Daily Dish - Chicken, asparagus pizza

Well, now that the kitchen is done, we're back to being able to cook in it regularly.  It's a joy!  I'm making a conscious effort to keep the excessive number of appliances we have off the counters as much as possible.  I'm also making an effort to use them more! 

My little brother is general manager of a very high end restaurant, so qualifies as a mega-foodie.  As it turns out, he has been known to sneak around our kitchen, when visiting, to evaluate what appliances we might be missing, and then fills in the blanks for holiday gifts.  That is how we ended up with our bread machine.  We weren't particularly happy with the pizza dough recipe that came in the instructions booklet, so gave this one a shot, which turned out nicely.  I made a double batch so that we could freeze half for later.  I definitely enjoyed the convenience of being able to attend to the little one while the machine worked it's dough magic - hands free!  Of course, you could make your own pizza using a store bought dough or base as well.

Chicken asparagus pizza

- 1 cooked chicken breast, cut into cubes
- 4oz skinny asparagus (cut into 2" pieces)
- 1/2 medium onion (thinly sliced)
- 1/2 red bell pepper (sliced)
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup grated mozarella cheese
- 4 tsp olive tepenade

Pre-heat the oven to 425.  If using raw dough, roll out the dough and put onto the pizza pan.  Once the oven is at temp, put the prepared dough in the oven for about 5 minutes to crisp the top.  This prevents it from becoming soggy once the toppings are added.  Remove from oven and add toppings - use the olive tepenade as your base, then top with mozarella cheese, chicken, veggies, and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.  Bake for an additional 15 minutes.  Enjoy! 

Daily Dish - Let's talk spaghetti squash

Growing up in England, I can't say I ever really ate winter squash.  It wasn't until recently that I decided to try a spaghetti squash and it has quickly become a favorite in our house.  A lot of recipes for spaghetti squash use it as a substitute for noodles, which makes perfect sense given the name right?  Nutritionally (courtesy of MyFitnessPal.com), a cup of spaghetti squash has 31 calories (1g fat, 7g carbs, 2g fiber, 1g protein), whereas the comparable amount of regular pasta has 200 calories (1g fat, 42g carbs, 2g fiber, 7g protein).  It is certainly a low-calorie, low-carb substitute.  If you're looking for an identical texture, you'll be disappointed, but spaghetti squash has proven to be versatile, delicious, and filling. 

The trick is to bake the squash at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes.  At that point, the shell is easy to pull away and you can either use a fork to pull out the inside as "spaghetti", or fill it with toppings. 

Last night's adventure was Pad Thai.  We used this recipe, which was enjoyed by everybody in the house, big and small!  The recipe was good, although I'd probably add a little more lime juice next time around.  The squash was also a little softer than I'd have liked to create the spaghetti strands.

Another really enjoyable recipe was this one, for a Southwest Spaghetti Squash. We added some lean ground turkey to the recipe, which also meant that we had a ton of leftovers.  The possibilities are really endless with what you can put inside.  Did I mention that there's broiled cheese?  Automatically makes it a winner in my book!

Having just bought another couple of squash at Costco, I think we'll be trying this spaghetti squash primavera next.  Seriously, so good.  Have you tried it?

Daily Dish - Lemon chicken with roasted cauliflower

When you co-worker gives you lemons, make a chicken dish!  That's pretty much how this happened, and it was good! 

This recipe (from the Barefoot Contessa) for lemon chicken not only highlights the lemon really well, but it also contains a ton of garlic, which is always a winner for me.  We used chicken without the skin, although I can imagine that the skin-on version is pretty amazing.  The prep time is very quick and then you just pop it in the oven and forget about it for 30-40 minutes, which makes it weekday friendly. 

As a side, roasted veggies are one of my favorite things - not only super simple but they taste amazing.  I broke a head of cauliflower into florets, then tossed with olive oil, salt, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, and parmesan cheese.  They went into the oven, with the chicken, for about 25 minutes.  That gave me ample time to clean up and be able to eat knowing the kitchen was already clear. 

