New Additions

Nope, not the additions some of you are thinking about.  But there will be some new additions to this blog starting in the next few weeks.  Monday the 14th, my great friend Tanna and I are starting the Boot Camp Challenge in Columbia.  I completed this challenge (twice, what was I thinking??) before I got married in 2009.  I absolutely loved it.  My roommate and other great friend Kelly got me hooked on it after she completed the program.  Now don't get me wrong, it's grueling.  But the group workouts and the fact that I paid money for the program really help me to push through it.  And I'm hoping for the same results as I had the last time. 

Here's the conflict I have.  We all know how "down home, meat and potatoes" my lovely husband is.  But I don't have much of a choice when it comes to food during this program.  Not only do I have to eat healthier, but I have to log it.  Online.  For the instructor to see.  And if I don't, well let's just say it ain't pretty.  I can't be making creamy casseroles and using my beloved cream cheese in every dish anymore.  While I am a firm believer in all things in moderation, let's get real, it's hard to "moderate" when you have a steak and mashed potatoes sitting in front of you.  So I'm going to be adding some healthier meals to the blog.  I know that healthy can be delicious, but the last time I did the boot camp program before we got married, I was still living on my own.  This time will be different because I still love to cook for my husband, so this may be more difficult to balance.

Now, I know what you are all thinking.  Make him eat what you are eating.  And if he doesn't like it, tough.  There in lies the problem.  He likes "big salad night", so that's a plus.  But he likes his salad with tons of ranch dressing...negative.  He likes fish, such as salmon and tilapia.  But he likes it with a side of something really starchy and about 10 garlic cheddar biscuits.  Yes the man can eat about 10 by himself.  He doesn't mind roasted pork, or chicken breast.  But he likes it with a huge side of mashed potatoes and rolls. 

I married a farm boy.  I knew what I was getting all along, this is no surprise.  But I'm challenging myself to incorporate healthy options while still making my husband's stomach happy.  In the meantime, I'm doing a lot of research and jotting down recipes.  To my blogger friends, do you have any ideas on how to be healthy but not sacrifice taste????

Chicken Spaghetti

Ok, so it has definitely been awhile.  Finally done with basketball and the craziness of the past two months.  I am excited to get back in the kitchen and work on some new stuff.  I will admit, the recipes may not be as frequent, but I hope to get back in the swing of things very soon.  On to the casserole! 

For some reason, my husband just cannot get enough of this casserole.  It's really good, trust me, but while I'd much rather go for a great salad with feta cheese he could eat this every other day (with meat and potatoes being the other days of course.) 

Chicken Spaghetti
Printable Recipe

Yield: 10-12 servings
Ingredients:
3 cups cooked chicken
3 cups broken spaghetti
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup finely diced green pepper
1/2 cup diced onion
1 jar (4 oz) pimentos, drained
2 cups chicken broth (I use the broth from my chicken)
1 tsp seasoned salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).  Cook 1 cut up fryer and pick out the meat to make three cups. If you don't have a cut up fryer chicken, you can substitute any chicken pieces (sometimes I just use breast meat).  Cook spaghetti in same chicken broth (or in boiling water) until al dente. Do not overcook. When spaghetti is cooked, combine with remaining ingredients except 1 cup sharp cheddar.  Spread mixture into a 9x13 inch baking dish and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Sprinkle remaining cup of cheese on top and bake for another 15 minutes.  Another option is to go ahead and sprinkle with cheese just be careful the cheese doesn't burn, if it starts to turn, just cover with foil.

Freezing Instructions:
Prepare casserole, add cheese to top of casserole but do not bake.  Cover tightly with aluminum foil and freeze up to three months.  Allow casserole to defrost and bake as directed.

