Sunday, June 16, 2013

Happy Father's Day!

...to all those dads out there.  *claps enthusiastically*

For my hubby, I made these:


You know you want one.

He's a good dad and deserved something tasty.

If I'm giving my honest opinion, I think the Cinnamon Toast Crunch muffins I made for his birthday were way better.  It could be because we both almost burned our mouths eating these fresh from the oven, though.  Hard to say.  ;-)

Hubby saw the muffin tin soaking in the sink today and said, "Mmmm... what delicious thing came from that?"  So, I couldn't very well break his heart and tell him I was soaking it because I made muffins out of macaroni the other day and the gunk still wouldn't come out if it (despite being scrubbed, dishwashed, and scrubbed again).  Okay, maybe I did tell him that.  BUT... then, I proceeded to thoroughly clean it again and made delicious muffins.  So that's okay, right?

Macaroni muffins, you ask?  Well... I will tell you all about them!  

I was watching Noodle and Doodle with my little lovey.  That link will take you to some recipes that they make on the show.  We watched the episode "A Trip to the Lake" apparently and it included directions on how to make Frittata Boats.  As we were watching, I was thinking to myself that we had all of the ingredients in our kitchen and nothing in particular for lunch... so away we went.

Cook the noodles.

Add other ingredients and mix in a bowl.

SPRAY the pan before scooping ingredients.  

I think that's where we went wrong.
Definitely forgot to spray the pan before baking.

Scrape unsprayed remnants out of muffin tin.

Struggle with muffin tin until you have a pile of stuff.

Haha, so they were okay.  Obviously, we didn't make the sail part since we had trouble with the muffins staying together after I had to forcibly remove them from the pan.  Oh well!  

I used the rest of the macaroni I cooked to make a somewhat healthy version of mac & cheese... which we then gobbled up for lunch.  

All that was left!

If you're a dad, I hope someone did something nice for you today!  :-)

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

KEEN-wa

My mind has been blown!  Tonight, I ate quinoa (KEEN-wa) and it was glorious!  :-)  

*Side note: Every time I see the word "quinoa", I say it in my head the way it's spelled.  

Okay, well, thanks to the hubby, I ate quinua... 
...which I think is the same as quinoa?  Please correct me if I'm wrong.  If they are NOT the same, then you should purchase quinua, not quinoa.  Hang on... okay, upon further googling, quinua refers to quinoa or the town Quinua in Peru.  As I did not eat a town this evening, please assume that I mean the former.  (I was just reminded of the fact that people in Peru sometimes eat guinea pigs and it made me sad.)

Don't eat guinea pigs!
(Me and Pig)

Anyway, back to quinoa.

It's very important to rinse your quinoa!
If you don't, it tastes bitter.

Also, boil it in broth.
The quinoa package did not tell me how to cook it AT ALL.  Fail.
Thank goodness I have friends who want me to like quinoa.
Thanks Sara!!!  ;-)

Oh, and this may go without saying... but don't let it boil all over your stove top like I did.  Second fail.

Quinoa everywhere...

OH, and don't stand anywhere near shallots cooking while trying to clean up the quinoa mess that you made.  Your eyes will burn.  Third fail.  (I know, it's not sounding good, is it?)

Done?  What a weird thing.


In this pot are sauteed shallots, black beans, corn...

...green chiles, cumin, Adobo, chili seasoning, oregano, paprika...
...red chili pepper flakes, garlic salt, and onion powder... *whew*

Add and stir quinoa...

Then you set up a little filling station...

Fill em' up!
I used fresh salsa and some jarred salsa that I had in my fridge and needed to eat.
Oh, and cheese.

Make those suckers pretty!

Prettier...
Doesn't cheese really make everything better?

...and BAKE!  Do it!

Quinoa Enchiladas (about 315 calories each)

These were soooo filling that I could barely finish the two I put on my plate... I did it because I was really, really hungry and these were really, really delicious.  I excitedly put two more in a container for tomorrow night's dinner, too.  I know.  I liked quinoa?  What's the world coming to?  

Sunday, June 9, 2013

***Plant Update***

They are not dead.  I repeat, NOT dead.  

They are thriving!  :-)

My tomato plant has FOUR tomatoes on it!  Little one has declared them to be "smooth" and "greeeeeeen".

