Cinnamon Honey and Walnut Oatmeal

I was at the farmer’s market the other day looking for some local honey and I ended up buying this whipped honey infused with cinnamon made by Eden’s Nectar.  I wanted to come up with other ways of eating it than just spreading it on a piece of bread with some butter, which by the way is delicious. Last night when Mark asked me to make him some oatmeal I thought ‘hey what a great idea to use the cinnamon honey in’. I like to add walnuts to my oatmeal, not only for the earthy flavor, but also for some nice crunch. This oatmeal doesn’t require sugar so it’s not only yummy, but it’s good for you too.

Recipe:

Makes 2 servings

• 1 cup of water
• 1 cup of at least 2% milk
• a pinch of salt
• 1 cup of oats
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• a handful of crushed walnuts
• 4 tbsp Eden’s Nectar Cinnamon Honey

Bring the water, milk and pinch of salt to a boil. Be careful not to forget about it because the milk will burn if it overflows. Turn down the heat to medium and add the oatmeal, vanilla extract, walnuts and the honey. Stir until the oatmeal gets soft and the mixture thickens a little bit. Enjoy! 🙂

Super Easy Thumbprint Cookies

My niece and nephew are coming over today to make some christmas cookies with me. I had planned to already have some ready when they come over so we can munch on some while we make more, of course :). Last night I whipped these super easy thumbprint cookies that I found in All You magazine. I filled them with this delicious quince-apple jam my friend from Driftless Appetite made. I also made another batch with some store-bought strawberry jam but that leaked out everywhere in the oven. I think the jam was just too thin in consistency for these cookies. Try to find some thick jam for these otherwise it will be a mess.  Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

I’m back baby!

Well it’s been awhile since I’ve blogged but I’ve been a little busy lately. I was planning a wedding and it took way more time than I would have ever imagined. There were multiple times where I wanted to just elope and forget the big party, between all the work it took and the money we were spending it seamed like a good idea. Every time I suggested it my future hubby always reassured me that I would regret it.  He was very right! (shh don’t tell him:))We had the best time and loved every minute of it. In the process we realized that we truly have the best family and friends in the world. Thank you all for all the hard work, generosity and love!

Greek Inspired Chicken Pitas

With our wedding coming up later in the year, I’ve started to make lighter dishes for dinner to make it easier to shed a few extra pounds that we both have. 🙂 To prevent Mark heading for the fridge later in the night I have to come up with dishes that will fill him up but be low in calories. Ok I’m not going to lie I will head for a piece of cheese myself if I’m still hungry.  In any case, this recipe has chicken and chickpeas which are both quite filling, plus it’s tasty.

Recipe:

• 2 Chicken Breasts marinated for at least 8 hours in a Yogurt Marinade
• 3 small multi grain Pitas cut in half
• 1/2 can of Chickpeas (rinse in water to cut down your sodium intake)
• 1/2 can of Black Olives (rinse in water to cut down your sodium intake)
• 1 small Cucumber, chopped
• 1/4 of Red Onion, chopped
• 1 roasted Bell Pepper
• a handful of Feta
• Black Pepper to taste
• Salt (very little if any)
• Olive Oil to taste
• splash of Lime Juice

First you have to turn on your grill for the chicken and bell peppers. I’m assuming if you have a grill you know how to use it and if you don’t have one you can grill it on the stove in a grill pan. If you are using the stove, cover the pan when the chicken is cooking to contain the moisture.

  

While the chicken is cooking combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl (minus the pitas) and dress with olive oil and a splash of lime juice.  You could eat this dish as a salad too if you add some vinegar to it.

Once the chicken is done cut it up and stuff the pitas with a few pieces of chicken first, add the salad and top of with a few pieces of chicken again. Enjoy!

Yogurt Marinade

I will usually buy chicken and beef in bulk for two reasons: it’s cheaper and I don’t have to go to the grocery store every day. I try to do it over the weekend because then I can portion and marinate all the meat at once. I usually make a few different marinades and freeze the meat I won’t use in the next two days. Freezing the meat in a marinade not only saves you time over the week but it also makes the meat super moist and taste delicious, especially chicken breasts. I really was not a fan of white meat, but it’s healthier for you so I had to find a way to make it taste good. I usually will make one yogurt marinade for the chicken breast to make my greek inspired chicken pitas out of. Below is the recipe I use to make it.

