May the Food be Ever in Your Favor!

For this month's menu I had the search of all good things that come in one pot. I love the ease of the crock pot but was looking for something a little more refined. I found a lot of amazing recipes! Wine sauces, chicken with herbs, slow and low falling off the bone beef...all sounds great, for 30 degree or below weather. It is over 90 degrees where Family #3 lives and the idea of cooking a HOT meal over the stove--might put me into heat stroke. So I ventured for something else-- easy but summery and here is what I came up with! Feel free to play, change or spice up as wanted! Enjoy ladies!

Mango Blueberry Quinoa Salad

Quinoa
1/2 cup quinoa (washed)
1 cup water

Salad ingredients (minus the quinoa)
1 mango cut into cubes
1/2 cup blueberries
1 medium cucumber cut into cubes
1/4 cup dried cranberries

Dressing
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Juice from 1 lemon
1 teaspoon orange marmalade
10 Basil leaves chopped finely
Salt and pepper to taste

Let’s Cook!
Boil the water in a medium skillet, then add the quinoa. Turn heat down to medium, cover the skillet and let simmer for about 10-12 minutes or until the quinoa is cooked. Remove from heat and let the quinoa cool to room temperature.

While the quinoa is cooking, prepare the other ingredients. Combine the fruits and cucumber in a medium bowl. And whisk together all of the dressing ingredients, except the basil.

When the quinoa has cooled, combine the basil with the dressing and mix half of the dressing into the quinoa. Combine the quinoa with the fruits and cucumber mixture and serve immediately with the rest of the dressing

Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers

2 cans cannellini white beans, drained
1 large sweet potato, baked/peeled/mashed (about 2 cups)
2 Tbsp tahini
2 tsp maple or agave syrup
1 tsp lemon pepper seasoning OR Cajun seasoning (or another fave spice!)
1/4 cup wheat flour
optional: additional seasoning (whatever you have on hand - I used a few dashes cayenne, black pepper and a scoop of nutritional yeast)
salt to taste if needed

plentiful Panko crumbs
safflower oil for pan

burgers: avocado, Dijon mustard, grain buns, romaine, onion, olive oil, pepper

Directions:

1. Bake sweet potato. Peel, place in large mixing bowl.
2. Add drained beans to mixing bowl. Mash beans and potato together.
3. Mash in seasoning, flour and any additional seasoning. Your mixture will be quite soft and moist. But you should be able to form a patty. Add more flour or a scoop of breadcrumbs - or dry rice to thicken the mixture if needed.
4. Heat 1 Tbsp safflower oil in a pan over high heat.
5. Form a patty from mixture and coat in Panko crumbs. Thick coating. Then drop the patty in the pan. Repeat until the pan is filled. Cook until browned on both sides. You could also bake. If baking, use less Panko.
6. Transfer cooked patties to paper towel. Cool for a few minutes.
7. Serve on toasted bun with lotsa toppings.

Simply Delicious Strawberry Cake

Ingredients

• 1 (18.25-ounce) box white cake mix
• 1 (3-ounce) box strawberry-flavored instant gelatin
• 1 (15-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup water
• Strawberry cream cheese frosting, recipe follows
• Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
• 1/2 teaspoon strawberry extract
• 7 cups confectioners' sugar
• Freshly sliced strawberries, for garnish, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 2 (9-inch) round cake pans.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix and gelatin. Add pureed strawberries, eggs, oil, and water; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour into prepared pans, and bake for 20 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

For the frosting:

In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in 1/4 cup of the strawberry puree and the vanilla extract. (The rest of the puree is leftover but can be used in smoothies or on ice cream for a delicious treat.) Gradually add confectioners' sugar, beating until smooth.
Spread frosting in between layers and on top and sides of cake. Garnish with sliced fresh strawberries, if desired.

Gal 3 Takes the Cake!

This was a great month! I never have tried Angel Food cake before and was so excited to have an excuse to buy another kitchen product...So I made the cake which got eaten so quickly there was never a final picture! The chicken was great baked instead of fried and the veggies are a pass! :) 2/3 isn't bad! So here we go with pictures!

 

Overall this was a 4/5. Baking the chicken at 350 for about 30 minutes was a great idea for us instead of frying for healthy reasons! The veggies for us weren't a favorite but the cake was amazing! This Gal will be making the cake and chicken again for the future!!

