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.   

Well my first attempt to cook with puff pastry didn’t turn out quite as I had planned.  I forgot that you have to, you know, thaw the frozen puff pastry.  So making this meal took much longer than it should have!  My puff pastry also didn’t really cook in the center :(  I don’t know if it was due to the temp of the puff pastry (didn’t get it totally thawed) or the liquid in the dish, but it was very doughy in the center.  I’ll have to play around with it some more and see if I can get it right next time.  The pot pies were still good though, it’s a great base recipe!  I ate the flaky top and picked out the turkey bits (leftover from our Christmas turkey) and mushrooms…I really hate frozen mixed veggies and wish I had used fresh veggies instead.  I hate peas, am allergic to carrots, and I’m not a big fan of corn or lima beans either…Tyler ate it and loved it and ate all the leftovers.  Yay, that’s what husbands are for :)  Next time I’ll make it with turkey (or chicken), potatoes, mushrooms, and….yeah that’s about it :)  I just don’t really like little bits of random veggies baked into stuff.  But give me roasted asparagus or sauted green beans any day!  (both are on the menu for this week!)

Turkey Pot Pie (original recipe from Tyler Florence, as seen on Julie’s blog)

Ingredients:
2 cups chopped cooked turkey (or chicken)
mixed veggies, fresh or frozen
Sliced mushrooms if desired
3 cups of chicken broth
1/4 cup of butter
2/3 cup of flour
salt and pepper
Other seasonings to taste: Thyme & Rosemary, fresh or dried
1 sheet Puff Pastry
1 egg white
grated cheese of your choice

With an ice storm brewing I figured it was a good weekend for some classic comfort food. I had two ingredients in my kitchen I was anxious to use. 1: the chicken legs I bought a couple of months ago that were still sitting in the freezer and 2: the gorgonzola cheese I got for super cheap at the store the other day. After several hours browsing the Cooking Light website I decided on oven fried chicken and mac n cheese. Yum! We really liked the mac n cheese, the gorgonzola gives it a real kick (if you haven’t tried it before, it tastes a lot like blue cheese.) Tyler said the oven fried chicken was “nothing special.” It was good though, just kinda plain.

Oven Fried Chicken (original recipe from cookinglight.com)

Ingredients:

1 cup low-fat buttermilk (didn’t have so I subbed 1 cup milk w/1 T lemon juice in it)
2 large egg whites, beaten
1 cup all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 ounces)
1/3 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt, divided
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
6 chicken drumsticks, skin on.
2 tablespoons canola oil
Cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°.Cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine buttermilk and egg whites in a shallow dish; stir well with a whisk. Combine flour, cornmeal, 1/2 teaspoon salt, black pepper, and red pepper in a separate shallow dish; stir well. Sprinkle chicken evenly with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Dip chicken in buttermilk mixture; dredge in flour mixture.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Place chicken on prepared baking sheet; lightly coat chicken with cooking spray. Bake at 425° for 30 minutes or until chicken is done.

Macaroni and 4 cheeses (original recipe from cookinglight.com)

Ingredients:

1 pound uncooked medium elbow macaroni
1 (1-ounce) slice white bread (I used bread crumbs I already had on hand)
2 1/2 cups 1% low-fat milk (I used 2%)
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat extra-sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Emmenthaler or Swiss cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Cooking spray
2 teaspoons minced fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
2 teaspoons butter or stick margarine, melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°.Cook pasta in boiling water 5 minutes or until almost tender. Drain and rinse with cold water. Place pasta in a large bowl.

Place bread in a food processor; pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs form. Set aside.

Bring milk and bay leaves to a simmer in a small saucepan. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Place flour in a small bowl; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until well-blended. Return milk mixture to pan. Cook over medium heat until thick, stirring constantly with a whisk. Remove from heat. Add cheeses, salt, and pepper; stirring until cheeses melt. Pour cheese sauce over pasta; stir well. Spoon mixture into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Combine breadcrumbs, sage, and butter in a bowl; toss with a fork. Sprinkle breadcrumb mixture over pasta mixture.

Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Welcome to the new home of our food blog! We hope you find it easier to navigate and pleasing to the eye (and palate!)
It’s rare that I cook with cream of _(fill in the blank)__ soups, but I remembered making this recipe sometime last winter and was suddenly craving it. My favorite part are the biscuit “dumplings.” Mmm it is such an easy recipe and makes the whole house smell wonderful. Perfect on a cooler night when the seasons are beginning to change. It’s going to get down to 25 degrees tonight, unbelievable! We finally caved and turned on our heat so that we don’t wake up as little icicles in the morning. So if you are in the mood for a creamy and comforting chicken dish you might want to give this a try. Crock pots are a great tool for making easy and tasty meals.

Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings (original recipe from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1 can condensed cream of celery soup
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 1 (10 ounce) packages refrigerated biscuit dough, torn into pieces
• Veggies of your choice (a bag of frozen mixed veggies would work well)
• Enough chicken broth to cover the chicken.

Directions

1. Place the chicken, soup, and onion (and veggies if you so choose) in a slow cooker, and fill with enough chicken broth to cover.
2. Cover, and cook for 8-9 hours on low. About 1 hour before serving, place the torn biscuit dough in the slow cooker. Cook until the dough is no longer raw in the center.