Spiral Noodle Ala Vodka

"Yesterday, I bought a jar of vodka pasta sauce.  I haven't had this in awhile so I thought it would be a nice change from the standard marinara sauce.  In a lot of restaurants vodka sauce is used for a dish called Penne alla Vodka which uses penne pasta and is topped with the sauce.  I did not have penne pasta on hand, but I did have organic spiral veggie noodles, so I used them instead! Of course I wanted to have more flavor and texture in my pasta so I added sliced ham (which I needed to use up) chopped onion, peppers, garlic, chopped zucchini and mozzarella cheese. Wowser! Did it taste good! The vodka sauce was a great change of pace with it's creamier texture and less of the tomato acid taste."

Wiki Says:

Vodka sauce is an Italian sauce made from a relatively smooth tomato sauce, plus cream, vodka, and typical Italian herbs. It gained popularity in the 1970s, when a variation won a national recipe contest in Italy.^{[citation needed]} It is a key ingredient in penne alla vodka, although it may well have been a sauce before its "invention" in the 1970s.
The vodka's function is, ostensibly, to release flavors in the tomato that are normally inaccessible; using alcoholic beverages for this purpose is common in Italian cooking, although this is usually accomplished with wine.^{[1]- Wiki.}

Turkey, Cheddar Enchiladas with a Side Salad

" I know this sort of looks like lasagna, but it's not.  It is an enchilada!  Instead of cutting them long ways, I cut them width ways.  In a restaurant this would not be a good idea, but at home the rules are not as strict.  Right?  The enchiladas were pretty mild in regards to spice, but they still had a the red chili flavor. I could taste the layer of cheese on the bottom and the turkey meat in the center surrounded by the baked whole wheat tortilla. The salad was simple. It was Arugula, tomatoes, English Cucumber and a few Croutons for crunch. If you've read my past blogs you will see I use salad a lot as a side.  It is quick and easy, healthy and you can change it up with the vegetables you have on hand and various types of dressing. "

Enchiladas Method

1. Lightly spray 8 inch square pan and preheat the oven to 400 degrees

2. Brown turkey meat or ground beef whichever you prefer

3. Fill Tortilla with meat and cheese, roll and place in the pan.  The pan should hold about 4 tortillas.  Now you could double the recipe and do 8 in a 9x 13.  You could also use corn tortillas if you wanted. 

4. Top with Frontera Red Chili Enchilada Sauce and Cheddar Cheese

5. Bake for 20 minutes

If you could choose would your rather have an enchilada, taco or burrito?

Ham, Cheese and Arugula Frittata with Snow Peas

"I had a lot of eggs in the fridge that I wanted to use up, so I decided to make these individual frittatas.  I also had leftover snow peas from two nights ago that needed to be used too.  As I've mentioned before, I'm all about using the ingredients that you have to make dinner. The fritattas were filled with ham, provolone cheese, arugula, salt, pepper and a little bit of chili powder. I followed the recipe below, but made several changes which I have noted."

Now Wiki says the following about a Fritatta:

Frittata is an egg-based dish similar to an omelette or quiche, enriched with additional ingredients such as meats, cheeses, vegetables or pasta. It may be flavored with herbs.

"The possibilities are endless when it comes to a frittata. You can add whatever meats, cheeses, vegetables or herbs that you want."

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/ham-and-cheese-mini-frittatas-recipe/index.html


The changes that I made to the recipe are as follows:
1. I used a regular 6 cup muffin tin instead of the 24 mini muffin tin
2. I used 3 Slices of provolone instead of Swiss cheese
3. I used 3 slices of the deli ham instead of the Canadian Bacon
4. I added a little chili powder for a little extra flavor
5. I used chopped arugula instead of the chives
6. I used 7 eggs
7. I baked the frittatas for 20 minutes instead of 12.

