Tag Archives: food

12 February 2012

A Chicken Recipe

By Nicki

I was doing work from home one day this week – instead of at a coffee shop or Barnes & Noble – and had the television on for background noise. Rachael Ray was on and was making this delicious looking stuffed, wrapped chicken breast so I put aside my work for five minutes (on TV cooking time is like on TV sports time – never true minutes). While I did not write down quantities, you can see the original recipe here.

Friday, which was one of the few days this week that my youngest had nothing going on, I made chicken breasts stuffed with herbed ricotta and wrapped in prosciutto. I am not a huge stuff the chicken breast fan as I usually make a mess that I am then left cleaning up. As a mother I question why, when my kids make dinner, they tell me it is my turn to do clean-up, yet I never see them do clean-up when I make dinner. One of the great mysteries of life, I guess.

Start with boneless, skinless chicken breasts. The ones I bought happened to be well-trimmed but if yours aren’t, trim any excess skin or fat off them. Slice them to open up the breast but not all the way through. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Take a half cup of ricotta cheese (for four chicken breasts). Mix thyme, basil and parsley in with the ricotta. Add some grated parmesan cheese. I do this to taste as I like to taste the herbs more than additional cheese. Place a quarter of this inside each seasoned chicken breast as shown and close.

Wrap each chicken breast with two thin slices – not shaved – of prosciutto. Place in a pan on the stovetop with a tiny bit of olive oil in the pan and brown the pieces on both sides. Place in an oven for 20 minutes.

Yum!!

1 comment   |  tags: , , | posted in Food and Recipes, Just my Thoughts

16 August 2011

Leftovers

By Nicki

Even in this time of harvest and abundance – summer, it is hard to cook just what is going to be eaten.  Then, try to convince a teenager or even a 20-something adult that leftovers are what dinner is going to be.

I knew there were plenty of leftovers that needed to be eaten when I decided, instead of grilling, I would make a stir-fry for dinner.  I have no set recipe for making stir-fry.  I just use this as a frequent way to not waste food.  Generally, this means that we will have stir-fry on Monday evening as the garbage goes out for the week on Monday nights.

I had some corn, cut fresh off the cob the day or so before.  I also had the ever present zucchini and a summer squash.  I had picked up some snow peas at the farmers’ market.  Also thrown in to go over some brown rice was carrots and sweet peppers – red and green.  Then, there was a ribeye that someone didn’t finish and was suddenly deemed a “leftover” and a chicken breast.  While not something I would normally serve together, they made for good protein in the stir-fry.

3 comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Food and Recipes, Just my Thoughts

2 November 2010

Salmon

By Nicki

For those of you who do not know, my oldest is 26 this month.  He moved home a little over a year ago and was laid off from his auditing position at a CPA firm in April of this year.  He has a lot of free time on his hands these days, or so it seems.  Consequently, he has been heading up north with my sister’s significant other to fish.  For about a month, they were either on Lake Ontario or the Salmon River twice a week.  The result is I have no room in my freezer at the moment.  It is full of salmon.

 

One thing that my son wanted to try was smoking the salmon.  I have a charcoal grill.  He bought some chips of hickory – first try, he used cherry from a friend – and got to work on smoking some of the fish.  This does not help in the freezer area as it means that there is now smoked salmon in the freezer also.  I did try a smoked salmon dip that my mom sent me and he loved it.  He ate it on toast tips for quite some time.  The recipe is below.

 

Smoked Salmon Dip
8 ounces of cream cheese
6-8 ounces of smoked salmon
4 green onions, chopped with some of the green
2 tablespoons capers (I didn’t have any on hand so added a pinch of salt)
½ cup mayonnaise or sour cream (more or less, to taste) – Always the rebel, I used Chobani Vanilla Greek Yogurt.
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
Juice of a lemon
Bring Cream Cheese to room temperature. Remove skin from salmon and flake with a fork. Mix all ingredients except lemon juice in a blender, food processor or with a fork if you want it lumpy. If you mix with a fork, chop the onion fine and also chop the capers. After it is well mixed, add lemon juice to taste. The lemon juice will cut the heavy taste of the salmon and cream cheese.
Notes:  From my mom:  I use Neufchatel cheese (I did too) but if you want, I am sure that fat free cream cheese might work as well. I have used regular minced onion but the flavor isn’t as good. I use Miracle Whip Free instead of mayo (as I said, I used Greek yogurt).
I serve with mini toasts or if you have some white bread, toast your own. It is very good with Champagne.

