My husband is a meat and potato type of guy, which by now you probably realize, I am definitely not! However, I feel the need to keep him happy and his belly full...I'm not sure why that is... :) So to keep both of us happy, I try to come up with new ways of making the same meat and potato dishes. If I come up with new ways to make the same old stuff, it not only keeps my brain working, but also makes him happy because he isn't eating the same flavors all the time. A few years back, we were both tired of eating plain mashed potatoes, so I decided to experiment with some different flavors. I found that by mixing garlic, (or garlic powder) and parsley, along with leaving some texture in the potatoes, it made them much more exciting! So without further adieu, here is my recipe for some slightly more exciting potatoes!
Ingredients:
Red potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes with the peel left on
Milk
Sour Cream
Butter
Garlic Powder
Parsley
Salt and Pepper (of course)
Place potatoes in a pot and cover with water. Bring up to a boil and let them cook in boiling water until you can stick a fork through them easily. When they are cooked, drain them, and place them back into the warm pot. (do not turn back on burner) The heat that is left in the pot will help them to dry off. Depending on how many potatoes you cooked will depend on how much of the remaining ingredients to use. I think I used about 6 potatoes, so I needed about 1 tbsp of sour cream, 1/2 cup milk, 3 tbsp butter, 1.5 tsp of garlic powder, pinch of salt and pepper, and 2 tbsp Parsley. Put all ingredients in the pot and mash until you get your desired consistency. You can add more milk if you want it thinner, or less if you prefer it more chunky.
For every recipe that doesn't turn out so well, another one is AMAZING! As I had mentioned in a previous blog, I have been daydreaming about combining some of my favorite items for lunch. I cannot seem eat chicken salad without a tomato to accompany it, so I have been thinking about stuffing a roasted tomato with chicken salad and topping it with a little cheese for quite some time. I am very proud to say that I have successfully created this recipe and it is insanely delicious, and pretty healthy!
Ingredients:
1 tomato per serving
1 can of chicken, or leftover roasted chicken, cut into small pieces
1 Tablespoon mayo
Half of a celery stalk, minced
Shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Take your tomatoes and cut around the top of the tomato, just like you would if you were carving a pumpkin. Once you remove the core, take a spoon and spoon out all of the insides, just be care not to penetrate the sides or bottom of the tomato. Once the tomato is carved and scooped out, place it on a baking sheet, and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for about 15-20 mins.
In a separate bowl, combine chicken, mayo, celery, a tablespoon of shredded cheese, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
After the tomato has been removed from the oven and cooled, stuff it with the chicken salad. Top with cheese and place it under the broiler for about 3-4 minutes, just until the cheese has melted.
We are starting a new tradition in my house, where my husband and I are going to do Lazy Sundays. Lazy Sundays will entail lots of pajama wearing, laying around, and the two most important aspects: Just the two of us, and amazing food!
Since our weekends have become jam-packed with people to see and things to do, we decided that we need a day to ourselves to enjoy our marriage, especially before we have children. So we will be locking ourselves away from the world and I will be cooking up tons of good food to keep my husband happy.
Yesterday was our first ever Lazy Sunday. For breakfast, I made some delicious pumpkin bread (since the weather has been cooler, I was in the mood for some Autumnal flavors), we had sandwiches for lunch, and then some Kabobs using wonderful in- season produce! The kabobs definitely take a little prep work, but it is completely worth it because the flavors are just amazing! I typically do all the prep in the morning and then all I have to do come dinner time is assemble the pieces. You can make these so many different ways and with different veggies (or fruit) and different meats and marinades, that you will never get tired of them.
Ingredients:
Kabob sticks (metal or bamboo)
Some type of meat, cubed (I used chicken)
Your favorite veggies (I used red onion, grape tomatoes, and yellow bell pepper)
Your favorite marinade (I used Roasted Garlic Marinade)
Salt and Pepper
If you are going to be using bamboo Kabob sticks, make sure to soak them in water all day so that they do not burn on the grill.
