Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Best pizza in the 'Land

I would say the #1 childhood toy in our household was the Lego.  More accurately, the 372,689 Legos that were spread all around our basement.  My brothers and I had our own personal Lego Land, and it was an ethnically diverse one at that.  One neighborhood had palm trees and natives that we named "Mowgli men."  (In retrospect that does sound slightly racist). 

In another neighborhood lived the space-aged guys and their toys.  Sweet helmets, huh?  They're all so smiley with their plastic pipe wrenches and scoopers and metal detectors weapons. 
Just around the block was my 'hood.  "Paradisa."  I would legitimately be thrilled if I could own the life-size version of this place.
Pink staircase.  Pet parrot.  Tuxedoed waiter bringing me a non-alcoholic strawberry daiquiri (I was eight, after all).

But the most happenin' spot in our land was the pizzeria.
 Straight from the oven to your home- a delicious pie of Swedish-made plastic.  People from all neighborhoods would order, and Chef would happily oblige.  That girl on the corner looks like trouble though. 

Maybe it's because of memories of this, or maybe because pizza is just a great food, but I've always enjoyed doing the whole make-your-own pizza thing.  I've tried it all- pizza bagels, pizza English  muffins, pizza pitas.  This weekend I picked up some whole wheat pizza dough at Trader Joe's and we had ourselves a little pizzeria. 

I made up a margherita-type pizza, with fresh basil, fresh mozzarella, and some spinach.  My husband chose a Greek-type one with olives, mushrooms, and feta (does he do this so that I won't end up asking for a bite?  Bleh!). 







Do you think they'd deliver pizza this good to "Paradisa"? 

Thursday, February 23, 2012

A crumb of a scrap

I am all for portion control, but this is ridiculous.

Chewy Butterscotch Brownies.  Sound pretty tasty, eh?  Just bake in a 9x13 pan.  And this recipe makes 4 dozen-48- brownies?  Yes, maybe in a 9 feet by 13 feet pan. 

Monday, February 20, 2012

A rose for me?

As I sit here watching The Bachelor, I think an obvious solution to Ben's dilemma would be to have a cook-off between the four remaining chicks.  Ohhh sure, they may have perfect hair, perfect makeup, and a penchant for drama, but can they roast a chicken???

With my husband gone up north for the weekend, I had plenty of free time to clean and cook this weekend.  I, circa 2006, would slap myself for being super lame.  Whatever.  I roasted a chicken and made both a wild rice chicken salad (recipe posted back in December), and this stew.

Moroccan Chicken and Butternut Squash Stew (adapted from Cooking Light February 2012)
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 3 (4 oz) skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces (I used chunks of leftover roasted chicken)
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
  • 3 cups (1/2 inch) cubed & peeled butternut squash
  • 1 small can tomato paste
  • 4 cups low sodium chicken broth
  • 1 cup uncooked couscous
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 small zucchini, cut in quarters lengthwise and into 1/4-inch pieces
  • 1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil

1. Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add oil to pan; swirl to coat.  Add onion and cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add chicken; cook for 4 minutes, browning on all sides (ignore the "browning" piece if you're using already-cooked chicken).  Add cumin, cinnamon, and pepper to pan; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.

2. Add butternut squash and tomato paste.  Stir in chicken broth, scraping pan to loosen browned bits.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until squash is tender.

3. Stir in couscous, salt, and zucchini; cook 5 minutes or until zucchini is tender.  Remove pan from heat and stir in chopped basil.

Christmas bowl returns!  Makes six servings.  Per serving: 320 calories, 32 g carbs, 8 g fat, 33 g protein.

Now that I've proved I can cook, where's my rose?  Then again, who needs a rose when you've got a rock.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Even dietitians need some love

Valentine's Day 2010: my husband and I had been dating for a month, which is long enough to know you like someone, but certainly not long enough to know that you like someone.  One of his favorite restaurants is Restaurant Max, downtown Minneapolis.  He had been there once for lunch and had a great burger, so I figured sure, it'd be a nice-but-not-over-the-top-cheeseball-cliche place to go.  Only we get there and it's a fixed menu.  For $40 a person.  We're talking tiny portions of funky seafood.  He was embarrassed.  I felt guilty.  And by the end of the night, we were both still hungry.

Valentine's Day 2011 was a more DIY-approach, as we boiled crab legs for our entree.  Thanks, Deadliest Catch.