Overall, this was an easy to prepare, healthy, low calorie meal with a nice punch of flavor.  Highly recommended!

Daily Dish - Oatmeal in a jar

Before the holidays, I'd been on a pretty fantastic weight loss curve.  Then the holidays happened and I may have over-indulged just a little.  Time to get back on track though.  I've been looking for some healthy food hacks that are quick, simple, tasty, and don't take much time to prepare.  I think it's fair to say that Pinterest will always offer up something I've never heard of before that is just crazy enough to try....and that is how "oatmeal in a jar" happened.

The beauty of this is that they're quick to prepare, easy to make ahead, healthy, inexpensive, and the possibilities are endless!  I used an 8oz mason jar and filled it with:
 - 1/4 cup uncooked oats
 - 1/4 cup almond milk
 - 1/4 cup plain whole fat yogurt (which is what we have in the house for the little one but could obviously be substituted for a low fat or greek yogurt instead)
- a dash of vanilla extract
- half a pear (which is all that would fit into the container when I was done)

Give it a good shake, then leave it in the fridge to "cook".  By my calculations, before adding the fruit, this 8oz serving was only 136 calories, but more filling than a granola bar or similar breakfast item that you might grab while heading out the door. 

Seeing as these keep for several days, it's easy to make a few days at a time, mix and match what the fillings are, then grab and go in the morning on the way to work.  I would even say that these are kid friendly so could easily be made for the whole family to enjoy.  Here's a link with some flavor combinations to try.  Enjoy!

Daily Dish - A little Brownie

I told you a couple of weeks ago about a baby shower I threw for my friend.  I finally got off my butt and pulled the photos off my camera, so now I can finish telling you about the favors!

The mom-to-be's last name is Brown, and she's having a girl, so the pink and brown shower "theme" was created.  I had spent several days thinking about favors, which are always a bit of a challenge as I always prefer favors to be either practical or edible.  I had an a-ha moment when I realized we'd been joking for months about how she's "baking a little Brownie", and brownies must therefore be the favors!  My original thought was to make a full batch worth of brownie mix in a mason jar, but this was turning out to be incredibly cost prohibitive on account of needing excessive amounts of cocoa powder.  That's when my friend made the genius suggestion of doing a brownie-in-a-mug.  Now, I should note that I didn't even know such a thing exists.  I'm also quite sure my waistline doesn't need to know that I can make a brownie...in a mug...in 60 seconds...in the microwave.  Too good to be true right?!  Of course, Husband and I had to taste test the recipe (several times) and it has a consistency that is more like the center of a molten chocolate lava cake, which means it's deliciously rich.  Ice cream or milk is a requirement!

I bought cute pink polka dot cone bags at Party City, brown ribbon, and plain white mugs at the dollar store, then added all the dry ingredients to the cone bags.  I think they turned out nicely!  For those of you curious about making this, here's the recipe card.  Your mouth will thank me even if your hips don't.

While we're talking dessert, you should drool over the desert bar that was on offer.  Pink lemonade cupcakes with chocolate ganache, super cute sugar cookies, and my friend Paige's infamous cake pop babies.  Cutest thing ever!

So, congrats to the mama-to-be (pictured here with Owen who is trying to eat her childhood doll).  We're thrilled for the arrival of your little Brownie!  :)

Daily Dish - Pork chop with mango salsa & couscous

I'm really trying to be more creative in the kitchen.  While we have our staples that are quick, simple, and Deuce kitty could probably cook from watching us make them enough times, I have always loved variety in my food.  I'm not a big meal planner though, so it can be hit or miss whether I can put together something new and fun with the ingredients in the house.  Last night, I hit the jackpot though.

