I believe I posted already about my asian sesame salad. Today I decided to try it in wrap form. I picked up some pre-grilled chicken for protein. Put it on a small tortilla. Added that to some lettuce, peppers, matchstick carrots. Topped with toasted sesame dressing.
Review:
SUPER YUM! except, 1 small tortilla wasn't quite enough to satiate my hunger, so I ended up supplementing it with a salad of the same ingredients. Maybe with a larger tortilla, my hunger would have been finished.
This could be a nice quick lunch kit if I had a full time job and such a thing as a lunch at work.....
Friday, March 26, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
What's for Dinner 3/23/2010
Cheese Garlic Chicken with Rice with Herves de Provence
Quite a mouthful.
I decided to venture into the world of non-instant rice. I found a recipe for Rice with Herbes de Provence. I don't have that herb mix, but read the author's comment to use Rosemary, Thyme and Marjoram instead.
Tonight, I also decided to follow the directions for a cheesy garlic chicken from the back of the lipton soup mix
Results:
The rice cooked down way faster than the 20 minutes was supposed to take. I instead added the rice to cooking chicken and finished out the time.
The chicken did not cook in 20 minutes. I aimed for 35 (in a convection oven, no less). I thought it was done, so I covered it in cheese (mozzarella and parmesan), allowed the cheese to melt and served.
Well.... about 1/2 way through my piece of chicken, it changed in texture. Yeah. I'm thinking it wasn't completely done. *ARGH. So not only was the meal not that great, but now I'm worried about aforementioned possibly not fully cooked chicken.
FAIL.
Quite a mouthful.
I decided to venture into the world of non-instant rice. I found a recipe for Rice with Herbes de Provence. I don't have that herb mix, but read the author's comment to use Rosemary, Thyme and Marjoram instead.
Tonight, I also decided to follow the directions for a cheesy garlic chicken from the back of the lipton soup mix
Results:
The rice cooked down way faster than the 20 minutes was supposed to take. I instead added the rice to cooking chicken and finished out the time.
The chicken did not cook in 20 minutes. I aimed for 35 (in a convection oven, no less). I thought it was done, so I covered it in cheese (mozzarella and parmesan), allowed the cheese to melt and served.
Well.... about 1/2 way through my piece of chicken, it changed in texture. Yeah. I'm thinking it wasn't completely done. *ARGH. So not only was the meal not that great, but now I'm worried about aforementioned possibly not fully cooked chicken.
FAIL.
Breakfast burrito
I used to hate eggs. The texture, lack of taste, etc made me shy away. But as I've grown up, my tastes have changed. So now, I like eggs.
That said, I've always wanted to try a breakfast burrito, but never had the guts. Today I decided was that day.
How I made it:
I scrambled 2 eggs (2 eggs, a dash of milk, 1 piece kraft singles american cheese, pepper).
I put some of it in a small tortilla, added about 1T of salsa on top of it and a dash of cheese.
Ta-Da!
I could have scrambled only 1 egg for such a small tortilla. So I had a breakfast burrito and some scrambled eggs. :) It was an easy breakfast. Maybe in the future, I'd incorporate some peppers and other sources of protein instead of relying on the salsa. It wasn't extremely flavorful but was a good quick breakfast.
The best benefit: a good protein source from the egg should keep me fuller than defaulting to a cereal bar or a sugary snack. And it fits into my new effort to cut down on sugar!
That said, I've always wanted to try a breakfast burrito, but never had the guts. Today I decided was that day.
How I made it:
I scrambled 2 eggs (2 eggs, a dash of milk, 1 piece kraft singles american cheese, pepper).
I put some of it in a small tortilla, added about 1T of salsa on top of it and a dash of cheese.
Ta-Da!
I could have scrambled only 1 egg for such a small tortilla. So I had a breakfast burrito and some scrambled eggs. :) It was an easy breakfast. Maybe in the future, I'd incorporate some peppers and other sources of protein instead of relying on the salsa. It wasn't extremely flavorful but was a good quick breakfast.
