Tzatziki Sauce Part 1

I feel like as soon as I start thinking about writing a post, the first thing that comes to mind to start is "I love..". So I guess its true to say, I really do love to eat. And because of my love to eat, is part of why I learned to cook, and learned to start making recipes that I really like. I really like a lot of things that are not healthy in any way whatsoever. So part of the fun for me, is finding ways that I can still eat what I love and take care of my body. 

Snacking has always been a favorite past time of mine, and dips have always been a big part of my snacking career. Enter the endless unique array of humus combinations I've tried over the years, as well as my now very beloved Tzatziki Sauce. I love it because you can use it in so many ways. My personal favorite is as a dip for veggies, but I also like it with pita chips. Stay Tuned Folks, on Friday I'm going to be making a Grilled Chicken recipe with the sauce : ) Another reason I chose to post this recipe, is that it is SO simple that everyone should just make it on the regular and keep it in the fridge at all times.

The Line Up:

1 Small Cucumber 

2 Cloves of Garlic

1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon Fresh Chives

1 tablespoon Fresh Dill

4 Medium Mint Leaves chopped

Salt and pepper to your liking

1 Cup plain Greek yogurt

You're also going to need this wonderful little treasure:

This is my Cuisinart Mini Food Processor.  (click link to find on Amazon)

While most of the time it is great to have a larger standard size food processor, for dips and sauces like this, the 4 cup mini is the best! 

To start, you are going to peel your cucumber, slice it in half lengthwise, and then scoop out the seeds so you have two long cucumber boats. Cut the long boats into a few smaller pieces and pack them into your food processor. Pulse the cucumber till it looks like this:

A very mashed up liquefied consistency. Once you have pulsed your cucumber, place a paper towel in your strainer and then pour the cucumber into strainer. Use a spatula and push the liquid out of the cucumber. The paper towel will let the liquid drain, and the cucumber pulse stay.

Set the cucumber to the side, and get your herbs and garlic out. Peel your garlic cloves and lay them on a cutting board. Now take out your knife and place the handle on top of the garlic clove then put your palm on top of the handle like this:

This will help you to mash the garlic which will release the flavor, and also make it easier to mince the garlic. Now chop up the herbs very fine as well.

After that is done, take out a large mixing bowl and transfer cucumber into it. Add Greek Yogurt, minced garlic, chopped herbs, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and mix well. Refrigerate for one hour, or overnight for best flavor.

Bon Appetit Friends!

And Check Back on Friday for a delicious recipe with this sauce!

Gouda Mac N Cheese with Kale and Sun Dried Tomatoes

Warning: this is not a healthy recipe, I repeat This. Is. Not. Healthy : ) But oh so delicious!

Night Two of my wild and crazy weekend of cooking like a single girl again...just had to be some mac n cheese.

I don't think it matters how old you are, everyone loves mac n cheese, and the cheesier, the better!

I'm asked a lot what my favorite food is, and that is just too broad of a question for me to answer. I need subcategories in order to explain my favorite foods. But if someone asked me what my favorite cheese is it would be an easy answer: Smoked Gouda.

So when I decided that night two of my wild and crazy husband free eating weekend would be mac n cheese there was no question it was going to be Gouda mac N cheese. I decided to go with kale because I had some I needed to use, and sun dried tomatoes because I happened to have them on hand too!

This recipe is great because you can really add anything to the sauce to load it up. One of my favorite variations I call The Connor in honor of my brother in law. It's a very simple variation but its so good! Just add bacon bits. Cook up some bacon, chop it up, and add it in. I refer to this as The Connor because I just happened to make it one night and post a picture of it on Facebook and he thought it was the best idea ever. So much so that we have had many conversations about the greatness of bacon mac n cheese and I also made if for him for his birthday this last year.

Other Variations:

- Jalapeno Popper: fresh chopped jalapeno's, and chopped ham.

-Pesto Mac: Pesto, Sun dried  tomatoes, and panchetta.

The Line Up:

 

The Gnomes are my salt and pepper. 

 4 tablespoons butter

1 3/4 cups milk

1/4 cup flour

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

Dash of salt

1 teaspoon ground mustard

2 cups chopped kale

2 1/2 cups grated smoked Gouda cheese

1 cup grated mild cheddar cheese

1 cup julienne sun dried tomatoes

1 Box whole grain pasta

Start by getting the water boiling for the pasta and heat the oven to 375 degrees. While that's happening, get out your favorite sauce pan or deep skillet (I like my 12' Calphalon Fryer). Put your butter in your pan and turn the stove to medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add the milk and let it boil up a little.

