Rosemary Chicken & Rice

• Bone In Chicken
• Chicken Broth
• A Few Sprigs of Rosemary
• Sour Cream
• Cherry Tomatoes (or Sundried Tomatoes)
• Spinach or Kale
• Mushrooms
• Fresh Garlic

Saute mushrooms until brown and add to crock. Saute garlic, add to crock. Dredge chicken in flour and garlic salt and brown the skin in a skillet (meat inside doesn't need to be cooked properly), add to crock. Add enough broth to cover the chicken. Add a few spoonfuls of sour cream (to desired creaminess level. keep in mind it will look less creamy after it cooks a while). Add rosemary. Add a container of cherry tomatoes (or desired amount of sun-dried tomatoes). Cook for a few hours. If sauce isn't think enough, add a few spoonfuls of flower. A few minutes before you serve, chop some spinach or kale and add to the mix. Serve over  rice. Salt to taste. 

Several Uses for Cabbage

Cabbage's cheap, yummy, healthy and has a long shelf life. What's not to love about it. And as soon as the fresh dark green savoy (or non-savoy for that matter) start showing up at the farmer's market, I end up in a crisis to use up all the overwhelming quantities that I buy.

Ways to use it up (because you always end up with SO MUCH, right?):

• Raw Salted Cabbage Leafs - would have never thought to do this until I saw my dad doing it. Turns out is super yummy
• Thai Larb - this recipe uses lettuce, but IMO, cabbage cups are WAY better
• Indian Spiced Curry Kraut
• Traditional Sauerkraut
• Kimchi (there are so many good kraut recipes. I could keep going here). 
• Egg Rolls
• Upgraded Instant Ramen Noodles - Add shredded cabbage, fresh ginger, fish oil, lemon juice, red pepper, thai basil, sesame oil, shrimp/chicken/tofu, small amount of soy (you get the idea)
• Vinagrette Based Cole Slaw
• Galumpkis (stuffed cabbage leaves)
• Vegetarian Galumpkis
• Fish Tacos (or any taco for that matter, just put vinagrette based cole slaw on it instead of lettuce)
• Stir Fry
• Chicken Yakisoba - I can't get enough of this one
• Creamy cabbage soup - there's a million variations of this, but basically chicken broth, whole milk, cabbage, salt and pepper alone it yummy.
• Cabbage and Kielbasa Soup: Literally delicious with just those 2 ingredients (add water and maybe pepper and salt to taste). You can sub chicken broth if you want. Add onions, carrots, potatoes, but the cabbage and kielbasa are the stars here and most anything else takes away from it, IMO. 
• Cabbage added to almost any soup, really. 

Healthy Homemade Coconut Milk Strawberry Ice Cream

Adapted from Wellness Mama

I'm far more likely to have coconut milk in the house than 3 cups of cream and 3 cups of half-and-half, so not only is this more healthy than traditional ice cream, but I actually have the ingredients too. Win win.

Ingredients

• 2 cans of coconut milk
• ½ cup of honey, sugar, agave nectar, or maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 pound of fresh strawberries

Directions

1. Blend all ingredients minus a handful of whole strawberries. Chop those strawberries in half and toss into the blended mix. 
2. Mix in ice cream maker according to it's directions

Sushi Night

Hubbies going out of town and my bff is coming over for saki & sushi night. So excited. Love me some sushi, but never made it, and must say it's a little intimidating. Just bought these online (jet.com, 15% introductory discount) and got everything for a pretty decent price. Will buy some fresh stuff the night of:

• Ricer Steamer (already had it)
• Rice Vinegar (already had it) 
• Sesame Seeds (already had it)
• Edamame (already had it) - this is a side dish
• Sushi rice (small grain, sticky) - I've never bought small grain sushi rice, but if the goal is "sticky", my rice steamer sure makes some sticky basmati rice (which I have plenty of). I'll report back if this sushi rice is all that much different 
• Bamboo rolling mat
• Nori (toasted seaweed rolls)
• Wasabi Paste
• Pickled Ginger Slices 
• San-J Shoyu - wheat soy (this is seriously my favorite soy sauce on earth and it's just mild enough for sushi)
• Mayo (already had it)
• Sambal Oelek Pepper Sauce (already had it) - another favorite sauce on earth. Recipe for spicy mayo calls for Sriracha but this so SOOOO much better as a substitute
• Smoked Salmon 

Fresh Ingredients:

• Avocado 
• Cucumber Ribbons (already had it)
• Carrot Ribbons
• Scallions (fresh from the garden)
• Roe (maybe)
• Raw Fish? (Ahi Tuna? or is smoked tuna enough?)
• Artificial Crab Meat? (california roll?)
• A few shrimp?

