Happy Healthy New Year

For quite a few years now, I had thought I was a fairly healthy eater. Compared to some people I know, I guess I could say its so, but compared to actual healthful eating, I was off the mark. I certainly prepared my share of veggies, but butter doesn't have to be the star of the show! So now, here we are in 2012, I started weight watchers the first of december. I debated the whole..."its the holidays, why start a weight loss program right at the holidays??" But you know, comes a point, where it would have been super ugly had I gone through the holidays thinking the whole time that I was 'blowing it out' before the diet. 

Instead, I did start it when I did, and I was conscious of my intake throughout the holiday, and it wasn't a big deal! In fact it was so much better! And now, I am so much closer to my goal, and I feel great! 

And I am cooking much better. A LOT less fat and dairy. I miss it, no lie, but I realize it has not been my bf. I now spend a lot of time on a couple of websites with Weight Watchers recipe. One of them is skinnytaste.comn(Thank you Mindy) and I have yet to have a bad recipe. And I have cooked about a dozen things already. 

Tonight I cooked some Asian Spice Turkey meatballs (baked) and some Quinoa prepared like fried rice. I LOVE FRIED RICE. This recipe is so healthful, I am blown away. I was full and completely satisfied. So I shall share it with you. Maybe you would like to feel better after dinner? 

First, though, as a preamble, my sis was having trouble mincing ginger root. I documented the stages for her, and I thought maybe someone else out there may not be to comfy with this odd shaped root. 

Start by cutting as straight a piece as possible. Then peel the rough outer layer. Then slicing planks is easy. Once you have planks, cut them into matchsticks and then a fine dice. There you have it. 

 Now the recipe!! (adapted from skinnytaste.com)
Meatballs
1/4 C Panko bread crumbs
1 1/4lb lean ground turkey
1 egg
1T ginger minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 t salt
1/4 chopped fresh cilantro
3 scallions, chopped
1T low sodium soy sauce
2t sesame oil

Dipping Sauce
4T low sodium soy
2t sesame oil
2T fresh Lime juice
2T water
1 chopped scallion

Preheat oven to 500.

Mix the turkey, panko, eggs, salt, scallions, ginger, cilantro, 1T soy sauce, and 2 t oil and mix it up well with your hands. Take 1/4 C *of mix and form balls. Bake 15 mins, or until done. 

 For dipping sauce, mix all and remianing 2 t of oil. Add scallions.
Transfer meatballs to dish and drizzle with table spoon of oil.

Quinoa:
4C cooked Quinoa
8 scallions
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 red peppers, diced small*
1 tomato diced small*
4t soy
2t fish sauce
2t vegetable oil
spray oil
3 egg whites scrambled
1 whole egg, scrambled
salt

Spray oil in wok and cook eggs with salt, about 1 minute.  Add remaining oil to wok and add scallions, peppers and garlic. Saute about 1 minute add tomato and stir in all quinoa. Add soy and fish sauce stir to mix. Keep stirring a few minutes then add cooked egg and stir another 30 seconds. Adjust soy to taste.

Disclaimers: I made three meatballs out of the 1/4 C, I prefer them small.
I did not add pepper and tomato to the fried rice, didn't feel right to me, make your own decision.
But I will tell you this meal was delish!!

Home Making II

Well, I'm on a bit of a roll, so I may as well do one more to catch up. That leaves only two more that would catch me up. Back on the subject of home making. I have had a sweet lettle pond in my front courtyard for about 6 yrs. I was fond of the pond, but it was messy. Always had to be cleaned. The area surrounding the pond frequently looked messy. Over grown, some dying off, and leaves from the magnolia tree on everything. I decided to remove the pond and just lay stone and make a courtyard for sitting. I had a workman that was going to take care of a lot of the manual labor for me. First we had to remove the pond and fill in the big whole, then clear all the growth out of the area.