2 comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Family, Food and Recipes, Just my Thoughts

29 June 2010

Do You Eat Meat?

By Nicki

I was at a wedding on the 19th, actually in the buffet line at the reception, when it dawned on me.  I had not eaten any meat since Wednesday night’s dinner.  This was definitely not intentional up to that point.  I did, though, intentionally eat only the veggie lasagna as an entrée that night.

Truthfully, I had also run a 20K race earlier that day and was just not into very heavy food.  The chicken – everyone who had some said it was delicious – didn’t look appetizing to me and I eat very little red meat so the roast beef was definitely out.

A few observations from my one week – once I realized it – imposed vegetarian stint are as follows.  Some are common sense, whether vegetarian or not.  Others are observations of my life.  Realize that I work from my home so set my own hours.  I run between 25 and 35 miles a week.

  1. I could have kept going with the no meat diet if I had planned it better. This is one of those common sense things.  I was still cooking dinner every night for my family.  I have three lads of Irish decent living at home – read that to mean they are meat and potato boys all the way.  I had to make a conscious effort to have something for myself that as not meat.  This requires planning and I didn’t plan.
  2. I like greens. I ate a lot more romaine and spinach when I was not eating meat.  I love spinach, even going so far as to put it in smoothies after I run.  Not all my friends, and definitely not my children, think this is good.
  3. I like chicken. While I didn’t miss having other things, I did miss it the night we had chicken spiedies, a local specialty.  I do like having occasional chicken or fish but not other meats.’
  4. I required less sleep. This one sort of confuses me.  I did not intentionally stay up later or get up earlier but I did, without an alarm as it was my youngest’s first week of summer break, find I slept less.  I have noticed, just in the few days I have been eating meat again, that I get tired earlier in the day/night.

Do you eat meat?  Do you keep a strict vegetarian diet?  Have you ever tried raw eating or clean eating?

14 comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Fitness, Food and Recipes, Just my Thoughts

7 February 2010

Super Bowl Sunday

By Nicki

Today is similar to a national holiday to all those who are fanatical about the National Football League.  It is Super Bowl Sunday and there will be parties galore, even around my little neighborhood.  The question is what are you doing to celebrate the Super Bowl?

Sushi Pickles

I am running a 5K race.  Before leaving for the race, I will make sushi pickles – thanks for that recipe, Steve – and white bean tapenade.  Chances are I will also make some buffalo chicken dip before the day is over.  When I get home, I will shower and head to a party with the tapenade.  My kids are going to various parties – one with the father at his girlfriend’s, one with a friend.

Do you celebrate the Super Bowl?  If asked, do you know who is performing at half time? What is your favorite football or tailgating food?  Do you watch the football or the commercials?

12 comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Family, Food and Recipes, Just my Thoughts

20 January 2010

Salmon Patties

By Nicki

I am a huge salmon fan.  Like my fanaticism surrounding the sport of hockey, I find new and delicious ways to serve salmon all the time.  My favorite is simple and grilled on cedar planks.

I have also done salmon with lentils in a crock pot.  The lentils cook all day and the salmon goes in on top of parchment paper to steam when you get home from work for 25 minutes.  It is a wonderful recipe and tastes delicious.

This past week I wanted salmon and just couldn’t justify the current market price for fresh salmon.  I always keep a can of salmon available, just in case of power outages and such in the winter months.  So, I went in search of a salmon patty recipe that I had all the ingredients on hand.  This in itself is no easy task.

As I do with many recipes, I modified this one I found on AllRecipes.com slightly as I did not have dill weed or celery salt available.  My version is below.

Ingredients

  • 1 (14.75 ounce) can salmon, drained and flaked
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1/4 cup garlic and herb seasoned dry bread crumbs
  • 1/4 cup dry potato flakes
  • 1 medium onion, minced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

In a medium bowl, mix salmon, eggs, garlic and herb seasoned dry bread crumbs, dry potato flakes, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper. Form the mixture into 2 inch balls, and flatten into patties about 1/2 inch thick.

Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. In batches, cook patties about 5 minutes on each side, until lightly browned.

And the final product

6 comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Food and Recipes, Just my Thoughts

24 November 2009

Holiday Baking

By Nicki

Okay, you all think I am crazy!  I know this in my heart.  But, that is okay as I also know I am slightly crazy.

