Adventure's in cooking....

Jason and I both had a HUGE steak left over from our anniversary dinner on Saturday. We decided to have them for dinner on Sunday. Well, when we were finished eating we were both left which a huge bone on our plate. I decided to make a beef broth, so I threw them in the crock pot with some carrots, onion, celery, rosemary, thyme and water and let it simmer overnight. YUMMY!

Keira and I also had several unloved bananas that we decided to make some Banana Bread with. I don't know what was more enjoyable... the smell of the broth or the smell of the banana bread! It was an incredible batch of banana bread though! YUMMY!

We also tried a recipe from my new cookbook "Eating Well 500 Calorie Dinners" which gives you ideas for an entrée, side dish and either a second side dish or a dessert which all add up to around 500 calories. Tonight we had the following:

Lemon-Garlic Shrimp & Vegetables. Makes 4 servings.

4 tsp EVOO, divided (I used coconut oil)

2 large red bell peppers, diced

2 pounds asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1" lengths

2 tsp freshly grated lemon zest

1/2 tsp salt, divided

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound raw shrimp (26 - 30 per pound), peeled and deveined

1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth (I used my homemade broth)

1 tsp cornstarch

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley

Heat 2 tsp oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add bell peppers, asparagus, lemon zest and 1/4 tsp salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until just beginning to soften, about 6 minutes. Transfer the vegetables to a bowl; cover to keep warm.

Add the remaining oil and garlic to the pan and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add shrimp and cook, stirring for one minute. Whisk broth and cornstarch in a small bowl until smooth and add to the pan along with the remaining 1/4 tsp salt. Cook, stirring until the sauce has thickened slightly and the shrimp are pink and just cooked through, about 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Stir in lemon juice and parsley. Serve the shrimp over the vegetables.

1 serving = 227 calories, 7g fat, 173mg cholesterol, 14g carbs, 28g protein, 4g fiber, 618 mg sodium, 670 mg potassium. Nutritional BONUSES: Vitamin C (210% daily value), Vitamin A (80% DV), Folate (53% DV) and Iron (25% DV).

The suggested side dishes are: Cauliflower & Couscous Pilaf (162 cal) or Quinoa with fresh herbs (1/2 cup for 111 cal.) and either a Papaya-Lime Sorbet (199 cal) or a glass of white wine (5 oz for 116 cal.)

We didn't have any of the side dishes. though we decided to try with Quinoa next time. A definite make again.

Meal Plan 5/3 - 5/8

The Meal Plan from last week was mostly a success. There were a few changes made, due to last minute additions to our schedule.

Thursday Jason ended up going to a Sharks playoff game, so we didn’t barbeque. Keira and I had a nice surprise on Wednesday night (Andrea coming home for the weekend) so we decided to go to Grandma’s house for dinner and I made Chicken Enchiladas. They were so good! That was always one of my favorite dinners mom would make growing up! I should try to make them more often! We ended up barbequing steaks on Friday night. So, my first attempt at a meal plan for the week was mostly a success! We just missed one recipe that I had planned.

Here’s our menu plan for this week:

Monday - 4 Minute Spicy Garlic Shrimp (I substitute Coconut Oil for the Olive Oil… it gives it a subtle hint of coconut which is really nice!). Serving with wild rice and broccoli. Homemade ice cream for dessert!

Tuesday – Leftover Lasagna and a garden salad

Wednesday – Vermicelli Peasant Style

Thursday - Pecan Crusted Chicken with a Garden Salad

Friday - Chili Verde and Spanish Rice

Saturday we are going to celebrate our 4^th wedding anniversary by going to Benihani’s for dinner as a family. I’m just glad that we’re going somewhere that won’t have TVs… so I don’t have to share Jason’s attention with the Sharks!

Menu Plan 4/26 - 4/30

I’m trying to be better about planning ahead for things… especially dinners! It’s so much easier to start the week out with a plan of attack for things. Here’s our meal plan for this week through Friday, cause once the weekend comes planning usually goes out the window!

Monday: Left over Pizza Chicago
Tuesday: Classic Chicken and Coconut Soup
Wednesday: Chicken Lyonnaise
Thursday: Steak, Garden Salad, Artichokes
Friday: Chili Verde and Spanish Rice with Garden Salad

I'm excited to start using my chicken stock so I tried to find 2 new recipes to try and 2 family favorites!

Bird in the Oven...

Here I go again doubting myself… for no reason!

I got home from work last night planning on making a delicious sounding recipe that I found on Recipezaar. When I booted up my laptop to find the recipe it froze.

Seriously! I don’t have time for this! I need to throw together the ingredients, chop up some veggies and get this beast in the oven so I can go enjoy Happy Hour with Shelle!

What am I going to do if I don’t know what the ingredients are?
I need a recipe!
I don’t want to screw up this beautiful bird, I need someone to tell me what to do!

OK, screw it, I don’t have time for this! Man up, Amber! Or rather Wo-man up!

So, I ran out to the front yard and grabbed 4 sprigs of Fresh Rosemary, 6 sprigs of fresh Thyme and 6 Fresh Sage leaves. I love my herb garden!!

I took the 3 of the Rosemary sprigs and 4 of the Thyme Sprigs and tied together and shoved them into the bird’s cavity. I pulled the skin away from the breast meat and took the 6 Sage leaves and placed 3 on each breast underneath the skin. (I remember this being something that Mom does to our Thanksgiving Turkey, and it looks beautiful when the skin has cooked and is a crisp golden brown with the Sage leaves showing through.)

I sprayed the bird down with a bit of Olive Oil and ground fresh pepper over its breasts. I then chopped up the rest of the Thyme and rub it all over the bird’s breasts and thighs.

I had some fresh fennel from the Farmer’s Market that I wanted to cook, so I chopped it up along with some red potatoes and put those in a casserole dish along with some olive oil, garlic and the remaining (now chopped) Fresh Rosemary. I set the bird down in the middle of the dish (pushing the veggie mixture to the side) and called it good! Nervously, I shoved a meat thermometer in and put the bird in the oven, set it to 350 degrees and left to go enjoy some girl time!

After enjoying a wonderful Strawberry Margarita (or two) it was time to come home to Keira and Jason and enjoy our family dinner….. and it was great! I was pleased with myself. I didn’t have an exactly list of ingredients and measurements to guide me through and I still made something that turned out quite tasty! Now I just wish I had taken a picture of it before we cut it up!

Tonight I plan on taking the carcass (sitting in the fridge in a stockpot of water waiting for me) and throw it in the crock pot along with some onion, celery and carrot…. And the thyme and rosemary which are still in the cavity. Mmmmmm, this will be my first experience making homemade stock, but I’m excited to try! Maybe I'll get over this whole low self esteem in the kitchen thing one of these days too!

Baking

While we were visiting Las Vegas, Keira fell in love with Lindsay's Bagels. I've decided to try making some homemade bread. I always doubt my abilities in the kitchen when trying new things. I am afraid I'll make a mistake... afraid that it won't turn out like I imagine it to. I don't know why I just can't trust myself to succeed, I always do.

I had a great time making Carrot Cookies with Keira while waiting for the dough for the bread to rise. Finally it did and once the bread was out of the oven...

it was a huge hit! Keira loves it!

Time flies when you're....

going crazy, having fun, traveling, gardening and working.

Recently, Keira and I took a trip out to Las Vegas with "Broken" Grandma Dub in tow to pay a visit to WLAH... aka Wyatt, Lindsay, and Addison and Huckleberry Dog! I say "Broken" Grandma, because I was "Amber the torturer" and picked up mom from the hospital after her hand surgery and put her in the car to immediately drive out to Vegas. I mean really... what better way to recover from having your finger bone shaved down and 2 pins put in your finger than by jumping in the car for a 10 hour bump filled drive!

In all seriousness though, I thought we should take advantage of Mom's time off work and my Holiday (Good Friday) and go pay a visit to Keira's favorite cousin... and two of my favorite people. When we planned the trip, I didn't think Mom would go directly from hospital gurney to passenger seat! I thought she might have a couple hours to come to and change her mind! We were both wrong though... her surgery started several hours behind schedule and that's exactly what happened!

Since we got such a late start, hitting the road at 8:36PM, we decided not to push it to Barstow and stayed the night in Bakersfield. Mom and I, in all our recent travels, have found that we have pretty good luck with Comfort Inn and Comfort Inn and Suites, so that is how we determine what city we'll rest our heads in.... but when we arrived to the GPS navigated Comfort Inn... we discovered it was a Baymont Inn. We decided to chance it anyway, since it was close to 1AM and the room rate was just $75 for the night. Wow, it was a nice room... comfortable beds, nice sheets, pillows, towels. There was a fridge, microwave, tv, in room internet, and a continental breakfast in the morning. There was also a little putting green outside our window. This will definitely be somewhere we'd stay again if we decided to break up our drive (and we did on the way home)!

We arrived at WLAH's house in what I think was a record time. Since it as a work day, Wyatt wasn't home, but Huckleberry, Addison and Lindsay we happy to greet us. Lindsay is always such a great hostess! She is quite the homemaker and has the most delicious recipes picked out for our stay! If only I ate that way at home every day.... I'd be fit and healthy and very satisfied! During our stay we enjoyed the following, Pecan Crusted Chicken with a beautiful salad, Sprouted Bean Chili, Salmon, and Rack of Lamb. I had never had rack of lamb before... I was a little nervous about what it would be like, but I loved it! I think Keira loved it more than any of us! She mush have had 4 cuts all to herself! At one point Wyatt looked over at her as she was taking a bite off the bone... he said she had her eyes rolled back in her head and looks like a great white shark devouring it's prey! I was glad that Keira was able to experience trying something new... and that it was a favorable experience for her! I do think though, that Keira most enjoyed the homemade bagels Lindsay had.... eating 5 in one day!

Easter Morning, Lindsay discovered during her morning walk with Huckleberry that the Easter Bunny had paid Keira a visit! Thanks Lindsay!! Keira was so excited to walk down to the park, finding treasure filled eggs every 5 feet to fill up her basket with! At that park she found egg shaped chalk, beautiful dress-up necklaces, and a hopping chick. Who knew that Easter was so exciting! I love these magical moments in her life!

We decided to break up our drive home and left Vegas after Easter dinner. On our way home we decided to stay in the same hotel in Bakersfield, knowing that the rooms were nice and the price was just right! We had a great drive... very uneventful. We mostly missed the high winds that were on the forecast and only had a few minutes of heavy downpour! We arrived home early enough on Monday that we were able to spend some time with Daddy, Grandma and Papa P before Keira's bedtime. All in all... when all is said and done it was a good trip. We had an uneventful drive, a nice visit with family, and good food in our bellies.