Meals and Treats lately…

I actually feel like I’ve been doing some productive cooking and baking lately!  Last week I had three nights in a row of home cooked dinners which is now considered a record!   Bonus points for having leftovers for lunches.

Then I made some awesome cupcakes for Superbowl Sunday…which we ended up just staying at home.  Needless to say we enjoyed cupcakes for days and have leftovers in the freezer for when I get my next cake craving :)

These aren’t my recipes but just wanted to share because they were delicious and pretty easy.

First came out of the January/February Cooking Light!  This is the one that boasts “Chicken 25 Ways!” on the cover.  Well, we had chicken in the freezer so I checked out the options.

I thought the Chicken BLT Salad sounded great, and made sure to get all the ingredients that day at the store.

Everything’s better with bacon…

Crispy chicken

But my favorite part was the dressing!!

Seriously, that buttermilk dressing was awesome and I’d make that to have on hand any day!!  Tasted like a delicious restaurant dressing, but not as heavy as most creamy dressings.

My changes to the recipe:

• I used chopped romaine instead of iceberg
• I let the chicken sit in buttermilk for about 30 min before dredging in panko…I didn’t use the egg white.
• If I did it again I’d use Giada’s method for the chicken as it always comes out crispy.  This version was good, but not great…I found the breading didn’t crisp up as well.

I’m not even a huge blue cheese fan, but a little bit worked great with this salad.

The next day we set up the crock pot to do the work.

My friend had told me she made this spinach lasagna in a crock pot and it was SO good.  Sounded like a great weeknight meal so I added it to my list.

This was soooo simple.  We already had some Italian sausage in the freezer, and all I needed was a good jar of sauce, no-boil lasagna noodles, frozen spinach, ricotta, and mozzarella. 

The only “prep” needed was to make the spinach and cheese mixture and slice up the sausage.

Brian comes home for lunch some days to walk the dog, so we planned it for one of those days as it only takes 5-6 hours to cook.  We assembled it the night before and he just turned it on that day at lunch time.  I came home to this:

My thoughts:

• The lasagna sits kind of in the middle of the crock pot, don’t worry if everything doesn’t go all the way to the edges.
• I cut my sausages into coin slices so I used a lot more than 4 per layer…maybe she sliced hers the long way.
• Don’t worry too much about the order of the layering…it will come out good no matter what.

Delicious and super easy.

Now the sweet!

Oh yes.  Funfetti.  I’ve been craving a good vanilla-y birthday cake type cake for a while now!!  Specifically with a good butter cream…the butter cream I grew up with.

You don’t need the sprinkles but it just makes it so much more fun.  I googled “homemade funfetti cupcakes” and thought this recipe looked pretty simple.

My notes:

• I didn’t want to waste my vanilla beans here, so I just used 2 tsp of vanilla extract in the batter, and 2 tsp of vanilla bean paste in the frosting.
• I made MINI cupcakes and they bake 9-11 min, and I got about 30 from this recipe.
• Whenever I make this simple butter cream (butter, confectioners sugar, milk, vanilla), I always start with the recipe and then add more sugar and milk as needed until I get to my desired consistency…plus it makes more and tastes just as delicious.  Oh and I always use salted butter.

Such a great vanilla cake!!  

So happy we have some of these babies in the freezer!

On a healthier note we broke out the juicer!!

I love getting a small green juice sometimes at Whole Foods but then think how stupid it is when we have a nice juicer at home and used to make these all the time. 

It’s a great way to get lots of nutrients to the baby :)

In other news:

• working on the nursery!  We’ve purchased the crib, dresser, and glider! 
• Brian’s working on a new closet upstairs so I can turn the 2nd bedroom (i.e. my closet) into the nursery.
• The baby registries are all done and my shower is in a few weeks :)
• I’m 30 weeks!!!  Holy crap!!  Sorry no new pictures, but I’ll have to take a new bump shot this week!

So there’s my update!

Made anything good lately??

Some Local Action

Lots of great LOCAL things this weekend!  Including our dinner tonight!

