Chicken and Broccoli Quinoa Mac and Cheese

I believe this blog is a testament to how much I like to cook; I hope that each of my readers understands that, despite my typically awful pictures and penchant for taking bites out of my food before I photograph it, I do care a lot about what I put on this blog and like to let you glimpse in at my successes (and failures!) in the kitchen.

I also like to confess, from time to time.

Today's confession:  I freakin' LOVE Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.

And if it's spiral mac and cheese - even better.  I LOVE IT.  (image)  With that said, I don't make enough money to support my mac and cheese habit, and I understand that processed, powdered cheese stuffs probably aren't the best for my diet.  A reinvention is obviously in order.

So the answer is obviously additional fake cheese stuffs.  I know, I know.  Not good.  But this recipe only uses two ounces of Velveeta.  Two lousy ounces.  How can you go wrong?!

1 1/2 cups fully cooked quinoa (about 3/4 cup dry)
2 chicken breasts, shredded or sliced
1/2 head broccoli, cut into small florets and steamed
2 ounces Velveeta
Tabasco, salt, and pepper (to taste)

Steam your broccoli until it's fork tender (I did this while I cooked my quinoa) and set aside.

I seasoned my chicken breasts with salt and pepper and grilled them on the stove top, then allowed them to cool, briefly, before shredding/slicing them.  Again, I did this while my quinoa was a-cookin'.

Since I cook my quinoa in the microwave, the next step was the easiest:  as soon as the quinoa was done, I threw the chicken, the broccoli, the Velveeta, and a bunch of Tabasco into the bowl that I used for my quinoa, stirred it all up until it was well-mixed and the cheese was nice and melty.  I seasoned it with salt and pepper, and then I sat my happy ass down and ate it.  It doesn't get much better than that.  Well, it does, but I'll need to buy stock in Kraft to see a return on my Mac & Cheese obsession.  Getting paid (in a roundabout way) to eat spiral mac and cheese WOULD be better. 

About that I cannot lie.

Nor about this:

Fendi via Bergdorf Goodman

WTF.

Health(ier) Pizza

I love pizza, and if I had the time I would consider making pizza a much more regular part of my diet, particularly when it tastes like this.

For the crust:

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar 

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.  In the mean time, combine the flour, olive oil, salt, and sugar.  When the yeast and water are good and frothy, add them to the flour mixture and stir well, until you have a nice stiff dough.  Let it rise in a lightly oiled bowl for about half an hour, until it's doubled in size.

I am a firm believer in par-baking pizza crusts (nobody likes a soggy crust).  So I preheat my oven to 350, then roll my dough out onto my baking stone and prick it a bunch of times with a fork.  Then I bake it for 12 minutes.

And it starts to get all puffy (but not TOO puffy!  That's what the pricking is for!) and golden brown.  Then I top it with lots of good stuff.

On this particular occasion, I went with store-bought pizza sauce, lots of spinach, mushrooms, and onions, followed by a little pepperoni and sausage and the mandatory mozzarella (I used a low-fat version).

Put the whole thing back in your 350 degree oven and bake it until it the cheese starts to bubble and the crust turns golden brown on the edges (cooking time will vary depending on toppings.  Since this pizza had many, many toppings it took about 20 minutes).  When I consider the expense of ordering pizza or making it myself, I really wonder why I ever call in an order.  This is just so easy!!!

Also easy is a great summer sandal, and I just received these last week.

Vince Camuto via Nordstrom

It is possible that I am, single-handedly, keeping my local Nordstrom in business.  But with shoes like this, how can I say no? 

Baked Spinach & Artichoke Dip

Despite the fact that this weekend was completely devoid of good football (random bowl games and my poor, pitiful Bears getting trampled by stupid New England does good football make) the BF and I decided a tasty dip was in order.  I wanted to try a baked spinach and artichoke dip, since I'd never made one before, and it turned out awesome!

In a large bowl, combine:

12 oz. room temperature cream cheese (I used fat free)
1/2 cup mayo (I used fat free)
1/2 cup sour cream (again, I used fat free)
3/4 cup finely grated parmesan (to negate all of the fat free, above)
1 bag of frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 12 oz. jar of marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
red pepper, to taste (I used a couple of teaspoons)
3/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1 tsp. salt

Pour the mixture into a 9x9 pan, top with a sprinkling of mozzarella cheese, and bake at 325 for about 25 minutes.  The dip ends up hot, bubbly, cheesy, and DELICIOUS.  I served mine with tortilla chips and sliced pita.  This would also be excellent with veggies or french bread.  Yum!

Since I am working largely from home these days, buying fancy shoes seems pretty pointless.  In fact, I work out of the house 2 days this week, then I am off of work UNTIL 2011!  It's seems so weird that it's going to be 2011!

Image via Minnetonka

Almost anybody from the north country (at least the parts where I'm from) can go on and on about the fabulous-ness of Minnetonka and their moccasins and slippers.  These slippers would be perfect for traipsing around my home office, with the occasional trip outside . . .

. . . when we aren't lounging in front of the space heater, that is.

Sunday Brunch: The Recipe

Since several people have indicated a burning desire to make my Sunday Brunch dish, I thought I would go ahead and post the recipe (since I failed in that the first time).  So hear ya go, peeps!  This is the recipe for the full 12 servings, but it's really easy to cut in half, for a smaller group.

