Menu and Short Thanksgiving Recap

Sunday - red potatoes, Italian sausage, and kale (sauteed together with olive oil, salt, pepper, and cayenne)
Monday - Italian beef (eating the last of it didn't end up happening last week because our friends came a day earlier!) 
Tuesday - homemade spaghetti (from the freezer)
Wednesday - curry chicken served on rice, and naan
Thursday - tacos and pineapple
Friday - salsa chicken, rice, and peas

One of these days I'll do a post about the vegetables we most commonly eat with all of these meals that I post without a veggie listed. I don't always know what will be on sale or what will look good, but we definitely have some simple staples.

Here are a few pictures from Thanksgiving and the couple of days afterwards.

So thankful for them and their hard work cleaning up!

The next two are from pasta making on Friday!

The gang : )

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Not just because of the food, family, and friends, but because God has blessed you in countless other ways as well.

Now on to Christmas!

A Short Menu - And Pretzels Rolls

It's almost the week of Thanksgiving! This means you could all guess what I'm making on Thursday, no use in posting that. I'm not exactly sure what I'm making Friday, though I know it will include homemade pasta...thanks for the suggestion Kelly! And on Saturday I will be working in the evening. This leaves Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. 

Okay, well I suppose I can share those three : )

Monday - fresh mozzarella and kale salmon burgers -- probably served with green beans
Tuesday - Italian beef sandwiches (sad to have the last of it, but so excited to eat it!)
Wednesday - turkey sausage and tortellini soup (beef broth, kale, onions, dash of cayenne. Easy peasy)

So here is the exciting part. Pretzels rolls! I have tried two different recipes and the one I linked for you was far superior. Not necessarily in flavor (don't get me wrong, it was definitely better), but specifically concerning the gorgeous brown color they gave me.

Here are pictures from my first two attempts:

Looks good, but not quite right.

Now THAT is beautiful!

I followed the recipe almost exactly. If you follow the link it says that the recipe is for two loaves, but it also gives a slight variation for eight rolls at the bottom. That is what I followed. It also does not tell you to sprinkle them with salt, but I think this is very important. As you can see, I just sprinkled on a bit of course sea salt. My dough did not rise well at all and it didn't cause any problems. Oh! And I have made these two times now and the second time I used 1/2 a cup of baking soda instead of 3/4 of a cup and it didn't seem to make a difference. The only thing that can be difficult with these is if the baking soda is bubbling up too much. A couple of my rolls from the last batch didn't get flipped over, so they were double-boiled on one side. Just made the bottom a tiny bit crispy and they needed to bake a couple of minutes longer. Next time I make these I am going to shape them as buns for brats! 

Yummy yummy!

What I Ate Last Wednesday

I have to confess that for two of my meals I forgot to take pictures of my serving....oops! I managed to take pictures of the food I ate, just not my specific portion. Thankfully, that's easy enough to explain : )

Here it goes!

Breakfast - about 1 cup of Kashi Cinnamon Harvest cereal with about 1 cup of milk -- I buy this cereal (or the Island Vanilla flavor) whenever it's on sale. It's tasty, and for a cereal, also healthy! Very few ingredients, organic, and doesn't list sugar as seven different words within the first 15 ingredients! But I must say that now and then I miss peanut butter crunch! 

Lunch - tomato bisque and grilled cheese -- leftover soup with an end-piece grilled cheese. Can't let those things go to waste.

Snack - 1 orange, a few baby carrots, and 3 slices of orange pepper -- was feeling low on orange produce I guess! A different color each day of the week would be a fun way to eat. Or maybe not.

Dinner - cassoulet (which was highly recommended in my previous post!) -- I had a serving size which included a small portion of a duck breast, 1 sausage, and probably about 1 cup of the bean/veggie mixture

Yum yum yum! Cassoulet was my favorite dish of my day. What was your favorite dish of your day?

