ROW - Week 34

OOOOOOOO Weeee!!! I was not kidding when I told you that last week was going to be a long one!!! I am pretty sure that I had banked 60 hours before the end of the day on Wednesday and closed the week out staying in the office until close to 7:30 on Friday night.  Who does that - oh ya that's right I do, well it paid off because it made the weekend nice and relaxing and the start of today not too shabby!!!

So last week I was pretty much MIA in the kitchen and it was a darn good thing that we did a crockpot meal for the recipe of the week.  I was able to eat it all week for lunch and twice for dinner - I do have to admit though by the end of the week I was craving something different.  It was also a positive because it was the end of the month and well....we only get paid once a month and.....enough said!!!

Anyhow, I would highly recommend making this for the fall especially if you have a busy week!  Here we go!

Lets start by getting all those ingredients ready!  As you can see I used chicken thighs instead of breast (cheaper, and don't dry out as easily) I also used the beans I had in my basement (my food pantry) so they don't necessarily match up with what the recipe called for!

I only had 3 cans of beans when I went to the basement so I ended up trying something new

They were actually pretty good - white beans in a chili sauce just like your typical chili beans!  Not too shabby - next time I may get 4 cans of these bad boys!

Up next getting my crockpot ready - check out the time on the oven yep thats 6:24 in the morning

Now my crockpot is this awesomeness by cuisinart - as you can see it has a sauté function so I was able to sauté the onions right in this to avoid extra clean up!

Next step would be to sauté your onions and garlic

now remember that I told you I ball on a budget and enjoy making things easier on myself - you need to get this garlic to make life a cake walk!

Now get everything else in that crockpot - set it and forget it!

Please note the time - 6:41 - this whole meal was ready to go with less than 20 minutes of prep!  Besides smelling like an onion for the rest of the day this was easy breezy!

Side note - did you know that once you open up stock or broth that it techically is only good for 7 days?  I did not know this so I used to think that I could keep it until its "best by" date!  Well after doing a little reading I found out that was not a good rule to follow!  One of the things that I do to help myself remember when I opened containers like this is to write on the top of it the date at which I should probably throw it out!

Ok after all of this was done it was time to head into the office.  There really isn't a better feeling than knowing you are going to be coming home to a house that smells amazing and food for days!

Once I got home - I pulled the chicken out put it in a bowl to shred!

Using two forks I shredded that chicky up like it was my job - actually a very nice way to relieve some stress!

I put the chicken back in the crockpot and let it take on some of the flavors while I got the dogs out, changed my clothes and got ready to go outside to enjoy the fall like weather!  Once I was finally ready to have dinner this is what my final product looked like! 

I think that mine was a little more red than the original post - but I'm pretty sure that is due to the spices that were in the white chili beans!  I am certainly not complaining about the color as it was delicious!  

Here was another picture from someone else in the recipe club and theirs looks closer to the original recipe!  They too loved it!! 

Ok well here is the original post

http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-slow-cooker-white-chicken-chili/ 

I have done another tofu recipe so stay tuned for that one - I can say that I wasn't particularly fond of how this one turned out - but it wasn't the tofu's fault!

I hope that your week is off to a great start - happy cookin' 

 

 

Meatless Monday = Buffalo Tofu Wings

I can honestly say that if I had been this adventurous with tofu the year that I decided to be a vegetarian for lent, I may have stayed a veggie.  I am perfectly honest in saying that I can tell that tofu is going to be somewhere on the weekly menu board for quite some time.  It may not be every Monday as soon enough I will start working study table on Monday nights - so cooking will be limited.  But for now, meatless Monday = something new and exciting with tofu!

This was another fairly easy recipe as I started it a little after 6 and was outside enjoying the beautiful night by 7.  Are you ready we are going to break this one down and I am telling you we have done 4 different recipes with the FU and you need to pick one to just try!!!

