I <3 food

Last night I made some manicotti that turned out very tasty.  The mushrooms in it gave it a nice hearty replacement for the meat.  They are pretty simple to make as well.

1 8 0z box of manicotti shells

2 eggs

1 1/2 c ricotta cheese

1 cup cottage cheese

2-3 cloves garlic

6 0z button mushrooms, chopped ( I used baby bellas)

6 oz fresh baby spinach

1/4c chopped fresh parsley

1 teaspoon dried basil

1  32 oz jar pasta sauce of your choice, or homemade is even better!

1- 1 1/2 cups grated parmesan or mozzarella cheese, or a combination of both

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Boil 1 8oz box of manicotti shells for about 6-7 min (I might try to mix water with the sauce next time and skip the step of boiling the pasta. I would say about a cup or so of water mixed in to the tomato sauce should work, I haven’t tried this yet though, so no promises!)

Saute mushrooms for about 4-5 minutes until they are getting soft, then add the spinach and saute another 4-5 minutes.  Add garlic and saute for about a minute or two.  Then add the parsely and basil.  Set aside.                                                                                                    Beat eggs until well mixed, add ricotta and cottage cheeses.   Next add the mushroom and spinach mixture into the cheeses until thoroughly combined.

Next pour about 1/2 of the tomato sauce into the bottom a 9X13 glass pan.  Fill each shell with the cheese and mushroom mixture. Carefully place each one into the pan.  When all are filled cover the shells with the remaining sauce.  Cover with foil and bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes.  Sprinkle with cheese and put in oven until it melts.  Remove from oven and let sit 3-5 minutes before serving.

I served mine with salad and garlic bread.

How to avoid the flu.
Eat right! Make sure you get your daily dose of
fruits and veggies. Take your vitamins and bump up your vitamin C. Get
plenty of exercise because exercise helps build your immune system. Walk
for at least an hour a day, go for a swim, take the stairs instead of
the elevator, etc. Wash your hands often. If you can’t wash them, keep a
bottle of antibacterial stuff around. Get lots of fresh air. Open
windows whenever possible. Get plenty of rest. Try to eliminate as much
stress from your life as you can. OR Take the doctor’s office
approach. Think about it… When you go for a shot, what do they do
first? Clean your arm with alcohol. Why? Because alcohol kills germs.
So…… I walk to the liquor store. I put lime in my Corona. Celery
in my Bloody Mary Drink outdoors on the bar patio. Get drunk, tell
jokes, laugh. Then pass out. The way I see it… If you keep your
alcohol levels up, Flu germs can’t get you!

I had a version of this sandwich at a restaurant. It was pretty good. It wasn’t called a ghettonini there though! That is just what I have nicknamed the homemade version of a panini that is not made with a panini maker. I used two skillets and some canned goods to make mine. It actually works pretty good. No grill marks though:(
I bought a loaf of sour dough bread and sliced it in about 1/2 inch slices.
These are the ingredients I chose for my sandwich, and it was super tasty.
I mashed some black beans in the food processor and then spread some of them on one of the slices of bread.
I then layered:
roasted red peppers
grilled onions
swiss cheese
sliced avocado
a little mayo and mustard
The boys did a combination of some of the ingredients I used and also added some sliced salami, pastrami, and/or ham to each of theirs.
I put a little olive oil in the pan and then placed the sandwich in, next I put another skillet directly on top of the sandwich and placed 2 30oz cans of tomatoes in the pan to weight the sandwich down. I did read that a brick covered in tin foil can be used to have the same effect, I just didn’t have a clean brick handy-lol. Grill on each side for about 3 minutes or until you get the desired shade of grilling.

Saturday afternoon Steven and some of our good friends went snowboarding. Afterwards several people were coming over for dinner, dinner wasn’t served until like 9pm, but hey, it was still dinner right? I figured that some hearty dishes would be suitable after a day out on the slopes. So I made some soup, chicken, roasted root vegetables, and a waldorf salad. I think everything turned out pretty well.The soup was hearty and comforting, and actually really easy to make.

