yes still cooking

my dad asked me this afternoon if I was still cooking for this blog. I told him I am. I haven't had access to my computer with my food pictures on it and won't have access for another week or so. So hold on, the recipes will be posted. I recently made a Thai Coconut Chicken from my Clean Eating magazine that was amazing! And it even had peanut butter in it. Right now I'm making one of my Grandma Gnagey's infamous pies, this one being a fresh strawberry pie. Strawberries were $.97 at Safeway for a box...amazing price!!!! I bought 6 boxes! So we've been eating strawberries for every meal. I'm just letting the jello mixture set before adding the strawberries and whipped cream!!! It was quite an adventure and I look forward to posting it. Thanks for hanging in there while I wait to post them.

More to come...

I'm going to pause the posting process right now. I have a house to clean. But in the next couple days I'll post about the homemade bread I made and the delicious pumpkin scones.

Quaker Oat Square Mix

I actually don't know what the official name is for this one. Again it's a recipe from my mom and I don't know where she got it. With the amount of butter that's in it I doubt she came up with it herself. :) This is a snack that's probably good only once a year. haha. Ok you could probably make it more often. It's easy to make and it's even in my dad's repertoire of recipes! (this mix, breakfast sandwiches and enchiladas...love you dad!) Ryan had me make it for his car when he went with UA Navigators to Chinle, AZ (Navajo reservation) to build a house during spring break. They had it gone by the time they were halfway there. It must be good then :)

3/4c. butter - ouch, that's the killer. It doesn't sound too bad but when I realized it was a stick and a half of butter, I felt my arteries clogging already. I started getting chest pain, short of breath, heart racing, jaw pain and my arm hurt(s/s of heart attack). just joking :)

1/4c. grated Romano cheese - I've used Parmesan every time and it works well.

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp onion salt - again I used onion powder here because I don't have onion salt. I think it would be a good idea to invest in some.

1-16oz box Quaker Oat Squares cereal (8cups)

1 1/2c. Cheetos sticks

1 1/2c. pretzel sticks

Heat the oven to 325. Melt butter in oven in a 9x13 pan. Remove pan from oven; stir in cheese and seasonings. Add remaining ingredients, stirring until well coated. Bake 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool. Makes 11 cups.

I didn't really measure the cereal, Cheetos or pretzels. I dumped the whole box of cereal in, all of the Cheetos (that's Ryan's favorite part) and most of the pretzels. I made sure it "looked right." I know the directions say to melt the butter in the pan and then add the spices and then mix the cereal, Cheetos and pretzels in that mixture. It seemed like a 9x13 is not big enough and everything kept falling out of the pan. And I could never feel like I could coat everything well enough. This time I made some changes. I melted the butter and added the garlic, onion and cheese in with it. Then I put the cereal, Cheetos, and pretzels in a big bowl and poured the butter mixture over all of it. Then I mixed it with a spatula. That seemed to work much better. I was able to coat everything better. Then I stuck it in the 9x13. Also when I mixed it halfway through the baking period I took the pan out of the oven to mix it. That way if stuff fell out it didn't burn at the bottom of the oven. It just landed on the stove and I just put it in. :) Does that make sense?

It really tastes good. It's probably because of the butter. :) It's an interesting mixture of sweet (from the oat squares?) and salty. It's all crunchy and browned from the butter. mmmhm. I want to go eat some now but it's 9:40am and I had some yesterday. I'm practicing self control. Plus Kate and I just did this wicked hard workout (Burn it Up) and I don't want to eat all the calories I just burned. Kate, I love you for working out with me. It's the only way I'm continuing it. :) (I love you for other reasons too hehe)

Dill Vegetable Dip

this is before I mixed it

I first made this for an afternoon croquet staff party at Bryce and Susan's house to go with some raw veggies. It adds a fun spice to eating veggies. It was really quick and easy to make. This is one of my Mom's recipes and it reminds me of family parties growing up.

Here's the recipe:

2/3c. mayo

1/3c. sour cream

1 tsp parsley

1 tsp onion (fresh or flakes) All I had in my spice rack was onion powder. It seemed to work fine.

