Feb

Shredded Chicken Tacos ~ Buffalo Chicken Dip ~ Spinach Baked Ziti ~ Greek Layer Dip

As we all know game day is always filled with great food, drinks, fun company, and a game. While this is about the recent Super Bowl, you can make these foods for any type of game. They’re fun and (most of them) you can eat them with your hands. I always provide the half time meal and some other snacks, but people always bring a treat as well. I’d like to share with you a variety of foods that were served – all delicious!

My Buffalo Chicken Dip:

1 lb trimmed, cleaned chicken cutlets
1 package cream cheese (thawed)
3 tablespoons of your favorite BBQ sauce (mine is Sweet and Spicy Famous Daves)
20 dashes of your favorite hot sauce (I used Franks), divided
5 tablespoons Ranch dressing
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon papricka
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 cup shredded nacho or cheddar cheese
a zip-lock bag

Preheat your oven to 350. You can either use a disposable square aluminum pan to make this or a glass pyrex that is about 8″ x 8″. First, lets get our chicken marinating. Dice your skinless breasts into about 1 inch pieces. Put them in the zip-lock bag. Add 1/2 your hot sauce (or more depending on how spicy you like it) along with salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, and barbecue sauce. Making sure all of the air is out of the bag, zip it closed. Mush all of the ingredients around making sure that all the chicken pieces are fully coated in the marinade. Let this sit in the refrigerator while you complete the next steps

marinate the chicken!

Next, take your softened cream cheese and spread it evenly on the bottom of the pan. Add your ranch dressing and 10 dashes (or more) of the hot sauce. With the bottom of a tablespoon, spread the mixture evenly over the cream cheese. Bake it until it starts to bubble – about 10 minutes.

cheesy, ranchy, hot saucy base

Now you can take your marinated chicken out of the fridge and spread it over the ranch and hot sauce spread. Finally, top with your shredded cheese and bake until it’s bubbly, about 15 minutes.

cheesy goodness

Once it’s done serve with some scoops! This dip is super easy to make and is a real crowd pleaser. Everyone was raving about it and it takes no time to make. If you don’t like spicy, this can easily be a barbecue chicken dip instead and leave out all the spicy stuff.

Next up we have Dana & Deans Greek Layer Dip. I liked this because it was a bit different than what most people would make as a layer dip. Usually it’s a greasy taco dip – but this felt ok to eat because it was made with good ingredients.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 package of pre-made hummus (or make your own!!)
1 cucumber cut in quarters, then sliced
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 cup calamata olives
pita

Take a round serving dish, about 10 inches in diameter and spread the hummus evenly in it. Next, make a layer of cucumbers. Then add your crumbled feta on top. Finally decoratively add your olives on top. They brought over pita wedges to go with it, which I though was perfect! You can take a package of pita bread and cut them up like a pizza pie to make your wedges. Then drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Heat in the oven until toasted. I didn’t take a picture of it, so for the first time I am posting a stock image…aahh!!! This wasn’t far from what their dip looked like (except there weren’t tomatoes on top – but I think that’s a nice addition!)

My Big Fat Greek Layered Dip

This was a fresh feeling dip that tasted delish! Thanks Dana and Dean – bravo!

My friend Jenn has been coming to my Super Bowl parties since they began (when it was just me and her) and every time she makes that same great appetizer – mini meatballs. They are really mindless to make since you just throw the 3 ingredients in the slow cooker and let them simmer all day! Here’s what you do – buy a huge bag of frozen mini meatballs. Put them in the slow cooker with 1 bottle of chili sauce and 1 jar of grape jelly. Mix the ingredients together and let it cook on low for 5 hours. They come out juicy, soft and full of flavor – eat with a toothpick!

Finally, its half time. I usually use my slow cooker and make pulled pork, but this year I wanted to change things up. I wanted to create a taco bar, but not with your usual ground beef. Instead I made shredded chicken two ways – lime and chipotle. I served it with soft and hard taco shells, shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, grilled corn and jalapeno salsa, sour cream and fresh guacamole.

For the chicken:

2 5-7lb roasting chickens
1 can chipotle peppers in adobo
4 tablespoons garlic powder, divided
1 head of garlic, divided
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 limes
Salt and Pepper

Preheat your oven to 375. Wash your chicken, leaving the skin on. For the lime chicken, cut up 1 lime into quarters and stuff them inside along with 3 cloves of garlic. Under the skin use 3 cloves of chopped garlic and rub it under it as well as the cumin powder. With the remaining lime, cut into quarters and squeeze the juice of them under the skin and on top. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of garlic powder on the skin along with salt and pepper. Put the bird in your roasting pan with about 2 inches of water in it and the squeezed lime wedges. Cook until the popper pops. If you don’t have a popper, then insert your meat thermometer until it reads 750.