When the milk and butter start to boil, turn the heat down and add the flour slowly. This will start to thicken up and look almost like cream of wheat. Once you have mixed the flour in all the way, add in the heavy cream, spices, and kale, and turn the heat back up to medium low to cook the kale a little, about 5 min, stirring often so the creamy mixture doesn't stick to the pan.

 I don't really let it cook till it's soft because I like the crunch it adds to the pasta! But if you want to make it more like a steamed consistency you can put it in a microwave safe bowl with a tiny bit of water and heat it up for 1 min. 

Once the kale has cooked for 5 min add in the sun dried tomatoes and cheeses. Again reduce heat to medium low and let cheese melt. Once they have melted turn off the stove. Grease a casserole dish and drain the pasta when it is done. Then pour the cheese mixture and the pasta into a casserole dish and mix completely. Place in the oven uncovered and let it cook for 20 min.  

Bon Appetit Friends!

Lemon, Rosemary and Basil Grilled Shrimp

I absolutely love everything about summer! And of course, since I love to eat, I love all the wonderful seasonal foods that become available. But even more so than the season items to cook with, it brings sheer joy to me that it's grilling season and I try and find every excuse I can to cook dinner on the grill. Not only is it much healthier, but there is also way less clean up at the end. Which makes my husband very happy because he is the clean up crew to my creations : )

This weekend my husband is out of town and when he is out of town I get excited for only one reason: I can cook all the things I love that he refuses to eat. The main thing I get excited to cook: seafood!! The first night he was gone I decided that I was going to get wild and grill some shrimp! Watch out now!

I didn't really feel like going to the store after a long day at work and stuck in fun traffic so I made it a point to use whatever I had on hand to make a marinde for the shrimp. And that is how I came up with the combination of Lemon, Rosemary and Basil Shrimp. We are so lucky to have a never ending amount of rosemary and basil growing in our yard, so those are always two of my go to herbs for cooking. We are also very lucky to live on an old orchard and the original farm house just happens to be behind our house. Why does this make us lucky? Because the old owner of the orchard still has some trees in their yard and one of them just happens to be a lemon tree that never seems to be lacking in fruit. And it just so happens to hang in my yard! I hate seeing any food go to waste so when a few drop into my yard I make sure to put them to good use! Thanks neighbor!

The Line Up:

2 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 Lb Fresh raw large (not jumbo) shrimp

3 lemon slices

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

2 Tablespoons cut fresh basil

2 minced garlic cloves (not pictured)

1 gallon size freezer bag, or some sort of plastic or glass container to hold the shrimp while they marinade.

Since I was only cooking these for myself I only bought 1/4 lb of shrimp, but if you are cooking for more people then just add 1/4 lb for each person you are serving to.

Start by chopping your basil and rosemary, then slice your lemon wedges. Set that aside and get ready to peel your shrimp!

Peel the shrimp by taking off the hard tail and the outside hard shell, then slice up the middle of the shrimp where you see this black line like pictured above. Slice right up that line and then pull it out. Do this for each of your shrimp. Yes, it's a tedious task but at lease you have fresh shrimp and not frozen! 

Once you have peeled all your shrimp place them in your bag or container, squeeze the juice of the lemon wedges and add it and the left over lemons to the bag, then add all the other ingredients. Seal the bag and lightly massage all the ingredients together in the bag.

Place this in your fridge and let it marinade for at least one hour, but overnight or all day for the best flavor! 

When you are ready to grill take the entire contents of the bag and pour it into a greased grill pan and then head out and fire up your grill!

Turn your grill on high (or medium if you have a really good grill, we have a lack luster excuse for a grill so high is really our only setting), and cook though till the shrimp turn pink. Stir while its cooking and turn shrimp over  for even cooking. While you're waiting....

Grab a glass of your favorite white wine, sit back, relax and enjoy! 

Serve over brown rice and enjoy!!!

Bon Appetit Friends!

Kid's Cakes

This weekend I am helping a friend by making her son's first birthday cakes! I am so excited not only for the cake which will be a pull apart Mickey Mouse face cake( Pictures coming to the Baking Gallery soon), but also for his smash cake. The smash cake is going to be a jumbo cupcake and my friend requested a cake with a little less sugar than normal. I tend to get this request often when it comes to kid's cakes so I though I would share not only my coveted Vanilla cake recipe, but also how to cut down on sugar while baking and still have a moist and tasty cake!

The Rule:
For Every 1 Cup of Sugar your recipe calls for, substitute it for 1 Cup of unsweetened organic applesauce. Also, reduce the amount of liquid in your recipe by 1/4 cup. 

Pretty Simple!

So now that you you know the big secret, here is another, my Vanilla Cake recipe!

