Munching Madness!: February 2010

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Pizza Friday and Snack-y Saturday

Whew! What a crazy week! In between all of the snowstorms I've barely had time to breathe, let alone cook!

In spite of all outdoor inconveniences, I managed to make Leftover Pizza on Friday and a yummy cauliflower snack on Saturday.

Remember last week? I know it was a loooong time ago. Here. I'll refresh your memory. I made roasted veggies on Sunday. Then, I reused them on Wednesday. Well, after all that there was STILL a tiny bit left. So, in brilliant Pizza Friday tradition...

I rolled out the dough...

Slathered it with Ricotta...

Added the rest of the roasted veggies...

And baked it at a ::NEW BAKING TEMPERATURE!:: of 425.

It made the crust amazingly brown and crispy!

Why did we never think of that before?!

On to Snack-y Saturday. When I made allll of that roasted veggie deliciousness, we discovered that there was a BIT too much cauliflower. And broccoli. A huge serving bowl full. I utilized the raw cauliflower in a recipe. Of course, now I can't find the exact recipe. But it was really good, trust me.

I remember that I sauteed 2 pans full (1 layer in each pan) of lightly salted cauliflower with 1 1/2 tbs coconut oil in each. I left it sitting on each side until they were brown.

Then I stirred in the sauce. It had water, garlic powder, honey, diced onions, and a bunch of other things in it. I am going to try to find the recipe asap and post it.

I just kept stirring it all until there was no liquid left.

It was so easy, as long as the cauliflower is cut, cleaned, and dry.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Snow Day Cookies!

We had yet another snow day today. My 14-year-old cousin came over since her school had an early dismissal and we made cookies.

Actually, she made the cookies and I ate the cookie dough. She is really good in the kitchen. And she washes dishes.

Anyway....Ingredients:

2 cups oatmeal
1 1/2 cup flour (We used Whole Wheat)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup butter or margarine
1 cup peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar.
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
We added a few sprinkles of cinnamon

First, we (and by we, I mean she) mixed the oatmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together.

Then we used my new hand mixer (well, Christmas-new, so a few months old now) to combine the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and regular sugar.

When it was all combined, we added the eggs and vanilla, and then the dry mix.

After it was shaped into balls,

and baked,

it turned into a decadent treat!

And don't worry, I didn't make her do all of the work. I helped out when the computer started acting up.

See? I help!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Gnudis etc.

A simple breakfast of fruit salad

with mineola oranges, apples, blueberries, and bananas...

was followed by a leftover lunch

of roasted vegetables on whole wheat sandwich thins drizziled with balsamic vinegar.

While all that was wonderful and yummy, the best was dinner.

Ricotta Gnudi in a Parmesan Broth. A Giada recipe that is just divine. It was in her "Everyday Pasta" cookbook, you should definitely try and get your hands on it.

I mixed whole milk ricotta cheese with Parmesan cheese, flour, parsley, basil, salt, and garlic (my idea!)

I was supposed to add an egg in, but SOMEONE ate the last one for breakfast yesterday. That same someone was so proud of herself for using up the last egg and forgot that she had ALREADY PLANNED to use the egg in this recipe. Don't worry, though. She is smart. She made the binding agent by mixing flax seeds and water.

Yeah, baby!

As water simmers in a pot in the stove, form the mix into little balls and dredge them in flour.

Drop them into the simmering water and scoop them out when they float to the top.

They LOOK bland, but they taste amazing. I tried one as soon as it came out, and I was STUNNED by how delicious it was.

Just before serving, I sauteed it in butter. It was my idea, but since I made the gnudi before lunch when I had time, they needed to be warmed.

The sauce was homemade chicken broth that I had frozen a while ago,

reduced at a simmer until it was about 1/2 as much.

I sprinkled Parmsean cheese over it all at the end.

It was a great day to eat.

Tuesday Treats

Starring... Egg-in-a-Hole, Leftover Lunch, and Stir-Fry Veggies with Brown Rice in Peanut Garlic Sauce!

Breakfast was a treat! I never make a fancy breakfast on a weekday morning, but I thought I deserved it!

The bread kind of fell apart because it was getting stale, but it was still a great use of the bread and last egg.

Lunch was a delicious leftover meal.

Remember these roasted veggies from last week? They have been in the fridge getting more and more delicious. For lunch they were tossed with leftover macaroni from last night and a bit of butter.

Yummy, easy, and frugal. Go me!

Dinner was Stir-Fry Veggies with Brown Rice in Peanut Garlic Sauce. The sauce was a gift, which is super-cool since I never buy stuff like this for myself.

The ingredients weren't creepy, either. BONUS!

To start this, I made John cook rice.

Just kidding.

I asked him nicely.

For my part, I stir-fried a bag of frozen green-bean stir-fry in a teaspoon of coconut oil.

When they were just about finished, I added in the sauce.

I added some soy sauce, actual whole roasted garlic cloves, and an extra spoonful of peanut butter to the sauce. Because I can't leave well enough alone.

Served over rice?

Perfection.

This whole meal (minus the rice) was ready in about 10 minutes. How's THAT for a quick weeknight meal?!

PS. I may have made cookie dough babies for dessert. Maybe.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Chick Pea Macaroni Monday (and how to make greens less bitter.)

This Macaroni Monday Meal was based on this recipe. I, of course, took my own liberties, but I must say, it came out SO WELL!!

Before I even start, how sweet is this grape seed oil container?

I swirled this in the pan with an onion, and when the onions were soft, I added smushed up garlic.

John smushed it all up for me. Is he the sweetest or what?! He also cooked up a cup of dried chickpeas for me! We use dried chick peas because they lend a better texture, in my humble opinion, to this dish. If you have never made them, don't worry. They are really hard to mess up. You just have to soak them overnight and then boil them, taking care to keep them covered in water. It's totally okay if they, ahem, overcook a little. They just make it a little... smokier.I mixed them up with a few splashes of lemon juice, some grape seed oil, and some salt.

I know I always talk about cooking greens with garlic and oil. I mean, I've mentioned it in at LEAST four different posts. What I DON'T know if have mentioned is the radish green dilemma. John eats radishes all the time, but he finds the greens bitter. I hate wasting the greens and have been determined to make them palatable.

This time? I figured it out.

Boil it first. Yes, I said it. Boil it.

I threw the cleaned radish greens in boiling water for about a minute, just until they turn bright green. Then they were scooped out and added to the onion-garlic mixture.

I added a little kosher salt and bread crumbs for good luck.

Once everything was warm and smelling great, the chickpea mixture from before joins the party.

And trust me. It is a paaaaaaaaaarrrrrr-tay

Oh! That boiling water? That the radish greens were blanched in? Don't waste it! I used it to cook the whole wheat rotini. When they were done, they were thrown into the pan with the chickpea-onion-garlic mixture.

I also had some leftover roasted garlic cloves, so of COURSE they were added in.

Doesn't it look delicious? With Parmesan Cheese on top?

Oatmeal Blender Waffles!

Experimentation continues with the waffle maker. Experiment #2?

Oatmeal Blender Waffles.

The recipe is from this site. I didn't change a thing (for once!) and they were awesome. Kind of taste like oatmeal, but in a good way. I'm sure you can spice it up all you want, but this time, I kept it simple.

The night before, I blended milk (1/2 soy, 1/2 regular), oats, olive oil, and vanilla into submission. For exact measurements, see recipe.