Holiday Food

It's been awhile since I've had time to just sit down, much less update the blog. There really hasn't much to update anyways...I haven't really been cooking over the past few days. I made spaghetti for Lindsay's birthday on Tuesday, per her request, and then did leftovers on Wednesday. The kiddos went to my folks' house on Thursday, so the boy and I had a nice dinner at Firecreek (flash-fried calamari appetizer, short rib for the boy, and a mahi/lobster/crab dish for me).

On Friday we were at my family's Christmas celebration and had jambalya, clam chowder, and my mom's amazing mac-n-cheese. And finally yesterday we were with the Risser side of the family for their celebration. My brother-in-law always cooks (which is a special treat for all of us since his culinary skills are probably the best in the fam...no offense to anyone else?!?), and it's tradition to have prime rib. I was in charge of a side (to go with all of the other sides he put out), so I made a winter fruit salad with a lemon poppyseed vinaigrette. I was hesitant to make something like that because the boy grew up with PA Dutch-style cooking, so some of the things I put on the table he totally balks at (therefore, it's likely his family would, too). But, I know it was way too good not to make, and it fit in nicely with the rest of the dishes. I never even made it to dessert yesterday because I was way too full (with the exception of a small toffee millionaire bar...of which I could have easily eaten another half-dozen), although naturally I was not too full to enjoy all of the wine my SIL & BIL brought. It sure beat the hell out of the boxes I'm used to ;-)

So, yup, it was a great holiday weekend, filled with all sorts of fun! We're spending today recuperating and it's nice to have the boy home as backup (usually he's back at work the day after Christmas). I do have to say, though, I am so sick of food. I need to use the flank steak that's in the fridge, so I'm making flank steak pinwheels tonight, but come tomorrow I don't even know what to make...I can't stop eating, but nothing sounds appetizing anymore?!

Winter Fruit Salad w/ Lemon Poppyseed Vinaigrette
Ingredients
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 teaspoons diced red onion
1 teaspoon Dijon-style prepared mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 head romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
4 ounces shredded Swiss cheese
1 cup cashews, pecans, or walnuts (I used leftover pecans from my pie the other week)
1/4 cup dried cranberries
2 apples - peeled, cored and diced
1 pear - peeled, cored and sliced

Directions

1. In a blender or food processor, combine sugar, lemon juice, onion, mustard, and salt. Process until well blended. 
2. With machine still running, add oil in a slow, steady stream until mixture is thick and smooth. 
3. Add poppy seeds, and process just a few seconds more to mix. 
4. In a large serving bowl, toss together the romaine lettuce, shredded Swiss cheese, cashews, dried cranberries, apple, and pear. If making ahead, you can toss the apples and pears in the vinaigrette so they don't brown.
5. Pour dressing over salad just before serving, and toss to coat.

Everyone seemed to love this yesterday. It makes a TON of dressing, though, so you might want to either serve the dressing separately or add some more lettuce. Also, it's not something that is good as leftovers if you mix the dressing with the salad (everything gets wilted and loses its crunchiness).

June 23 - Grilled Marinated Shrimp

I decided to marinate some shrimp for dinner to do a scampi, but I had a big lunch and the thought of pasta (especially before my Wednesday night Zumba workout!) was just too much. I decided to toss mine on a salad, but I made the pasta for the boy, Linds and Luke. It was really easy to throw together and everyone loved it!


Grilled Marinated Shrimp
Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon minced garlic
ground black pepper to taste
crushed red pepper flakes to taste (optional)
1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

Directions

1. In a large, non-reactive bowl, stir together the olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, garlic, and black pepper. Season with crushed red pepper, if desired. Add shrimp, and toss to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat grill for high heat. Thread shrimp onto skewers, piercing once near the tail and once near the head. Discard any remaining marinade.
3. Lightly oil grill grate. Grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until opaque. 

May 12 - Pizza

I'm really in vacation mode already! I don't feel like cooking, cleaning, or doing anything that requires effort. By the time dinner rolled around tonight, I had zero interest in putting something together, so we ordered pizza and a salad from Venice Pizza. It's pretty good pizza and one of two pizza places that delivers around here (Dominos is the only other one we can get...that I know of?). So, that was it - pizza and a salad for dinner. Nothing fancy, but damn, it was great to be able to dish out the food and not even have to clean it up (thank you, boy!).

