonstick skillet with cooking spray; place over medium heat. Add the steak and cook about 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Let rest for (at least 5) minutes before slicing.
2. Combine greens, snow peas, carrots, cilantro, edamame and vinaigrette in a large bowl. Toss to coat. Divide between 2 plates. Top with the steak. 

Chicken Variation Substitute 8 ounces chicken tenders for the steak. Cook through, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Shrimp Variation Substitute 8 ounces cooked, peeled shrimp for the steak (omit Step 1).

Per serving:  328 calories; 9 g fat (2 g sat, 3 g mono); 68 mg cholesterol; 19 g carbohydrates; 42 g protein; 7 g fiber; 679 mg sodium; 949 mg potassium.

Sesame Tamari Vinaigrette

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium tamari, or reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely grated.

 Directions

1. Whisk orange juice, vinegar, tamari, oil, honey and ginger in a small bowl until the honey is incorporated. Transfer to a jar and refrigerate.

Per 2-tablespoon serving:  37 calories; 2 g fat (0 g sat, 1 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 4 g carbohydrates; 0 g protein; 0 g fiber; 303 mg sodium; 21 mg potassium.

My Apple Pie

By the way! My apple pie was served as a side for a local bakery yesterday! Fun! I hope people liked it.

Here's their post about it on Facebook.

Chicken Breasts with Mushroom Cream Sauce

This recipe is from www.eatingwell.com. Originally, I was thinking this needed more sauce, like twice as much sauce. As I'm typing up the recipe, I realized that I totally misread the recipe to begin with. It's only supposed to serve 2 people but I used enough meat to serve 4. Well no wonder it needed more sauce! So, now knowing that I just need to double the sauce in the future, I think it's a great recipe. The flavor is excellent and it's very easy to make. By the way, I promise I make more than just chicken and mushrooms. : )

I served this with asparagus that I roasted at 425 for about 15 minutes with olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar.

Ingredients

• 2 5-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and tenders removed 
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 medium shallot, minced
• 1 cup thinly sliced baby bella mushroom caps
• 2 tablespoons dry vermouth, or dry white wine
• 1/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh chives, or scallion greens

 Directions

1. Season chicken with pepper and salt on both sides.
2. Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning once or twice and adjusting the heat to prevent burning, until brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 165°F, 12 to 16 minutes. Transfer to a plate and tent with foil to keep warm.
3. Add shallot to the pan and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add mushrooms; cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 2 minutes. Pour in vermouth (or wine); simmer until almost evaporated, scraping up any browned bits, about 1 minute. Pour in broth and cook until reduced by half, 1 to 2 minutes.
4. Stir in cream and chives (or scallions); return to a simmer. Return the chicken to the pan, turn to coat with sauce and cook until heated through, about 1 minute.

Per serving:  275 calories; 15 g fat (5 g sat, 7 g mono); 84 mg cholesterol; 5 g carbohydrates; 25 g protein; 1 g fiber; 373 mg sodium; 370 mg potassium.

Becky V's Puppy Chow

When I was growing up my mom always made puppy chow. This was Chex cereal with peanut butter, chocolate, and powdered sugar. She had a friend who also made puppy chow but a different version. I loved both versions but I had to make a dessert for Wednesday night and figured Becky V's would dirty the least amount of dishes. It was so easy and so yummy!


Ingredients

• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 bag butterscotch chips
• 6 oz chocolate chips
• 8 cups Chex cereal or Crispix cereal

Directions

1. Melt the peanut butter and butterscotch chips. Fold in the cereal. Let cool for a bit so the chocolate chips don't melt.
2. Add the chocolate chips.
3. Spread out on wax paper to cool completely.

YUM!

Chicken Foil Pack

Tonight's dinner was chicken foil packs with potatoes and broccoli. I kind of just threw things together, but here's the basic recipe:

Each foil pack is one serving. Measurements below are for each foil pack.

Ingredients

• 1 boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced potatoes
• 2/3 cup broccoli
• 1/4 cup cheddar cheese
• 1-2T ranch dressing
• garlic and herb seasoning to taste
• Lawry's Season salt to taste
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Spray foil with cooking spray.
3. Season chicken with salt, pepper, and  garlic and herb seasoning.
4. Place a layer of potatoes in the center of a piece of foil. Sprinkle with season salt. Add a layer of broccoli. Add chicken. Drizzle with ranch and add the cheese.
5. Bring up foil sides. Double fold top and both ends to seal each packet, leaving room for heat circulation inside. Place on cookie sheet with a lip or a casserole pan.
6. Repeat if making more foil packs.
7. Bake for 30-35 minutes until chicken is done.
8. Let rest for several minutes and be careful when opening.