Recipe:

• Plain Yogurt
• Chopped Garlic
• Coriander
• Cumin
• Spanish Paprika
• Olive Oil
• Mint
• Black Pepper
• Salt

I never measure the ingredients when I make marinades because it varies of how much meat you are using. I make the sauce first so that I can taste it and adjust to my liking. You might really like garlic so you will put lots of that in there, but then you might not, so you would only put a little bit. Sauces and marinades are just one of those things you have to constantly taste to get right. Combine all the ingredients and marinate your chicken at least 8 hours to get it to be super moist.

*In general if you start with a 1lb of yogurt you will be able to marinate 4 chicken breasts.

Spinach Mushroom Salad

I was at the asian store the other day and saw this big weird looking mushroom called Abalone Mushroom, so of course I bought it. I always try to cook with new things.  I googled it once I got home and it’s apparently a type of oyster mushroom. I first sautéed the mushrooms to see what they tasted like and I loved them, they were fantastic. They are very meaty and earthy, but yet are mild in taste. Just delicious. We are trying to eat healthier so I decided to make a salad that would be quite satisfying, even as dinner.

Recipe:

• a bag of baby spinach
• 3 cut up hard-boiled eggs
• 1-2 cups of shredded carrots
• a handful of toasted almonds
• 1/4 cup of crumbled feta cheese (you could use some nice mild blue cheese as well)

For the mushrooms:

• mushrooms (1 big abalone mushroom or a package of oyster mushrooms)
• a touch of lemon or lime juice
• 4 cloves of garlic
• salt
• pepper

Dressing:

• olive oil
• apple cider vinegar
• salt
• pepper
• dried parsley and oregano

First cut up the mushroom and garlic and saute it in a pan until it gets nice and brown. Add salt and pepper and right before you are done cooking the mushrooms squirt a little lemon or lime juice on top. For some reason the juice brings out a great flavor of the mushrooms, but don’t put too much or it will kill the great taste. Combine the rest of the salad ingredients with the mushrooms. I just made a simple dressing because there is so much flavor in the salad that it shouldn’t over take it.  Enjoy!

Tuna Sandwich

 For the longest time I didn’t like tuna sandwishes and I think it’s because every time I had it, it was loaded with mayo.  Mark always makes great tuna sandwiches and he always adds scallions or red onions, but today we had neither. We did have some shallots though, so I asked Mark if he could use that instead. Shallots taste like a very mild onion with a hint of garlic. It was perfect because it didn’t overpower the tuna. From now on I only want my tuna sandwich with shallots. 🙂

Recipe:

• 1 shallot
• 2 cans of tuna
• salt and pepper to taste
• mayo to taste
• toasted italian multi grain bread

Mix all together and enjoy!

Wild Rice and Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

I don’t know about you but I had way too much to eat this holiday season and have gained a few pounds in the process of it all. I wanted to cook something healthy today so I looked in the fridge and the only vegetables in there were peppers. Since I didn’t feel like going to the grocery store I decided to make healthy stuffed peppers. I filled them with quinoa and wild rice instead of beef and white rice.  I saw quinoa at the grocery store before, but never really knew what it really was. I recently started reading the “Healthy Latin Cookbook”  and saw quinoa on the “glossary of ingredients”. It’s a grain that was used by the Incas that has more protein than rice, so I went out and bought it with the intention of trying to make something with it.  I was pleasantly surprised by the taste. It’s a little bit like nutty rice. The peppers turned out really well, so I thought I should share the recipe.

Recipe:

• 5 large Peppers
• 1 chopped Onion
• 3 cloves of chopped Garlic
• 1 cup of Rice Blend ( I use Rice Select Royal Blend)
• 1 cup of Quinoa
• handful of Pine Nuts
• 3 cups of Water
• all purpose seasoning
• dried Italian herb mix
• Salt to taste
• Black Pepper to taste
• 5 large Peppers
• hot Chicken Broth
• Cheese to sprinkle the peppers with

Sauté the onions on medium until they are soft. Add the garlic and pine nuts and sauté for a minute or so. Add the rice and quinoa and cook for an additional minute stirring the rice so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom.  Add water, dried herbs, salt, pepper and the all purpose seasoning. Turn the heat on high until the water boils and then turn down the heat to low and cover the pot. The filling is done when all the water is absorbed. The rice and quinoa should still be a little crispy because they will finish cooking in the oven.

