Good to Be Back

Well, I've been gone, a while, from the blog-o-sphere. I'm back, but I won't make any promises on how "back " I am. Though I've recently organized all my recipes, so that's inspired me to get back on here. I need a hobby and a creative writing outlet, so I've missed this.
Here's one of my new favorite recipes. So favorite that I'll probably wear it out soon.

Pasta Salad with Chicken, Raisins, and Almonds - from Everyday Food

Serves 4 - Prep Time: 15 min - Total Time: 25 Min

This recipe works well using leftover or rotisserie chicken. Yougur and lemon create a tart, creamy sauce without adding a lot of fat.

Ingredients:
- coarse salt and ground pepper
- 8 ounces whole-wheat penne rigate (or other short pasta)
- 2 1/2 cups cooked shredded chicken
- 1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
- 1/2 cup golden raisins (optional - but they are great!)
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoons toasted almonds, coarsely chopped
- 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest, plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1. In a large pot of boiling slated water, coo pasta until al dent. Reserve 1/4 cup pasta water. Drain pasta, then rinse under cold water to stop the cooking.
2. In a large bowl, stir together pasta, chicken, yogurt, raisins, parsley, almonds, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Thin sauce with pasta water if needed. Season with salt and pepper. (To store, refrigerate, up to 1 day.)

per serv: 484 cal; 9.9 g fat (2.3 g sat fat); 56.4 g protein; 41.3 g carb; 7.8 g fiber

What I Was Looking For

Cool Southwestern Salad with Corn and Avocado

This was great and easy. Shortcuts to making it even easier would be to use frozen corn and pre-squeezed lime juice. I think you could substitute black beans for the pinto beans, if you prefer. This will probably make one of my future meal plans. I served it with tortilla chips.

Master Meal Plan Week 1-2

Vegetable Beef Soup (FR)
I know there are a lot of versions of this recipe, this just happens to be mine, borrowed from a cookbook. This is so easy just to put on the stove, or a crock pot. And you can make a lot to share or a lot to freeze.

3-4 lb chuck roast cut into 1" pieces 1/2 tsp pepper
vegetable oil whatever vegetables you want to add
1- 1 1/2 gallons water 4 medium potatoes, diced
1 large onion quartered 3 - 29oz. cans whole tomatoes cut-up 2 tbs salt (with fresh tomatoes, retain all juices)
Brown chuck roast in small amount of vegetable oil until juices are formed. Do not drain. Add water, onion, salt, and pepper. Bring to boil, then simmer for 2 hours with lid on. Add vegetables, potatoes, and tomatoes. Bring to boil, then gently simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Salt to taste.

Lime and Honey Glazed Salmon (H, F, *)
This one is a great flavor. Even the spinach/vegetable mixture on the side is good by itself. It does contains a lot of ingredients and takes me longer than the 30 minutes it does Rachel Ray, but it's definitely a favorite.

Chicken and Spinach Linguine
I really enjoy this meal and love the pine nuts. I usually add more pine nuts and sun-dried tomatoes than called for. Careful when you saute the pine nuts they can go from perfect to burnt very quickly. I've always thought it would be good to grill the chicken instead of saute it, but I've never tried it. Add a salad and some bread to this and you have a great company meal.

1/3 C pine nuts 1 1/2 C minced spinach (or rapini
1/2 C olive oil or Swiss chard)
1 lb chicken breast sliced 4 dried tomatoes in oil
375 gm linguine 1/2 C grated Romano cheese
2 garlic cloves, minced salt, pepper

Cook pine nuts until golden. Remove from heat, set aside. Heat 2 T olive oil; saute chicken, turning often for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Cook pasta as per package. Meanwhile, heat remaining oil. Saute garlic, pine nuts (setting a few aside for decoration) and spinach. Lower heat, add sliced dried tomatoes, cheese and chicken, then add pasta. Add salt and pepper. Decorate with remaining pine nuts.

Turkey Cutlets w/Rosemary Tomato Sauce (H)
Honestly I can't remember if I made this one or not. If I did it must not have made much of an impression.

OCD Grocery Shopping Continued - Week 1-1

If you read my other blog you probably read my post about OCD Grocery Shopping. Since this is my cooking blog, I've decided that I will expand on that post here. I'll start with my first week of meals from my first 5 week menu with links to recipes, suggestions, and my thoughts on the meals. I only have 4 meals per week because of our eating habits at the time this was created. My second menu collection has 5, but it will be awhile before I post that one. These are my goals for each menu plan:

1. Include 1 poultry, 1 seafood, 1 beef/pork, and 1 soup, salad, or vegetarian meal each week. The vegetarian (I simply mean meatless, I don't stick to any vegetarian standards) and salad thing didn't work so well, because we like our meat. But the thought is that one vegetarian or salad meal would reduce the cost of the weeks groceries.
2. Include at least one "quick" meal per week and schedule it for a hectic evening.
   
3. I group meals together that have the same ingredients so that you can use all the items you buy and they don't go to waste. When I make my grocery lists I have three categories: staples (bread, yogurt, milk, etc.) weekly staples (things I need to make the meals but probably already have, like olive oil, spices, etc.) and necessary ingredients (things specific to the meal that I don't keep on hand). Before I go to the store, I check each category and mark off what I don't need. Each category is listed in the order I walk through the store.

This whole concept really works for me when I am using it effectively. I could be in and out of the store in less than 45 minutes (and I'm talking Super WalMart on a Saturday morning) and was spending less. My total bill each week was $70-75 and that included other things I bought like toilet paper, paper towels, etc. Of course that was before all the prices started going up like crazy. If you would like a copy of my grocery list for this week let me know.

Week 1-1

• Quick Chicken and Corn Chowder (H,F)
  This one is great we love it. It has a nice little kick to it, and I do mean little.
• Easy Pesto Salmon (H,F)
  
• Spicy Mexican Skillet Chicken (H,F), with Cornbread or Chips and Salsa and Guacamole
  This is one of my "go-to" recipes when I need something quick, easy, healthy, and good.
• Flank Steak with Cilantro Almond Pesto (H)
  CDK made this one once, and we weren't real impressed. Plus I don't think I bought the right steak. So, we didn't try it again.

Tell me if you try any of these, what you think, and if you have suggestions for sides. Sides are my weakness.