Category Archives: Cooking

Greek Quesadillas

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I made these for dinner tonight:

So delicious!  If you’d like to give them a try, just follow the recipe below:

  • 4 whole wheat tortillas
  • 2 C spinach leaves, chopped
  • 1 medium red onion, diced
  • 1 red capsicum {bell pepper}, roasted and chopped
  • 1 pint of cherry tomatoes, roasted with olive oil + salt
  • 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • Shredded Mozzarella cheese {about 1 1/2 C}
  • Crumbled feta cheese {about 2/3 C}
  • Red pepper flakes
  • Olive oil

Brush 1 side of each tortilla with olive oil.  Place oiled side down on a work-space, and layer half of each tortilla with Mozzarella, spinach, onion, black beans, tomatoes, capsicum, feta, and a bit more Mozzarella.  Sprinkle with red pepper flakes.  Fold tortilla over, forming a semi-circle, and cook in a skillet coated with non-stick spray.  Flip after a few minutes, till both sides are golden-brown and cheeses are melted.  Cut each semi-circle into wedges.

Enjoy!

Modified from this recipe.

PS – If you’re thinking that oven-roasted tomatoes and capsicum are too hard, think again!  All you do is take a pint of cherry tomatoes, slice them in half, toss them in 2 – 3 T of olive oil with some sea salt sprinkled on top.  Spread them on a baking sheet and broil for 15 minutes.  For the capsicum, just cut it in half, scoop out the insides, place the halves with cut-sides down and press them flat with your hands.  Brush with olive oil and broil for 15 minutes.  Once finished, peel skins off the capsicum.  If you want, put tomatoes and capsicum on the same baking pan and broil together to save on time!

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The Weirdest Pancakes I’ve Ever Made

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Joe usually eats whatever we eat.  I might omit some spices and pulse it once or twice with the hand blender, but that’s about it.

There are a few things that I make up especially for him, though, such as homemade snacks.  I like to have food that’s easily portable, doesn’t require utensils, and won’t make a mess.  One food that fits the bill in those regards are pikelets, or silver-dollar pancakes for you non-Kiwi, non-Aussie readers.

They’re incredibly easy to make.  Just a cup of self-raising flour, an egg, and a cup of milk.  Pour onto the griddle, let them cool, and then store in the freezer.

However, there isn’t a whole lot of nutritionally redeeming stuff in them.  I decided to experiment and came up with my own version.  It’s a little… unorthodox.  I switched out 1/2 C of the self-raising flour for wholewheat flour, and instead of milk, I use breast milk.

Yes, you read that last ingredient correctly.  I wasn’t planning to make them that way.  I was mixing up a batch and had just put the egg carton back in the fridge.  I was reaching for the milk when I saw it – the bottle that I’d put in there earlier that morning.  My hand rested on the milk container.  Cold air swirled around me.  I hesitated, then thought, “Eh – why not?” and pulled out the bottle.  Instead of cow’s milk, why not use the stuff that was specifically designed just for Joe?

They smelled normal.  They looked normal.

Joe thought they tasted pretty good!

Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one.  Chris came home and lifted the cloth off the plate of cooling pikelets.  Before I could stop him, he took a bite.

I gasped, and said, “What are you doing?!”  Chris stopped mid-chew and stared at me.  I burst out laughing and said, “Those are for Joe!”  Chris didn’t understand what the big deal was – he was only planning to eat one, after all.  Once he understood that they’d been made with breast milk, he grimaced and set it back on the plate.  “I thought it tasted a bit funny, but figured it was because of the whole wheat flour.”

Nope.

So, word to the wise – if you’re going to make these, make sure that anyone within eating distance realizes their ingredients!

  • 1/2 C self-raising flour
  • 1/2 C wholewheat flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1 C milk {of whatever variety}

Mix the above, then pour by tablespoonfuls onto medium-hot griddle.  Makes about 15 servings.

Notes: Be sure to keep an eye on these, as they cook quickly.  Also, you can sub the wholewheat flour for some other variety of flour, or just use only self-raising flour.  However, you need to be sure that if you sub the self-raising flour, you add some baking powder or these will be as flat as… well… a pancake!  Another thought is to take out a teaspoon of the wholewheat flour and add a teaspoon of spirulina powder for an extra “oomph” of nutritional value :-)

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Lentil Rice Supper

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If you’re like me, then you’re often on the lookout for recipes that are filling, nutritious, easy to make, and easy on the pocketbook.

Here’s one that satisfies all of those criteria, and it’s a cinch to modify based on taste.  It can function as a side dish or, if you’re like us, work as a main meal.

Lentil Rice Supper

  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 – 3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 1/2 C lentils {I’ve used brown and French green}
  • 1/2 C uncooked rice {I prefer wild rice}
  • 6 – 7 button mushrooms, chopped with stems
  • 1 2/3 C broth {veggie, chicken, or beef – you choose}
  • 2 – 3 T of extra virgin olive oil

Put the olive oil, onion, and carrots in the pot.  Sauté for a few minutes, till onions begin to soften.

In the meantime, put the lentils in a small bowl and cover with very hot water.  Let them soak for a few minutes and then drain off the excess liquid.

Add lentils, rice, and broth to the pot.  Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer on low for 30 minutes.  Add mushrooms, replace cover, and simmer for a further 20 minutes.  Season to taste.

Some Variations: You can add a chopped green capsicum {bell pepper} or some chopped cooked chicken.  Throw a cup of peas in there.  You could also cook up some Italian sausage at the very beginning, add the veggies, and follow the rest of the recipe from there.

