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Smooth and Fantastical Mashed Potatoes

20 Wednesday Jun 2012

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Smooth and Fantastical Mashed Potatoes
Sweet Fancy Moses! These babies are restaurant quality and SO EASY TO MAKE you’ll never go back to instant potatoes. Ever.
You’ll need: potatoes {russet, yukon, red skinned…whatever you feel like and/or have on hand,} green onions, garlic, dill, butter, milk, salt and a good mixer
TOTAL PREP+COOK TIME: 40 minutes
~ Wash your potatoes and put them in a pot of water; bring to a boil. Once boiling, continue to cook in the boiling water for 30 minutes. Drain.
~ Put cooked potatoes into mixing bowl and slice into pieces.
~ Thinly chop the green onions, garlic, dill and add to the potatoes.
~ Start up the mixer and slowly add a slice or two of butter, a splash of milk and a dash of salt. Pretty much, you want to add the milk until you get a nice consistency and the butter and salt to taste. Once you have a nice consistency, VOILA, you’re done!
A friend told me several years ago that she made her mashed potatoes in her KitchenAid stand mixer. What?! This was a ground-breaking idea to me. I’d grown up watching my mom boil her potatoes, peel them, and then hand-mash them. It took forEVER and they were usually lumpy. Sorry, mom 😦 Not only does putting the potatoes into the mixer save time, it gives you a nice, smooth consistency every time. If you’re trying to eat clean like I am, this is a much more desirable {and tasty} option than using potatoes from a box. Actually…I’ve got boxed potatoes in my cupboard that are about a year old. I don’t think I’ll be needing them 😉

Fall-Off-the-Bone Turkey

20 Wednesday Jun 2012

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Fall-Off-the-Bone Turkey
Yes, you read that right! This recipe will give you a turkey so succulent and juicy the meat literally falls off the bone. Your children will gobble {ha!} it up without gravy or ketchup because it’s really that good!
You’ll need: a turkey, EVOO, salt, lemon juice, carrots, celery, an onion, rosemary and thyme
Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Cooking time: 4 hours, depending on the size of your bird
~ Pre-heat oven to 400
~ Remove fully-thawed turkey from packaging; then remove innards, neck, face, etc from the turkey cavity. Rinse with cool water and pat dry. Place in roasting pan. I got this succulent bird from Bowman Landes: free-range, grain-fed and HORMONE FREE!
~ Splash lemon juice into the empty turkey cavity. Toss in a little salt.
~ Chop the celery, carrots and onion; fill the center cavity with the veggies. Close the legs and position the bird breast-side up in the pan.
~ Drizzle the bird with enough EVOO to coat all the surfaces, then lightly sprinkle with salt, rosemary and thyme. Turn the bird over in the pan {breast-side down} and repeat. Put pan into oven. {The key to amazing turkey is to cook it breast-side down, against the pan – no rack. Yes, it looks a little backwards, but once you taste it you won’t care!}
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS, from Simply Recipes
For a 15lb turkey, start the cooking at 400 for the first 1/2 hour. Reduce the heat to 350 for the next 2 hours. Then reduce the heat again to 225 for the next hour and a half. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU DOUBLE-CHECK THE COOKING INSTRUCTIONS ON YOUR TURKEY’S PACKAGING. If your turkey is smaller, the above instructions will over-cook it. If your turkey is larger, you’ll need to cook longer.

Strawberries & Cream

19 Tuesday Jun 2012

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Light, Tasty Strawberries & Cream
It’s summer! What better way to end your dinner than some fresh strawberries over spongy cake cups with a little cream on top?
I totally cheated. To make the above tasty deliciousness, you’ll need:
fresh strawberries, Cool-Whip and spongy cake cups {these were non-special Meijer brand.}
~ Plate the cake cup.
~ Wash strawberries; cut off stem, then quarter and arrange in the cup, points facing out. If the strawberries are small, cut a second strawberry in half and put in the center of the opened strawberry pieces.
~ Add a dollup of cream!
The strawberries are sweet enough, there is no sugar needed! It’s lighter than an ice cream but just as cool and satisfying after a summer dinner.

