Menu For The Week

I must admit that my menu is a goal for me, kinda like my skinny jeans. It's an ideal that I hold up and then shoot for. Sometimes I aim and bulls eye! Sometimes I aim and don't even hit the target. That's ok though, not the end of the world. I like to have a plan in case I need it, and most days I do. It helps me remember to pull meat out of the freezer in the morning instead of force thawing everything at the last minute. It pulls my shopping list together quickly and makes my bill a lot smaller. I do try to use what I've already got and minimal extras. It doesn't always work out. Like sometimes I just have to make that beautiful dinner I saw them make on America's Test Kitchen. Their recipes always turn out exactly wonderful. Or I'll want to try a new technique I saw on some other show...not really. It's usually America's Test Kitchen! We love our Saturday morning PBS! That's what having no paid cable will do to ya. Oh well. Many a memorable Saturday night's dinner came about from a morning of cooking shows. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Anyway, the planning part usually starts with a mental inventory of what is in the fridge. Then I either look up recipes or fish through my magazines and recipe box for the tried and true ones. Sometimes I'm craving something and that'll go on the menu. Once I've got the plan I go look in the refrigerator to see what is actually in there and if there's anything I missed. My grocery list is made from there. Nothing fancy.

So here's this week's menu:
Monday
B - Dr. Oz's Berry Strong Smoothie - I saw him make it last week and am excited to try it!
L - Chickpea Sandwich (We made this last week and it was a little onion-y so this time I'll rinse the onions before they go it. We've seen Rick Bayless do this a lot and it has always worked to take the bite out.) with Veggies and Greek Yogurt Dip
D - Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup, (I didn't make it this weekend) Mediterranean Vegetable Penne (from an old Clean Eating Magazine. They've got lots of recipes on their site, but not this one. They also have clean meal plans with shopping lists if you're looking for help in that area.)

Tuesday
B - Oatmeal with Bananas, Honey, & Almonds
L - Turkey Chili (left over from last week)
D - Black Bean Chicken

Wednesday
B - Smoothie
L - Salad & Roasted Cauliflower Soup
D - Grilled Shrimp with Veggie Stir Fry

Thursday
B - Toast with Peanut Butter & Bananas
L - Left over Chicken Succotash & Sweet Potatoes
D - At my mom's house. Last week we had Turkey Spaghetti. It was awesome!

Friday
B - Pancakes (I will make them this week!)
L - Veggie Fried Rice - This usually consists of day old white rice tossed together with whatever random veggies I've got in the fridge. I'll post pictures and a basic recipe.
D - Steak (Cooked in a cast iron pan it's sooo good! This is all Josh!), Whole Wheat Freezer Rolls, Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Roasted Veggies

Saturday
B - Omelettes
L - Left over Penne or Soup
D - Out...or maybe I'll crack open the giant can of Que Bueno I just bought at Costco. They were giving samples. I couldn't help myself.

That about does it. I'm going to track my foods this week and see what I am actually able to stick to. I intended to go mostly veg after the new year, but it is almost February and yesterday our menu consisted of the trifecta: breakfast burritos, pizza for lunch, and burgers for dinner. Not exactly healthy. Definitely not meat free. Here's to a healthier week!

Peanut Butter Banana Stuffed French Toast

Peanut Butter Banana Stuffed French Toast

Before Josh and I were married I had never made french toast. Actually after we were married I would use it as an excuse to get him to make breakfast whenever we were craving it (or I just didn't want to cook!)! It seemed like such a difficult thing to me for some reason. I'm a rule follower kind of person so to not have a recipe made it seem like such an impossibility. As I learned how to let go and let cooking become an art I realized that I could do much more without a recipe than I ever thought.

Either way, french toast isn't very difficult at all. I don't know why I was so scared of it. Last week I saw a post somewhere about a grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich, which to me seemed like DUH! We eat peanut butter banana toast at least 3 times a week around here. I had to figure out how to make that better, more weekend appropriate, glam it up so to speak. Well, here you have it: Peanut Butter Banana French Toast with Honey Drizzle. So unfancy. So good!

