Frozen Yogurt

What to do with the leftover cream from the mushroom rice?  Frozen Yogurt, of course!  Super delicious and I had everything on hand to make it (not needing to go to the store is always an added bonus).

Blend together:
1/2 C cream
2 C vanilla yogurt
1/4 C sugar

Add in:
12 oz frozen berries - I used strawberries and I half way pureed them in the blender first.

Pour into ice cream maker and follow machine directions (my machine took 30 minutes).

The Size of a Pineapple

33 weeks and we're the size of a pineapple - well we were 33 weeks last Friday (Sept 23rd) but it took a few days to get to the store and buy a pineapple.  Wild guess here, but I'm thinking this comparison is not supposed to include the leaves of the pineapple - that would be a pretty big child that still has 6 1/2 weeks to bake.  Now we need to wait for the pineapple to ripen but once it does - grilled pineapple galore!  Tune back in for the recipe and pictures!

Baked Chicken with Mushroom Rice

Did I ever mention how much I love mushrooms?

4 servings of chicken (for us, that's 2 breasts - we share a breast and that is plenty of meat)
salt and pepper
2 onions, diced
2 carrots, thinly diced
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/3 C rice
1 C chicken broth
1/2-3/4 C water
3 Tbsp heavy whipping cream
Fresh grated pecorino Romano cheese

Salt and pepper chicken.  Brown chicken in a little olive oil on all sides (about 3 minutes per side).  Remove chicken from pan.  Add onions and carrot to pan; saute 4 minutes.  Add mushrooms to pan; saute 5 minutes.  Add garlic; saute 1 minute.  Add rice; saute 1 minute.  Spoon rice mixture into a 9x13 baking dish.  Stir in the water, broth, and cream.  Place chicken over rice.  Sprinkle chicken with cheese.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Original Recipe from October 2010 Cooking Light

Yummy Salmon with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

This was a meal of many firsts.  First time grilling fish (Geoff).  First time blanching almonds.  First time roasting red peppers.  And it was delicious!  Absolutely marvelous meal.

Roasting Red Peppers:  Cut red pepper in half.  Smash flatish with palm.  Grill skin side down until black.  Remove from grill and place in a closed container (we used tupperware but I've read of putting it inside a brown paper bag or a glass dish with a lid).  Let cool for 10ish minutes.  Remove skin.

Blanching Almonds:  Pour just enough boiling water to cover almonds.  Let stand for 1 minute (no longer!).  Cool with cold water.  Dry.  Peel.

Salmon with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce:

Salmon fillets
Salt

Sprinkle fish with salt.  Grill skin side down for about 10 minutes.  No turning necessary.

Red Pepper Sauce:
1/2 a red pepper, roasted
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp olive oil
7 almonds, blanched
1 clove garlic
Salt

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor.  Process until smooth.  Serve over fish.

Original Recipe by Sandy Gluck in Oct 2011 Cooking Light Magazine

Grilled Romaine

This is one of those times where I'm not sure I can take any credit for this delicious "salad".  Geoff is the grill master and while I can usually at least boast cutting up things to put on the grill, I didn't even do that because I was on some really exciting medication that made my whole body shake and jitter.  Brand new fancy-dancy sharp knife and shaking and jittering didn't seem like a good combination so Geoff even cut the lettuce in half.  I at least brushed it with olive oil and salt and pepper.  Does that count for anything?

Grilled Romaine:
Cut a romaine heart in half.  Leave the bottom stump (or whatever it's called) in tact for both halves.  Brush the cut sides with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Grill cut side down for a few minutes until starting to get lightly charred in places (just a few minutes).  Remove from grill.  We served with croutons, asiago caesar dressing, and a little parmesan cheese.

Absolutely delicious.  If you don't own a grill (mom!) it's worth buying one just for this.

Black Bean Luau

Delicious and super easy to make!  Our proportions were off - I had extra rice but I threw it all in because who really follows recipes.

Combine:
20 oz Pineapple chunks, drained
15 oz black beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 C cooked rice
1 1/2 C chicken, cooked and shredded
1 red pepper, diced
1/2 C celery, diced
1/2 C green onion, diced (we used red because that's what I had on hand)

Dressing:
1/2 C honey Dijon salad dressing

I didn't want to buy salad dressing for this so I made my own that turned out delicious:

Whisk the following together:
2 Tbsp dijon mustard
1/4 C honey
1/4 C vinegar
Salt and pepper

While whisking constantly, slowly pour in 1/3 C olive oil