Vanilla Cake: 
3/4 Cup butter
3 eggs
2 1/2 Cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 Cups Sugar
4 teaspoons pure organic Vanilla
1 1/4 Cups Milk
2 1/2 Teaspoon baking powder

Directions:
1.Leave your butter and eggs on the counter for little bit before baking so the butter softens.
2. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees and line your cupcake tins and set aside.
3. Mix together flour, salt, and baking powder and set aside.
4. In a separate bowl cream together the butter and sugar. Once they are smooth add in the eggs, then the vanilla.
5. Add the mixture of dry ingredients slowly to the bowl with your sugary butter mix and also slowly add in the milk while you mix.
6. Once everything is combined, pour batter into your cupcake tins and bake for 15 minutes or till a toothpick placed in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Note: when I'm checking with a toothpick I like to test the cupcakes in the very middle of the tin. They tend to take a little longer so if they are done, you will know the others are done as well.

Remember what I told you in the post for the egg cups? Cupcake Tins: cooks everything for 350 and 15-20 minutes! True to my word : )

Now to make this recipe work for the Kid Cakes:
Use 1 3/4 Cups of unsweetened applesauce and cream with the butter just like you would the sugar.
Use 1 cup of Milk
And I leave the Vanilla the same even though its a liquid, because you want to have that super rich vanilla flavor still!

Bon Appetit Friends!

Loaded Egg White Breakfast Cups

I'll start by making a confession. I hate eggs. I know, I know, you're probably thinking then why am I posting a recipe about them? Why? Because these egg white cups are that good! Now to clarify, when I say I hate eggs I mostly mean I don't like just plain Jane scrambled eggs. They need to be doctored up a bit for me to enjoy them. A few months back, a co-worker of mine came to work and gave me these egg cups that she made and made me try and I just loved them! I have no idea how she made hers but all of a sudden about a week ago I started craving something similar so this is the version I came up with.

The Line Up:

1 carton of Liquid Egg Whites
1 pack of Trader Joe's Chicken breakfast Sausage (or whatever breakfast sausage you like)
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh spinach
3 chopped green onions
1 tablespoon olive oil

Start off by preheating your oven to 350 degrees and grease a standard size cupcake tin. Once you have done that, get out your handy skillet or pan and pour the olive oil into your pan. Turn the heat to medium high, or just below depending on how fast you are comfortable with your food cooking. I know when I first started cooking, having things cook fast made me feel rushed and overwhelmed so I would always keep the heat a little lower. Just know that it will make the cooking process take longer but it will not take away from the flavor of the food : )

Once you have your oil heated you want to take your sausage and squeeze them out of the casings and into the pan.

Doesn't that look so appetizing : )

So just to clarify, sausage typically comes in a clear casing to keep it in that lovely sausage shape. But since we are going to brown it and ground it we want the casing gone.

 

Once you have the sausage all in the pan let it start to brown, and while it's browning break up the sausage into small pieces so it looks like ground beef or chicken would normally look (think taco meat).

Once your sausage is browned, you want to add the spinach, peppers, and green onion. Let those all cook together while stirring. You will know they are cooked when the spinach has wilted. Turn off the heat and get your cupcake pan ready.

Grease up your cupcake pan and spoon 1 tablespoon of the sausage and veggie mixture into the bottom of each cup. Once you have them all full, take the Liquid Egg Whites and pour them into each cup till they are full.

I left a tiny but of room at the top because they puff up a little when you bake them. Once you have the cups full, stick them in the oven and let them cook for 20 min. Want to know a fun fact? You can cook pretty much anything you want in a cupcake tin and it will always cook at 350 for 15-20min. So all those things you see on Pinterest you want to make like mini corn dogs or mini meatloaves, they all cook at 350 for about that time. And believe it or not, actual cupcakes...same thing!

Once the egg cup's are cooked remove them from the oven and let them cool for a few moments. When they have cooled a little you can take a butter knife and go around the edge of the egg to loosen it and then they should come right out!

You want to know my favorite thing about these? Not only are they so very very yummy, BUT they also freeze really well AND you can microwave them from frozen for breakfast. Such a yummy, easy, healthy and filling way to start your day!

Oh yeah, and did I take a picture of the final product? Of course not!! The husband and I were so busy devouring these bad boys that when we were done I realized I never took a picture : )

Bon Appetit Friends!

 





Chicken and Avocado Enchiladas with Creamy Verde Sauce

 

 

 Growing up, my Mom used to make this delicious creamy chicken Verde layered casserole that I would ask for constantly! Now as an adult I make it for my husband and myself, but I like to put a healthier twist on it (sorry Mom). I've taken out the Cream of Chicken and Cream of Mushroom soup(oh the chemicals!) and substituted them for a healthier homemade sauce that is absolutely to die for! I recommend making a double batch of this recipe and freezing one because your family will be begging for it again! If you want to do that, I would buy a disposable baking dish at the store so you don't have to worry about your baking dishes being used in the freezer if you don't have them to spare.