Adapted from All Recipes

Meatloaf

Nothing screams comfort to me like a giant loaf of meat.  And while every time I hear the word meatloaf my mind instantly goes into "I would do anything for love" mode (i.e. the Dr. Pepper commercial), the only meatloaf going on in my house is the edible kind.  Even though my mom had their old record, and I'm kind of wishing she kept it, no lie.  Any who...This is the way my mom made meatloaf.  She never strayed from this recipe, and that's because it worked for us.  I know a lot of people are die hard fans of using bread as the binding agent, but there's something about soggy bread that completely freaks me out.  That's why bread pudding is banned from my house.  Food has always been a texture thing for me, which is why it is hard for me to swallow things like sushi, raw oysters, and fried mushrooms (morel mushrooms are a different story, good gracious those are good.  I'm talking about the fried whole mushrooms you get at old diners.)  My friends think I'm weird and we can all laugh about it but everyone has their quirks about food, and soggy bread is mine.  So for our meatloaf, we use oatmeal.  I know, I know, it's not traditional, but it's good! Darn good.  And I just might make a believer out of you yet!

21 Days *Update*

So, I know you are all on the edge of your seats with this one...Did I made the goal??? Yes! Buuuutttttttt, not quite in the time I gave myself.  With a family funeral, Christmas, New Years, basketball practice, games, and overall craziness I didn't get it done by January 1.  But, as I sit here typing I can say that the living room and bedroom are awesomely clean, and the kitchen and bathroom are clean (minus wiping down the counters and sweeping.)  So I would have to say that I got finished with the 21 day (+5) challenge and now I'm trying to tackle the idea that I can keep it clean for 1 year.  So far so good!!

Chicken Club Sandwich w/ Chipotle Mayo

I love to look at food blogs, but I don't necessarily want to be seeing a new gourmet recipe every time I log onto my computer and see my blog roll.  Sometimes it is nice to see something simple that inspires me to use the things I already have in my refrigerator.  That was the case with this recipe.  There aren't a lot of measurements, hello, it's just a sandwich.  But let me tell you, this was one ah-ma-zing sandwich.  A little bit of spice, the cool avocados to help that out, and a healthy balance of lean chicken with fatty bacon!  My only complaint was that the sandwich was too tall to fit in my mouth!  It was a pretty messy dinner, so if I make this in the future, I will definitely be pounding out and flattening my chicken breasts to make for easier eating! 

Start by making the chipotle mayo that will go on top of the sandwich.  If you haven't used chipotle peppers in adobo sauce before, give them a try.  They are a smoky, barbeque-like jalapeno pepper.  I use them in a great beef roast for tacos (I'll post that someday...)  The only problem is that I rarely use the whole can.  I either cover the can and put the extras in the fridge or you can freeze them in a Ziploc bag and just break off the amount you need in the future.  If only I had that much freezer space! 

Place 1-2 chipotle peppers with 1/2 cup of mayonaisse in a small food processor.  Add an extra spoonful of the great sauce from the can.  You cannot mess this up I promise!  Run the processor until there aren't any large chunks of chipotle left.  Set aside.

At this point I cooked the bacon and the chicken at the same time.  I cooked the bacon on medium-low on the stove top and grilled the chicken on the trusty Foreman.  While both of these were cooking I put together a tray of the toppings!

After the bacon is cooked place it on a paper towel lined plate and keep some of the drippings in the pan to toast the bread.  Add a little butter or olive oil to the pan and melt to combine.  Place the Ciabatta rolls cut side down into the pan and toast.  If you want to cut fat or calories you can always toast the buns in a toaster oven or don't do it at all.  It really won't change the structure of the sandwich, I just thought it felt more diner-esque.  And yes I just made up that word. 

Next, assemble by spreading some of the chipotle mayo on the bottom of the roll.  Then layer with lettuce, chicken, bacon, avocado, tomato, onion, and top of bun spread with chipotle mayo.

Yes that's Timothy's sandwich in the front.  I only put about 2-3 of the smallest pieces of bacon on mine in the back.  That man can flat out eat a huge meal, it's really insane!  Insane in the membrane I tell ya!

We've got a runaway onion here...and you'll notice that now the lettuce is under the chicken.  Minor misstep!  It really doesn't matter how you stack it, this is one awesome sandwich!  Side note: I peeled off the filmy onion skin that you see there after I took the picture.  But I was so hungry I didn't have enough energy to take more pictures after that!

