Falafel, etc.

So, unfortunately my falafel experiment did not go over as I'd hoped.  I thought it was delicious, but Sunny repeatedly told me "I don't like it" and the husband ate a couple patties before making himself a peanut butter sandwich.

The cilantro-avocado sauce was a success at least.

Since that failure, I have a cooking hangover I just can't shake.  For that reason, I have not cooked one thing this week.  Thankfully my husband is an excellent cook, and he has totally picked up my slack.  I am also very grateful for the makers of Applegate chicken nuggets and Amy's Kitchen frozen dinners.

So we had a busy weekend...we were up in Central Florida visiting family and friends.  We stayed with my husband's parents on Saturday and on Sunday we had the baptism of our friends' sweet little boy.

Sunny had a blast with her grandparents

Sweet baby getting baptized (D is the Godfather)

We had a great time, although the trip was just too short.  

This weekend I'm so excited to be heading to DC for my friend's wedding.  It will be my first time leaving Sunny and my husband alone together for a weekend, and I know they'll do great (even though my husband has warned me that they're going to be "eating like frat boys."  Oh boy).  I just can't wait to see all my college friends!  I haven't seen any of them since before I was pregnant with Sunny, which was almost three years ago.  It's just not right.  Why can't all my friends live within a two-block radius of me???  

(Almost) a full week of recipes

This week has seemed busier than usual, which is why I'm especially glad that I took the time to do a little meal planning this weekend.  It doesn't often happen in my house, and we usually end up at Publix at least 4 times per week, scrambling and starving after a long day of work and daycare, but this week we've only been once (so far)!  The key was to cook two roast chickens on Sunday, so I could use the leftover chicken in recipes all week, or at least the first part of the week.  It's now Thursday and we have used all the chicken within the 3-4 day window for leftovers, so I think we made just the right about. 

Here is how we did it:

On Sunday, rather than roasting just one chicken like I normally do, I roasted two.  I always follow Ina's perfect roast chicken recipe, and it, as the name implies, turns out perfectly every time.  The only difference is that I rub my birds with olive oil instead of butter, and this time I sliced sweet potatoes and onions to put in the bottom of the pan.  I drizzled the veggies with olive oil, salt and pepper.  My sweet husband wanted mashed potatoes, so he made a bunch and set aside half to make dairy-free.  For the dairy-free version, he just added some almond milk, salt & pepper and olive oil.  That night we feasted on roast chicken, veggies, mashed potatoes and lots of gravy.  I carved the remainder of the chickens and cubed the meat, and set aside for the rest of the week.  Also, while the chicken was cooking, I chopped up all the veggies for Monday night's dinner so that it would be ready to go.

On Monday, we made a dairy-free cottage pie based on this recipe.  We modified the filling a bit and used the leftover (dairy-free) mashed potatoes as the topping rather than a crust.  Here is what we did:

Dairy-Free Cottage Pie

Ingredients
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
3 ribs of celery, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp. fresh thyme
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp poultry seasoning
salt & pepper, to taste
2 tbsp. flour (we use white-wheat)
1.5 cups chicken broth
2 tbsp. almond milk
1-2 cups frozen peas
approx. 2 cups cooked chicken, diced
2-3 cups leftover mashed potatoes

Directions
Pre-heat the oven to 350 and heat a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add the olive oil to the saucepan, and once hot, sauté the onion, carrots, celery and garlic.  Season with salt and pepper.  Allow to cook about 5-10 minutes until the onion is translucent and the vegetables are mostly cooked, but still a little crunchy (they will keep cooking in the oven).  Add the thyme, sage, poultry seasoning and flour.  Allow the flour to cook 1-2 minutes, then add the chicken broth, almond milk, frozen peas, and leftover chicken.  Transfer the mixture to a baking dish, and top with mashed potatoes.  Bake for approximately 20-30 minutes until cooked through. 

On Tuesday, I had high hopes of making a basil pesto to serve over pasta, leftover chicken, and broccoli, but I ended up not having the energy for all that.  Instead, I cooked some pasta and sautéed a package of white mushrooms in some olive oil, dumped a jar of pasta sauce on top, and added a package of spinach and a cup or two of leftover chicken.  It was simple, tasty, and required very little work from me.

On Wednesday, we ate rice bowls topped with a yummy cilantro avocado tahini sauce (note - I added a clove of garlic and 1-2 tbsp. olive oil).  After I made the sauce, I threw a bag of our trusty Trader Joe's organic brown rice into the microwave, then prepped the broccoli.  I chopped a head of broccoli up and put it in a microwave-safe dish, added 1 tbsp. water, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper.  I cooked it covered in the microwave for 3 minutes on high.  To assemble, I divided the rice among three bowls, added the remainder of our leftover chicken (I didn't bother to heat it up, and just added it straight from the fridge), and topped with the broccoli and sauce.  Delish, and ready in about 15 minutes. 

Tonight, rather than go to the store to buy more meat, I plan to make falafel from ingredients I already have in my pantry.  I would love to try the quinoa version of the falafel, but I don't feel like making quinoa tonight, don't have any of that egg-replacer stuff and I just so happen to have some organic bread crumbs in my pantry.  I'll serve them in pitas with lettuce, tomato and leftover cilantro avocado tahini sauce.  I've never made falafel before, so wish me luck!

