Firsts! Cooking Edition

COOKING! We made something fast and easy- tacos (Monday night)!

That's the stove...

Tim making his tacos...

Taco Toast! or a toast of tacos!

Dinner at Our House: Cube Steak Rollups

So tonight my brother cooked dinner. And to be honest, it probably isn't that weight watcher friendly, but I thought I'd share it anyways.

My half of the finished product (Tim and I split one)

There was no "actual" recipe. I'm typing this as my brother told it to me.

Ingredients:

• Cube steak
• Cream cheese (softened)
• Marinade (he used Dale's steak seasoning)
• Bacon
• Toothpicks

How he does it: 

1. Put marinade on the steaks in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
2. Soften the cream cheese and spread it on the cube steaks.
3. Roll the steaks, wrap bacon around the steak. Fasten with toothpicks.
4. Grill on medium heat 5-7 minutes on each side.

Overall, pretty interesting. They also made potatoes, green beans, and rolls.

Full plate.

Eleven in 11: Evaluating March

I don't want to jinx it this early in the game, but 2011 is GREAT! As usual, I want to be accountable to my Eleven in 11 goals.

The breakdown:
1. Volunteer opportunity- This month I attended a YP meeting for servant leadership and I think there are a few opportunities for me to do some volunteer work. Also, at work this week I put my name in to be part of Relay for Life. 
2. The weight loss one- I have lost 14 pounds since January, which means I'm right on track with my goal. Overall, I've lost 31 since October. I've never been so proud of myself. I feel great, my knees are so thankful.
3. Plan and take honeymoon- New plan: Amelia Island in May. I'm so excited!
4. Trying four new recipes- We did four new ones, but I think I left one off the blog because it was only so-so:

• Tortilla Pie/Fiesta Lasagna
• Creamy Basil Chicken
• Baked Onion Rings
• and the one I didn't post, but you can find online- Blondies with Chocolate Chips 

5. Blog three times a week- We've picked right back up and I'm always trying to think of new and somewhat useful or entertaining content. Feel free to make suggestions!

6. Student loan- Check :)

7. Savings!- Check check :)

8. Read 52 books- I'm failing. I did buy the new J.R. Ward book two nights ago. I will finished that one over the weekend!

9. Facebook birthdays- Doing well :)

10. Visit 12 new restaurants- LOVED Old Siam!!! I think we're going to try Woodstone in April- anyone been?

11. Etsy- Def. falling behind, but now that its getting pretty out, and soon I'll have Fridays off, I think I'll get back into this.

Hope your March was eventful and fun! Here's to April!

The Art of Couponing: Weeks 1 & 2

I decided on March 7th to take control of my finances and learn how to coupon. I was mostly inspired by one of my Auburn friends, Jaclyn. She has started an amazing blog and I really really encourage you to check it out. I got an idea from her to start tracking how much I saved using coupons. I mean, I was skeptical. How much do you really save by using a .40 cent coupon? [actually, I've learned that at Publix you'll save .80 cent because they double all coupons under .50]

So, I'm happy to report that on my last four grocery related trips I have saved the following using deals + coupons:

Trip #1 to Publix - 19%
Trip #2 to Publix - 21%
Trip #3 to Publix - 28%
Trip #1 to CVS - 33%

It may not seem like a lot, but you'll notice each time is a little more. I'm learning how to do this and it is working. Let me share one deal that I just got at Publix:

Weight Watchers Frozen Treats (regularly $5.29 each)
Currently, they are B1G1 free. So, that makes them $2.64 each (because it's basically 50% off).
I also had a $1.00 coupon from the internet.
I should have paid $10.58, but instead, I paid $4.29. That's a savings of almost 60%.

And that is honestly the trick. Shop at Publix (or a store with similar deals) and add the coupons on top.

Now, I know that people say..."but that's takes time, and my time is worth money." It was a little time consuming at first, but only because I was reading trying to figure it out. It really only takes a few minutes each day to check online for new deals (have them emailed to you if you want- I've created my own coupon-only email address) and clip from the Sunday paper.

I spent more time blogging right now than I did on clipping coupons.