This is a first try, so don't want to go overboard. But it's hard to decide.

First Blue Apron Shipment

Exciting. This is 3 dinners for 2. It looks pretty low cal too for those dieting. It was purely coincidental we ended up almost vegetarian (vegan aside from the 2 eggs, butter and catfish)

Vegetarian Galumpkis (Stuffed Cabbage Rolls)

This is a traditional Polish dish. Very simple, cheap, & tastey.

Normally this would be made with ground beef or sausage, but I was going extra cheap & easy (didn't want to defrost the meat). Honestly, I think it turned out even better than usual.

Cook up 1 cup of dried rice.
Meanwhile, chop up a box of mushrooms (or 2 even, but I only used one).
Finely dice 1/2 medium onion & 2 cloves of garlic
Warn up a wrought iron skillet on medium-high until good and hot.
Put a few drops of oil on the pan and toss in the mushrooms.
Resist the temptation to stir the mushrooms. You want them to get good a browned before they start releasing too much water. Once your'e sure they're good and brown, then stir once and let them brown again. Now add your onions and garlic and let them brown too. Remove from heat.

Boil water and place several whole cabbage leaves (about 12) in the boiling water until they're tender. Remove cabbage leaves and run under cool water.

Once rice is done, combine ingredients and add cumin and soy sauce to taste (just enough cumin to give it a little earthy meatiness, but not so much that it tastes Mexican).

Assembly rice mixture into cabbage leaves and roll up like an egg roll. Place in a shallow dish. Top the cabbage rolls with v-8 juice (I'm pretty generous with this step). That rice absorbs a lot of moisture.

Crack pepper on top.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.

Fish Taco Salad - Atkins Friendly

My parents are on the Atkins diet, so made this for dinner with them. Dad says it's the best thing I've ever  made, so figured I'd post it here to share.

Cabbage Slaw

Finely Sliced Cabbage (one small bag)

Half of a bunch of finely sliced scallions

A few leafs worth of finely diced kale

Apple cider vinegar and olive oil to taste (2 to 1 ratio)

Salt and pepper to taste

Pico de Gallo

1 Avocado diced

1 Medium tomato diced

1 Small onion very finely diced

1 Large garlic clove (or two small) finely diced

1 Lemon or Lime 

Small bunch of finely diced cilantro

Small bunch of finely diced fresh parsley

Salt and Pepper to taste

Cream Sauce

Big dollop of sour cream

Lots of Louisiana's hot sauce (until, when mixed it's colored like thousand island)

Salt

Chipotle Pepper Seasoning (to taste)

Fish

Mahi Mahi (can probably substitute other fish like Tilapia, cod, etc...)

Dry Rub

Unfortunately, I didn't measure this. Just applied it directly to each filet until it looked fairly well coated

Onion Powder

Garlic Powder

Cumin
Paprika

Zaa'tar (basically lemon thyme with a little bit of sesame seed)

Fresh Oregeno (only b/c I didn't have dry)

Salt

Pepper

Chili Powder (just a little)

Cinnamin (just a little)

Then sprinkled a little soy sauce on it until it was pastey and I could rub the seasoning all over

Once the fish has marinated, I cooked it on a George Foreman grill. I never cooked fish on this thing before, but it was absolutely perfect and it's the only way I'll cook this type of fish (thick white filet) from now on. It cooks very fast (just cook it until it has nice looking grill marks). It felt like about 3 or 4 minutes total, no flipping. 