 This was good for just throwing together some ingredients. I felt like the potatoes were kind of bland. It wasn't anything amazing, but it was an easy weekday meal. You can easily change up ingredients to make it better. I forgot to take a picture. Oops! :)

Chicken with Mushroom and Balsamic Cream Sauce

Recipe from Rachel Ray

Prep: 10 min  Cook: 20 min  Total: 30 min

Ingredients

• Salt
• 1/2 pound orzo pasta
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 6 ounces
• Pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 12 cremini or baby portobello mushrooms, sliced
• 12 shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced
• 12 white mushrooms, sliced
• 2 large cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon thyme leaves, a couple of sprigs, chopped
• 2 large shallots, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, eyeball it
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream or half-and-half, a couple turns of the pan
• 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, a generous handful

Directions

1. Heat a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water and add orzo pasta. Cook to al dente.
2. Preheat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan. Season chicken liberally with salt and pepper and add to the hot skillet. Cook the chicken for 5 to 6 minutes on each side. Remove the chicken from the pan and cover with foil to keep warm.
3. Return the skillet to the heat, turn heat back a bit, and add the butter. Once the butter melts add the mushrooms and brown stirring occasionally for about 4 to 5 minutes. Once the mushrooms are brown season with salt and pepper then add the garlic, thyme and shallots. Cook stirring occasionally for about 2 minutes or until the shallots are wilted. Sprinkle the flour into the pan and cook 2 minutes more. Whisk in the stock, balsamic vinegar and the cream. Turn the heat up to high and simmer for about 2 minutes or until thickened. Slice the chicken on an angle. Add the parsley and the chicken back to the skillet to heat up, about 1 minute.
4. To serve, pile orzo on dinner plates and top with the sliced chicken and sauce.

This was really good, great flavor. I might even add just a little extra balsamic vinegar next time. I didn't have shitake mushrooms so I only used 2 boxes of mushrooms, white and baby bellas.  For the pasta, I actually found whole wheat orzo pasta and was so excited. It was so good I couldn't even tell it was whole wheat once it was cooked!  I was trying to save a little money so used dried herbs that I already had as opposed to buying fresh. This is when I wished I grew my own herbs. Fresh would have made this so much better!

Matt suggested maybe trying it again adding asparagus and Parmesan cheese. We'll definitely be making this again because we both really liked it. In the words of Rachel Ray, Yum-O!

Apple Pie Bake-Off

Our neighborhood always has a big 4th of July event. They have booths, food, music, games, a hotdog eating contest, and an apple pie bake off. Last year the apple pies were so good and anyone can try them and vote. I decided to enter the bake off this year.

Until now, I'd never made an apple pie or even homemade crust. It intimidated me. Before making the pie, I did a TON of research on pies, filling, and crust. I made a sample pie Thursday night and brought it to work Friday for feedback.

Here's the pie recipe I used: Glazed Apple Cream Pie  I added a couple extra apples, added extra cinnamon and apple pie spice, and extra glaze before serving.

I tried this crust recipe: Pie Crust  The crust was good but not what I was expecting. So for the contest I used this recipe: Ina Garten's Perfect Pie Crust  This recipe was really good and really easy to make. I made sure all my ingredients were cold, chilled the dough before rolling it out, and then chilled it before adding the filling. For the top I tried a lattice top. It actually was really easy and looked very professional.

When I submitted the pie they said it looked very good. Presentation wise, it looked better than the other pies. We got to try the pies and vote. Honestly Matt and I really did prefer my pie. Turns out...my pie WON!!! First time making an apple pie and it won! Overall it was a great experience. It was a small contest but maybe now I'll be brave enough to enter a bigger bakeoff. Time to come up with the perfect pie!!!

The Kitchen

Kitchens

A home is made of many rooms
To rest, to sleep, to shower
To play, and read, and talk a lot,
Do hobbies by the hour

But the kitchen, ah the kitchen
Is a room that's made of dreams
Of fantasies...created by
A love of cooking schemes

To touch, to smell, to visualize
The wonders that occur...
And then to taste, and then to taste
Results of things that were

At one time just "ingredients,"
In their places on the shelves
But become a wonderous mixture
As though transformed by elves

Yes, a home is made of many rooms
Each one has its pleasures
But the kitchen is the best of all
For finding hidden treasures.