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 

Secret Soda Chicken

All three of my siblings share my extreme love for Coca-Cola (hereby known plainly as Coke).  We grew up drinking it all of the time from a very early age.  Surprisingly we weren't cavity ridden children with weight problems, but Coke was always a staple in our house.  I can even remember when the "New" Coke recipe came out and as a family we boycotted and switched to RC Cola until they reverted back to the original formula.  I think I was fairly young when this happened, so it must have been a big deal in our home in order for me to remember it.

Now that we are all a little older and wiser; and most importantly understand more about nutrition, none of us drink our fizzy favorite on a regular basis.  However, we all still LOVE it and revel in its rare availability at parties or events.  When I saw this recipe I thought of my soda loving siblings and knew I wanted to give it a try.  I also know from this old family recipe, that Coke makes a good ingredient in basting meat.   You don't have to love Coke or even like it to enjoy this recipe though.  It is undetectable as far as flavor goes; I would consider it a secret ingredient in the sauce unless you don't want it to be a secret at all!

 

Coca-Cola Chicken
Adapted from Cooking Light September 2011

 

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon canola oil 
• 1/2 of a small onion; finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3/4 cup cola (such as Coca-Cola) 
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 1/2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 6 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• Cooking spray

 

Preparation

1. Preheat grill to medium-high heat.

2. Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion to pan; sauté 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in cola and next 4 ingredients (through chili powder); bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until sauce reduces to 3/4 cup, stirring occasionally.



Set 6 tablespoons sauce aside.



3. Combine sugar and next 3 ingredients (through cumin), stirring well.



 Rub spice mixture evenly over both sides of chicken.



Arrange chicken on a grill rack coated with cooking spray;



baste with 3 tablespoons remaining sauce. Grill 5 minutes. Turn chicken over; baste with 3 tablespoons sauce. Grill 5 minutes or until done.



Serve with reserved 6 tablespoons sauce.



Click Here for my Printable Adapted Recipe

Better Brunch

I love frittatas.  I normally server them for dinner since I am not usually hosting brunches on a regular basis.  But I think this is the perfect brunch dish served with something else sweet like a breakfast muffin or a fruit salad. I love brunch.  I went to brunch on Mother's Day and it was so much fun.  They didn't serve a frittata.  It was yummy anyway.  Maybe I just like to drink champagne in the early afternoon.  Either way, brunch is my idea of a good time. 

Mushroom Frittata
Adapted from Cooking Light January 2013

 

Ingredients

• 2 ounces finely grated fresh pecorino Romano cheese (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 8 large eggs 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided 
• 1 (8-ounce) package sliced cremini mushrooms
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 2 cups baby arugula
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Combine first 3 ingredients; add 1/4 teaspoon salt, stirring with a whisk.



Heat a 10-inch ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 teaspoons oil; swirl to coat. Add mushrooms and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt; sauté 6 minutes or until mushrooms brown and most of liquid evaporates.



Stir in onions; sauté 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium.



Add egg mixture and basil to pan,



 stirring gently to evenly distribute vegetable mixture;



cook 5 minutes or until eggs are partially set. Place pan in oven. Bake at 350° for 7 minutes or until eggs are cooked through and top is lightly browned. Remove pan from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Run a spatula around edge and under frittata to loosen from pan; cut fritatta into slices while still in pan.

3. Combine the remaining 1 teaspoon oil, arugula, and lemon juice. Top the fritatta with arugula mixture and serve.



Click Here for My Adapted Printable Recipe

Porch Fest

When Forrest and I built our home, our street was still pretty empty.  We live in a neighborhood that was devastated during Hurricane Katrina and all of the houses took in massive amounts of flood water.  Most of the houses in the area were razed and a few people gutted them and renovated.  We built on a block that had about 3 houses that were newly constructed and 3 houses that were renovated and repopulated by their original owners.  I think we were roughly the 7th house on the block and the rest were empty lots.

Not My Porch

3 years later the landscape looks completely different.  All of the empty lots now house shiny new structures and there is one empty lot left on the street where new construction is starting as I type this.  In the past few years our block has gained many new neighbors and a flurry of activity.

Also Not My Porch

 I know I have mentioned it here before, but it is important to reiterate in this story that Forrest is super outgoing and friendly.  He is the first to introduce himself to all the new neighbors, switch cell phone numbers for emergency purposes, and offer to lend a tool to a handy neighbor in need.  He loves outside and spends a lot of time outdoors working on our house or sprucing our lawn/garden.  It is safe to say that he knows all the new neighbors on a first name basis. On the other hand..... I don't really like the heat, I hate bugs, and garden work isn't my idea of a good time so I am not outside as often and haven't had the chance to get friendly with the fresh blood on our block.  So I started to play around with the idea of a block party or a progressive dinner party as a chance for everyone to get to meet and mingle.

Definitely Not My Porch

Obviously I love the idea of a progressive dinner party and would welcome the opportunity to cook a meal for a big group of people and use all of my serving dishes and such, but I know not everyone shares my love of cooking and entertaining.  I figured a progressive dinner party might be better for a smaller group and participation could potentially be low since it is a bit more involved and would require a larger investment.  It was the weekend of Jazz Fest in New Orleans when I started coming up with this idea, so I had festivals on my mind.  I have heard of Porch Parties before and people in the South love to mingle on their porches so putting those two ideas together I decided we would organize a Porch Fest on our block.  I asked my talented friend Melanie to design us an invite, and she totally ran with the idea and came up with this super cute invitation.  Thanks, Mel!

