hawaiian bbq beef and mac salad

A big thanks to Micah and Brittney for this entire meal. We learned how to make perfect sticky rice from them as newlyweds, and the meat marinade and mac salad are Micah and Brittney staples. I cannot count the times we ate this with them at parties or family get togethers (we aren’t actually family but were close enough friends to be adopted as such). Missing them today and so grateful for their friendship throughout the years. Love you, friends. And hey, thanks for the good eats. Xx

Recipe: Hawaiian BBQ (Teriyaki) Beef

Ingredients:
1.5-2 c soy sauce
1/2 c sugar
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
Oil, a splash
Vinegar, a splash
2 lb. (ish) Thinly sliced beef (sirloin tip etc)

Directions:
Mix all ingredients well then combine with beef. Marinate for 3+ hours. Then grill. Enjoy.



Recipe: Hawaiian Mac Salad

Ingredients:
16 oz large macaroni noodles, cooked & chilled
6 boiled eggs, chilled & diced
8 mini dill pickles, diced
4 Tbsp dill pickle juice
1/3 - 1/2 c mayonnaise
2 tsp mustard
Garlic powder, to taste
Salt, to taste

Directions:
Cook pasta and eggs. Chill. Dice all you need. Toss together and mix well. Serve cold.



Serve with CalRose rice. 

penne pasta bake

I got this recipe from our local grocery store, when they were doing this awesome Family Value Meal, all-ingredients-in-a-bag-and-ready-for-you program. Super cool. I've altered it a bit to make it even easier (I'm super lazy, ha), but the flavor is all there. Anyway, it's become a total staple in our household. Everyone loves it. Assuming you're not dairy-intolerant (ha), give this nummy recipe a try. You won't regret it.



RECIPE: Penne Pasta Bake

Ingredients:
1 (16-oz) pkg penne pasta
2 c. sour cream
6 oz provolone cheese slices
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

1 lb ground beef
1 med yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 (26-oz) jars marinara sauce

2-3 c. shredded mozzarella cheese


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Set aside a 9x13 casserole dish (or two 8x8s).

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add penne pasta and cook until al dente; drain. Mix in sour cream and parm. Set aside.

In a large skillet, brown diced onion, garlic, and ground beef over medium-high heat. Add spaghetti sauce and warm through.

Layer as follows: pasta, sauce, provolone, pasta, sauce. Then top with mozzarella cheese.

Bake uncovered for 25 min at 350F or until cheese melts and bubbles/browns.



**Note: This freezes wonderfully!  Bake one 8x8 and save the other. Two meals in one! Bam! Or better yet, eat one and give one to a friend! :) Also, making earlier in the day and refrigerating works great. Just keep in mind that you'll have to bake it a little longer.

chicken tikka masala

Possibly my favorite food in the whole wide world is Lamb Tikka Masala, especially from the little hole-in-the-wall place here in town. Swoon. Seriously, so good. Unfortunately, lamb is crazy-expensive, so I'm probably never going to make that at home. 

Luckily, Chicken Tikka Masala is a very close second. And Pinterest (or Mattawa Mum,  rather) came to the rescue with an amazingly delicious recipe. 

This is the recipe I ended up using, mostly Mattawa Mum's, with a few great tips and tweaks from my bro-in-law Jon... and a dash of my own two cents. It's spectacular and was a major hit with the whole family. We will definitely be making this again!!

Notes:  Don't skip on the heavy cream.  Less fattening stuff won't work as well.  Also, the fresh cilantro is critical.  Don't skip that either.  And finally, if you don't have cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes also work in the marinade.  Random, but FYI.

RECIPE: Chicken Tikka Masala

Yield: 6
Calories: 476

Ingredients:
[For Chicken + Marinade]
1 or 1 1/2 lbs chicken thighs, chopped into bite-size pieces
1 (6oz) tub plain greek yogurt
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger


[For Sauce]
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeño (seeds removed), minced
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp salt
2 small cans (8 oz) tomato sauce {or one regular}
1-2 cups heavy whipping cream
Cilantro, fresh, for topping

Directions:
Chop up your chicken thighs and make up the marinade.  Mix together well in a dish (8x8 worked great), cover, and refrigerate at least 2 hrs.  When you're ready to make up the sauce, skewer the chicken pieces and grill them until cooked-through (no longer pink).

