Falafel Pitas with Cucumber Dipping Sauce

I don't remember how I came across this recipe. Oh, I take that back. I think I had bookmarked a list of easy vegetarian dinners from the Cooking Light website and found it that way. I'm trying to work back in some more vegetarian meals into our dinners each week. I really like falafel, but I'd never tried making my own before. it sounded pretty easy from this recipe and most of the ingredients were things I had on hand (well, except the pita bread). Double bonus!!

Falafel Pitas with Cucumber Dipping Sauce
Source: CookingLight.com

1/4 cup minced red onion
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 (15 1/2-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
1 (1-ounce) slice whole wheat bread, torn into pieces
1 large egg
1 large egg white
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 (6-inch) whole wheat pitas, split
1 cup arugula
1/2 cup Cucumber-Yogurt Dressing

Combine first 10 ingredients in a food processor; pulse 6 times or until well blended (mixture will be wet).

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Spoon about 1/3 cup chickpea mixture per patty into pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown.

Line each pita half with 1/4 cup arugula, add 1 patty to each pita half, and spoon 2 tablespoons Cucumber-Yogurt Dressing into each pita half.

Cucumber-Yogurt Dressing
Source: CookingLight.com

1 cup plain fat-free yogurt
1/2 cup diced seedless cucumber
1/4 cup minced red onion
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and chill.

Note: Nutritional analysis includes Cucumber-Yogurt Dressing.
Calories: 280
Calories from fat: 30%
Fat: 9.4g
Saturated fat: 1.2g
Monounsaturated fat: 5g
Polyunsaturated fat: 2.2g
Protein: 11.4g
Carbohydrate: 40.1g
Fiber: 7.3g
Cholesterol: 53mg
Iron: 3.3mg
Sodium: 592mg
Calcium: 81mg

*****

Since the nutritional info was there on the website, I figured I'd include it for the recipe. I actually used whole wheat naan instead of pita bread because pita bread and I just don't get along. We have issues...always have, always will. I find naan much easier to work with and even a little tastier.

I wasn't really sure what my kids were going to think of this, but they both ate it pretty well. Especially after I gave them ketchup to dip their falafel in. I know, I know...ketchup with falafel?! But they ate it all and there wasn't a fight at the dinner table. Sometimes we moms do what we gotta do.

This was super easy to put together and really tasty. I'd definitely make it again, especially since for the most part it was made up of things I had in my fridge or pantry already!

Falafel mixture:


Falafel patties cooking away:


Mmmm...falafel pitas...

Cuban Sandwiches

Hello, dear blog. I've missed you so. I really have no excuse for why I've stayed away so long. Well, I kind of do but it's not a very good one. I wrote out a list of blog posts I want to do and there are seven on the list and two maybes. Yikes. That's a lot of catching up to do. Conveniently I feel like doing no sort of household chores today, other than what I've already accomplished, so that works out pretty well. Plus someone from church is swinging by at some point, so I don't want to be in the middle of, say, giving the dog a bath when she gets here.

Quite awhile ago the husband and I went on a date night to a local Cuban restaurant. My mom had bought a Groupon for it but wasn't going to be able to use it, so she generously gave it to us. Woo hoo! I love a date night, but a free date night is even better! Actually I think we ended up spending more than the amount of the Groupon because (here's a little known fact about me) I cannot resist a good, fresh mojito...the kind with real mint leaves in the bottom of the glass. Lordy mama, am I ever a sucker for a good mojito. It's actually kind of a sickness because whenever I smell fresh mint all I can think of are mojitos.

Anyway...

We went to this Cuban restaurant for dinner and decided to share two entrees. I seriously could not decide. We knew we wanted a Cuban sandwich and honestly I would have eaten anything else on the menu. We ended up getting some kind of pulled pork that was really good, but the Cuban sandwich was AMAZING. I've always been a fan of Cuban sandwiches...pork, ham, swiss cheese, mustard, pickles. What's not to love?! After having a very tasty sandwich there the husband and I decided we needed to have them again soon. So we had them for a date night dinner one Friday after the kiddos went to bed. I just kind of winged the recipe.

Cuban Sandwiches

4 slices deli ham
4 slices roasted pork
2 slices Swiss cheese
4 slices dill pickles
Mustard
2 crusty rolls or 4 pieces french bread

Split open rolls and spread both sides with mustard. use as much or little mustard as you like. On bottom half of roll, layer 2 slices ham, 2 slices pork, 1 slice Swiss cheese, and 2 pickle slices. Top with top half of roll.

Using a panini press (or whatever you like to use for a pressed sandwich), grill sandwich until cheese is melted and the bread is toasted.

*****

Pretty easy. For the pork component I used a one pound pork loin roast that I had cooked in the crockpot. I used my friend Jen's method for cooking a pork roast...throw the roast, a can of beer, some salt and pepper in the crockpot and let it cook. It was pretty awesome pork and I think my new go to method for cooking pork when I just need the meat for something.

These weren't quite as good as the ones we had at Havana Cafe, but I think that was due to the bread. I didn't have access to special Cuban bread, and I really think that would make a big difference. The husband and I both liked them, and it was a pretty easy dinner to throw together, so I'm sure we'll have them again.

Strawberry Pancake Topping

I guess this doesn't have to be a pancake topping, but the title "strawberry topping" just seemed weird. We're having it on pancakes, but I imagine it would work for waffles, ice cream, crepes...you name it. I was looking through the breakfast recipes in my cookbook for the week, America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook, and thought about making a multigrain pancake recipe I saw, but it would have required me purchasing a lot of ingredients that probably wouldn't get used a whole lot. Okay, really just "no-sugar-added muesli" and I wasn't sure how often I'd use that again or even if any of the stores around me would have it. I mean, I couldn't find leeks the other day...what are my chances of finding "no sugar added muesli?!" I remembered I had a Trader Joe's multigrain pancake mix in my pantry, so I figured there was no point reinventing the wheel when I could just use that. I had already seen the strawberry topping recipe, so I figured I'd make that to go with the pancakes from the mix. we're going to have scrambled eggs and bacon to go along with the pancakes.