1 pound pork sausage (I used hot sausage)
3/4 cup sliced button mushrooms
1 package frozen spinach (10 oz), thawed and drained
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1 small onion
3 eggs
1 and 1/2 c. egg substitute
1 cup half and half
1 cup skim milk
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Brown pork sausage with mushrooms and onion, until sausage is no longer pink.  Remove from heat and add spinach and 1/2 cup cheddar cheese.  Transfer into a 9x13 baker sprayed with cooking spray.

In a bowl, combine eggs, egg substitute, milk, half and half, and nutmeg.  Beat well and pour over sausage mixture.  Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  Top with last 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese, and let stand for 5 minutes.

Then serve!  And be amazed at what 195 calories tastes like!

Sunday Brunch

This has been nothing if not an uneventful, relaxing, and peaceful weekend, and for that I am happy.  Yesterday the BF and I nearly adopted a buddy for Arnie.

She, of course, was too busy looking super wiener-y and lounging in the Florida sunshine to care.  Perhaps she will get a buddy at a later date.

I found a recipe in an old issue of Healthy Cooking magazine that I was itching to try this morning:  sort of like a quiche . . . or a casserole . . . and it involved (in my case, hot) sausage, spinach, cheese and mushrooms, so I was a happy camper.

Also, each serving of this delicious treat was only 195 calories.  That made me a REALLY happy camper, because you'd never know from the flavor.

I cut the recipe in half, and it still made a TON of food.  This is another recipe I'll stash away for when the visitors start pouring back in (who would've thought that moving to Florida would make the BF and I so darn popular?!) and I need to impress with my mad cookin' skillllllz.

While I find myself in a situation where shopping is strictly forbidden, my toes are telling me that I could make an exception for these:

Elizabeth and James via Bergdorf Goodman.


My feet would be happy, because they would be warm; my toes would be happy, because they would be free; and (most importantly) I would be happy because . . . well . . . look at them!

Cubed, Hacked, and Delicious

My absolute FAVORITE foodie blog (I have absolute FAVORITE other blogs, usually that relate to fashion and interior design) is Smitten Kitchen.  The author, Deb, is absolutely charming and endearing in her delivery, she has an adorable child whom she sometimes shares photos of, and she cooks and bakes things that I could only dream of making.

I decided to try her cubed, hacked caprese today, for our Saturday football appetizer, and it did not disappoint.  I love all things related to tomatoes and cheese (especially fresh mozzarella) and this recipe is no exception.

That's the salad all mixed up.  YUM.  I decided to toast some french bread, then drizzle it with olive oil and rub it with garlic, before piling the amazing mixture on top.

The BF informed me that, while he found this treat to be tasty, he couldn't feel it clogging his arteries and, therefore, it doesn't count as football food.  Fair enough.  The BF also informed me that I spent too much money on cheese for this recipe ($15 is hardly too much for fresh mozzarella, I say).  Those opinions aside, the BF loved it as much as I did and this recipe will definitely be kept in my ever-growing recipe collection.  Thanks to Smitten Kitchen for introducing me to such an amazing recipe!

Shoes!  Well, it's Saturday.  Which means two things:  slippers and football, so . . .

GO IRISH!  And how stinkin' cute is Arnie, seriously?  She is the commander of cute.

Mozzarella Madness

After a fun, quick weekend trip to Miami, Arnie, the BF and I are glad to be back at home, relaxing, watching football, enjoying some adult beverages (not Arnie, she's enjoying some Purina and water) and eating food that is less-than-healthy.  I decided to take a stab at making Giada De Laurentiis's mozzarella sticks.  I made a couple of adjustments, like deep-frying instead of pan-frying and cutting the recipe in half (because no two people, not even the BF and I, need 56 pieces of deep-fried cheese), and I think they turned out great!

First, I took a 16 oz. block of mozzarella and cut it into sticks that were approximately 1/4" square and 3-4 inches long.

Yes, I realize they look more rectangular than square.  Geometry was never my strong suit.  After slicing my cheese into pieces, I set up an assembly line with eggs in a bowl, and the bread crumb and parmesan mixture in another bowl. 

Then, I followed the recipe's directions and dipped the cheese in the egg, shook the egg off as much as possible, then rolled the sticks in the bread crumbs, patting the crumbs in so they would stick.  Once my sticks were all rolled and breaded, they looked like this, and were ready for . . .

 . . . the freezer.  Boo.  I hate waiting for food.  But, since I'd never made this recipe before I figured I had better follow the directions, so I covered my cheese sticks and stuck them in the freezer for TWO HOURS.

And I waited.

and waited.

and waited.

Rather impatiently.  But then!  It was time, time to deep-fry.  Now, Giada doesn't deep fry her mozzarella sticks, my guess is because she needs to maintain her physique to be on national television.  Which is fair (although I, myself, have been on national television twice in the last year and a half and have no qualms about deep frying anything and everything . . . I'm just sayin').  But I decided to deep-fry mine, both because deep-frying makes everything taste better, and because the BF and I have a deep fryer that doesn't get used very often (although you probably wouldn't guess that, based on these blog posts).  So, after about three minutes in the fryer (and a quick heating of some store-bought marinara) I had my final product:

And hot damn, they tasted GOOD.  In the future, I might add a few things (like garlic powder to my breadcrumb mixture) but I thought they turned out awesome.

No shoes today.  Truth be told, I got a huge blister walking around South Beach and my tootsies would be agitated if I put them back in shoes when they can be lounging in socks.