Tiny Chef

I mentioned on my Instagram feed (follow me if you don't already: eguill3) when I made this dish that I hardly cook alone anymore.  Rex loves to help me in the kitchen.  As soon as he notices me in there pulling out ingredients and starting to prep he inquires, "Mama, you cooking dinner time?"  Shortly after my confirmation he makes his way to the pantry and pulls out his step stool and puts himself right in the mix.  Normally his first choice is to place himself somewhere in the kitchen that is unsafe, inconvenient and detrimental to my progress.  It usually takes a bit of adjusting on my end and then we are ready to conquer the recipe together.  This particular dish required a bunch of chopping, which of course Rex was more than eager to participate in.  We had to bring in his wooden knife from the toy box, but after he had the right tools he was steadily on his way to claiming his spot as my all time favorite sous chef!

Rex's Veggie Prep Shot from Instagram

Chicken and Vegetable Soup Recipe
Adapted from Cooking Light October 2012

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 
• 1 cup chopped onion 
• 1/2 cup sliced baby carrots
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 3 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added, fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1/2 cup uncooked orzo (rice-shaped pasta) 
• 5 ounces green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 1 cup)
• 1 cup shredded skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast 
• 2 ounces fresh Parmesan cheese, grated (about 1/2 cup)

Preparation

1. Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion and next 5 ingredients (through thyme) to pan; sauté 4 minutes.



 Add broth and tomatoes; bring to a boil.

2.  Add pasta and beans;



cook 5 minutes. Stir in chicken,



and sprinkle with cheese.



Click Here for My Adapted Printable Recipe

Secret Sayings

Every family has their own inside sayings and phrases.  Those ones that everyone knows exactly what they mean and what they mean usually isn't what they sound like.  Just like in The Godfather, they all knew what it meant when the phrase was uttered to "take 'em to the mattresses".  We have a similar phrase in my family although it has nothing to do with war amongst rivals.  We are Italian, but not THAT Italian ;-)

Now that we are all adults we joke quite often about "Going to Popeye's".  This isn't nearly as delicious as it sounds and it has absolutely nothing to do with fried chicken.  It originated because growing up we had Popeye's for lunch on Sundays.  Sunday, as it goes, is the day after Saturday night and usually a day where you were in trouble for something you did one of the two previous nights before.  My Mom was a very strict mother, but she was normally calm and collected in her strictness.  She was the school disciplinarian so her parenting frequently mirrored that style.  She was gathered and diplomatic in her disciplinary actions, but oh so pointed!  She wasn't one to cause a big scene when we walked through the door late or forgot to call when we changed our plans (these were minor offenses, since one day my son might read this I will leave the really bad stuff to your imagination).  She wouldn't utter a word about it and she would let you go to sleep thinking you had won and you had gotten away with your dirty deed.  But then she would come into your room the next morning and announce you would be taking a ride with her to Popeye's to get lunch for the family.  If she said, "get dressed, we are going to Popeye's" you knew you were toast.

I am one of four children and we all talk about those car rides now that we are adults.  Each of us experienced our fair share of them.  The things she uttered to us on those trips to Popeye's are funny now, but they had us shaking in our boots at the time.  Those one on one sessions where we were put in our places were never fun, but they were very effective.  And to this day if any of us are "getting in trouble" in a one on one fashion we still call it "Going to Popeye's".

I do most of my fancy cooking on Sunday's.  I work and my weeknight meals tend to be less involved.  I save all of my very detailed or time consuming recipes for Sunday lunch and dinner.  As I stood over the stove pulling together this recipe (which by the way was easy enough to be a weeknight meal), I thought about those Sunday trips to Popeye's and how I would be depriving Rex and any of our future children of those life lessons if I continue to cook on Sundays.  I need to think up a substitute car ride I can take my kids on when they are teenagers, should they ever need it.  Any suggestions, Mom?

 

Guinness Mac and Cheese
Adapted from Cooking Light April 2013

 

Ingredients

• 8 ounces uncooked rotini pasta
• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 6 ounces bulk turkey sausage
• 3/4 cup diced onion 
• 2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup Guinness Stout beer
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 2.5 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 2 ounces light processed cheese, shredded (such as Velveeta Light)
• Cooking spray 

 

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 450°.

2. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain.

3. While pasta cooks, heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add oil; swirl to coat. Add sausage and onion to pan; cook 6 minutes, stirring to crumble sausage. Add flour, pepper, and salt; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in beer; bring to a boil. Cook 3 minutes or until thick and bubbly, stirring constantly.



Remove from heat. Add milk and cheeses,



stirring until smooth.



Stir in pasta.



Mix to incorporate.



Divide mixture evenly among 4 ceramic gratin dishes coated with cooking spray. Bake at 450° for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.  Top with fresh parsley or dried parsley flakes and serve.



