Quick Weeknight Meals: Cooking with Trader Joe's & Gardein: Mandarin Chickenless Chicken

 

My go-to recipe for busy weeknights, Mandarin Chicken-less Stir Fry

I use any vegetables I have on hand, sometimes I even pre-chop vegetables ahead of time so that when I don't have the time to prep a complicated meal, I have already done the hardest work. I saute the ingredients in the following order: onions, then by order of hardness; i.e. carrots, celery, peppers. Once the veggies are cooked, I remove and set aside. Next I saute the chickenless chicken morsels per the directions on the bag, and at the last minute combine the sauces, veggies, and morsels and heat through while stirring. I use Trader Joe's Satay sauce as a short cut adding in the sauce that comes with the Chickenless Mandarin Chicken for a sweet and savory dish that tastes like comfort food but is packed with good for you veggies! While I am sauteing, I prepare brown rice noodles or I use frozen brown rice from Trader Joe's. The results: a quick dinner that seems like it took me hours to prepare, and never any leftovers ;)

Lunch on Beach Drive: Spring Break Stop in St. Petersburg

Our last full day in Florida, we dropped off my sister Meg, her wife Jackie, and their daughter Ellie to Tampa airport and took a detour on our way back to Sarasota, making a stop in St. Petersburg. We visited the new version of the Dali Museum in downtown St. Pete's and afterwards strolled down Beach Drive to find a place to eat lunch. Cassis American Brasserie's menu jumped out at me, so we took a table on the sidewalk to people watch. The city is filled with beautiful sculptures and we had a front row seat to one of the prettiest. Dave ordered a wedge salad, chicken soup, and the special cajun ribeye sandwich. I ordered onion rings and a spinach, strawberry, and beet salad. Seriously the best onion rings ev-er! I had the Beach Drive Lemonade with muddled strawberries and lemon, raspberry vodka, and simple syrup, perfectly refreshing! Can't wait to come back next spring...

Good Morning English Muffins & a Soft Boiled Egg

Take Two Finally an excuse to use the egg cups I inherited from my late Grandma Peggy! Last night while making lunch for my hubby, I started craving the soft boiled eggs my Mom used to make when we were children. Granted, Mom used a coffee mug and muddled the egg with salt and pepper, making it more of a mayo-less egg salad. Soft boiling eggs perfectly seems to be a task not easily mastered by cutting my hard boiling time in half...Oh well, it was delicious nonetheless. I placed enough water to cover the egg in a pot and brought to a boil. Once boiling I removed from heat and let sit for 6 minutes. Now, my yolk was not as soft as I typically like it so next time I will cut down my time in one minute increments until I get it right.  While I waited for my soft boiled egg I smeared a toasted whole wheat English muffin with raw almond butter, strawberry preserves, and an organic banana. Unfortunately, Allie thought the English muffin looked irresistible, so she gulped it down while my back was turned. (See guilty face below) I am trying to cut back on my caffeine, so green tea and chamomile with a touch of honey was the finishing touch on my breakfast. I have been playing around with the myfitnesspal website and iphone app and below I have included the nutritional information for this meal.

The guilty but satisified puppy...

Breakfast Calories Carbs Fat Protein Sodium Sugar Publix - English Muffin - Original, 1 muffin 100 24 2 4 210 1 Trader Joe's - Almond Butter Raw Crunchy Unsalted, 2 tbsp 190 6 17 8 0 2 Egg - Egg, Hard-Boiled, 60 g 70 1 5 6 65 0 Bananas - Raw, 1 medium (7" to 7-7/8" long) 105 27 0 1 1 14 Green Tea - Lipton, 1 tea bag 0 0 0 0 0 0 Bigelow - Cozy Chamomile Herb Tea, 1 Bag 0 0 0 0 0 0 Honey, 0.5 tbsp 32 9 0 0 0 9 Trader Joe's - Fresh Strawberry Preserves, 1 g 3 1 0 0 0 1 Totals 500 68 24 19 276 27

Cricket Hill & Bivio: Supporting Small Businesses and Reaping the Rewards

For those of you who don't know about the Cricket Hill Brewery tour every Friday in Fairfield, you know now. Every Friday from 5pm to 7pm, for $4 you get to sample four of their session beers, listen to some music, and make some interesting new friends. The key to this brew tour is that once you have gone, you must tell your friends, or escort them yourself. Opened in 2001, Cricket Hill is laid back and low key, and the perfect start to your weekend. You can also buy growlers of your favorite brew to take home.

