Veni Vedi Vinaigrette

I made a delicious salad last night for dinner and I even made my own croutons and salad dressing! For the croutons, I cut up  some stale italian bread into small cubes and placed them on a cookie sheet. I then drizzled some Extra Virgin Olive Oil over them and sprinkled some italian seasoning. Then placed into a 350° oven for 10-12 minutes.

• Green and Yellow Peppers
• Mushrooms
• Romaine Lettuce
• Carrots
• Celery
• Tomatoes

The dressing was of course an Alton Brown recipe: Veni Vedi Vinaigrette

I’m trying very hard to eat a lot healthier right now because I have not been eating well at all. I’ve also gained a few pounds over the last few months and it only bothers me because my pants are fitting a little tighter. Like the rest of the world I am setting some weight loss and healthy living goals. I am going to take it slowly and steadily so it will be a lot easier to maintain. I think my new training schedule will give me a nice push in the right direction, exercise wise.

Just to keep things clear though, I only want to shed a few pounds so I can fit into my jeans better. I also need to rid my body of all the junk that I’ve been eating. The best way for me to do this is to eat a lot more fruits and veggies than I have been. It’s really as simple as that. Wish me luck!

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Baked Mac & Cheese

As I had mentioned earlier, I made Alton Brown’s Macaroni and Cheese last night for dinner. This was my first real time actually making baked macaroni and cheese. It was quite eventful, in my opinion. I had a lot of pressure from Derek also because he typically doesn’t like mac and cheese (I know, who doesn’t LIKE macaroni and cheese!?). I was really hoping he would like this one, especially because it is Alton Brown’s recipe.

Anyway, it was delicious! It had a ton of flavor and the consistency was perfect. The did not have onions in my version though, that was the only ingredient I was missing. It still tasted great without it. I am going to eat some leftovers tonight, that is certain! Here is the recipe, if you are interested. Baked Macaroni and Cheese

We paired it with a Southern Tier ‘Cherry Saison’ which we have had for probably almost 6 months.

The beer was delicious. Not at all what I had expected. I thought it would be a lot sweeter than it was. It’s actually 8% alcohol and has a very strong bitter, hoppiness to it. It went well with our meal.

For dessert, I ate a yummy peanut butter ball! These things are amazing and I must have the recipe. They are made by a friend of Derek’s family and I look forward to them every Christmas.

I gotta run, I am working on making Roquefort Cheese Balls for the New Year’s Eve Party tonight!

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Fillet O’Fu

I gave Derek this Alton Brown cookbook for Christmas and I was the first to crack into it.

We had some tofu in the fridge so we decided to have Fillet O’Fu.

It was a very simple recipe and we already had all of the ingredients. We actually did have to make one substitution, we used Red Wine Vinegar instead of Sherry Vinegar.

It takes a lot of prep time, like hours and hours, so we knew we would be eating pretty late. I think I started it around 5 and we ate around 9. The tofu has to be drained out for 2 hours and then it has to be marinated. We marinated it for an hour, but I would definitely suggest you do it longer, possibly even over night.

The result was good, I think Derek enjoyed it more than I did. It was a little too vinegary for me, but I still enjoyed it. I suppose I was expecting a little more since it took so long to prepare.

This was last night’s dinner. Tonight I am making Baked Macaroni and Cheese, also from the Good Eat’s cookbook! I was craving mac & cheese and figured I would give the recipe a look over to see if we had all the ingredients. The only thing we are missing is the onion. Hopefully it will still be good without it. I think so!

The marinated pieces were then dipped in flour, egg, and breadcrumbs. I thought they looked delicious even before being cooked.

Served with a side of Spicy Saffron Rice.

Here is the recipe:

Fillet O’Fu

Stay tuned for Alton Brown Macaroni and Cheese!

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Date Filled Cookies

This recipe was sent to me by my Aunt Paula. I am going to write it exactly as how she sent it to me. There is a paragraph of tips/comments at the bottom that is very helpful. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup shortening or vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

Directions:

Thoroughly cream shortening and sugars; add eggs and beat well.  Add dry ingredients; mix thoroughly.   Chill.
Roll 1/8 inch thick on lightly fhoured surface.  Cut with floured cookie cutter.  Place a tsp of filing on each half of cookies; top with remaining cookies.  Press edges together with fork.  Pierce fork in the middle of cookie.  Bake on greased sheet at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

Filling:

Combine one cup of chopped dates, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/3 cup of water.  Cook over low heat until thickened.  About 5 minutes should do it.  Add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, if desired.

Comments:

The dates come in an 8 oz. package which is what you need.   Make sure you are buying CHOPPED dates.  I do not have a cookie cutter so I use what I have in the kitchen.  You can use the bottom of a round glass.  The size I used this past time was about 2 3/8 in diameter.  I think I make larger cookies than Nana did.  The amount of cookies I made with this recipe last time made 30 cookies, with some of the dough left over.

Regarding chilling the dough, the last time I made the dough late afternoon & kept it in the refrigerator until the next morning.  I wrap it up in wax paper, (flour the paper so it doesn’t stick to the paper when you try to use it.  It doesn’t take long to make the dough but it is the cutting out 30 circles with 30 tops & filling them in, etc. that takes time but they are SO GOOD.

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Stuffed Mushrooms

Here it is!

The recipe for my mom’s famous stuffed mushrooms. Everyone in my family loves these and I’m sure they will be around for several generations.

Okay so the picture may not look so appetizing, but trust me, they are exquisite!

