Menu Reviews 2

Pita Sandwiches – These were so simple to make and so delicious. Whole wheat pitas stuffed with lemon hummus, sliced cucumbers, sliced tomatoes and feta. I usually buy the pre-crumbled feta. It’s a good price, convenient and quite salty. The store was out, so I got French sheep’s milk Feta. It’s much less salty, and strong but in a different way. I will have to figure out what to do with the rest of it, besides crumbling it up in my salads. Anthony added sliced green olives to his pitas, but I usually prefer black olives to green so I decided to go without them. We the sandwiches with tomato soup (canned) which made the meal really nice and filling without being heavy. We’ll definitely make the pitas again.

Sweet Potato Soup with Miso and Ginger – A really unusual tasting soup. Most sweet potato soups taste very fall-ish, but this is a nice soup for any time of year. We had it with whole grain bread, but it would have been even better with a crusty whole grain baguette. I used ground ginger instead of fresh, because the ginger root had gone bad. Next time, I will try it with the fresh and I will replace half of the chicken stock with water to cut down on the salt. Definitely worth making again.

Spicy Ginger Pork in Lettuce Cups – I’ve been wanting to try this recipe for a while and I am glad I finally did. It was simple to make, healthy and really delicious. Next time I would add a little bit more ginger and crushed red pepper. I might try a different type of lettuce, the Boston lettuce had a tendency to rip easily, and something a little sturdier might have been easier to eat. I really liked the contrast between the warm spicy pork and cool lettuce. Sometimes I don’t like the flavor of celery, I feel like it overwhelms a dish, but this was the perfect amount and the celery and water chestnuts add a really nice crunch. It was also really good cold as a leftover the next day.

Toad in a Hole – Despite the numerous references to it, and the fact that it always looked good, we’d never gotten around to making these. On the spur of the moment, we both decided they sounded good, so we made them for breakfast. They were very quick, and simple. The whole grain bread tasted good and was nice and sturdy. We experimented with a few different sized holes in the bread, and the ones made by the small juice glasses seemed to work the best. Anthony left it nice and runny in the center. Salt and pepper added a lot to the taste of the egg, and it was best when it was added before the egg started to cook. Anthony had his with passion fruit jam which he really liked, and I had mine plain. We’ll definitely make these again and I’m sure we’ll try it with different jams and maple syrup.

Maple Roasted Chicken Thighs and Sweet Potatoes – This was such a simple recipe. It took about 35 minutes to cook, but the prep was incredibly simple. Some chicken thighs, sliced onion and chopped carrots and sweet potatoes. A little salt and pepper and maple syrup on top. It’s a small amount of maple syrup but it adds a lot of flavor. Next time I would add a little oil in the bottom of the roasting pan to keep the veggies from sticking, and I would turn down the temperature from 450 to 425 or so. It took less time than the recipe called for to cook and I think they would have cooked a little more evenly at a lower temperature. I will definitely make this recipe again.

Tuna Melt – This was a really simple recipe, just a basic tuna fish sandwich with cheddar cheese on top, and then cooked in a pan like a grilled cheese. It was really good comfort food, and quick to make. Worth making again.
Carrot Raisin Salad – Also quick and simple, although next time I might buy pre-shredded carrots instead of grating them myself. The sauce is a little bit of plain yogurt with spices and salt and pepper. The recipe called for cumin, but I added a little bit of cinnamon too. Anthony wasn’t thrilled with the recipe, but I liked it. It was the cumin he disliked, so I might try it with cinnamon (and maybe ginger) next time. I thought it went really well with the tuna melt.

Chinese Pork Noodles – I modified this recipe quite a bit. I had just made a recipe with ground pork, so I substituted small slices of pork chops. Also, it called for Napa cabbage, and I used peapods and peas. I also used soba noodles instead of the spaghetti noodles it called for. It turned out really well. The peapods were a nice texture, the pork was tender and the sauce was really flavorful. I would definitely make it again, with my variations, and the original recipe.

