THANKSGIVING!

It was a great Thanksgiving. We had 23 people and two turkeys, so you'll have to scale the amounts down for smaller crowds if you would like to make any of the recipes.

I do Thanksgiving the make-ahead way whenever possible, and with all of the pans that need to go into my one oven, the crock-pots really come in handy. We had four going this year! Everything came great- and the turkeys were my best yet! Special thanks to Mom for doing such a beautiful job carving, and to Andrew, Mom, Sabrina and Jill for all of their help. Pies were all made from scratch by Mom, who also did the fried asparagus and meat stuffing. We'll have to get her to share her recipes. And Sabrina did the fried cauliflower which was delish as well as the snacks and salad. Jill made some beautiful fruit platters and took pics for me. It was really a group effort!

If you have any Thanksgiving recipes that are particularly good for making-ahead or large crowds, please share!

Brine for 2- 17 lb turkeys
3 gallons water
1 1/2 cups kosher salt
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 oranges, quartered
3 lemons, quartered
9 sprigs thyme
6 sprigs rosemary
dash ground cloves

Dissolve the salt and sugar in cold water in a nonreactive container (such as a clean bucket or large stockpot, or a clean, heavy-duty, food grade plastic storage bag). Add the oranges, lemons, thyme, and rosemary. Note: if you have a big turkey and need more brine than this, use 1/2 cup salt and 1/2 cup brown sugar for every gallon of water.
Remove the neck, giblets, and liver from the cavity of the turkey. Rinse the turkey inside and out under cold running water.
Soak the turkey in the brine, covered and refrigerated, for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.
Notes:
Brined about 12 hours. Container needed slightly more than 3 gallons water.

TURKEY!
2 (16 to 17-pound) Butterball turkeys
2 large oranges
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Salt and pepper
4 onions, cut into 1/8ths
4 stalks celery, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 large carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 sprigs thyme
4 sprigs rosemary
1/2 bunch sage
6-8 sprigs parsley

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Remove the turkey from the brine and rinse well under cold running water. Pat dry with paper towels both inside and out. Place turkey in a large roasting pan.
Rub breast side with orange segments and rub on all sides with the butter, stuffing some underneath the skin. Season lightly inside and out with salt and pepper. Stuff the turkey with the onion, orange, celery, carrot, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, sage and parsley, placing some of each item in bottom of pan.
Loosely tie the drumsticks together with kitchen string, if necessary. Add about 1 cup water to bottom of pan. Roast the turkey, uncovered, breast side DOWN for 1 hour.
Remove from the oven, carefully turn turkey over, and baste with 1/2 cup liquid from pan. Continue roasting, uncovered with the breast side UP, until an instant-read meat thermometer registers 165-170 degrees F when inserted into the largest section of thigh (avoiding the bone), about 2-21/2 hours more. Baste the turkey occasionally with juice from pan.
Remove from the oven and place on a platter or new pan, reserving drippings for gravy. Immediately tent tightly with aluminum foil and let rest for 20-50 minutes before carving.
Notes:
Turkeys were 16.94 and 16.76 lbs and VERY meaty. Plenty with lots of leftovers for 23 people (also had ham).
Checked after 3.5 hours cooking total- were at 170.
Very difficult to flip in oval foil roasters. Double pans next year.
When done cooking, slide roasters out onto cookie sheet to lift to counter. (Lots of juice)
Did not need to cover with foil.
Counters are dark- next year, carve on table or get lamp for counter.
Used 4 cups strained drippings for gravy with McCormicks gravy packets- next year make 5-6 cups.

Slow Cooker Bread Stuffing
1 1/2 cups butter or margarine
3 cups chopped onion
3 cups chopped celery (approx 4 stalks)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
12 cups dry bread cubes (used 2 bags seasoned crumbs, not cubes)
2 1/4 teaspoons dried sage
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
3/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
2 1/4 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 cups veg or chicken broth, or as needed

1.Melt butter or margarine in a skillet over medium heat. Cook onion, celery, and parsley in butter, stirring frequently.
2.Spoon cooked vegetables over bread cubes in a very large mixing bowl. Season with poultry seasoning, sage, thyme, marjoram, and salt and pepper. Pour in enough broth to moisten. Transfer mixture to slow cooker, and cover.
3.Cook on High for 45 minutes, then reduce heat to Low, and cook for 4 to 8 hours stirring occasionally. Add broth as needed
Notes:
Very tasty but was a little dry and crumbly (only used approx 3.5 cups broth), very similar to Stove-Top). Try cubes next year.
Made night before but did not add stock and bread until am.
Plenty for 23 people (also had meat stuffing) with a good amount left-over.
Fit in large 6 qt Crock pot.

