good food served here: lasagna rollups

this was a pretty good weekend. we went to the outlet mall yesterday and spent the entire day there. my FAVORITE purchase was a fun sign steve bought me and hung in our kitchen. it is just perfect! as i was trying to be fancy and photograph my dish and the sign, he thought he'd be funny and this is what i got:

one of my favorite pictures to date, actually. it captures some of the things that i heart most. wunderbar.

so, these lasagna rollups are pretty yummo. i actually freeze these and they taste fresh even after being reheated.

this recipe comes from one of my favorite go-to cookbooks- better homes and gardens: easy everyday cooking. this is the cookbook with all of my post-it flags. ..we all have one! i use the main recipe and toggle it to my liking. here is my version:

ingredients:

1lb ground turkey (this time i used my costco pack- 1.25lbs)

1 medium onion, chopped

2+ cloves minced garlic

(the recipie suggests 1cup sliced mushrooms here...ew)

1 cup water

1 14oz can diced italian tomatoes +/- more if you want more (i used 1.5 cans)

2 6oz cans tomato paste

italian herb blend- to taste

fresh or dried basil (fresh! fresh!)- to taste

salt- to taste

12 packaged dried lasagna noodles

2 beaten eggs

1 30 oz carton ricotta

1 10-12 oz package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

3 cups mozzarella

1.5 cups grated parmesan cheese

sauce:

in a large skillet cook turkey, onion and garlic until turkey cooked thru; drain fat.

pre-cooked. obvs.

add tomatoes (undrained), tomato paste, italian herbs, basil and salt.

bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat- simmering for 25 minutes.

it's impossible to not eat this while it's simmering.

in the meantime, cook lasagna noodles according to package. drain, rinse with cold, drain again.

filling:

in a mixing bowl- OR your kitchenaid mixer (hear the angels sing)- mix together:

egg, ricotta, spinach, 1.5 cups of the mozzarella and 3/4cups parmesan cheese.

assembling of the rolls:

lay a few noodles out for filling

 spread enough filling down each noodle, probably about 1/2 cup

roll noodles with filling (start from a short end if there is one)

place rolls seam down in a glass baking dish (i lightly sprayed mine with oil, you dont have to)

pour sauce over rolls

cover with foil and bake in 375 degree oven for 25 minutes.

after 25 minutes, remove foil and sprinkle remaining mozzarella over top

bake 5-10 more minutes, let sit for about 5 before serving. sprinkle remaining parmesan cheese over top, serve with garlic bread.

note: after baking, i separate into smaller, freezable dishes for different meals. these are very filling, 2 at a time are usually more than enough for us (well, 1.5 for me). when reheating, cover dish with foil and warm at 375 for about 10-15 minutes.

charlie brown and the great pumpkin... bread

i've finally got my stock of pumpkin in for the season, and i haven't touched it yet. so today, i got the itch to do so. i really had my eye on this pumpkin cheesecake... with gingersnap crust... and vanilla sour cream topping... but that's for a day when i don't have so much homework.

today? i picked the easy way out. i used a recipe from allrecipes, and it was so perfect. i made just a few changes to it, so i'll list it the way i made it. i think you'll enjoy it.

you'll need:
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin-- not pumpkin pie filling
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup apple sauce
2/3 cup water
3 cups white sugar
3.5 cups flour
2 t baking soda
1.5 t salt
a bunch of sprinkles of the following:
ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, ground ginger.
more cinnamon and nutmeg, not as much cloves and ginger. whatever you're comfortable with.

preheat the oven to 350.

mix together the pumpkin, eggs, oil, applesauce, water, and sugar until blended. in a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, and all spices.

stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture.

mix just until well blended.

pour into two greased bread pans. add nuts if you want. i don't like nuts, so i just topped one with walnuts, and that one is for husband and for him to take to work.

bake for about an hour in preheated oven. i started at 50 minutes, then had to add 15 minutes more. take out of the pans and let cook on a wire rack. try try try not to slice it until it's cool... but i promise you, that is extremely difficult. so, maybe cut off two slices to taste, then slice the rest when it cools.

amazing. it manages to be light, and yet rich at the same time. and the loaves aren't small. husband and i had a few slices as an afternoon snack, and we packaged the rest up to take to work, and still had enough to give to our new neighbors.

grilled tangy spicy honey dijon pork tenderloin... FOUR INGREDIENTS!

oh yeah, you read it right. only 4 ingredients. well, excluding the pork- so, 5.