Leftover Ham Ideas

Ham Bone Soup with Beans and Kale

Ham and Cheese Pretzel Calzone - Pretzel is key here, I think

Ham and Cheese Puff - puff or croissant roll could work here

Scalloped Potatoes - very thinly sliced ham here

Stuffed Baked Potato - My favorite, although not listed, is potato, shredded ham, and BBQ sauce with a tiny pit of cheddar on top

Ham and Cheese Breakfast Enchilada - definitely up the Mexican (and health) factor and add some chilies (or bell pepper at least

Quiche Lorraine - this is VERY rich and filling. Best for a crowd

Cuban Sliders - that bread looks yummy, doesn't it?

Cuban Sandwich - I really like Cuban sandwiches. can you tell? And panini sandwiches for that matter.

Country Style Green Beans With Potatoes and Ham - I know this link calls it soup, but where I come from, this is just country style green beans. Maybe just go slightly easier on the broth.

Ham Pot Pie - this link looks like am amazing pot pie, but I modified mine heavily (was aiming at less total calories and easier to make. It didn't disappoint).

• 2 medium-small potatoes diced into small cubes
• 2 large carrots cut into small cubes
• Handful of corn kernels
• 1 cup of peas
• 1 cup of chopped ham
• Combine all ingredients into large frying pan and add enough chicken broth until mixture is half-way filled up with broth. Cook until everything's nice and steamy. 
• Add milk (until as creamy as you like. I did about 1 cup) and 1-2 Tbsp of corn starch. Should get pretty gravy like at this point. Stick in pie dish. 
• Roll out half of a pie crust (the thinner crust topping is crustier and yummier, plus less total butter/fat in the recipe this way). I used the Pillsbury rolled up crust. Take a rolling pin and make it even thinner (doubling in size so a half crust can fit over a whole pile dish). Doesn't have to be round b/c you're going to cut it into squares. Lay the squares slightly overlapping. 
• Cook at 400F  until the crust looks nice and brown. The veggie/meat mix is basically already cooked going into the oven (I cooked mine about 20 minutes probably). 
  

Green & White Chili

White & Green Chili

I like green chili. I like white chili. So I did a mix, and it worked. Matter-oh-fact, it even worked for the toddler (which is a huge plus) AND it has lots of veggies. Score!

This might look like a weird recipe list, but it's how I measure/store things in my house. It's a very flexible recipe anyhow, so do your best, in the event that you're actually reading/making this.

• 1/2 cup onion, finely diced (or roughly one small onion)
• 1/2 cup green bell pepper (or roughly one large green bell pepper)
• 1-2 teaspoons (or finely diced cloves) of garlic

I keep onions & bell pepper pre-chopped in the freezer, at all the times. And have pre-chopped garlic in the fridge (by the jar). Toss these in a hot skillet (preferably an iron skillet), and saute just a bit, but don't go overboard. Keep your bell peppers bright green. If you want, cook the onions first, then add the peppers (I like my onions to turn brown).

• 1/2 cup of diced or shredded pre-cooked chicken or turkey (again, I keep this in the freezer, but you could even use canned for this recipe, in a pinch)
• 1 can or 1 cups worth of white beans (any white bean really, or lentils even)
• ~8 ice cubes worth of chicken bone broth (or basically just enough chicken broth, canned or homemade, to cover everything up nicely, but man is homemade chicken bone broth tasty. It's much darker than normal chicken broth, when I make it. )
• 1/2 cup of salsa verde (tomatillo and cilantro)
• Nice dose of cumin
• Nice dose of oregano  and/or thyme (fresh or dry). I usually just use Zahtar (which I always have on hand from the Mediterranean market, and it's the cheapest way to get lots of thyme, plus for some reason it just tastes better than normal dried thyme).

Cook all of this until it's good an hot.

• At the end, add a large handful of kale, finely diced (like parsley, basically). 
• Dice up some extra cilantro if you like too.

Cook that until it's just wilted then serve.

Top each bowl with some sour cream and/or cheese (I like Parmesan even though that's not traditional for chili, just b/c the flavor goes a long ways w/o adding too much. 2nd favorite's extra sharp cheddar. If I'm out of fresh cheese or sour cream, then I just add whole milk.

