Posts Tagged ‘real simple cookthrough’
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Scary Spice
Man, Monday hit me like a ton of bricks. I am saddled with a cold/allergies and I feel like I’m walking through a swamp. I just feel heavy and tired. Tonight I’m just going to relax and rest and hope it does me good!
Yesterday I played with Mark’s camera a bit. Here is Ada sniffing the wind:
For dinner yesterday I completed Meal Five of Week Four of the Four Week Recipe plan from Real Simple: Yes, folks, the cookthrough is OVA.
It went out with a bang. On the menu?: Cajun Chicken and Collard Greens. For some reason this recipe made me start talking with a draaaawwwl. A Suth’n drawl.
I’ve never eaten or cooked collard greens, and I’m not sure I’ve ever had black-eyed peas either. (Resist the urge to start singing My Humps. My husband did not.) Luckily, 24 hours before I had to cook this meal, I watched Paula Deen herself prepare colluhd greeens, y’all. Here is how she explains it:
Wash the collard greens thoroughly. Remove the stems that run down the center by holding the leaf in your left hand and stripping the leaf down with your right hand. The tender young leaves in the heart of the collards don’t need to be stripped. Stack 6 to 8 leaves on top of one another, roll up, and slice into 1/2 to 1-ince thick slices.
Did I go to the right source or what? Lady knows what she’s doing!
Here’s how it turned out
Another tip for this simple recipe was the chicken called for blackening or cajun seasoning. Don’t run out and get this (as you know I have a ton of seasonings as it is – more on that later). You can make it yourself by combining paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, thyme, oregano, pepper and salt. Here is a link with measurements, but honestly I don’t think that is necessary – just estimate it.
And with that, the Real Simple cookthrough is done!
Fortunately, this means:
- Less spices to buy
- Not trying recipes that I don’t want to cook but feel like I have to
- Less pressure to cook – PB&J and grilled cheese, here we come
Unfortunately, it means:
- More PB&J and grilled cheese
- I have to come up with my own meal plans (and I hate meal planning)
- I won’t be forced out of my comfort zone
- Having to come up with stuff to blog about on my own!
This weekend, I rectified my spice situation. Unfortunately, I deleted my “before” pictures! Basically, I had one spice rack by the stove, and more than double the number of spices in the pantry. It was out of control. I decided to consolidate it all and install a spice rack on the back of our pantry door, clearing up some counter and pantry space at the same time. Here is the result:
The kitchen is really clean and more functional now, and just makes me want to go in there and cook up a storm. Why didn’t I do this before the cookthrough??! Who knows.
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A little rushed
Last night was a little rushed at dinner time. I came home from Girls on the Run and knew we HAD to see Due Date which had just opened–the movie with Zach Galifianakis and Robert Downey, Jr., two of my favorite actors.
I was glad I was making pizza. On the menu for the Real Simple cookthrough was Sweet Potato and Brie Flatbread. However, last night I stupidly used all of the sweet potato! Woops! I did have a couple of pears, so I forged on.
I added banana peppers to Mark’s side, and left the shallots on mine – Mark doesn’t like oniony things.
As you can see, the pear was so juicy that the pizza crust under it stayed softer than the rest of the crust. It was kind of weird. Next time I might cut the pear differently and dry it.
My pieces
We should have had a salad on the side but we were pressed for time!
The movie was definitely worth seeing and worth the missing salad.
There is only one more week of Girls on the Run practices left! I’m going to miss those crazy girls.
On today’s agenda is installing a spice rack and trying to figure out Mark’s camera a little bit better (sorry for the foreground blur earlier). Then we’re hanging out with some friends tonight but I’m not sure what we’ll be doing.
I KNOW you’re looking forward to the spice rack pictures and all its glory but try to contain yourselves.
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You Don’t Have To
It is so close to Friday that I can feel it. Can you?
Workout: A lot of times I complain to my friends or husband that I don’t “feel” like working out before a workout. Usually I’m looking for an a little bit of enabling and permission to skip it. Today I complained to my friend Robin that I didn’t “feel” like running today and she said, “You don’t have to.” She was right. I didn’t have to. But I could, and I had no good excuse not to. Ironically, she gave me permission not to work out, and that was motivation enough to do it. I did it not because I felt like it, but because I could and because it’s good for me. And you know what? I’m glad I did. I did 5.4 miles on the treadmill.
Food: Tonight’s menu was Seared Steak and Cauliflower Puree, with a side of “fries.” I am a little afraid of cooking meat, especially steak. I don’t feel like I know what I’m doing. I’m glad the Real Simple recipes have featured a lot of steak because it’s helping me feel more comfortable cooking it.
Tonight’s recipe I worked with a New York strip steak and I added regular and sweet potato fries. If not for the fries, this meal would have taken me 15 minutes to make. The hint is to steam frozen cauliflower in the microwave. When I have the option of steaming in the stove v. steaming in the microwave – microwave always wins.