Click Here for My Adapted Printable Recipe

Wild Ingredient Chase

When I lived in DC and first started this blog I would run all over town looking for special ingredients.  DC was a great place for hunting for unique recipe components. There was a great variety of markets I could visit to find almost anything I needed.  Beside the fact that I had a multitude of shopping choices, the biggest contributor to these ingredient chases was that I had the time.  It was in my pre-mommy/pre-homeowner days and I had all the time in the world to cook and track down every single specific ingredient.  These days I just don't have the time to go to four different stores looking for something specific and so I substitute much more than I ever had to before.

When I first read through the ingredient list on this recipe, I planned on substituting the potato starch for corn starch.  I had never heard of potato starch and since it was such a small amount I planned to use what I already had.   But for some reason I decided to Google the difference between potato starch and corn starch as I sat down to make my grocery list.  As it turns out, thickeners behave differently at different temperatures and potato starch is able to tolerate higher temperatures than corn starch.  I decided to put faith in the author of this recipe and stick with potato starch since it is used to thicken baked goods.  Luckily I only had to visit one additional store (Whole Foods) to find the potato starch.

 

Shrimp Stuffed Shells
Adapted from Cooking Light January 2012

 

Ingredients

• 20 uncooked jumbo pasta shells (about 8 ounces)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil 
• 1/2 cup chopped shallots
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic (about 6 cloves)
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese 
• 1/4 cup 2% reduced-fat milk 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled, deveined, and coarsely chopped 
• 1 tablespoon potato starch
• Cooking spray
• 3 cups lower-sodium marinara sauce (such as McCutcheon's), divided 
• 1/3 cup (1 1/2 ounces) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

 

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Cook pasta 7 minutes or until almost al dente, omitting salt and fat. Drain well.

3. Heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add shallots; cook 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.



Add cream cheese, milk, and pepper; cook until cheese melts, stirring until smooth.



Remove from heat. Stir in basil.



Place shrimp in a bowl. Sprinkle with potato starch; toss well to coat.



Add cream cheese mixture to shrimp; toss well.



4. Divide shrimp mixture evenly among pasta shells.



Coat a 11 x 9-inch glass or ceramic baking dish with cooking spray; spread 1 cup marinara over bottom of dish. Arrange shells in prepared dish;



top with remaining 2 cups marinara. Sprinkle shells evenly with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.



Bake at 400° for 30 minutes or until shrimp is done.



Click Here for My Adapted Printable Recipe

Pre-Vacation Dieting

 

We just got back from an awesome family vacation.  Rex is at a really good age for air travel and we chose a destination that was full of activities to keep him busy during the day.  We had two flights followed by a two hour drive and he was so well behaved and adaptable throughout the entire journey.  I was so proud of him and he acted far better than I expected.  The trip was great and we all had sooooo much fun. 

Since I knew I would spend most of the vacation in a swimsuit, I really buckled down with the healthy eating and exercise for a few months before we left.  This was one of our dinners during that pre-vacation cut back.  Dishes like these kept me feeling satisfied, but were still smart dinner options.  I served this over rice noodles for Forrest (as pictured), but I ate just the chicken and veggie mixture and it was still very filling. 

 

 

Stir-Fried Lemongrass Chicken
Adapted from Cooking Light January 2013

 

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons unsalted chicken stock (such as Swanson)
• 2 tablespoon fish sauce
• 4 teaspoons lower-sodium soy sauce
• 2 teaspoon sambal oelek (ground fresh chile paste)
• 2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
• 1 tablespoon sliced peeled fresh lemongrass
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 cup sliced red bell pepper 
• 1/2 cup sliced shallots
• 8 ounces haricots verts, trimmed 
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs, thinly sliced 
• 1/3 cup unsalted cashews 
• 1 Thai chile, thinly sliced

 

Preparation

1. Combine first 5 ingredients. Stir with a whisk.

2. Heat a large wok or large skillet over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil; swirl to coat. Add lemongrass and garlic; stir-fry 30 seconds.



Remove from pan with a slotted spoon; place in a small bowl. Add bell pepper, shallots, and haricots verts to pan; stir-fry 2 minutes.



Remove vegetables from pan with a slotted spoon; add to lemongrass mixture. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add chicken in a single layer; cook 2 minutes or until browned. Add cashews and chile to pan; stir-fry 2 minutes or until chicken is done.



Stir in stock mixture

  
 and vegetable mixture. Bring to a boil; cook 1 minute or until sauce begins to thicken. Serve immediately.



Click Here for My Adapted Printable Recipe 

Viable Veggies

I don't really have a strong love for vegetables.  I eat them, I serve them to my family with most of their meals and I have definitely had some on occasion that I would put in the delicious category.  However, I never crave a veggie or get super excited about eating them.  But the sad truth is that I am not a little kid and I know better than to not eat them.  They are super good for you and most importantly in my book, very low in calories.  I still have to make a concerted effort to include them in meals though so anytime a recipe includes them covered in cheese I am all over it!