2 lbs pork loin
2/3 cup honey
1/2 cup dijon mustard
1/4-1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp salt

mix ingredients in a bowl, pour over pork loin in a plastic bag.
marinate in fridge for at least 4 hours, but i do overnight

oil grill grate- heat to medium.
place pork on grill, let flame hit each side to make nice grill marks
grill for about 25-30 minutes, turning every so often for even cooking. stay close- the honey can char on the outside...still will taste ok though:)

KEEP EXTRA MARINADE FROM BAG
and boil while pork is on the grill- stir occcasionally.

when done, slice pork and serve with boiled marinade over white rice.

you will love it (i hope)!

chow!



when done,

weekday enchiladas!

i know, i know. the blog has been way neglected. i hope to make up for it this minute.

let's get right to it:

these enchiladas are super simple, and VERY good. nothing too fancy here, folks. i do think that you will add these to your list of recipes after trying them though.

you will need:
 3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts- cooked and shredded/chopped
tortillas (medium)
medium jar of Pace Picante sauce
8 or so oz of sour cream (depending on how concerned you are at the moment about weight- i like to use about 10/12 oz)
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cups of mexican or mon-jack shredded cheese
1 medium onion-diced
chilli powder
+/- cayenne pepper

some of the ingredients you will need

topping:
1-2 tomatoes, chopped
black olives- sliced
green onion-sliced


how to: salt and pepper chicken breasts, place in lightly oiled skillet and cook over medium heat until done- i leave it for about 10 minutes or so- lid on, flip once. no need to mess with it more than that.

while the chicken is cooking, prepare the filling:

mix the following:
1/2- entire jar of picante. (i use whole jar)
at least 8 oz of sour cream (more if using all picante)
can on cream of chx
1/2 tbsp chilli powder (or more to taste)
cayenne pepper to taste

after mixing these ingredients- put 1-1.5 cups to the side

in the remainder of the sauce, add the cooked chicken, onion and 1 cup of the cheese

a kitchenaid mixer makes mixing SO much more exciting!

fill each tortilla with this chicken/cheese filling. fill generously. i can usually fill 8 tortillas.

lay tortillas seam down in glass baking dish, pour reserved mix over top. add remaining shredded cheese.

cover dish with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove foil for last 5 minutes.

when done, sprinkle tomatoes, olives and green onion over top!

YUM!

 chow!

busy weekend

i had a super busy weekend. starting friday, i was in "homemade" mode. i made so many baked and cooked items, and took hardly any photos. and i won't really post recipes with this post either. i'm just going to tell you of the awesomeness that i created and let you drool a little.

homemade pizza (store bought crust, for time's sake)
his: pepperoni and cheese. (yawn)
mine: summer sausage, homemade roasted red peppers, fresh parsley, black beans, mozzarella cheese.

pancakes (well, the mister made it. not me).

barbecue beef brisket in the crock pot.
giant brisket, in crock pot with beer and bbq sauce. cook on low all day, then remove and shred, and return to the crock pot. stir. serve on toasted buns with homemade potato wedges.

potato wedges.
cut potatoes into wedges. toss with olive oil, rosemary, and kosher salt. bake at 400 for 40 minutes, flipping halfway through. make extras. these go fast.

pie! i made homemade pie crust for apple pie. i still need practice in rolling out the pie crust and making it pretty, but it has to be one of the most flavorful, flaky crusts i've ever tasted. pretty good for a first try.

cake (boxed funfetti). dude. we had a birthday and i had a special request for making funfetti cake. so no, i did not make this from scratch.

bread loaves. instead of my usually boule bread, i made loaves. i just used a recipe from the kitchenaid cook book for cool-rise white bread, and demolished that recipe. i accidentally doubled the butter, and didn't use enough flour (because it was all together and didn't need any more). so i was really nervous, but it worked. the outside crust tasted a little... funny... but it was still delicious. next time i'll try reading the recipe a little better.

grilled flank steak fajitas

i like this recipe because:

-it is easy, and not very time consuming. the most arduous part is prepping the veggies and honestly, slicing a couple of peppers is hardly arduous if you ask me.