Menu and Cassoulet

Monday - fennel-potato-turkey sausage bake
Tuesday - biscuits and gravy topped with poached eggs, sliced pears - this time I will actually make it!...it got pushed off the menu a couple of times due to the longer life of the breakfast sausage compared to other things I ended up having in my fridge.
Wednesday - Curried Pumpkin Pasta with Chicken, Peas, and Toasted Walnuts
Friday - duck broth with orange spiced duck dumplings  - My duck was thawed for a previous meal, so I made the components for this soup on a morning that I had off of work and put it all in the freezer for a quick meal at a later point in time. I think of these dumplings more as meatballs after making them.

I'm leaving the weekend "open" this time as far as cooking. Probably a chicken soup, but maybe a chicken veggie stir fry, or maybe something entirely different...not quite sure.

I know that I mentioned  a couple of weeks ago that I was going to share a healthy pumpkin muffin recipe that I created and I never did. The reason is because they were great when they were fresh, but a couple of days later I felt like they did need a bit of changing. I will most likely try out another new and improved version on Wednesday or Thursday, and I will share the recipe as soon as I have it just right!

One more thing - everyone, please do yourself a favor and make this Cassoulet!

It took 3 hours (not including soaking the beans, cutting my duck and making the duck confit because that happens the day before), but it was not too difficult and so tasty!

There isn't much  to say concerning the process of cutting my duck, but it went something like this: 

"ehhhh....this feels nothing like a chicken!" 

I then proceeded to cut it up following the same procedure as for a chicken and didn't run into any trouble : )

Curried Pumpkin Pasta with Chicken Peas and Toasted Walnuts

You may have noticed a pumpkin pasta dish on my menu a couple of times recently. I said I would give a review of it, and I did, but now I need to review my new version with the changes I made and share the recipe! The main difference is the spices I used. Adding the chicken and cheese also made Marshall happy! This version that I am sharing suits our taste much better : )

 Curried Pumpkin Pasta with Chicken, Peas, and Toasted Walnuts

Total time: 45 minutes          Serves: 3-4

 6 oz. dry pasta (about 2 cups – farfalle and penne work well)

 1 tbsp. butter

 1 cup of milk

 2 tbsp. flour

1/2-3/4 cup pumpkin puree

1 1/2 tbsp. chopped fresh sage (I’ve used parsley)

1/2 tsp. salt

        2 tsp. curry powder

 1 tsp. cumin

 1/4 tsp. garlic powder

 1/8 tsp. nutmeg

 1 cup frozen peas

 1 chicken breast, cooked and cubed

 ½ - 1 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese

 1/4 cup walnuts, toasted and ground

Instructions

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

-In a medium pot bring salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta until almost cooked through.

-While pasta is cooking melt butter in a medium pot over medium heat. Once melted, add the flour to make a rue.

-Add the milk and whisk until combined with the rue.

-Toast walnuts in a small pan over medium heat for 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally until fragrant and browned. Once the walnuts are toasted, pulse in a food processor until they resemble breadcrumbs. This can also be done ahead of time.

-Add the pumpkin, herbs, and spices to the milk. Stir well and heat through.

-Strain pasta once it is almost cooked and add it to your sauce pot along with the chicken and peas. Stir to combine and pour into a casserole dish.

-Top evenly with cheese and toasted walnut crumbs.

-Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and starting to brown.

If you are looking for something new to do with pumpkin this is a good place to start. My mind automatically goes to sweet when I think of pumpkin but it doesn't have to be that way.

Try savory pumpkin dishes before the pumpkins are gone!

Menu and a Surprise

Monday - leftover soups -- We have quinoa-barley-veggie soup, fish stew (ended up making this instead of biscuits and gravy...highly recommended!), and after tonight we will also have tomato bisque. Certainly don't want all of these great soups going to waste!
Tuesday - fish stew -- we obviously liked it : )
Wednesday - cassoulet -- This is a French dish that I have never made before. Our friend Olivier (from France) will be joining us and I told him that I want his input (even criticism) since it's my first time making this. I'm hoping this will taste authentic!
Thursday - chicken tortilla soup -- tomato based chicken soup served over cubed cheese with crumbled tortilla chips on top (for our Bible study group).
Friday - homemade spaghetti from the freezer
Sunday - pasta with kale, olives, spicy turkey sausage and parmesan

Now for the surprise! 

