Two Novice Chefs, One Tiny Kitchen

Well according to the menu plan we were supposed to make this on Friday night, but all of our weekend plans got shifted around so Tyler made it for lunch today instead. We had been hesitant to try a new chili recipe since we are so happy with the one we usually use, but this one was great too, and has a lot of veggies in it so it’s a bit healthier. We’ll definitely make it again, and it will be great for taking for lunch this week! Only 4 points per serving and SO filling.

Beef and Black Bean Chili

Ingredients:

1/2 lb 93% lean ground beef
2 onions, chopped
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced (be careful not to touch the seeds, they burn!)
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
3 cups water
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
(cheese and cilantro for topping if desired)

Directions:
Spray a large nonstick saucepan with nonstick spray and set over medium-high heat. Add the beef and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until browned, 3-5 minutes. Drain off any fat.

Add the onions, celery, bell pepper, jalapeno, and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened, about 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes, beans, water, tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper, bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the chili is thickened, about 45 minutes.

Serves 4 (each serving is 2 cups)

WW points per serving: 4

Source: Take-Out Tonight: 150+ Restaurant Favorites to Make At Home, Simon & Schuster, New York, 2002

Slow cooker meals can be hit or miss, but this one was a keeper. Perfect for a cold day like today. I chopped the veggies last night while I was making this soup for dinner. Put them in a Ziploc in the fridge so all I had to do was throw everything in the slow cooker this morning! You can customize with whatever veggies you prefer. I used fresh instead of frozen since I hate frozen mixed veggies. I’m very happy with the first recipe I’ve tried from my new cookbook!

Mustardy Pot Roast with Vegetables (adapted from Weight Watchers All-Time Favorites)

Ingredients:

3 T all purpose flour
1 t salt
1/2 t freshly ground pepper
1 (2 1/2 pound) beef eye-round roast
1 (24-oz) bag frozen vegetables for stew (I HATE frozen veggies so I chopped up some onion, carrots, celery, and red potatoes (count points for the red potatoes, 1 medium red potato is 1 point).
1 (10 1/2 oz) can reduced-sodium reduced-fat condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 T course-grained mustard (I used ground mustard…not sure if that’s the same thing!)
1/2 t Italian seasoning
1/2 cup water (I added this because I worried there wasn’t enough liquid in the slow cooker for 9 hours, but do as you wish!)

Directions:

1. Combine the flour, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the mixture all over the beef (you can sear beef at this point in 1 t of oil, but I always skip this and just stick it straight in the slow cooker.)

2. Combine veggies and remaining flour mixture in a 5 or 6 quart slow cooker, mix well. Place the beef on top of the vegies. Combine the soup, mustard, and italian seasoning in a small bowl, pour over beef. Cook, covered, until the beef and vegetables are fork-tender, I cooked mine for 9 hours on low.

3. Cut beef into 24 pieces, you will have 8 servings of 3 pieces each. Serve beef and veggies with gravy on top, enjoy this comforting dish!

WW Points per serving: 6 (plus the points of potatoes if you choose to add them!)

Source: Adapted from Weight Watchers All-Time Favorites: Over 200 Best-Ever Recipes from the Weight Watchers Test Kitchens, Wiley Publishing, 2008.   

Oh these were delicious and way less work that I imagined (although I did have Tyler do a lot of the prep since I was so sore from our afternoon hike!)  As I was perusing all the end of the year “best of” blog entries I kept finding amazing recipes that I knew I just had to try in 2008.  This one comes from Delish, a really fantastic and colorful food blog.  I had never made stuffed shells before, and buying the big box of pasta shells made me a bit nervous.  I was worried they would all break and I’d be out of luck when I went to make them.  Fortunately just enough shells make it through the trip home and the boiling process in one piece for me to make my meal.  I had just enough whole shells for my amount of filling.  This made a huge dish of food, which is great since it will give us leftovers for lunch this week.  You could easily freeze some of the shells and just reheat them later.