Roasted chicken from our meat CSA.  We just started this CSA last month through Chestnut Farm, and I’ll tell you a lot more about it later this week after we pick up this month’s share this week! 

Red leaf lettuce and corn from the Farmer’s Market this morning.  The corn was super sweet and I wish we had bought more!  Luckily I have access to various Farmer’s Markets during the week in Boston.  Sometimes I like to swing through at lunch time.

Even the homemade croutons were made from Sour Dough bread from Nashoba Brook Bakery out of West Concord, MA.  So far this is the only TRUE sourdough we can find at Whole Foods (or any of our grocery stores around here).  Even the Whole Foods bakery sourdough has yeast and an added acetic agent.  If you want traditional sourdough bread…which is generally easier to digest because of the fermentation, then it should have basically 2 ingredients….flour and water. Maybe salt.  But NO yeast!!  The yeast is created by a starter of water and flour which creates its own wild yeast. 

I digress….

The chicken was made using my favorite recipe…Thomas Keller’s Simple Roast Chicken.  It’s just the best.   Last time I roasted a chicken I even went back to my previous “go-to” recipe (Barefoot Conetessa’s), but it just wasn’t the same.  Plus this is the SIMPLEST recipe ever.  The high heat + chicken fat can cause some smoke in the oven but this time we put a foil lined cookie sheet underneath to help :)  

It’s SO worth it for that crispy skin!

The corn was grilled.  And the croutons were made last minute by cutting up 2 slices of bread into cubes, heating about 1 tablespoon of butter in a skillet, and toasting the bread!  Mmmm buttery grilled bread.

I also whipped up a quick vinaigrette of olive oil, red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, and dill.

  Dinner was simply awesome.

Earlier in the day we had another Farmer’s Market find of an heirloom “pineapple” tomato, made into caprese salad with basil from our garden. 

Brian and I devoured this.

In other Local fun…the Healthy Living Summit was this weekend!! 

I had purchased a ticket, but ended up only being able to come for the cocktail party + Saturday morning, but I still had a great time!

The conference was at the Hyatt on Memorial Drive in Cambridge which I actually had never been to before!

  
view of Boston from across the Charles River taken from the glass elevator inside the hotel!

Got ready for the cocktail party

Reunited with my HLS 2011 roomie Elizabeth who planned the whole cocktail party!!

She did a bang up job.  And we had fun with the photo booth props during a little Reach the Beach reunion…

(above 2 photos from Tina)

 

(above photo from Ashley)

The night ended with some quality roomie bonding over my first ever Room Service!

Yes we pulled the cart between our beds :)

As I mentioned before I had to cut my HLS short this year…because my friend’s daughter was turning 1!!

I mean who could resist this face…

 

Concluding with a stop at the new Merrimack Premium Outlets and my weekend has come full circle :)

Willow Tree Farm: Chicken Pie!

For some reason, chicken pot pies are never something I think of making, or even buying for that matter.   I don't know why though, they are the epitome of comfort food, and it let's you have "pie" for dinner!

Recently, the nice people at Willow Tree Farm asked if I'd like to try out their chicken pot pies to review, and I gladly accepted.  Willow Tree is a local family owned and operated company out of Attleboro, MA specializing in chicken...especially chicken pies and chicken salad.

In most grocery stores around New England you can find their chicken pies in the freezer section and their chicken salad at the deli.

I selected their Chicken Pie with vegetables which had carrots, peas, and green beans.

With the heat we've been experiencing around here this summer, I was holding out for a "cooler" day to turn the oven on for this meal.  My wish finally came true this past Sunday when we had a nice day in the 70's ;)

Preparation is simple, place the pie on a baking sheet and bake for 1hr 15min.  I took the suggestion on the box to brush the crust with milk first to give it a nice golden brown finish.

Before we knew it, dinner was ready.  We had simple side salads to go with our meal.  The pie technically has 3 servings but if it's your main course I would say it feeds 2...we had no problem eating the whole thing.

Unlike some chicken pot pies this one only has a top crust which I really like!  Most of the time I feel like the bottom crust is just a filler and gets soggy anyways...this also keeps the calories down a bit.