Dinner at Our House: Tortilla Pie aka Fiesta Lasagna

 I have to preface tonight's post with a shout out to my friend Megan. I just posted on my facebook that I was making a tortilla pie to which she said: "Megan: I thought you hate pie."

Ha! I do actually hate dessert pies, so she has a point. But, since I altered this recipe I feel I now have the right to rename it, so I'm dubbing it: Fiesta Lasagna.

Anywho, I saw the recipe in my Taste of Home book but thought it looked a little complicated with all the chop this etc. Mondays can be crazy days so I got the idea to substitute a jar of salsa for some of the ingredients. It worked out well. I'll link you the original, but I'll post what I actually did.

Looks a little messy but it is so so so yum I promise. This is actually dad's plate. He had Spanish Rice and a garden salad.

Ingredients

1/2 pound lean ground beef (93% lean)

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 jar (16 ounces) Salsa (your choice of heat, we used Mild)

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

dash of garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

3/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese

1/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

4 low-fat flour tortillas (8 inches)

1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese

Directions

Season your beef in a large nonstick skillet with the chili powder, ground cumin and throw in a dash of garlic powder.

Cook the beef and chopped onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the salsa. Heat til you get a little bit of a boil then reduce heat. In a small bowl, combine the ricotta cheese and mozzarella cheese.

Place one tortilla in a 9-in. round baking pan coated with cooking spray. Layer with half of the meat sauce, one tortilla, all of the ricotta mixture, another tortilla and the remaining meat sauce. Top with remaining tortilla; sprinkle with Mexican cheese.

Cover and bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

For those on WW (old points, sorry I'm to cheap to pay for meetings and learn new points) a 1/8 serving is 4 points and a 1/4 serving is 8. Tonight mom went for 1/8 and I went for a 1/4 because I was starved! Either way, for all the yummy gooey cheesy-ness it's a great way to spend the points.  

Quick Fix Lunch: Creamy Bow Tie Pasta

This isn't a regular Dinner at Our House post, but I just had to share with you all the lunch I just tried out on this lazy holiday Monday. I'm at the computer scanning my usual suspects (Skinnytaste, tasteofhome, and allrecipes) looking for things to make for the week. I'm actually not looking for anything new, but rather I am checking out my "saved" lists.

However, I stumbled across this little gem that is going down as one of my new favorite quickie lunches (I may even whip up another batch tonight to take for work tomorrow). If I do the math correct, the WW total for this would be 5 points. I'm not quite sure that what I just made would amount to that though. We keep all low fat, fat free, etc products in our home (Update: I did the tedious math on all of our products at home and it brought it down to 4 points). I'll have to take some time to figure it up. Try it for yourself, it took me little to no time to prepare and we had all the ingredients at our house.

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked bow tie pasta
• 1-1/2 teaspoons butter
• 2-1/4 teaspoons olive oil
• 1-1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• Dash salt
• Dash dried basil
• Dash crushed red pepper flakes
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 2 tablespoons chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon water
• 2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon sour cream

Directions

• Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt butter. Stir in the oil, flour, garlic and seasonings until blended. Gradually add the milk, broth and water. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until slightly thickened.
• Remove from the heat; stir in cheese and sour cream. Drain pasta; toss with sauce. Yield: 2 servings

Snacking at Our House: Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies

And I do believe this takes us to recipe #4 for the month. I've already made it to a benchmark in my Eleven for 2011! Today I was menu planning for the week and every time we sit down to dinner my dad says "Well, this was good, now what is for dessert?" Nine out of ten times I haven't been making a dessert because let's face it- dessert is not always WW friendly. At least not desserts that my dad and Tim would care for (sugar free, taste free). But, today looking through my handy tasteofhome cookbook from Mom S. I got the idea to make these 4pt treats. I present to you...Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies!

The pan! I wish I had swirled them a little more but it was very thick.

My brownie. I wish I had vanilla ice cream...

