Berries and Carrots and Tomatoes, Oh my!

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Mo

Somewhere around the end of last month I made a decision.
We need alot more fruits and veggies in our diets. No more of this crackers for most snacks business (really bad, I know).
Well, when I decide to do something, especially for our health, I stick to it! So, now I (Justice doesn’t always participate and the hubby doesn’t always have room to store fruits and veggies at work but they’re both working on it) have at least one serving of fruits and/or veggies with each meal as well as having them for snacks. Justice knows that if she wants a snack she’s getting fruits or veggies except for a rare treat of (lower sugar) animal crackers or goldfish or something.
And let me tell you, I love it!!
My typical choices are things that are easy to chop and store.
Watermelon, strawberries, raspberries, black berries, pears, apples, grapes, kiwi, and clementine oranges.
For veggies I tend to stick to grape or cherry tomatoes, cauliflower, baby carrots, orange and yellow peppers, celery, and cucumbers.
One tip I have found that helps immensely is cutting everything up as soon as we get home from grocery shopping. I was doing it at each meal time but by the time I was done, the meal was almost over. So, yesterday after I got everything put away, I proceeded to wash and chop about 5 lbs. of fruit. The veggies get pieced today. Talk about easier and more efficient. Wooo!

So I just thought that I’d share this morning’s addition to breakfast.

Yummm!!!
(and Justice discovered she loved the rasp/black berries.

(sorry for the blur, it was a quick phone pic)

I hope that you all rethink your fruit and vegetable consumption (if it’s not already sufficient) and use this as inspiration on how you can better your diet. You’ll still get plenty of sweetness but packed with vitamins and antioxidants and fiber! Wooo!
I’m so loving it. And so is my body.

Rosemary Steaks, Sweet Potato Fries & Lemon Green Beans…Yumm

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Mo

Another new recipe! Yay!
~~Warning, probably not a vegetarian friendly read (course, they probably wouldn’t read this one based on the title…) LOL~~
This one was on the plan for Wednesday but got pushed back to Thursday. We don’t do beef all that often in our house, Dominic’s not a huge fan of beef plus he needs to stay away from the high absorbable iron content. I however, am all about dead cow! Bring it on!! I love me some red meat!! Mmmmmmmm!!!!!
Anywho….
I saw this recipe somewhere (I cannot for the life of me remember where I found it) and held onto it for one of our rare beef ventures. We’ve done a little more lately since Dominic has been in a rare beef friendly mood and I’m all about taking advantage of it.
So-I tried this out Thursday to good reviews. I threw in some bagged Sweet Potato Fries and tried a Lemon Green Beans recipe I found on MealsforYou.
This can be done with real steaks on a grill or, like I did with Eye of Round Thin Cut ‘Steaks’ on the George Foreman.

Rosemary Beef
Prep: 10 min, Marinate: 15 min, Cook: 10 min.
1 tsp. rosemary, crumbled or 2 tsp. fresh, minced
2 tsp. salt (optional)
1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. pepper
2 cloves garlic, crushed (I used some garlic salt instead)
4 strip steaks, about 1/4 lb. each (I used 10 thin cut eye of round steaks)
2 Tbs. olive oil
Prepare grill or broiler. Mash rosemary, salt, pepper, and garlic together in a bowl. Rub mixture into meat and let sit about 15 minutes.(I added it all to a gallon zipper bag and rolled it around to coat then let it sit about 20 mins or so) Grill meat 3 minutes per side for medium-rare meat; cook longer as desired.

Lemon Green Beans
Prep: 10 min, Cook: 15 min.
1 lb. green beans
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice (I used a little less)
1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. unsalted butter
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 tsp. parsley, chopped
Place beans in a steamer basket over boiling water. Cover saucepan and steam 5-7 minutes or until green beans are tender. Rinse under cold water and drain.
Combine water and lemon juice in a heavy nonstick skillet over medium heat. Simmer 2-3 minutes or until reduced by half. Stir in butter. Add green beans and lemon zest. Simmer 3-4 minutes or until green beans are heated throughout. Remove from heat. Add parsley and salt to taste and toss.

