Catch Up!

I have been cooking, just not posting! Here's some stuff from the last few days:

An easy way to make cupcakes:
1. Get a boxed cake mix
2. Make it in some cupcake tins
3. Get a container of icing
4. Melt it and dip your cupcakes in.

The lazy (wo)mans cupcake! I found step 1 and 3 to be most challenging as I actually had to leave the house.

Jason had a race on Sunday, so that meant pasta on Saturday night. Nothing fancy... just some chickpeas, spinach and tomatoes in a sauce.

This evening I made some blackened chicken spinach salad. It was a combination of some Companys Company recipes as the orginal recipe was for blackened chicken ceasar salad.

BLACKENED CHICKEN
1 tbsp Cooking oil

Boneless, skinless chicken breast 2 lbs. halves, cut into 3/4 inch (2 cm) pieces (I used 2 breasts)
2 tbsp Ketchup

1 tbsp Paprika

2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Pepper

1/2 tsp Onion powder

1/2 tsp Ground thyme

1/2 tsp Chili powder

1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper

Heat wok or large frying pan on medium-high until very hot. Add cooking oil. Add chicken. Stir-fry for 6 to 7 minutes until chicken turns white.  Add next 8 ingredients. Stir-fry for 8 to 10 minutes until chicken is no longer  pink inside. Remove from heat.

This is when I strayed from the recipe. I used a whole bag of spinach (to insure left-overs), and made a variation of another dressing recipe found in the Company's Coming 'Most Loved Salad' cook book.

I mixed about 2 tbps of olive oil with about 1tbsp of balsamic vinegar. I put approx 1tsp sugar and a sprinkle of both paprika and onion powder into the dressing as well and poured over the spinach. Since we were just having this salad for dinner, I hard boiled 2 eggs to add to the mix for a little more substance!

I put the chicken on top the spinach and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. This was probably the first time I've made an actual dinner salad!

JASON'S REVIEW: He is outside washing his bike but I know he liked it because he went back for more.

MY REVIEW: This was really good! The chicken was so flavorful and the dressing went really well with it. I'd definitely make this again.

Spinach Chickpea Curry

Tonights meal SOUNDED really great but in reality it was mediocre. I got it from this book:


1tbsp canola oil (I used olive)
1tbsp curry powder
1cup chopped yellow onion
2 gloves garlic, crushed
1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained
1 can tomato sauce
1 can chickpeas, drained & rinsed
1 cup chicken broth
salt & pepper (I didn't put salt in)
crushed red pepper flakes

In a large skilled, combine oil, curry powder, onions and garlic; saute for about 5 minutes. Add spinach, tomato sauce and 1 cup of the chickpeas. In a blender, puree remaining chickpeas with broth. Add to vegetables. Simmer until heated through, about 10 minutes. Stir in seasonings.

MY REVIEW: This was ok... I don't know if I'd make it again. I will eat it again however because it made LOTS. And what's the deal with brown rice? Not even my rice cooker can cook it properly. I'd serve it with couscous if I could turn back time.

JASON'S REVIEW: It filled me up. 2 thumbs up. (Jason just says whatever)

JASON WAS THE 1000th PERSON TO VIEW MY BLOG!! OR MAYBE IT'S BEEN VIEWED 1000 TIMES BY THE SAME PEOPLE! I DON'T KNOW!

Shrimp & Spinach Pizza

Dinner tonight, lunch tomorrow! This is not fancy or new or risky. It's a personal pizza. We get the frozen crusts and sauce at the Italian Market and then throw whatever we have on there. Jasons pizza is usually very different from mine... his had hot pepperoni & hot pickled peppers (this combo does not upset his stomach?) and lots of cheese. On mine there was some fresh spinach, shrimp and a little mozzarella. Put them in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes and voila! I don't have any room for anything else when I eat this pizza so that is all.

Fish Sticks with Oven Fries and Spinach Salad

Jason doesn't like seafood and pretends he's allergic to it sometimes in social settings. He will, however, eat tuna and fish sticks. When I saw these health smart little puppies on sale today I knew I had to get them! To go along with them, I made a spinach salad with cherry tomatoes and some Oven Fries. Here's how I make my oven fries:

Cut however many potatoes you want - I just made 2 because normally we wouldn't eat more than 1 potato each - into wedges. Then, put the wedges into some cold water for about half an hour. This step can be eliminated however it makes the potatoes less likely to stick to one another. It's a little trick I picked up from Jean Pare and I like the results better when I do it. Once they're ready, rinse and put only a baking sheet. Sprinkle a LITTLE olive oil and toss them around so they all get some. Then put your favorite spices (dill is great) on and pop in the oven at 425 for about half an hour - could take longer. Just until they're brown and crispy.

MY REVIEW: While the fish sticks were ultra healthy, it kind of left me wanting 'Joey's Only' greasy sticks. I always like potato wedges and salad was good. I'm full!

JASON'S REVIEW: I sometimes like fish when it's in stick form. I enjoy lots of tartar sauce.

Nothing fancy...

I really didn't try anything fancy but I did take a picture so I thought I might as well put it up. I made spinach salad with apples, pecans and italien dressing. To go with that, the last 2 pitas in the fridge with lime juice, lime zest and crushed dried peppers. The rice and lentils... are from a BOX. It was a good dinner though!