Blogging takes a lot of time, for everyone who blogs and works...I salute you! This.Is.Hard! (I know, wah! right?! LOL) If you have any tips (please be kind), please share them in the comment section. :)
Happy Friday and happy cooking!
It's that time again.....to clear the junk food off of the table and replace it with fresh, nutritious food...AND...do it on a shoestring budget.
What are you feeding your family that is nutritious and budget conscious? Link up your recipes and share your secrets with us. We're hungry!
The most popular recipe and blog will be announced at next week's carnival and will be featured in the side bar until the new winner is picked the following week.
Rules for Family Food Fridays Blog Carnival
Please link directly to your recipe post and not your blog URL – we want to be able to find your recipe a month or more from now.
Link back here, to this post, with either a button or text link so that more people can join in.
Please support your fellow bloggers - check out some recipes, leave comments and make some new friends. :)
If you don't have a blog but you would like to share a recipe or a link to a recipe, please add it in the comment section.
I'm not picky about how you word your entry, but please, do make your recipe healthy and budget conscious.
If you would like to link back with a button please copy/paste the code below.
If you're reading this post in a reader, you're missing out! Come on by and check out what's cooking!
Fast food and casual dining, there's just no getting around it sometimes. Luckily, there's some help out there! Check out the resources below to learn what the best choices are no matter where you're going.
Healthy Dining Finder – Great site! Enter your city or zip code to find restaurants in your area that have healthy dining options. The results will show you the restaurants, your nearest locations, the number of healthy menu items with one sample option, and a link to more information. If you choose to view “More Healthy Dining Options,” be sure to scroll down the page for each menu item offered.
I live in a large metro area so the number of restaurants listed under my zip code are huge and range from McDonald's to Mimi's Cafe to Capital Grill.
Health Check Systems – From Arby's to Wendy's, find choices under 500 calories that go beyond a side salad.
For example: Burger King BK Broiler Chicken Sandwich at 267 calories and 8 grams of fat And Vanilla frozen yogurt at 120 calories and 3 grams of fat
Nice! A fast food meal at 387 calories and 11 grams of fat doesn't make you feel like you need to skip dinner.
Healthy Fast Food Face Off – Keep clicking the button to see the winners of each face off and find the ultimate winner.
Tips By Cuisine – From the American Heart Association, click on your cuisine of choice for alternatives based on popular menu items.
Weight Watchers Dining Out and Losing Weight – Follow the link for a full list of articles about dining out on a caloric budget. There are great tidbits of information in each article but some of them seem to be so obvious they become a tedious read, so I included a few links that had some ideas I thought were interesting and provided the most food for thought.
The Restaurant Survival Guide – I like this one because the information is specific rather than the generic advice of holding the butter.
The Pub Grub Guide – Includes the Weight Watcher's point values of beer and wine.
Yep, it's another recipe from Everyday With Rachael Ray. I got October and November issues in the same week and chose a recipe from each. This one is from the November 2010, issue.
I'm on the fence with this one. Was it bad? No. Was it spectacular? No. Unfortunately, I sort of consider this recipe an over complicated, under flavored version of macaroni and cheese. The spinach is a great addition and I really liked using a cheese other than cheddar. It just wasn't enough.
One reason I wanted to try this casserole is because it wasn't creamy like a mac & cheese. I had hoped that the lack of sauce would provide comfort food flavor without some of the fat and calories. Regardless, it may be the method rather than the ingredients that caused some of the blandness. In all fairness, though, I did not add the 'freshly grated nutmeg' that was noted (without any indication of quantity) because I don't really like nutmeg in savory dishes.
The original recipe called for 100% of the cheese and bread crumb mixture to be sprinkled on the top. I'm so glad I didn't do that or the entire casserole would have been basically tasteless. The amount of noodles is just plain too much in comparison to the other ingredients. I wouldn't go over 12 ounces at the most if making it again.