This shot was taken at night, but you get the idea. Lot of ferns and fallen leaves. The pond is a plastic form, it came out pretty easy and the space was cleared and the whole filled. My worker came to help lay the flagstone, after we picked them up in my car. Fortunately for me, we didn't get enough. I had to go back and it took a good while and the worker had to go start anther job. I say, that was fortunate, because when I saw what he had done, it was not good. It wasn't level and there was big gaps between stones. He had covered half of the area also. SO I picked it all up and made some calls for estimates to have it done. Hardee Har Har. It is really expensive to get that done. And frankly, I didn't want to pay anyone that much, when it knew it would only take some elbow grease. So, I knuckled down and put down the stone.

After I laid it, I swept sand into the spaces. It looks better and brighter, and now I only have to sweep it. But I am not really happy with it. It i fin for now, it will get me through a few months that I don't have time to mess with it, but I want some one to come and do a professional job. So I hope to have a pretty porch post for you by april!

Home Making

I can't believe I go so long without blogging. I think about it and I take pics and then 2 months went by!
There was a lot going on, so I could really use some catching up, but I will start with the most recent.
I think most of us like a certain panache in our homes. We want them to look stylized, decorated. If that wasn't the majority, HGTV wouldn't be what it is. But I know for sure, I always want to do things around my home. I call my style... Stylized Rustic. I love natural elements and warmth and I always want to decorate as if it were fall. *sigh*.
So there is really only one part of my home that hasn't been touched since we have been in this house, and that is the Master bathroom. Crazy right? But 10 yrs goes by quicker than you think it will and the main part of the house gets all the attention. That's mainly what people see. But it dawned on me that our bathroom was leaving me quite cold. I would just get in and out. Cleaning when I had to, not feeling any love at all. And it was like a light bulb went on and I suddenly realized (seriously, it was very sudden) that I could change it. I didn't have to live with that!! And it wasn't going to take a renovation.

I'm not sure if you can tell, it has a natural grass wallpaper, which is actually pretty cool, but as I am sure you can tell, the glus shows through. I guess that is age. There is no way I am tackling removing wallpaper this year, but, I am considering painting it. I will keep you posted, it won't be until after the first of the year. None the less, what I have done is switched out the light, this fixture is sooooo ugly. I can't imagine someone actually picking that. I have warmed up the floor with cozy rugs and the thing I think is really instrumental in changing the feel here, is a shower curtain. Duh!! I can't believe I didn't do this before. I also hung a picture I found that I find appealing. So, that was the before, and here is the after...

One other thing you can't see, I added a nightlight. That little light of mine (hee hee) casts a golden glove in the bathroom, which makes me feel cozy whenever I go in. And I feel SO MUCH BETTER. I can't tell you. It cost probably in the neighborhood of $150. That includes the light fixture. Maybe I will have inspired some one else now, to make every inch of their home as inviting and styled as you can afford. It only takes a wee bit of effort. 

Jambalaya, crawfish pie and a filet gumbo

If the title didn't tip you off, I was craving cajun food. I have made etouffee once or twice, it was good, and some cajun chicken pasta. But never tried my hand at Jambalaya. It awlays sounded like something I wouldn't be able to get David to eat. This particular recipe I came across actually called for baking and serving it in a zucchini boat. Now, while David has recently discovered that Zucchini is pretty good, I have to be very careful how I tread here. I don't want to scare him off. But I went ahead and gave it a go.
I find the biggest problem with cajun recipes is the green peppers. My hubs really doesn't like them at all. But from experience, I know you really need them to add that true flavor. So if I chop them super fine. I mean, almost pureed, i can get them in. If he doesn't see them, the taste blends in and contributes over all and it isn't an issue. It just means a little extra work.  I actually do put it through the food processor.
Bt this recipe turned out really well. REALLY Well. We loved it. And I would say it is simple enough for a week night meal. Give it a try.
Adapted from the St Pete Times
Jambalaya Stuffed Zucchini
2 medium zucchini - halved lengthwise
1/4 t salt
1/4t garlic powder
1/4t blk pepper
1 T Olive oil
1 small red onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 C diced green bell pepper
1/2C diced celery
1/4 C Tomato paste
1/2 t cajun seasoning ( I used Zatarains Creole)
1t hot sauce
1t Worcestershire
1/2 C chopped andouille sausage
1/2 C shredded cooked chicken
1 C cooked brown rice
Juice of half lemon

