Monday, October 19, 2009

Hungry Girl's Scoopable Chinese Chicken Salad

I find this recipe to be SUPER DUPER DELISH! I like to keep it in the fridge to munch on between meals and to give it to the kids (yes, they like it too) when I am trying to find a healthy dinner in a hurry (read: about 4 nights a week when we have sports). YUM-O!

Hungry Girl's Scoopable Chinese Chicken Salad

One 16-ounce package dry broccoli slaw mix
12 ounces cooked skinless lean chicken breast, chopped
1 cup canned water chestnuts, drained and sliced into thin strips
1 cup canned mandarin orange segments packed in water or juice, drained and chopped (and rinsed, if packed in juice)
1 cup scallions, chopped
3/4 cup Newman's Own Lighten Up! Low Fat Sesame Ginger Dressing

In a large bowl, toss all ingredients together until mixed well. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Stir well before serving. Enjoy!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Healthy Pumpkin Muffins with Orange Drizzle

OK so I actually made up a recipe...that is yummy! Good for you and DELISH....even the kids and Mike gobbled them up! I usually don't make up recipes, but I entered a contest so I had to. Don't let the ingredients scare you off, these are truly good. I promise!



Healthy Pumpkin Muffins with Orange Drizzle

•2 tablespoons flax seed meal
•6 tablespoons water
•¾ C. brown sugar
•1 cup canned pumpkin puree
•1/2 cup applesauce
•1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
•1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
•1 teaspoon baking soda
•1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
•3/4 teaspoon salt
•1/2 teaspoon baking powder
•1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
•1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease two mini muffin pans (or one 9x5 inch loaf pan).
2.Whisk together flax seed meal and water. Mix in sugar, pumpkin and apple sauce.
3.In a large bowl, stir together all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, nutmeg, and cloves. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture; stir until smooth. Pour heaping spoonfulls of batter (they wont rise) into prepared pans.
4.Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes (or 65-70 minutes for loaf pan) until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean.

Let stand a few minutes, and then transfer mini-muffins to a wire rack to cool. Mix the drizzle ingredients together and drizzle over warm muffins.

Orange Drizzle: •1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
•1/4 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
•4 teaspoons orange juice

Monday, October 12, 2009

Baked Ziti - Sunday Night Dinner

Well for my Sunday night dinner this week, I made baked ziti. The guys took the boys on a freezing cold campout Saturday night so I had a feeling they would like some hot, comfort food when they came home Sunday. And I was right! Mike said it "hit the spot". I served just a mixed green salad, garlic bread and baked ziti. Ana brought a DELISH appetizer and cake. Usually we don't bring anything, but she wanted to try these two recipes out and I certainly didn't argue! So here goes...

Goat Cheese Crostini

1 cup crumbled goat cheese
1 tsp. minced fresh rosemary
1 french baguette cut into ½ in slices and toasted
3 Tbsp Honey
¼ cup slivered almonds

In a small bowl, combine the goat cheese and rosemary; spoon over the toast slices. Drizzle with honey; sprinkle with almonds.

Thats it! Sooo easy and one of the best hors devours I have had in a long time. I could NOT stay away form it and probably ate half of them. No joke.

Baked Ziti

1 pound dry ziti pasta
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
A couple shakes of Italian Seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pound lean ground beef (I used 93% lean and it was perfect)
2 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce - (I recommend using a good Marinara Sauce...not Ragu! You can definitely make it yourself, but if you are short on time, dont be scared of jarred sauce. It tastes fab in this recipe.)
6 ounces provolone cheese, sliced
1 1/2 cups sour cream
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes; drain. In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. Drain any fat and add spaghetti sauce; simmer 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pam (or any cooking spray) a large 9x13 inch baking dish. Mix a little bit of the sauce with the noodles, just so they wont stick together.

Layer as follows: 1/2 of the ziti, 1/2 of the sauce mixture, Provolone cheese, sour cream, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.

Cover with foil Bake for 40ish minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted. (may take longer to be hot all the way through!

