Lettuce Wraps

I love lettuce wraps; veggie, pork, chicken, you name it, I love it. So I saw this recipe in--where else--Cooking Light and decided to give it whirl. It's a little different in that the pork is not ground, but rather sliced tenderloin. I already had two tenderloins in the freezer from when they were on sale last month, so the timing was perfect. The tenderloin was--for lack of a better word--so tender. It sliced like butter. They were amazing, the will be a favorite around here for sure.

I made a lot of changes to the recipe for this one, some based on what I had in the house and some based on wanting more in the slaw/salad poriton. It's an easy recipe and really healthy too. I paired with some brown rice.

Lettuce Wraps:
1/4c. Pineapple juice
2 tbsp. Sake (I used rice wine vinegar and I doubled this)
2 tbsp. Soy Sauce (I used reduced sodium and I doubled this)
4 cloves garlic, pressed
2 tbsp. fresh ginger, sliced (I eyeballed it)
1 lb. pork tenderloin
1 green mango, shredded (I cute the sides off and cut them as small as I could, shredded was just too small for my taste)
Shredded carrots (I used some cole slaw mix)
1/4 c. shredded red cabbage (My addition)
Handful of bean sprouts (Omitted)
1 head Bib lettuce (if you're making this for more than 2, get extra lettuce)
Thai peanut sauce for topping (My addition)

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a large zip lock bag, fork the tenderloin and add to the bag. Refrigerate 1 hour (I did about 2). Grill tenderloin for about 25 minutes. (I saved the marinate and basted the tenderloin when I turned it).

Combine mango, slaw mix, and cabbage and toss. I microwaved the rest of the marinate for 3 minutes--to a boil--then tossed some in the salad mix. I tossed the rest of the marinate on some brown rice.

Maple Salmon

I've been trying to add more fish servings to our weekly meals. Sometimes I manage two, but at least one a week. I'm not a huge salmon lover. I've tried it several ways and I always have the same reaction... blah. But I found this recipe in my Cooking Light mag a few months ago. I've made it twice so far and it's pretty good. The first time I cooked it perfectly, this time my piece was really small so it got a little dry and overcooked, but still not bad.

Maple Salmon:
2 tbls. lemon juice
1 tbls. cider vinegar
2 tbls. maple syrup
1 tbls. EVOO
Combine in a zip lock bag and add fish. Seal and marinate for 20 minutes. I usually marinate a little longer than that.

Salt & pepper the fish on both sides and then sear one side in a hot skillet for two to three minutes. Meanwhile microwave the rest of the marinate for one minute and then baste the fish with it. Flip and cook another two to three minutes, basting all the while. Then put the whole skillet under the broiler for three minutes. Make sure your skillet is oven safe. Mine is Kitchen Aid and it can withstand up to 400 degrees.

I served it with the most amazing honey mustard potatoes. I only had three, so I added some peppers and frozen peas. I can't remember where the potato recipe came from, but it has evolved so much by now that it doesn't really matter anymore.

5 medium to large gold potatoes
1 tbls. EVOO
1 tbls. Garlic Expressions
5-10 garlic cloves, unpeeled.

Toss sliced potatoes in EVOO and garlic expressions. Spread out on a sprayed baking sheet. Sprinkle unpeeled garlic around the tray. Bake at 425 for 25 minutes or until potatoes are soft.

In a serving bowl combine:
1 tbls. EVOO
3 tbls. Honey Mustard Dressing
Salt & Pepper

When potatoes come out of the oven, pull the garlic off and squeeze the roasted cloves into the serving bowl. Mash them with a fork, then whisk everything together. Add potatoes and toss.

The Iced Coffee Comparision of 2009

I got myself a BK Mocha Joe the other day and I was completely addicted to them for several days after that. That lasted until I checked out the nutrition facts. WOW! They are terrible for you. So I was sad, because I was loving them so much. Today, I decided to try making my own and running the nutrition facts for it. Turned out pretty dang tasty and healthy enough to drink one every day.

Here are the facts on the competition:
BK: 22 oz: 380 cal., 10 g fat, 63 g sugar (Yowza)
McD's: 16 oz: 310 cal., 13 g fat, 35 g sugar
Starbucks: 16 oz: 350 cal., 20 g fat (ouch!), 27 g sugar (this one probably has whipped cream on top so that adds their fat content)

These were pretty close comparisons, they are all specifically the mocha iced coffee, and close in size. The Starbucks has the whipped cream on top, so you could remove that to reduce each category a little bit. And I will give props to McD's and Starbucks because you can sub for skim milk, so that will reduce things a bit too. But as you can see, these are not something anyone should be drinking daily.

