Category: Food & Drink

We took the kids to the lake today with their bikes – the lake nearby with a bandstand, a series of docks to run around on, and a couple restaurants. Quite spontaneously we decided to have lunch at the hamburger stand, and figured as long as we were going to eat crappy, we might as well go all the way and get some milkshakes, too.

As I swallowed my last bite I said, “I’m going to feel like crap later, aren’t I?”

And Bryan was all, “I feel like crap now.”

But the shakes? And the mushroom burger? And the garlic fries? Worth it. Hell, I lost another pound over a holiday weekend, so I can spare it, is the way I see things.

When we got home the kids went down for naps, and we slouched on the couch, moaning in our saturated fat.

“I can’t imagine eating dinner, tonight,” I grunted. “I think maybe I should just steam a big pot of broccoli.”

And for some reason we found that hilarious, and proceeded to list all the other vegetables we were going to eat for dinner to right the injustice we’d committed on our arteries.

Turns out we weren’t kidding.

I know! Right? I’ll let you catch your breath after that beautiful scene.

Recovered?

And now this…

Bryan added saute’d zucchini to some chopped tomato and avocado, and dusted with parmesan cheese and a pinch or two of salt. We ate this first while the artichokes steamed, and then we partook.

(My sister’s mouth is now gaping open that my children eat artichokes.)

I was caressing my Costco-sized tub of feta the other day, and happened to notice a recipe on the side label for Feta Pockets. I made this once for myself, and like any other good thing in my life, I turned it into an obsession. If you come to my house, now, you will be served this Feta Pocket. Period. No exceptions. I am no longer eating anything else for lunch. It’s light AND filling, and though I haven’t added up the calories, I can’t imagine it has too many for lunch. I think the 200 calorie whole wheat pita carries the most weight, but it also provides the bulk that prevents me from being snacky two hours later.

Here’s the recipe as it appears on the label, but I usually eyeball the quantities, and make enough for only two. If no one is eating with me, I save half for the next day. One adjustment I have made is to add the sprouts to your sandwich separately. Trying to stir them in with the yogurt makes them soggy and clumpy, and we don’t want that, do we?

Feta Pockets (from the President brand feta label):
In a medium bowl, stir together 2T sesame seeds, toasted, 4oz crumbled feta, 4 cups sprouts, 2 small chopped cucumbers, 1/2 cup plain yogurt, and 1/2 tsp pepper. Cut 4 pita breads in half. Spoon mixture into bread halves (I used Greek pita, which doesn’t have pockets). Cut 2 medium tomatoes into slices and place slices on filling in bread half. Makes 8 servings.

Taco salad is a regular occurrence at the ZugHaus. So is Chicken Taco Soup. Really, anything containing black beans and/or green chilies is a staple in our house.

Normally I make taco salad with ground beef, onion, green chilies, and black beans. But every once in awhile I like to change it up. Because I’m spontaneous like that.

Last night I made fish tacos using frozen tilapia fillets from the frozen section of the meat department. If you’re unfamiliar with tilapia, it a light, white, fish that doesn’t have a strong fishy taste. It’s also reasonably priced if you’re shopping on a tight budget. For the locals, the cheapest place I have found tilapia is at Winco, in the meat department’s freezer section, next to the whole fish with the eyes staring back at you.

(Pictured is a package from Fred Meyer – I used 2 for this recipe).

The other beauty of tilapia is that it’s a fairly small fish, so it thaws quickly when frozen. I cooked these, however, without thawing. I just opened up the package, put them in a pan on medium heat with a little water, covered them, and went outside to make sure my kids weren’t drowning in the kiddie pool.

A few minutes later I came back and they were thawed and cooked through (you can tell fish is cooked when it turns opaque).

I sprinkled some salt and a chili seasoning over it all (pick your favorite seasonings), and broke it up into pieces. I then added two cans of black beans and the juice from two limes, and stirred it around a little.

This was done so fast, I went out to sit on the back deck with the kids – where I may or may not have enjoyed an adult beverage – until Bryan came home. When he walked in the door we assembled all our favorite taco toppings together – green onions, cheese, fresh salsa, sour cream – and served it as a salad. Obviously you can serve it with chips or tortillas if you prefer.

I’ve been a little hyperactive since recovering from the flu. This includes spontaneous interpretive dance as well as the completion of 42 loads of laundry. After naps I rushed everyone out the door to squeeze in an 11th hour trip to the library – I wanted books about The Passover from the Children’s section. Suddenly, the 5:00 call from Bryan came in (he calls every day on his way to the bus – I know, totally awesome).

Happy to hear from him, but totally not in the right location to be making dinner, we buzzed home with books in tow.

Did I mention I’ve been sick for a week? I wasn’t exactly prepared with a menu plan or anything, so the best I felt I could do was broiled chicken and a salad. But to be honest? Kinda tired of the big slab of meat. I didn’t exactly set out to make this dish, but it sort of built itself. Here’s how:

Preheat oven to Broil.

Put five frozen, boneless chicken breasts on a broiler pan and place in the oven with the rack in the middle.