Tomorrow is Friday, which means it is steak night in my household.  I'll head over to B&G at lunch, grab a couple steaks, then pick up some kale and sweet potatoes at the store.  We'll bake the sweet potatoes in the oven (400 degrees for about an hour).  Then, while my husband grills the steaks, I'll sauté the kale with a couple cloves of garlic, olive oil and salt.  Can't wait!

What is everyone else cooking for dinner this week?  I need inspiration!

A pledge to eat out more often

Last night, my husband, daughter and I went out for dinner.  It was glorious.  Someone cooked the food for us, cleaned the dishes up after us, and there was no TV to distract us.  We talked, we laughed, we ate, and I got to look at this face all night:

 
Since we moved back to my hometown last year, we haven't gone out much at all.  When I say not much at all, I mean that my husband and I haven't gone out alone together since his birthday in February.  We will occasionally go out when family or friends are in town, but we don't often go out together, just the three of us.  Part of it is that we get amazing meats from Sam at B & G Italian Deli and Meat Market, so the food usually tastes better at home, part of it is that Sunny is now a full-blown toddler, and it's not as easy to take her places as it was when she was an infant, and part of it is to save money.  I realized last night that we'd been missing out.  Even if the food wasn't healthy and organic and GMO-free and $2.50 per serving and blah, blah, blah...that we just need to get out of the house, see some different faces, and spend some time as a family over a dinner table that we didn't have to clean afterwards.     

Productive lunch and lazy woman's slow cooker chicken picadillo

Yesterday I had one of those days where I was ready to go back to bed by 7:30 a.m.  I woke up late, got ready late, realized too late that all of Sunny's shorts were dirty, and got to work late.  I barely had time for breakfast, didn't pack a lunch, and basically left the house a disaster.  I was having a major Tired Girl kind of day.  (For those of you who don't read The Tired Girl's Guide to the Good Life, I highly recommend you head over there right now to learn time-saving tips to navigate your day, and look awake, refreshed and put together - even when you're none of those things.   

So I decided to head back home at lunch to hopefully pick up some of the pieces from my frazzled morning.  I started by throwing in a load of wash so Sunny might have some clean clothes for this morning and not look like a unloved street rat.  On a completely unrelated note, pre-baby my laundry used to consist mainly of whites, darks, and towels.  Now I find myself doing loads that I label "bright pinks," "pastels" and "pooped-on."  What has happened? 

Next, I reheated some of Ina's Roasted Tomato Basil Soup.  I'd made a batch a few weeks ago and frozen the leftovers.  This is one of my favorite soups in the world, and perfect for this time of year when tomatoes are cheap and plentiful.  While it was heating in the microwave, I fixed myself a sandwich of whole wheat bread from my diet-busting trip to Oltimes German Bakery, mayo, mozzarella, avocado and tomato (from my trip to the Punta Gorda Farmers Market last Saturday).  I watched an episode of New Girl on Netflix while I ate and felt better about myself.

Then, because I still didn't have the energy to face the grocery store, I decided to take stock of what I could throw together for dinner.  I remembered that I had some chicken breasts in the freezer, and knew I had some leftover tomato sauce in the fridge.  Rather than leave the chicken on the counter to thaw (ewwwww), I decided to throw it in my hand slow-cooker...completely frozen.

Then, I took inspiration from one of our family's favorite meals, Skinnytaste's Cuban Picadillo.  I threw in some tomato sauce, pre-minced roasted garlic, olives (and some of their juices), bay leaf, cumin, salt, pepper and chili powder, and turned it to high.  I didn't feel like chopping anything, so I didn't add any bell peppers or onions.  Also, I think adding onions to slow cooker recipes can kind of ruin the meal.  I don't know what it is, but I find slow cooked onions to be disgusting.
 

I threw my load of bright pinks into the dryer and headed back to work, hoping that my crock pot creation wouldn't turn to disgusting mush.  I needn't have worried.  By the time I came home, dinner was basically ready and smelled yummy, clothes were dry (if wrinkled), and I felt like I almost had it all together.  All I had to do was heat up some water for brown rice (I searched my freezer high and low hoping I had some Trader Joe's organic frozen brown rice packages left, but alas, it wasn't to be), put on some yoga pants, and play with Sunny until the husband got home.  Then, it was dinner time!

As you can see, I shredded the chicken and piled it on top of the brown rice.  I also added some sautéed kale (which I had in the fridge and didn't want to go bad), and avocado (because I love avocado).  Honestly, it probably would have been better with a side salad instead of the kale, but the rest of the meal was juicy and tasty.  Plus, it took virtually no effort from me, which is always a bonus.  *Note* I like my food with a little spice, but to save my sweet daughter's taste buds, I don't add too much heat to my base recipes.  To serve, I topped my chicken with some of my favorite Mexican hot sauce (Salsa Valentina).  It adds a nice smoky flavor as well. 

Do any of you have serious lazy-day, Ican'tgotoPublixonemoretimethisweek meals in your repertoire?  If so, send them my way! 