Nutella

14 Thursday Jun 2012

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Nutella
Imagine, if you will, that you’re late to work, you can’t find your shoes, you’re only wearing one earring, and you have three tiny faces staring at you with hunger in their eyes…what do you do?? You get out the Nutella! It’s like creamy chocolate peanut butter {technically it’s hazlenut.} If you have 2 minutes, a toaster and some whole grain bread, you can make a warm Nutella sammich {after the toast pops out of the toaster, spread the Nutella and fold the bread in half to make a half-sammich.} It’s warm and tasty and you can eat it with one hand while flying out the door!
Note: the Pepperidge Farm 15 grain bread shown above pairs well with the Nutella due to a nutty taste all its own!

From their website:
Nutella® hazelnut spread was first imported from Italy to the U.S. over 25 years ago by Ferrero U.S.A., Inc. The popularity of Nutella® has grown steadily over the years and it is the number one selling branded hazelnut spread in America.
The unique taste of Nutella® hazelnut spread continues to come from the combination of roasted hazelnuts, skim milk and a hint of cocoa. In addition, Nutella® has no artificial colors or preservatives.
Nutella® spread, in its earliest form, was created in the 1940s by Mr. Pietro Ferrero, a pastry maker and founder of the Ferrero company. At the time, there was very little chocolate because cocoa was in short supply due to World War II rationing. So Mr. Ferrero used hazelnuts, which are plentiful in the Piedmont region of Italy (northwest), to extend the chocolate supply.

Grilled Chicken with Mango Chutney

14 Thursday Jun 2012

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Grilled Chicken with Mango Chutney
You’ll need: Tyson Grilled & Ready chicken chunks, Sharwood’s mango & ginger chutney and Patak’s coconut curry simmer sauce
Prep time: 3ish minutes
~ Spread chicken chunks into a single layer in a pan.
~ Drizzle chicken with chutney and curry.
~ Bake for 20min at 375
Serve with Jasmine rice. If you want to get fancy, chop up some green onion and sprinkle over the chicken after you plate it.
Try this for an amazing, light BBQ taste. Don’t be afraid of the curry; yellow curries are very mild. My kids love it!
Note: The mango chutney is also AH-MA-ZING on salmon, too!

Savory Salmon

14 Thursday Jun 2012

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Savory Salmon
{This is not my recipe…it’s a great find from Pinterest!}
You’ll need: salmon, a lemon, butter, black pepper, tin foil
Prep time: 3ish minutes
~ Cut your lemon into medium-sized wedges and place in the middle of the tin foil square.
~ Center the salmon over the lemon wedges.
~ Lay thin strips of butter on the salmon; lightly sprinkle with black pepper.
~ Tightly wrap the salmon in the tin foil. Note: do not double-wrap the salmon – it will take longer to cook.
~ Bake for 30min at 300
Super moist, super tasty…you can’t go wrong with this!
*Note: in the future I’m going to try EVOO instead of the butter…

Balsamic Chicken

14 Thursday Jun 2012

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Balsamic Chicken*
You’ll need: chicken cutlets, feta cheese, black pepper, FRESH GARLIC, black olives, green olives, EVOO, and Bolthouse Farm’s EVOO Balsamic vinaigrette dressing
Prep time: 5ish minutes
~ Lightly coat the bottom of your baking dish with EVOO.
~ Lay your chicken cutlets out in the dish so that they are close but not touching.
~ Liberally coat the chicken with the vinaigrette dressing.
~ Lightly sprinkle the chicken with the pepper, garlic, and olives.
~ Bake for 30min at 350
To plate: I put a spoonful of veggie rice on the plate with the chicken in the center of the rice, sprinkled with feta on top.
Note: pears are a great taste match with the balsamic chicken.
*FEAR NOT – this is a kid-approved recipe! All three of my children  cleaned their plates before I had a chance to even put the food on my own plate! It was also suggested that we eat this every night for dinner for the rest of the week…

