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??

Stratta (Vegas) Chopped Salad: Recreated

Not only was Vegas a blast, but I don’t think I ever had a bad meal.  In particular, there were some very delicious salads eaten throughout the weekend and I found myself writing down their ingredients so that I could re-create them when I got home.

Our plane got into Boston around 9:30AM Tuesday morning and later that day I went grocery shopping, then spend a good chuck of my afternoon chopping veggies for this guy:

On Saturday evening, after checking into the Wynn, Jocy and I wanted to eat a not-so-big dinner before getting ready for our big night out at Pure (green dress night…p.s. that dress is from Nordstrom juniors dept.). 

We grabbed two seats at the bar in Stratta and proceeded to split a salad and a pizza.

First up was the Stratta Chopped salad which was described as:

CHOPPED SALAD. . .
Escarole, Beans, Salami, Crisp Vegetables, Mustard Vinaigrette

The best part about this salad was that all the veggies were diced up so small!!   Even the olives were small!

As we kept “mmm”ing about this salad, I whipped out my phone and jotted down every veggie and bean I could identify. 

Next came our pizza

The crust was SUPER thin…almost like a tortilla, so thin.  I love a good thin crust. 

Toppings were sausage, green peppers, onions, and buffalo mozzarella.

Using some will power we were able to leave 2 slices to pack up.  We then proceeded to fill one of the sinks in our hotel room with ice and leave the leftovers on ice for a late night snack….Best Idea Ever.  Although the bar at Stratta is open until 6am.  The bartender did tempt us with the knowledge that we could get a fresh pizza after our night out, but we resisted. 

Re-creating that chopped salad was fun, although it did involve a LOT of chopping.

However, it made a big batch and I had it for lunch the next 2 days.

Chopped Veggie Salad with Salami
inspired by Stratta, serves 5-6

The key here is to chop all the veggies at a uniform size.  The smaller the better.

• mixed greens or baby spinach for your salad base
• 1 can kidney beans or black beans (or both!)
• 1 can chickpeas
• 1/2 med. red onion, diced
• carrot, diced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
• 1 red or orange bell pepper, diced
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 1/2 large cucumber, diced
• kalamata olives, small ones if you can find them
• 4oz salami, diced from a larger piece, or from slices

Mustard Vinaigrette:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 T white wine vinegar
• 1 T Dijon mustard
• salt and pepper

Drain and rinse beans and chickpeas.  In a large bowl combine all diced veggies (onion through cucumber).  Add in beans, olives, and salami. 

Make vinaigrette:  combine ingredients into a bowl or mason jar with lid.  Whisk or shake until combined.

Toss veggie mixture with salad.  Serve over a small layer of greens. 

As long as you keep the greens separated until ready to serve, the leftovers will keep for a day or 2 even with dressing already tossed in.  Just serve over fresh greens.

For lunch I added extra slices of salami and provolone cheese.

 

Does anyone else have a good mustard vinaigrette recipe?  I really enjoyed how this came out, but it wasn’t quite what we had at the restaurant. 

Do you ever “take notes” at restaurants??

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???

Brussels Sprout Salad with Lemon Dijon Vinaigrette

Remember when I went to Maine for a lovely weekend in February??  Well I mentioned it in my post but I had the most delicious salad that weekend at a restaurant called Walter’s in the Old Port. 

I’ve been wanting to re-create this salad ever since.

My grandmother’s birthday party was on Saturday!

Looking good for 87 right?? 

I wanted to bring a salad or some sort of veggie dish, as I knew we were having a Turkey-dinner-esque meal.  I wanted something fresh and light!

Plus there are so many great cooks in my family that there is always that unspoken pressure to come up with something different and delicious.

So I figured it was as good a time as any to try that salad!

If you’re making a large quantity of salad I highly recommend using a food processor with the slicing attachment to shred all the Brussels sprouts.  Otherwise, I’d just use a sharp knife and thinly slice them.

Another tip I learned after the fact was that you might want to cut out a bit of the core first.

I ended up with some of those thicker slices like in the photo above.  Not that you can’t eat it, but if eating raw they are better if that thick middle part is cut out.   

I prepped the Brussels sprouts the night before.

The next morning I cooked the bacon (in the oven), sliced the onion, made the dressing and assembled everything else when I got to the party.

Dressing…

Brussels, onion, and bacon ready to go!

When I arrived at the party, I added the almonds, cherries, and grated the cheese fresh on top!

