Grilled Cheese Makeover

I love grilled cheese.  It's one of my favorite food groups, along with chocolate chip cookies.  I'm pretty sure half my meal plan freshman year went to grilled cheese and mashed potatoes at Owens.  And grilled cheese is what I order from room service the night before every big work event. 

Last month my beloved grilled cheese got a makeover.  It's very simple - mustard. 

My Mom had suggested adding mustard earlier in the fall and then over the holidays I had cheese toasts at a cute bar in New York City that were oozing with mustard and covered in bubbly cheese.  AMAZING! 

I replicated at home using deli mustard (a grainy mustard is best) and a combo of Munster cheese and cheddar cheese.  Butter the outside of the slices like you normally would but spread a fair amount of mustard on the inside of the slices and then layer with cheese and deli meat.  I make my grilled cheese over lower heat and cover the pan with a bit of foil to help melt the cheese.  And those are some delicious Alexia frozen sweet potato fries in the background, which are quickly becoming one of my new favorite things! 

Enjoy!

Super Bowl Eats

The Super Bowl is one of my favorite food holidays.  We didn't have plans set until just yesterday but I've known what I was making since January 5.  Pepperoni bread and chocolate chunk brownies.  Probably some other stuff too, but that's what I've had my sights set on. 

Unfortunately I'll be doing all the cooking this weekend so I won't be able to share recipes until after the big game.  For now I'm sharing a few links in case you're on the hunt for ideas and inspiration. 

Pioneer Woman's Top Ten Food Picks for Super Bowl Sunday - a collection from one of the best

Straight from Wisconsin Corn and Sausage Chowder - in case you're feeling less appetizer, more dinner

Buffalo Wing Chicken Dip - feels indulgent but is secretly healthy

Not Guac Avocado Dip - be unique, do something other than salsa and guac!  If you're put off by the darker color that the balsamic vinegar gives this dip, use white balsamic.

Dump Cake - conveniently Super Bowl themed this year as it includes blueberries and cherries and the Pats and Giants colors are red, white and blue.

BBQ Chicken Nachos - make the BBQ chicken mix on Saturday and just heat and serve on Sunday.  Another option with lots of flavor and healthy ingredients.

Caution - once you see these next two recipes you can't unsee them.  And you will spend days and weeks thinking about how and when you could make these (must have a crowd because having all of this to myself would be bad for my 2012 fruit and vegetable challenge).

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

Brownies + Cookies = Brookies

Don't say I didn't warn you ;)

Happy Eating!
xoxo

My Quest for Veggies - 2 week update

Every January my body comes out of the holiday food coma and begins craving healthy food again.  This year in addition to filling the fridge with healthier stuff, I started paying attention to what I was actually putting in my body.  The great realization is that I'm not getting as much balance as I should be.  So I decided to make my quest to eat more fruits and vegetables an official resolution. 

5 cups of fruits and vegetables each week day. 

I picked the number 5 after some haphazard research.  ChooseMyPlate.gov says I need 2 cups of fruit and 2 1/2 cups of vegetables a day.  So I'm calling it 5 and taking whatever mix of fruits and vegetables it turns out to be.

After 2 weeks my key learning is -- this is hard!

Seriously, try it.  Spend the next few days tracking the fruits and veggies you eat.  Prior to this little challenge I was probably consuming 2 to 3 cups.

After focusing on this for 2 weeks I find that with thought and focus, I'm averaging about 4 cups/servings a day.  But that 5th serving... it eludes me. 

So here's where I am:

• Have a veggie or salad dish made and on hand.  Something that makes 6-8 servings and requires no prep after the first time I make it, so I can easily tack it on to my lunch or eat it as a snack between conference calls.  It has to be something I WON'T be eating for dinner, that way I don't get bored or overdo it.  Week one it was tomato and cucumber salad.  Week two it was broccoli slaw.  Week three I'm going for a greek salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, feta and olives.
• Effort is required. You already know this, but you have to make the effort to buy fruit and veggies and prep them in advance.  I'm already fighting my urge to eat something salty and decidedly non-fruit and veggie like, so the healthy option has to be super easy to grab.  I usually do my big grocery shopping on Sunday so I spend an extra half hour to wash and prep everything.  I typically take care of this while I'm waiting for dinner to cook.
• This requires planning.  Nothing over the top, but enough to make sure that you've got necessary supplies in your kitchen and enough opportunities to get 5 cups over the course of the day.  For me, this means a bit more thought before I go to the store so I can be sure to get enough to last the week.  And consciously thinking about what my "daily tally" is a few times a day so I can adjust or make a different decision.
• Cheat.  Thank goodness for V8 juice!  I'm using that to get me to 5 servings while I retrain my body to enjoy fruits and veggies more. 
• Hide veggies where you can in dinner.  More on that in my next update post.
• This isn't cheap.  Fresh fruits and veggies are expensive.  But someone made a great point recently - we spend tons of money to dress our bodies, decorate our homes, own nice things.  Why wouldn't you spend money on the things that you're putting INSIDE your body.  To me that made perfect sense, so I'm trying to pinch pennies on the dried goods and take advantage of sales.  Eat what's in season and use frozen when you can, that also helps cover the gap.

Right now, here's what a good, organized, planned day looks like, where I'm getting 4-5 cups a day -- half a cup of OJ (100% juice counts!) and a banana with my breakfast, some kind of salad or fruit with lunch, a small can of V8 along with whatever else I'm grazing on during the afternoon, and then a veggie and salad with dinner. 

It seems really easy written out like that, but not everything is a full cup and this assumes I have everything on hand and ready to go.  It also assumes I can resist the urge to eat something salty at 3pm.  Not every day is going to run so smoothly.  Sometimes the fridge is empty, I'm traveling, or it was a really, terrible, awful, very bad, no good day and dinner is going to be Taco Bell drive thru thankyouverymuch.  Those days wind up with me eating closer to 2-3 servings.

Now I'd love your help.  Any good veggie or salad recipes I should make?  I know I'm going to get bored in the next 2 weeks and I've got to have some other ideas in my back pocket.

And does anyone have a good broccoli slaw recipe??  I'm looking for a vinaigrette style dressing and also maybe a few key details on whether or not you're supposed to cook that stuff :)

Everything but the Kitchen Sink Pasta

We got 6 inches of snow last Friday and I decided it was the perfect excuse for some "everything but the kitchen sink" pasta!

It's one my Mom taught me when I first moved to Chicago.  She came out the weekend after I moved and took me shopping to set up my kitchen with cute red pots and pans and baking dishes and groceries.  In exchange, Roy and I took her to dinner in boys town on Cinco de Mayo where a VERY inebriated lesbian fell and dry heaved at her flip flopped feet.  Ohhhh the different ending that story could have had.  Remember that time Mom?  It's totally the way you should thank someone you love after they outfit your kitchen :)

Knowing me the way mothers know their daughters, she wanted to make sure to teach me something using my new kitchen goodies to ensure they'd get used in the future.  So she taught me this.  Because of that, around these parts it goes by "Ma Rob's Tasty Pasta" in addition to "Everything but the Kitchen Sink Pasta".

It's fantastic!  A go-to crowd pleaser packed with lots of delicious ingredients like prosciutto, sun dried tomatoes, peas, mushrooms, onions and pine nuts.  It's a bit salty and smoky with the prosciutto, the peas and pine nuts lend it some crunch and the mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes give it a subtle earthiness.  And it's so flavorful!  Try it the next time you want some good comfort food.

*****

Ma Rob's "Everything but the Kitchen Sink" Pasta
serves 6-8, 40 mins

1 jar Vodka Sauce
1 Tbsp olive oil
6-8 slices of prosciutto, roughly chopped (cutting prosciutto with kitchen scissors is MUCH easier)
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp sun dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 cup button mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 cup frozen peas
small jar of pine nuts
1 package (9 oz) of fresh linguine


Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat.  Add chopped onions and prosciutto.  Cook until onions are soft and translucent and the prosciutto is browned a bit. 

Add sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms and peas.  Stir and cook for 2-3 more minutes.

Add vodka sauce, turn heat down to low and cover.  Add linguine to boiling water and cook until al dente (linguine cooks VERY quickly, in 2-3 minutes). 

Reserve a cup of pasta water and then drain the pasta when it's done.  Add pasta to the pan and stir to combine with the sauce. If the sauce is too thick, mix in half a cup of the reserved pasta water to thin it out.  When you're happy with the sauce, sprinkle pine nuts over and serve.