*** please trust me on the sour cream. I know ricotta is the norm, but I think sour cream is a ton better!

This is comfort food at its finest; Hot, fattening and delicious! But hey, as long as you don't fill your bowl full, eating these kinds of food are OK sometimes! Just don't stuff yourself so you can save room for a yummy dessert such as this one.....


Toffee Poke Cake

1 pkg chocolate cake mix
1 jar of caramel ice cream topping
1 carton frozen whipped topping, thawed
3 heath candy bars

Prepare cake according to directions, using a 9x 13 greased baking pan. Cool on wire rack.

Poke holes in cake. Pour ¾ cup of caramel topping into holes. Spoon remaining over the cake.

Top with whipped topping and sprinkle with candy. Refrigerate before serving.

*** Ana made the following adjustments to this recipe:
Baked in a Bundt pan to make it prettier. I used ¾ of a container of vanilla frosting instead of the whipped topping. Used heath candy topping from the baking isle instead of the candy bars. Did not refrigerate in order to keep the cake moist.

I would highly recommend doing it the way she did it because it was FABULOUS! And unforch for my waistline...she left us with the cake leftovers! I better eat it fast to get it out of here! ;)

Sunday night dinner - Cuban style!!

So the Devenny's (that would be us) and the Jordan's have a long time tradition of having Sunday night dinner together. Sometimes we have hamburgers and sometimes we go gourmet...its just whatever we are in the mood for on that particular night. We switch houses each week and when it isn't at our house we don't bring anything but ourselves. We eat early and leave early so the kids can get in bed for school. We've been doing this for a while and I look forward to it each week. I decided I may as well add our meals to K is for Kitchen!!

Last week we had dinner at the Jordan's and she did a traditional Cuban meal. Ana is Cuban, so she grew up eating homemade black beans and rice, friend plantains, etc. VERY YUMMY! She was nice enough to type out ALL the recipes since they are not recipes you would be able to find online. Old family recipes!

Black Beans

1 lb. bag of black beans
2 med yellow onions
1 green pepper
Chopped garlic
Olive Oil
Complete Sazon
Mojo
1 can tomato paste
1 small can tomato sauce
Ham chunks
Small jar of pimentos
Green olives (optional)

Two days before:

Wash the beans. Make sure to remove any rocks or debris you find.
Fill pressure cooker ½ way with water and add the clean beans
Cut green pepper in half and seed. Add ½ of the pepper to the pot
Cut 1 onion into quarters and add to pot.
Close pressure cooker and let sit overnight.

Day Before:

Remove any floating beans.
Heat to high and then reduce to med for 20 minutes.
Turn off and allow all vapor to come out. This takes a while.
In a blender, puree the rest of the green pepper, 1 onion and 2 tsp garlic. (This mixture is called Sofrito)

Heat olive oil in a pan and sauté the Sofrito.
While the oil is still hot, add the Sofrito and cook for 5 minutes and add 2-3 shakes of Complete Sazon.
Add the tomato paste and the tomato sauce and cook for 10 minutes
Add ham chunks and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
Add olives.
Add this mixture to the beans.
Add one squirt of Mojo to the beans.
Cook without the lid off for 10-15 minutes, let cool.
Replace the lid and put the cooker in the refrigerator.

Day of:

Heat the beans on low or simmer prior to serving.

Serve over white rice.


Cuban Bread

5 cups bread flour
2 packages dry yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 cups hot water

Cuban bread should be consumed in a day or so, since it lacks shortening, and therefore, has a very short shelf life.

Directions

Grease a baking sheet to prepare it for 2 small loaves. In large mixing bowl, combine 4 cups of flour, yeast, salt, and sugar. Blend well. Heat 2 cups of water to 125º F and add to mixing bowl, beating ingredients with electric mixer for approximately 3 minutes. Add remaining cup of flour slowly, making sure it combines with other ingredients to form a non-sticky batch of bread dough.

To hand knead the dough, remove it from bowl, sprinkle additional flour over a kneading area, and knead dough for 5 to 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. To knead with electric mixer and dough hook, work dough for approximately 5 minutes until elastic and smooth.