My recipe: This is the only one I've tasted so far
95 cal., .5 g fat, 10 g sugar
1/2c. skim milk
1 tbls. Hershey's Syrup
1 c. coffee
Ice

Sugar Free Version:
60 cal., .3 g fat, 0 g sugar
1/2c. skim milk
2 tbls. Hershey's Sugar Free Syrup
1 c. coffee
Ice

Creamier Version:
79 cal., 2 g fat, 0 g sugar
1/2c. skim milk
1 tbls. Half and half
2 tbls. Hershey's Sugar Free Syrup
1 c. coffee
Ice


All of the chain nutrition facts came from http://www.thedailyplate.com/ and my calculations were done on http://www.sparkpeople.com/.

White Chocolate Coconut Bars

After I made those delicious coconut cupcakes for mother's day, I had a lot of left over shredded coconut. I've been looking for a while now for a simple cookie bar. I tried the lunch lady bars that everyone was talking about several months ago. They were good, but just not what I wanted. So I was searching around the other day and found these chocolate chip bar cookies. The recipe was so simple that I decided to try it and sub out ingredients for what I already had--enter white chocolate and coconut--they are pefect. They are really more shortbread-like in their consistency. They are rich, because of all the butter, but you only need one little square to get the perfect taste of sweet. I also added a teaspoon of salt. I personally like a touch of salt in cookies and the original recipe didn't call for any. It was the perfect amount of salt.

My Revised Recipe:

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 egg

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

2 handfuls of shredded coconut

Cream butter and sugar, add vanilla, add egg, add flour. Stir in chips and coconut. Spread into a sprayed 9 x 13 pan and bake at 350 for 25 min.

Coconut Cupcakes with Lime Buttercream Frosting

I like baking, but I don't do it too often. I'm a much better cook than baker. I think it's probably just because I cook all the time, but only bake once and a while. I was looking for something summery to take to the IL's house for Mother's Day and I found these cupcakes--where else--but in my Cooking Light. I love things with lemon and lime in them, so I thought they would be perfect. They were super easy and came out really nice. Really spongy and soft. And the frosting is to.die.for.




I will sprinkle them with lime zest or green sprinkles before serving to people. I'll try to snag a better picture on Sunday.






Cupcakes:
1 cup flour
3 tbsp potato starch (I could not find this at the store, and I had corn start, so I used that. I was worried, but it worked just fine)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp butter, softened
1 egg
1 egg white
2/3 cup milk
2 tbsp flaked coconut, sweetened
1/2 tsp vanilla

Frosting:
3 tbsp butter, softened
1 tsp half n half
1/2 tsp lime zest
1 tbsp lime juice (I put in about an extra half tbsp)
1 1/3 cup powdered sugar

Mix dry ingredients with a whisk, then beat butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time, add dry mix and milk alternately. Fold in coconut and vanilla. Bake at 350 for 18 min. (Mine needed about 3 extra min for some reason).

Frosting: Beat butter, half n half, lime zest, & juice. Slowly add powdered sugar until frosting is a good consistency.

Goat Cheese & Corn Quesadillas

I spent the last few evenings going through three months of Cooking Light magazines that I haven't had time for because of school. I've now got a list of about 10--probably more--recipes on my to-do list. So tonight I started with goat cheese and corn quesadillas. They were really good and super easy. I served them with a tex-mex salad on the side.













Quesadillas:
4 tortillas (recipe called for corn, but I used flour)
1 cup whole kernel corn
1/2 cup goat cheese
1/2 cup tomatillo salsa (I had an open jar of black bean/corn salsa so I used that)

Saute corn in a small amount of EVOO. Mix heated corn with cheese. Lightly butter the tortillas, place butter side down in a warm skillet, top with corn mix and a spoon full of salsa, top with other tortilla. Cook two min on each side and slice with a pizza cutter.

Salad: (not from the magazine)
Spring mix
Roma tomato, chopped
Corn
Black beans
Bell pepper, chopped
Avocado, sliced
Cilantro
Salsa, on the side

Compost Pail/Hole Update

As promised, I'm updating now that I've recieved my bamboo compost pail. It got here super fast and I love it. It sits on the counter next to my sink and it looks nice, it's convenient for dropping things in, and it doesn't smell at all, even if I leave things in it for a couple days. If you compost, it's worth the money for sure.