It all started with a pork chop.  We like to get the center cut pork chops from Costco.  They're thick and I don't think we've spotted a lot of other chops that come close in comparison.  That led me to the mango salsa, which was easy because we keep frozen mango in the freezer for the baby these days.  It is easy to dice from frozen and defrosts quickly too.  Don't get me wrong - I love a fresh mango, but it can be easy to miss that perfect ripeness.  As a nice compliment to the protein, I whipped up a little Israeli aka "pearl" couscous (which I generally prefer to the standard American couscous as it has a more hearty texture) with some sauteed veggies.  This was super easy to make, and has a pretty short prep/cook time too!  I will say that I loved pretty much everything about this dish, so here's a recipe for you.

Serves 2    

Make the mango salsa first, then set aside while the other components are cooking.

MANGO SALSA
1/2 cup diced mango
1/4 cup red onion (I actually substituted green onion because we didn't have any red onion)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
1 medium japaleno (If you feel like the jalapeno is too much, it's not as spicy once eaten with the pork chop)
1/2 lime
Salt

Place first four ingredients together in a bowl.  Add the lime juice and salt, stirring until well mixed.

PORK CHOP & COUSCOUS
2 center cut pork chops (approx 1" thick)
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup Israeli "pearl" couscous
1 small onion
1 cup baby bella mushroom
1 cup spinach
2 tsp Lemon juice
Olive oil
Salt, pepper, garlic

Season pork chops with salt, pepper, and garlic.  Place oil in pan and heat until medium-hot.  Add pork chops and cook until there is a nice brown sear (approx 4-5 minutes on each side).  Lower heat, add the chicken stock to the pan, cover, and cook until pork chops have reached an internal temperature of 145°F.

While the pork chops are cooking, start to cook the couscous per instructions on the packet.   The instructions on the package I had were to add couscous to 1 1/4 cups boiling water, salt, and cover.  Cook for 8-10 minutes stirring frequently.

In a separate pan, heat olive oil, then sautee onion, mushroom, spinach and garlic over medium heat.  Once couscous is finished cooking, remove pan from heat.  Add in sauteed vegetables, toss well with the lemon juice and a little extra olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Once both the pork and couscous are done cooking, serve it up, adding the mango salsa on top of the pork chop.  Enjoy!

Daily Dish - Stuffed Peppers

We eat a lot of bell peppers in our house.  Apart from the fact they come in so many pretty colors, they're really versatile in terms of how you can eat them - I love them raw as well as cooked in anything from pasta sauce to curry!  I actually looked up the nutritional value recently because I feel like leafy greens or cruciferous veggies (i.e. broccoli) get a lot of attention, but what about bell peppers as one of my favorite vegetables?  I was actually pleasantly surprised by what I found - they are full of the good stuff!  They're super high in Vitamins A & C, have a good amount of Vitamin B6 and fiber, plus contain anti-oxidants.  All that while being low in calories (1 pepper = 30-40 cals).

With that in mind, time to share another Pinterest win as far as recipes go!  I came across the most beautiful bell peppers the other day - which means they were meant to be filled with all kinds of yummy goodness. I'd pinned a stuffed pepper recipe a while back.  It had caught my eye because it wasn't in a tomato sauce that I seem to associate with stuffed peppers!  We added a little left over brown rice and used ground beef instead of turkey, but this was delicious.  Even better, as we used 4 good sized peppers to make it, we have left overs sitting in the fridge for lunch tomorrow.  I do love a meal with leftovers!

If you want to keep track of my tried and tested recipes, follow my Eat It Again board and don't forget to check the comments on each pin for any modifications and ideas.  

Daily Dish - Recipes Worth Sharing

In the wee morning hours, after Owen's arrival, I mentioned that I had many hours to scour Pinterest. There are SO many recipes on there that it can be overwhelming to find ones that are a success, and we've definitely had some "meh" dinners; however, there's some great recipes too.  My favorite thing about recipes on Pinterest is that I can look at the picture and remember what the dish is.  Husband was a lifesaver during my leave and if I could find a recipe, he'd help cook it.  I'd just pull up the pin on my tablet and he'd do the rest.  In fact, he's still my hero in the kitchen as he does a lot of the cooking while I wash a never-ending amount of bottles, sippy cups and pump parts.  (Yes, this is a public thank you!)