You know what step 1 is by this point - cut that tofu and get it all dried out.  Now I knew that I was going to be running a little later tonight because school starts this week so I cut the tofu and laid it on the paper towels this morning!  Now you can see that this time around I cut the tofu in strips, last weeks was in squares, week before chunks.  I literally just follow what the recipe says to determine how to cut the tofu.

Step 2 - get the corn starch out and roll each strip in the starch

Step 3 - once you have rolled each strip place it in your sauté pan and let them sear on both sides for 5 minutes

While the strips were searing I decided that I wanted to try and may my own ranch dressing - so here we go with that 

Step 1 pull out the ingredients - I didn't have the parsley the recipe called for so I used thyme 

Step 2 - mix it all together and put it in the fridge until ready to use!

Ok back to the tofu...

Step 4 - time to get the flava on those bad boys!  I decided that I didn't need to dirty another dish so I just used the olive oil that was in the sauté pan added the red hot and let the strips sit in that while I got the cookie sheet ready!

Step 5- get them on the cookie sheet.  I decided that I wanted to put them on a cooling rack on the cookie sheet so that the air could get to the bottom side.  This was a great idea - however I should have put a little spray on the cooling rack so that it didn't get stuck during that baking time (which mine did - could have been disastrous but I was patient while trynig to pull them off)

Step 6 - Bake for 10 mintues, and then put them under the broiler for extra crispness

Doesn't even look like tofu right!!!  Kinda looks like a french fry!  

Once they were all done it was time to plate everything up!  I decided that my side would be some cucumber strips!  Again I can't tell a lie - this meal was excellent!!  

Here is the finished product all set and ready to be devoured

Here are the original recipes!! 

For the tofu

http://simpleveganblog.com/buffalo-tofu-wings/

For the ranch dressing

 

 http://www.5dollardinners.com/homemade-ranch-dressing-mix/#_a5y_p=2466558 

Now seriously get to cookin'

  

 

 

ROW - Week 33 - Spiced Rub Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Potato Hash

Hello Hello Hello!!!

Well it has been a beautiful day - the weather was amazing, I did a quick walk for the American Heart Association this morning honoring my grandmother, ran some errands, mowed the grass and for the first time in a long time enjoyed my backyard!  

I actually did the the recipe of the week a few days ago - but haven't had the opportunity to write it all up!  I am not going to lie to you, this was a super duper easy one and really tasty!  From start to finish it took me about 45 minutes and that includes preheating the oven, changing my clothes and letting the girls out!

So are you ready?  Lets knock out this easy family dinner!!!  I actually didn't feel like going to 101 different grocery stores on Sunday so I just grabbed everything at Trader Joes and I thought that I was going to have to double the recipe because the tenderloin was actually closer to 2 pounds.  However, once I opened up the package I quickly found out that there were two of those little loins in there - well shit now we can do this recipe again this week!

I got my pan ready and threw that loin on there

Then I got her all lathered up - this waas like when I was a teenager and put baby oil on to lay by the pool for maximum burnage!  

Then put her under the broiler just like the recipe called for - I had never done this before so I was a little apprehensive about the cooking time.  Only 12 minutes??  I felt like my mom who cooks things until they are dead three times over!!!

While she was getting her tan on for the first few minutes I went to get out the syrup....ya you see this is why you should always check to make sure you have enough of what your recipe calls for!!! I only had about a teaspoon or so of syrup!  SERIOUSLY KIM what are you a rookie??? So what does one do when this happens?  Well you look for everything that would fit in the same family of flavors/components - this is what I found (also why I think I could be good on one of thse cooking shos)

With a combintation of the three I was able to create what should have been!

Here is loiny before the flip!  This was about 6 minutes under a high broilerf

Once I rubbed the glaze on and flipped her over I got working on the hash!  I pulled out my trusty spiralizer and knocked those taters out!

Got them in the pan with the shallot and let that magic start to happen

Since I was still very concerned about my pork being done after such a short cooking time I pulled out my All Clad thermometer!  Now this thing was a little pricy but as you can see it is worth its weight in gold.  You can set it for the speific protein  you are cooking and it will let you know when it has reached the safe temperature.  Here is what it looks like before inserting the probe into anything!