Stuffed Mushrooms
2 1/2 cups Italian-style dried bread crumbs
2 1/2 cups grated Locatelli
8 garlic cloves, peeled and minced (from jar)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil or as needed
2 40-oz baskets of medium size mushrooms, stemmed

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Stir the bread crumbs, Pecorino Romano, garlic, and salt and pepper, to taste, and 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium bowl to blend. (Mixture should be a little sticky.)
Place remaining olive oil in a small bowl. Dunk each mushroom in the olive oil making sure to coat inside and out, and place on baking sheet. Add more olive oil as needed.
Press the filling into the mushroom cavities and arrange on the baking sheet, cavity side up.
Drizzle remaining oil over the filling in each mushroom.
Bake until the mushrooms are tender and the filling is heated through and golden on top, about 25 minutes. Serve.
Notes:
Fits in two, deep half-size pans (stack in two layers to cook)
Used homemade toasted seasoned crumbs.
Did not make from night before.
Plenty for 23 people, with a good amount left-over.

Sweet Potato Marshmallow Bake
4-40oz cans sweet potatoes, drained
10 1/2 cups mini marshmallows (two bags)
1 1/2 stick margarine
3 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 cup OJ
2 3/4 tsp nutmeg
1 3/4 tsp. salt

Melt margarine and add cinnamon, nutmeg, OJ, and salt.
Place drained sweet potatoes in a large bowl and add margarine mixture. Mash together until well blended and desired consistency.
Spoon into lightly greased baking dish.
Bake at 350 15 to 20 minutes or until sweet potato mixture is heated through. Add marshmallows and cook another 10 minutes. If necessary, broil 1 minute on low until marshmallows are lightly browned.
Notes:
Fits in one large (9x13) and one small (7x11) roasting pan. (Could have fit one more can.)
Made night before (do not add marshmallows).
Plenty for 23 people- a good amount left-over.
Had to broil 2 minutes to get marshmallows to brown. Next time, broil only ONE minute and check.

Cheesy Green Bean Casserole
8 cans string beans, drained
4 cans Cream of Mush Soup
2- 6oz cans French's Fried Onions
1 soup can whole milk
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp black pepper

Stir together soup, milk, cheese, pepper, beans, and 1 can onions. Pour into greased casserole.
Bake at 350 for 25 min
Top with remaining onions
Bake 5 more minutes.
Notes:
Fits in one large (9x13) and one small (7x11) pyrex baking dish. (Could have fit one more can.)
Plenty for 23 people, with a good amount left-over.
Made from night before.
Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes
10 lbs eastern potatoes
1 quart half-and-half
1 pound unsalted butter
salt and pepper, to taste

Peel and cube potatoes. Place in large stockpot with 1 gallon salted water overnight.
Replace with fresh water. Boil then simmer until tender, approx 20 minutes.
Drain immediately
Melt butter.
Add butter and half and half to potatoes and mash.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Place in greased crock-pot and cook on low up to 4 hours, stirring occasionally. Lower to warm of potatoes start to brown.
Notes:
10 lbs way too much for 23 people. Make 7.
Didn't use entire quart of half-and-half. Should have used.
Fit in lg 6 qt crock pot.

Other Yummy Things:

Anniversary and Cake-er-versary

Andrew and I just celebrated our 2-year anniversary. Can you believe it has been TWO years? Crazy. Anyway, he was very sweet to me and picked up 2 very large cupcakes from Crumbs for our anniversary dessert. One was Brownie and the other was Caramel Apple. I should have taken their pictures before we cut them, but I forgot. They were delish.

We were in Mexico for our 1 year anniversary last year, so we never got around to eating the top of our wedding cake. It has been in my mom's spare freezer. I know what you are thinking- ew, gross, right? Well, we defrosted it this week, and I have to say, we were pleasantly surprised! It held up really well. No freezer burn or anything! And completely edible! How romantic!

The Magical Properties of Peanut Butter

Did you know that if you micro peanut butter (go for the low-fat Skippy) and a few tablespoons of fat free half-and-half for 30 second intervals and stirstirstir, you get a magical peanut butter sauce?? OK, maybe it is not magical, but it is very delicious on fat free fro-yo! Can you see why I have not had time to blog?? I have been too busy discovering magical things in the kitchen!

Fancy Devil

I love making devilled eggs. Especially the testing part of "making."

I don't follow a recipe. Sorry. I know that's annoying, but it's a pretty simple process.

I use eggs, mayo, salt, black pepper, and a bit of dry mustard (secret ingredient). I keep tasting little bits until the amounts are right. (Don't worry, you will have plenty!) The trick is to get the consistency you want with the yolk and mayo, then add just a bit of salt/pepper/dry mustard at a time until you love it. Good advice, yes? It won't take as much salt as you may think because of the mayo. Nothing against salt, of course. You know how I love it. Just being honest.