Cannot believe this was only 4 WW pts! <3

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar, divided
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup HERSHEY®’S Cocoa
• 1 package (8 ounces) reduced-fat cream cheese

Directions

• Separate two eggs, putting each white in a separate bowl (discard yolks or save for another use); set aside. In a small bowl, beat butter and 3/4 cup sugar until crumbly. Beat in the whole egg, one egg white and vanilla until well combined. Combine flour and cocoa; gradually add to egg mixture until blended. Pour into a 9-in. square baking pan coated with cooking spray; set aside.
• In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and remaining sugar until smooth. Beat in the second egg white. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls over the batter; cut through batter with a knife to swirl.
• Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until set and edges pull away from sides of pan. Cool on a wire rack. Yield: 1 dozen.

Dinner at Our House: Creamy Chicken Rice Soup

We've done it again. This is our third recipe of the new year that we've tried and it is only January 6! My mom is the one who actually cooked it tonight because originally I planned to work late. This recipe also came from my tasteofhome cookbook gifted to me by Mom S. I wish I had been in the kitchen to photograph it more, but the picture I took of my bowl looked boring and didn't do the soup justice, thus I won't be posting it. The Creamy Chicken Rice Soup was delicious and one serving of it (1 cup) is only 4 points. We had green salads and some of our garlic knots to go with the soup.

You can find the recipe and nutrition info here.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup chopped carrot
• 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/3 cup chopped celery
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups cooked long grain rice
• 1 cup cubed cooked chicken
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 cup 2% milk
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon white wine, optional

Directions

• In a large saucepan, saute the carrot, onion and celery in butter until tender. Stir in flour until blended. Gradually stir in broth. Add the rice, chicken, salt, pepper and garlic powder; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
• Reduce heat to low. Stir in the milk, lemon juice and wine if desired. Cook and stir for 5 minutes or until heated through. Yield: 6 servings.

And yes, we used the white cooking wine :)

Dinner at Our House: Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Mmmm. Starchy goodness round II. Tonight we tried another recipe from our tasteofhome cookbook. We made the Garlic-Chive Mashed Potatoes minus the chives (mostly due to not having chive). I wish we had them though, it would have added green to the plate. Note my attempt at trying to slide over the green salad to add color...

Dinner!

We also grilled chicken tonight. We bought a new marinade to try: Newman's Own Mesquite with Lime. It was the best marinade I've tried in a long time- I highly recommend it.

But, back to the potatoes. It wasn't a home run, but it wasn't a strike out either. I learned that when making mashed potatoes they can't be done too far in advance, and I think next time I'll leave out a little more of the broth so they are a little thicker. A 3/4 cup serving was 3 WW points so I ate them guilt-free.

Without further ado, the recipe:

Ingredients

• 3-1/2 pounds russet potatoes (about 5 large), peeled and quartered
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/8 teaspoon paprika
• 1-1/2 cups (12 ounces) fat-free sour cream
• 1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth, warmed
• 2 tablespoons minced chives
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

• Place the potatoes, garlic and paprika in a large saucepan or Dutch oven; cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Drain.
• In a large bowl, beat the potatoes and garlic. Add sour cream, broth, chives, salt and pepper; beat until smooth. Yield: 10 servings.

And because it was cute:

Jackson hanging out in the kitchen, hoping to catch something dropped.

Dinner at Our House: Baked Basil Fries

Can you believe we're already posting again? Yay!

Tonight was an exciting night because I used a new recipe from my new cookbook (gifted to me by Tim's mom). The book is a tasteofhome book and it's the Guilt Free cooking version. I am in love.

Tonight we tried our first recipe: baked basil fries. We are a family that loves our starchy goodness so anytime we can bake something instead of fry it I get really happy. We had these with my dad's famous grilled hamburgers.

Which, by the way brings up my other new toy for the kitchen: food scale! I was able to precisely measure my hamburger so I knew exactly how to calculate my WW points more. Also, very exciting.

You can find the recipe for the fries online here. But, I'll also post it below along with the photos we took. Using their nutrition info I calculated these bad boys at 3 WW pts per serving (NOT BAD AT ALL!)