The lentils in this dish aren’t soft and smushy, so if you like your lentils that way, then leave them in the hot water for a bit longer.  This is a great dish for putting together and then forgetting about while I’m doing other stuff.  You don’t need to stir it while it’s simmering away.

Chris and I aren’t the only ones who like this particular dish.  I’ve taken a couple of spoonfuls out, pulsed them a few times with a hand blender, and served it to Joe.  He loves it, but no surprises there.  The boy eats pretty much everything we put in front of him!

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Whoops

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Here’s what happens when you’ve got too much on your mind:

Yeah, my handheld blender is not supposed to look like that.  I made another batch of applesauce in the crockpot and was waiting  for it to finish.  For some reason, it went longer than usual and I was in a hurry.  Once it finally clicked over to the “done” setting, I grabbed the blender and started to blend those apples into sauce instead of waiting for it to cool a bit {like I normally do}.  All was well, until I lifted the blender out of the pot…

Apparently, hot applesauce is somewhat like molten lava.  Learned my lesson.

Now, I need to find a new handheld blender…

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Easy, Naturally Sweet, Homemade: Carrot Raisin Breakfast Cookies

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This week’s recipe is a good one – Carrot Raisin Breakfast Cookies.  They remind me of a sweet  muffin or bread, only in cookie form.  And I love muffins and bread!  They do have added sweetener, but the sweetener is real maple syrup – something that’s naturally occurring.

I’ll admit that they’re a little on the plain-looking side…

…but who cares about looks, right?  The important thing is: how do they taste?

In a word, they taste delicious.  They’re yummy and healthy and easy to make.  Oh, and they’re vegan – nice to know for when you happen to be entertaining vegan friends!  I don’t think that I’ll be using these to replace my morning cereal, but they’re a great little snack.  Like the granola bars, I store these in the freezer and just take one out when I have a craving.

And if you happen to be on the WW plan, you’ll be happy to know that 1 of these sweet little morsels is only 2 WW ProPoints.  Nice.

Carrot Raisin Breakfast Cookies

  • 1 1/2 C whole wheat flour {you can substitute with all-purpose, if you prefer}
  • 1 C rolled oats
  • 3 T dry millet
  • 1 1/2 – 2 tsp ground cinnamon {I love cinnamon, so I always tend to add a bit more!}
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 C light coconut cream {not the same as coconut milk, but can be subbed with melted coconut oil}
  • 1/2 C real maple syrup
  • 1 heaping cup of finely shredded carrot
  • 1/2 C raisins
  • 1 – 2 tsp fresh grated ginger {I prefer a less gingery taste, so I only used 1 tsp}

Preheat oven to 350F/180C.  Prepare baking tray by coating with non-stick spray.

In large bowl, combine all of the above and mix thoroughly, being sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.  Place medium-sized scoops onto prepared trays.  Bake for 10 – 15 minutes, or till cookies are slightly firm and golden on top.  Remove from oven and let sit on trays for a further 10 minutes.

Yield – 2 dozen cookies

Notes – The original recipe called for dried cherries, but I happen to prefer raisins.  I’m guessing that you could substitute them for other complimentary dried fruits and it would still taste good: cherries, cranberries, apple chunks, or something else.  Just make sure that the dried fruit is chopped down to about the size of a raisin.

With the coconut cream – be sure to shake the can before opening.  The coconut cream has a tendency to separate into layers, as I discovered after opening it.  Bummer, but easily fixed by pouring the can into a bowl and giving the whole thing a good stir.

Another thing – if you don’t have fresh ginger or you just don’t like ginger, you could leave it out and bulk up the flavor by adding a few other complimentary spices or more cinnamon.  I’m not a huge fan of ginger, but I’ll admit that adding 1 tsp made the cookies taste a-mazing.

Adapted from Joy the Baker’s “Vegan Carrot Cherry Breakfast Cookies”

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Easy, Unsweetened, Homemade: Applesauce

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I had a whole bunch of apples that were starting to get a bit soft.  Rather than letting them go completely bad, I decided to make applesauce.

Applesauce is easy to make in a slow-cooker.

And it tastes so delicious and looks so yummy.

To make the applesauce, follow these 5 steps:

  1. Peel, quarter, and core as many apples as will fit into your slow-cooker
  2. Pour in just enough water to cover the bottom – you can always add more later if you want
  3. Liberally sprinkle the apples with cinnamon
  4. Cook on “high” setting for 4 hours
  5. Mash with a fork or hand-held blender

That’s all there is to it.  I made 2 crock-pots of applesauce.  The whole apartment smelled delicious and I was able to bag and store some of it in the freezer for later.  Unsweetened applesauce is a great ingredient to use when baking without sugar, and I like to keep some on hand.

Pay extra attention to step #2 – if you like runny applesauce, then add more water, but you can’t take the water out once it’s in there.  I learned the first time I made applesauce that adding too much water makes for apple drink, not apple sauce!  Use the water sparingly, and if you want, you can always add more at the end.  It’s also tastier if you use more than one variety of apple.  For example, I used New Zealand Rose, Fuji, and McIntosh apples in my latest batch of applesauce.  I generally grab whatever is on sale and use that.  Also, I tend to leave a little bit more of the peel on around the apple base than what I would leave on if I were, say, making an apple pie.  The extra bit of peel softens and is good for you, but some people might not like the texture of it in the applesauce.