Then tossed with dressing:

I left the nuts in a small dish to the side as some people can’t eat them.

I LOVED it!  I tweaked the recipe as written below to have a tad more honey and olive oil than what I had made.  Make sure to taste the dressing as you go to make sure it’s as sweet or sour as you like it!

Here’s what I did for a big party size salad:

Brussels Sprout Salad with Lemon Dijon Vinaigrette

• 2 lbs (or just under) Brussels Sprouts, washed, stalks trimmed
• 1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced
• 5-6 slices apple smoked bacon (nitrate free!)
• 1/2 cup dried cherries (or cranberries)
• 1/2 cup Marcona almonds (or your favorite nut!)
• Pecorino Romano cheese, about 2 oz, grated
• 1/3-1/2 cup olive oil
• 2-4 Tbsp lemon juice (just from 1 large lemon)
• 1 T honey
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• salt & pepper to taste

1. Shred or thinly slice Brussels sprouts (use food processor or knife).  This can be done the day before.  Set aside in large bowl.
2. Cook bacon until just crisp (I did this in the oven).  Drain on paper towels then give the bacon a rough chop.
3. Thinly slice red onion and add to the Brussels sprouts.
4. Prepare dressing in a small mason jar…easy to transport and then just shake it up real good.  Otherwise prepare in a bowl and whisk until combined and frothy.  Taste and tweak as needed.
5. Pour dressing all over salad.  Add in bacon, cherries, almonds, and grate the cheese on top.
6. Toss all together..SERVE!

 

Other goodies from the party…

Fresh Challah bread from the bakery!  No, my family is not even Jewish…we just love good bread!! 

Feast!!  Unpictured was also a HUGE platter full of twice baked potatoes!!!  Haven’t had one of those in ages and it was delish!!   

Hope you try the salad!  I want to try it again and maybe make it as a warm salad :)

I LOVE BRUSSELS!!

It’s beginning to feel a lot like SPRING around here :)

A Thanksgiving Salad

Hope you all had (or are still having) a fabulous Thanksgiving!  For us, we just knocked off our 2nd out of 3 Turkey Dinners of the week…oh boy.

#1 – Friendsgiving at our house
#2 – Thanksgiving Day -  Dinner at my aunts
#3 – A Thanksgiving dinner at Brian’s Family in NH on Saturday

So much turkey! 

The only downfall to having an early Friendsgiving, is that I’m usually kind of sick of turkey by today.  Not completely, and I really enjoyed today’s dinner, especially the sides that were different than what I made (my aunt did garlic mashed potatoes and they were divine).

To counteract the Turkey dinner overload, I decided to bring a fresh colorful green salad!

I wanted something with a Fall-theme to it, but with lots of fresh veggies and fruits! 

I came across this salad on the Whole Foods website:
“Thanksgiving Green Salad”….sounded perfect to me!

This salad combined mixed greens, fresh chopped fennel, orange segments, dried cranberries, and candied pecans all tossed with a raspberry balsamic dressing! 

I also had the bright idea to add some crumbled goat cheese!  It’s pictured, but the cheese went excellent with the other ingredients.

I opted to peel and segment my oranges with a knife (I used 4 large navel oranges), instead of just peeling them and using the break-apart segments…I just think it looks nicer :)

I also have a few family members who can’t eat nuts or seeds, so I left the candied pecans in a bowl on the side so people could add them on their own.  I also had to strain the pureed raspberries to get rid of the seeds.

I packed the dressing in a mason jar and tossed the salad at my aunts house right before dinner!  From what I heard, it seemed everyone liked it!!  I really enjoyed it and can’t wait to re-create it at home.  I forget how much I love fresh fennel.

This girl needs to get to sleep now though…Black Friday tomorrow!!  I know most people won’t go anywhere near stores tomorrow, but my mom and I love it!  We don’t go all 1am @ Best Buy crazy, but we get to the mall around 7am…early, but not “crazy” early…yet early enough to not have to deal with traffic or finding a parking spot.  We browse around, try and get some Christmas shopping started, have an early-ish lunch, shop some more and head home :)  It’s just something we love doing together…although day after Christmas is my favorite (this is my 2nd fav…ok maybe 3rd after Birthday shopping ;)

Again, I hope everyone got to spend some time with family and/or friends today…those who you’re most thankful for :) 

Christmas will be here before you know it…