Strawberry Topping
Source: The America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook, Copyright 2010

4 cups strawberries (about 20 ounces), hulled and sliced thin
1/4 cup sugar
Pinch salt
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Toss 2 cups of the strawberries, the sugar, and salt together in a large bowl and let sit, stirring occasionally, until the strawberries have released their juice and the sugar has dissolved, about 30 minutes. Transfer the mixture, including all of the liquid, to a small saucepan and stir in the remaining strawberries. Cook over medium heat until the juice has thickened into a sauce, about 6 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the lemon juice. Let cool 1 hour before serving.

*****

This strawberry sauce was really good. It wasn't super sweet which I really liked. It tasted like strawberries, not syrupy sweet strawberries. I didn't let it cool for an hour because I forgot to factor in that time when I started making it. I figured it didn't need to be cool, though, since we were having it on pancakes. We all really liked it. Actually it made me think of my dad. Growing up when we'd have breakfast for dinner it was a big treat for my dad to make waffles and then we'd have strawberries and whipped cream on them. The strawberry sauce on the pancakes reminded me of that. I'd definitely make this again. There's still some left in my fridge...I kind of wish I had some vanilla ice cream to go with it.

Stir-Fried Pork and Napa Cabbage with Ginger Sauce

In case you're not a follower of my weight loss blog, you may not know that I'm going to be running the Disneyland Half Marathon in September. Are you saying, "I had no idea Claire was a runner"? Yeah...I'm not. Or I wasn't at least. I guess I'm becoming a runner. I decided to do the Couch to 5K program at the start of 2011. I have never been a runner. NEVER. My friend Jess reminded me that I used to tell people I only ran if being chased. It's true, I did say that. And now I can run 30 minutes straight without any real problems. Except for the voice in my head reminding me how much I hate running. But I'm learning to tune out that voice. Thinking about how much I hate it isn't going to get me running 13.1 miles.

Anyway, I'm running the race with my friend Jen, and last night was our first training session. I didn't want a super heavy meal knowing I'd be heading out the door to go running approximately an hour after we ate, so I thought this stir fry would be a good meal to have. The husband only chose the cookbook for the week, not the recipes. I had some pork chops in the freezer I needed to be using, so I thought this would work well.

Sadly I couldn't find it online anywhere, so I have to type out the whole thing. Lame.

Stir-Fried Pork and Napa Cabbage with Ginger Sauce
Source: The America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook, copyright 2010

Pork:
2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp all purpose flour
2 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
2 tsp Chinese rice cooking wine or dry sherry
1 12-ounce pork tenderloin, sliced into thin strips

Stir-Fry:
3 scallions, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
4 tsp canola oil
2 carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into matchsticks
1/2 head napa cabbage, cored and shredded into 1-inch wide pieces
1 recipe Ginger Sauce (recipe below)

For the Pork: combine the sesame oil, cornstarch, flour, soy sauce, and rice wine in a bowl, stir in the pork, and marinate for at least 10 minutes or up to 1 hour.

For the stir-fry: combine the scallions, garlic, ginger, and 1 teaspoon of the canola oil in a bowl.

Heat 1 teaspoon more canola oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add the pork, break up any clumps, and cook until lightly browned on all sides but not fully cooked, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, cover, and set aside.

Add the remaining 2 teaspoons canola oil to the skillet and return to high heat until shimmering. Add the carrots and bell pepper and cook until the vegetables are crisp-tender, 3-4 minutes. Stir in the cabbage and cook, tossing constantly, until it is slightly wilted and crisp-tender, about 2 minutes.

Clear the center of the skillet, add the garlic mixture, and cook, mashing the mixture into the pan, untril fragrant, 15 to 30 seconds. Stir it into the vegetables.

Return the pork, with any accumulated juice, to the skillet. Whisk the sauce to recombine, then add to the skillet. Simmer, tossing constantly, until the pork is cooked through and the sauce has thickened, 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Serve.

Per 1-1/4 cup serving: 300 calories, 15g fat, 2g sat fat, 55mg cholesterol, 20g carbohydrates, 22g protein, 2g fiber, 780mg sodium

Ginger Sauce
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp Chinese rice cooking wine or dry sherry
1 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger

Whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl and use as directed in stir-fry recipes.

*****

I love how fast stir fries come together for a dinner. I got the pork marinating and then worked on prepping everything else. If you aren't used to making stir fries, having everything ready to go is a pretty crucial step since the ingredients usually cook super fast.

This was something my whole family really enjoyed. Boy #1 thought it looked gross when he saw the picture in the cookbook, but he ate just about every bite on his plate. I served it over some brown rice (I needed some carbs for my run!), and the husband and I each had an egg roll with ours. This is definitely something I'd make again. I think you could easily substitute chicken for the pork as well.

The picture isn't the greatest. I forgot to take a pic after I had plated, but when I thought of it my plate was kind of a mess, so I took a picture of what was left in the pan. I also keep forgetting to put the Speedlite back on my camera, so the lighting is pretty horrible.

Creamy Chicken Dijon

I know I've mentioned before my great aunt who is (well, was as she passed away a few years ago) a James Beard award winner for a cookbook she authored. One of the cookbooks she wrote was a low carb slow cooker one. My mom had a copy and gave it to me the last time I did Phase One of the South Beach Diet. I hadn't used it, then when I was meal planning for this past week I got it out to see what was in it. I had originally slated this for Wednesday night because I knew we'd be getting home late, but then plans ended up changing, so I didn't make it. I had meant to make it for Saturday night then but forgot. So it then became our Sunday night dinner.

Creamy Chicken Dijon
Source: Low-Carb Slow & Easy by Frances Towner Giedt

2 large leeks, white part and 1 inch pale green
3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp crushed dried tarragon
1-1/2 ounces prosciutto, cut into 1-inch wide strips
1/2 cup white Burgundy wine or low-sodium canned chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream

Cut the trimmed leeks in half lengthwise and wash well. Thinly slice on the diagonal. Place the leeks in the bottom of a 5-quart or larger crockery slow cooker.

Rinse the chicken; discard any fat. Pat dry with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper. In a small dish, combine the Dijon mustard and tarragon. Spread on the chicken pieces and wrap strips of the prosciutto around each piece. Place the chicken on top of the leeks. Pour the wine over the chicken.

Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 2.5-3 hours. Transfer the chicken to a heated serving platter. If cooking on low, increase the temperature setting to high. Whisk the cream into the pan juices and cook, uncovered, until sauce is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Spoon the sauce over the chicken. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Info (per serving):
222 calories, 12 grams fat, 24 grams protein, 5 grams carbohydrates

*****

The store where I did the bulk of my grocery shopping last week didn't have leeks. I tried another store. They only had organic leeks, which I was okay with, except that they all looked horrible. You know how if you leave green onions in your fridge too long they get kind of slimy and stick together? That's about what these leeks looked like. I wasn't paying good money for bad leeks. So I skipped that part of the recipe. And I couldn't find any tarragon in my pantry, so I used Italian seasoning instead. I also used all chicken breasts because I didn't have any chicken thighs on hand. And since wine isn't allowed in Phase One, I used chicken broth instead of a white Burgundy wine. And half and half instead of cream. So really I kept very little of the original recipe intact.

We were all kind of ho-hum about this. My sauce didn't really turn out, and the chicken really needed some sauce. My kids resorted to dipping theirs in ketchup. I have some ketchup issues, but if it got them to eat...fine. And they both did eat all the chicken that was on their plates. Whenever I cook chicken in the crockpot, it's so dried out when we eat it. That's my only real complaint. And the dijon mustard didn't provide a whole lot of flavor like I thought it would. I think this dish done in the oven instead of the crcokpot would turn out a lot better.

Sadly, it's probably not something I'd make again. Also sadly, my memory card wasn't in my camera, so I didn't get a picture of it.

Back in the saddle!

Be ready for some new blog posts this coming week!! I was staring at my cookbook bookshelf, eyes glazing over as I was overwhelmed with choices, trying to decide which book to choose for this coming week. The husband wandered in and offered to choose for me. He picked America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook.



I haven't made anything from it yet, so I'm pretty excited he chose it. I might have gone a little carb crazy on my meal planning since we're wrapping up Phase One of the South Beach Diet.

Can I interrupt myself to say that I met my goal weight?!?!?!? Of course I can...it's my blog. I honestly don't know when the last time was that I weighed this little. It was definitely before my wedding and before I was engaged, so some time between college (although at the end of college I know I weighed less than I do now) and a year or two into my relationship with the husband. regardless, it's very exciting.

Anyway, there's lots of new and exciting recipes coming this week, so stay tuned!!

Pimento Cheeseburgers

Not that long ago I bought a special America's Test Kitchen magazine, The Best of America's Test Kitchen: Best Recipes and Reviews 2011 I'm pretty much a sucker for any kind of special edition magazine they put out. I couldn't remember if I'd read through all of it, so I stuck it in when we went to CA a couple weeks ago. There are some fabulous things in it--of course--but one thing immediately jumped out to me:

PIMENTO CHEESEBURGERS

I heart me some pimento cheese. My grandma used to make it, and I loved it. I found out the husband loves it, so I started making it. This was years ago. Actually I think when my grandma found out that the husband loves it, she'd make it special for him. Anyway, we love pimento cheese. And a burger stuffed with it?! Awesome. I couldn't wait to try it. Plus I figured, sans bun, it would be a great dinner for one night while we were doing Phase One of the South Beach Diet. Technically you aren't supposed to have cream cheese, but there are only two ounces of it in the whole recipe, so I figured that was fine.

Pimento Cheeseburgers
Source: America's Test Kitchen

6 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated fine (about 1.5 cups)
1/3 cup drained jarred pimentos, chopped fine
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp mayonnaise
2 slices high-quality white sandwich bread, torn into pieces
1/4 cup whole milk
1-1/2 pounds 85 percent lean ground beef
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Mix cheddar cheese, pimentos, cream cheese, mustard, and cayenne in bowl until well combined. Drop four 2-tablespoon portions of pimento cheese mixture on plate and cover tightly in plastic wrap. Freeze until firm, at least 2 hours. Combine remaining pimento cheese with mayonnaise, cover with plastic, and refrigerate.

Combine beef, Worcestershire, salt, and pepper in large bowl and gently knead until well combined. Divide meat into 4 equal -portions. Mold half of 1 portion of meat around 1 piece of the frozen cheese, then surround this mini-patty with the remaining half portion of meat. Repeat with the remaining frozen cheese and 3 portions meat to form 4 hamburgers.

Heat vegetable oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until just smoking. Add patties and cook until well browned, about 6 minutes. Flip burgers, cover skillet, and continue cooking until well done, about 6 minutes.

Distribute cheese-mayonnaise mixture evenly on top of burgers, cover, and cook until mixture is slightly melted, about 1 minute. Transfer to plate, tent with foil, and let rest 5 minutes. Serve.

*****

I ended up finding the recipe online to copy instead of typing it all out. The magazine version has you grilling the burgers, but it was hot here yesterday, so I just did them in a skillet. I did the burgers a little differently, I skipped the bread and milk step and just used ground beef (actually I used ground bison) with some salt and pepper...I'm out of Worcestershire.

These. Were. Tasty. Wow. I only used a pound of meat, so I made three burgers, and the husband and I each had 1.5. We both loved them. The melted pimento cheese inside, the melted pimento cheese on the outside. I definitely thought the meat itself could have used a little more seasoning, but as long as there was some pimento-y, cheesy goodness on the bite, it didn't matter a whole lot. This will definitely become a favorite burger in our house!!

(Sorry, my camera was in the car so the best I could do was a picture on my phone.)

I won!!

(This post has nothing at all to do with cooking...I'm just excited and figured this was a better place to share than my weight loss blog.)

The husband is out with some friends tonight, and I spent a chunk of the evening giving myself a facial and watching a few episodes of "Sex and the City." I was about to head up to bed but decided to check my dashboard here really quick to see if there were any interesting blog updates today.

There was a great one--I won a giveaway!!

Last night I was scouring the internet for decorating ideas for my kids' playroom. Please don't judge...I used to have a very exciting social life before I had kids. ;) Anyway, in all my Googling I came across an amazing blog that I'm now borderline obsessed with, Design Dazzle. It's all ideas for decorating baby, kid, and teen rooms and spaces. How cool is that?! Some friends on my message board suggested I do something with wall decals for decorations, and lo and behold Toni at Design and Dazzle was having a giveaway for a gift certificate to a wall decal online store, Say It On The Wall. I'm a lucky winner of a $40 gift certificate! Honestly I figured there'd be no way I'd win because I knew I'd be one of the last entrants since I think the giveaway ended last night about an hour after I came across it. I can't wait to pick out what I want to get. I looked on there a little last night and saw some really cute things. The prices were really reasonable, too, so I should be able to get a few things.