For the sauce, melt the butter in a (large) heavy skillet over medium-heat.  Add garlic and jalapeño and let cook for 1 minute.  Add all of the spices + salt and mix until incorporated. Add the tomato sauce.  Stir well, and let simmer until thickened (10-15 minutes maybe). Add the cream {1 c for spicy, 2 c for mild with just a teensy kick} and mix well to incorporate. Let simmer for a while longer, developing both the color and the flavor of the sauce.  Add the chicken (removed from skewers, of course).  Simmer.  Top with fresh cilantro and serve!

Serve warm over basmati rice, with a side of naan!  Mmmm.... So good.

quick chickpea curry

Image source:  http://mykentuckyhome-kim.blogspot.com/

I adapted this recipe from one posted on Stirring the Pot, who had apparently adapted hers from Martha Stewart.  I made it according to the first recipe but found that there just wasn't enough KAPOW! for my liking.  I was hoping it would taste more like the Chana Samosa (minus the samosa, obviously) from our local Indian restaurant.  Mmm.  Anyway, I added a bit of this and a bit of that until I came up with something that tasted right to me.  And it was a hit!  Now to remember what I did... I think it was something like this.

RECIPE: Quick Chickpea Curry

Serves: 5 small (though adequate) bowlfuls

Calories: 173

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 large yellow onion, finely chopped

5 garlic cloves, minced

5 tsp curry powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 cans (15oz) chickpeas, rinsed and drained

3 Tbsp ketchup

2-3 c water

1/4 tsp garam masala

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1 teensy pinch of cayenne pepper (opt)

1 tsp mint chutney

2 Tbsp tamarind chutney

1 Tbsp (-ish) chopped cilantro 

1 small splash of lemon juice

Directions:

In a large large skillet over medium-high heat, heat olive oil.  Add onion and cook, stirring constantly, until dark brown around edges, about 6 minutes.  Add garlic, curry, and cinnamon, stirring until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add chickpeas, ketchup, and water.  Bring to a boil.  Add garam masala, garlic powder and cayenne pepper (opt).  Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook 15ish minutes (don't let it go dry... probably lifting the lid much is a bad idea).  If needed, uncover and increase heat to medium-high and stir until sauce is slightly reduced.  Add chutneys, cilantro and lemon juice.  Mix well.

Serve warm, with naan if you've got it.  And enjoy!

*Note: I get my chutneys from the above mentioned Indian restaurant where they make them in-house.  The grocery store variety would probably work but is nowhere near as nummy.

honey garlic pork chops

I found this recipe via Pinterest, and while I have had some bad calls finding recipes that way, I figured this one was fool proof (who can go wrong with soy sauce, honey and garlic?).  Luckily, my instincts proved right.  The pork was delicious!  We had friends over who also have a couple of kids, and all people - little and big - were going to town on it!  Not one speck of leftovers!  It was yum.  I altered the recipe a bit and will post my altered recipe below (the original recipe is here).  I will definitely be making this again!



RECIPE: Honey Garlic Pork Chops

Ingredients:
3/4 c. honey
1/2 c. soy sauce
1 1/2 heads of garlic (or about 18 cloves), minced
6 center-cut pork chops (about 3.5lbs total)

Directions:
In a small glass mixing bowl, mix together honey, soy sauce and minced garlic.  Stir until well combined.  Divide the mixture in half, pouring each half into its own gallon-sized freezer bag.  Add 3 pork chops to each bag.  Close up the bags and massage the pork a bit, to get the marinade to 'take' well.  Lay the bags flat in the fridge.  Let the pork chops marinate for about 8 hours.

Heat your grill to about medium heat.  Remove pork chops from the marinade and place on the grill.  Grill each chop for about 7 minutes on each side, or until cooked through.  Serve warm (with Calrose rice and mixed veggies, perhaps?) and ENJOY!  Mmm.

crock pot pinto beans

Photo credit: http://shimandsons.typepad.com/shimandsons/2007/03/pinto_beans_din.html

I'm not sure what it is, but there's a piece of me that just loves a big ol' pot-o-beans.  It is likely that my parents are to blame.  Growing up, my mom went through a phase (a long one) where every Sunday she would make a big pot of beans and a loaf of delicious homemade bread.  Mmm.  It might seem random to you (it did to my husband) to eat beans as a meal, but we're New Mexicans; it's how we roll.  Anyway, now that I am a mommy myself, I wanted to duplicate that-- not the weekly tradition, necessarily, but just exposing my family/children to the delicious simplicity that is a pot of beans with a side of homemade bread.  And it really is simple.  And delicious.  And the best part is you can make the pot of beans and end up creating several meals out of it (more on that later).  Yum.  Frijoles.  Ole!

