Family Christmas

This year the Family Christmas is being held at our house. Lots of prep will go into this... and most of it has been completed. Jason and I purchased a tree and some decorations. We don't want to spend too much so we'll still use borrowed ornaments and not worry too much about our lack of Christmas Spirit in the house. The tree should arrive Tuesday and we'll get that set up.

My sister created a Pinterest Board for us to collaborate on food we'll be having. Since the wedding, everyone cannot stop talking about what an amazing job Joe Boccardi's did and how great the Cannenoli was. So we ordered Cannenoli as one of the main dishes. I plan to make other things, like Stuffed Meatballs and my all time favorite Tortellini Soup.

My sister is hopefully making a Tiramisu Cheesecake and I'm making Mini-Cannoli Cups.

I made a practice run of the mini-cannoli cups today. They are delicious!!!


Mini Cannoli Cups
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Start to Finish: 40 minutes
Servings: about 16 mini cups

Ingredients:
For Cups
Flour for dusting surface (Or use Parchment paper)
1 Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crust
Sugar & Cinnamon


For Filling
1 (15oz) container of whole milk ricotta cheese (strained/drain off liquid)
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus extra for dusting finished cups
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips


Directions:
In a large bowl with an electric mixer combine all ingredients for the filling except the chocolate chips and mix well until creamy. Place the filling in a 1-gallon plastic storage bag and chill while you make the cups. Filling may seem thin but will firm up slightly when it’s refrigerated.

Heat oven to 425°F. Unroll the piecrust onto a lightly floured surface and sprinkle the top of each crust with the natural sugar and the cinnamon. Lightly roll over it with a rolling pin so that sugar and cinnamon are pressed into the dough. (This will help thin out the dough a little and result in 16 cut circles.)

With a 2 1/2-3 inch round biscuit cutter or cookie cutter*, cut out circles and lightly press them inside an ungreased mini muffin or mini cupcake pan to create a pastry cup.


Bake for about 10 minutes or until cups are golden. Remove from oven and allow cups to cool. Once cups are cool they can be removed from tin and filled.

Remove filling from refrigerator, cut one of the bottom corners off the bag and pipe a little less than a tablespoon of filling into the cooled cannoli cups.

Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips, dust with powdered sugar and serve.

Important Notes:
*If you don't have a biscuit cutter or round cookie cutter and can't find one *anywhere* in Walmart, a canned good is usually about 3-inches in diameter.

You can strain or drain the liquid off the ricotta. Highly recommend this.

Turkey Meatloaf

Finally! I can do it! Reading the instructions helps a ton. Meatloaf is always hard. And it's especially hard to make Turkey Meatloaf taste good. But seriously, this meatloaf is great. I'm going to make it again this week or next.

Here's the deal - Ground Turkey is best found at Sam's Club in a 2-40 ounce pack by Jennie-O. Good stuff, great package. I use it for meatballs and chili.

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp Butter
Small White Onion, Diced
3 Garlic Cloves or 1 Tbsp Minced Garlic
20 ounces ground turkey
Packet Italian Seasoning Dressing (Dry Salad Dressing Mix)
8-ounces tomato sauce
1 egg
1 cup panko bread crumbs
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt & Pepper

Directions:
Preheat Oven to 350.
Melt butter in sauce pan, saute diced onion & garlic until onion is clear. Remove from heat & let cool
In large bowl mix together the ground turkey, Italian Seasoning, egg, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt & paper. Mix in bread crumbs & onion/garlic mixture.
Divide into 4 small loaves ~ 13 ounces each.
Bake on parchment paper lined cookie sheet for 50 minutes.

Note: You can make one large loaf, but the 4 smaller loaves will cook equally and more thoroughly then one large loaf.

Breakfast Quinoa

Who knew you could eat quinoa for breakfast? This BeachBody recipe (modified) is really great! Healthy and low calorie and low fat. 