Valentine's Day 2012:
The Papa Murphy's $7 pizza.  At this rate, next Valentine's Day we'll be scraping mold off leftovers for dinner.  But you know what- this was delicious.  And it was easy.  And it was De-Lite, so my 2 slices were 340 calories.  Not awful at all.

Isn't that supposed to be one of the perks of married life- being able to wear sweatpants while eating pizza on the couch and watch last week's Tivo'd "Dateline" together?  Thought so.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Daydreaming

I am pretty good at spinning things towards the positive.

I only spent 20 minutes at the gym today.  I was super-efficient with my workout today!

I ate three-day-old leftovers for lunch.  Meal-packing this morning was a snap!

I buy a Powerball ticket every week.  I make consistent charitable contributions to the state's natural resource fund!

See how awesome I sound? 

Let's add one more:

I made a super-creamy cheesy baked mac & cheese.  I baked comfort food that's still low-cal.

Baked pasta with squash & parsnips
Adapted from "Cooking Light" November 2002

-1 Tbsp olive oil
-1 cup chopped onion 
-1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper 
-2 garlic cloves, minced (I used 2 tsp jar garlic)
-1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
-1 cup peeled & sliced parsnips 
-1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage 
-1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried parsley 
-1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 
-1/4 teaspoon ground allspice 
-1/2 teaspoon salt, divided 
-1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided
-1 box Ronzoni "Smart taste" penne pasta 
-1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
-Cooking spray 
-1 1/2 tablespoons butter 
-3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
-2 cups skim/1% milk 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onion, red pepper flakes, and garlic.  Saute 3-5 minutes.  Add squash and parsnip; saute 10 minutes or until veggies are tender.  Stir in sage, parsley, nutmeg, allspice, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper; remove from heat.

Cook pasta in a large stockpot.  Drain and return to pot.  Stir in squash mixture and 1/4 cup cheese.  Coat a 13x9 glass baking dish with nonstick spray and spread pasta/squash in it.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add flour; cook 3 minutes, whisking constantly.  Add 1 cup of milk; cook 5 minutes, whisking constantly.  Gradually add remaining cup of milk, whisking constantly.  Cook until thickened.  Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper.  I added a pinch of garlic powder as well.

Pour milk mixture over pasta mixture; sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese.  Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Serves six.  Per serving: 415 calories, 63 g carbs, 14 g fat, 10 g fiber, 25 g protein.

Now excuse me while I go search the couch cushions for more Powerball charity money.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

We don't buy no stinkin' veggie burgers

But now we make them ourselves.  I'm kind of getting into this whole vegetarianism thing.  Ah but don't worry- I'm still a long way from sporting Birkenstocks and tie-dye.  Ew.  That would totally clash with my Louis Vuitton. 

Pinto-Chile Burgers
Serves 8
2 large poblano chiles
2 cup diced yellow onion
1 tsp jar garlic
2 15-oz cans pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 29-oz can hominy, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cup masa harina (or dry polenta, or cornmeal)
3 oz pepperjack cheese, thinly sliced
Reduced fat sour cream
Salsa
8 whole wheat pita pockets or hamburger buns

Directions:
1. Preheat broiler.  Place chiles on a foil-lined baking sheet; broil 3 inches from heat for 8 minutes or until blackened and charred, turning after 5 minutes.  Place in a heavy duty plastici bag and seal.  Let steam for 15 minutes.  Peel and discard skins & seeds.  Chop into fine pieces.  Set aside.
2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Coat pan with cooking spray or 1 Tbsp olive oil.  Add onion and garlic; saute 10 minutes or so, until onions are translucent and lightly browned.
3. In a large bowl, mash beans together with hominy (I used a potato masher).  Add onion and chiles.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add 1 cup masa.
4. Form into half-inch thick patties.  I got 8 good sized patties from this amount.
5. Dip each patty in some more masa and then return to the pan you used to saute the onion (add a little more cooking spray if need be).  Cook until slightly browned.  Reduce heat- place cheese on top (optional), cover, and heat until cheese is melted.  Serve in a pita with a bit of sour cream and salsa.



Remember that New Year's resolution to no longer take food pics with my cell phone camera?  Yeaaaaaaah.  I made it a few weeks at least.   These taste kind of like a Mexican falafel.  Mmm.   
Per serving: 450 calories, 70 g carbs, 12 g fat, 11 f fiber, 19 g protein 

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

DIY Cuteness

I saw a similar idea for these over at Shelly's cookiesandcups.com website.  After making the jam-filled PB&J muffins I had an idea:

How would it taste if I baked a Reese's peanut butter cup into a chocolate cupcake?

