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Asian Glazed Drumsticks

These days, we’re all about eating better, making smarter choices. Hubby & I are on a quest not just to lose weight (which would be nice) but to get healthy. Sometimes, you want something “bad”. This is a light version of something that still tastes like it’s sinful to eat. The sauce makes enough to drizzle on veggies. We opted for steamed green beans and steamed zucchini slices. This recipe is adapted from Gina’s Skinny Recipes.

Asian Glazed Drumsticks

• 12 medium chicken drumsticks, skin removed
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 tbsp Sriracha Hot Sauce (more or less to taste)
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 tsp ginger, grated
• 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

1. In a heavy large saucepan, brown chicken on high for 3-4 minutes with the 2 oils.
2. Whisk water, balsamic, soy sauce, honey, garlic, ginger, and hot sauce in a separate bowl.
3. Add mix to saucepan and cook on high until liquid comes to a boil.
4. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered for about 20 minutes.
5. Remove cover and bring heat to high, allowing sauce to reduce down, about 15-20 minutes, until it becomes a thick glaze, turning chicken occasionally. (Keep an eye on glaze, you don’t want it to burn when it start becoming thick)
6. Transfer chicken to a plates and drizzle glaze on top. Sprinkle on sesame seeds if desired.

Asian Glazed Drumsticks

Zuppa di Fagiolo

I needed a quick dinner which is odd since I was in the middle of a cooking storm (I pre-prepare dinners by putting ingredients together in one bag to add to a slow cooker or half cooked to finish cooking at a later date – all frozen & labeled and ready to go in my big freezer but that should be another post in & of itself since i get asked about it a lot). 

What to make, what to make……

I whipped together this soup which is loosely based on pasta e fagioli. Since it seems Italian-like, I simply named it Bean soup in Italian. It doesn’t have pasta in it so it’s not a minestra but no need to correct my name. This is just what i am going to call it.

ZUPPA DI FAGIOLO

3 small sweet onions, finely diced
1 cup carrots, finely diced
1 stalk celery, finely diced
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
2 tablespoons good olive oil
2 cans cannelini or great northern beans
2 cans of italian diced tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 quart stock (I used fit & active chicken stock)
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon rosemary, rubbed

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large pot.
2. Add onions, carrots, celery, garlic and salt & pepper.
3. Cook until veggies are semi-soft.
4. Add entire contents of all cans as well as the stock & remaining spices.
5. Stir & bring to a boil for 5-8 minutes.
6. Reduce heat to medium-low and let cook until flavors fully mingle, about 15 minutes.
7. Serve topped with lightly toasted garlic bread, croutons, and/or grated cheese like pecorino romano. 

This soup was super simple and is VERY low-fat and low-carb. By making sure the stock is a veggie stock, the dish becomes vegan. Very adaptable, very tasty, very cheap, and ready in less than 30 minutes form start of preparation to finish and eating.

 

Zuppa di Fagiolo – sprinkled with Pecorino Romano & Croutons.

Cracker Brei?

Yeah, t’s me again with another weird recipe. I grew up on Long Island. I grew up in in a community that was about half Jewish. So what you say? That means I got exposed to some awesome food. Fresh, real Jewish cooking. I love Hamantaschen. I crave Matzoh Balls. I love Challah Rolls with Cream cheese. I love fresh Halvah. My favorite food of all time is Potato Latkes (especially my mom’s). Sweet Blintzes are heavenly. I can go on and on. This also gave me a larger scope of recipes in my internal database. 

Enter Matzo Brei. Matzo is flat unleavened bread. It’s close to an unsalted cracker for lack of a better description. I LOVE matzoh. I know I’m weird. I get told that by most Jewish people who get sick of eating matzoh. Me? Never sick. To make matzo brei, you basically break the matzoh into smaller pieces (they come in a giant square like 8″x8″), dip & slightly soak the matzoh in an egg mixture like one used in french toast, then pan fried. It can be savory or sweet. If you know me, you should know I’d prefer it sweet. 

Down here in the south, not only is it not easy/common to find matzoh, but when you do, it’s expensive. Same brand, same size is more than a dollar more here and NEVER goes on sale. In NY, near Passover you could get a triple pack for about the price of a single box here. Well, I get Matzo Brei cravings. I had one today after I made my son French Toast Waffles. I instead busted out some saltines. With the remainder of the egg mixture, I took a handful of slightly broken saltines and added them in and let sit for a minute or two. I added them to a frying pan with a decent pat of butter. Cook similar to the way you cook scrambled eggs. When the cracker mix is just about finished cooking, add another pat of butter along with 1-2 tablespoons of granulated sugar. Cook until it gets all caramelized. OMG! Seriously, this is one of my  major weaknesses. NO on in this house can understand my love for this stuff. Matzo Brei is sweet, hot, savory, comforting, simple… sheer perfection. My cracker version was pretty awesome if I do say so. 

