Better Bruschetta

Tomatoes have got to be my favorite food EVER. I routinely buy cherry tomatoes to bring to work for snacks, and if I can get away with adding Roma tomatoes to a recipe, you better believe I'm doing it. Tomatoes are chock-full of antioxidants, and are delicious raw or cooked down. My boyfriend does not share my affinity for this magical fruit vegetable, so I was thrilled when I learned that he likes bruschetta. Odd, because this is tomato-adorned crostini, but I'll take it!

This is such an easy little snack or appetizer that can really be thrown together in a few different ways:

I typically take 2-3 Roma tomatoes, 1 Tbs of chopped garlic (most will want to use less), a pinch of salt, 1/8 tsp of black pepper, 1 Tbs Italian seasonings, 1/4 of a medium onion, chopped (yellow or red), and a splash of balsamic vinegar, and sauté them over medium heat until everything is fragrant and hot.

In a pinch, I've also been known to use canned diced tomatoes if I don't have any fresh on hand; or a few green onions instead of a red onion; and dried herbs if I haven't made it to the store for fresh. It may not be authentic, but it tastes great, and I get to serve up some Italian (ish) goodness!

I'd like to say I sauté the onions and garlic in EVOO before adding everything else, but I'm not always that patient! While my toppings are simmering, I toast thick-sliced French bread in the oven until warm and light tan in color. You want the bread to have a crunch, but also be soft to the chew.

Place the toasted bread on a serving platter, and top with heaping spoonfuls of your tomato mixture. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan, and fresh basil or parsley. Yum!!

Pool Sundays

The power went out. Right in the middle of my morning SportCenter and editing this here blog. I guess it's the universe telling me to brush my teeth and go to the gym, so I grudgingly change out of my PJs and put on some sneakers. We live in one of those communities with a pool, bar, and gym all within strolling distance, so I meander down to the gym to find that it's not only our apartment, it's the entire complex that's out of power! What's a girl to do? Instead of throwing a fit like some of my neighbors who were trying, fruitlessly, to call the office to see what the HECK was going on, I swiftly changed into my brightest bikini and sped down to the pool. So here I sit, matching brightness with my boyfriend's neon green shorts, baking in these rays...What a hard life we have!
The point of my story is that I could have easily allowed this small blip in my day become the thing that ruined it...I didn't get to hear all about Tiger's injury and return, I was just about to press Save on my latest article, I missed my workout and now have to wear a bikini...but it's just as easy to focus on the positive. I can read about Tiger instead of mindlessly watching TV, I can bring my iPad to the pool and see if my work can be salvaged, plus I'll never be the skinniest girl, so who cares if I miss a workout?
Simple twists make all the difference...Happy Sunday Funday!

Homemade Tortillas

I despise wasting food, not just because it wastes money, but because there are so many people who cannot afford the luxury that is stocking their fridge once a week. I express my love through food, so buying things that I don't eat, like flour tortillas and frozen pizzas for my boyfriend, is common. The long and short of this is that I buy flour tortillas that sit in our fridge for two weeks until I throw out half of the package because they're crusty. I cringe every time I throw food away, and am always on the prowl for homemade alternatives to store-bought items.

I finally found an easy recipe for flour tortillas, using ingredients that I always have on hand. I might be in love with the idea that when we need flour tortillas, I can whip them up with confidence in about 30 minutes.

Here's the recipe:

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 to 6 tablespoons lard or vegetable shortening
1 1/4 cups warm water (approximate)

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Using a fork or pastry cutter, add shortening until the dough is mixed and resembles crumbs. Add water and knead until smooth (smooth-ish, I didn't have the patience to knead my dough for more than a few minutes). Cover bowl and let dough rest for about 10 minutes. After resting, pinch pieces of dough off in 1-inch increments, fold and knead to make a tight ball. Let these balls rest about 10 minutes. 

Now's the fun part! Sprinkle a cutting board with flour, and get out your rolling pin. Roll each tortilla ball into a fairly thin disk, turning and flipping dough as you roll to prevent sticking and to keep a roundish shape.

I have one of those AMAZING green pans that nothing sticks to, which is perfect for tortillas, because you don't need any extra grease to prevent the dough from sticking. I seriously use this pan every day!

Cook each tortilla on medium heat until you notice tiny bubbles appear, then flip. It may take a couple "testers" to determine exactly how much cooking time you'll need, this will depend on your cookware. My tortillas took about a minute on each side. I cooked all of my tortillas at once, and used them to make two batches of chicken enchiladas with my homemade enchilada sauce. YUM!

