Ja cię kocham…

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!  Here is a quick peek at the gorgeous table scape courtesy of my beautiful mother, Patti.

Hi, Mom!

My pictures are a little fuzzy and dark because I was making sure to keep an eye on the food.  Post-picture taking, I realized that my lens was covered with steam.  So I apologize for the lack of crisp pictures.  (I am a bit of a perfectionist…)

I am so thrilled to report that dinner was a hit, and I didn’t serve cold macaroni and cheese!  My biggest fear was the timing of all of the food because I didn’t want to serve my loved ones cold ham and crusty macaroni and cheese.  With help from Ma and Papa Zigs, dinner went without a hitch!  Thank you, Ma and Paps!!

Prior to the main meal, I made some “snicky snacks” or as my Polish Poppy used to refer to them as “hordy doors”.  Ja cie kocham, Poppy!!  Miss you.

A cookie display filled with Nigella’s Chocolate Christmas Cookies, shortbread, gingerbread, homemade chocolate covered pretzels, and caramel bites.  I added a little Chocolate Soynut Butter (sadly, I couldn’t find Nutella, but this work just as well) for the shortbread.

Tzatziki made with my Homemade Greek Yogurt served with Crudites lovingly prepared by my sister and Cleanliness is Next to Godliness Food blogger, Emmy.

We also offered piping hot coffee and warmed mulled apple wine.

Here is my hubby, Jay, partaking in the warmed beverage.  Hi, honey!

And here I am just loving life and my 14 year old doggie, Cricket.

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And now for the main course all served on my Nana’s China:

Holiday Glazed Ham prepared by me and Smoked Turkey prepared by Papa Zigs

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Pineapple Filling

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Homemade Scalloped Potatoes made by Mama Zigs

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Simply Baked Macaroni and Cheese

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Cucumber Salad (one of Poppy’s specialties)

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Roasted Carrots and Parsnips with Sage of which I totally forgot to take a picture!

Photo courtesy of www.jewcy.com

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Fresh Cranberry Sauce with Apples and Ginger

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And also – plain green beans for Mom Mom.  She loves her green beans!

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To avoid complete carb-overload, Mom made me a fresh fruit salad.

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And for dessert….

… a semi-homemade ice cream cake!

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Recipes of our Christmas bounty will come in the very near future.   For now, I am going to make a delicious breakfast with the leftovers…

Until we meet again, I again wish you health, wealth, and a big belly from good food!

Merry Christmas Ja cie kocham readers!

As you may know from reading my previous posts, I am the cooker and baker of this year’s Christmas Dinner!  And oh boy, this will be my FIRST sit down holiday meal for more than 6 people.  I’m not concerned about the food turning out, I’m more concerned about the timing.  I know some of you are with me on this.  Being that I’m not fortunate enough to own two ovens, I have to carefully plan how to bake several things for one dinner using one oven while keeping everything from getting cold or drying out.  I will let you know how THAT goes.

To make things a little easier for me, I’ve been prepping for the past week with a detailed schedule of things to be made so that I’m not frantic an hour before dinner.  On today’s to-do list, I made the macaroni and cheese.   This is such a tease!!!  The aroma of white cheddar and nutmeg is swirling through my home making my mouth begin to water and my tummy is now growling fiercely.  *Roar*

I have to say that this recipe was so simple, tastes so good (I HAD to test it!!), and left me with minimal dishes.  Solid deal.  Can’t ask for anything better than that!!  Plus the most of the ingredients should already be in your cupboard, and if they’re not, you can find them with no problem and spend next to nothing on them.  Merry Christmas to me!  Simple, cheap, and goooood.

I will be sure to post the rest of my holiday menu within the next few days.  Let’s just hope I remember to take pictures!

I wish you all safe travels and good eats!!

Simply Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Source: Smitten Kitchen
Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter
1 cup cottage cheese
2 cups milk (not skim)
1 teaspoon dry mustard
Pinch cayenne
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound sharp or extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 pound elbow pasta, uncooked.

Directions:

Heat oven to 375°F and position an oven rack in upper third of oven. Use one tablespoon butter to grease a 9-inch round or square baking pan.

