Tag 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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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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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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Cheesecake

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Poor Chris has been putting up with a lot on my end lately.  He’s such a sweetheart about it, but the fact is that I haven’t been as active around the house as usual.  Dinners aren’t always made, laundry has been a bear to tackle, and he puts up with it and doesn’t complain.

So yesterday, after doing laundry, picking up around the house, cleaning the kitchen, and updating the budget, I made him a cheesecake.

Sidebar: I may be the only girl in the world who’s boyfriend made her a cheesecake for her birthday after 3 weeks of dating.  That was Chris, and the cheesecake is the stuff of legend.

4 bars of cream cheese.

Godiva chocolate liqueur.

Symphony bar chunks.

Chocolate cookie crust.

Oh me, oh my!  No one ever made me a cheesecake, and he’d gone so far as to use a water bath when he made it!  I was smitten, and Chris was looking pretty good, too ;-)

Proof that Chris once had a picture of Homer Simpson in his underwear hanging in his apartment, a fact which he disputes!  And the other picture?  Yeah, that was hanging from a vent with a twisty-tie.  Classic boy college decor!

In the nearly 6 years we’ve been married, I’ve made him one cheesecake before now.  Its not that I don’t like to bake, its that I’m terribly intimidated when it comes to making a cheesecake for Chris!  I’m always convinced that he won’t like it, but I decided to buck up, tie on an apron, and just go for it.

My first cheesecake problem occurred when, after returning from my walk to the grocery, I realized that the bar of cream cheese that I thought was in the refrigerator was, in fact, no longer there and that I was short.  Cream cheese in New Zealand comes in larger packages than in the States, so I wasn’t too distressed.  Still, I was a bit disappointed over having broken one of the cardinal rules of recipe shopping – always have eyes-on the ingredient before you assume that you have it!

So, the recipe was modified.  Instead of using 4 bars of cream cheese {which seemed like a lot to me, anyway}, I made do with slightly more than 3 bars and took out one of the eggs.  I made the crust, popped it in the freezer for awhile, made the filling {divine!}, heated up the water bath in the oven, and baked.  In the middle of that, my parents called on Skype.  They were able to witness a bit of the cheesecake making process, and when it was in the oven I was able to Skype chat with one of my sisters and niece.  That’s the best way to make cheesecake, in my opinion – lots of love and family conversation thrown in the mix :-)

So, how did it turn out?  It turned out… quite well!  It wasn’t specatular and I won’t be winning any awards, but it was cheesecake and it was good.  Part of the problem is our oven {that’s not a cop-out – if you had our oven, you’d hate it, too!}.  Our oven consistently cooks at least 15 degrees too cool.  So, I have to set it for 15 degrees higher than normal.  It also will randomly heat up and cool off during a baking cycle.  I checked it 4 times during the cheesecake baking, and each 4 times it had self-adjusted.. Oh, and the back half of our oven cooks more rapidly than the front, so I kept trying to even things out by rotating.  I hate our oven.  Chris didn’t seem to mind too much, though…

There are no words for this photo!

Probably one of the goofiest pictures that I have of Chris!  This was the face he made when he saw my reaction to him taking such a huge bite of cheesecake!

Explaining to me why big bites are necessary {but forks aren’t} when eating cheesecake.  Is he not the cutest college professor you ever saw?

If you feel like following in my delicious footsteps and you want to make a cheesecake of your very own, then feel free to follow the recipe that I’ve typed out below.  Enjoy!

CHEESECAKE RECIPE

CRUST

1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/3 C melted margarine or butter

FILLING

3 {8 ounce or 250 gram} packages of cream cheese

1 1/4 C granulated sugar

1/2 C sour cream

2 tsp vanilla extract

4 eggs

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F {~245 degrees C}.  Place a large pan or oven-safe skillet that will fit the cheesecake pan inside into the oven.  Fill pan with ~ 1/2 inch of hot water and keep in oven while preheating.  This will be your water bath.

Combine graham cracker crumbs, cinnamon, and melted butter in bowl.  Mix together with fork and pour into 9 inch cheesecake pan.  Press mixture into bottom of pan and 2/3 of the way up the sides.  Wrap a large piece of heavy-duty foil around pan, making sure that there are no tears or gaps for water to leak inside.  Place in freezer while mixing the filling.

Using an electric mixer, mix together cream cheese, vanilla, sugar, and sour cream till smooth, even consistency.  Be sure to use a spatula and scrape down the sides of the bowl while mixing.  Whisk eggs in medium bowl and pour into cream cheese mixture.  Blend mixture just enough to incorporate the eggs and achieve an even texture.

