Not a bread crust in sight

I do better when I have a plan. At least, I do better at eating healthy when I have a plan. Being in a rush when I am hungry generally leads me down the wrong path. It’s a tasty path, full of things like bagels, muffins and croissants. They are so good, and quick, and sometimes that’s what’s for lunch. I am working on reminding myself that the salad bar at Lowes Foods is also quick, and it’s a much better choice. I do actually make good choices on the salad bar. Mixed greens, lots of veggies, even raw carrots which are not my favorite but which I know are good for me. And they’re bright orange, which makes me happy, especially on a dreary March day.

Sorry for the babbling. 

This week, I have a plan. I sometimes use plain hamburger patties, because I really do like beef. But this week, I went with the healthier choice of chicken. No cheese, very little olive oil, and just some seasonings. Today., I used salt and pepper, and paprika. And then I cooked some red bell pepper and zucchini, and a little bit of onion. I just used olive oil, salt and pepper, and a little thyme on those. I packed them up in individual servings, and voila! I have a couple veggie and protein lunches ready to go this week. And no bread in any shape or form is involved. I’m calling that a victory. 

Just a little mashed potatoes

I don't actually know how to cook a little of anything. I have enough Italian in me to make me want to make sure there's enough for everyone who might think about stopping by for dinner. And I have even more Irish in me, which means I like potatoes. I really like potatoes.

Tonight we made chicken thinghs. Jeffrey Came home grousing about having to to go 3 stores just to find plain 'ole chicken thighs. He kept finding the skinless, boneless ones and that's not what we wanted. I calmed him down by reminding him we still had Rice Krispie treats. That worked. We cooked the chicken simply, but it's one of our favorite methods. Olive oil (or butter) and Old Bay seasoning. And then we bake them on 350, or 380 if you're hungry and want them to cook faster. It usually takes between 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the temp you're using and how many chicken thighs you're cooking.

For sides, we had asparagus (after a couple false starts when we totally overcooked it, we really grew to love asparagus) and mashed potatoes. I made a lot of mashed potatoes. I have no pictures, mostly because we were hungry when dinner was ready. But oh man, they were some delicious mashed potatoes. I used heavy cream, because we had some leftover from making ganache this past weekend. I used butter, and salt and pepper. And that was it.

I might have had seconds and even some for lunch tomorrow.

Fig jam and pork

A friend recently gave me a jar of fig jam. I knew I liked figs, but I wasn't sure about the fellas. Turns out one does and one is not sure.

I also wasn't entirely sure what to do with fig jam. It has all the typical fruit jam uses, and I hear it is really good on toast. But it seems to be more...substantial than a berry or apple jelly or jam. So I decided to make a sauce for pork chops.

Now look. I know this is a food blog. But I am terrible about writing measurements down. And I only got one picture of the final product. And the boy photobombed it. But I am a writer, so I can tell you all about it. Here's how it went down.

I sauteed boneless pork chops in the cast iron skillet. I seasoned the chops with salt and pepper and paprika. You could use your favorite grill seasoning or garlic instead.

After the chops were done, I removed them and kept them warm. Then I started with some olive oil and onions. I used a red onion, sliced in thin half moons. A little salt and pepper and then let them get happy, as Emeril would say. You want them pretty soft, nice and caramelized. Deglaze with white wine. Then add some apples, thinly sliced. I used 2 Granny Smith apples, and I didn't bother to peel them. I added a little dry thyme at this point. A little more wine to keep things moving in the pan.  

Next came the fig jam. I heated it through and then added a little more wine to thin out the sauce a little. I tasted the sauce and didn't think it needed anything else. Except a little butter. Sauce always needs a little butter.

Plate the chops, spoon the onions and apples on top, add a little more sauce. Baby carrots with a just a little butter, salt and pepper made a nice side dish and voila! Dinner was served. Oh, I almost forgot the biscuits. Jeffrey had mentioned a couple of times that he was really hungry. And I had made him help clean out my car, so I made biscuits. No muss, no fuss, just the Hungry Jack recipe here. No cheddar, so I used mozzarella and garlic seasoning instead.

