Friday, November 6, 2009
Beef Stew with Butternut Squash
4:04 PM | 
Posted by
Kelly
I saw this recipe in this months SELF magazine and thought Id give it a try. We love beef stew and this seemed like an interesting twist on it. It uses flavors I haven't experimented with too much, so I thought it would be fun!
Aromatic Beef Stew With Butternut SquashServes 4
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound stew beef, cut into cubes
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon peeled and minced fresh ginger
1 pound butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes (about 2 1/2 cups)
1 can (14.5 oz) no-salt-added diced tomatoes
1 can (8 oz) no-salt-added tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups low-sodium beef broth
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 cups cooked whole-wheat couscous
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted in a dry skillet over medium-high heat until golden brown, 2 minutes
4 teaspoons minced fresh parsley
PREPARATION
Heat oil in a 4-qt saucepan over medium-high heat. Add beef and cook until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Transfer meat to a plate, leaving juices in saucepan. Add onion; cook, stirring, until translucent, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and ginger; cook, stirring, 1 minute more. Return beef to pot; stir in squash, tomatoes, sauce, broth, cumin, cinnamon and pepper flakes. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low. Cover; simmer until beef is tender, 30 to 35 minutes. Divide couscous and stew among 4 bowls. Sprinkle with almonds and parsley.
It definitely needed to simmer in the pot a little longer than 35 minutes. I left it for at least 45. I really enjoyed it, even though it was different than the dinners we usually eat. Zach said it was "interesting" but seemed to like it.
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Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Pasta with Eggs and Bacon (take 2)
I decided to give this recipe one more try because even though I wasn't super impressed the first time, my daughter loved it. I made a few changes this time. I used cellentani pasta instead of spaghetti, added some red pepper flakes in with the bacon and used a little mozzarella with a large handful of asiago and shredded parmesan cheese to give it more sharpness. Today's version was much tastier. This will definitely be added to my quick and easy meal list.
INGREDIENTS
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for the pasta pot
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
8 ounces slab or thick-cut bacon, cut in 1/2 -inch pieces
5 large eggs
1 batch (1 1/2 pounds) fresh cavatelli (recipe below) or 1 pound dried pasta (I used cellentani)
2 cups shredded Fontina Val d’Aosta (I substituted an Mozzarella, Asiago and Parmesan)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for the pasta pot
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
8 ounces slab or thick-cut bacon, cut in 1/2 -inch pieces
5 large eggs
1 batch (1 1/2 pounds) fresh cavatelli (recipe below) or 1 pound dried pasta (I used cellentani)
2 cups shredded Fontina Val d’Aosta (I substituted an Mozzarella, Asiago and Parmesan)
DIRECTIONS
Fill the large pot with salted water (at least 6 quarts water with 1 tablespoon salt), and heat to a boil.
Pour the olive oil into the skillet, and set it over medium-high heat. Drop in the butter, let it melt, then scatter in the bacon pieces. Cook the bacon, stirring and tossing the pieces, for 5 minutes or so, until they’re crisp and caramelized. (If the bacon rendered lots of fat, you can pour off half the fat in the pan.)
Beat the eggs and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a bowl until well blended.
When the water is at a rolling boil, drop in the cavatelli, stir, and return the water to a boil. Cook the cavatelli 4 to 5 minutes, until al dente. Lift them from the pot, drain briefly and spill them into the skillet.
Over medium heat, toss the cavatelli with the bacon pieces, coating the pasta with the oil, butter and bacon fat, too. Pour the beaten eggs all over the pasta, stirring and tumbling them together; keep scraping the coagulating egg from the sides and bottom of the pan, and incorporate it in with the wet eggs. Cook for a minute or two, just until all the egg is lightly cooked and custardy and evenly scrambled into the cavatelli.
Turn off the heat, scatter the shredded Fontina over the eggs and pasta, and toss thoroughly to blend in the cheese as it melts.
Serve immediately.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Creamy Tomato Basil Soup and Grilled Cheese
Ulimate comfort food!! Tonight I made tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.
I adapted a recipe I found on allrecipes.com. Here is the Original Recipe
I adapted a recipe I found on allrecipes.com. Here is the Original Recipe
Tomato Basil Soup
Ingrediants:
2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
18 fresh basil leaves, minced
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup whipping cream (I used fat free evaporated milk)
1/2 cup butter or margarine (I used 1/4 cup of butter)
Directions:
1. In a large saucepan, bring the tomatoes and broth to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add basil and sugar. Reduce heat to low; stir in cream and butter. Cook until butter is melted.