LAZY WOMAN'S SLOW COOKER CHICKEN PICADILLO

Serves 2 adults and one toddler

Ingredients
2 frozen (or thawed) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Approximately 4 oz (1/2 can) of tomato sauce
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup sliced green olives
1/2 tsp minced garlic (I used the minced roasted garlic that comes in a jar)
Cilantro (optional)
Avocado (optional, for serving)
Brown rice (optional, for serving)

Directions
Dump all ingredients in a slow cooker.  Cook on high 4 hours or low 8 hours.  Shred chicken and serve over brown rice, and top with cilantro, hot sauce and avocado if you have or want them. 

Instead of serving over brown rice, you could also scoop into tortillas and have a slightly different take on chicken tacos. 

Whoops!

So, I promised myself on Sunday, after devouring two slices of my brother's birthday cake, that I was going to cut way back on white flour and processed sugar this week.  Then I found myself in Cape Coral and at Oltimes German Bakery. I was just supposed to be buying whole wheat bread for Catherine (it contains no dairy, eggs, sugar or preservatives, hooray!).  Unfortunately, I have no pictures of the rest of the deliciousness that I bought, because I ate it all...some of it in the car on the way home.  What I can tell you is the majority of it contained both white flour and sugar.  And butter. 

Sigh.  I guess there's always next week. 

*Note, this is not a picture from Oltimes German Bakery...it is just a picture I found on the internet.  But you get the idea.

Chicken Curry

When I was about 13 years old, I decided to become a vegetarian.  I was really only planning to try it for a week or so, but then no one thought I would stick with it, so I got stubborn and (much to my family's annoyance) didn't eat meat for seven years.

When I was in high school, both my parents worked, so one or two nights per week, I was in charge of dinner.  One of the first meals I learned to cook was chicken curry.  Yes, I had to cook chicken, even though I didn't eat it.  My family was not about to go vegetarian just because I had.  I would cook two pans of curry, one with just veggies for me, and one with chicken and veggies for the family.  It was always a hit, and I loved making it because it was so easy.  I would brown the chicken, throw in some veggies, add some water, and then add this little box of amazingness:

It looked gross and came in large brown chunks (kind of like a chocolate bar), but it tasted so, so good.  But, alas, now that I am grown, have a child with allergies and have been making a concerted effort to feed my family "real foods," gone are the days where I can make sauce from a box, particularly when it contains sneaky ingredients like this:

I see you, monosodium glutamate (MSG).  You are so delicious, but make my poor daughter break out into hives.  Some sources claim you are harmless, while others claim you cause brain damage (I'd take that last one with a big heaping spoonful of MSG-free salt).  Either way, I've got to keep you out of my kitchen.

So tonight, I decided to make a chicken curry meal inspired by my delicious golden curry, only made from real foods and without any dairy, eggs, MSG, or other ingredients that get Sunny's hives a-flaring.  I was also inspired by this recipe.  From my pantry, I grabbed what I had on hand (cumin, turmeric, Italian peeled tomatoes, organic full-fat coconut milk, ground ginger and curry powder):

Then I chopped half a large red onion, four cloves of garlic (we really like garlic), a few carrots, a red bell pepper, a green bell pepper, and a few stalks of celery.  I added a few swirls of olive oil to the bottom of a large skilled, and cooked the garlic and onion for a few minutes.  Meanwhile, I chopped up a package of chicken breast (I used Publix's Greenwise chicken...on sale!) into bite-sized cubes, and sprinkled them liberally with salt and pepper.  After the onion began to get translucent, I added the chicken.

Once the chicken was nicely browned, I added the rest of my veggies:

Then dumped in the tomatoes and coconut milk, one tablespoon of curry powder (I would have used two, but ran out), then added about one-half a tablespoon each of the turmeric and cumin, then sprinkled on some ginger.  Finally, I added some salt and pepper, covered it, and turned the heat to low.  I let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes (until the carrots were soft), then added some leftover cooked broccoli, and served over brown rice.  You certainly don't have to add the broccoli, but if you have some uncooked lying around, just add it with the carrots and other veggies.

Yummy, nutritious, and took the exact same amount of time as my box mix did.  I couldn't ask for much more.

Ingredients
2 TB olive oil
1 package boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chopped into bite sized pieces
1/2 large onion, chopped
4 clove garlic, minced
3 carrots, chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1-2 TB curry powder
1/2 TB cumin
1/2 TB turmeric
dash of ginger
1 can peeled tomatoes (stewed or diced tomatoes would work great too)
1 can coconut milk (full fat)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the oil, then, once the oil is heated, add garlic and onion and sauté until onion is translucent (above 5 minutes).  Be careful not to let the garlic burn!  Meanwhile, trim the chicken of fat, and cut the chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces.  Season liberally with salt and pepper.  Once onions are translucent, add the chicken and cook until nice browned and mostly cooked through.  There should be no pink spots remaining.

Once chicken is cooked, add the remaining vegetables and the rest of the ingredients.  Cover, turn heat to low, and simmer until vegetables are cooked through, about 10-15 minutes.  Serve over brown rice and enjoy!