Mini Hamburgers

From Just Bento by Makiko Itoh page 27

Made in bento with boiled carrots, blanched snow peas, red onion and parsley salad, rice, and fruit.

Didn't have the variety of meat so I made 100% ground beef mini burgers rather than the pork, veal, and beef combo.

Didn't saute the onion first because I forgot.

Zucchini, Cheese, and Herb Muffins

From Muffin Magic page 47

Trying for breakfasts. Fresh on Monday morning, frozen and thawed/toasted the rest of the week.

Halving the recipe to make 9 muffins.

Chicken Kara-age with Green Onion Sauce

From Just Bento by Makiko Itoh
page 35

Green Beans with Pine Nuts and Miso

From Just Bento by Makiko Itoh
Pages 36 - 37

This was really easy to make.  I am putting it in a pseudo-bento (Rubbermaid!) with Chicken Kara-age, white rice, fruit (red grapes, clementine for Curtis, and pluot for me), and a little sweet treat (Lychee gummies).

Smells good, looks a little gloopy.  I tried to double the recipe but I might not have used enough beans.  Maybe three of my handfuls rather than just two.

Braised Sirloin with Zinfandel and Cremini Mushroom Sauce

page 134.

This wasn't too hard to make and it turned out all right.  I think it would probably be better if you made it and ate it all in the same event, but it froze nicely and wasn't too fatty.

I ate it over rice and am considering egg noodles next time, but the rice absorbed the sauce nicely.

Waffles

Joy of Cooking

Rita's Creamy Chicken-Stuffed Peppers

page 178

Chicken Noodle Soup

Summer Squash Gratin

Sauted Scallops Over Spaghetti Squash

http://www.marthastewart.com/354138/sauteed-scallops-over-spaghetti-squash?czone=food/produce-guide-cnt/produce-guide-fall

Recipe is not very well written. Will make again, do not dredge scallops. Use non-stick pan.

Strawberries & Cream Freezer Cake

Made for Pete.

Kristine's Baked Shrimp Scampi

Behold! My first recipe! Nevermind that it's with a protein that I honestly don't like to touch... it's still tasty.

Baked Shrimp Scampi on a Bed of Linguine

Baked Shrimp Scampi
Ingredients

• 3/4 - 1lb large shrimp (prawns
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons white wine (the dryer the better)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 - 2 shallots, minced
• 4 teaspoons garlic, minced
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• dash of red pepper flakes (or more or less depending on how spicy you want the dish)
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• Cooked pasta (recommened: angel hair) [optional]

Right when the shrimps come out of the oven, they should look kinda like this!

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Make sure that the rack is in the center of the oven.
2. If your shrimp are not already cleaned, do so. Leave the tails on.
3. Make sure your shrimp are dry and then put them in a bowl. Add 3Tbsp olive oil, 2Tbsp white wine, and 2tsp salt and mix. Leave them in the bowl while you do step 4.
4. Melt the 1 1/2 sticks of butter. In a smallish mixing bowl, add the butter you just melted, the minced shallot, 4tsp minced garlic, 1 tsp thyme, a dash of red pepper flakes (or more... just keep in a mind that a little goes a long way), 2Tbsp lemon juice, and 1/2tsp salt. Mix together well.
5. Arrange the shrimp in a glass or ceramic baking dish so that they are next to each other but not overlapping or stacked. Pour the remaining olive oil and wine over the shrimp. Pour the butter mixture over the shrimp. The liquid shouldn't come over the top of the shrimp.
6. Bake in your preheated oven for 10 - 12 minutes until shrimps are cooked (pinkish).
7. Place shrimp over a bed of cooked pasta. Ladle the butter sauce from the baking dish over the shrimp and the pasta. Serve hot.

My First Bento!

In an effort to eat more healthily, use more left-overs, pack food more efficiently, and in general be kinda nifty, I've decided I'm going to try making bento boxes for lunches! This first one was for Curtis to take with him to work.

I am ridiculously pleased with myself.

Rice balls
- white rice (left over from dinner)
- chicken teriyaki (left over from dinner)
- sprinkled with goma sio
To make the rice balls, I got my hands wet and scooped up some rice into my left hand. With my right hand, I pushed in some of the left over chicken teriyaki (cut up into little pieces) into the rice. Then I tried to fold the rice around the chicken teriyaki, but ended up having to pick up more rice with my right hand and kinda smoosh it on. Then I rolled it around in my hands (keeping my hands wet really helped keep the rice from sticking) until it was smooth and none of the chicken poked out. Then I sprinkled the goma sio (black sesame seeds and salt) over the top of the rice ball.