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 4 medium red potatoes

Directions

• In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the Parmesan cheese, oil, basil and garlic powder. Cut potatoes into 1/4-in. sticks. Add to bag, a few pieces at a time, and shake to coat.
• Place in a 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 425° for 15-20 minutes on each side or until crisp and tender. Yield: 4 servings.

Putting it all together in the bowl

Putting it in the pan (we cut them too thing but eh its ok)

Cooked and on the plate!

Happy New Year: Eleven Goals for 2011

Ok, so technically I'm 24 hours and some change late...but I wanted to wish you all a great new year. I thought I might blog about myself some in this post. Tim is still thinking on his, but I have already decided my 11 goals for 2011. I thought I'd share most of them (some are just a little more private than others).

1. Find new volunteer opportunity- I used to do 24 and 48 hour shifts for the rape crisis hotline in Athens and I'm looking for something similar now that we have moved. 
2. Lose X pounds (X by the beginning of July)- I've already lost 17 doing WW and exercising (almost daily). I thought giving myself a deadline of July made me think about it in more realistic terms. I put the Xs to try to keep it somewhat personal :)
3. Plan and take honeymoon- Now this one does involve Tim. We're thinking about possibly going to NYC for a weekend, but we're still thinking out ideas. If you have a suggested for an extended weekend let us know!
4. Try four new recipes a month- This basically equates to one a week but gives us some flexibility too. I hope to chronicle this one on the blog so stay tuned!
5. Blog three times a week- Yes, we know we've abandoned you...but that will change! Today counts as one right? Ha, ha...
6. Pay at least $X off student loan- Again, tried to keep the finances private. It's actually quite gratifying when I make my student loan payments. I'm going in to my second full year of repayment and I love seeing that number go down. :)
7. Put $X in savings- Similar to the one above, but I have sat down and done the math and I've got a number tucked away for safe keeping. 
8. Read 52 books- another one that I hope to blog about (maybe it will help with goal #5). I think roughly one book a week is totally doable.
9. Wish each Facebook friend happy birthday- crap! Typing this I realized I missed today...well I call mulligan on that one...I'm going to start on that as soon as I finish here...yikes...(by the way this goal was inspired by Peter Shankman's seminar in Montgomery...)
10. Visit 12 new restaurants- I'm really looking forward to this one. It can also help goal #5!
11. and finally finish working on my etsy store-  I'm so excited about this one! I need to get to making some jewelry! 

And that, my friends, is the list. I had a recent discussion with someone about new year's resolutions. I don't make them. I like the ideas of small and realistic goals. I started this back in 2009. I had 9 goals for 09 and 10 in 10. Since the creation of X in 20XX, I've done much better than simply saying "I'm going to be a better person," or "I'm going to get fit." So here is wishing you the best on setting realistic goals and working to accomplish them!

Dinner at Our House: Rosemary Chicken Pasta

So tonight I cooked again. It went muuuuuuch better than last night. I made Rosemary Chicken Pasta and it is soooo easy to make and actually pretty good for you. I enlisted some help from Tim and the whole dish took less than 30 minutes to pull off (including prep time). It was also nice to get some verbal feedback from my dad when he said "You know, you could do this every night."

This is my plate. It was soooo yum.

If you're interested in the recipe I'll post it below. It came from a great website called http://www.lowfatlifestyle.com
Ingredients
 8 ounces uncooked penne, ziti or other pasta
 1 clove garlic, minced
 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
 16 - 18 asparagus spears, sliced thin (fresh or frozen)
 3/4 cup fat free chicken broth
 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
 2 tablespoons reduced fat Parmesan cheese
 salt and pepper to taste
Directions

1. Prepare pasta according to package direction; drain.
2. Heat 1/4 cup broth in a deep non stick skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and rosemary and cook 15 seconds. Add chicken and cook, tossing well, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes.
3. Add asparagus*, remaining chicken broth, parsley and pasta to skillet. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until liquid has reduced enough to lightly cover pasta.
4. Sprinkle with reduced fat Parmesan, salt and pepper and toss. Serve immediately.
5. *If using frozen asparagus, make sure to thaw and drain before slicing. If using fresh, make sure to snap bottom portion that is rough off before rinsing and slicing.