Playing catch-up...busy weekend!

WOW! Let me just say it was a SUPER busy weekend! We were gone all day Friday (MOMS Club activity and happy hour play-date at Julia's house), all day Saturday (sunning while the kiddos played at Christy's and then a visit from Lynzy and Conor who we haven't seen since New Year's!), and then the boy helped install cabinets at casa de Kurzeja on Sunday, so Sarah and Critter spent the day with us. By the time Monday rolled around, I was wiped out!

As for dinners...let's see. On Friday we did some quick pasta with jarred sauce (I used Bertolli's Four Cheese Rosa sauce - alfredo sauce mixed with tomatoes...pretty good!).

On Saturday we ordered out since we had company. Scott had stained part of the deck and we didn't know if it would be dry or not, so I didn't defrost anything. We got some Venice pizza and wraps...always a good meal and they deliver, which is nice (and a rarity for us out here!).

On Sunday, we dined at the Kurzeja's and let me tell you, they never disappoint in the food department! Sarah grilled skewers of chicken satay and fillets of salmon, put together a salad with some incredible homemade dressing, and I braised a bag of baby carrots. Topped off with wine and Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches, it was an incredible dinner! I still need to get her satay recipe, but here's the braised carrrot recipe:

Braised Carrots
Ingredients
1 lb. bag of baby carrots
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water (or chicken broth)
Parsley

Directions

1. Place carrots, butter, brown sugar, salt and water (or chicken broth) in pan over medium-high heat. 
2. Bring to boil. 
3. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes or until carrots are tender and liquid evaporates. 
4. Sear slightly for color and top with parsley.

I don't have any pictures, but suffice it to say - FANTASTIC!!

Apr. 28 - Buffalo Chicken Salad

I had a frustrating day yesterday and frantically texted my friend Sarah to see if she'd escape with me for drinks after the kids were asleep. Being the amazing friend she is, she immediately agreed! I didn't feel like fussing with a big meal, so I made some salads and grilled some chicken to top them with. I have a bottle of buffalo marinade which I used to coat the chicken, and then used my bleu cheese vinaigrette to top it. It wasted delicious and was low-cal!

Apr. 25 - Spaghetti & Meat Sauce

It was a cool, rainy day - just absolutely miserable, with screaming kids, a bored mommy, and a daddy who wound up working a solid 6 hours out of the day (after traveling Thursday and Friday and not coming home until late). What better comfort food than spaghetti?

I used Ronzoni Smart Taste's spaghetti (which I "bought" seven boxes of and paid NOTHING using this deal and buying them at Giant where they're priced at $1 each. Thanks, Deal Finding Chik for the tip! I'm also not big into jarred sauce lately - I've eaten it so much that it just doesn't taste good anymore, so I made a tomato meat sauce to go with it. It was the *best* recipe I've tasted! The sauce was fantastic, albeit a tad bit runny, and it made enough for four separate meals. I divided the rest into three freezer bags and tossed it in the freezer - three meals ready to go! I definitely recommend trying this out. Next time, though, I might half and half it with sausage meat instead of all ground beef. We paired it with salads since we have 3 lbs. that I bought at BJ's and need to finish ASAP!

Oh, and I almost forgot - since it was Luke's 11-month birthday (can you believe it?!?), we ate special "butterscotch birthday pudding" that was topped with Cool Whip. Yum!

Spaghetti Tomato/Meat Sauce
Ingredients
1 (28 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 pound lean ground beef
2 yellow onions, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Blend the stewed tomatoes and crushed tomatoes in a blender.
2. In a large pot, brown the ground beef with the onions and garlic. 
3. Pour in tomatoes, and reduce heat. 
4. Add sugar, basil, oregano, salt and pepper, and cover. 
5. Simmer about 45 minutes. Serve warm over pasta of your choice.

The prep time was about 15 minutes - that included chopping the onion and garlic, as well as browning it and mixing the sauce together. This would be simple to toss together and put in the crockpot on low for those of you who work. It's also a great sauce to make ahead and freeze, pulling out each individual serving when you need it (when I say there were four servings, I meant there was enough for four meals for 2 adults and 1 child). And like I mentioned before, next time I make it, I'm going to substitute 1/2 lb. of sausage for 1/2 lb. of the beef. I think that will give it a nice kick! If you want to make it vegetarian, however, delete the meat out of the recipe and substitute in two tablespoons of olive oil.

