Pinterest Challenge Day 7 - Pumpkin Curry with Chicken Meatballs

And here we are at the end of the challenge! I've made a good dent in my untried Pinterest recipes and had some awesome (and some not-so-awesome) meals!  Yay!

The last recipe on the list is Pumpkin curry with chicken meatballs!  I've had this one pinned here forever and just ever got around to trying it out!  I figured the pumpkin flavour would make it a perfect end to  cold Fall week!  Here's how we did:


Substitutions/Additions:
1) 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon in place of the stick
2) Regular coconut milk instead of low-fat
3) Added 1 tbsp of soy sauce
4) 1/2 cup chicken broth in place of bouillon and to thin out the curry a little (it was super thick!)










And now for the ratings:

Taste: A.  We both really liked this one! This was warm, spicy and hearty and I can't wait to eat the leftovers for lunch today!  I think if I were to do this one again, though, I'd use strips of chicken in place of the meatballs or I would add some breadcrumbs to the balls -they were a little dry. 
Cost: A-.  Using ground chicken makes this very budget friendly!  If you already have a decent spice cabinet at home, you probably don't need to buy any of the seasonings!
Nutrition: A.  Between the spices and the veggies, there's tons of anti-oxidant goodness in here! Between the carrots and the pumpkin you'll get a good dose of beta carotene!  Also, the chicken is nice and lean.    
Simplicity:  B. Using some strips of chicken would save the time and mess of the meatballs, but they were kind of unique and cool so I'm torn...
Overall: A.

And that's that!  Will you be trying out any of these recipes yourselves?  Which ones?  

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Pinterest Challenge Day 6 - Double Feature!

Helllooooo!

How was everyone's Halloween?  Ours was busy!  We got close to 500 trick or treaters!  Insane!  In any case, on to the food! I didn't get any good pictures of these recipes because the lighting in our house sucks.  You'll have to use your imagination!  Let's start with the chicken:

This recipe is pinned here.  Here are our substitutions/changes:
1) We used chicken thighs instead of breasts
2) We added about 1 tsp of dijon mustard to the topping mix.
3)We used Hellmen's  half the fat olive oil mayo

Taste: B.  Dawson liked this one more than I did.  He devoured his.  I just thought it was "ok".  I'd eat it again, but it wasn't my favourite.
Cost: A-.  Not expensive fora main dish at all. Most of this stuff you probably have in your kitchen already. 
Nutrition: B.  Not bad. Not great, but not bad either. The mayo is calorie-dense but heart healthy and the chicken has good lean protein.    
Simplicity:  A+. Super easy!  No complaints here.
Overall: B.

Now for the cauliflower! This one is pinned here and is coincidentally from the same blog as the risotto I made earlier this week. So far the author is 2 for 2, because this was actually even more awesome than the risotto! Wee!

No subs or additions made to this one.

Taste: A+.  If there was anything above A+, I'd give this recipe that! We loved it!  This one is definitely going to find itself in heavy rotation at our house!
Cost: A. This one is cheapy cheapy. 
Nutrition: A. This is a super tasty way to get your veggies in! We liked this so much we ate an entire head of cauliflower between the two of us.  I generally don't even like cauliflower!    
Simplicity:  A+.  Doesn't get much easier than this, internet!
Overall: A+

Only one more day left in the challenge! Exciting! 

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Pinterest Challenge Day 1 - Chicken Enchilada Pasta

Hello Internet!
Here we are at the first day of the Pinterest Challenge!  Wee!  Today we made Chicken Enchilada Pasta, which I have pinned here.  The link I have pinned takes me to some site with the ingredients listed but not the original source of the recipe, which is here (on what looks to be an awesome blog with a ton of amazing looking food btw).
Here's how it turned out!

Spicy cheesy goodness!

We made a few substitutions/additions because I can never just do what I'm told:
1) We used a tsp of chili powder in the sauce in place of the tbsp (ours is crazy spicy)
2) Used whole wheat penne in place of regular for added fibre
3) Used chicken thighs in place of breasts because we generally like them better and I'm cheap.
4) Added a small yellow and orange pepper for added veggie deliciousness
5) Used cheddar cheese in place of monterey jack because we already had it in the house and I was too cheap to buy more cheese.
6) We stuck the whole skillet in the oven at 350 for 5 mins to melt the cheese.



