Surprising Dinner

Hey there. I hope that your summer has started off great, I know mine has. As summer has started I decided to eat better(it sounds cliche to do it during summer, swimsuit season, but that is not why), wanting to be healthier and in better shape for my age and health, not so I can go flaunt a six pack of abs and super crazy muscles.

I have been planning my meals weekly, eating better portions, and more nutritious meals. My meal plan has included fish once a week, more wheat or whole grain breads and pastas, and more veggies(carrots, green beans, asparagus, and plenty of salad). My surprising dinner tonight though is, Alfredo and tri color rotini. A surprise though, because it was a recipe that I know I would have never tried in the past.  If you are one of my fans who reads everything I have written you know I don't mess my grandmothers recipe for Alfredo. But I found a "get fit" recipe that is less calories and better for you. The surprise is it had CAULIFLOWER in it, I repeat, CAULIFLOWER! Big shock, right? But it was delicious.

Recipe:
2 c cooked cauliflower
3 oz cream cheese
1 tbs flour
1 1/4 c milk
1 tbs butter
3 gloves garlic, minced
1/2 c grated Parmesan
Your choice of cooked pasta

In a food processor/blender mix cauliflower, cream cheese, milk, and flour until smooth.
In a large sauce pan melt butter and garlic(do not let burn) add cauliflower mixture, stir until simmering, let simmer 3-4 min while stirring until sauce is thickening. Remove from hear add cheese and let stand about 10 minutes to finish thickening.


I really thought that I would need to have a back up meal but it was so great! I look forward to the leftovers and the other healthier recipes I have planned for the next few weeks.

Have a fantastic 4th of July!

Jamie

Been too long!!

It has too long since I have posted, many have asked where my posts are and I feel bad that I haven't but life has been so busy. I have not cooked much original lately. I have my usual choices, pasta, chicken, tacos, risotto, etc that I do still cook and I haven't posted about that because I don't want to post about the same things over and over again.

Although I said I don't want to keep posting about the same things my post tonight will include chicken and risotto. However, I did do something a little different to my chicken. I am excited to keep trying new things, especially new things I come up with on my own, rather than things I find in books or online(although I do still use those recipes a lot).

As a lot of you know my husband has become a home brewer and has made some pretty great beer since January. He has made a light beer, a strawberry light beer, a wheat beer(especially for me, with my favorite tea ever as one of the ingredients), and some others. I used the light beer today to make a cheddar beer bread. The bread tasted great but something happened in the machine and the bread did not form properly. We salvaged it and ate what we could for tonight and will continue to hack away at the loaf.

I also made chicken and risotto for dinner. The chicken, I used a little something different to bind the breadcrumbs to the chicken. I was going to use mayo which I use fairly often and then I thought I would use miracle whip, which I also use fairly often. And then, it hit me I could mix the mayo and miracle whip together to get a sweet tangy taste, and then it hit me again, to add Dijon mustard. It was incredible. The combination of the three was perfect and the breadcrumbs just made the chicken fantastic. The chicken was moist and flavorful.

I made risotto as our side dish. The process can be long and drawn out but if you do it right you can get a creamy delicious risotto. I always make mine a cheese risotto but you could make it anyway you want, as long as you get the creaminess from your cooking you don't need the cheese to do it for you. Tonight's risotto was probably my creamiest yet without the cheese. I used white wine and chicken broth as my liquid to slowly steam and cook the arborio rice. This made for a great flavor as well as a great texture. Walt and I did this together tonight, as I cooked the rice and slowly stirred it Walt added the liquid as I would ask for it. We worked well as a team and it was a great way to spend my Sunday evening.

Although our plates looked very bland the flavors in the bread, risotto, and chicken were far from bland. It was great night of eating and exploring new cooking techniques.

I will try to post more, especially this summer as I explore light, cool, eating for the rapidly increasing heat of Soda City.

Have a great week, especially to all those teachers I know out there that are so close to end. You can make it!

-Jamie

P.S. I made cupcakes a couple weeks ago for Relay for Life and as much as I don't want to toot my own horn I am going to toot my own horn. The icing for them was spot on as far as taste and texture. I made the cupcakes with different color cancer awareness ribbons in honor or in memory of family and friends who Walt and I have lost or have and will be fighting side by side with in this great battle against ALL cancer. Here is a picture of the cupcakes:

HOMEMADE, gotta love pinterest

So, I have made quite a lot of food in the last few weeks. Mostly great, but there have been some not so great. I also, tried to branch out and see what I could make that may test my cooking skills, as well as, my taste for different foods.
I made homemade gnocchi, now fortunately it was not actual potato gnocchi, so the fact that it was TERRIBLE, is not as surprising. I have heard from true italians that it takes a special touch to make great gnocchi, yet I wanted to try anyway. My wonderful husband found a recipe for "easy" gnocchi. Easy it was, but it was so gross. First the recipe did  not seem to have enough flour in it, which made the gnocchi fall apart in the water. So, I went back added more flour and tried again, FAIL. This time, although, it stayed together, it was disgusting. The gnocchi had almost no flavor and was just not a great texture. That is why I always have a plan B, leftovers and totinos party pizza. I was glad I tried the gnocchi and glad that although it didn't really work out, I was not upset, nor did I feel like I wasted much. The recipe was flour and ricotta pretty much.