 

Cracker Brei? OMG!

Fresh Toast Waffle

Yeah, I went there. I took a lightly toasted frozen waffle, dipped it in french toast egg mixture, then cooked it like I normally do and oh yeah! It was awesome! Here’s the thing, the flavor possibilities are numerous and can get as healthy as you like. These are made with frozen waffles instead of bread slices. So choose any flavor or type of frozen waffle from plain to blueberry to whole wheat to Kashi’s 7-grain waffles packed with whole grains and omega-3s! I can’t wait to try these with the strawberry ones we normally have on hand but oddly are out of right now.

I don’t do measurements when it comes to french toast. The basic recipe is eggs, milk, vanilla, sugar & cinnamon all whisked very well together. My amounts vary but something normally would look like this:

3 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cinnamon

For this recipe, take the frozen waffles and lightly toast them as you normally would. Then dip them in the egg mixture and lightly cook them in a buttered pan. Viola!

These waffles now taste like french toast but the insides are super light and fluffy like a waffle. It really came out awesome and my kids LOVED this! Enjoy!

Adventure Time Party!

Ok, I thought I was getting away easy when my now 5-year old changed his mind on the theme of his birthday party. At first he wanted a – get this – Team Umizoomi Star Wars party! I was confused at the idea BUT I imaged this awesome cake. Picture it, it’s the UmiCar but black and between the wheels are wings to make it fly. Geo quickly dresses up as Luke, Milli as Leia and of course, Bot would be R2-D2. I could work with this although hard to do. At least there was Umi stuff and Star Wars stuff so I could deal. Then he changed his mind to Adventure Time (a show on Cartoon Network). I thought “oh great! it’s a show and an easy them”. {Insert wrong buzzer noise here} It was NOT easy! There is very little Adventure Time merchandise and zippo party stuff. But I am me. I made it work.

Chocolate Fountain in Chocolate Bar Guy’s Chocolate Bar (including LSP’s RKTs, Marshmallow Kids, and Chocoberries), Pup Cookies (Rainbow sugar cookies in the shapes of circles, stars & 5s – see a cross section below), Peppermint Butlers, Ade of Lemongrab and wonky straws, Owen dressed as Finn, and Some of the favors (Adventure Time comics & Tattoos)

Jake cakes for guests, only 1 Finn Cake (was chocolate of course) for the birthday Finn, homemade Jake pinata, B-MO wrapped favors (sweethearts inside), Ice King’s Ice Cream Palace (with Randy’s Rainbow Sprinkles, Cherry Blossom Cherries, & Baby Snaps’ Minions aka Chocolate Chips), and the whole spread of food (drinks were separate).

Hat came from the DVD set of Adventure Time (so official hat), shirt is a $2.00 shirt from Michael’s (we had this one before the party though), shorts are cheapie ones from Target (had these from a few seasons ago as well), and I bought cheap fabric and a zipper from Wal-Mart & cut & pinned the pieces, handed them off to my mom and she worked her magic to make a functional, awesome Finn Backpack!

Cross-section of a cookie (cross-section via a bite my me).

Mustard Chicken Salad

I lived in the Hamptons – not as one who comes out on weekends, or one who lives in a big house. I lived there as a local in a family farmhouse built in the mid-1800s. My husband was the 12th generation born in the Hamptons (my 2 oldest are 13th generation born there and sadly the last) since his family arrived in East Hampton in 1632! Yes, I said 1632!

That being said, we knew other locals; You know the kind: the farmers, the baymen, the people who serve you your food, ring up your purchase, or clean your house. I never normally would have spent money in a fancy high-end deli but we were friends with a girl who worked at one. We’d go visit and she’d give us a great discount on the fresh deli stuff. The place was off of Main Street on Newtown Lane in East Hampton. I think you might know it even if you’ve never been to the Hamptons – it was called the Barefoot Contessa and was owned by Ina Garten.

I admit, I was spoiled! The case was filled with the most amazing salads and pre-made food. The bakery area had those picture perfect cupcakes and breads. Our friend, S, told us something I will ALWAYS remember: “if you get a cupcake, get one that has fluffy frosting and nothing on it (like shredded coconut)” Why you ask? Because if a fly were to land on a gooey, luscious fresh butter cream cupcake, it would stick and they’d have to toss the cupcake. If a fly landed and was feasting on one of her ever so famous coconut dream cupcakes, it could fly off and you’d be none the wiser. I never did buy a cupcake from there.