For the second, chipotle chicken, take 3 whole chipotle peppers from the can and stuff them in the bird along with 3 whole garlic cloves. Rub a few tablespoons of the chipotle adobo sauce under the skin along with 3 chopped cloves of garlic. Rub the skin of the chicken with additional chipotle sauce, remaining garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add water to your pan and put it in the oven.

(I left the skins on to keep my chickens as moist and flavorful as possible. If you are a health fanatic, then you can take it off first – but beware, your chicken can become dry.)

I had to cook my chickens separately since I have a small oven, but to save time and if you have the space, cook both at once!

Once they’re out – it’s time to shred.

chipotle chicken

Let your chickens sit for about 20 minutes before shredding since they will be extremely hot. Once cooled, with two forks, start shredding your chicken. I only shredded the white meat and saved the rest for my home made chicken soup. I also made chicken salad for lunch with the remaining meat.

After the meat was shredded, I added some additional seasoning to it. The lime chicken got more lime juice and garlic powder and the chipotle chicken got a little more adobo sauce and garlic as well. I set this aside and heated it back up for about 15 minutes, covered, once it was time to eat it.

half eaten chicken!

To serve with it I made a grilled corn, jalapeno, and onion salsa. On your grill, or grill pan, put 4 ears of corn on there, sprinkled with some salt, 1 large jalapeno and 1/2 of a red onion. Put the corn on first, since it will take longer to cook and you will need to turn them constantly to evenly heat them. Let your onion get nice grill marks and you jalapeno should char.

grilled veg!

Once your vegetables are finished, take your jalapeno and peal the skin off, slice open and take the seeds out as well. Chop it up into fine pieces. Chop your onion up as well. With the corn, stand it up, holding the top part, take your knife and cut the kernels off.

kernels removed

Mix the corn, jalapeno, and onion together. Take a 1/2 of a lime and squeeze the juice in along with a generous sprinkle of salt. Mix together and garnish with lime wedges.

grilled corn salsa

The tacos were fun to make and were a definite crowd pleaser. You can make any flavor of chicken you’d like — maybe barbecue, or honey chili pepper. Pick your chicken and add your toppings!

Next up were potato skins. It is a long process, but is worth the work in the end.

Here’s what you’ll need:

10 potatos
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
3/4 lb bacon
2 tablespoons butter, melted
sea salt

Take your washed potatoes and prick them all the way around with a fork. Place them in a preheated 400 degree oven and let them back for about an hour, or until a fork can easily go through them. Once they are done, let them cool before handling. Once cooled, cut them length wise. In a large bowl scoop out the center potato filling, leaving about 1/4 inch of potato on the skin.

While your potatoes are cooking, prepare your bacon. In a large skillet, cook your bacon until crispy. Lay on a paper towel to drain. Once cooled, use a knife, or your hands to break the bacon in to little bacon bits. Set aside.

Arrange the skins, skin side up on baking sheets. Brush melted butter on the skin and sprinkle cracked sea salt on top. Let them cook for an additional 15 minutes. When they’re finished lay them skin side down. and sprinkle your shredded cheese on top along with the bacon bits.

potato skins, ready to bake!

I cut most of them in half, since I had a bit of a crowd over. Put these in the oven for another 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Take them out and sprinkle with chopped green onions. These were traditional skins, but you can put whatever you want in them. Last year I put avocado on top. You can put chili, or buffalo chicken – go crazy! These were topped with sour cream as well! Don’t waste the inside potatoes – save them and mash them up for a dinner side.

Lastly, we have Emily’s Spinach Baked Ziti. What I love about Em is that she always sends me her recipes and they’re not just a link from a website, but a home made, full of love, type of recipe – with her own little notes and approximations. Here is her recipe:

1 box whole wheat pasta (I prefer pene or rotini)
1 bag fresh baby spinach
3 cloves garlic minced (I really like garlic, can use less)
24oz fat-free cottage cheese
¾ C reduced fat mayonnaise (I use the kind with olive oil)
3 C part skim shredded mozzarella cheese
½ tsp black pepper
1 TBS Oregano
1 TBS Thyme
½ TBS basil
¼ C + grated cheese
1 Jar tomato sauce of choice (I prefer a low sodium tomato-basil sauce)