"The fritattas tasted great! I will definitely redo this recipe! I was able to get pick out each of the different ingredients as I was taking a bite.  Next time, I will use whatever ingredients I have on hand at that time.  If you enjoy omelets you will enjoy a frittata! " 

"The snow peas were simply boiled in water till tender then drizzled with salt, pepper and olive oil.  You really don't have to add much to these as they have there own sweet flavor."

Do you need to clean out your fridge and make a frittata?



Chicken Legs with an Arugula Salad

"I ate my meal in two parts last night.  The first part was the salad and the second part was the chicken.  The chicken was not completely thawed when I put it on the grill so it took a little longer then anticipated until it was cooked completely.  I was starving, but one thing you don't want to mess with is raw chicken.  Eating it is asking for a stomach disaster!"

"Stage one of dinner was a Fresh Arugula Salad with English Cucumber, Tomato, Onion, Chopped Cashews, Salt, Pepper and Fat Free Italian Dressing.  Now if you are looking for a lesser fat nut topping I would recommend almonds instead of the cashews."

"Stage two was the Organic Chicken Leg.  To make the chicken leg I lightly brushed both sides of the leg with olive oil. Then I sprinkled both sides with my own spice mixture which consisted of salt, pepper, dried parsley and poultry seasoning.  Once the chicken was prepped I put both legs on the grill for about 20 mins.  The outside of skin was crisp and looked done, however the inside was still raw.  So I removed the legs from the grill and put them in the oven set at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.  By finishing the chicken in the oven, the inside got cooked with out burning the outside and the chicken still kept the "grilling" flavor.  When the chicken was done it was tender and had great flavor from the seasoning on the outside.  The outside skin tasted marvelous, but I only had a little piece of it because I know it is terrible for me."

Question: 

What is your favorite seasoning mixture or sauce to put on chicken that is being grilled or baked?

Mahi Mahi, Snow Peas and Rice

" What you see before you is Grilled Mahi Mahi with a berry salsa, snow peas and brown rice.  This meal is going to be a repeat as it was good and here are some of the reasons why : the fish was flaky and not dry, the berry salsa was a nice compliment to the fish and full of fruit flavor, the rice was soft, but not mushy and had a little lemon flavor which also went well with the fish, the snow peas were crisp and buttery."

Mahi Mahi Method

1. Preheat the grill

2. Season each fillet of fish with salt and pepper on both sides

3. Grill 5- 8 minutes per side - Should be flaky, not raw, not over done - But Just Right!

Berry Salsa Method

1. Put 1/2 cup of strawberries, 1/2 cup of raspberries and a 1/2 cup of blueberries/blackberries in a bowl - Fresh berries are always best, but I did not have them on hand so I thawed and drained frozen berries

2. Season berries with Salt and Pepper

3. Chop one shallot or 1/2 an onion and mix with berries

4. Add 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil, 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar and 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar.  You could also use 1 tablespoon of white wine or white wine vinegar instead of the vinegars above. 

5. Stir it all together and use for topping on fish

Snow Peas

1. Boil water, put snow peas in boiling water and turn down heat to medium low

2. Boil about 10 minutes - maybe more, maybe less - I always take one out and eat it to check for doneness

Brown Rice

1. I followed the package directions

2. Added about a tablespoon of lemon juice, salt and pepper to season

Anyone know the average lifespan of a Mahi Mahi fish?

If you guessed 4-5 years, you are correct!!!!!

Grass Fed Burger's on the Gril

"Last night, I ate a grilled grass fed burger with sauteed arugula, cheddar cheese and tomato on a bun.  As a side I had a gouda cheese pasta salad and an edamme mushroom salad. The burger's flavor was amazing and the meat was very tender the only problem was it did not hold together very well on the grill.  Not sure why? I took the ground beef and added 1 egg, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, ketchup, mustard and worcester sauce.  Maybe I went a little too heavy on the ketchup/mustard/ worcester?  Not sure! They tasted great, but I will have to change my ratio's next time in hopes of them holding together.  No recipe, just eyed everything so maybe this is part of the problem.  The sides I bought from the grocery store.  The pasta salad had a lovely smooth gouda flavor and the edamme and mushrooms had a vinager based dressing which was nice."