Now remember - meats continue to cook once you have taken them out of the oven, off the grill, out from under the flame so its ok if it isn't right at temp when you pull it out!  After about 15 minutes (yes I still left it in a little longer than it called for) I pulled the loin out stuck the thermometer in to see where we were at.

Low and behold we were almost up to temp...well within a few minutes this is where we were at

Once she rested she was done, the timer was beeping and I started putting the finishing touches on the hash.  I added the spinach to the sweet potato and shallot letting it mix in completely.  I bought the bag of fresh spinach at Trader Joes and used the whole thing - I was feeling like I needed a little Popeye in me that day!

Once everything was sautéed properly I pulled it off the stove, brought the loin over to the cutting board - sliced it up in medallions going against the grain to allow for the best bite

Once she was all cut up I got to making that plate up...then finally sat down to enjoy the deliciousness!

Katie and her mom also made this weeks ROW and here was their final product!  I would have to say that we all knocked this bad boy out of the park!

Here is the original post

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/chili-glazed-pork-with-sweet-potato-hash

Okay Dokey - well I am beat and have had a glass of wine which apparently is acting like nyquil right now, so I am going to have to call it a night!

This is the first week of classes - so there may not be as many creations coming out of the kitchen!  Work takes precedent over play this week!

I hope that you are all having a great weekend!

Happy Cookin'  

Oh and here is one of my favorite pics of me and gram - she passed away 3 yeas ago due to a massive stroke.  I miss her everyday!

 

 

  

 

Spicy Peanut butter Tofu

I think that we are almost all caught up with the recipes from Monday...This will be the last one and seeing that its in the title you already know it was TOFU!!!!!  I am not quite sure why I have such a crush on this stuff lately but....it is great!

I can say though that it is not going to be something that can really be taking in for lunch the next day - it doesn't seem to reheat very well.  This would be where all of those horror stories about tofu tasting like a sponge would ring true.  I mean I guess if I had access to a stove at work I could bring the leftovers in an sear it again but microwaving it - ya that makes my toes curl!  

Are you ready???  Here we go its time to get creating with what we have in the house!  I knew that the tofu alone wasn't going to be enough for dinner so I went into the freezer and pulled out some of the fresh veggies that I picked up at the farmers market and let those thaw while I was at work...

Then when i got home, like any of our other tofu recipes I cut the tofu into squares and put it on the paper towels to let the water drain out.  While that was going on I wanted to get my stir fry veggies going...

Batting lead off... the shrooms - just a touch of olive oil in the pan so they don't stick but then letting the water drain out of them before adding any seasonings!  As you can see there is another pan on the backburner so lets get that number two hitter up...

Batting second...the fresh green beans...I went to Level Dining Lounge a couple years ago during restaurant week and had the best greenbeans ever.  When the chef came out to ask about dinner I jokingly asked him how to make the green beans - he said its simple - hot pan, olive oil, beans and salt.  Let them sear and get the brown on them (as Carla Hall would say there is flavor in the brown).  So this is one of the only ways that I make green beans now.

Batting third...the green pepper..now honestly I would have loved to have had a red pepper here but since I was using things from the farmers market I didn't have one.  Really I just wanted the color because although I love the color green there was a bit much in this stir fry!

And finally our clean up hitter - ya know the one who brings all the runs in - the one who is usually up in pressure situations and has to bring it all together for the win...BROCCOLI!!!  Thats right she was bringing it all home for the veggies!  

At this point I added just a smidge of garlic, a little bit of salt and then a nice drizzle of sesame oil and turned the heat down to barely nothing.  Then I started working on my spicy peanut butter sauce.  So here is one of my kitchen/life hacks...I have a huge (almost ridiculously huge) spice cupboard I have built this up over the years so that when I decide to make something randomly I don't usually have to worry about it not being there.