Following the brew tour, growler in hand, we head to our new favorite local restaurant Bivio. Down the street in Little Falls, Bivio offers Naples style pizza, cooked to perfection in a wood burning oven, which will instantly transport you to Italy. The menu features a handful of quality items, with specials daily, and artisan bread available for purchase.  I watched two ladies last night debate whether they should stay and wait for a table, the selfish part of me said let them go, more Bivio for me.  Yet I found myself quietly speaking aloud, "wait, its worth it, don't go!"

Pictured left to right: Bianca, Margarita, Porcini (& Cricket Hill Jersey Red Devil)

We started with the colorful salad special; roasted beets, goat cheese, and candied walnuts over mixed greens. Then ordered three pies: Bianca, Margarita, and Porcini. Bianca ruined it, the standout in the bunch, overshadowing the understated deliciousness of the others. My recommendation: Start with the Margarita, move to the Porcini, and finish with the Bianca. I'm drooling just thinking about it. Eat slowly, enjoy every bite, and save room for some homemade tiramisu with side of espresso.

Quinoa Meal # 3: Cold and Rainy Nights Call for Hot Soup!

I recently did my first detox for three days from the Whole Living website. The plan included only three meals and dinner was a vegetable based soup that I fell in love with. The soup uses the heat of the broth to steam the greens, keeping them from getting too soggy and retaining their bright green color. Find the inspiration recipe here: http://www.wholeliving.com/176596/carrot-spinach-soup-dill

If you want to make this soup last for a few more days, make smaller  one cup servings of the broth and pair with a salad or sandwich. If you can do the vegetable prep ahead of time, this recipe would take a little over a half an hour with no active cooking. ( I did two loads of laundry, folded, loaded the dishwasher, and finished typing up this blog in the time it took the soup to simmer!)

Tonight's dinner uses up the last of the quinoa in a hearty vegetable based soup inspired by the detox dinner:

Portabello & Spinach Quinoa Soup
 Serves 2

1-2 Portabello mushrooms, sliced in 1-2 inch pieces
1 T EVOO
2 cups of fresh baby spinach
1 cup of quinoa

Broth:
1 T EVOO
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 tsp Tumeric
4 carrots, peeled and diced
6 cups of water
Salt & pepper to season

Add oil to stock pot over medium heat, add onions. Cook 3-5 minutes until translucent, stirring frequently. Add tumeric to onions and stir. Add carrots and saute for one minute, add water, and bring to a boil. Once boiling reduce heat to a simmer, and let simmer for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, saute mushrooms until soft and blackened. Set aside.

Place 1/2 c of quinoa in a large bowl, ( I use glass mixing bowls) place half the mushrooms on top, and one cup of the spinach. Pour 2 1/2-3 cups of the broth over the spinach, cover and let sit for a few minutes until spinach is wilted. Serve with a side of toasty warm, fresh artisan bread, such as a baguette.

Quinoa Meal #2: Colorful Greek Quinoa Salad

Mondays are my long day, so I need a sturdy lunch that can travel well and keep me satisfied since there is little time for an adequate dinner. Lunch today uses the second portion of my pre-made quinoa in a cold salad with a mixture of colorful produce. This salad is inspired by our favorite local Greek restaurant, Zorba.

Paired with a lowfat yogurt parfait, and a snack size portion of pistachio nuts, I'll have enough protein to keep me feeling fuller longer, not to mention the benefits of the antioxidant packed produce.

I layered quinoa, cherry tomatoes; diced, feta cheese, yellow bell pepper; diced, and a  quick homemade vinaigrette (I mix equal parts red vinegar & evoo; Season with about a teaspoon of minced shallot, sea salt, fresh ground pepper, and oregano) over bright green baby spinach.

No More Boring Oatmeal...

Red Breakfast Quinoa: with bananas, cinnamon sugar, and almond milk

Good morning! Weekdays I rely on smoothies for a fast, portable, and healthy breakfast. On the weekends I generally prefer to treat myself to something more hearty. As I lie awake in bed this morning, I envisioned banana pancakes, but realized I was out of veggie sausage. No tofu in the house to make a scramble, I was left to the good ole standby, oatmeal. Then I remembered a recipe I had seen on whole living, to use quinoa in place of oats. Out came my rice cooker and in went one part quinoa to two parts water and about 20 minutes later I had enough to make at least three meals with. So today covers meal number one: Red Breakfast Quinoa with cinnamon sugar, bananas, and almond milk. You can either add the milk cold to the hot quinoa, or heat it first to be more of an authentic oatmeal dish. The variations on this breakfast are endless! Quinoa quick facts: Not a grain but rather a seed, contains the most amino acids of any plant source of protein, gluten-free.