Day 14 and 15: Leftover Days

We had a brief one day trip this weekend, so we did have to eat a couple of meals out, but the rest of the time we've been eating leftovers of the Peanut Butter Chicken, Veggie Beef Chili, and the Mushrooms and Fettuccine with Red Pepper Flakes.

Day 13: Blueberry Dumplings

Okay, so this isn't the healthiest recipe, but at least it's healthier than a candy bar... and no preservatives. I found this on allrecipes.com. It's a very easy-to-make recipe with decent flavor (although a few little tweaks to the original recipe would be preferred next time).


Blueberry Dumplings
What you'll need:

2 c blueberries

1/2 c white sugar

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour

2 t. baking powder

2 t. lemon zest

1/4 t. ground nutmeg

1/2 t. ground cinnamon

1/4 t. salt

3/4 c milk

3/4 c water

1/2 c half and half

Pour blueberries and 3/4 c of water into a 10 inch cast iron skillet. Stir in sugar. Cook until juice begins to boil, and lower heat. 

In mixing bowl, mix flour, baking powder, lemon rind, spices, and salt. Stir in milk until dry particles are just moistened. Drop dough by spoonfuls (8 large dumplings) on top of simmering berry mixture, and cover skillet. Cook over medium-low heat until dough is puffed and cooked through. Serve dumplings with berry sauce and cold cream.

 pan-view (fully cooked)

Ratings from the Experts*: 7/10 from both of us. It would be much better if you drop the 1/2 and 1/2 and serve with low fat vanilla yogurt instead. Also, cut the sugar in the blueberry sauce to 1/4 c. and add that 1/4 c. to the dumpling mix instead. I will definitely revisit this recipe though and try to make it better. It's promising.

Day 12: Veggie Beef Chili

I was craving something different and had a bunch of veggies to try to use up before they went into the moldy abyss, so I decided to slice, dice and throw them into the slow cooker. I ended up making a nice, lean healthy chili with organic ground beef, squash, corn, and celery.

Veggie Beef Chili
What you'll need:
1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
1 medium zucchini squash
3 stalks celery
1 can Sweet Corn
1- 4oz can Tomato Paste
4 oz. Spaghetti Sauce
3 T. chili powder
2 T. basil
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. onion powder
2 c water
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)

Lightly brown the beef in a skillet (don't overdo it or your meat will end up dry once it's been slow-cooked for hours). Next dice the celery, then slice squash into halves then making 1/4" slices. Throw the veggies and beef into the CrockPot with the tomato paste, (be sure to drain the corn). Add in 2 c of water and 4 oz. spaghetti sauce and mix well. Lastly, add in the chili powder, basil, garlic, pepper, and onion. Mix very well. Set the cooker to High for 2 hours. Check squash every so  often to ensure it is softening. Once squash is soft, but not so tender it falls apart, turn the cooker off.

Serve topped with the shredded cheese of your choice.


Ratings from the Experts*: Pending. I tasted last night just after cooking it and found it delightful, but until I eat a full dish, I'm going to hold off judgments. UPDATE: Hubby gave it a strong 8/10. He ate it all in fact... for lunches at work. I'm told it was good. I wouldn't know since I didn't get any. (Yes. That is a hint of sarcasm you're detecting.)

Day 11: Mushrooms & Fettuccine with Red Pepper flakes

I'm baaaaaa-aaaack! And so glad to be in my own kitchen after a good night's sleep. I ate some wonderful meals in Dallas, but I'm starting to like my own cooking enough to want to cook! Tonight I ripped off Cathy at Noble Pig's Mushrooms and Fettuccine with Red Pepper Flakes recipe, except I added a couple of my own twists due to my hi-jinks in the kitchen.

I didn't have enough mushrooms and thus didn't create enough sauce. Plus, my husband likes thicker sauces on pasta as a rule, so I ended up adding a 1/2 c of half and half. I liked the effect on the sauce, but still want to try the recipe with double the mushrooms.

P.S. Artificial light sucks for trying to photograph food. Today was rainy, so there wasn't enough natural light to get a decent shot.

Mushrooms & Fettuccine with Red Pepper Flakes
What you'll need:
8 oz. dry fettuccine
3 T butter
1 T olive oil
2 t. minced garlic
1/2 t. red pepper flakes
1 t. basil
1/2 lb. sliced baby bellas
1/2 c red cooking wine
1/2 c half and half
1/2 c grated Parmesan/Romano blend
Salt to taste
Chopped Parsley

Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water according to package directions.  Drain pasta; set aside.