The best way to build up your plethora of spices is to just buy a new one every time that you are in the   grocery store.  You can start with the most common, or just start alphabetically either way you can't really go wrong.  You will want to keep them in a dry place - I know that sounds funny because they are in containers - but you don't want to keep them where moisture occurs - so if you are storing your spices above your oven or dishwasher - there is a reason why that shit sticks inside the container!!!!

Another part of this life/kitchen hack is to buy the ones that you think you will use all the time in bulk - as you saw from one of my other posts the southwest chipotle one is one that I use so much a small container would be a waste of monney.  

Finally when it comes to spices that may be more ethnic - try to find an international store to buy the spice at - for example here in Columbus I always shop at one of the Asian grocery stores to get my sesame oil, soy sauce and sesame seeds.  No joke I can get all of that shit cheaper than if I were to try and buy just one item at Kroger!  

Once you have all of these things in your pantry/cupboards/shelves you can create anything at any given time and take what would be "boring veggies" and turn them into MASTER PIECES!  Now you have my Ballin' on a Budget life/kitchen hacks for the night!  

Let't get back to the recipe...

Here is the sauce...I cannot tell a lie even without anything in it - it was delish!   Next time I probably would add just a touch more sriracha but that is just me...we all know I like the spice!

Once the sauce was done I let it set to the side and started getting that tofu ready to roll... using the same pan I seared the greenbeans in (I mean why dirty another one) I added just a touch more olive oil and put the tofu in to sear - about 4 minutes on both sides

Once the initial searing was complete I poured a little bit of the sauce over the top - this is where things got a little sticky - seriously a little sticky!  

Be careful now because this part can go south quick - if you are not paying attention to what you are doing you will have burnt peanut butter, crappy tofu and nothing but veggies to eat for dinner!

Once that was all done I started plating things up...I added some black and white sesame seeds and poured a little more sauce over the entire plate.  Everything tasted great - I ended up taking the leftover veggies down to my friend Sara who sent me a text the next day saying she had eaten them for lunch and that she was giving them her two thumbs up!  Not too shabby for just throwing something together as a side dish - I used what was left of the peanut butter sauce on those veggies as well.  Nothing was wasted and I was really happy about that!

Here is the original post

http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2012/10/spicy-sriracha-tofu-peanut-butter.html

Now have at it..this is the third tofu recipe I have given you - time to get your asses out of your comfort zone and try it!  I don't think you will be disappointed!

Up next...Recipe of the Week...Pork Tenderloin!!

 

Peanut butter Energy Bites

I know I mentioned yesterday I was in the kitchen quite a bit...I am always looking for something new that is easy to have in the morning for breakfast.  I have never been much of a breakfast eater - however, I do know that it is the most important meal of the day.  

I would love to plan accordingly and make something delicious every morning but that isn't going down!  So what can we do to make sure that this happens?  Well I have already shared with you the blueberry energy bites - which have been a huge hit with everyone that has had them.  I started looking up other bites that did not have an oat base and found a ton.  So we will start to try each one weekly to determine which ones are keepers and which ones fall just a little short.

This weeks creation was so simple that I am sure you can knock it out in no time and well...after having a few this morning I am giving them two thumbs up!  Now if only they will provide the energy that I think they are supposed to we will be off to a great day!

Very simple...are you ready there are seriously only 2 ingredients which means there are about 3 total steps...get ready....here we go!

Step 1 - get the pits out of your dates!  Again you can buy the pitted ones but its way way cheaper to just buy the big tub!  The recipe called for about 11 dates (or 1 cup) I ended up using about 20 because the consistency wasn't where I wanted it to be. 

Step 2 - get your food processor out and dump the peanuts (I used about a cup) and dates in and mix until you get a sticky dough like consistency..side note..put your peanuts in the food processor first and grind those up, then add the dates - I tried it the other way this time and well  it was almost an epic failure! 

Step 3 - using your small cookie scoop - make some peanut butter energy bites!  I dropped them on to my handy dandy cutting sheets and then once all of the "dough" was dropped - I rolled them into pretty balls!