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Menu Monday

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Hey everyone – I hope that you’ve had a great weekend!  Joe and I have a few things going on this week.  We’re going to a Plunket parenting class where we’ll hopefully meet some other mums and bubs.  The menu for the week will be pretty low-key with lots of veggies and healthy options.  Here’s what we’ve got on our plate:

MONDAY

Southwestern Goulash

I’ve made this before and have always added more pasta than what’s called for in the recipe.  Without it, it just reminds me of pasta with too much sauce!

TUESDAY

Homemade Chicken Soup

My recipes varies depending on what I’ve got in the kitchen.  This time around, I cooked roughly 1kg {2.2lbs} of chicken breasts in a stockpot with water.  I strained the water into a colander over a bowl, diced the chicken, put it + the water back in the pot, added 4 large stalks of celery, a lot of carrots {I used just under 2lbs/1kg this time}, 1 diced, red capsicum {bell pepper}, 1 diced onion, and a bag of frozen corn.  I add enough extra water to the pot to cover the whole mixture, then add 2 vegetable bouillon cubes and simmer till the veggies are soft.  Add salt + pepper to taste, then serve.  Delicious, and a great soup for the freezer.

WEDNESDAY

Lentil & Cheese Wedges – this is another new recipe.  I’ve been experimenting with lentils and have seen this one on several websites.  We’ll see how it turns out.  The ingredient list seems pretty basic… 8 oz (225g) red lentils, 3/4 pint (450mL) water or vegetable stock, 1 large onion, 1 T oil, 4 oz (1oog) grated cheese, a tsp of mixed herbs, 1 egg, 1 oz (25g) breadcrumbs, and salt and pepper.

Cook lentils in water till soft and all liquid is absorbed.  Saute onion in oil.  Combine all ingredients and press into oiled 9″ round baking tin.  Cook at 190C/375F for 30 minutes.  Allow to cool slightly, then cut into wedges.

THURSDAY

Panko Breaded Eggplant

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I saw this recipe and thought it sounded like a yummy, healthier version of eggplant parmesan.  I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m hopeful that it turns out well!

FRIDAY

Leftovers and a “clean out the fridge/freezer” night.  I’m planning to do some cooking and freezing later on, so I want to make sure we’ve got space :-)

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Easy, Unsweetened, Homemade: Granola Bars

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Moving to NZ has forced me to pay a lot more attention to what we eat.  Food is more expensive here, and things that are readily available in the States aren’t on the shelves of our local grocery.  While I wouldn’t mind if the food prices came down a bit, overall, this increased attention to food has been a good thing.  We eat a lot more vegetarian-style than when we were in the States, and I’ve gotten quite handy at making things that I used to buy pre-made.  Things like pasta sauce, salsa, and cereal are all part of my usual cooking routine.  I make crock-pot applesauce and homemade tortilla chips.  I love to make soup rather than buy it canned.  I prefer to bake our own bread and rolls over those at the bakery.  We’re eating healthier, and I’m enjoying it.

My latest quest has been to find a healthy, no-added sugar granola bar recipe.  And I’ve found it.

Everyone, meet my granola bars:

Aren’t they lovely?

I’ve been goofing around with a couple of different recipes.  I wanted something that both Chris and I liked that was easy, that was healthy, and didn’t take long to put together.

This one definitely satisfies those criteria.

I like to wrap them individually in cling-wrap and freeze them.  I’ll take one out in the morning and have it with lunch or toss it in the diaper bag when I’m taking Joe for a walk.  Or if you want one ASAP but don’t want to wait for it to defrost, just pop it in the microwave for 10 seconds.

They’re healthy, easy, and oh-so-delicious.  A bit more chewy than crunchy, which is just how I like ‘em :-)

UNSWEETENED GRANOLA BARS

Dry Ingredients

  • 3 C rolled oats {regular or gluten-free}
  • 2 C coconut flakes
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp allspice
  • 1/2 C sesame seeds
  • 1 C chopped nuts {I used walnuts}
  • 2 C unsweetened dried fruit {I used 1 C of cranberries and 1 C of peaches}
  • Dash salt

Mix the above ingredients in a large bowl.  Set aside.

Wet Ingredients

  • 6 ripe bananas, mashed {use 7 bananas if you want it a bit more moist}
  • 1/2 C canola oil
  • 2 tsp vanilla essence

Mix the above ingredients together.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients {I like to mix it with my hands – this ensures that the banana is good and mashed}.  Press into a large baking sheet that’s coated with non-stick cooking spray.  Bars should be about a 1/2 inch thick.  Bake in preheated oven at 175C/350F for 20 minutes till edges are golden.  Allow to cool, then slice with a pizza cutter.  Wrap individually in cling-wrap and freeze.

Yield: 24 good-sized bars or 32 small bars

Feel free to adjust this recipe as you so choose.  Maybe you don’t like coconut, or you want something with extra cinnamon.  That’s the beauty of this recipe – I can make granola bars with raisins or dried blueberries or whatever I feel like.  And I cannot tell that they don’t have sugar – they taste so sweet and yummy!  They’re also much more economical than buying the boxed bars at the grocery.  Realizing that makes them taste just a bit sweeter ;-)

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Menu Monday!

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It has been a long time since I’ve posted a “Menu Monday”.  Time to resurrect that tradition.