Gals Two's April Results

DAY ONE

I started April's menu the day before we ate it be making the cake.

 I looked into buying egg whites instead of a carton of eggs, but the plain old eggs were cheaper.

 However, after cracking a dozen eggs those egg whites were looking pretty good!

 Finally done with the messy, egg cracking part.

 Here are my eggs at the foamy stage

 And my extracts. I really need to buy a good almond extract to go with my vanilla.

 The cake pre baking

 This is my chicken after I gave it a good pounding with the meat tenderizer.

 And my first ever attempt at homemade breadcrumbs. What a pain! The stale bread just didn't get crushed fine enough. And it left a powdery film everywhere. Urgh. The not stale bread was a lot cleaner to deal with, but it still didn't get as fine as I wanted it. I think despite the rants against store bought crumbs I will stick to it next time around! At least panko crumbs.

 Here's my cake. I think I pulled it out a few minutes too early... but it still tastes good.

DAY TWO

My chicken was flat and had marinated over night. My breadcrumbs were ready. My cake was baked. All I had to do was coat and fry the chicken and make the veggies.

 Look at those knife skills.

 I have grated ginger in a little jar, but I decided to go with fresh.

 And here's the final product. (Yeah, the breading on the chicken mostly stayed in the pan...). WARNING! Watch the oil. I felt like both recipes called for too much oil. The chicken and veggies were greasy. Way greasy. I liked the flavors of both things, but next time I'm eye-ing how much grease I use to cook and it wont be nearly as much!! Also, I knew those stupid homemade breadcrumbs weren't worth it. Next time I will use panko crumbs and keep the rest of the recipe the same.

 Mr. #2 wasn't sure about the celery salt flavor. I loved it! You might try cutting it in half if you're not sure. The few crunchy bits we had were lovely.

I think this is a keeper menu (well, maybe not the veggies since it's a bit of work for something my husband wont eat) but I have to make it again with a few tweaks.

April's Menu

There are about 10 recipes in my Nigella Kitchen cookbook that I want to try. I seriously considered a lamb recipe. I've never tried it at home, and every time I read about cooking up a lamp chop I think of Rosamund Pilcher's book September. However, I skipped the lamb and decided on a chicken recipe instead. It looks easy and delicious. She says you can even marinate, coat the chicken and then freeze it raw and cook them later straight out of the freezer (just adding an additional 2-3 minutes per side).

The second recipe is from my Alton Brown cookbook. I'm not sure about the mint... but otherwise I'm willing to try it despite the fact that my husband, I know, will not eat any of it. I'm sick of the same old sides and this sounds good to me!

I can't help it, dessert isn't anything real new and exciting. But I've been positively craving angel food cake! But I give you cart blanch; make it from scratch or from a box (heck, buy it!), make a cake, make it into cupcakes, try Ina Garten's lemond curd recipe to go with it, or just add fresh berries, or try my mother-in-laws frosting which is equal parts cool whip and strawberry yogurt. The bottom line is, I want some angel food cake!

Crisp Chicken Cutlets - Nigella Lawson

Ingredients:

4 chicken breast fillets, skinnless and boneless

1 C buttermilk

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 C fresh breadcrumbs (and by fresh it just means you threw actual bread, fresh or stale, into your food processor)

1 tsp celery salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp dried thyme

1/2 C grated Parmesan cheese

Frying oil (like vegetable or peanut)

1/4 C chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

1. Unroll a large piece of plastic wrap, then open out the chicken breasts and lay them on the plastic. Cover the fanned-out chicken breasts with another piece of plastic wrap, and bash with a rolling pin until they are thin, but still whole.

2. Whisk the buttermilk with the Worcestershire sauce in a shallow bowl, or put it into a resealable bag and squish to mix. Then add the flattened chicken pieces to the bowl or bag and leave out for about 30 minutes, or refrigerate overnight.

3. Preheat the oven to 300°F (to keep the chicken warm after it’s fried). Mix the breadcrumbs, celery salt, cayenne, thyme, and Parmesan in a wide, shallow dish. Then, once the chicken has had it's steeping, lift out the buttermilky pieces and press into the breadcrumb mixture one at a time.

4. Coat the chicken on both sides with the seasoned crumbs and then lay them on a wire rack

5. Heat the oil in a frying pan – using just enough to cover the base with about 1/4 inch of oil.

6. Once the oil is hot, fry the bigger pieces of chicken for about 3 minutes per side, and any smaller bits that fell off during the bashing fun can be fried for 2 minutes per side. Remove the chicken and blot with paper towels to remove excess oil. Put them in the warm oven until the last piece is cooked. To serve, sprinkle with chopped parsley (optional).