The 14-year-old me answer would be an eye roll & "DUUUUH- it'd be awesome."

But I figured it'd be best to actually test the theory.  You know what happens when people assume.

PB Cupcakes
1 box chocolate fudge cake mix
24 Reese's cups (regular size)
24 mini Reese's cups ("fun size" if you will)
3 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 cup Crisco
1 bag powdered sugar
1 cup creamy PB
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk

1. Prepare cake mix according to package directions.  Line a muffin tin with paper wrappers.  Fill each cup about 2/3rds full with batter.
2. Unwrap your regular-size Reese's.  This is where it's convenient to suck at math.  My choices at the grocery store were:
-buy 12 packs of 2 (obvious answer)
-get the 16-packs, and buy two (OBVIOUS answer- you know that more than one Reese's cup could be broken, or accidentally get broken when you unpeel it.  And you might want to taste a Reese's cup ahead of time to make sure that it's not poison.  Yes, go with the 16-packs).
3. Place one Reese's cup, upside down, in each muffin cup.  Spoon a little bit more batter over the tops.
4. Bake according to package directions.  Let cool completely.

For buttercream frosting...
1. In a stand mixer (or hand-held) cream together butter and Crisco until smooth.  Gradually add 3 cups powdered sugar.  Add vanilla and peanut butter.
2. Here's where you take the reigns- feel free to add some of the milk if the frosting is feeling too stiff.  I ended up not needing to, but I wanted to make sure it piped okay.
3. You can spread the frosting on the cupcakes with just a knife, or you can get crafty by using piping tips and a bag.

Now the fun part:
1. Unwrap your mini Reese's cups, but leave the inner brown wrapper on.
2. Using a small piping tip, create "mini cupcakes."
3. I bought Valentines hearts- you can decorate yours however you like.






I think an alternative title to this recipe would be "I-love-calories-cupcakes."  I won't even bother to calculate the nutrition.  I'll just say...they're fine...in moderation.........if you can.

A cure for the common cold

I have received a flu shot every year for as long as I can remember.  Since I work at a clinic, I get it for free (take that Walgreens!).  Minor problem- this year, we didn't order it.  All we have is last year's expired flu vaccine.  Now, two things could happen here:
1. I could get said old expired vaccine, and my immune system picks up on the weak virus and becomes stronger than ever!  I would be Super 'mune Girl!

-or-

2. The weak virus does absolutely nothing for my immune system, and I get a horrible strain of whatever flu bug is floating around this season. 

Given that my last post was all about the merits of doing nothing...I've now found myself with a bit of a cold.  I'll be sure to go post on facebook my sick-self status, because everyone loves reading those Debbie Downer issues. 

Fortunately I still maintain my sense of snark. 

This is a recipe that I totally winged, so I claim it be semi-authentic.  It's a spicy dish with a bit of peanut flavor- sure to clear up the sinuses.

Chicken Pad Thai
  • 1/2 box whole wheat linguini
  • 1 bag shredded carrots
  • 1 bag cole slaw (pre-shredded cabbage)
  • 1 bunch green onions, finely chopped (about 3/4 cup)
  • 1/2 cup garlic chili paste (found in the Asian section)
  • 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp minced garlic
  • 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut up into 1" chunks
  • 1 bag bean sprouts (the thicker kind)
  • 1/3 cup peanut butter (creamy or chunky- I like chunky best)
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth
1. Bring large stockpot of water to boil.  Add linguini.  Boil over medium-high heat until cooked.
2. Meanwhile heat olive oil in large frying pan.  Add chicken and cook until nicely browned.  Add garlic- saute one minute, then set aside in a bowl for later.
3. Add sesame oil to the same pan.  Saute cabbage, carrots and green onions.  Add rice vinegar.  When getting tender (but not mushy), add chicken. 
4. To make sauce, combine garlic-chili sauce, broth, and peanut butter in a small bowl.  Whisk together until smooth.
5. Combine noodles, veggies, and sauce in the large stockpot.  Stir in bean sprouts.  Optional: add chopped fresh cilantro and serve with a lime wedge.



Makes six servings.  Per serving: 450 calories, 55 g carbs, 15 g fat, 30 g protein, 11 g fiber.

Never fear! Super 'mune Girl will be back in no time.