Lately, I’ve been making a lot of recipes from Eating Well.  I’ve subscribed to their email service and have been pleasantly surprised with the suggestions that they send.  I’m trying to do a better job of using fresh vegetables and making food that is “fiscally friendly”!  I think that all of these recipes meet those criteria, with the exception of maybe one :-)

1. Vegetarian Split Pea Soup

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Split Pea Soup – it’s easy, tasty, and healthy.  What more could you want?  I’ve used this recipe in the past and can vouch for its yumminess :-)

2. Buffalo Chicken Casserole

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This is an “Eating Well” recipe, but I have to say that I can’t see how something called “Buffalo Chicken Casserole” can be all that good for you.  Chris loves buffalo chicken, though, and so I thought that I would give it a try.  I’m planning to put blue cheese on top of only half of the casserole, as I’ve never cared for the stuff.  We’ll see how it turns out!

3. Zucchini Rice Casserole

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I love this recipe!  Since they don’t have Pepper Jack cheese over here, I make mine with a few splashes of Kaiatia Fire thrown into the sauce.  Also, I use reduced fat beef sausage in place of turkey sausage, as I haven’t located any of that in New Zealand, either.  I also leave off the Neufchatel topping, and I happen to think that it tastes delicious despite {or perhaps because of?} those modifications ;-)

4. Tex-Mex Summer Squash Casserole

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Mmmm, lots of veggies and spice!  Since I’m breastfeeding, I’ll probably cut out the jalapenos in this recipe.  I like stuff that’s spicy, but I’d rather not give Joe indigestion.  I’ll use my homemade salsa in this casserole rather than store-bought, too – it’s much tastier and easy to whip together.

5. Salad Night

Continuing with our veggie theme, I’ll end out the week with leftovers and salads.  Greens, tomatoes, capsicum {bell pepper}, some dressing, a bit of Parmesan… sounds good to me :-)

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Grocery Shopping + Cooking

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Lately, my desire to grocery shop has gone out the door, down the stairs, into the elevator, and landed in the basement.  Then, it’s been crushed by one of the cars backing out of the car-park and rolled like a tumbleweed onto the sidewalk, where it’s been further kicked around by passing pedestrians.

Can you tell that food holds no interest for me these days?

Poor Chris.  He’ll ask me what’s for dinner, and I don’t know what to tell him – I need menu ideas you guys!  Send me your suggestions – something that’s easy, few ingredients, and low on the smell-o-meter scale.  Actually, if it meets even one of those criteria, I’ll be a happy camper. Because right now, I’m thinking that take-out for the rest of my pregnancy sounds like a pretty good solution.

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Menu Monday… and a giveaway!

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First up – the giveaway!  I’m probably decreasing my odds of winning by doing this, but you should head on over to Miller’s blog and check out her giveaway {it’s for a great book}.  She’s a sweet Southern transplant who’s moved to the Midwest and takes amazing pictures.  I love reading her posts and hearing about her life :-)

Hello, my lovely readers!  Hope you had a great weekend.  I’m loving the Spring-like weather we’ve been experiencing here in New Zealand.  Bring it on!

Here’s what’s on our plate for this week…

Monday

Emeril’s Garlic & Herb Roasted Potatoes {with squash/pumpkin!} + Walnut Salad with Avocado & Garlic Dressing

Tuesday

30 Minute Chili – a good recipe if you prefer food that’s less spicy.  I usually kick it up a notch by adding chopped green chilies, some Kaitaia Fire chili sauce, and a few extra veggies.

Wednesday

Leftover Chili

Thursday

Scrounge – I always keep a couple of quick prep meal items on hand – stir-fry mix, pasta, rice, veggies, etc – so that not every meal of the week is set in stone and can be shifted around if the mood calls for it

Friday

Double recipe of Butternut Squash Soup, with nutmeg instead of ginger

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Some of you may have already picked up on this, but I’m really loving squash/pumpkin in our recipes these days.  However, I wasn’t planning to make butternut squash soup and only tacked that on after a miscommunication.  The personal shopper at Foodtown somehow turned “two small-to-medium sized butternut pumpkin” {remember, squash is called pumpkin in NZ}, into two HUGE butternut squash, and I know have almost 8 pounds of squash that I need to use.  I know this, because once it arrived I measured it in the food scale.  Yikes!  I love the online grocery shopping, but stuff like this makes me wish {just a teensy bit} that I’d gone in person.

I hope you’ve all got a nice week planned with lots of good things on your plate :-)

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When Good Carrot Cake Goes Green {It’s the Baking Soda, Stupid!}

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Shortly after coming to New Zealand, I noticed something.  There seemed to be a lot of carrot cake – in coffee shops, at restaurants, served at get-togethers, at the hospital cafeteria… you get the idea.  Not surprisingly, I found myself dreaming about cream cheese frosting and nutty, delicious baked goods.   When I mentioned this to a Kiwi, he laughed and said that as far as he was concerned, being able to bake a carrot cake blindfolded while simultaneously trimming a sheep’s hoof and cutting a hole in your wall for a window should be part of the New Zealand citizenship exam.  Apparently, carrot cake is a big deal over here!

So far, I’d managed to avoid falling into carrot temptation.  That all disappeared when I went to my new employee’s welcome day.  There on the sideboard were 5 huge trays of carrot cake.

Oh, snap.

I avoided it the first go-round and held strong during morning tea break.  But my willpower evaporated during the fire-extinguisher demonstration, and by lunch time, that carrot cake was yelling my name!  I snagged a piece and savored it, then promptly thought, “I should make this some time.”

