Salmon Patties

While my Spicy Turkey Crock Pot Lasagna did its thing, I whipped up salmon cakes for lunch.  Amy Locurto calls for salmon cakes with a side of mashed potatoes.  Instead, I added my potatoes to the salmon cakes...just like Nana and mommy used to do.  I also added my own special salad, inspired by a co-worker.  

I got the salad out of the way while I boiled my potatoes.  No big deal.  I just steamed some peas...not too long...you still want them nice and firm.  Then, I shredded some carrot, thinly sliced a red onion, cut up some canned red beets, chopped salted cashews, and then dressed with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  So good!

Once the potatoes we done, I mixed together 4 pouches of salmon (first time I bought these...not bad), bread crumbs, 2 whisked eggs, sliced scallions, and parsley.  Amy says to use cilantro but lately I just haven't been a fan.  Besides, parsley makes me think of my Nana, as do poor man's crab cakes.  That's what she used to call these, except her's were made with tuna fish. 

I formed nice little round patties and threw them in a pan of piping hot olive oil.  I let them brown, flipped them, let them brown, blotted them, and done! 

Garnish with a little lemon and you have the perfect lunch...or dinner!

Parmesan Crusted Tilapia with Roasted Potatoes & Asparagus

I promised parmesan crusted tilapia and I delivered!  Pardon the pictures.  Ian stole our camera so I had to use my iPhone for this job.  Oh, and how about this one...my iPhone won't sync with my Mac so I had to email all of these to myself first.  I called Apple tech support.  The nice woman on the phone told me that she was very sorry but she's "not very tech savvy...not with Macs anyway."  UGH!  So anyway, on with the fish.

To time this perfectly, I worked in stages.  I preheated the oven to 400 degrees.  Meanwhile, I cubed up some red potatoes, threw in some garlic (unpeeled...Ian and I love to peel open the roasted garlic cloves as we eat), drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt, Weber's lemon seasoning and thyme...I always add thyme when I'm using lemon.  I spread it on a foil lined baking sheet and threw it in the oven for about 25 minutes.

While that cooked, I trimmed my asparagus.  Do you do that trick where you see where one snaps and then size up the rest?  I tossed them into my potato-bowl and added a little more olive oil and seasoning.  I also added some sliced garlic.  Once the potatoes were well on their way, I took them out, added the asparagus to the pan threw it back in for another 20 minutes or so.  

While the sides worked, I threw my tilapia filets into my potato/asparagus bowl to soak up some leftover olive oil and seasonings and then dredged them in a mixture of breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, Weber's lemon seasoning, and chopped fresh parsley.  I placed them on a foil-lined baking sheet and when everything else had about 10-15 minutes left to cook, I added them into the oven.

Everything ended at the same time.  The smell of the garlic, lemon, and parmesan filled the house!  3 for 3 this week!

 

Again, I must apologize for these crap-tastic pictures. We'll be back on track tomorrow.

Pizza Night!

OK, change of plans.  Ian and I had to meet with our accountant tonight so I passed on the parmesan crusted tilapia and decided to make pizza instead.  Probably took the same amount of time, but less dishes...winning!

Normally I will use frozen dough...just like dad.  But I wanted to stick to Living Locurto's fast & easy menu.  You just caught a glimpse of my obsessive compulsive nature.  So I decided to use Pillsbury dough in a pop-can instead.  So easy!  I rolled it out on my Pampered Chef stone (which I love by the way!).  At this point, I did just as Amy Locurto suggested and added my favorite toppings.  I started with some garlic powder and olive oil.  I decided to prebake the dough at 425 degrees for about 8 minutes to get a more crispy crust.

I should mention that I made two pizzas.  With the first one, the dough was super easy to work with and rolled right out, ready to go.  Well, almost.  There was a whole in the middle so I folded it and tried again.  Not bad.  The second pizza, however...UGH!  It came out of the can like what can only be described as those fake spiderwebs you stretch out at Halloween.  Fail.  I tried my best to save it...tasted the same but wasn't nearly as easy to work with.  I blame Pillsbury.