The soup came out creamy and delicious even with the changes that I made to make it a bit more figure friendly.
I used my panini maker to make the grilled cheese with whole grain white bread, mild reduced fat cheddar and sliced tomato (and a little mayo on Zach's sandwich).
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Chicken Enchiladas and Mexican Rice
Halloween night turned into Mexican night at our house. I made chicken Enchiladas and Mexican Rice. These two recipes I've made several times so they are tried and true.The chicken enchilada recipe comes from Rachael Ray. Its pretty easy and always comes out great.
Instead of pouching the chicken on the stove top like the recipe calls for, I add the chicken, chicken broth, oregano, bay leaves and onion to my crockpot and cook on low for 6 hours. I've done it both ways and find the crockpot to be more convenient and the chicken shreds easier. I just remove the breasts with a slotted spoon, add some of the cooking liquid and follow the rest of the directions.
Chicken Enchiladas
8 soft corn tortillas (I used flour)
Filling:
3 cups chicken broth
4 pieces boneless skinless chicken breast, 6 to 8 ounces
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
2 sprigs fresh oregano
1 small onion, quartered
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon chili powder, 1/3 palm full
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt
Sauce:
2 cups tomato sauce
2 teaspoons hot cayenne pepper sauce, several drops
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 2 pinches
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 1/2 cups Monterey Jack shredded cheese, available on dairy aisle
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
Wrap corn tortillas in foil and warm in the oven. Bring broth to a boil in a saute pan. Set chicken into broth with bay and oregano and onion. Return to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer. Poach chicken in broth 10 minutes. Remove chicken breasts to a bowl and shred with 2 forks. Add 1/2 cup of cooking liquid and tomato paste,spices and salt and work through the chicken using the forks.
Combine all sauce ingredients and heat through, keeping warm until needed.Remove tortillas from oven and switch broiler on high.Pile chicken mixture into warm corn tortillas and roll. Line casserole baking dish with enchiladas, seam side down. Pour hot tomato sauce over the chicken enchiladas and top with cheese. Place in enchiladas in hot oven 6 inches from broiler and broil 5 minutes to melt cheese and set enchiladas. Serve.
Chicken in the crockpot
Chicken after it was shredded
Ready for the oven
This Mexican Rice recipe comes from my friend Allison. She had a Mexican dinner party at her house and made this rice. It is so tasty so I started using it myself.
Mexican Rice
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup uncooked white rice
1 onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
2 cups chicken stock
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles
2 teaspoons chili powder, or to taste 1 teaspoon salt
Heat oil in a deep skillet over medium heat. Saute rice, onion, and bell pepper until rice is browned and onions are tender. Stir in stock and tomatoes. Season with chili powder and salt. Cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, or until rice is cooked and liquid is absorbed.
Homemade Salsa
For my Mexican dinner tonight, I decided it would be fun to attempt making my own fresh salsa. I was really surprised at how easy it was and how good it turned out!!I got the recipe from allrecipes.com. Here is a link to the Original Recipe
Fresh Tomato Salsa
Ingredients
3 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup finely diced onion
5 serrano chiles, finely chopped (I used a poblano pepper instead)
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons lime juice
Directions
In a medium bowl, stir together tomatoes, onion, chili peppers, cilantro, salt, and lime juice. Chill for one hour in the refrigerator before serving.
I used my food processor to chop all the veggies and then smoothed out the salsa in the blender at the end. Yum!!!
Here is the Salsa served with Allison's homemade guac and homemade chips!!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Meatloaf
My friend Allison told me she made meatloaf over the weekend so of course I've been craving it ever since! I do not have a "go to" recipe so I asked her what she uses. She told me she uses the Lipton Onion Soup mix recipe and glazed the meatloaf with 1/4 cup ketchup mixed with 2 tbs brown sugar. I decided to give it a try!
Lipton Superior Meatloaf
1 envelope Lipton® Recipe Secrets® Onion Soup Mix
2 lbs. ground beef
3/4 cup plain dry bread crumbs
2 eggs
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup ketchup
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Combine all ingredients in large bowl.
2. Shape into loaf in 13 x 9-inch baking or roasting pan.
3. Bake uncovered 1 hour or until done. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
The only thing I added to the recipe was about 1/2 cup defrosted frozen spinach.