 

Here is the line up:

Cilantro- 1/3 cup chopped

Fresh chopped garlic- 2-3 cloves depending on your taste

Butter- 1 1/2 tablespoons

Cooked Chicken- 2 cups shredded

Avocado- 3 (more depending on how much you want in yours)

Lime- 2-3 wedges

Reduced sodium chicken broth (or Veg if you want to make this a veg recipe)- 1 cup

Cumin- 2 teaspoons

Flour-1 tablespoon

Salt and pepper- to your liking

Plain Greek Yogurt- 1/2 cup

Jar of Salsa Verde- (I love Trader Joe's version)

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

5 Tortilla's

 

Start by preheating your oven to 375 degrees. I like to start by having everything prepared and chopped before I start cooking. So chop up your garlic, cilantro, lime wedges and chicken. I personally like to buy the precooked chicken that Costco sells for recipes like this. And it is great to keep on hand for quick salads or easy week night meals. Some of the ones you buy at the grocery store are slimy and taste a little funky, but the bags Costco sells are much better in my opinion.

 

Once you are all chopped and prepped its time to start cooking! Get out your favorite deep pan, my happens to be my 12 inch Calphalon fryer I got from my wonderful friend's Natalie and Jason as a wedding gift. I love this pan because it is a pretty big size and it is also deep. I tend to do fifteen things at a time while cooking dinner and a deep pan helps keep my mess minimal.

Add the butter and minced garlic and let them cook together for about 2 min on medium heat. I use a gas stove and it tends to cook pretty quick so if you are new to cooking I would drop that heat down to just below medium so it cooks a little slower for you. Once those have cooked, you're going to want to add in the flour. Now this part might look a little funky, but the butter garlic and flour mixture will make a very thick ball like paste in your pan. Once that has happened you are going to add in your broth and whisk till you have minimal clumps (most likely the only clumps to remain will be the garlic). Allow this to bubble and cook and you will notice it start to thicken up a bit. Once it is thick you want to take it off the heat to add the rest of the ingredients. When I say thick, don't worry if it isn't super thick, it should have a spaghetti sauce consistency (Don't be intimidated  by the "homemade" part of this sauce, it is so easy I promise!)

Once you have taken your pan off the heat, add in your Greek yogurt, salsa Verde, cilantro, cumin, juice of the lime wedges, and salt and pepper to taste. Whisk all those colors together and your sauce is done! See that was easy! This tends to be the part where I'm rushing to finish making dinner while I'm packing lunches for the next day and end up making a mess on my stove, hence the nice deep pan : ) Once everything is mixed evenly you are ready to start putting your enchiladas together!

I like to make an assembly line for this part! Get out your favorite casserole dish and grease it down if it is not nonstick. I like to use my Pampered Chef stone baking dish for, well pretty much everything! I couldn't find one online but this stone baking dish I found on Amazon it pretty much the same thing. The Pampered Chef one is nonstick but mine is very old and well used and is no longer nonstick sadly. Side note: a lesson someone I've lived with at some point learned the hard way: DO NOT put nonstick in the dishwasher! It will no longer be nonstick : )

My rant aside, put a small amount of the sauce on the bottom of the pan like so

 

 

 To assemble your enchilada's start by putting a line of chicken in the center of the tortilla (as much as you want! Some people like skinny enchilada's some people like them fat like a burrito it's up to you!) I use about 1/4 cup of shredded chicken per enchilada. Once the chicken is on, put avocado slices on top and roll up your tortilla. Lay it in your pan with the fold of the tortilla on the bottom so it stays closed.  Continue this till you have used up all your chicken and avocado and run out of room in your baking dish. Like I said, mine held about 5 and they were pretty thick. Once you have them all in the dish, cover with your remaining Verde sauce and sprinkle with cheese. I just used sharp cheddar because that's what I had on hand, but I have used mozzarella, and Mexican blend before as well.

And yes, one side has a lot more cheese because I personally believe cheese makes everything amazing, but my husband does not agree so I go light on his half : ) Who did I marry?? Who doesn't like cheese?? 

 

Once you have the enchilada's all set to go, stick them in the oven and let them cook uncovered for 15 min. Take out the wonderful creamy gooey goodness and enjoy!

MMMmmm Doesn't that picture just make you drool? I'm so glad I was eating the leftovers while i wrote this post! Otherwise I might just have had to make them again tonight! If you want to make a vegetarian version of this, just substitute the chicken broth for vegetable broth and instead of chicken you can use avocado and asparagus!

 

Bon Appetit Friends!