Fifty-Two Dinners

One new recipe a week for a year. That was the original goal set as a New Year's resolution way back in 2009.

It didn't happen. Nor did it happen in the following years.

But I have continued posting and striving to try one new recipe a week. Some months it happens. Some months it doesn't.

And along the way I've picked up readers from across the country who occasionally pop in to see what's cooking.

Clearly there are better food blogs than mine.

But if you're looking for quick, easy, and healthy with a dash of humor... I'm glad to share what I can.


Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Thai Chicken Zucchini Noodles

There's a lot of back story for this recipe. Let's start with the fact that I joined Weight Watchers this week.  There was a deal through work and I decided that I needed something to get back on track.  I've done the calorie counting thing before, and I've been trying to recently but pretty much falling off the wagon every day.  Weight Watchers is along the same lines, but you're in a group and they keep track of your weight every week.  I figured the addition of competition was worth the $30 to try it out for 12 weeks.

Today is day 2.  Day 1 was not good.  I stayed under my 30 points, but I was angry.  Why was my chai latte (150 calories) worth 8 points and nearly 1/3 of my daily allowance?  Why didn't the calories burned during my 4-mile run add back in so I could eat more?  By dinner time I was HANGRY.  

Day 2 wasn't much better.  Seriously who brings a double chocolate cake to an 8am staff meeting?  There's another 9 points for the 1/2 of a 1/2 of a piece I ate.  F@&%.  

With only 9 points remaining for dinner I decided it was a good night to try out my spiralizer on this zucchini recipe.  Fruits and veggies are technically free in WW.  That also makes me angry, but I wasn't about to argue. 

INGREDIENTS
  • 2 tablespoons of grape seed oil
  • 2 boneless, skinnless chicken breasts, cubed
  • 2 tablespoons of grape seed oil (or canola oil)
  • 2 zucchini, spiralized
  • 1 large carrot, spiralized
  • 1 red pepper, julienned
  • ⅓ cup of bean sprouts (or not)
  • ¼ cup of fresh cilantro, diced
  • ¼ cup of green onions, diced
  • sesame seeds (for garnish)
Spicy Peanut Sauce:
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 4 tablespoons of peanut butter
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 3 tablespoons of soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons of fresh cilantro, diced
  • ½ teaspoon of ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon of red pepper flakes
 DIRECTIONS
  1. In a small bowl, whisk together garlic, peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, ground ginger, and red pepper flakes. Set aside. 
  2. Heat a large skillet to medium high heat. Add oil and chicken.  Season with salt and pepper. Saute until cooked through.  Cut into bite sized pieces if not small enough already.
  3. In the same large skillet over medium high heat, add 2 tablespoons of oil, zucchini noodles, carrot noodles, and red pepper. Flash stir fry for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.  Or a bit longer if you want your noodles more like pasta.
  4. When cooked to desired tenderness add back in chicken, green onions, and spicy peanut sauce. Toss till all noodles are coated.
  5. Serve and garnish with sesame seeds.
 
VERDICT

We were pretty leary about this recipe.  Ok, so I wasn't.  But my husband was.  He watched me spiralize all the vegetables and wondered what he was going to eat for dinner that would actually fill him up.  

After we finished dinner I mentioned that the sauce could also be used over rice or pasta.  His comment:  "why would you want to change a recipe that tastes so good already?"

So I guess the veggies were a hit.  9 Weight Watchers SmartPoints, and about 350 calories per serving.  And I'm no longer Hangry.
  
Credit:  Edited from Healthy Joyful Eats

Friday, February 26, 2016

Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower

Can you believe that I had never eaten Cauliflower until a few years ago?  As much as I love fresh veggies, cauliflower was never something I was willing to try.  Now it seems you can't go anywhere without seeing this versatile veggie turned into something else (pizza crust, mashed potatoes, Buffalo wings).  
I clipped this recipe out of a newspaper and tried it for dinner this week.  It was a hit for 3 out of 4 of us.  The newly picky child declared that the breadcrumbs on top were "nasty."  So you can go ahead and skip that if you prefer.  For me, the bread crumbs were an unexpected treat!
Not a pretty picture of it, but it tasted better than this very yellow picture shows!

Ingredients
1 head cauliflower
3 TBS olive oil, divided
1/2 tsp salt, divided
Freshly ground black pepper
12 oz pasta We get our fancy pasta from Aldi.  I KNOW.  Aldi.  It's cheap and SO good!
2 TBS butter Or a little less- you'll have to be the judge as you cook
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp anchovy paste yup, totally skipped this ingredient
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
2/3 cup Romano or Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup shredded mint It's not summer, so we skipped this too.

Instructions
Preheat oven to 500.

Slice cauli into bite-sized pieces.  Season with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Roast 10 minutes, flip and bake another 5-10 minutes until tender and browned.
Cook pasta according to directions.   While pasta is cooking melt 1 TBS butter in a skillet.  Add panko and cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently.  When browned, take off heat and pour into a small dish for later.

Heat 1 TBS butter and olive oil in skillet.  Add sliced garlic and saute until golden.  Add red pepper and cauliflower and mix well.

Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup cooking water.  Add cauliflower mixture and mix well.  Add cheese and heat for 3 minutes.  Add more pepper to taste.
Pour into bowls and serve topped with toasted panko.

Verdict

A bit of a process, but well worth it.  Loved the taste and texture of this dish.  And we didn't miss the mint and anchovy paste at all.
He likes it!
 
 

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Wendy's Asian Salad Dressing

We all know we're supposed to avoid fast food.  When I can't, I'm a big fan of the salads at Wendy's.  Especially the spicy Asian Chicken Salad.  Here's a quick recipe for the delicious dressing:


1 12 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 12 teaspoons sesame oil
1 12 teaspoons soy sauce
1 pinch garlic powder
1 tsp Thai Chili Sauce
 

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Cajun skillet flounder

Oh hey.  Look.  It's 2016.  And my last post was in 2015.  In May.  That's pretty bad.

 Last time I posted I was still unemployed.  That was a pretty rough period.  Since then I landed an awesome job and have been busy.  And apparently not cooking for my family much.  Or at least not posting when I do.

So let's get back into the habit, shall we?

We'll start off with a Skinny Taste recipe that was quick and easy. 
 
Ingredients:
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 4 (6 oz) pieces flounder fillets (or any white fish such as tilapia)
  • 3/4 cup onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3/4 cup diced green bell pepper
  • 2 1/2 cups tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 tbsp Cajun spice seasoning

Directions:

In a deep skillet, saute onion and garlic in olive oil on medium heat for a few minutes until soft. Add tomatoes, peppers and spices, stir and cook until tomatoes are soft, about 2-3 minutes.  
Lay fish fillets in the sauce, cover and cook on medium-low until fish flakes easily, approx 10 minutes. To serve, place fish on plate and spoon sauce on top. Serve immediately.


That's it.  Quick and easy, and extremely flavorful.  We added some hot steamed rice to soak up the juices and some roasted cauliflower for extra veggies.

 

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Slowcooker Chicken Artichoke Pasta


This may very well be similar to another recipe posted previously here.  It seems familiar, but it was kind of thrown together based on ingredients I had for another recipe that I didn't want to follow.  The original recipe was for baked cheesy artichokes and spinach.  But it seemed like a side dish and I had no other plan for dinner to accompany it.  So instead I threw all of the ingredients into a crock pot on top of chicken and made pasta about 10 minutes before it was ready.  Voila.  Dinner.

INGREDIENTS

2 chicken breasts, cut into 2 pieces each
1 car artichokes
1/2 bag of fresh spinach, or 1 box frozen spinach (thawed)
2 TBS garlic
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1 small carton (1 1/2 cups??) heavy cream
1 block cream cheese
fresh pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

Spray crock pot with non-stick spray.  Put chicken on bottom.  

In a bowl, mix together remaining ingredients.  Add to chicken in crock pot.

Cook on high for 2-3 hours.  Serve over pasta.
 
VERDICT
This was delicious.  I added a bit more skim milk to the crock pot because the cream wasn't quite enough to moisten the entire mixture, but it wasn't necessary. 



Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Opa!

No recipes here- we decided to use a bunch of spices that grandma brought back from Greece on a cruise a few years ago.  Salad mix, tatzhiki mix, hummus, potato seasoning, and meat marinade.
 
Most of it didn't have as much flavor as expected (the spices were a few years old, which probably isn't ideal) but we did enjoy trying something completely different.
So there you go.  No recipe.  Just inspiration to go out and try something different. 
 

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Healthy Fried Rice

This recipe is great on its own- or as a base for a stir-fry.  And yes, there is tofu.  I still haven't mastered preparing tofu (mine falls apart and doesn't get nice and browned on the edges) but I'm still not giving up on it.
  
INGREDIENTS
· 1 package of firm tofu
· Cooking spray
· 1 tablespoon of oil
· 2 large cloves of garlic, grated
· 2 tbsp of ginger, grated
· 1 bunch of scallions (about 6), chopped/sliced
· about 3-4 cups of brown rice
· 1 red pepper, diced
· about 1 cup of edamame, shelled
· 1/2 cup of frozen corn
· 2 eggs beaten
· 3-4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce


DIRECTIONS
.      Cook the rice if needed first, then when that is done start these other steps.

2.      If you need to cook the rice you can precook the tofu while you cook the rice and just reserve it for later.  Heat a non stick skillet over high heat and spray with cooking spray.  When hot add the tofu. Brown on both sides (couple minutes each side) and then remove and let cool.  When cool cut into small bite sized squares.

3.      When your rice and tofu are ready- Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. 

4.      When really hot add the scallions, pepper, garlic and ginger.  Cook only for about 2-3 minutes. 

5.      Add the rice, tofu, edamame and corn.  Stir gently until all heated through- not even five minutes.

6.      In the same pan, make a well in the middle and either spray with cooking spray or drop a splash of oil, then add the eggs.  Stir until scrambled. 

7.       Finally just add the soy sauce and make sure everything is mixed well.


VERDICT
  
 We used this as a base for the Ginger Pork Stir-fry, but it's good enough to eat on it's own!  Top with a bit of siracha sauce for some heat!