John is not necessarily a fan of the fig jam I think, but otherwise, this dinner was a big hit!

Chicken + a cast iron grill pan = a fabulous dinner

I am trying to change the way I eat because I know it's what I need to do to be healthy. I have a sweet tooth but I don't indulge it every day. I don't snack between meals and I don't eat a bag of potato chips in one sitting. But I do have a problem with carbs.

So I've been looking for meals that are healthy, interesting and delicious. Watching "The Kitchen" on Food Network this weekend, I saw the hosts giving tips for grilling chicken breasts. That's what we did for dinner tonight. I didn't look at a recipe, but just cooked it like they suggested.

We pounded out the chicken breasts. I did two and the boy did two. He said it would be great therapy for anyone who had a bad day. And I'll be honest. He did a much better job on pounding them out than I did. They really did cook more evenly since we made them flat. All we used was Kosher salt, fresh cracked black pepper and garlic powder. A little Canola oil brushed on the grill and that was it.

There are chives and parsley in the yard that survived the winter, so we chopped some of them to add to some spring mix greens. All we added was a little olive oil and balsamic for a quick and light dressing. I topped the chicken breasts with the salad and a pinch of salt. I also made some roasted purple potatoes -- just a few pieces for everyone. That's a much better choice than making enough mashed potatoes for six people when we are only three, right?

I thought it looked great, and the proof was in the pudding. Or actually, the empty plates. Everyone loved it. You're probably wondering if my plate really has snowflakes on it. Yes, it does. Don't judge. I forgot to run the dishwasher and this is what was clean. I think Jeffrey got the random flower plate.

On a side note, we did have one small mishap. Jeffrey somehow flung balsamic vinegar into his eye. Naturally, the boy and I laughed. And then I got Jeff a damp towel. Apparently healthy food can be dangerous for some people, but we'll keep trying meals that are good for us anyway.

Christmas dinner was just right

It was just the three of us for Christmas dinner this year. I poured through cookbooks, scoured my favorite foodie websites and mulled it over for days. What in the world would we have for dinner? I grew up with this particular holiday being a "thing."

My parents always hosted a Christmas open house, all 22 years I lived at home and even before I was born. It was quite a production. We started welcoming guests about 1 p.m. and sent the last ones home about 2 a.m. the next morning. Both of my parents have large families, and one year I counted -- 72 people came to our party.

The gathering itself was casual, with food served buffet style mostly in the dining room. On the table, Mom used a tablecloth my Dad's grandmother made. It is white with a red embroidery pattern. Mom put a piece of hard plastic down over it that was the same size as the table, which helped keep it white all those years. I'm really glad she did, since now it's mine. The slow cookers with meatballs and sausage and hot roast beef for sandwiches were in the kitchen. We had chairs and small tables set up everywhere and somehow, we had enough room. Usually my Mom's family came in the afternoon, and my Dad's family came at night. Friends and neighbors dropped in here and there.

We cooked for days to get ready. My Mom didn't really like to cook, but she had these party preparations down to a science. She had a folder of recipes we used every year. Some things were added and some we dropped if they weren't popular. There was always ambrosia, jello mold with fruit, coleslaw and potato salad (more on the McGarry potato salad in a future post), macaroni salad, pineapple casserole and petit fours from a local bakery.

We also opened our presents and had our family Christmas at night, usually after midnight mass. Then it was up and at 'em early on Christmas day, chopping vegetables and spooning out dishes we'd made the day before. It was a lot of work, but I enjoyed it.