Notice the sandwich in the front versus the one in the back.  I love me some veggies.  Timothy only gets along with lettuce, cucumber and apparently avocado.  You should see us at restaurants when the salads come before the meal.  It's like a thirty second swap meet.  Serious business. 

And this is what you see when you cut into this bad boy.  Now can you see why it may have been a little too tall to eat?

How To Roast Garlic

I have never roasted garlic before.  I figured I would go ahead and get that out there. Honestly it just kind of creeps me out, and I love the flavor of garlic so much I was worried that it would change the natural flavor a lot.  But it didn't...it was awesome!  I made my favorite mashed potatoes and added in the roasted garlic at the end.  Holy cow did that add a lot of flavor.  Plus it was so simple I can't believe I hadn't been doing it before.

First, you need to cut the top off the garlic, about 1/4'' from the edge.  This is the end that points out, not the curved end.  Sorry but that's about the best description I can give.  Cut off the pointy end not the butt end.  Make sure you peel off as much of the skin as possible (this was my number one mistake)  Then lay it on a sheet of aluminum foil.

Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.

Wrap up in the foil very tightly and place in a 400° oven for 45 minutes.  The important thing here is not to mess with the garlic or unwrap it to see if it is done.  Trust me on this one...

When the garlic has finished take it out and let it cool, in the foil.  Even though it will be tempting to take it out of the foil...don't!  This is what it will look like after it has cooled.

Then you just squeeze it out and you can use it in all your favorite recipes!

Black Bean Salsa

Every year, the most popular New Year's resolution is to lose weight, be healthy, work out more, or all of the above.  Admittedly, I go through the same vicious cycle every year.  It's like this horrible checklist that replays itself. 

1. Eat really healthy and work out January-May (during the week at least)
2. Eat pretty healthy and work out some June-August
3. Get busy with school/basketball and start to slip during September-October
4. Pig out November (Thanksgiving is a month of calories in itself, but family and food are more important to me than some scale)
5. Double pig out December
6. Regret it December 26-30
7. Pig out December 31st with the thought in the back of my mind, "I'll start tomorrow" 

Whew!  Exhausting right?? Well if I'm going to be completely honest with you, the fabulous readers, I would have to tell you that the cycle will probably repeat itself this year, at least in some form.  But one thing I can tell you is that I'm all for trying!  Goals are a great thing to have, and I love a good routine.  I am thankful for my job in that I have a good breakfast and lunch routine.  It's dinner and parties that become the problem.  Dinner because my husband is a meat and potatoes man.  Will he eat a grilled chicken salad? Yes. Once or twice a week max.  But every other meal he would love to have some meat thrown in the mix.  I married the son of a cattle farmer.  The things we do to ourselves... And I really love my salads, but come on! Who really likes salad for the 5th time in a week when your husband's plate consists of steak and potatoes??  That's what I thought!

So I figure if I stay on track for breakfast and lunch, and stick with moderation for dinner, I am on the right path.  I try to throw in some healthy alternatives every chance I get.  I am a self proclaimed lover of all things containing cream cheese, especially dips.  It's a curse I tell ya!  So sometimes when I need to bring something to a party in which I know all the food will be pretty bad, I bring this salsa.  It is great with baked tortilla scoops, or homemade pita chips.  And it is totally interchangeable too!  If you don't have a green pepper, use a red pepper.  If you don't have a red pepper, use a yellow pepper.  If you don't have a yellow pepper, use a chili pepper...Seriously I could go all day.  But please, if you use a chili pepper, listen to some of their music too.  It's fabulous.  I have been known to throw in black eyed peas (Mazel Tov!) and avocados if they look good in the store.  Pretty much anything you can get your hands on or what is on sale at the time.  I think my favorite part of this salsa is how many things I have found that it is great on.  Examples include: spreading it on a block of cream cheese (heavenly), mixing it with salad and chicken for a twist (fiesta!) and for lunch today, throwing it and some grilled chicken in a tortilla (holy burrito!)  So this salsa is definitely mutipurpose, and quite good for you.  Leave me a comment if you can think of another way to use the salsa, I'm always open to new ideas!