Easter brunch post, more than a week late

90 percent of my pictures with her look like this.

Sorry about the lack of posting; I've been having some health issues that have taken priority over cooking and blogging. Anyway, Kyle and I took the baby to my parents' house in Avon Lake last weekend. Kyle and I were finally able to get out by ourselves on Friday night (a rare event when you have a baby) and went to the Moosehead in Olmsted Falls, one of our favorite places to go when we're visiting my parents. (Our other favorite is Viva Fernando. Thanks to their restaurant.com deal, we regularly eat about $40 worth of food there and get out for about 10 bucks.) On Sunday, we went to mass at St. Raphael's, then came home and made brunch. My contribution was a spinach and cheese quiche.

 

 I only got a picture of my slice, because the rest was gone in about 30 seconds. As Kyle put it, "I think your quiche was the most popular item." It was delicious, and very easy to make.

Ingredients: 

1 tablespoon butter
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 10-oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 1/2 cups grated Gruyère
1 9-inch unbaked pie shell
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
Salt and pepper
Pinch of ground nutmeg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. In a small skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add onion and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute longer, stirring. Transfer to a small bowl and let cool.
2. Sprinkle onion mixture, spinach and Gruyère over bottom of pie shell. Beat eggs and milk together, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Gently pour into crust.
3. Bake quiche for 40 to 45 minutes, until set and browned. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes.

 

 We also got some adorable pictures of the munchkin in her dress and with her Easter basket from Grandma and Grandpa. My personal favorite:

 

She went home with some new toys, too.

Weekday dinners: Spicy cream rigatoni and chicken cordon bleu

 Chicken cordon bleu, roasted red potatoes, and spinach, feta, and apple salad. All made from stuff I had lying around.

I hate wasting food. I once had a roommate who was basically a food hoarder. I exaggerate not. She would always have at least five different juices, ten to fifteen salad dressings, multiple jars of mayonnaise, butter, and sauces, and overflowing drawers of deli meats and cheeses. (Not to mention cupboards so full of rice, pasta, and other boxed and canned items that they didn't shut. But at least that doesn't spoil.) Stuff would literally fall out of the refrigerator when I opened it. While I was trying to make some room for my food--no easy task--I checked some of the labels and discovered at least half of her food was expired, some of it having never even been opened. Unbelievable. Not only are you literally throwing money away when you toss moldy cheese or wilting produce in the trash, but it just feels, well...wasteful. And yet it turns out her habit wasn't all that extreme: one-third of food produced for human consumption is thrown out every year.

I try to avoid throwing out food by being selective with produce and deli items--since it spoils fast, I never buy more than we can eat, and I try to buy vegetables that can be used in a lot of different dinners (like sweet potatoes, spinach, onions, and peppers) rather than exotic fruits and vegetables that will be bad in three days. To save money and reduce waste, I occasionally put a moratorium on grocery shopping and make dinners from stuff we already have. And doing this is actually fun. It's a creative challenge to look through the fridge and the pantry and see what entrees and side dishes I can come up with. Sometimes, I'll even Google around for recipes that use random ingredients I have lying around. This Wednesday, it was rigatoni with spicy cream sauce and sausage, with a side of roasted asparagus. And as my husband can tell you, it was good.

The low-calorie recipe I based this off of called for a combination of marinara and light alfredo sauce. I didn't have any alfredo, so I used melted reduced-fat cream cheese mixed with fat-free half-and-half.

Ingredients:
2 cups of rigatoni
1 cup of marinara sauce
2 cups of light alfredo sauce, OR 4 ounces of melted reduced-fat cream cheese mixed with 1 and 1/2 cups of fat-free half-and-half
1 clove of minced garlic
1/2 cup of chopped spinach (optional)
1/2 tablespoon of crushed red pepper*
Cajun seasoning (optional)*
2 chicken sausage links, cooked and sliced. (Johnsonville and a few other brands sell chicken sausage, which is way leaner than the regular stuff. I used a Chipotle-flavored sausage. Kyle liked it, but I thought the pasta would have been better plain or with sliced chicken breast pieces.)