I purchased something for the very first time two days ago. It was...

...A DUCK! If you peaked at the cassoulet recipe you may have noticed that it included duck, so maybe you are not surprised at all. But I sure am! I was planning to use chicken instead because I am not familiar with duck, plus I wasn't sure if I would find it at a grocery store that I have easy access to. Turns out that they have it at my usual grocery store but you have to ask for it. I asked (with much doubt) if they had any, and his question for me was "how many?" : O ....I shockingly responded with "I need one pound". He then said "no, like, they are whole ducks". He gave me the price and I said I'd take it. I gleefully left the store, walked home with my duck, and excitedly told Marshall about my purchase after arriving at home. So now I will spend some time on Wednesday reading about cutting and cooking them.

I can't imagine myself not discussing this process here on the blog. Hopefully this is something that you'll look forward to....pictures will be posted if they are not too graphic : )

Anybody happen to have a good duck recipe? I definitely have more than I need for the cassoulet.

Here Goes Nothin'....Or Maybe Something

I have been making all kinds of muffins for the past year(ish), but this one particular whole wheat breakfast muffin is still my go-to. Not to say I don't really like others, but I have this recipe memorized, it's versatile, and it's quite healthy. 30 minutes from start to finish once you get the hang of things (but after those 30 minutes you will still have to clean the muffin tin....if I had twitter I would say #worstpartofmakingmuffins....and by the way, that's called a pound sign, not a hashtag.). Anyway, that's enough about twitter and not enough about these great muffins!

The recipe is as follow:

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup "old fashion" oats
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• dash of nutmeg
• 1/4 cup canola oil (or favorite to bake with)
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 chopped pecans

- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix together all dry ingredients in a medium bowl, add to that the oil, egg, and milk (you can mix the wet ingredients together first if you'd prefer...sometimes I do). Once almost combined toss in the chocolate chips, cranberries, and pecans. Fold in until just combined. The last 3 ingredients are optional, but you certainly want to add in something. I've done everything from fresh berries to dried fruit to nuts to coconut flakes, etc. Grease muffin tin if you are not using muffin cups. Split evenly among 12 muffin cups. Bake 12 - 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool a few minutes in the muffin tin and then remove to a cooling rack.

Easy, quick, healthy, yummy. Great for breakfast or an afternoon snack!

Here is the nutritional analysis per muffin:

• Calories - 212
• Protein - 4.5 grams
• Carbohydrates - 27 grams
•  Fat - 9.5 grams
• Sugars - 12.5 grams
• Fiber - 3.5 grams

This analysis was for the exact recipe I showed you. Meaning - if you wanted to get the sugar down a bit it would be very easy to do. I don't generally add all of these things. You could take out the cranberries (not the chocolate!) or even cut the sugar to 1/3 cup and add an overripe banana. You could also cut the sugar to 1/3, eliminate the oil completely, and add 2 overripe bananas. I've messed around with this recipe a lot and they have always turned out good. I suppose if you really have to you could take out the chocolate.....fresh fruit alone is also delicious in these.

Experiment! : )

P.S. I somehow do not have a picture of these muffins....but in the end I suppose they look like most of the other whole wheat muffins I have posted.

Menu

Monday - cheesy chicken pasta with fresh basil, kale, and olives
Tuesday - bacon apple pork burgers with rosemary, kale and peas (not in the burger, on the side : )
Wednesday - quinoa barley and veggie soup (in a beef broth with kale, carrot, celery, and onion....something like that), probably homemade bread
Thursday - biscuits and gravy (produce from Thursday on is unknown....whatever looks good and is on sale!)
Friday - kalamata olive pizza
Saturday - tacos
Sunday -  tomato bisque and grilled cheese

Nothing else to share right now, but mid-week I'll be posting a brief nutritional analysis of my favorite breakfast muffin, and the recipe for a healthy pumpkin muffin that I've created! : )