*Pre-heat oven to 350
*Cook pasta according to package but keep it al dente as when you bake it the noodles will continue to cook – which can get too soft/soggy if over cooked
*In food processor chop spinach (to save time you can also use frozen chopped spinach – you will need to cook that)
*In large bowl mix the cottage cheese and mayonnaise together – add garlic. If using fresh minced garlic brown in a pan with 2 TBS olive oil or use 1TBS jarred minced garlic. Mix until well combined. Add the black pepper, oregano, thyme and basil and mix until well combined. Add 1 ½ C mozzarella cheese & 1/4 grated cheese. Add the spinach and mix until the spinach is evenly distributed.
*When pasta is done cooking, drain.
*Add a splash of tomato sauce to the bottom of the pan. Mix the pasta with the cheese/spinach mixture & the sauce however best able. I typically will add half the pasta to the dish, half the cheese/spinach and half the sauce and mix until well distributed. Then add the other half and mix everything again.
*Sprinkle the remaining 1 1/2C of shredded cheese on top & sprinkle grated cheese if you choose.
*Cover with tin foil and bake for 30mins. Remove tin foil and bake for another 10mins.
***The measurements of the mayonnaise and dry spices are approximate. I use 3 heaping spoons of mayonnaise which I estimate to equal anywhere from ¾-1C.

ziti time!

This dish is good for you and still has that comfort food feeling. It was a perfect addition to half time and everyone loved it. This is one of my new faves!

So there you have it – a day of fun and fantastic food. I don’t even thing people came over to watch the game – it’s more about the food over here! =) What’s your favorite, dip, taco filling, and ziti?

100 days ago Short URL 1 Comment

bacon/baked ziti/buffalo chicken/dinner/dip/food/friends/fun/game time/greek/layer dip/potato skins/spinach

Feb

Pizza! Pizza! — Game Day or Any Day

Yesterday I was in the mood for pizza, but didn’t want the same old slice. I decided to make my own. I had a store bought ball of dough in the fridge that I purchased from Fairway. It was whole grain, so I didn’t feel guilty eating it. You can also buy the dough from your favorite local pizza parlor fresh, so you don’t have to wait for it to thaw out. The great thing about doing this is that you don’t have the hassle of making the dough, it’s really cheap to buy, and you can put whatever toppings your taste buds desire on it!

I was in the mood for a spicy barbecue chicken pizza, so that’s just what I made.

Here’s what you’ll need:

For the sauce:

1 pre-made ball of whole grain pizza dough, thawed
4 tablespoons BBQ sauce (I used my favorite, Famous Dave’s Sweet and Spicy)
1 tablespoon hot sauce (I used Jamaican Jerk hot sauce)
1 tablespoon ranch dressing
1 teaspoon garlic powder

For the Topping:

3/4 lb of cut, trimmed, and cleaned chicken breast
1 cup rinsed black beans (I used GOYA)
2 tablespoons bbq sauce
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
S & P
1 cup sliced white mushrooms
2 cloves fresh garlic
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 cup shredded taco cheese
flour
oil for the pan

First things first, preheat your oven to 400.

Take your thawed dough and roll it out on a lightly floured surface so that it’s about 16″ wide, or fits your pizza stone. Transfer the dough to the stone and set aside. Make sure you flower the stone as well so that it doesn’t stick when you try to take a slice!

rolled out dough

Next, marinate your chicken. Take your chicken and cut it into approximately 1 inch cubes. In a storage bag pour in 2 tablespoons BBQ sauce, 1 teaspoon hot sauce, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, and S & P. Throw your chicken in the bag with the marinade, zip it closed, and mush it all around so that the chicken gets drenched in all of the ingredients. Put in the refrigerator while you do the next couple of steps.

flavor up your chicken!

Next, prepare your vegetables. In a large skillet, put a few tablespoons of oil to heat up. Roughly chop up your pre-sliced white mushrooms, or slice them yourself and then chop. Dice your red onion and finely dice your garlic cloves. Put the onion in first, since that takes the longest to cook, then the mushrooms, then the garlic and S & P. Let these all marry and soak up the flavors. Set aside in a container.

veg done.

I like my onions a little crispy.

Next, sauce up your dough. mix the BBQ sauce, hot sauce, garlic powder, and ranch together and with a spoon spread it evenly on the prepared dough. Use the bottom, rounded part of the spoon to spread it.

In the same pan you cooked your veg in, cook your cubed marinated chicken — just a couple of minutes and then flip over for an additional minute. Your chicken will continue to cook in the oven.

On your prepared, sauced up, dough, evenly spread your grated cheese. Then spread your mushrooms, onion and garlic combo, black beans and then your cooked chicken.

Prepped Pie

Now throw this bad boy in the oven for about 20 minutes. The crust will begin to turn golden brown and the sauce and cheese will bubble.

bubbliness!

Let it cool for about 5 minutes and then slice it up with your pizza cutter.

bubbliness!