Cinco De Mayo

It's no secret by now that we love Mexican food and I love trying new recipes, so last night we opted to stay in and avoid the crowds. I have also been dying to re-create a dish I had at the Border Cafe in Boston; Black Bean & Corn Empanadas.















I made them with pre-made cressent roll dough this time for ease, so that I could see how the filling turned out. We had Spanish rice and margaritas with them. They were really fantastic, so I think I'll try them again with puff pastry, then maybe venture to making the dough by hand. I had enough filling left to make a whole additional batch, so I froze it.

Recipe:
1 can black beans
1 bell pepper, I used orange
Cilantro, chopped
Shredded cheese
Red pepper flake
Cumin
Cressent roll dough, 1 can

Saute the beans and pepper for a few min. Then mix with cilantro, cheese, and seasoning. Fill dough and pinch together. Bake at 375 for about 15 min. I made four empanadas, and had enough filling left to make four more. I froze it.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce:
1 roasted red pepper, from a jar is fine
EVOO
Balsamic Vinegar
Lemon Juice
Red Pepper Flake, I used a lot to make it spicy

Mix together in a food processor until you like the consistency. For more than two people, double or even triple this.

Just Ordered A Copost Pail

As you know, I started a compost hole last spring. It was super easy, I dug the hole, put some fencing in to stop burrowing creatures from finding their way to a meal.

The only thing that has been frustrating is not having anywhere to keep my goodies until it's time to go to the compost hole. I finally broke down and bought this:
It's a compost pail, I got it from http://www.baregreen.com/ for $34.99. I saw it in a magazine for a higher price. Bare Green had the best price with the same shipping as everywhere else and it looks like I should have it by Friday, I ordered it Monday, so not too shabby. It's made from bamboo and recycled plastic, so it's pretty eco-friendly. You put your veggies scraps, coffee grounds, egg shells, etc... inside and then the plastic pail pulls out for easy transport to your compost hole. The lid has a carbon filter to eliminate order (aka kitty temptations) so that you don't have to dump every day.

For Jene...

My good friend, Jene, has been bugging me to post some delish food for her to look at for months. I know I completely suck and haven't posted in forever. I got a new job and between that and a rough semester, I've just been too busy lately.

This was something I just decided one day that I would try out. Ryan freaking loved it, talks about it all the time. Tells people about it the day after I make it. Comes in and dips bread (and his fingers) in the food processor to taste it. There is no source for this recipe, I kind of just found out what was in most pestos and tried some things until it was perfect.

So, without further adieu, I give you Pasta with Pesto Sauce:

Basil, about 1 1/2 cups fresh
Toasted pine nuts, 1/4 cup
Garlic, 4-5 cloves
Salt & Pepper
Process
Add 1/2 cup parm cheese
Process
Add extra virgin olive oil while processing until it reaches a consistency that you like.


Sometimes, if I'm feeling spicy, I'll add some red pepper flake. Pour over a pasta with lots of cracks and folds for the pesto to hide in. I usually serve it with bruschetta.

My first crack at baking bread

It was a lengthy experience, but not really all that difficult. I was really excited when I realized that the recipe made two loaves because I was intending to give the loaf to my friend as a part of her birthday gift, so bonus, a loaf for us too!

Alix helped me out by taking a few action shots. I don't have the recipe right here with me, so I'll just have to post it later. It was a garlic cheese bread. Hopefully these pictures will suffice for now.

Macadamia Crusted Mahi Mahi

This was one of those recipes that you look at and can't quite wrap your head around the flavor combinations. But it totally works. It was so good.



I'm gonna have to look for the recipe, because I can't find it. I think it was from Cooking Light.



Basically you dip the fish in crushed macadamia nuts and sear it on one side, then bake it at 350 for 30 min. I think it was marinated in something too. Then top it with a salsa of pineapple, lime juice, and cilantro. It was amazing.

Spicy Shrimp Tacos

These were so good, I wished I had doubled the amount of shrimp. Again with the phone photos, sorry.
This is a Cooking Light recipe. I can't get the web site to load, so I can't link to it for you. This is from my memory.

