Super Foods - Breakfast

While I'm not eating "organically" - at least not yet - I am taking pretty careful note of what I'm putting in my mouth these days.

At first, I couldn't give up my soda, so I went to caffeince free diet cola. Then the Skinny Bitches (literally - I'm reading the book Skinny Bitch, Bun in the Oven) told me I had to cut that out too. Something about artificial sweeteners, blah blah blah, okay. I'm not saying never, but I am cutting waay back on the soda, which usually sat in a 32 oz cup on my desk all day, and refilled themselves at will. Now, I'm having ice water with a splash of lemonade in it. I also have a big glass of orange juice every day. I know it's empty calories, but I am not a big fruit eater, and OJ IS A SUPER FOOD.

Breakfast is a great time to ingest some of these little power-packed goodies!

Here is a list of super foods, according to WebMD:

Top Superfoods Offering Super Health Protection
Beans
Blueberries
Broccoli
Oats
Oranges
Pumpkin
Salmon
Soy
Spinach
Tea (green or black)
Tomatoes
Turkey
Walnuts
Yogurt

Here are some of the breakfasts I've had this week:

Today - blueberry and walnut pancakes. Wish they were whole wheat but we can't have everything. I used Promise "butter" and sugar free syrup, and they were DELISH.

Yesterday - egg beaters omlette with spinach, feta, olives, onions, and tomatoes

Monday - Vanilla yogurt with a little bit of granola and blueberries and craisins on top.

See how easy that is? We've gotten a lot of them in! (see bolded items)
*Beans Blueberries Broccoli Oats Oranges Pumpkin Salmon Soy Spinach Tea (green or black) Tomatoes Turkey Walnuts Yogurt*

And you've still got two more meals a day!

Inspired

TBI took one look at Goddess Moxie's chicken tortilla wrap and had to have one.

Because I'm watching the pennies, I decided to grant his wish. A bag of chicken tenders is a cheap way to get lotsa meat. Plus, it's super-good for you.

Speaking of super, Moxie also mentioned "super foods" in her blog and is incorporating them in her quest for better health. I also have read over and over again about the merits of these foods for pregnant women and their internal charges, so I'm trying to incorporate them as best I can.

For lunch today I had a "make your own" wrap buffet for TBI and myself. I thawed an entire bag of tenders, even though we only needed four or five for our wraps. (More on the rest of the bag later).

Ingredients:

Five or six chicken tenders
salt and pepper
Chipotle seasoning from a bottle (whatever ya got - we like Rent-A-Chef brand, you can get it Hy-Vee)
four to six strips of bacon
fixin's (my list to follow)
tortillas

TBI loves that Chipotle stuff, but it's a little spicy for me. Plus, I was in the mood for feta and I just didn't see my flavor palette going with that seasoning, so I just doctored my strips (and the rest of the bag) up with kosher salt and cracked black pepper. TBI covered his in the spicy stuff.

He grilled the whole bag of tenders, once coated with seasonings, on the George Foreman Grill, because it was a little cold and labor intensive to fire up outdoor coals. You could cook them in the oven or the stovetop or whatever you like.

I fried the bacon, because you can't have a wrap without bacon. Even if its not a super food.

I made up a little spread which I like to put all over the ENTIRE tortilla, edge to edge:

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons mayo (low fat, if you're nasty)
pinch of kosher salt
pinch of cracked pepper
2 tsp. horseradish - we like extra hot
1 tablespoon sour cream
2 cloves roasted garlic (which I roasted in bacon grease, oh yeah)

stir it up and let it stand for awhile while your chicken cooks.

I put out an array of toppings and fixins.

TBI used pickled jalapeno slices, shredded pepper jack cheese, fresh cilantro, and red onion along with his spicy chicken, tortilla spread, and bacon.

I had the non-spicy chicken inside my spreaded tortilla, with the bacon, feta cheese, red onion, black olives, and avocado slices.

And with it, I prepared a little salad of fresh spinach, feta, cranberries, red onion, walnuts (super food!) and green pepper.

What a delicious and fresh lunch! Ours wasn't as healthy as Moxie's (thank you, bacon, for controlling our lives), but I feel pretty good about it. If our camera worked I'd have taken a picture of the spread on the table, which was pretty satisfying too.