I sprinkled a little chopped romaine on my slices for an added crunch. This pizza was delish! It had a nice sweetness from the whole grain dough and bbq sauce and a solid spicy punch from the hot sauce. You can put whatever toppings you’d like — be creative and have fun! What’s your favorite pizza pie?

107 days ago Short URL 1 Comment

black beans/chicken/fun/game day/pizza/sauce

Jan

Potluck: Colors of the Rainbow

Here is a post that should have been written weeks ago! We had Potluck: Colors of the Rainbow. Here’s how it went — pick a color and make a dish that is that color. This was a very small, intimate, event — but was still packed with great flavor and good times.

My color was yellow and I chose to make corn and cheese cakes. They were easy to make and only took about 40 minutes to prepare. It’s important that my potluck dishes are flexible enough to make ahead, or quick enough to prepare after work on Monday night.

Here’s what you’ll need:

2 cups frozen corn, thawed
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup plain bread crumbs (I used whole wheat panko)
1/3 cup chopped fresh chives
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup sour cream for serving

Put the thawed corn in your food processor or chopper, and pulse it until a chunky puree or salsa forms. In a large bowl, add your corn salsa, cheese, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, chives, 1 tablespoon sour cream, salt and pepper. Stir it all together until nicely mixed.

the corn mix!

Next, it’s time to form the patties! For convenience, I lined a baking sheet with foil and used that as a “plate” to set my patties on. To form the cakes, make 10 balls from the mixture. Lay then on the foil and flatten them to make patties. They should be about 2.5 inches wide and less than an inch think. Now that you have them on the baking sheet, place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. This will make them more firm. After 30 minutes, take them out and coat each cake with the remaining 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs. Drizzle the olive oil on top.

patties ready to cook

Now heat up your grill or grill pan to cook these corn cakes! Cook each one on each side until they start to brown – about 4-5 minutes on each side. Once done, arrange on a plate and add a small dollop of sour cream on each and garnish with additional chopped chives.

the cakes are ready to eat!

These were delish! They were warm and moist inside with a nice crispy outside. These are great to serve as finger food at a party.

Maura had the color green. Her dish had splashes of wonderful green spinach. She made macaroni and cheese cupcakes. They were so different and tasty! These are fun to eat and force you to control your portion (although none of us only had one!)

Here’s what you’ll need:

Ingredients
3 cups of cooked high fiber pasta (I used elbows)
1 cup cooked, drained spinach
1/2 cup shredded Gruyere cheese*
1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese*
1 cup 1% milk
1 egg
1 egg white
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1 clove of crushed garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
*any of your favorite cheese would work and you can lower calories with reduced fat versions

Directions
1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners or cooking spray. I prefer cupcake liners because they are easier to get out.
2. In a small sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Slowly whisk in the flour to make a roux. This will help thicken the sauce.
3. Add in the milk and garlic bring it to just under a boil. Slowly whisk in the cheese and continue to cook until the cheese sauce comes together.
4. Pull the cheese sauce off the stove and mix in one egg and one egg white. Adding eggs will help the cupcakes to stay together.
5. In a large bowl, combine the cooked pasta, spinach, cheese sauce, salt, and pepper. Pour the mixture into your cupcake tin evenly.
6. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the macaroni and cheese cupcakes get brown on the top. Enjoy as a great lunch, fun appetizer, and treat!

Loved these! Cheesy, gooey center with some crispy noodles on top in a fun little package — and oh yeah, there were veggies in them!

mac n’ cheese cupcakes!

Next up, we have Shan Shan’s cabbage and beet slaw. The vibrant color was beautiful and if you like beets – this is for you. The crunchy texture was nice too.

This is how it went:

Ingredients

8 cups red cabbage, finely sliced
2 large beets, shredded
1 small onion, finely chopped
½ cup low fat olive oil based mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
a squeeze of lemon juice
½ cup sunflower seeds, toasted

Instructions

Combine cabbage, beets and onion in a large bowl.
Combine mayonnaise, mustard, hone and cider in another bowl.
Mix the dressing into the cabbage mixture and add seeds. Season with salt and pepper.
Chill for 30 minutes before serving to soften the cabbage.

Bravo chef Shannon!

She also made some roasted garlic chicken sausage. It paired great with the slaw.

cabbage and beet slaw with chicken sausage

Jamie made a delightful butternut squash soup. Warm and silky. It had sweet potatoes in it and a lot of love!

squash soup!

Like I said, this was a really small potluck!! Those were all the recipes and I hope you enjoyed this mini PL.

the table shot

114 days ago Short URL Comments

beets/cabbage/chicken sausage/corn cheese cakes/cupcakes/dinner/mac and cheese/potluck/slaw/soup/sour cream/squash

Jan

Slim Pickin’s in the Kitchen

I’m sure I’ve said this before, but when there’s nothing in the house, that’s when I’m most creative. We literally had no lunch items and desperately needed to go food shopping this morning. I decided to work with what I had.

