Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
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posts/2010/11
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Pizza -- back to top
We made pizza with the normal dough recipe and homemade tomato sauce. We make two large and two small ones. I do not remember all of the toppings but I think both of the small ones were with BBQ sauce. I put some leftover chicken with some ham on mine and I think meredith used spinach.
Both larger ones were tomato sauce based. I did prosciutto, spinach and broccoli. It had provolone and cheddar cheese. I think Meredith's was prosciutto and zucchini but I do not remember for sure.
They were okay. Not great. The problem is that we try to use very little bit of dough to save the points and that severely impacts the quality because we really have to stretch it.
This was a rare TV-dinner so we had to set the ottoman :-)
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 629, 2010-11-01_125346
Frutti Di Mare & Baked Artichokes -- back to top
The Frutti Di Mare was basically the same as last time. I do not think it was as good, but it wasn't bad. A note for the future is that the water takes some time to cook away so plan for that. We put the same type of seasonings on and everything.
The artichokes were based off of any number of recipes. We used drained, canned artichokes with some bread crumbs, cheese, pepper, crushed red pepper, oregano, etc. They were very salty. We will try frozen ones next time to reduce the salt a bit.
Points (per person):
Pasta...5
Seafood...3
Artichokes (misc, bread crumbs, cheese)...2
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 632, 2010-11-01_210009
Chicken and Vegetables -- back to top
I do not really know what to call this but it was similar to the same thing last time except I used much more vegetables and used a mix of regular and sodium free chicken broth.
Basically, I sautéed onions, mushrooms, peppers, zucchini and eggplant (previously broiled) and finally some chicken pieces. I then added 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth and a 1/2 cup of white wine. I let that boil down for 30 minutes. The end result was a nice (however not overly visually appealing) mix of vegetable and chicken mush.
It was more flavorful last time but I was really trying to watch the sodium intake on this meal.
Very low in points since it was just chicken, and not much of it. Per person:
Chicken...4
Vegetables...0
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 636, 2010-11-03_080854
Purple Shepherd's Pie and Sugar Pumpkin Soup -- back to top
The shepherd's pie was much the same as last time except we used purple majesty potatoes giving it the really cool (or strange) look you see. It was pretty good. I think it tasted better last time though. It was also a pretty easy meal. Just brown onions, beef, peas and corn and then top with mashed potatoes. Meredith did the potatoes so I do not know what exactly it was but there was the usual including greek yogurt, a bit of fake butter, and other stuff. The whole thing made over four servings.
The soup was also very good. We used a part of a sugar pumpkin (looks like a huge butternut squash). I also used a new chicken stock called Better Than Bouillon. I think I agree that it is better but it is also a bit expensive so we will try it again but may not make it our normal. I added all kinds of spices and on Meredith's suggestion, some grated parmesan cheese. The cheese was actually a nice addition.
Points for the entire shepherd's pie (over 4 servings)
Beef (11 oz, very lean)...11
Potatoes (~1 1/3 poind)...7
extra stuff in potatoes...2 or 3
----------------------------------
Each serving is about 5 or 6.
Soup:
Squash (hard to say exactly so a guess)...5
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 640, 2010-11-04_091934
Sugar Pumpkin Chili and Pumpkin Pie -- back to top
The chili is based on this recipe. It was pretty good. Of course, we used a sugar pumpkin that looks similar and tastes close. We added extra tomato and other seasonings because there was so much pumpkin. I liked it a lot. And, I think the points were pretty low. It is really hard to calculate because I do not know how to count the sugar pumpkin. Is it butternut squash pumpkin. There was a 1/2 cup of quinoa too. There was a huge amount! It also burned the bottom of the pan but I was eventually able to get that off.
The pumpkin was entirely thrown together. I made a crust by blending the cinnamon toast crunch fiber one stuff with some extra splenda. I added almond milk to bring it all together. For the filling, I added some almond milk, splenda, pumpkin pie spice, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg. I then added a bit of egg beaters. It wasn't too bad considered how thrown together it was but could have been worse.
Points:
As I said above it was really hard to calculate but I figure around 3-5 for a serving of the chili and maybe three for the whole pie.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 644, 2010-11-05_154532
Mahi Mahi and Brussels Sprouts -- back to top
We really just threw together a marinade with soy sauce, white wine, sesame oil, various spices, and garlic. After marinating it for a bit we bakes the fish for about 20 minutes.