Easy Chicken Parm

Reuse, Recycle. That's what I say. A bag of frozen boneless, skinless, chicken thighs can go a long way. They're cheaper than the breasts, and more flavorful, if you ask TBI and me.

If you have some Sunday Gravy lying in wait in your freezer (and you should), you can whip out chicken parm lickety split for a weeknight meal. Your squeeze will think he's getting something special but really you just wanted to use up stuff that was taking up room in your freezer. And you didn't want to work very hard at it.

Ingredients:

thawed chicken thighs - as many as you need. I always do three or four for the two of us because we likey the leftover.
2 cups or so of bread crumbs - storebought are fine. We're being FAST here.
Parmesan - use the green stuff if you must, but I am really into the big parmesan flakes that come in the tub - the fancy store brand - these days.
2 eggs
water, milk, or half and half (of course, here, it's half and half)
mozzarella
salt and pepper
dried basil, oregano, other misc. italian seasonings you have lying around
four tablespoons of olive oil
leftover Sunday Gravy

1) preheat your oven to 350

2) prepare your workstation. crack the two eggs in a bowl and pour in 1/3 of a cup of whatever liquid you decided to go with. Did I mention I recommend half and half? Pour your breadcrumbs onto a plate. Toss on some parm (I think more is better), and your spices and salt and pepper. You'll know how much. Go easy on the salt because the parm is salty.

3) lay some plastic wrap over the thighs and pound them thin, like 1/4 inch if you can get it done without tearing them.

4) Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet at medium high - I am currently in love with my cast iron one. It gets smokin hot and stays that way.

5) While your oil heats, dredge your first chicken breast in your egg wash and then in the breadcrumb/parm mixture. Then toss it in the pan, and repeat with the rest.

6) Check them in the order they were placed in the pan. When the crumbs are brown and crusty and tempting looking, flip them. Only about a minute per side - if that.

7) As the thighs get browned, place them in a baking dish. I like to toss a little Sunday gravy in the bottom of my baking dish. Looks pretty, prevents sticking.

8) Put them in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes (depending on how thin they were). Top them with a good mound of mozz in the last three or four minutes, just so it melts.

Serve these beauties atop a bed of spaghetti and your glorious garliky Sunday gravy.

If you are like me, you will serve it with some leftover (read: not so fresh) french bread that you doctored up with an immense amount of butter, garlic, and thyme and then ran under the broiler so no one knew it wasn't fresh. Also, a lazy bitch salad comes in handy here.

This whole thing, if you do it in the right order, should take 30 minutes, including the baking time. That's what I'm talking about. Because the baking part? I'm sitting in the living room watching Oprah during that time.

National Eat At Home Week

Just kidding. But it is Eat At Home Week for us, as we have vowed not to spend another penny this week. I think we can do it. I have plenty of groceries in the house, and we can do it, if we're creative.

Tonight, pork chops. Pork chops were on sale yesterday, so I got em two packs for the price of one. I love pork chops. Love em. Bone in, bone out, butterflied, grilled, pan fried, broiled, roasted... When I was a vegetarian, I cooked a pork chop for TBI for a bon voyage meal once, and that was the end of my vegetarian days. Mmmm. Pork. Mmm. Pig.

I was bored with the usual grilled fare and wanted something easy but with a little flair tonight, so I got to thinking Asian. I also always think Asian when I don't want to have to go to the store for extra ingredients, because I always have basics on hand.

So with all of those criteria (they are many!) in mind, I set upon a meal for this evening.

I'm into braising right now. So, asian style braised pork chops:

1 pkg pork chops. I used bone in tonight. Better for braising.
2 cups frozen sugar snap peas
olive oil/butter
2 diced carrots
1/3 cup chopped onion (whatever flavor you go)
2 tsp Thai fish sauce
1 T. rice wine vinegar
3 T. soy sauce (Tamarind, if you have it)
2 cups water
2 T peach preserves
1 tsp. lime juice
2 tsp. ginger (fresh or ground)
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp. chili garlic paste (if you have it)
salt and pepper to taste

1) Sear your chops in a large skillet with a lid. You have to get the oil and/or butter pretty hot to start.

2) Remove your chops and toss them aside.

3) Toss in your carrots and onions to start sauteeing. At this point, put in your liquids, preserves, and spices EXCEPT the water.