Just about every time, We’d get at least a small container of her Mustard Chicken Salad. I can still taste that perfection! I downloaded the recipe online from the food network site but I did amend it only because it was going to be for my kids as well. Hers was better but in a different ways – hers was a more sophisticated, hard mustard taste while this is a bit creamier and subtle.

I dont use many cookbooks but I do own 2 from Ina because I can vouch for her food that has actually be made by her hands. I am honored to say I have eaten her food and seen her in person. She ran a great shop and love her story of how she started with a small struggling bakery to where she is today.

Now on to my redone over quite a bit recipe.

MUSTARD CHICKEN SALAD

1.5 pounds boneless chicken breasts
1 teaspoon olive oil
salt & pepper
3 cups of fresh broccoli florets
1-1/2 cups mayonnaise
2 tablespoons milk
1/3 cup Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
1 pint cherry/grape tomatoes, halved

1. Clean and cut chicken in to bite-sized pieces.
2. sprinkle chicken with salt & pepper.
3. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and cook until the chicken is just cooked.
4. Add broccoli florets to a large pot of salted water.
5. Cook for 1 minute (until crisp tender), drain, and place immediately int oa bowl of ice to stop cooking & set the nice bright green color.
6. Whisk together the may, milk, mustard, tarragon, 1T salt, and 1/2 t black pepper.
7. Add the sauce to to warm chicken and stir gently.
8. Add broccoli & tomatoes and mix gently again.
9. Refrigerate for a few hours so the flavors can mingle.

Better than take-out Orange Beef Stir-Fry

I loved this! I mean, I’m not big on meat at all but I loved this! That speaks volumes. My kids, oddly, weren’t too happy with the mandarin oranges in with their meat – at least they dint like the parts that remain segments as opposed to breaking into tiny pulp bits. Middle kid didn’t want the sesame seeds in there. Anyway, I will make this again slightly am mending the recipe until it comes out to “Family of Five Perfection” (which is all 5 people love it – it’s a rare occurrence). I didnt make rice because I’m tired of no one eating it but me so I just served it on a plate. It’s not super attractive this way but it was super tasty!

Orange Beef Stir-Fry
3 pounds sirloin steak
1/2 cup tart juice (cranberry or pomegranate)
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup borwn sugar
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons minced ginger
1/2 of an orange zest
1 teaspoon veggie oil
1 11-oz can mandarin oranges, drained
sesame seeds

1. Clean steak and cut into narrow strips (across the grain).
2. Whisk together juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, and orange zest.
3. At this point you can either: (a) place meat and sauce in a baggy & freeze for a later time (to use, thaw in fridge and follow on to #4) -or- (b) marinate meat in the sauce in fridge for 4 hours or overnight.
4. Heat a wok or large frying/sauce pan over medium-high heat with oil.
5. Remove the beef from the marinade and stir-fry until well-browned. This takes about 10 minutes. Keep the marinade.
6. When browned, remove from pan, drain off any fat and set aside (preferably kept warm).
7. Add marinade to wok, bring to boil, and reduce heat, simmering for 3-5 minutes.
8. Add beef back to wok along with oranges. Stir to coat & break up oranges.
9. Serve over rice with steamed broccoli for a well-balanced meal. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Better than take-out Orange Beef Stir-Fry

Broccoli Salad My Way

I love broccoli salad. I like the sweet and the salad and the crunch. Oh yummy! This is a great recipe! You can sub-out the almonds and use cashews which are also super tasty. You can add bacon which is traditional for broccoli salad but I like it without bacon (I know, I know, I said NO to bacon which is odd for me). You can add in salted (for contrast) sunflower or pumpkin seeds which would add more protein to this. Most people use this as a side dish. I shamefully, eat it as a meal like lunch or for a snack. 🙂

BROCCOLI SALAD MY WAY

2 heads fresh broccoli (about 8 cups)
1 medium sweet onion, diced
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup craisins, soaked in hot water so they soften up & then drained
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup sunflower seeds, salted (OPTIONAL)
Sea Salt

1. Cut broccoli inro bite-sized pieces.
2. Combine broccoli, onion, raisins, craisins, and almonds (plus sunflower seeds if adding) in a large bowl.
3. Make dressing by combining mayonnaise, sugar & vinegar in a small bowl and whisking until smooth.
4. Add dressing to the brocccoli mix. Stor well to coat.
5. Grind sea salt to taste. Stor again
6. Chill & enjoy! 🙂