The day's deliciousness...

I've been ultra productive today and would like to keep on a roll...but first I want to share the food I made today because it was freaky fantastic.

I've been watching a PBS show I recently found on Netflix called "The Mind of a Chef".  I felt compelled to make something I had never made before and something that I have been craving for quite some time.  I've wanted Pad Thai for a long time but I rarely keep all the necessary ingredients on hand.  So today I looked at a few different recipes for inspiration to create the flavors I was looking for with ingredients that I have.

I used this recipe, Slow Cooker Thai Chicken Legs, as the basic structure of my dish.  I used my favorite recipe resource yummly.com to search Pad Thai recipes for supplemental ingredients since I didn't have all that was needed for the slow cooker recipe.  I rarely measure things when I'm cooking (not baking) so this is a rather loose recipe of my fantastico delicious dinner:

6 skinless chicken legs
1 can of diced tomatoes with onion and garlic
about 1/3 cup of creamy peanut butter
4 cloves of garlic
about 2 T soy sauce (more to taste)
about 2 Tlime juice
ketchup (just a squeeze)
brown sugar (to taste)
seasonings all to taste:
crushed red pepper
salt and pepper
garlic powder
onion powder
ground ginger
cilantro

Mix everything and pour over chicken in slow cooker.  Cook on low for 5-7 hours

My little legs just getting started on their journey to tastiness!

I served it with a really simple fried rice recipe I made in my rice cooker.  I just cooked some white rice (with salt and olive oil) as usual but with some mixed frozen vegetables and a little vinegar.  Once fully cooked, I added an egg, some garlic and onion powders, ground ginger and pepper.  Lastly I added some soy sauce.  It made a super yummy side to sop up some of that delicious sauce.

My plated finale:

I also made some banana bread using a recipe I've done before but this being my second time making it was far more successful, not just in look but also taste.  The recipe (which I follow to the letter except I use a bread pan and bake it for longer) is available here: Banana muffins with streusel topping.  And once baked (in an 8"x8" pan), looks like this:

Now I'm gonna go make my leftover chicken, sauce and rice into a soup so as to prolong the delicious!

Food-making marathon

So I went on a food making rampage Tuesday and today...

To start I made garlic and chive buttery mashed potatoes.

Then I roasted some tomatoes using this recipe: Oven Roasted Tomatoes.

my tomatoes pre-roasting...

and post roast!

I also roasted a red pepper and made a simple hummus recipe (sans the citrus) using this recipe: Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

 Then I grilled some veggies and chicken out on my deck.  I used a balsamic vinaigrette dressing as marinade for both and some rosemary.

my chicken and veg pre-grill

I used the last of my zucchini to make something very much like this recipe: Zucchini parmesan crisps.  I just used my Chuck Wagon fish and chicken breading instead of bread crumbs.  They were so easy and so damn delicious I didn't take any pics cuz I ate them straight off the pan!

Between Sky and I we finished the grilled veggies and the zucchini chips, but the leftover chicken I used in tonight's dinner: pasta bake.  I pureed the roasted tomatoes into a sauce for the bake.  I combined the sauce, the chicken, some fresh green beans and alfredo sauce and poured it over cooked tri-color rotini pasta in a pan.  Then, I topped the whole thing with parmesan and mozzerella and baked it until it was crispy around the edges and the sauce was bubbling.

This afternoon I made a batch of Apple Banana Cupcakes.  I think they're a little more like muffins but they're tasty, so who cares!

I also made a double batch of Banana Overload Oatmeal Cookies but without the nuts (since I didn't have any) so I iced some of them.  They're tasty either way:

Wakey wakey, tasty egg bakey

Another apartment woe:  the horrendously loud dishwasher.  The first time I heard it I described it as T-rex mating season in my kitchen.  And the reason it sounds like that is because it is literally tossing the light-weight dishes around inside the washer (I can hear them bouncing around in there now!).  I decided that I should get it loaded and run it right before I leave for work or where ever whenever I can.  But we're running low on dishes so it's running now...how annoying.  Once my dish tabs are gone, maybe I'll switch to hand washing all my dishes instead of just the knives and pans...it would save me in electricity and really is the greener thing to do.