For me, almost every ingredient is already on hand, pre-prepped, in the fridge or freezer, and this is an incredibly easy and fast meal to prepare. You don't have to simmer for a long time, with this dish, so you can make the whole thing in one pot/pan (dutch oven or iron skillet). Winner, no matter how how you look at it.

Versatile Lasagna Rolls

Versatile Lasagna Rolls

This was a creation tailored around ingredients I had & wanted to ditch quickly (and luckily I had ricotta and lasagna noodles): Spinach, turkey, and mushrooms. Also, I wanted to make a big batch of something we could eat off of for a while. Voila, Lasagna Rolls (tweaked from this recipe)

Ingredients

• Your favorite marinara sauce (24 oz worth, size of a jar, roughly). I added fresh garlic, fresh oregano & parsley, mushrooms and finely chopped turkey to this. 
• 12 boiled lasagna noodles, cooled
• Some sort of shredded hard cheese (I didn't have parmesan or mozzarella, so used white cheddar)
• Cheese filling: 1 pint ricotta cheese, 1 small zip-lock bag full of fresh spinach finely diced, salt to taste, and a few tablespoons of sour cream to smooth things out a little (it was a bit too thick), but milk or water would be fine here too. Most recipes call for an egg, but I was out.

Put cheese filling on each lasagna noodle. Roll up. Smooth sauce on bottom of pan. Place noodle rolls on sauce. Cover in sauce. Sprinkle hard cheese on top. Bake at 375F for 25 minutes.

Most of this recipe is very versatile. My only advice is whatever you put in your sauce or filling, make it small, so it doesn't mess up your rolls. Super yummy!

The Holy Grail of Fresh Southern Style Green Beans (Thank You Paula Deen)

Southern Green Beans with Salt Pork and Onions

Her recipes normally scare me. I won't lie. And this one's no exception, but I TASTED them before seeing the recipe and, by God, they're the best fresh green beans.  This is adapted to how we made it for Thanksgiving (no added grease, no potatoes, fewer onions). Soooo good. This will be our new recipe for green beans at Thanksgiving from now on.

Take a 3lb bag of fresh green beans, and get to snappin'. Toss about 1/4 - 1/2 lb of salt pork in a large iron skillet and cook on medium until browned. Add enough chicken broth (preferably homemade) to fill up the pan by about 1/3". Add your green beans and simmer on low with a lid for about 20 minutes (you want it soft but still bright green, so just keep checking).

Very finely dice half an onion, add to beans, and cook for 5 more minutes. Sprinkle with garlic powder & black pepper (no more salt, trust me). If for some reason, once it's done, it doesn't taste salty enough, add it on the plate, but that salt pork is serious stuff. 

Summer Vegetable Gratin

Saute up a pan full of onions in olive oil and fresh thyme
until well caramelized. Helps to use an iron skillet. 

Slice up some squash (and/or zucchini)
and season with salt and pepper. 

Slice up some tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.
Let squash and tomatoes sit out for about 45 minutes
with seasoning on them, then blot the moisture away. 

Put onions on bottom. Then top with veggies. 

Fresh parm cheese and panko bread crumbs

Cover veggies with bread/cheese mixture

Bake at 375 until it starts looking good and brown.
Turn heat off.
Put freshly chopped basil on top.
Leave in oven for a few minutes to wilt the basil.
Serve immediately afterwards.
Doesn't make the best leftovers.

Homemade Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut. So nutritious. So yummy. So cheap. Just do it. 