Tomatillo Salsa:









1/2 lb. of tomatillos (I used canned)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1/2 jalapeno (I used a whole)
1 clove garlic
Green onions (I used a shallot)
Salt & Pepper
1 banana pepper (not in the recipe, but I had a ripe one on my plant and wanted to use it.)

Toss all of that into a food processor and pulse until the consistency of your liking. You are supposed to grill the tomatillos first, then rough chop them and only process the other ingredients and toss, but b/c mine were canned, that wasn't an option. I just processesed the whole thing and it was great.

Shrimp:
I used 20 shrimp, can't remember what the recipe called for, but next time I will use a lot more.
Put them on skewers and grill for two min on each side.

Hot Sauce:
1 tblsp. hot sauce (I used Franks)
1 tblsp. chili powder
1/2 tblsp. cumin
1/2 tblsp. salt
2 tblsp. EVOO (I added this, it seemed like it needed more liquid and I felt that more hot sauce would become overwhelming. Coat the cooked shrimp in the hot sauce.


Layer the following:
Tortilla (I used 6-inch.)
Shredded slaw (I bought the bag of shredded broccoli/cauliflower/carrots/cabbage)
A little quessadilla cheese
Shrimp
Tomatillo salsa

Three-Garlic Risotto and Caprese Sandwiches

Fantastic. I really enjoyed both of these dishes. Sorry for the crummy camera phone pic, but that's all I had.















Three-Garlic Risotto
I found the original recipe here, it's a great cooking blog.

5 cloves raw garlic, chopped
8 cloves roasted garlic, chopped
1/2 small onion or 1 small shallot, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup dry white wine
5 cups chicken broth, warmed
1 cup arborio rice (I used orzo pasta)
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
A few pinches of dry or fresh parsley
Optional: 1 tsp white truffle oil (I omitted this)

For the roasted garlic. I wrap the entire head in foil and stick it in the oven at 300 for about 15 min. The cloves will be falling apart and you can just squeeze out the garlic.

Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium/medium-low heat; add 1/2 of the raw garlic. Toast the garlic being careful not to burn it. Remove it from the oil.

Add the rest of the raw garlic and the onions to the oil. Saute for 2-3 minutes.
Add the butter and rice; stir for 1 minute.
Add the white wine and stir until it is absorbed.
Add the chicken broth 1 ladle-full at a time, letting it fully absorb before adding more. This takes a while, be sure to continue stirring or it will stick. Ryan tagged in a few times so I could work on the sandwiches.
Before the final ladle of broth, add the roasted garlic.
Add the cheese then parsley.
Top with the toasted garlic.

Caprese Sandwiches
(This is for my friend Jene)
I saw this on an episode of 30-Minute Meals, but I'm recreating it from memory.

4 flour tortillas
2 tomatoes, sliced
2 fresh mozzarella balls, sliced
4 strips of bacon (I only put bacon in two of them)
Fresh basil to your liking
Salt & Pepper
Balsamic

Blister the tortill a frying pan, cover one half with all other ingredients.
Fold over, and flip to golden brown on both sides.

Next time I make these, I won't put the balsamic in the tortilla. It made them too juicy and the two tortillas that sat on the plate while we ate the others got a little soggy in spots. I would probably make a balsamic sauce instead.

Pizza!!

That's a headline everyone likes, no? Well, it's been quite some time since my last post and I have many photos of fabulous meals that have gone un-blogged. I'm working on it, promise.

For now, enjoy some pizza:

Quick and easy pizza, thrown together with things in your fridge.






Crust: Pillsbury Cressent roll dough.
Unroll and pinch all the seems together.
Bake at 375 until crust is lightly golden.

Jalapeno Sauce:
2 chopped jalapeno peppers
2 cloves garlic
3 tblsp olive oil
Salt & pepper

Combine in food processor until smooth-ish
Spread the sauce on the pre-cooked crust, top with cheese and veggies of your choice. I would have added feta if I had some.
Bake for another 5-7 min. or until cheese is melted.


And another. Blurry pic, but you get the idea--this one has meat.

Same crust on this one.

Sauce:
2-3 Laughing Cow light goat cheese spreads. I used onion. Spread that all over the crust.


Top with cheese, meat, and veggies of your choice.
Bake for another 5-7 min. or until cheese is melted.

