Balsamic Apricot Walnut Chicken

My inspiration for this involved the combination of apricot and walnut and chicken. So the ingredients gathered:

2 strips of bacon
chopped onion
2 chicken breasts, cut into strips
1 c. walnuts, chopped
1/2 c. dried apricots, chopped
3 T. balsamic vinegar
water
2 green onions, chopped
kale
salt and pepper

Heat the pan with the bacon and onions, until the bacon is cooked and the onions are browned. Add in the chicken and brown the strips. Add in the rest of the ingredients, except kale.

Add enough water to keep the chicken from drying out. Cover and simmer until the chicken is cooked. Stir in the kale right before serving.

Serve with quinoa and mixed vegetables, because those steam-in-bag things are so great.

The chicken is good, but it's the little nubbly bits of apricot and walnut clinging to it that really makes it great. Quinoa is a perfect neutral, slightly nutty background for the dark sauce. Yum.

 

Mozzarella stuffed meatballs

Because damn. These little meaty cheesy balls of heaven are good. Make them.

Take 1/2 lb of ground beef. Mash it up in a bowl with 1 egg, a handful of crushed GF chex cereal, and some italian seasonings.

Cut a mozzarella stick into pieces and form some meat around the cheese. It doesn't take much. Put in a hot pan and let them sear for a while. Flip them over so they cook and brown somewhat evenly, being careful not to break open the meat shell. Some of the cheese may melt out as they cook, but that's okay because it gets fried on the pan and is even more delicious.

Pour in a bit of marinara spaghetti sauce. Not enough to drown them, but just enough to loosen the scrumptious bits of meatball that got stuck to the pan when they were cooking.

Cover the pan and let everything bubble for a minute until the meatballs are cooked through, then serve. With a bit of sauce. And a salad, because veggies.

This week's menu

I finished the giant bag of greens before it got slimy! Record that in your record books.

In case you were wondering, I worked out twice last week. Yeahhh! Plus we are still eating as many veggies as I can cram into things, so here's to lower cholesterol and trimmer waistlines.

Sunday- Mozzarella stuffed meatballs + salads
Monday- Apricot walnut chicken + broccoli.
Tuesday- Vegetable soup with quinoa
Wednesday- Crock pot ribs + edamame
Thursday- Beef Stew
Friday- Sloppy Joes + green beans and french fries

Buffalo Chicken pizza

Pizza hack: Put buffalo chicken onto a GF pizza crust. (Mix in some broccoli to boost the veggie rating)

Place in the bowl of your kitchen aid mixer:

1/2 c. pain greek yogurt
1/2 block of gluten-free cream cheese, cut into chunks
1/2 cup gluten-free hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
2 cooked and still hot chicken breasts
1 c. cooked and still hot broccoli

Mix into sort of a paste and spread over a GF pizza crust. I used a store-bought one because I wasn't in the mood to make one from scratch. Bake at 450 for 10-15 minutes until everything's heated up and the bottom of the crust is browned.

This week's menu

It occurred to me that it might be a good idea to start adding Sunday to the rotation. Simply because I always need to cook on Sunday in order to have lunch leftovers for Monday. Most of the time it's unplanned and I simply wing it, but sometimes it would be really nice to have it planned.

Also the giant bag of greens has not turned slimy yet. Yet. I'm on borrowed time here.

So.

Sunday- Buffalo chicken pizza + salads
Monday- Guac and black bean burrito bowls
Tuesday- Salmon and broccoli
Wednesday- Beef stew + cornbread. Supposed to be really cold.
Thursday- Sausage and rice with carrots and whatever other veggies I can jam into it.
Friday- Going out for Sushi. Because I kinda want it.

Have a great week, stay warm! (Aka wear your tights under your pants)

Healthy snacking

What? You're trying to eat healthier too? Welcome to the bandwagon.

In addition to simply NOT purchasing crap, I spent about 20 minutes this afternoon chopping up veggies and washing fruits. Because a handy snack is the one I'm going to grab. Plus some healthy-ish chips. Because chips.

It came in handy after a few glasses of wine tonight when the snackies hit. Usually I reach for the chips, but since the jar of sliced carrots was handy, I chose that instead as a vessel for my hummus.

Carrots sliced at an angle are kind of fun. For some reason I'm more likely to want carrots when they're carrot "chips" than when they're carrot sticks, or, god forbid, a plain old carrot.

The moral of the story is, if you're trying to eat more vegetables, chopping them up and having them handy beforehand is a really good idea. Especially if you're prone to wine-induced snackage.

Crock pot beef

Crock pot beef. It's what I make when I need a wholesome dinner and I don't want to fuck around. There are many different variations, but here's a basic guideline.

Before I start, if you aren't using crock pot liners, you are missing out. No, really. These are life-changing. Get some and use them often.

Step 1: Veggies. Chop them up into big pieces. Take this opportunity to use up any sad veggies that have been hiding in the crisper. Toss in a peeled garlic clove or two.

Step 2: Meat. Chop up your beef. Any cut will do; the crock pot part basically takes care of any tenderizing. I use literally whatever is the cheapest at the store.

Step 3: Liquids. Usually this involves wine. Red or white; whatever is open. I've also used chicken, veggie, or beef broth, or even water. Fill it up so that the level is just under the top of the meat. Or whatever. If you err, err on the side of more liquids.

Step 4: Optional seasonings.
Sometimes I make this plain jane, because I wanted the leftovers to be versatile.
Sometimes I also add in fresh herbs/ bay leaf, Worcestershire sauce, or chili powder. One time I even added fresh cranberries because it was fall, dammit.

The end result is: Dinner.
To thicken the sauce, stir cornstarch into a small amount of cold water, then stir into the crock pot.

Serve as a stew, or over rice.