In a blender, purée cottage cheese, milk, mustard, cayenne, nutmeg and salt and pepper together.  Reserve 1/4 cup grated cheese for topping. In a large bowl, combine remaining grated cheese, milk mixture and uncooked pasta. Pour into prepared pan, cover tightly with foil and bake 30 minutes.

Uncover pan, stir gently, sprinkle with reserved cheese and dot with remaining tablespoon butter. Bake, uncovered, 30 minutes more, until browned. Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

This meal is the perfect cozy comfort food during the hot summer months.   It’s warm and cheesy but with lots of fresh vegetables and lean turkey.

Simplicity is the key here.  Pantry staples are used for this dish, and it is so easy to just throw together.  The original recipe called for lean ground beef, but I only had ground turkey so I substituted.  Feel free to throw in any vegetable that you want.  I used three different types of squash – yellow, zucchini, and the chayote.

I had never tried a chayote before.  Quite frankly, I have never heard of it before, but I’m always game to try different fruits and vegetables.  When I cut it open, it reminded me of a granny smith apple in texture.  It’s known as a “vegetable pear”.

(Photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

I found the chayote at my local grocery store next to the zucchini so it’s not like I traveled far and wide to find it.  It was just there, and I grabbed it.  It wasn’t in the original recipe, but I was curious about its flavor and wanted to use it.   It turned out really well.  Believe it or not, this squash can be eaten raw.  You can chop it up and throw it in a salad or cook it and mash it with butter and salt.  Apparently the chayote can be found in the form of tea to help with hypertension and dissolving kidney stones.

I can’t help but be amazed at the healing and health properties of food.  Yes, I have always known that they have vitamins that are good for us.  But think how tremendously beneficial fruits and vegetables are to our health, how can we not eat them all the time?   I have been drinking fresh fruit juice from my juicer every day, and I have so much more energy than I normally do.  It’s fantastic!!

Anyway, this recipe is quick, light, and healthy (as most of my recipes are).  You can easily double it to feed a large family or cut it in half for smaller portions.   And it’s a casserole that’s cooked in a skillet!  There is no waiting.  It’s done as soon as your rice is cooked.

You can use instant rice to cut the cooking time, but just note that instant rice does not have all of the nourishment that old fashioned rice has.  I will be honest, I get impatient with the long cooking rice so I turn up the heat on my stove a little to cut the cooking time.  I just can’t wait 45 minutes for my rice!  I can handle 20 minutes, though.

Cheesy Turkey and Summer Squash Casserole

Source: Adapted from CleanEatingOnline.com

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 1/2 c. water
2 c. brown rice
1 tsp. olive oil
1 zucchini, halved and cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 yellow squash, halved and cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 chayote, halved and cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 lb. organic lean ground beef, turkey or chicken
3/4 c. shredded reduced fat Monterey Jack cheese

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add rice, cover and simmer about 25 minutes.

Cook 1 lb. ground beef/turkey in a nonstick skillet over medium heat until no longer pink.

During the last 5 minutes of cooking time, pour olive oil into a nonstick skillet and place over medium heat.

Add zucchini, yellow squash, chayote and garlic to the pan. Sprinkle with basil, salt and pepper and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add cooked rice and ground beef/turkey to vegetables, cover with lid and cook for 5 minutes. Stir vegetables and rice together and top with cheese. Place lid on top for 1 minute.

Place in your favorite serving bowl, add fresh basil for garnish.  Enjoy!

I have officially found my absolute favorite spice.

For years I have favored the all-purpose spice due to its versatility and taste.  But that’s boring.  Of course it’s versatile – it’s ALL-PURPOSE.

My husband loves any food that is  “chipotle-esque” so I when I came across Chipotle Chile Pepper in the grocery store I figured it was a worth-while purchase.  Little did I know that it would become MY number one.  It’s not too spicy – in fact, I would go as far to say it’s not spicy at all.  If you have a very senstive palette then you may feel a little heat, but you can still consume it and taste your meal afterward ;o)   It has a nice smoky kick to it, which is why I enjoy it so much.  McCormick, one of the spice powerhouses in the baking aisle, makes it so it’s easy to find.

I tend to throw whatever I have in the fridge into my meals, and this dish was no different.  I am often inspired by recipes and then tweak them so I don’t have to travel alllll the way to the store to retrieve the ingredients.  (I live out in the country so the nearest grocery store is 20 minutes.)

