Homemade Oven Fries

We were actually supposed to have mashed potatoes, but because of something I will blog about in a minute, I needed a quick change up. These were so fabulous, I have taken the organic fries we usually buy off my grocery list. We'll be homemaking from now on. I'll probably play around with different seasonings, but this is what I did the other night...

Ingredients

*1 medium potato per person, roughly (I used organic), wedged, and soaked in salt water for up to 24 hours (I was in a hurry... we soaked about 30 minutes)
*oil
*rosemary
*minced garlic
*salt
*pepper
*parsley
*paprika

Preheat oven to 400*. Drain potatoes. Toss with a *very little bit* of oil. I didn't measure, but I probably used about 1/3 c (for 3 potatoes). That was too much. Potatoes will SOAK up the oil very easily, so you really want more of a drizzle. Add 2-3 Tablespoons to the oil as you are tossing. Using a slotted spoon, transfer potatoes to another bowl, leaving behind as much oil as you can. In the new bowl, add in very generous amounts of all your remaining spices - rosemary, paprika, salt, pepper, parsley - remember that potatoes don't have much flavor on their own, so you really want to pump up the flavor here. Toss potatoes around to really get them all equally spiced. Speaking of spice, if you like your fries to have a bit of a kick, I think a light sprinkle of cayenne pepper would go very nicely with this blend. Spread potatoes on a cookie sheet/baking pan, trying not to let them touch each other. Bake at least 1 hour and 15 minutes, can be more, depending on you prefer your fries. I like them CRISP. Ideally I would probably go a bit longer next time, or cook at the same temp the whole time... which brings me to: cook at your preheat temp the whole time, unless you need to share the oven and need the temp compromise - then you can cook 45 minutes at 400*, cut it down to 375* and cook the remaining time at that temp. These were TO DIE FOR. Yum!

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Let me start by saying that I have always been a fan of brussels sprouts, but because I've never had them prepared WELL, I became less of a fan of them. The few times I have tried them in restaurants have been just plain nasty, and my moms cooking of them, while tolerable enough to convince me that I like them, was plain and boring (boiled in a pot of water, drain, serve. blah.) and didn't make me eager to try them on my own as an adult. But they're supposed to be really good for you. And I've been hearing about roasting them a lot lately. So we decided to give it a try. oh. my. god. We had a late dinner the other night, because Amanda had a doctors appointment and I didn't get dinner done in time. So after I got everything cooked, I had the task of keeping it all warm and fresh till they got home. Still uncertain, I decided to try a sprout. It was seriously one of the best things I have ever tasted. I couldn't stay out of them after that - I was popping them like potato chips. Very simple recipe too! We will definitely be having them again.

Ingredients

*1 lb brussels sprouts, washed and trimmed if fresh, poured out of the bag if frozen ;)
*oil
*minced garlic
*salt
*pepper
(Seriously, that's it!)

Preheat oven to 350* or 375* if you are cooking other things and need a temperature compromise. Toss the sprouts with a healthy drizzle of oil - I used safflower, because it is the end of the shopping period and it's all I've got, I think any kind would be fine. Go ahead and use plenty, you want them well coated. Add in a couple tablespoons of minced garlic (we buy our garlic already minced usually cause I'm lazy) while tossing. Using a slotted spoon, scoop the sprouts out of the bowl - leaving as much oil as possible behind - and lay them on your cookie sheet/baking pan. Sprinkle a generous amount of course ground sea salt and course ground pepper all across their tops. Bake for about 30 minutes, till they are looking brown and carmely. Enjoy! Yum, yum, yum!!

Good Idea/Bad Idea

Good Idea: Making homemade fries. Understanding that said fries take a while to cook, so you should wedge and soak them early on.

Bad Idea: Forgetting to move them from the soak water to the oven.

Oops! We skipped lunch instead.

Festive Wrap

For dinner tonight, we are having Festive Wraps. These make a very tasty, light meal, and are a quick prep. We usually serve with a small fruit salad, and occasionally chips.

Ingredients

* About 1 c shredded chicken, cooked
* About .5 c black beans
* .5 can mexican corn
* .5 c salsa
* .25 c sour cream
* 1 T milk
* 1 T lime juice
* 4 whole grain tortilla wraps
* 1 avocado peeled and pitted, sliced into 8
* About 1 c spinach
* .5 - 1 c mexican (or just sharp) shredded cheese

Whisk together milk, sour cream, and lime juice. Gently blend the chicken, black beans, mexican corn, and salsa. Stir in the milk mixture. Warm tortillas in a low heat oven, or in a skillet on low. They just need to be warmed enough to be soft and pliable. Works best to do one at a time. Lay one tortilla on your plate. Lay a thin bed of spinach over the whole tortilla. Spoon .25 of the chicken mixture in a line across the tortilla, about 1/3 of the way from one edge. Lay 2 slices avocado on top, and then sprinkle with .25 of your cheese. Roll up and enjoy right away. These are good next day, as long as you do not put them together. The chicken mixture tastes great sitting over night. But the actual construction of the wraps needs to be done very soon before eating.

