Retro Bento #2

On the cafeteria tray again! Today we had a 1/4 of a Cinnamon raisin bagel, herbed turkey rolls on picks, tomato with salt & pepper, 1/4 of a carrot with honey mustard dipping sauce, butterflies and tulips cheese cut-outs, and a few remaining pretzels from the bottom of the bag.

**It is amazing to me that even when you think you HAVE to go to the store because you have nothing left to eat that the beauty of these bento style lunches is that it is little nibbles of different things. I think Molly loves the variety, she got excited about the butterflies, loved the tomatoes, ate all of her turkey -first, she loves that turkey!- all of her bagel, she left a little bit of carrot, pretzel, and tomato but overall did very well with her lunch. It is a success! And no need to go to the grocery store after all.

Strawberry Shortcake

How many of you like the strawberry shortcake made with a scone/biscuit? That personally is my favorite, I am not a fan of angel food (it gets to mushy) I can do a dense pound cake (but that can sometimes get too sweet) but a nice neutral scone maintains its integrity against the strawberry sauce and hits that balance to allow the the dessert to not be too sweet. This was the first of the season for us, as my husband said previously he wasn't that big of a fan, and I am not sure Miss Molly has ever had any. But after last nights attempt I can imagine we will have them again and again. We got a fresh, succulent pint of strawberries from our CSA and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity. I know they would have been eaten eventually (Molly had three in the car before we even got home) but I just wanted to do something with these special berries. They were gorgeous, you know the kind straight from the farm that are red all the way through (not like those kind at the market that are white in the middle and bland of flavor) I just couldn't see these strawberries going into a smoothie they were destined for more.

Miss Molly's little helping, she didn't know what to make of it at first but then she really got into it.

Mom and dad's helping, looks good doesn't it?

Step Away From the Box Part 1

We all know those prepackaged boxed foods, taste great and are very convenient, but are they healthy for you? Deep down we know that they are usually loaded with sodium and so many ingredients that you can't even pronounce. So in an attempt to get back to more "real" food and with the onset of summer, one of my favorite side dishes is couscous. I like couscous so much in summer because it takes boiling water, then you turn it off the heat so it doesn't heat up my kitchen too much. I have found though that even though I like the taste of some of those boxed brands they can be quite expensive. So you can imagine how I jumped at the chance to start buying my couscous in bulk and figuring out the right spices. This is the most basic recipe, once you have this one nailed then you can start adding all sorts of other ingredients to fit the theme of your dinner.
Basic Couscous Recipe:
1 1/4 cup of water
2 tbsp Olive Oil
3/4 cup couscous
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp celery salt
1/2 tsp dried parsley flakes (or 2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1. Heat water and oil to boil, add couscous cover and remove from heat.
2. After five minutes add seasoning and fluff/mix in seasoning (taste till you get the right salt and pepper to taste at the end)
*Couldn't be easier and it is the perfect summer side dish to anything, from burgers to grilled chicken. Fill free to add other items (scallions, pine nuts, golden raisins -all of these are classic couscous additions)

Magarita Grilled Chicken, Black Beans and Rice, and Watermelon and Jicama salad

So I marinated this chicken for only maybe two hours, and it was some of the most flavorful, juicy chicken I have had in a LONG time. Again another nod to Relish for this recipe (again a slight variation on it, but the basis is from them).
* Marinate Chicken ahead of time

Marinade for Chicken
1/4 cup cilantro (ruff chopped)
10 oz of margarita mix
1/2 cup Tequila
Salt and Pepper to taste
4 Chicken Breasts
1. Combine all ingredients in a plastic bag and allow to marinade for 1 to 2 hours or up to all day.
2. Perfect for summer BBQ, grill chicken until desired doneness, discard marinade.

Rice (Start this first during the cooking process)
Basmati Rice (my go to long grain rice)
1 Can black beans
1/4 cup of margarita mix
1. Make rice like normal, towards end of cooking process drain and wash a can of black beans.
2. Mix in can of black beans and Margarita mix. Stir carefully so as not to destroy the beans.