I was going to make pancakes on Friday, but this sounded so much more appetizing. It was just as easy and rather quick once the sandwiches were made. I added a little cinnamon to the eggs and it was perfect.

Peanut Butter Banana French Toast
8 slices Whole Wheat Bread
4 Tbsp Creamy Peanut Butter
1 Banana
3 Eggs (you can use just egg whites if you want to save a few calories, but you'll need more eggs)
Cinnamon
Butter
Honey

First, prepare your eggs. I use a square pyrex dish. Crack the eggs in, sprinkle with cinnamon, (as much or as little as you like, you really can't go wrong!) and scramble them up. Heat a large skillet or griddle on medium heat.

Meanwhile, on a plate or cutting board assemble your sandwiches. I used about a tablespoon of peanut butter per sandwich, but it's up to you how much you like. I didn't want mine oozing out while I was cooking so I spread it thin, a little on each slice of bread. Next, slice the banana onto one slice of bread with peanut butter. I'm a little anal about having thin slices and lining them up just so. You'll probably only use about 1/4 of a medium banana.

Close each sandwich and press the edges together to decrease the chance of anything flying out when you flip it. You can do this to each sandwich right before you place it into the eggs. You may want more or fewer banana slices, but really they're just there to enhance the flavor, not be the flavor. Go ahead and place the sandwich into the egg mixture. Move it around to coat, then flip and do the same on the other side. When you're ready to cook, drop a good sized pat of butter onto your griddle or skillet. If it melts and foams up immediately you've got the right temperature. If it browns really fast, turn the heat down just a bit. Spread it around to coat the cooking surface. Remember you're going to flip the sandwich and you want there to be enough butter so it doesn't stick or burn. I used a stainless steel griddle so I needed more butter than if I had used, say, a non-stick skillet.

Next, put the sandwich onto the griddle or skillet right in the butter. Let it cook for a minute or two. The goal here is to cook the egg and warm the sandwich. You want it to be browned and crisp on the outside and ooey and gooey on the inside. Once it starts to brown flip it over carefully. Press down on the edges and let it cook for another minute, until it's browned on the second side.

Serve it up! I drizzled honey over mine. Then we added a drizzle of real maple syrup. Then I added honey roasted almond slivers from Trader Joe's. Sorry I don't have a picture of all of that. I ate it too fast!  Josh had his with just syrup. And you can have yours however you like too!

Slow Cooker Turkey Chili

Turkey-licious!

I'm not a big chili fan. I don't know why. It's really yummy and can be so good for you. The only time I used to eat chili was in a bread bowl at Boudin on Pier 39 in San Francisco. About a year-and-a-half ago we started working with Least of These Ministries, which is a local ministry to the needy here in Tracy. Once a month our church provides a hot meal for them to take to the homeless people they've developed relationships with. It's a really cool ministry and Brian and Lydia who run the ministry are great! Anyway, they asked us to try to provide healthy meals as the food available to most homeless people is totally unhealthy. So in my search for healthy meals that would be easy to make in large quantities I came across a Jaime Oliver chili recipe. It was choc full of healthy ingredients: beans, tomatoes, peppers and onions. It turned out it was also full of flavor! Everyone loved it. We even came home and made a batch for ourselves!

Since then I've not been able to find the recipe online again and only have the one I saved from somewhere in cyber space. I have made a few changes here and there, the main one being that I use ground turkey instead of beef and sausage. Gotta save the calories where we can, but there's no way I would do it at the expense of flavor!

Turkey Chili
1 pound ground Turkey - I use the dark/white meat mix because it has a little more flavor and breaks apart more like ground beef. You can feel free to use all white meat.
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 green bell pepper diced
2  stalks chopped celery
2 (28-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1 (28-ounce) can whole, peeled tomatoes
Ground cumin
Chili powder
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 package chili seasoning mix*
S & P
Shredded cheddar, sour cream, chopped green onions, for garnish

*Chili seasoning recipe follows

In a large skillet heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, and celery. I use a chopper to make sure my veggies are diced small. If you have a picky eater you're trying to fool you can put them in the food processor and chop away. They'll still cook up the same and add the same flavor, they just won't be discernible to those little eyes!