-it uses the grill. grill=less mess=less cleanup

-it eradicates the use for the salty flavoring/seasoning packs. no salty packets=healthier

-it is the color of the rainbow. ish. not only is it pretty to photograph and present, a friend of mine once told me that to stay healthy and happy, one should eat foods that represent the colors of the rainbow. she usually knows what she is talking about. wait, what's that?....no people, not like skittles.


ingredients:

1 lb flank or skirt streak (i prefer a non-fatty flank)
2-3 bell peppers ( i like to use one of each- red, yellow, green)
1 red onion
1 tbsp ground cumin
salt
pepper
evoo! (extra virgin olive oil)
1-2 tomatoes
lettuce
cheese
tortillas

method:

season steak with salt, pepper and cumin on each side

slice peppers/onions- thick enough to not fall thru the grill grate, if you want them thinner, lay them on a grill foil on the grate. toss veggies with oil, salt and pepper.

place steak and veggies on lightly oiled grill grate over medium heat, grill for 8-12 minutes (turning steak once) or until veggies are tender and steak in done to your likeness. (i do about 9-10 minutes for a pink center)

while food is grilling, i take the time to cut up lettuce and tomatoes. see my tip for dicing tomatoes by clicking here

when food is done, take off the grill and let rest for a couple of minutes before slicing meat across the grain. i take these few minutes to warm the tortillas over low heat on the grill, less than a minute per side.

serve with rice (spanish, white, etc) and sour cream, homemade guac and salsa.

chow!

dicing a tomato- sans gooey, messy seeds. yes, it's possible!

this is the COOLEST trick i have ever learned. as much as i cook, i am still a pretty novice slicer/dicer. i was reminded of it everytime i tried to dice a tomato. i was so messy about it, i even tried to use my handy dandy slicer dicer from williams sonoma (LOVE that thing) and that was even worse:
 
 

slicer-dicer. GREAT for peppers, onions, fruit, etc






slicer-dicer NOT great for tomatoes. especially whole ones.





 

  

so, imagine my joy when i learned this:

Step 1: get supplies: small knife, cutting board and tomato

Step 2: i like to cut the top off to see how far in i can cut without exploding the seed ball. you dont have to necessarily.

Step 3: use the knife and begin 'peeling' the skin off the tomato. like you would an apple. you can see where the skin hits the 'seed ball' try not to puncture the seed ball.



keep on peelin!



Step 5: peel all the way around the tomato- you will end up with a few different 'petals' for lack of a better description. (see next picture)

see the 'petals'? the thing in the middle is the ball of seeds. nicely contained, way less mess!

Step 6: throw away the seed ball, use a larger knife and dice up the petals!

VOILA! perfectly diced tomato, and WAY LESS MESS!

again, another life changer by erica. :)

chow!

october's menu. revisited.

it is mid-month, and last night i took the time to catch my ideal menu for october up to my real life menu for october. i said in my disclaimer when i posted my initial month's menu, that i held the right to negate, switch or change any meals.. because i usually do. and, i did. i now have two chicken meals in one week, and two turkey burger meals in the next. ideal? nope. but, when is real life ideal?

seriously.

if october keeps on keeping on like this (stress, work, boyfriend surpising me with dinners out (yay), pure laziness, etc) - there is a large possibility that you will seem some of these meals trickle on over to november. (yesssssssssss.)

and now, for your reading pleasure:


initial dreamland menu
(click to view larger)







new real life menu
(click to view larger)

 

ch-ch-ch-chicken paprikash.

i feel like i am on an episode of sesame street. i apparently have an affinity for sounding out my recipes. p-p-p-pot roast. ch-ch-ch-chicken paprikash.

st-st-st-strange.

anyway, i made chicken paprikash a new way last night. normally i make it in the crocky- it consists of shredded chicken, hungarian paprika, onions, sour cream and dumplings. this recipe holds basically the same ingredients, add green bell pepper, subtract dumplings, add egg noodles, unshred chicken. i was nervous because he grew up with the crockpot version- and loves it but i dont care for the dumplings but i love the flavor- so i thought i'd try something a little different.....