1 tsp dill weed

1 tsp seasoned salt

1/2 tsp worchestershire sauce

Mix together in a small bowl. Wow I love directions that are contained in one sentence! I did put it in the fridge until we went to the party. It's a yummy one.

Cooking over the past 2 weeks

You can probably tell that I'm really good at starting something, but implementing and finishing it is a whole other story. So I'm trying again to cook one new recipe a week, starting this week. :) I think I really like the idea of having a blog but really bad at updating it. I actually want to try to keep up with this. Thanks for being patient. :)

So I was sick for the past two weeks with a combo of RSV (i once heard it called "really sucky virus". it's actually called respiratory syncytial virus - it's a very common virus that most adults and children get as the common cold, it's dangerous for small babies and kids with chronic diseases. Most children don't need hospitalization but those who do usually need fluids related to dehydration and oxygen. And their nose needs suctioned all the time...gross. anyways!) and a bad sinus infection; the joys of working in pediatrics. I was literally on the couch or in bed for two weeks. Day Quill didn't do anything for me. I spent my time drinking tea and watching episodes of Lost. (which now I'm caught up to the current season... please don't ask me how many hours I spent watching it!)

But yesterday I think I made up for not cooking for the past two weeks! At one point I was doing laundry, baking bread, making grilled sandwiches for Ryan and I for lunch, getting ingredients together for pumpkin scones and talking to my mom on the phone. Talk about multi-tasking. It was a little out of control.

I thought I'd post some pictures and recipes of food I've made in the past few days. Some are new but most are old favorites. I'm sitting here with one of my pumpkin scones, a protein shake and a sore body from working out with Kate early this morning (7am is early for me!). But I'm ready to share some good recipes.

still cooking

just wanted to say the blog is still alive, i've just been sick the past two weeks with not much energy to do anything. and then works been crazy. I'll be posting soon.

Recipe #1: Healthy Squash and Chicken Casserole

What better than to start my first recipe off with a good ol' casserole. At least I know this one is healthy!

I had to eat some semi-sweet chocolate chips to get me started, get the cooking and creative parts of my brain working. (I don't really think chocolate chips are part of the clean eating lifestyle...it may have to be my one area of weakness. I love chocolate.)

Healthy Squash & Chicken Casserole - Clean Eating Magazine

Ingredients:

10 slices whole-wheat bread

olive oil cooking spray

1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced

3 medium yellow squash, thinly sliced (about 4 cups)

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

½ lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, pounded to ¼ - ½ inc thickness and cubed

1 cup pre-shredded low-fat mozzarella cheese

2 tsp Italian seasoning

sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions:

(1) Cut bread into cubes, then spread out onto a cookie sheet and let air-dry overnight. (If you do not wish to dry the bread, toast it instead in an oven for 10 minutes at 350). Since I read this right before starting I did not end up letting it sit overnight. Too much work in my mind. I toasted my wheat-free, gluten-free, corn-free, dairy-free, soy-free, nut-free, rice-free bread (which I promise tastes good) and it turned out great. It even came from the freezer.

(2) Preheat oven to 350 F.

(3) Heat large nonstick or cast-iron skillet over high heat for 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium-low (the level of heat is always a guess in my kitchen because all my stovetop says is off, high and light, haha), mist with cooking spray and add onion. Sauté for about 8 minutes (I love exact times!) or until caramelized. Add squash and garlic. Mist with more cooking spray, if needed, and sauté until cooked, about 5 more minutes (again, love the exact times). Remove vegetables from plan. Mist pan with cooking spray again and cook chicken until golden brown on each side, about 2-3 minutes total. (Note on the chicken. I didn’t actually measure the thickness of it or pound it, instead I eyeballed it. It seemed to work just fine.)

(4) In a large bowl, mix together cooked vegetables, chicken and bread cubes. Mix in mozzarella, seasoning, salt and pepper. Pour mixture into an 8-cup casserole dish and bake for 15 minutes, until cheese is melted and casserole is lightly browned on top.