In that we did find some winning dishes, I'm sharing them.  I'm also moving them into a separate board on Pinterest so the tried and tested tasted are easy to find.  Follow if you like!

	Jen's Incredible Baked Meatballs These meatballs were delicious! I ended up making them with baby strapped to my chest in the Ergo carrier, which worked out pretty well because my hands were "meaty" and I didn't want to have to keep washing them. We froze them in small batches and they are super easy to defrost and heat up with a quick pasta sauce. There's lots of other tasty looking things on this blog so check it out!
	Chicken Pot Pie Cupcakes I am really wishing I'd come across this one earlier. A tasty filling inside a Grands biscuit, put into a muffin tin. The biggest problem with this one? Not eating them all at once. I'd venture to say that the same concept could be applied with a different filling - perhaps we'll try steak and mushroom next time around.
	Chili Verde Pork In A Crock Pot Crock pots are a savior in terms of being able to walk away to let things cook, and have the added benefit of making the entire house smell delicious. This was super simple to prepare, as well as being pretty tasty. We ended up freezing the left overs for another meal (so it was a twofer?) Super simple on top of some brown rice, or could always be made into a burrito or tacos.
	Honey Spice Glazed Pork Chops We actually pre-packaged these (searing the chops and freezing them in the marinade), then dropped them into the crock pot for 6 hours on low. I removed some of the juices from the bottom and reduced them in a saucepan until they were a glaze. We did roasted asparagus and mushroom on the side (see below), which turned out to be a pretty healthy meal overall.
	Roasted Asparagus and Mushroom This is a great go-to recipe when looking for a super quick and ridiculously easy way to make veggies. I hadn’t thought of roasting mushrooms before, but I’m now wondering what took me so long! Highly recommended!
	Coconut Shrimp Curry I got a great deal on some shrimp a little while back and was looking for something different to cook with it. Shrimp and coconut go hand in hand anyway, plus I love a good curry, so this recipe seemed perfect. I added peas and carrots (frozen) and next time around would consider adding a little spice too. The hardest part about this was peeling and de-veining the shrimp. I always forget how much of a pain in the ass that is.

Daily Dish - Apple Pie

Apparently, it's fall.  Living in SoCal, we don't experience much for seasonal changes.  The fact that we started off October with triple digit heat has me wondering when the time will come for soup, hot cocoa and snuggling under blankets.  Perhaps I'll get the cool down in time for my maternity leave. 

Regardless of what the weather is doing outside though, there is no bad time for apple pie.  I have scored some great deals on Granny Smith apples at the store recently, so decided to venture into pie baking.  I'm a dutch apple pie kind of girl, as I can be picky about how the top is baked with regular pastry, so when I found this recipe for Butter Crumble Apple Pie, I knew I was onto a winner.  It's so unbelievably easy, but lives up to it's name (i.e. buttery and crumbly).  We ate this topped with a little Cool Whip, and also tried it a la mode for subsequent tastings.  I can assure you it's delicious with both.  :)

What are you looking forward to for fall?

Daily Dish - Cottage Pie

You probably know this dish as Shepherd's Pie, which is what the dish is called when the meat used is either mutton or lamb (strangely logical no?)  I made it with beef, which is traditionally a Cottage Pie - probably because that is better than it being called a "cow pie".  ;)

Anyway, here is my super simple (but tasty) recipe!

For the filling:
1 lb ground beef

1 medium onion (diced)
1 carrot (diced)
1/2 cup frozen peas
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp Butter
1 cup beef broth
Worcestershire sauce
Nutmeg, oregano, paprika, salt & pepper

For the mashed potato:
4 russet potatoes
Butter, milk, salt & pepper
Cheese (optional)