Ingredients
1/2 cup milk. Can substitute almond, soy, or rice milk
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup organic quinoa, rinsed
3/4 cups fresh berries
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp honey

Directions

Serving Size: Makes 3 Servings
1. Combine milk, water, cinnamon, and (rinsed) quinoa in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat.
2. Reduce heat to medium low; cover and simmer 15 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Turn off heat; let stand covered 5 minutes. Stir in vanilla.
3. Put 1/4 cup berries in 3 serving dishes. Place 1/3 of quinoa over berries. 
4. Drizzle preferred sweetener over each serving.


It actually was really good. I keep forgetting to rinse my quinoa when I cook it. I wrote on the front of the box with a Sharpe "RINSE" to remind me the next time. The texture is different, but it does remind me of eating oatmeal for breakfast. 

I used Trader Joe's Organic Quinoa (cost effective if you're shopping around) and have frozen blueberries. I heated my first dish 30-seconds to defrost the blueberries. 

The next morning I heated the dish a 90 seconds to heat it up. Tasted just like the day before. 

Comfort Food - Chicken & Rice

One of my mom's favorite dishes when I was growing up was a very simple Baked Chicken & Rice casserole. It's really easy. Anyone can make this. Even my friends who can't cook!

Ingredients:

1 cup milk
1 cup water
1 can Cream of Whatever Soup (I prefer mushroom)
2 Cups of rice
Parmesan Cheese (about 1/4 cup)
4 chicken breasts, split open & pounded slightly thin
Salt & Pepper

In a large bowl or measuring glass, mix together the Milk, Water, Soup, and Rice.

Pour the mixture into a 9x13 glass casserole dish. Make sure you spray the dish with non-stick spray or else the rice will stick. Even then, the rice will stick. Be prepared, the rice will stick.

Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top of the soupy mixture. (You can omit this or substitute another grated cheese and/or bread crumbs.)

Layer the chicken breasts on top of the mixture. They might sink into the soupy mixture - that's ok, it gives it more flavor!

Sprinkle with Salt & Pepper, and other spices if you choose. I like adding a little garlic and oregano.
Bake at 350-degrees F for 40 minutes. Check the chicken... it should be done.. if you flattened the breasts. Otherwise keep cooking. Or throw the chicken in the microwave.

Best served with steamed broccoli.

Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken

 Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken from SkinnyTaste
Servings: 8 servings Calories: 190 • Fat: 1.5 g • Fiber: 5.6 g • Carbs: 23.1 g • Protein: 21 g

Ingredients:

24 oz (1 1/2) lbs chicken breast, diced

14.4 oz can diced tomatoes (recommend fire roasted, not drained)

4-oz can diced mild green chilies, drained 

15 oz can black beans, rinsed & drained

8 oz can corn, rinsed & drained

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

14.4 oz can fat free chicken broth

3 scallions, chopped

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1tsp salt

Or other spices to taste

 

Directions:

Combine chicken broth, beans, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, scallions, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt in your crock pot. Lay chicken on top and season with salt & pepper. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Half hour before serving,  adjust salt and seasoning.

Serve with rice, and/or in a tortilla with sour cream, guacamole, cheese. Think "Chipolte Burrito Bowl" Nutrional info above stolen from SkinnyTaste and doesn't incude the extras. The crock pot conconoction tastes great by itself.

The rice above was a recipe from skinny taste, but I added too much cilantro. Chipotle's Cilantro Lime Rice

Pumpkin Pancakes

I had an amazing weekend with my BFF. She came in from Maryville so we could all go to the City Museum. For those non-St. Louis people, it's hard to describe exactly what this is. But it's a great date place (or not...) and just a wonder of amazement on crawling through things, around things, enjoying a 10-story slide, and a roof-top ferris wheel!! Wear jeans/pants and tennis shoes. And leave your fancy phone in the car. :)

Anyway, all things aside.. I love making breakfast on the weekend!! And this weekend was pumpkin pancakes. Easy peasy. Especially with Bisquick. :)

Pumpkin Pancakes

• 3 cups of Bisquick
• 3 eggs
• 1.5 cups Milk
• 1 cup of pumpkin (about half a 15-oz can, not pumpkin pie filling, pure pumpkin)
• Cinnamon & All-Spice to flavor, or Pumpkin Pie Spice to taste

Blend well and make pancakes like normal. They are a little browner because of the pumpkin cooking. It makes around 15 pancakes. They are super yummy, and go amazingly well with Pumpkin Butter.