Ok, ok enough bitching about the recipe. Here it is with my changes in parenthesis:
2 10 oz packages of frozen spinach 1 lb extra wide egg noodles 1 Tbsp olive oil (I needed about 3 by the time I added spinach) 1 medium onion (I used 1 baseball sized) 2 cloves garlic (I used 3) 3 Tbsp butter (I added a Tbsp to the spinach when heating with the onion & garlic, so 4 Tbsp for me) 2 rounded Tbsp flour (I used about 2 ½) Salt & pepper to taste ¼ tspn dry mustard (not in original recipe) 2 cups whole milk (2 ¼ cups of 2% milk) freshly grated nutmeg (Didn't use) 2 egg yolks 1 cup panko breadcrumbs 1 cup gruyere cheese ($19.99 per lb! I used a smoked swiss/cheddar mix) ½ cup parmigiano-reggiano cheese (I used a shredded mix of Parmesan, Asiago and Romano)
Defrost spinach in the microwave and drain well. Cook the onion and garlic in a skillet with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the spinach and heat through. At this point I needed to add another tablespoon of oil and a tablespoon of butter because the pan was bone dry. Boil the pasta in a large pot until al dente. Drain and return to the pot. To keep the noodles from drying out, I added the onion & spinach mixture now and mixed lightly.
Now for the sauce, it's a basic roux with an egg yolk mixture – Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When melted add the flour, salt, pepper and dry mustard. Whisk together for about 1 minute, until smooth and bubbly. Add the milk and stir until thickened, about 5 minutes.
Put the egg yolks in a small bowl and whisk in a small amount of the sauce. I use a ¼ cup and start slowly. Once the eggs have been tempered with the ¼ cup of sauce, whisk the egg mixture into the sauce in the pan and turn to low.
Mix the cheese and panko breadcrumbs together. I used my hands and worked them together so the cheese stuck to the breadcrumbs. Work ¾ of the mixture into the spinach and noodles. Add the sauce and mix well. Pour into a casserole dish that has been prepared with a light coating of non-stick spray. Top with remaining breadcrumbs and bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.
FYI – The original recipe suggested broiling the casserole for 3 to 5 minutes only. This just didn't seem feasible to me as the noodles and spinach were already cooling down a lot.
What I would do different next time:
Reduce the quantity of noodles to 12 oz.
Cook the spinach in the microwave, not just defrost
Ditch the egg yolks - Why add the calories without any value?
Add the cheese directly to the sauce – once it is thickened remove from heat and add the cheese
Use that extra tablespoon of butter originally needed for the spinach to toast the breadcrumbs in a skillet
Mix everything together except ¼ of the toasted breadcrumbs and use them for topping
Just for laughs – In the magazine it suggests that you divide this recipe into 12 individual muffin cups for a cute Thanksgiving presentation. Hmmmm......here's how much there was before I sort of packed in into the casserole dish. Really?! How many muffin cups?
Thank you to everyone who participates every week and welcome new foodies!
I've been trying to make up for some lost time and posted a couple of awesome recipes today, I hope you have time to check them out.
For anyone creating homemade holiday gifts, I would love for you to hook your post up to my holiday gift guide linky. Links will be live through the end of the year. :)
On to Family Food Fridays!
It's that time again.....to clear the junk food off of the table and replace it with fresh, nutritious food...AND...do it on a shoestring budget.
What are you feeding your family that is nutritious and budget conscious? Link up your recipes and share your secrets with us. We're hungry!
The most popular recipe and blog will be announced at next week's carnival and will be featured in the side bar until the new winner is picked the following week.
Rules for Family Food Fridays Blog Carnival
Please link directly to your recipe post and not your blog URL – we want to be able to find your recipe a month or more from now.
Link back here, to this post, with either a button or text link so that more people can join in.
Please support your fellow bloggers - check out some recipes, leave comments and make some new friends. :)
If you don't have a blog but you would like to share a recipe or a link to a recipe, please add it in the comment section.
I'm not picky about how you word your entry, but please, do make your recipe healthy and budget conscious.
If you would like to link back with a button please copy/paste the code below.
If you're reading this post in a reader, you're missing out! Come on by and check out what's cooking!
