Yummy in the Tummy Weekend Recipes

I’ve started Weight Watchers again. It’s a whole new system than the old Points that I was used too, so it’s taking some time. Plus it seems I’ve been eating double my allowed points each day, which would explain the weight gain! My new allotted points for the day is 29 with 40 something extra weekly points. When I did the plan before, I got like 20 points a day. I did well on it and eventually got to a point where I wasn’t hungry in between meals. I’m feeling pretty sure I can do it again.

This weekend I made White Bean and Shrimp burgers from Mark Bittman’s book. YUM! I initially made them a little too pureed, so I had to double the recipe and add in coarsely chopped shrimp and beans by hand. It is 8 points alone and then you have to add some mayo and a bun. Well, I guess you don’t have to, but we did! CRH made a yummy Miracle Whip mayo for it.


For dessert, I made this Blueberry Crisp from the same book. I loved it, but it was 10pts and I can never, ever have it again. Ok, well perhaps I could modify the recipe and have it again but that’s not one of my strong suits.


Last night, CRH made this salmon and mushroom pasta. I didn’t get a pic, but omg it was delicious and only 10pts too. It was seriously yummy!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil
12 oz salmon fillet (skinless salmon fillet cut into 3/4 inch pieces)
3 large garlic cloves (chopped)
1/2 lb mushrooms (sliced)
5 green onions (chopped)
1 tomato (seeded diced)
1/3 cup dry white wine
3 tbsp capers (drained)
1/2 lb linguine (freshly cooked)
1/4 cup fresh dill (chopped fresh dill or 1 tablespoon dried dillweed)
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice


Preparation Steps:
1. Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat
2. Season salmon with salt and pepper
3. Add to skillet; sauté until just cooked through, about 3 minutes
4. Using slotted spoon, transfer salmon to plate
5. Add garlic to same skillet; sauté 30 seconds
6. Add mushrooms; sauté 2 minutes
7. Add green onions, tomato, wine and capers; cook until mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes
8. Add linguine, dill, lemon juice and salmon and toss
9. Season with salt and pepper

Ode to Mark Bittman

Mark is the author of the beloved lima bean parmesan recipe in this house. He's written a ton of recipe books and I'm dying to try some more of his recipes. Last week, I took Eve to the library and to my complete surprise my tiny little Waialua library had his Food Matters cookbook. There may or may not have been a girly squeal emitted in the middle of the library as I snatched it off the shelf! I've poured over it this weekend and on Wednesday (pay day), I'm going to Costco and the grocery store and stock up on groceries to make pretty much all of the bookmarked recipes.

School is over for me until Tuesday, August 23rd. I get an almost 2 week break, so I'll try to do a much better job of cooking and posting. I think these recipes are going to be awesome!!

Farfelle with Tomato Goat Cheese Cream Sauce

I know I haven't blogged in eons. I haven't really cooked in eons. With Eve being gone this summer and my working and going to school for literal 14 hour days the past month, I haven't had time for much in the kitchen.

I dusted off my apron today and rocked it. I actually made this dish earlier in the summer and I loved it. I thought Eve might just possibly eat a few nibbles since it has peas and she loves peas (weird, huh?). CRH won't eat it because it has goat cheese. It's hard to please them both at the same time these days in the culinary world, but CRH closed tonight so he wasn't home.

I made dinner and placed it in front of her with some grapes while we watched Diary of A Wimpy Kid (loved that movie btw). She ate every single bite. I mean happy plate club. I was ecstatic! It's officially kid approved, well my kid approved. Eve has her mama's love of all things cheese. She and I love cheeses, but if your kid isn't a fan of goat cheese you can make a substitute listed in the recipe below. Enjoy!


Farfalle with Tomato-Goat Cheese Cream Sauce
From Vegetarian Times

Mild goat cheese lends a sophisticated tang to this creamy, orange-hued sauce. Tossed with tiny green peas, toasted pine nuts, and festive bow ties (it&39;s fabulous with fettuccine and gnocchi too), the resulting dish is wonderfully easy and original. If you&39;re not a fan of goat cheese, try the recipe with Boursin or low-fat cream cheese. You can also add a grating of Parmesan cheese before serving, if desired.

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water according to package directions until al dente, adding peas during last 3 minutes of cooking. Drain in colander, and set aside. Quickly return empty pot to same burner (with heat off). Wait a few seconds until pot looks dry, then add pine nuts. Cook over medium heat 1 minute, or until fragrant and lightly toasted. Transfer nuts to plate.
2. Add oil to pot, and sauté garlic over medium heat 15 seconds, or until just beginning to brown. Stir in soup, half-and-half, and wine, if using; bring to a brisk simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer gently 3 minutes, or until mixture is slightly reduced and begins to thicken, stirring occasionally. Add cheese, and cook 2 to 3 minutes more, or until cheese is completely melted into sauce, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.
3. Stir pasta, peas, and nuts into sauce in pot; toss well, and serve.
Member Rating:

Ingredient list
Serves 6
12 oz. farfalle pasta
1 cup frozen petite peas
2 Tbs. pine nuts
1/2 Tbs. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced (1 Tbs.)
11/4 cups prepared creamy tomato soup
1/4 cup nonfat or regular half-and-half
1 Tbs. dry white wine, optional
3 oz. creamy mild goat cheese (6 Tbs.)