Everybody loved it all. Almost- Dominic is not a lemon fan and thought the green beans were a little too ‘sour’ (good thing I didn’t add as much lemon as the recipe called for huh?!) but the rest of us enjoyed them.
I hope that you do too when you try this easy well balanced meal at home!

Thursdays 2 new tries

Posted on April 9, 2011 by Mo

This weeks schedule and meal plan hasn’t exactly gone as designed. 1st, Dominic found out that he was going out of town for the whole weekend for work, then it changed to 5 days, then it changed into 8 days. Some recurring insomnia interfered with wednesday’s recipe. And of course, to top it all off, there apparently isn’t a battery in this house that my camera deems worthy to power it and my cell phone camera just doesn’t cut it. I tell ya…some days! At any rate, I managed to get back on track, with the exception of my on-strike-camera, Thursday and I tried “Fettuccine with creamy chicken”. When all was said and done, it’s really Chicken Alfredo from scratch. But let me tell you, I think it was better than almost any I’ve ever had in a restaurant. I also made another new recipe on thursday, Baked Mushrooms with bacon. Again, another success! Woo hoo!!! Nick said the bacon was just a little too crunchy for his preferences but Justice definitely didn’t have that opinion. Justice, surprisingly, ate several mushrooms and she had seconds of the chicken with sauce (she won’t eat pasta). I got great results and it was wonderful!
Here are the recipes;

Fettuccine with Creamy Chicken – courtesy http://www.mealsforyou.com/
Prep: 10 min, Cook: 25 min.
9 ounces fettuccine pasta (I used 16oz and had a small amount uneaten for 3 adults+leftovers)
1 lb. chicken breast fillets, cut into thin strips (I cooked 3 breasts, then sliced)
1 ounce unsalted butter
2 ounces unsalted butter, extra
1-1/4 cups cream
1-1/3 cups Parmesan cheese, coarsely grated
1 tsp. black peppercorns, cracked (I just added pepper till it looked good )1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tsp. dried basil leaves
Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water 8-10 minutes, or until al dente. Drain, keep warm. Melt butter in a heavy nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Cook chicken, in batches if necessary, 3-4 minutes, stirring until tender. Transfer to paper towel to drain. Melt remaining butter in pan, add cream, stirring over heat until boiling. Stir in chicken and remaining ingredients. Cook until heated through. Serve over fettuccine.

AND

Baked Mushrooms with Crispy Bacon – also http://www.mealsforyou.com/
Prep: 5 min, Cook: 15 min.
8 large mushrooms, flat (I used 12-14 medium/large white mushrooms, stems removed)
1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. olive oil
3 bacon slices, diced (we like bacon, I used 4 strips)2 cloves garlic, crushed
2-3/4 Tbs. butter
1 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped (I used dried)
Preheat oven to 350°F. Place mushrooms, stalk side up, on a baking tray. Heat oil in a frying pan over a high heat. Cook bacon until crispy; remove from heat. (I used microwave ready bacon) Add garlic, butter and chopped parsley, mix to combine (I let the bacon cool and crumbled in my hands into pan with mix). Spoon bacon mixture onto mushrooms. Bake in moderate oven for 7-10 minutes or until mushrooms have softened slightly. Suggestion: Serve with scrambled eggs. (good suggestion, I might try that!)

I hope you enjoy both of these as much as we did. Add these to the ‘win’ column for us, and hopefully for your family as well!
Mo

Success seconded! Two hits in one day :)

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Mo

So the brownies were in the oven and Yay! I get to sit and relax for a bit. What?! It’s time for lunch?? What do you mean it’s time for lunch??
That presented an issue I wasn’t yet prepared for….what to do for lunch? So, looking at the bag of potatoes on the floor, I remembered a recipe/idea I came across a few weeks ago and marked for ‘some undetermined future use’. Undetermined schmundetermined! Today’s lunch will be Broccoli cheese topped potatoes.
I found this recipe/idea on http://mealplanningmommies.blogspot.com/.

Vegetable Stuffed Potato

Just 4 easy Ingredients:
Cream of Broccoli and Cheese soup (I used 2 cans low-fat. Could not find an organic alternative)
4 potatoes (or one per person being served)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3 cups frozen broccoli mix. (I omitted)
I added some chopped ham to the mix
Rinse and scrub potatoes. Poke several times with a fork. Wrap with paper towel and microwave until cooked. (about 5-6 minutes per potato) I zapped each one separately.