Here is the final product - as you can see I got about 2 dozen out of this mixture - which means that there are enough for about 8 days of breakfasts if you eat 3!  They seriously taste just like peanut butter cookie dough - but healthy and no risk of salmonella poisoning from consuming raw eggs!   

Not a lot of effort but a pretty good payoff

Enjoy and happy cookin'!  

  

Monday Off = 5 Recipes - Batting Leadoff - Baked Chipotle Sweet Potato and Zucchini Fritters

So I had a few appointments today which meant that I ended up taking off the entire day.  School starts in a week and well...the days of not having a ton to do will be over.  After my appointments I decided to come home and get to work in the kitchen, I mean why not enjoy the time away from the office by doing something that I love to do.

I started off the day with this wonderful breakfast - my mom bought this bread thingy at the Farmers Market on Saturday so I threw it on the grill pan, made some blackbean and jalapeno spread (1 can drained and rinsed blackbeans, 1 jalapeno, garlic and olive oil until desired consistency), and some scrambled eggs.  Once it was all plated up I used some of that chipotle drizzle I picked up at Williams Sonoma over the top and well...DELISH!!!  My goal this weekend is to try and recreate the chipotle drizzle so that I don't have to buy anymore! 

Now home from my appointments I threw on my new apron and got to work with some of the fresh veggies from the market this weekend.  Today's lunch creation was a baked sweet potato and zucchini fritter!  Totally healthy and sticking with our meatless Monday theme!  

Alrighty here we go...

Step 1 - get out that food processor or whatever tool you plan to use to grate the zucchini and sweet potato - Chop-pot-le was feeling a little neglected lately so she was happy to be back in service today!

Now she has tons of blades to use but this recipe called for a medium shred - make sure to read you blade so that you know which is which - the fine one would not have worked as well with this recipe!

Step 2 - get your sweet taters ready

Step 3 get them shredded - kinda looks like a carrot doesn't it!

Step 4 put the taters in a bowl and shred that zucchini - I didn't bother cleaning the bowl out this time as everything is getting mixed togther in the next step so why waste time!

Step 5 - mix the tater and zucchini together in a large bowl

As you can see I tried a smaller bowl...and well it was like a f-in veggie explosion!  Bigger is apparently better in more than just Texas!

Step 6  - get out your seasonings -- now the recipe called for a chipotle seasoning but this happens to be one of my favorites to use so I eliminated the salt and pepper and just used this.  Which can be found at Sam's Club for about $8

Step 7 - Follow the directions for the butter/egg mixture - now remember that when the butter comes out of the microwave it will be hot DO NOT PUT YOUR EGG IN UNTIL IT COOLS!!!! If you put the egg in right away it will cook!  Come on - be smarter than that!!!  Once the butter has cooled put the egg, flour and seasonings together and mix away

Step 8 - now its time to get a little dirty - pour the wet over the veggies and mix together completely!

You can start by using a spoon but ultimately you will want to make sure everthing is coated so use your damn hands!

Step 9 - Make up your fritters and get those bad boys in the oven.  I did change things up a bit from the original post here as I left them in at 375 the entire time, and then once that time was up I stuck them under the broiler for about 3 minutes just to get the top a little crisp!

Step 10 - Plate them up and enjoy!  I did not make the dipping sauce that it called for mainly because the link was bad and well...I don't really care that much for mustard so I decided that I would combine the wasabi and chipotle drizzles and just swipe the fritter through the sauces!  Ya not going to lie the shit was good and I am glad that I have leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

So like I said I was in the kitchen a lot today and actually did a total of 5 different recipes but I do not want to overwhelm anyone with too many things in one post....so I am going to post them individually so that if you would like to refer back to a specific recipe you don't have to do a ton of annoying scrolling!

Here is the original post for the above deliciousness! 

http://www.averiecooks.com/2012/09/baked-chipotle-sweet-potato-and-zucchini-fritters.html 

Happy Cookin'