Everyone likes a different "devil-level," so I add just a light sprinkle of cayenne pepper to the tops once they are filled for those that like it hot (and I mean a light sprinkle- don't sprinkle from the jar. Use your fingers, then WASH THEM). Then they get paprika for more color. Those that don't like it hot, get paprika only.

The eggies in the photo were made with a decorating tip and frosting bag because it was a special occasion (Rosh Hashanah). Usually, I just use a tiny spoon.

Please do not ask me about hard-boiling eggs. It is a crap-shoot, especially with an electric range. Sometimes the shells stick, and sometimes they don't. If anyone knows the trick (and don't say "run them under cold water as soon as they are cooked") please do tell!

Look, Mom!

We took your advice!

I can only take credit for the eggs. The pizza (potato, bacon, onion, rosemary) is curtesy of Butera's of Seaford. Yum! I love brunchy things!

I bet you wanna know what's in this tomato...

Sorry! Can't tell you. Have to pack for AC. Maybe I'll tell you when I get back, after I tell you all about how I won big on the slots!

OK, ok. I'll tell you what's in there, but don't think less of me!

I know it looks small in the pic, but that is actually a "tomato on the vine" tomato. I had about 5 of them that I needed to use before we went to AC (where I did not hit the jackpot, btw). There was also a cut up chicken breast in the fridge for some reason that needed to be eaten (3-day rule). So, I thought to make stuffed tomatoes. I was going to stuff them with the chicken and a cheesy risotto (yay cheese!), but the trains were late and I was running short on time, and although I do not make it often, I know you you cannot rush risotto. So I bought a box of Rice-a-Roni Parmesan blend. I know! I know! I am such a cheater and I really prefer to cook from scratch. But hey, at least it was ORGANIC. And 99 cents :)

So, once it was cooked, into the rice went a cup of part-skim mozzarella (yay cheese!), the chicken which I heated for a minute in the micro, and a handful of fresh chopped basil.

I hollowed out the tomatoes and stuffed with the rice mixture, then topped each one with fresh, whole wheat breadcrumbs tossed with seasonings (garlic, salt, pepper) and a bit more cheese (yay cheese!). There was a lot of filling left over, so I put that in the dish and topped with breadcrumbs as well. It helped the tomatoes from falling over while they were heating. Then I drizzled olive oil on top and popped them into a 350 oven just until the tops started to get brown. Yum! They were very filling, which meant that Sabrina was lucky and got to have one for lunch the next day. The End.

Using What You've Got

Sometimes there is stuff in your fridge that has been in there a while and you are tired of looking at it. You probably bought it on sale and didn't really have a plan for it, but now you are forced into using it because it is going to expire/spoil/start growing fuzz and you really hate wasting, especially when "times are tough."

That happened to me this week with eggs. Their time had come.

Now, we love eggs. We usually have them every Sunday morning (aren't I a wonderful wife?). But that is why when I need to use them for dinner, I have trouble. I happen to like "breakfast-for-dinner" but it isn't very exciting and sometimes it is not filling enough. I know what you're thinking- why not make a quiche? *Hello* we are trying to eat healthy here!

So I asked around and got a few ideas, but nothing I was really thrilled with. Andrew and I both love poached eggs, and during my dinner research, I came across an oddly named dish called: shakshuka. I love food that is fun to say! (see: Fricassee Fricassee Fricassee) Some sources credited this dish to the Arabs, and others said it is Israeli.

The traditional recipe is basically very chunky tomato sauce flavored with onion, garlic and paprika or another spice-one recipe called for cumin. Where do the eggs come in? you ask. Well, get this- you poach the eggs on TOP of the tomato sauce! I felt this was definitely worth trying, but thought I would give the recipe a Mediterranean spin. That, of course, justified the feta cheese (yay cheese!) and the garlic bread. I bought a large dense whole wheat loaf and cut it into wedges which were then spread with ICB (it's not butter) and sprinkled with garlic powder (so? sometimes I am lazy) and paprika. I didn't toast it too much, because I wanted the inside to stay soft for dipping.

It isn't the most photogenic dish, but I could not believe how tasty it was! I would have never thought to serve eggs in tomato sauce. When I was looking for eggy meal ideas, Greg had suggested a dish called "eggs in purgatory", which is actually a real thing (!). I thought it was just a cute name he made up for eggs in tomato sauce. I guess this dish is very much like that, but not as saucy because most of the liquid evaporates. This is also an easy cleanup meal because you do everything in one pot!

Mediterranean Shakshuka

• 5 eggs
• 2 14.5oz cans stewed tomatoes (I used the kind that had some other stuff in there- I think it was onion, garlic and celery)
• 2 small onions, diced
• 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning (you know, oregano, basil, etc, etc)
• 1 teaspoon paprika (if you have hot paprika or you don't like things too spicy, add a little at a time and taste it)
• salt & pepper to taste (taste it before you add the eggs)
• 1/2 cup reduced fat feta cheese (yay cheese!)

1. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent. (I found that using a large non-stick frying pan worked well for this recipe, but make sure you have something that has a cover- preferably a glass one)
2. Add one can stewed tomatoes with juice, and one can stewed tomatoes without juice. Break up tomatoes with the back of a spoon.
3. Add tomato paste, stir, and let mixture thicken until almost all liquid is gone.
4. Add Italian seasonings, paprika and salt.
5. Carefully crack each egg over tomato mixture.
6. Add feta cheese between eggs on top of tomato mixture and cover. (The idea is to get the cheese to melt while the eggs poach.)
7. Cook about 5-7 minutes, or until eggs are done enough for your taste. (I watched mine through the glass cover and took the pan off the heat when the eggs had just become coated over with white. The whites were juicy, and the yolk was still runny, just how I like it!)
8. Spoon tomato mixture and 2 eggs onto each plate and serve with pitas or garlic bread.

Here's the Beef

OK, ok. So I lost my momentum. Big deal. Hopefully this recipe will make up for it.

We don't eat a lot of red meat in our house. I am convinced that it really isn't good for us, so I'll cook it maybe once a month on "special-occasion red-meat-night." (No, we don't really call it that.) The truth is, I haven't found much that you can do with ground beef that doesn't work well with ground turkey. Don't get me wrong- I can appreciate a really good steak every now and again, but my tastes run to the more expensive cuts and I don't trust myself cooking an expensive steak. So that's the kind of thing I'll order out when the mood strikes me.

Anyway, this is pretty much a fool-proof recipe for Shredded Beef Sandwiches. I couldn't resist the deal someone was running on whole boneless eye round a while back. I think it was 1.39 per pound. The catch is that they were all HUGE. Well, now I know that I CAN cram a 6 pound roast into my crock pot. I don't recommend making a roast that big though- I couldn't fit all of the liquid I wanted to, so there went my plans to make French Onion Soup with the left-over broth. I am reducing the recipe to 4 pounds. Trust me- you'll still have lots left over which you can use in other things... like tacos!
Or, you can do what I did and invite the fam for dinner! Mom and Dad came over and Sabrina even made it out on a work night for this one! :) We played UNO after dinner and ate Twizzlers. Good times!

Shredded Beef Sandwiches
4 pounds boneless eye round
2 tablespoon minced garlic (Go for the jar 'o garlic!! You'll thank me!)
1 tablespoon dried rosemary (Crush it up in your fingers a bit.)
3 bay leaves
2 medium onions, diced (optional)
1 cup soy sauce (shh...don't tell my dad)
2 cans low-sodium beef broth (or you can substitute water)
3 cups water (If you can't fit this much, it is OK. Don't overfill your crock pot.)

Most recipes will tell you to brown the roast in a pan before tossing it in the crock pot. NOT THIS ONE!

1. Place the onions (if using) and garlic in the bottom of the crock pot.
2. Place the roast on top of the onions and garlic.
3. Place bay leaves and rosemary in crock pot.
4. Pour soy sauce, water and broth over roast.
5. Cook on low for at least 10 hours or up to 12 hours. (Maybe you can leave it even longer, but I have not tried that.)
6. Remove roast from crock pot and scrape off fat and gross stuff. Once it is clean, shred the roast with a fork.
7. Now- you have some options here. The "gravy" is going to be pretty oily and the easiest way to remove the fat is to stick it in the fridge overnight and let it harden. Then you can just spoon it off. If you are looking to eat right away, I recommend using a gravy separator or a ladle to skim the fat off the top of the gravy. You have to have a little patience to do this, but at least you get to eat right away.
8. Place the shredded beef on sturdy rolls (brush the insides with garlic and olive oil and toast lightly-yum!) and top with muenster or provolone cheese (yay cheese!) or any other cheese you like. They are all good in my book! (Well, except for those really stinky ones.)
9. Dig in.

I currently have a 9 pound boneless pork loin in my fridge, so if anyone has a recipe they want to share, I'll probably need three or four. This sucker is *not* going to fit in my crock pot. Come to think of it, it may not even fit in my oven...

A Long Story About Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

This was the first lasagna I ever made, and I will probably not ever be able to duplicate the recipe. It is sort of a long story, which is why it took me so long to blog about it. I'll give it a go...

Back in July, I cut up about a million green and yellow squash, mushrooms, peppers, and onions, and marinated them in some homemade italian dressing. I brought them to our family picnic, and skewered them for the BBQ, but there was really too much food, and I ended up with a whole gallon ziplock bag of veggies that didn't make it onto skewers.