Here's how we rank this bad boy:
Taste: A-.  It was pretty good! We both enjoyed it and are having the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.  I do think it would have been lacking without the veggies though.  In fact, if I were to make it again I would add even more veggies and maybe some black beans and probably reduce or completely eliminate the of chicken.
Cost: A-.  This was decently budget friendly.  The chicken and cheese are the only expensive ingredients here.
Nutrition: B.  As it's written, this recipe was severely lacking in veggie goodness and using regular pasta is just a missed opportunity for fibre!
Simplicity: B.  The recipe is pretty simple and was relatively quick.  My only complaint is that the order the steps are written in makes the timing of this recipe a little wonky.  In my opinions step 1 should have been to make the sauce, step 2 to boil you pasta and step 3 to cook everything else.  As it's written, the chicken is cooked well before anything else is ready to go and there's a lot of down time.
Overall: B+

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Episode 81 - Fit for a King

So internet, what did Santa bring you this year?  I, for one, was spoiled rotten and can't even begin to choose what my favourite gift was!  I got everything from some incredible, thick, warm, fuzzy socks (aka. the socks of dreams) to a La Mer watch (ohhh so pretty) to a Kobo Vox e-reader.  What more could a girl ask for?  Maybe just a dinner fit for royalty...

Sunday deliciousness. 

Chicken a la King

2 tbsp canola oil
6 chicken thighs, diced
1 onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup frozen peas
2 cups cooked whole wheat macaroni

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium high heat then add in the chicken thighs and brown on all sides.  Add the onion, peppers, salt, pepper and garlic powder and cook until the veggies soften a little.  Add in the soup and cream and bring to a boil.  Toss in your peas and reduce the heat to low.  Once your peas are warmed through (2-3 minutes) add the cooked pasta, give the whole thing a stir and serve! Yummy!

Speaking of my new Kobo - how awesome are these things?  I've alredy read, and subsequently become obsessed with, the entire Hunger Games series.  Have you read them?  So! good!  Katniss kicks bum.  When I grow up I wanna be just like Katniss...

In other news, I am happy to report that I have now been able to return to wearing pants, and all is well in the world.

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Episode 76 - When I Grow Up

It was recently brought to my attention in the form of an old-school NAS video that in exactly 2 weeks I will officially be a graduated dietitian/grown up.  Me!  A grown up!  I know.  Its a ridiculous thought and I'm excited and terrified all at the same time.  I start my new job exactly 2 days after graduating!  What if I'm not ready?  What if I say something dumb?  What do I wear? So many questions!  So much stress! Ugh.
I was in need of comfort food.  I won't tell you how much of this pie Dawson and I polished off in one sitting, but I will tell you it was a lot.  Like, a lot, a lot.  We're in our fat pants right now.

Chicky Pot Pie

2 frozen pie crusts

I like pie. 

1 tsp canola oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
3/4 cup carrots, diced
6 chicken thighs, diced
1 shot glass full of white wine
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1 cup milk or cream or a combination of the two
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 pouch of OXO chicken broth seasoning
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 egg, scrambled

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat then toss in the garlic, onion and carrots.  Saute until the carrots just start to soften a little, then add the chicken, thyme, bay leaves, salt and pepper.  Cook for another 5 minutes or so, or until the chicken is thoroughly browned.  Toss in the white wine and OXO and cook for another 2 minutes. Next, melt the butter and sprinkle in the flour.  Give the whole mix a stir until it starts to look kinda gross and clumpy - this will help the sauce to thicken.  Pour in the milk and peas and stir until the sauce thickens and the chicken is cooked through.  Pour the delicious mixture into one of the pie crusts and top with the second crust.  Seal the edges of the pie by squishing them with a fork and cut a pretty little X in the middle to let the steam escape and to prevent pie explosions.  Brush the entire thing with the scrambled egg.  Bake in the preheated over for 15-20 minutes.  The top of the pie should be nice and golden.  Delicious!