We also made a lot of Brussels sprouts. They were not as good as we had been having in the past but they were fine. We made a lot!
Points: Fish 3 Marinade1 Brussel Sprouts0
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 647, 2010-11-06_122838
Sloppy Joes and Asian Mushroom Soup -- back to top
We made the sloppy joes off of this recipe (approximately half). Of course, I made a lot of changes. First of all, I added some balsamic vinaigrette on the idea of a few other recipes. It was good and I liked the sharpness. I then also used a bit more ketchup and some more mustard. I also added a lot of freshly minced garlic. It is interesting how much variety there seems to be with the tomato base of the recipe. Some use sauce, ketchup, tomato paste and/or pureed tomatoes. I guess they would all have their benefits. This one was very good but, not surprisingly, salty. Finally, instead of the peppers/carrots, I used diced chillies. Pretty low points too. See below. We will be making these again!
The soup was pretty good even though it didn't really go with the meal. Meredith wanted a lighter soup (not pureed and thick). Started with chopped celery, onion and bunch of mushrooms. plus chicken brother (or water and bouillon). Thankfully, the mushrooms shrunk a bit. I added some soy sauce and sriracha plus ginger, garlic and onion powders. It was good but, also not surprisingly salty.
Points (made 4 sandwiches for two people):
9 oz extra lean beef...9
Ketchup...1
Brown Sugar...1
Arnolds...(1 for first, 2 after)
soup...0
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 651, 2010-11-06_215618
Baked Potato Soup and Hot Dogs -- back to top
The soup was really the main attraction here. We used the purple majesty potatoes, a [very] small onion and celery. We also used a bit of margarine but that could have been skipped! After a while, we used the immersion blender. We served it with fat free greek yogurt and cheese. Sadly, we didn't not have green onions or bacon bits/bacos. What is funny is that because of the color and because we left the potato skin on (extra fiber), it looked like black bean soup. Overall, it tasted pretty good. Not incredible, but pretty good.
The hot dogs were the 97% (or something close) fat free Hebrew National. They were fine. We served them with a variety of toppings including leftover squash chilli to make chilli dogs.
Points:
Soup (whole thing, 4 servings)
~1.25 lb potato...9
margarine...1
The hot dogs are one each plus one for the first Arnolds hot dog roll and two for the second.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 654, 2010-11-07_211816
Sloppy Joe Take II and Spinach Salad -- back to top
In a continuing effort to clean out the fridge and eat quickly, we made sloppy joes again. I was more rushed and I experimented a bit too much. It wasn't as good. I added too much balsamic vinegar and I tried adding some Franks Red Hot. It was a lot of vinegar. Also, I thought we had more beef so there was too much onion. Oh well. It was better than eating out.
Meredith made a spinach salad. We used feta, pine nuts and some of the Orange Muscat Vinegar. It was good.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 657, 2010-11-09_094230
Braised Balsamic Chicken -- back to top
We had seen a balsamic chicken recipe but didn't have the stuff so we based ours on this recipe. It was okay. I thought it was a bit more of a tomato chicken then really a balsamic chicken. We served it over green spinach. I think part of the problem was that we cut down the recipe but may have used too much tomatoes. One nice thing is that it was pretty low point wise.
Points, about 4 for the chicken. That's it!
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 660, 2010-11-16_093423
Garlic Pork Chop and Mixed Vegetables -- back to top
The pork chop was okay. Not great. I cut slits in it and filled it with garlic. I then used some cayenne pepper, garlic powder and oregano. Like I said, it was good but not great. I am trying to replicate what I have had before but I cannot seem to get it.
The vegetables was just a frozen mix with butter spray, garlic powder, cheese and 21 seasoning salute.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 663, 2010-11-16_202805
Sea Scallops alla Caprese and Broccoli Cheddar Pasta -- back to top
We were looking for something fast (ish) so we made the same basic thing as last time. We did not have fresh basil so we used some frozen. Also, we used grape tomatoes and actually sautéed the onions. It was really good. I thought I overcooked the scallops most were fine (there were a few overcooked ones). Cooking the scallops in the cast iron pan does a nice job.
The pasta side was one of those packaged pasta sides. I do not remember the brand but it was fast, easy, and pretty simple. And not too bad on points (I think 5 per person).
