Broccoli (and blog) revival!

It's been a while since I've posted anything. I've been posting food pictures on my personal Facebook page for a while, and a few people have requested the recipes here and there. I figure now is as good a time as any to revive this blog. 

For those who want a bit more information on the history and re-revival of this blog, read on. For everyone else, skip down to past the chef cooking. 

This blog started as one where I had no stove, no oven - only a toaster oven, a deep fryer (which served as a way to boil water most of the time), a microwave, crock pot, and a pancake griddle. I was cooking for just me. I now have a full, working kitchen. I have a high powered blender, a food processor, an electric pressure cooker, microwave, a range (oven and stove), plus everything I used to have. To that end, I'll try to add some labels to make navigating a bit easier - in case you're want to find a recipe that uses your high power blender, or you want to skip the electric pressure cooker recipes, or whatever. Most of the recipes I make now include lots of leftovers - it helps me not cook as often, which is awesome when I'm exhausted from work and can't fathom being in the kitchen. I'm not going to promise any kind of schedule of posts. I may post several in one day, post every day, post a couple times a week, or skip a week. But, there will be posts, that I can promise! Now, onto the scheduled post!

I recently discovered the joy of purchasing a produce box. That was, oh, about 2 weeks ago. I'm still working through everything I ordered. In that box was a head of broccoli, about a pound. It sat in my produce drawer until last night. In that time, it went soft and kind of wilty (yes, I made up a word. Shakespeare did it, too). After a visual inspection and sniff test for any funk, it was suggested that I cut the very bottom off of the sad-looking broccoli and place it in a bowl of water. Pro-tip: do not use a paper bowl for this - my counter got an impromptu bath. After leaving it overnight, the broccoli firmed-up and was good to use.

It's hot, so I decided to make low-carb broccoli salad with it. I adapted the recipe from Low-carb Maven. I didn't have any bacon, but I did have some bacon grease I saved in the fridge.

1 pound broccoli floret
1/4 pound bacon (or about 1/2 T bacon grease, warmed)
1/2 bunch green onion
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons white vinegar
3 tablespoons Swerve (I used Splenda)

1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese

The original recipe also calls for sesame oil, but the first few times I made this, I found it overpowering, so I've omitted it ever since.

Chop the broccoli and place in a bowl/container. I like to use as much of the broccoli as I can, including the stems.

In a separate bowl, mix the bacon/grease, mayonnaise, white vinegar, and sweetener. I kind of measure this, but also go "by taste" here.

If needed, add salt and pepper.

Toss/mix the dressing with the broccoli, add the cheese.

For best taste, refrigerate overnight.

Update to previous posts - Nutrition information

Picture from here

Just wanted to let my readers know that I've been working on adding nutrition information to my recipes. As of this posting (3/28/14 at about 4:00 PM EDT) the only recipes that do NOT have nutrition information are the shirred eggs and crockpot chicken and dumplings. Those will be up before April 1, 2014. Hopefully this helps some of y'all out - it was an eye opener for me!

Beef and tortellini "soup"

To shake up lunch this week, I went with a beef meal. I'm not sure what, exactly, to call it. It's not really a soup or stew, but it has similar consistencies.

The problem with making something using ground beef is the whole getting it cooked without a stove top. Which is why I haven't tried until now.

A while ago, I wanted a scrambled egg and decided to try cooking it on my pancake griddle.  ...it sort of worked. I tried using an egg mold to keep the eggs from running everywhere. That was a complete flop. Still, they scrambled pretty nicely - the egg that didn't escape from the little built-in "drain", that is. One of my loved ones suggested using a small saute pan next time.

Why did I tell you all of that? To tell you that I tried it with the ground beef and it worked!

Griddle + small pan = new cooking set up!

It took about the normal time to cook, too. The pan took a couple minutes longer to heat up initially, though. The beauty of this set up is that there's no hot spot, so it cooked pretty evenly.

For this recipe, which I found online, I decided to cut the ingredients in half, except for the beef. I wanted this to be a little more protein heavy. Even with the halved recipe, this still produces a nice amount of food. It's pretty simple, and only has a few ingredients.

The first thing to do is take your cream cheese out and cut it into cubes. Leave it on the counter, and brown your meat.

*Bonus tip: When I cook, I put on some upbeat music and end up dancing to it while I wait for stuff to finish - like when I'm browning the ground beef. It's an easy way to add in 5 or 10 minutes of physical activity. I'm seriously considering keeping a set of hand weights in the kitchen to dance around with.*

About half a pound of the meat.