Now, normally, I would just cook them at home, but I didn't. I don't remember why. Maybe because Andrew doesn't eat mushrooms or peppers.... Anyway, I stuck them in the freezer knowing that it might be a bad idea, and they might get totally sogged out. A gallon freezer-bag stuffed full of chopped up veggies is a really annoying thing to have to maneuver around in your freezer, so I finally got sick of it in there and put it in the fridge to defrost.
I thought that maybe I could make them into a vegetable lasagna if I cut up the veggies even more and used a LOT of cheese (yay cheese). I looked up some recipes and couldn't find anything quite right, so I took some bits from here and there and made my own recipe. I was really hoping it turned out well, because all of that cheese was very expensive. (What is up with ricotta cheese costing so much??) My main concern was the water factor. I knew that the veggies might sog up the lasagna, so I roasted them first at 400 for about 45 minutes so they released most of their water during roasting, instead of during lasagna time.
As you can see from the pics, it turned out to be a very pretty lasagna, and it was also very yummy!

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna
6 cups diced vegetables, marinated in italian seasonings, roasted, cooled and drained
1 box frozen chopped spinach, thawed (squeezed out all the water)
2 lbs ricotta cheese
4 cups shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp red pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

4 tbsp butter
2 tbsp chopped garlic
2 tsp salt
2 cups fat free half and half (or milk)
1 cup skim milk
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup flour (I used whole wheat)
2 packages no-cook lasagna noodles (genius!)

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Combine first 9 ingredients, reserving 1 cup mozzarella.
3. Heat butter and garlic over medium heat.
4. When butter is melted, add flour and salt slowly, stirring to combine until a thick paste is formed.
5. Slowly add half and half and milk, stirring constantly until mixture is thickened. Do not let the bottom scorch.
6. Add cheese once mixture is hot and stir to melt.
7. Spray lasagna pan with non-stick spray.
8. Coat the bottom of the pan with white sauce.
9. Add one layer of noodles to the bottom of the pan, spread with 1/2 of the vegetable filling, then top with white sauce.
10. Add another layer of noodles, and repeat with the rest of the vegetable filling and sauce reserving about 3/4 cup of sauce.
11. Add top layer of noodles and add the rest of the white sauce to the top of the noodles.
12. Cover pan with foil, and bake for 1 hour.
13. After 1 hour, uncover pan and add remaining 1 cup mozzarella cheese to the top of the lasagna.
14. Bake for 15 minutes. If top does not brown, place the pan under the broiler briefly to brown cheese.

Whew!

There are no tomatoes in this recipe, which is a little sad. I had picked up a container of grape tomatoes on sale (1.28!) so I sliced them in half and tossed with extra-virgin olive oil and salt, and served them on the side.

Tropical Storm Chili

We were supposed to be going to the city for Erin's birthday tonight, but with the storm and everything, we thought we should stay home rather than risk getting stuck in Manhattan. I had thought to crock-pot the 6 pound roast in my fridge today, but I was worried that the power would go out.

I really didn't want to venture out into the rain and wind to go to the store, so I decided to work with what I had. (I actually roasted a bunch of vegetables that I may turn into a lasagna later this week, but I didn't have all of the ingredients to pull that together tonight.) I whipped up a quick batch of turkey chili, which ended up being quite delicious! We eat a lot of Mexican, but I have not made chili in a while. (The 97% fat-free cans of turkey chili are always in the closet for an emergency meal, but although they taste good, the idea that it comes from a can sort of grosses me out.) Sabrina has a great vegetarian recipe she makes, but that one calls for some odd ingredients I don't have lying around.

What I do always have are a variety of beans and tomatoes, so this worked out. Of course we ate it with BOTH cheese (yay cheese) and sour cream. Andrew made his into wraps. The spice factor was just right for me. It definitely had a kick-the cold beer I had with it really hit the spot- but it didn't make my eyeballs sweat or anything.

Tropical Storm Turkey Chili

• 1 onion



• 2 heaping tsp chopped garlic



• 1-1.5 lbs ground turkey



• 1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes, drained



• 1 15 oz can beans, drained (I used red beans, but you can use black or any other type of chili bean you like)



• 1 8oz can corn, drained



• 1 15oz can tomato sauce



• 1 tbsp chili powder



• 1/2 tsp salt



• 1/2 tbsp paprika



• 1/2 tbsp cumin



• 1 tsp red pepper flakes



• 1/2 tbsp Worchestershire



• 1/2 tsp liquid smoke (you can skip this if you don't have it, but it adds a nice flavor)



• 1/2 tbsp hot sauce, or more to taste

1. Brown meat over medium heat.



2. Add onion and garlic when most of the pink is gone from the meat.



3. Cook approx 5 minutes.



4. Add all other ingredients and stir to combine.



5. Simmer over low-medium heat 30 minutes, stirring every 5-7 minutes. (Of course, you can cook this a lot longer, just make sure you keep stirring. If it looks like it is getting too dry, cover the pot. If it still looks too dry, add liquid- water or broth will do, or if you want to get fancy, you can add beer or wine which will add some depth to the flavors. Just make sure you cook off the alcohol. )



6. Serve with cheese (yay cheese) or sour cream or cornbread or chips or all of the above.

Potatoes?? Oh, Happy Day!

We were supposed to whip out the mini bbq tonight and roast some 97% fat free hot dogs, but then we found out that they would be spraying our areas for west nile. Would you like a side of fries with your pesticide? Yum.

So we made them in the grill pan instead. Since it was the first night of football, I made celebratory spicy oven fries. I don't normally make us potatoes, so this was really a special occasion. Because I really love football* (*please note sarcastic tone).

I sliced a few potatoes into thin wedges, and tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, dried parsley, paprika and cayenne. Mmmm! Spicy! Oh yeah- I also threw in about a tablespoon of sugar, because I read that it helps crisp up oven fries. It worked pretty well. They were in a 425 oven for about 35 minutes. I'll go a bit easier on the olive oil next time.

Mom came over to play Scrabble with me while Andrew watched the game. It was fun, and nice to visit with mom during the week, but I think my brain might be too tired on weeknights for Scrabble. We might have to stick to less challenging games like Uno.

Tomorrow we are having dinner with Andrew's family. I will do my best to pick something delicious yet moderately healthy. I have to make sure I stay in shape so I can kick Andrew's butt at tennis.

Leftovers with Biff and Buffy

Biff and Buffy are the names my mom calls us when we go play tennis, which we did tonight. It was a great night for it- we both caught the early train, and it had really cooled off by around 7. We had to try a different park, because the courts were full at the first one, but we still got a good amount of playing in before it got too dark. I really need to work on my serve. It will be sad when it is dark out before we even get home.

We had leftovers tonight that I brought back from my trip to Gram's on Monday. She's a tricky one to cook for. She's diabetic and has to watch her salt and fat. I went with a ground turkey Shepherd's Pie which I topped with a combo of mashed potatoes and cauliflower (not realizing that she doesn't eat cauliflower. Luckily, Jill had some instant potatoes and I was able to switch out half the topping when we got there). I am not giving you the recipe because I didn't love it, and it wasn't much to look at, so there are no pictures. I doctored it up tonight for dinner, adding a good amount of salt, some spicy steak seasonings, and some shredded cheese to the topping. If anyone has recipe ideas for the next time I visit Gram, please let me know!

As a side-note, Sabrina has not been to dinner in a very long time. What is up with that? Hmm?

These are a few of my favorite things.

Andrew is doing his workout tonight, so we are having a "light" dinner.

I stopped by the new farmer's market/grocery store on my way home because I was craving tomatoes. Actually, I was craving salt and olive oil and bread. The tomatoes just tie it all together, and make me feel less guilty about eating salt and olive oil and bread for dinner. I am not going to go into how much I love salt and olive oil today. But let's just say that THEY are to ME like raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens are to Julie Andrews.

The new market used to be called Biggest Banana. I was very excited going there for the first time, because I really wanted to fall in love with it. Who wouldn't want to love a market called Biggest Banana? But seriously, many people know that I have an odd, unnatural affection for grocery stores/ food markets, and I had high expectations. But BB was a disappointment. It smelled funny when I walked in, and most of the produce was mush and had fruit flies. It was embarrassing because there were no other customers, and when I walked in, all of the workers turned to look. So I couldn't very well walk out empty-handed. I think I ended up with some onions that were a bit past the firm stage. Anyway, I was very excited when it closed for "renovations" and a few weeks later, there was a sign out front that said: Farmers Market coming soon. Now, "Farmer's Market" does not have the same ring to it as "Biggest Banana," but it has proven to be much less of a disappointment. When I stopped in today, I had first picked up some plum tomatoes for 59 cents per pound, but then came across the red, shiny and wonderfully round "tomatoes on the vine" for 99 cents per pound. Wow! Bye bye plum tomatoes.

I tossed them with some basil from my windowsill pot, kosher salt (from my happy tomato salt pig), and some (ok, a lot) of extra virgin olive oil. This + crusty italian bread= HEAVEN.

Does it count as a light dinner if you eat a whole loaf of bread?

Quesadilla Game Night

Erin and John (Ballz) came over last night for quesadilla/game night. The quesadilla maker is one of our all-time favorite kitchen gadgets. Yes, it takes up a lot of space, but it is most definitely worth it! Doesn't that photo look delish?? For filling, we used chicken (tossed with homemade taco seasoning), sauteed onions, sauteed mushrooms, and cheese. Sour cream, guac, salsa and corn were served on the side. The first photo is my dish. Isn't it colorful?

The second photo is Andrew's dish, because he made me take a picture of it. Doesn't his guac look like snot? I do not like to pile the fillings on my quesadilla like that, because it makes them soggy. And the guac looks like snot.