I had:

1 full piece of whole grain naan bread
1/2 piece garlic naan bread
1/2 jar of garden vegetable sauce
a few handfuls of kale
spinach
red onion
garlic powder
dried oregano
dried basil
grated parmesan cheese
red pepper flakes
salt & pepper
Olive oil

I decided to make some naan pizzas. First, I preheated my oven to 350 and greased a baking sheet with some oil. Next, I took out a medium sauce pan and heated it up with a little olive oil. I diced up about a quarter of a red onion and put it in the hot pan. Once they became soft, I put in a couple of handfuls of spinach leaves. I seasoned them with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Since you don’t want to fry your spinach, add a few tablespoons of water in the pan so that the spinach stays moist and steams.

steaming spinach

While this cooked for about 5 minutes, I prepped my naan bread. I took a tablespoon and spread the sauce over the bread. Then I seasoned it with basil, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Once my spinach was fully wilted, I placed it on top of my bread.

toppin’ the pie

Now that we have that warm, silky, spinach on top — we need to add some crunch! I place a few cups of torn kale on top and drizzled it with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt, fresh ground pepper, and parmesan cheese.

Adding the crunch.

The kale is going to crisp up giving this pizza a nice light, crunchy topping. It’s like putting kale chips on top! After 10 minutes, they’re done!

look at that crunch…

These were very tasty and had great texture. The best part is that this was whipped up in less than 20 minutes. What has been your most creative I-have-nothing-in-the-house dish? You can make these with any toppings you’d like — and have fun with it!

129 days ago Short URL 2 Comments

kale/lunch/naan bread/vegetarian

Jan

Quick Dinner & Fun Lunch Remix: Balsamic Chicken, Roasted Herb Potatoes, & Brussel Sprouts

I’d like to start sharing with you some quick dinners to make during the week. Monday through Thursday can get hectic and we all need some hearty, but time conscious meals. This one was balsamic with roasted red pepper chicken breast, roasted herb potatoes, and roasted brussel sprouts. I had bought the chicken, veggies and potatoes and spruced it up with some ingredients I already had in the house.

Here is what you’ll need:

1-2lbs chicken breast – boneless and thin sliced
1-2lbs red potatoes
1-2lbs brussel sprouts
1 cup balsamic
1 cup roasted red peppers, chopped
1/2 cup brown sugar
olive oil
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon basil
salt and pepper

First preheat your oven to 350. Since your potatoes will take the longest, lets start with those. Wash and cut each on into quarters. In a large bowl toss them with a generous drizzle of olive oil. Toss until coated and then add oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Toss. Lay them out on a foiled lined pan and let them roast for about 25 mins. I spread them out over half of the pan, leaving room for the brussel sprouts to cook later on.

Potatoes, ready to roast!

While those are cooking, in a medium sauce pan, put your balsamic, brown sugar and diced roasted red peppers. Bring to a short boil and then reduce to low, stirring occasionally, letting it reduce.

balsamic red pepper sauce/glaze

Next, lets get the brussel sprouts ready. Wash and cut the ends off and cut in halve, vertically. Toss in a bowl with olive oil, S & P. Lay them on the other half of the baking sheet, next to the potatoes. These will stay in for the duration of the cooking time – about 15 minutes.

the brussel toss.

Finally, prep your chicken. Wash and trim (if needed). I seasoned mine with S & P, a little garlic powder and basil. Heat up your grill pan and lightly spray it with cooking spray. Put your chicken breast on there and drizzle some of the balsamic on top. Let cook for about 3-5 minutes, depending on the thickness of your chicken. Then flip and coat with balsamic and cook additionally.

chicken grillin’

Once everything is finished, it’s time to plate! Pour additional balsamic reduction and red peppers on chicken and you’re ready to go! Potatoes and brussel sprouts should be golden brown and a little crispy.

dinner is served!

And there you have it — dinner was ready in about 30 minutes. As long as you plan what will take the longest and do the rest while it’s cooking, you won’t waist any time! The potatoes were deliciously crispy and had a great seasoning on them. Brussel sprouts can be made many different ways, what’s your favorite way to make this veggie?