Do you have any money-saving tips to share?

~Morgana

The Smoothie Files

I love reading articles, and will notoriously research any topic that I want to learn more about. Ah, the joy of the internet! I can quickly learn about nearly anything, and fully accept that I am a product of our technology-driven world. My brain is full of tidbits, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Learning something new every day, even if it's generally unimportant, keeps me energized!

My most recent Google Escapade was inspired by seeing an article about Wellness and eating more fruits and vegetables. The suggested daily intake of fruits and veggies has always seemed to be impossible to meet, and I find it hard to believe that ANYONE can take in 5-13 servings of fruits and vegetables every day. I knew without a doubt that I come nowhere near the recommended intake, so some creative solutions were necessary. I learned that with a 2,000 calories per day intake, I should have 2 cups of fruit and 2 1/2 cups of vegetables. Every day. Yuck.

After trolling recipe websites for delicious vegetable recipes, I decided upon a "Green Smoothie". I like the idea of a smoothie, because I can make it ahead and take it to the office. I never realized that working in an office full of ladies would cause complete diet failure due to all the delish treats they are constantly bringing in, so bringing in something healthy has become a necessity to ward off hunger and unnecessary donuts or cookies or chocolate on a daily basis. Those evil temptresses! (I of course meant the treats, not the ladies, heehee.)

The green smoothie recipes I found sounded just terrible, but I decided to give it the old college try...After several failed attempts at green, chunky, unappealing drinks, I finally found the combination of fruits and hearty greens that is both delicious and super healthy. I still can't get my boyfriend to drink one, but I think they are just amazing. I like to divvy up all my fruits and veggies at once, making about 8 or 10 shake packs at once to freeze.

While researching smoothie recipes, I found information about about Chia seeds, which are supposed to be a raw, organic superfood that also staves off hunger. My mom, who is a health officianado, corroborated this finding, she uses Chia seeds on everything. If it's something that she would buy and use on the reg, I know it must be good for me. I found a 1-pound bag of these seeds online for $10, which was a third of the cost that I found at the health food store. Boom!

Okay, enough about articles I've read, here's my recipe. Combine all ingredients evenly between your smoothie bags, place in freezer for grab and go ease. I'll start with about 8 ounces of purified water and the Chia seeds, then add a smoothie pack and blend until smooth. Each bag makes 16-20 ounces. Enjoy!

 

8 sandwich size ziploc baggies
4 bananas, peeled and cut in half
4 medium red apples, cored and cut in half
4 Bartlett pears, cored and cut in half
2 avocados, cut in quarters
3-4 cups red or green grapes (1 large bunch)
1 large bunch kale
1 8-oz. package frozen spinach (or 1 large bunch fresh spinach)
4 oranges, peeled and cut in half
1/4 tsp chia seeds per smoothie pack (I typically add these right before blending, I don't know if the nutritious properties fade when these are frozen)

The Last Pork Roast

 

I could eat chicken every night! I love how easy it is to manipulate, how wonderfully moist it is, how it can soak up other flavors easily, or serve as a simple protein when there's another special flavor to feature in a dish.

 

Not everyone shares my enthusiasm for this low-fat choice (boo), so I have been searching for an easy dinnertime meal that will stand up to chicken. Pork is another low-fat meat that should be a terrific substitute for my go-to chicken. Supposedly, it is simple to make a delicious meal out of this ingredient, but for the life of me, I cannot figure out what I'm doing wrong! Every time I attempt to use this ingredient, my end product is too dry and chewy.

 

I told my boyfriend we were officially finished with pork, but when our local grocer had pork loin on a BOGO special, I decided to give this seeming nemesis of mine one last chance: one last meal to either turn me and my boyfriend into lifelong fans or to be dismissed from my kitchen forever.

 

I looked up countless pork loin recipes, and finally decided to combine snippets from Giada's show I had been watching while on the treadmill (running while watching cooking shows is my number-one favorite activity!) and this recipe from epicurious.com. Fingers crossed, I followed the website's instructions for ingredients, but after rubbing my pork loin down with the garlic and spices, I let it sit in a marinade made of EVOO, red wine (Cabernet), Worcestershire, and a bit of chicken broth for about 3 hours, turning to coat every hour.

 

As I don't have a roasting rack, I used rolled-up aluminum foil to set the roast above a lined pan,and roasted for 30 minutes at 400 degrees before turning it over and roasting another 30 minutes or so, until the suggested internal temp of 155F.