A Gluten Free Birthday Celebration

"  My husband and I celebrated our dear friend's birthday and enjoyed a gluten free meal together.  For those of you who are not familiar with gluten free let me take a little time to explain.  Gluten is the mixture of proteins found in wheat grains, which are not soluble in water and give wheat dough elasticity. Some people are not able to properly digest foods with gluten so they go on a gluten free diet to aid in digestion.  For some, gluten may cause a few adverse affects, but for those who have been diagnosed with something called Celiac's Disease, eating gluten can be a chronic nutritional disturbance which causes major problems in their body.  Keep in mind that I have not spent a lot of time researching Celiac's disease and a gluten free diet, but this at least gives you a basic understanding."

" I'm sure most of you are probably thinking, wow, I'm glad I don't have to eat gluten free.  I can understand why you would think that.  I love my pasta, cookies, pizza and pretzels too, but guess what?  A gluten free meal if properly prepared can be great! As time goes on, more and more people are having to switch to a gluten free diet so the availability of new types of gluten free flours, cookies, pasta etc are becoming easier to find. "

"Thus far, I myself have not had a problem eating foods with gluten ,so I probably won't make a major change in my diet in this regard.  However, I find this diet to be interesting and since one of my best friends eats gluten free I was excited to learn more about cooking/baking foods that she can enjoy. When I was in culinary school I did practice making gluten free cakes, but it's been since then that I have tried doing this again.   It being my friends birthday, I asked her what her favorite dessert was and what her favorite foods were.  Two of the items she mentioned I decided to try.  The first was a yellow birthday cake with homemade frosting.  The second was macaroni and cheese. " 

"Below is the picture of the cake.  It tasted amazing! I was actually surprised myself at how good it tasted. It was very light and sort of just melted in your mouth.   I cheated a little and used a gluten free yellow cake box mix which was the flour/baking powder base.  To the base I added butter, eggs, milk and gluten free vanilla.  The frosting was butter, powdered sugar(you need to double check that the powdered sugar, as some do have gluten in them), gluten free vanilla and milk.  Lastly, I decorated the cake with all natural sugar that I dyed with a purple tint, purple frosting writing and design and chocolate roses made from homemade modeling chocolate. "

The lines on the roses are a little hard to see in the picture.

Modeling Chocolate Method

1. Melt dark or semi sweet chocolate over a double boiler - 4oz

2. Let Chocolate Cool

3. Stir in Corn Syrup that has been heated just to a boil  to the chocolate mixture- 2oz

4. Chocolate and Corn Syrup will form a paste

5. Refrigerate for about 1 hour

6. Slightly knead dough and model with it

"As I mentioned, the second dish that I made was gluten free macaroni and cheese."  It also tasted 10 million times better than I thought.  If I didn't know it was gluten free I never would have guessed.  The macaroni was tender, the cheese was gooey goodness and the sprouted grain bread crumbs on the top added the texture that the dish needed.  Sorry I don't have a picture of this one, but you can let your imagination run wild. The recipe below does not call for the bread crumbs on the top, but I recommend adding them.  I simply took Ezekiel bread and grounded it up to make the crumbs."

Macaroni and Cheese Method

http://glutenfreemom.typepad.com/gluten_free_mom/2008/02/gluten-free-mac.html

"Along with the cake and mac and cheese I also ate moist rotisserie bbq chicken and fresh corn on the cob. The corn on the cob does have some proteins in it, but is still ok on the gluten free diet."

" It truly was a great meal that I will remember.  My question for you?  Did you ever eat a gluten free piece of cake, cookie or bowl of pasta?  If you have, how did it taste?  If you haven't, TRY IT!!!!!! "