Last Few Weeks 4

Onward through the meals of the last few weeks!

This next dish we had was SOOOO good and a definite keeper. Originally I was going to use turkey cutlets which are nothing more than a turkey breast that has been sliced long ways into 1/4 inch thick slabs of meat.

You can usually get quite a few of these cutlets from a turkey breast and its a little bit of a pain to do so you can always ask your butcher at the store or if you are going to do it at home. You would want your breast only half frozen because the freezing will make it more dense as you are cutting to get a nice horizontal cut. You would cut with the breast flat on the cutting board and your knife parallel to the counter. Keep the knife approximately 1/4 of an inch above the board as you are going through the breast horizontally. Once you have one done remove the cutlet from under whats left of the breast to a plate and then put the whole breast back and do it again. Continue until you have sliced the breast down completely into cutlets. If they get to thick you can wrap the cutlets in plastic wrap and pound them slightly to make them even and approx 1/4 inch thick.

Wouldn't you know the store didn't have turkey breast or cutlets when I went. They had tenderloins and I though about making with that until I saw they had a frozen bag of chicken cutlets for cheaper than the packaged tenderloins. So you can guess I said "Bring on the chicken cutlets!!" LOL

Everything else in this recipe stayed the same EXCEPT the type of poultry. So don't be afraid to make a change if you need to or it saves you a couple bucks. After all now we have half a bag of chicken cutlets in the freezer to make this VERY Tasty dish again. Thats always a good thing!

Turkey Parmesan

1 cup low-sugar pasta sauce
1/2 cup pine nuts, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup  freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
3 individual turkey cutlets, about  1/4 - 1/3" thick
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup ounce shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper


Heat oven to broil. Bring sauce to low simmer in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm. (if you have any of the sauce left over from the chicken cacciatore like we did add it to it to give it more flavor or doctor the jarred sauce to suit your family but obviously you can leave out the meat as its already included with the turkey)

Stir together coarse chopped pine nuts, Parmesan, and Italian seasoning in a wide, shallow dish. (Or you can put them all in a food processor and buzz them up til it resembles bread crumbs) Season turkey on both sides with salt and pepper, then dredge both sides in the nut mixture, pressing to adhere.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add turkey and cook until coating is golden brown and juices run clear, about 4 minutes per side. If nuts brown too quickly, reduce heat.  (If you don't use a nonstick skillet be prepared that this will stick to your pan as the cheese melts. If you have enough oil, your heat is around medium, and you don't mess with it once you put it down in the pan and until you need to turn it, you wont loose much of the crusting. Also you can scrape out what crusting does stick once you remove the turkey and place it on your turkey prior to putting the cheese on so you will still get the nice toasted crunchy flavor, the cheese and sauce will hide it. LOL Careful though as it will be HOT )

Place turkey on a foil covered sheet pan, top evenly with mozzarella, and broil until cheese melts, about 30 seconds. (I just re-used the pan I baked the Spaghetti Squash on. Please see the Spaghetti Squash/Spaghetti Pie recipe I did earlier for how to roast it. I did the same thing here only I made sure the squash would be ready about the time the turkey would need to go to the oven so I could scrape the squash out immediately for serving)

Place approx 1 1/2 cups of spaghetti squash on the plate top with 1/2 cup of warm sauce on each plate and top each with a piece of turkey.  Serve additional sauce on the side.

My Dad LOVES Chicken Wings and has been asking for some. Usually I would fry them but I am trying to make everything healthy so I decided to try this on the wings. This is what came out.

Baked Chicken Wings

10 – 12 chicken wings
3 tbsp of soy sauce
½ tsp of garlic powder
1 tsp of paprika
1 tsp of cayenne pepper
2 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Wash and clean the chicken wings to make sure there are no stray feathers. Cut wings into portions through the joints, discarding wingtips. ( I would freeze the tips and use them to make a stock or a soup base personally)

Combine all the rest of the ingredients in a liquid measuring cup. Place wings in a gallon ziplock and then pour the mixture over the top and seal the bag. Massage the bag to move the marinade around and evenly coat all the wings. Refrigerate overnight, flipping the bag over and moving the wings around some.