I really enjoyed the big hunks of white meat, and the filling was nice and salty...in a good way, at least I thought so.  The crust was crisp and golden brown..good, but not as tender and flaky as it could of been.

I'd love to see them make a pie with just real butter and/or olive oil, instead of the shortening and soy or palm oils, but that would be my only gripe.

This would be a perfect meal for a brisk fall or winter day when you want something homemade but don't have the time.  Throw one of these pies in the oven, go do your other tasks around the house, and dinner's ready!

If you live in the area you can also check the Willow Tree Farm retail store  in Attleboro where they that pies, chicken salad and so much more!  I love their seafood salad and wish I could eat it more often, and they also make an awesome buffalo chicken dip which I ate copious amounts of at a friends house on Superbowl Sunday :)

They also have fresh turkeys you can order for the holidays...my "house Thanksgiving" 2 years ago used a Willow Tree bird and it was delicious.

Big thanks to Willow Tree Farm for providing me with the chicken pie!

Disclaimer: I received a coupon for a free chicken pie, but all opinions are always my own.

Do you rely on frozen meals sometimes??  As much as I love cooking everything homemade as often as I can…I also have to be realistic in that I keep my schedule pretty jam packed which leaves very little time for dinner some nights.  However, when I do by frozen foods I always makes sure the ingredient list is good and not filled with crap or chemicals :) 

Dinners Lately: Grill & Carb-light

I kind of hate the term “low-carb”.  It just reminds me of the Atkins and South Beach crazes, and all the fake and processed foods that you can still eat on those diets. 

So even though I’m shooting for less carbs lately, I’m even more committed to REAL food above all else.  

So with that said, I’ve had some delightful meals recently!

Saturday we had Brian’s mom and sister over!  It was SUCH a gorgeous day that I couldn’t very well not grill out!  I also had a craving for Mexican so we decided to make up some grilled fixin’s for Fajitas!

Chicken Fajita Marinade

• juice of 2 limes
• 4 cloves garlic, diced
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
• few shakes of crushed red pepper
• salt

Combine ingredients then add to a large Ziploc bag with your chicken.  We had 4 breasts in the bag, and marinated them for about 2-3 hours.

Grill up your chicken, some sliced bell peppers, and sliced onion.

Serve with your favorite additions:

• tortillas
• salsa
• sour cream
• avocado
• cilantro
• cheese
• mango would also be good here, we didn’t have it though

Best eaten outside :)

I used 1 TJ’s brown rice wrap for my fajitas!  But another idea is to serve over a bed of lettuce.

This was an easy, but fun meal for company!

Sunday was even nicer!

Grilled Steak Salads

• grilled tri trip steak
• baby spinach
• cucumber, chopped
• tomato, chopped
• shallots, sliced
• chives, finely chopped
• goat cheese, crumbled
• Dressing: balsamic, olive oil, salt and pepper

We also broke out some refreshing white wine!

This was actually a bottle that we brought home from Wine Country in November.  This is a 2010 Viognier from Thumbprint Cellars in Healdsburg. 

Not sure if this is a “proper” pairing, but we liked it.  This wine has a great full flavor, reminiscent of a Chardonnay to me, but without the bite…it’s smooth :)

Last but not least…TONIGHT!

It was a warm warm Marathon Monday, and unfortunately I was at work.  However, I did leave a little early ;) Shhhh. 

We had some ground turkey to work with and we wanted an easy and fast dinner!

Greek Style Turkey Burgers!

• 1 lb ground turkey, white meat
• 1 T olive oil
• canned artichokes: 4 chokes, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped olives, canned works fine here
• crumbed feta, about 1/4 cup or more
• salt and pepper
• a few shakes of za’atar if you have it

Mix together with your hands, form into patties, grill.

I also whipped up a quick little yogurt sauce!  Just took 2-3 T of 2% plain Greek yogurt, squeeze from 1/4 lemon, salt & pepper, and whatever dried herbs and spices you like!!  I had some different mixes from Penzey’s (used more Za’atar here, Aleppo pepper, and some Sandwich Sprinkle).  Delish!  Tasted like Ranch dressing :)

As you can see I enjoyed mine on lettuce, with some tomatoes, and a sweet potato on the side.

