Lunch!!

It's not very often that I enjoy my lunch so much I run and grab the camera (unlike my dear friend Erica). But today, it was really good and I want to remember it for all eternity and share it with the world.

I have recently started allowing myself a little indulgence at Costco: Foster Farms pre-grilled chicken strips. Yes, we could cook our own supply of chicken for quick use, but we would never do such a thing regularly. And, having the chicken on hand actually encourages me to eat more veggies and to eat at home rather than run out and get something. And another Costco find - the large resealable container of feta cheese. Today, I grabbed both of them and some organic spinach and some pre-cut mushrooms (again, lazy but effective). I ran to the garden and picked some teeny tiny cherry tomatoes and some lemon basil. I sauteed a clove of garlic in olive oil (then removed it), added a small amount of finely chopped onion and let it sautee for a minute before adding the mushrooms, the chicken and some chopped red bell pepper. Then, I tossed in the tomatoes (whole), the basil, the spinach... Covered it all, let it cook on medium for a few minutes, turned off the heat, sprinkled on the feta and let it sit for a bit, spooned it onto my plate and ate it with a few mini pitas...

Lots of good stuff, low carb, relatively low fat - and so yummy I had to post.

S'mores

Steve and Julianne came over with their brood for a cookout yesterday that was specifically planned to end with a feast of s'mores. The weather agreed, pretty much - It was sunny and clear all the way through dinner. By the time we lit the fire, we could see the lightning and hear the thunder off to the east. As we started to toast marshmallows, a giant rainbow appeared and then the first plump drops fell. As we went into full-on s'more mode, the heavens opened up, and we had to move the fixin's into the gazebo and run out periodically to cook one up over the fire - but that just made it feel more like we were actually camping in the great Pacific Northwest.

The Menu:

Julianne's Stuff:

Baked Beans with Bacon, Molasses and Maple Syrup

Cabbage Salad

Salmon with Fresh Parsley Pesto



My Stuff:

Green Bean and Almond Salad with Ginger, Green Onions and Cilantro (Cook 1 pound of green beans in boiling water for 5 minutes. Rinse under cold water. Add a handful each of: thinly sliced green onion and chopped cilantro. For dressing, mix 1 1/2T each of rice vinegar and vegetable oil, 1-2t minced fresh ginger, 1-2 minced garlic cloves, 1T soy sauce, S&P. Toss with dressing. Before serving, top with a handful of chopped tamari almonds - I buy them in bulk at the grocery store - or use 3T of soy sauce and cook up some almonds in a frying pan with it until they absorb the soy sauce, then chop them up.)

Whole Wheat Pasta Salad with Dijon Basil Balsamic Vinaigrette

White Bean Dip with Crusty Bread - (Blend together one can of rinsed cannelini beans, 2 cloves garlic, 1T each of fresh rosemary and thyme, a little pepper, 1 1/2T olive oil)

Marinated Flank Steak

All Hail the Dunkin' Dinner

For whatever reason, the chances of my children eating their food has a direct correlation to how the food looks and how easy it is to pick up. Thus, our first Dunkin' Dinner - featuring my first attempt at chicken nuggets (surprisingly easy, quick, tasty and fun to pick up and toss down the pie hole).

Chicken O'Nuggets (yes, O' instead of Mc for this house...)
The recipe's from this month's Family Circle (which Maggie and I mistakenly swiped from Freddie's last week - but that's another story...)

1 1/2 pounds of chicken breast, cut into nugget-size pieces
1/3 cup light mayo
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1 cup dried bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
salt and pepper

Mix the mayo and mustard together.
Mix the bread crumbs, garlic powder and thyme (and S&P) together in a pie pan.
Heat oven to broil.
Split the mustard mixture in half. Set half aside for dipping.
Brush chicken nuggets with mustard mixture.
Toss them into the breadcrumb mixture to coat.
Put them on a cookie sheet and broil for about 10 minutes - turning them over halfway through.

Ta-da! EAT!

The dunkin' dinner also featured cut-up veggies (The girls are deep into a love affair with cucumbers and have a long-standing relationship with grape tomatoes. I also bought some petite-hand-sized sweet peppers of various colors at Costco which are going over well.) And, there was also French bread to dip in olive oil/balsamic vinegar.

A little salad dressing, a little ketchup, and we're good to go.

Varkenshaas

Here is a recipe for pork tenderloin in mustard sauce that is easy and really good. Try it with some potatoes and maybe roasted asparagus. The leftovers are tasty the next day, too. (I know this because at Freddie's you can get a dozen different modestly-sized, preseasoned, adulterated pork tenderloins. BUT, if you want a plain old pork tenderloin that you're going to season yourself - which is totally easy, you almost always have to buy a piece of meat that looks like it came from a gigantic prehistoric wild boar.) I have just been sitting here trying to concentrate on work and the word "Varkenshaas" keeps going through my head - honestly. Sad, no? I must be hungry. Hopefully by posting this, it'll get it out of my head - kind of like when your mind is racing in the middle of the night and it helps to turn on the light and make a list of all the things running through your head so you can just clear out the noggin and get to sleep. Does anyone else do that? I used to - back when I had enough brain cells firing in the wee hours to allow random thoughts to keep me awake. Now that I've got kids, usually, I have so few brain waves splashing around by the time I go to bed, nothing keeps me up.

Seriously, I can't think of anything else that's as fun to say as it is to eat. Try it: VARKENSHAAS. VARKENSHAAS. VARKENSHAAS.