Pumpkin Butter

• 3 1/2 cups pumpkin puree, or 1 (29 ounce) can (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup apple cider or juice
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2-3 cinnamon sticks
• 1-2 tsp Cinnamon & All-Spice to flavor OR pumpkin pie spice (to taste)

Combine pureed pumpkin, vanilla, apple juice, spices, cinnamon sticks and sugar in a large saucepan; stir well. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30 - 40 minutes or until thickened. Stir frequently. Adjust spices to your taste.

This will keep for about 3 days in the fridge. It's not recommend for canning, but you can freeze it (obviously not in the jar.)

You can use it on pancakes or to make iced pumpkin lattes (coming soon!) or pumpkin smoothies. Or enjoy it on toast, or make more pancakes! :)

Use What You Have

I think it's too easy to let food go bad and or not remember to use certain leftovers for whatever. The Food Co-op gives me so much food that I have to work harder to use it all. It's not like making a grocery list and buying what you need (especially portion wise.) I'm given random things like Mangos or Cauliflower or Fresh Green Beans.

Its also easy to wind up with a lot of extra veggies from salads or pizza making. I recommend making a "Garbage Omelet".

I mixed 4 eggs with a little milk, added all the goodies, and then 3 more eggs on top of that. My goal was a frittata like item, but it wasn't working. I had to flip it in half to get it fully cooked. The garbage omelet made four servings, and used up a lot of leftover random things.

Also on the menu this week was roasted red potatoes & roasted cauliflower. I did this tonight with the steaks Jason grilled. I looked up on the food network recommendations for making these.

Roasted Red Potatoes:

Dice Potatoes

Tossed with Olive Oil, placed on Foil Lined Baking Sheet

Sprinkle with Garlic & Italian Seasoning

Bake 35 minutes at 500 degrees.

Roasted Cauliflower:

Break up cauliflower, cut in half. Large pieces are better.

Toss with Olive Oil & juice from 1-2 freshly squeezed lemons.

Sprinkle with Garlic.

Bake 15 minutes at 500 degrees.

Sprinkle with Feta Cheese once plated.

Crock Pot Veggie Burritos - V2.0

A very simple recipe that anyone can make!
 

My recipe. Makes an estimated 25-30 Servings (1/2 Cup Scoops)

2 Cups Brown Instant Rice

3 Cups Chicken Broth

2 Cups Salsa

3 Tblsp of Taco Seasoning

3 Peppers sliced thin

1/2 Red Onion Sliced Thin

2 Cans (15oz)  Black Beans

2 Cans (15 oz) Diced Tomatoes (Choose your own flavor.)

1 Can Diced Chilis (4oz)
I also added 4-5 Jalapenos and a couple Tblsp juice.

Place in order listed (stir together Rice/Broth/Salsa/Seasoning) in crockpot and cook approximately 6 hours.

I added 3 Tblsp of Taco Seasoning, but you can add a mixture of of Paprika, Cumin, and Red Pepper Flakes.

I used Spark to estimate the nutritional content of it. It is only based on the ingredients in the in the crockpot. Adding shells, cheese, guac, and sour cream adds the extra calories!

I use Mission 96% Fat Free Tortilla, Wholly Guacamole, Daisy Reduced Fat Sour Cream, and some Colby Jack cheese.

Baked Potato Soup

Last week I made Baked Potato Soup.               It's very simple.

• 5 lbs russet potatoes, diced, NOT peeled
• 5 tablespoons garlic
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 64 ounces chicken broth or stock
• 16 ounces cream cheese
• bacon, sour cream, chives or shredded cheese for garnish

Put the potatoes, garlic, onion, and chicken broth in a crockpot All. Day. Long. (8 hours)

You can put the mixture in the food processor, but I used my Cuisinart immersion blender to mix it. If you don't own an immersion Blender, well, there's no reason not too. I use it for EVERYTHING.