Preheat oven to 425 degree F. Cover a baking dish with aluminum foil. Spray heavily with no-stick oil spray. Spread wings evenly over the pan. Roast for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown.  Turning  the wings half way through the baking.  

Serve warm, cold or they can sit out at room temperature for your next football game party! 

You know the wings are good when you eat them cold like fried chicken you would take on a picnic and you love them. These --- I definitely would do that with!

I was discussing some thing I was making with a friend of mine and we were discussing the Mexican Soup I had made and that I was going to make French Onion Soup and He asked about a Tomato Soup. My Mom Loves Tomato Soup just like my friend but I am not a fan of Campbell's Tomato ( I know thats sacrilege or some thing). I am a fan of fresh Roasted Tomato Soup so I ran it by my mother and she was all for it (My Dad hates it either way so we had it one day when we knew he wouldn't be taking a lunch to work)

So for my Mom and my friend Matt here is Roasted Tomato Soup:

3-4 ripe tomatoes (about 1 pound), cut in half
1/2 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 small red onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

Preheat broiler. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Place tomatoes on the prepared baking sheet, cut-side down. Broil until skins are blistered, about 10 minutes. Let cool. Slip off the skins and coarsely chop.

I chopped them and then put them right back on the foil sheet pan then brought the whole thing to the sauce pan when needed and used the foil to funnel it all into the pan with no loss of juice or tomato

Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onions a little salt and pepper and cook, stirring often, for 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until the onions are very soft, 3 to 5 minutes longer. 

Stir in tomatoes and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.  

Transfer the mixture to a food processor or blender and process until smooth; return to the saucepan. Add your broth to the blender or food processor and pulse it til the sides are clear and then pour it into the saucepan  (This is my trick for not wasting any of that great tomato flavor you just worked so hard for) Bring just to a boil, reduce heat immediately to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in basil. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

If you are making this ahead for lunch/dinner the next day you can use dried basil just add it (1 tsp as its stronger) when you pour the broth into the saucepan.

You can enjoy this chilled in the summer and it will retain its sweet refreshing just off the vine taste just  cover loosely and refrigerate until chilled, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Sorry I missed getting the  final pic with this all done. But it was nice and smooth. Its not as RED RED as Campbells as its not as concentrated instead its a nice golden red.

This next dish was me trying to find something to do with pork chops and something other than roasting or making a cold salad out of fennel. I thought it was pretty good. For my Mom I would just roast the fennel again as she prefers it that way but would keep everything else about this as it has a nice braising liquid that keeps the pork chops juicy and gives a nice flavor.

Pork Chops with Braised Fennel and Lemon

4 (6-ounce) bone-in pork chops, about 1/2" thick

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 large fennel bulb, sliced into 1/2" strips
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 cup lower-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Season pork chops with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook pork chops until lightly browned, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.

Add fennel and onion to the same skillet and cook until lightly browned and softened, about 3 minutes. Add broth and lemon juice, bring to a simmer, cover, and cook until fennel is crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Uncover and simmer until liquid is reduced slightly, about 3 minutes. 

Add pork back to the skillet and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve hot.

This is the finished Fennel

I also served it with Brussel Sprouts tossed in olive oil and roasted for 20 mins at 400 degrees. I tossed them half way though so they would brown all over.

Oh yeah and that French Onion Soup that was mentioned a few minutes ago... Its super easy! I will post that soon. Got to keep you hooked don't I??

Last Few Weeks 1

So I am still getting caught up for you all. LOL

Sorry! We spend Friday in Oklahoma to see the Alan Jackson Concert at the Winstar and I was trying to menus, job hunt, and everything on short week.