I had to split my pound of ground beef in half so I didn't crowd the pan. Once it's browned, just dump straight into the crock pot.

One whole pound - just look at the steam coming off that!

Next, add the tortellini. I used the refrigerated kind. I used a name brand's three cheese kind. There are different varieties, so feel free to experiment. I could only find 8 oz and 20 oz packages. I used half of a 20 oz package and froze the rest.

Tortellini? Yes please!

Next in, the diced tomatoes and chicken broth, plus seasonings. I had to use a little more than a 14 oz can of chicken broth. You want to make sure the tortellini is adequately covered, or they'll dry out and/or not cook right.

Now it's looking soupy.

Last to go in, the cream cheese. I attempted to evenly place it, then realized that was unnecessary given the next step...

This is where the creamy-ness comes into play.

...the last step is to give it a good stir!

Mix well. Then wait!

After 2 hours, you stir it again. And leave it for another 2 and a half hours.

The finished product!

Here's the full recipe:

-14-16 oz chicken broth
- 10 oz tortellini (fresh or frozen)
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 (14 oz) Can Diced Tomatoes (undrained)

Basil (to taste)

Garlic powder (to taste)

Oregano (to taste)
- 4 oz. Cream Cheese
- Grated Parmesan Cheese for topping

1. Take the cream cheese out of the fridge, cube it, then let it sit while you brown the meat.

2. Add the meat and tortellini to your Crock Pot. Pour the tomatoes, liquid and all, and broth over the top. Add the spices. Add the cream cheese to the pot.

3. Give your Crock Pot a good stir to get everything evenly distributed, making sure the liquids are adequately covering the tortellini.

4. Cook on LOW for a total of 4 1/2 hours. Stir at 2 hours, and again at 4 hours, removing the lid for the last 30 minutes of cooking. This will give the sauce some time to thicken up.

Once it's cooled, I'll split it into some plastic/glass containers. The plastic ones allow me to freeze the extras. The freezer is your friend!

	Nutrition Information: Serves 6 Calories: 331.6 Total Fat: 23.3 g Cholesterol: 84.0 mg Sodium: 391.1 mg Total Carbs: 11.3 g Dietary Fiber: 0.8 g Protein: 18.6 g Analyzed by SparkPeople calculator

 

Crab melts

I admit it. I LOVE, absolutely love, crab. If I could afford it, I'd eat it for most of my meals. There's a locally owned restaurant in the town where my college is located. They make these delicious appetizers called crab melts. I admit that there was more than one occasion when I made them my entire meal - cheap, filling, tasty: a college kid's dream! 

I came across a recipe that reminded me of those crab melts. I just had to try them. For as many as it makes, the price isn't too bad, and they still make a pretty tasty main dish for lunch. I used imitation crab, rather than actual crab.

There's not a whole lot of steps involved, either. Assemble your ingredients: cheese, crab, mayonnaise, margarine, some spices. Mix that all together, and then spread on an English muffin or two. 

Slice the English muffin into quarters and pop under the broiler for about 12 minutes.

Easy-peasy!

Some of the crab melts I made.
They got eaten before I could get a picture.

Here's the recipe, with my modifications.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup margarine, softened

2/3 (5 ounce) container sharp processed

cheese spread

8 ounces cooked crabmeat (or imitation crabmeat)

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

8 English muffins, split

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, mix together margarine and cheese spread. Stir in crabmeat, mayonnaise, garlic powder, and parsley.

2. Spread the mixture on the split English muffins. Place on baking sheet/pan. Cut into quarters.

4. Place pan in toaster oven and then turn on the broiler.

3. Broil until the cheese mixture is bubbly. About 12 minutes.

Original recipe here.

	Nutrition Information: Serves: 8 Calories: 292 Total Fat: 16.7 g Cholesterol: 18.8 mg Sodium: 796.5 mg Total Carbs: 28.8 g Dietary Fiber: 1.0 g Protein: 8.5 g Analyzed by SparkPeople calculator

 

	Nutrition Information: Serves: 16, as appetizer Calories: 146 Total Fat: 8.3 g Cholesterol: 9.4 mg Sodium: 398.3 mg Total Carbs: 14.4 g Dietary Fiber: 0.5 g Protein: 4.2 g Analyzed by SparkPeople calculator