Cut potato in half and smush down with fork.
Cook broccoli mixture in microwave according to the directions.
Mix soup, cheese, and broccoli mixture.
Scoop cheesy broccoli mixture over potato. Enjoy!

Everyone enjoyed this lunch. Pretty quick and easy and certainly a healthier more well rounded alternative to most lunch choices. Don’t get me wrong, mac and cheese and pb&j; are proven successful and mighty tasty but this is a great option when looking for something outside the box…lunch box that is.

Enjoy the yummy topped taters!
Mo

A new repeat and a no-no; recipes # 6 & 7

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Mo

Good evening friends!
Well this evening’s meal brought us a yummy change of pace and a universal veto. Recipes #6 & 7 are Baked Sweet-Glazed Hamsteaks and Baked Carrots both of which came from http://www.meals4you.com/. The Hamsteaks are a bit of a departure for us. The Ortega/Jantz household doesn’t usually have much pork products, aside from Bacon of course which makes Everything better! In an attempt to stray from the usual chicken and turkey I thought these would make a nice change. I was right! The recipe is easy, fast and delicious! And so much cheaper than buying a premade honey baked ham (Bonus!!). Other than the last minute run to the store for brown sugar, it went quickly and was easy. The Baked Carrots required a bit more prep and didn’t turn out as well. We’re calling this Veto Numero Uno. Can’t win ‘em all huh?! BUT-I’m still absolutely encouraging you all to try them. Don’t hesitate based on our tastes.

So here are the recipes and pics for your perusal;

Baked Sweet-Glazed Ham Steaks
Prep: 10 min, Cook: 20 min.
•1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
•1/4 cup honey
•1/4 tsp. dry mustard
•4 whole cloves
•4 boneless ham steaks, about 1/4 lb. each (I had 5)
•4 pineapple slices
Preheat oven to 325°F. Combine first 4 ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat; boil for 2-3 minutes. Discard the cloves. Place ham steaks in a well-greased baking dish. Top each steak with a pineapple slice and an equal portion of the honey and brown sugar glaze. Bake for 15 minutes.

I left ours in for about 25 minutes (I had 2 pans with a total of 5 steaks). If you make more than 4 you’ll need to increase the amounts of each above by a little. I didn’t put any glaze or pineapple on the 5th as it was for Justice. During baking, the steaks release some of their water so it thins out the glaze a bit, hence the recommendation to make more glaze for more than 4 steaks.

Baked Carrots
Prep: 10 min, Cook: 25 min.
•1 lb. carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
•1 ounce Swiss cheese, grated (I’m pretty positive I used about 3-4oz as I grated about 1/2 the 8oz block)
•1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. unsalted butter
•1/4 cup onion, minced (I used dried minced as usual and only a Tbsp or so)
•1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. all purpose flour
•1 cup skim milk, hot
•1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs (cornflake crumbs as usual)
Preheat oven to 375°F. Place carrots in a steamer basket over boiling water. Cover saucepan and steam 3 minutes or until tender. Transfer half the carrots to the bottom of a baking dish. Sprinkle half the cheese over carrots. Add remaining carrots and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Sauté onion 2-3 minutes or until tender. Whisk in flour and salt to taste. Cook 1-2 minutes or until mixture begins to bubble. Very gradually whisk in hot milk and stir until sauce is thickened. Pour sauce over carrots and cheese. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Bake 15-20 minutes or until top is golden.

I used cornflake crumbs and let me warn you, 1/2 cup is too much. You only need 1/4 cup. Ours turned out way too ‘crumby’ and I didn’t even use the whole amount. This dish just wasn’t to our tastes, but it sure did sound good. Carrots-good. Swiss cheese-good. What’s not to love? For us, it was the overall finished product but I absolutely still recommend you try this one. I hope to hear from many of you telling me how much of a hit it was for you. Let me know!!!

Justice guarding the finished hamsteaks!

Hope you all enjoy these new additions to the mix and can’t wait to hear some feedback!
Mo