90 Degree Comfort Food

Tonight's meal was very Fall-ish.

Which kind of feels like blasphemy when the weather outside is still in the 90's everyday.

But, BUT, the weather has recently transitioned in low 90's instead of high 90's (or 100's)!! Here in Texas that's basically Fall. So that called for some Fall-like food.

Pumpkin Chili!!

This recipe was given to me by one of my friends and I knew I wanted to make it immediately. Pumpkin + Chili just sounds comforting.

Pumpkin Chili

Source: unknown

• 2 pounds ground beef (1 lb ground beef & 1 lb ground turkey breast)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 2 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans, drained
• 1 (46 fluid ounce) can tomato juice
• 1 (28 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes with juice
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/4 cup white sugar

In a large pot over medium heat, cook meat until brown; drain. Stir in onion and bell pepper and cook 5 minutes. Stir in beans, tomato juice, diced tomatoes and pumpkin puree. Season with pumpkin pie spice, chili powder and sugar. Simmer 1 hour. Makes 8 servings.

We served it with cornbread on the side and topped with cheese, avocado & plain greek yogurt.

Alex's only complaint with this chili was that it wasn't spicy, but he just added hot sauce to his portion and was happy. It makes a TON of chili, so I plan on freezing smaller portions of it for reheating later. Chili is very freezer-friendly!

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Rewind to last night now. Last night's dinner was a recipe I spotted on one of my favorite blogs, Carrots 'n Cake.

Soy Glazed Fish with Sauteed Summer Squash (click link for recipe from Real Simple)

It was pretty good. My only real complaint with it is that the excess sauce on the pan BURNED (badly) while cooking. Next time I know not to dump all the sauce on the fish....just enough to coat it.

Also be sure you follow the directions and only add the sauce in the last 2 minutes of cooking...I ended up cooking my fish for about 4 more minutes after adding the sauce (because it wasn't done) which probably contributed to the burning of the sauce.

OH! And big news: Alex, Mr. I Hate Squash, actually admitted that the squash side dish wasn't half bad. Hellz yeah!

Anyone else watch the premiere of Biggest Loser? What did you think?

Personally I kind of liked the new way they "tested" contestants and made them earn their spots. I thought it weeded out the quitters and cop-outs, which is nice. My current favorite contestant is obviously the military wife...I can't remember her name. We shall see how the season plays out!

P.S. Grrrrrr I am really hating Blogger these days. I don't know WHY it keeps f-ing with my font sizes but it pisses me off! I can't even fix it because it shows up just fine in my window but then I hit "publish" and it freaks out. SO ANNOYING. Anyway, sorry about the randomly changing font sizes...

Recent Eats

Things are finally starting to get back to normal around here. I've just felt....jumbled....for the past month or so since we found out about my dad's cancer. Jumbled and distracted.

Luckily now I'm starting to get back into my normal routine: working out vs. being lazy, eating healthily vs. not caring what I eat, being productive vs. distracted, etc. One of the major aids in helping me get back on track has been Google Calendar. It helps me soooooo much to have things written out and have a "plan" for each day.

Anyway, onto the food!

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First up: Chicken & Black Bean Tacos

The chicken filling was made in the slow cooker, which I hadn't used in a looooong time.

In the morning I tossed 3 chicken breasts (frozen), about 1/2 cup of green salsa, 1/4 cup of chicken broth, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika, 1/2 teaspoon of cumin, juice from half a lime, and a can of black beans in the slow cooker and cooked on low for 8-9 hours. When I got home I took out the chicken and shredded it and then put it back in and mixed it up.

At that point it looked like this:

Then we filled our taco shells & tortillas (I couldn't decide between soft or crispy tacos so I had one of each) with the chicken/black bean mixture, shredded cheese, plain greek yogurt (in place of sour cream which had molded), avocado, salsa and another squeeze of lime juice.

I just heated up a bag of frozen veggie mix for the side dish.

This dinner was a HUGE hit and completely satisfying. I love love love adding the black beans to the chicken filling because it makes the meat stretch further AND it adds more protein and other great nutrients.

The chicken & black bean filling would be a great topping for taco salads too!

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Then there was this Orange Pork Teriyaki Stir Fry that I threw together, taking inspiration from the Mongolian grills that are popping up all over the place these days.

The meat was thinly sliced pork chops, cut into chunks. Here's how I did it:

First I cooked the pork pieces in a teaspoon of sesame oil until mostly done. Then I added chopped baby bok choy to the pan and continued to stir fry until it got tender.