*Spiciness is an individual preference. I love spice, so I used a tablespoon and a half of crushed red pepper and a generous sprinkling of Cajun seasoning. If you like your food milder, start with 1/2 tablespoon of the red pepper--or less--and taste it before you add any more.

Directions:
1. Cook pasta according to package directions and set aside.
2. Cook sausage according to package directions, slice, and set aside.
3. In a saucepan, combine the alfredo and marinara. (If you're using cream cheese and half-and-half instead of alfredo, put those in the pan first and stir over medium-high heat until cream cheese is melted.) Add garlic, crushed red pepper, and cajun seasoning. Pour over pasta. Add sausage, stir everything together, and heat through before serving.

Tonight's dinner was a little more challenging. It's the end of the week here at 206, since Kyle and I have a lunch outing planned for tomorrow afternoon, and then we're going to my parent's house for Easter weekend. I had a lot of lunch meat, cheese, spinach, and red potatoes (from last Friday's German dinner) to use up. Since I also had bread crumbs and frozen chicken breasts, I decided to make chicken cordon bleu (breaded chicken bundles stuffed with Swiss cheese and ham), with roasted red potatoes and a spinach, feta, and apple salad. The chicken cordon bleu came out so tasty, and was the perfect way to use up meat and cheese that we use for sandwiches during the week.

Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 to 4 slices of Swiss cheese (any sliced white cheese--such as provolone or mozzarella--would also work)
2 to 4 slices of ham or prosciutto
5 teaspoons of melted butter
1/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup of crushed corn flake cereal
1 minced garlic clove
1 tablespoon of grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon of paprika (I screwed up and used a tablespoon, but it just added extra flavor)
salt
pepper
oregano (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Place broth in a small microwave-safe bowl; microwave at high 15 seconds or until warm. Stir in butter and garlic.
3. Combine breadcrumbs, parmesan, corn flakes, and paprika in a bowl; set aside.
4. Place a piece of wax paper over each chicken breast and pound with a meat mallet or rolling pin until about 1/4 inch thick (but be sure not to pound it so hard that it falls apart. I ruined my first chicken breast that way.) Sprinkle both sides of the chicken breast with salt, pepper, and oregano.
5. Top each breast with 1 to 2 slices of cheese and 1 to 2 slices of ham or prosciutto. (Amount is up to you.)
6. Roll up each chicken breast so the ham and cheese is secure inside. Dip it in the chicken broth mixture, then roll in the bread crumb-corn flake mixture. Place the chicken rolls, seam-side down, in a baking dish coated with cooking spray.
7. Pour remaining broth mixture over chicken and bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes. Be sure to check the chicken at about 28 minutes to see if it's done--most of the recipes for chicken cordon bleu I found suggested baking for 25-30 minutes, but at that point, mine was still undercooked.

The roasted red potatoes were also delicious and had a French fry-like taste. (Except much lower in calories, because they're not fried!) To make them, chop up the potatoes into one-inch pieces. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Toss the potatoes with two tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of rosemary (optional) in a bowl. On a baking sheet lined with foil, spread out potatoes in a single layer and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes, stirring once, or until potatoes are golden brown.

Irish dinner, and some family history

Me, my cousin, and my sisters in Dublin.

Since I paid homage to my dad's side of the family last week by making German food, I decided to try something I haven't cooked or eaten before last night: Irish food. You would never know from looking at me, but my mom comes from a big Irish family. We celebrated St. Patrick's Day every year, but I never had much appreciation for my Irish heritage--until I went there last Thanksgiving.

I honestly wasn't that excited about going. I'd just moved and finished up working on a campaign, and I was burned out. But it turned out to be the best trip I've ever taken. We spent a few days in Dublin, where my cousin Molly was studying abroad at the time, then went out west to Galway. It was more beautiful than I expected, and the people--customs officers, cab drivers, even the cops--were incredibly friendly.

If you ever go to Ireland, go on a tour. It doesn't matter what kind of tour, as long as you get a local guide. The Irish have a very vivid manner of speaking and are natural storytellers. We went on an 8-hour bus tour of the Connemara region of western Ireland, and it was unforgettable.

 My sister at one of the bus tour stops.