RECIPE: Crock Pot Pinto Beans

Ingredients:

4 c. dry pinto beans

1 ham hock (opt)

garlic powder

salt/pepper

Directions:

Before you do anything, sort through the beans and take out any particularly funky/damaged ones as well as any dirt or rocks you come across.  Then rinse the beans well (I put them in a large bowl, cover them with water, swish them all around a bit with my hand, drain, and repeat- a few times).  

You can soak the beans overnight at this point, but it is optional (and who thinks that far in advance, really).  

Put the rinsed and drained beans in the crock pot.  Add your ham hock.  Cover with water (a couple of inches over, probably... the ham hock can poke out a bit, but you're doing a whole pot here so don't skimp). Sprinkle around a bunch of garlic powder and pepper as well as a bit of salt (you don't need much; the ham has enough to share).  Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or until beans are soft and ham is fully cooked.

Serve alone or top with cheese, tomatoes, sour cream, lettuce, onions, any of that stuff.  That's it!  Enjoy! 

freezer salsa

I got this recipe from my sister-in-law Ashley.  Her recipe called for four times this much, making a HUGE batch.  I did the math and made it a smaller batch.  It still makes a ton.  PLENTY for our little freezer!  We made this last summer and still have a stash of salsa to enjoy.  Mmm.  PS.  This salsa tastes mild when you first make it and more like mild-medium once it's been frozen and thawed.  Pretty tasty!  Enjoy.




RECIPE: Freezer Salsa

Ingredients:
2.5 gal tomatoes
5 jalapeños, seeds removed from all but one
1.5 Tbs salt
1/2 Tbs pepper
1/4 c. white vinegar

1 1/4 c. chopped onions
1 1/4 c. chopped green bell pepper
2 Tbs (rounded) chopped garlic
6 oz tomato paste
3/4 bunch fresh cilantro, cut up

Directions: 
Add first batch of ingredients to a large pot over high heat.  Once it boils, reduce to a simmer.  Simmer 1-2 hours, stirring often so it won't burn.  Then add the second batch of ingredients, and simmer for 30 minutes.

Allow to cool a bit.  Then pour into freezer-proof storage containers.  Freeze.  When ready to eat, thaw and enjoy! Yum!

Garlic Naan

Please disregard the crappy photo. I took it with my phone, and it's blurry to boot. Oh, well. Still makes my mouth water. Yum! :)

The original recipe is from Allrecipes.com; I only varied it slightly. I searched for a good while to find a highly-rated, easy naan recipe, and this was it! This was my first time making naan, and I think it turned out really well! I'm generally intimidated by breads (the rising and kneading scares me), but this recipe was fairly strait forward and not too bad! The naan turned out really well. When I did it, I brushed it with butter as per recipe instructions, but if I were to do it again, I would do EVOO instead. The butter flavor just didn't seem right; I think EVOO would do much better (and result in much fewer calories). Very tasty. Try it and let me know what you think!

RECIPE: Garlic Naan

Ingredients:

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast 1 c warm water 1/4 c white sugar 3 tbsp milk 1 egg, beaten 2 tsp. salt

3-4 c bread flour 1/4 cup butter, melted 1/2 tsp baking soda garlic powder or fresh garlic cilantro EVOO Directions: In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, or until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, baking soda, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6-8 minutes, or until smooth. Place dough in a well-oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hr, or until the dough has doubled in volume. Punch down dough, and pinch off pieces (about golf-ball sized) for individual naans. Roll into balls and place on a tray. Spray tops with Pam and cover with a damp towel. Allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes. Warm up outside grill or stove-top griddle (medium heat). Roll one ball of dough out into a thin oval. Brush top side with EVOO and add garlic (minced) or garlic powder as well as cilantro leaves. Press leaves and garlic into the dough. Then place dough (service side down) onto grill and cook for 1-2ish minutes (this happens fast; grill marks will be dark brown but bread will be white). Brush uncooked side with EVOO and flip over. Cook another minute, remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared. Serve warm with Indian food and enjoy! Mm..!

chicken parmesan

Last week, I made spaghetti. I had to leave for work right after dinner, so the process was a bit chaotic. I put green beans in the microwave and bread in the toaster (to make a quick version of garlic toast)... and I absolutely forgot about the bread. The next day, I discovered the toast. I decided I would have to try my hand at homemade breadcrumbs. The toast has been sitting on the counter since then. Needless to say, it was nice and stale. Perfect, really.