Check out Design Dazzle...there are some great ideas on there, as well as pictures of some rooms that are just amazing and completely unreal!

Tiramisu Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Wow are things dusty around here from lack of use! I can't believe it's been so long since I updated my blog. Although, in my quest to use up the massive amount of items I had in my freezers, I wasn't making a whole lot of new stuff. And we were on vacation for a week. While we were on vacation--hobnobbing with Mickey Mouse and playing at the beach--I realized how much I miss my blog and need to get back in the groove of updating and trying new recipes. I miss my cookbook project, too.

I was just going through pictures on my computer to move stuff to my "cooking blog" pictures folder and saw the pictures of this amazing cake. I'm embarrassed to say that it was the middle of February when I made it, but I just never got around to posting it. Actually I've posted it before, but this time I remembered to take pictures as I was going. Two of my friends and I decided awhile back to do a supper club. This was back in November I think. We tried to plan it for December, but it fell through. i don't remember if we tried for January. It was originally going to be husbands and kids, too, but my husband didn't really want to go and it turned out another husband was out of town, so we decided to just have it be the girls. I was glad it worked out that way, it was so fun! It was at my friend Jenn's house, and she made a delicious roasted chicken with green beans and amazing fingerling potatoes. Oh my gosh, the potatoes! They were so tasty. Jen brought a really good feta dip as an appetizer, and I was in charge of dessert. I really had no idea what to take, and then I remembered this dessert. It's so rich and decadent and time-consuming, but I love it and wanted an excuse to make it.

Tiramisu Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cake
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
5 large eggs
1 1/3 cups whipping cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter and flour 2 9-inch round cake pans. Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in another large bowl to blend. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in cream and vanilla. Stir flour mixture into butter mixture. Divide batter equally among pans. Bake until tester inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Cool completely.

Frosting / Filling
3 1/2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
2 1/3 cups powdered sugar
1 cup chilled whipping cream
1 1/4 tablespoons vanilla extract

Using electric mixer beat cream cheese in large bowl until light. Gradually add sugar and beat until fluffy. Add cream and vanilla and beat until well blended. Cover refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Soaking Syrup
1 1/3 cups Kahlúa or other coffee liqueur
1/2 cups water
1/8 cup instant espresso powder or coffee powder

Combine.

Assembly
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 9-inch-diameter cardboard cake round
2 cups assorted berries (such as raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries)

Finely grind chopped chocolate in processor (do not over process or chocolate will clump together). After cakes have cooled completely, take about half a cup of frosting and spread it on a cardboard round or what ever you will be placing the cake on.

Cut the cakes in half horizontally. Place bottom of one cake on cardboard round, cut side up. Brush with 1/3 of syrup. Spread out about 1 cup of frosting and then sprinkle with 1/3 of the chocolate. Place top of cake on top - repeat syrup, frosting, chocolate. Place bottom of 2nd cake on top, cut side up - repeat with the remains of the syrup, 1 cup of frosting and remains of the chocolate.

Now, to tidy it up - take a serrated knife and cut around the cake to make it even all around, this made it very easy to frost the cake.

Frost the entire outside of cake. Decorate with berries, icing or chocolate.

This cake is best when allowed to sit for a day or so.

*****

I'm currently doing Phase One of the South Beach Diet again and just thinking about this cake is adding pounds back on to my body, I'm pretty sure. It's really, really, really time consuming, but it's so worth it. Be very generous when using the soaking syrup. The cake is really dense, so you want to use as much of the syrup as you can so it soaks through and makes the cake layers moist and flavorful. And definitely let it sit as long as possible so the cake has more time to absorb the syrup.

This is hands down one of my favorite cakes ever.

Cake batter...I told you it's a dense cake!


Layer of cake with syrup...really brush it on there!


Syrup with chopped chocolate in the background


Mmmmm...cream cheese frosting...


Cake in progress


Frosting cakes is not one of my strong suits, but I'm okay with it since I rarely do it. It tasted awesome, and that's what really counts.

Turkey Tetrazzini

Many, many years ago I bought a special edition of Cooking Light. On the front of the magazine it says "Display until December 31, 2003." There's a recipe in it for Chicken Tetrazzini that always looked good to me, but for whatever reason I never made it. I remember at one point I was going to make it for a friend after she had a baby, but then I think she ended up having to be admitted to the hospital again, so I never took them dinner. A few weeks ago I cooked a whole turkey because it was taking up a lot of space in my freezer, and I remembered this recipe. I figured I'd switch the chicken to turkey and use up some of the meat I had left. Win win!

Chicken Tetrazzini
Source: Cooking Light

1 tablespoon butter
Cooking spray
1 cup finely chopped onion
2/3 cup finely chopped celery
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 (8-ounce) packages presliced mushrooms
1/2 cup dry sherry
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 (14.5-ounce) cans fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 1/4 cups (9 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 cup (4 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
7 cups hot cooked vermicelli (about 1 pound uncooked pasta)
4 cups chopped cooked chicken breast (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 (1-ounce) slice white bread

Preheat oven to 350°.

Melt butter in large stockpot coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, pepper, salt, and mushrooms; sauté 4 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Add sherry; cook 1 minute.

Lightly spoon flour into a measuring cup; level with a knife. Gradually add flour to pan; cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly (mixture will be thick) with a whisk. Gradually add broth, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

Add 1 3/4 cups Parmesan cheese and cream cheese, stirring with a whisk until cream cheese melts. Add the pasta and chicken, and stir until blended. Divide the pasta mixture between 2 (8-inch-square) baking dishes coated with cooking spray.

Place bread in food processor; pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs form. Combine breadcrumbs and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese; sprinkle evenly over pasta mixture.

Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove casserole from oven; let stand 15 minutes.

To freeze unbaked casserole: Prepare through Step 5. Cool completely in refrigerator. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing to remove as much air as possible. Wrap with heavy-duty foil. Store in freezer for up to 2 months.