• Medium-Small Fresh Cabbage with loose outer leaves removed finely sliced (not chopped). Using a mandolin is best. 
• 1 Tbsp whole peppercorns
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1.5 Tbsp sea salt (no iodine)
• Toss together in a large bowl. Tamp into mason jar in layers using a meat tenderizer mallet (it's hard to over tamp. give it a good effort)
• If cabbage is already covered in it's own brine, great, you're done. If not, wait a couple hours, come back, tamp some more if necessary. If it's still not covered, make up a brine that tastes about as salty as typical kraut. Pour it over the cabbage. 
• Now you just want to keep every single piece of cabbage under that brine. If you want, you can cut out a circular piece of thick green cabbage leaf to sit on top (it needs to stay submerged too). Then fill up a small glass or water (or some sort of weight) to sit on top and hold the cabbage down. 
• Lay a light cloth on top to keep out dust. Let ferment for 1-3 weeks (speed varies by temperature). Supposedly the best tasting is at slightly lower room temperatures over more time. The warmer it is, the faster it goes. 
• Keep tasting periodically to see if it tastes ready. It will stink in a less pleasant way the first few days, so don't worry about that yet. If you see mold / spots appear on top (because a bit of cabbage touched the air), just scoop out that piece of cabbage and the spots and wipe down the side of the glass. 
• Once it's ready, just keep it in the fridge. If you eat it fairly soon after sticking in the fridge, it will be a fair but crunchier than store bought kraut (much yummier, I think). I like cutting up just a bit of darker green leaves. Prettier that way. 

Note: homemade kraut has the beneficial bacteria in it where as store bought has been pasteurized and all bacteria (the good stuff) is killed. 

Homemade Cherry Pop Tart Pops

 Lifted this from this website: http://www.caplanmiller.com/blog/2011/02/28/must-have-monday-poptart-pops/

FOR THE TWO-BITE POPTARTS
1 c. fresh cherries, pitted and diced
3 T. sugar
2 T. cornstarch
2 T. water
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 pkg. prepared pie crusts

FOR THE POPS
wooden popscicle sticks

FOR THE GLAZE
1 c. powdered sugar
1-2 T. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
food coloring and sprinkles (optional)

In a small saucepan, combine cherries, sugar, cornstarch and almond extract. Heat on stove over medium heat until mixture has thickened. Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool. Unroll pie crusts and using a pizza cutter to slice them into 1 1/2″x 2″ rectangles (I used a ruler to measure mine into equal sizes. Just use a butter knife to score your pie crust before cutting).

Place a wooden popscicle stick on top of one of the cut rectangles, then spoon a small amount (about 1 1/2 tsp.) of cooled cherry filling into the center of the pie square, taking care not to get it near the edges. Gently lay a second rectangle over the top of the cherry filling. Press the edges of the rectangles together with a fork. Transfer to a baking sheet. Bake poptart pops in an oven preheated to 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes, or just until the edges begin to brown.

In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla to make glaze. Tint with food coloring, if desired. Spoon over cooled poptart pops, sprinkle with colored sugar, and allow to the glaze to harden slightly before serving.

Spinach Baked Egg Galette

Me = not an egg lover. Hubby = very much the egg lover. This breakfast = perfect compromise. The whole family really loves this dish.

1 pie crust divided into 4 pieces. Fold up edges and shape into 6" discs. 
1/2 finely diced medium-sized onion
1 tsp diced garlic
spice: nutmeg, red pepper flakes, black pepper
feta
1 bag fresh spinach, chopped just a bit.

Saute onions, garlic, and spice first. Then add spinach and cheese. Scoup mixture into crust, make a little hole in the middle, and top with one raw egg and black pepper. Pop in 350F oven for 15-30 minutes until egg is white and crust starts to brown.

Optionally: use ham, mushrooms, parmesan cheese, etc…

Note to self: Next time, I think I'll cook everything except the egg first, until the crust looks almost done, then add the raw egg and cook 5 more minutes (I like my yolk runny!).

Apple Berry Turnover

 

Came across an elderberry apple turnover recipe on All That I'm Eating that looked delicious and gave it a spin with a few modifications. Very yummy.

1.5 sticks of frozen butter
1.5 cups of flour
2-3 apples (depending on size, I used Mutsu Crispin)
Spices (cloves, nutmeg, and/or cinnamon)
Handful of berries (I used a mix of blueberries and blackberries)
1 beaten egg
Powdered sugar (optional)
Salt (optional)
Lemon Juice (optional)

Shred your frozen butter like cheese and add to flour. Mix together until it looks like bread crumbs, then start adding water and mixing until you end up with a pie dough consistency. If it gets too sticky, just dust it with more flour. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Cut skinned apples into 1/2" cubes and cook on low with some water and a sprinkle of sugar and spice (to taste). When apples start to get soft, add berries and cook until they burst and apples turn red. I added some lemon juice for additional tartness, but if your apples are already tart, you can skip this step. Next time I might try using cranberries (or elderberries).

