I am a Blog Failure

Hi all,

Well it is in the title. I am a blog failure. I was supposed to keep all of you updated last week about what I was cooking, and how I was cooking it. Well, my bad.

The weeks seem to smash into one giant day over here and it turns out I ran out of time during my days to update all of you!

I figured; why not give you recipes as to what I cooked! So, the following are the recipes!

Tuesday:

Balsamic Chicken with Roasted Vegetables
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 5 • Size: 2 thighs plus vegetables • Old Points: 8 pts • Points+: 9 pts
Calories: 347.1 • Fat: 17.0g • Protein: 31.1 g • Carb: 19.2 g • Fiber: 5.8 g
 

• 10 (20 oz) boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 20 medium asparagus, ends trimmed, cut in half
• 3 red bell peppers
• 1 cup carrots, sliced in half long way
• 2 red onions, chopped in large chunks
• 10 oz sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp sugar
• salt and pepper
• 3 tbsp fresh rosemary
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed and sliced
• 2 tbsp oregano or thyme
• 4 leaves fresh sage, chopped

Preheat oven to 425°. Wash and dry the chicken well with a paper towel. Combine all the ingredients together and using your hands and arrange in a very large roasting pan. The vegetables should not touch chicken or it will steam. All ingredients should be spread out in a single layer, if necessary use two baking dishes or disposable tins to achieve this. Bake for 35 - 40 minutes.

***This one turned out to be VERY good! I suggest to maybe let the chicken sit in the balsamic and oil marinade for a couple of hours!

***I also toasted some whole wheat bread, and we used the balsamic marinade as a dipping sauce! It was fabulous!

Wednesday:

Crock Pot Bolognese Sauce
Skinnytaste.com
Servings: 20 • Serving Size: 1/2 cup sauce • Old Points: 4 pts • Points+: 4 pts
Calories: 146.1 • Fat: 8.7 g • Protein: 6.7 g • Carb: 6.8 g • Fiber: 0.4 g • Sugar: 4 g
Sodium: 316 mg (without salt)  

Ingredients:

• 4 oz pancetta, chopped (or center cut bacon)
• 1 tbsp butter (or olive oil)
• 1 large white onion, minced
• 2 celery stalks (about 3/4 cup), minced
• 2 carrots (about 3/4 cup), minced
• 2 lb 95% lean ground beef
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 2 - 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes (I love Tuttorosso)
• 3 bay leaves
• salt and fresh pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup half & half cream

Directions:

In a large deep saute pan, sauté pancetta on low heat until the fat melts, about 4-5 minutes. Add butter, onions, celery and carrots and cook on medium-low heat until soft, about 5 minutes.

Increase flame to medium-high; add meat, season with salt and pepper and sauté until browned. Drain the fat then add wine; cook until it reduces down, about 3-4 minutes.  

Add to crock pot. Add tomatoes, bay leaves, salt and pepper; cover and set slow cooker to LOW 6 hours.  After the 6 hours, adjust salt and pepper to taste, add half & half and parsley; stir and serve over your favorite pasta or spaghetti squash.

***There is no such thing as Pancetta here, so for a substitute I used black olives and olive oil. The olives brought in the saltiness that the meat would usually bring in.

***There are no cans of crushed tomatoes, so I diced about thirty plus tomatoes and smashed then down with a potato masher!

***The power went out in the middle of the day, which means that the Crockpot idea went out the window. So I used a massive pot and kept the burner on low and it seemed to do the job!

Overall, this really turned out well! A real good taste! I will make this again!

Thursday:

Curried Chicken Sauté

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 3 ounces chicken, 1/2 cup pepper mixture, and 1 lime wedge)

Total: 23 Minutes

Total: 23 Minutes

Nutritional Information

Amount per serving

• Calories: 175
• Fat: 5.9g
• Saturated fat: 3.6g
• Monounsaturated fat: 1g
• Polyunsaturated fat: 0.7g
• Protein: 24.4g
• Carbohydrate: 7.1g
• Fiber: 1.7g
• Cholesterol: 63mg
• Iron: 1.6mg
• Sodium: 515mg
• Calcium: 20mg

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder, divided
• 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts $
• 1 (8-ounce) package presliced mixed bell peppers $
• 1 cup light coconut milk
• 1 lime

Preparation

1. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon curry powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper over chicken. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan; cook 5 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm. Add bell peppers and remaining 1/2 teaspoon curry powder to pan; sauté 1 minute. Add coconut milk, and bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 4 minutes or until mixture is slightly thickened. Cut lime in half. Squeeze 1 tablespoon juice from 1 lime half; slice other half into 4 wedges. Stir juice and 1/4 teaspoon salt into bell pepper mixture. Cut chicken across grain into thin slices. Serve chicken with bell pepper mixture and lime wedges.

***I have made this one before, but I tweaked it a little bit. The chicken I used has already been boiled and cut up into little chucks. So add the spices into the skillet and add the already cooked chicken. I let that cook for a few minutes (make sure the chicken is warm!)

***For the veges, I also add cut up tomatoes to the stir fry!

***For the coconut milk, yes, we have to make it all from scratch. To make this, you need coconuts , a massive bowl, hot water, and a blender. Cut open the coconuts, empty the water and scoop out all of the meat into a bowl. Boil water and put 1 cup of hot water per coconut into bowl. Let sit for about ten minutes. Add everything into a blender and puree until it is mostly a liquid consistency. Use a thin strainer and pour everything into a pitcher. All of the remaining meat that is in the strainer, squeeze it out with your hands, so the remaining juice can be added to the coconut milk. And there you go!

***I keep everything together in one big pan. After the veges have been cooked, I add the chicken back into the pan and cook everything together!

***I also make homemade pita chips to go with this!

Pita Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 package of yeast, or quick rising yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1 cup lukewarm water

Preparation:

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Let sit for 10-15 minutes until water is frothy.

Combine flour and salt in large bowl.

Make a small depression in the middle of flour and pour yeast water in depression.

Slowly add 1 cup of warm water, and stir with wooden spoon or rubber spatula until elastic.

Place dough on floured surface and knead for 10-15 minutes. When the dough is no longer sticky and is smooth and elastic, it has been successfully kneaded.

Coat large bowl with vegetable oil and place dough in bowl. Turn dough upside down so all of the dough is coated.

Allow to sit in a warm place for about 3 hours, or until it has doubled in size.

Once doubled, roll out in a rope, and pinch off 10-12 small pieces. Place balls on floured surface. Let sit covered for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 500 deg F. and make sure rack is at the very bottom of oven. Be sure to also preheat your baking sheet.

Roll out each ball of dough with a rolling pin into circles. Each should be about 5-6 inches across and 1/4 inch thick.

Bake each circle for 4 minutes until the bread puffs up. Turn over and bake for 2 minutes.

***I use whole wheat flour, so it is healthier! After the pita bread is made, I cut up the bread into little triangles, and half circles. I then drizzle olive oil over the bread and sprinkle pepper, oregano, and salt over everything. Bake in the oven at 350 until you notice bread has turned into chips!

This pita bread is a favorite over here. Everyone devours this! And they love the curry as well. It really is a good meal!

So there ya go. My week of cooking!

Hope some of you try these recipes out! Let me know what you think!

-Sarah