The Plan: Entering the Holidays

I thought I would change the background color in honor of the holidays.

Okay, confession: I LOVE the holidays. So even though we have been hit by a major blizzard, I am perfectly content staying inside wrapping presents, decorating the tree, working on Christmas cards, etc.

Yesterday I braved the world of gluten free baking. Now, quick sidebar- I am still learning about gluten free baking so what I may describe may not be totally gluten free but it is a big step forward. I am really going to try to learn more about it and will keep you posted as I go.

So my first attempt was gluten free cornbread from scratch. I am not sharing the recipe because it was kinda bland (which I don't think was because it was gluten free) but it did turn out. I got some special flour and used xanthum gum in place of flour. Manatee was able to eat and didn't feel bad afterwards and I have to admit, I even felt noticeably better than I normally do when I pig out on cornbread but it still may be mental at this point.

Week Plan:

Monday: "Gluten-free" Pizza Bread (Ultimate Cooking Book)

Tuesday: Provencale Chicken over Bed of Spinach (Cooking Light)

Wednesday: Book Club

Thursday: Happy Hour

Friday: Quinoa Stuffed Peppers (Healthy Cooking-Taste of Home)

Saturday: Cookie Baking Extravaganza!

A Baking Tale in Pictures

Oh Quinoa!

Quinoa, pronounced Keen-wa, is the new favorite grain of the Manatee/Badger Girl household. Wednesday night we made a quinoa pilaf. It was awesome though I will say that I liked it much better then next day, when I stirred in some leftover steak. The irony of this being, for those who know me, is that there have been several times in my life where I have been a vegetarian. yet when faced with a particularly good vegetarian meal then all I could think of was, 'Gee this would be better with meat'.

Here is my leftover lunch with meat.

Hmmm...that doesn't look as appetizing as it actually is. I guess you will just have to trust me on this. Now I will give you the recipe, but a warning: I kind of suck at ratios. You will only want to follow this to a tee if you are feeding a small athletic team or teenage boys. Adjustments may need to be made for a typical family or couple.

Quinoa Pilaf


2 cups uncooked quinoa
4 cups water

1 huge jar of salsa
2 cans of black beans
lots of taco seasoning
4-5 green onions sliced

1. Cook the quinoa as directed. I did 2 cups of uncooked quinoa with 4 cups of water. That makes a LOT of quinoa just so you know.
2. Mix in the other ingredients and heat until it's all nice and warm. I kept adding taco seasoning until I could taste it, then I added salt. 
3. Eat.

I served it over green romaine lettuce with greek yogurt. It was good but I would also suggest mixing in chicken or steak. Then it's awesome.

We will definitely make this again.

In regards to The Plan, due to my off ratios with this dish and what I made last night (chicken sausage + various veggies + diced tomatoes + tomato paste + spaghetti squash), we do not need any new recipes anytime soon, so leftovers are on the docket. Once we catch up, I will post the new Plan and keep you posted.

The baked good goal of the weekend is biscotti. I will be making some for the cookie exchange at work. I'm excited and terrified.

A Love Affair Begins...

with Quinoa. I finally found a grain that Manatee likes! Quinoa- the super food that also has protein. You will see it in many upcoming recipes.

This post could have also said: A Love Affair Continues...with the slow cooker.  3 meals in the slow cooker last week but alas, no pictures. Don't worry- all the recipes made the cut so they will be repeated.

And finally this post could have been: A Love Affair Begins...with home made pasta. Manatee and I spent the afternoon with some friends who taught me how to make homemade pasta. So easy! If only I had the right equipment...

So this week's plan:

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday: Black Bean, Quinoa and Salsa Pilaf
from The 5 Ingredient Vegetarian Gourmet

Wednesday: Chicken, Tomato, and other veggies over Spaghetti Squash/Spaghetti

Thursday: Beer tasting!

Friday: Sesame Soy Meatballs with Quinoa and Sugar Snap Peas
(Cooking Light)

Saturday: Vegetarian Chili

Sunday: Moroccan Chicken with Preserved Lemons
(Fine Cooking)

Baking: I might attempt a gluten free baking this week. Manatee and I suspect he may have a mild wheat/gluten intolerance and I am tired of eating my entire batch of baked goods (though I really had no trouble finishing off the pumpkin oat bread). Has anyone ever attempted any gluten free baking?

Bueller?


I will try to be better with pictures this week.

The Plan: Monday

Before I launch into tonight's dinner, I have some pictures from last week and some humble pie.

May I present: the world's flattest and ugliest cookies.

'

I am sure you are looking at these and thinking, well hey maybe they taste good. Though they were a hit at work, my father, whom I have never seen turn his nose up to a cookie, threw half of his away. Gasp! 

So what happened? I have to admit I am a little intimidated by my stand mixer. Now I grew up in a household where we had home baked cookies on a weekly basis (Could that be why I was so chubby?!), but my mother did all her mixing by hand. 

I registered for the stand mixer because I was enamored by it. Yes, I had a crush on stand mixers. But now using it....well....I'm scared. I don't know how to work it. Manatee claims some knowledge but only enough to be dangerous. 

In this particular episode, I poured the ingredients in and missed the pour-in-spout-thingy. I think that all of the baking powder got spilled which led to these abnormally flat cookies.  

Any advice on conquering the stand mixer?

Also, before launching into tonight's dinner, a much happier picture.