Anywho, onto the more interesting.  I'm making one of my tasty egg bakes for breakfast since I've got the morning off and am home with Sky.  Such a goon: she just shoved about 3 big bites of egg bake in her mouth all at once!  My egg bakes are SUPER easy and really quite tasty.

This one went like this:
I sprayed a small square baker and layered it with one can (10 ct) of small refrigerator biscuits.  Over that I put a layer of cooked and cut up little sizzlers sausages.  Over that I poured about 7 eggs whisked with a bit of milk.  And finally a layer of shredded cheese.  I baked it at 350 degrees for about a half an hour...voila! Breakfast:

My chubby monkey eating a (whole!) banana after dominating her portion of egg bake.

Ginger Teriyaki Pork Chops with green beans and brown rice

Tonight's dinner was ridiculously easy, cooked entirely in my rice cooker!

My loose recipe:

ginger teriyaki sauce (marinade)

2 butterfly pork chops

about a cup of brown rice

half a bag of frozen green beans

water

salt

extra virgin olive oil

Marinade the chops in the sauce.  Warm the oil in the rice cooker for 5 minutes.   Cook the chops in the cooker about 5 minutes on each side.  Then add the remaining ingredients including the marinade and cook until it switches to "keep warm".  (My brown rice it took about 35 minutes or so; white or jasmine probably would take only 25 minutes.)

It was pretty delicious and the leftovers will make a tasty dinner tomorrow night when I'm at work.

As an aside, any recipe that I post is likely some sort of variation or combination of a recipe I've read or tasted.  I'll probably post links to ones I find online.  The origin of this one in particular is from my rice cooker recipe book; at least that's where I got the cooking method.  The rest I pretty much made up...and that is how I cook.  I learned from my mama and she learned from her mama.  I hope Sky picks up a thing or two, even if she decides she hates cooking...ya never know, she may come to find she eventually likes it after all.  It's actually a lot easier that I ever imagined it would be in my younger years, when I surrounded myself with folks who could cook partially so that I would never have to.

Timmy Cake

I've been super lame about posting again but this one is guaranteed to be a good one...

My sweet baby Sky turns 1 tomorrow so we're having a combination birthday party with her cousins Ella and Zidane (3rd birthdays tomorrow and next Saturday respectively).  It's this afternoon.  I decided I wanted Sky to have an awesome Timmy Time cake since that's her favorite show and he's her favorite character.  I had planned on having my friend Sara make the cake for us, but she's got relatives in town this weekend so she backed out on us a few days ago.  So I planned out the cake myself and JUST finished it a few minutes ago.  Sky is napping, but once she gets up, we'll load everything up and head to my folks' place for the party.  I think she's gonna love the cake and have a super awesome time.

So I wanted to share my Timmy cake along with a shot from the planning stage and one from the building stage:

Banana Bread

Just pulled some banana bread out of the oven.  It's amazing smell is torturing me.  I made it for our weekly coffee gathering at my brother's tomorrow morning.  The recipe I used is here:
Banana Bread
I won't know for sure that it's as delicious as it smells until tomorrow at breakfast.  I should mention that I also added chocolate chips and peanut butter chips (about 1/3 cup each).  It's gonna be great and I'm sure I'll finally be able to get Skylar to eat it.  Ever since she had the flu last week, it's like her appetite disappeared completely.  I'm hoping a tasty dose of banana bread will perk her back up.

Mardi Gras my foot!

I suggested we order a pizza last night for Fat Tuesday and of course DJ had to choose the worst toppings for us.  Before I could pull Sky out of her crib this morning, I had a pregnancy flashback when I gagged on my toothbrush and proceeded to ralph up last night's gross dinner.  I don't think I'll be ordering Pizza Hut again for A LONG TIME!