After getting the onion & potatoes pureed, mix in the 2 bricks of cream cheese. This recipe was originally reported as "amazing" on Pinterest because it didn't have a heavy cream or milk product in it. Um... ok. Cream Cheese = Milk Product in a Heavy Cream form. Ok.

The soup is amazingly bad for you. If you weren't able to tell by the one whole pound of cream cheese. 

The soup without fancy toppings is not that flavorable (I added pepper to the crock pot also). I would recommend the chives and bacon bits. This recipe would make a good Pot-Luck side dish. You could add less broth and make it more chunky. It was super easy (aside from making Jason scrub 5 pounds of potatoes, and dicing the potatoes... and using the immersion), and is a hearty meal for the winter. Next time I make this, I'll make half the amount, and keep it a little thicker. It'll make a good side dish with chicken or steak.

Homemade Wings

Who doesn't love wings? I never really cared for them, and they slowly grew on me. I still don't care for deep fried wings, and I don't like buffalo sauce (um, yea, so I'm really different!), but I do like chicken. And the husband LOVES wings, so alas I found a recipe I can make! Thank gawd for the Food Network!

Ingredients:

12 whole chicken wings

3 ounces unsalted butter

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup hot sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Place a 6-quart saucepan with a steamer basket and 1-inch of water in the bottom, over high heat, cover and bring to a boil.

Remove the tips of the wings and discard or save for making stock. Using kitchen shears, or a knife, separate the wings at the joint. Place the wings into the steamer basket, cover, reduce the heat to medium and steam for 10 minutes. Remove the wings from the basket and carefully pat dry. Lay the wings out on a cooling rack set in a half sheet pan lined with paper towels and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Replace the paper towels with parchment paper. Roast on the middle rack of the oven for 20 minutes. Turn the wings over and cook another 20 minutes or until meat is cooked through and the skin is golden brown. 

While the chicken is roasting, melt the butter in a small bowl along with the garlic. Pour this along with hot sauce and salt into a bowl large enough to hold all of the chicken and stir to combine.

Remove the wings from the oven and transfer to the bowl and toss with the sauce. Serve warm.

Cliff Notes Version:

Get some wings. Cheat. Get the little drummies that are all ready to go! Don't waste time or energy cutting and snipping.

Steam wings for 10-minutes. This helps gets some fat off the wings.

Elevate wings and let drain & chill for 1-hour. Somehow, someway, this is an important step.

Bake wings 20-minutes. Flip 'em over, bake 20 more minutes.

Coat in butter & sauce.

Eat wings!

Chicken Fried Rice

Oh Yum! I found this recipe here. I made it tonight and it's amazing!

The Chicken Fried Rice starts with Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken.

Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken
Serves 2-3

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
3/4 cup sugar (I used brown).
3/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
3/4 teaspoon garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons water
Whisk together sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, pepper, and water. Pour sauce over chicken in slow cooker. Slow cook on low for four hours.

This is amazing by itself, over white rice, as a meal. Super yummy! :)

If that's not enough, you can make the below and add the chicken. That's what we did tonight!

Better-Than-Takeout Chicken Fried Rice
Serves 5-6

4 cups prepared rice (I will use less next time, maybe 2 cups.)
1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked (See above)

1 cup peas & carrots, frozen
1 small white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 eggs (I wish I would have used 3-4)
3 tablespoons sesame oil
1/4 cup soy sauce (I used the soy sauce juice from the crock pot)

Prepare rice according to package instructions to yield 4 cups cooked rice.

Heat sesame oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add onion, garlic, peas, and carrots.

Stir fry until tender. Crack eggs into pan and scramble, mixing throughout vegetables.

Add rice, chicken, and soy sauce to pan. Mix well.

Serve! Eat! So yummy!!

Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed Peppers (Makes 12 Peppers)

12 Green Peppers
40-ounces ground turkey

Worcestershire Sauce

Garlic (lots of garlic!!)

1 Chopped White Onion

1 Cup Colorful Peppers

1.5 cups of cooked rice (white, red, brown, whatever you prefer or have on hand)

1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes (pick your own flavor)

1 8-ounce can tomato sauce

1 15-ounce can black beans (rinsed & drained)
1 8-ounce can corn (if you prefer, rinsed & drained)
Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Boil the peppers for approximately 10 minutes or until soft.  Drain well.