• Preheat oven to 425.
• In salted water, boil the potato (chopped into smaller chunks) until soft and easily pierced with a fork, approx 10 minutes.
• While the potato is boiling, brown the ground beef in a pan with salt and pepper.  
• Once the beef is browned, add the onion and carrot along with a sprinkling of each of the spices (to taste)
• In a separate pan, melt 2 tbsp of butter
• Once butter is melted, add the flour and mix.  Then add the beef broth to the flour/butter mixture and stir until smooth. 
• Put Worcestershire sauce into the gravy mixture.  I use about 2 tbsp, but I was eyeballing it so adjust according to your preference!
• Pour gravy mixture onto the beef and vegetables, then add the frozen peas.
• At this point, the potatoes should be about done, so drain and mash them. 
• Add butter, milk, salt & pepper to the potatoes according to your preference.  I like my mashed potatoes to be smooth and buttery.
• Spoon the beef and vegetable mixture into a baking dish.  (I used ramekins designed for personal portions, but you can also use a medium sized baking dish).
• On top of the beef, add a layer of the mashed potato.  Even out the top with a fork so that the meat is all covered. 
• We love adding cheese to things in our house so we elected to sprinkle some shredded cheddar on top.
• Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until the top of the potato is lightly browned and crispy.

ENJOY!

Daily Dish - Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I've been wanting to make some oatmeal raisin cookies for a while, although with recent pregnancy-induced exhaustion, I never quite got around to it.  However, my baking was requested at work last week, which gave me the perfect excuse to find the perfect recipe.  (I should add that if you'd told me a year ago that my baking would actually be worthy of request by others, I'd have laughed at you...but now I'm just very proud of my learning curve!)

If any of you are foodies and not familiar with Smitten Kitchen, I recommend checking it out.  Not only do the recipes sound delicious, she takes gorgeous photos which may cause drooling (you have been warned).  When I found her recipe for thick and chewy oatmeal raisin cookies, I knew I'd found a winner.  Sure enough, they were moist, with a really nice texture, and overall quite delicious (even if I say so myself!)  I do need to get myself a cookie dough scoop though, after using one of my plastic measuring spoons to scoop the dough and successfully breaking off the handle.  If I'm planning to buy supplies, I must be feeling good about this baking thing....who knew.  :) 

Daily Dish - Crock Pot Shredded Pork

I finally have my new computer up and running.  It's so fast and quiet compared to my old one.  I'm mostly done transferring the necessary documents off my old hard drive, so now I just need to find a good place to donate it - after all, it's still functional.

I've been saving this dish to share with you. I love finding good crock pot dishes as it's really satisfying to leave home in the morning and come home to a house that smells of a lovely home cooked meal, just ready to go.  We got 3 lbs of pork roast for about $5 at the store and I wanted to make a shredded pork recipe. The spice rub that is on Crumbly Cookie's site really caught my eye so figured we'd give it a whirl.  The pork was delicious and husband had to keep telling me to stop opening up the crock pot lid and stealing bites while it was in the last few minutes of cooking.

We decided to make sandwiches using crusty baguettes and some home made coleslaw.  I don't really have my recipe for the coleslaw, but it involves (as I recall) cabbage, carrot, mayo, apple cider vinegar, sugar, salt & pepper.  Making coleslaw is also a great excuse to shred things in the Cuisinart...you know...just for fun.  :)

Anyway, I highly recommend trying this.  We already had 2 meals from it, and the rest is currently in the freezer for a rainy day.  Delicious and budget friendly.  Can't ask for more.

Daily Dish - Carrot Cake

Having mastered the pumpkin muffins that I shared last year, round 2 in my mission to learn how to bake is carrot cake.  Yes, I could have gone for something less involved, but where's the fun in that?  I'm still amazed that I actually made this, didn't burn it, or have it collapse on me.  It's not the most beautiful thing I've ever produced (i.e. I have no frosting skills) but it tastes damn good, so we'll call it a success!

I reviewed quite a few recipes online and read some of the comments/suggestions, and came up with the following recipe. Enjoy...