Cheesy Penne with Broccoli
Adapted from Cooking Light March 2013

 

Ingredients

• 8 ounces uncooked penne pasta
• 5 cups broccoli florets (about 1 medium head)
• 1 1/3 cups fat-free milk
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
• 2 tablespoons 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 2.5 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 2/3 cup)

 

Preparation

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. During the last 3 minutes of cooking, add broccoli to pan; drain. Place pasta and broccoli in a large bowl.



2. Combine milk and flour in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Cook 5 minutes or until slightly thickened; remove from heat. Add 2 tablespoons Parmesan and remaining ingredients,



stirring with a whisk until smooth.

 
 Add cheese mixture to pasta mixture; toss.



 Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan.



Click Here for My Adapted Printable Recipe

Classic Change-Up

In most cases messing with the classics seems ludicrous.  Some recipes are so perfect in their intended form that there is no reason to tinker with them in any way or make any adjustments.  The entire time I was making this recipe I was worried that I would end up wishing I had trusted my instincts and left lasagna alone -  let it do what it does best, ground beef and red sauce.  But I was so wrong, this spin on the traditional lasagna was so delicious.  It was satisfying and comforting.  It didn't leave us wishing we were eating the "original", it was in a class of its own.  It was very different, but in an extremely pleasing way.  This is a new favorite in our household.  Even Rex approved!  And any recipe that can get a two year old to eat spinach will definitely be making a reappearance on our meal rotation.

 

Turkey Sausage and Spinach Lasagna
Adapted from Cooking Light March 2013

 

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup 1% low-fat milk
• 1 cup unsalted chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• Cooking spray
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 (6-ounce) package fresh baby spinach
• 8-ounces turkey breakfast sausage
• 1/2 cup chopped shallots
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 9 no-boil lasagna noodles
• 1 1/2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon of dried Italian Seasoning 
• 3/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 2 Tbs fresh Parmesan cheese, grated

 

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through bay leaf) in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring with a whisk. Cook 8 minutes or until thick and bubbly, stirring frequently.



Remove from heat; stir in 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Spread 1 cup milk mixture in bottom of an 11 x 7-inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray.

3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons water and spinach to pan;



cook 2 minutes or until spinach wilts.



Drain spinach, pressing until barely moist. Increase heat to medium-high. Remove casings from sausage. Add sausage to pan; cook 4 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble.



Remove sausage from pan. Add shallots and garlic to pan; sauté 2 minutes. Stir in remaining milk mixture, spinach, and cooked sausage. Remove pan from heat.



4. Combine Ricotta, remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper and Italian seasoning.

5. Arrange 3 noodles over milk mixture in baking dish; top with 1/2 cup ricotta mixture and one-third spinach mixture.



Repeat layers twice. Sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.



Cover with foil coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 40 minutes. Remove foil.

6. Preheat broiler to high.

7. Broil 4 minutes or until cheese is golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes.



Click Here for My Adapted Printable Recipe

Across the Pond, and Back

I was fortunate to travel to the UK when I was fourteen and it happened to be the one and only time I had ever eaten Beef Stroganoff.  I actually remember it being a pretty pitiful experience.  I think I recall adjectives like gross, inedible and yucky.  As bad food experiences tend to do, it turned me off of the dish for the last 15 or so years.  I never desired to give Beef Stroganoff another try until I saw this recipe in the latest edition of my favorite magazine.  I considered that I was a picky 14 year old, it was a hotel banquet type dinner and I was in another country (one that isn't typically known for its cuisine).  And not to say that the dish wasn't actually bad, but all of these factors certainly could have contributed to my opinion at the time.  I love beef and mushrooms and sour cream, so I had high hopes that my first impression of this dish would be wrong.  And it was!  I really liked this; it was flavorful, hearty and comforting. 

Beef Stroganoff
Adapted from Cooking Light January 2013

Ingredients

• 6 1/2 cups water, divided
• 6 ounces uncooked egg noodles
• 1 pound sirloin steak, trimmed
• Cooking spray
• 1 cup chopped onion 
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon hot paprika
• 1 (6-ounce) package presliced cremini mushrooms
• 1 cup lower-sodium beef broth, divided
• 5 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup fat-free sour cream 
• 3 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions 
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

 

Preparation

1. Bring 6 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add noodles; cook 7 minutes or until al dente. Drain.

2. Cut beef across the grain into 1/4-inch-wide strips; cut strips into 2-inch pieces.



3. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add beef to pan; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper; sauté 4 minutes or until browned.



Remove beef from pan leaving juices in the pan. Add 1 cup onion, remaining 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt, paprika, and mushrooms to pan; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Reduce heat to medium.




4. Combine 1/4 cup beef broth and flour in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add broth mixture,



beef, remaining 3/4 cup broth, green onions and remaining 1/2 cup water to pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits.



Cover and cook 8 minutes or until sauce thickens. Remove from heat; stir in sour cream and butter.



Serve beef mixture over egg noodles; sprinkle with parsley.


Click Here for My Printable Adapted Recipe.