There's one...

...and three more!  (Two are bunched together on the right.)

Look at all of the leaves on my strawberry plant!  There are even some little white flowers toward the top of the first picture and I didn't see any strawberries until I went poking around under the big leaves...


FOUR little tiny strawberries!

Stay back, squirrels.  It'll be time to fight.  You best back up.

In other news, you should know that mini blueberry muffins are delicious and have either half or a third of the calories of regular giant ones (depending on the size of your muffin tins).


You should also know that babies toddlers like little muffins.  And capers.  

Okay, so you probably shouldn't feed your baby OR toddler capers because they are super salty... but if you're like me, you might give them random things just to try and see the fantastic expressions they make.  Or awesome yummy noises.  "Mmmmmmmm!" they'll say!  

Dinner tonight was fresh corn on the cob, grilled zucchini, and salmon seasoned with some lemon pepper and garlic powder... and capers for me.  I heart capers.  They make me think of my honeymoon, where they were served with smoked salmon every day for breakfast.  :-)  

Unfortunately, now I know that my toddler likes capers.  Loves may be a better word.  Except she calls them "kini", which I think she mistook for the zucchini that she didn't like at all.   I had to quickly eat them off my plate because she kept asking for "Momma's kini", "have more?"  *sigh*

(Pre-caper picture)

I hope you ate something healthy and delicious this weekend!  

P.S. Sorry about the caper rant!  Do you like capers?

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Miso...

I'm attempting to be productive today... semi-productive, at least.  

As part of my attempt, I made some Miso Soup for lunch today.  I've been feeling it lately and since today isn't quite as hot as it has been over the past week, I turned on my oven.  During the day.  I know, crazy, right?  

So, I found these "miso soup" packets at the grocery store the other day and immediately stepped away from the because of the sodium content.  WOW.  Craziness!  It was funny because that same day, a friend of mine was talking about how she had just made miso soup using a miso paste that she found at Wegmans in a refrigerated aisle.  

So here's what you do... if you're me, you follow the directions on the tub.  

Saute onions in a T. of EVOO.

Add some sort of veggie... I added celery because I'm trying to get rid of it.
Celery is NOT my friend. 

Add 2 cups of water or broth.
I used veggie broth, again, because I had it.  Water is easier.
Simmer...

Miso Paste!  Weird!  It comes in a tub like sour cream.

Simmer it up some more after adding miso paste to taste.

Enjoy!

I think my first attempt was okay.  The next time I make it, I think I'll add less onion than it suggested and probably not put in celery.  I also added in some tofu because it made me think of sushi restaurants I've been to where the miso soup is amazing.  I see lots of potential here.

I also made some little English muffin pizzas for my little one... okay, okay, and maybe for me, too.


They were a hit!  ;-)
Have you ever made your own miso soup?  What do you like to put in it?

Monday, June 3, 2013

At Least There Wasn't Any Quinoa...

Dinner was too healthy tonight.  It tasted healthy.  Who wants that?  

I found this recipe for Cornmeal-Dusted Catfish with Quinoa Saute in a Cooking Light magazine.  Sounds fancy, doesn't it?  I've been wanting to try more quinoa (pronounced 'keen-wa') recipes because I feel like I could like it.  It's good for you and something different, right?  So far I haven't been all that impressed with quinoa, but I'm hopeful!  Jimmy, maybe not so much.  He's a good sport though and eats whatever I make (love you, babe!).  Anyway, I thought this recipe sounded like it had some potential.  

It may have been better if I'd actually used catfish.  I don't know, I've never eaten catfish.  Since I didn't have catfish in the freezer, I used tilapia instead, thinking that maybe it would be okay... 

...and then I realized that there wasn't any quinoa in my pantry.  

Uh, what was I thinking here?  

Tonight's dinner became Cornmeal-Dusted Tilapia with Brown Rice and Sauteed Vegetables... which tasted way too healthy for our liking.  Don't get me wrong, we ate it.  It was probably even good for us.  I just won't be making it again.  ;-)


Veggies: Zucchini, Red Pearl Onions,
Shallots, Celery, and Grape Tomatoes


Little one did gobble up some fish, though.  That's something!  

So, as we were eating it, I said to Jim, "At least there wasn't any quinoa..."
His response?  "True dat."
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