Carrots & Zucchini w/ Garlic & Ginger - Alton Brown

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp peanut oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. fresh ginger, minced

2 large carrots, cut into 2 inch sticks

1 large zucchini (unpeeled), cut into 2 inch sticks

1 Tbsp. mint, cut into a fine chiffonade

1 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tsp. sesame seeds, toasted in a dry pan over high heat until you just begin to smell them.

Directions:

1. Heat a saute pan an, when hot, add the oil.

2. Add garlic and ginger to the pan and toss for 30 seconds.

3. Add the carrots and toss until they are half-cooked, about 2 minutes.

4. Add the zucchini and toss for 30 seconds to 1 minute more.

5. Add the mint and vinegar; if carrots are still too firm, cover and steam briefly.

6. Sprinkle with S&P, toss and turn out onto a serving platter. Top with sesame seeds.

Dessert

Heavenly Angel Food Cake - Betty Crocker

Lemon Curd - Ina Garten

Gal #1 Checks In

The star of the show....

Not Mr. #1's favorite meat.

Onions.  Again.  Last month I shared my angst with onions...and this month I had another breakthrough.  I read that if you soak your onions (cut) in cold water for 10 minutes, it really cuts down on the pain and tears.  I tried it.

It works.  Really does.  Using the food processor seems like an obvious way to avoid tears too - but forever after it seems like my food processor smells like onions...no matter how I clean it or whatever else I put in it.   The water bath keeps my knife skills sharp and my food processor smelling clean. :)

Chicken is prepped and ready for the oven.  Time to prepare the couscous.

Chicken is done...

Dinner is served (and blurry).  :)

The pineapple looked good on the outside...was past its prime on the inside.  Maybe another day.

The best thing about this meal was that Mr. #1 (who normally is not thrilled with chicken) really liked this entire menu.  I was all about how easy it was...but I didn't think it was a 10.  Maybe I just needed to go to California too?

I'm ready for April, girls!  Bring it on!

Coast Meets Coast

What a treat being together in California to make this wonderful menu (Gals 2&3)! It is so rare we are together to create our monthly menu, so this was a treasure. With a few alterations to the ingredients, this meal turned out to be fantastic and simple to put together- the most important factors when judging a menu.

The chicken was superb, although extremely citrus. We cut down the garlic for fear of the repercussions of 3 tablespoons! Next time the #3 household might keep the garlic the same and cut down on lemon zest. Mr. #2 would like the same, but for Gal #2 and guests, the lemon was divinely refreshing.

(Sorry, we ate it all up to fast after it came out of the oven so there were no final pictures!!)

The couscous was a debate of onion. A recipe calling for 2 cups of onion is something to be taken very seriously. We opted for the more palate-friendly shallot and only added 1 to the mix. There were not as many pine nuts as were required in the recipe (fault of Gal 2!), but we added what we had. What came out was a savory and crunchy couscous that will now be a staple of Gal's 2&3's side dish recipes.

The pineapple is a scary thought for Gal 2, but for the #3's we love our pineapple any which way you can serve it up! We saved this delectable treat for when we wanted to use the charcoal grill for burgers later in the week. Turned out great!! They were very easy to make, nothing stuck to the grill. However the 1/4 cup honey called for is too much! We maybe used an 8th of a cup and still thought it was on the very sweet side. Perfect with ice cream :)

Barefoot in March!

With my thoughts turning to spring, I choose recipes from my favorite celeb chef - the Barefoot Contessa.  Here is the menu:

Lemon Chicken Breasts

Pine Nut Couscous

Grilled Pineapple

Doesn't that look delicious?  In NEOhio...it is cold, gray and dismal.  Something about the word "lemon" and "pineapple" conjure up thoughts of light, fresh and simple.  I will let you add your own colorful vegetable dish (I'm thinking spinach salad) or maybe none at all...How Easy Is That?  (That's the cookbook these recipes come from)

Just a reminder - these are barefoot recipes - so go easy on the salt.  The biggest shopping challenge I think you will have is finding boneless chicken breasts with the skin ON.  I say - forget it.  Just buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts - keep it simple.

Come on spring!