Nutrients per 1-cup serving: Calories: 180, total fat: 4g, Sat. Fat 1.5g, Carbs: 19g, Fiber: 4g, Sugars: 4g, Protein: 15g, Sodium 320mg, Cholesterol 20mg. From Clean Cooking Magazine, January/February 2010, page 68.

So this turned out pretty well. I meant to take a picture of it and completely forgot until it was all gone so here’s a picture from the magazine instead! I also added some potatoes to it. I was thinking it would add some thickness to the meal. My mess up was just sauted the potatoes with the other veggies and even after it was all baked the potatoes were crunchy. I should have boiled the potato first or something. Any ideas? Ryan said they were good and not crunchy. :D

Background before starting

So I wanted to give you a little more background of all that is involved for me to cook. haha. The main thing to overcome is the kitchen. Our tiny, bright yellow and pale green kitchen. Our kitchen that makes it crowded for two people to be in it. Our kitchen that if you open the fridge door you're either stuck in or out of the kitchen. Here take a look. P.S. this is the cleanest it will ever be!

the fridge door

Oven, you and I will get along, i promise!

the lovely table that all these recipes will be consumed at!

The other "thing" to overcome here is my belly. Yes, my good old stomach and digestive system that seems to want to attack me at any moment. So other than having successful cooking experiences my other goal is to make meals that have no wheat, no dairy (or as little as possible), no fried stuff, little to no sugar and . . . I'm sure there's one more thing but I can't remember. :) Or maybe I don't want to remember. Oh with lots of veggies. The fluffy green things my mom made me eat as a kid that I'm now supposed to eat and enjoy because I'm an adult. (I always liked my dad's version of mixed veggies . . . regular M&M's.)

I'm trying to do what's called "clean eating." I got this cooking book for Christmas one year called the Clean Eating Diet Cookbook, or something like that. I really like it and now have the magazine subscriptions. The goal is to focus on good protein, healthy carbs, and good fats. Most of the recipes I am going to try will be from this idea of clean eating. This link does a much better job at explaining it. Clean Eating. It's nice because it fits really well with a lot of the limitations I have with food and it's really healthy! Two things that are very nice.

One last thing. Starting Monday, my friend Kate and I will become workout war partners. We're going to start a pretty tough regiment made by ourselves. I'm sure it will make it's way to this blog. So, just as an fyi :) Oh and we're doing it via workout videos. Yes I did say the humiliating workout videos. It's called Slim in 6. Link. The goal is to get slim in six weeks. Will it happen, we shall see.

So there you are, the background.

Julie & Julia

My recently new favorite movie is a cooking one called, Julie and Julia. It's funny, and inspiring and you feel good at the end. No big tragedy occurs and there's no big drama except for those in the kitchen. I can relate to the breakdowns in the kitchen, I had one tonight. Oh and it makes me want to cook. I recommend that you see it, it's just so fun! Here's the trailer: Julie & Julia

Here's the dialogue from one of my favorite scenes. It's in the trailer as well. Julia Child and her husband just moved to Paris and this is their conversation at dinner. Julia is trying to figure out what she wants to do:

Husband: What is something you really like to do?

Julia: Eat!

H: And you're so good at it!

J: I am good at it.

H: Look at you, now how good you are!

J: I'm growing in front of you!!

haha! Meryl Streep is so good in it, so quirky and so funny. And Amy Adams is great too. I can relate to that...what is something I really like to do? Eat! I probably like it too much.

So I like to eat but I'm not good at cooking. Growing up my mom would always ask if I wanted to help her in the kitchen. If it involved baking cookies, I was in because I loved eating the cookie dough. If it was cooking, not so much. Now that I'm married I wish I knew how to cook. It would be nice. Ryan's sweet and eats all the food I make, but I know major improvements are needed!

So I'm going to start cooking and blog about my adventures. I'm starting off with one new recipe per week. That's all I can handle right now. So this blog is going to record my adventures, all successes and failures. I hope it's enjoyable. Hopefully these cooking experiences will be character developing... We will see.