Saute for a couple minutes till the onions become translucent. Push the veggies to the side and add the meat in the middle. You may need more oil at this point, but give it a try without at first. Add cumin and chili powder, salt and pepper. I don't measure at this point, just a nice sprinkling over everything. You've got to season turkey a little more heavily than you would beef or sausage.

Break up the meat and let it all cook out till the meat is browned. While it cooks up, get your slow cooker heating up. Drain and rinse all the beans.

Add the beans and all the tomatoes to the crock pot. I always use the diced tomatoes, but I've been know to substitute whatever I have in the pantry for the whole peeled tomatoes. If you don't have time to let it cook all day crushed tomatoes or even tomato sauce works as a substitute. You could even just leave out the extra if you want it chunkier. I promise the end result is not "tomato-y" as it might seem like it could be, so please don't leave out the tomatoes for that reason. I have also discovered petite diced tomatoes which would help with cooking time as well. Anyway, at this point it may seem that it's not all going to fit in the crock pot, but trust me it will! 

Once the meat is browned add the meat and veggies to the pot.

Now comes the fun part: make the chili seasoning! You can find the original recipe here. I made some changes based on my taste and what I had on hand the first time so this is how I make it:

Chili Seasoning

1 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried leaf oregano
1 Tbsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp instant minced onion
1 tsp garlic powder (NOT garlic salt!)

Combine ingredients and add it all to the chili! Mix it in and add S & P to taste. Let the chili cook all day on low. My crock pot is crazy hot so I can hardly ever leave anything all day. The general rule is 5 hours on high and 8 on low. Mine is about 5 hours on low. It won't hurt the chili to cook longer than these guidelines. It's really hearty. Taste it and add salt and pepper to your liking. I like to under season just in case the cheese is salty. Everyone can add a little extra salt or pepper if they need it. Serve with your favorite chili toppings or try cheddar cheese, sour cream/greek yogurt, or green onions.

Feel free to drool. I think the bowl is!

Chai

Mmmm...Chai

Mmmmm...Chai. I just can't stop saying it. I love Chai. My first introduction to it was by my BFF Cynthia. She used to get the lattes at Starbucks, which I must say are disappointing once you've had the real deal. I always called it pumpkin pie in a cup. Not a compliment. Anyway, the drink still intrigued and called to me. And like most things I resist at first, I came around to it...not the Starbucks one, just the idea of it. One day a couple Septembers ago we went to a yummy Indian restaurant in Seattle called Saffron. The food was delicious and it was there I fell in love with chai.

Ever since that amazing cup, which came with free refills served from a coffee caraffe, I have been on a journey to replicate it. I immediately came home and started looking up recipes. For a while I was making a coffee maker version but it wasn't producing consistent results. I also tried a couple of stove top versions but for some reason couldn't get the tea right. Sometimes it was bitter, other times flavorless. I don't know what I was doing wrong but wrong it was.

Then one day it happened...Josh was talking with a co-worker who shared that she drinks homemade chai every morning and it's super easy. He mentioned how much I love chai and the heck of a time I was having finding a good recipe. Needless to say she passed hers on and today, right now in fact, I am drinking the best chai ever! It's so easy and delectable. Thank you Kajal!

The first step is to prepare the Masala, the spices that make the tea taste like chai. This can be done easily in a coffee grinder. You'll want to make enough to have around for whenever you want this delicious drink. I keep mine in a plastic baggy in an airtight container.

Masala
1 part black pepper - the original recipe called for more but it was a bit too spicy for me, 1 part seems to be just right, but feel free to play around with it.
3 parts ginger
2 parts cardamom
2 parts cinnamon

Put it all into the grinder and buzz away till it's fine ground. You can buy the whole pepper corns and cardamom seeds to get a fresher taste. The last batch I made I used all pre-ground ingredients and it is still wonderful.

Chai
Here is the exact recipe I was given:
-          Water
-          Masala
-          Loose Black Tea from Indian store
-          Sugar
-          Milk

1.       In small sauce pan add: ½ cup water, a couple pinches of the Chai Masala, 1 teaspoon of Tea, and sugar to taste.
2.       Bring the water mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally.
3.       Once it comes to a boil, add in ½ cup milk and stir. If at this point, you want to taste and add more of the ingredients in step 1, you can (ie masala, tea, or sugar).
4.       Bring this water/milk mixture to a boil.