But the concert was Fabulous!!! His music is just great and very touching. I know I cried during Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning. So many memories of friends, loved ones, people I haven't seen in years but we keep talking about getting together one day, 9-11, and then the Ft. Hood Attack. Yeah it hit right in the heart. I wish he would have sang longer, so you know it was a good concert! Plus it was nice to get out the house. Someone here needs a social life!! LOL

So lets get to the food shall we??

This is a variation of something I made for my family when I was like 9. I used regular spaghetti noodles then. This is a healthier version that uses a Spaghetti Squash. You know what it is?? NO!?!?!?  OK I can help you with that.

This is a Spaghetti Squash Split in half lengthwise.

Its pretty solid on the outside and the middle reminds me of a pumpkin with the "Guts and Seeds"

This is how it looks cooked.

The meat turns in to strands and you scrape it out with a fork to help separate the strands.

When you are done you have an empty shell of just the outer skin.

Spaghetti Squash Pie

1 small - med Spaghetti Squash
4 cloves minced Garlic
1 jar of your favorite Spaghetti Sauce
1 medium Onion, diced
1 Green Bell Pepper, diced
2 cans of Mushrooms
1-lb of  Ground Turkey Meat
             (if you have one of the people you are feeding that is against anything but Ground beef they won't really be able to tell the difference so save fat calories for something else I say)

These are to your taste:
Thyme, Cayenne, Basil, Oregano, Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder
Olive Oil
Olive Oil Non-stick Spray

Pre-heat your oven to 350

Use a heavy knife and carefully cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise (the long way). You will need to be very careful cuz you will probably have to rock your knife in and out of it to get it cut all the way around. Once you have it split in half you will have a mass of pumpkin looking seeds and "guts" in the center. Take a spoon a scoop just them out.

Take a sheet pan and cover it foil and then spray it with non-stick spray. The spray the cut sides and inside the well of the squash. Then smear approx 2 cloves worth of minced garlic just in each well. Sprinkle with a little Salt and Pepper and Place cut sides down on the sheet pan you prepared. Place Pan in Oven and cook for 45-60 mins or so. Until the  squash when you grab it gives some (Like a quick squeeze of the Charmin LOL) Wear your oven mitt when you do this!! PLEASE

Once the squash is ready. Just take the sheet pan out and let the squash sit to cool for 10-15 mins at least so it will be easier to scrape out the flesh. Normally if this was a side I wouldn't do this as I want to serve it piping hot with  a little toss of Olive Oil and a sprinkle of Parmesan but since this is going back in the oven, its a non-issue if cools down alot.

Meanwhile, Saute your Onions til just wilted and then add the Bell Peppers and saute til the onions are just getting translucent. Add your ground Turkey. Be Sure to season as you go!! Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Italian Seasoning, Thyme, Cayenne, Basil, and/or Oregano. Add all this to your Sauce pan with the jar of Spaghetti Sauce and simmer it while you wait on your squash to be ready. Remember his is a home-style dish so do what makes you and your family happy. No rules just fun! :)

Once the squash is now cooled enough to think about handling grab a half an set it stem end up in a big bowl and take a fork and just start scraping out the flesh down into the bowl. This will give you some stability while doing this. If the squash is still warm just put a pot holder or a folded kitchen towel between your hand and the squash.

As you scrape you will see the flesh coming out in strands and you will have it plus nice roasted garlic (from what we put in the well) in the bowl. 95% of whats in that shell will come out. You may have to flip over the squash to scrape the part that started in the bowl. Once you have all the meat of one half in the bowl switch to the other half and scrape away until you have 2 empty shells and a bowl full of squash strings.

OK. Everything that needs pre-cooking is now cooked. Now if you are really busy person. You could do all of the above the night before, come home from work the next night and put this all together but it will take longer in the oven as you will be getting everything hot all the way through to the center. This all can be done in one night for dinner though with out an issue so don't think you need two nights to do this.

