Pasta

  Tonight we had our pasta party. I had four great helpers, My two boys, Troy (24), Jake (19), then my two nephews, Dakota(14) and Zach (9). If you didn't really think about it my sister's two and my two are all five years apart. Troy is five years older than Jake, Jake is five years older than Dakota, and Dakota is five years older than Zach. Dakota figured this out when he was five, and tells everybody still today. Dakota and Zach have autism, we love them so very much. They are as close to me as my own two sons are.

  Now back to our party. Before my nephews got here, I placed some chicken quarters in the oven at 350 degrees and cooked them 35 minutes covered, and uncovered until they were brown. Jake made a spinach pesto. He took 4 cups of spinach, about 2 cups of fresh basil, 3 cloves garlic, 2 green onions, 1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan, about 1/3 cup olive oil, salt, and pepper in a food processor, combined until it was well mixed, and creamy. He may have added more oil. Troy helped with some of the prep. When My sister and the boys came over, Zach and I got started on the pasta dough. An important thing to remember is not to let the 9 year old autistic kiddo read the recipe. He did great cracking the eggs, but when it came to the amount of the water he added 1 cup instead of 2 tbls. He did the olive oil, and salt just right, so we added more flour to balance out the water. Our dough turned out soft, but still tasted okay, it did clump together though. We then made the spinach pasta, and he did that great (I was reading the recipe this time). We let the pasta rest, that was the hard part...lol Next I turned the boys and dough over to Jake.

                                                                 They did a great job!

 While the boys were busy making the pasta, I started my quick sauce, I took 2 tbls olive oil, heated it, then added 1 small yellow onion chopped, mini carrots sliced, I let those cook until tender, then added 6 mini sliced sweet peppers, mushrooms, and minced garlic. I let all that get fragrant. I then deglazed the pan with 1 cup white wine, cooked thta for about 1 minute, then added 2 cups of chicken broth. I let that reduce by 1/2, then added 1 container of grape tomatoes, covered, just until the tomatoes burst. I then finished it with fresh basil and spinach. I let it simmer until the pasta was done. I then turned the stove over to my 2 boys, Troy has the green hair and Jake red. They cooked the pasta, and then added it to the sauces. One other sauce I had was a jar white sauce, that's all Zach will touch.

 Here is the 2 pastas, not a great picture, but it tasted great! It's something that we will have to keep practicing making.

Here are the 4 boys all together after eating their great dinner!

Black Beans and Chicken Tacos

  I know I haven't posted in a very long time. One reason is that Jake moved into an apartment with his brother, so I don't have my cooking partner any more. Sometimes it really sucks when your kids get older, especially when the move out on their own. Both my boys are suppose to come over Monday to make pasta with me. I got new pasta attachments for my Kitchen Aid mixer for Christmas, but have been to sick to use them.
  It's been so hard cooking just for myself. I usually cook too much and end up throwing it away, because I don't like leftovers. Since the beginning of the year, I vowed I will cook for myself and that it will be healthy. After being sick for the last month (I have had pneumonia), I have lost 10 lbs. and I would like to continue the weight loss. I thought I would use this blog to help me along.
  Tonight I was craving tacos so I thought how I could make them healthier. I had already picked up some high fiber tortilla at Grocery Outlet for fifty cents, so I thought I would try them.
  First I took 1/2 of a skinless boneless chicken breast, placed it in a small dutch oven, sprinkled on some pepper, ancho chili powder, and smoked paprika. I then added 1/4 cup chicken broth, covered it and baked in a 350 degree over for 30 minutes.
  I then, took a small pot, put a tablespoon of olive oil in the bottom, then added 1/2 of a small yellow onion, after those cooked for a few minutes then added 2 chopped cloves of garlic, let it cook for about 2 minutes. Then I added 1 can of drained black beans, and one can of El Patio tomato sauce (this brand has a lot of flavor, but if you don't like spicy, you can use a can of  regular tomato sauce. I also added some chopped mini sweet peppers. I let that simmer. I saved some of the chopped onion and sweet peppers for topping, for that crunch. I also sliced some fresh spinach.
  This is what it looked like when it was done. I know my pictures are backwards, but oh well. I for got I did put a pinch of shredded cheese on top. This dinner was 440 calories. I used the tortillas on the side. The calorie count was with 2 of the high fiber tortillas.