To prepare frozen unbaked casserole: Thaw casserole completely in refrigerator (about 24 hours). Preheat oven to 350º. Remove foil; reserve foil. Remove plastic wrap; discard wrap. Cover casserole with reserved foil; bake at 350º for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 1 hour or until golden and bubbly. Let stand 15 minutes.

*****

I originally planned this on a night that I was taking dinner to someone from church, but then I found out she's diabetic, so I wasn't sure if this would be the best dish for her to have. i didn't want to come up with something new, so I figured I'd go ahead and still make it for us and take her something different. At first I was going to cut it in half instead of freezing a casserole, so I only got two packages of mushrooms, but then I figured I might as well make it as written and have one in the freezer. I stuck with the reduced amount of mushrooms. My kids aren't big mushroom fans anyway, so it kind of worked out okay. Oh, and instead of making bread crumbs for the top I used some panko I already had on hand.

I was worried it was going to be too bland when I tasted it once everything was mixed together, but I needed to be leaving to take dinner, so I didn't have time to play around with it. It was definitely on the bland side, so with the one I was putting in the freezer I took it out of the casserole dish and added some Lawry's Seasoned Salt to it. I think I've gotten lazy lately because that's my go to seasoning when I think a dish is lacking flavor. It's just easier to throw some of that in there than try and figure out what it really needs.

This is definitely something I'd make again, and it's extra nice that it makes two (or I suppose you could do it all in one bigger pan) because now I have a go to dinner in the freezer when I need something fast.

Almond Fried Chicken

Don't you hate when you get a hankering for something that there's no possible way you can obtain? Growing up, we'd get Chinese take out from a restaurant called Ming Tree. And we'd always get the same thing--some kind of family meal that came with all sorts of yummy awesomeness. One of the items was Almond Fried Chicken and it had this really yummy gravy/sauce that went on it. I have never found it anywhere else. My mom is in Seattle right now for a sewing expo she flies up for every year, and she's found a place near the expo that has it on the menu. I was very jealous when she was talking recently about having it while she was there, so I did some Googling. I found recipe that sounded similar, but I didn't like the heavy breading and frying. I'm not good at frying food. I've accepted that and am fine with it, but I try to avoid it because of my lack of frying skill and health reasons. So I set about to make a healthier version that didn't include frying the chicken. The recipe below is what I came up with.

Claire's Almond Fried Chicken

2 whole skinless chicken breasts, boned and cut in half
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon dry sherry
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
Cooking spray

Sauce
4 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons water
3 cups chicken broth
3 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons soy sauce
3 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine first three ingredients. Let marinate for 15 minutes.

In a shallow dish or pie plate, lightly beat eggs and add 1 Tbsp water. Place the flour in a separate shallow dish or pie plate, and place the panko in a third dish. Dredge the chicken pieces in flour, then dip in egg wash, then breadcrumbs, turning to coat each time. Place chicken pieces on a cooling rack that's been placed on a baking sheet. Spray with cooking spray. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes. Turn chicken, spray again with cooking spray, and bake another 10 minutes or until juices run clear.

Prepare sauce: In a small saucepan, stir together cornstarch and water until smooth. Gradually stir in chicken broth, butter, soy sauce and bouillon granules. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Let boil 1 minute. Keep warm.

When ready to serve, sprinkle chicken with almonds and green onion. Spoon sauce over chicken and serve immediately.

*****

I used chicken tender for mine, so I guessed at the cooking time. I was pretty skeptical of how this was going to be, especially the gravy, but it's something I really miss having, so I figured it was worth a shot. My family really liked it. The husband absolutely loved it. I thought it was pretty good, but the gravy definitely wasn't the same. The husband said it was probably because I didn't add MSG to mine like the Chinese restaurant most likely did. I'm sure he's right. It was a good "fix" for the original until I can find it somewhere and dissect the sauce to figure out what's in it exactly. It is something I'll make again because it did go over well and with my modifications it was pretty healthy.

Sorry, I forgot to take a picture.

Caillou's Fruit Salad

If you have young kids, you probably know who Caillou is. If you don't have kids, you're not missing anything. He's a whiny, bald four year old cartoon character from a PBS show. I can't stand it--nor can most parents I know--but for some reason kids really like it. Thankfully we don't watch it very often, but Boy #1 likes to play Caillou games on the PBS Kids website. There's some game where Caillou cooks with his grandma, and then you can print out recipes. Boy #1 LOVES to print things when he plays on the computer. Recently he printed out a fruit salad recipe and said he wanted to have it at his birthday party. he turned five this past weekend, by the way. FIVE!!! I can't believe it. So I made it for his party, but I changed it up slightly.

Caillou's Fruit Salad

2 apples
2 oranges
1 melon
1 basket of strawberries
1 bunch of grapes
2 kiwis
Fruit of your choice: banana, mango, watermelon, etc.
1 cup powdered sugar
Juice of one lemon
Juice of two oranges
A few mint leaves

Skin or peel fruit and cut into small cubes. Place all cut fruit into a large fruit or salad bowl. In a small bowl, mix together powdered sugar, lemon juice, and orange juice. Pour over fruit and toss lightly. Allow to set in refrigerator. Decorate with mint leaves and serve cold.

*****

I guess it's pretty basic as far as fruit salads go, but I really liked the addition of the sugar/juice dressing. It was pretty sweet, so the amount of powdered sugar I'm sure could be reduced. This was super kid friendly, and the moms at the party all liked it too. I was worried it wasn't going to be enough fruit, but it really was. I only used half a cantaloupe for the melon, and I cut up two bananas, in addition to what else was listed in the recipe.

Oh, and thanks to my friend Jessica for oranges from her yard that I used for this! They are so tasty!

Cookbook Project Update

Just wanted to check in that I haven't made anything remarkable lately. In fact, the cookbook I used last week I think I'm going to get rid of. The recipes I've made from it that I like are already on here and nothing we tried last week was noteworthy. It was Southern Living's Light and Easy Comfort Food. I was pretty disappointed because up until last week, the recipes I'd made from it were all pretty good, but it's just not worth having a cookbook I don't like or really need taking up precious space on my cookbook bookshelf. So, adios, Light and Easy Comfort Food! Perhaps you'll find a good home somewhere else.



