Mar 1, 2013

Left Over Orzo?? Make this!

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So what do you do when you made WAY too much orzo for your orzo, chicken sausage, and kale receipe?

You make it delicious in a whole new way!

Photo Feb 27, 4 13 25 PM

This happens to be one of my favorite meals and it is so simple!

Picture here

  • Orzo
  • Tomatoes
  • Nuts (Pine nuts, soy nuts, etc)
  • Olives
  • Olive Oil

And here comes the tricky part.

Cut up a tomato, cut up the olives, throw in with the orzo and add a little olive oil.

Stir.

Add nuts when you are ready to eat.

And that ladies and gentles is deliciousness in about 2 minutes. Literally I put this together right before I was walking out the door to go to work. I used soy nuts because pine nuts are so expensive and my husband and I cannot figure out how 2 people spend the amount we do on groceries anyway so the pine nut purchase would have thrown him over the edge. I also wait to throw them in until I am ready to eat because I prefer the “crunch” but I think the pine nuts or some other actual nuts would hold up better than the soy nuts do.

Just a personal preference.

What is your favorite thing to make with orzo?! And what do you pair it with?!

Photo Feb 27, 11 57 56 AM

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Feb 27, 2013

Cooking with Kale

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I don’t know about all of you but I don’t think kale looks very appetizing. I tried to juice it some time ago and quickly realized that the kale juicing trend just wasn’t for me. It was the smell of the kale that turned me off… or maybe it was the green juice?

In any case it just didn’t work me.

But I’m no fool and it has been obvious to me that kale is the new super food and anything considered a super food is worth trying. So after I had a very successful round of kale and orzo soup I wanted to figure out how I could do more.

So I looked in my fridge.

And to no surprise I found one of my favorite things… CHICKEN SAUSAGE! Further investigation of the fridge and pantry were successful when I found orzo and chicken broth and there it was. Staring at me. Daring me to eat it.

The kale.

Game on.

I love Google. Google has solved countless problems for me over the course of its life and I have no doubt it will continue to serve me in only the best way possible. So I simple typed into that wonderful Google search bar “chicken sausage, orzo, and kale” and THIS recipe popped up.

Gosh Google- I love you.

But I hate following recipes. Measuring just isn’t my thing. So I typically take recipe ideas and concepts and just make it my own. Sometimes I spice it up. Sometimes I make it.

So here is the recipe (u’ll notice I use some different measurement terms- for example why measure in cups for kale when they come in stalks?)

  • 3 pieces low fat chicken sausage (I used Italian flavor)
  • 1-2 orzo (I made the mistake of using the entire 1lb the recipe linked recommended and well I think that was an error because I will be eating Orzo for the rest of my life)
  • 4 stalks kale
  • 2 big tomatoes
  • ½ cup chicken broth
  • Few shakes Red pepper flakes
  • 1tsp Minced garlic
  • ½ cup cheese (I used Parmesan but use whatever you would like)

And it was simple. Cooked sausage on George Foreman first. Cut up in chunks.  Boiled the orzo for about 4 minutes and then transferred over to the chicken broth to soak up that goodness which was another 10 minutes or so.  While that was going on I was sauteing garlic and red pepper flakes on the stove with some olive oil and then threw in the sausage kale and tomatoes. The original recipe said cherry tomatoes and I didn’t have those so I used big tomatoes and didn’t have to wait for them to “burst” so I think that was a win for me.

Eventually, throw it all together.

Add in your cheese.

Mix.

Eat. Love. Sleep.

