What's for lunch?

Lately lunch has been an unimportant and ignored meal. I coach track, practice starts at 1:15, and I usually have a late-ish breakfast. Unfortunately, somewhere in the middle of practice I get RAGINGLY hungry! I'm committing to making lunch more of a priority for my pregnant self's sake (oh I guess the baby's sake too, hee hee!). I only had a carton of yogurt and some decaf tea with half-and-half and sugar for breakfast so I HAD to have a substantial lunch today.

I had Trader Joe's organic Shells & White Cheddar, prepped according to the box directions. And yes, I ate it all!

A New Leaf

Hello, hello food blog!! I haven't visited you in a long time. Why you ask? Well, unfortunately, I haven't been cooking much lately because pregnancy makes you a tired, lazy, take-out orderer. I've made a resolution, though, that I'm going to start blogging about food in an effort to light the fire under myself to do more real cooking before the baby comes.

I'll start with tonight's dinner, which was simply salad and steak! The thing I'm kicking myself about right now is how EASY and CHEAP it is to cook at home and how much better the food is for you. I went to Trader Joe's today and loaded up on fresh veggies and meat, came home, and had dinner on the table in less than 20 minutes. It's just pathetic how easy it was.



First I made the salad. I tore up one romaine heart (it's cheaper than the bag-o-lettuce) threw it in a colander, and rinsed. While that was draining I cut up a tomato, half an English cucumber, and a green pepper. To assemble the salad I blotted the lettuce with a paper towel, then arranged the veggies on top. For a little added protein I grabbed a handful of ciliegine mozzarella balls, squeezed them gently to remove the extra moisture, and then cut them in half to top the salad (a handful on each salad was perfect, and the cheese was definitely domestic so I didn't have to worry about pasteurization). For dressing, I used a drizzle of olive oil, then a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, then salt and pepper. Yum!

Then the steak: I have a great Teflon pan so I love pan-searing steak on the stove. I got some extra-virgin olive oil hot, then prepped the steak (lean Angus sirloin, yum) with some prepackaged Montreal steak seasoning. I cooked the steak about four minutes on each side to get mine RARE and a little longer to get John's medium rare. I think they turned out well!

That was dinner tonight! So easy!

Tomorrow I'm going to try Real Simple's Spiced Mini Burgers and Couscous Salad.

I want to try this recipe!

Arwen posted this on her site recently. I'm going to try it out the next time someone has a birthday.

Starlight Yellow Cake (from Betty Crocker)

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
1 ¼ cups milk
3 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 large eggs

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour bottom and sides of rectangular pan (13-inch x 9-inch), or 2 round pans (9-inch diameter), or 3 round pans (8-inch diameter).
2. Beat all ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour into pans.
3. Bake rectangle 35-40 mins, 9-inch rounds 25-30 minutes, 8-inch rounds 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool rectangle in pan on wire rack; cool rounds 10 minutes, then remove from pans to wire rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
4. Frost as desired.

I can't really think of a frosting I've tried and didn't enjoy, but the frosting I grew up with is buttercream. It is tooth-achingly sweet but delicious. It is what frosting from a can aspires to be.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (from Betty Crocker)

3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla 1 to 2 tablespoons milk

1. Mix powdered sugar and butter in medium bowl with spoon or electric mixer on low speed. Stir in vanilla and 1 tablespoon of the milk.
2. Gradually beat in just enough remaining milk to make frosting smooth and spreadable. If frosting is too thick, beat in more milk, a few drops at a time. If frosting becomes too thin, beat in a small amount of powdered sugar.

(For Chocolate Buttercream Frosting, increase the vanilla to 2 teaspoons and the milk to 3-4 tablespoons. Follow directions above, adding 3 ounces melted and cooled unsweetened baking chocolate with the vanilla.)