I'm happily married now, but I also think Dublin would be an ideal place for a single girls' week. There's tons of upscale shopping, and the bar scene was so much fun. And while I've heard women complain that in other European countries they've had to put up with a lot of gross dudes who leer and grope, Irish guys aren't like that. American men do all sorts of weird, indirect things to get women's attention in bars--there's an entire industry devoted to teaching men how to play mind games and act like a jerk to get women to like them!--but Irish guys will come right up to you and strike up a conversation, and they don't hold back or act cocky. They'll say things like "you're so beautiful, I wanted to buy you a drink."

The only thing I didn't enjoy was the food. Since I was still a picky eater at the time, I refused to try any of the stews or fish, which are menu staples over there. I ended up eating sandwiches the whole week, and managed to find the only McDonald's in Galway to get lunch. Twice.

So, to make up for it, I made a traditional Irish dish last night: Shepherd's pie. But this being a healthy eating blog, I switched out the usual white mashed potatoes for sweet potatoes and ground beef for ground turkey breast.

Mashed potatoes are yet another food that gets labeled a "no-no" for weight loss, and it's true that white potatoes have a lot of empty calories. (In fact, they're so lacking in nutritional value, government programs that pay for food assistance cover every vegetable except white potatoes.) But sweet potatoes are packed with nutrients, especially Vitamin A, and are considered a super food.

The other vegetables in this dish make it high in nutrients and fiber and low in calories.

Ingredients:
1 pound of lean ground beef or ground turkey breast
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled (you can also use a carton of premade mashed sweet potatoes to save time)
1/4 cup fat-free milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped white onion
1 1/4 cups coarsely chopped zucchini
1 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup frozen whole kernel corn, thawed
1/4 cup water
1 and 1/4 cups beef broth
2 tablespoons of ketchup
2 tablespoons of flour

Directions:
1. Boil the peeled potatoes for 20 minutes or until soft. Beat with an electric mixer to mash, mixing in milk and salt. Set aside.
2. In a skillet, cook the turkey and onion until meat is browned. Stir zucchini, carrots, corn, and the water into meat mixture. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Simmer, cover, for 5 to 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
3. Add ketchup and cook, stirring, for one minute. Add in the flour and stir. Gradually add in broth and cook until the meat mixture is thickened.
4. Pour the meat-vegetable mixture into a casserole dish, then cover with the mashed potatoes. Bake for 20 minutes or until heated through.

The finished product:

My husband isn't Irish, and he liked it.

Served with a very un-Irish side of mangoes, papaya, strawberries, and pineapple.

Craving Taco Bell? Make this instead.

Last September, when I was working on the State Auditor's campaign in Columbus, my car disappeared from a city street. After the city insisted they hadn't towed it and that my VIN number wasn't in the system, I reported it stolen and assumed I'd never see it again. 

Imagine my surprise when I got a notice several weeks later that it was sitting in a police impound lot. My first thoughts were "What the hell happened to my car?" followed by "oh God. It's going to reek."

By that point, it had been sitting in an open lot in 80-degree heat for days on end, and I'd picked up McDonald's on my way to work that day and left a half-eaten burger in the bag on the front seat. I was pretty sure I had other fast food bags with old fries and nuggets in there, too. (Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was a slob. I try to clean my car more often now.) When I got to the impound lot, I held my breath before I opened the door, expecting to get a whiff of mold and rotting meat. Instead...nothing. The half-eaten burger and fries were still in there, but they were completely fossilized. The meat, bread and fries were hard as rock, and instead of molding, the cheese had a plastic-like consistency. Huh.

At the time, I was just relieved that I didn't have to smell putrid, rotting food the whole way home. But meat and cheese is supposed to spoil. Bread is supposed to mold. I should've drawn one of two conclusions: 1. There's a lot of preservatives in that burger, or 2. it's not real food.

It took making and learning about food to discover that both conclusions are actually true. (Here's some scary proof.) In fact, if you start researching fast food, you'll find out all sorts of interesting things. Like that fast food is preserved with chemicals that are more commonly used in laundry detergents and industrial paints (ethoxylate), flame retardants (ammonium sulfate), and plastics (calcium chloride, which is also used to set concrete--no wonder my burger was rock solid). And that the taste and smell of fast food is manufactured in a lab. And that even at places like Subway, where you can "eat fresh," they douse the lettuce and vegetables with propylene glycerol to keep them from wilting. Propylene glycerol is generally used in products like antifreeze. Mmm....antifreeze.

