Popeye says to Eat Your Spinach!

I love veggies, and am always looking for recipes to make them more exciting than your typical bag of frozen green beans. This recipe was great!

Creamed-Spinach Gratin

1 (10-ounce) bag fresh spinach

Cooking spray

2/3 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup tub-style light cream cheese

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 cup (1/4-inch-thick) sliced tomato

1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons finely grated fresh Parmesan cheese

PreparationPreheat oven to 375°.

Remove large stems from spinach. Tear spinach into 1-inch pieces; place in a colander. Rinse spinach under cold water; drain. Set aside.

Place a large Dutch oven coated with cooking spray over medium heat until hot. Add onion; sauté 3 minutes. Add spinach; cover and cook 2 minutes or until spinach wilts. Add cream cheese, oregano, salt, and pepper. Uncover and cook an additional minute or until cream cheese melts. Spoon spinach mixture into a 1-quart gratin dish or shallow casserole coated with cooking spray. Arrange tomato slices in a single layer on top of spinach,and sprinkle with breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Source: Cooking Light

In Honor of Cinco De Mayo....Chinese Food!

Ok, so I feel bad that I didn't make anything Mexican for Cinco De Mayo, but I forgot about it when I was at the store buying groceries. This turned out to be a good thing, because these lettuce wraps were awesome! I took the leftovers for lunch the next day and they were just as good!

Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Sweet & Spicy Sauce

3 tablespoons unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts

3 tablespoons hoisin sauce

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce

1 teaspoon bottled ground fresh ginger

1 teaspoon dark sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1/2 teaspoon bottled minced garlic

2 cups packaged cabbage-and-carrot coleslaw

1 cup canned sliced water chestnuts, drained

8 ounces grilled chicken (cut into chunks)

12 Bibb lettuce leaves

Place peanuts in a small nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; cook 3 minutes or until lightly browned, shaking pan frequently. Remove pan from heat; set aside.Combine hoisin, vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, oil, pepper, and garlic in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk.

Combine peanuts, coleslaw, water chestnuts, and chicken, and sauce in a bowl and toss well.
Spoon about 1/3 cup chicken salad in the center of each lettuce leaf.

Source: Cooking Light

Fruits & Veggies!

The other night I decided to try a Deen Brother's recipe, because they seem to have good taste in food, and lets face it, they are very cute! I roasted some veggies to go with our grilled chicken, it was a great dinner!

Lime Marinated Chicken

Marinade:

1½ limes
½ cup fresh cilantro leaves
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 to 2 jalapeño peppers, trimmed and sliced
2 teaspoons tomato paste
4 cloves garlic, chopped
Pinch salt

For marinade, finely grate the zest and squeeze the juice from limes. In a blender, combine zest and juice with remaining marinade ingredients; puree until smooth. Pour marinade over the chicken and toss to coat. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate overnight.

Source: The Deen Brothers Cookbook: Recipes from the Road

Roasted Veggies

1/2 lb.whole button or crimini mushrooms 1/2 lb.baby carrots
1 medium onion, peeled, cut into
1/2-inch-thick wedges
1 large red, green or yellow bell pepper, cut into 8 strips
1/3 cup Italian Reduced Fat Dressing
1/3 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 450°F. Line 15x10x1-inch baking pan with foil; spray with cooking spray. Set aside.

Toss vegetables with dressing and 1/4 cup of the cheese; spread into prepared pan.

Bake 28 to 30 min. or until vegetables are tender, stirring after 15 min. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Source: Kraftfoods.com

Bustin' My Chops

On to a grill that is... We are trying to enjoy being outside more, so we utilize the grill as much as possible. We seem to eat a lot of chicken, so tonight I thought I'd mix it up a bit and grill some pork chops. These were very juicy and flavorful. I did a foil packet of veggies on the side, and they were pretty good. I think I'll add some garlic to them next time, to kick it up a little.

Pork Chop Willy's Grilling Rub

3 tablespoons sweet paprika
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt
3/4 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne
Six to eight 10- to 11-ounce bone-in pork rib chops, 3/4 to 1 inch thick
Vegetable oil spray

At least 1 and up to 8 hours before you plan to grill the pork chops, prepare the dry rub, combining the ingredients in a small bowl. Coat the chops with the spice mixture, place them in a large plastic bag, seal, and refrigerate.

Fire up the grill, bringing the heat to medium.

Remove the chops from the refrigerator and let them sit covered at room temperature for about 20 minutes.

Spray the chops with oil and transfer them to the grill. Grill for 18 to 20 minutes total. Turn onto each side twice, rotating the chops a half turn each time to get criss-cross grill marks. The chops are done when just a hint of pink remains at the center. Serve hot.

Source: Epicurious.com

Yellow Squash, Tomato, & Onion Packets

1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium yellow squash, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
4 large plum tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/3 cup KRAFT Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Place onions in center of (24x18-inch) sheet of foil; top with squash and tomatoes. Sprinkle with basil.

Bring up foil sides. Double fold top and ends to seal, leaving room for heat circulation inside.

Grill 15 min. or until vegetables are tender. Open top of packet; sprinkle vegetables with cheese. Let stand 3 min. or until cheese is melted.

Source: Kraftfoods.com

Brown Baggin' It

I'm tired of the usual frozen entree for lunch, so to get myself motivated to go back to work after a vacation, I made chicken salad to have with mixed greens and tomato slices for lunch tomorrow. I thought I'd try a Barefoot Contessa recipe, and of course it turned out great, even though I did make a few slight changes.

Chicken Salad Contessa

1 1/2 lbs chicken breasts

Olive oil

Kosher Salt

Black pepper

1 cup walnuts halves

1/2 cup light mayonnaise

1/2 cup light sour cream

1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon leaves, divided

1 cup green grapes, cut in 1/2

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Set aside until cool.

When the chicken is cool, cut chicken into a 3/4-inch dice.

Meanwhile, place the walnuts on a separate sheet pan and toast in the oven for 7 to 8 minutes until golden. Set aside to cool.

For the dressing, mix together the mayonnaise, sour cream, 2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Fold in half the chopped tarragon leaves.

Place the diced chicken in a bowl, add the walnuts and grapes. Pour the dressing over the chicken and toss well. Sprinkle the remaining chopped tarragon leaves on top, and serve on a bed of lettuce leaves.

Source: Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa

Back to the Real World

We're finally all unpacked and getting ready to head back to the real world. I picked a few tasty looking grilled recipes to try this week. Tonight we tried some grilled BBQ chicken with a tangy orange twist. Very good! I'm looking forward to the leftovers tomorrow.

Citrus Barbecued Chicken Breasts
1-1/2 cups Barbecue Sauce
1 Tbsp. grated orange peel
1/3 cup orange juice
6 large boneless skinless chicken breast halves (about 2 lb.)

Mix barbecue sauce, orange peel and juice. Reserve 1/2 cup of the barbecue sauce mixture. Pour remaining barbecue sauce mixture into shallow baking dish. Add chicken; turn to evenly coat both sides of each chicken breast. Cover.

Refrigerate 30 min. to marinate. Drain; discard marinade.

Preheat greased grill to medium heat. Grill chicken 12 to 15 min. or until tender and no longer pink in centers (170°F), turning and brushing occasionally with the reserved 1/2 cup barbecue sauce mixture after 8 min.

Source: Kraftfoods.com

Tasty Treats in Tucson

We had a great trip out to Arizona to visit Scott's Dad & Step-mom. We spent 5 relaxing days hanging out in the sun, visiting the sites, and spending time with Scott's family. I also got to take a little road trip down to Tucson. I went to visit my old college roomie, Andrea, and her new beau, Moose (aka Eric). I had a great, but way too short visit. We went and had some great wine, Masi Campofiorin at dinner. Because the wine was so good, we headed to Bev Mo (the "Wal-Mart of Liquor" as Andrea puts it) and bought a few bottles. We decided that we would also make some Peach Sangria. We found it ironic that both of us had seen a Peach Sangria at Applebee's and both of us had taken the time to write down the ingredients from the menu. So we bought the required ingredients and concocted a very yummy sangria. The next morning, Andrea & Moose fixed a quick and very healthy breakfast that I enjoyed before hitting the road and heading back to Sun City. Here are the two recipes we enjoyed:

*note- I didn't take a picture, this one is borrowed from Martha Stewart

Peachy Sangria Ala Andrea & Crista

1 bottle White Zinfandel
1 liter Lemon-Lime Soda
1 small can Pineapple Juice (approx 10 oz)
1/2 cup Peach Schnapps
frozen peach slices for garnish

Mix together and serve. Yum!

Source: Applebees inspired us.

Turkey Waffles

sliced deli turkey
sliced apple
whole wheat waffle

Prepare as seen in the picture for a healthy and very tasty breakfast.

Source: Andrea & Moose