Cecily was a little unsure about mixing it by hand
But she loved "painting" the glaze on!
All ready for the oven
An hour later, its ready to eat! It was SO good. Very moist and tasty. I'll be making it this way again for sure!
An hour later, its ready to eat! It was SO good. Very moist and tasty. I'll be making it this way again for sure! New Jersey Marathon Race Report
This post was written back in May, after I completed the New Jersey Marathon. I wanted to include it in my blog since it was the biggest moment in my running life so far. Enjoy!
Me, Zach and Cecily on the boardwalk
That night we went to the Team in Training pasta party which was fun and inspirational. Here is the whole Northern NJ Team. My teammates and coaches were all amazing
When we got back to the hotel after the pasta party around 9:00, I got all my stuff ready for the morning and went to sleep. I tossed and turned a bit but felt like a got a decent amount of sleep. My alarm went off at 4:00, I got right up and ready to go.
I met my team in the lobby at 5:00, and we were on our way to the start at 5:30. We were able to hang out in the host hotel right next to the start line until about 7:20 so we could stay warm and dry. This worked out well for bathroom stops. It was a 7:30 start which was delayed almost a half hour because of an accident that caused even more traffic than anticipated. When I made it to the starting line I found my family right away. They took some pictures and gave me some last minute advice (my dad is a 6 time marathoner).
Short Version - I ran the NJ Marathon yesterday with the northern NJ chapter of Team in Training. I finished with a garmin time of 5:37:45 (official times not posted yet) and am beyond thrilled. Despite the rain I ran even stronger than I could have possibly imagined. If anyone is considering an event with TNT, do it!! What an amazing experience! I took the advice that I will only run my first marathon once, so even when I was hurting and soaked from the rain, I made a point to take it all in and enjoy every second.
Long Version - Saturday morning my family (Me, Zach, Cecily, my parents, sister and in laws) headed down to Long Branch around noon to go to to the expo, pick up my bib and race pack, have lunch and just shop around. The expo was small, but nice and the shopping area in Long Branch is really pretty. I got to see where the start and finish would be, got a new bondi band, had a yummy lunch and start getting nervous and excited.
Me outside the expo
Me, Zach and Cecily on the boardwalkThat night we went to the Team in Training pasta party which was fun and inspirational. Here is the whole Northern NJ Team. My teammates and coaches were all amazing
When we got back to the hotel after the pasta party around 9:00, I got all my stuff ready for the morning and went to sleep. I tossed and turned a bit but felt like a got a decent amount of sleep. My alarm went off at 4:00, I got right up and ready to go.
I met my team in the lobby at 5:00, and we were on our way to the start at 5:30. We were able to hang out in the host hotel right next to the start line until about 7:20 so we could stay warm and dry. This worked out well for bathroom stops. It was a 7:30 start which was delayed almost a half hour because of an accident that caused even more traffic than anticipated. When I made it to the starting line I found my family right away. They took some pictures and gave me some last minute advice (my dad is a 6 time marathoner).
Here I am with my training partner Kathy and TNT teammate Martha
Back of my singlet honoring all the people in my life effected by cancer. They were my inspiration
The start
Then we were off! For the first 5 miles I felt good but was worried that I wasnt getting into a good groove. Kathy and I had a plan to walk through most water stops and make sure our splits were consistantly between 12 and 12:30. We wanted to avoid getting caught up and going out to fast. My hip was feeling tight (It band related) so we made a porta potty stop at mile 4, I stretched a bit and felt fine afterwards. I saw my family at mile 6 which was a great boost.
Back of my singlet honoring all the people in my life effected by cancer. They were my inspiration
The start
Then we were off! For the first 5 miles I felt good but was worried that I wasnt getting into a good groove. Kathy and I had a plan to walk through most water stops and make sure our splits were consistantly between 12 and 12:30. We wanted to avoid getting caught up and going out to fast. My hip was feeling tight (It band related) so we made a porta potty stop at mile 4, I stretched a bit and felt fine afterwards. I saw my family at mile 6 which was a great boost.Still going strong at mile 6
By mile 8 I finally found my groove. I was cruising along at a steady pace and Kathy was feeling good as well. We passed through some gorgeous neighborhoods in Long Branch and some not so gorgeous ones. By mile 12 we were up on the boardwalk next to the ocean cruising towards the halfway mark. We saw one of our TNT coaches who ran with us for awhile. Then I saw Zach who told me the rest of my cheering section was right after the halfway mark. It was tough seeing the halfers finish, but seeing my family kept me in good spirits. We downed some pretzels that they handed us and kept on going. I remembered the advice a trainer at my gym told me which was when you start the loop again (NJ marathon is a double loop) just focus on making it to mile 14 so you dont get caught up in seeing others finish the half.
