Baked Ziti

This summer Michael surprised Kaitlin and I by making dinner (without us asking :) and this is what he made:

 

the most amazing baked ziti I have ever had!

 

Here are the ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef (or morning star meal starters veggie beef)
• 4 cups (32 oz) pasta sauce
• 1 tbl spoon Italian seasoning (i used parsley, oregano, and basil)
• 16 oz penne pasta, cooked and drained
• 8 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 16 oz ricotta cheese (cottage cheese)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 F

 

Combine ground beef, pasta sauce and italian seasoning. Stir in pasta  and spread half of the mix into the lasagna dish. Top with half of the mozzarella.

 

Combine the ricotta cheese, egg, and parm cheese and layer on top of the mozzarella. Spread the remaining pasta and sauce mix over the ricotta mix and add another layer of mozzarella.

 

Cover with tin foil and bake covered for 45 min. Next, take the foil off and bake uncovered for 15 min. Let the pasta stand for an additional 15 min. so you do not burn your mouth. (makes 8 servings)

 

 

Orange Jello Salad

Here is a very simple recipe for a side dish. My mom made this for us all the time growing up and it is probably the only way I will eat cottage cheese :)

Orange Jello Salad

Ingredients:
1 package orange jello mix
1 tub whipped topping
1 container cottage cheese
1 can mandarin oranges

Combine the cottage cheese and jello mix in a medium size bowl until the mix dissolves. Next add the whipped topping and 3/4 of the mandarin oranges. Use the remaining oranges as toppings :) Now place your final product in the fridge to cool for a few hours before eating.

Honey Chicken Kabobs

I promise that I have continued to try new recipes even though I have not been faithful in posting...to make up for that I have two recipes for today. The first is a Honey Chicken Kabob that I found on pinterest. Here is the recipe that they suggested:

Honey Chicken Kabobs
recipe from AllRecipes

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1 inch cubes
2 cloves garlic
5 small onions, cut into 2 inch pieces
2-3 bell peppers in any color, cut into 2 inch pieces
skewers

In a large bowl, whisk together oil, honey, soy sauce, and pepper. Before adding chicken, reserve a small amount of marinade to brush onto kabobs while cooking. Place the chicken, garlic, onions and peppers in the bowl, and marinate in the refrigerator at least 2 hours (the longer the better).

Preheat the grill for high heat.

Drain marinade from the chicken and vegetables, and discard marinade. Thread chicken and vegetables alternately onto the skewers.

Lightly oil the grill grate. Place the skewers on the grill. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until chicken juices run clear. Turn and brush with reserved marinade frequently

Finished Product

 I made some slight changes by marinating the chicken separate from the veggies over night for more flavor. I also used zucchini and squash for some of the kabobs for a variety. (make sure you have enough honey or else the soy sauce will make it very salty). Everything turned out really delicious!

Chelsea's Pasta Perfection

I good friend sent me this recipe not too long ago and I wanted to share it because it was so good :)

Ingredients:

• 4oz spaghetti or linguini
• 6oz of the canned chicken (like the chicken that pretends to be tuna you know?)hahaha
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• pinch red pepper flakes
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove garlic (I minced the garlic)
• salt n pepper
• 1 tbsp of green olives or capers (i might try black olives hmm)

"Boil the pasta until al dente with a little bit of salt and olive oil in the water.

while the pasta is cooking, sauté the onions, garlic, and red pepper in 2 tbsp of olive oil until the onions are transparent.

Add the chicken, white wine, and green olives/capers. Bring it to a simmer, then reduce the heat a little and cook for 10 mins. Don't want to reduce the heat too much so that the alcohol cooks off. If it starts to get dry, just add more white wine. you want it to be pretty juicy cause the pasta will soak up a lot of the liquid.

Once its all done, throw it together and enjoy!:)"

 

Thanks Chels it was great!

 

(pictures to will be added as soon as I can get them up)

Summer Pasta

It has been too long since I last posted, so I have brought out a favorite Summer Recipe to celebrate my return to blogging. I did not like vegetables at ALL when I was younger, but this pasta dish changed my mind about a few different veggies. This recipe originally calls for zucchini and squash, but you can substitute those for asparagus or peas or any other veggies you like.

Ingredients:

•  1 box farfalle pasta

• 2 yellow squash

• 2 zucchini

• 1 package Romano, Mozzarella, or Parmesan Cheese

• 3 tb Olive Oil

• 3 tb Butter

• Oregano

• Basil

• Salt and Pepper to taste

While the water is warming up for the pasta add olive oil and butter to a large frying pan to sauté the squash and zucchini. Next, slice the squash and zucchini into halves/quarters depending on how small you want them to be. Once you have started boiling the pasta add the squash and zucchini to the frying pan and add oregano and basil to taste.  After the pasta has boiled drain and add to a large serving dish with the squash and zucchini and cheese.

Easy to make French Toast

Breakfast is my favorite meal, and if I could I would have breakfast food all day long. Lately I have been taking the time on weekends to actually make a "real" breakfast! Today's breakfast included fresh strawberries, mandarin oranges, orange juice and homemade french toast.
I found this very easy recipe for french toast on allrecipes.com:

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 12 slices white bread (I used whole grain instead and it tasted great)
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Add the milk, brown sugar and nutmeg; stir well to combine.
2. Soak bread slices in the egg mixture until saturated.
3. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Brown slices on both sides, sprinkle with cinnamon and serve hot (you can also sprinkle powdered sugar, Michael suggested whipped cream)

This recipe is originally meant to serve 12, so I scaled it down for 2. Be careful to not saturate the bread too much or else it will fall apart before you can get it on the griddle. And here is the final product :)

 

Rice and Beans...