Lightly grease a large bowl, place the dough inside, and cover the bowl with oiled plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise in a warm location (approximately 90º F) for 15to 30 minutes, or until the dough has doubled in size.

Punch the dough to deflate and place it on a floured work surface. Form the loaves into round or oval shapes and place on the greased baking sheet. Slash the loaves with a cross or 2 parallel cuts.

Fill a pan with hot tap water and place it on the lowest rack in a cool oven (do not preheat the oven). Put the bread loaves in the oven on the middle shelf above the water. Turn the oven temperature to 400º F, baking the loaves for approximately 45 to 50 minutes, and removing them when they are a dark golden tan in color.

Using a wooden spoon or your hand, lightly tap on the bottom of the loaves, listening for a hollow and hard sound, which indicates the bread is properly done. Place the bread on a cooling rack and serve the same day it is baked.


Tostones (Fried green Plantains)

Vegetable oil for frying
Green plantains
Salt

Peel the plantain: Cut the ends of each plantain off with a sharp knife. Use the knife to cut through the peel along the entire length of the plantain. Loosen the peel along the cut and remove peel by hand.
Note: The greener the plantain, the tougher it is too peel. You may need to help things along with a sharp knife. Cut the plantain into chunks, about 2" wide.

Fill a large skillet a third full with oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add the plantain slices while the oil is still warm and fry for a couple of minutes on each side, until they begin to brown to soften, but not brown. (Don't let your oil get too hot at this point!)

Remove the plantain and drain on paper towels.
Use a plantain press or the bottom of a coffee cup to smash the plantains to about half their thickness.

Increase the heat and fry once again until golden brown
Remove and use paper towels to absorb excess oil. Sprinkle with salt to taste and serve.


Platanos Maduros (Fried Ripe Plantains)

Ingredients:

2 ripe plantains
1 tbs canola oil or sunflower oil

Preparation:

Peel the plantains
Slice the plantains, the best way to slice them is either diagonally or cut the plantain in half and slice lengthwise. The plantain can also be sliced lengthwise full size, but the smaller diagonal or half slices are easier to manage.
Heat the oil over medium heat in a large frying pan and add the plantains
The plantains will cook very quickly, make sure to turn them before they burn and cook until golden on each side. You can use a spatula or a fork to turn them. If the plantain flesh is still pink or white it means that it is not yet fully cooked.
Place the cooked plantains on a paper towel to drain any excess oil. Serve warm

Doesn't that all sound delicious!? Trust me when I say, it was. It was such a treat to eat such authentic foods! They also marinated a pork butt in Cuban marinade (Mojo I think?) and then smoked it and served it pulled with the black beans, bread and plantains. DELICIOUS!!

She also made 2 yummy desserts. One of the best cookies and cupcakes I have ever had and I am not kidding!!

Peanut Butter-Cup Cookies

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 12-ounce package small peanut butter cups, coarsely chopped

Heat oven to 375° F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars until creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat to combine. Gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Fold in the peanut butter cups.

Drop tablespoon-size mounds of dough 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake until light brown around the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a baking rack to cool.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

1 18.5-ounce box yellow cake mix (plus the ingredients called for in the package directions)
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
2 8-ounce bars cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
24 pieces candy corn

Heat oven to 350° F. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners. Prepare the cake mix as directed but with the following change: Add the pumpkin pie spice and substitute the can of pumpkin puree for the water called for in the package directions.

Divide the batter among the prepared muffin tins and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 18 to 22 minutes. Let cool.

Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar until creamy. Spread on the cupcakes and top each with a piece of candy corn.

Tip - The cupcakes can be baked and stored at room temperature, covered, up to 2 days in advance. Frost them up to 12 hours before serving.

*****Ana did them in mini bundt pans and they looked so cute!!

So there you have it, a traditional Cuban meal for your next dinner guests. I promise they will not be disappointed. Thanks Jordan's! YUMM YUMM!!