Veggies
- snap peas
- carrots
- grape tomatoes (which, I have been informed, are gross)

Interested in bentos? Check out http://justbento.com

Lamb Chops with Greek Yogurt & Mint Sauce

From WeightWatchers New Complete Cookbook
"Lamb Chops with Yogurt-Mint Sauce" page 202

This was my first attempt at both lamb chops and broiling. The lamb turned out a little less crispy on the outside and a little more done on the inside than I would like, but still delicious! Clean up was also super easy; I'll definitely be broiling lamb chops again.

Lamb chop with Greek yogurt & mint sauce

The sauce was also really easy, though I had to use the food processor which can be kinda hard to clean. It doesn't help that I'm super scared of accidentally loping off one of my fingers since the blades for the food processor are so sharp. Crisp and light, the sauce paired really nicely with the lamb.

I used plain Greek yogurt instead of plain regular yogurt. I wasn't able to find a small container of plain, non-fat yogurt and since I almost never eat yogurt I didn't want to buy one of the large tubs. I was very pleased with how it turned out.

Brown Lentil & Pasta Soup

From "Perfect Pasta" published by Parragon Publishing
"Brown Lentil & Pasta Soup" page 14

I was not overwhelmingly happy with this dish. The whole thing turned a sort of muddy brown color (the mint didn't keep any of its green and both the broth and the pasta turned the same shade of brown as the lentils). I was unable to find the canned lentils that the recipe calls for and used dried lentils. When I looked up online and on the packaging how to cook them, everything I found indicated that I should just throw them in the soup and let them cook in there... unfortunately, they used up all the broth and then some to cook and they took a very long time. By the time the lentils were done, the pasta was mushy.

Tasted like Navy Bean soup, but was much more difficult. Might as well make Navy Bean soup...

French Onion Salisbury Steak

From free "Cuisine at Home" sample magazine
Page 34 - 35

This is one of my favorite dishes. I'd never made it before, but my mom has and I've always loved it.

I used 80/20 ground beef (the butcher said it was the same thing as ground chuck)... this lead to a VERY fatty dish. Not to say it wasn't tasty... it was just very fatty. After refrigerating it, it was really obvious how much fat was in it because it all clumped together in an orange-ish (because of the beef broth) film. It all melted in the microwave though! Next time, I'll probably sacrifice a little bit of the flavor for leaner beef.

With crock pot mac & cheese on the side... yummmm.

Crock Pot Macaroni & Cheese

From Slow Cooker Revolution by America's Test Kitchen
"Macaroni and Cheese" page 239

First off, I would like to say that the America's Test Kitchen cookbooks are probably my favorite to work with. The recipes are always good, there are lots of helpful tips (such as which brand of cheddar cheese works the best with this recipe), and no matter how intricate the recipe may be, they are always do-able with the easy to understand instructions.

I thought the macaroni and cheese was delicious, if wanting a bit of salt. Curtis thought that it lacked a little flavor. I am not sure if he wanted a sharper cheddar or a stronger cheese... but I'll probably make this again. It was unbelievably easy. Mix in a pot, pour into crock pot, wait, eat.

Black Bean Burgers

From Double Delicious!: Good Simple Food for Busy, Complicated Lives
Page 111

Not that successful.

The burgers tasted "okay" at best. They didn't really ever fry so they were just a warm goopy blob on the plate. Curtis said they were okay wrapped up in a tortilla with salsa and cheese and extra onion, but as a burger for dinner, they didn't really stand up to the test. Disappointing.

Turd Burger.

Made marginally more appealing with corn bread. Marginally.

Onion Tart

From Cooking Light magazine

This recipe was super easy, tasted good, and only used a cutting board, knife, measuring spoon, spatula, baking sheet, and one pan. I'm not sure it is really a good idea for a main course though... maybe with a bowl of beef soup on the side? Next time. :-)

In the fry pan.

In the oven.

All done!

Close up.

On the plate.

Spring Risotto

From Cooking Light magazine, April 2011, page 184

I am very pleased with how this risotto turned out.  I think it may have been a bit undercooked (I'm not a risotto expert by any means) but it tasted great.  Next time I'll probably put in more onion.

Creamy, filling but still light.

8 weight watchers points (calculated from published nutrition info). I'm not sure if the nutrition info is per serving or for the whole amount made, but I'm assuming that it is per serving.

Chicken Cannelloni

From Double Delicious page 104

This meal was... okay. But I don't think it was the recipe's fault; I think it was probably mine. The chicken I used was probably a little old (I mean, not REALLY old... just three days) and it tasted extra chicken-y. That was really my only complaint. Keeping in mind that I don't really like chicken, this recipe would be AMAZING without the chicken. I might leave it out next time...