There are squash recipes everywhere right now and I'm ashamed to say, I just started using squash this year...summer squash, that is. Needless to say, I have no idea what I'm doing with winter squash! After collecting recipes from other foodie bloggers, I finally decided to try one.....and tweak it, of course...it's just who I am....
I found the base recipe for this casserole at Angie's Healthy Living Blog. It seemed really easy to season and bake but I wanted a one dish meal. Hence, my spaghetti squash casserole that could easily fool the kids into thinking they are eating traditional spaghetti pie. To see Angie's original recipe, click here.
Just in case you're new to squash too, I've tried to capture some details in pictures.
1 spaghetti squash 1 onion 4 cloves garlic 2 tablespoons olive oil Salt and pepper 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese 3 1/2 cups or 1 28oz jar of spaghetti sauce 2 cups mozzarella 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Cut the spaghetti squash in half length wise, remove the seeds and membranes. Drizzle about 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the two halves. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Dice the onions and garlic and place in a small bowl. Pour about 1 tablespoon of olive oil on the onions and garlic and toss to coat. Add salt and pepper. Evenly distribute the onions and garlic onto the squash halves. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and about 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for about 1 hour or until it is fork tender. For newbies like me – I had a large squash so mine took about 15 minutes more. Also, the skins have a little give when done but do not get tender. Check the meat itself to determine tenderness.
Remove from the oven and use a fork to pull out the spaghetti-like strands, onion and garlic. Place in a large baking dish. Top the squash with 1/2 of the cheese and all of the spaghetti sauce. Stir lightly to mix. Top with remaining cheese and bake for 20 minutes.
FYI
I used this baby to clean the membranes and seeds out quickly.
Shhhh......hear that? I think it's angels singing! Oh how I've missed cream of mushroom soup for cooking! It makes everything creamy and comforting.....and fatty and high calorie and over salted and full of chemicals...blah, blah, blah!
Thanks to Rachael Ray, now we can have our soup and eat it too! This recipe is seriously good and since a lot of the creaminess comes from potatoes and low fat milk, it won't kill a healthy dish or casserole.
Taken from the October 2010, issue of Everyday With Rachael Ray, this recipe needed very little tweaking. I added more potato and some garlic powder. Omitted was the Greek yogurt, however, she only used it as a garnish anyway.
Rather than lunch, my intention was to make enough soup to freeze for use in other recipes. The end product netted me four, two cup portions. My assumption is one can of soup plus milk per portion or two cans of soup without milk. I'm just slightly short but it should work out well and I can always add a little milk if needed.
2 Tablespoons butter, cut into 4 pieces (I ended up needing a little more) 1 ½ pounds assorted mushrooms (I used 2 – 12 oz packages) Salt and pepper 1 large onion (baseball sized) 1 bunch of scallions (about ½ lb – I used 4 large stalks) 1 4 oz baking potato (I used 2 small russets) 3 cups vegetable broth 1 ½ cups water 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder (not part of the original recipe) 1 ¼ cups 2% milk (low fat 1% would work too)
Clean and chop the mushrooms. Since they would be pureed later, I roughly diced them just trying to stay consistent so they cooked evenly. In a large skillet melt 1 piece of the butter and add 1/3 of the mushrooms. Cook for about 10 minutes or until brown and tender. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a bowl. Repeat with the other two thirds.
Meanwhile, dice the onions and scallions. When the mushrooms are done cooking and all of them are set aside, add the last piece of butter to the pan and cook the onions and scallions together, stirring regularly until browned and tender, about 7 minutes. Slice the potatoes very thin during this time.
When the onions are tender, put the mushrooms back into the pan with them. Add the potatoes, vegetable broth and 1 cup of water. Cook for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender (the original recipe recommends 10 minutes, my potatoes weren't tender yet).
Using a blender, puree the soup* and transfer to a saucepan. Stir in the milk and remaining ½ cup water and heat through.
*Be careful of using a blender with hot liquids! I did puree while the soup was hot but in small batches about ¼ of a blender full at a time. Even this small amount hit the top of the lid a little.
Ready for freezing!