Then I added half a bag of these to the pan:

Frozen Stir Fry Veggies

Plus about 1/4 cup of this:

Orange Teriyaki Marinade

(I know, I know. Technically it's a marinade, but I didn't think ahead on this so I used it as a sauce. )

I also added a teaspoon of chopped fresh ginger and a bit of salt & pepper. Then I just let it all cook together until the frozen veggies were heated through.

For the final step, and as a last minute idea, I added half a can of mandarin oranges to the dish. I served it over brown rice.

It turned out to be quite tasty and it really did remind me of the food you would get at a Mongolian grill.

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This last one is an oldie but a goodie: Alex's Turkey Meatballs with Whole Wheat Spaghetti

Click here for Alex's Turkey Meatball Recipe!

Yum Yum!! Hope you're all doing well!

Tell me what's new in your lives....I'm feeling out of touch with the blog world! I'm slowly catching up on Google Reader but it's still a beast!

Ethnic Love

I didn't take any food photos at the ranch. It was just the last thing on my mind as we were celebrating such a profound moment for our family. I'm sure you'll all understand.

So let's skip ahead to Sunday evening, shortly after we arrived back home.

I busted out some of these that I stole from the pantry at the ranch:

TastyBite Madras Lentils

I feel a little bad about stealing them but I couldn't help it! They looked interesting and delicious and who knows how long they had been in that pantry all lonely.

Basically it comes in a pouch and you just squeeze it into a bowl and heat it up in the microwave or the stove.

The consistency of it was a bit more soupy than I expected. I would have liked more thickness and more lentils/beans.

Then I dumped in some cooked brown rice and chowed down.

My overall review: Eh. Just okay.

Honestly it reminded me a lot of canned chili, which isn't necessarily a good thing when you're wanting an Indian dish.

I ate all of it though, which goes to show you that I didn't hate it. And by all I mean the whole box (plus rice)...which is supposed to be "2 servings".

I would probably buy it again but I might try a different variety next time to see if it's less "chili-like" and more "Indian-like". :)

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Tonight we made Peanut Shrimp for dinner:


I bookmarked this post over at Carrots 'n Cake when she blogged about making Peanut Shrimp.

She basically just made this Rachael Ray recipe for Peanut Chicken with shrimp, which is what I did as well.

When we finished cooking it I realized that there was a ton of extra sauce so we stirred the steamed broccoli that we were planning on eating on the side right into the dish. It was a great addition!

We also added about a teaspoon of this to up the flavor and spice:

Almost out! Need to restock.

I thought it was really good but Hubs actually said he thought the peanut buttery-ness was a little overwhelming (which is saying a lot since he is a peanut butter FREAK).

He said next time he would decrease the peanut butter to about 1/2 cup. Fair enough.


Oh one more thing, I have no idea why Rachael calls for 1/4 cup of oil to cook the chicken/shrimp in. That seems a little ridiculous. So we decreased the oil to about 1/8 cup or 1-2 tablespoons.

We served the Peanut Shrimp over brown rice, which is a must with all the extra sauce that this recipe made!

I just realized that the past two dinners have been very ethnic. First, Indian....then Thai. Probably my two favorite types of ethnic foods! I think it's the spice.

Do you enjoy ethnic food? What's your favorite kind?

Crab & Cream Cheese Wontons

What's for Dinner? 7/12/2010

I'm on kick with making recipes that I spotted on other blogs lately and so far I'm batting 1000!

Katie at Health for the Whole Self recently posted about these Crab & Cream Cheese Wontons and they immediately reminded me of a healthy version of Crab Rangoon. I freaking LOVE crab rangoon so I added them to the menu for this week right away.

YUM! They were tasty little suckers.

The only problem with them is that they are little and cute and delicious and that made me want to eat about 50 of them. It was hard to stop. I don't have a lot of self-control when it comes to bite size things!

First you mix up a teeny bit of cream cheese with some crab meat, chives {or green onion if your grocery store doesn't have chives like ours}, garlic powder & pepper.

Then you get to the hard part. FOLDING WONTONS. :::dun dun dun::: I had no effing clue how to fold these things and my wonton package was lame and didn't explain it to me.

I quickly turned to my friend Google and typed in "how to fold wontons". This video on How to Fold a Wonton from youtube came up so I watched it. At this point I thought I was good to go. Seemed easy enough!