Then, I added sauce, mozzarella cheese, fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, red pepper flakes, oregano, and some parmesan cheese.  Then back into the oven!

And here she is.  Sooo delicious!  Parmesan crusted tilapia will wait until tomorrow.

PS...I really need to mix up the subjects of my posts!

Aarti Sequeira's Lady Marmalade Chicken Salad

I always have a hard time thinking of fresh ideas for what to take to school for lunch.  Ian is easy.  He loves his deli meat...especially when I make his sandwich.  I'm a little more picky, though.  In this month's Food Network Magazine, Aarti Sequeira and Emeril had a chicken salad showdown.  Normally, I think I would side with Emeril (especially because his entry was served in little avocado boats), but her recipe got me pretty excited.  Plus, little avocado boats would never hold up until lunch without browning!

First, I baked 3 chicken breasts in the oven, 425 degrees, for about 20 minutes.  I seasoned each side with salt and pepper and drizzled some olive oil first.

Then, I took the chicken out of the oven and smeared orange marmalade all over it!  I'm not usually a fan of fruity chicken, or orange marmalade for that matter, but I trusted Aarti on this one.

I threw the chicken back in the oven and let it broil on low for a few minutes.  Every minute or so I pulled it out and coated the chicken with some of its own orange-y juices.  When it started to caramelize, I took it out of the oven and let it cool.

Meanwhile, I tossed together 1 cup of halved red seedless grapes, a dices green apple, 3 scallions (instead of 1 shallot), 1 cup of stirred Greek yogurt, 1 tbsp of orange marmalade, juice from 1 lime, and some salt.

I got some canola oil nice and hot and simmered up some minced garlic and yellow mustard seeds (I didn't have brown mustard of cumin seeds so I made a substitution).  Once the garlic started to brown I added about 2 tsp of curry powder.  The smell was unreal!  Then, I drizzled this whole mixture right down into my salad.  

Finally, I diced up my orange-y chicken, folded it into my salad, and topped it all off with some chopped, salted cashews and cilantro.  Unbelievably good!  I will eat this all week, probably rolled up in bibb lettuce wraps.  Delicious!

Cheesy Chicken, Rice & Broccoli

Ok, so this is recipe 1 of 5 from Living Locurto's Fast & Easy menu.  Before I get into just how delicious this dinner was, can I just tell you how great it was to go into the food store with a plan?  As I mentioned in my previous post, I want to become a more efficient food shopper.  Thanks to Amy at Living Locurto and her printable food shopping list, I sped through each aisle without a minute wasted on indecision!  Thanks Amy!

So tonight I tried the first recipe of the week, cheesy chicken, rice and broccoli.  How could this possibly go wrong?!  It was delicious.  Here's how it all went down...

I cooked up two seasoned chicken breasts in a little olive oil.

Next, I removed the chicken and added 1 3/4 chicken broth, a can of cream of mushroom soup, and some salt and pepper to the pan.

Once this started boiling, I added 1 1/2 cups of instant brown rice and fresh broccoli.  Just like Grandma does when she makes her broccoli, I peeled the stems and threw those in, too.  I stirred this up, threw the chicken back on top, and covered and simmered until the rice and broccoli were nice and tender.  

This would have been enough, but doesn't cheese make everything better?  My thighs don't think so.  I threw some cheddar cheese on top, let it get melty gooey and then plated our dinner.  Can you believe there's a piece of chicken nestled in there???

This recipe was a-maz-ing!  Again, not oober healthy, but such a great comfort food!  Perfect for a cozy evening.  So, night one was a success.  Tomorrow, parmesan crusted tilapia!