Carrot Cake 4 eggs 1 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1 cup white sugar 1 cup brown sugar 2 tsp vanilla extract 2 cups all purpose flour 2 tsp baking soda 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 2 tsp ground cinnamon 3 cups grated carrots 1 cup chopped pecans 8oz can pineapple (drained) 1 cup raisins Preheat oven to 350.  Grease and flour two 9" pans.   Beat eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon until smooth. Stir in carrots, raisin and pineapple. (I included a couple of teaspoons of the pineapple juice). Fold in pecans. Bake for 40 minutes (until toothpick comes out clean). Cool in pan for 10 mins, then transfer to cooling rack to let cool completely. Frost!  (I used a cream cheese frosting recipe that I also found online, below). Frosting  1/2 cup butter 8oz cream cheese 4 cups confectioners sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract

Next up, I'll probably go back to something more basic. I sense an oatmeal raisin cookie in my future...once I've eaten all the carrot cake that is!

Daily Dish - Mini Pumpkin Muffins

Continuing the Halloween theme for the week, my friend Holly over at Indie Home Ec sent me this recipe for mini pumpkin muffins and promised even I wouldn't be able to completely bugger it up.  So, I gave it a shot...

If any of you have been paying attention to what I cook, you may have noticed that baking is not on the list of things that I do (albeit on the list of things I'd like to do better).  I figure most people fall into either the cooking or the baking category.  I'm firmly in the cooking camp seeing as I generally don't measure things, which is really a problem when trying to bake, and my past attempts at baking have been, um, "questionable."

Pumpkin Pie Spice (makes 1 tsp):
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground allspice (or clove)

I think it says enough about my usual baking skills when husband got home from class, walked into the kitchen to find me blending flour-y stuff with pumpkin-y stuff, and the first words out of his mouth are "I can't believe you're baking...and it's not from a box".  As if that wasn't bad enough, while I was happily filling the regular sized muffin cups, I asked him to grab the mini muffin tray from the cabinet.  He says, "you mean this one?  In the wrapper?"  Yes, the one we got as a wedding gift...nearly 4 years ago.

Regardless, 25 minutes later, I had a batch of muffins ready for cooling and tasting.  We both ate one and success!  They were moist, tasty, not deformed (which is more of an accomplishment for me than you might realize) and, as husband pointed out, "at least you didn't burn them".  It has to be said, the recipe is pretty foolproof as the pumpkin keeps everything nice and moist; plus they're not bad for you.  100 calories for 3 mini muffins (or 1 regular sized muffin as an estimate) is almost completely guilt free.  I just wish I'd had a little more granola to sprinkle on top.

I finally baked something from scratch that is worthy of feeding to other people - and even brought some to work.  I'm happy to report that all of my co-workers survived and none of them seem to have called in with food poisoning, so we'll call this one a win!

Daily Dish - Ahi Tuna Salad

Firstly, before I share last night's culinary masterpiece, I want to wish my parents a Happy Anniversary!  They're celebrating 33 years today, and that's definitely worth a mention.  :)

Now, on to the food...
Usually when I've cooked something that looks awesome, I'll snap a shot on my phone and upload it straight to Facebook.  This meal was particularly well received, and I haven't done a recipe post in a while, so I figured I'd share.

A little while back, Living Social was doing a $10 for $20 coupon for Whole Foods.  Now, usually I don't frequent Whole Foods at all - it's just not my thing and is generally well outside my rather streamlined grocery budget.  [I also don't love the fact that in my experience, Trader Joes and Whole Foods have consistently terrible parking lots that make me crazy before I even get into the store.]  However, our entire intent with this coupon was to splurge on some fish that we wouldn't ordinarily buy at our regular grocery store...and that we did! 

Seared Ahi Tuna salad with a ginger-citrus soy dressing.

Dressing: These are estimates, so adjust according to taste!     1/2 cup Soy sauce 2 tbsp Sesame oil 2 tbsp Rice Vinegar 1 Lime, juiced 2 tbsp Orange juice 2 tbsp Ground ginger 1/2 tsp Black pepper Green onion

Salad: Spinach Red bell pepper, sliced Carrot, sliced Green onion Jalepeno, finely sliced (this is optional, but gave it a really nice kick!) Of course, you can really put whatever you want in the salad, this is just what we did.