Okay, I think you get my point: fast food is even worse for you than you thought, and I haven't even gotten to the calorie counts yet. (If you want to learn more and can handle a 200-page gross-out, I highly recommend reading Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. If you don't have the stomach or the patience, you could also rent the documentary Supersize Me.) We know this. And yet 41 percent of Americans eat it at least once a week, and for Americans 18-29, that number is almost 60 percent.Generally, people acknowledge that it's bad for them but offer three reasons to eat it anyway:

1. I can't afford anything else.

2. I don't have time to cook.

3. It tastes better than anything I can make at home.

Those were the excuses I always used, anyway.

Once I started this blog, I started thinking of healthy ways to satisfy fast food cravings and address the problem of time and cost without actually hitting up the drive-thru. Consider this the first in a series. I'll start with the worst of the worst: Taco Bell, or as I prefer to call it, Taco Hell.

First of all: ugh. I can't believe people were surprised when Taco Bell came out and admitted last year that their "beef" isn't technically beef, it's "taco filling," which is 36% beef and 64% "tasteless fibers, various industrial additives and some flavoring and coloring." And all that cheese? It's a lab-manufactured synthetic product made to taste like cheese.

Oh, and that $5 box and soda will cost you almost 1,600 calories, 73 grams of fat, and 2 days worth of salt. (Salt causes the body to retain water, making you look puffy and bloated. So even if you're not fat, you'll feel like you are.)

Unlike with some fast food joints, most people acknowledge that Taco Bell is disgusting. In fact, for some people, the fact that it's disgusting is part of the thrill. I knew a guy in college who claimed that he and his roommates used to go there, order the nastiest slop on the menu, and then see who had to, uh, "relieve himself" first. (I was simultaneously grossed out and baffled. Since Taco Bell has no fiber and is mostly synthetic, I imagine it sitting in your stomach in a congealed ball. But I digress.)

Still, I understand the urge to chow down on a pile of beef, cheese, and sour cream, especially when you're famished. I used to occasionally drive through Taco Bell when I was starving and order a Grilled Stuffed Burrito and a side of nachos. (That'll be 1,100 calories, please!) Therefore, I came up with a solution: taco casserole.

Beefy deliciousness.

Don't let appearances deceive you. The calorie count is 321 calories for 1/6 of the casserole (which is a pretty big portion), and it's loaded with fiber and protein. The ingredients cost me about $12 total--and considering this recipe makes six servings, it's much cheaper than Taco Bell.

Not to mention the beef and cheese is actually real.

I made this on Saturday night because Kyle and I were going to a friend's place to watch the OSU basketball game with a group of people. But this is also a good thing to make ahead of time and keep in the refrigerator or freezer--that way, when you're driving home and the drive-thru urge strikes, all you have to do is stick it in the oven.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound extra-lean ground beef

1 15-oz can of pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1 15-oz can of red chili beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup chopped white onion

1/2 cup chopped green peppers

1 8-oz carton of light sour cream

2 tablespoons of flour

1 15-oz can of no-salt-added tomato sauce

8 6-inch whole wheat flour tortillas (there are a couple brands that sell high-fiber, high-protein, low-calorie tortillas)

1 packet of taco seasoning

1 cup of reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350. In a large skillet, cook ground beef and onion until meat is brown and onion is tender. Stir in green peppers and half the taco seasoning. Cook for 1 minute more and remove from heat. Add beans.

2. In a bowl, combine sour cream, flour, and the rest of the taco seasoning; set aside.

3. Place half of the tortillas in a bottom of a baking dish, overlapping as necessary. Top evenly with half of the meat mixture. Spoon half of the sour cream mixture over meat mixture in small mounds; spread in an even layer. Top with half of the tomato sauce. Repeat with another layer.

4. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Pull it out of the oven and sprinkle the cheese on top. Bake, uncovered, for 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted.

And, yes, it was a hit on Saturday night.

Fred enjoys some taco casserole and vows to never eat at Taco Hell again.