Normally when I eat a scrumptious dessert and think, “I should make this some time”, the thought both enters and leaves my head in a period of about .3 seconds.  This one stuck around.  I went home, pulled out my cookbooks, scoured the various recipes, and finally decided on one from my hometown church cookbook.  I made a few modifications, but stuck to the basic outline.  I defy anyone who says that church-women don’t know how to cook!  If you find a church cookbook, preferably one with a few stains and ragged edges, you hold onto that sucker!

Now that I had my recipe, I set about making the dessert.  I decided to wait till we were having a dinner and serve it to our guests.  I don’t know why I do this to myself.  Everyone knows that you should never try out a new recipe on guests!  About halfway through the cake prep, I thought, “Hmmm… I hope this turns out alright… maybe I should’ve done a test run…”.  Once I pulled it out of the oven I thought, “It looks OK, but what if it tastes horrible?  Maybe I should cut a thin slice off the edge, just to be sure!  I could cover it with frosting…”  Chris had the same idea about cutting a thin slice and hiding it with frosting, only his reasons had nothing whatsoever to do with taste-testing – he just wanted cake!

I figured that if it looked OK and smelled OK, then it probably was OK.  I iced it with absolutely delicious cream cheese frosting, sprinkled chopped pecans on top, and nodded my approval.

Later that night when dinner was over and coffee and tea had been served, I brought out the carrot cake.  I cut up some pieces, put them on plates, and then took a closer look.  What was that?  Were those nuts?  Something didn’t look right…

Excuse the poor photo quality – this is a cropped close-up of another shot!

There were green flecks in my carrot cake!  Carrot cake that I was about to serve to my guests!  Some of whom I’d never met before!  I wondered if they would think that I had made the carrot cake using spinach, or if the carrot cake had mold in it.

It was too late by that point – they had seen the cake.  I had to serve it.  I passed the plates around and hoped that no one would notice {or that if they did notice, they wouldn’t say anything!}.  Thankfully, not a word was spoken about the green flecks, but several words were spoken about how good it tasted.  Whew!  And overall, it did look pretty delectable…

Apparently, the coloring of carrots is very sensitive to changes in pH balance, which in a cake is controlled by baking soda.  If you don’t properly distribute the baking soda in the cake batter, you’ll have large sections of carrot in the cake that have a green color.  Or – and I think that this was the case with this particular recipe – if you have too much baking soda, it will turn a lot of the carrot a dark green color.  The reason why I think that the latter applied to this recipe is because the green flecks were equally distributed {which would indicate that the baking soda was properly mixed}, as opposed to being concentrated in certain areas of the cake.

I think that the next time I bake this I’ll use just a smidge less baking soda and see how that affects the color.  I’ll let you know how it turns out.

If you’d like to make your own scrumptious carrot cake, then just follow the recipe below.  But you’ve been warned – you may have green flecks in your dessert!  If that happens, just tell your guests “It’s the baking soda, stupid!”, and hand them a fork :-)

Carrot Cake

Cake Ingredients…

  • 2 C flour
  • 2 C sugar
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 1/2 C cooking oil
  • 4 C raw carrots, grated
  • 1/2 C pecans, chopped

Frosting Ingredients…

  • 1 package (3 oz) cream cheese + 1/3 of another package
  • 1/2 C butter, softened
  • 4 C powdered sugar
  • 1/2 C pecans, chopped
  • 1 tsp lemon juice, optional {I didn’t use this}

In medium size mixing bowl, thoroughly stir together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  In larger mixing bowl, beat eggs till fluffy; slowly beat in oil, then gradually add in flour mixture {1/2 C at a time}, beating till smooth.  Mix in carrots and nuts.  Pour into either a greased 9 x 13 inch pan or three 8 inch cake pans.  Bake in 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 30 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool.

For frosting, beat together cream cheese and butter.  Add powdered sugar gradually and lemon juice {if using}.  Beat until frosting is a spreadable consistency.  Ice cake and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 C of pecans.

Note: I made this cake in a 9 x 13 inch pan, which made things a lot easier.  You’ll have extra frosting if you make it using this method, but that never hurt anyone ;-)

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Why Absent-Minded Professors Shouldn’t Cook

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Remember yesterday how I told you we’d be having Southwest Pasta Bake on Monday night?  I generally try to make stuff in advance when I’m working, so I was planning to make this Sunday afternoon.  However, I was volunteering on Sunday morning and Chris had said he’d be happy to cook a meal sometime.  So I took him up on it, emailed him the recipe, gave a few tips about substitutions, and went out the door.  Chris later told me that when he woke up and saw my email, he thought, “Dang it!  She took me up on my offer!”  I certainly did!

I got home that afternoon and everything smelled great.  Chris had been very productive and had cooked the dish, but he mentioned that he thought he’d put it in too big of a pan and was worried that it might burn because it was “spread out pretty thin”.  I didn’t look at it {it was in the oven by this point} and said, “Oh, I’m sure it’ll turn out just fine”.

The timer dinged and Chris dished me up a bowl.  I ate it while doing other stuff so I wasn’t paying much attention.  I walked into the kitchen and looked at the pan.  I said, “Wasn’t this supposed to have pasta in it?”

Let me show you the title of the recipe, which Chris had in front of him the whole time:

Do you see that?  It says “pasta” in 2 places on the title section alone.  Somehow, Chris managed to overlook that little part and just made the sauce, then poured that into a pan and baked it!