ingredients:

1 tbsp evoo (i just pulled a rachel ray)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
(i am sure you could use dark meat here- thighs maybe, but i am anti.)
1 medium onion- sliced
1 bell peper-sliced
2 cloves (ish) chopped garlic
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes (i used whole and just crushed them with my hands- messy, but i think better)
salt
black pepper
1 tbsp paprika (i use hungarian paprika)
sour cream
fresh dill
egg noodles

method:

let the oil heat up in large, deep skillet or pot

salt and pepper both sides of each chicken breast

brown chicken breasts about 4-5 min each side, remove from skillet, set aside

keep drippings from chicken in pan (if it is an excessive amount, only keep about 2 tbsp)

add onion, bell pepper and garlic- stir until tender (about 4-5 minutes)

add crushed tomatoes (you can add some of the juice, but don't add all of it)

add paprika, about 1/4 tsp pepper and 1/2 tsp salt- mix

bring ingredients to a boil over medium heat

when boiling, nestle chicken in the mixture and then simmer partially UNcovered for about 20 minutes or until chicken is done




nestled chicken



while chicken is cooking, boil egg noodles (i like the wheaty- whole grainy ones, but to be traditional, use, well, the traditional ones)

place chicken and pepper/onion/tomato mix over noodles

top with a dollop of daisy (sour cream) and a sprig or two of fresh dill

*the dill really compliments the meal. next time i will mince it and add it to pan near the end of cooking

tastes as good as it looks!


this was a success, as my paprikash snob really liked it too! however, that does not eliminate the crockpot version. stay tuned for that recipe down the road.

chow!

healthy homemade granola

So, in my project of trying new breakfast foods, I found a lot that had granola in them. I love granola, but it's really expensive-- and in reading about different kinds of granola, I found that it really isn't that healthy. It's full of sugar and all sorts of preservatives.

I had to find something better. Something cheaper, something healthier.

I did.

I found something that is full of protein and has some fiber also-- and is made with things easy to find in any grocery store, was prepared in about 30 minutes (only because I had an accident with it-- more on that later), and cooked in less than an hour.

Rather than give you the recipe I found, I'll share with you the way i actually made it. Keep in mind you can change this up pretty much however you want. Change the nuts. Exchange pumpkin seeds in for the sunflower seeds. Use agave nectar or maple syrup instead of honey. Use your imagination!

Healthy Homemade Granola

dry ingredients:

6 cups rolled oats (just not instant oatmeal)

2 cups raw almonds, crunched up

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1/2 cup ground flax seed

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

** 1/2 cup dried berries (added after cooking)

wet ingredients:

2 cups unsweetened applesauce

1/3 cup honey

2 T olive oil

1 T ground cinnamon

1 T ground ginger

smidgen of salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

(yes, that's dried berries in it also. I read the instructions wrong initially and thought the dried fruit was to be added with the dry ingredients. It's supposed to be added after baking. Oops.)

Mix all the dry ingredients together. Remember to add the dried fruit after cooking. I forgot. I added them to everything, stirred it together, then had to pick them all out. On the plus side, I found out that mixing it by hand was MUCH easier than with a spoon.

Mix the wet ingredients and spices together, then add them to the dry ingredients.

Spread into two baking dishes that have been treated with a little nonstick spray. I had a 13x9 and an 8x8 available. Bake for about an hour, stirring every 10-15 minutes. Be careful when stirring it not to break it up too much-- you know how granola is supposed to be kind of chunky, and you don't want it to get too flaky. The original recipe said to bake it until it starts to get golden brown, but it's basically golden brown the whole time. So I stirred until it was sort of dry, and, well, granola-texture.

storage conditions-- there's a lot of fresh food in it that can go bad if left on the counter, even if in an airtight container. If you're not going to eat it all in a day or two, store it in a cool, dry place. I put most of it in a gallon-size freezer bag and stored it in the freezer. The rest I put in a tupperware container in the fridge.

Nutritional Value for 1/2 cup granola:

232 calories

7 grams protein

12.7 grams fat (mostly comes from the nuts and seeds)

25 grams carbohydrates

4.4 grams fiber