The best benefit: a good protein source from the egg should keep me fuller than defaulting to a cereal bar or a sugary snack. And it fits into my new effort to cut down on sugar!
Cutting down on sugar
I consume WAY too much sugar through pop and other means. I've undertaken a 90 day challenge and decided cutting down on sugar intake is one of my sub-goals. This whole cutting down on sugar thing is difficult, but hopefully it'll encourage me to find better breakfasts and be more conscious of what's going into my body.
I'm starting by not adding sugar to my daily coffee. I've already started drinking black coffee at work because I don't have time to grab sugar and I need to be able to explain coffee unaltered by cream and sugar. It's actually not a very difficult switch for me because I already like things like plain espresso and more "bitter" drinks. So if its already not necessary AND I get good quality coffee from work, this is an easy switch that can stand to save me about 1-1.5 tablespoons of sugar per day! My only caveat is that if I go somewhere with bad coffee and I absolutely need coffee, I can add whatever it takes to make that swill drinkable. :-D
The rest of this goal should be helped by cutting down on my soda consumption. There is a lot of sugar in Sprite (my go-to beverage).So between the 1 T I'll save not adding sugar to my coffee, I should save another 3.5T of sugar per day not drinking pop.
I'm starting by not adding sugar to my daily coffee. I've already started drinking black coffee at work because I don't have time to grab sugar and I need to be able to explain coffee unaltered by cream and sugar. It's actually not a very difficult switch for me because I already like things like plain espresso and more "bitter" drinks. So if its already not necessary AND I get good quality coffee from work, this is an easy switch that can stand to save me about 1-1.5 tablespoons of sugar per day! My only caveat is that if I go somewhere with bad coffee and I absolutely need coffee, I can add whatever it takes to make that swill drinkable. :-D
The rest of this goal should be helped by cutting down on my soda consumption. There is a lot of sugar in Sprite (my go-to beverage).So between the 1 T I'll save not adding sugar to my coffee, I should save another 3.5T of sugar per day not drinking pop.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Homemade Beef Stew
2pm: Preparation, Cooking, Thoughts
Today it's a little rainy and dreary so I decided it'd be the PERFECT day to try out a new recipe I found for Beef Stew. I've never made it before, so I am looking forward to seeing how it'll turn out.
I tweaked a recipe that I found on allrecipes.com (Beef Stew) I set it up in the crock pot, and then started reading the bad reviews. I'm a little nervous now. Although, I'm always nervous in trying a new recipe that it'll fail and I'll have wasted money and time on a dud.
In reading the reviews, it sounded a little bland so I added more Worcestershire sauce and a couple drops of balsamic vinegar. I was also worried that 1.5 cups of broth/stock wasn't enough so I used more. I figured that I can always add corn starch or more flour to thicken it as dinner approaches. Pre-taste tests tell me that I may have too much salt in there. I also did not have celery to add, nor did I add bay leaves. Right now it's really watery. Hopefully 4 hours of cooking on high will thicken it and make it the right amount of flavorful.
I'm also worried about the vegetables cooking as they are supposed to. I do not have luck with potatoes cooking fully in recipes. I'm hoping the 15 minutes of boiling that I did in order to remove the skins (check out this neat way to remove potato skins) will help the potatoes be more cooked. *crosses fingers*. If I'm ever making this in a hurry, I may use canned carrots and potatoes.
7pm: The reviews are in
Ok for a first attempt. Branden felt it was a little too onion/carroty and not enough beef. I thought it was pretty flavorful but the meat I used was subpar.
Improvements:
Today it's a little rainy and dreary so I decided it'd be the PERFECT day to try out a new recipe I found for Beef Stew. I've never made it before, so I am looking forward to seeing how it'll turn out.
I tweaked a recipe that I found on allrecipes.com (Beef Stew) I set it up in the crock pot, and then started reading the bad reviews. I'm a little nervous now. Although, I'm always nervous in trying a new recipe that it'll fail and I'll have wasted money and time on a dud.