The Lunch Remix:

This morning I woke up with a great remix idea for the leftover balsamic chicken that I had. I had a piece of whole grain Naan bread, cut it in half, and spread creamy goat cheese on one side with some dry oregano. I placed some fresh spinach leaves on top. On the other I place my already prepared chicken. Put it together and bam! a tasty sandwich was born!

sandwich making

And what did I have on the side? Kale chips, of course. I never made these before, but heard they were light, crispy and good for you. I eat kale all the time, but never like this. It was super easy. Tear the kale leaves off of the center stem, break into about 1 1/2 inch pieces. Lay them out on a foil coated baking sheet. Toss with olive oil and sea salt. Bake for about 15-20 minutes. Halfway through flip them. (I started these first since the sandwich took no time.) Wow, these were good and a healthy side for lunch!

kale prep

breakfast is served..i mean lunch..

What have you turned leftovers into? This was so tasty and I will definitely be making this one again! Have a tasty weekend!

136 days ago Short URL 1 Comment

balsamic/brussel sprouts/chicken/dinner/herbs/leftovers/lunch/potatoes/remix

Jan

2012 in review – Thanks for a wonderful year!

Click on the link below to see how The Tasty Chew did in it’s first year of being alive! Thank you to all of our followers and Happy New Year!

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner can carry about 250 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,400 times in 2012. If it were a Dreamliner, it would take about 6 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

139 days ago Short URL 2 Comments

Dec

Potluck: Diner Classics (If you’re looking for a healthy recipe, do not read!)

I’m so far behind on my posts that I don’t even know where to begin! All the baking and gift buying for Christmas really distracted me and I forgot to share all of my tasty treats! This one is an oldie, but a goodie. This is from the beginning of December at our monthly Potluck. It was a great turnout and the food was amazing – as per usual. It was a heavy meal and full of comfort food — which is perfect for those cold winter nights. First I’ll share with you what I made and then some of the other recipes that were passed along.

Since I can remember, my favorite thing to take home with me from the diner weren’t the leftovers, but the giant cookies that you find in the front dessert showcase when you enter and leave. They are so crumbly and crunchy — I simply can’t resisted them!

Here is what you’ll need for those crunchy, crispy, sugar cookies:

1 1/2 cups butter
1 1/2 cups shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
4 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
6 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream the butter, shortening and sugars until light and fluffy in your stand-um mixer. Beat in the eggs one at a time and then mix the vanilla in.

beat it up!

In a large bowl whisk the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the mixer. Once a dough is formed, take it out and shape it into a ball. Wrap it in plastic wrap and let it chill for 1 hour.

ball is formed!

Once the dough has been chilled, take it out and start making large patties with it as if you were making hamburgers! I need to make at least ten, so I held back on making them too large, but feel free to make them as big as a plate! Next, cover them in any festive sprinkles or colored sugar. Place them a few inches apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

cookie patties!

Bak at 375 for 10-1 mins or 350 for 15 mins if you made larger cookies. Once they are done cool them completely on your cookie racks. Then wrap each individually in plastic wrap to get that diner-feel.

Diner cookies – go!

As you can see, I made mine a bit more festive than what you see in a diner, but you get the idea.

There were so many great dishes at this potluck — lets start with the drinks! Em’s parents brought all the fixin’s to make egg creams. They consist of chocolate syrup, milk and seltzer — yum!

egg creams!

Check out that foam!! Pretty impressive! They also made a fabulous rice pudding that wowed everyone.

cinnamon rice pudding

They had a beautiful presentation in this hourglass shaped serving bowl and it was loaded with cinnamon, which is my favorite part — bring it on, cinnamon!

Here is the recipe:

3/4 cup uncooked white rice
2 cups milk, divided
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
2/3 cup golden raisins
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil in a saucepan; stir rice into boiling water. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

In a clean saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups cooked rice, 1 12/ cups milk, sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy, 15-20 minutes more, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.

Put in a bowl and top it with as much cinnamon as your heart desires! Bravo Lance and Maria! We really felt like we were at a diner with your 2 classics.

Next up we had a show stopper with Shan Shan’s bacon wrapped meat loaf and mashed ‘tators. This was real comfort food that made you feel like a meat and potatoes type of guy.

bacon wrapped meat – whoa!

It’s one thing when you wrap fish in bacon, but wrapping meat with meat is a whole other level of heart attack.

Shan sent me the link for the recipe, but I couldn’t find it on the site! Here is the link for you to peruse: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/09/my-favorite-meatloaf/

The top was beautifully crisp and the meat was enjoyably moist. It was a great combination of flavors and textures. Hats off to the loaf queen, Shan Shan!

‘tators mmm…

Now these buttermilk mashed potatoes were pretty special. They were creamy and just melted in your mouth.

Here is what you’ll need for Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes:

kosher salt
3 lbs boiling potatoes, peeled
1/2 cup milk
1/4 lb unsalted butter
3/4 to 1 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

In a large pot, bring 4 quarts of water and 2 tablespoons of slat to a boil. Meanwhile, but the potatoes into 1 12/ inch cubes and add them to the boiling water. Bring the water to a boil again, lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes, until the potatoes fall apart easily when pierced with a fork.