Watermelon and Jicama Salad
1/2 Seedless Personal Watermelon
1 small Jicama (diced)
3 tbsp basil (chiffonade)
1/2 cup toasted coconut
2 tbsp rice vinegar
Pinch of salt
1. Toast coconut on stove top in a clean pan, don't let burn, look for a nice crisp brown color.
2. Toss everything including coconut  in a bowl and serve.

Menu Plan Monday

Like many other food blogs I am going to attempt to plan out for you on Monday's our Menu for the week, of course this is subject to change, especially since I don't know until Tuesday what I am getting in my CSA bag. And during the summer I try and plan menus around that. So here we go:
Monday
Margarita Chicken and Watermelon, Cucumber, and Jicama Salad
Tuesday
Burgers on the grill with all the fixin's
Green Salad (we get lettuce every week from our CSA so this isn't a stretch)
Roasted/BBQ potatoes
Wednesday
Chinese Chicken Salad (we got two beautiful heads of cabbage from our CSA and I am trying to use it all)
Thursday
Chick On a Stick with Hot and Smokey Baked Beans
Friday
Black beans and roasted corn tacos with chips and salsa (meatless meal) This meal could totally change if we end up going to a Zoo concert, will be more picnic style!

I am linking with I'm An Organizing Junkie if you do a Monday Menu Plan as well feel free to link to this page to share with everyone.

Thai Noodles

This was an original recipe that I adapted to fit my tastes from Relish. If you haven't checked them out yet, you should it is a masterful menu planning site! One that I have been using for a year now, and I have yet to have a meal that I haven't truly enjoyed!

Thai Noodles Recipe:

Sauce:

1 cup chicken broth

4 tbsp spoons creamy peanut butter

4 tbsp Thai sweet chili sauce

6 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp fresh grated ginger

1 clove garlic minced

Noodles/Chicken:

A couple handfuls of pre-cooked grilled chicken (I use Foster Farms, that you can get at Costco)

1 tbsp veggie oil

10 oz linguine (this makes a lot, which is what I prefer because then I have leftovers for lunches)

2 red bell peppers, cored/seeded, and sliced

1/2 white onion, sliced

1 bag bean sprouts

1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts

1 whole lime, cut into wedges

Directions:

[1] Cook the pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until cooked through but still firm to the bite. Combine chicken broth, peanut butter, sweet chili sauce, soy sauce, ginger, and garlic in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until sauce becomes smooth and well blended.

[2] Defrost the chicken then cut into bite sized pieces (to make this veggie just omit the chicken or use a meat substitute in its place- tempeh would work well here.

[3] Oil the skillet, add bell peppers and onion and saute for a few minutes.

[4] Add the chicken and bean sprouts to the skillet turn off heat. Drain noodles and place in the pan with the peppers. Add peanut sauce and turn to coat. Garnish with peanuts and limes

Retro Bento

This weekend my mother in law gave me these old school cafeteria style trays. As soon as I saw them I thought, oh! Those will make a great bento tray! And voila, the bento for today; after my neighbor came over to borrow a bike pump (that we don't have) and rang the doorbell and woke up Miss Molly from her nap. It was a hard day at the garden this morning, let me tell you! She was out for the count super early!

Above from top left clockwise, you see some herb roasted turkey rolls, tortilla chips, homemade salsa, star shaped PB&J, and carrot slivers with honey mustard dip. It looks like a lot, which I was thinking myself as I was making it, but she ate the turkey first (it is apparently her new favorite) then she ate most of the carrots - which surprised even me because she isn't much of a carrot fan, and the dip is a little spicy. Normally she inhales chips and salsa but she apparently thought the salsa was spicy, which is wasn't. And she didn't touch her PB&J, just goes to show you never quite know what they are going to love and/or hate.