Apr. 17 - Big lunch & snacks

Linds was feeling better, so we had a "ladies day" and spent the morning and afternoon at the mall! I realized I had almost nothing that fit for this summer (seeing as I spent last summer in that awkward, post-partum size). Lindsay's idol My friend Sarah and her son, Christian (haha - yes, my daughter worships this woman!) joined us for our excursion and we all shopped 'til we dropped. Mid-way through we grabbed lunch at the Winner's Circle Sports Grille and split a BBQ chicken salad and buffalo chicken wrap with Anna Kournikova sauce (super hot sauce - yum!). It was a fab meal and was the perfect break from our shopping. Since we didn't finish up until 2 p.m. or so, I wasn't too hungry for dinner, and the boy went out with some old high school friends tonight, so he really didn't need to eat either. My food supply is dipping dangerously low, though...looks like I might have a Wegmans trip in my near future!

Apr. 15 - Grilled Chicken Salads

I DID IT!!! I learned how to grill!!! So, there really wasn't much "learning" involved - but, damn it, I figured it out. I'm pretty proud of myself! It might not be a big deal to some, but it's one new thing I can add to my cooking repertoire that I hadn't been able to do before.

I used one of the marinades I got during yesterday's fabulous grocery buy (89 cents, originally $2.79!) and had the chicken marinating all day. I fired up the grill and voila - grilled chicken!

Surprisingly enough, it wasn't nearly as difficult as I had anticipated! I served it over lettuce and cheese (our salad fixins were a little slim) and with some of the leftover sweet potato cornbread from the other night.

 

Ooooh - and before I forget! I put Marie Calendar's bleu cheese vinaigrette dressing on mine. If you've never tried it and like bleu cheese, you absolutely MUST give this one a try. Absolutely delicious. Now, it's off to mom's night out - WAHOO!!!!!!

Mar. 21 - Cobb Salad

Oh, my...there are days when all you want to do is sit down and enjoy your dinner (whether with kids, your husband, all of the above or none of the above)...and there are days when you just want to put everyone to bed and eat all by yourself. After tantrum after tantrum, today was a day when I put everyone to bed and ate alone at the kitchen table at 7:30 p.m. I was starving, but the blissfully quiet meal was worth it!

When we made the honey chicken skewers last week, I had the boy grill up two other chicken breasts to go along with them. I figured we could either make chicken salad, reheat them with some veggies and rice, or make a salad out of them. Since we didn't feel like cooking tonight, we decided to make some salads with the romaine (before it went bad) and tossed the chicken in with it.

The boy and Linds had some basic grilled chicken salads - chicken, romaine, carrots, cheese, croutons, bacon bits and dressing. I opted for a Cobb salad - chicken, avocado, romaine, carrots, bleu cheese, croutons, bacon bits (didn't have any defrosted regular bacon), hard boiled egg, and a fat-free Maple Grove Farms of Vermont balsamic vinaigrette (only 5 calories per serving!). The salads were filling and delicious. I'm excited to make a lot more of them this summer!

Feb. 25 - The Big Salad

Every time I have a "big salad," I think of the Seinfeld episode when George buys Elaine the big salad, but his girlfriend at the time takes credit, much to his dismay. It also reminds me of "The Soup" episode when they go to Reggie's Diner and Elaine orders a big salad. The waitress (Hilde) looks at her confused and Elaine quips, "It's a salad. Only bigger. With lots of stuff in it." Hilde then offers her two small salads.

Alas, if Hilde actually understood the concept and delectability of the Big Salad she would have realized two small salads just doesn't cut it. The Big Salad must come in a large bowl and contain lots of different add-ins. We started our salads off tonight with some bagged romaine salad with shredded carrots and purple cabbage. The boy added a grilled chicken breast, tons of cheddar cheese, croutons, and an inordinate amount of 1000 Island dressing to his. I used some of the leftover rib meat, corn, bleu cheese and a dressing mix of bleu cheese and Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce (the same I used on the rib meat)...it was an odd combination of things, but all together it tasted pretty darn good!

Of course, I had to wash it down with a brickle drop cookie for dessert.