Italian Sloppy Joes – This recipe really came in handy the night I made it. I was really tired and my head hurt and this went together so quickly. I used lean ground beef and drained off all of the fat after I browned it. I added some bottled spaghetti sauce, a few extra herbs and topped buns with it, and a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese. I toasted the buns first, and then put them back into a warm oven to melt the cheese. Anthony really liked them and I did too. I don’t normally like “cheater” recipes that use mostly bottled sauces, I prefer to cook from scratch as much as possible. But this was really delicious and simple.

Braised Chicken with Scotch and Chutney - I halved this recipe, and it was just the right amount. I browned chicken thighs, onion and garlic in a little olive oil, and poured in the sauce ingredients, and put the skillet in the oven for a half hour. The chicken was really tender but the sauce was still really thin. I took the chicken out, and put it on a cookie sheet in the warm oven for a few minutes while I reduced the sauce on top of the stove. I topped the chicken with the sauce to serve, and it was incredibly good. It was sweet, and a little spicy and the chicken was almost falling apart tender.
Blue Cheese Greens – I served the chicken with mixed baby greens tossed with peas and green onion and a small amount of blue cheese dressing. I left the greens slightly damp from when it was washed and it helped the dressing coat the greens lightly. It was really delicious and went very well with the chicken.

Barbeque Baby Back Ribs – We didn’t have time to make a homemade barbeque sauce, so we bought Sweet Baby Ray’s, one that we knew would be really good. Anthony cut the ribs into individual pieces, and put it in a crockpot with a bottle of barbeque sauce and cooked it for 6-7 hours. It was almost falling apart when he took them out and caramelized the sauce on the grill. They turned out really well, and were tender, moist and very flavorful.
Rancho Beans – This is one of Anthony’s family recipes. It’s beans, onion, ground beef, sausage, and yellow and Dijon mustards. It cooked all day also, and is very simple. I like it, although I'm not nearly as crazy as he is.
Citrus Green Onion Coleslaw with Walnuts – Anthony wasn’t crazy about this recipe but I was really happy with it. He doesn’t particularly like coleslaw of any type, so it wasn’t a huge surprise. Instead of Napa cabbage I bought pre-shredded broccoli slaw and rainbow slaw (carrots, cabbage and broccoli). I bought two small bags, but it seemed to multiply so I think I will cut the recipe in half next time. The recipe called for shredded cucumber, but I decided against adding it. I used orange zest, plain yogurt, sour cream, apple cider vinegar, a pinch of sugar, and salt and pepper for the dressing. I added green onions, chunks of orange, and walnuts. It was light, fresh and summery tasting and much healthier than traditional coleslaw.

Gardenburgers – We needed a quick meal so we had Sundried Tomato and Basil Gardenburgers. They have a pizza sauce flavor, and go really well with a little bit of mozzarella melted on top. They’re one of my favorite quick, healthy meals. I had leftover coleslaw with it, which actually went better than I expected.

Crockpot Raspberry Chicken – I’ve been wanting to try this recipe for a while, and I am glad I did. The sauce is very simple, raspberry jam, yellow mustard and a little soy sauce, but it adds a lot of flavor. I cooked the chicken leg/thigh quarters in the crockpot with the sauce all day and they were incredibly tender. The sauce wasn’t very appetizing looking though, and neither was the chicken, so Anthony put the chicken on the grill for a few minutes and I made up a second batch of the sauce. He basted it on the chicken and it was absolutely fantastic that way. I loved the sauce, and the combined crockpot cooking and grilling was wonderful, but I don’t think I’d ever serve it straight out of the crockpot.
Wild Rice – I served the chicken with wild rice. The flavors went really well together. I added a bit of salt and a small pat of butter to the rice, and it really added depth to the flavor.