I have started plans for my holiday baking.  You may ask what?  Why?  When?  I try to keep a running list of items I need, the basics – unbleached flour, whole wheat flour, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, dates, almonds, walnuts, sugar, Splenda, Stevia, brown sugar, sweetened condensed milk, cinnamon (something I alway seem to run out of).  The list could go on forever but I will stop.

Today, I signed up for a cookie exchange – virtual – for December 3.  I am trying to set up a cookie exchange at my home in December.  I love to bake.

Here is a partial list – with links to entries with recipes on them, or at the very least pictures – of what I am making this holiday season.

Spicy Almonds (I also have a cinnamon sugar recipe but my family likes the spicy variety best.)

Two-Flavor Fudge

Minty Meringues

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (because everyone always asks for these)

Pumpkin Bread

These, along with gingerbread cookies in a variety of formats and possibly some scones, will fill my table and my kitchen in the upcoming weeks.

9 comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Family, Food and Recipes, Just my Thoughts

15 February 2009

Cutting Your Food Bill

By Nicki

I picked up, as I said in an early entry, a copy of Mother Earth News for the first time in decades yesterday.  The magazine itself is providing me with a lot of helpful information on gardening which I am set to attempt again this year.  The website – http://www.motherearthnews.com – is providing me with information on one of my current interests – shopping on less money.

 

In times when we are all tightening our belts – that extra $13 a week in our paychecks is not going to go far for the average family with teenagers, making the most of our food budget – yes, I said budget – is at the top of my list.  I hate spending money on foods that are not as nutritious as I think or that do not sustain my family.  I also cannot fathom the eating out that is done in this country when you can fix it yourself and have control over ingredients.

 

To this end, I point you in the direction of an article I read this morning entitled “Cut Your Food Bills in Half.”  I will warn you.  There are items in this article that the average person is going to balk at.  No one likes to figure out where waste is.  

 

You do need a budget, first of all.  The article gives some basic information on how to figure out what you are spending on food.  It is fairly straight forward.  Save receipts for several weeks.  I recommend a full month if you can as that gives you a better snapshot of your food habits than a week or two will.  This is tedious and time-consuming but well worth it.  You will realize that all those quick runs through the drive-thru are costing you a fortune.  Eating out at lunch is a big expense, also.  I have this discussion with my senior in high school son on a regular basis.

 

After you get a budget in place, the article goes into hints for cutting that budget.  Please be sure to read through all seven pages as I think the most important piece of advise is on page seven – “Keep a shopping list and stick to it.”  I know that weeks when I go to the grocery store with a list and a menu all planned out for the week, I spend less on groceries.  I have a plan and work it and the savings show.

 

Tell me how your cutting your food bill works.

2 comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Food and Recipes, Just my Thoughts

21 December 2008

Another Last Minute Gift

By Nicki

I know, I am the only one in the area, or within reading distance of my blog, that is not ready with all their gifts.  Well, here is another last minute gift you can make for someone on your list.

Spicy Almonds

Spicy Almonds

Spicy Almonds

Serves: 4

If you’re looking for a unique snack for work or in front of the TV, these almonds make a perfect portable alternative.  My picture is of a double batch. 

INGREDIENTS
1 cup almonds
1-1/2 teaspoons canola oil
1/2 tablespoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic salt
Dash fresh ground pepper

DIRECTIONS
1. Roast almonds in oil, stirring frequently in a skillet over medium low heat until slightly browned and crispy.
2. Toss nuts with spices until evenly covered.
3. Spread out on aluminum foil to cool completely and then store in an airtight container.

NUTRITION INFO (per serving)
Calories: 223.9
Fat: 19.9 g
Carbohydrates: 7.5 g
Protein: 7.7 g

1 comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in Food and Recipes, Just my Thoughts

12 August 2008

Eat Local

By Nicki

I am sure that eating local will be the topic of many blog posts for me.  I read a wonderful book about eating local by one of my favorite authors this summer.  This is not the only thing that has made me think that eating local is best.

As I sat watching the local news this morning, I was listening to information about a Growing Health 2008 conference/seminar/workshop that is coming in September.  The Rural Health Network of South Central NY is sponsoring this event at a local hotel on September 3.

The event is from 5 pm to 8 pm at the Regency in Binghamton.  It features local foods made by local chefs and caterers.  An event like this is a wonderful way to see and taste the difference between local foods and those that you buy in the grocery that come from Chile or even California.

You can read more about the event and register – yes, there is a cost – here.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Fitness, Food and Recipes, Just my Thoughts

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