Cheesy Stuffed Shells (adapted from Delish, original recipe can be found here)

12 oz package pasta shells
1 lb ground beef
6 oz cream cheese
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup finely chopped onions
3 tsp parsley
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce (26 oz, I use Tyler’s favorite Classico Spicy Tomato and Basil)
1/2 - 1 cup mozzarella cheese or italian cheese blend

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place shell pasta in the pot, cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente, and drain. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a medium baking dish.

Place the beef in a skillet over medium heat. Cook until beef is evenly brown and crumbly. Drain grease from skillet. Add garlic, onions & herbs. Saute 5 minutes over medium heat. Remove from heat and add in cream cheese, ricotta, and 1/2 cup of marinara.

Stuff the cooked pasta shells with the beef mixture (I used my medium Pampered Chef scooper, made stuffing them quick and very easy!) , and arrange in the prepared baking dish. Cover evenly with the rest of the marinara sauce. Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake 15-25 minutes in preheated oven, or until bubbly.

Oh crock pot, how I love thee on a cold autumn day when I am lazy and in need of a no fuss meal. I have never been a huge fan of stew, but when I saw this recipe over at Good Things Catered I was intrigued and knew I had to try it. It just looks so…tasty. I modified the original recipe for the crockpot and subbed beef broth for red wine, I’ve posted my version below. This was a delicious stew, I’m sad I left town after I made it and wasn’t able to enjoy the leftovers!

Hearty Beef Stew (original recipe found here, taken from America’s Test Kitchen)

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs. beef chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 in. cubes
salt and ground pepper
1 medium onion, chopped coarse (about 2 c.)
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1.5 Tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
1 can beef broth
2 cans low-sodium chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp dried thyme
4 medium red potatoes cut into 1-in. cubes
2 large carrots (about 1 lb.), peeled and sliced 1/4 in. thick
1 c. frozen peas
1/4 c. minced parsley

Directions:
-Dry beef throughly and season with salt and pepper.
-Place all ingredients except for the peas and parsley to the crock pot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
-Add the peas and parsley and cook for another hour or until peas are tender.

Tacos. Why do we never make tacos? Why am I always trying to make complicated meals?! On the way home from church today I realized I was craving tacos, and since we spent the last of our October dining out budget at chick-fil-a the other night (mmmm I love you forever chick-fil-a) it was make tacos myself or let my craving go unfulfilled. Tyler actually made the tacos, while I watched 40 First Dates for the millionth time (oh how I love that movie!) Tacos are truly a 30 minute meal (if that).

Taco Seasoning I (from allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Store in an airtight container.

We cooked 1lb of ground beef, then drained the fat. Added 1/2 cup water with the taco seasoning and half a can of black beans. Let it simmer over medium heat for about 15 minutes. Served with cheese, lettuce, and spicy guacamole. (FYI to KC area girls, the wholly guacamole can be found in the produce section and is on sale at HyVee this week, 1.87 each, and I used a coupon I clipped a couple of weeks ago for $1 off). On soft taco shells (heated the tortillas on the stove top for about 2 minutes each.)

I love a good burger. My latest favorite burger place is Ted’s Montana Grill, I’m especially fond of their blue cheese burger. Tyler always gets a salad there, weird, but he claims it’s an amazing salad. We decided to recreate these burgers at home, it was quite simple and very tasty! To make this WW core friendly, use fat free blue cheese (or reduced fat and count the points, I think fat free cheese is terrible) and serve w/o a bun (obviously I did not follow my own advice!) And obviously count the points for the beer Blue Moon is my favorite!

Blue Cheese Burgers (original recipe from allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1-1/2 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
• 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons minced fresh chives
• 1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
• 4 French rolls or hamburger buns

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, mix the ground beef, blue cheese, chives, hot pepper sauce, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, salt, and mustard. Cover, and refrigerate for 2 hours.
2. Preheat grill for high heat. Gently form the burger mixture into 4 patties.
3. Oil the grill grate. Grill patties 5 minutes per side, or until well done. Serve on rolls.