Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Low Carb

So I sucked it up and went on a low carb diet. I not only feel better when I'm on this diet but I lose weight. I haven't really lost too much yet but I'm willing to give it a shot. The tough part though is finding stuff to eat. I get bored quickly so I've been experimenting. I've made some yucky stuff (broccoli, cauliflower alfredo. yuck.) but tonight I think I've made something decent enough to post. It was mostly all my idea. The can tomatoes have 3 carbs per half cup which isn't bad. I'm not sure about the squash but from memory it's pretty low carb.

Spaghetti Squash
1 medium spaghetti squash
1 16oz can diced tomatoes (i used seasoned tomatoes)
1 onion
4 strips bacon
chicken (i made a whole chicken and picked off what I wanted to go in the pan)
diced garlic to your liking
16oz mozzarella cheese

Get 4 strips of bacon going in one pan. When that is cooled, crumble it. In another, saute garlic and onion in olive oil and butter. Then add the spaghetti squash (just boil the thing, cut it down the middle when it's soft and cooled, spoon out seeds and pulp, then with a fork scrape out the squash so it looks like thin noodles). Salt and pepper to taste then add the tomatoes and juice in the can. Let this cook on low for about 10 min. Add chopped chicken and the crumbled bacon, stir well and salt and pepper to taste. Cover with the cheese then bake it in your pan, uncovered, at 350 until it's melted and bubbly on the side. I served it with a dollop of sour cream and Andrew ate it was Texas Toast. He got the better deal.

It wasn't bad but not great. I'm starting to quickly get to the "ugh, I'm so sick of this diet already" phase and I'm only a week in. Must keep swimming...

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Pumpkin

So a friend of mine likes to bake. I like to cook. We live about 15 min apart and decided the only logical thing to do is have a cooking party where we cook and bake themed meals. It's so much fun. Normally I don't like cooking with other people, but this woman fancies herself Julia Child, so I knew it'd be okay. The cool thing is, we decided the best thing to do is exchange recipe cards when we're making our meals. Fabulous, right?

So this week it was pumpkin. She definitely did more than me but it was fun. We had pumpkin soup (recipe below), spicy green salad with pumpkin vinaigrette, pumpkin cornbread and pumpkin cookies. We learned that smoked gouda goes wonderfully with a pumpkin vinaigrette. It was fun. Plus, we ate and had enough leftovers for us and our SOs to have dinner again tonight. I wonder what next week will be!

Pumpkin Soup
1 lb sausage (like the breakfast kind that you can make patties out of, make sure it's the kind you cook though)
1 onion
3 tbs butter
1 and 1/2 lbs pumpkin puree (so 1 16 oz can and one 8oz)
1 tsp dried thyme (little more if you have fresh)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup (not that fake syrup but maple. go without if you don't have it)
7 cups chicken stock
3/4 c cream (i used table cream because andrew isn't allergic to it, any cream would work really)
salt and pepper to taste

cook the sausage in 2 tbs butter on medium heat. once it is almost done, add the chopped onion and cook until it's soft, then reduce heat to medium low. Add the pumpkin puree and thyme and cook 5-7min. Add the chicken stock, brown sugar and syrup, mix well, sprinkle salt and cover. Reduce heat to low and cook for 45 min, stirring occasionally. Turn heat off and transfer small batches into the blender and puree the soup (don't add too much at a time, fill 3/4 of the way or it'll explode). Return the pureed soup back to the pot, stir in the 1tbs of butter and the cream. It should still be hot, so no need to turn the heat back on. If you do, heat the soup but do not let it reach a boil. Salt and pepper to taste.

This was really excellent with shredded smoked gouda on top. Otherwise, serve with a hunk of crusty bread. Very satisfying.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Brownies

I was sitting on the couch watching Paula Deen and realized that I have never made brownies from scratch. I knew that I had (or what I thought) was most of the ingredients in my pantry, so I did it. I will never make brownies from a box mix again! They were so amazingly good. I added a few things different from my original recipe but seriously, I was surprised. I only had 1/2 cup of sugar, so I only made a half batch. On to the recipe!

Brownies:
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3ounces chopped candy of your choice (i had some chocolate toffee candy that I chopped into chocolate chip sized pieces. chocolate chips or reeses peanut butter cups sound awesome too)


The trick to this is not over mix. They become too cakey when you do that. Preheat oven to 350. Over medium heat, melt your butter. When that's done, remove from heat and wisk in your sugar and eggs (slighty beat the eggs first). Then wisk in the cocoa, then the flour, baking powder and salt. When everything is mixed, fold in the candy pieces. Spread batter into a greased 8in square pan, cook for 25min. I started checking them at 20 with a toothpick. Because brownies continue cooking once out of the oven, you are looking for your tester pick to be a little dirty when it comes out. This will ensure chewy brownies when they cool.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Spicy Chicken Soup

Okay, so this isn't really spicy but it was a great take on the regular chicken noodle. Plus, I felt like it was healthier because you could forget the starchy noodles. It had a wonderful flavor and we ate it, sometimes twice a day, until it was gone. It really did last and get better with each day. You can also add/take away different things (Andrew opted for no corn next time. He likes corn solo but hates it in things, says it takes away from the actual meal). Plus, you can put all this in a crockpot if it's big enough and let it cook on low for 6-8hrs.

First things first, making stock. I don't know why anyone would use canned broth. It doesn't have have the same flavor and it's so easy to make yourself. Usually I just use the carcass but because I had to have chicken anyway, and Safeway had roasters on sale (I got a 7 pounder for $5!), I just used the whole thing. Rinse your chicken, salt and pepper the outside and place it in a big pot with water that covers the chicken. Then, add thyme, parsely and rosemary (all mine were dried), half an onion and a few cloves of garlic (don't bother peeling and chopping them). Add 2 or 3 cubes of chicken bullion and turn on high with the lid on. Once it begins to boil, reduce the heat and let it go for about an hour or until the juices of the chicken run clear. Remove the chicken, cool it then pick it and loosely dice it. Strain your broth of all the yuckiness. Place the broth and chicken in the crockpot, mix with 3 tbs of chili powder (really not as much as it sounds).

Next, saute one chopped onion in a pot of olive oil. Salt and pepper. Add to this 1/2 can tomato soup, 1/2 jar salsa, 1 28oz can crushed tomatoes, 2 cans rinsed and drained kidney beans, 1 can corn, 8oz sour cream and mix well in the pot.

Now, mix all this with your chicken in the crock pot. Add salt and pepper, put a lid on it and cook on low for at least 6 hours. I recommend 8. You can also keep this on the stove and simmer on low for a few hours. The chicken is so tender and flavorful that it's unreal. And making your own stock really makes the differnce =)