This was my spaghetti squash/spaghetti dish. I highly recommend mixing spaghetti squash with whole wheat noodles. I topped it with marinara, eggplant, onions, mushrooms and chicken sausage, but any kind of pasta sauce would be good. It's nice way to cut back on carbs and get more veggies in your diet. 

And last but not least, Monday Night on the Plan.

So the original recipe was called 'Easy Chicken Terriyaki.' Because of my ego, I am going to dub this recipe: Slow Cooker Chicken Terriyaki.

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts

1 cup of terriyaki sauce

20 oz can of pineapple chunks

2 red peppers diced into 1 inch squares

2 green peppers diced into 1 inch squares

dash of ground ginger

*Next time I would also add an onion

1. Put all the ingredients in the slow cooker plus 1 can of water or enough water to cover all the ingredients.

2. Cook on low 8-10 hours.

3. I got home about 8 hours into the cooking. I removed the chicken, shredded it and then returned it to the slow cooker and let it keep cooking while I made brown rice.

4. Serve over rice

We had it with a romaine, apple and golden raisin salad with a ginger lime vinaigrette that I made. It was pretty bland. Not sure if it was the dressing or the 2 week old romaine lettuce. I am going to let the flavors mix together more and see if it's any better tomorrow night. 

Following the Plan

So the holidays have officially begun and this is going be a crazy week. I did a lot of cooking last week but never managed to snap any pictures. But to report on last week's recipes: the meat pies- the pie part of the meat pies was very disappointment but the meat filling plus the sauce in lettuce wraps= huge success. That recipe will resurface as a lettuce wrap recipe. Also to report from last week, I went with the blue cheese ball and it was amazing. If someone would have just given me a spoon and that cheese ball, I would have had a happy thanksgiving. That recipe will also return when I make it again and remember to take a picture. I may also make some tweaks.

This week's plan was based on efficiancy and knowing I have some long days this week so the slow cooker will get plenty of use. I also have some very sexy not sexy recipes. See if you can pick them out. :) You will also notice the attempt to re-use side dishes.

Monday: Easy Terriyaki Chicken with Brown Rice

Tuesday: Fall Vegetable Curry with Brown Rice

Wednesday: Verde Chicken Enchiladas with (you guessed it) Brown Rice

Thursday: Moroccan Braised Beef with Quinoa (surprised you, didn't I?)

Friday: leftovers/ going out

Sweets for the week: Pumpkin Oat Bars

My 'Tweaking' recipe this week is the Easy Terriyaki Chicken. This was something I made a lot in graduate school and I am going to add some vegetables to it. I will report on how it turned out later this week.

Manatee and I are also starting a new routine, or restarting an old routine. We are going to do another round of P90x. I thought I would mention it here in efforts to be held accountable (to all three of you who read this). I will keep you posted on our progress- not in any embarrasing pictures or testimonials but probably in scales of how sore I am. Like, today I was too sore to pour my soy milk or yesterday I was so sore I couldn't dice an onion, important bench marks like that.

The Plan: Over the Holidays

Entering into the holidays, I am easing up this week on cooking. Last night we made a bean and sausage dish that was perfect for a cold night.

This is a little cheap because I found the recipe on another blog (thank you missyween) so I didn't have to retype it. You will find it below. I subbed in turkey kielbasa and also added a chopped tomato.  I served it with a spinach salad and crusty sourdough bread.

I may be committing a major blog foul and I apologize....but I am still doing it. Too much to do today and it really is a share worthy recipe.

This week on The Plan:

Tonight will be our willy nilly throw it together recipe. I am making spaghetti squash and whole wheat spaghetti. I will mix them together but I think Manatee will probably just have the squash.

For a sauce, I have a bottle of low cal marinara. I am also going to mix in chicken sausage, onions, mushrooms, eggplant and zucchini. 


Tomorrow night I am going to make meat pies and buttermilk dipping sauce. Okay, it actually has a much fancier name but essentially that's what it is. It's from my Food and Wine cookbook. I am making extra meat so we can use it for lettuce rolls for the rest of the week.

For sweets, I am going to try to make whole wheat chocolate chip cookies and apple butter.

After tomorrow night, I am going to stop the meal cooking and start preparing the stuff I volunteered to bring to Thanksgiving dinner. I am definitely bringing two pumpkin pies, a salad and goat cheese with dried cranberries and pistachios.

For my second appetizer, I am trying to decide between vegetarian chopped liver (made with toasted walnuts and mushrooms) or a blue cheese ball with walnuts and dates. Thoughts anyone?


Here is the pirated recipe:

Black Beans and Sausage

serves 4       total cooking time: 40 minutes

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound Kielbasa or other smoked sausage cut into one inch pieces 
3 medium carrots, diced small
2 shallots, diced small
coarse salt, ground pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced……or six if it’s the Weens
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups chicken broth
3 TB chopped fresh parsley, plus more for serving
1/4 cup plain yogurt, for serving

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high. Add sausage and cook until browned on all sides.  About 8 minutes.Transfer to a plate.
Add carrots and shallots to the skillet, and cook until beginning to soften.  About 4 minutes.
season with salt and pepper.
Add bardic and cook until fragrant.   about one minute.
Add black beans and broth and bring mixture to a boil.  Add sausage, reduce heat to a rapid simmer, and cook until carrots are tender.   About 12 minutes.
Remove  from heat, stir in parsley, serve with more parsley and a dollop of yogurt.