Taco Salad and Raw Chocolate Cookie Balls

We are big fans of Chipotle.  Steve's favorite thing is to get a burrito bowl and then eat it up with their chips as an edible spoon.  So, I tried to recreate that at home - only a bit healthier!  I made a base of rice, then topped it with black beans, cheese, lettuce, homemade corn/pepper salsa - and Steve added sour cream and salsa to the top of his.

Most of the fixin's laid out

Mine

Steve's

It was a BIG hit!  Steve said at least three times, "THIS IS GOOD!!!" And all I saw was the top of his head as he shoveled it in.  I will DEFINITELY be making this again!  William likes rice and black beans, so I can just serve it to him as separate things.

Then, I made THIS.  And holy monkey, was it GOOOOOOOD.  It will be made again and again and again.  And, the best part is, Steve hates it!  MORE FOR ME (and William who is also a big fan).  

I have William's bento box (thank you, Mimi!) all packed and ready to go tomorrow!  His raw, sugar-free chocolate cookies are made.  Here's how I did it:

Take a heaping 1 cup of cashews (I used walnuts for the Omega-3's and they worked fine!) and throw them in the food processor.  Whir them up until they are are as fine as you can get 'em.  Add half a cup of pitted dates to the food processor and process until they are totally mashed up with the nuts.  Add 2 tablespoons of flax meal and 1 tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder and whir again until everything is blended.  From there, you can do whatever you want with them: roll them into balls, form them into bars.  I made William balls for his lunch and me little bars to take to work for a mid-morning snack.  

Salmon...and a Flaming Update

By Cory

I have been struggling.  Hence the lack of posting.  I haven't felt much like talking about food.  Because it seems like all I do is worry about food.  Is there sugar in it? Dairy? Meat? Wheat?  After 5 days on the anti-inflammatory diet (hard core), I actually have more aches and pains, feel a general malaise, am STARVING all the time, gained a pound, and broke out.  Soooo...yeah.  I'm not *completely* giving up, but I am definitely taking a step back.  I am loosening up all the weird food constraints.  I am going back to my previous belief that any diet that eliminates entire food groups (unless you have an allergy or intolerance) is not so good.  So, it's all back in!!  The sugar, red meat, and dairy will still be in serious moderation.  I modified it a couple days ago after feeling so gross.  Aches are better, feeling good, lost 1.7 lbs, and am clearing up.  Something about that anti-inflammatory diet did not agree with my body.  My theory: it's cause I'm SMOKING HOT.  I need the flames, baby.  

I made pan fried salmon with roasted root veggies (taters, sweet taters, beets, and onions) and wilted beet greens.  It was pretty darn good!  One of the few successes!

And now, for this week's meal plan...

Sunday: White Bean and Mushroom Soup (first time recipe!) 

Monday: Cashew chicken with rice

Tuesday: Trying Jess's brine recipe, but with chicken breasts

Wednesday: Haddock fish cakes (from an anti-inflammatory recipe book - they still sound good, so I'm giving them a try!)

Thursday: out

Friday: Some sort of salmon - if anyone has suggestions, please let me know!!!! I'm running out of ideas.

Saturday: Black beans and rice

As a relatively healthy treat for William - who LOVES chocolate and mint as much as I do! - I am making this pie. Jess emailed me the recipe this morning and I can't wait to try it!

We are also doing something new for William's lunches.  I am breaking out the bento box and plan to fill it with this...

Big compartment: rice

Regular compartment: black beans

Back compartment 1: dried cherries

Back compartment 2: baby carrots

Back compartment 3: dessert - a raw, sugar-free chocolate cookie made from cashews, dates, unsweetened cocoa and flax seeds.  William actually really likes them!  I will post the recipe once I have perfected it!

brined pork chops, Twenty, and our new family member (a Jess post)

One of my favorite chefs is Michael Ruhlman. He is a culinary genius and has penned several books attesting to such. And he is a Cleveland guy which I have to admit wins him LOTS of points in my book. I got his most recent cookbook, Twenty, for Christmas and I am smitten. Instead of being lots of random recipes, he writes about twenty specific techniques and gives recipe examples to showcase each one.

I decided I was going to make the pan fried pork chops in lemon caper sauce (in the "fry" chapter). It sounded incredible. The first suggested step, however, was brining the pork chops (in the "salt" chapter) to infuse them with flavor before cooking. I made the brine last night (which smelled INCREDIBLE, by the way) and then went on to make the pork chops today. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) we got a call in the middle of my cooking dinner-- our delivery would be here shortly!

isn't she lovely? *swoon*

Meet Delilah, my brand new convection oven and my second child. She will be my new kitchen partner in crime, replacing the grody old white monstrosity I suffered with for 8 months.

Anyway, her arrival cut my cooking time short. Instead of making pan fried pork chops in lemon caper sauce, I made pan fried pork chops. With applesauce. But let me tell you- that brine did something absolutely AMAZING to the meat. It was more flavorful than any pork chop I have ever made. EVER. Here is my adaptation of Ruhlman's genius:

For the Brine--
Ingredients:
3 3/4 c water
1 1/2 T kosher salt
1 large shallot, sliced
10 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed with the flat side of a knife
1 lemon, halved
1 T dried sage
2 bay leaves
1 T black peppercorns, cracked in a mortar & pestle
2-4 boneless pork chops

Combine the water, salt, shallot, garlic, lemon and spices in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Remove brine from heat and allow to come to room temperature. Refrigerate brine until cold. Put pork chops in brine and refrigerate 6-8 hours. One hour before cooking, remove the chops, discarding the brine, and pat dry. Let the chops sit for an hour or until room temperature.

For the Pan fried Chops--
Ingredients:
2-4 previously brined chops
salt & pepper
1 c flour
1 egg + 2 T water beaten together
1 1/2 c panko bread crumbs
oil for frying (I used a canola/ olive/ grapeseed oil blend)

Sprinkle the room temperature chops with salt and pepper. Set the flour, egg mixture, and panko out in 3 different bowls. Pour approximately 1/4" oil into a large frying pan and heat over medium until shimmering. Dredge each chop in flour followed by egg followed by panko. Fry breaded pork chops approximately 5 minutes on each side (less depending on thickness) or until cooked through.

Like I said, these were by FAR the best chops ever. And I didn't even get to the lemon caper sauce! I will try that next time fore sure. In the meantime, if you are looking for me, I will be canoodling with Delilah...

Greek Mahi Mahi (a Jess post)

Even though I had this on my meal plan, I totally forgot to take the fish out of the freezer this morning. I was dreading finding something for dinner all afternoon and even contemplated takeout, but it was such a lovely day and I really thought dinner had to reflect that. So I took the fillets out, tossed them in a plastic bag & submerged them in water for about 20 minutes. Voila! Ready to rock & roll as they say. I found this recipe in Gourmet several years ago (sniff... Gourmet... how I miss you) and I've made it about a billion times since, tweaking as I go. It's delicious, simple, and pretty. Can't beat it.

Ingredients:
2 mahi mahi fillets
1 T feta cheese
1 T mayonnaise
1/2 lemon (divided into 1/2 T juice and 4 thin slices)
1/2 T finely chopped fresh mint leaves
1/2 tsp dried dill
1/4 tsp freshly cracked pepper

Preheat oven to 425 and lightly spray a baking dish with cooking spray. Combine the feta, mayonnaise, lemon juice, mint, dill and pepper in a small bowl. Lay the mahi mahi fillets in the baking dish and top each with half of the feta mixture. Lay two lemon slices on top of each fillet. Bake approximately 20 minutes or until cooked through.

I served mine tonight with lemon garlic orzo, a mini Greek salad, and some crisp white wine out on our back deck. Bliss. And yes, both of the boys loved it- it's almost impossible not to! SO GLAD I decided against takeout!!

Tofu and Veggie Stir Fry

By Cory

Well, Day 1 on the hard core anti-inflammatory diet has come and gone.  And it wasn't easy.  Kinda sucked, really.  It doesn't help that William's Easter baskets are sitting around the house staring at me.  But I stood strong!  

So - the oatmeal pancakes were a MAJOR fail. Like...an inedible fail.  SO GROSS I can't even stand to look at them fail.  I had carrots, an apple, and a salad of greens and tuna for lunch.  Did not cover me.  For dinner, I made tofu and veggie stirfry.  It turned out pretty well! Steve said it was good - AND that the tofu was good!  He even willingly took leftovers for lunch today!

I  drained and pressed the tofu, then sliced it and browned it in some grapeseed oil.  Then I removed it from the pan (and let the chunks sit in a bowl with soy sauce) and added chopped up broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, zucchini, and mushrooms and cooked them until they were slightly softened.  Then I added the tofu and soy sauce back to the pan and heated it all up until it was hot.  Then served it over rice.

For a snack later that night, I had air popped popcorn.  Today has gone significantly better.  I'm not sure if it's because I'm getting into the swing of things or if it was because I had to go to the dentist this morning so my tummy was all knotted with anti-dentite anxiety.  But, I had an egg white omelet for breakfast, leftover tofu stir fry for lunch, and am making salmon for dinner.  And - let me tell ya, I can breath out of my nose today and I am totally off all allergy meds.  Winning!  (It could be because it's all cold today, but things are still blooming and thinking that my diet is helping is keeping me strong...so don't rain on my parade.)

fruited jello salad & meal plan (a Jess post)

My Aunt Diane was one of the most important people in my life. Among the wonderful things she made and did was this amazing jello salad. I know, I know... jello. Ick, right? NO. This stuff is incredible. She made it every Easter and it was always my favorite part. When I moved from Ohio, I made sure to get the recipe so I could continue her tradition in my own home. She passed away about a year & a half ago so it's even more important to me now. It's one of the small ways my son will know her even though they never met.

And here is her recipe for you, in case you should ever want a creamy, fruity treat on a special occasion.

Ingredients:
2 small packages strawberry jello
2 c boiling water
2 10 oz packages frozen strawberries, slightly thawed (softened)
1 14 oz can crushed pineapple, well drained
2 11 oz cans mandarin orange segments
1 16 oz container sour cream

Empty jello packets into large bowl and add boiling water. Stir until dissolved. Add frozen strawberries and stir until strawberries begin to increasingly soften (about a minute).

Add pineapple and oranges, stirring to combine. Pour half of the jello mixture into a 9x13 baking pan and chill until set (about an hour). Chill bowl of remaining jello as well, stirring every 10-15 minutes so it does not set. Once pan of jello has set, evenly spread sour cream over entire dish.

Pour remaining jello mixture on top and spread evenly. Return entire pan to refrigerator and chill an additional hour or more before serving.

Griffin was in HEAVEN with this stuff. Any kid would be. :) It's a good thing too because this recipe makes a LOT (it was enough to feed my whole huge family back home!) so we have TONS of leftovers!

And now here is my meal plan for the week:
Monday- Easter redux (ham, JELLO SALAD!!, asparagus & leftover homemade pierogis)
Tuesday- Greek mahi mahi (this was a leftover meal from last week)
Wednesday- pan fried lemon caper pork chops (ANOTHER leftover recipe. No idea what happened last week. Don't judge.)
Thursday- quinoa "meatballs" & salad (made in my BRAND NEW OVEN!!!!! WOOOO)
Friday- out
Saturday- potluck dinner with friends

Easter Meal Plan

By Cory

Tomorrow starts The Big Change in our diet to shift to being more fully anti-inflammatory.  And I am exhausted.  I have been in the kitchen all night!  (While Steve mopes around on the couch complaining that his tummy hurts.)  I made Serious oatmeal pancakes.  I'm actually a little scared of them.  They are 100% oatmeal - no flour at all.  They are weirdly thick and I have a sneaking suspicion that while the outside in almost to the point of overdone, the inside is not cooked at all.  I will find out for sure tomorrow at 6AM.  I got frozen berries that I am going to leave out all night to thaw to put on top.  For my morning snack at work, I made a trail mix out of toasted walnuts, pepitas, and chopped up dried apricots.  I am hoping to have some leftovers for lunches, but will otherwise be eating tuna on top of mixed greens with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing and some fruit and veg.  All of that is now prepared and waiting for me.  And Steve is SUPER pissed that I "destroyed the kitchen" and says he will not clean it up.  He's probably totally fine and faking his ailment to get out of kitchen cleaning.  This week's dinner meal plan includes...

Monday: Tofu and veggie stir fry (going back to white rice in an attempt to lure Steve into the fold)

Tuesday: Pan seared salmon with roasted root veggies (quick story on why Whole Foods is awesome: I have never made beets and misunderstood the beet pricing.  So when checking out, the checkout guy - super cute, btw - says the beets are sold by the bunch.  I was all, "Oh, ya know, I've never made beets before and I am a little intimated about buying a giant bushel of them, so I'll just put it back."  And he says, "You've never made beets?  Here - it's free, go try beets!  They're so good!" And then proceeded to give me a cool recipe on preparing the greens!  FREE BEET!  What what!)

Wednesday: Soup with rice noodles, veggies, and a few thin slices of chicken

Thursday: out! (this will be a challenge, but I refuse to give up my one night of not cooking...)

Friday: Spaghetti (still using up that sauce!)

Saturday: Taco salad with black beans and corn