Cube up the meat, and place in a zip lock baggie. Add marinade, salt and pepper. Seal the bag and massage the marinade gently into the meat. Place baggie in the refrigerator to allow the meat to soak up all the amazing flavors of the marinade. Cube up all of your veggies, (you can leave the grape or cherry tomatoes whole since they are small enough already) make sure all veggies are approximately the same size so everything cooks evenly.
When you are ready for your kabobs, simply arrange veggies and meat on the kabob sticks.
You can cook these on an indoor or outdoor grill. We used a George Foreman grill last night and it worked wonderfully. Place the finished kabob on the grill, and rotate after a few minutes, turning until the meat is cooked and the veggies are nice charred.
OK, I admit that I tend to be a little on the modest side, and always criticize my food....and most other things that I do....but I made my famous Pumpkin Bread this weekend, and this bread is so delicious that I have nothing that I can change or criticize. To me, this bread is the epitome of Autumn. The scent in my house when I am making this bread is so amazing, that I wish I could bottle it or make it into a candle fragrance for everyone to enjoy! This is a bread that is so perfectly spiced and so moist, that it is, by far is the best bread I have consumed in my life thus far.
The only other thing that I can say about this bread is that you NEED to try it. If there is one thing this Autumn/ Winter season that I blog that you try out, it really should be this recipe.
Ingredients:
3 cups sugar (or 1 cup sugar and 1 cup brown sugar)
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 16oz can solid pack pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
This recipe makes 2 full loaves of bread.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make sure to butter and flour the pans so that your bread does not stick to the pans. Beat sugar and oil in a large bowl to blend, then mix in eggs and pumpkin. In a separate bowl, sift flower, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir half of the pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients, and incorporate completely before adding the rest of the pumpkin mixture. Do not over mix, just make sure everything is combined. Put mixture into the 2 bread pans and cook for 70mins. Let cool before removing from pans.
Yes, I have to admit, I am on another health kick...and no, this is not a resolution, and no, this is not the first one this year. I feel like I should be in a 12-step program for Health Kickers Anonymous or something. My name is Brie and I am a chronic Health Kicker! The first step is admitting that you have a problem, right?
This time, I swear things will be different and I will stick with a routine! I have decided that this time I will take tiny tippy-toe steps...(which of course, are steps smaller than baby steps) so that maybe the adjustment to this new way of life will be easier and not quite as scary. In the past, I tend to jump into this whole healthy living thing with both feet, and within a week I am running back to my chocolate ice cream and comfort foods. This time will definitely be different.
I have started off by substituting my bagel and cream cheese breakfast with a piece of peanut butter toast and a banana, or some oatmeal. Then, after I was content and comfortable with this small change, I added grapes to my crackers, cheese and hummus lunches. But when I am not eating crackers and cheese for lunch, I'm eating sandwiches, which aren't unhealthy, but I thought could definitely be healthier. :)
So I came up with a Mediterranean Style Sandwich. This sandwich is pretty much like a fabulous salad between two pieces of whole wheat bread, bagels or a pita. I made this for my lunch yesterday and made an extra for my friend, PJ to taste test. It was such a hit that PJ contacted me last night to make sure he remembered all the ingredients because he was at the store buying the items that he needed to make this sandwich for his friends too!
Ingredients:
A pita, 2 pieces of whole wheat bread, or a bagel
Thinly sliced cucumber
Thinly sliced red onion
Sliced tomato
A piece of red leaf lettuce, or romaine
2 tbsp. of your favorite hummus (I used Roasted Garlic Hummus)
Provolone cheese
Sliced turkey
Spread Hummus on your bread, pita or bagel (this will be the substitute to mayo). Then stack on your veggies, turkey and cheese onto the pita, bread or bagel. Finally, eat and enjoy a guilt free lunch!
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