Heat the milk and butter in a small saucepan, making sure it doesn’t boil. Set aside until the potatoes are done.

As soon as the potatoes are tender, drain and place in a food mill. Process them and stir in hot milk and butter mixture with a whisk. add enough buttermilk to make the potatoes creamy. Add 2 teaspoons of salt and pepper to taste.

You don’t have to use a food mill, a hand mixer will do (says the chef!)

Next up were a nice play on the traditional slider – made by Maura. These were so tasty it was unbelievable!! (we think the secret to it was the mayo!) These sliders were flavor packed and were made with the meat still ground up instead of in a patty form and we loved it! Reminded me of a sloppy joe.

Slider ingredients:

2 lbs ground beef
1 onion soup mix packet
1/2 cup mayo
2 cups shredded cheddar
24 dinner rolls
1/2 cup sliced pickles (if you’d like)

Preheat oven to 350. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking oil.

Mix together ground beef and onion soup mix in a large skillet. Cook and stir over med-high heat until beef is crumbly and evenly browned. Discard excess grease. Stir in mayo and cheddar cheese into the beef mixture.

beefy goodness

I was able to see Maura in action cooking away! Here is the cheesy meat.

Next, the potato rolls got toasted in the toaster oven (makes sense, huh?) and the meat was then place on each roll. They were so delicious! Add pickles and ketchup if you’d like too!

finished product!

The final dishes, aren’t accompanied by their recipes, but I figured I’d make you drool anyway.

Emily made crunchy on the outside and stringy in the center motz sticks. These were also a nice interpretation of a classic and a healthier one — baked, not fried. These too had a nice combination of textures that worked wonderfully together.

motz sticks – go!

Phil, a new comer to our potluck festivities, really showed his skills with a cheesy baked ziti. It had a great tomato sauce and was a pan of bubbly goodness.

italian anyone?

Next, were disco fries! How fun! Steph made a direct replica of what we all love during those late night after-the-bar diner visits. The gravy was spot on (nice and salty) and the fries were hot and cheesy – yum.

Disco Fries!

Finally, last but not least, we have the ever so traditional, you can’t leave the diner without, counter mint! My oh-so-creative husband came up with this one. He always surprises us, yet doesn’t.

mint anyone?

So there you have it – another awesome potluck success. We all could have rolled out of there we were so full. What’s your favorite diner pastime? What is so great about the diner is that you can go at anytime and order whatever you want. Living on Long Island we grew up in diners and they’re the best.

the grand tasting table

The End. (of this post, not forever)

143 days ago Short URL Comments

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Dec

Black Bean & Veggie Burgers

This one I made when I really had no idea what to put together for dinner and didn’t have much in the house. I find that in times like these, I make some of the most delicious and creative meals. Not that this one was that unique, but it was really tasty! These are super simple to make and don’t take a lot of time or money to do.

You can vary this recipe according to the vegetables you have in the house. This is what I had:

2 cans GOYA black beans, drained and rinsed
1 shredded, chopped carrot
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen peas
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup panko whole wheat bread crumbs
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
salt, pepper
oil for the pan

First things first – wash your beans! Take half of the bean and put them into a large mixing bowl and mash them with a potato masher. This will act as your binder, keeping the patties together. In a saute pan, heat a few tablespoons of oil. Start cooking the onion, jalapeno, and garlic with a dash of salt and pepper. Once the onions are translucent, add your carrot and frozen vegetables. Let all of these cook and thaw.

The Bean Mash-Up

Nest, heat up your grill pan. While that heats, put the remaining beans in the mixing bowl along with the cooked veggies, cumin, paprika, and bread crumbs. Mix with your hands. Once fully mixed, start forming patties. This is a messy job, but it’s worth it!

patties are formed

I then put a little ground pepper and sea salt on top with a dash of garlic powder. I put these seasoned side down on the grill pan and then seasoned the other side. You want to get a nice char are these.

grilled burgers

Yum! If you’d like to put these on a bun, or on a salad, either will work. Also, I like a little red onion and gruyere cheese, so that’s what I did over a bed of spinach. Have fun with it and be creative! These are also vegan friendly! These also taste great with a little bbq sauce too!

What’s your favorite type of veggie burger?

163 days ago Short URL Comments

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Nov

The Easy Peazy Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroon

Here’s a little treat I made last week to bring to Thanksgiving dinner. I had brought them the year before and they were a real crowd pleaser and look WAY harder to make than they really are. They’re actually on of the easiest desserts I’ve made. It’s the chocolate dipped coconut macaroon! You don’t have to dip them in chocolate, but why the heck wouldn’t ya?