The tuna already had a ginger-soy marinade on it, so the only addition was to sprinkle some sesame seeds on it.  Then, we got a pan going nice and hot with some olive oil, then seared the fish for about a minute each side.  Once that was done, we sliced it over the salad and poured the dressing over.  Delicious AND healthy!  This is something we'll make again, should we be feeling the need to splurge.

Daily Dish - Tagine

Silly me keeps forgetting to grab the recipe card I wrote out for the tagine I made on Sunday.  I'm going to attempt to replicate my recipe here, which was a hybrid of various recipes I found online.

My mom first made tagine for us during the annual parent visit over the holidays last year.  I had no idea what it was so, for those of you who are also unclear, it is a Morroccan dish named after the clay pot that it's made in.  Fortunately for us foodies, you don't actually need a fancy earthenware pot to make this dish!  I opted for the crockpot which, seeing as I ran out of counter-space due to an over-abundance of kitchen appliances, was tucked away for the summer.

Ingredients (Serves 2): 2 large chicken breasts, cut into chunks 1 red onion 4 cloves garlic 1 carrot 1 tbsp flour 4 oz dried pitted prunes 1 tbsp tomato paste 1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes 1 (14 oz) can garbanzo beans 2 tbsp honey 1/4 pint chicken stock

Spices: 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp ground ginger 1/2 tsp tumeric 1/2 tsp ground coriander 1/2 tsp ground cumin 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper salt & pepper

First, sautee the onion and garlic in some olive oil. Then add the chicken stock, and carefully mix in the flour until dissolved and not lumpy.  Next add the honey and tomato paste, again mixing until smooth.  Add the spices, with salt and pepper to taste.  Finally, add the can of tomatoes. 

Brown the chicken pieces.  I used chicken breast but you could very easily use any part of the chicken that you want. I'd actually never done chicken in a crockpot before (wings not withstanding) so forgot to lightly brown the chicken, but will definitely be adding this step next time around. 

Add the sauce, the chicken, and all the other ingredients into the crockpot.  Cook on high for 3-4 hours (or you could leave it for 7-8 hours on low).  We decided to serve with rice, although more traditionally this would be served with couscous or flat bread. I've read that you can garnish with cilantro or lemon, which I plan on doing next time around for sure!  This can also be made with beef or lamb, or substituting apricots and almonds for the prunes.  Essentially, there is no reason not to try different combinations each time you make it.

All in all a really tasty meal and even better, you can leave it unattended while you go do your thing, with the added benefit of the house smelling delicious while it cooks!

Yes, that is a paw.  Deuce photo-bombed again!

Daily Dish - A bread maker and some pizza

I was just searching through my posts and I'm perplexed as to how on earth I have not posted about my bread maker.  You may remember the "great Santa Barbara pizza experiment" from last year.  My brother loves his bread maker and decided he needed to get me one for my birthday.  I'm not sure if it's a sign of age or a sign of loving food that makes kitchen appliances such an appealing gift for me.  Next though, I might be needing new kitchen counters as a gift so I can store all my awesome appliances - will have to put that on my wish list.

Since getting the bread maker, one of our favorite things has become home-made pizza.  I've heard that pizza can be a somewhat healthy and balanced thing to eat - especially if you're using all fresh ingredients instead of the oily, salty, instant-bloat version that you might order from Dominoes.  I was never the biggest fan of pizza, although I do believe I'm being converted.

This version was chicken with portobello mushroom, onion and olives, on a home made pizza sauce, then topped with spinach and mozzarella.  2 slices and I'm full!  That's better than ordering a large pizza with a girlfriend and realizing there's only 2 slices left to finish off the entire pie, so daring each other to do it, and then having to live with the regret.....ask me how I know.