Well, I wasn't so "good to go" after all. My first one started out decent but then it all started going downhill from there. I could.not.figure.out how I made the first one so pretty and the rest sucked so bad!

Alex walks into the kitchen at about halfway through the wontons after he hears my cussing from the kitchen.

Him: "Hey! That one looks like a stealth bomber! And that one looks like a paper airplane. Are they supposed to look like that?"

Me: ::::evil glare:::: "Well if you are so judgey about it why don't you just try it!"

That was a mistake. He did try it and was COMPLETELY winging it...not even sealing the edges.

Me: "Nevermind! I take it back! Unless you are going to watch the video and actually do this in an educated way I do NOT want your help!" {Have I mentioned that I'm a control freak on this blog before?}

He did actually go watch the video and then he came back with an improved attempt. And yet, neither of us could master the dang wonton folding technique! It seems so easy on the video...

Here they are all prepped in the oven and ready to be cooked. My first attempts are on the left side of the pan and then as you look to the right those are the last ones. Notice the ones on the right look more like origami than wonton. :)

As the wonton baked I stuck some brocc & caul in one of my beloved steamer bags...

Then I pulled the wonton out of the oven...Mmmmm! Some of them burst a little bit but they still tasted just fine!

Here is the recipe with my notes in red:

Baked Crab and Cream Cheese Wontons

Seen on Health for the Whole Self

Makes about 20 wontons {I got 28 wontons out of it}

Ingredients

Wonton wrappers (about 4×4” in size) {The ones I bought said "Medium Wontons" and can be found in the freezer section of my grocery store...with the other international frozen items.}

4 tbsp cream cheese, softened {I had to google how many tablespoons were in an ounce, since my cream cheese is labeled in ounces. FYI 1 oz = 2 tablespoons. Also I ended up adding another ounce of cream cheese because I thought it needed it. So 6 tbsp or 3 oz total.}

6 oz. can of crab meat (4 oz. drained) {Found in the canned tuna section of the grocery store}

freshly ground pepper (to taste)

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 cup fresh chives, finely chopped

1. In a small bowl, mix together the crab, cream cheese, pepper, garlic powder, and chives.

2. Dollop a heaping teaspoonful onto the center of each wonton wrapper, then wet the edges and fold into a “hat” shape (per the directions on the wonton wrapper package). {See above for my explanation of how I attempted to fold them}

3. Place the wontons on a baking sheet lined with foil or sprayed with nonstick spray. Spray the wontons liberally with more spray (I used Olive Oil spray).

4. Bake at 400º for about 7 minutes {I baked mine for closer to 10 or 11 minutes}, or until lightly browned.

Kick the Canned {Tuna}

What's for Dinner? 5/27/2010

-Seared Sesame Tuna Steaks with Orange Sauce
-Steamed Broccoli
-Leftover Brown Rice & Black Beans

Recently the hubs and I discovered a mutual love of all things tuna {and I'm not talking about the canned kind here}. We order it every chance we can get at restaurants but we had never cooked with it before.

We found some awesome flash-frozen, vacuum-packed yellowfin tuna steaks at the grocery store that we immediately snatched up. Then the search for recipes began and I, of course, went to my old faithful CookingLight.com. This recipe popped up in the search results and I decided it was definitely worth trying.


Our first attempt at cooking seared tuna was a SUCCESS! This dish was so perfect and tasted just like something we could have ordered from a fancy schmancy restaurant. The sauce was very Asian in flavor which went great with the tuna.

Our steaks were quite a bit thicker than the recipe called for so we did have to cook them for longer than called for. And in case you didn't know, seared tuna should be served rare! Don't overcook it!

If you've never tried non-canned tuna before, I encourage you to give it a shot. It's a really delicious, meaty fish and doesn't taste "fishy" at all. It's even good raw...although we always leave that up to professional chefs in restaurants! ;)

Seared Sesame Tuna with Orange Sauce
Source: Cooking Light

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 steak, about 1/2 cup of couscous, and 2 1/2 tablespoons of sauce)

1 cup water {Omitted}
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided {Omitted}
2/3 cup uncooked couscous {Omitted}
Cooking spray
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 (6-ounce) Bluefin tuna steaks (about 3/4 inch thick) {ours were quite a bit thicker}
1/2 cup fresh orange juice (about 2 oranges) {we subbed orange juice from a carton}
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon bottled minced fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons cornstarch

Bring 1 cup water and 1/4 teaspoon salt to a boil in a medium saucepan; gradually stir in couscous. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. {Omitted all this}

While the couscous stands, heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Combine the sesame seeds, flour, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and black pepper. Dredge both sides of tuna steaks in the sesame seed mixture. Add the fish to pan, and cook 4 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove the fish from pan, and keep warm. {Our fish was thicker so required about double the cooking time}

While the fish cooks, combine the orange juice and the next 5 ingredients (orange juice through garlic) in a small saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Combine 1 tablespoon water and cornstarch, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Add the cornstarch mixture to the pan, and cook for 2 minutes or until the sauce is thickened, stirring frequently. Serve the fish with the couscous and sauce.