Quick and Easy Dinner

I'm calling it: Why would you ever NOT make homemade macaroni
Adapted from Cooking Light


8 oz. pasta
1 cup grape tomatoes
2 cups cheese, 1 3/4 cheddar, 1/4 mozzarella (that's what I had)
Salt & Pepper
Red pepper flake to your liking (I used a lot)
1 egg
1/2 cup milk


Cook the pasta.
Cut the tomatoes in half and bake at 375 for about 10 min.
When pasta is cooked and drained, stir in cheese, egg, salt & pepper, red pepper flake, and milk.
Mix in the tomatoes

















Giada's Lentil Salad
1 cup lentils cooked according to package
Sliced cucumber
Sliced grape tomatoes
Sliced grapes (And I'm so mad b/c I forgot these until I started typing this blog!!!)
Chopped bell pepper

Dressing:
Giada'swas lemon juice, EVOO, and white vinegar
Mine was this:
lemon Juice
EVOO
Garlic Expressions

Toss and top with dressing.

Sara's Version of Susie's Version of Sara's Chicken Enchiladas

Did that make any sense? Probably not, it's fine.

Potato, zucchini, and chicken enchiladas--Yum.


1 chicken breast diced and cooked in chipotle seasoning
2 potatoes diced, boiled for 3 min, then sauteed in a little bit of green enchilada sauce
2 small zucchini diced, sauteed in a little bit of green enchilada sauce


In the tortilla:
green sauce
chicken
zucchini
chicken (I made some w/o chicken for me)
quesadilla cheese

Roll them up and top with green sauce and more cheese.

Here are my shoes

Apparently color is not in this season. I really had a hard time finding anything that wasn't brown, black, red, or nuetral. I love red, but I have enough of it.



I got these for the more casual pair. I'm not sure if I love them. I'm wearing them around the house for now.

And I got these for the more dressy pair. I didn't want anything black, but since they have the open toe and they sort of meshy material, I decided they would work for summer. These are so comfy.

This blog has really gone beyond treats and travel, huh? I've now included green issues, ikea shopping, and shoes. I need to think of a new name.

Oh, check out these cool new candle chandelier styles. I love them.

Went to Ikea yesterday...very exciting...

I'm not being sarcastic. It really was exciting. I know it's probably the furthest thing from buying local, but a girl needs her gadgets and fun, right?

I have two things to show off.

First, the fabric I bought to upholster my sad little wicker chair:

I really like it and it's going to match the living room so well. The greens in the ikea web pic are a little off, the lighter one is almost the color of the walls in the living room.

I don't care for the pillows that came with our couch and loveseat, I'm going to make pillows out of the extra chair fabric.

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The second thing, is this awesome pullout trash separating system.

I already installed it, I'll take a picture. Two of the cans fit in the pull tray. One is for recycling and one is for trash. It was super easy to install. I did it in about 20 minutes. The H was happy, b/c he didn't have to do it. I sent him a phone video when I was done.

My first compost hole...

Nice, huh? This is for Jene, b/c I told her I would do this weeks ago. Sorry for my tardiness. Summer classes have been taking up a lot of my free time. It sucks.

Here is my little hole:

I'm quite happy with it. It's about 2 and a half feet deep give or take. I kept the dirt that I dug out and put in the woods next to my hole. The employee at the garden center that i went to for instruction indicated that after I throw in compost a few times, that I should shovel in a little dirt to cover it. Then to stir or turn it every few days. He also showed me this stuff called organic bio-excellerator. He said that if it's not decomposing fast enough for my use or if my hole is getting too full, to put in some of that and it will decompose super fast. I didn't buy it though, I figure I'll go back later if I need it.

Gross, I know. I lined it with the fence to guard against burrowing animals. We have a mole problem around us. We don't get as many in our yard as our neighbor does, but I wanted to be safe.

So far, I've put in: all of our fruit and veggie scraps (if they are large, I cut them up a bit), egg shells, and coffee grounds and filter. It's been about two weeks, and I can already see the difference in our trash.

I'm showing you this picture to prove that I won the disagreement between me and the H on whether or not the hole is in "the middle of the yard" (quoting my H). The property line is two feet to the left of the telephone pole--into the trees and that pile of wood there. My hole is about two feet to the right of the pole. Not exactly the middle of what is nearly an entire acre. Am I right here people? You can barely see the fencing right in front of the pole there. That corner of the yard barely grows grass for some reason. He told me I could dig my hole back where the grass doesn't grow--voila!

And now I just need to add a nice set of bright outdoor light fixtures to the back of the house, so that I can go back there anytime I want to. We have one out there, but it's small and doesn't do the job.