The burgers were incredibly flavorful!! 

I leave you with an outfit post!!  Long time no outfits around here.

But I have a current obsession…in the form of BRIGHT yellow skinny jeans…

 

They just make me happy.  I encourage you to go get some fun colored pants!!

Mine are from the Gap.

Just have to get through this week…then on Friday I leave for a fun weekend in VEGAS!!  I’ve never been, SO excited to have a girls weekend by the pool :) 

Any must see or must do or must eat things while I’m in Vegas???

White Turkey Chili & Favorite Roast Chicken

If I can make 2 or 3 home cooked dinners in a week, I’m happy.  I’ve actually felt pretty good about this lately.  Usually one of these meals takes a while, so I save those for Sundays or another night during the week where I know I’ll be home at a good time and have nothing else planned.

About a month ago I picked up a whole chicken at Whole Foods when they were on sale.  At the time I was in no mood for roast chicken with all the turkey we’d been eating during the holiday season but I knew it would be good to have in the freezer.

Well I was finally in the mood for roast chicken!

I’ve tried a few different recipes, but I have to say the most simple and MOST delicious is Thomas Keller’s method!  I’ve always put butter or olive oil on my chicken’s skin but Keller just adds salt and pepper to a dried off chicken and that’s it!

But seriously the skin gets SO crisp and the meat is so moist and flavorful!  I highly recommend you try this out sometime!  So easy!  Plus it roasts at a higher temp which takes less time…win win!

Note: I tie up the bird to truss the legs, but I don’t remove the wish bone beforehand…if you know how, go for it. 

For our chicken dinner, I also threw 2 sweet potatoes right in the oven with the chicken to bake. 

Meanwhile I sautéed some Brussels sprouts with olive oil, salt, pepper, and stirred in a little Dijon mustard at the end.

Nice rounded meal and tasted delicious too. 

Ok enough about the chicken (I just wanted to tell you guys about that recipe!), what I really wanted to share was the chili recipe!!

My best friend, Jocy, came up with a white turkey chili one day and it became a favorite of her family and friends :)  Since, you know, I got married and moved in with Brian, it’s been a while since I’ve had the chili!

She emailed me the basic recipe, and I tweaked it ever so slightly :)

J’s White Turkey & Bean Chili
4-6 servings

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 jalapeños, diced
• 1 lb lean ground turkey
• 2 cups chicken or turkey broth
• 2 cans cannellini beans
• 1 can garbanzo beans
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp cumin
• 10-12 shakes tobasco sauce
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2T half & half
• 1/4 cup shredded cheddar or other Mexican cheese, plus more for toppings
• sour cream
• cilantro
• tortilla chips
• avocado

In a large heavy bottom pot or Dutch oven, heat oil over med heat.  Add onion, garlic, and jalapeños.  Sauté for 4-5 minutes until onions start to soften.  Add turkey and continue cooking until mostly cooked through.  Add broth, beans, and spices.  Stir, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 10 min partially covered. 

Now take a potato masher and mash the chili until the beans are partially mashed.  Don’t worry you’re not making everything mushy, but breaking down the beans a little bit will add creaminess without adding cream!

But I still added a couple Tablespoons of half & half for some extra creaminess, along with the cheese.  Add the cream and cheese and stir until the cheese is all melted. 

Time to dig in!!

Top with sour cream, chopped cilantro, more cheese, and tortilla chips for dipping!

Add more tobasco sauce if you’d like as well. 

This was warm, creamy, and filling!  It was also still chunky enough to scoop up with some blue corn tortilla chips!  At this point I remembered the avocado..delicious on top as well. 

This chili also came together pretty fast!  Brian helped chop the onion, garlic, and jalapeños while I was at Crossfit then I cooked it up when I got home!  Only took about 25 min to get dinner on the table :)

So glad this week is half over!!  What’s been your favorite meal this week??