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 14oz bag of sweetened shredded coconut
1 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 egg whites at room temp
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups dark or semi sweet chocolate chips/chunks/pieces

Preheat your oven to 325.

In a large bowl mix together your coconut, condensed milk and vanilla extract. In your handy-dandy electric mixer, beat the egg whites and salt on high until firm peaks are created. This will take a couple of minutes. Once they are nice a fluffy, very carefully fold the egg whites into your coconut mixture with a large rubber spatula. Once combined, with an ice cream scooper, or make heaping table spoons full, put the mixture onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet (as you would cookies) about 1 1/2 inches from one another. These can stay in the oven for 25-30, or until the tops begin to brown or toast.

After they are cooled, use your double boiler or make a double boiler with a pot and bowl (as I do) and begin to melt your chocolate. You can also do this in 10 second increments in the microwave. Be careful to not burn your chocolate!

melted chocolate – done.

Once it is melted, hold by the top and dip the bottoms of the macaroons into the chocolate and then with a spoon drizzle some on top. Put these on wax paper lined pans and put them in the refrigerator until the chocolate is hardened.

chocolate dipped and ready to eat!

These are so tasty and they’re not your average cookie that people will be showing up with. Once you make your own and see how simple it is, you’ll never buy store bought again! What is your favorite treat to bring to a holiday feast? Have a delicious week!

176 days ago Short URL Comments

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Nov

Butternut Squash Soup and Pigs in a Blanky

I hope everyone had a delicious holiday! I know I ate a ton and enjoyed every moment of it. Being that it was a chilly Sunday and I had a butternut squash, I figured it would be a perfect day for some soup. Of course my husband wanted something to go with it – meat. Although a random side, I put together some pigs in a blanket to go with the soup. It was actually a nice combination with buttery pastry.

This soup is my own take of a butternut squash soup and is always evolving.

Here’s what I used this time:

For the soup:

1 med-large butternut squash
3 large carrots
2 small sweet potatoes. peeled
3 celery stalks
1 small yellow onion
1 shallot
2 tablespoons cinnamon, divided
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon fresh sage
1 32 oz container of low sodium, low fat chicken broth (You can use vegetable broth if your a vegetarian.)
1 cup of water
salt & pepper
oil for the pan

For the pigs in the blanket:

cocktail franks
1 container of crescent rolls

Preheat your oven to 375.

The first step is the hardest part – peeling the butternut squash. I use my regular peeler and go in more of a circular movement around the squash instead of going straight vertically on it. Next, cut the squash in half, lengthwise, and scoop the seeds out with a table spoon. Line a baking sheet with foil and lay the squash inside part up and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, garlic powder, S&P. Let it cook in the oven while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. I left in in for about 30-40 minutes. Roasting it first just give it a deeper flavor and makes it much easier to cut up .

squash is ready to roast

While this roasted, I prepped all of my veggies – carrot, celery, onion, shallot, sweet potato.

veggies chopped up!

Next, I heated up my large pot and coated it with some canola oil. I put in my onions and shallots with some S&P and let the oil flavor-up and the onions to cook. Next I threw in the rest of the veggies and mixed it all together and let it cook together for a few minutes. Then I took out my roasted squash.

its soup time!

The squash was then much easier to work with. I cut them into about 1″ cubes and put them into the pot. Then I poured the chicken stock in with an additional cup of water so that everything was submerged in the liquid. I then added the rest of my cinnamon, nutmeg, chopped sage and a little more S&P.

time to cook it all together

This cooked on med-high for about 35-40 minutes – or until all of the vegetables are soft. You can test them by putting a fork through them in the pot. It should go through quite easily.

While this cooked, I prepared my pigs. I browned the cocktail franks first in a small pan. Then I opened up the crescent roll tube and cut each crescent into 3 triangles. I had bought the large crescent rolls in stead of the small ones, so each one was good for 3. I rolled each frank into the rolls and placed them on a lined pan.

rolled up dogs!

These went into the 375 oven for approximately 15 minutes, or until golden. When they were in the final moments of cooking, I took the soup off the stove and brought it to the counter to blend the soup. Right in the pot I put my emulsion blender in it and blended the soup. This is SO much easier than ladling it into a blender and mess-free! This is one of my favorite gadgets!

emulsion fun!

And your dinner is complete! Ladle the soup into your bowls and garnish with some fresh sage!

dinner is served!

This soup is filled with great vegetables and doesn’t have any fattening cream in it, which I love. It reminds me of the holidays and chilly autumn days. What spin do you put on you butternut squash soup? What is your favorite soup to make? Please share!

177 days ago Short URL Comments

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