Did you always know what you wanted to be when you grew up?  I definitely didn't.  My timeline of career possibilities looked something like this:


Age 4: A nurse/ rockstar.  Yes.  Both at the same time.
Age 10: A vetrinarian or an olympic gymnast
Age 14:  For a brief period - a Spice Girl
Age 16: A criminal psychologist.  I wanted to talk to serial killers.  Yeah, it was a phase.
Age 18: A brain surgeon
And finally - Age 24: Dietitian

...sometimes I kinda wish I pursued the Spice Girl thing further.

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Episode 54 - Chicken Cordon Burger with a side of Bullets

When I was little I lived in a single family home in a suburb of Ottawa.  It was nice and I had a big yard and was far from deprived, but I still always remember wishing I was lucky enough to live on a farm.  I had dreams about making forts out of hay bales and wearing cowboy boots.  I would save up all my allowance money and whine and beg for my dad to take me out horseback riding and I went through a short phase in which I was obsessed with cows. I had a cow Halloween costume, cow t-shirts and possibly most ridiculously, a cow patterned pyjama onesie .  I'm sure you're picturing a cute, little, pigtail-wearing 6-year-old, but no, in a true testament to my coolness, this was when I was 14.  Wow.  Oh, I also honestly thought that cleaning stables would be an awesome way to spend a Saturday morning.  All of this means two things: a) I was clearly a delusional child and b) that I've always been a country girl at heart!  

I'm convinced that this little history can be the only explanation for why I've embraced becoming a Carleton-Place-living, buffalo-plaid-wearing country girl so easily.  Well, that and maybe the fact that I also regularly embrace a darned good looking Carleton-Place-living, buffalo-plaid-wearing country boy.  Oh, Dawson, what have you and your adorable face done to me?  

The coolest couples wear matching outfits. 

In any case, about a year ago Dawson convinced me to go out to the shooting range and taught me to fire a gun.  Now, if you've never fired a gun before let me just tell you that it is oddly and surprisingly fun!  Who knew putting holes in a paper target could be so satisfying?! A bulls-eye is a thrilling thing!  So, yesterday I did something crazy - I mailed off my completed application for a gun license.   That's right internet!  I have graduated from redneck in training to full-fledged, card-carrying redneck.  Mom must be so proud.   

Look!  A girl with a gun!

Look!  A boy with a gun!

On a completely unrelated note, here's what we made for dinner today!  

Burger Patties

You want this in your belly. 

1 lb ground chicken

1 tbsp garlic powder

1/2 tbsp paprika

1/2 tsp black pepper

Swiss Cheese Gravy

1 tbsp unsalted butter

1 tbsp all-purpose flour

1/2 cup table cream

1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1/4 cup grated swiss cheese

salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

3 whole wheat burger buns, toasted

6 slices Black Forest ham

3 pieces of leaf lettuce

3 slices tomato

First, start by making the patties- dump everything into a bowl and mix with your hands until it looks evenly mixed.  Form the mess into 3 roughly equal patties.  Grill over medium heat for 6-7 minutes per side or until all of the pink is gone and the burgers are cooked through.

Meanwhile, start your cheesy gravy - melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium-high heat.  Whisk in your flour to make a gross looking paste (a.k.a. a roux if you're being fancy).  While still whisking, stir in the cream and broth and cook until the whole thing starts to thicken.  If it thicken too much just add more broth to thin it back out.  Now stir in your grated cheese and seasonings.  Done!  Just keep the gravy over low heat until you're ready to build your burgers.

To build - spread about 1 tbsp of cheese sauce on the bottom bun to act as glue.  Top with a leaf of lettuce, a slice of tomato, a burger patty, 2 slices of ham and a healthy serving of cheese-y gravy.  Mmm cheeeeese.

So there you have it - cheese and guns! A typical day in the new country-style life of Kristy. 

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Episode 27 - Kristy-chiladas

Also known as bean and chicken enchilladas without a single speck of authenticity.  They are, however, completely delicious and simple.  This is an old-y but goody.

6 large flour tortillas, get the whole-wheat ones
1 can spicy refried beans
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 grocery store rotisserie chicken, bones and skin removed, pulled into strips
2 cups old cheddar cheese
1 can spicy enchilada sauce (in the mexican aisle, next to the old el paso junk.  We like the "La Victoria" brand.)