Menu Reviews

I haven't done any menu reviews lately, but I thought I would try it out again. I've been planning out menus for about two weeks so we don't have to shop every week. I've been trying to eat healthy as much as possible. I refuse to have baked chicken and brown rice every day for dinner though, so I am eating really healthy breakfasts and lunches and being a little more relaxed about dinner. I still aim for dinners to be under 500 calories, but most of them are more like 300-400. I don't feel deprived at all, and I get to enjoy lots of interesting dinners. As always, if you want a recipe, be sure to leave a comment and I'll get it to you.

Sesame Pork Strips - The pork strips were FANTASTIC. Small strips of pork with a crunchy sesame coating. Cook for a little less time in the future. I served it with honey mustard dipping sauce. It wasn't a quick recipe, but it wasn't terribly time consuming. Definitely make again. We had an impromptu dinner guest, Anthony's friend Trevor, and he really liked them also.
Malaysian Cucumber Salad – I decided not to go with that recipe because it needed time to marinate. I substituted vinegar and sour cream cucumbers. Simple, but it went really well with the pork.

Black Bean, Spinach and Mushroom Burritos – Lots of veggies with a little bit of Monterey Jack cheese and sour cream. Delicious and very healthy. I forgot the enchilada sauce, and I really enjoyed it without. Anthony had seconds and tried it with the sauce, he preferred it that way. But it can easily be made either way. Make again!

Creamy Pesto Fish – Very simple and delicious. Fish baked with a pesto sauce and grape tomatoes. Definitely make again. I don't remember if we served it with rice or quinoa or a salad.

Roast Chicken – I didn't really have a recipe for this I just took a chicken and stuffed it with fresh rosemary and onion. Very delicious.
Squash and Mixed Greens - Basic frozen squash with a little butter and salt and pepper. We had mixed greens with dressing. Both went very well with the roast chicken.

Beef and Broccoli – Delicious. Moderately time consuming, but worth doing. Served on top of brown rice.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup – I had originally planned on making the soup with wild rice but realized I was out. I changed it to Chicken and Barley Soup. I used the leftover roasted chicken carcass and added frozen mixed vegetables and some fresh ones. Very healthy and delicious.

Bean and Bacon Soup (Computer) – Delicious but really unusual. I was out of canned tomato but it was good without. I will try it with tomato the next time I make it. It's a slightly sweet and spicy soup. I need to reduce the chili powder a small amount and increase amount of bacon though and it will be perfect.

Feta Chicken– Anthony invented this recipe and it was amazing. He sautéed chicken with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, Chinese 5 Spice Powder, cinnamon and basil. Once the chicken was cooked, he deglazed the pan with water. He cooked spaghetti with fresh rosemary. Drained the noodles and added feta and sliced black olives, tossed it, and served it with chicken on top. He sprinkled it with olives and feta and drizzled it with the remaining sauce.

Split Pea Soup with Ham - We had leftover ham and ham bones from Easter. I made a ham stock one day, and then the next day I added the split peas to the boiling ham stock. I let it cook for a few hours. I think next time I'll cook it a little more slowly, because it cooked down more than I'd like. I added carrots near the end, and then the ham. I had plenty to freeze.

Menu Four

It's been quite a while since I've done any of these, so here's hoping I remember how they turned out.

Apple and Horseradish Glazed Salmon with Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage: The salmon was amazing. It was so easy to make and incredibly yummy. The sweet and sour cabbage was not as fantastic. The idea is great, I've had it before. But apparently this wasn't the recipe for it. It wasn't zingy enough. Plus, I think we sliced the cabbage too thick. It never got wilted enough. So, I'll make the salmon again and find a new recipe for the cabbage.

Crustless Broccoli Cheddar Quiche: Unfortunately, this was very blah. It didn't taste bad, it just didn't have much flavor. For some reason the egg taste neutralized all of the cheddar and broccoli flavor, and all of the seasonings we put in. I might try working with this recipe, adding more herbs and salt and pepper but if I find a recipe that looks more interesting, I'll try it instead.