Black-Eyed Pea and Collard Green Soup

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 large carrot, sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
4 cups vegetable broth
15oz can diced tomatoes
5 cups collard greens (kale will work too)
15oz can black-eyed peas

Heat oil in pan (I think a dutch oven is perfect for this)over medium heat, add onion, carrots, and celery, and cook until tender, about 5-7 min. Add garlic, thyme, and red pepper. Cook for about 1 minute. Increase heat to high and add broth, tomatoes, and their juice. Bring to a boil, stir frequently, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Lower heat and stir in collard greens, cook for about 5-10 minutes until greens are softened. Add black-eyed peas. It’s ready to serve!
A nice crusty bread would go great with this hearty soup!

In my search for vegetarian meals that are satisfying to the meat eaters in the household  I came across this recipe which was really good. The boys really liked it, but when I asked if they missed the meat there was a comment that it would taste a lot better with chicken. I think it’s great as is, but if you would like to have meat in it I would suggest maybe 8oz of cooked shredded or ground chicken being added to the filling.

Black Bean and Spinach Enchiladas

10 to 12 small corn tortillas
10 oz package chopped spinach, thawed
15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with green chiles and spices, drained
¾ cup scallions, chopped
19 oz can green chile enchilada sauce
8 oz sour cream
3 cups shredded Pepper Jack cheese
Garlic powder and onion powder
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
You’ll need a 9X13 pan
Drain spinach and get as much water out of it as possible. Add spinach, rinsed beans, drained tomatoes, about 1/2 of the cheese, scallions, onion powder, garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste.

Mix sour cream and green chili sauce together. Add about 1/3 of the sauce to the bottom of the 9X13 dish.

Take a tortilla and put a small amount of the filling in the center and roll the tortilla around it, like a cigar. Place in the pan with the seam side down. Repeat until tortillas are filled and filling is gone. Pour the sauce over the enchiladas and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until bubbly. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes before serving.
Serve with sour cream and salsa if desired.

I have been trying to remember how long ago it was that I came across this recipe, and I at first thought, that it was just a couple years ago, but I think it was actually more like 7 or so years ago. Time flies I guess. Anyways this is one of the simplest recipes ever! Every time I bring it somewhere people ask for the recipe and are of course amazed and how simple it is, and that it seems like there was a lot more effort put into it. This is now something that I make for many parties, and for every Christmas. This was also originally made as a cheese ball, but I just throw it in a bowl and it works out great.
Chicken Cheese Dip

2 8oz pkgs cream cheese ( I use the 1/3 of the fat kind)
10oz can of white meat chicken
1 pkg of powdered ranch dressing

Soften the cream cheese. Drain the chicken. Mix the cream cheese, chicken, and ranch dressing until blended thoroughly. It’s better if it’s been refrigerated for at least a couple hours before serving.
You can add chopped celery or onions if you like as well. It’s good with it, but not necessary.
I reccomend making a double recipe- it goes quick!
Chicken Cheese Dip

So I’m going to attempt to keep this blog going AGAIN. I really want to make it work but,  it’s difficult between work, school, family, and social life. I am on a break from school so maybe if I can get into the habit of it now, it will stick when I go back.

I have a lot of recipes logged into my head that I want to post about. I’m going to try and add pictures to as many as I can, but I can’t make promises on how often it will actually happen. Maybe if I can just get this thing updated on a regular basis then I will move on to keeping up with pictures.

I’ve been doing some experimental recipes with vegetarian varieties of meat recipes, some have gone well, others, well, they’ve just gone.  I will be posting some of these as well, possibly the failed ones as well, just to spread the word on what doesn’t work!

Next semester of school I have enrolled in a cooking class again. I had switched gears a bit, and started working towards a dietitian certificate. In my latest plan (I wish I could make up my mind!) I am going to continue working towards a general associates, I don’t believe that I have many classes left to achieve this. I am also going to finish up my Hospitality Management certificate, I only have 3 or 4 classes left to do this, and after thinking about it a bit, I’ve decided that  I’m so close, I might as well not make the classes I’ve taken towards this certificate go to waste. After I finish these two things, I’m still hoping to then transfer to Eastern and complete there dietitian certification program. In the past semesters  I was unable to get a seat in the class I’m enrolled for next semester, this is one of the reasons I switched gears a bit. While searching for classes to enroll in I discovered that there was 1 seat left in the class, I decided that it must have been waiting for me! This particular class only has seats for 12 students each semester, so it’s not easy to get into, and it’s two days a week, 1 day is 7 hours long, and the 2nd is 4 hours long, so it’s also a big time commitment. I will be taking food production basics, I hope that I will actually learn a lot from this class, I have no real training in the proper way to handle a knife and chop and such, I just go in the kitchen and start hacking away at things hoping that I won’t lose a finger in the process!  Hopefully I will have some great experiences in the class that I can share here as well!