To his credit, it tasted really good and it’s a quick fix – just boil some penne and scoop this on top.  Still, I was dying laughing and had to tease Chris about it.  Here he is, laughing when I explained what he’d done {I was laughing so hard that the camera was shaking, and the image is a bit fuzzy}…

And here’s another photo of him where he’s explaining how this was a very understandable mistake {he’s feeling a bit under the weather, hence the plaid PJ pants, and he said he hasn’t cooked or followed a recipe in 6 months}.

And to top it all off, while he was eating this he thought to himself, “You know what?  This would go really well with some pasta.”

He swears he only does stuff like this so that I’ll have something to blog about.  I think he does it because his brain is in la-la-land.  Either way, it’ll be a long time before he lives down his absent-minded professor reputation :-)

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Cheesy Pasta with Roasted Squash and Bacon

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I’ve mentioned before that since moving to New Zealand, I’ve started branching out in some of our recipes.  One particular ingredient that I’ve been using a lot of is squash {or pumpkin, as it’s called over here}.  I’ve turned to Cooking Light many times for meal ideas and recipes, and they were the source for my latest creation.  If you like pasta with creamy, cheesy dressing, roasted veggies, bacon, and shallots, then you’ll love this…

First, start off with some pumpkin/squash.

Cut the squash into small chunks {approximately 1 inch} and arrange on a foil-lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray.

Take some salt…

And then a little rosemary…

And then some pepper…

Mix it all up…

And then sprinkle it onto the chopped squash…

Once you’ve spread the spices, pop it into the oven at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes.

In the meantime, start makin’ some bacon!  I looked for turkey bacon in New Zealand, but the closest that I could fine was this:

It looked a little strange, but it still tasted yummy!

While the bacon’s frying and the squash is roasting, you can start making the pasta…

Once the bacon’s cooked and the pasta’s made, but while the squash is still roasting, you can get to chopping!

You’ll need some shallots:

It’s at times like this that I’m grateful for my Pampered Chef chopper.  It makes chopping a breeze!  A bit of peeling and a few minutes later, you’re left with this:

So now you’ve got your shallots, your bacon, your pasta, and the squash is ready to come out of the oven!  Combine the squash, bacon, and shallots…

Doesn’t that look pretty?  All those colors!  Makes me think of Autumn :-)

After mixing the shallots, squash, and bacon, set aside and get out the milk.  Pour yourself 2 cups’ worth.

Then measure out some flour and salt into a saucepan…

Bit by bit, add the milk into the saucepan, stirring constantly and cooking over medium-high heat.

I forgot to take a photo of this next step, but once the milk, flour, and salt have thickened, remove from heat and stir in shredded provolone cheese till melted.  Take the whole mixture and pour over pasta that’s been placed in a prepared casserole dish.  It looks so good…

But we’re not done yet!  You have to add the toppings:

A little bit of cheese…

Pop it in the oven at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes, and you’re done!

Don’t worry if the squash looks a little burnt.  I promise you, it tastes fabulous.

So tell me, are you hungry yet?

**Recipe can be found here on CookingLight.com.  I modified their version by using crown pumpkin, skim milk instead of 2%, mozzarella cheese, and chicken bacon instead of regular!**

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Menu Monday!

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Hey everyone – hope you had a great weekend.  Ours was busy.  I went to a cute cafe in Ponsonby called “Agnes Curran”, stopped in at Milly’s Kitchen Shop, checked out a store called “The Mad Butcher”, went to Mitre 10 for some things {the equivalent of a Lowe’s in NZ}, and looked at furniture.  Busy, busy, busy!  When I was at the butcher shop I bought, um, a lot of chicken.  Normally, chicken at our local grocery store runs anywhere from $15.99 – $18.99 a kilo {or about $7.99 – $9.50 a pound}.  The Mad Butcher was having a sale that was much more economical than that, so I stocked up.  I found a way to make room in our little freezer, and now I have enough chicken for probably the next 4 weeks, ha ha!

So, chicken salad, anyone?

Monday

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches + Tomato Soup

Tuesday

Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta {minus the ham called for by the recipe}

Wednesday

PW’s Chicken Spaghetti Casserole {I’m making two of these and freezing one for next week}

Image via

Thursday

Leftovers

Friday

Breakfast for dinner: scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon!

I hope that you all are having a great Monday with lots of fun things on your plate :-)

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Menu Monday!

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Hello, my lovely readers :-)   I hope that you all had a great weekend!

Here’s what’s on our plates this week…

Monday

Paula Deen’s Broccoli Casserole – I like many of Paula Deen’s recipes {Perfectly Imperfect, don’t hate me!}.  And I was feeling the need for some Southern Cooking this week, so this menu relies quite heavily on Ms. Paula!

Tuesday

Leftovers

Wednesday

Another Paula Deen special – Corn Chive Pudding.  I realize that both the broccoli casserole and corn chive pudding are more along the lines of side dishes, but I’m a fan of eating side dishes for dinner.  They’re usually easier and have more veggies than a main meal.  And I know of so many yummy ones!

Thursday

You guessed it – leftovers!

Friday

Take-out from Corner Pancake – yummy veggie Korean pancakes!  I keep meaning to take a photo of these, but I always eat mine too quickly.  I’ll try to control myself this week and get at least one photo before I devour it!  At only $2.00/veggie pancake {which, by the way, one pancake is easily an entire meal for me}, I could eat here all. the. time.  I know what you’re thinking – “Veggie pancake?  Sounds gross!”  Trust me – it’s not.  I haven’t tried any of their other varieties, but the veggie ones are perfect-o.