Nutritional Information
Per 1-cup serving:
Calories 341
Protein 11g
Total Fat 7g
Saturated Fat 3g
Carbs 57g
Cholesterol 7mg
Sodium 283mg
Fiber 3g
Sugar 4g

PS I skipped the pine nuts step in an effort to increase the kid appeal.

Black Bean Cocoa Quinoa

Oh how I've been lazy the last few weeks with cooking and such. Eve comes home next week and I've been working my ass off at practicum, school, and work. We have a huge assessment at work next week. I'm trying to make up as many hours as quickly as possible for my practicum, so cooking has taken a side line.

I did stumble on a new website (well, new to me) the other day and I fell in love. The site is called Daily Garnish and the recipe that I made was Black Bean Cocoa Quinoa. It was definitely a new and interesting flavor. I took it to a class potluck and it was a hit. Several people asked for the recipe, so here's the link if you're interested!
http://www.dailygarnish.com/recipes?recipe_id=6000057

It was pretty easy to make, although this was my first attempt at quinoa so I suspect it took me longer than it should have.

Chik'n Enchiladas

I have had a craving for chicken enchiladas lately, but since I quit eating chicken I had a slight problem. Fortunately for me, Morning Star Farms has a faux chik'n that is tasty stuff. I made the recipe listed below stolen from The Lazy Vegetarian. CRH wasn't in love. When I asked him what I could have done differently to make him like it, his reply was "Use meat". He doesn't seem to love recipes where I sub faux meat for actual meat.
I liked it and I fed the neighbor and he liked it, so I'm giving it a "B+". I added more cheese on top while it cooked and accidentally mixed the tomatoes into the mix instead of on top. I also used flour tortillas instead of corn. (We prefer flour.) Otherwise, I followed the recipe. :)

16 corn tortillas, 5" - I prefer the "extra thin" variety
1/2 cup finely diced onion
2 cups Mexican 4 cheese blend 2% shredded cheese (8 oz package)
1 small can, 4 oz, diced green chilies (or jalapenos)
1 package Morningstar Farms chik'n strips, cooked in a tiny amount of oil in a non stick pan, then chopped/shredded into small pieces
1 package (10 oz box or 12 oz bag) frozen chopped spinach: thawed, drained, and extra water squeezed out
10 oz can red enchilada sauce
14.5 oz can diced (or petite diced) no-salt-added tomatoes, quick drained (ok to leave some liquid)

Lightly oil the bottom of a 13"x9" pan or casserole dish. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine diced onions, cheese, green chilies, cooked and cut up chik'n strips, and thawed and drained spinach. Combine well.

Using a damp folded paper towel, heat the tortillas in microwave in groups of 4 for 20 - 30 sec.

Fill the tortillas generously with the filling, rolling and placing seam side down in dish.

Use same bowl to mix together enchilada sauce and diced tomatoes. Pour on top of filled tortillas, making sure that no tortilla spots are left completely dry.

Cover with foil and bake 15 min, then remove foil and bake another 10 - 15 min.

Shrimp and Feta Pizza

I have been super busy this week and totally uninspired to cook. I also haven’t been home before 8:30pm since Monday night. Thursday night, I managed to get home at a reasonable hour and after collapsing on the couch and talking to an old friend on FB chat about feta recipes…I was inspired again (and hungry!).

I whipped up a shrimp and feta pizza for dinner. I googled this to make sure that such a thing did exist and would be yummy goodness and the multitude of results that popped up assured me that it would be. I chopped up some garlic and sautéed it with the shrimp. Then I cheated and used Pilsbury thin crust pizza dough and loaded that onto the dough, along with fresh rosemary, sliced black olives, feta, and an Italian cheese blend from Kraft and oh…my…word. It was delicious!!!

Here’s a pic of it going into the oven…


And on my plate…YUM.

Reader Opinion

I went to my newly beloved Costco tonight and bought a giant tub of strawberries...giant tub. Even if my little strawberry loving kid was home, I don't know that we would eat all of these before they go bad. I've found some good recipes to use them in and then I stumbled onto this. It's a recipe for a strawberry salsa. The recipe calls for this to be served over grilled chicken, which we quit eating. Do you all think this would be yummy over a type of seafood?? I would love to make it, but I'm still learning in the ways of food pairing. Thoughts??

2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 serrano chile, seeded and minced
1/3 cup minced red onion
2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar
salt and pepper to taste