In reading the reviews, it sounded a little bland so I added more Worcestershire sauce and a couple drops of balsamic vinegar. I was also worried that 1.5 cups of broth/stock wasn't enough so I used more. I figured that I can always add corn starch or more flour to thicken it as dinner approaches. Pre-taste tests tell me that I may have too much salt in there. I also did not have celery to add, nor did I add bay leaves. Right now it's really watery. Hopefully 4 hours of cooking on high will thicken it and make it the right amount of flavorful.
I'm also worried about the vegetables cooking as they are supposed to. I do not have luck with potatoes cooking fully in recipes. I'm hoping the 15 minutes of boiling that I did in order to remove the skins (check out this neat way to remove potato skins) will help the potatoes be more cooked. *crosses fingers*. If I'm ever making this in a hurry, I may use canned carrots and potatoes.
7pm: The reviews are in
Ok for a first attempt. Branden felt it was a little too onion/carroty and not enough beef. I thought it was pretty flavorful but the meat I used was subpar.
Improvements:
- use 2 lbs better quality meat, not 1lb stew meat (too fatty, blah for cooking)
- sear meat first, deglaze with stock. could result in better flavor
- chop vegetables better (smaller pieces of onion)
Peeling Potatoes
A few weeks ago, a friend sent me a link featuring Dawn Wells (from Gilligans Island) giving you instruction on an easy way to peel potatoes. I do not have the opportunity to make/peel potatoes very often so I filed it away for the future.
Today I am making beef stew (see next post) which would involve peeling potatoes, thus giving me that opportunity.
Impressions: Should be easy enough, right? Looks like it involves minimal mess and effort.
Reality: the skin was definitely easy to remove, but it didn't come off QUITE as easily as the video leads you to believe. Mine came off in shreds and I still used my knife to get sections of the skin off. My hands were defnitely covered in slimy, boiled potato and potato skin residue by the time I cleaned 3 potatoes.
What went wrong? Maybe I didn't boil them long enough, or maybe they needed longer in the ice bath? I'm just not sure.
It was still significantly less effort, so I will give it a whirl again someday. If you hate peeling potatoes, this is definitely worth a shot.
Today I am making beef stew (see next post) which would involve peeling potatoes, thus giving me that opportunity.
Impressions: Should be easy enough, right? Looks like it involves minimal mess and effort.
Reality: the skin was definitely easy to remove, but it didn't come off QUITE as easily as the video leads you to believe. Mine came off in shreds and I still used my knife to get sections of the skin off. My hands were defnitely covered in slimy, boiled potato and potato skin residue by the time I cleaned 3 potatoes.
What went wrong? Maybe I didn't boil them long enough, or maybe they needed longer in the ice bath? I'm just not sure.
It was still significantly less effort, so I will give it a whirl again someday. If you hate peeling potatoes, this is definitely worth a shot.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
What's for dinner 3/11/10
So I took a hiatus from this post, but I'm back!
Tonight's menu is......
Tonight's menu is......
- Crock pot hot beef on wheat buns (see previous post)
- Baked potatoes
- salad
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Crock Pot Hot Beef Sandwhiches
Make ahead meals are great... when you have the forethought to actually plan ahead and make them. Crock pots are awesome for the make ahead meals. Not that it's a secret or anything. One of my favorite recipes to make in the crock pot is shredded beef.
Recipe:
This is how I fit it into a working schedule:
PM: Mix all together
Cook on low overnight.
AM (before leaving): shred beef
put in fridge for finishing later
After Work: remove from fridge, cook for 2 hrs on high.
Serve on buns.
Recipe:
- 1 can Campbells French Onion Soup
- 1 package Lipton Beefy Onion soup mix (dry)
- 1 beef chuck roast
- 1 soup can water
This is how I fit it into a working schedule:
PM: Mix all together
Cook on low overnight.
AM (before leaving): shred beef
put in fridge for finishing later
After Work: remove from fridge, cook for 2 hrs on high.
Serve on buns.
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