Putting this dish together you will need:

Cooked Spaghetti Squash
3 beaten eggs
1/2 c Parmesan Cheese
1 c Cottage Cheese
Italian Seasoning
Garlic Powder
Prepped Sauce
Shredded Mozzarella or other Cheese


In your bowl of squash strings add 3 beaten Eggs and 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese. Toss well to get well coated.

I used an 8X8 pan but it will depend on the size of your squash. You could need to use a 13x9. You want about a 1 inch shell so keep that in mind.

Spray your pan with cooking spray and press your squash into the pan so it forms a shell.

Spread your 1 cup of Cottage Cheese into your shell and sprinkle Italian Seasoning and a little garlic powder just over the top of it.

The spread some of your sauce over the top of just the cottage cheese. You want a nice healthy layer of this. Any Sauce you have remaining you can serve on the side at the table for those that want more sauce.

Place this in the oven at 350 for 30 mins to get everything back to steaming hot and the eggs will help pull the squash into a tighter unit. Then sprinkle the top with your cheese and put it back in the over to melt and get bubbly.

Let this sit for 5-10 mins to let it setup and then cut and serve.

Ok now lets go somewhere else... A little Asian???

Shrimp Stir Fry

Fresh ginger and garlic, plus a vibrant mixture of vegetables and tender shrimp (packed with heart-healthy omega-3s), give this stir-fry big flavor and color. Make sure you have all the veggies prepared  and all about the same size before you start to cook. Once you’re ready, this dish cooks up in less than 10 minutes. If you can find cut packaged stir-fry vegetables at the supermarket, your prep time will be finished in a flash!

4 teaspoons canola oil, divided
2 tablespoons plus 11/2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce, divided
3 garlic cloves, minced
11/2 pounds medium peeled and deveined fresh or thawed frozen shrimp
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
8 ounces white mushrooms, quartered
4 scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large bell pepper, any color, cut into thin strips
8 ounces snow peas, strings removed

1 small head of fresh Broccoli, trimmed into florets

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes


Whisk together 2 teaspoons of the oil, 11/2 teaspoons of the soy sauce, and garlic in a large bowl; add shrimp and toss to coat.

Lightly coat a large skillet or wok with cooking spray and heat over high heat. Add shrimp and cook until pink, 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Heat remaining oil in the same skillet over high heat; add ginger and cook 30 seconds.

Add the broccoli and mushrooms saute until the mushrooms are just starting to wilt a little,then add the scallions, bell pepper, snow peas, and red pepper flakes and cook until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in shrimp, any juices on the plate and remaining soy sauce and toss to combine. Serve hot. Serves 3-4

Now Lets go .... Mexican....

Mexican style Chicken Soup

One of my mom's favorite soups is Tortilla Soup. Since we are trying to cut down on the carbs and do more veggies and lean proteins this soup really hits that spot for her. This richly flavored, quick-cooking, southwestern-style soup tastes like you cooked all day but really it takes no time to prepare.

1 Tablespoon Oil
1 small Onion, finely chopped
1 Jalapeño Pepper, diced

2 Garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoon ground Cumin
Salt and black pepper
5 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 - 10oz can of Rotel
1 1/2lb  boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into thin strips
1 1/2 cups mild refrigerated salsa

3 Tbsp Lime juice

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves (optional)


Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion, jalapeño, a little salt and pepper and saute 5 mins until tender and translucent then add garlic and cumin and cook 30 seconds more.

Add broth and Rotel, increase heat to high; bring to a simmer. Add chicken and cook til  no longer pink  about 3 mins. Then add the salsa, lime juice bring back up to simmer and then check seasoning. Add salt, pepper, cumin, cayenne if needed.

When serving sprinkle some fresh cilantro on top.

 

Ok enough for now... the rest that the week I got slowed up on coming up ... SOON I promise!!