Recipes from Kara

Over the holiday we visited with our dear friends Nate and Kara and Kara was kind enough to send me these recipes that I'm dying to try!! They told us all about these Governor Bars ... I can hardly wait until Christmas to try them out (we're on a STRICT South Beach Diet until then, dangit). She made us the casserole for breakfast and it was SO GOOD. Why does food have to be SO GOOD sometimes?? AHHH!
--

Governor Bars:
1 cup honey
1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter
6 cups Rice Krispies
6 oz. Semi-Sweet Chocolate chips
12 oz. Butterscotch chips

1. Put Rice Krispies and peanut butter in a bowl.
2. Put honey and sugar in a pot and bring to a boil (just so it bubbles once).
3. Pour honey mixture into bowl with rice krispies/peanut butter and mix it with a spoon.
4. Put mixture into a 13x9 greased pan. I press it down a little bit...not to much.
5. Melt chocolate chips and butterscotch chips in the microwave (about a minute or so) and stir until all melted and mixed together.
6. Spread on top of the rice krispy mixture.
Done! YUM!


Sausage and Rice Casserole:
2 lb. rolls bulk pork sausage
1 lg. onion chopped
2 1/2 c celery sliced
1 1/2 c rice
2 pkgs Lipton chicken noodle soup
5 1/2 c water
1 tsp salt
Toasted almonds slivered

Preheat oven 375
-Brown and drain sausage. Add onions and celery. Cook 5 min till softened.
-Meanwhile, boil water, add rice and soup, cook 20 min covered. Stir a few times, will be moister then regular rice.
-Combine all together in 9x13 casserole. Sprinkle with almonds and bake 20-30 minutes. Can also refrigerate and bake one hour.

My favorite of-the-moment kitchen tool

This is a The Pampered Chef garlic press. I was first introduced to this tool by my best friend Lily, who is a big-time Pampered Chef fan (and also a big-time garlic fan). I'd tried to use fresh garlic before but it was too hard to chop and my hands would stink for days, so I just resigned myself to garlic salt or dried garlic granules. Then one day John's sister Candice told me that she was going to a Pampered Chef party and asked if I wanted her to order me anything ... I jumped at the chance!! This thing amazes me because you can just stick a clove of garlic in it UNPEELED and it minces it perfectly. It also has a little tool to clean the teeny holes and get the garlic peel out of the compartment. I love this thing! When I'm done I just rinse it and throw it in the dishwasher. Love it.

I also have a Pampered Chef chopper and pizza wheel (more gifts from Candice). I really need to find a Pampered Chef rep!

Easy Chicken Sautee (adapted from The South Beach Diet)

The basic recipe for this dish does not call for rosemary or mushrooms. Actually, I've modified it so much it's very different from the original. Here's my version: easy and good!

4 chicken breasts
3-4 T. olive oil
3-4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 med onion, sliced and quartered
1 T. rosemary (fresh or dried)
1 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper

Heat up the olive oil in an iron skillet on med-high heat. Rinse and pat dry chicken breasts and sautee in the oil until browned and sealed (3-4 mins each side) add garlic to pan and brown. Add onions and mushrooms and briefly sautee next to chicken. Add chicken broth, rosemary, salt and pepper to taste and cover pan. Cook until the onions are translucent and the rosemary is soft (if using dried). Serve in shallow bowls with broth. John loves this one!!

Lemon Bars

This is my most popular and most-requested recipe (butter cake is a close second). I got it from Mom's cookbook, and I believe it's the Nordstrom recipe, but I'm not sure. I go heavier on the lemon juice because we like them a little more lemony. GOOD STUFF!

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (divided)
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
3/4 cup butter
1/2 tsp. baking powder
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. grated lemon rind (optional, I never add this)
1/3 cup lemon juice
Powdered sugar

Combine 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup powdered sugar (I don't sift). Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender until mixture resemles coarse meal.

Spoon flour mixture into an ungreased 13x9x2 in. metal cake pan (I use one with a plastic cover for easy transport later). Press the mixture down into an even crust with fingertips. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until crust is lightly browned (if the crust is uneven, it will overcook in certain spots so be diligent).

While the crust is baking, combine the remaining 1/2 cup flour and baking powder, set aside. Combine eggs, 2 cups sugar, lemon rind if desired, and lemon juice (I use at minimum 1/2 cup. I wouldn't recommend using more than 2/3 cup). Stir dry ingredients into egg mixture with a whisk, and pour over baked crust.

Return pan to oven and bake for another 25 mins at 350 degrees (until lightly browned and set). Cool on a wire rack (I have stuck it in the fridge to cool it faster too). Dust lightly with powdered sugar before cutting into squares. Delish!