Tuna is an odd thing for me. I’m not a fan of seafood, of any variety really. I’ve tried it many times, and I just don’t like it. Tuna, is one thing that I can tolerate, but only once in a while, like maybe twice a year, and then I have some reservations about it. The whole fish in a can, and then there’s the random bones, and it’s really just not appealing to me. This being said, I still have a craving for a tuna sandwich every once in awhile, but I am very specific about how the tuna needs to be prepared for me to tolerate it. It needs to be mixed with mayo, relish, and onion, and I prefer it on toasted bread, if I go with untoasted bread then I require butter on the bread. I have no idea where I come up with all these rules for eating a tuna sandwich, and why I bother when there is so much that is involved with it. So now that the lengthy discussion of my weird tuna hang ups is over, I discovered something that is a good replacement for tuna. For one thing it’s vegetarian, so no gross things in a can! It really tastes closer to tuna to me than I ever thought it would. It’s worth a try! You might be surprised. It can easily be made vegan by replacing the mayo with a vegan version of mayo as well.

Chick Funa

19oz can of chick peas
2-4 Tablespoons of mayo (I like mine with a lot of mayo)
2-3 Teaspoons spicy mustard (I have used regular and it was fine)
1 1/2 Tablespoons sweet relish
1-2 Tablespoons finely diced onion
2 Tablespoons finely diced celery (optional)
salt and pepper

Mash the chick peas, this can be done with a masher or with a food processor. I have done it both ways, I prefer the food processor method, the texture was more appealing to me this way. If you prefer a more textured salad than use the masher. Then mix the rest of the ingredients into the chick peas and you’re done. You may want to adjust some of the quantities depending on how you like your tuna salad. I think this recipe is better if it has rested a couple hours as well, but it is great immediately as well.

I made this recipe last week and it was a hit. I have been limiting my intake of meat lately so I made a double of this recipe, but I did one batch with the pork, and one batch I replaced the pork with thinly sliced tofu. The tofu was great and I’m told the pork was excellent too. The most important thing to remember when using tofu is to remove as much liquid as possible. I sliced the sheets into slices that were about 1/8 in thick, then laid them in between some paper towel for about 45 min to soak up any excess liquid. I also fry the tofu for about 15 minutes or so, to make sure the tofu is really cooked, this makes the texture better.
Pork Chops with Apple Tomatillo Salsa
1-1/2 tablespoons ground coriander
1-1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 teaspoons salt
1/2 to 3/2 teaspoons black pepper
1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
4 pork loin chops

Sauce:
1/2 lb fresh tomatillos (about 5), husks discarded and tomatillos rinsed
2 Granny Smith apples
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro sprigs
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup apple juice
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon mild honey
1 teaspoon minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo

1. Preheat oven to 450ºF. Cover a roasting pan with aluminum foil and coat with cooking spray. Set aside.

2. Mix coriander, cumin, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Add oil and combine. Rub mixture on chops, and let sit while making sauce.

3. In a medium saucepan, simmer tomatillos in 3 cups water for 8 to 10 minutes, or until tomatillos are soft. Drain and let cool for 15 minutes.

4. While tomatillos are cooling, peel apples, core them, and cut into 1/4-inch cubes. Set aside.

5. Remove any stems from cooled tomatillos. Then, in food processor, combine cilantro, garlic, cumin, apple juice, lime juice, honey, chipotles, and tomatillos, and puree. Place in a bowl with apples and stir until combined.

6. Heat remaining 1/2 tablespoon olive oil in a large pan over high heat. Sear pork chops 3 minutes on either side. Transfer chops to roasting pan and bake in oven 8 to 10 minutes, or until inner temperature has hit 150ºF. When finished cooking, remove chops, and let sit 5 minutes. Serve with Apple Tomatillo Sauce.

I suppose I should make this active again.  I’ve been getting some really swell comments in my inbox… viagra, and prostitutes sites and such.  So that’s pretty awesome.   Maybe I should post a recipe involving wieners- LOL!