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Feb 22, 2012

Yummy Yummy in my Tummy

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Nothing like some delicious meals to make you happy right?! Here are some of my food updates and a few recipes as well!

bison steakveggies at moms

Bison Steak and a side of veggies! My mom loves to shop at White Feather Meats where she gets all sort of goodies… when I stayed for dinner the other night we cooked up the bison steaks and made some veggies on the side! We cooked up squash, zucchini, and mushrooms! I love making the side of these veggies… I just like to sauté them a bit in a pan until they are a little soft but still a little crunchy… makes for a delicious side dish. I also like putting some red paper flakes in it as well to spice it up a bit!

chiken hometim dinner

As I am sure you have guessed by now, Tim and I love chicken! So we made some grilled chicken on the George Forman (which we love to do) and just put some spices in there! I also love green beans so I try to put them with as many dishes as I can and well Tim loves some cheesy shells so we had some of those too! On the right side of the picture Tim was serving up some Tilapia that night. We love the frozen Tilapia from Sam’s Club and it is so easy to pop in the oven for 25 minutes! Both easy dinner that don’t take long to make and that offer up all sort of delicious and healthy treats!

sausagechips

CHICKEN SAUSAGE! Ahhh I just love it! And I also discovered these Garden Select Vegetable Chips. Now, I won’t pretend for even a second that these are good for you but they are certainly are a better alterative to potato chips.  So I prepared Tim some chicken sausage and veggies with the veggie chips on the side. Now, I served Tim’s dinner in a bun but if I can help it I try to opt out of those parts of dinner. I just feel like they are carbs my body doesn’t need or want.

mom and dad chicken 2receipe bookmom and dad chicken

I feel like I have been eating at my parents a lot! Last week we made some tasty herbed mustard chicken. Originally my mom was just going to put the chicken on the George but since she had all the ingredients I decided to mix up some mustard chicken. WE had some mixed greens on the side and strawberries for a little sweet treats on the side. Those greens on the side were pretty serious!

wheat grassveggies

We started out with some wheat grass which cooks down to a very management texture. We then added in peppers and all sort of goodies. It turned out to be very filling and I found myself not wanting anything more after this… satisfying for sure. I think one of the best parts was all of the many textures this meal had… it’s interesting but something should be said for giving your mouth a little fun… allowing all the textures and flavors in one meal make it that much more satisfying.

salad

I love a good salad! This one consisted of lettuce, green olives, and some Morning Star Chicken Patties (which are not really chicken at all but taste just like they are)! So I cooked up those pseudo chicken patties and put it on top of a nice bed of lettuce! I also find these are so much better than lunch because the lettuce and everything just seems more fresh.

spinach 2spinach

I also try to get some spinach in my diet where I can and I have found that I actually really like hard boiled eggs! So (again another night at my parents) we had a nice side of a lot of spinach and some peppers, onions, and a whole lot of vitamins and nutrients.

So there are some food updates for you! Enjoy!!

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Jan 31, 2012

Tasty Tuesdays- Take 1

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Take 1 of Tasty Tuesdays! Over the past week I would say I have been trying to get back on track with healthy choices… my will-power does fail me sometimes but I’ve been doing my best to ensure the right choice is right in front of me!

Veggie Burger Salad w/ Strawberries

So I headed back to my faithful veggie burger on a salad! This time I even added a pickle on the side… ahh the good life! So this salad had everything on it… lettuce (which I need to eat A LOT of us because I bought a massive things from Sam’s Club), olives, fat free shredded mozzarella cheese, Morning Star Veggie Burger, and a hardboiled egg. It didn’t seem right to put salad dressing on a burger that day so I actually topped it off with a teaspoon of Breakstone Fat Free Sour Cream! DELICIOUS! Seriously, the best fat free sour cream I have ever had.

Then I ate my masterpiece. I didn’t finish the entire thing but needed something sweet afterward… so I ate a few big and delicious strawberries!

So filling I couldn’t finish the entire thing! 

and of course I need a little dessert!