CALORIES 460 (28% from fat); FAT 14.3g (sat 3g,mono 4.1g,poly 4.9g); IRON 3.6mg; CHOLESTEROL 65mg; CALCIUM 118mg; CARBOHYDRATE 35.2g; SODIUM 513mg; PROTEIN 45.7g; FIBER 1.6g

Cooking Light, MARCH 2003

The Husband Cooks Again

What's for Dinner? 5/17/2010

-Chile Chicken and Basil
-Brown Rice

Alex picked the recipe and did all the cooking tonight! I love having a husband who knows his way around the kitchen! :)

He found this recipe in his Men's Health magazine while he was deployed and ripped it out and saved it until now. When he was cleaning out the study this past weekend he found it and we added it to the menu.

It was EXTREMELY flavorful and really low calorie to boot {two things that don't always go together}! Only 160 calories per serving in the chicken (doesn't include the rice). It also came together really quickly and he said it was easy to make. Definitely a keeper!


Chile Chicken and Basil
Source: Men's Health magazine

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 Thai bird chilies or serrano chilies
1 tsp soy sauce
2 cups loosely packed fresh basil
1 Tbsp fish sauce
3 cloves garlic
1/2 Tbsp peanut oil or canola oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp fresh cracked pepper
1/2 Tbsp red-chili paste

1. Chop the garlic and chilies finely. Then use the side of your knife to press them together into a rough paste. (Add a pinch of salt to make this pro

2. Preheat a wok or stainless-steel sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the oil and the garlic-chili paste you just made, and fry for 2 to 3 minutes, being careful not to burn the garlic. Chop the chicken into small pieces and add them to the pan, cooking them until they're lightly browned, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the soy sauce, fish sauce, chili paste, and sugar, and continue to cook until the chicken is done all the way through, another 3 to 4 minutes.

3. Add the pepper and basil and cook until the basil is just wilted, about 2 minutes. Serve immediately.

4. Serve with: 1/2 cup each of steamed bok choy and prepared brown rice Makes 4 servings.

Per Serving: 160 calories, 24 grams (g) protein, 3 g carbohydrates, 5 g fat (1 g saturated), 1 g fiber, 490 milligrams sodium

Short on Calories, High on Taste

What's for Dinner? 5/10/2010

-Five Spice Turkey & Lettuce Wraps
-Soy Sauce & Sriracha Roasted Broccoli

When looking for healthy recipes for this week's menu, I decided to stop by Eating Well and see what they had to offer. I found this recipe pretty much immediately and thought it sounded awesome. I'm a BIG fan of lettuce wraps, especially the ones from Pei Wei, so I figured this would be a hit with me. I was not, however, sure if it would go over well with the hubs.

Well, the verdict is in and...............HE LOVED IT!

The best part is they are not only tasty, but also SUPER low calorie....only 285 calories per serving. Are you kidding me?!?

I made a few minor tweaks to the recipe which are noted below in blue.


Five-Spice Turkey & Lettuce Wraps

From EatingWell: June/July 2006

Based on a popular Chinese dish, these fun wraps also make appealing appetizers for entertaining. Make it a meal: Serve with chile-garlic sauce and rice vinegar for extra zip; toss diced mango and strawberries with lime juice for a quick dessert.