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Menu Monday

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I had my first online grocery shopping experience this weekend, and I’m hooked!  It was so cool to shop in my pajamas while watching “Friends” on Friday night.  That’s right – I just admitted that I was watching re-runs in my PJs on a Friday night.  In my defense, it was rainy, I was tired, and I’ve been without a TV for the last 2 months, so there!

Anyway….

I went online, browsed the “aisles”, checked things off my list, selected a delivery time, and paid for it all.  It was delivered to my door with a smile by 10:30am the next morning, and I couldn’t help but feel spoiled as I toted my groceries from the front door to my kitchen.  So nice :-)   There is a delivery fee, but if you spend more, the delivery fee is less.  I’m going to try to do a 2-week menu plan so that the delivery fee is less and we don’t pay it as often, and then maybe make a mini mid-way trip for perishables such as milk.

So, on to the menu!  I’m working three 12s this week, and I really don’t like having to cook after walking home from the hospital.  Chris is there, but I’ve learned that whenever he really “cooks”, the kitchen looks like a mini disaster area – dishes stacked, sauce on the bottoms of the upper cabinets, drawers hanging open, spinach burnt onto the stove top, and cheese on the floor.  Are you getting the mental image?  Good.  Now you know why I’d rather just do the cooking myself, ha ha!

Monday

Macaroni and cheese from a box and frozen veggies.  I know, I know – it stinks as a dinner, but I have it on hand and I work Monday.  I only have a few boxes of this leftover from the States, so it won’t be a meal too often :-)

Tuesday

Spinach casserole.  So good!  Spinach, reduced-fat cottage cheese, reduced-fat cheddar {or tasty cheese, as they say in NZ – love it!}, sauteed onions, eggs, flour, and margarine/butter.  Mix it all up in big bowl, put it in a pan, and bake!  Let me know if you want the recipe :-)

Wednesday

Leftover spinach casserole

Thursday

Pan-Fried Falafel with sun-dried tomatoes and coriander {sounds fancy, but it’s sold at the grocery for minor ducats and tastes fabulous}

Friday

Chicken Stir-Fry {I didn’t make this last week, so I’m going to do it this week instead}

It’s not much of a menu – there’s basically only one meal that follows a recipe, but I could care less!

So tell me, what’s cooking in your kitchen this week?  Do you cook from a menu or just go with whatever you have on hand?  As usual, feel free to share any of your favorite recipes with me!

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Pioneer Woman Lasanga

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Hello my lovely readers!  As you know, I’m on a busy schedule these days.  I don’t have much time for cooking.  Rather than making several meals throughout the week, I’ve started to make several meals on one day.  I try to put them in smaller pans so that Chris can pull them out of the freezer, pop them in our toaster oven (rather than the big oven), and have some dinner while I’m at work. I love our toaster oven.  It can easily fit an 8″ pan, so I didn’t have to purchase any weird sizes.

One of the recipes that I made this week was the Pioneer Woman’s lasagna.  My mom gave me Ree Drummond’s cookbook for Christmas and it’s a great resource.  I like to think of her recipes as the same kind of foods that my mom would make – easy, no-fuss, and uses a lot of on-hand ingredients.

I decided to double the recipe.  Lasagna freezes pretty well.  I figured that this way, we could have lasagna next week.  Yes, it would be a lot of lasagna to go through in 2 weeks, but Chris and I aren’t picky eaters (especially Chris).  We don’t mind eating the same thing a few nights during the week (or for lunch).

I must say that I’m rather pleased with how it turned out!

PW Lasagna - Before the Oven

PW Lasagna - After the Oven

Okay, so maybe I left it in the oven a tad too long, but it still tasted great.  Chris said that the only thing he would change would be to add a few more tomatoes.  He likes his food extra saucy ;-)

If my pictures have inspired you (or just plain made you hungry) and you’d like to try this recipe yourself, then click on over to The Pioneer Woman Cooks.  Her pictures are definitely better than mine.

A Side Note - Ree Drummond’s recipe calls for fresh herbs, but I used what I had in the kitchen, i.e., the dried stuff.  I’m sure that a true foodie could taste the difference, but for our purposes it tasted fine.  Also – this recipes requires space, something that we have a short supply of in our apartment kitchen.  I made it work, but if your kitchen is like mine you may end up getting frustrated halfway through and start swearing at your counter tops.  Not that I did anything like that…

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Menu for the Week

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Since starting the night shift, the amount of time that I have available to devote to cooking has gone way, way down.  However, I’ve noticed that if I shop from a menu, our grocery bill is much more manageable.  So it’s a quandary – to cook and save, or to spend and have extra time on my hands?

I had five glorious days off in a row this week, so I figured that I had better make sure that some of that time was spent cooking meals that could be frozen.  I love the “Taste of Home” publication group, and one of my favorite magazines of theirs is Healthy Cooking.

Healthy Cooking Magazine

Healthy Cooking Magazine

The food in here is made with busy, health-conscious people in mind.  A lot of the recipes are user-submitted, then refined and tested by “field editors”.  I like the fact that all of the recipes aren’t created by a chef, but come from everyday people.  They also have an online portion which is handy and useful.  I can search by cuisine type, meal, ingredients, preparation time, etc.  It’s definitely worth the cost of a subscription.