Grilled Chicken Strips, Smashed Potatoes, Zucchini, and Coconut Cream Pie

Tonight was my turn for dinner, so I thought I would go simple. First of all I will break down what I spent. The chicken strips were $6.99 for a 2 lb bag at Grocery Outlet, one bag last Jake and I through a few meals. The potatoes were a great deal, I got a 10 lb bag at the 99 cent store, for 99 cents, one bag of potatoes last us a while. The veggies again were brought to me from a friend. The pie was probably the biggest expense. It was made as an early birthday pie for Henry's bday on Tuesday. The crust was $2.29, the pudding was 2 boxes $2.60, I already had the coconut, the container of whip cream was $1.69, and the chocolate ready whip was $1.49.

First of all for the pie, it's simple! You need 1 graham cracker crust, I used 1 box of coconut cream pudding, and 1 box of cheesecake flavored pudding, 2 cups of milk, 1 container of whipped cream (I like the extra creamy, if you are having something like this go for the fat!) 1 cup of shredded coconut. Mix the 2 boxes of pudding with 2 cups of milk, stir until well blended, then add 1/2 container of whipped cream, and 3/4 cup coconut, mix well, place in the crust, refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours. Before serving top with the rest of the whip cream, and toasted coconut.

  For dinner I marinaded the chicken in 1/4 cup olive oil, ancho chili powder, smoked paprika, and garlic seasoning. I let it set for 30 minutes. I cut the potatoes into cubes, rinsed, then placed them in cold water, along with 4 cloves of garlic. I heated the George Foreman grill, then started the potatoes to boil. The chicken only takes about 4 minutes to cook on the grill, and this time I over cooked the chicken, It was dry, but Henry and Jake seemed to like it. For the potatoes I added butter, milk, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. After the chicken was done, I put the zucchini and star burst squash on the grill.

Shrimp Skewers, Tomato, Basil, 3 Cheese, Ravioli, and Squash

Since today was Jake's day off, he made dinner. We haven't been cooking as much lately as normal. With the heat and Jake's work schedule it just isn't worth it.

We had bought the pasta at Grocery Outlet for $1.99, the shrimp was $3.99, and a good friend Robyn brought the veggies over today.

First of all he, marinated the shrimp in olive oil for 30 minutes, then he placed them on wooden skewers. Greek seasoning, basil, oregano, thyme, and rosemary. then he got a large pot of water boiling for the pasta, He also preheated the George Foreman grill.

He heated a deep skillet, added 1 tbs olive oil about 10 cherry tomatoes, and salt, then covered it until the tomatoes burst then added 1 chopped red onion, 3 mini carrots grated, 4 mini sweet peppers chopped. Next he added 1/2 cup white wine (wine was bought at Grocery Outlet for $1.99). He let the wine cook off then added the juice of 1 lemon, 2 cups of chicken broth, 2 tbs butter, 4 cloves minced garlic, basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper, Greek seasoning, and 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg. He let that simmer until reduced by 1/2.

Meanwhile, he placed the Ravioli in the boiling water, then placed the shrimp skewers on the grill. For him dinner is done, but just for me he placed some zucchini and sunburst squash on the grill. For the squash he put it in some olive oil, oregano, basil, and Greek seasonings.

Cheese Steak Stuffed Bell Peppers

I was scrolling through fb today and say a recipe for the stuffed peppers, and thought I would give it a try for dinner tonight. Of course I made a few changes.

First of all was the prep, I sliced about 1 cup of mushrooms (1 container was $1.88), 6 mini orange and yellow sweet peppers sliced thin (I get a bag of them for $2.99 at Grocery Outlet), it didn't call for the sweet peppers, 1 medium red onion (30 cents), I cut 4 bell peppers in half, and seeded them ($2.00 for the 4), and I sliced a package of thin steak (purchased at Grocery Outlet for $2.50), the recipe called for 1 lb of thinly sliced roast beef. A good tip for slicing steak thin is to place it in the freezer to stiffen it up and it makes it easier to slice. I also minced 3 cloves of garlic.