I was quite pleased with the results.  One can never be too sure how dinner will taste when it’s an improvisation.  This one is a keeper!

Chipotle Chile and Bubbly Swiss Casserole
Source: 101 Cookbooks

(Serves

Ingredients:

Extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 pound short, whole wheat pasta
sea salt
1 large sweet onion, chopped
1/2 – 1 c. bell pepper (any color), chopped  (Yep, I’m still trying to use up my big bag of peppers!)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
4 cups well-chopped fresh spinach
1 1/2 cups sliced almonds, lightly toasted
zest of 2 lemons
1-1/2 tsp. chipotle chile pepper
8 ounces swiss, shredded (more wouldn’t hurt if you are a cheese fanatic like me)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter/oil a large casserole dish or baking pan – something roughly equivalent to 13×9-inch pan.

Boil the pasta in salted water per package instructions. Drain pasta, toss with a glug of olive oil. Set aside.

In the meantime, heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high. Saute the onions and peppers with a couple pinches of salt for a few minutes (or if you want a bit more depth of flavor until caramelized).  Stir in garlic. Stir in spinach. Cook for just about 20 seconds, until the spinach collapses a bit.

Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup of the almonds and 1/2 of the zest. Add to pasta, add the chile pepper and stir and stir – mixing extremely well, a minute or so.

Now sprinkle the bottom of baking dish with the rest of the zest. Add a layer of the pasta to the bottom of the baking pan, now sprinkle with some of the cheese, add more pasta, then more cheese. Finish with a layer of cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes or until cheese on top is bubbly and melty. Serve sprinkled with the remaining almonds.

Mmmm…comfort food…

Three words that ring in my ears… Macaroni and Cheese.  Ever since I was a little girl, I have looked forward to the ooey, gooey, cheesy taste on my palate.  There is something about this meal that makes everything seem a-okay.

Until the guilt sets in…

Well, once again I have resolved the issue of guilt after consuming a carb and cheese filled meal.  This recipe mildly adapted from a RealSimple magazine (February 2009) is comfort food made healthy.  More ringing to my ears!

I always substitute white pasta with whole wheat.  It saves on the calories, and for those of you that are familiar with Weight Watchers, you know that the more fiber in a food, the less you have to worry about the calories.  Luckily, Real Simple got it right by using multigrain pasta.  Check the back of the box to see how much fiber is in your pasta.  I look for at least 5g per serving.

Instead of macaroni, I used chiocciole. They almost look like little sea shells…

For spice lovers: I added a punch of cayenne pepper to this dish because I have a spice-lovin’ hubby at home )

My recommendation is that you don’t skimp on the sour cream.  I’m always one to use “fat-free” when I can, but I was really glad that I stuck with the reduced fat.  The sour cream taste was subtle but distinguishable.   I did, however, use skim milk, and I was happy with the results.  I also used a nice Grey Poupon dijon mustard made with white wine.  Call me crazy, but I feel that this helped make the meal so tasty.  There was a certain element in the mustard that added tremendous flavor.

Extra Sharp Macaroni and Cheese with Cauliflower

Ingredients:

12 oz whole wheat macaroni or other short pasta
1 head cauliflower, roughly chopped
4 slices multigrain bread, torn
1/2 cup fresh, flat-leaf parsley, chopped
3 Tbs. olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper
1 sweet onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups (6oz.)  grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups reduced-fat sour cream
1/2 cup 1% or skim milk
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard (I used Grey Poupon with white wine…so good!)
Cayenne pepper to taste (optional)

Directions:

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Cook the pasta according to the package directions, adding the cauliflower during the last 3 minutes of cooking time; drain.

Meanwhile, pulse the bread in a food processor until coarse crumbs form.  Add the parsley, 2 Tbs of olive oil, and 1/4 tsp. each of salt and pepper and pulse to combine; set aside.

Return the pasta pot to medium heat and add the remaining Tbs. of oil.  Add the onion, 3/4 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, just until soft, 5 to 7 minutes.  Mix in the pasta, cauliflower, cheese, sour cream, milk, mustard, and cayenne pepper.  (If you really want it spicy, add a Tbs. of hot sauce now.)

Transfer to a shallow 3-quart baking dish, sprinkle with the bread crumbs, and bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.

Yum!!!!