Run downstairs to switch over your laundry to the dryer, then start a new load.*

Run back upstairs and pull chicken out of the oven. Breasts should be thawed enough to be able to slice into chicken fingers. I buy the Costco breasts, and I sliced them lengthwise into three-ish strips.

Salt and pepper to taste, then broil 12-15 minutes.

Turn, salt and pepper other side, and broil another 12 -15 minutes.

Meanwhile….

Empty two cans of black beans into a sauce pan. Add salt, cumin, chili powder, and … what the hell, just dump in a cup or so of salsa and call it a day.

Set the table.

Put out your salsa, sour cream, and shredded cheddar.

Thinly slice red or green onions (red onions would be yummy if saute’d on high heat until practically charred).

Chop lettuce and/or heat tortillas.

When the chicken is done, serve fajita style by placing a chicken finger in a tortilla and topping with everything else.

OR!

Create a fajita salad, which is what we did.

For a meal that took me 40 minutes from start to sit-down, this got rave reviews from everyone. Definitely a do-again.

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*This step can be substituted with folding some laundry. Or you could change a diaper. Or wash some dishes. Or, you could just stand there and wait a couple minutes until the chicken was thawed enough to slice. Whatever.

After we got home from church this morning, Bryan said he had a great idea for lunch. So he cooked and and watched! He is the more creative cook between us. I do a lot of tweaking of recipes, or combining of several different recipes, or adapting ideas to work for our family – generally needing a good structure to start with. But Bryan makes stuff up based on what ingredients we have available. Bryan can also eat something in a restaurant, then come home and duplicate it – as in the case of P.F. Chang’s famous Lettuce Wraps.

He’s the cooking equivalent of musicians who can play a song after hearing it once.

What he came up with today, I call Blue Mandarin Chicken Salad.

Saute chicken in Yoshida’s marinade until chicken is well browned and marinade is evaporated. Yoshida’s marinade can be found in the Asian isle, next to the soy sauce and teriyaki sauce. In fact, if you have teriyaki sauce at home, you could probably just mix in a little brown sugar or honey to sweeten it.

Today we used a can of chicken (comes like canned tuna – in water, needs to be drained) to save time, but in the future we will likely use 1-2 chicken breasts cut into pieces. The canned chicken still tasted great, though.

Fill a large bowl with crisp lettuce (we used romaine hearts), and a can of mandarin oranges. Add blue cheese crumbles, and chop some roasted almonds. Add chopped almonds to the chicken, and saute together until almonds are warm. Add chicken mixture to the salad, toss, and serve with salad dressing.

Bryan and I ate nearly the whole bowl of salad between us, and the kids ate peanut butter and jelly, so this probably isn’t a family style meal. But if you’re having a friend over for lunch or bringing something to a pot luck, this was very tasty!

This is one of our favorite meals for the winter – so warm and comforting! And more importantly – so easy! I make this a lot when we have people over for dinner because I can throw everything into the crock pot in the morning to avoid rushing around before everyone arrives. Here’s my recipe, which I made in a 5 quart crock pot for six adults:

Chicken Taco Soup
4-5 frozen chicken breasts
2 cans black beans, drained
2 cans diced green chilies
2 cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 onion
4-6 cups water
handful or two of frozen corn

Put the frozen chicken into the crock pot – no need to thaw. Add the onion and all things canned, cover with water. Turn crockpot on low and cook all day. About an hour before serving, remove the chicken and shred with a fork, then stir back into the soup. Add frozen corn, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook another 30-45 minutes on low.

Serve in a bowl over chips, and top with sour cream, guacamole, shredded cheese, green onions and salsa.

Prepare to unbutton your pants after the meal, because this makes a generous amount – there is usually enough for seconds.

I told you this was going to turn into a food blog.

I’ve had requests for more recipes, so here’s another “easy peasy” meal I can throw together with my eyes closed and one hand wrapped around a cocktail: polish sausage and a crustless quiche.

The polish sausage (or smoked sausage – whatever you’re into) is lower in fat if you buy the turkey version, and we all still like it. You basically just need to heat it up in the microwave, broiler, or saute’d in a pan. Sometimes I cut it up and stir fry it with veggies, and sometimes I cut it up into tiny pieces and throw it right into the quiche.

Really, you won’t be tested on this, so do whatever.

I found the quiche recipe on an Atkins-related bulletin board online (don’t EVER try that diet – go South Beach for low carb). Every time I make it I throw something different into it. Kind of a clean-out-your-aging-veggies-before-they-die sort of meal. But here’s the basic thing to get you started:

• 1 1/2 -ish cups diced veggies (enough to cover the bottom of your pan – onion, peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, whatever)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar
• 8 eggs (or one carton of Kirkland brand Egg Starts from Costco)
• 1/2 cup cottage cheese
• salt and pepper

Spray pie plate with non stick spray, spread veggies on the bottom, top with cheese. Beat the eggs and cottage cheese together, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and pour into the pie plate. Bake at 325 for 40 minutes, let it set before slicing.

See? Easy.

Not to throw you off, but when I make it I usually use a dozen eggs. And I bake it in a 9×11 pan. And I don’t really measure anything. And I use whatever I have on hand, in my free-spirited cooking kind of way.