Chicken Sausage and saladI had a soccer game this past Sunday that my parents attended! It is so nice to have my parents there to support me just like they did when I was a tiny little thing. They placed themselves perfectly in the spectator section so my dad was able to offer up helpful words of advice while I was on the field. I remember getting frustrated by this in high school but I found it VERY helpful! It is amazing what other people can see on the field from a different view point.After the game we headed back to our house for dinner! Tim and I cooked up some chicken sausage from Sam’s Club (which we are OBSESSED with) and had peppers and onions on the side. The boys made sandwiches and the girls had them “naked”. My mom had brought over a tasty salad that we enjoyed with the sausage and I made some guacamole as an appetizer. That disappeared too quickly and I didn’t even get to snap a picture but you can just take my word for it that it was delicious!Chicken sausage makes for a great family meal!

 100% Steel Oats for Breakfast

So clearly we had a very successful trip to Sam’s club based on my other meals! While we were there I also spotted these 100% steel oats (less than 200 calories) breakfast treat in the frozen section. A girl at work has been eating these for a few weeks and I eye it up every time I see her coming out of the kitchen so I bought them to give them a try. They are “Good Food Made Simple” and they have all natural ingredients. They come in a box of 8 individual wrapped servings on the oats and all you go in unwrap and pop in the microwave for 3 minutes.

Now I will say that they are not as sweet as the tasty instant oatmeal that comes in all sorts of flavors now but they are good and very filling. Any time I can find a breakfast that will keep me full is a win for me. Plus, it’s an easy thing to travel to work with which is more than an added bonus.

What I love most is that the box of 8 comes in 2 different flavors. 4 with honey and 4 with berries… which is perfect for me because sometimes I am feeling a sweet honey flavor and other times I just want come fruit.  I may even put some extra fruit in it next time I have it!

This is the box it comes in...

and the package comes individual like this...

and after 3 short minutes in the microwave, you get this!

Egg Salad

Tim loves egg salad! We don’t eat it often but anytime I start to hard-boil an egg I hear a little voice from the living room saying… “are you making egg salad with that” usually it wasn’t my plan but it is delicious and it makes him happy so we almost always do!

While Tim loves to EAT egg salad I should mention here he is not a huge fan of making it… he claims that I make it better which I guess I do make it with love because I know how much he likes to eat it and I don’t mind at all!

So this time around we made the egg salad with this mayo that the lady at the Asian market recommended. She recommended it for potato salad but Tim said go for it and I’m glad we did… just delicious! I have no idea what brand of mayo or anything because it just came in an unlabeled bottle with a red cap. If I find out exactly what it is- I will let you know!

So in our egg salad we put about 5 hard-boiled eggs, mayo, a little blast of regular mustard (we use Frischs yellow mustard), a small amount of vinegar and a little bit of sugar! Let it sit and get cold overnight and it makes a heck of a lunch! One time I did make this was Greek yogurt instead of mayo and I think I may have used a little bit of that delicious Breakstone Sour Cream but this new mayo was a nice treat!

Tim LOVES egg salad!

A Special Drink

I should mention here that I don’t really have any drinking habits… well I mean besides my love obsession with red wine. I don’t drink coffee on a daily basis, I’m not a big tea fan, and I try not to drink pop/soda if I can help it… but every now and then I do like a taste (especially Fresca)! But when I travel to Miami for work I always get spoiled with a delicious espresso beverage… oh the joys of working on an espresso business.

Now I can’t go crazy and do a serious straight up espresso. I get it with milk and well a little bit ok I lied.. A LOT of sugar. In Spanish they are called a “cortadito” and this lovely woman makes the most delicious ones! She knows I can’t really speak a lick of They are some serious business and can keep you up all night long but oooo I love them. I have no idea how she makes them so delicious but if I wanna give it a try google it and see what happens!

Look at that delicious(ness) I really wish that was a word!

Running

And I managed to sneak in a 3 mile run yesterday before I headed to the airport! I did 2 miles outside and 1 mile on the treadmill (in the opposite order haha). It was great to meet my mom and see her before I headed out of the cold and into the sunshine!!

it was cold but it was worth it!

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