Per Serving: 494 Calories

4g Fat (7% calories from fat)
66g Protein
45g Carbohydrate
4g Dietary Fiber
139mg Cholesterol
295mg Sodium

Dinner at Our House: Mongolian Beef

On Sunday, Tim and I went grocery shopping. I decided we needed to 'give back' because my mom and dad have been feeding us quite a bit. I bought enough food to make three of our 'signature' meals (by which I mean meals we made in Athens because I only know a handful of recipes). I've been waiting all week to cook (I couldn't Monday or Tuesday night because of work stuff) but I finally had my chance. Tonight, I made Mongolian Beef with onions, green peppers and 'steamed rice.'

Let me explain...back in Athens, Tim and I would cook rice in a rice steamer. It was great. Measure the right amount of water + rice and you are good to go. However, we tried to use a microwavable rice steamer tonight that belongs to my parents and the result was not acceptable. Timing is everything when making this dish. I don't like veggies to overcook so I usually have the rice going while I'm making everything else so both end up ready at the same time. Because of our rice disaster we had to wait on a second batch of rice and it was pretty bleh. That is also why I didn't photograph it tonight.

I have in the past though. Here is what it looked like when I made it in the past (sans veggies and with fried rice):

I got the recipe from allrecipes.com but I'll post it here too. My secret ingredient that I add to this is a dash of red pepper flakes to give it a tiny kick.

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 pound beef flank steak, sliced 1/4 inch thick on the diagonal
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 cup vegetable oil for frying
• 2 bunches green onions, cut in 2-inch lengths

Directions

1. Heat 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium heat, and cook and stir the garlic and ginger until they release their fragrance, about 30 seconds. Pour in the soy sauce, water, and brown sugar. Raise the heat to medium-high, and stir 4 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved and the sauce boils and slightly thickens. Remove sauce from the heat, and set aside.
2. Place the sliced beef into a bowl, and stir the cornstarch into the beef, coating it thoroughly. Allow the beef and cornstarch to sit until most of the juices from the meat have been absorbed by the cornstarch, about 10 minutes.
3. Heat the vegetable oil in a deep-sided skillet or wok to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. Shake excess cornstarch from the beef slices, and drop them into the hot oil, a few at a time. Stir briefly, and fry until the edges become crisp and start to brown, about 2 minutes. Remove the beef from the oil with a large slotted spoon, and allow to drain on paper towels to remove excess oil.
5. Pour the oil out of the skillet or wok, and return the pan to medium heat. Return the beef slices to the pan, stir briefly, and pour in the reserved sauce. Stir once or twice to combine, and add the green onions. Bring the mixture to a boil, and cook until the onions have softened and turned bright green, about 2 minutes.

Dinner at Our House: Baked Ziti

A few nights ago I (Kelly) came home from work and cooked dinner. My mom had already gone to church for a meeting, and dad was still at work. We were going to have baked ziti. I enlisted the help of Tim to make the salad while I cooked.

Now, I have to share some of the events that happened. When you make baked ziti (a la Kelly style), it makes a LOT of food. This is about the 4th or 5th time I've made it at my parents' home. I curse my mother's Pyrex dish because it is actually not big enough to hold all the pasta.  Basically, we ended up having to use this:

Fan used to blow out smoke...

The pasta ended up bubbling some of the sauce over the sides of the Pyrex dish. Needless to say that sauce burned badly at the bottom of the stove and caused the entire house to fill with smoke. And with perfect timing my dad came home right as Tim and I were trying to eradicate all the smoke. He thought we had burned dinner, but alas...

Dinner turned out well!

everything was OK! It was quiet yum as usual. If you want to know how to make Baked ziti I'll post the recipe I use below.

Ingredients

• 1 pound dry ziti pasta
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 2 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce
• 6 ounces provolone cheese, sliced
• 16 ounces ricotta cheese
• 6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes; drain.
2. In a large skillet, brown ground beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer as follows: 1/2 of the ziti, Provolone cheese, ricotta, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted.