Thursday, November 7, 2013

Chili Cornbread Casserole


MmmMmmMmm tis' the season for warm yummy casseroles! [and trying to make them healthier AND please the whole family!]


Recipe:
http://wemadethat.blogspot.com/2011/11/chili-casserole.html


Ingredients

1 lbs ground beef
1 15oz can chili beans
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1 15oz can corn
1 package chili mix
1 package corn bread mix


Instructions are simple, cook everything besides the corn bread mix in a pan on the stove, then put in an oven safe dish. Prepare cornbread and spread on top of the chili. Use the cooking instructions from the cornbread 
package.




I used ground turkey instead of beef.
I chopped up an onion and added it as well.
I used Gluten free, all natural corn bread mix.
Always use frozen vegetables, so much better for you than canned!




The gluten free cornbead doesn't look as appealing...but it's still good!

Cauliflower Shepherds Pie


I've never attempted Shepherd's Pie, but it caught my eye. Better yet, low carb! So- here it is.....


This is the recipe I followed:
http://vancityfoodie.com/2012/11/24/cauliflower-shepards-pie/

My changes:
-Ground Turkey instead of Lamb
-Extra Worcestershire
-Regular Cheddar instead of white cheddar
-Onion and Garlic powder
-DO put butter and milk in the cauliflower. I used the whipped butter [50 less calories than regular]


Cauliflower Shepard's Pie
For the meat filling
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery sticks diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 pounds ground lamb
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons chopped parsley
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
1/2 cup fresh or frozen English peas
for the cauliflower mash
2 heads cauliflower, chopped
salt and pepper
splash of milk
white cheddar (optional)
butter (optional)
chives
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
2. Chop 2 heads of cauliflower and place in large pot of water to boil
3. While the cauliflower is boiling, sauté onions and carrots in the oil in a saucepan over medium heat until they begin to get color.
4. Add garlic and stir to combine then add lamb, salt, pepper, and cook until brown. Then sprinkle the meat with the flour, stir and cook for another minutes.
5. Add the tomato paste, chicken broth, Worcestershire, and parsley and stir to combine.
6. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer about 10 minutes.
7. Add the corn and peas to the lamb and spread evenly into individual ramekins or an 11.5 by 8 inch baking dish.
8. Put boiled cauliflower in food processor and season with salt pepper and butter if you wish ( I also added a splash of milk)
9. Top lamb mixture with cauliflower – and sprinkle with white cheddar and chives. Bake until golden brown and bubbling about  25 minutes.

My photos:





Kya, Eric, and myself approved!

Friday, November 1, 2013

Chicken Pot Pie


If I had to choose only 5 things to eat for the rest of my life, pot pie would most definitely make the list.  I have loved the stuff since I was little. Something about the richness, flavor and simplicity makes it the perfect comfort food. I'll admit that until last night I had been using cream soups [cream of chicken and celery] to make the dish [shame, shame I know] But of course after trying the "real way" I will never make that mistake again! Laziness really never pays off in cooking, or at least not to my experience....

So I found a recipe in my "Cook this, not that" book, and went to work!

Below I put a picture of the recipe.

Here are my changes:

-I opted out on the mushrooms
-I also left out the pearl onions and just chopped up a regular onion
-I used the whipped butter that is half the calories
-I just used 2% milk, no whole milk or half and half
-I added celery and corn [I love those two things in this dish]
-I added roughly 2 TBSP white wine while it was cooking on the stove
-Instead of just putting puff pastry on the top, I put it on the bottom as well
-I took frozen chicken from my freezer and cooked it in my crock pot with chicken broth, onion, garlic, carrots, celery and parsley. Then took it out to chop into small bites and cook as the recipe says.
-I added a little bit of garlic and onion powder as well as salt and pepper





We absolutely loved it and the whole thing was eaten by the next day!

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Gnocchi



Also at the glorious World Market, I found this Gnocchi! I found this recipe on Pinterest and added a protein. Turned out yummy!

This is the recipe I used from http://www.krissys-creations.com/2012/03/easy-sun-dried-tomato-gnocci-guest-post.html 


"2 tbsp. sundried tomato pesto
1 package of pre-made gnocchi pasta
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, more for topping.
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. Bring a pot of water to boil.

2. While the water is coming to a boil, in a large skillet on medium heat, put 2 tbsp. of the pesto in the skillet and press the pesto against the skillet to release the flavors and oils.

3. Once your water has boiled, add some salt and throw in the gnocchi. Follow instructions on the packaging, mine said 2 minutes.

4. Ladle 2 ladle spoonfuls of starchy gnocchi water into the skillet with the pesto and stir to combine well until it thickens up slightly.

5. Using a slotted spoon, scoop out the gnocchi from the pot and gently place it in the skillet. Sprinkle the Parmesan all over and stir to combine all the ingredients, until everything is coated well. Add some salt and pepper if need be.

6. Serve hot with extra Parmesan cheese on top!"


I happened to have turkey kielbasa so I cooked that up and added it to the pasta, it was great!



The "mini" gnocchi's almost look like beans!

Miso Soup and Asian slaw



Every time I get sushi [even if it's 100 degrees outside] I HAVE to get miso soup. I don't know what it is about it but it is deeeeelish! So I was shopping at World Market the other day and saw Miso broth concentrate. I was ecstatic and ran to the nearest grocery store to get tofu and green onions.

It isn't much of a "recipe" but hey it was super good!

-Water 
-Miso Paste
-Tofu chopped into small cubes
-Green onions
-Shrimp
-Pepper


Pretty simple:

Follow the instructions on the miso bottle.
First add the green onions and tofu, then after a few minutes, add the shrimp (I cut mine into thirds so that they were bite sized)
Once shrimp is cooked, grind some pepper in and serve!


Next is the Asian slaw.
-Bag of shredded cabbage (I used the coleslaw mix with carrots in it)
-1 diced shallot
-1.5 Cup chopped green onion
-2 TBSP sesame oil
-1/4 Cup olive oil
-1 TBSP Balsamic vinegar
-1 TBSP low sodium soy sauce
-1 TBSP Red wine vinegar
-1 TBSP Rice vinegar
-1.5 TBSP sugar
-1 TSP Garlic powder
-Squeeze of lemon juice
-Salt and pepper to taste  

-Crunchy chow mein noodles to sprinkle on top


As for the instructions, just mix everything together!! But do not add the crunchy noodles to the whole bowl because if there are left-overs, they will get soggy.





Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Beautiful Boise in the Fall

This post has absolutley nothing to do with food. However I felt compelled to share the beauty that is Idaho in the fall. Everwhere I go I find myself taking billions of photos. I just can't help myself! If only I had a nice camera rather than using my phone.....or the camera we have at home haha. So anyways enjoy!


Nature path by Bown crossing and the Green Belt:











Table Rock park and trails:







Out off of Warm Springs Ave:








The new Village in Meridian:

 Kona Grill



 The Yard House
 Kona Grill









The Winery's in Caldwell:


















Military Reserve Trails:













Ivy Wild Park:










So this is what I've been up to, and the gorgeous scenery Boise has to offer!!
I know there are a lot.....oops!!