Ingredients

• 1 or 2 containers of whole mushrooms
• 4 to 6 Stalks of Celery
• 3 Sleeves of Ritz Crackers
• 3 Sticks of Butter

Directions:

Rub down all mushrooms with a moist paper towel to remove all dirt residue. Remove all stems from the mushrooms and put into a food processor along with the stalks of celery. Make sure there are no leafy parts left on the stalks. Once the celery and mushrooms are finely diced, place into a large frying pan with 2 and a half sticks of butter and saute until they are soft and you are able to smell them.

While they are sauteing place 3 sleeves of Ritz crackers into the food processor, one stack at a time, or however many will fit into your food processor. After the mushrooms mixture is done sauteing, shut off the heat and blend the cracker crumbs into the mushroom mixture with a wooden spoon.

Place the Mushroom/Cracker filling into a large bowl or container and set aside. Place all of the mushroom caps from earlier into a baking dish (I use a 9×13 glass dish). Fill the mushrooms caps with 1 teaspoon of the filling and once they are all stuffed, use the remaining filling to cover all the gaps in the baking dish, leaving no spaces. The last half stick of butter will be used for the top of the stuffing. Cut small pats of butter and place them sporadically through out the top of the dish.

If making a day in advance, cover with foil and store in the refrigerator.

When ready to bake, place onto middle rack in oven at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes or until you can see them bubbling in dish.

Enjoy!

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Garlic Chicken Pizza and Sauvignon Blanc

Recently I’ve decided to try and get into wine. I started reading ‘the Idiots Guide to Tasting Wine’ and I also learned a lot from the blog, Eat Live Run. Jenna featured several posts about wine for newbies and it was quite interesting and very informational. I would like to buy a bottle of wine weekly and continue to try different kinds. My first choice was a Sauvignon Blanc. It took me a while to pick one out, but I decided on one from New Zealand that had a pleasant description.

I did some major grocery shopping tonight so now I am broke until pay day! I really don’t mind spending money on food though, I definitely prefer buying real groceries than a bunch of frozen cheap stuff just to save a little cash. I decided before I left what I was going to make for dinner: A home made pizza with chicken, tomatoes and spinach. I ended up cooking the chicken with some garlic and it just made it that much better.

• Whole wheat crust
• Casa Visco jarred pizza sauce
• a bunch of baby spinach
• a whole bag of 2% mozzarella
• garlic chicken
• tomato slices

In the oven for about 12-15 minutes at 450°

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Beer-Marinated Chicken Tacos

Grilling: Beer-Marinated Chicken Tacos | Serious Eats : Recipes.

I am so making these this weekend, maybe even tonight. What a great excuse to go out and buy a six pack of Negra Modelo.

I had planned on running 8 miles today, but I’ve decided to push it to tomorrow. I went to bed REALLY late last night and slept even later. I needed to catch up on some sleep and I don’t want to run in the middle of the day because it’s really hot out and I know I will get exhausted way too fast. This will be my second time running an 8 mile distance, the first time I took a couple walk breaks so it’s important for me to succeed in this run. Planning on doing it early tomorrow morning, well early for me.

I made Derek and I two huge bowls of oatmeal because I was starving when I woke up. He couldn’t even finish his bowl, I finished mine but with some much needed breaks in the middle. That stuff is filling!

Maybe I will be back later with some beer tacos!

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Sunday Night Dinner

I made this Sunday night. I found it on Sparkrecipes.com

I added mushrooms, onions, and red peppers to up the flavor and vegetable content.

Garlic Chicken and Spinach with Orzo

Ingredients

1-1/3 cup uncooked orzo pasta
1 can low sodium chicken broth
1 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – cut into bite-size pieces
salt to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
2 cups fresh spinach leaves
grated Parmesan cheese for topping

Directions

1. Add chicken broth and one cup of water to a pot, bring to a boil. Add orzo pasta, cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente, or until orzo absorbs most of the liquid. 

2. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, and cook the garlic and red pepper 1 minute, until garlic is golden brown. Stir in chicken, season with salt, pepper, and paprika, and cook 5 minutes, until lightly browned and juices run clear. Reduce heat to medium, and mix in the parsley and cooked orzo. Place spinach in the skillet. Continue cooking 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until spinach is wilted. Serve topped with Parmesan cheese. 

Number of Servings: 4

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Green Monster

Today has been a very long day. Worked first shift this morning, just like the past 3 Fridays. I came home and had to take a nap, it was raining out anyway. It sure was nice to wake up to sunshine though! I drank a redbull and some water and headed to the gym to go for a swim. But! I got there and there were kids swimming in the lap pool. It makes me so mad, that pools is for swimming laps not for people to hang out in. I immediately left and went for a bike ride instead. After my ride I went for a short run up a huge hill and I ended up doing it pretty fast. 1.38 miles in 11:47 min.

Did some grocery shopping and made some dinner. I found a really good recipe on Food Network. I made some wheat garlic bread to go along with it.

I have had a very stressful week, I really think the crappy weather is getting to me. I NEED the sun to come out and I just want it to be 80 degrees!

I bought this stuff called Amazing Meal, which is an all natural plant based protein powder. It originally sells for $70, but I got mine for $41 because of a coupon code offered through one of the blogs I read. I can’t wait to try it. People make these drinks called ‘Green Monsters’ out of it. Basically you can add in anything you want, but an example would be: Peanut butter or almond butter, spinach, almond milk, frozen blueberries or bananas and a scoop of powder. I am so excited to try one. I am also getting a free shaker to make all of my green monsters in. I’m going to start drinking them for breakfast. They will fill me up and they will be really good for me.

I really want to start focusing on eating really well. I keep going into these relapses where I eat terribly and I am sick of it. Hopefully this will be a good start and I’m excited to be a part of the whole green monster movement that I keep hearing about.

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Mmm, I want these!

On the Glo Granola Bars

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