I love rice and beans because growing up my mom would make it for us all the time. It works as a great side dish with chicken or you could make it more of a main dish with lots of vegetables. I decided to break out the rice cooker yesterday to attempt to recreate a childhood favorite.

Here is the recipe for some simple rice and beans:

Ingredients

• Olive Oil (to coat the bottom of the pan)
• 3-4 cups White or Brown Rice (depending on the number of servings you would like)
• 1-2 cans Black Beans
• Water
• Minced Garlic to taste
• 2 packets Goya Seasoning
• Salt and Pepper

After coating the bottom of the pan add the ingredients, stir, and start your cooker.
I suggest stirring at least once to make sure the beans don't settle at the bottom.

I made one big mistake while making this, I added too much water and it turned out soggy :( Next time it will turn out better though!

Ropa Vieja

I got this recipe from a lady at work who brought in some of the best ropa vieja I have ever had. There are no Cuban restaurants anywhere near us in Loma Linda, so I will have to learn how to make it myself. Here is the recipe that I was given, and for the most part followed:

Ropa Vieja
Guy Fieri From Diners, Drive-ins and Dives
El Bohio Restaurant in San Antonio, Texas
Cooking time 5 hours
Servings: 20

Cook for 4 hours, cool and shred:
Get brisket, cut in large pieces ¼ - place in boiling water with salt, pepper, vinegar and 5
garlic cloves

Take cooked shredded meat and add:
Crisp the meat
Sazon (Goya Seasoning)
Tri-colored bell peppers – red, green, yellow (diced)
Onion
Green olives diced (I didn't use green olives)
Pimentos
Salt to taste
Pepper
Adobo seasoning – garlic and onion salt?
Cilantro

Cook down 30-40 minutes, add broth to keep it moist

Serve with
White rice with Black Beans
Shredded lettuce with tomato wedges
Tostones
Plantanes

I did avoid adding a lot of onion and peppers, but it still tasted amazing and if anyone knows a good recipe for Vaca Frita please let me know!!

Ninjas

This past week I was finally able to use our new blender that we got for our wedding, the Ninja!

I was motivated to get it out of storage after watching the documentary Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. The film followed a man as he did a 60 day cleansing juice fast as he traveled across America with amazing results. There are three things that make a juice fast work:

 1. Cleansing and Detoxing

Prior to beginning a health regimen we must first clean our bodies. A few good cleansing ways to prepare our bodies for the next step, is by learning about the lemonda diet and the salt water flush which are parts of the master cleanse. Some nutritionists recommend detoxing two times a year.

2. Nourishing the system

After a good cleanse, it is time to nourish the system by eliminating toxins from processed foods such as artificial sweeteners, refined sugars and empty calories which do not provide our bodies the nutrition it needs. Juicing fresh fruits and vegetables is a great way to start adding nutrition to your body. (although it is really hard to not go right for chocolate or taco bell)

3. Exercise and Fitness

Our bodies are designed for motion. So we must eliminate the couch potato in each one of us and while we keep nourishing the system a daily exercise routine aids in keeping the stress level down as well keeping us upbeat.(yeah that’s hard to do)

Here are a few of the recipes that I used from Juice Recipes Now:

Apple and Pear
2 apples
2 pears

No need to peel the apples and pears, this will add some fiber to the juice.

Lemon Juice
2 lemons
water to dilute

Only juice the flesh of the lemons. Add water to your taste. This is a great juice to take on an empty stomach before breakfast. It has a great flushing effect, and is actually very beneficial for the kidneys and liver. The hotter the juice, the more the nutrients are destroyed.

Super Dose Antioxidants
2 kiwi
2 cups of blackberries
2 cup of blueberries

This combo is a great source of vitamins A,C and E.

And of course a lot of smoothies with strawberries and bananas!

Chicken Satay with Peanut-Chutney Sauce

I found this dish on marthastewart.com and have been wanting to try it out, so Friday we will see how it goes! If you want to try it here is the recipe:

Ingredients--Serves 4.

• 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter, preferably natural
• 3 tablespoons mango chutney
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut across the grain into 1/4-inch-wide strips
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• Fresh cilantro, for garnish (optional)

Directions

1. Make sauce: In a blender, combine peanut butter, chutney, lime juice, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, garlic, pepper flakes, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 cup water; blend until smooth. Set aside.
2. Thread each chicken piece onto a skewer (fold the pieces slightly as you work so the skewers go in and out of the meat). Place skewered chicken in a shallow dish; season with salt and pepper. Drizzle oil and remaining tablespoon soy sauce over chicken; turn to coat.
3. Heat grill to high; lightly oil grates. Grill chicken until cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a platter; garnish with cilantro, if desired. Serve with chutney sauce.

 

Stuck in a rut...

So lately all of my meals have had no imagination (unless we order takeout). I am stuck in a rut that includes cereal, sandwiches, and the occasional pasta dish. I have narrowed the reason for my lack of diversity down to this simple fact...I need ideas.  Friends and family, this is where I need your help. As often as I can I will either post a new recipe that I have found and tried, or leave room for YOU to post recipes for me to try. Here’s to a new year full of new food experiences!