This week I didn't choose a cookbook, I was trying to use up things I had on hand or that required minimal ingredients. yet somehow I still managed to spend $90 on my weekly grocery trip. Ouch. I thought at first it was just because I didn't take the time to meal plan effectively (i.e. plan based on what was on sale) or use coupons or because my list wasn't very thorough and I bought a few impulse items, but then my friend Jen pointed out that produce prices are higher because of all the freezes and prices of regular food have gone up with the hike in gas prices. That made me feel a little better, but I still hate spending that much and feeling like I didn't come home with $90 worth of food.

Freezer Inventory

Oh my gosh...my freezers are out of control! I just did an inventory to see what all I have on hand, and I've decided I'm not allowed to buy anything (aside from frozen veggies when we run out and waffles for my kids) until they've been mostly emptied. It's ridiculous. It's beyond ridiculous actually. My cookbook project might have to get put on hold a bit so I can use up some stores of what I have. Or maybe I should extra challenge myself to stick with it and still use up what I have already. Don't believe me that it's out of control? Here's my list:

Guacamole - 2 packages
Organic ground beef - 1 lb.
Grilled veggies
Vegetable egg rolls
Mango chunks
Meatballs
Strawberries
Chicken breasts - 11
Churros
Tortilla soup
Clam chowder
Chicken carcass (note to self: buy celery to make stock)
Chicken tenders - 5 lbs.
Slider buns
Cube steak
Cod
Sweet potato fries
Almonds
Pea pods
Pork roast - 2 (1.5 lb each)
Cranberries
Peas
Broccoli
Chipotles
King cake (that will be consumed this weekend)
Vegetarian sausage
Chicken stock
Boca burgers
Fish sticks
Pork chops - 3 (packages with 3 chops each)
Cauliflower
Green beans
Tomatoes
Brussel sprouts
Sicilian sausage
Shrimp - 2 lbs.
Gumbo
Catfish
Ahi tuna steaks
Turkey (yes, a whole turkey)
Italian sausage
Chicken thighs
Turkey stock
Black bean soup

See? I'm not kidding. It's kind of nice putting this list here because I can always come back and cross things off it as I use them. My mind is swimming with ideas for what I can do to use up some of this stuff, but if you have any good ideas for any of it, please leave me a comment with your suggestion!

Boy #1's birthday is Sunday, and we ordered an ice cream cake for his party on Saturday. At this point, I have no idea where I'm going to store it between Friday night when I pick it up and his party on Saturday. Yikes!

World Nutella Day

What's that? You didn't know Nutella had it's own day? What's that again? Some of you don't even know what Nutella is? Oh lordy...that must be rectified immediately. First, here's what it looks like so you can get yourself to the store as soon as you finish reading this so you can try it. Unless you're allergic to nuts, then it's probably not a good idea. Another bad idea apparently is dipping pretzels in Nutella as a snack right before bed, unless you want really strange dreams all night. I'm just sayin'...



If you want to learn more about it, the website has a ton of interesting information. In fact I learned that the same company that makes Nutella makes Kinder Surprise Eggs. There might not be as many people that know about those as I'm not sure if they're sold in the US. I'm pretty sure for awhile they weren't but who knows now. they're marvelous goodies--a chocolate egg with a plastic egg inside and in the plastic egg is a toy. Awesome.

Anyway, I digress. Saturday, February 5th was World Nutella Day.



Because of a lot going on that day (mildly hungover from a fun girls night out Friday night, then a kids' birthday party at Pump It Up on Saturday morning, then an afternoon of shopping for new clothes for me without my kids in tow) I didn't have a chance to make anything for the blessed day. So I told Boy #1 as we were leaving church yesterday that we needed to make a yummy treat at some point. He was all in--he's always game to bake something. I found a couple options to let him choose from, and this is what he went with. God bless whomever thought up a cookie with Nutella, peanut butter, and oatmeal.

Peanut Butter and Nutella Oatmeal Cookies
Source: simplylifeblog.com

1 cup flour
1 cup old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
3 giant spoonfuls of Nutella (maybe somewhere around 3/4 cup???)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Mix butter, sugars and peanut butter. Add egg and vanilla and mix well. Add into flour mixture and stir. Slowly stir nutella into the mixture.

2. Place batter in spoonfuls onto baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool shortly before serving! Enjoy!

*****

If you check out the blog where I got this recipe from, you'll see that her cookies looked a lot different than how mine turned out (pictures below). My dough was really dry and crumbly. I read over the ingredients after I was done with the cookies to see if I'd missed something or put in too much or too little of anything, and I followed the recipe to a T. Maybe I did too much Nutella? I don't know. I also don't know if too much Nutella is even possible. I doubt it. My cookies are still good, they're just a bit crunchy. Think grocery store bakery cookies vs. homemade. Mine fall more on the grocery store bakery end of the spectrum. But we're still eating them and enjoying them. I may be eating and enjoying them a bit too much, but at least I went for a run and did weights at the gym this morning.

These were definitely yummy and came together really fast. I got a little under three dozen, and I probably would have yielded more had I not snacked on so much dough. I think I need one of those to wash down my lunch.

Deceptively Delicious

We had kind of a rough time at our house last Sunday morning. Boy #2 kept scratching Boy #1's face, and Boy #1 was really upset about it. So I let him choose the cookbook for last week. i have no idea how he chose, but he picked jessica Seinfeld's "Deceptively Delicious." i took it one step further and let him pick the recipes, too. However, later in the week he never thought the recipes he'd chosen sounded good. Frankly, neither did i. one night i made the chicken nuggets recipe in there, and they were okay but pretty bland. i ended up doing a lot of spur of the moment dinners because whatever we'd chosen from DD just didn't sound good when it came time to make it. So i think i'm done with the cookbook. i think it's a great idea for people whose kids don't eat vegetables and need to sneak the nutrients to them somehow, but my kids love veggies. i usually have to fight with them to eat the other items on their plate before they can have more of whatever vegetable we're eating.

i didn't want to leave everyone guessing as to what the cookbook was for last week, but really nothing was worth posting. So don't worry, you didn't miss anything!