Points:
Scallops...4
Side dish...5
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 667, 2010-11-18_001757
Beef and Bean Empanadas with Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup -- back to top
First the Empanadas. We used the usual dough. Meredith made the filling. She mixed extra lean ground beef, black beans, and a whole bunch of spices. I do not remember exactly what she used but it included adobo, garlic, oregano, nutmeg, etc. As a note, nutmeg really adds a cool flavor to beef (and presumably fake beef) dishes. There was also garlic and onions. The filling worked really well and because it was more mashed with the beans, it better filled them.
Also, for 4 of the six, we tried putting some Weight Watchers Jalapeno spreadable cheese (like Laughing Cow) on before the filling. It added a nice touch. I cannot figure the points at the moment because I do not remember the beans, but the beef was extra lean and the beans have a lot of fiber. The dough was the normal around 1-2 per empanada.
Then, the soup is based off my dad's recipe which I will put on the site eventually. The problem was that it was my intent to halve it, but I accidentally added the full serving of sugar. So I added more tomato, water, vinegar and Worcestershire. It was still too sweet. I enjoyed it but Meredith thought the sweetness was a bit much. So, more for me. We used real beef though (pre-browned) so it needs to be eaten quickly.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 671, 2010-11-19_081046
Tofu and Broccoli Stir-Fry -- back to top
We wanted something Asian and fast because we just got back from H-Mart (a gother asian supermarket with a crazy produce section, the spoils of which will be posted soon). We just sautéed broccoli, extra firm tofu and some other veggies with brown rice. We added reduced sodium soy and a bunch of other things. We also had a bit of "fried" egg beaters.
Points (per person)
Rice...4
Tofu...2
Egg, etc...1
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 674, 2010-11-20_134859
Breakfast: Pumpkin Oatmeal Brulee -- back to top
This is based on this recipe1. It was really good and really easy. We used quick oats (and adjusted the water and cook times) because that is all we had. In addition, we replaced the brown sugar with splenda, and added nutmeg and ginger. I got a bit carried away with the "bruleeing" and used too much sugar on the top but it was good. We also went light on the raisins
Points (Total for two)
Oatmeal...2
Pomegranate...0.5
Raisins...2
Sugar on top...2.5 (over estimate)
----------------------------
7 total, 3.5 each.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 676, 2010-11-20_134927
Curry Shrimp, Broccoli, Zucchini and Sweet Potato. All Grilled -- back to top
This was a great meal on many levels. First of all, it was our first time using a real grill instead of the griddler. Our new apartment has a few grills and picnic tables for use so we brought down all the food plus place settings and drinks. It was a lot of fun.
Anyway, for the shrimp, we made a marinade by putting some red curry paste into chicken stock (water and bouillon stuff). We then added minced and powdered garlic, some other seasonings and a tad of peanut oil. After letting the shrimp marinade for a long time, we skewered them and brushed the sauce on them while grilling. They really absorbed the flavor. We will probably try making other curry-type things with a similar marinade.
For the broccoli, we but it up, added garlic powder, crushed red pepper, salt, pepper and 21 seasoning salute. We made that into a foil pouch. The zucchini was just salt, pepper and garlic powder.
Meredith did the sweet potato so I do not remember exactly what it was, but she cut it in half, put some smart balance, cinnamon, a bit of honey and something else on it. Then she closed that and wrapped it in aluminum foil. We pre-microwaved the potatoes a bit to it would cook fully.They were really good. I wish we made more!
Actually, all of the veggies were over done but that was fine with me. I like them like that and they were still good.
Points (each)
Shrimp (-1/2 lb)...5
Marinade...1
Sweet Potato (1/2)...1 (maybe 2)
Sweet Potato stuff...1
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 682, 2010-11-21_091900
Brunch: Buffalo Eggs -- back to top
Meredith's family does something called Armadillo Eggs which is a jalapeno stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped in maple sausage. This is a much healthier version, modified both for what we had on hand and (mostly) for calories.
We took mini sweet peppers and filled them with buffalo dip (hence the name). The buffalo dip is similar to the Hungry Girl one. It was half a block of fat free cream cheese, Frank Red Hot and a chunk of Laughing Cow blu cheese all microwaved. Anyway, we then coated it in Gimme Lean. It was actually really difficult to coat them because it is so sticky. Each pepper has a quarter of a gimme lean.