The idea for this recipe came from my sister-in-law's post (find it here). Mine is certainly not her healthy version, but BY GOLLY- it is delicious! Try it out. I think you'll like it.

RECIPE: Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients:

4 pieces whole wheat bread, toasted

1/2 c. shredded Parmesan cheese, divided

2 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. {ish?} freshly ground pepper

2 Tbsp. EVOO

1 1/2 lbs. chicken breast (or 3 small)

2 eggs

1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. Canola/vegetable oil {I think; I didn't measure.}

1 1/2 c. Mozzarella cheese

spaghetti noodles

spaghetti sauce (about 2 c.)

1 can green beans

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450F.

Pound the chicken breasts until they are about 1/2 inch thick. This step is important. It not only tenderizes the chicken but also thins it out so that it cooks uniformly... and doesn't burn on the outside before it's cooked through. {I like to do this in a gallon-sized Ziploc bag... using a rubber mallet.}

*Note: I had two massive chicken boobies that I cut into four pieces. I only ended up using three since I didn't quite have enough breadcrumbs. Hence the three breasts recommendation.

{Before}

{After}

Using a food processor, pulse the toast, 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese, garlic, S&P and EVOO - in that order- until breadcrumbs form.
Prepare your assembly line of bread-crumbing ingredients. Dump the flour onto a plate. Beat two eggs and a splash of water in a bowl of some sort. Dump your super-savory breadcrumbs onto another plate.

{Like so}

Heat your Canola/vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Meanwhile, dredge each chicken breast in flour, shake off excess; slosh around in egg mixture, coating fully; then press into breadcrumbs, pressing crumbs into chicken until absolutely coated. Fry the prepared chicken in oil (again, in a large skillet over med to med-high heat) for about 3-4 minutes per side, or until golden and fabulous {see below}.

Note: Get your water boiling now for your pasta. Don't forget to salt the water.
Place the fried chicken on a cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet {or stone, if that's what you had out before you thought of the cooling rack idea}. This will help keep the breadcrumbs crispy later on.
Top liberally with Mozzarella cheese and lightly with Parmesan cheese. Throw some pepper up on there if you feel the need.
Bake at 450F for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and browned.

Note: The bake time for the chicken perfectly coincides with the spaghetti cooking time. So as soon as you throw the birdies in the oven, start cooking your pasta. I'm a horrid judge of pasta quantities, so use your own {better} judgement. Cook according to package instructions.

Also, open up a can of green beans. Drain 'em a bit, then dump 'em in a bowl. Microwave for dos minutos. Easy-peasy.

Oh, and warm up some spaghetti sauce. I did it on the stove; you could also nuke it. Whatev. But you do want it warm... so take care of that.

Once your 10 minutes are up, the entire meal should be ready to assemble. Grab a plate and dish up some spaghetti noodles. Top with sauce. Top that with your oh-so-yummy chicken. And serve with a side of green beans.

Mmm... amazing!

spaghetti with zucchini and parm

We have a good deal of zucchini in our garden right now. Also, I'm pregnant and have an aversion to almost everything. This lil' concoction, however, I came up with one night and have craved it several times since. I love it. Somehow it just hits the spot.

It's very, very simple and super flexible. I'm not even going to attempt to put quantities in the recipe, since really truly you can throw in as much or as little of all of it. I honestly don't think you can go wrong. Try it. Like it. Crave it.

RECIPE: Spaghetti with Zucchini and Parm

Ingredients:

spaghetti noodles

olive oil

zucchini, seeded and chopped/diced

onion, diced

garlic (okay- quantity: I do only 1-2 cloves, grated/minced)

parmesan cheese (fresh, shredded)

salt/pepper

Directions:

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Meanwhile, saute the zucchini, onion and garlic in olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. When all of it's done (spaghetti al dente, or to your prefered done-ness... zucchini and onion soft and cooked through), drain the pasta and toss it all together. Add parmesan cheese and toss to coat lightly {don't go too heavy on the cheese or you'll only taste parmesan}. Serve warm. Mmm... enjoy!