Pioneer Woman's Enchiladas

When I saw this recipe in PW's cookbook I knew it had to go on my meal plan for the week, and I knew i needed to slate it for a weekend night because it was going to be time consuming. I originally planned it for Saturday night and then remembered that the husband and i were having a date night, so it got bumped to Sunday. I love good Mexican food, and I was excited to try a new enchilada recipe. this laptop is a pain to type on, so i have to keep it short and sweet. my lack of capitalization is starting to bother me.

Pioneer Woman's Enchiladas
source: The Pioneer Woman Cooks

FOR THE SAUCE:
1 Tablespoon Canola Oil
1 Tablespoon All-purpose Flour
1 can (28 Ounce) Enchilada Or Red Sauce
2 cups Chicken Broth
½ teaspoons Salt
½ teaspoons Ground Black Pepper
2 Tablespoons Chopped Cilantro

FOR THE MEAT:
1-½ pound Ground Beef
1 whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced
2 cans (4 Ounce) Diced Green Chilies
½ teaspoons Salt

FOR THE TORTILLAS:
10 whole (to 14) Corn Tortillas
½ cups Canola Oil

TO ASSEMBLE:
3 cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
½ cups Chopped Black Olives
1 cup Chopped Green Onions
½ cups Chopped Cilantro

Step #1 – The Sauce
In a large saucepan over medium heat, add oil and flour and whisk together to make a paste, cooking for one minute. Pour in the red sauce, chicken broth, cilantro, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30-45 minutes.

Step #2 – The Meat
Brown the meat with onions in a skillet. Drain off fat. Stir in 2 cans diced green chilies and seasoned salt. Set aside.

Step #3 – Tortillas
Heat canola oil in a small skillet over medium heat. One by one, using tongs, fry tortillas in oil until soft, not crisp – about 30 seconds per side. Remove to a paper—towel lined plate. Repeat until all tortillas have been fried.

Step #4 – Assembly
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour ½ cup red sauce in bottom of baking pan. Spread to even out. Dip each tortilla into red sauce, then remove to work surface. Spoon meat, a little grated cheese, a little black olives, and green onions in the center of tortilla. Roll up and place, seam down, in baking pan. Repeat until pan is filled. Pour extra red sauce over enchiladas. Top with remaining cheddar cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle cilantro over enchiladas before serving.

*****

To make this even more time consuming I decided to make my own corn tortillas. I finally figured out how to keep the tortillas from sticking to my tortilla press--spray the wax paper with non-stick spray! Normally I just use wax paper and the dough ends up sticking in one spot and gives me misshapen tortillas. I usually get very frustrated with the process. This time I nearly drove to the store to just buy corn tortillas when I got frustrated, but then my brilliant idea came to me. Since i made my own tortillas, i skipped the step of frying the tortillas to soften them up since i knew mine were soft from having just made them. Everything else I did like PW.

My family watched "Despicable Me" while I made this dinner. I figured I could watch part of it with them, but it took me pretty much the length of the movie to assemble this. It's definitely a labor intensive recipe, BUT it was worth it. These were some tasty enchiladas. The actual rolling and assembly was pretty messy, but they were fantastic and totally worth it. This isn't something I'd make on a regular basis just because of the time factor, but they were definitely tasty and worth the time investment. My oldest (whom I think I will start refering to as Boy #1 and the baby as Boy #2 since he really isn't a baby anymore) thought they were too spicy, but I didn't think they were at all. i even made sure i used mild enchilada sauce so he wouldn't complain. But aside from that, the rest of us really liked these. Way to go, PW...another winner!

Pioneer Woman's Macaroni and Cheese

i love me some macaroni and cheese. When i was little i'd only eat the stuff out of the box, never homemade. Now i much prefer homemade to the blue box. Even though there are several good mac and cheese recipes i've discovered in the past few years, i'm always game to try a new recipe because what if it's the best ever?! So when I saw this recipe in PW's cookbook I figured we'd have it one night during Pioneer Woman Cookbook Week.

Pioneer Woman's Macaroni and Cheese
Source: The Pioneer Woman Cooks

4 cups Dried Macaroni
1 whole Egg Beaten
1/4 cups (1/2 Stick Or 4 Tablespoons) Butter
1/4 cups All-purpose Flour
2-½ cups Whole Milk
2 teaspoons (heaping) Dry Mustard, More If Desired
1 pound Cheese, Grated
1/2 teaspoons Salt, More To Taste
1/2 teaspoons Seasoned Salt, More To Taste
1/2 teaspoons Ground Black Pepper
Optional Spices: Cayenne Pepper, Paprika, Thyme

Cook macaroni until very firm. Macaroni should be too firm to eat right out of the pot. Drain.

In a small bowl, beat egg.

In a large pot, melt butter and sprinkle in flour. Whisk together over medium-low heat. Cook mixture for five minutes, whisking constantly. Don’t let it burn.

Pour in milk, add mustard, and whisk until smooth. Cook for five minutes until very thick. Reduce heat to low.

Take 1/4 cup of the sauce and slowly pour it into beaten egg, whisking constantly to avoid cooking eggs. Whisk together till smooth.

Pour egg mixture into sauce, whisking constantly. Stir until smooth.

Add in cheese and stir to melt.

Add salt and pepper. Taste sauce and add more salt and seasoned salt as needed! DO NOT UNDERSALT.

Pour in drained, cooked macaroni and stir to combine.
Serve immediately (very creamy) or pour into a buttered baking dish, top with extra cheese, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly and golden on top.

*****

I added some Lawry's seasoned salt to mine for some additional flavor. The husband was pretty impressed and intrigued when he saw me making a roux for mac and cheese. What can i say, he's from louisiana...he likes a girl that can make a roux.

i had to sample a bite before putting it in the oven. It was AMAZING. I could have just kept eating it from the pot instead of baking it with additional cheese on top. My whole family loved this. Both my kids had seconds. I had seconds. I was disgustingly full afterwards but it was worth it. My kids had leftovers for lunch the next day...this is the only thing I can think of that they've willingly had leftovers of for lunch the next day. My theory of trying new mac and cheese recipes paid off because i think this is my new favorite!!

better pics are available on PW's original post.