Heat butter and oil in a saute pan over medium-high.  When bubbles subside add garlic and pepper flakes; cook 1 minute.  Stir in mushrooms, cooking until they release their liquid and it's nearly evaporated, about 20 minutes.  Deglaze pan with wine, simmering until nearly evaporated.

Add fettuccine to pan and stir in half and half, 1/4 cup at a time, until it loosely coats pasta.  Off heat, toss pasta with Parmesan/Romano and season with salt.  Garnish each serving with chopped parsley and more Parmesan/Romano.


Ratings from the Experts*: Hubby gives it a 7 (less pepper, more sauce) but loved the zing that the pepper gave the dish overall. I give it the same. I'd be happier with more mushrooms too. I will say, if I figure out the right amounts of spice/sauce/mushrooms, this could easily be a 10.

Funday Sunday

Alright. Since I'm out of town and unable to be in the kitchen today, I thought I'd come up with a new regular post.(By the way, we thoroughly enjoyed yesterday's recipes Chicken Bierocks and Healthy Trail Mix on the road trip down!)

Here are some fun food stories from around the web.

Ever seen those mashed potato cakes? Well this is kind of a reverse.
Check out the surreal world of Pizza Cakes!

Ever heard of Stinking Bishop or Bubble and Squeak? Check out this hilarious article on the origins of some very funny food names!

Most people know about the La Tomatina Festival in Spain in which participants hurl tomatoes at each other until all are covered from head to toe in smashed tomato, but did you know there's a CHEESE-ROLLING festival in Gloucestershire, England? I'm not kidding!

Or what about the Battle of the Oranges in Ivrea, Italy? Now that has to hurt!
For more weird festivals go to Weirdomatic.com.

Ever wanted to eat your dinner in a Beijing Jail? What about eating your dinner on the porcelain throne? Check out this blog on Crazy Asian Restaurants.

So... what did you think? Should this become a regular thing? Post in comments below.

Day 6: Recipe 2- Chicken Bierocks

My mother-in-law suggested making Bierocks when I put out a request on facebook for recipes that travel well. I’d made them before and found them very filling… but the problem was that I didn’t have enough ground beef or sausage, as is the customary meat filling. So I came up with my own concoction and I think it turned out well!

Chicken Bierocks
What you’ll need:
2 large boneless chicken breast, cubed
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 can corn
1/2 large onion, sliced
1 - 4 oz. can mushrooms
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 t. Paprika
1 T. Basil
pepper, to taste

Throw all of this into a CrockPot, mix well. Cook for 3-5 hours on high, stirring occasionally.


Dough

2 pkgs. yeast
1 t salt
1 c warm milk
4 c flour
1/4 c sugar
1/2 c warm water
1/4 c butter, softened

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Set in warm place. Add warm milk, butter and salt; let stand for 10 minutes with yeast mixture in it. Add flour and sugar and work together with fingers until all of the dry ingredients are worked in well. Let double for 50 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out dough into a 1/4” thick layer, then cut into 7” circles of. Take cooked chicken mixture and spoon desired amount into the middle of dough circles, then fold dough over and pinch edges down, ensuring all the mixture is contained within the dough. (It’s easiest to do this on a cookie sheet so you don’t have to transfer them once done.) Bake for 20-25 minutes until dough is firm and slightly crispy on the outside.

This recipe yields 6-8 bierocks.

Rating from the Expert*: Delicious! 9/10, only for the fact that I might like to try adding some Thyme and maybe add potatoes to the chicken mixture next time. The dough is sweet and tasty and the dish is very filling overall.

Day 6: Healthy Trail Mix

I found out we're making a bit of an unexpected road trip to Dallas this weekend through next week for my husband's work. Since I'm becoming more conscious about healthy food, I came to the succinct conclusion that Convenience Store Gourmet is not going to cut it for snacks. I did a little searching online searching for inspiration and came upon suggestions for trail mix, but I hate the sodium content in many of the processed trail mixes, so I made my own.


Healthy Trail Mix
What you'll need:
1 1/2 c granola or rice based cereal (I used Aldi's GetBalance Crunch)
1 c Cheerios
1 1/2 c Corn Chex
1 c Almonds
1 c Dried mixed berries (strawberries, cranberries, blueberries)
1 c Semi-Sweet chocolate chips

Put in a large container, shake until well mixed.

Rating from the Experts*: For a much healthier mix, no added salt, and some good sweet stuff I give it a 10/10. If my husband is any indication, he immediately came over and dipped his hand into the tupperware container and started scarfing it down, eliciting sounds of approval.