Here's what Rachael Ray's soup looked like. I must have pureed mine longer to achieve the smoother consistency. If you like chunkier soup with pieces of mushroom I would recommend holding some of the mushrooms aside rather than pureeing for less time.
The more I sample this soup the more the flavors are coming out, it has a slight taste of French onion soup too. The flavor of the potato is noticeable but in a good way! Overall I'm loving it!
After what seems like FOREVER (even though it was less than a week) I'm back to my little home in cyberspace! We've had our ginormous annual garage sale to kick off the holiday season, decorated the yard with hanging boy scouts and cooking witches, and I'm acclimating to working part-time. I can't wait to visit my foodie friends and see what's cooking out there! But first, let's kick off the holidays here!
Can you believe it's mid October?! For those of us creating holiday gifts from our hearts & sewing machines & kitchens, time is going by way too fast! Need some original ideas?
Below are some things I'm making myself and links to things that I think rock! If you're looking for some new ideas, these might just inspire you.
Are you already inspired? Want to share your ideas? Link up your post below. I'll have a link to this guide up and running through the holidays.
Herb Seasoning Salt – I can't wait to make this! It won't ship well so only my local pals will get any, but it's still a great gift idea. All the goodies you start with in a home cooked meal; Onions, green onions, garlic, bell peppers, parsley and bay leaves all in a salt base. This recipe makes plenty to share! Make sure you keep it refrigerated and it will last for months.
The link will take you to the full post with instructions. A lot of questions are covered in the comment section as well.
Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix – A spicy, fun recipe that is begging to be in some cool container you've found along the way. Originally found at the Food Renegade and tweaked slightly, it's my go-to mix for all things Mexican!
This recipe makes about 10 tablespoons. The basic rule of thumb is 2 tablespoons of mix per 1 lb. of meat. It replaces 1 packet of pre-packaged taco seasoning. I also use this as the base for chili and adjust chili powder and cumin as necessary.
1/4 C. plus 1 Tbsp. Chili Powder 2 1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder 1 1/4 tsp. Onion Powder 1 1/4 tsp. Crushed Red Pepper Flakes 1 1/4 tsp. Dried Oregano 2 1/2 tsp. Paprika 2 Tbsp. plus 1 1/2 tsp. Ground Cumin 1 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. Sea Salt 1 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. Black Pepper
Homemade Vanilla Extract – Although too late to give the finished product, try a “kit” approach. The original recipe is for a fifth of vodka, buy small bottles for kits. Include a small bottle of vodka (you need approximately 6 oz.), 2 vanilla beans, and a cool glass bottle from any thrift store. Print instructions that include information about keeping the bottle in a dark cabinet and shaking periodically. Vanilla will be ready in 3 – 6 months.
Chai Tea Mix – I love getting stuff in a basket that I can test as soon as I open it. This recipe for Chai tea is one of those things. Just add a teaspoon to about 6 ounces of boiling water and enjoy!
Re-Usable Produce Bags – From a wonderful site called Wisdom Of The Moon, try your hand at this super easy pattern for re-usable produce bags made from recycled sheers. (I'm going to put my vanilla extract kits into these).
Re-Usable Grocery Bags – This pattern is based on the plastic bags from the grocery store. Let your imagination run wild with the fabric you have on hand to create some seriously cool bags that could double as totes for anything.
How about a couple of recipes for bath gifts? I found both of these recipes at TipNut.com on different pages. Follow the links below to see the other recipes on each page.
The first recipe will dissolve so there is no need to make a bag, just present it in a cool jar with some instructions and you're done.
Use 1/4 to 1/2 cup in the bath. You could also include the recipe on your label.
Cinnamon Soak 1 cup powdered milk 1 cup baking soda 3 TBS cornstarch 2 TBS cream of tartar 1 1/2 TBS cinnamon
This next recipe does need a bag because the contents are not ground prior to use. The oatmeal will soothe dry skin and the rosemary/chamomile mix will smell great!
Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup to each bag. If you don't want to buy bags, try cutting squares of cheesecloth and tying off the top with a ribbon.
It's your turn! If you're making something cool this season or you found a link that rocks, add it below. Don't forget to check back often for new additions.