In the mean time preheat the oven to 400F and slice the tops off the peppers and remove all ribs and seeds. Cut a very thin slice from the base to help the peppers stand up.

Take an oven proof dish and place the stuffed peppers in it. Pour the hot chicken broth in the bottom of the baking dish; you want to cover about an 1/2″ – 1″ of the peppers.  Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 40 min. 5 min before your timer goes off sprinkle cheese on top of the peppers and remove the foil. The cheese should get nice a bubbly before taken out of the oven.



Chili without tomatoes (Bosnian Pasulj)

I used to hate chili when I was little and I would come up with every excuse in the book as to why I couldn’t eat it. Every time my mom made it I would tell her that it gives me an itchy throat and every time she made me eat it anyways. I guess it’s true that your taste buds change over time because now I crave it when it gets cold outside.

In Bosnia we don’t use tomatoes in chili and most people use roux to thicken the sauce instead of tomato paste. Personally I think roux makes the chili quite heavy, but I do like my chili thicker. Years ago my mom came up with a great solution to the problem: OATS. It works great! The chili taste earthier but is still light. We also don’t put ground meat in our chili. My mom would throw in any meat she had, but my favorite was always ribs. There is something about ribs and beans cooked together in the pressure cooker that makes the chili taste fantastic.

Recipe:

• 1lb bag of Red  KidneyBeans  and 1lb bag of Black Beans either soaked overnight or quick soaked per the package instructions ( I usually do the quick soak and it works just as well) (traditionally you wouldn’t use black beans, but I really like them)
• 1 rack of Ribs (or however many can fit into your pressure cooker)
• 1 chopped Onion 
• 10 cut up Baby Carrots or 2 big Carrots
• 3 cloves of Garlic
•  2 cups of rolled Oats
• 2 tbls Paprika (I like to do half Smoked Paprika and half Spanish Paprika)
•  Water 
• Salt
• Pepper
• 2 tbls All purpose seasoning
• Olive Oil
• Scallions to put on top of chili (if you love onions this is a must because it gives it a nice onion flavor without overpowering your chili) 
   
  Add olive oil and onions in the pressure cooker. Sauté on medium until the onions are clear and add the garlic. Add the rest of the ingredients. Make sure your water covers the ribs. Put the stove on high until your cooker whistles, then turn it back to medium and cook for another 20 min or so. The time really depends on the size of your pressure cooker, mine is 5qts. Once it’s done remove from heat and let it cool off. Once you are able to open the cooker, taste the chili to see if you need to add any seasoning.  Place in a bowl and sprinkle with scallions. Enjoy!

Caesar Salad with Crunchy Croutons

I was laying on the coach, sick watching the cooking channel one day and I saw one super simple recipe for Caesar salad. I’ve never made my own Caesar dressing before so I decided to give a shot. I thought I liked Caesar dressing before, but not until I made this one. This dressing  tastes fresh and light; much better than any store-bought one from a bottle. And the croutons add that extra  flavor and crunch to the salad. Trust me it’s a party hit. I’ve made this salad a few times for family and friends since and everyone always loves it. I can’t take credit for the recipe, I saw it on Food 911 (Tyler Florence’s show).

Recipe:

Croutons:

• 1/2 loaf crusty Italian bread  ( I used sour dough once and I liked it better)
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves (I usually put more of a variety of dried herbs, like marjoram, savory, rosemary and thyme)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 350 F. Take a bowl and tear the bread into it. Add the dried herbs, salt, pepper, grated cheese and olive oil. Toss it all together and place on a cooking sheet. Bake for about 15 min or until golden brown.

Dressing:

• 4 anchovy fillets
• 1 clove garlic, smashed (I love garlic so I use about 4 cloves)
• 2 lemons, juiced
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Salt

Put the anchovies, garlic, lemon juice, and water into a blender and process until the mixture is smooth. Add the olive oil, cheese, salt and pepper and blend again. I usually taste it and add more black pepper if needed. Be careful with the salt because the anchovies are pretty salty as is.

Chop up your romaine lettuce.  Add the dressing and croutons right before you serve the salad so that the croutons don’t become soggy. Grate some Parmesan on top for garnish. Enjoy! 🙂