4 servings, 1 1/4 cups filling each | Active Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

* 1/2 cup water
* 1/2 cup instant brown rice
* 2 teaspoons sesame oil
* 1 pound 93%-lean ground turkey
* 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
* 1 large red bell pepper, finely diced
* 1 8-ounce can water chestnuts, rinsed and chopped
* 1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
* 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce, {I ended up adding another tablespoon b/c I thought it needed more flavor}
* 1 teaspoon five-spice powder, (see Note)
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* Splash of soy sauce
* A couple dribbles of Sriracha sauce to kick up the spice factor
* 2 heads Boston lettuce, leaves separated
* 1/2 cup chopped fresh herbs, such as cilantro, basil, mint and/or chives
* 1 large carrot, shredded

Preparation

1. Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add rice; reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add turkey and ginger; cook, crumbling with a wooden spoon, until the turkey is cooked through, about 6 minutes. Stir in the cooked rice, bell pepper, water chestnuts, broth, hoisin sauce, five-spice powder and salt; cook until heated through, about 1 minute.
3. To serve, spoon portions of the turkey mixture into lettuce leaves, top with herbs and carrot and roll into wraps.
Nutrition

Per serving : 285 Calories; 11 g Fat; 3 g Sat; 1 g Mono; 66 mg Cholesterol; 24 g Carbohydrates; 26 g Protein; 5 g Fiber; 543 mg Sodium; 390 mg Potassium

Tips & Notes

* Make Ahead Tip: Prepare the filling (through Step 2), cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day. Serve cold or reheat in the microwave.

* Notes: Hoisin sauce is a spicy, sweet sauce made from soybeans, chiles, garlic and spices. It will keep in the refrigerator for at least a year.
* Often a blend of cinnamon, cloves, fennel seed, star anise and Szechuan peppercorns, five-spice powder was originally considered a cure-all miracle blend encompassing the five elements (sour, bitter, sweet, pungent, salty). Look for it in the supermarket spice section.

Superfast & Supergood Orange Beef

I'm tired and I have a headache tonight. Therefore, this shall be short and sweet.

What's for Dinner? 5/4/2010

-Spicy Orange Beef
-Cucumber Salad

This dinner was great! I found this recipe in a "Superfast Beef" section of Cookinglight.com and it was indeed SUPER fast!! In fact, it was a little too fast because the rice wasn't anywhere near cooked when the beef was done. {Hence the lack of rice in the photo} I think the whole beef recipe took about 10 minutes, 15 tops.


Here's the link to the Cooking Light recipe. I followed it exactly and it was delicious. I don't think I would make any changes next time.

This one is definitely making it into a favorite recipe category!! We both commented on how it tastes exactly like something you would get from a Chinese restaurant.

Quick + Scrumptious = A Winner in my Book. Every time.

What's for Dinner 1/19/2010

-Cashew Chicken (recipe below)
-Broccoli with Oyster Sauce (recipe below)
-Jasmine Rice

Yum, yum, yum! Better than takeout, healthier than takeout, cheaper than takeout. Can you say "winner, winner chicken dinner?!?" We stuffed ourselves silly on this meal. The only downside was that this meal does have a large amount of sodium in it, so if you're watching your sodium intake you may want to stay away. Otherwise, MAKE IT!

{And can I just add that I freakin' love cooking with my husband. This meal was a joint effort and it was so fun to be in the kitchen together. It totally brightened my day, even after a not-so-great day of work.}


Cashew Chicken

Source: Everyday Food

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons dry sherry (or cooking wine)
2 tsp. minced, peeled, fresh ginger
3 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
coarse salt
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2/3 cup unsalted cashews, toasted
2 green onions, white and green parts separated and thinly sliced

Directions

In a medium bowl, toss chicken with sherry, ginger, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch; season with salt. Refrigerate 30 minutes. In another bowl, combine broth, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and 2 teaspoons cornstarch. Set sauce aside.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Add half the chicken and cook until golden and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Transfer chicken to a covered plate. Add 1 teaspoon oil to skillet and cook remaining chicken (reduce heat if chicken is over-browning). Transfer to plate.

To same skillet, add 1 teaspoon oil, garlic, cashews, and green onion whites. Cook, stirring constantly, until garlic begins to soften, about 30 seconds. Whisk sauce and add to skillet along with chicken. Cook until sauce thickens, about 30 seconds. Top with green onion greens and serve with rice or noodles.

Serves 4.

Broccoli with Oyster Sauce

Source: Everyday Food

• 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• Pinch of sugar
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 head broccoli (1 1/2 pounds), cut into florets

In a small bowl, whisk together oyster sauce, soy sauce, cornstarch, sugar, and 1 tablespoon water.

In a large skillet, heat vegetable oil over medium-high. Add garlic and broccoli. Cook, stirring occasionally, until broccoli is bright green, about 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water, cover, and cook until broccoli is tender but still has a little crunch, which took about 2 – 2 1/2 minutes. Add oyster sauce mixture; cook until thickened, about 1 minute more. Serve and enjoy!