Penne ala Betsy

I busted out the laptop today so I can get caught up on blog entries while I watch the Super Bowl. The only problem is that one of the shift keys doesn't work very well, so let me go ahead and apologize in advance for any capitalization mistakes there might be. it's not me, it's the computer...i swear! See?!

i'm going back two weeks here. I have no idea how i fell so behind on updating. if you recall, my BFF jen and i decided to justify our outlandish cookbook collections this year by choosing a cookbook each week and planning multiple meals from it. Two weeks ago i chose The Pioneer Woman. Surprisingly i haven't made that much from it, mostly because a lot of it is not at all healthy.



I had it out for Thanksgiving 2.2 for her mashed potato recipe and then decided I'd use that for my first cookbook. Penne ala Betsy is a recipe i'd always wanted to try, so i thought it would make a great dinner for the husband and mine's friday night date night dinner.

PW's Penne ala Betsy
source: The Pioneer Woman Cooks

3/4 pounds Penne Pasta
1 pound Shrimp
3 Tablespoons Butter
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 whole Onion (small)
2 cloves Garlic
1/2 cups White Wine, Or To Taste
1 can Tomato Sauce (8 Oz)
1 cup Heavy Cream
Fresh Parsley, to taste
Fresh Basil - To Taste
Salt To Taste
Pepper To Taste

Cook the penne pasta until tender-firm, also known as al dente.

Peel, devein and rinse (under cool water) 1 pound of extra large shrimp. Heat about 1 tbsp. butter and olive oil in a skillet. Add the shrimp and cook for a couple minutes until just opaque. Do not overcook them. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes. Now, put the cooked shrimp on the cutting board and pull off the tails. Chop the shrimp into bite –sized pieces and set aside.

Finely dice one small onion. Mince two cloves of garlic. In a large skillet heat 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the garlic and onion and sauté, stirring occasionally. After the garlic and onions have cooked a bit add your white wine. Let the wine evaporate for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. If you would rather not use wine, you can use low-sodium chicken broth instead (about ½ cup).

Now add an 8-ounce can of plain tomato sauce. Stir well until combined. Then add 1 cup of heavy cream. Continue stirring. Turn heat down to low and let simmer.

Now chop your herbs, about a tablespoon of chopped parsley and about the same amount of chopped basil, or if you’re feeling very proper, chiffonaded.

Now add your chopped shrimp back into the tomato cream sauce. Give it a stir and add salt and pepper to taste. Throw in your herbs and stir until combined. Finally add your cooked penne pasta and give it a good stir.

*****

of course for awesome pictures of it, you can see the recipe on pw's website.

I didn't change a whole lot of this. i did use half and half instead of cream to make it a bit healthier. i actually cut the recipe in half (except for the shrimp) since it was just the husband and i eating it. i figured that way we'd be less likely to go overboard eating it. let me tell you, i was glad i did because we definitely would have eaten too much.

This was really tasty. It reminded me of a vodka tomato cream sauce recipe i used to make in college. it was probably the only real thing i could cook in college, but I haven't made it in quite some time. This came together really quickly and easily, too, which was nice. It's definitely something that I'd make again.

Polenta Lasagna

I have some major blog catching up to do (what else is new?!), but I wanted to start with this because it was probaby the most amazing thing we've eaten recently. As I've mentioned before, I belong to a pretty amazing parenting message board. Someone posted recently asking what to do with polenta and my friend Heather (who could potentially be one of my BFFs if she and her husband weren't Alabama fans and we didn't live across the country from each other) said she had made polenta lasagna. She filled me in on the basics of how she'd done it, and since I had a tube of polenta in the pantry I slated it for dinner this week. I was pretty giddy about trying it. Heather didn't have an exact recipe of what she did, so I followed her lead and just winged it as I went along.

Heather's Polenta Lasagna

1 tube polenta (mine was 18 ounces)
1 lb sweet Italian sausage
3 cans fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced and sauteed

Heat large skillet sprayed with non-stick spray over medium high heat. Slice polenta into 1/2-inch rounds and place in skillet. Cook 4-5 minutes per side, then flip. Remove from skillet and chill in the refrigerator.

Remove sausage from casings and brown in a large pot. Once cooked through, remove sausage and add onions and garlic. Cook until browned (you may need to deglaze the pan...I used a bit of beef broth). Add tomatoes to the pot (do not drain tomatoes) and add sausage back to the pot. Let simmer 2-3 hours for maximum flavor.

Once polenta slices have cooled, remove them from the fridge and cut the slices in half.

Preheat oven to 375.

Spray an 8x8 baking dish with non-stick spray. Spoon some sauce into the bottom of the dish and spread it around. Place a single layer of polenta slices on top of the sauce to cover bottom of the dish. Spoon sauce to cover polenta layer. Top with a layer of mozzarella cheese. Spread sauteed mushrooms over the cheese. Repeat layers with remaining polenta slices, sauce, and mozzarella, finishing with mozzarella.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until heated through and bubbling. For best results, let the lasagna sit for 5-10 minutes after removing from the oven.

*****

This was SO EASY. It was really a lot easier than regular lasagna because the polenta cooks a lot faster than lasagna noodles. Plus since it bakes in a smaller dish you aren't eating lasagna for days and days. Don't get me wrong--I love lasagna, but a 9x13 pan of it lasts a loooooooooong time for us. The only real planning ahead was to cook the polenta early enough to give it time to cool and to let the sauce simmer, if you're making your own. You could, of course, use jarred sauce to speed it up, but I just prefer to make my own. You could probably slice the polenta thinner to begin with, but I found it a lot easier to slice after it had cooked some than when I was initially slicing up the tube.

I hadn't ever used polenta before. I'm not entirely sure why I had bought the tube of it at Trader Joe's, but I'm sure glad I did. In fact, I went there yesterday and picked up another tube while I was there. I feel the need to embrace polenta now. The husband didn't know what it was, and since he's a southern boy, I told him "Italian grits." :)

My kids ate this pretty reluctantly, but I think that was more due to me giving them snacks too late in the day so they weren't that hungry at dinner time. The husband loved it. In fact he was just sitting here next to me a few minutes ago and commented on how much he loved it. He had some of the leftovers for lunch yesterday and raved about it again after having that. This is definitely something I'll make again!

Tube of polenta:


It was very shiny. In fact it's shininess disturbed me a bit, but I got over it.


Sliced, ready for cooking:


Post-cooking, post-second slicing, ready for layering:


The process begins...






Mmmm...polenta lasagna...