Andrea and Courtney and John (25) came after dinner and we played Taboo and Would You Rather? and had some drinks and watched SNL. Good times.

Andrew and I went out this morning in search of pancakes and stopped at B&N afterwards to look for some new games. We picked up Dicecapades, Loaded Questions and Snatch-It (I had a gift card), so if anyone wants to come over to play, let us know! There are still tortillas and cheese left-over, so if you act now, you might get lucky!

Yay it's the Weekend! and Inside-out Stuffed Tilapia

HAPPY WEEKEND! It is really sick how happy I am that it is the weekend. We have no plans, yet still, I am ridiculously happy. We did trek over to Wal-Mart and buy cheapie amateur tennis rackets and two tubes of balls. I have not played tennis since high-school, so that should be interesting.

Anyway, this will be short and sweet. I have to get back to my celebratory it's-the-weekend beer. Unfortunately, I finished the last of my hooray-it's-Friday margarita mix (hint-hint Jill).

Tilapia was on sale for 4.99 per pound, and fish is good for us, so I went for it. Broccoli crowns were 99 cents per pound at KK this week, so I blanched them in boiling water for 4 minutes (covered) and tossed with olive oil, garlic and red pepper. Delish.

I just sort of threw this recipe together. I cheaped out on the cheese in the filling, so I increased the quantity so I remember for next time.

Inside-out Stuffed Tilapia

• Four tilapia fillets (about 1.5 lbs)
• 7oz imitation crab, finely diced
• 2 stalks celery, finely diced
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• olive oil
• 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup dry seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1 1/4 cup grated Locatelli Romano cheese (or parm), separated
• sprinkle old bay
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• two tablespoons chopped garlic
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice
• s&p

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Heat olive oil and add onion and celery.
3. Cook about 3 minutes and add garlic.
4. Cook an additional 2-3 minutes and add crab, stirring to combine.
5. Cook 2 minutes and add wine.
6. Cook about 5 minutes and add fresh breadcrumbs, a sprinkle of old bay, s&p, and about a tablespoon dried parsley, stirring to combine.
7. Cook until mixture is heated through.
8. Blot excess water from fillets and place in a 9x13 baking dish coating with non-stick spray.
9. Place about 1 tablespoon of crab mixture on top of each fillet.
10. Top each fillet with a sprinkle of dry breadcrumbs, 1/4 cup shredded parm and lemon juice.
11. Cook at 350 for approximately 20-30 minutes, or until fish is flaky.

Company! and Buffalo Chicken Pizzas

Jillie Bean came over for dinner. (We love company!)

I let her pick from three recipes, and she chose Buffalo Chicken Pizzas- one of our favorites! Andrew was very happy and said she might even be invited again. He gives this dish a 5 out of 5. Even though I didn't ask. That's the last thing I need- Andrew rating my recipes every night. (Hear that, sucker? :P)

Buffalo sauce is big in our house, as I am sure you will gather over time by the number of buffalo-ed meals we have. (I think Andrew believes hot sauce is one of the four food groups. You know, cheese, hot sauce, beer, meat.)
Ken's wing sauce makes my life a lot easier. Yes, I can use regular hot sauce and doctor it up with butter, etc, but Ken's is all ready to go, and I usually buy a million bottles when it goes on sale for 2/$3.

Once, when I was feeling very ambitious, I made homemade whole wheat pizza dough for this recipe. (That's the other picture you see here.) It was really good, but not worth the extra effort really. Beside, english muffins hold up to the toppings very well. I usually try to buy the low fat e. muffins from Stop&Shop, but Pathmark had the double pack of Thomas' for 1.99, so there you go. So much for low-fat.

This recipe is a litle annoying because I don't really measure anything any more, so bear with me, and if you give it a go, use more or less of whatever you like more or less of.

Buffalo Chicken English Muffin Pizzas

What you need:

• english muffins
• cooked chicken breast, chopped into very small pieces (it does not matter how you cook the chicken)
• blue cheese dressing (we prefer Wishbone Fat Free, when we are being good)
• Ken's Buffalo Wing Sauce (The perfect amount of kick for us. May be a bit too much for those with a very low tolerance for "spicy")
• shredded mozzarella cheese (yay cheese)

1. Toast english muffins until lightly brown.
2. Spread about 1 teaspoon of blue cheese dressing over each e. muffin.
3. Toss chicken with Ken's Wing Sauce
4. Spoon 1 heaping teaspoon of chicken onto each e. muffin.
5. Top each muffing with a good amount of mozzarella cheese.
6. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and topping is hot.
7. Pig out.

We like to have these with extra blue cheese dressing on the side, and a green salad.

Fricassee Fricassee Fricassee

What's easier than slow-cooker dinner? Slow-cooker dinner left-overs, of course!