1 New Week, 5 New Recipes

Lately I have been working on ways to become a more efficient food shopper.  I always say that I want to try new recipes, buy things I don't normally buy, and get the most bang for my buck, but it never seems to work that way.  I usually go in, grab lunch food for Ian and then grab a few staple ingredients (chicken, potatoes, broccoli, canned tomatoes, Greek yogurt, lettuce etc.).  I always have the best intentions to try new things with those staples, but as I go down each aisle, I grab the usual and end up with the same monotonous menu each week.  I want to sit down, plan out a menu for the week, figure out what ingredients I need and which I already have on hand...I even want to be so savvy as to figure out replacements with what I already have and find coupons for what I don't have.  Each week comes and goes, though.  I never seem to have the time to sit down and plan it all out.

Then, two things happened.  One, I stumbled upon Rachel Ray's show, Week in a Day. 

I don't know if I've told you, but I have a love-hate relationship with Rach.  I can't stand her always bubbly personality, but I love her recipes.  Anyway, this show is great because she shares 5 recipes and walks you through how to do all of the prep work in one day.  Here comes the excuse...I feel like for the past couple years, her recipes have reached a new level.  They are no longer for the every-woman, or every-man for that matter.  They have become more complicated, expensive, and use less-common ingredients.  I would love to try all 5 recipes from one of her episodes, but when I can't pronounce some of the ingredients, I know that it is probably not practical during a busy work-week.  Even so, Rach has inspired me to put more thought into my weekly menu.  I will absolutely try one of her episodes sometime, but for now, I need something that suits my budget and schedule a little better.

Then something else happened...thank goodness!  I realized that one of my favorite blogs, Living Locurto, had exactly what I've been looking for! 

Amy Locurto, self-described as a "fun" mom who doesn't mind when things get messy, puts together a weekly menu and even includes a printable shopping list!  DING DING DING!  Her recipes are practical...exactly what I'm looking for.  Nothing too fancy, but tasty and almost comforting in a way.  They're the kinds of meals you remember eating as a kid, but still enjoy as a grown up.  This week, I'm trying Week 9 - Fast & Easy...because fast and easy is exactly what I need right now!

• Monday - One-Pan Cheesy Chicken, Rice and Broccoli
• Tuesday - Parmesan Crusted Tilapia
• Wednesday - Make Your Own Pizza Night
• Thursday - Salmon Patties and Mashed Potatoes
• Friday - Spicy Turkey Crock-Pot Lasagna

These are not the healthiest recipes, but don't they sound perfect for a chilly week-night dinner?!?!  I will blog along the way and let you know how it goes.  If all goes well, I might actually get into a routine.  Maybe I'll even create my own weekly menus and submit them to Amy.

PS...I'm always looking for new weeknight recipes so share 'em if you got 'em! 
PSS...Who would have thought I could write such a lengthy post about food shopping I haven't done yet and recipes I haven't made yet?
PSSS...Check out Living Locurto for more than just weekly menus.  Amy posts awesome printables and theme-party ideas, too!

I'm just about out of shower-related posts, but here's one more.  We went back and forth trying to decide if we should order a cake.  Then we decided on cupcakes.  We went back and forth on whether we should tier them or order one of those cupcake pull-away cakes.  Can you tell I'm awful with decisions???  Then I remembered that my mom's best friend, Michelle, is awesome at this sort of thing.  All I told her was that we needed cupcakes and she took it from there.  

I can't detail ingredients.  Truth be told, I was busy working on my own shower projects and I am no baker...wanna-be cook, yes, but baker, no.

 She was bummed because they weren't coming out as good as they used to.  I thought they were perfect.  Don't we always say that when it isn't our own work?  I love the cupcake wrappers.  

As these cooled, Michelle melted some Ghirardelli chocolate for the candy embellishments.  She drizzled it in small patched on wax paper and popped them in the fridge.

 

The next morning, we took everything to Uva's in pieces so that we could assemble them there.  We filled wine glasses with a few amorini candy hearts, tied a black and white ribbon around the stem, and plopped a cupcake down into each one.  Michelle frosted each one with her own special whipped cream recipe.  So sweet and fluffy!  Then, we added our chocolate topping.  They were beautiful!  

 Looking back, I can't believe I didn't get a better picture of these.  You get the idea...