Updated: Corn and Sausage Chowder

Last week I talked about how I love fresh starts. There are lots of things on my list for 2012 which is why I'm backing off a bit from formal blog posting and going to a more helter skelter, stream of conscience format (think: Phoebe's style of running in Friends, which coincidentally, is exactly how I think Foster runs when we're at the park). 

This is one of my first new year, new rules "helter skelter" posts.  It's a link to one of my favorite meals that I posted about last spring, but with an update on timing.  I'm reposting this because it's amazing.  And if you haven't tried it yet, you should.  It's one of my all time family favorites and it's delighted all those who've tried it so far.  The mere mention of chowder is all it takes to make my younger brother jealous.  And somehow, Seth always finds his way over for dinner when I make this. 

"It's delicious!" -Seth, captured mid-bite by my lovely cell phone cam

As I mentioned in the original post, I always make this over the holidays.  Some families make Christmas cookies.  I make chowder.  This year, I made dueling pots and froze a batch to break out later this winter. 

that dark blob in the upper left corner is a bay leaf, I promise!

In making the dueling pots, I realized some of my timing was off in the original post. So I'm reposting the recipe with updated timing.  

I also wanted to toss out some of the suggested substitutes you guys made when you tried this in your own kitchen:

• For some spice - 1/2 lb chorizo and 1/2 lb Italian sausage
• For some "awesomeness" - 1/2 lb mild sausage and 1/2 lb hot sausage
• For something a bit lighter - use 1 cup heavy cream, 1 cup half and half, 1 cup whole milk (chowder will be a bit thinner)

*****

Corn and Sausage Chowder

Serves 6-8
90 mins


Ingredients:
1 lb bulk pork sausage (I use mild, feel free to try hot to kick it up a bit)
1/2 c. coarsely chopped onion
1/2 c. coarsely chopped celery
1/2 c. diced red peppers
2 large baking potatoes, peeled and cut into a 1/2 inch dice (4 cups)
1/2 tsp. crushed dried marjoram
1/2 tsp. chopped rosemary
1/2 tsp. chopped basil
1 bay leaf
3 c. water
3 Tbsp chicken base or 3 bouillon cubes
1 - 17 oz can whole kernel corn (do not drain)
1 c. whole milk
2 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. brandy
salt and pepper to taste

For the Roux:
Take 4 Tbsp flour and 4 Tbsp of butter (half a stick) and mix with a fork until pea size balls are formed.  When the recipe calls for it add 1/2 the roux at a time.

Directions:
In a large soup pan, brown sausage over high heat and drain the fat.

Add onions, celery and red peppers to the soup pot with the sausage.  Saute over high heat (if 1 is low and 7 is high, I go with a 5) until onions are transparent.

Add brandy and let it reduce until it's almost gone.

Add herbs, bay leaf, potatoes, water, chicken base or bouillon cubes, and corn.  Let simmer until potatoes are tender (takes me about 15 minutes).

Add milk and heavy cream, bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and thicken to desired consistency with roux (takes 15 minutes to thicken after you add the roux).

Season with salt and pepper, serve with bread.

New Year, New Rules & New Resolution

New Year:  I love a fresh start!  One of my favorite things growing up was the night before the first day of school.  New outfit, fresh binders full of clean ruled paper, new pens, and a year full of possibility.  I still get that excited when I open a new notebook.  And I love the inspiration that a new year brings for tackling your personal to-do list.  Not the one for work, the one full of fun stuff like:

• Practicing yoga and photography
• Satisfying my addiction to Dexter by watching the next 5 seasons on Netflix
• Traveling
• Digging even deeper into food with some cooking classes and a few new cookbooks

Unfortunately all this new year business plus a kind of ridiculous workload for my job means less time for blogging. Which leads me to...

New Rules:  I spent a lot of time marinating (haha, lame food pun intended) about this blog before finally jumping in. I've told you all my culinary history - what on earth was I thinking, a food blog!?!  But I spent time reflecting on my food point of view and thinking about how to make it work and I took the plunge and put myself out there. 

I have to say, it's been a pretty cool experience!  I reconnected with old friends, uncovered a shared passion with new friends, and learned not to apologize for who I am. Opening up my kitchen and recipe books to you all virtually has been a wonderful experience.