Since I mainly shop from a menu, I don’t have a lot of extra food lying around.  I have my staples, of course.  These include frozen chicken breasts, a box of pasta, chicken and/or beef broth, a package of freezer rolls or frozen bread dough, a bag of shredded cheese, an onion, lots of spices (I haven’t been able to find a spice rack that comes close to being big enough to hold all of my spices… I love flavor!), garlic, condensed soup, bread, peanut butter and jelly, and of course flour/sugar/oil.  I can make some meals from these, but I keep them around for emergencies.  I try to incorporate chicken and some other type of meat into all of our meals.  This week, my meals include chicken, ground turkey, and pork.  Mmm mmm :-)

Here’s what I decided to make this week…

Enchilada Lasagna

Enchilada Lasagna

Rather than making one 9×13 pan of the lasagna, I split it into two 8×8 pans and froze both of them.  This way, when Chris wants one he can take out a small pan and make it in the toaster oven rather than having a lot left over.  The nutritional value for this meal is 282 kcal, 11 g fat, and 2 g fiber.  I’ll add more vegetables to this if I make it again in order to boost the fiber content.

Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole

Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole

This one called for an 8×8 pan, but I doubled it and make one large 9×13 pan.  The thing that I really like about this dish is that it uses chicken, so it’s not just potatoes and cheese.  Chris really likes this kind of dish, and I knew that he could eat some for breakfast and dinner meals.  I was planning to freeze it, but about 20 minutes after putting it into the freezer Chris pulled it out.  He’s already planning to have some for breakfast tomorrow morning!  The nutritional value for this meal is 220 kcal, 6 g fat, and 1 g fiber.  I modified my version by adding more veggies than called for, so I’m sure that the fiber content in my version is higher than the published version’s.

The last recipe I made is something that my mom has done for years – pulled pork barbecue sandwiches.  Here’s a picture that looks sort of like the end result.

Pulled Pork Barbecue Sandwiches

Pulled Pork Barbecue Sandwiches

This meal is healthy, delicious, and easy to make.  Buy a lean pork loin roast and cook in a greased crockpot for 6-8 hours, depending on the size of the roast and crockpot.  Be sure to add at least 1/2 a cup of water so that it doesn’t stick or burn.  If you’re unsure about the water, just keep an eye on it and add more if you notice that it’s all evaporated.  When the time is up, put the roast in a bowl and pull it apart with a fork (it should shred easily).  Add enough of your favorite barbecue sauce to suit your taste and obtain the desired consistency.  As with many dishes, the flavors are better combined if it’s allowed to sit overnight.  I typically make a large amount using a 3 lb pork loin roast, then freeze it in several containers for up to 3 months.  This way, whenever we want some we can defrost a small container rather than having a bunch lying in the fridge.

These meals, combined with a garlic chicken penne dish that I have leftover in the freezer, will be more than enough for the next 5 days (and probably longer).

I was going to include the recipes from Healthy Cooking, but then I realized that they are only available in the “subscribers only” section.  I don’t think that it would be fair to include them, so I’ll just direct you to the December/January issue or to their website.  A subscription is only $12.98 per year.  They also offer a trial issue, so you can make sure that it’s something you really want before committing.

Alright, my lovely readers – have a great night!

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Low-Fat, Low-Cal: 3 Amazing Recipes

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I’ve been preparing and shopping from a weekly menu for the last several months now. This is a fairly recent development in my life. At first I was skeptical, but I kept reading other bloggers’ menus and thought, “What the heck – I’ll give it a try”. It’s turned out to be a great thing and I enjoy doing it. I thought that I would share 3 of the recipes that have been big hits here in the Practically Perfect household. All of these are lower in fat and calories, so feel free to indulge :-)

Makeover Macaroni and Cheese (from “Healthy Cooking” magazine)
This one was really yummy. It was plain-and-simple old-fashioned comfort food that was lower in fat and calories than the original thing. It was a definite success and I’ll be making it again (note – I didn’t use any chives in my version).

Black Bean Enchiladas (also from “Healthy Cooking” magazine)

This was a great vegetarian option and, well, full of fiber! It was super-easy to make, tastes really good, smells delicious when it’s cooking, and is also low fat/calorie. My only complaint is that there was too much filling to fit into all of the enchiladas. I think that the next time I make it, I’m going to buy extra tortillas and will use ground corn instead of flour ones.
I don’t have a photo of my last recipe because I haven’t taken one. One of the RNs made this at my going away party and it is so delicious. She told me that one serving equals 2 WW points. I have no idea if this is accurate and I don’t know how she measured the servings. This is probably one of my favorite salad/coleslaw recipes, and I don’t even like coleslaw, so that ought to tell you how good it is.

Anne’s Broccoli Coleslaw Salad
3 C broccoli florets (bite size)
3 C broccoli slaw mix**
1 bag shredded carrots
3 oz jar reduced-fat Hormel bacon bits
1/2 C diced red onion
1 C craisins
3/4 C toasted walnuts
1 C reduced fat mayonnaise
1/4 C Splenda
2 T cider vinegar
1-2 liberal splashes toasted sesame oil

Mix first 7 ingredients in large bowl. In separate, smaller bowl, stir together mayonnaise, Splenda, vinegar, and oil. Pour over first 7 ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate.
**I have learned to always double this recipe because it goes so quickly. Also, I don’t use only broccoli slaw – I use half broccoli and half coleslaw mix**
Alright ladies, there it is – my recipe suggestions for the month! I hope that you have a great Friday :-)
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