Points are difficult but they were low. Even with half of a gimme lean per person, it was low. The buffalo dip was with fat free cream cheese which is also low.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 689, 2010-11-21_120703
Eggplant Parmesan, Brussels Sprouts and Cheese Sticks -- back to top
We fiber-one fried graffiti eggplant and baked it for a while. After it was done, we smeared the plate with sauce, put the eggplant on, then coated it with provolone cheese. We then put the whole thing back in the oven while the Brussels sprouts were finishing.
The brussels sprouts were pretty standard except for we had some chopped chestnuts on them. They were un-roasted and all making them a bit hard to crack. And, some, but not all, became way too hard in the oven. Still, it was something different. I wouldn't rush to add them again though
Finally the mozzarella sticks were like we did before but they were really an afterthought because we had leftover stuff for fiber one frying.
Points (per person):
Eggplant Parm:
Eggplant...0
Cheese...2
Sauce...1
Misc, include fiber-one...1
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4 for the eggplant
Cheese Sticks: Around 2 for half of them
Brussels Sprouts: Zero for them and not sure about the nuts but we ate very little of them,
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 691, 2010-11-21_230728
Miso Chicken over Bok Choy and Miso Soup -- back to top
The Miso chicken was roughly based off of this recipe except that I cooked it in the pan. It marinaded for about 8 hours which was really nice. Because the marinade was so salty, it was like brining the meat so it was also very moist. This was the best part of the meal but it was salty. It was served over garlic bok-choy based off of this. The bok choy was okay. Again, salty.
To add the salt fest that was this meal, we had miso soup. That was based off of this. It wasn't great. We may have used too much dashi or something, but either way, it was very fishy and very salty. I guess the saltiness was to be expected, but it was a bit much. We may try to find better recipes for all of the things in the future (if we decide to try them again).
Points were low (but not healthy with all the salt)
Chicken...4
Tofu in soup...~1
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 696, 2010-11-23_123852
Púrpura (purple) Patatas Bravas and Chicken and Black Bean Stuffed Poblanos -- back to top
The peppers were from a recipe Meredith found here. We also mixed in some laughing cow (or the WW version) instead of the cheese. We made some other modifications but nothing too major. It was very, very good! We will do it again!
The Patatas Bravas was more of a "wing-it" type of ordeal after reading many recipes. It was basically onion and tomatoes with spices. The difference this time is that I pureed it to make it more of a sauce. It was also very good. And, we used Meredith's favorite potatoes (Purple Majesty). We found them at H-Mart so we didn't have to selectivity pick through the things at Trader Joes.
The points are difficult for the chicken, but it isn't high. For each pepper is probably 3 for the chicken, 1 for the cheese in it and on top, maybe 1 for the beans. So, 5-6 for each one isn't bad.
The potatoes were really just for the potatoes themselves so about 4 per person. Maybe 5
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 700, 2010-11-23_221214
Hamburger and Butternut Squash Fries -- back to top
I had some leftover beef and some butternut squash. I cut the fries, sprayed them with olive oil and then put salt, pepper, rosemary and garlic powder on them. I baked them for 4o minutes.
The burger had habanero hot sauce and a bunch of other stuff. It was a bit too thick making it take a long time to cook which I may have overdone. Still, it was pretty good.
Points:
Burger...6
Cheese...2
Bread...1
Butternut Squash...1-2
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 705, 2010-11-24_142152
Seasoned Grilled Tuna and Broccoli -- back to top
We needed something quick and easy and this fit the bill. We seasoned the tuna with Italian seasoning, rosemary, parsley, and garlic powder then used the griddler. I think I overcooked them a bit, but it was still good. I liked the seasoning mixture The broccoli was semi sautéed and semi steamed. They were a bit overcooked but I like it mushy sometimes. There was a mix of seasonings in this as well but I do not remember them.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 708, 2010-11-29_210524
Salmon Burgers, Onion Marmalade and Vegetables -- back to top
This was a pretty simple meal. I sprinkled 21 seasoning salute on both the salmon burgers and the vegetables. The onion marmalade was particularly good this time. I really let them sautéed for a long time. I also threw a tad of Worcestershire in with the balsamic and muscat grape. We each had one arnolds roll as well. Oh, and there was some crushed red pepper too.
Points (old and new respect iv ly), see this for more.
Salmon Burger (each)...4 & 4
Arnolds...1 & 3
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 713, 2010-11-30_224940