I also took a whole Saturday to make a couple different things flavored with DR. Pepper. Homemade cupcakes with homemade(kind of made up recipe) frosting, and homemade chilli. All of this was quite a process but it all turned out so well. My man loved all of the Dr. Pepper food, given that it is his favorite drink. All the different Dr. Pepper items, did not scream Dr. Pepper but you could tell there was something there. I took the cupcakes to church with us and had many happy youth group girls and guys! Who knew we could find a youth group for Walt to lead that would love Dr. Pepper just as much as he does.
That same day I also made homemade cornbread(can you have chilli without it?). Did you know that if you don't mind a little bit sweeter of a cornbread you can use 1/4 c of vanilla(or plain) yogurt in place of 1 egg. It made the best homemade cornbread I could have imagined.

I had some leftover banana's so I also made homemade banana bread with peanut butter chips(I love PB on my bananas). It was fantastic and got some pretty awesome compliments from some pretty serious eaters(teenage boys and very honest women).

Dr. Pepper Chilli:

• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons of chili powder
• 2 chipotle chile en adobo chopped, plus 1 tablespoon of sauce from the can
• 1 pound of lean ground beef
• 1 can of Dr Pepper
• 1 large can (28 ounces) whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 medium can (14.5 ounces) of diced fire-roasted tomatoes
• 1 small can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
• 1 (15 1/2-ounce) can of dark red kidney beans, drained

• Saute onion and garlic in olive oil, just until they start to soften. Add salt, chili powder, chipotles and chipotle sauce and stir until combined over heat. Just a minute or two.
• Add ground beef and break up as it browns. Once browned, add Dr Pepper and scrape all the yummies from the bottom of the pan. Let reduce over medium heat to half the amount of liquid.
• Use kitchen shears (or your hands if you prefer) to cut (or crush) up the whole peeled tomatoes. You don’t need to go crazy. Just a few snip, snips to break up the tomatoes. Add tomatoes, and their juices to the pan as well as the tomato sauce and fire roasted tomatoes. Let your chili simmer on the stove for at least 30 minutes until nice and thick. Add the beans during the last five minutes so they can heat through.
• This chili is very flavorful and spicy, reduce the spiciness by using only one chipotle in the recipe

Dr. Pepper Cupcakes:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, melted
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 1/2 cups cake flour
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup boiling Dr. Pepper

How to:

• Cream the butter and add the brown sugar.
• When well blended, add the eggs one at a time, beating well.
• Add the chocolate, slightly cooled
• In a small bowl, add one teaspoon of the baking soda to the buttermilk.
• Mix the remaining dry ingredients in another bowl.
• Add the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture to the butter mixture alternatively.
• Add the vanilla. Finally add in the Dr. Pepper.
• Pour into cupcake molds and bake at 375-degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Frosting:

• 1/4 C melted butter
• 4 C confectioner's sugar
• 1/2 C dark cocoa 
•  1/4 c dr. pepper
• 1 TBS vanilla
• add milk(if needed for consistency)

add cocoa to melted butter and mix. add 10x sugar and dr. pepper alternately to consistency and then mix in vanilla.


Ask for banana bread or cornbread if you want it :)

Enjoy and have great end to your week.

gross gnocchi

Catch up time !

I have cooked a lot since my last post, I just haven't had much time to sit down and write about it.
I have made kielbasa casserole that made me melt back into my childhood for a bit. Rice, cheese kielbasa, what could be better, not much, ha. Which I heard from quite a few tasters that it was delicious! Thanks mom for the recipe! :)
I also made Christmas breakfast and Christmas dinner. Last year Walt and I started a tradition without even knowing it. We had fajitas for dinner and this year we opted to do the same. They are easy but so good and you can make any sides you chose to go with it.
For breakfast I made gingerbread pancakes & waffles and bacon. With the help of my man, because we were enjoying each others company that beautiful Christmas morn. The pancakes and waffles were delicious and we served them with some fresh maple syrup that just added to the taste.
Dinner as I said was fajitas, a Shadle recipe that has become a staple in the Hampton household. Homemade fajitas sauce served on chicken with any kind of toppings you may want. I usually go with sour cream and cheese but could easily eat my fajita without.
The next big thing I made was walts birthday cake that was in the shape of a grassy field with a soccer ball. I had no basis for how to make the soccer ball other than the round pan. So I went ahead and free handed the design, and if I do say so myself, I think I did a pretty good job.

I have been super busy most week nights and have been eating whatever we scrounge up, so now that things are settling back in, I will hopefully stay more on top of cooking and posting. I look forward to using the stack of recipes Inuit got in the mail from my wonderful auntie r as well as the recipes I have acquired over the past few months from family and friends.

Look for new postings soon!

<3
Jamie