4) Let those guys simmer for about 5 minutes, then add your pork chops back and pour in the water. Put the lid on and simmer this mixture at medium heat for about half an hour. (In the meantime, your rice should be cooking - see below.)

5) Remove the chops from the liquid, and toss in the peas. If you need to hit the chops again in a frying pan for some color, I recommend doing it in the fried rice pan. See below.





Next, fried rice:

Ingredients:
3 cups cooked white rice
3 tablespoons soy sauce (I like the tamarind kind)
three pieces of bacon
2 eggs
1/3 cup diced onion
a couple of pats of butter, just in case

1) Start by frying the bacon. I am really into my cast iron skillet right now. So if you have one, use it. It does cool things to bacon grease.

2) Remove the bacon but leave the grease. There won't be that much from 2 or 3 slices.

3) Crack the eggs in there and scramble em.

4) Remove the eggs.

5) If you need more fat (read: grease) do it now. I added a couple of pats of butter. Throw in the onions. Let them get translucent. This shouldn't take long.

6) Now, pour in the soy sauce and toss the rice into the pan. Use a spatula to stir it around, and coat all pieces. Then let the rice sit in the hot skillet for about two minutes on each side, to get that "fried" flavor. More, if necessary, but don't burn it.

7) Chop the bacon into it, toss in the eggs. Remember the carrots you put in the braising sauce? Pick a few of those out too, and toss some in with your rice. DELISH. I mean it. SOO GOOD. Quick and easy.

Serve the chops atop the rice, and use a slotted spoon to remove some of the sugar snap peas, carrots, and onions onto the plate.

Pan Seared Flatiron Steak

There is nothing very exciting about this recipe, except it is REALLY REALLY GOOD. It's less a recipe and more of a suggestion, really.

Flatiron steak is a relatively "new" cut of meat. Not new in the "cows are growing new parts" way, but in the "they've not been butchered in this way before" kind of way. It's a good way to get a lot of steaky goodness at a relatively manageable price.

I made this on New Year's Eve, and it tasted like heaven. It smoked up our kitchen, and took a little longer to cook than I anticipated, but those are things I can correct next time since now I know what I'm doing.

Here's your list of ingredients:
1 large flatiron steak (around 1 lb).
olive oil
butter
lemon pepper
kosher salt
cracked black pepper

All you need to do is give your steaks a good coating of the seasonings, and heat several pats of butter and a couple of tablespoons of oil in a skillet (I recommend cast iron) on top of the stove until they are very hot, almost smoking.

I cut my steak in half to make the cooking process easier, but that's totally optional.

What I read on the internet said that for mid-rare you need about three minutes on each side. This is a falsehood. I'd say it takes at least five minutes per side, more if you are cooking a thicker piece. Don't worry if the outside looks like it's getting pretty cooked. Dark brown, cooking in butter, equals BIG FLAVOR. You can tell if a cut of meat is cooked enough but pressing your tongs into the center of the cut. If it is really "squishy", with lots of spongy give, it's still pretty rare. As meat cooks that "give" lessens and the meat gets more resistant to pressure. For a mid-rare steak, you still want it to feel like it gives, but not too much. This is just something you learn by doing, but the first time you try it you'll know exactly what I mean.

Also bear in mind that meat will continue to cook after you take it off the heat, so go a little under what you think feels and looks right.

When you serve the flatiron, cut it into thin (maybe a quarter inch) strips, against the grain. It looks really pretty served over a mashed potato or piled next to some rough cut roasted russets.

Easy, peasy. Delish. Cheap. What's not to like?

Praise the Shortrib and Pass the Cheesy Tater

TBI’s mom comes to our house for Christmas, which is perfect for me because as much as I love to put on an affair and set a table, I don’t have room enough (or stamina enough) to do it for a large crowd for a sit down dinner.

His family’s visit (which never totals more than 5) is a perfect opportunity for me to Christmas up the house and make a meal I think befitting a holiday, but not to stress overmuch about where to put everyone and do I have enough matching plates, yada yada…

This year it was just Todd’s mom, so I overcooked. I can’t cook this kind of stuff for just three people. I can’t resist putting out appetizers for an army, and too many choices of beverage and wine.

But the main event, this year, I believe was the real star atop the culinary tree.

I made shortribs with horseradish cream sauce, adapted from Smitten Kitchen’s version, and scalloped potatoes, like Mama used to make. I did the glorious bacon (!) green beans, and cheated on the rolls (but fooled TBI’s mom with them).

This was a very easy meal to make, and I suggest that if you are looking to win someone over - man, woman, or child, you should make these short ribs. Smitten’s version was a little involved for me, so I did it sorta her way. Here’s my way, and I must say, it came out PERFECT. Better than perfect. Oh lord, I can’t stop thinking about them.

Braised Short Ribs
(I made about twice this many, but it was a little tough to do with oven space and all. And, we have a ton left over.)

8 or so short ribs (2 packages)
1 whole box of beef broth (I recommend Kitchen Basics)
1 cup of red wine (If you wouldn’t drink it, don’t cook with it)
1/3 cup of balsamic vinegar
2 minced garlic cloves
fresh thyme (or dried - whatever you got)
Kosher salt
Cracked pepper
Several tablespoons of olive oil

Step 1:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Heat three or four tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom of a dutch oven or heavy stock pot until it’s almost smoking. (Sidenote: I did two different pots as an experiment. My calphalon hard anondized pot did the job a lot faster, and I ended up with a crispy outside/tender inside thing going on. The [less expensive] multi function dutch oven did fine too, and cooked slower and more evenly. Better result? I liked the ones with the crispy outside better, but it’s strictly a matter of opinion. Nevertheless, watch your food based on how much heat you think your pot holds.)

Salt and pepper your short ribs liberally, all over. Sprinkle with thyme. Use Kosher salt, kids – not table salt.

Then sear the short ribs on all sides. Smitten admonishes to not skimp on this step, so I didn’t. Get them good and brown on all sides. Here’s where it’s nice to have a heavy duty set of good long tongs. You can do this in a frying pan but A) you’re going to splatter a lot of grease and B) that’s just one more pan to wash. I recommend doing it in the stock pot.

Step 2:

When you are done searing, pour the braising liquid into the pot. That’s most of the box of broth, the vinegar, and the wine. Do not cover the ribs, because that would be making soup. It should come up about halfway. Be sure your ribs are standing bone end up – not bone horizontal. Toss in a little more salt and pepper, and your minced garlic for good measure. Oh, and some more thyme. Why not.

Step 3:

Move your stock pot to the oven. Cook there for about half an hour at 400, then reduce heat to 325. Cook for another two hours or so, but be sure to check on the amount of liquid in your pot from time to time, and be sure you aren’t charring your meat. If it appears to be falling off the bone, that’s good. If it is little black charcoal briquets, that’s bad.

Smitten suggests taking it out of the pan when it’s done cooking and putting the ribs on a cookie sheet and baking to crisp up the outside. I found that by using my super hot calphalon pan, I was able to reduce the cooking liquid and achieve that effect without the transfer.

There is not a carnivore in the world who would not tear into these babies with the abandon of a coyote with his prey. Speaking of coyotes, we saw one just sitting on the edge of the highway the other day. No roadkill around or anything. Maybe he was looking for a shortrib.

Horseradish Cream Sauce

I'm not sure if these babies could be made better, but I sure the heck did like the addition of the sauce.

1 cup COLD half and half
1/2 cup mayo
3 tablespoons (or as much as you like - I use more) horseradish
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. pepper

Wisk that half and half in a smallish bowl. Don't make it into butter, but you want to thicken it a little.

Add in the mayo, wisk some more.

Add in the horseradish, salt, and pepper, and let it stand for an hour. It will thicken itself. Oooh, baby.

Best Ever Dessert

This is my all time favorite dessert. I feel that I am betraying my mother by sharing the recipe with you, because it is her famous and traditional Christmas evening treat. Still, I can't resist publishing it because it would be so wrong to hoard it all to ourselves. I mean it, people. This dessert will make you fight your grandma for the last piece.

Cranberry Pudding Cake

1 c. flour
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1 t. baking powder
2 T butter
1/2 c. milk
1 1/2 c. whole fresh cranberries

Mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter using a pastry blender. Add milk and cranberries. Do not overmix--this is like a biscuit dough. Pour into a greased 9" pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Serve warm with caramel sauce. I always double the recipe for the cake, but not the sauce.

Caramel Sauce

1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. evaporated milk

Combine all ingredients. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently for about 15 minutes. Serve warm.

Go make it. NOW.