Heat oven to 400.
Scrape out and discard seeds from zucchin, creating canoes. Sprinkle with S/ P garlic powder, set on baking sheet.
In a large skillet over medium, heat the olive oil. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft and translucent, 4- 5 mins.
Add green pepper and celery and cook another 4 mins until soft. Add tomato paste, cajun seasoning, hot sauce and worcestershire sauce. Cook until the mixture becomes aromatic and begins to darken in color, about 2 - 3 mins.
Stir in sausage and chicken and rice. Adjust seasoning with S/P and lemon juice. Scoop into zucchini boats.
Roast for 20 mins or until boat is soft.
(the recipe also called for shrimp, feel free to add that).

Catching up

Originally, the idea behind this blog was to be able to report on any number of projects. 

I never intended this to just be about cooking. While I certainly love to cook and that is something one tends to do consistently, I also like to make lots of things. I wanted a forum to be able to show those things as well. 

Summer tends to bring a lull in projects for me. I like to hit the beach and seems like there are more visitors. Whatever the reason I am rarely inspired to create much beyond food during that time. As we roll into fall I am thinking more and more towards things I want to create. I did actually finish up something I had started planning early in the summer. So that is going to be my first project post. Then I have a few meals I want to share. 

So my friend is pregnant, which has brought me around to more thoughts of babies than usual, (usual, heck, more than ever!). I started thinking about memory collages and such. My friend isn't due until Dec, so back in June I asked a co workers if she had any memorabilia from when her 5yr old daughter was born. And if she did, would she trust me with them to play around and create something for her. I was quite honored that she did. So she brought in a small bag full of little reminders of when she had brought little Nikki home. Among otherthings, there was a birth announcement, the plastic bracelets with their names on them, the little crocheted hat she wore home and a little dress and booties, and also a small lock of hair. I was immediatly inspired to create something of a vintage nature. Something that brings to mind warm fuzzy memories. It will hold special meaning for mom for the rest of her life. 

I recently discovered these beautiful little feet that turn a shadow box into a standing diorama. So much easier to display than to only be able to hang it. It transormf it into a more substantial piece in my opinion. 

 I asked her mama to write down the things she would like to wish for her little one, and I highlighted her pretty face with an optical glass. 

The top right corner holds a small glass vial with the hair, ribboned to a vintage key. (Lock of hair and a key. ;) )  Some translucent golden paper gives it that olden glow. Plus some beautiful staining ink. 

I was really pleased with this memory box. Mom was too. She was thrilled. 

Mission accomplished. 

Its (never) too late baby, now.

David went to a "meet up" tonight. Which is nothing like a "hook up". It is an iphone developers group.
So I decided to whip up a little combo of things for dinner (more on that later) and remembered I had recorded a performance by Carole King and James Taylor (reunited at the Troubador) 40 years (OMG 40yrs!!) after they first performed there in 1971. Wow. What a fabulous show. Right off the bat, "So Far Away", Gone to Carolina in My Mind" "Its too Late" "Walk on Down a Country Road". I am absolutely just LOVING This! They sound so great, exactly like they always did. Carole is on the piano, James on his guitar. And it is so neat, after some of the songs, he gets up and goes over and hugs her or takes her hand and it is so sweet to see the love and respect between them.
I sure do remember my sister having CK's Tapestry Album. Even as a kid I loved that album. Ahhh. Good stuff.
Speaking of Good Stuff...
I have been wanting to fix some Fava beans I had in the cabinet. Usually you buy them fresh from the produce dept., but I found some dried ones at the healthfood store and they have been in the cupboard. ( I like that word, 'cupboard') I also had some yellow squash and wanted to fix that so I decided to combine the two.