Cornbread and Bean Skillet: This was fantastic. It was kind of dreary out, and I was having a crummy day and this was such good comfort food. Amazingly enough, it was incredibly healthy too. Basically, I dumped a bunch of spicy beans into a pan and made Jiffy cornbread with cheddar cheese. The raw dough was put on top of the beans and then simmered over the stove until it cooked through. It was warm, and the mix of spice with the cornbread was delicious. I might put in one can of regular tomatoes in place of one of the two cans of tomatoes with green chilis. It was a little overwhelming. This also made great leftovers.

Warm Spinach-Pear Salad: So good, and so simple. We made it with a bowl of leftover squash soup. Mmm. The salad was fairly substantial and with the soup was plenty for a meal. I love hot dressing salads. For once, I found one that doesn't involve using bacon grease as part of the dressing, so that was exciting also. I will definitely make it again.

Chicken with Tomatoes and Mushrooms: This was very good too. It needed some time to cook, but the actual preparation was simple. It didn't call for very many ingredients either, which was nice. I was pretty much guaranteed to like this recipe though, anything that calls for two pounds of mushrooms is fine by me.

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili: This recipe didn't taste exactly how I thought it would, but it was amazing. It had a very mexican flavor, which I don't normally associate with sweet potato. It also had a garnish of a little bit of sour cream mixed with cilantro. I added lime juice, and it was even better. I'll certainly make this again.

Feta, Olive and Spicy Sausage Pizza: Using pre-made crust, we brushed olive oil on it and sprinkled garlic, salt, pepper, and rosemary on the crust. We baked that for a few minutes and topped it with feta, black olives, spicy sausage, tomatoes and mushrooms. We baked that for a little bit longer and it turned out AMAZING. Really quick and incredibly good.

Roasted Chicken Noodle Soup: I roasted a chicken, fairly early in the day. I stuffed it with fresh basil and rosemary and put carrots, onions, celery and garlic around it. After it was done roasting, I put the whole thing in a pot of water with all of the drippings and let it boil for about 5 hours. By the end of the night it had completely fallen apart and the whole apartment smelled good. We strained the liquid, and saved it, picked apart the chicken for the good meat and put it back with the broth. We added more herbs and vegetables and noodles and let it cook for another fifteen minutes or so. It was probably the best soup I've ever had. We made a ridiculously large amount of it, so we've been having leftovers all week, and we even froze some.

Curried Cider-Braised Pork Chops and Horseradish Smashed Potatoes: Both were delicious! The pork chops were simple to make and curry is so yummy with cider. It probably would have been even better with sliced apples. I invented the recipe for the potatoes and they were superb, if I do say so myself. I boiled potatoes and then smushed them up with milk, a little sour cream and butter, rosemary and horseradish. The horseradish added a really interesting flavor to it but it wasn't overwhelming at all. Katie tried them, and she really liked them, which is saying a lot, because she's the pickiest eater I know. Luckily, this time she ate something I made, it didn't make her throat close. Hooray for food allergies. No peach shakes for Katie I guess...

There were also plenty of meals of leftovers, and dinner at my parents' house, and I was gone for a while and even a night of sushi. Mmm, sushi. So there aren't as many recipes as there would have been otherwise. I might have forgotten something I made too...

Menu 3

Man, I really need to come up with a more exciting title than 'Menu 3'...

More recipes...
Greek Rotisserie Chicken Salad - I had half of the rotisserie chicken left, so I added it to a Greek salad. I forgot to get tomatoes, but other than that it was great. Greek dressing is pretty easy to make from scratch so the whole meal went together pretty quickly. Nothing wildly new, but perfect for a simple, healthy dinner.

Spaghetti and Meatballs - We made the meatballs from scratch and clearly this is NOT a recipe I have mastered. The recipe was my mom's and hers are usually fantastic. Mine...not so much. They didn't taste bad, although I think I could have made the recipe a little more exciting. The biggest problem was that they completely fell apart. I need to ask my mom how she does it. Plus, I think we made them a bit large. The faster they cook, the less time they have to crumble. A non stick skillet would have helped too. They tasted pretty good with the spaghetti noodles and sauce. The sauce wasn't homeade, but I added a few spices and a bit of wine and it was really good. Yay Kroger!

Squash Soup - The squash soup recipe is originally Kyle's I believe. It is always delicious. I made a retardedly large amount of it, because squash was on sale for 39 cents/pound. I made the basic recipe: sauteed onion, squash, and stock. Only this time it was beef stock, not chicken. Grr on Kroger not having my Better Than bouillon stock base. How rude. Once it was all cooked down Anthony attacked it with his immersion blender until it was smooth. We divided it into two large bowls. One of the bowls I made a sweet soup. I added apple cider, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and a bit of brown sugar. The other was savory with milk, salt, pepper, rosemary and grated Gruyere cheese. They were both amazing. I froze four huge containers of it. Now I can have squash soup whenever my little heart desires. (swoons)

Cherry Glazed Pork with Green Beans and Feta - Another great recipe that is nice and fast. It's a basic sweet and sour sauce made out of cherry jam and red wine vinegar. It took maybe 15 minutes to make and most of that was just letting it simmer. I've been trying to eat a lot of green beans lately because they're really healthy, but there are only so many ways to prepare them. I was excited because I created another one tonight. I sauteed them in a tiny bit of oil with salt and pepper. Just before I took them off of the heat I added a bit of crumbled feta cheese. Mmm, so good. It caramelizes the cheese, and it's a wonderful blend of sweet and salty.

We also went to dinner with Ashley and Kracker, and Erin and Kyle. It's nice to do the dinner party thing again. Ashley made lamb, and mashed potatoes and carrots and Yorkshire puddings. I'd never had them before but they were really good. The lamb was wonderful too. Apparently Al has a slight obsession with gravy, which we teased her unmercifully about. My contribution to dinner was a key lime pie. I've made plenty of them before, but this was a new recipe. It was amazing. Just a few different twists on the standard recipe that made it really outstanding. Since the recipe came from someone online, of course I got harassed. Erin accused me of having secret pie affairs with strange men online. I have to admit, she's right. Luckily my boyfriend doesn't mind if I talk dirty about baking with other people.

Menu 2

More recipe reviews...

Pasta with Butternut Squash and Spinach - This recipe didn't taste how I expected it to, but it was very good. It wasn't too time consuming and made a ton. I was able to put a lot of it in the freezer, and have some for lunch the next day. The only thing I would do differently would be to use chicken stock instead of water, but I was out. I also added rosemary (yeah, I know, I'll put rosemary in anything) to make up for the lack of stock. I think I'll keep rosemary in even if I make it with chicken stock next time. It gives the dish a little more depth. We had the pasta with a really good Chardonnay. It was one I'd had before, and I love it. Kroger has it on sale on a fairly regular basis for around 5 dollars.

Barton et Guestier Chardonnay, France 2002 - A really good chardonnay. Not much of an oak flavor and it's easy to drink. It has a very full flavor, warm and buttery. There's a definitely apple taste. A good white wine for fall.

Rotisserie Chicken and Tuscan Bean and Wilted Arugula Salad - I bought a rotisserie chicken from Kroger because they were having a really good sale. I've been wanting to try this salad for a while. I used spinach instead of arugula, added a tiny bit of vinegar to the dressing (warm olive oil, lemon juice and zest) and cooked the onion instead of leaving it raw. It was phenomenal, and with the pre-cooked chicken it was really quick to make. I haven't enjoyed a salad that much in a long time.

Honey Glazed Pork Loin with Applesauce - I was a bit disappointed in the way this recipe turned out, but I think it had more to do with cooking difficulties than the recipe. I didn't have any aluminum foil, so the edges of the tenderloin got a little crispy. Adding water to the roasting pan helped, but I didn't do it until half way through. The flavor of the honey glaze was wonderful though. I usually prefer to make applesauce with a variety of apples, but this time I only made it with Granny Smith apples. It's definitely better to do the mix, there is a better texture to it. The apples cook at different rates and it makes a much chunkier applesauce. It had cinnamon, ginger, orange zest, apple cider, and honey in it. The flavor was different in a very good way.

Chicken with Pear, Sage and Cheese and French Peas - I am absolutely in love with this! It was so easy to make, and delicious. It was flattened sauteed chicken with Gruyere cheese melted on top and a sauce of pear, sage and cider. I've been so excited about fall arriving, and this was the perfect fall food. The traditional way to make French peas is to steam them in a pan lined with lettuce and seasoned with butter, salt, pepper and nutmeg. I didn't have the lettuce, but I kept the seasonings the same. Well, less butter, but enough to leave a nice taste. The nutmeg adds the perfect flavor. From start to finish dinner probably was done in less than 15 minutes. Mmm, quickie gourmet. ;)

Menu

I've been planning on making up a weekly menu for months now. I know it would cheaper, easier and healthier, but this is the first week I've been able to get around to it. It's actually going really well. I even managed to sort of incorporate it into the camping last weekend. It's also a good way to get me to try out new recipes. I have thousands of recipes that I've never tried. Here's a list of what we did this week and a quick review:

Chinese Grilled Pork and Spicy Green Beans- This morphed into grilled chicken because of a small pork disaster. The pork I had bought THE NIGHT BEFORE was green when I pulled it out of the refrigerator. It was from Kroger, and I've never had a problem with them before, so I am just assuming it was a strange fluke. If my food turns weird colors again, they're in trouble though. The Chinese marinade was awesome with chicken and would no doubt be just as good with pork, if not better. I will definitely try to make it again with the proper ingredients. I also broiled it instead of grilling it this time. The Spicy Green Beans were fantastic. Spicy and sweet at the same time and I could probably eat pounds of them in a sitting. Luckily they are quite healthy, so that won't be a problem.

Pesto Chicken Packets - Amazing. We took them camping and everyone loved them. Very simple and healthy too. It was just chicken, tomato, zucchini and a tablespoon or two of pesto. We wrapped it all up in foil and put it on a grill over the fire for 20 minutes or so. Also, halved tomatoes with pesto, salt and pepper in foil on the fire are also incredible.

Cream of Broccoli Soup - Very good. Surprisingly healthy for how good it tasted. It was simple to make, and really inexpensive. The recipe calls for rice to thicken the soup, and then some cream or 2% milk. I usually only buy skim, so instead I added a little bit of cream cheese. No doubt it would have been even nicer with cream, but in the interest of not dying before 25, it seemed like a good compromise. We did add a little too much pepper, but other than that, it was a great recipe. I even have a decent amount of it to put in the freezer.

Curried Chicken with Plums and Ginger and Sweet Potato Wedges - Anthony made the chicken and it was fantastic. It was pretty simple and didn't take long to make. The ginger was supposed to be crystallized ginger, but at $12 a bottle, that wasn't happening. If I can find it in bulk I will probably buy a little bit the next time I make it. Using powdered ginger instead wasn't a problem though. The chicken thighs were insanely tender, and mixed with the sweet plums, spicy curry, and green onions they were to die for. I made baked sweet potato wedges with salt, pepper, lemon juice and a tiny bit of cumin. They went really well with the curry and were really quick to make since I put them in the microwave for 5 minutes before I baked them.

There are a few more recipes for the week that I'll update as we go. If anyone wants any of these recipes, let me know. If you have any fantastic recipes to barter, that would be even better. Also, if anyone wants me to make these recipes for them, they either need to pay me/bribe me with backrubs or a bottle of wine but I will cook for hire.