We've also been making some pretty tasty loaves of bread.  The only thing we haven't figured out is how to store them so that they don't go bad quite as quickly.  It's also nice to know that as a rather sucky baker, I can totally cheat make delicious sweets using this machine - banana bread from scratch?  Sure!  It's not cheating if I put all the ingredients in the machine myself... 

Daily Dish - Some ethnic tasties!

A random Saturday night with no plans for dinner, husband suggested we make something a little more complex than we might do normally.  We settled on Indian food which, as I have probably mentioned before, is one of my favorite cuisines.  I blame it on the fact that eating Indian is one of those inherently British things that I do.  Years ago, my mom gave me a couple of Indian cookbooks and I had always had some trouble making dishes because I didn't have all of the required spices.  Since I've now found an Indian grocery store close by, I took the opportunity a while back to stock up on some of those harder to find spices and last night figured it was as good a time as any to give a couple of new recipes a try.

I made a chicken curry, using Patak's Vindaloo Paste, which is ridiculously simple and has easy to follow directions on the jar.  I also made some curried cauliflower and a fragrant rice using recipes from the (seriously underused) cookbooks.  To make the rice, I fried a cinnamon stick, 4 cardamom seeds, cloves, cumin seeds and tumeric in oil for about a minute.  I added this with the rice into the rice cooker, along with a crumbled beef stock cube and some frozen peas, stirring once about half way through the cooking process.  The cauliflower involved making a paste from flour, chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, mustard powder and tumeric.  This paste was added to some curry powder (although the recipe asks for leaves) and cumin seeds being fried in oil.  Then, I added the cauliflower and about 3/4 can of coconut milk.  I bought this to the boil, reduced heat and covered until the cauliflower was cooked.

One very important thing that I've found with Indian spices is that they often have to be briefly fried first to release the flavor.  The recipes call for ghee (a clarified butter that's really not healthy at all) but I substituted for vegetable oil in this case.

I've been working on my food presentation for photographs, and husband was pleasantly surprised by how nice the plate looked when I delivered it to him!  Definitely made for a tasty and satisfying dinner.  :)

Daily Dish - A little faux Cordon Bleu

Sometimes I'm trying to think of what to cook for dinner and I'm completely uninspired.  That's when Food Network comes in handy.  Today, while perusing chicken dishes, I came across this Chicken Cordon Bleu recipe from Tyler Florence.  No prosciutto, but we have deli sliced ham.  No gruyere, but we have a 5 Italian cheese blend.  Done!

I decided to make a little grilled veggie (asparagus, carrot, green onion) pasta on the side, tossed in a simple sauce of my own.  These are approximations because, as you know, I never really measure anything!

- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- Italian seasoning
- Salt & pepper
- Grated parmesan

Daily Dish - Leftover Turkey Bake

I think I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to Thanksgiving leftovers.  After sending away various bits and pieces in care packages, we still had quite a lot in the fridge to eat.  Really, I just want my fridge back so I can put some non-holiday related food in it.  Of course, there's always the question of easy left over recipes, and I'm sure you all have your favorites.  This one came to me while driving home last night, and (if I may blow my own horn here for a moment) it was delicious!

Ingredients:
Leftover turkey (cut into chunks)
Bacon pieces (optional - but we bacon wrapped the turkey so had some left)
Onion
Peas
Carrots
Gravy (can substitute for regular stock if you don't have any leftover gravy)
Mashed potato
Grated cheese
Worcestershire sauce

Pre-heat oven to 375.  Briefly saute the turkey, onion, peas and carrots in a pan.  Add a cup of gravy (or stock) to coat what it's in the pan and a splash of Worchestershire sauce to taste.  If using gravy it may be too thick.  Add a little bit of water until it's thinned to the right consistency.  Once everything is heated through (which should only take a few minutes), scoop the mixture into a ramekin, or other type of oven safe dish until about half filled.  Add a layer of mashed potato, then sprinkle with grated cheese.  Pop into the oven for about 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and lightly browned.


It's truly that simple and took less than 30 minutes from the time I started making it to the time I started eating it!  What are your favorite Thanksgiving leftover recipes?