Fava beans come with a very tough skin on them. Before you can even think about cooking them, you have to give them a quick boil, then a quick ice bath just to peel them. Then when they are peeld you can decide how you want to cook them. I like a nice saute on them. Once cooked they have a lovely creaminess and a flavor, that could almost make you feel like it has taken all its flavor from the other ingredients, but it has contributed its own taste.
I cooked a clove of garlic in some olive oil, added a little onion and then added the squash and beans. I was tasting a bit as I went, and it seemed to need something to brighten it up. So I chopped up a couple of 'ugly' tomatoes and added them. Just for fun I threw in about a tablespoon of coriander seeds. They didn't cook long enough to add any even flavor, but when you bight one, the perfume of it is just an exotic blast.

I also added salt and pepper of course, but the salt was a chunky smoked salt. That stuff is so deep & rich in flavor. look at it...

The dish came out very nice. A couple of things I would do different: I would put the beans in first, let them cook a bit more; then I would add the onions in AFTER the tomatoes, so they didn't cook down so much. What I ended up doing was adding some raw onion to the plate and a bit of butter on top, those last two touches really elevated it.
Between my healthy, veggie dinner and haveing dinner with Carole & James, I have really had a lovely evening.
Now if you excuse me, I need to go to iTunes and buy Tapestry. :)

I came upon a new food blog. Every time I do, I get a twinge of guilt, because I know that is one more day I won't open one of the cookbooks in my cupboard. I love those books, I do. I need to find a way to get them out of the closed up cabinet and displayed. I think that is my new goal. Now that I have a new goal with the neglected books, I can move on to the new recipe! 

So this new blog is "Big Girls, Small Kitchen". From what I can tell, the big means grown up, not large. They are two 20 somethings who have been friends and budding cooks since Jr High. Now they are providing recipes and entertaining tips for their generation using simple techniques and a simple pantry. I enjoyed browsing the site. They are doing noble work. And I will tell you, this recipe was AB FAB!! David and I reallllly enjoyed it. It has a mexican flavor and not an awful lot of effort. Thanks to the fine gentlemen at Surf and Turf, the chicken was cleaned beautifully and ready to throw in. I need to find a good reliable chorizo. The one I got is super tasty, but it is a dried sausage and can be tough. It is a perfect bite for a charcuterie tray, (with some Manchego cheese!) but it worked out ok in this one. Chicken, Chorizo (Spanish sausage), cumin, chili, and of course onions and garlic. (let me add real quick that Spice Islands makes some really stand out spices these days)  And two of my current go to favorite flavors, lime and cilantro. A delightful creaminess is the result of heavy cream and sour cream. Round this out with a couple of pantry staples; flour, chicken broth, butter S & P, and rice for girth and texture and you have a weeknight meal to make you feel like its Fiesta!! 

This dish is one of those that really lend itself to experimentation. I think it would be pretty amazing with some poblano peppers, maybe a Queso Fresco cheese, maybe some seafood. I would also like to try some different grains, not just a rice but maybe farro?  Lots of ideas, but try it straight up as the quarter century girls wrote it. It will make you feel young and 20 something again. Or not, but you'll enjoy it.  

Chicken/Chorizo Casserole adapted from BGSK

Ingredients
1/2 pound chorizo
1  pound boneless skinless chicken thighs
4 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 teaspoons ancho chile powder (or chili powder)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 lime, juiced
3 cups cooked long grain white rice
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
3 cups coarsely shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

In a large cast iron skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat. Brown the chorizo until nicely charred and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove to a plate and set aside. Season the chicken on both sides with salt and 1 teaspoon of the ancho chili powder. Add to the skillet and cook on both sides until browned and cook through, about 15 minutes. Note: if your pan is big enough, you can brown both meats at the same time.

Add the butter and the onions to the pan and saute, scrapping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, remaining chili powder, cumin, salt, and flour. Cook for a few minutes, until the flour has become fully incorporated. Whisk in the broth and simmer until thickened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the cream, sour cream, and lime juice. Gently simmer over medium-low heat until thickened, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.

In the meantime, cut the chicken into 1-inch cubes, and slice the chorizo. Carefully fold in the meats, cooked rice, and cilantro. Use the back of your spatula to even the top of the casserole. Sprinkle the cheese over the top, and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until the cheese is melted, bubbling, and beginning to brown.

Garnish with cilantro leaves and serve straight from the pan.