Then I searched the net for some cocktail ideas and settled on this fittingly named "Front Porch Lemonade" from Honest Cooking as our signature cocktail.

I plan to serve it in a beverage dispenser on a cute display like the one below.  I saw this on Pinterest ages ago and don't know the original source, so please let me know if you do so I can credit appropriately.

All I need now is some ideas for an hor d'oeuvres that doesn't need to stay hot since it will sit on the porch for a few hours in the New Orleans heat and also something that is single serve in order to make it easy for people to take "one" and go.  So what is a good outside food that could be my signature item to serve on my porch?

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

Caramel Crustaceans

After five years of blogging I have finally decided to hire help in order to publish posts here more frequently.  Luckily my new photography assistant lives very near and getting him on staff was relatively cheap, just a couple of Goldfish and some Graham Crackers was all it took to seal the deal.  Meet our newest member of the Elizabeth's Edible Experience team....

Follow me on Instagram; username: eguill3 to see photos like these as they happen

Rex has definitely entered the "let me do it" AND the copy cat stage of toddlerhood.  He has started to establish a fierce independence coupled with the desire to do exactly what everyone around him is doing.  So when he witnessed me photographing this dish had had to try, but not with any help from Mommy or Daddy of course.  So we let him at it, while we stood nearby snapping pics on our iPhone while praying that our destructive toddler would handle our pricey camera gently!

 

Black Pepper Caramel Shrimp
Adapted from Cooking Light April 2013

 

Ingredients

• 1 (3 1/2-ounce) bag boil-in-bag brown rice
• 1 tablespoon water 
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 1/2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
• 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 cups diagonally cut snow peas
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth 
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce

 

Preparation

1. Cook rice according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Keep warm.

2. Combine 1 tablespoon water and cornstarch in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk; set aside. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add shrimp; sauté 2 minutes or until shrimp begin to turn pink.



Add peas, garlic, pepper, and salt; cook 1 minute. Remove from heat.



3. Combine broth, sugar, and fish sauce in a small saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil; stir in cornstarch mixture. Cook 30 seconds or until mixture thickens, stirring constantly.



Add shrimp to sugar mixture. Cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated; stirring constantly.



Serve over cooked brown rice.



Click Here for My Adapted Printable Recipe

What's at Steak ?

So I took a little blogging hiatus, hopefully you noticed ;-)  If you did, I hope you are glad that I am back!  Life has gotten in the way and unfortunately this blog here got the back burner.  I can remember a time when this little blog was always front and center.  It was a time in my life when I was newly married, living far away from family, itching to test my skills in the kitchen and impress my new husband.  I worked my day job, and then I came home to cook and then blog.  I spent hours researching recipes, photography tips and blogging how-tos.  I used to blog almost every night and it was most often the dish I had cooked only and few hours prior.  It was my biggest hobby and occupied a lot of my time when I first started. In fact, two days ago marked the five year anniversary of my blog Elizabeth's Edible Experience.  Amazing!  Five years of cooking, photographing, composing stories and blogging. April 15, 2008 was my first post and I had no idea what I was doing - both in the kitchen and on blogger. I can honestly say I never thought my blog would endure the way it has.  Even when I take a two month break like I just did, there are still visitors checking out my recipes while I am away and to this day that is still a very exciting feeling. 

Now my life is filled with so many other things that take precedent.  We are living back in my hometown with family where we always have so many things to do.  We built our first home and I am obsessed with decorating it and making it perfect.  I still work full time in a very fulfilling job.  And most importantly we have a precious little 2 1/2 year old son that occupies all of my time and energy.  And it is so worth it.  Life is super good right now!  But luckily, all of the hard work and time I put into my blog before those new developments afforded me a readership that makes coming back here worth it.  And the good news is, we always have to eat, so as long as I keep my camera close and find a few minutes to steal away to the computer to document it all I think Elizabeth's Edible Experience will remain. 

So how many of you have been around since the beginning?  Please let me know in the comments, I would love to hear from my oldest most loyal readers!

 

Hamburger Steak with Onion Gravy
Adapted from Cooking Light April 2013

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground sirloin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 1 tablespoon canola oil, divided
• 1 1/2 cups vertically sliced onion
• 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup unsalted beef stock
• Smoky Haricots Verts and Mushrooms

 

Preparation

1. Divide beef into 4 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2-inch-thick patty. Sprinkle patties evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

2.  Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; swirl to coat. Add patties; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned; remove from pan.



3. Add remaining 1 teaspoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add vertically sliced onion; sauté 3 minutes or until lightly browned and tender.



Sprinkle onion with flour; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add stock and remaining salt and pepper; bring to a boil.



4.  Return patties to pan; reduce heat to medium, partially cover, and cook 5 minutes or until gravy is slightly thickened.  Remove from pan and server or vegetables and mashed potatoes.  Top with gravy.



Click Here for My Adapted Printable Recipe