Remove crust from freezer and pour filling into it.  Carefully place the cheesecake into the preheated water bath.  Bake at 475 degrees F {~245 degrees C} for 12 minutes, then turn down oven to 350 degrees F {~175 degrees C} for 50 – 60 minutes, or till top of cheesecake turns a light brown or tan color.  Center of cheesecake will still be a bit wobbly, but this will set as the cheesecake continues baking while cooling.  Cover and chill the cheesecake in refrigerator for at least 4 hours.  Top each slice with whipped cream and sliced fruit.  Serves 12.

*Recipe adapted from “Top Secret Restaurant Recipes: Cheesecake Factory Original Cheesecake”

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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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Menu Monday

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Chris has made a request for more veggie casseroles, as we seem to have been eating a lot of pasta lately.  I agree.  Unfortunately, he told me this after I’d already planned on making a yummy-looking recipe that I’d heard about via The Farmer and the Southern Belle, so he’ll have to wait just a little bit this week before we get to the green stuff.

Monday

Southwest Pasta Bake

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Tuesday

Leftover casserole

Wednesday

Paula Deen’s Broccoli Casserole.  Chris loved this the last time I made it.  I thought it tasted like broccoli with the special sauce they put on Big Mac’s.  But, since he likes it so much, I’ll make it again!

I was unable to take a “before” photo of this the last time because Chris wolfed it down

Thursday

Breakfast for dinner :-)

Friday

Dinner with friends!

My week is looking to be a good one: I’m working Monday and Tuesday, and then I have 9 days off, which just happens to coincide with Chris’ mid-semester break.  I’ve got plans to finally get my hair done {nothing’s been done to it for 4 months}, to see friends, and to explore a bit more of the area.  I’m also really looking forward to being able to spend some more time with Chris. I hope that you all have a fun week planned, too :-)   See ya!

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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}

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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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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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Menu Monday

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I haven’t done a Menu Monday in awhile.  I was working a crazy schedule prior to our move: I worked, slept, and that was it.  I ate once a day, if you can believe that {no, that wasn’t a diet plan – I was too tired to eat and too busy at work to take a “lunch” in the middle of my night shift}.  Our “weekly menus” were dishes that I could cook a large amount of on my day off, freeze, and eat during the week.  Anything made in a slow-cooker was a favorite!

I’ve discovered that meat in NZ is a bit more expensive than in the US {except for lamb!}.  Do I hear a vote for vegetarianism, anyone?!

This week, I’m making things from Cooking Light.  First is Butternut Squash Lasagna.

Over here, squash is referred to as pumpkin, and there’s a lot of it.  Might as well capitalize on that and turn it into something useful.  The recipe calls for homemade sauce, but I went the easy route and bought it pre-made.  I don’t have many cooking implements in NZ yet {still waiting for our stuff to arrive!}, so making anything too involved is out of the question.  And yes, homemade sauce is too involved in my book.  I made 1 big pan instead of 2 smaller ones, and used frozen spinach and dried parsley instead of fresh.  I also used 1/2 reduced-fat ricotta and 1/2 reduced-fat cottage cheese instead of only using ricotta.  This is a yummy, healthy alternative to meaty lasagna, but I thought it was a little on the bland side.  When I make it again, I’ll probably add a bit more salt and pepper {and maybe a hint of garlic!}, buy a better sauce, and use more cheese.  Chris loved it and said that he thought this should be one of my new staples.  That’s always nice to hear!

Second on the list is couscous with chickpeas, tomato, and edamame.

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Since edamame is harder to find, I’m going to substitute it for peas.  I’ve never made couscous, but Chris bought some, so I’ll give it a shot!

Next up is antipasto-style penne with provolone.

This dish calls for prosciutto, but I’m going to replace it with provolone, as the recipe suggests.  I’m not an olive fan, either, so I’ll trade those for broccoli.

And last but not least, we have Chipotle Bean Burritos.

Doesn’t that look good?  I love burritos, and I love chipotle style food.  However, if you’re not a chipotle fan or if you can’t seem to find chipotle powder, then you can substitute the 1/2 tsp of chipotle chili that this recipe calls for with 1/2 tsp of regular chili powder with a dash {or 1/8 tsp, if you want to be specific} of ground red pepper.

So tell me – what’s on your plate for this week?  Do you have any simple yet to-die-for recipes?  If so, please share them with me!  You can send them my way at mrs{dot}practicallyperfect{at}gmail{dot}com.  I’d love to give them a try, and maybe they’ll be featured on a subsequent edition of “Menu Monday”, ha ha ;-)

*Images via Cooking Light unless otherwise specified

**I should also add, we are not switching to a vegetarian diet.  I still love my meat :-)

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