 

This was by far the best pork loin I have made! It had a very flavorful, herby taste, and the crust was beautiful and savory. Yet, even though I took the extra time to marinate the pork and cook it slowly, it still tasted slightly dry, and it was enough to turn us both off of pork forever. I feel like maybe I'm missing some trick of the trade, and that pork is not my nemesis; it is simply a misunderstood ingredient that could produce wonderful meals if properly coaxed.

It was a splendid last stand for this dish, but for our household, it was just not enough to continue to try to improve...for now...

Mushroom&Turkey Meatballs

If there's anything I love, it's mushrooms, and I try to find a way to incorporate these little fungi nuggets into as many recipes as I can. I also love red meat, and mushrooms have this magical quality to transform the taste and texture of a poultry dish into something decidedly more "red-meaty". So, I decided to try Turkey Meatballs and add mushrooms! I loosely followed this recipe, and I've noted the changes I made below...

There are many meatballs hidden under that red sauce!

Cooking spray

1 cup chopped mushrooms

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

2 large cloves garlic

1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for serving

1 pound ground turkey meat

1/2 cup dried bread crumbs

1 tablespoons dried parsley

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 egg, lightly beaten

Dash salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 box farfalle pasta (my boyfriend's favorite)

 

 

Cook pasta to al dente and set aside.
(I was lucky enough to have some homemade pasta sauce on hand, otherwise this recipe includes a homemade sauce recipe, too.)
Preheat the broiler, and spray a foil-lined baking sheet with cooking spray. Place mushrooms, onions, parmesan cheese, and garlic into food processor and pulse until everything's tiny. In a large bowl, combine the turkey, dried spices, egg, bread crumbs, and salt and pepper. Add the now-minced ingredients from the food processor to the turkey mixture and combine.

Form into 2 1/2 -inch balls and place on a baking sheet. (I ended up making about 12 meatballs, and forming the rest of the mix into 3 turkey burgers that we froze for later use!) Broil for 10 minutes, or until browned and almost entirely cooked through.
Heat your pasta sauce in a medium saucepan and add the meatballs, so they may absorb some of the sauce. Combine with your cooked pasta and heat through.
Sprinkle some parsley and parmesan cheese atop each serving, and enjoy!

This was such a welcome alternative to red meat, and the bonus turkey burgers that were left over were just as amazing (especially topped with cheddar, lettuce, and tomato). What kind of healthy switch-ups do you like to use instead of red meat?



First-Try Roast Chicken

While I was on a spur-of-the-moment shopping trip the other day, I found BOGO whole chickens and decided that I would try oven-roasting a chicken. I am pretty good at roasting a turkey, so I figured I would try a near-identical recipe and it would probably turn out...

My best turkey by far was this past Thanksgiving, when my best girlfriends and I slathered the bird with butter, and stuffed the cavity with oranges, red onion, and bay leaves. It turned out super moist and flavorful, and will be hard to beat this coming year, when I'm sure I'll want to experiment with a new recipe.

I was inspired to cook the moment I woke up this morning, and so I washed, dried, and de-gibletized my chicken, and got together all my ingredients.

I sprinkled my bird with black pepper, dried thyme, and ample amounts of salt on both sides. I added a small pad of butter into either end of the cavity, and then stuffed my garlic, lemon and orange wedges, and red onion into both ends (it turns out I could only fit about half of what I had chopped up inside, whoops). Since it was so early in the day, I set the prepped chicken on a tray and put it in my fridge until about 3pm.

Without a roasting tray, I raised my chicken by rolling three pieces of aluminum foil and sitting the bird on top.

After consulting a few different recipes online, I decided to set my oven to 375 degrees for a nice, slow roast since I wasn't going to be in a rush. I took the chicken out of the fridge and let it sit and come to room temperature while the oven was preheating, and I added white wine to the bottom of my pan. The chicken cooked for about 90 minutes, until the temperature showed 170 degrees at both the thigh and breast. (The "done" temperature recommendations seems to range between 160 and 190 degrees, so I tried to hit kinda in the middle.)

I've heard that a roast chicken can last all day out, and putting it back in the fridge would just dry it out and destroy all my hard work. I had a couple hours yet before dinner, so I made a crusty french bread loaf to accompany our meal (See my post "Finally! Perfect French Bread"). I also tossed some peeled potatoes in EVOO and Italian spices, and set them aside for roasting later.

When we were ready to eat, I placed my roasting potatoes and my chicken in the oven and cooked at 425 degrees for about 25 minutes, just to crisp up the skin of my chicken. The result? Incredibly moist, flavorful chicken that will definitely be going into our "repeat" queue.