Stuffed Chicken

14 Thursday Jun 2012

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Stuffed Chicken
You’ll need: chicken breasts, mozzarella cheese, Italian herbs, FRESH GARLIC, chunky tomato sauce, V8, and a pasta of your choice
Prep time: 5ish minutes
~ Coat the bottom of your baking dish with V8.
~ Take your thawed chicken and make a horizontal cut down the length of the meat. You’re making a pocket for the stuffing. Personally, I cut the breasts into servings BEFORE I make the pockets so that each person has their own stuffed chicken breast. It also makes the presentation look nicer.
~ Once your pockets are cut, fold the flap open and lay down a layer of mozzarella cheese. After the cheese, sprinkle your Italian herbs and your garlic. Close the flap.
~ Lightly cover the top of the chicken breasts with the chunky sauce. Drizzle the sauce with more mozzarella cheese, Italian herbs, and garlic.
~ Bake for 30min at 350
After the chicken has gone into the oven, put the water on to boil for the pasta. If you do this, your pasta noodles will be ready at the same time your chicken is done.
To plate: I put a little bit of pasta on the plate, covered lightly with spaghetti sauce, followed by the chicken on top. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.
To get our veggie in, I serve a salad with this dish.

Domesticated Goddess

14 Thursday Jun 2012

Posted by in Food & Recipes, General, I am WOMAN!

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I’ve been accused of being a Domestic Goddess. Yup, you caught me…

I’m no goddess. I’m not even Martha Stewart. It’s taken me about a year, but I’ve finally figured out how to streamline dinner. I’ve kicked my beloved Coke® to the curb {sorry, Precious,} and I’ve made a renewed commitment to feed myself and my children better food. “Better food” means little or no processed things…no more boxed potatoes…chicken nuggets…fish sticks… I don’t know about you, but by the time my children descend upon my kitchen they are RAVENOUS. How, then, do you eat healthier, ultra-mega yummy food ready in about 30 minutes? Here are some tips:

PLAN AHEAD!
Maybe it’s because I’m pretty much always thinking about food, but planning ahead has helped me A LOT. I used to come home and spend 20 minutes scouring the freezer, cupboards, etc for a hodge-podge of anything edible. We’d end up eating overly processed “food” that was tasteless and unhealthy right before bedtime. By thinking about what I want to make for TOMORROW’S dinner, I can make sure I have all the ingredients together. If I need to swing by the store to pick up a piece of dinner, I can. 10 minutes at the grocery store on the way home is STILL less than the 20 minutes I used to spend hunting for something to throw together.

DEFROST, DEFROST, DEFROST!
I can’t stress it enough. Nothing is more aggravating and wastes more time than having to stop to run hot water over some chicken that has confused its mass with that of an ice-brick. Or, heaven forbid, you stick it in the microwave for the quick defrost and dry it out. YUK! Nobody wants to try to saw through dried out meats.  My best practice is this: get the chicken {beef, turkey, pork, fish} out of the freezer the evening before and let it sit in the sink for a few hours. Frozen food comes back to life best when it can defrost gradually. Before I go to bed, I put the package in the refrigerator. By the time dinner comes around the next day, the meat is perfectly thawed and ready to go. {The only time this DOESN’T WORK is if you’re defrosting something huge, such as a whole chicken or turkey. Those birds generally take 2-3 days in the refrigerator to defrost after being completely frozen.} PS: Meats should not look fuzzy or fringey; this isn’t the 70s. Moist meat should cut well, have perfect, defined edges, and have some sort of juice squirt down your chin when you stick it in your face. Amazing meat will literally fall off the bones and can be cut with a fork.

GARLIC
Fresh garlic makes “meh” AMAZING. It takes two minutes to chop. No excuses! Start chopping, Nancy.