Enjoy!

Good Idea/Bad Idea

Good Idea: Cooking a whole chicken. It is a cheap way to be able to serve only free-range, organic chicken (as opposed to trying to buy the f-r, o, b/s pieces). It is also a convenient way to cook. I can do it in a crock pot while at work, then pick it clean afterward, divide into several servings (we get 4-5 meals out of one chicken), and then freeze the ones we won't be using right away. We have been very pleased with doing this.

Bad Idea: Forgetting about said chicken after cooking it. Thus the need to toss. the. whole. thing. What a waste.

Italian Chicken Pasta

I've had some (cooked) chicken marinating in Annie's Tuscany Italian dressing for a few days. We were originally supposed to have it for dinner on Thursday night. Amanda surprised us just a couple of hours before dinner with the news that we had a sports banquet to go to that night. Yippee. Chicken went back in the fridge to stew a bit longer. Turns out it was a kids-only thing though (which we found out after we got dressed up and arrived at the restaurant)... but it seemed awfully late to get started cooking dinner just for us, so we decided to go out and binge on junk food appetizers and get toasted on margaritas. Fun, fun.

Then we were going to have the chicken meal last night, but Kim had a mega craving for pizza, so the chicken got shelved again. (I can't resist my hot wife when she has a craving. Especially when she's sick. :( Especially when she *always* gives in to my cravings.) We ordered pizza. So then I was faced with the weekend, knowing we had plans tonight, and getting concerned that the chicken would go to waste. I decided to do a spur of the moment lunch. It was healthy, delicious, cheap, and easy. What more can you ask for??

Bring approx. 2 cups dry pasta to a boil (I used penne, because I have it on hand. If I was buying, I probably would have gotten bow tie.) with a couple tablespoons olive oil. Cook until al dente, about 10 minutes for whole grain pasta. Drain, return to pan, and immediately sprinkle in a heavy dose of garlic powder. Taste test to know when you have enough. Then stir in a heavy shake of parmesan cheese - ~1/4 c. Blend well, with several turns of fresh ground black pepper added. Pour pasta into a large bowl and place in fridge to cool down. Finely chop or shred about 2 cups of cooked chicken. Very finely chunk about 3/4 - 1 cup cheddar cheese (I used colby jack.). Remove pasta from fridge and gently stir in chicken. Then blend one whole bottle of Annie's Tuscany Italian dressing into mixture. Next, add in 1 - 2 cups fresh or frozen green peas or edamame. And finally, gently stir in your cheese chunks. Let settle, covered, in fridge for a couple of hours to enhance flavor. Or, if you're like me and have no sense of delayed gratification, inhale a bowl full right away. Yum! This is a good pasta salad choice for anti-mayo folks. ;)

Why green smoothies?

Well, my first reaction was a little stronger... more along the lines of Who the HELL would eat THAT??. And, WHY??. I then proceeded to pretend that I had never heard of such a thing. My denial did me very well for several months. But in my roamings online, I kept hearing about them. And how wonderful they were for you. And blah, blah, blah. And how they tasted so good. (Yeah, I wasn't buying that one either.)

But then Kim and I decided to buckle down and bring our eating habits back under control. I suggested we give green smoothies a try, and Kim, supprisingly - and bravely -, agreed. I made our first ones the next morning. And they were good! Ugly... not very *green*... but GOOD. We really enjoyed them. You can see the video evidence at Kim's blog. (Make sure you watch parts one and two first.)

If you want to learn more about them, I highly recommend this book. It is a great starter book, with several yummy recipes - great for anyone wanting green smoothie info, even if you aren't a raw foodie otherwise... we aren't. And the home of the original green smoothie challenge with more yummy recipes!

And finally, a few of our own tried and true recipes. Each of these makes two 10-12 oz smoothies. So far we have only used spinach, but we're planning an adventure with kale next week, and parsley soon after. For each smoothie, assume 2 heaping cups of fresh spinach.

1 large banana
healthy splash of pineapple coconut juice (ingred. 100% pure pineapple juice, 100% pure coconut milk, water)
approx. 1 c frozen whole pitted dark cherries
approx. .5 c fresh mango


1 large banana
healthy splash of pineapple coconut juice
approx. 2 c frozen harvest berry blend (raspberries, blueberries, boysenberries, strawberries)


1 large banana
healthy splash of pineapple coconut juice
approx. 1.5 c fresh frozen pineapple chunks
approx. .5 c fresh shredded coconut
(smoothie will look like blended shamrocks - our prettiest smoothie yet, and very yummy)


1 large banana
healthy splash of pineapple coconut juice
approx. 1.5 c fresh frozen raspberries
approx. .5 c fresh frozen blueberries


1 large banana
healthy splash of pure black cherry juice (ingred. organic pitted black cherries, water)
approx. 2.5 c fresh frozen black cherries


There's a few to get you started. Enjoy!!