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Take a flour tortilla and spread refried beans all over it.  Make it as thick or thin as you want - this will be the glue that holds your enchillada together.  Sprinkle in some onion, a healthy amount of chicken and a little bit of cheese (don't use too much, you want some extra for the top).  Roll it up anyway you want and put it into a shallow casserole dish.  I usually use a lasagna pan.    Repeat with the remaining tortillas.  Pour the enchillada sauce all over the rolls and top with a sprinkling of cheese.  Bake for 15 minutes or until they are heated all the way through and the sauce and cheese topping are nice and bubbly! 

If you were being healthy I'd say to serve these with a southwest-y type salad of some sort but realistically, these are really, really good.  Really.  If you're anything like me you'll probably just end up stuffing yourself with them before a salad even crosses your mind.  Just promise yourself you'll do better tomorrow and it'll be fine.  Enjoy!

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Episode 23 - Ragin' Cajun!

aka Kristy and Dawson's awesome jambalaya.  This is really just our attempt to recreate the incredible Jambalaya from a little restaurant we went to a few weeks ago.  If you live anywhere near Stittsville you should go ---> Louisiannie's.  Order the Jambalaya. Or stay home and make our reasonable facsimile!

4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, diced
1 spicy pre-cooked sausage of your choice, andouille if you can find it, diced
4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into chunks
1 green pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, finely diced
5 tomatoes, coarsely diced
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup beef or chicken broth
1 1/2 tablespoons paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon black pepper
1/2 tablespoon onion powder
1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
1/2 tablespoon dried thyme
1 small pinch of dried pepper flakes
a dash of hot sauce

Start by heating some oil in a large soup pot.  Add the sausage and let some of the fat render.  Add the chicken and brown with the sausage.  Next, add the onions, garlic and peppers.  Cook until they get nice and soft, about 5 minutes then add the tomatoes, tomato paste, the broth and all the spices.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on how hungry you are and how long you can stand to wait.  Serve with corn bread!  Mmm cajun-y goodness!

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Episode 18 - Mucho Mucho Burrito!

Until last week I was firmly decided that Mexican take-out was gross.  It was cheap, used crappy ingredients and probably gave you awful gas.  I was 100% sure that all of this was true... and then came Mucho Burrito.  It is gooooood. So good. I'm addicted.  They serve Corona! They make their own fresh salsa! I think I'm in love!  And so here is my homemade tribute to Mucho Burrito! There are a few steps. but I must say, they are a deliciously resonable facsimile.  Mmmm burrito night...

Cilantro Lime Rice:
1 1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup brown rice
1/4 cup cilantro, minced
juice and zest of 1 lime

Put everything in a pot, bring to a boil then reduce to minimum, cover and let cook for 40 mins.  Meanwhile, make everything else!

Guacamole
1 large avocado
juice of 1 lime
pinch of each salt, pepper and cayenne pepper
1/4 cup cilantro
a few dashes of hot sauce

Cut the avocado open, remove the pit and scoop the flesh out of the skin.  Put the flesh in a bowl with all the other ingredients and mash until smooth-ish.

Chicken
1/2 of grocery store rotisserie chicken
1/2 package of low sodium taco seasoning

Remove the skin from the chicken.  If your kitchen works like ours, feed it to your boyfriend.  Now pull the meat off of the bones and pull it into thin strips and put in a bowl.  Toss with the taco seasoning and you're done!

Constructing your burrito!
You will need:
Large flour tortillas
Black beans, drained and rinsed
sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
pickled hot peppers, diced
tomatillo salsa (salsa verde)
and obviously your rice, guacamole and chicken from above!

Preheat a dry frying pan over medium-low heat then start with a flour tortilla flat in front of you and pile a small amount of each filling in the center.  Just a warning, as tasty as they are, don't put too much of any filling or else you"ll never be able to roll your burrito and you'll have to eat it with a fork.  Way less cool.  After your fillings are piled, fold the left and right sides of the burrito in to seal the ends, then take the end closest to you and fold it over the fillings.  Give it a little squeeze then roll it away from you to form a delicious mexican cigar-type thing.  Place said cigar-type thing seam side down in the preheated pan and let it get golden brown.  Give it a flip to toast the other side and the enjoy!  Worth the effort, I promise!

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