 

Brown the turkey with 1/8 cup Worcestershire sauce and a couple cloves of garlic.

Add chopped peppers and onion and cook. Add more Worcestershire sauce for flavor. Pepper too.

Add can of diced tomatoes (do not drain), black beans, corn, tomato sauce, cooked rice and stir. Heat together for like 10 minutes.

Stuff peppers. (I used a foil lined loaf pan to keep the peppers upright.)

Sprinkle with cheddar cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes at 375.

Enjoy!!

Brand New Cooking

I'm a pretty awesome cook. Totally awesome. If I do say so myself, and Jason agrees!!

I finally got new pots and pans! I'm totally excited for them too. I've already used 5 of them and look forward to using all of them. I made Stuffed Peppers and Steamed Broccoli.

I'm working hard to get back into eating right. It's hard. All the junk food calls to me!

I've found some new healthy recipes on pinterest.

Married & Loving It!!

I'm married!! For almost 3 weeks now.

So much has happened in the month since I posted. The vacation/wedding/honeymoon was amazing! The home reception went super well. And now, being married? It's kinda the same. Although now that it's all said and done, I feel tons more relaxed. Which is good.

So now. Moving forward as a married woman. Or just moving forward. Now that all of the bad for you leftovers are out of the house, I've started eating better and already noticed my weight starting to fall.

Work is just as busy as ever and I need to stay focused and get it done.

I also signed up for the PE exam and a study course. It wasn't cheap (both the exam and the course) but I'm going to pass. I actually need to get away from the computer and work on some practice problems. My online course requires homework to be turned in and I need to knock those out asap, especially since Richmond friends are coming this weekend!

So things haven't slowed down. Even this week being our first relaxing "no schedule" weekend we still had a lot of things to do. We straightened up, worked on some more thank you notes (just over half way done with them), purchased a few odds and ends off the registry, and studying.

We're also scheduled to pick up another foster puppy on Monday night! And I need to get my own dog to the vet. She's been super hoarse and it could be kennel cough. It could be nothing.

My goal this week is to simply survive. I get back to the gym on Monday & Wednesday nights, my PE class is Tuesday evenings, and this weekend will be busy with the Richmond people!

Crock Pot Veggie Burritos

Good - Tracking the past three days. Got in 3 amazing workouts too! I've earned 19 Activity Points so far this week. Tuesday night was a double - I ran at home (1.7 miles) before being handed my lungs by Dave the Trainer.

Bad - Mint M&Ms. :(

I got a new crock pot for Christmas. It's larger and much better than my small one. Mostly because of size. Some because of the timer feature. It'll will auto-shut off and stay on warm so things aren't overcooked. I did learn to start my crock-pot meals at lunch (Noon) when I'm home from work instead of 7am when I leave at work.

So I made crock-pot burritos this week. I've made burritos before, on the stove. It takes awhile to cook and put them together. I had PT at 7pm and knew I wouldn't feel like putting together dinner, so the crock-pot was my savior!

My recipe. Makes an estimated 25-30 Servings (1/2 Cup Scoops), 2PP+
2 Cups Brown Instant Rice
3 Cups Chicken Broth
2 Cups Salsa (We had Pace Picanta Sauce, a very running salsa.)
2 Cans (15oz)  Black Beans
2 Cans (15 oz) Diced Tomatoes (Choose your own flavor.)
1 Can Diced Chilis (4oz)
3 Peppers sliced thin
1/2 Red Onion Sliced Thin
I added 1 Tblsp of Paprika, Cumin, and Red Pepper Flakes.
I also added 4-5 Jalapenos and a couple Tblsp juice.

I let that all soak overnight and until noon in the crock pot (in the fridge.)
I popped it in at lunch and it was more than ready after my workouts.

I used Mission 96% Fat Free Tortilla, Wholly Guacamole, Daisy Reduced Fat Sour Cream, and some Colby Jack cheese. TOTALLY YUMMY!!! Dinner was 14 points. More than usual, but great after some high calorie burning.