I knew I wouldn't have to cook for days for just the three of us, but I still wanted to do something special (without spending all day in the kitchen). Hello London Broil.
I marinated the meat for about three hours, in nothing more than equal parts olive oil and balsamic vinegar, a really big clove of smashed garlic and some black pepper. I caramelized some shallots and made a butter with those, salt and pepper and fresh thyme. I sauteed some pancetta and shallots to go with green beans, and I made some potatoes. I boiled small Yukon gold potatoes, smashed them a little and drizzled with a little olive oil. Some salt and pepper and shredded cheddar and they were ready for the broiler after the steak was finished. And that was it. Simple in terms of effort, yet fancy enough to call it a holiday meal. It was just what I wanted for my family. I hope all of you enjoyed your family celebrations as much as I enjoyed ours.

Missing My Kitchen

It has been a really busy summer. Somehow it just got away from us and before we knew it, it was back to school time and the summer was over. I have also been nursing one and then the other knee with injuries, and will actually have surgery soon. I haven't been able to stand for long period of times and walking around a lot is also difficult. Long story short, I haven't been cooking, really cooking, much. Oh we've had dinner at home a lot. But nothing that sticks out. No new recipes. No complicated dishes and no hanging out in the kitchen to cook elaborate meals.

I didn't realize how much I would miss it.

I really do enjoy trying new things in the kitchen or even making some of our tried and true favorites. I am cooking tonight, though dinner will be late. Jeffrey had a long day after a long week and is asleep on the couch. John is watching YouTube videos and I am blogging while the meat is cooking. We're having lemon garlic chicken thighs (with thyme, olive oil and salt and pepper). Next I'll get started on the mashed potatoes and cook some carrots. Nothing super fancy, just a good old-fashioned home cooked dinner. I am still hurting, and I'll get John to help me if I need it, but I just wanted to cook since we are all actually home tonight.

Can't wait until it's time to eat!

We now have a Ninja in the house

When Mother's Day rolls around, a lot of women expect flowers, perfume, jewelry, something feminine and pretty. Me? I ask for appliances and gadgets. I remember the first year Jeff and I lived in North Carolina. Jeff got me a fishing pole for my birthday. It was a great gift, because he and I enjoyed going to the beach together and fishing, but I didn't have my own pole. I remember talking to my Dad, and he asked me what Jeff had given me (making sure his baby girl was being taken care of I guess). When I told him, he was quiet for a minute before asking me if I had wanted one. He must have thought Jeff was in big trouble. But Jeffrey has a great track record in the gift department. He knows me very well.

Sometimes I am super specific though. This was one of those years. I pointed out a few times that I really wanted a Ninja master prep system. It slices and dices and...you get the idea. Jeff ordered one off Amazon and hauled it out to the mountains with us since we went away for Mother's Day Weekend. Yay! Just what I wanted!

Things have been crazy busy around here since then. I was to the point that if we all had a clean outfit to wear the next day and we all ate dinner I felt like I was ahead of the game. So we haven't had the time to properly christen our new kitchen toy. We finally did tonight, by making hummus.

I became a big fan of hummus a couple of years ago. Sometimes I make a quick trip to the grocery store on my lunch break, and hummus and pita chips with a banana or yogurt on the side makes for a great lunch.

To make it tonight, first we roasted a head of garlic (super easy - cut the top off, put it in an oven-proof dish on top of some olive oil, drizzle olive oil on the exposed cloves, sprinkle with salt and pepper, cover the dish with aluminum foil and cook for 45 minutes 375 degrees). This makes the house smell delicious!

Here's the recipe we used for hummus. We did have to add more olive oil. It was creamy and garlicky and so yummy. I say we...actually I gave the boy directions and he made it. That's been happening a lot lately, which is fine by me. It took us a while to find
tahini paste in the grocery store. Was it with the Asian food? The peanut butter? Nope. With the vinegar. It's a sesame paste that is actually pretty tasty. Now I have to figure out how else I can use it.

As for the Ninja, next I'll be looking at a new smoothie recipe. I really want to try one that combines vegetables and fruits and supposedly tastes like the fruit so you forget you're drinking spinach. If you have any good recipes, please feel free to share!