By mile 8 I finally found my groove. I was cruising along at a steady pace and Kathy was feeling good as well. We passed through some gorgeous neighborhoods in Long Branch and some not so gorgeous ones. By mile 12 we were up on the boardwalk next to the ocean cruising towards the halfway mark. We saw one of our TNT coaches who ran with us for awhile. Then I saw Zach who told me the rest of my cheering section was right after the halfway mark. It was tough seeing the halfers finish, but seeing my family kept me in good spirits. We downed some pretzels that they handed us and kept on going. I remembered the advice a trainer at my gym told me which was when you start the loop again (NJ marathon is a double loop) just focus on making it to mile 14 so you dont get caught up in seeing others finish the half.Kathy and I at the halfway point
The 2nd half started off fine and then Kathy started having a lot of pain in her knees. We walked through a water station around 15.5 and she couldnt start back up. She stopped at the porta potty and told me to keep on going. It pained me to leave her (we did all our training runs together) but I knew I had to keep going. By 17 it started to pour rain (it had been drizziling up until this point) and I was starting to get discouraged. Once I hit the 18 mile mark I was lonely, soaked and scared because I was heading into uncharted territory. This was definitely "the wall" for me, although it was way more mental than physical. I knew my family would be around mile 19 so I focused on seeing them again.
I did it!
Once I got into dry clothes I waited for Kathy to come in. She was well over 1/2 hour behind me. Poor thing was in so much pain and walked almost 10 miles to the finish. Such determination! I was so proud of her.
The 2nd half started off fine and then Kathy started having a lot of pain in her knees. We walked through a water station around 15.5 and she couldnt start back up. She stopped at the porta potty and told me to keep on going. It pained me to leave her (we did all our training runs together) but I knew I had to keep going. By 17 it started to pour rain (it had been drizziling up until this point) and I was starting to get discouraged. Once I hit the 18 mile mark I was lonely, soaked and scared because I was heading into uncharted territory. This was definitely "the wall" for me, although it was way more mental than physical. I knew my family would be around mile 19 so I focused on seeing them again.
When I did I cried my eyes out but kept on going. I kept on running through 20, than 21, still feeling sorry for myself. At 21 I saw a TNT coach from another Chapter who pointed out that the 5:30 pacer wasnt too far ahead of me. 5:30 was my dream time so I felt so great hearing that and started to feel better. Between 21 and 22 I was running opposite people coming in on mile 23 and 24. I saw a friend of mine I didnt even know was running that day and another friend that I did. SO great to see familiar faces!!! By 23 I was walking on and off but only for a minute or two at a time. I was impressed at how much I was running and was still keeping my pace. I felt pretty good even though I was soaking wet and tired. My biggest annoyance at this point was that my running skirt was SO wet that it was slipping. I spent the last few miles of the race pulling it up.
At mile 24 I found one of my coaches who ran with me until mile 25, and than handed me off to 2 more coaches. Having them to run during the home stretch was priceless. I got on the boardwalk, passed the mile 26 marker and could see the finish line. I was crying and running strong. They were telling me how proud they were of me. I knew I had made it under 5:40. I took off fast (but not too fast, I didnt want to puke!) and ran to the finish. I saw Zach on the other side and my family screaming, yelling and crying. I did it!! What an unbelievable feeling. I bawled my eyes out. Got my medal and finisher's hat.
Almost there
I did it!
Once I got into dry clothes I waited for Kathy to come in. She was well over 1/2 hour behind me. Poor thing was in so much pain and walked almost 10 miles to the finish. Such determination! I was so proud of her.
After going back to the hotel, taking and ice bath and the longest hot shower Ive ever taken in my life, we headed to the TNT victory party.
Kathy and I, we clean up well!
Such an amazing experience. I still cant believe I can officially say I am a marathoner. I would definitely do the NJ marathon again, it was a nice course and easy for my family to be able to see my 4 times during the race. I loved training and running with Team in Training. I wouldnt have wanted to do it any other way. The on course support with all the purple singets was awesome. I raised over $3600 for a great cause, met incredible people, and had the experience of a lifetime.
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