Divide dough into 4 pieces and roll out, adding flour if needed. Pile in your apple mix, fold over, and seal. Cut slits in top. Brush with egg mix. Salt lightly. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper and cook at 375F for 30 minutes.

Once done, dust with sugar.

Blueberry Galette

Clearly I'm on a blueberry kick here but doesn't this look good? This came off this site.

Roll pastry dough into a large 12" circle 1/4" thick. Pile up 2 cups of blueberries and sprinkle with 1/2 cup of sugar. Fold dough up on edges. Egg wash the dough sides and bake at 375 degree for 20 minutes until the crust is golden and flaky.

Blueberry Coconut Tart

In my quest for yummy recipes to make with blueberries (also on a quest for coconut milk recipes), I came across this happy medley on project foodie

Makes 18 mini tarts

Coconut milk makes a richly decadent custard filling, replacing any need for eggs when using cornstarch for thickening.

• 1 recipe Key Lime Pie crust (see here)
• 1 tin (398 mL) coconut milk
• 1 vanilla bean or 1 Tbsp (15 mL) vanilla bean paste
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) sugar
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) cornstarch
• 1 cup (250 mL) fresh blueberries 

Preheat the oven to 350°f (175°c) and lightly grease a 24-cup mini muffin tin.

Prepare the graham crust and press it into the bottom and sides of the muffin cups. Bake for 10 minutes, then cool to room temperature.

Pour the coconut milk into a saucepot and scrape in the seeds of the vanilla bean (or stir in the vanilla bean paste). In a bowl, stir the sugar and cornstarch together and whisk into the coconut milk, then turn the heat to medium and whisk until the mixture comes to a simmer and thickens, about 6 minutes. Scrape the custard into a bowl, cover the surface of the custard with plastic wrap, and allow to cool to room temperature.

Once cooled, spoon the coconut filling into the mini tart shells and top each with 3 blueberries. Chill for at least 2 hours in the tin before popping them out to serve.
The tarts will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

You can make the coconut filling up to a day ahead of time and chill it before filling your tart shells. But before using the filling, it's best to purée it in a food processor or use an immersion blender to make it smooth.

Eggs and Avocado Toast

My husband adores eggs. He wants them with every meal. I on the other hand am a once a month egg sorta gal. In an effort to please though, I've been trying to come up with clever, tastey egg meals that even I can enjoy more than once a month. Pretty simple too. Next time I"ll try it with an english muffin and a little fresh cilantro.

Blueberry Cheesecake Muffins

This is from Deceptively Delicious and it lives up to it's name. Very moist and tastey. No hint of veggies. I personally think a little cocoa might taste nice in this too, but it's really good w/o, I know.
 
Filling

1. 4 oz fat free or reduced fat cream cheese
2. 1/3 c powdered sugar
3. ½ c pureed winter squash
4. 1 large egg white
5. 1⁄8 tsp salt

Cupcake Batter

1. 1 c granulated sugar
2. ½ c skim milk
3. ½ c blueberry puree
4. ½ c spinach puree
5. ¼ c vegetable oil
6. 1 c all-purpose flour
7. 1 ½ tsp baking soda
8. ¼ tsp salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Prepare your muffin tins with nonstick spray or liners.
2. For the filling, beat the cream cheese, sugar, squash puree, egg white, and salt in a bowl until smooth. Set aside.
3. For the batter, combine the sugar, milke, blueberry and spinach purees, and oil in your mixer bowl. Beat until smooth. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix until just combined.
4. Fill each muffin cup about 1/3 full with the batter. Then add a tablespoon of the filling. Then fill the rest of the way with batter.
5. Bake until the tops are lightly browned and spring back to touch, 20 to 25 minutes. Turn the cupcakes out onto a wire rack to cool.
6. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or freeze up to a month.