Wednesday night is often left-over night. Which is nice because it gives me a bit of a break mid-week, just when I start to lose my steam. So here's the scoop on the slow-cooker fricassee I made on Monday. I found the original recipe on allrecipes.com and changed it up just a bit. I had never made fricassee before, but as it turns out, I think it is very similar to caccitore. Which I have also never made. Interestingly, both words are very fun to say. fricassee fricassee fricassee caccitore caccitore caccitore

I don't typically care much for chicken with tomato sauce, but this was a bit different from what I was expecting, and ended up being quite yummy. I brined the 4 lbs of chicken legs in a salt and sugar bath and mixed the tomato concoction the night before and left both in the fridge in ziplock bags (what else?). Andrew didn't have to be at work early, so he popped it all into the slow cooker for me, so it wouldn't have to cook for 12 hours. (Thanks Andrew. Good job!) Oh yeah, and I took the skin off the chicken, so there wouldn't be a ton of grease in the SC. Very unappetizing.

The chicken was on sale for 99 cents a pound, so again, a very cheap meal. Are you noticing a trend?

If you don't have the super-monster size slow cooker, I would half this, as it filled the SMSC to the top.

Cuban Slow Cooker Chicken Fricassee

2 large onions, chopped (not too small)
2 tablespoons chopped garlic (or more, if you don't want anyone kissing you good-night)
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 large can plus 1 small can diced tomatoes (I think that's about 45oz)
1 cup dry white wine (or chicken stock)

1/4 cup sofrito (in the Spanish aisle of the store, near the Goya stuff)
1 tablespoon cumin
salt and pepper to taste
4 pounds chicken leg quarters, skin removed

1. Place chicken in bottom of crock pot. (I use those crock pot liners. Who wants to have to scrub out a pot that's been cooking for 8 hours??)
2. Combine other ingredients and pour over chicken.
3. Cook on low 7-8 hours, or until chicken is cooked.
4. Serve over brown rice with a can of black beans and corn tossed in. Delish.

Pretty easy, eh? There were some comments on the allrecipes site, that said the recipe provided, slightly different from the above, was lacking flavor, so people recommended the sofrito and sazon. I did not know what the sazon was, so I checked it out in the store.

Apparently, SAZON is Spanish for MSG.

So I left it out. I don't know why really, but I figure if it shouldn't be in my Chinese take-out, it shouldn't be in my slow-cooker.

First Blog-a-rama and Cheap-o Zucchini Pasta

Hello, and welcome to my blog. I hope you find it to be a very happy place. :)

We had a vegetarian meal tonight. We need to detox from all of the meat we've been eating lately. It wasn't a particularly exciting dish, but it was yummy, quick, and it made good use of the zucchini I got for 49 cents a pound.

Well, that's actually a lie. It should have been 49 cents a pound, but the cashier thought my zucchini were cucumbers, so she charged me 50 cents each. I weighed them at home, and they came to 2.3 pounds, so I got jipped out of 37 cents. Figures.

Anyhoo- this recipe needs a name, so I will call it, Cheap-o Zucchini Pasta. Because even though the zucchini were 50 cents a pop, this meal still cost less than $5, and could easily feed 4. Well, maybe 2 and me. :)

Cheap-o Zucchini Pasta

• 13.25 oz whole wheat pasta (we used rotini, and I say "13.25 oz" because whole wheat pasta doesn't come in 1 lb boxes. I guess they thought we wouldn't notice. Nice try, Barilla. But doesn't the fact that it's whole wheat mean it's better for me and I can eat more?? But you are giving me less?? WTF??)
• 3 large zucchini, cut into small chunks
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• a big hunking tablespoon of minced garlic (the kind from the jar is such a time and smelly-hand saver)
• 15oz petite diced tomatoes, in a can, with juice
• about 1/2 cup olive oil
• about 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup shredded locatelli (or parm. yay cheese)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• red pepper, salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat water for pasta. When it boils, throw in a handful of salt, stir, then add pasta and cook to al dente according to package. (My All-Clad cookware manual says not to add the salt until the water boils, or you'll get spots on the pot. And I love my All-Clad and want to make sure that it is shiny and without spots forever.)


2. Heat the oil and toss in onion. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then add garlic. Cook an additional 2-3 minutes.


3. Add wine and a sprinkle of red pepper (or more if you like it HOT) and reduce to simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the wine stops smelling really wine-y and reduces a bit.


4. Stir in zucchini and tomatoes (with juice). Cook the zucchini to your liking. (I only like to cook it 6-7 minutes, so that it still has a little firmness to it, but if you like it mushy, or perhaps you have just had dental work, by all means...)


5. Add pasta to zucchini mixture and toss with cheese and basil. Serve HOT with extra cheese. (yay cheese)