The steak turned out really well. Even Mark said it was good.
Ada was not happy with her kibble tonight.
It’s rough being a dog!
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Substitutions all over the place
It’s November already! How did we get here?
Last night I made Roasted Pork Chops with polenta from the Real Simple cookthrough. Except, as you can see, I just used boneless tenderloin.
On the side I made roasted grape tomatoes. And instead of using instant polenta, I just used cornmeal.
I walked up and down the entire grocery store looking for instant polenta, when finally I just googled whether I could sub cornmeal. What would I do without an iPhone? (Oh yeah, I might call someone?) Anyway, google told me I would need to cook the cornmeal for 45 minutes constantly stirring if I opted out of instant polenta but I went for it. I used about 2.5 cups of water, one cup of milk and added cornmeal. Google lies, folks. This was almost done in ten minutes, and by the time the pork was done, the polenta was beautifully fluffy. I did stir it a lot while it was cooking. The recipe said to add grated gruyere so I did. It was really, really good!
Whenever I have to cook with wine, it’s fine by me. As long as I don’t have to dump the whole bottle in the food. Some of it needs to go straight to my belly. “Scotch, scotch, scotch. I love scotch. Here it goes, down into my belly.”
Workout: Today I did Jillian’s 30 day Shred, Level 2. This was HARD. I didn’t really get the hang of some of the moves, like the plank squat thrust. But it was hard in a good way.
More food! Today I made Salmon with Potato salad. The recipe called for watercress the third or fourth time in the last 3.5 weeks and my grocery stores do not seem to carry fancy stuff like watercress. I subbed in mustard greens, which I’ve never even had before. I was a little worried about how it would work out . . .
But I shouldn’t have worried because it turned out really well. Mustard greens have a similar texture to kale, but they aren’t bitter. Their texture stood up to the potatoes nicely. I think the last week of the Real Simple cookthrough is off to a good start.
I kind of cheated and used frozen salmon that was already in a marinade.
But you know what I think? Cooking is made for cheating.
Goat. That’s what I have to say about that.Question: I am in the market for protein powder that is non-dairy. I like to mix my protein shakes with milk (with other things too) and the whey protein powder plus milk was doing a number on my stomach (one or the other, and I seem to be fine). I would still like to use milk in protein shakes (I’m really picky when it comes to soy/rice/almond milk – they are a lot lower in protein and sometimes higher in added sugars). Whey protein powder has 20+ grams of protein per serving and I would like something comparable, without a bunch of fake sweeteners in it. Does anyone have any ideas?
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M – I – Z!
It has been a busy weekend! Now, it’s Sunday morning and I have no concrete plans except to make some more headway in The Girl Who Played With Fire (the second book in the Dragon Tattoo trilogy). I’m nearly 500 pages in and another 100 or so to go! So far the series has been pretty good – it’s definitely a thriller/mystery type which isn’t something I would normally read, but it is keeping me entertained!
My Real Simple cook through has really fallen by the wayside this week – I only did 2 recipes! On Thursday I made the Shrimp with White Beans on Toast. Instead of arugula, I used frozen peas.
I tried to capture the steam but I’m not sure if you can see it.
On Friday we had a practice 5k as our lesson for Girls on the Run. The weather was great! I ran with a girl and I didn’t know the route that well and unfortunately got us lost! :S We ended up running 4 miles! The girl kept a really good attitude though and hopefully she didn’t mind the experience too much.
This morning we had another practice 5k with some of the other girls in Girls on the Run and I did not get lost. Success.
On Saturday we had friends over to watch the Mizzou Homecoming game. Mizzou is where I went to law school and where my husband and a lot of my friends went to undergrad. Mizzou was ranked #11 and was playing Oklahoma, ranked # 1.
I made cookies with cream cheese frosting and GOLD sprinkles.
We had candy corn and black & gold jelly beans.
I made potato & sweet potato chips. I sliced them with a mandoline and tossed them with olive oil and salt. Then I roasted them @ 425 until they were crispy and brown – 15-20 minutes.
I did the same with some Granny Smith apples, except instead of tossing in oil and salt, I sprinkled them with cinnamon sugar.
Here is the spread…
Plus there was vegetarian chili and burgers and brats (unpictured – you know what that looks like).
My chili recipe: Throw stuff in a pot until it tastes good. Works every time.
Fall decorations:
M – I – Z!
Z – O – U!
It was a fun game to watch. I think we were all on edge, carefully managing our optimism so that our hopes would not get crushed. It was hard to do because within 14 seconds of the start of the first quarter, Mizzou scored.
But we were able to go to sleep happy since Mizzou WON.
Watch out Huskers – an undefeated team is coming to a stadium near you.
About Me
My name is Michelle and I like to write about running, food, and fitness in general. Check out my About Michelle section for more!