I need to make sure that I get the right size lasagna noodle. The recipe calls for 4"x4" noodles or 3"x6" noodles and I just assumed that was the standard size. Regardless of if it is the standard or not, the size I bought was only 2" wide which made it a little bit challenging to roll up.  It still worked out all right though.

Instead of using tomato sauce, I will probably use spaghetti sauce in the future.

I haven't tried these as leftovers yet, but they should reheat nicely.

Maple Spice Muffins

From Double Delicious (page 33)

Lovely paper plate courtesy of my grandmother :-)

These muffins are great!  I've never used allspice or clove in anything before... not only does my kitchen smell fantastic, but the muffins taste awesome too.  They were really easy to make; just mix everything together and then bake.  I used paper baking cups rather than just spraying the pan and they stuck to the paper a little bit, but maybe I just didn't let them bake enough.  I think they turned out great; they have a lovely texture -- the grated apple is really nice.

I am planning on eating these for breakfast over the next week.  I made 14, gave 6 to my upstairs neighbors (Thrice), and plan on freezing 4 for later in the week or next.  In a toaster oven, I'm sure they'll reheat just fine.

Orzo Risotto with Chicken

I got a new cookbook! Sadly, the Borders in Lynnwood, Washington (about 30 minutes from my parents house) is going out of business.  The only upside of this is that they had a closing sale so I got this cookbook for 20% off.  It's very pretty; lots of pictures and cute design elements so even if the recipes in it are lousy, at least it looks nice in the kitchen.  The book is spiral bound so it lays flat (though hopefully I'll be getting a book prop soon to hold up the cookbook while I'm cooking) and all of the nutrition info is there for each recipe.

"Orzo Risotto with Chicken" (page 94) is the first recipe I've made from this book.  A little disappointing, but I made a few changes that I probably shouldn't have.  First of all, the recipe calls for lemon zest and the juice of the lemon.  I don't have a juicer and I was really tired so zesting and then using a fork to juice the lemon just seemed like too much work.  This was a mistake; without it, the dish seriously wanted acid.  When I reheat the left-overs, I'm going to add a squirt of lemon juice to see if that helps perk this dish up.

My second mistake was I didn't realize I had mozerella cheese instead of romano.  The mozerella was far too mild and made the whole thing kind of bland.  I added a ton of salt though and that livened things up.

An interesting aspect of this book are the purees.  The author, Jessica Seinfeld, is a big advocate of vegetable purees.  In most of her recipes, at least one vegetable puree is present.  In Orzo Risotto with Chicken, the recipe calls for cauliflower puree.  I was able to make it without a hitch (steam cauliflower; blend until smooth) and made enough to freeze (in 1/2 cup baggies) for future recipes.  This seems like it'll be great for me since I am loathe to eat my vegetables.  I even considered -- granted I was very hungry -- making mashed potatoes with cauliflower puree instead of potato.  I think I put a little bit too much in; I could taste the cauliflower.  So next time, I'll be sure to use the right cheese, less puree, and the lemon zest and juice.

I might also consider just frying the thin strips of chicken (which were delicious with sweet paprika, salt, and pepper) and leaving them on the side with the risotto (for the record, this isn't technically a risotto) rather than shredding the chicken (which made it lose a lot of the flavor from the spices) and mixing it in.

I chose not to take a picture of this dish because it is not the most appetizing dish to behold.  Not good for fancy dinner parties.

9 points per serving.

Grilled Sirloin Teriyaki

This grilled steak was pretty disappointing. The marinade smelled really great and tasted pretty good too, but unfortunately very little of it actually transferred any flavor to the steak. I used the panini press to cook the steak and I cooked it on too low of a heat so by the time it was cooked, the outside didn't actually get grilled. I'm pretty sure I know where all the marinade went too...

.

Gross.

I do not plan on making this again.

From WeightWatchers New Complete Cookbook
Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook
page 188

Deluxe Raspberry and Banana Smoothie

From the same Weight Watchers "Eat Wisely Turn Around" book 1 as the vegetable soup (see earlier post). 5 points (page 27)

Pretty tasty. I've been making these for breakfast once or twice a week since they're quick and portable.

The recipe calls for pineapple juice, but I substitute orange juice. With the pineapple it tastes a little too tropical. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing, it just isn't what I'm going for.

Vegetable Soup

This soup is such a win.

From Weight Watchers' "Eat Wisely Turn Around" book 1 (page 31)

It's really easy to make and pretty quick too. If you make the recipe as written, it makes 4 1-cup servings that are 0 points each. I added to it though, to make it a bit more filling so I could eat it for lunch. I added 1 cup of shelled edamame and 2oz (uncooked) orzo and it turned out really great (5 points per 1-cup serving).

I plan to make this soup but double the recipe and just keep it in the fridge. It worked great as a quick lunch and I never got tired of it. :-)