I'm just getting ready for the last day in my 6 day stretch...I've got the next 2 days off to hang with my baby love so 5:30 can't come quickly enough!

A Food Journal: Day 31

Breakfast: (180)
Special K cereal with 1/2 cup skim milk (150)
coffee with cream and Truvia (30)

Lunch: (325)
whole wheat pita pepperoni pizza (150+15+60+100)
diet coke

Dinner: (565)
sesame chicken with carrots, green beans, broccoli (90+200+25)
white rice (160)
1 cup skim milk (90)

Snacks: (360)
string cheese (80)
coleslaw/ramen salad (150)
Cheese-it pack (100)

Workout:
Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred: Level 1 (25 min)
weights (10 min)

(1400)

A Food Journal: Day 30

Breakfast: (130)
homemade wheat banana bread (100)
coffee with cream and Truvia (30)

Lunch: (815)
cheeseburger with ketchup and mayo (330+110+60+15+30)
Multi-grain Pringles (70)
coleslaw/ramen salad (100)
rhubarb crisp (100)
diet pepsi

Dinner: (280)
whole wheat pita with homemade hummus (150+50)
string cheese (80)

Snacks: (80)
string cheese (80)


(1305)

A Food Journal: Day 29

Breakfast: (150)
Special K cereal with 1/2 cup skim milk (150)
diet coke

Lunch: (345)
pear (85)
2 string cheese (160)
Cheese-it pack (100)

Dinner: (350)
Michelina's Lean Gourmet Shrimp Scampi (290)
1 slice of American cheese (60)

Snacks: (300)
2 slices of homemade wheat banana bread (200)
cookie pack (100)


(1145)

A Food Journal: Day 28

Breakfast: (255)
2 slices of homemade wheat banana bread (210)
coffee with cream and Truvia (45)

Lunch: (approx. 610)
Leonardo's Pizza (at Washington Pavilion), 2 narrow slices of pepperoni (educated guess: approx. 610)
diet coke

Dinner: (300)
orange curry garlic chicken with onions, carrots, green beans (300)

Snacks: (245)
pear (85)
2 string cheese (160)


(1410)

A Food Journal: Day 27

Breakfast: (195)
Special K cereal with 1/2 cup skim milk (150)
coffee with cream and Truvia (45)

Lunch: (280)
spinach, 1/4 cup shredded cheese blend, 1/4 cup cottage cheese, 1 mushroom, hard-boiled egg, 2 wheat saltines, carrots, and balsamic vinaigrette (10+100+40+70+20+20+20)

Dinner: (745)
cheeseburger with mayo and ketchup (330+120+60+45+30)
sweet potato fries (160)
diet coke

Snacks: (215)
cookie (30)
string cheese (80)
1 slice homemade wheat banana bread (105)

Workout:
P90X: Plyometrics (60 min)


(1435)

A Food Journal: Day 26

Breakfast: (180)
Special K cereal with 1/2 cup skim milk (150)
coffee with cream and Truvia (30)

Lunch: (390)
2 scrambled eggs with mozzarella (240)
hash brown potatoes (150)

Dinner: (535)
bag of Gardetto's (375)
Fiber 1 bar (150)

Snacks: (440)
2 string cheese (160)
cookie pack (70)
1 cup of grapes (110)
Cheese-it pack (100)

Workout:
P90X: Shoulders and Arms (60 min)


(1535)

A Food Journal: Day 25

Breakfast: (275)
Special K cereal with 1 cup skim milk, 1/2 banana (110+90+45)
coffee with cream and Truvia (30)

Lunch: (185)
romaine lettuce, 1/4 cup mozzarella, 1/4 cup cottage cheese, deli sliced turkey, 2 Ritz crackers, balsamic vinaigrette (5+80+40+20+30+10)

