Surprise Surprise

As I was trying to clean out the pantry I discovered what a great meal I actually made tonight. All I had was a jar of spaghetti sauce and some pasta. All I could think about was how I didn't have anything to put in it such as chicken, ground turkey, mushrooms, or any other veggies. Alright I'll go vegetarian tonight with some elbow noodles and sauce.

Well I surprised myself, in a few ways. First, after mixing the cooked pasta and sauce I decided to bake it to get some texture and brown the parmesan (okay mozzarella too) on top. Second, I sprinkled on some red pepper flakes just to give it a kick. Third, those red pepper flakes helped with my portion control because as it was delicious I just couldn't take any more heat.

5 Ingrediant fix

Once again Ive found a great dinner recipe from the Food Network show "5 Ingrediant Fix." I stumbled upon the episode where she makes really quick recipes, my kind of cooking. I actually wanted to try making some rice with chicken broth and make it a little more interesting. I did try it on my own and it didnt turn out to well. I think its because Im still adjusting to brown rice, turns out the day after I screwed up my rice I watched the show and voila I had a great new recipe to try.

Baked Shroom Rice

Recipe courtesy Claire Robinson, 2010

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 8 ounce shiitakes mushrooms, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup white rice
• Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken stock

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Over moderately-high heat in an ovenproof saucepan, melt the butter until the foam subsides. Add the mushrooms and saute until golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the rice and stir constantly until the rice is coated and lightly toasted. Season with salt and pepper. Add the chicken stock and bring up to a boil. Cover with a tight fitting lid and cook on the middle rack in the oven until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender, 17 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand, covered, 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving.

BYOC: Want to get more whole grains in the kids? Try doing this with brown rice and add a little more chicken stock and a little more time.

Turkey Robinson

Recipe courtesy Claire Robinson, 2010

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons garlic-infused olive oil
• 1 pound ground turkey
• Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
• 1 (5-ounce) bag triple washed spinach
• 1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained
• Brown rice or pasta, for serving

Directions

Heat the oil in a large skillet over moderately-high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the ground turkey and, using a wooden spoon, break up the clumps and cook until golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the stock and scrape up any bits on the bottom of the pan. Bring up to a boil, and then let simmer until slightly reduced, about 10 minutes. Stir in the spinach and cannellini beans and heat through. Season with salt and pepper. Serve over brown rice or your favorite pasta.

BYOC: Try adding some red pepper flakes to the turkey for a little spice and finely grate some Parmesan cheese to serve.

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Lee and I recently celebrated our second wedding anniversary with a trip to Orlando. We haven't traveled much together yet so we have fun going anywhere we can relax. I wont make this a sappy romantic post but rather how much we love to eat!

I find myself thinking differently about what to order because I love to get ideas from restaurants.  I don't like ordering something that I can whip up at home and was a little bummed because I felt like I could make the majority of what we ate. With the exception of the mahi mahi, sushi, french onion soup and all the cocktails, I think I could make everything we ate. We did eat a lot of bar food like chicken nachos, cheese dip, quesadillas, and sliders. All delicious and gave me ideas of how to spice up my own at home. Things like green onions, red peppers, and using multiple cheeses. A new challenge I guess, and maybe I'll attempt our favorite french onion soup one of these days.

Wholly Gaucamole!

One of my favorite things I found at Sam's Club (Ive seen them at Kroger too) are 100 calorie packs of guacamole. I love me some GAUC, but I don't like to make it because it goes bad so quickly. Yes, Ive heard those tricks about leaving the pit in but these packs are so easy! They are great for dipping chips or veggies in or even a healthier substitute for mayo on your sandwich.

Not gonna lie Im excited to bring them to work for lunch

I confess, I saw them on a biggest loser commercial first

I mixed in some mango salsa with 2 or 3 packs for some company