But it's time for a change. The process of food blogging is crazy labor intensive. To post on a weekly basis I have to cook new stuff on a weekly basis, AND it has to be good enough for me to share.  Then I have to snap photos of everything in my kind-of-ill-suited-to-be-a-photography-studio kitchen, upload the photos, edit the photos in Lightroom and upload the final pictures to PhotoBucket.  Then it's time to write the post, attempt to be witty, proof the post (who are we kidding, I hate proof reading), preview the post, sleep on it, make adjustments, and then publish the post.  And if I have time, share it via social media.

I'm tired just thinking about it. 

But I'm not ready to throw in the towel on blogging yet.  So new year, new rules.  Less pomp and circumstance, less focus on trying to "grow" my readers, and less formality and pressure.  More stream of conscience, more straight out of the kitchen photos (so I can eat dinner while it's still hot), and more ideas and thoughts.  Like a personal letter.  Hopefully you guys will bear with me and this will work out better for both of us. I can't guarantee I'll be posting weekly but I'm hoping for once or twice a month and with more content. And finally...

New Resolution:  I don't really do resolutions. Instead, around my birthday I typically pick one or two things about myself that I'd like to work on and I make that my goal for my __th year. Stuff like being a more confident leader, better managing my time, ditching the unnecessary pressure I tend to put on myself, getting more exercise, being more receptive to feedback, you get the point.

I've been making a point to eat more fruits and vegetables in the new year and I decided to make it an official resolution. I'm going attempt to eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day.  Ok, each weekday  :)

I'm always inspired to eat healthier in January so it seemed like good timing for this kind of challenge. I've been at it for a few days now and so far the only result is that I'm much more conscious of what I'm putting in my body. I think I've hit 5 servings all of once in the past week.  Do you know how hard it is to abide by those guidelines!?!

Ok, that's a lot for one post.  But I'm looking forward to the new way of doing things in 2012. 

Anyone else making big changes or resolutions in 2012?

Chicken with White Wine Sauce (Cooking Light)

I believe in the philosophy "everything in moderation".  But sometimes you have one of those weekends that includes too much wine and cheese at book club, a parade of appetizers and beer for a football game, a brunch with comfort food and old friends, and then some occasional late night fridge raiding.  Given that it's just days after Christmas and New Years, I'm sure I'm not the only one feeling this way.

After weekends like that, I make recipes like this.  Filling and flavorful, but a bit friendlier towards my body which is usually craving vegetables by that point.  [And there's a sentence I never thought I'd type]

Chicken with white wine sauce has been a standard for the Royfriend and I for the past 2 or 3 years.  It's one of our go-to's after long weekends when we're eager to get back on track.  It's absolutely delicious... the onions get so soft and sweet they melt in your mouth and the white wine vinegar gives normally bland chicken some really good flavor.  The little bit of butter at the end gives it a hint of richness so you forget you're eating healthy food, it's one of my favorites.

I also love this because it's one of those recipes that makes my life easier.  Most of the ingredients live in my pantry and I can have it on the table in under 30 minutes.  Extra bonus - the leftover sauce keeps well in the fridge (only pour the sauce over the chicken you're eating that night, put the rest in the fridge and reheat for leftovers).

I prefer to use thinly sliced chicken breasts for this recipe.  I don't have a good reason, other than thinly sliced chicken breasts seem to provide a better ratio of sauce to chicken.  I typically season my chicken with salt and pepper and then bake in the oven for 20 minutes.  This is really good served over penne pasta but you can also serve it with a regular side and a salad like I did in the photo above.

After traveling through 4 airports and 5 cities to see family and friends over the holidays, my body is definitely crying out for some "responsible food" (aka: not Taco Bell).  And I suspect I'm not the only one, so I thought I'd share one of my lighter recipes.  Stay tuned cause there's more healthy food to come!

Happy Holidays!

*****

Chicken with White Wine Sauce (Cooking Light)
Serves 4-6; 25 mins active

Cooking spray
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh chives
1.5 lbs thin sliced chicken breasts
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Season chicken with salt and pepper and bake for 20 minutes until cooked through.  While chicken is baking, heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add finely chopped onion to pan; sauté 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

Stir in chicken broth, white wine, and white wine vinegar; bring to a boil.

Cook until reduced to 1/4 cup (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat; stir in butter and fresh chives.  Spoon sauce over chicken and serve warm.