To cook, I placed 1 tbs of olive oil and 1 tbs butter in a skillet, place the onions, sweet peppers, and mushrooms in the skillet, sprinkle with salt and pepper, I also added some Greek seasoning, cook until they are tender. When they are almost done add the garlic. Remove to a bowl. Next add 1 tbs of olive oil to the hot pan, cook the steak, do it in batches if the skillet is crowded. After the steak is cooked add the veggies back in, heat through. In the bottom of the bell peppers place a slice of pepper jack cheese (it was $2.99), then a good helping of the steak onion mixture, top with more cheese, I did a mixture of colby jack cheese. Place in a 400 degree oven until the bell peppers are tender, and the cheese is bubbly and brown.

                                                   The pictures are not that great sorry.

Grilled Shrimp, Squash, and Couscous

 We did cook the last 2 nights, but I didn't take pictures. I made a roast, with potatoes, and carrots in the slower cooker. Then last night Jake reinvented it. He chopped up the roast, placed it back in the slow cooker, with some BBQ sauce. He made bbq beef sandwiches. It has been way too hot to cook.

Tonight was my turn. The cooker was fixed, so I decided to fix something fast.

For the shrimp, I shelled and deveined it, placed it in a glass bowl with canola oil, chopped fresh parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, from 1 lemon, Greek seasoning, and chopped garlic. I then covered it, and placed it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, I prepped my veggies for the couscous. I chopped 2 small mini red peppers, 2 mini orange peppers,  1 yellow mini pepper, 2 chopped green onions, and 3 cloves of garlic minced. Then I sliced my zucchini and yellow squash.

I then heated my George Foreman G5 grill. While that was heating up, I placed the shrimp on wooden skewers (don't forget to soak the skewers in water before use or they could burn), and set them aside.

I cooked the zucchini and squash first. Meanwhile I started the couscous. I placed olive oil in a pot, then added my peppers and onions. I let them cook until tender, then added the garlic, cooked just until it was fragrant. Next, add 2 cups of chicken stock, then added, dried thyme, basil, and oregano, bring to a boil, then add 1 cup of couscous, cover, let simmer until liquid is gone about 8 minutes. When liquid was gone, I finished it with the juice of 1/2 a lemon.

When the zucchini was done, I placed the shrimp on the grill, and cooked for about 3 minutes. That's it! It must have tasted good, because Jake had seconds. Well, of course not of the veg, because he won't try my zucchini.

Pasta

We all know that by now that it should be Jake's turn to cook, but he has had a lot of excuses this week, so it's been all me.

Tonight I decided on a chicken pasta. I took the 3 chicken thighs Jake laid out 2 days ago, sprinkled salt, pepper, and a new garlic seasoning on them, placed them in a deep hot skillet with a tablespoon of olive oil. I browned it on both sides, then let it simmer for about 15 minutes, or until done. I took it out of the skillet and placed it on a plate. Next I put a pot on to boil, and dropped the penne pasta. Then I added 1/2 chopped yellow onion, 1 chopped stalk of celery, and 1 small chopped carrot, to the pan. I cooked those until it was tender, then added 2 tbs. butter/margarine, a little bit of flour, I let the flour cook for a minute, then deglazed the pan with chicken stock, then added 2 minced cloves of garlic, dried thyme, oregano, basil, some Greek seasoning, and 1 can of diced tomatoes . I let that simmer until thickened. I then added 4 oz of  Neufchatel (low fat cream cheese) and 3 tbs. of Taco Bell chipotle sour cream (I found it at Grocery Outlet for 2 for a dollar), Next, I added 3 cups chopped fresh spinach, and 1/4 cup grated Parmesan. I drained the pasta and added it to the sauce, and that was it! I served it with a little more parm.

I also want to share this great little gadget Henry bought me when we were in Monterey. We got it a garlic store. I love this thing. It's probably used more than anything in the kitchen, besides the coffee pot...lol

                                                              It fits in my small hands.

 Just place your peeled garlic inside. If the cloves are large, I cut them in 1/2 first,
                                                               but you don't have to.

Place the 2 sides together, give it a few twist and you're done!