Dinner: (310)
orange curry garlic chicken with onions, carrots, and green beans (160)
brown rice (150)

Snacks: (480)
cookie pack (100)
string cheese (80)
wheat pita with homemade hummus (150+50)
Cheese-it pack (100)


(1250)

A Food Journal: Day 24

Breakfast: (180)
Special K cereal with 1/2 cup skim milk (150)
coffee with cream and Truvia (30)

Lunch: (380)
wheat pita pizza with 1/3 cup mozzarella, 2 Tbsp sauce, and 1 Tbsp Parmesan (150+120+15+10)
orange (85)

Dinner: (405)
El Dorado taco bake with tortilla chips, mozzarella, sour cream, sausage, green chilis (315)
1 cup milk (90)

Snacks: (620)
2 string cheese (160)
chocolate cake (for Erin's birthday) (300)
1 slice American cheese (60)
Cheese-it pack (100)

Workout:
P90X: Kenpo X


(1585)

A Food Journal: Day 23

Breakfast: (340)
sesame bagel with neufchatel cheese (240+70)
coffee with cream and Truvia (30)

Lunch: (420)
garlic and onion chicken and mushrooms (170)
brown rice (150)
Keebler cookie pack (100)

Dinner: (275)
Romaine with 1/4 cup mozzarella, 4 baby carrots, pulled chicken and 1 Tbsp fat-free balsamic vinaigrette (5+80+20+60+10)
grapes (100)

Snacks: (70)
1 slice of American cheese (70)


Workout:
yoga and weights (45 min)


(1105)

A Food Journal: Day 22

Breakfast: (150)
Special K with 1/2 cup skim milk (150)
diet coke

Lunch: (320)
garlic and onion chicken and mushrooms (170)
brown rice (150)

Dinner: (265)
Michelina's Lean Gourmet Salisbury steak with mashed potatoes and gravy (180)
pear (85)

Snacks: (480)
Cheese-it pack (100)
2 string cheese (180)
wheat pita pocket with homemade hummus (90+30)
cookie pack (100)
Oats'n'honey cereal dry (150)


Workout:
Jillian Michael's 30-Day Shred: Level 1 (20 min)
Yoga and abs (30 min)


(1365)

A Food Journal: Day 21

Breakfast: (210)
1/2 honey wheat bagel with neufchatel cheese (120+40)
coffee with cream and Truvia (50)

Lunch: (325)
turkey and American cheese sandwich with lite mayo and homemade hummus (50+60+90+20+15)
banana (90)

Dinner: (830)
Jimmy John's Vito, special (510+60)
Reduced fat potato chips (260)

Snacks: (5)
stick of gum (5)


(1370)

A Food Journal: Day 20

Breakfast: ( 180)
Special K cereal with 1/2 cup skim milk (150)
coffee with cream and Truvia (30)

Lunch: (520)
Zesty turkey burger on wheat bun with American cheese slice, ketchup, mayo (290+60+15+45)
fries with olive oil cooking spray (110)

Dinner: (320)
sauteed garlic and onion chicken and mushrooms (170)
rice (150)
diet coke

Snacks: (295)
banana (90)
string cheese (80)
wheat pita pocket with homemade hummus (90+30)
stick of gum (5)

Workout:
P90X: Shoulders and Arms (60 min)


(1315)

A Food Journal: Day 19

Breakfast: (95)
apple (65)
coffee with cream and Truvia (30)

Lunch: (255)
wheat pita pocket with turkey, hummus and mozzarella (90+25+60+40)
1/4 cup cottage cheese (40)

Dinner: (685)
sesame bagel with neufchatel cheese (240+70)
bag of Gardettos (375)

Snacks: (300)
slice of wheat crust pepperoni pizza (120)
string cheese (80)
banana (90)
2 sticks of gum (10)

Workout:
yoga and weights (approx 45 min)


(1335)