Just added the milk

 
5.       Once it comes to a boil, it’s done.
6.       Use a strainer when pouring into cup.

Bought this strainer at Walmart!

Variations:

-          I like my water/milk mixture to be equal. If you want it to be more watered down, then you can do more water less milk (ie ¾ cup water, ¼ cup milk) and vice versa.
-          The more Masala you add, the spicier it will get, so this will just have to be trial and error to figure out what you like.
-          The more Tea you add, the stronger it will get (more of a bitter taste like a strong coffee).
-          If you like the ginger taste, many people (including myself), grate a bit of fresh ginger into the water in addition to the other ingredients. This will give it a kick.

There you have it! The tastiest chai to be enjoyed at will. I will admit that I use rather large "pinches" of the masala when making my chai. Don't be afraid of the spice. I use 1-1/2 tsp sugar for this size batch. I also did an experiment to make decaf chai. I used decaf Lipton tea bags since they didn't have loose leaf decaf. I found that you need a more than one bag to equate one tsp of tea, so just keep that in mind if you'd like to try decaf. 
Mmmm....Chai!

Chilaquiles Verdes

For some  reason I don't recall eating chilaquiles growing up.  (Pronounced: chee-lah-key-less... not chilli-killies as I have heard them called! lol)  I'm sure I had them. Or maybe I refused them. Either way it's a sad story because they're so stinkn' good! In college we had "Stir-fry Fridays" and every once in a while these were on the menu. Of course they were covered in oil and super-deliciously greasy and tasty.

Funny thing about chilaquiles is that they are a vegetarian meal, but as you may know they have no vegetables, unless you count whatever chiles were processed in the making of the sauce, or the optional salsa topping. Anyway, this is not a healthy recipe nor should you try to make it any healthier because it wouldn't be nearly as delicious. This recipe is for your cheat day. Or in our case as the last hurrah of a cheat weekend. We ate these with beans and salsa. Delicioso!

Chilaquiles Verdes
7 Corn Tortillas
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
5 Eggs, scrambled
1/2 c or so Green Enchilada Sauce - I make Chile Verde in the summer when the New Mexico chiles are in season, but when they aren't I just use a can. We like Las Palmas.
1 c Cheddar, shredded - you could use whatever kind of cheese you want, Pepper Jack would be amazing, I just happened to have cheddar on hand.

First thing is to heat the oil in a large sautee pan or skillet over medium high heat.  Cut the tortillas into triangles. Just use a sharp knife and cut straight through all the tortillas at once.

Drop the tortillas into the pan and toss to coat with oil. I used tongs to turn them all around and make sure everyone was nicely coated. You may want to adjust the oil. The recipe on the can of enchilada sauce I used called for 4 cups of oil! I guess those ones are deep fried! This way the tortillas get crispy but not deep fried by any means and you can use much less oil. Give the tortillas a few minutes on the first side then start flipping them over and moving them around to make sure everyone gets browned and toasty. You can start by checking one or two pieces. You'll notice if they're not browned up yet they'll be limp and then they can tear apart easily so be careful. This is the most tedious part about this recipe but it's totally worth it! Here's what they should look like about halfway done. Starting to brown nicely.

Once the tortillas are crisp pour the eggs over them being sure to cover all the chips. You can turn the pan to move the eggs around so everything comes together. Allow them to cook for a minute, then with a spatula scoop up and turn over a portion at a time to cook the eggs through. Once all the eggs are cooked pour the sauce all over everything. Now listen to the sizzle! Yum! Turn the pan a couple times to allow the sauce to combine with the eggs and chips. Turn the heat off. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and cover.

Let it sit for about 2 minutes or so till the cheese is sufficiently melted and gooey. Serve it up!

This was enough for Josh and Jeremiah and I. Like I said we had refried beans on the side and some salsa on top. You could even put beans on top or underneath and eat it all together. All the measurements here are to taste so feel free to experiment. I have also made this with Carne Adovada, which was Uh-Mazing!